[ Well, before then he'd been a slave. Jim and Thomas had been two half-dead children he found in the ruins of the Tarsus colony. By rights Julian could have left them there and earned no retribution from anyone for it. The weak don't survive in this world of theirs.

If Jim were one to believe in fate, he'd say this was it.

The fact that they can both relax around each other is amazing. He doesn't even really relax so much around Bones. ]

That's not the only amazing thing about her. The crew isn't just human, or the usual Empire sort. [ Because he knows about them thanks to Julian. He's the man who told him the stories when they were on that wretched world. ]

They're mostly Augments. [ A wide, manic smile. ] From the Botany Bay.