All things end, but each finale is a new beginning. Besides, she'd have been a fool to pass up the opportunity Sara's contact came to her directly with. Her own ship, the thrill of lawless space! After the stuffy shoebox of an office in Dodixie navigating the volatile nebulae out in 9HXQ was a dream job.

The two way receiver shut off, as it had done so many times in the recent months. It gave a final discharge of static and was silent. She was still a minute, believing she could hear the drip of the cytoserocin as it passed through the condensers. But the drips were her tears as they fell to the console . Such an unending gulf separated them now. She had never gauged how heavily that would weigh on her. It was so stupid, so unjust. Why did it have to take something like her moving to the ass end of the galaxy for them to get past all those mistakes and realise what was important?

She sighed, swung herself out of the comms cubicle. Time to occupy her mind with tasks at hand.