“You see… the captain is a bit of a… um, solitary person,” VAL said, the yellow of his face getting even paler.

  “He’s a real grump,” S1N added. “Terrible temper.”

  “He’s… not going to do anything bad to me, is he?” Juniper asked.

  “No, he is not,” replied a deep gravelly voice. “The captain simply doesn’t like unexpected visitors.”

  Turning slowly, Juniper looked up at the hulking creature in the doorway and felt as if his heart had stopped completely. The beast had four wickedly sharp–looking black horns that twisted and curved around a wide face covered in blood-red fur. Black, pupilless eyes stared at Juniper from above a blunt snout filled with sharp yellow teeth. The creature was dressed in the black uniform of an Imperial captain, with gold-trimmed epaulettes and a double line of gold buttons down the front, and from the beast’s wide shoulders hung a dark-red floor-length cape that nearly matched its fur.

  With brawny arms crossed over its barrel chest, it stared hard at Juniper. Then, extending one four-fingered hand, it pointed a long hooked claw at VAL.

  “I’ll want a word with you, later,” the beast growled. “Leave us.”

  “Yes, Captain,” VAL said, vanishing.

  “You too, S1N.”

  The black cat gave Juniper a wide-eyed, somewhat apprehensive look and disappeared.

  Marrex contemplated the young man standing half-naked in front of him. The moment he’d woken up and found the ship’s AIs slow to respond to his queries, he’d known they were up to something, but he never thought they’d go so far in their disobedience. Certainly, it was VAL behind waking the Human because it wasn’t like S1N to do anything charitable on his own—maybe it was time to wipe both their databanks clean and start fresh. Maybe.

  In truth, Marrex had been planning on opening the pod himself after he’d gotten some sleep—he wasn’t heartless, after all. However, now that he was face-to-face with one of the most beautiful creatures he’d ever seen, he didn’t know which he regretted more: not waking the young man himself earlier or bringing him on board to begin with.

  The young man was tall with fair skin, lean muscles, and a head of thick dark hair falling past his perfect dusky-pink nipples. His jaw was angular and chin square, but these sharp edges were offset by a wide mouth with plump, shapely lips that were parted with his rapid breathing. His narrow nose had a slightly crooked bridge that gave his face something far more alluring than symmetry, but the best came last as Marrex met the young man’s wide gaze: large dark eyes that were gilded in gold and trimmed with long lashes—beautiful eyes full of fear tempered by lively curiosity.

  “Thank you, sir, for allowing me onto your ship,” said the young man in a velvety soft voice. “My name is Juniper Bo.”

  “I’m Captain Marrex,” the captain replied gruffly, letting his eyes linger on the way Juniper’s rib cage heaved, his abdomen tense. Obviously, the young man was trying to control his breathing to seem more confident, but all it did was give away how nervous he was… while drawing attention to the beautiful definition of his muscles. “Until I find you something useful to do, you’re to remain in your quarters.”

  Juniper’s chin lifted, his gaze narrowing. He took a step forward. “I’m a prisoner?”

  “You’re an unwelcome guest for the time being,” Marrex replied, looking away. He couldn’t stand seeing his ugliness reflected in the young man’s eyes. “You’ll only get in the way.”

  “Why not drop me off at the nearest port? Or planet?”

  “Not possible. Not yet.” Scowling, Marrex turned to leave. “Now, just stay out of my way.”

  “But why not? Surely—”

  “No,” Marrex snarled over his shoulder. He bared his fangs at Juniper and was pleased when the young man stepped back, his eyes round with fright. Satisfied that he’d made an impression, Marrex closed the door and keyed in a lock code. He was in no mood to discuss his circumstances with anyone, no matter how pretty they were to look at.

  “To me,” he said as he tramped down the corridor towards the bridge. Instantly, VAL and S1N were at his side.

  “I’m sorry I took initiative, sir,” VAL said in a meek voice. “I just felt like—”

  “You’re a machine. You don’t feel,” Marrex growled.

  “What’s your excuse, then?” S1N said, hovering next to his ear. “Did you have to yell at the poor kid? He’s been asleep a long time, probably separated from his family, alone and confused and just looking for a friendly face—”

  Marrex snorted and tossed his head, shearing harmlessly through the holoprojection with one of his horns, and S1N yowled, his fur standing on end.

  “Marrex the Monster indeed,” S1N hissed. “Sneaking around like a coward in his big old empty ship. Alone with his self-pity… mean and ugly and—”

  “Go!” Marrex shouted, thoroughly sick of S1N’s insolence.

  “Gladly, asshole,” S1N spat and was gone.

  “Captain… if I may…” VAL said quietly, his smooth face the colour of milk.

  “What is it?” Marrex muttered, settling himself into the battered captain’s chair.

  “S1N, for all his faults… well, I have to agree with him, sir.”

  Annoyed, Marrex turned to look at the AI. “What?”

  VAL’s face shrunk by half, but his eyes stayed the same size. “I think the boy is… likeable—even S1N is uncharacteristically taken with him. If… If Juniper is going to be with us for a while, until we figure out where to leave him, wouldn’t it be nice to… I don’t know… perhaps get to know him?”

  “Why?”

  Shrinking even further until he was no bigger than Marrex’s thumb, VAL stared at him before replying. “You’ve been getting… worse. I worry about you, Captain.”

  Marrex grunted, looking away. “Leave me.” He flicked one of the toggles on his chair arm, bringing up the field of stars on the big viewscreen. The AI was right—Marrex could feel himself withering away on the inside, day by day. The curse of his species. After a moment, he noticed VAL was still lingering within sight.

  “Shall I ask S1N to have something made up for our young guest to eat?” the AI asked in a timid voice.

  “Yes, fine,” Marrex muttered.

  “And, for yourself, sir?”

  “I’m not hungry.”

  Chapter 3

  The Stellerion

  Juniper paced the small room, back and forth from bed to closet, wondering what the hell he was going to do. Somewhere around his three hundredth circuit, his stomach gave a mighty squelch of hunger, and he groaned, trying to remember the last meal he’d eaten. Probably the greasy taba fries at the spaceport before he boarded the colony ship… seventeen years ago.

  He turned back towards the bed and saw S1N curled up in a furry black ball on the blanket.

  “There you are,” Juniper said.

  “Mmm?” The cat sounded half-asleep.

  “I’ve been trying to reach you or VAL for a while.”

  “Mmmhm?”

  S1N tucked his nose under his paw, and Juniper had to smile. He’d wanted a cat growing up. “Hey, can I ask why you look like that?”

  One yellow-green eye opened, and then the other, followed by a jaw-cracking yawn. “Look like what?” S1N rolled over onto his side and extended all four feet in a stretch, fanning out his black jelly-bean toes. “What else would I look like?”

  With a snort of amusement, Juniper shook his head at the cat. “You know, you’re a funny sort of AI.”

  “Well, you’re a funny sort of Human. What kind of a name is Juniper Bo anyway?” S1N didn’t wait for his reply and just hopped down off the bed, the door to the room unlocking and sliding open as he got near it. “Come on… breakfast is served.”

  Juniper hesitated, looking at the dimly lit corridor beyond. “I’m not supposed to leave my quarters,” he said quietly. His stomach gave another plaintive gurgle. “The captain said so.”

  “Pff. He’s busy. Besides, what would you have me do? Wait on you in your room? Forget about it, Human.” With tail up, S1N trotted quickly out of the room, and Juniper jumped to follow him before the door closed.

  The corridor stretched in both directions, curving slightly, and was lit with cool recessed lights that brightened as Juniper passed them. The only noise he could hear besides his bare feet on the cold metal floor was a low mechanical rumble that he guessed was the ship’s engines. After a few minutes, his stomach grumbled again, so he looked down at the cat padding along beside him, hoping to distract his hunger.

  “So, what happened to me? Why was I on a shuttlecraft?” he asked. When he’d gone into stasis, it had been in a huge bay aboard the colony ship with eleven thousand other souls, each safe in their own pods.

  “No clue,” replied S1N, rising up into the air as if he were climbing invisible steps. “The shuttlecraft’s computer was basically lobotomized in the accident. One sleeping Human and one missing Nelami pilot.”

  “Nelami? What would the Nelami want with me?” Juniper asked, confused. The Nelami were deep space scavengers and junk hawkers.

  “Obviously, they thought they could make some money,” S1N replied.

  “But where did they find me? Why wasn’t I aboard the colony ship to Rhesh-14?”

  “Who knows?” S1N said dismissively. “Hey, why did you leave home anyway? Rhesh-14 is a real shithole. Were you on the run? Did you rob a bank? Renege on a deal?” The cat gave him a narrow, sidelong glance. “Seduce the wrong woman?”

  Frowning, Juniper shook his head. “No, none of that. I left Terra Deux to make money.”

  “Oh?”

  “My father is a merchant. Well, was a merchant. Massive solar flares wiped out pretty much his whole fleet, and we went from being rich to having to rely on charity in the span of two weeks. And on top of it all, my sisters had their betrothals annulled because Dad couldn’t afford their dowries anymore.”

  “Bummer,” S1N replied, floating along near Juniper’s head.

  Nodding, Juniper gave the cat a wry smile. “Yeah, that’s one way of putting it.”

  “Your sisters couldn’t pay their own way?”

  “Not many jobs to be had back home, unfortunately. Not the kind my sisters would do.”

  “Whoring’s too good for them, hm?” said the cat.

  “That’s not what I meant!” Juniper let out a bark of laughter. “Oh boy… Acacia and Willow, prostitutes? You don’t know my sisters—they might be wearing second-hand clothes, but they’re still way too precious in their own minds. They’re selfish and spoiled rotten and used to having everything taken care of for them. Besides, I’ve got way more uh… experience than they do, but… my father would have had a heart attack if any of us had decided to earn money doing that.”

  “Does that experience include males?” S1N asked.

  Wondering what was behind his question, Juniper side-eyed the AI and nodded. “Why? Is that a problem?”

  “Why would it be a problem? I was just curious. You can do whatever you like with your meat-bag as far as I’m concerned.”

  Juniper snickered. “Well, I found a better way of making money with my ‘meat-bag.’ There was a hefty cheque that came with volunteering as a colonist. God, I wonder what happened to the ship…” Frowning, Juniper remembered then that it had been almost two decades since he’d left Terra Deux, and he felt a pang of worry. That money must have dried up long ago, and his family probably thought he was dead. “Do you think the captain would let me call home?”

  “Maybe. But probably not.”

  Juniper frowned, wondering what the captain’s problem was.

  After a while, Juniper realized his legs were beginning to get sore. He didn’t know if his hunger was messing with his sense of time, but it felt as if he’d been trudging down the corridor for at least ten minutes. “Hang on,” he said, stopping. He leaned against the wall and squeezed his thigh.

  The cat bounded ahead a few metres, then went down in a crouch, waiting for Juniper to catch up.

  “How the hell big is this ship?” Juniper asked. The corridor had straightened out at some point while they were walking, and it just looked like an endless tunnel of doors and recessed lights.

  “Really big,” S1N replied, blinking slowly at him.

  “Like, how much longer to the, um, place where we eat? What do you call it here?”

  “Dining hall. We’re almost there.”

  “All right, but how long is this corridor?”

  “As long as it needs to be.”

  Juniper sighed, wishing it were the other AI accompanying him. At least VAL gave him halfway-straight answers.

  “Fine. Let’s just go.”

  Marrex brushed some dark-red fur from the front of the black uniform and rolled his shoulders back, standing straighter. He glanced down again at his holocomm bracelet, staring at the coloured dots on the small screen. The Human was still in the dining hall.

  Sighing, he adjusted his collar, then straightened the clasps on his cloak, wishing, for perhaps the first time since he’d come aboard, that he hadn’t destroyed the big mirror in his quarters.

  “Would you like me to show you how you look?” VAL asked as if reading his mind.

  “No,” Marrex growled. “Why?”

  “Because judging by how you’re fussing, I surmise you’re thinking of going to the dining hall where Juniper is and you want to make a good impression.”

  “No,” Marrex replied—but that was a lie, wasn’t it?

  “Then why do you keep looking to see where he is?”

  Marrex’s head snapped around, and he snarled at VAL who flew backwards in alarm. Embarrassed and furious, the captain ripped off the holocomm bracelet and threw it on the floor. Then he marched towards the bathroom and began unbuttoning his uniform. “I’m taking a bath, and when I’m out, I expect my breakfast to be waiting for me. And throw that out,” he said, pointing to the bracelet on the floor.

  “Yes, sir,” VAL said, his face a very pale pink. “Very well, sir. I’ll send a cleaning droid right away.”

  “And keep the Human away from me,” Marrex growled, tearing off his undershirt. The follicles of his fur hurt from being pressed down for so long by his too-tight clothes. A bath would put him in better spirits. “Understand?”

  “Yes, sir,” VAL said quietly. “Understood.”

  Chapter 4

  The Hidden Garden

  Burping, Juniper sat back in his chair and looked out the huge fibroglass viewport that made up the whole rear wall of the dining hall. He could see his pale translucent reflection on the window and only blackness and stars beyond—the same view that had greeted him at every mealtime in the twelve days since he’d been “thawed.” With no departure to look forward to, and nothing productive to fill his days, Juniper was already bored with the routine he’d settled into to distract himself from his ambiguous status aboard the Stellerion.

  Every morning, one of the AIs woke him for breakfast once the captain was on the bridge and the coast was clear. He’d take a quick particle shower, throw on a pair of shorts, and jog the entire kilometre and a half of hallway to the dining hall where he would eat the bizarre, sometimes disgusting dishes the replicators concocted for him. Then he would sit and digest while reading one of the trillion English-language books he had access to in the ship’s entertainment database. The jog back to his room was followed by another shower, this time with water, then a nap or more reading. The afternoons he spent wandering the empty halls of the ancient Chato-class starship, aided by the holocomm bracelet VAL had found for him. It had a map of the ship with dots of colour showing where the entire crew was at that moment.

  There were only four dots: green for Juniper, yellow for VAL, blue for S1N, and red for the captain.

  Sighing, Juniper looked at the readout on the bracelet. S1N was curled up “asleep” or just ignoring him on the next table, and it looked like VAL was on the bridge. Almost two weeks and no one to talk to except two AIs whose base programs seemed to be corrupt, making it impossible to get any real information out of them. And he hadn’t seen the captain since that first day.

  Juniper glanced over at the tablet he’d been reading from over lunch. It was a book from Old Earth, back from before Contact. He was enjoying it—he really loved pre-Contact stuff—but he was extremely curious about something else and therefore antsy. For the last hour, the red dot on his bracelet had been motionless in a large unlabelled space on the map. It wasn’t the captain’s quarters—at night Juniper often watched the red dot moving restlessly on the other side of the ship where the captain slept—so what could the big room be, and why had the captain stayed there for so long? Juniper was dying to know.

  The plan was simple enough. Juniper guessed he was being tracked around the ship by the bracelet he wore, so he was going to leave it in his room and head off by himself—he’d memorized the route easily enough.

  He stood and started for the door, but immediately, there was a static crackle near his ear as S1N materialized like a weightless black parrot on his shoulder.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Um… I’m just going back to my room to take a nap.”

  “Oh,” S1N replied, sounding disappointed, and Juniper wondered if the AIs got tired of being alone with each other so much—maybe he was a welcome distraction. The thought gave him a small pang of guilt for deceiving S1N, but he shrugged it off, laughing inwardly. He was so starved for interaction that he was projecting all sorts of things onto the ship’s twin interfaces.

  Faking a yawn, Juniper nodded. “Yeah, I’m bushed. That run this morning just wore me out.”

  S1N disappeared from his shoulder and reappeared in front of him, his yellow-green eyes wide and pupils down to mere slits. “The run didn’t wear you down yesterday,” the AI said a little suspiciously. “And you already took a nap today.”

  “Maybe my immune system is still acclimatising to the ship,” Juniper tried. “I am feeling a little sluggish. Hey, you know what would help? If you could convince the replicators to make me some chicken noodle soup. God, I would love some chicken soup.” The last bit wasn’t a lie. Who knew he’d miss something so silly?