“There’s the girl. Always wondered what it would be like to expose a Jeffey to a little real freedom. Now let’s get a-goin’. I won’t be happy ‘till I’m in hyper, well away from this sink-hole.”
Getting Hank into the uniform was a lot easier than saying good-bye to him. I could barely watch him walk away from me through my tears. I suppose his subterfuge worked. The Jeffies towed us out to the launch site without question.
I continued crying through the launch. There’s no sense of motion at all, until you hyper. Alicia sat hugging me as she stared out the viewport.
“You should have killed me,” I whimpered, my tears soaking her lap. “I’ll never see him again. I shouldn’t have left.”
“Stop that,” she ordered. You couldn’t have gone on -- even with Hank. You know that, don’t you?”
I nodded. “Will I ever stop hurting?”
“I won’t lie to you. No. But each day will dampen the pain a bit. You’ll never stop missing --” her voice began to trail away, “loving -- him. I know.”
I sat up next to her, drying my tears as best I could. Alicia smiled abruptly. She squeezed my hand, pointing to the beautiful pink and purple of New Bohemia receding beneath us. I was surprised to feel a little homesick.