“Queen!” Jacob yelled. “Queen, do you hear me?”

“I’m turning off the com link Jacob. I don’t need you distracting me any further. If you survive the landing back there I’ll be sure to check on you at some point. Good-bye.”

The intercom went dead. Costner screamed into the com, trying to call back his former crewmate but there was no response. He only had a small amount of time to make a decision before it would be too late. The temperatures in the atmosphere would burn the ship up, his only chance to save himself would be to jettison himself out the rear hatch and hope that his oxygen lasted long enough for a rescue ship to arrive. He had a little luck on his side in that any time a space craft depressurized, it would activate its emergency distress beacon, signaling for help. This was his last, best chance at staying alive. Costner moved to the cargo hatch and pried open the key terminal. He quickly and methodically re-wired the doors activation switch and disabled its safety lock. The captain stole one last look at the foreboding atmosphere. He keyed the switch and the large cargo bay doors slid open. The vacuum was instantaneous, the shuttering metal of the Pegasus ceased. Captain Costner was jettisoned out the back of the ship and sent hurtling into space. As he sailed away, he watched the ship enter the Titan atmosphere. The open hatch gave entry to the intense heat and radiation. The ship went up like a match and never even made it into the lower regions of the planet’s skies. Costner sailed rapidly away from the moon. He had to fight to remain conscious. Debris and items from the ships hold were scattered around him as he flew into the stellar night. He watched the body of Hal Yazami slowly, gracefully, glide off into infinity.

Costner gasped for air. He shook and shuddered as his E.V.A. suit was near completely frozen. The read out on his data pad was flashing red in distress as his oxygen levels were nearly depleted. He looked off into the distance and saw the moon of Titan, no bigger than a baseball now. He had sailed the cosmic seas forever it had seemed. He knew his journey was at a close. The beacon more than likely had gone off, but there was no one close enough to make a difference. He radioed one last time; a broken word being all he could muster:

“Kaleigh.”

The last breath of Jacob Costner came 4 minutes and 12 seconds before a static filled message penetrated his comm. link.

“Jacob! Jacob, are you there?” a voice cried out frantically.

“This is Houston Command” the voice continued. “We have your location, just stay with us.”

“Captain?”…“Captain Costner, come in!”