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well, I'll send him in on my way out."
    "Layla?" I ask without turning to look at her.
    "Yes, Junco?"
    "Why aren't you on trial for treason?"
    "I'm his subordinate, Junco. He's my captain. I could no more deny his order to save you than anyone else on the ship."
    I close my eyes and never even hear the other avian enter because I simply shut down and go looking for the dock.
    But it's gone.
    So I settle for nightmares. They come easy. History repeating.
     
     
     
    I toss and turn in the bed as my nose wrinkles with a familiar but out-of-place smell. It fades and my dream takes me to my bedroom where I lie on the bed in my shorts and puff on a cigar, happy with who I am.
    Wait.
    That wasn't a dream, that was real.
    Where am I?
    "Junco?"
    The strange voice triggers my reflexes. The SEAR comes out from under my shirt and I'm standing on the bed in attack mode before I can even process all my actions.
    The large avian is bent down in a defensive stance, his plasma weapon pointing up at my head. "Junco! Put it down, now!"
    "Fuck!" I let out a long sigh and retract the SEAR and slip it back into the dock. "What the fuck?"
    He watches me step off the bed and stand on the other side of the room, but he does not lower his weapon.
    "Ashur?"
    He nods.
    "Put your fucking weapon away or we're gonna tangle."
    "You cannot take that knife out, Junco. Ever. If you do, you're going to get hurt."
    I shake my head at him. "It's docked. What more do you want? Put your weapon down, Ashur – or we will fight."
    He stands upright and slides his weapon in the holster that hangs at his hip. My eyes trace the familiar smell that woke me and I lean to look past the formidable avian. A smoldering cigar is sitting in an ashtray on the table. "You did that on purpose."
    He gives me a crooked smile. "I know you like them. And I was bored. Can you think of a better way to be woken up?"
    I just stand there, kinda pissed. "Well, yeah, actually. There are about a thousand better ways of being woken up than having some strange guy in my room smoking a cigar that reminds me of home. Thanks."
    Ashur walks over to me and takes my arm and leads me over to the table where he was sitting before I went commando on him. He points to the chair and slides a cigar over. "Here, have one. Relax a little, shit. You're so jumpy."
    I don't have it in me to protest and the little gray box that holds the cigar is calling my name. I slide it out, press it to the striker, and puff. "Thanks."
    He takes his seat and I do the same, then we both puff in silence as we watch the screen on the far wall. The sound is off, but it's the news so the captions at the bottom of the feed tell all you need to know. I guess some things never change, no matter what world you're on.
    "What time is it?"
    "2 AM Standard, why? Got plans?" His lips attempt to smile around his stogie.
    "What time did I fall asleep?" I say as my attention goes back to the screen.
    "Eight or so."
    I nod. "Oh."
    "Done sleeping then?"
    I look back at him. He could be Tier's brother, that's how similar they are. "Probably."
    "Want some breakfast?"
    "No." Just the thought of food makes me want to heave.
    He takes his cigar out of his mouth. "What do you mean, no? You haven't eaten in almost two months."
    "Obviously that's not true or I would be dead. I'm definitely not hungry."
    He's still holding his cigar in his hand, not puffing. "I've already been warned about your eating habits, Junco. I'm in charge of making you eat breakfast, so we're having some."
    I screw up my face at him. "I can't think of a single person who would even know what my eating habits are, Ashur. So spare me."
    "Both Layla and Tier mentioned your lack of enthusiasm for food."
    I snort out a laugh. "And how they hell would they know?"
    "They said you were severely undernourished when we took you, that's how."
    "Which means nothing. You guys got to see the tail end of what a very bad week does to my appetite, so what? I wouldn't base anything off what I