All Among the Stars

In orbit of a lifeless planet, there lies a space station. The exterior nearly falling apart, plates drifting aimlessly around it. Its system used to cater to nearly one hundred human lives but now was barely able to sustain two. Thankfully there's only one aboard to cater to. As they rested, strapped into their sleeping bag, they were roused from their rest by an incessant beeping. They undo the Velcro restraining them and push themselves off the nearby wall. They float over to a nearby terminal, and begin their usual routine, blocking the alarm from their mind. As the terminal begins to boot up, the individual finally sees themselves as they do every morning. Her face was wrinkled, her eyes sunken and tired, and her body frail. It's been nearly 30 years orbiting this waste of a planet, and she wasn't getting any younger. Most of her hair as fallen off, and her jumpsuit was extremely oversized, or it was now. As she reflects upon her visage, the terminal finally boots up, and a pop-up in stark red flashes on the screen. In bold text it reads "WARNING! OXYGEN LEVELS CRITICALLY LOW, WOULD YOU LIKE TO ENGAGE THE OXYGEN RETENTION PROTOCOL?". She mindlessly presses the Y button on the keyboard, and the air slowly becomes thinner than it already was, while the alarm shuts off as well. She's seen these warnings several times but stopped paying attention after a while. The popup now gone, she's about to shut off the terminal but thinks to check an application. She activates an icon shaped like an envelope. As the window opens, she's not surprised at what she sees. No new messages, she doesn't know why she checks at all. The last one she ever received was about 15 years ago. However, it was a message from the internal system and not an outside source. She considers opening it, but ultimately decides against it. Sullenly, she shuts off the terminal and decides to make her way into another part of the space station. It's been a few days since she's been outside this room, she figures it might be worth it to see if anything has changed. She starts to grab at nearby bars to pull herself to other parts of the station. Outside of her room was a hallway, with nearly a dozen identical entrances to her own. She knew they were empty, and even if she wanted to see what was inside, she knew they were locked. Thankfully, however, the cafeteria wasn't, so she began to make her way there. As she did, stray wires were suspended in zero gravity much as she was, and random garbage littered the air. After pushing through, she finally arrived at the cafeteria door. The door was jammed open with a crowbar and has been for a while now. After the main communications failed 25 years ago, she managed to keep this door open when she still had the strength to do so. She slinked through the crevice, and was greeted by the dilapidated remains of the cafeteria. Several round tables with built-in chairs littered the room, and a salad bar that had been empty for decades. However, this was nothing in comparison to the view on the wall behind it all. A giant reinforced window gave her a stunning view of this beautiful red planet. Craters as big as continents, mountains, and hills as far as you can see, and the space surrounding it filled with those amazing stars. But it wasn't the same as when she was first here. Back then she shared that view with others. Her family, her friends, her partner. It had meaning then, the planet was alive then, filled with newly budding trees, rushing rivers, and small oceans. It was like looking into all of their futures, but now it's just a reminder. A reminder that she'll never see those futures. Their futures were as dead as the planet they orbited She wouldn't even get to see her own. She reached into her pocket, and pulled out a brochure. It was falling apart, but it was still somewhat legible. On the front there was a graphic of a family in jumpsuits, smiling and pointing to the future. On the front, it read "Secure your place on Halcyon-7! Secure your future!". She couldn't bear to read it anymore, and let it slip from her grasp. As it lay suspended in the air, she made her way over to one last stop before she went to rest again. As she did, she began to reminisce about her past. Those first 5 years here were amazing. She wasn't constantly drifting from place to place, but walking and running and jumping. She felt more alive when she was 35 years old here than she ever did as a child back on Earth. Not to mention everything still worked, the air was rich and filled her lungs with each breath. And her family, how she missed her family. Bickering with her parents over breakfast, training with her siblings, and falling in love with her partner. She approached a door next to the cafeteria, this one connected to an airlock tunnel. She's been inside before, her partner took her here to explore years ago. They weren't exactly allowed to back then, but they still did. They put on their space suits and cabled themselves to a pole inside the airlock. The air hissed as it was expelled from the room and as the doors opened, they were both greeted with a beautiful view of space. They spent an hour together, just floating, admiring the grand beauty of it all. The vast horizon of space, accented by an endless amount of stars and comets. And that glare off the station, it was as bright as the memory itself. She soon brought herself back into reality, her hand holding the rusty handle of the airlock door. She mustered up what was left of her strength, and made her way inside. She saw the button that opened the second airlock door, it was worn out after extended use. After the power failed after five years, almost everyone took their own life. Including her partner, they left her a note in the internal system. But she couldn't bear to read it, no matter what they said, she would have understood why they did it. She just wished they could've been together. That could have made these 30 years bearable to slog through. Even if no words were shared, it would mean she got to see them at least one last time. But in her mind, she was going to see them again. She gently placed her hand on the button, its plastic smooth against her scrawny wrinkled hand. Then, as she slowly pressed it down, and as it clicked at the base, she was sucked into the inky void of space. Her breath began to escape her lungs, the light in her eyes began to dim, and her thoughts slowly drifted from her grasp. But as she floated in space, she saw the same view she loved so many years ago. That giant red planet, the space station reflecting the sun's glare, and those stars. It comforted her, knowing that her partner, her friends, and her family were all among the stars. She closed her eyes to rest, knowing she would join them soon.