The eyes closed and the robot was still.
It never spoke again.
Pat ran to Comstock's side. His waiting arms engulfed her as they stood, looking deeply into each other's eyes, savoring their moment of triumph, and thinking with delight of what the future held.
Comstock said, "I love you."
It was the first time in five hundred years that the air of that planet had heard those words said in a tone that meant by love—sharing and trust and hope and peace, and mutual sacrifice that something bigger and better might come from that love.
THE END