Caelan stared around the ship as Shahnaz led xie from the airlock. Xie stared even more as Shahnaz activated a tiny tractor beam crane set in the ceiling to lift the escape pod. It ended up tucked into a corner of one of four storage bays. Small, dimly lit, filled with huge heavy grey crates marked with 'food', 'imperishable' and 'handle with care' in six different languages. None of which were Gensynian.
He was a strange man, average height but so thin that he looked like someone a quarter his height stretched to make an artificial height goal. Apparently from a low gravity world. Despite that, he was rather lovely. Strong cheekbones, dark golden-grown skin, straight brown hair pulled back into a tight bun at the base of his neck.
Shahnaz wore a hat, a little square cap decorated with so much complicated hand embroidery that Caelan couldn't see what color the base fabric was. His deep blue shirt was simply styled, a long-sleeved pull-over style with a front slit to get his head through but it was covered with the same hand embroidery as the hat. Even his black pants had embroidery on the hems. It was all worn and familiar-looking, rumpled the way that ordinary every-day clothes tended to be.
"There's two bunks open," Shahnaz said once the pod had been stashed. "You'll have to make the bed. I don't sleep in there. You will, of course, have to watch out for the books."
"Books?" Caelan asked. "I thought this was an asteroid tender."
"Mmm, it is," Shahnaz said. He smiled, mischievous and sly. His plain grey eyes sparkled, going the blue of fountain water cascading down just before it hit the basin. "But it was designed to be a private yacht. I inherited it and… modified it."
"A yacht?"
Caelan stared more openly now. Xie could see it now that Shahnaz had pointed it out. The little things that had bothered xie made more sense. Instead of plain steel walls with rivets, the ship had time-softened reed matting overlaying heavy-duty linen, both smudged from wear. The ceiling and floor both had elegantly sculpted beading hiding the seal joining them to the walls. Underfoot the blue and grey carpet, while old and worn, was clearly one of the durable ones that they wove on Sharyn made of bast fiber and oxen wool that lasted for fifty to a hundred years.
"Do you have a name I could use?" Shahnaz asked. Both his tone and the respectful way he held his hands behind his back, loosely looped, suggested that he'd accept it if Caelan chose not to give him one. "And do you claim a gender?"
"No gender," Caelan said, snorting. "I'm Gensyn. It's rather pointless. You can call me Caelan."
"Caelan it is, then," Shahnaz said so agreeably that Caelan eyed him. "I'm male, just so you know. Don't imagine it matters that much."
He smiled companionably when Caelan nodded. No matter how oddly attractive Shahnaz was, Caelan would not submit to a relationship right now. Everything that xie had left behind made that a phenomenally stupid idea. Not that Caelan intended to tell Shahnaz that. He didn't seem at all curious either.
"All right," Shahnaz said as he gestured towards the doors lining the hallway. "This is the first open bunk. Other is across the hall. The galley is third door up on the left and the bathroom is third on the right. Do mind how much water you use. I've meant to update the water filtration system but haven't gotten there yet. I've got the other two bunks full of books like the first two holds. Hydroponics are down the stairs beyond the galley. Watch the fifth step. It's a bit loose. Haven't fixed that either. I'll be up in the command center plotting which way to send my herd. Then we can be off. Feel free to look around but I'd appreciate it if you didn't touch anything. Oh, unless you'd like to pick some tomatoes in hydroponics. I was aiming to make lunch when the sensors went off."
Caelan stared as he calmly babbled and then nodded once toward them. He strode off towards the bow of the ship, leaving xir alone. No supervision, no warnings about getting into the engine room, nothing.
"That was… not what I expected," Caelan whispered.
How odd to be so completely trusted with no information traded, no checks, no questions asked at all. Shahnaz either had to be a complete fool or so certain of his control over the ship that he didn't fear Caelan causing trouble.
"Or perhaps he's just that good at reading people," Caelan murmured as xie peeked into one of the two 'book' bunks.
The stateroom had been quite nice originally. Caelan could see the outlines of the designer's intent. There were lovely couches for the residents to recline in, now buried under stacks of books. The bunk itself was large enough for three to cuddle comfortably. It was filled with books, too. Where there had been a comfortable round table with bolted down stools there was now a huge mound of books all carefully stacked in an interlocking format so that they wouldn't shift during extreme maneuvers.
The other 'library' bunk had actual shelves, each with restraints that would keep the books from flying about. When Caelan checked the two library holds all xie could do was stare, mouth dropped open. Bookshelves stretched from floor to ceiling, bolted in place. They'd been completely filled so Shahnaz had packed books into boxes between them.
"He has thousands upon thousands of credits in books," Caelan murmured as xe studied one of the shelves. "Perhaps hundreds of thousands of credits."
A quick check showed that the two remaining bunks were perhaps a quarter filled, books on the couches and tables but not completely filling the bed. Yet. Strangely, the galley was completely empty of books. Well, not completely. There were three cookbooks, all paper and well worn, but that was all.
"He lets me wander the ship without supervision but locks the refrigerator door?" Caelan said, frowning as he tugged at the handle and completely failed to open it. "What sort of person am I beholden to?"
A search for the engine room, always revealing, dropped Caelan into heaven: hydroponics. Xe'd expected a little room packed with fast-growing plants picked specifically for their oxygen generation but no, this was as odd as everything else on Shahnaz's little yacht turned asteroid tender.
Hydroponics was a huge room, perhaps the full length of the ship, filled with food plants and flowers of hundreds of varieties. Climbing beans with long pods dangled from the ceiling over tomato plants heavy with golden, purple and red fruits. Huge zinnia bloomed next to delicate air ferns. One corner near the door was filled with beautiful orchids that had to have been specially purchased at the greatest of cost. One of those orchids, clipped, would cost a thousand credits back home. Caelan counted fifty live orchids all quietly growing in this odd, odd ship.
"Ah, you decided to see hydroponics, hey?" Shahnaz said from the doorway.
He grinned at Caelan's start of fear and then laughed when Caelan gestured towards the orchids.
"I do not understand anything about this ship or you," Caelan complained. "The sheer number of books, a luxury yacht used to herd asteroids, and orchids? A true hydroponic garden?"
"Eh, when I inherited the Blessed Prayer from my great-uncle I also got a nice trust fund," Shahnaz explained. He picked up a small basket that Caelan hadn't noticed by the door, going and collecting tomatoes from the vine. As well as taking several handfuls of ripe bean pods. "I always loved learning. Never liked school. So when I decided to use the ship to help build Tasma's stations I started getting books. My digital library is even larger than my print one. Very little overlap, though. Should probably think about fixing that."
"And this?" Caelan asked as xe followed Shanaz down one aisle only to whine at the sight of mushrooms being grown on a chunk of real wood set in a shadowed spot underneath one of the hydroponics tables. "This garden of Eden?"
"I'm Muslim," Shahnaz explained as if that explained anything. "I wanted to be sure my food was halal and the easiest way of doing that was to buy staples in bulk from people I trust and grow the rest myself. Besides, food tastes better when you grow it and cook it yourself."
Caelan sighed as xe rubbed xir hands over xir face and then through xir hair, probably creating a horrible mess of the curls. "I can't deny it. I just…"
"It's a bit much," Shahnaz agreed so calmly that someone, perhaps several someones, had told him he was crazy. "You'll feel better with some food. Come eat."
Lunch, such as it was given that Caelan hadn't eaten for two days prior to being rescued, was a delicious salad with fresh beans, tomato, and spicy vinaigrette over a bed of fresh herbs. With that there was a sandwich on home-made bread, thick and crusty, slathered with mustard, a crumbly cheese and heavy with slow cooked beef that made Caelan's stomach rumble as soon as the bin was opened.
"Don't have much to drink," Shahnaz said as he gave Caelan xir salad and sandwich. "Water or lemonade, your choice."
"Water would be excellent as long as it doesn't taste metallic," Caelan said.
Shahnaz winked, grinned and poured two lemonades. "Best be lemonade then. I really do need to upgrade the water treatment system. I distill the water for the lemonade."
Which was sweet and tart and a perfect complement to the meal. Shahnaz whispered a quiet prayer before eating but didn't seem disturbed at all that Caelan began eating immediately. It tasted even better than it had looked. Rather to Caelan's surprise, xir stomach didn't immediately protest for more once xe was done eating though it wouldn't be long.
"The fridge locks, just so you know," Shahnaz said. He nodded towards it. "Big green button on the side of it is the unlock. Press that, pull the handle and you can get whatever else you'd like."
"I should eat more," Caelan said, making a face at the rudeness of eating him out of house and home. "Gensyn eat much more than standard humans do."
"That's fine," Shahnaz said. He laughed around a bite of salad when Caelan glared at him. "You're my guest, Caelan. I take hospitality seriously. Whatever you chose to flee from was obviously very serious. Even Gensyn need to have food, water and air. That pod wouldn't have kept you alive more than a week or two."
"I… had plans," Caelan said reluctantly. "Which I should not share."
"You don't need to," Shahnaz replied. He rested his chin on one palm, circled the fork in the air with the other as he smiled so very gently. "Do let me know if I should expect an attack somewhere along the way or if you need anything special. My life is my own. I can do what I want, go where I want, see what I want. Right now, I choose to take you home. Explaining everything else can wait, I think. You were only just saved."
Caelan bit xir lip and nodded. How odd to have complete acceptance come from someone who was not Gensyn. Rather than face those calm, too perceptive eyes, Caelan took xir plates to the sink and then opened the fridge. So much food, all of it hand cooked or sealed with symbols that signified that it was halal. Grabbing the tub of beef, Caelan came back to the table with xir fork only to pause when Shahnaz frowned.
"That's much better warmed up," Shahnaz said. He stood and took the tub, warming it in the microwave built above he stove. "Trust me on that. It's fine cold in a sandwich that has plenty of other interest in it but plain? Nothing else? You want it warm."
"I want the protein," Caelan said and then blinked when xe realized that xe was on the verge of belly laughs. Or perhaps hysterical laughter. Xe cleared xir throat. "Hot or cold makes little difference to my stomach."
"It's your taste buds that I'm concerned about," Shahnaz replied. He slid the now steaming beef back over to Caelan and went back to eating his salad. "Your stomach won't care but your tongue will."
Caelan shook xir head even though xir nose was saying that Shahnaz was entirely right. "Tell me about your books? You have so many. What have you studied? What are you studying now?"
Predictably, Shahnaz lit up with delight at the opportunity to talk about something that obviously meant a great deal to him. Caelan settled in to eat and listen. For now, xe was safe. It would have to do until xe could get back home. Xe didn't really think that xe would make it all the way home without trouble but for the next half hour or so, Caelan decided not to worry. There was good food and an interesting companion to talk to.
Plans could wait until Caelan knew more about the lay of this particular place.