The door chime rang. "Enter." Mr. Trolley wheeled in with delight. He parked himself near Adama’s chair. It was the only logical place. Had he drove to the side of the Commander’s where guest stand or sit, Mr. Trolley could not have been seen, only heard. It was not nice to address the Commander from hiding, not that Mr. Trolley ever thought of doing such a ludicrous thing. At least not in front of Commander Adama. There were some others in the fleet the daring Mr. Trolley hid from for fun on his own part. He was not invincible but a tough fare to break. "Oh, Mr. Trolley. How are you today?" "Whoa. Slow down. If you beep any faster, I would think we’re on red alert. What do you have today? It’s not often a guest wheels in here such as yourself." Mr. Trolley rolled up within arm’s reach. He opened one of his little passenger doors, not that anyone real person could ever ride on Mr. Trolley as intended on most trolleys. There was one good aspect of Mr. Trolley’s compactness. Small things were a favorite delivery item of his. This one was no exception. A platform extended out with a small round item of food. It was a light brown with black chips popping up here and there on it. Adama looked on suspiciously. He recalled seeing something like that back in the Colonies. With the protein cubes of multiple colors and flavors along with some of the odd plant products produced from various planets they visited, this was a very odd looking item. What really caught Adama’s attention was the aroma which slowly rose from this. Mr. Trolley jiggled the platform in and out a little as a not so subtle sign for Adama to take the item. He even rolled back and forth a few times to insist upon the action. "Oh! I see." In a half hearted attempt to jest, Adama asked, "And what prey tell would you like me to do with this?" It was obviously a consumable item. It was an opportune time though to play with the red machine. After all, just because a man passed his one hundred yahren mark, it was no sign he no longer had any kid left in him. Only on rare occasions did Adama let his child side out. It was difficult to hold a straight face though. The temptation was strong enough to chuckle before its time. A little steam emitted from Mr. Trolley’s wheels as a sigh. He sometimes wondered how these giants were able to make it out so far. It was a darn good thing he appeared when he did. It was even better when Mr. Trolley made a special trip to see Count Baltar. Too bad, Baltar did not feel the same way. In response to Adama’s question, Mr. Trolley flashed his lights, opened and closed all four "passenger" gates and rolled back and forth. "Very well. If you insist." Adama bit down on the food item. To his astonishment, it was quite tasty. He closed his eyes and took another bite and quickly finished the delicacy with a third chomp. "This is extremely good. Is this from Chef Tigger?" Mr. Trolley’s front and back lights alternately flashed while his whistle tooted along with the Dings in confirmation. "Well, then, please extend my sincerest compliments to the chef. The exquisite taste is very tantalizing to the taste buds. I would be interested in taste testing any other fine experiments of his such as this. What does he call this?" An imaginary lingering aroma continued to hang around Adama. This taste left him in paradise. What did he half to do in order to have more? The taste refused to leave his body. It was a far worse temptation than anything earlier since Mr. Trolley arrived. Mr. Trolley extended his tiny aft platform out from under his roof. There was only one word on it. "Cookie? Please bring me up some more." The red machine retracted his planks to recompose himself, wheeled around in a circled and happily tooted his way out the door. Adama rested his hands on his desk. He looked around the room as if trying to grasp something that either was not there or beyond reach. It was an extraordinary sensation tingling through his mouth. "Cookie." He leaned back slightly in his chair with an expression of immense satisfaction. "I wonder were Tigger came up with a name like that." -------------- The delicacies on the tray appeared delicious even before they were baked. Some were shaped into four corner pyramids with a candy at each corner and one on the top. Other trays contained fluffy discs a half finger high and a finger wide. Each one was lavishly coated with a different color and flavor of icing. Some trays were set aside more as an afterthought. If the bakers forgot about them it was considered no big loss. Twenty light brown globs with black chips littered each of those trays. Not many people expressed interest in the product. Actually, there were barely enough beggars to warrant making some of these treats. They received the lowest priority and only made it to the ovens in between batches of better sweets. DuFu walked briskly over to the primary solar oven. As he opened the door, the aroma of the finished product rose and wafted throughout the area. He took a deep breath to inhale the scent and savor the micron. Knowing better, DuFu pulled out the tray and placed it in the cooling area. The Yumlies begged to be devoured while they were still hot on the tray. It was one of the worst temptations the assistant chef ever suffered. 'Nice to look at. Great to smell. If it is eaten, you'll ring your own bell.' Nothing topped the sweet smell of success. This was the best job in the fleet. Footsteps stormed into the kitchen with a deep, nasty, arrogant voice to accompany them aimed directly at Dufu. "Move it! Move it! There's no admiring our perfect product. If I see this again, you'll be demoted to Assistant Chef Helper's Backup Aide. Do I make myself clear?!?!?" Okay. This was almost the best job in the fleet. Dufu did not have the chance to respond. As Grumler tromped off to chastise another victim, DuFu sneaked in a sneer at the Overseer. That was a man who would not be able to bake himself out of a viper engine if his life depended on it. The assistant chef grabbed a tray of the brown globs and carefully situated them into the perfect position on the solar oven pallet for the best baking.