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with such accuracy.
    Just as I finished reordering my room, Samuel stepped in the doorway.
    “We’re all meeting in Ashton’s office at 1930 hours.”
    “What for?”
    “One last briefing before we leave tomorrow morning. Also, can you find Makara and let her know? Can’t seem to find her anywhere.”
    “I know just where to look,” I said.
    Samuel nodded, then left.
    My mind was set racing. In the two months I had been up here, it was starting to feel a bit like home. No, it wasn’t Earth, but Skyhome had all the amenities that I sorely missed and grew up with. There was plenty of food and water, warm showers, soft beds to sleep in, and people to talk to. There was routine in Skyhome, outside of the odd titanium rod clobbering it. Maybe that part wasn’t so great, but it was safer than the surface, with its monsters, raiders, and dust storms.
    I was always shifting between hating this place and loving it. It’s hard to argue with safety, a full belly, and a community to support you. It’s strange that you can hate something like that, but I guess you can if it’s keeping you from doing what you’re supposed to do – in my case, going back to Earth to finish what all of us had started. If no one did that, then this community up here would end.
    I remembered something else Ashton told me. People could not live up here forever. There could be another impact that might be much worse. There could be solar flares that fry all the electronics. It was only a matter of time, a question of when, not if. Everyone in Skyhome had to return to Earth, someday. It was all the more reason to continue fighting.
    I headed out the door, making my way to the Outer Ring to find Makara. That was where she would most likely be. I liked to go to the Outer Ring to watch Earth below. The Outer Ring spun at a rate of one full rotation every four minutes, fifteen per hour. Every time, it afforded a slightly different view of our world. I always tried to catch a glimpse of California and America, but of course, most of the time they were not there. When they were, half the time they were dark with night. And if they did happen to be there, the cloud cover was so thick that it was hard to make out anything at all. Everything appeared all dusty and red, an effect that cast the oceans with a violet hue.
    I entered the glass automatic sliding doors that led into the Outer Ring. These doors helped keep the Ring warm and humid. The thick aroma of plants and produce tickled my nostrils. The Outer Ring was the freshest part of Skyhome, and anytime the chill of space becomes too much, going here was a sure solution. All the crops were kept in neat rows on the floor, and metal tiers supported by struts added additional space.
    I climbed some steps to one of these tiers, and walked along it. A small catwalk branched from the tier, leading to a large set of windows that is perfect for Earth watching.
    When I reached the windows, my suspicions were confirmed. Makara sat against the wall, staring outside. Earth was just now entering Skyhome’s field of view. As I went to stand beside her, she continued staring outside, taciturn.
    “Makara?”
    She tensed at my voice, but did not stop looking out.
    I sat down next to her. For a moment, we watched Earth pass by in silence.
    “Are you alright?” I asked.
    She didn’t answer for a moment. She seemed drained.
    “It’s freaky, isn’t it?”
    Her voice was dull, monotonous, as if all life had been stripped from it. Now more than ever, I was worried about her state. None of us had known Lisa the way Makara had. Instead of improving over the past two months, she had withdrawn more into herself than ever. I didn’t know what it would take to bring her out.
    Looking down at the planet below, I could see what Makara was talking about. It was a rare, cloudless day, and the dust was mostly absent from Earth’s atmosphere. On the surface, the sun might have even been strong enough to mostly break through the