Adventures In Space

“How much longer will I have if you reserve enough power to open the airlock?” asked a tired man as he stared into the darkness through the window of the bridge.
“Ten minutes and 21 seconds of power with the reserve,” replied a feminine, cold, and artificial voice.
“Well, thank you for the wonderful news Alex,” he sighed back.
“You’re welcome, Michael.”
“Good God, Alex, we have been floating around out here for two months together and you still don’t understand sarcasm? How did we even end up like this, babe?” Through the window on the bridge Michael watched dust and debris bounce away.
“We left port seven months ago to deliver our cargo. A severe solar flare sent us off course and damaged the majority of our navigation tools. When you woke after 150 days, you attempted to manually steer us until you turned off the engine.” Michael let out a sigh.
“You need to stop being so literal, Alex. I love an intelligent woman, and I know you’re smart. But you just aren’t that quick.”
“I don’t understand.” The voice was still just as monotone, uncaring.
“Do you know what we are transporting, Alex?”
“Alcohol, sir.”
“Exactly, Alex, we are transporting booze. We were both sent to die so that a few people could throw back some shots.” Michael threw a bottle at the window; he seemed furious.
“MIchael, there is only one more minute of power left; if you wish to open the airlock you should leave soon.”
“Why, thank you, Alex; you are such a wonderful help, my beautiful little computer.” Michael walked through the windowed corridor. He glanced at the reason he turned the engine off here, a beautiful nebula in the distance. The view was beautiful. “Don’t you love this view, Alex? Oh, how I wish you could enjoy this.”
“I can see you enjoy it, Michael.” Michael continued to the airlock; he opened the door and sat down while it closed behind him.

“Can you still hear me in here, Alex?” On a small screen the word “Yes” blinked in green text. “How much longer do we have, Alex?” A lonely 30 blinked on the screen before slowly counting down.

“I love you, Alex.” The airlock opened, pulling Michael out of the ship into the freezing vacuum of space. The lights of the ship dimmed and flickered off one by one, down the corridor and last to the airlock.

The small screen blinked one last time, the words fading away.
“Goodbye, Michael.”