"What's the furthest you've ever been from home?" he asked, already bored of the question.

"A few counties out. Nothing too interesting. I went to the lake once, when I was still a kid. But that's as far as it is, and really the lakes are pretty much the same as here. If you can see the other shore without getting your feet wet it's not a lake, it's a puddle." Her nose wrinkled in disgust as she spoke. "It's marketing."

"Not a big fan of the glossy arts?" He stirred his coffee. Too much light came in through the front of the shop, and it made his face even greasier than it really was.

"Not a big fan of liars."

"Well, this isn't a lie: you really did win the contest. You're going far away."

"So is this a 'last starfighter' deal or a 'harry potter' deal?"

"The last starfighter almost died. Harry Potter did die." She raised a finger. "For a minute. Still dead. Still counts. But this isn't anything like that. You're going to go on much more beaten paths. You're going to experience the world exactly as seventy five billion other people experience it."

"There are only seven billion people."

"That you know. Honestly, I've been around, and those seven billion aren't that great on the whole. There's a few standouts, a few with a good spot of self-awareness, not too many. You're not missing out on much."

"But I can't call my parents?" she asked, sipping slowly.

"Long distance doesn't go quite that long, no." He smiled.

"Excellent. Let's kill some jerks."

Engines roared to life as the calm, steady voice in his ear finished the countdown to zero. The small Vespa-class frigate shuddered momentarily before shooting upwards, groaning as the planet fought to keep them from escaping. Ever-fading blue was interrupted by brief flashes of white as he pushed through the atmosphere.

The stars fully expressed themselves, and Thomas felt a peace that he had not known in years. The company he worked for had been in exponential growth and couldn't afford to spare him. He jumped at the first opportunity to get off world, having finally finished a project that would allow his employers to corner the market back on Earth. He'd head to the cloud cities of Venus for awhile before beginning his week-long trip to Epsilon Eridani. Thomas engaged the autopilot and was about to open the main viewport when the first proximity warning sounded.

He scrambled to power his weapons and emergency thrusters, but the ship nearly rolled completely over from the impact of two missiles. Flurries of alarms flashed, indicating massive power failures throughout the ship. Thomas punched a sequence into the computer. Any second, the smaller escape vessel would separate and leave the damaged husk of its host ship behind.

Violent explosions ripped the vessel apart and Thomas was thrown clear. In a panic, his hands gripped for any piece of the eviscerated vessel but found nothing except the tips of his gloved fingers. He could only watch, horrified, as her innards spilled out into the cosmos from ever-expanding wounds. His gaze was fixated on the destruction, the backdrop of Earth partially obscured by the carnage. Tom floated away. One by one, the fires died, and the lights faded into darkness.

Just then, a calm, steady voice spoke into his ear.

"Enjoy your trip."