They spent a few more days, thinking it through. Being sure.
They put their plans, again, to Terminus.
Again Terminus agreed to their wishes.
And then, it seemed suddenly, came the moment when Vasta, suited up, carrying a small pack of samples, data, records, walked away from the group and stood, as instructed, directly beneath the hovering Terminus.
In her last moments Vasta stared up at that charcoal-grey sphere, hanging in space without a tremble, as ever without visible support, a minor miracle in this arena of miracles.
The last couple of days had been one long hug, as Vasta suspected she would always remember it. She knew she would always miss these people terribly. She had become used to their way of pitching in and working things through, rather than having to figure it all out herself as a scientist working among hostile civilians back on Earth.
Now, whatever difficulties she faced, she would be effectively alone again – alone, among billions of humans, none of whom could possibly understand what she had been through. Alone for ever – as long as she lived.
She touched her throat, her pendant—
‘No. I’m not ready—’
She thought she felt the folding of spacetime around her—