Payton Klaer

[…Systems rebooting… cabin logs recovered… ship maintenance required…
Cabin logs located: acquired final conversations between The Helios and The Selene. Recovered final exchanges the week of destruction. Commencing replay…]

[Sixty-one hours until destruction.]

RG: Are you sick of the glorified paste yet?
QK: Me? Sick of sucking paste from a tube for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? No never.
RG: Yeah, me too. Whenever I open the refrigerator I hope there’s some sort of soda or even a loaf of bread.
QK: I miss your bread.
RG: I miss our mornings. Remember when we didn’t have to ensure gravity was working in giant metal tubes floating in space?
QK: Or when you’d wake up at the ass-crack of dawn just to make coffee and watch the sunrise?
RG: Or when we could actually see each other?
RG: Are you okay? You didn’t respond.
RG: It’s been fifteen minutes. Please respond, Quinn. I know your speaker is reading this out.
QK: Yeah, sorry. It just kinda hit me that we won’t see each other for a few more months. But this is fine! We’re in space! We’re doing space things! Like checking the satellites and running courses around the same moon over and over and eating paste from a tube!
RG: Are you being sarcastic? I can’t tell.
QK: Maybe a little. Don’t worry about me. This is my dream. Our dream.
RG: I’m gonna go to bed. I love you, Quinn.
QK: I love you too.

[Thirty-nine hours until destruction.]

RG: So I’ve been thinking…
QK: Oh no. Never a good sign.
RG: Shut it! This is a good thought!
QK: I’ll believe it when I see it.
RG: Okay, so when we get back, when are we gonna get married?
QK: That’s what you’ve been thinking about? You had me worried for a second.
RG: Haha you’re so funny.
RG: Anyway, we’re gonna get back in November, so I think it should be in the spring. Maybe around April.
QK: But the rain! “April showers bring May flowers!” And besides, is seven months enough time to get everything together?
RG: You underestimate how much planning I’ve already done.
QK: Oh no.
RG: We can have it at that winery we really like. The one by the beach. And I want our first dance to be a classical piece. Maybe “Merry-Go-Round of Life?” Of course, you have a say in that one. And Cal needs to be in the wedding party.
QK: You weren’t joking.
RG: I take weddings very seriously.
QK: I guess.
QK: Can we do that thing where we thrift all of the glasses and plates?
RG: Of course. Anything you want.
QK: …anything?
RG: Anything within reason and within my already-basically-designed wedding.
QK: Are you hearing that?
RG: The sound of wedding bells? Absolutely.
QK: No, I’m getting an alarm.
QK: It’s the incoming projectiles reading. There’s something en-route to Methone.
RG: I see it now. Predictions say it’ll just leave a crater in the surface if that. I’ll send the readings back home, though.
QK: Yeah, let’s just keep an eye on it.

[Twenty-four hours until destruction.]

QK: Rue? Are you up?
QK: Some of the readings changed. I’ll send them your way.
QK: Message me when you see it.

[Sixteen hours until destruction.]

RG: I’ve been thinking about that time in the coffee shop.
QK: “That time in the coffee shop.” Ah yes. The one time. The only time in the coffee shop. Definitely clear in my mind. It’s not like we go get coffee at least twice a week.
RG: Yeah, yeah, I get it. I’m talking about when it poured and we got soaked.
QK: Okay, now I know what you’re saying.
RG: And my shoes were soaked and I kept squishing every time I took a step.
QK: Oh my gosh and you still decided to get your coffee iced! You literally were shivering while drinking it!
RG: Iced coffee is superior and I’ll stand by that ideal.
QK: Bold.
RG: What can I say? I only speak the truth.
QK: I can’t wait to see your shitty iced coffee taking up room in the refrigerator once we’re home.
RG: That’s the thing I love most.
QK: Iced coffee?
RG: No, inconveniencing you.

[One hour until destruction.]

QK: Rue, it’s going to take out all of Methone. The whole moon is gonna come apart.
RG: Okay. We can send out the shield around the ships to stop the debris.
QK: No, I don’t think so. They’ve been down since the asteroid field a few weeks ago and headquarters still hasn’t sent us the repairs.
RG: Shit.
RG: Then we can go off-course. Let’s do a lap around Anthe and wait.
QK: We don’t have time. The collision is happening within the hour.
RG: There’s a chance we won’t get hit by anything.
RG: Quinn? There’s a chance we won’t get hit by anything?
QK: The calculations say there’s a one-in-twenty chance of survival.
RG: One-in-twenty! That’s fine! We’re gonna be fine!
QK: That’s for one of the ships. The probability of us both getting through isn’t good.
RG: What is it?
RG: Quinn. What is it?
QK: One-in-ninety.
RG: Oh.

[Four minutes until destruction.]

QK: Rue, I would have gone to the ends of the Earth for you to be happy.
RG: Don’t do this.
QK: I love you more than all of the water in the oceans and the stars in the skies.
RG: Stop, please.
QK: I just need you to know.
RG: You’re going to be okay. We’re going to be okay.
[Captain Kalvin has requested a title change.]
RG: What are you doing?
QK: Accept the request, please.
[Request accepted. Welcome aboard, Captain Garza.]
RG: You didn’t.
QG: If I couldn’t change it on Earth I wanted to do it here.
QG: I love you to the end of time. Nothing can change that.
RG: I love you too.

[End of transmission]