“What was that?”
“The reactor is failing. One of us has to go inside. I don’t want to be stranded halfway to Proxima.”
“Why don’t you go?”
“I guess I should. Could I take the emergency firearm?”
The captain shook his head before speaking.
“I’ll go with you.”
***
“We can drive the Lunar Roving Vehicle left by Apollo 17 to reach the rendezvous point.”
“You know the batteries in that LRV were dead decades ago.”
“Let the children have some hope. We will probably be out of oxygen before we get to the LRV. Just let them hope.”
***
The flight recorder from the lost interstellar mission was recovered.
“And?”
“The crew appeared to believe they’d somehow returned to Earth.”
“Why?”
“That remains to be determined, but you’ll hear what sounds to be my voice and your own communicating with them.”
A Visit to the Idea Factory 
