Till Death Do Us Part

The black sky always refused to change. Wielding his gravpole, Hugo’s arms grew tired. Even in this soft gravity he’d become accustomed to, the days were so long and the work was so thankless that he ended each day unsure of how he’d manage to get through the next.

That said, Hugo wasn’t the type to let this get to him. He took a lot of pride in being a father and a husband, and had a lot to work towards. Mainly…

When he thought nobody was watching, the worker took a few moments to look out at the blue planet above him.

“So close, so far…”

“You’re still linked, you know.” Joey, his co-worker of two weeks, came up from behind him. There wasn’t any hostility in the acknowledgment, the kid dropping his own gravpole to the airless atmosphere, letting it float off its safety harness as he sat down to join his fellow slacker. “Not that I needed to hear what’s in your head to tell you aren’t having a good time.”

“I’m having a fine time.” Hugo telepathed through the neurocoms inside their suits.

“No, you aren’t. It’s Christmas Adam and they’ve still got you stuck up on the freaking moon building something nobody even knows about yet.”

“They will tomorrow, won’t they? This is important work we’re doing, Joey, I don’t begrudge it.”

“Oh, don’t buy into all that. It’s just another attraction for the old man to sell tickets to. Thing’s not even all that sound.” Joey kicked the white sand at his boots. “Big chunk of metal held down by cables so expensive they could feed a country for years. This ain’t important, it’s ostentatious. You hear he fired the project’s whole science team? Sounds like a dumb rumor, but I’d believe it.”

“I’ll build it anyway if it means I can see them again… if not this year, maybe the next…”

“Why wait? Screw this job. You shouldn’t be doing this just for a ride home. Go stowaway on a return flight or something.”

“I’m not putting my family at risk.”

The employees were both at a loss, letting silence take hold of the conversation for a few moments.

“Still gonna call them? On the twenty-fifth?”

“If I can get work off.”

Joey sighed.

“If you don’t, I’ll be here to mope with you.”

The boy went back to his labor, piecing together the slowly-forming monument.

Hugo looked at the dust on his gloves, the fingers he used no longer feeling like his own. He raised his tools. These hands belonged to Kidney, for now. He prayed it wouldn’t have to be much longer.

“See you soon, kids…”