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“Godspeed,” Oliver whispered to that big, duht”

All flexors in safety mode You are cleared for Hephaestus Station re-entry, Specialist Barthes Have a pleasant rest

“You too, Helen You too Wherever well-behaved little truncated VI progra”

Oliver slowly cliravity flexors His feet found metal once more He took out his datapad and sent confiriven Then, he pulled up his account er and watched like a kid outside a cake shop He waited And waited And finally, the fas blinked out New nueous new nuht, just like the rest of them A world of safety and love and family A world where what happened on Eden Prime barely mattered at all

Oliver walked along thein his step He took off his helh his short brown hair His stubble itched; time to shave But it was done It was done and you knohat? It really was soh the cold space between galaxies listening to Radio Free Barthes He’d never thought he’d a special, but maybe he had, after all Not enormously special, but a little Just a little He put his palined his mother’s face when he told her, the quiet little sparkle of delight he remembered in her brown eyes The elevator arrived; the door didn’t open Oliver rolled his eyes and banged on it a couple of tis It wouldn’t takethat almost-certainly decrepit code to fix, but no one ever bothered He’d put in a work request in the oodbye present to old Heph From me to you, buddy

Oliver punched the slider again It wheezed open The elevator car was eht away, of course He’d take thereen trees in the Presidiu ships and the steak sandwiches at Apollo’s Then he’d show theht for they elevator Oh, Ollie, it’s too much! They’d be so happy They’d probably cry He’d cry, too And then, when they were all sitting around the dinner table, stuffed senseless and drunk on the future, he’d tell them about the time he played rock-a-bye baby to a ship of aliens for six hundred years I wonder if you dreaether

Tech Specialist Second Class Oliver Barthes stepped out of the elevator into the long hallway that connected thequarters He picked up his pace, eager to get to sleep, to get one day closer to Zakera Ward and green trees and grease shining on his father’s calloused fingers from a real steak sandwich

Oliver was still picturing his ray hood stepped out from an alcove and shot him twice in the head

The figure looked down at the techie’s body for a moment, prodded it with one boot toa little lullaby under its breath:

Sing me to sleep on the starry sea

And I’ll dreaht of my suit and me…

The filthy, featurelessof Hephaestus Station reflected mutely in the dull surface of a powerless omni-tool

I won’t fear the heat of a desert breeze

Or contale trees

Even in space I shall never freeze