Leaving behind another life always feels strange, but this one feels good to leave behind. It’s not because it was bad for her, or because the dullness of ranch life wasn’t preferable to greater struggle. She just hadn’t wanted to be there then, either. All that, every day, for the rest of her life, with no future generation, no one to pass it on to? In hindsight, the futility of it was almost as painful as eking out a life in the QZ. Life for life’s sake. That was alright by her for a long time.

Now she’d rather dare to want more.

The plan was to sleep in for once, but she wakes up when the communicator notification goes off. She frowns at the message and props herself up on an elbow to type back:

I’m okay. Sit tight, I’ll swing by with coffee.

Something must have happened.