"Ad astra," he said, as they touched glasses.
"Amen."
Elaine walked slowly away from him, swishing the liquor in her glass. "Let's go topside and see the stars," she said, suddenly.
"H'mm?"
"Up to the bubble. Come on."
So they left her one-room quarters and took the lift tube up to the bubble. It was deserted. Overhead, Saturn was low on the horizon, silhouetting the alien buildings. They turned to the other side of the sky, where it was clear and dark. Thousands of stars twinkled in the darkness; they made out Sirius and Vega, then Mars, and finally Earth—a bright blue jewel that outshone all the others.
"I guess Jupiter's on the other side of the Sun," Lee said.
Elaine nodded. "It looks so far away," she said, staring at Earth, "and so lonely, out there in all that emptiness."
"A psychotech would call that 'projection.'"