A Ticklish Goodbye

Departing

"It's time," said Kim.

Steph opened her eyes and yawned. Then she seemed to realize what Kim meant.

"Don't look so sad," said Kim. "I had a great night."

"Oh, I know you did." Steph gave her a wistful smile.

"Sorry for the, um, damage."

"It's fine," said Steph with a small laugh. "I should have known you'd be too much to keep tied down."

"I can find my way out," said Kim.

"Let me walk you to your car, at least." Steph got up and started searching for clothes.

Kim was already dressed. While she was waiting, she realized she had a message.

It was from Sandra. Short, so very short, but it packed a punch. "Stay. Please. I'll forgive everything."

For a while, the psychologists had been afraid she'd volunteered to escape the aftermath of a bad breakup. It had been a devil of a job convincing them otherwise. And now this.

She closed her eyes. She might have been tempted. But Steph had made a difference, though she'd never know it.

Kim knew what she had to say. "We've already said goodbye. I'll always love you, but I'm leaving today. Have a good life."

"What was that?" said Kim. "A message about the mission?"

"Yes. Nothing urgent."

They headed out towards the car. Kim winced as they started down the stairs. "Just a little sore," she said.

"You're OK? You're sure?"

"Yes. Believe me, it was worth it. The only thing I'm worried about is what they might ask during the last-minute medcheck." She held up her right hand, showing a visible mark on her wrist.

"Oh no! What will you tell them?"

"If they ask, I guess I'll have to tell the truth. But I'll leave out the part about how good it was."

They both laughed. They walked out to Kim's car and lingered longer than they should have, standing out in the early morning sun.

"Do you have shoes in the car?" said Steph.

Kim nodded. "Tell me, you seemed to get pretty intense when you got to...well, do you sort of have a thing for feet?"

Steph's embarrassed face answered for her. "That's the first thing I noticed about you," she said.

"Don't be embarrassed," said Kim. "That's something I learned from you."

They put their arms around each other and gave each other a long kiss.

"Think you're all ready?" said Steph.

"Ready as I'll ever be." She paused. "Who knows what will really happen...there's so much that could go wrong. What I do know is that it's a good thing to do with my life."

"You're doing something great," said Steph. "That's what I know."

Silently, with a small smile, Kim accepted the compliment.

"I'll remember you," said Steph.

"And I'll remember you," said Kim. "Trust me, I will. I'm sorry I won't be able to send any messages back."

She was surprised to see tears in Steph's eyes. Then she realized there were tears in her own.

Steph gave her one last kiss on the ear before she got in the car. "Have a good trip."

She had just enough time to stop by her apartment and change clothes. A few hours later she was sitting on board the shuttle, waiting for it to take her up to the Kaihoko. Her crewmates kept as quiet as she did, maybe thinking their own last goodbyes. An overhead cargo door slid towards closing, giving one final view of Earth's sky. Slowly, ever so slowly, the sliver of blue narrowed.

Then, gently, without a clang, the door closed.