"Dad!" he cried, dropping his spade and clambering from the cove.

Juliana turned at the sound of her son's shout and smiled as she saw Arcturus. Valerian charged over the grass toward him, and Arcturus realized he was more terrified of this moment than he had been when the goliath had had him dead to rights on Onuru Sigma.

Valerian launched himself like a missile and Arcturus caught him in his arms as the boy wrapped himself around his neck, laughing like a lunatic. Arcturus was surprised at how light he was; the boy weighed next to nothing.

"Dad! You're here! I wanted to talk to you last night, but Grandfather said I was too tired, but I wasn't. I really wasn't, I promise.”

Arcturus didn't know what to say. He'd never had any problem speaking to Dorothy when she was younger, but she was his little sister and he had known her and loved her since her birth. Valerian was seven years old, and this was their first meeting.

What do you say to your son when he's seven years old and you've never met him?

"That's quite all right, Valerian," said Arcturus eventually. "I think your grandfather was right Anyway, I think I was too tired as well."

Arcturus put Valerian down and was summarily led by the hand toward the excavated cove where the boy had been working.

"I want to show you my dig," said Valerian. "Do you want to see it? I'm looking for aliens."

"At the bottom of the garden?"

"Well, not aliens exactly, but fossils of them. You know what fossils are?"

"I do indeed," said Arcturus. "I do some digging myself, you know."

"I know, my mum told me," said Valerian. "She said you're the best miner in the galaxy."

"Did she now?" said Arcturus as they passed Juliana.

"Yeah, she said you were a big soldier and then you became a prospector and that you're going to be rich and that you're the best miner ever and—"

"Valerian," interrupted Juliana, "slow down. Show your father what you've found so far."

"Sure, yeah," said Valerian, dropping to his knees beside the tray of his finds. Arcturus knelt on the grass beside the tray as Juliana brushed a strand of honey blonde hair from her face. Beneath the sunlight, Arcturus noticed how pale her skin was, pallid and without the light golden sheen of Valerian's.

She caught his glance and turned away as though embarrassed.

"I think I'll leave you two boys alone for a while," said Juliana, pushing herself to her feet and ruffling Valerian's hair. "Will you be all right?"

"Yeah," said Valerian, without looking up from his finds.

Arcturus nodded to Juliana, and saw the desperate hope in her eyes. "We'll be fine." he said. "I'm sure we can stay out of trouble for a little while, can't we, Valerian?"

"You bet," agreed the boy.

Juliana made her way back toward the house and Arcturus watched her go. Now that he was over the initial shock of discovering that he had a son, he was reminded of his former desire for Juliana. Ailin Pasteur's daughter had always carried herself with an elan that was wholly natural and effortless, but as Arcturus watched, he saw that elegance had all but vanished.

No, not vanished, but changed...

Had motherhood changed her, or was he simply seeing her through different lenses that time and distance had crafted without his noticing? More the latter, he suspected, for, by any objective reasoning, Juliana was still beautiful. In some ways more so.

Last night he had wondered if they might yet be a family, but if he was honest, the burning desire he had once had for her was now cold and dead. The tactless light of day cast its unflattering illumination over the idea, and Arcturus knew that any such notion was wishful thinking at best, dangerous delusion at worst.

Arcturus desired an heir, that was certainly true, but a family life...?

He turned back to Valerian as the boy said something.

"I'm sorry?"

"I think this is alien," said Valerian, holding up a piece of shell that even Arcturus could see was a cracked shard from the shell of one of the domesticated Umojan insect creatures.

"Yes, I think it is. Probably a giant, winged monster from another galaxy."

"You really think so?"

"Oh, undoubtedly," said Arcturus, lifting a piece of fossilized bark. "And this looks like it's a scale from some kind of alien lizard, don't you think?"

Valerian nodded sagely. "Yeah, that's what I thought. A big, man-eating lizard that could swallow a whole squad of soldiers in a single bite. Did you see anything like that when you were a soldier?"

Arcturus shook his head. "No, I didn't, but I'm quite glad about that. I don't think I'd have wanted to be swallowed whole."

"Well, no, I suppose not," said Valerian. "That would be stupid."

Arcturus took a closer look at his son as the boy rummaged through his finds and held each one up for his inspection. Though he bore the genetic hallmarks of a Mengsk, Valerian did not have the physicality of Arcturus or Angus. The lad was thin, much thinner than even Dorothy had been at his age, and his arms were skinny and without definition. By Valerian's age, Arcturus was a fine athlete and had become proficient with the dueling sword.

Not that in this modern age of gauss rifles and missiles Arcturus had much use for an archaic weapon like a sword, but the harsh lessons had taught him balance, honed his muscles, and provided him with a proper appreciation for the martial arts. Given Juliana's disposition, it was unlikely she had encouraged such pursuits, and the sheen of sweat on Valerian's brow was testament to his lack of stamina.

"Are these your books?" asked Arcturus as Valerian finished showing him the junk he'd pulled from the riverbank.

"Yeah, they were Mum's, but she gave them to me to keep."

"May I?" asked Arcturus, reaching for the books.

"Sure."

Arcturus lifted the top volume, a thin picture book on archaeology, complete with diagrams of animal skeletons and geological strata. He remembered reading this book as a child and seemed to remember giving it to Dorothy.

As he examined the next book, Valerian said. "That's my favorite. Mum gave me that for my last birthday."

The book was leather-bound, its cover edged with gold thread and its title printed in elaborate, cursive script.

"Poems of the Twilight Stars" read Arcturus, opening the book and turning its pages. The interior was filled with color plates depleting fantastical beasts and verses of escapist nonsense that talked of ancient beings that walked between the stars in ages past. He read one of the poems, a ridiculously trite piece composed of numerous rhyming couplets that used childishly overblown similes.

A quick flick through the book revealed that every single poem was similarly hokey and worthy of nothing but utter contempt. This was what Valerian was reading? A quick examination of the spines of the other books revealed one to be a guide to understanding your inner soul, while the other was a history book of Umoja.

At least that was something worth reading.

"This is yours?" asked Arcturus, holding up the book of poems.

"Yeah, I've read them all, but that one's my favorite. Mum reads it to me before I go to sleep at night."

"And this is the sort of thing you like? No military books or adventure stories?"

"I'm not allowed books like that. Mum says that the galaxy's a horrible enough place as it is," said Valerian. "She says I don't need to read that kind of thing. She says it'll just upset me."

"Does she now...?"

"Yeah, she likes that one too."

"But you're a young boy: you should be reading action and adventure stories. Space battles and heroes. My father gave me Logan Mitchell—Frontier Marshal when I was about your age. It's a classic. Have you read it?"