It had taken two months to reach the Point of No Return - but at least it had met them halfway. The trajectory had actually been a straight shot away from Earth, planned with minimal gravitational interference from any of her neighbors. Essentially, they had jumped off the Earth, and let the rest of the universe pass them. By the time they entered Neptune's path, there was enough fuel to return to Earth three times.
Skupic was reading back her levels, doing a final calibration check. Devereaux was waiting for the next draft, something the sails could catch onto and ride out into the uncharted. But it was quiet, and there was nowhere to go. So she checked her instruments with the last person she would ever speak to again.
"I'm good here, Skupic. Your turn: you got a lock on home?"
"Been locked the whole time. You sure you're ready for this?"
"I've been ready forever. Just tell me when you pick up the heliotrail, it should be active in a few minutes..."
Skupic waited in the silence, listening to Devereaux breathe.
With home behind him, he turned his infrared view outward, seeing the endless destinations drifting.
"Dev, you're about to be history. Did you prepare any words? Anything I can take home?"
He heard her chuckle. "I think I sent a copy of 'High Flight' to PR. I saw it on Murphy's desk, thought he'd get a kick out of it... I didn't think of any of my own. And I don't have enough air to stumble some out now. Saving it for the trip."
Skupic watched the monitors; still nowhere to go. Finally, he said, "You always wanted this, didn't you?" The alarm interrupted anything else; they were uncoupled. He watched her sails extend and catch the sun's tail, and pushed off into the dark.
inspired by Discover Magazine article, "Our Solar System Has a Tail"
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