Ad Astra :: Star Trek Fanfiction Archive ^{Beam me up, Scotty.}

Garak dug up the ground that had been the garden on his father’s estate. He’d wanted to do this ever since he’d arrived back on Cardassia, but hadn’t had the time. Oh, he’d had a day and a half when he first set foot back on the planet to get from the spaceport to his father’s old estate and set himself up in the old gardener’s cottage, but he’d only had enough time to dust, set up a bed and table, and carry in food and other provisions before he went to work - trying to figure out who and what had survived the Great Fire, and what to do in order to ensure that they continued to survive. It was tiring work, and mentally exhausting - it was clear that he had picked up some Federation sensibilities, as he was relieved whenever he saw that an old ally of his had survived (though since he was still a Cardassian, he was also relieved when he noticed that an enemy had perished). After some octals of working virtually every waking hour, only stopping to eat, drink, water the saplings, and sleep, his superiors had decided that they’d made enough progress that they could afford people taking regular breaks, starting with a two-day pause for everyone on his team. Garak had decided to use that time in order to fix up the cottage and the area around it, to make it a more pleasant place to be, starting with the garden.

Garak had managed to acquire some saplings and seeds before leaving Deep Space Nine, ones that would were able to survive in conditions that were harsh even for this part of Cardassia, and would require little attention from the gardener once they were planted - even with the promise of more time off going forwards, Garak expected that he would be working what was a ridiculous schedule even by Cardassian standards for the next several months. In addition to the Cardassian seeds, he’d also brought some Earth seeds - Rose of Sharon and Aloe Vera. Keiko had recommended them when he’d heard that he was going to leave.

“Would you be willing to take some Earth plants and see how they grow in Cardassian soil?” she’d asked right after she’d heard that he was going to plant a garden when he got back to Cardassia. “It would be a great opportunity, we know a lot about how Earth plants fare on many worlds, but not Cardassia.”

“Why, yes, it would be a great pleasure!” He smiled. “They would need to be rather hardy, as where I live is very harsh by human standards, and I don’t expect that I would have much time to tend to them.”

“Certainly. Now, the obvious candidates would be cacti, but those would be difficult to transport.”

“Most definitely.”

“So instead, I’m thinking some succulents, probably a few flowers or shrubs. How big is the area you’re planning to plant them in?”

Garak had to think for a minute. He could tell her how big the place was in Cardassian units, but he needed to figure out how much that was in Federation units. “About twice as large as the room we’re in right now,” he said finally.

“Okay, that means we’ll be able to put in all but the largest plants…”

After much debate and consultation, they finally decided on the Roses of Sharon and the Aloe Vera, two plants that could thrive in Earth environments that were similar to the ones they would experience on Cardassia, and could also be transported easily. Now, planting the Rose of Sharon seedlings, Garak breathed in the scents that they were giving off and as he did, he remembered the conversa he’d had with Keiko that had lead to the plants being on Cardassia in the first place, and with that, many other memories and people associated with the station - Miles, Sisko, Kira, Ziyal, Julian…

He pulled his head out of those thoughts and shook his head. There was a time to be nostalgic, but right now he had to tend to his garden.