S1N let out a few mini-sneezes, whiskers trembling. “Chicken? Hmm… chicken… I’ll see what I can do.” And with that, the AI was gone.

  Grinning, Juniper ran quickly back to his quarters, plumped some cushions under his bedcovers, and shoved the holocomm bracelet under the pillows. S1N’s processes would be occupied with bullying the ancient replicators into twisting some protein strands into something resembling chicken noodle soup, and VAL was far too polite to bother him while he was taking a nap. He was free to explore on his own.

  It took nearly half an hour to find the entrance to the mysterious room, but when he did, he just stood staring at the door nervously. There were symbols carved into it—not etched by laser but scored deep into the metal in brutal slashes, as though someone had written their message in a fury. Juniper reached out to touch one of them, curious, but the door slid open before he made contact. What lay beyond was nothing short of astonishing.

  Eyes wide, Juniper stepped into a world of green and breathed in the humid, earthy air. The garden was beautiful and wild, nothing like he’d ever seen before. On Terra Deux, his family had had a small garden in a special greenhouse on their property—a few Earth ferns and rose bushes that had been genetically modified to withstand the perpetual drought and searing heat of the planet. After his father’s entire fleet was destroyed by the monster solar flares, they could no longer afford the water for the garden, and the plants had turned to brown dust in less than a week.

  Feeling overwhelmed by the lush foliage surrounding him, Juniper dashed away the tears that had welled up and laughed quietly to himself, his chest tight. Softly smiling, he decided to take the path to his left, stepping carefully on the smooth grey stones so he didn’t damage the mossy ground cover. The path took him through a dense copse of trees that had big triangular leaves and pale stripes down their narrow trunks, then over a small wooden bridge with a babbling brook running beneath it. After the brook, he rounded a bend full of tall prickly shrubs and found himself surrounded by rose bushes of every imaginable colour. Nestled among the bushes and vines was a stone bench, and a little further away, as if guarding this sacred place, a marble statue of a creature that resembled a more graceful version of Captain Marrex. Looking up at the domed ceiling with its bright, warm lights, Juniper realized he had reached the centre of the hidden garden.

  He cupped a pale-blue rose in his hand, careful to mind the thorns, and leaned in to smell it.

  “What are you doing?” VAL said, appearing suddenly. “You can’t be in here!”

  Startled, Juniper took a step back. “I… I was…”

  “If the captain catches you in here, he’ll—” VAL stopped. “Are you crying?”

  Wiping his tears away and feeling silly about shedding tears over trees and bushes, Juniper shrugged. “I was just walking around.”

  “Yes, well, you shouldn’t be walking here. This is definitely and completely off-limits. I’m not even supposed to be here. Come now.” The AI floated back along the path, then paused when he saw Juniper wasn’t following. “You really must get out of here.”

  “What is this place?” Juniper asked, stalling. He didn’t want to leave the rich, warm smell of living plants just yet. “I don’t recognize some of these trees… are they from the captain’s planet?”

  “Yes. Well, most. Some of the roses are hybrids… Old Earth stock spliced with Ghelyx varietals.”

  “Ghelyx? Is that where the captain is from? I’ve never heard of it,” Juniper lied as he ran his fingers along the curling leaf of what looked like a grapevine. He took another deep rose-scented breath, closing his eyes.

  “Ghelyxians were part of the council that initiated Contact with Old Earth. Seeing as your species originated there, it surprises me that you didn’t learn about them in school.”

  “Oh? I thought it was the Hoch who initiated Contact…” The light from above almost felt like real sunlight on Juniper’s skin. Not the scorching twin suns of Terra Deux—no, this was like the life-giving Sol of Old Earth, a place he’d only read about.

  “What sort of substandard education system did you have on Terra Deux? You should have learned about the—ohh, I see what you’re doing. Juniper Bo,” VAL said, sounding oddly like his sister Acacia when she was annoyed at him, “you’re going to get us both in trouble if we don’t get out of here now.”

  With a sigh, Juniper gazed back longingly at the little clearing with its bench and statue. It would be just the perfect place to sit and read in the afternoons, surrounded by flowers with only the lulling chatter of the stream in the background.

  “Why is this off-limits?” he asked, pausing to pluck a small pink rose off a bush as he passed it. Seeing that it was thornless, he tucked it behind his ear, skipping over every second paving stone to keep up with VAL.

  “It just is,” VAL answered peevishly.

  Juniper took one last look at the greenery and stepped out into the cold grey sterile hallway. He sighed. “How did you find me anyway?” he asked, starting back towards his quarters.

  “I can track anything on the ship.”

  “Oh. It wasn’t the bracelet then?”

  “No.” VAL’s smooth face rippled from green to bright pink. “I want to commend you on how well you distracted S1N though. I’m afraid he might have to be rebooted.”

  “That bad, eh?” Juniper replied, worried he’d caused a mess of trouble, but VAL was smiling.

  “He got himself into an infinite loop trying to force the replicators to comply to his request—every readout on the ship is showing the same word over and over.”

  “Chicken?” Juniper guessed with a laugh.

  “That’s it.”

  Chapter 5

  Juniper Screws Up

  “Captain?”

  The captain lifted his head, startled, and turned towards the young man standing in the entrance to the dining hall.

  Juniper’s eyes widened and his face flushed. “I know I’m not supposed to be out of my quarters, but I wanted to apologize for disrupting the ship’s navigation computer yesterday. I’m very sorry and I promise it won’t happen again,” he said in one breath.

  Marrex stared at Juniper in silence for a few moments. The Human was wearing the top half of an Angorran deputy’s uniform—an orange and red short-sleeved, high-collared jacket with glossy black buttons down the left side—and a pair of bright-green Melloran dance trousers. The pants were far too big for Juniper’s slim build, but he’d cinched them tight at the waist with a yellow and orange silk scarf, its tasselled ends hanging down to his knee on one side. With his thick hair loose over his shoulders, the riotous colours of his clothes, and his feet bare, he looked like some kind of wild bohemian… but the effect was not unattractive.

  “That’s fine,” Marrex muttered, looking back down at his bowl of rocklum stew. Or at least that’s what it was supposed to be… it tasted somewhat fishy. After a few seconds, he looked up again and saw Juniper had taken a few steps into the room and stood staring at him timidly. “What is it?”

  “Can… I… um… join you?” asked Juniper. He had his hands jammed into his trouser pockets and elbows locked straight with shoulders held high.

  Marrex was taken aback by both the request and Juniper’s hope-filled expression.

  “Who let you out of your room?” Marrex asked. “VAL?”

  “Um, yeah. Don’t be mad at him,” Juniper said, taking another step towards Marrex. “I told VAL I wanted to apologize in person, and he agreed it was a good idea.”

  Marrex sighed. He had a feeling if he turned Juniper away, the AIs would conspire to throw the young man in his path again.

  “Sit,” he growled.

  “Oh! Yes, sir,” Juniper said, plunking down in the seat opposite the captain. “Thank you, sir.”

  Marrex nodded and let out a soft grunt, returning to his meal, but his hopes for a quiet supper were dashed when Juniper spoke up again.

  “So, where are we going, anyway? S1N and VAL just say that our course avoids all planets and starports, but they won’t tell me why. Is that why you can’t drop me off somewhere? Are you on a secret mission?”

  Frowning, Marrex spooned up another mouthful and chewed. After he’d swallowed with a grimace, he gave a headshake.

  “Oh. Well, why won’t they tell me where we’re going? And for that matter, they’re really tight-lipped about you too. I’ve tried asking them about you, you know, in case we ever talked I wanted to know a little about you so I didn’t say something stupid… because I’m really grateful that you found me and everything…”

  “Do you always talk so much?” Marrex asked, not looking up from his food.

  Juniper let out an awkward laugh. “Um… only when I’m nervous. I’ve never met a Ghelyxian before. Or an Imperial captain, for that matter. I come from a pretty small town, and we don’t really have many non-Humans and the only captains I’ve ever met were cargo ship captains…” Juniper trailed off as Marrex raised his head to stare at him. “Aaannd I’m talking again. I’ll be quiet.” He pressed his lips together and mimed locking them with a key and throwing it away.

  Marrex snorted, then wiped his mouth with a napkin. Juniper just smiled at him in a friendly way. Finally, Marrex sighed again.

  “They can’t tell you anything about me except in a general sense. I won’t allow it… their programming is locked.”

  Juniper’s brows rose and he nodded silently.

  “And it’s not a secret mission. The Stellerion patrols the black for salvageable detritus.”

  Pointing to himself, Juniper cocked his head, and Marrex sat back, crossing his arms.

  “This is becoming tedious. Talk.”

  “Thank you.” Juniper grinned wide. “You mean like the shuttlecraft you found me in?”

  “Yes, exactly.”

  “Did you piss someone off?” Juniper asked.

  “What?” Marrex sat up straighter, fixing Juniper with a hard stare.

  “You know, to get such a terrible, lonely posting. Or… did you request it?”

  Marrex snorted again, not knowing what to think of this conversation. He wasn’t used to talking, much less talking about himself, and Juniper seemed primed to delve into his business. However, for some reason it wasn’t really bothering him that much. Maybe it was because Juniper seemed honestly interested in engaging him… maybe it was because he was such a treat on the eyes and smelled as good as he looked. Whatever it was, Marrex felt himself mellowing in the young man’s presence and it was… nice.

  “You’re not afraid of me,” he said, ignoring Juniper’s questions.

  Juniper looked confused, narrowing his dark eyes at the captain. “Why would I be afraid of you?”

  From Marrex’s experience, many smaller humanoids found even healthy Ghelyxians a touch intimidating. With his extensive deformities, Marrex was surprised that Juniper had no problems looking at him.

  “Are you planning on doing something… um, unpleasant to me?” Juniper said. “Because you don’t seem like that kind of guy to me. Yeah, maybe you’re a bit standoffish, but I don’t believe that someone who takes the time to maintain such a beautiful garden could be the kind of—”

  Alarmed, Marrex growled, leaning forward so his face was close to Juniper’s. “Who told you about the garden?”

  “Oh. Ha ha. Well, I-I found it yesterday, and it really is very, very lovely…” Juniper’s breaths came in small huffs and the fear was plain in his eyes, but he held Marrex’s gaze and didn’t back away.

  Flaring his nostrils, Marrex bared his fangs, furious that his sacred space had been violated.

  “VAL!” Marrex roared, and the AI appeared immediately, pale and transparent.

  “Yes… Captain?” VAL whispered nervously.

  “Take him back to his room, and he’s not to come out again until I say so. No exceptions.”

  Juniper’s face had gone ashen. “I’m sorry, Captain. I am so sorry.”

  Marrex watched VAL escort Juniper out of the dining hall. As soon as they were out of sight, he stood and brought down both fists hard on the table, denting the metal and sending his bowl flying.

  “I messed up. Fuck, I messed up really bad,” Juniper kept repeating as he followed VAL down the corridor.

  “It’s not… that bad,” VAL said, but his tone was unconvincing.

  “I’m so stupid,” Juniper groaned. “Why did I mention the garden?”

  “Because you’re a big fucking idiot,” S1N answered, jumping out of thin air to begin walking upside down on the ceiling.

  Grimacing, Juniper just nodded. “I am. I really am.”

  “And you’re not forgiven for jamming up my system,” the cat added.

  “I didn’t know it was going to cause so much trouble…” Juniper felt so low he thought he was going to start crying.

  “I was trying to do something nice for you, and I almost never go out of my way to do anything nice for anyone,” S1N replied primly.

  “It’s true,” VAL agreed. “He doesn’t.”

  “I am so sorry,” Juniper said, rubbing his face. “God, I wish I could just take back the last two days.” But that wasn’t really true—he would have missed the lush greenery of the wonderful hidden garden, and he wouldn’t change that experience for a million credits. However, now that he knew the garden was there, it was always in his thoughts. No wonder he had mentioned it to the captain. Remembering what had prompted him to bring it up, he said, “He and I were having a perfectly pleasant conversation, and then he suddenly asked me why I wasn’t afraid of him. I know you two aren’t able to answer questions about him in any kind of detail… but can you give me a clue about why he thought I would be afraid? Has he hurt people? Is this why he’s basically in exile?”

  “How do you know he’s exiled?” VAL asked, his face going bright yellow.

  “I figure no one would take such a lonely, depressing post unless they were trying to get away from everyone or if they were forced to take it because of something they’d done.”

  S1N and VAL exchanged a glance and then both fixed on Juniper.

  “Have you ever seen a Ghelyxian before?” asked S1N. The tip of his tail twitched, and the cat did a slow barrel roll in the air until he was hovering in front of Juniper’s face.

  “No. Never. Why?”

  “Do you know what they’re supposed to look like?”

  “Um… not really. Should I?”

  “You weren’t kidding about the lousy school system on Terra Deux, were you?” VAL said.

  Juniper let out a short laugh and shrugged. “Yeah, it was pretty basic. The solar flares that hit Terra Deux all the time fry electronics and knock out power grids. Big cities like Gatineau and Marseille have good shielding so their libraries are pretty complete, but in Port-Cartier where I lived, we didn’t have much. Not a single up-to-date database. You ever seen a chalkboard?”

  “Erm, no?” VAL replied.

  “Well, I have,” Juniper said with a wry grin. He wondered whether his father and sisters still lived in Port-Cartier. Maybe he’d find out one day if he hadn’t completely wrecked his chances of calling home. “The only reason we were out in the boonies was because Dad liked having a big house. Can’t have that in a city… But, in the end, right before I left, the house was almost empty. My dad sold most of the furniture—and some of it had been in the family for generations—just to keep the lights on.” Juniper shook himself out of his memories, aware that the two AIs were soberly watching him as they kept pace. Even S1N looked concerned.

  “I’m sorry. What were you saying about Ghelyxians?” Juniper asked, feeling tired and lonely on top of the disappointment he felt over his gaffe with Captain Marrex.

  “I can’t get into specifics about the captain, and he’s purged some records from the system… but Ghelyxian biology might interest you,” S1N said in a quiet voice.

  “Does it have to do with the captain thinking I should be afraid of him?” Juniper said, curious about what they were driving at.

  “Yes,” VAL said, sounding inspired. “Shall I pull up those sections of the database in your quarters?”

  “Sure. Why not. I’ve got all the time in the world now, don’t I?” Juniper replied with a sigh.

  The sun shone on Juniper’s face, and he smiled, stretching out on the soft grass with his hands behind his head. Two purple butterflies twirled and fluttered overhead, and the breeze was warm and smelled of flowers. Juniper couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so happy and comfortable. Not for a long time.

  When a shadow crept slowly across his chest, Juniper sat up, shading his eyes. It came from the small statue of the Ghelyxian he’d seen in the captain’s garden. As if his noticing it brought it to life, the statue stepped down from its pedestal and hopped towards Juniper. Slowly, the stone changed colour, its pelt becoming a glossy red and its two horns—not four—turning black. Instead of sharp yellow fangs, it had a mouth of somewhat blunter white teeth, and the claws at the ends of its small hands were short and not hooked like the captain’s. Now that Juniper knew this was what a healthy Ghelyxian was supposed to look like, thanks to the ship’s database, he felt he understood the captain’s surly demeanor a little better.

  The miniature Ghelyxian peered curiously at Juniper, tilting its head to get a better look at him, and Juniper noticed that it was completely naked—and not only that… it was sporting a rather proud erection.

  Funny how that always happens in dreams, thought Juniper. One minute you’re doing something normal—the next, someone naked comes along. He definitely knew it was a dream, there was no other way he could be lying where he was, being scrutinized by a naked Ghelyxian manikin.

  “I wonder… do you like me?” he asked and let out a slow breath when he saw he was naked too. Funny dreams.