When the barrier over the deck was reengaged, Garrison watched the planet as it fell away. It quickly became a small green dot, and the deck was bathed in sunlight from a nearby star. He purred quietly to himself, but knew he had to go back to the control room to make sure Fennec was right. Indeed, a scan of the valves and pumps read that there was no blockage, and fresh coolant was circulating. Then he called a quick meeting in the galley dining hall around lunchtime to give the men a notice---stop eating so much. The stores were vast, yes, but not endless. And to stop using up so much water in the shower systems. While the filtering systems reused the water and purified it, that could only happen three times and the filters became clogged. He needed no one to tell him just what his crew made a habit of doing in the showers to waste so much water.

On the second day away from Gaia X, a swift knock came at his door while he was napping again. They were passing a star within habitable limits and the sunlight did make him tired; when he heard what the sailor said, however, Garrison sat upright and bolted to the door, swinging it open and narrowing his eyes at the stowaway. "So we have." He said, crossing his arms. "Where did you find him?"

"In one of the crates we restocked on Gaia."

"And why were you down there?" He crossed his arms and stared at the scaly sailor with a hard gaze, and the man faltered.

"Uh... Well, I... we... were just gon---"

"Shush. If I have to assign a guard to the food stock I'll certainly do it. Now get." He put a hand on Nathaniel's shoulder and pulled him into his quarters, closing the door and turning to face him. "So you wanted to come with us." He said, raising a brow.