As Derek wheels onwards, he feels a whish of cool air pass over his face. No reason to panic, but still unusual on a space station with environmental controls.

The corridor comes to a halt with a left and right turn.

Right time, lucky I hope.

He turns right and goes fifty meters.

A guard appears before him, a rifle resting on his shoulder. They both smile.

“Matt, is that you?”

” No way, Derek. You are last person I expected to meet down here. Been a few years since we did that course on managing space landings. You got a job out of it anyway, eh.”

Derek nodded. “I sure did. Doing that course was the best thing I ever did. And that is the truth. What are you doing down here?”

Matt smirks. “Nothing much to be honest. I’m guarding a woman. Maeve is her name. Her family is in some of trouble with the authorities. Not looking good for her at all. What brings you down this way?”

Despite feeling queasy Derek replies, “Maeve does. She’s sort of my girlfriend. I need to see her. Remember that favor you owe me?”

“Ya dirty dog you. And bringing that up after all those years!” Matt shakes his head and open the door. “Go on! Be quick.”

Derek sat up at the side of the side and pulled his wheelchair closer before transferring onto it in one sweeping, elegant movement.

“Guess, I’ll see you on the next shift?” Nathalia says with a smile.

Looking up, Derek replies, “Yes, and thanks, Nat, for checking up on me.”

“Anytime. You’re like all men. A bit silly at times. Need direction.”

Derek laughs, “Go on, I’ll see you again soon.”

She walks out of his room.

They must be holding Maeve on one of the lower levels. I hope she’s okay. She should have been my priority, not feeling sorry for myself.

On exiting his room, he notices that everyone he passes gives him a smile. The mother, with her child, the middle-aged man, and the man nearing retirement.

Nat wasn’t joking.

He reaches the translucent elevator and presses the button for the second lowest floor, for that is the floor where prisoners are rumored to be kept.

Only for Maeve, I wouldn’t go anywhere near this floor.

The elevator begins its descent. The lunar surface is soon invisible in the distance, replaced by darkness.

It stops, and Derek wheels out. It doesn’t resemble any of the other levels. There is a narrow metallic corridor. There are no people, and no sign of any doors. He turns left and determines to find out more.

Derek lies fully dressed in his bed, staring at the ceiling. Hours have passed, and nothing from Maeve.

Was I just fooling myself? Why would a girl like her want anything to do with me? She could get someone who actually walks. I was a fool.

He turns to lie on his side.

No, there was a real connection. I didn’t just imagine it all.

A tear drops onto his pillow.

There is a knock on his door. It can only be Natasha. Everybody else would send him a voice message, but she’s old school.

Derek says, “Open door”. The door opens, and Natasha walks in. “What are you doing in here? Everybody is out here calling you a hero and saying what a great guy you are. It’s making me a bit sick, to be honest. They don’t have you tormenting them in the morning.”

“Maeve hasn’t contacted me, Tash. No chatter since she saw the chair.”

Natasha frowns. “It’s nothing to do with the chair, ya twat. She’s under investigation for safety violations. And even if she had a problem with it, lots of other girls wouldn’t. No reason to go all depressive.”

Derek feels a weight lift off his chest. His heart beats faster. “I’d better go see if she’s okay.”

Narasha shakes her head. “Well, it’s better than moping around in here, I suppose.”

And then she gone. Derek could feel a buzz going through every fiber of his body. She was beautiful and had not recoiled in horror at his disability. No, she had embraced him warmly. He thought of her long red hair up touching against his ear.

I am on top of the world.

And yet the world around him continued on as if nothing had happened. People continued walking back and forth, the station continued to rotate. Nothing had changed, and yet everything was irrevocably different. His life now seemed full of hope and possibilities.

But what next? Where should they meet when she makes contact? Ah Hartans.

Hartans was almost certainly the best place to go. The best hotdogs on the moon. True, the competition was somewhat sparse but they were delicious. And it was one of the places to go on a date, or even just have a meet-up. Derek had grown up hearing how his friend Mikey had taken girls there. Now it was his turn.

Derek began to roll towards the elevator. At no point, did the large grin fade from his face. She’d be a while so no harm him having relaxation. And maybe some computer games in case she had the audacity to challenge him later.

Maeve takes off her helmet and hears the hustle of the space station. A crowd gathers around her and her companions. Women stare and whisper to each other about what happened with her ship and how it landed.

“Maeve!” A familiar voice comes from behind her. Elated, she turns to face Derek.

And there he is with hazel eyes and short-cropped, black hair, sitting in a wheelchair.

That is what the comment was about.

She walks forward and throws her arms around him. As their faces meet, there is a pleasant smell of deodorant. “Thank you, Derek. Without you, a safe landing would have been impossible. You saved me and my family.”

She stood back up. He was smiling now. “I have to go do some sort of debrief?”

Derek’s eyes flittered. “Standard procedure after an emergency landing. It’s nothing to be worried about; it should take forty minutes or so.”

Maeve pursed her lips. “How do I contact you later?”

“Oh, now you’re on the moon, that’s really simple. You will be given a communications device that you wear over your ear. Just instruct it to contact C2222. It will put you straight through to me.”

“Ok, chat again real soon.”

Back in his room, a million thoughts run through Derek’s head. He has just heard over the communications line that Maeve is alive. She is being brought to Moon Sector C right now. He is both thrilled that she is okay and terrified at the thought of meeting her.

He looks at the mirror. Combs his hair to the left, then back to the right.

“You can do this, Derek!”

Talking to myself. Has it really come to this?

Derek swirls his wheelchair to the left, then back to the right.

I look good, apart from the chair, that is.

He frowns, then looks up at the ceiling.

I promised I’d meet her; there’s no turning back.

Derek wheels out of the room, then down the lift, to the ground level, and over to entry point B. Looking out at the gray, cratered lunar surface, he ponders what is going through Maeve’s head. Some of the debris from the landing is still making its way back to the surface. It reminds him of a video he had seen of it snowing on Earth.

Bodies appear over the top of one of the craters. Then still more.

What should I say? Good to see you. Think, Derek, think!