Firstclass Pov -

“Panel J-9 is replaced, Commander. Thermal readings nominal.”

Click. The coupling seats. I check my pressure gauge. All green. I’ve been out here two hours. My oxygen is at seventy-four percent. Plenty of time. firstclass pov

Home.

Instead, I tilt my helmet up. The Milky Way spills across the sky like a wound. Stars so thick they look like milk, like dust, like God sneezed and forgot to clean up. I’ve seen this view a thousand times. But tonight—or whatever passes for night up here—it hits me different. “Panel J-9 is replaced, Commander

I’m projecting. Obviously.