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ended up holding on to his arm. It wasn't a very manly thing to do, but he didn't comment on it.
    When it was finished, he asked, "When you finish with all of these movies, what will you do for a new hobby?"
    "Actually, I do have a hobby, sir," I said quietly.
    "Really?" He leaned forward, green eyes shining with interest. "What is it?"
    I wavered. I hadn't shown anyone my secret since my parents died. No one knew about it, and I guarded it jealously. It was the only thing I had which reminded me of them, and so valuable that I knew if anyone else was aware I had it they might try to steal it. But then I met his gaze and knew that this was one thing about myself that I could share with him.
    I exhaled slowly , hobbled on my crutches over to the closet, and pulled out my pack. I reached down inside and unzipped the hidden zipper. Then I pulled out a carefully wrapped sock. I walked over and handed it to him.
    He opened the sock slowly and pulled out the glowing vial within. "A crystal computer," he barely whispered, watching the tiny lights inside float in space. His eyes glowed with their reflection.
    "Yes, sir," I whispered back. "This is how I keep up my language skills. I t contains texts and sound files of each of the languages I know. They are mostly histories, so I read the histories of the various peoples in my free time."
    "And this was your parents' ." He guessed, finally breaking his gaze from the device and looking at me.
    "Yes, sir. It is the only thing I have left of them." I could feel my eyes grow bright, but I had only cried the one time since the funeral, and I didn't want to break down in front of the captain again. It was better not to show weakness.
    His large hand landed on my shoulder gently. "It's all right to miss your parents, Simmons," he said gruffly.
    I cleared my throat. "I know, sir."
    He took one last look at the vial, and then held it out to me. He clasped my hand in his as he placed the vial in my palm.
    "Thank you for sharing this with me," he said. "I'll be right back."
    He returned in a few moments with the glowing cube I had seen before, and handed it to me gently. "These are the people that I miss."
    I put my eye up to the cube, and inside I could see different videos playing on each of nine small screens. There were his parents, I could tell from the similarity of their features. But there was also a video of a much younger captain, along with a young woman and a baby.
    "Were you married, sir?" I asked.
    I saw pain flash briefly in his eyes. "Yes, Simmons, when I was just a couple of years older than you, in fact. My parents had given me money and I had just bought my own ship, ready to go out on my own. I married my childhood sweetheart and she came with me. We had a child..." His voice trailed off and his eyes glazed over.
    "Captain," I said. He shook his head slightly and his eyes refocused.
    "Sorry, I don't talk about it much now. Remember how I told you that this line of work is more dangerous? Neither of us wanted to be apart, so she came with me and we had the baby on my ship. But about a year after we had the baby, one of our negotiations went bad. I was in one of the small shuttles, on the way back to my ship." He put his head in his hands. "They blew up my ship in front of my eyes."
    I was filled with horror , and had no idea what to say. So I put my hand on his shoulder and just sat next to him.
    Finally, he raised his head and looked at me. His eyes were bright , but his face looked determined. "That's why I don't allow women on my ship now. All of the men know the dangers of working in space, doing what we do, and accept them. But if any member of my crew wants to get married, I give them a good parting salary and help them find a job on a planet, or a less dangerous ship."
     
    After he went back to his quarters that night, I stared into the darkness, thinking of what he'd been through. I knew for certain that I could never share my secret now. But his story pulled at my