Chen Xu and Yang Jinxia were connected by a steel cable less than a meter long. Their bodies tugged at each other, pulling the cable taut and straight as they spun, flying towards an unknown direction.
In their field of vision, the background kept spinning; in one direction, a swath of starlight could be observed. Using it as a reference, they knew they were spinning rapidly, for the starlight would appear briefly and frequently.
Besides that patch of starlight, other directions also revealed some stars, perhaps too remote and dim. Closer objects were completely invisible, and the Dawn spacecraft's whereabouts were unknown.
Inside their helmets, lights were on—not very bright, but enough to allow them to see each other's faces clearly.
So they watched each other, their gloved hands gripping one another's, without speaking.
It seemed as if they would drift like this forever.
Time passed, indeterminate.
