Ryan kissed his wife before putting on his helmet and pushing away from the platform.

 

“Testing,” said a voice inside his helmet. “This is command. Can you hear me?”

 

“I hear you loud and clear,” replied Ryan. He watched as his wife left the platform and drifted toward him. “Can you hear me, Lisa?”

 

“Hey, darling,” she replied. “This is too much fun.”

 

He grinned as she grew closer. They’d always wanted to take a trip to the Lunar Tower positioned outside of the earth’s atmosphere and “Bask amongst the stars”. Their children had pooled their money together to buy them a weekend getaway to celebrate their retirement. Lisa drifted by, just missing his outreached hand.

 

“I’ll ‘swim’ to you,” he said. “Can I get some slack on the cord, Command?” He watched as the platform blinked a warm red glow. “Command? Is everything okay over there?”

 

“This is command. Don’t panic. We have the situation under control. Your cord disconnected from the ship. We’re suiting someone up to come after you both.”

 

“What did you just say?” asked Lisa. Ryan could hear the panic in her voice.

 

“There’s no need for alarm,” replied command.

 

“They’re coming for us, sweetheart,” said Ryan. “Let’s try to drift toward one another.” He swiveled his body, but noticed his wife was too far away for him to reach. He reached for the cord connecting them to pull her close, but the monstrous gloves restricted his grip. “Can you still hear me?”

 

“I hear you,” she replied. “I’m scared.”

 

“It’s going to be okay.” He wasn’t sure if he was lying to her or not. “It’s going to be…” He closed his eyes and drifted. “I love you, darling.”

 

“I love you, too.”

 

“Stay tight,” said command. “We’re coming after you.”

 

Ryan watched as someone leapt from the platform, now a mile away. He turned toward Lisa, wondering if they’d ever embrace one another again.

“Sweetheart, what do you think the kids are up to right now?” he asked.

 

“Ben and his wife are probably out on their deck staring up into the night sky looking for us. Kelsey is peaking out the window during her studies and wondering if the star she sees is actually her father.”

 

“What about Jason?”

 

“Jason…” She laughed. “He’ll look out for us when he goes on break. I wish we were at the restaurant he works at right now. Waiting for a hot meal.”

“If I ordered the steak dinner, I bet he’d give me an extra scoop of potatoes,” he said.

 

“He certainly would. Those kids of ours are wonderful, aren’t they?”

 

“We did a wonderful job. Remember the night we first met?”

 

“Do you mean the night I saved you from embarrassing yourself?”

 

“I would’ve blown the roof off that place had I gone up again for karaoke. But I couldn’t turn down an offer for a free drink if I didn’t get back up on stage.”

“It was the best five dollars I’ve ever spent,” she replied.

 

Ryan glanced back at the ship, now a microscopic smudge in the distance. He could no longer see the suited-up hero sent to rescue them.

“Command, are you still there?” he asked.

 

“This — command — calm — on our…”

 

“They’re out of range,” said Lisa. “Do you think that means they won’t reach us?”

 

“They’ll reach us,” he replied. “Let’s focus on something else.” He tried to think of anything to get his mind off their current situation. “Do you think Ben got the job? Last I heard he had his interview on Wednesday.”

 

“I bet he did. They’d be fools not to hire him. Plus, I heard from Kelsey that Danielle spent the night before quizzing him on every possible interview question. Since she conducts so many at work, I think his chances were pretty good. It’s still hard to believe Ben and Danielle are expecting twins. We’re going to be grandparents.”

 

“I can’t wait to hold a little one in my arms again. What about Kelsey? What career path do you think she’ll go down? I’ve always told her she would make an incredible director. Those stage plays she put on during middle-school were tremendous.”

 

“Those were so much fun. I’m glad the school allowed her and her friends to put those on for the parents. She’ll be finished with grad school soon. The door will be wide open for her no matter which path she takes. Do you think Jason will continue working at the restaurant? He seems to really love it.”

 

“He’s in the running to take the executive chef position when Rudy retires,” he replied. “I think he’s lucked out in life. He found his passion early on and stuck with it.”

 

“Just thinking about them makes me happy,” she replied.

 

* * *

 

A silence sat between them, for how long Ryan couldn’t be sure. Minutes? Hours? Every second felt empty without her voice, but he wasn’t sure what to say or how to continue. He could no longer make out even a glimpse of the ship or their would-be hero. The endless void of space seemed all-consuming.

 

“This — command — sorry — so sorry — trying — hold…”

 

Ryan closed his eyes. He concentrated on his breathing as he continued to drift away. Silence. He could hear the blood running through his veins and the rhythm of his heartbeat.

 

“Ryan,” called out a loving voice. “Can you still hear me?”

 

“I can hear you,” he replied. “I love you so much.”

 

He felt tears running down his face, but couldn’t wipe them. His wife sobbed into his helmet. He swiped at the cord to no avail.

 

“We had a beautiful life,” she said. “I want you to know I’ll always love you. From here to eternity.” Hearing the cute phrase, they’d told each other when they were younger, caused him to grin. “Are you still there?”

 

“I’m still here,” he replied. “I love you, my morning sun. I’ll always love you. From here to eternity.”