“Sort of,” he tells me. “Just follow. You’ll see where we’re going in just a moment.”
I let him lead me through the station, down one hall and then another. It’s busier down here, and the people look nicer, but the evening is still ruined for me. I just want to go back to the Sister and get in my sleep tunic and forget about this day. Even my stomach is upset from all the veg and the fruity drinks. We head down another hall that ends abruptly, leading toward big covered windows. There’s a door and a bot standing next to it, and Mathiras heads right for that.
“Two tickets,” he says, inserting a credit into the bot’s head.
“Enjoy your visit,” the bot says in a sweet voice, spitting out two tiny chips of plastic from the spot its mouth should be.
This isn’t the ship. “Where are we going?” I ask Mathiras, frowning. “I thought we were heading back.”
“There was one last thing I wanted to show you,” is all he says, leading me forward by the hand. “Come on.”
We step into an antechamber and wait as it “decontaminates” us. Then, the doors open behind us.
And I gasp.
“Welcome to Haal Ui’s gardens,” Mathiras says, tugging me forward by the hand. “What do you think?”
I stare in awe at this strange place. I’ve never seen so much color, not even back on Risda. This room is enormous, bigger than the Little Sister entirely. It has a high ceiling, and mock-sunlight streams out from high above, while puffy clouds dance across the “sky.” Below the sky there are plants of all kinds, in every shade of green. They’re arranged in neat beds, the green leaves tipped with bright colors of pink and red and yellow and blue flowers. This place smells like earth and loam and perfume and I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.
I move toward the closest bed of flowers. It’s raised up, as high as my knee, with leaves spilling over the metal sides and pretty little flowers shaped like stars covering the plants. Behind the yellow stars, there’s a bright blue climbing stalk that has heavy, bulbous blooms drooping down like bells, and as I watch, a droplet of nectar falls from the center and splashes onto one of the leaves. Immediately, a tiny red and blue creature buzzes and swoops in to drink the nectar, and I gasp in delight.
Turning, I look over at Mathiras incredulously. “Is that a bird?”
“It’s an insect,” he tells me, grinning. “A pollinator. But they do have birds here. Do you want to see them?”
At my eager nod, he puts a hand on the small of my back and leads me through the gardens. It’s impossible for me to take in the riots of colors, the scents, and when a creature the size of my hand flutters overhead, I squeal in terror and move closer to Mathiras.
He chuckles, putting an arm around my shoulders. “The birds only eat berries, I promise. They won’t harm you.”
“Can we feed them?” I ask, wide-eyed. “I ate all my fruit from earlier.”
Mathiras pulls out a credit and holds it into the air. “I’ll let you feed them, sure…but you have to tell me what’s bothering you first.”
CHAPTER 34
MATHIRAS
I’ve always thought of myself as a strong male, capable of putting aside emotion to get the job done. Apparently not, because the moment I can sense Helen is unhappy, it tears me apart inside, and I’ll do anything to fix it. So here we are, in Haal Ui’s overpriced gardens, where I’m about to spend far too many credits so Helen can feed berries to the fat, greedy birds that dwell here and harass the tourists.
But I think she’ll love it, and that’s why we’re here. I need to see her smile again.
She gives me a look, and her ooli face is so comically sad that it pains me. “Back at the cantina…that praxiian tried to buy me.”
“I would never let him—”
“I know,” Helen says softly. “But it made me realize that to everyone in the universe, I’m just a thing to be owned. I’m not a person. I’m not Helen. And that made me sad.” She reaches out and touches one of the flowers, and a pollinator indignantly flies out of it. “Those women at the cantina, they’re not people, either. They’re just things to spank. I bet they don’t even want to be spanked. And that makes me sad, too.”
I move closer to her, taking her hands in mine. “I know. I wish I could tell you that he was a fluke. That it’ll be different somewhere else. But it was like this for Zoey, and it’ll be like this for you. It’s not a kind universe. It’s unfair to everyone that isn’t born to the right families, or born the wrong type of person. You’re going to meet more people like that praxiian, and we’re going to see more slaves. It’s the nature of things. I wish I could save the entire universe, but I can’t.” I squeeze her gloved hands, wishing I could feel the warmth of her skin. “But I can—and I will—protect you. Just like I protected my sister Zoey. I want you to know you’ll be safe with me.”