Manuel smiled and smiled and watched the stars float by. His heart was full.
***
Epilogue
Sammel heard the door to his quarters hiss quietly shut behind him. It wasn't until he knew he was safely alone he allowed himself a moment of fear. He approached the slim mirror embedded on the far wall, seeing his own grim reflection staring back at him.
Sammel drew a deep breath before lifting his shirt. His breath caught, then released in a heaving sigh of regret.
Sammel sulks in a cubby in the back of the engine room. It's not his fault bad things happen around him, nor that he has such big shoes to fill. His brother Archer is so perfect, he wishes he could just disappear sometimes so his father and brother wouldn't have to worry about Sammel embarrassing them ever again.
He is shaken from
