To her credit, Andria was having none of it. “Let’s talk in private,” she said, leading me across the chamber to a ladder situated inside another bulkhead.

We climbed down two flights to the lower level, our descent paced by GOLEM, the annoying sphere drifting into view seconds later like a giant Peeping Tom.

I followed Andria in silence past a watertight door labeled SUB-4, the two of us weaving around pallets of equipment wrapped in plastic. I noticed a yellow hatch on the floor marked by a radiation symbol.

She stopped at another watertight door labeled EGRESS.

Andria opened the hatch, leading me inside a small tiled chamber resembling a firemen’s prep station. A dozen hooded Navy Steinke egress-exposure suits hung from hooks, with a plastic sign that offered step-by-step instructions. Above the frame was a red light and a green light, neither lit. A small watertight door on the opposite end of the room led to the escape hatch.

Andria straddled one of the two wooden benches bolted to the floor. She motioned for me to sit across from her.

Avoiding eye contact, she stared at her sneakers. “I don’t know how to say this, so I’m just going to say it.”

“Don’t. I already heard it once, I don’t think I could stomach it again.”

“You heard what from whom?”

“From you. Outside Stateroom One, about ten minutes ago. If you were so unhappy with me, why didn’t you say something sooner?”

“I wasn’t unhappy.”

“Let’s see … I’m an anchor, a recluse. Stuck in my own head. Afraid to live. Those words sound familiar? Christ, you make me sound like a mental patient!”

She looked at me, teary-eyed, but said nothing. There was nothing to say, I held all the cards in a losing hand. Still, I intended to get my pound of flesh.

“I asked you to marry me back in January. ‘Yes, Ike, I’ll marry you, only we have to wait until I’m shuttle qualified … until I get my wings.’ What the hell, Andria?”

“I was selected for Europa a week after we got engaged. I needed time to think. For three years I’ve committed every day to the Omega mission—how could I just walk away? Only twelve people on Earth were selected for Europa … we were sworn to secrecy.”

“So you cheated on me?”

“It wasn’t planned, it happened over time. I wasn’t looking, but under the circumstances … facing the prospect of being gone for six years, I guess I began to detach from you emotionally. Face it, Ike, there’s no way you would have let me go to Europa. With Kevin, it seemed our personalities meshed. I know this is going to sound crazy, but I think the computer purposely matched everyone onboard.”