Amantha set the package down. The pilot scrambled ahead of her and got the navigator's instruments off the desk and into the drawer.
She opened and displayed the contents.
"I baked it for you," she said. "It's a cake."
He could see what it was. "Hate cake," he said. "Can't eat it."
"You'll eat this. Canalberry shortcake."
"Canalberry?" he asked, wrinkling his face. He smelled it and changed expressions in the middle of a wrinkle. Resolutely, he turned away from it and saw Ethan clearly, perhaps for the first time. It was the old man who had tried to bribe him a few days ago. They weren't as innocent as they seemed. What were they trying to do?
"Ain't you even going to taste it?" she urged.
He shuddered suspiciously. It smelled good, though he had told the truth about hating the stuff. Under other circumstances, he might have nibbled at a piece for politeness' sake.
"Can't. Doctor's orders."