I stopped by the hydroponic garden on my way to the galley. The garden was mostly self-contained, but I enjoyed spending time in the greenery. One of the first things I’d done after I bought the ship was install a little table and a few comfy chairs in the back corner. I’d planted honeysuckle and trained it to climb a lightweight arbor over the space. The vines draped over the entrance, creating a little oasis of green.

Luna headed straight for her perch in the arbor. I decided I could spare five minutes for mental health, so I followed her and sank into a low chair with thick padding. The blossom-heavy vines waved gently in the room’s ventilation and blocked some of the bright overhead grow lights.

The distant rumble of the fan merged with Luna’s low purr of contentment. I closed my eyes and let the soothing sound and the sweet smell of honeysuckle flowers melt away my stress.

After a few minutes, I reluctantly climbed to my feet. If I stayed any longer, I would fall asleep. I checked on the plants. Vegetables and herbs in various stages of development grew on shallow, multilevel racks filled with circulating, nutrient-dense water. The lights automatically simulated a day-night cycle.

A hydroponic garden was expensive, in terms of both weight and space, but it also helped both the air and water scrubbers. And sometimes eating fresh vegetables in deep space made all the difference—along with sitting in the bright sun lights and admiring the greenery.

Thanks to Eli’s supply run, we had a lot of fresh vegetables already, so I harvested only some herbs. Tonight I would make a veggie paella, which would provide us with plenty of leftovers for lunch.

Kee was vegetarian, so most of our meals were made with synthetic, plant-based protein. Eli and I rarely bothered with meat now, even when we had the money to afford it. It’d taken a bit for me to dial in my recipes—I’d turned out some truly abhorrent meals in the early days—but now I was as comfortable cooking vegetarian as I had been cooking with meat.

I called Luna and she reluctantly emerged. She loved this room. After I’d made sure she wouldn’t mess with the plants, I’d put a sensor on the door so that it would open for her from either side. When she disappeared from the rest of the ship, the odds were good that I would find her asleep on her perch in the vines.