Chevon's Mate by April Zyon Page B

Other than being able to get out of our rooms, that is?”
    “You have to wait to see.”
Pulling on her hand, he led her down the corridor to the lifts. Inside he gave the AI a floor, then
stood there waiting patiently. Here she was, practically ready to crawl out of
her skin, and he looked calm as could be. The fact that he knew where they were
going was in his favor of course.
    Reaching their floor, he guided
her through the empty corridors and stopped before a large set of doors. Chevon
punched in a code, and when the doors slid open she knew exactly where she was. The
scent of flowering bushes and humid air rushed out into the corridor.
    Laura closed her eyes and
inhaled deeply. She had never smelled anything so sweet before. She knew they were in some sort of hydroponics bay
but she wasn’t sure what kind. Opening her eyes, she looked at the lush greenery in the
massive space and smiled. “This is really lovely. Thank you for bringing me
here.”
    He urged her inside, the doors
sliding shut behind them. “The entire floor is for hydroponics. A little under
half is this public space where the crew can come to relax among the various trees and flowers. The other half is where
our vegetables and fruits are grown. It allows us to keep them fresh and unstored. It also
provides some of the crew the relaxation therapy of gardening.”
    Laura nodded. “There’s just
something fabulous about getting your hands dirty and watching something grow
from the fruits of the labor that you put into the dirt.”
    Tucking her hand through his arm, he led her deeper into the space. “There are some benches among the trees where you can
settle in to relax, or read, too. Any areas like this one that is cordoned off,
do not go into. Either the plants are endangered or they are mildly poisonous.
We don’t have any that are truly dangerous, but there are a few that can cause
minor skin rashes and so on.”
    “I’ll be doubly careful because I ’ve never been around any of
your greenery or flowering plants before.” The last thing she wanted was to
have a sudden allergic reaction to something that was in a space created for
peace and tranquility.
    “The doctor will have run the
full screen of possible allergens. I’ll check the report to see if there’s
anything we need to be worried about. I should have looked beyond foodstuffs but it wasn’t a concern until
now. You have no known allergies to any Imarian foods or spices. Come, I want
to show you my favorite spot in here. I don’t get here nearly as often as I
would like anymore ,
but I spend time down here when I
can.” He led her deeper into the room to a spot where a waterfall tumbled in
such a manner that it appeared to come through the hull and down into a pool of
water where fish darted around. A little beyond the pool was a swinging bench
seat he settled down onto, with her in his lap.
    She shifted slightly so that she was more comfortable,
sighing when she leaned back against Chevon. “I could get used to this.” The
sound of the water, the slight breeze created by the hidden fans, all of it was
utterly perfect and so romantic. “I can see why this would be your favorite
spot, Chevon.”
    “All the better now that I have
you to share it with. This is one of the few places on the cruiser where all
the sounds the ship makes are completely drowned out. There’s a constant hum,
mainly from the engines, that fills the ship at all hours. Down here there’s
nothing but the sound of water.”
    “And the breeze from the silent
fans that are blowing. It’s perfect. I’m sure that many of your crew have claimed this as their
favorite spot.” Hanging suspended as they were was perfect. It was comfortable
and relaxing, the gentle sway as Chevon pushed his foot against the ground to
set them into motion from time to time.
    “Thank you for sharing your
space with me, ”
she told him as they rocked. “And if you ever need time here away from me, you’ll tell me, right?”