"Well," he says, running a sheepish hand along the side of his face until it's buried in his hair, which parts to run between his fingers, until it sticks up at an odd angle. "Life on board the Andromeda Ascendant isn't exactly like life on any other starship."

Once, it was. Once, the life wasn't so very different to life on the Enterprise in many ways. Oh, the details were different: High Guard, not Starfleet; years of technology; size of the ship; details of the service and almost certainly the capabilities of the ships.

There is, though, a certain similarity. The familiarity mingled with the differences haunts him here.

Now, though, he gives Marion a smile.

"Yeah. She's a lot bigger, for one. And she's a warship." His head tips to one side. "With a few thousand years of technology on this one, too."

And he misses her. Misses her like another part of his soul is gone. She's been his home, his comrade, his life, for years.

She's been all he's had to hold onto, and now she's gone. Like everything else.