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naut one day to discover new worlds. I got that wish when a new order
came down in WSP that a new space station would be built to orbit
Earth. A high school science teacher had discovered a jumbled alien fre-
quency that pushed through the atmosphere, only to be-too weak-
bounced back into space. It was determined that if we put a station in
that range, that we would be able to hear the frequency clearer and be
able to eventually translate it. As an advisor for the space ship division,
I was one of the first to be asked to become a crewmember. The project
and the station would be called Siren's Wake.

I came home to Diayu to tell her the news, kissing her
forehead and baby]ianyu's, only to see her look back into my eyes with
overwhelming sadness.

We made love like I was never coming back the next day.

And it turns out I wasn't. I went up into space a few months
later with Diayu pregnant again. This time it was a daughter, born
while I was up in space. I remember watching Diayu holding her on my
holoscreen in my room. Knowing full well I wouldn't be back down
for another two years, I held Diayu and ]ianyu harder than I ever had
before.

But please don't blame me. I never knew that this would hap-
pen. I never meant to hurt you like this.

IfI were conscious right now, I would see the burning sun star-
ing back at me, its light blinding me, but providing me with the same
sense of life I was greet with when I was born ..It would be like the face
of god.

And slowly I drift away.

Every memory since childhood starts to slip through my fin-
gers like water. Every regret drifts away. I watch as my life doesn't flash
before, but, rather, falls away in front of me.

First tears. First birthday candles. First Christmas present.
First soapy bath. First tumbled steps.

And slowly I drift away.

First mumbled words. First ripped-off band aid. First mean-
ingless lie.

And slowly I drift away.

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