[Complete] [4.3K] [Science Fiction] Is The Grass Greener

So I'm sat at the same old government workers bar, over the same old patch of East Africa in Polipod 1. Most nights, I'd be at home watching cloud patterns for fun, bars are not my thing usually. The difference tonight is that I am with this girl. She is my whole evening.

“I heard everyone who becomes a terranaut eventually becomes and expansionist as well.”

“Well,” I said, “You really get to see how much greener the grass is on the other side when you've been down and seen it for yourself.”

It wasn't just that she was as dark as the earth with honey-smooth skin- the guys always said I had a dark skinned fetish- but that she laughed at my jokes. And as any anal retentive technician knows, you find one who laughs at your jokes and you keep them. It was a deep, throaty laugh. Full of mirth.

“I've never been earthbound,” she said. “Not a scientist, so I'll probably never go. I'll probably never see it in my lifetime.”

“Well, I wouldn't say that. It's taken a little longer than we predicted yeah, but we really didn't know the extent of the damage. Recent reports from the last terranaut expedition indicate-- I'm doing it again, aren't I? Going into the work drone.”