"Diabetic? Didn't think they let them in space-service," said Amantha. "Funny, it's the same with Ethan. He can't eat sweets, either." She looked at her creation. "Seems a shame to bring it so far to somebody who can't touch it. Do you mind if I cut myself a slice?"
"Go ahead, Grandma."
"Amantha," she corrected him and brought out a knife and two small plates. He wondered if there was any significance. Two plates.
She laid a slice on the plate and poked at it with a fork that was also in the package. She put the fork down and picked up the cake.
"It don't taste right unless you eat it the way it was meant to be," she said.
He watched her in anguish. His nose quivered and his stomach rumbled. He shouldn't have let them in.
A crumb fell to the floor and Amantha reached for it. She straightened up, a berry in her hand.
"Canalberries," she said. "They're nearly all gone. Used to be you could hardly go anywhere without stepping in them."
She crushed the berry and the rich aroma swept devastatingly through the air.
"Sure you won't have some?" she asked, slicing the cake and placing it in front of him. When he finished that, he cut another, and another, until the cake was gone.