Illphated

Love in the Neon Garden

The bioluminescent leaves shimmered under the pink and blue glow of the dome’s artificial sky. Logan “Red” McCall adjusted the brim of his high-tech Stetson, his red beard illuminated by the neon reflections around him. Beside him, his wife, Cass, traced her fingers over the leaves of an alien orchid, her green eyes sparkling with curiosity.

“This one’s a beauty,” she murmured.

Red chuckled. “You say that about every plant we pass.”

Cass grinned. “That’s because I love them all.”

They had traveled light-years to this floating greenhouse on the edge of the Andromeda trade routes, searching for plants to liven up their home aboard the Starlit Mustang. Outlaws-turned-entrepreneurs, they now ran a little oxygen farm out in the galactic frontier.

As they wandered through the rows of glowing flora, a shadow moved behind the misty glass. Red’s cybernetic eye flickered—something was off. He placed a protective hand on Cass’s waist.

“Stay close, darlin’,” he whispered.

Cass, ever the quick draw, reached for the plasma pistol at her hip. In a place as beautiful as this, trouble was never far behind.

And trouble had just arrived.