TUELLER: “We’re shooting the moon here.”
TUELLER: “Sorry, game terminology. Big risk, big reward.”
TUELLER: “We’ve got four…I guess I could teach y’all.”
TUELLER: “But Alejo would cheat and Millie would count cards.”
TUELLER: “And you’d read our minds, so I’d be fucked.”
ALEJO: Alejo dries his hair. “I would never.”
ALEJO: He smiles.
TUELLER: “You would and have.”
TUELLER: “That’s how we got out of Ganymede alive that one time.”
MILLICENT: “Who doesn’t count cards?”
ALEJO: Alejo raises his hand. “Easier to just cheat.” He shrugs.
MILLICENT: “It’s not. How could it be easier? You just keep track of the cards.”
MILLICENT: She looks around flustered.
Chapter 109
ALEJO: Then Alejo goes to the bay, gets buck naked, and crawls into the tank. “Damn! This is colder than last time. Seriously!”
TUELLER: “It was open to space for a bit, buddy.”
TUELLER: “These things happen.”
STORY: “Space is cold,” Erwin says, then sinks into the water.
MILLICENT: “There wasn’t enough time to add the seat warmer.”
STORY: He pops his head back up. “I just realized those might be my last words and wanted to come back and say something better.”
MILLICENT: “Oh shit me too.”
MILLICENT: “You first.”
STORY: “Well… honestly, now that I’m here I got nothing. Can we go with ‘space is cold’ again?”
STORY: “Space is cold,” he announces formally and then dips under the water.
ALEJO: Alejo dances a bit in the water of the tank before nodding and sinking down slowly. “Space is fucking coooollld.” Alejo finally is in all the way. “Shit.” He puts his head under the water.
STORY: There are little mouthpieces for the humans to get air through, Alejo, so you can pop that in while you float and watch Erwin and wonder which parts of him are representing clothes and why he got to keep his on.
MILLICENT: “I’m going to go with ’The only journey is the one within.”
MILLICENT: “Because I have read a book.”
MILLICENT: Millie grins and ducks under.
TUELLER: Tueller waits until everyone else is underwater, “I love you guys, goddammit.” Then he goes in too.
STORY: “I HEARD THAT,” Figgan shouts over the intercom. It’s the last thing you hear before the water floods your ears.
Chapter 108
TUELLER: Tueller starts to go after him, but thinks better of it after all his history. Shuts the door, clangs the lock on it.
TUELLER: “Doc, get us our ship back.”
MILLICENT: Millie attempts!
MILLICENT: “I’ll get the ship back you see if you can seal decks around Alejo!”
STORY: Alejo, the next meaningful sealable hatch from the bridge is one that locks down the top deck from the other two. It has to be cranked into place manually.
STORY: And there’s kind of a lot of wind happening, and it’s already getting a liiiiittle thin up here.
TUELLER: “Oh hell.” Tueller reconsiders, opens the door, and leaves the bridge, shutting it behind him.
TUELLER: He hurries off to assist Alejo, significantly behind him.
MILLICENT: “USING THE COMPUTER! USING THE COMPUTER SEALS!”
MILLICENT: “Goddammit.”
MILLICENT: Millie gestures at the empty seat next to her.
Chapter 107
STORY: The fire flashes in Ryo’s eyes, but starts to dim. He takes a few breaths himself, then mutters to his feet. “Fuck.”
STORY: “Millie, we’ve already lost.”
STORY: He’s calm now, defeated.
STORY: “Why do we have to risk dying just to show them we know it?”
ALEJO: “I’ve thought like that, Ryo, for most of my life. Survival at any cost, as though taking the next breath was the same as living.”
TUELLER: “And I lived in comfort for most of my life, not paying attention to the fact it came on the exploitation and deaths of untold numbers.”
ALEJO: “I’m not saying you’re wrong, certainly about Erwin. But doesn’t he deserve a chance at something better?”
Chapter 105
TUELLER: “Anyway, we got ahead.”
TUELLER: “Get it? Huh. Get it!”
MILLICENT: “Did you adopt?”
MILLICENT: “I really wish you’d talk to me before you adopted.”
MILLICENT: Millie considers. “I mean, she’s cute, but we should have had a conversation.”
TUELLER: “The doc didn’t get it.”
TUELLER: Tueller shakes his head.
TUELLER: “It’s because I have a head in my bag.”
TUELLER: “Your coparent’s.”
MILLICENT: “Oh a head!”
MILLICENT: “We do have fun!”