Taco Truck in Space

Thump. Thump. Thump.

That was the only sound that Mike could hear through his thick helmet. Each impact pierced the silence, sending a shiver through his bones and shaking off a spray of nickel fragments that otherwise clung stubbornly to his suit’s magnetic grapples.

It was the same sound he had been hearing on the same rock for the last three years.

Only two more to go.

“If I have to drink one more of those chicken-flavored pastes, I’m going to lose my mind,” he said in a thick drawl over the radio.

“It’s not chicken, Mike,” Emily clarified as she stood tethered a few meters away. “You know it’s not chicken. It’s all synthesized nutrients designed to meet our specific nutritional profile.”

“Specific nutritional profile... you sound just like that corporate super. Neither of you are willing to admit just how terrible it tastes. It’s been way too long since I’ve had a real steak. Heck, I’d settle for a chicken sandwich.”

“Keep dreaming, rockjack. We’re assigned to this float for at least four more hours before we even have permission to cycle back to the base.”

Mike then saw a flash of color in the corner of his eye. He stopped and tried to find the source, though it moved behind another rock in the belt.

“Did you see that?”

“Another smooth rock to skip in your hometown pond?”

“No... there was something else nearby. Something small but bright.”

He emitted a subvocalization to his suit’s AI. It began to adjust the magnification and focus his heads-up display on the section of his viewport where the flash came from. As he moved around, the AI used the suit’s complex sensors to keep this zoomed-in view from shifting around. As the display stabilized, he could make out a garish smearing of reds, greens, and yellows moving around.

Then, he could hear a cheerful quartet of trumpets broadcasting through his comms on what was supposed to be a private corporate frequency.

“What’s going on?” Emily apparently could also hear it. She grabbed her tether and moved closer towards Mike.

Then it came into view: a small rocket, but one of a kind they’d never seen before. The chassis was clearly second-hand based on how beat-up it looked. Yet its new owner had painted the outside with vibrant colors, depicting a mural of planets and chili peppers. On its top, the sensor array had been replaced by a spinning LED display, creating the illusion of a holographic taco.

“Clearly that’s the source of the music,” Emily remarked dryly.

“All this radiation has finally turned my brain to slush,” Mike groaned.

“It’s real. It’s a real-life food truck, here in the middle of the Belt.”

“That’s impossible. I’ve never seen one before. It’s just the radiation causing hallucinations.”

“I could hallucinate a truck easily, but I wouldn’t imagine that music,” she shot back. “Come on. Even if we’re going crazy it’s better than just looking at endless rock.”

Emily started moving forward, adjusting her tether every few meters to keep her moving forward. Mike tried to follow behind slowly. He moved more hesitantly, afraid of moving too fast and breaking away from the tether and drifting out into space forever.

The ship was stalled out on the other side of the asteroid waiting for them. Emily waited at the side of the ship in front of the airlock for Mike to arrive. Then she hit a button on the side and caused the airlock to open up.

“Emily, are you sure we should be doing this?”

“They are waiting here for us. What’s the worst that could happen?”

“But what if...”

“If it is a hallucination, then there’s nothing to worry about. And if it’s real, it would finally be time for something interesting to happen around here.”

She stepped into the airlock. Mike looked around frantically and then decided she had a point. On the chance it wasn’t a hallucination, it was worth checking out.

Once he stepped in, the airlock shut tightly. The small chamber began to spray air, causing the pressure to rise rapidly. Mike could hear his ears pop as the room adjusted to a normal Earth’s atmosphere. As he took off his helmet, he expected to get a whiff of ozone, of the sterilized air of their station. Instead, he was immediately hit by a heavenly aroma of cooked meat and cilantro. He could hear the soft sizzle of onions being grilled.

Then the second door of the airlock hissed open, beckoning them further into the ship. There was a small connector tube that linked them to the cafeteria. They floated slowly forward.

The cafeteria was a small space with just a few metal stools and a long counter that stretched across the entire room. The lighting had been adjusted to a warm temperature and the climate control had been set more humid than standard.

“Welcome miners! It’s a beautiful day for a meal. Name’s Rico. How can I serve you?”

A cheerful man in a finely trimmed beard and a shirt full of salsa stains waved at them from the other side of a stainless-steel counter. Mike and Emily felt a bit overwhelmed by all the choices around them. Chunks of marinated pork were sizzling behind him. Bowls of freshly-chopped onions, cilantro, and radishes were laid out on the edges of the counter like rare jewels. The vibrant smells and sights overwhelmed their senses as they had known nothing like this for the past three years.

“Can you...” Emily murmured. “Are you able to make a quesadilla?”

“I can do my three cheese quesadilla,” he flipped tortillas on the gridle.

“Three cheeses? Oh that has to be a lot better than more of that paste.”

“I don’t know exactly what I want, but it needs some of that pork behind you.”

“I’ve got you. Three tacos de carnitas.”

“And a horchata?”

“Definitely. Take a seat. I’ll bring it out.”

Mike fumbled with the small pouch on the side of his belt and pulled out a small shard of platinum. He placed it carefully on the counter.

“Fifteen grams cover it?”

“Yeah, just leave it there. I’ll take care of it. You two relax.”

Mike and Emily waited a few minutes for Rico to hand them several foil-wrapped bundles. They felt warm and heavy. Additionally, Rico passed over two sealed bulbs with their drinks.

Mike carefully unwrapped the foil from his tacos and took a deep breath of the savory pork and citrus assailing his nostrils. The corn tortillas were a work of art, deftly holding glistening meat and diced onions.

He took a bite of it and felt the savory richness of the carnitas against his tongue. The slightly sweet tortilla managed to contain a rich assortment of flavors that hit the perfect notes. It was like this was the first true meal he ever tasted. He could nearly cry with how much bliss he was experiencing.

He knew pretty soon he’d return to the endless, cold void of the asteroid belt. But until then, the world felt a bit warmer.