I sat in my bunk, holding the comm unit next to my ear. Unbeknownst to the crew, with the exception of maybe one, I had bugged the bridge so I could overhear any conversations. It was necessary. Everything was necessary.

“Captain, our sensors detect some space distortion. We believe it’s an Affini ship, most likely a scout, as there is no other reason why a ship of any kind would come to this sector.”

The captain grunted. “Hm. I suppose we should hide behind a moon or an asteroid. See if we can plan out a good attack strategy.”

“If I may, sir. There is an old abandoned Terran space station nearby. I suggest we land there, and go completely silent on all fronts. We can wait on the station itself until they leave, or get complacent. If they come across the station at all, most likely they will believe the ships are part of the debris.”

It took a good minute until the captain responded. “That’s a good idea. Send a message to the other ship, and we’ll head there immediately so as not to get caught.”

I switched off the connection. Just what I needed, to be hiding from the weeds. I joined the rebellion to FIGHT them, not run away with my tail between my legs.

I have to fight them. They took my…. My….

My…..

* * * * *

I yawned and stretched my arms. I had been reading through all I could about Terran psychology and xenodrug makeup, hoping to find something that could relate to Mint’s problem. I pressed pause on the music playlist Miss Telet - Selestea - had sent me. By now I had realized that it was probably Mint’s music. It was very… unusual, to say the least. Many mechanical drones and beeps could be found. It was to the point that I was surprised whenever I heard an actual instrument. And yet, none of the music felt… alien. I was convinced that all the music was made by Terrans at one point in time.

Miss Adalinn placed a cup next to me, and then sat across. The cup was filled with an alien liquid, one that looked like Terran tea at a glance. It smelled nice. “Have you arrived at any conclusions, darling floret?” she asked. 

I shook my head. “Nothing concrete. I have a few theories, but some would require some testing…” As I trailed off, Miss Adalinn ruffled my hair with one of her vines.

“If I had not thought that you could handle it, I would not have let the two of them propose it to you.” she reassured. 

“Yeah, I know.” I said, smiling. After the vine left, I returned my focus on the data pad. “I think I might need a little bit more to go off of, though. I might need to set up an interview with Miss Telet, ask her some questions before diving deeper into Mint…”

Miss Adalinn stood up. She used her vine to move my head so I was looking at her. “You can leave that to me. Why don’t we wash you up and get ready for sleep? It has been quite a long day.” I nodded. I had been looking through my notes and official records for a while now, and I was most definitely getting tired.

I followed her to the bathtub, which she started to fill with water as I undressed. I watched the water rise as my head filled with thoughts the same way. Miss Adalinn must’ve noticed, as she ruffled my hair once again and asked “What’s on your mind, darling?”

“Why…why do you give me these freedoms?” I asked. “I’ve seen in the records what your people do to feral Terrans, some who did even less than I did. Some of them don’t even remember their own self… So… why?”

By the time I had finished my query Miss Adalinn had gotten both me and her into the tub. She was grabbing a bottle of gel and squirting it into her hands. She started rubbing my head, making sure to scratch the substance into my hair. The sensation felt wonderful, no doubt thanks to the xenodrugs present in the gel. It didn’t matter, each scratch felt better than the previous one.

“Well,” Miss Adalinn explained. “When you were still in stasis, and the other Affini were wondering what to do with you, I looked through the Terran data pad you had at the time. It was primitive compared to our tech but your notes were fascinating to me. Your documentation skills were on par with some of the best Affini bureaucrats I’ve seen, yet it all had a wonderful personal flair with a cute heart behind it. The others wanted to erase all of that, but I couldn’t let that happen, now could I?” I was lost in the feeling, but held on to her every word. “I am surely convinced that you were in the wrong place at the wrong time. I believed that, with the right circumstances, you could flourish into something beautiful. And you have not proven me wrong yet.”

Soon enough, I was rinsed off and in the arms of Miss Adalinn, my head firmly laying on her chest. This was always my favorite part of the day. A lovely end to a harsh day. And, with Miss Adalinn’s vines hugging me every which way, I found sleep consuming me.

* * * * *

I tapped away at the data pad, looking for the questions I had written ahead of time. I was sitting in a booth at a Terran-style cafe, with Miss Adalinn beside me and Miss Telet across. She had been kind enough to meet us here for… I guess an interview? Do they do interviews on Affini ships? Do they have news? I know they certainly don’t have job interviews.

I found the questions and cleared my throat. “Um, thank you, Miss Telet, for coming to see us today.” I said, trying to sound as professional as possible.

Miss Telet smiled affectionately. “Oh, my. You don’t have to be that formal. Selestea shall suffice.” she said.

I nodded. “Of course. Selestea. Um, is Mint with you?” I asked.

Selestea shook her head. “No. I believed you wanted to speak with me alone. Did I misinterpret the message?”

“Nope. I just wanted to make sure.” I said.

Selestea’s smile widened slightly. “Do not worry, Mint is staying with one of my friends that they are quite fond of. It is adorable how worried you are about them.”

My cheeks blushed. I was hoping it would be a while before that happened. I shook my head to regain my bearings. “Right. That’s… good. Um, I have a couple questions I would like to ask you.” I continued. I cleared my throat, attempting to regain what little control I had over the conversation. “So, how long have you had Mint as a floret?”

Selestea pondered this. “Oh, about four of your Terran years, now. I remember when I first saw them. They were so scared and alone, I just had to scoop them up and take care of them.” she squealed. I smiled back, hoping to hide what I felt from hearing that. Under the table I felt a vine on my leg. Miss Adalinn must’ve noticed. I guess I’ll have to talk to her about that later. “Oh, they were such a saku hana back then.”

I perked up upon hearing that. “I’m sorry, a what?” I asked.

“Oh, I apologise.” said Selestea. “In my research of Terrans, I came across an old language a subset of your species used, before the entire race defaulted to a single language. It was such a pretty and poetic language that I ended up spending some time learning it! Saku hana directly translates into ‘blooming flower.’”

“Oh, I see. That’s quite impressive.” I observed. Selestea made a dismissive wave, as if to say it was not a big deal, which to the Affini was probably true. I took this chance to continue with my questions. “Is Mint your first floret?”

“Not at all.” Selestea responded quickly. “Mint is my third. My first floret was a quadruped sophont from a nearby galaxy. And my second floret was an insectoid sophont. Sadly, its species does not have a long lifespan.”

“I see.” I muttered, writing in my notes. “Okay…. Has anything like this happened to Mint before?”

“If you are referring to the xenodrugs not working, no.” Selestea said. “This is the first time since I got them that this has happened. If you are referring to the dreams, then yes. They have had these dreams for a while now, yet every time I press them as to what they entailed, they have always forgotten upon waking.”

Sounds consistent with what they had told me yesterday. “I see… Have you ever administered Class B xenodrugs on them?”

Selestea’s eyes widened in surprise. “Oh. That is quite the accusation.” she said. “However, in this case, your assumption is correct. I did indeed need to apply memory alteration to Mint once upon a time. It was vital in their domestication process - otherwise they would not have gotten better.”

Of course. I was expecting that. I wrote it in my notes as Miss Adalinn’s vine tightened slightly. “I’m sure they appreciate it.” I reassured. “I believe these are all the questions I have.”

“Really? Only the four? And here I thought you’d be more thorough.” Selestea stated. “Oh, well. If you have any more questions, don’t hesitate to send me a message.” She started to get up.

“Wait!” I said. Selestea stopped, smiled, and sat back down. “Um… I do have another question, but it is not really relevant to the situation.”

Selestea smiled. “It’s okay. Go ahead.”

I blushed. “That music playlist you sent me. That’s… Mint’s isn’t it?” I asked.

Selestea chuckled. “Yes, it is. I figured it might help you get a better look into their mind. It is so cute. They’re always going this way and that in a most obtuse way, and yet they always arrive at the right answer! Truly sōdaina!” She cooed about this for a while, then looked at me. “I do suppose I have a question for you, if you will permit me to ask it.”

I showed a look of confusion. “Um, go ahead…” I asked, believing I was ready for anything.

“How exactly do you know Mint?” Selestea asked. “You seem to be quite familiar with them, and yet I have not heard your name until recently. You can agree it is quite odd, yes?”

I froze. Somehow, even though I should’ve been, I was not remotely prepared for that. I felt Miss Adalinn’s vine tighten in an attempt to keep me stable. Right, I can do this.

“We… we were together once.” I explained. “Back on a Terran colony. We went to the same university. It was a while ago, and I don’t remember exactly what we went for. Kind of a waste of money, now that I think about it…” I reminisced. “I never saw them since. Until yesterday when you showed up, at least.”

Selestea gave me a patient smile. Of course it was patient, one would have to be the patient type if one was willing to deal with Mint. I used to think I was the patient type. “I see. I don’t think Mint would mind catching up. Maybe during your next ‘inspection?’” My face blushed hard. I had forgotten about that. “If you wish, I can bring you to our place. I can call Mint back.”

“No, no, that’s good.” I squirmed. “I think I need to look into a couple more things before I-”

“I think it’s a great idea.” Miss Adalinn interjected. I glared up at her with a look of desperation. She merely giggled at the sight. “Come on, darling. You can’t have an incomplete noteset, can you?” The vine tightened even more. Argh. Why did she have to decide to take control now? “Come, now, it will do you some good.”

* * * * *

The ship was quiet. And cold. The only thing powered up on the ship was the air replicators, which weren’t even that necessary since the station we were docked at had enough air, but it was the only thing that didn’t tip off other ships, so we kept it on. Most of the crew was exploring the old station, hoping to find some supplies or, at the very least, some quick entertainment to distract them from the boredom of space.

I sat in my bunk with my data pad. The power output was certainly not enough to be picked up by any sensors. Which is good, seeing as we didn’t want to be caught. I was looking through the signals coming from the Affini scout ship. Luckily, the signals were outgoing, so there wasn’t any network I had to hack into to see them, thus giving away our location. Most of it was propaganda. A message to all Terrans that the Affini only meant the best for them blah, blah, blah. Meaningless platitudes, for sure. I smiled at myself for that. I wasn’t very good at using big words, so I was proud of that one.

I convinced myself that they were lying. That the plants were certainly using Terrans for slave work or medical experiments. I had seen things on the Terran Overnet, whenever I was able to connect to it. 

All the signals continued to be similar to each other. Honestly, it was getting kind of boring. I accessed one more, just for confirmation. A video, showcasing some of the lovely “pets” of the Affini and how “wonderful” they were doing in Affini “care.” Made me want to vomit. Though it did make me wonder how they got the Terrans in the video to look so happy. That kind of emotion was hard to fake, even for the best actors, especially more so if done by force. Maybe it had something to do with all the drugs those plants were so fond of.

I was about to turn the video off when something caught my eye. I stopped, and rewinded it a bit.

No…

It can’t be…

I looked into the details of the video. Apparently the video was recent, and was put together on… the scout ship… The one nearby right now? Meaning that I could theoretically go over there right now. And get revenge RIGHT NOW. And rescue…

I tightened my throat. There was no way the captain was going to allow that. And nobody else would think about helping me. Either they would think it was a suicide mission or they just plain didn’t like me. Which, fair. I didn’t exactly make a point to get along with everyone else. Except maybe one… But it would take a lot of convincing.