Launch Day

Dierdre watches the distortion unfold. Wideyed, trying to control the rising well of panic she blurts, "What the hell is a derivative, O'Neill?"

"We don't have time for science lectures. I'll tell you if we survive! Get to your seat and strap in. Commander, please get this shuttle moving! These things don't obey the physics of our reality, so hopefully if we move it may stay in a fixed location. If we are unlucky, it might follow us." O'Neil swims through the space shuttle as quickly as possible to reach his seat and strap in. He makes the universal signal for hurry the hell to everyone who hasn't already strapped in.

"You don’t have to tell me twice!

Dirk rushes back to the cockpit and gets everything back online as everyone straps in. Once he confirms everyone’s good to go, he’ll activate the thrusters to get away from their present location and get away fast

Dierdre hurriedly floats to her seat and straps in, glad to be away from this nightmare and hopefully not into another one.

The crew strap themselves in and begin their descent home. Looking at one of the camera monitors, you can see the derivative emerge from the floor of the cargo bay. It seems you have not lost it as you'd hoped. But there's nothing to be done about it now. Upon hitting re-entry, the heat and the vibrations do seem to have an effect on the derivative. It is hard to see through the low quality cameras, but it looks as if it is being unfolded, or smoothed out, erasing great jags of folded perspective at a time. Like someone is smoothing out the folded origami of reality. After a minute there is nothing left but a single fold which then smooths clean and the derivative is gone.

Landing and debriefing proceed as smoothly as could be expected. There are some hard questions about what happened to Weintruab's body and the death of Hamlet, but Woolrich interrupts and has any answers stricken from the record for national security reasons. After the debriefing, Woolrich expresses his thanks for your service to the country and that you've made the world a safer place. He is truly apologetic for the loss of Weintraub and Hamlelt, then says cryptically, "We are all tools to the Program, and every tool gets worn or broken sooner or later."

As for your careers, you never see space again. You are all quietly reassigned to useful but ultimately dead-end positions in departments best suited to your skills. At one point, each of you are contacted by people digging about the mission: investigative journalists, conspiracy theorists, TV show hosts of disreputable programs...

After that mission, Dirk struggled with his new position in life. For the first time in his career, he was no longer a flyer and was now riding a desk. He knew it would come to an end eventually, but this early retirement from space is a lot to bear. He’s mad that the system used them and cost him one of his friends.

To say that he is bitter would be an understatement.

Dirk talks to the media willingly, though he never provides concrete details about what actually happened. He mostly says things like "the official mission report is bullshit" and "the agency is full of crooks and you can’t believe anything that NASA is saying."

He uses it as an outlet to vent frustration, but he never directly references the program or the derivative.

Dierdre goes into general practice as far away from civilization as she can get, living in some non-descript one-horse country town. She never speaks of the mission and immerses herself completely in country life, raising cattle and pigs.

She has nightmares every night.

Once they're debriefed, Belton pulls O'Neil to the side and holds him to what he said about an explanation. He also grills the scientific-occult expert on why he killswitched Hamlet, after Belton had made peace with what was coming.

None of it really helps though. It gives him understanding, but it does nothing to alleviate the weight on his soul.

He makes a point of staying in touch with the others. He tells them it's because they share a bond no one else could possibly understand, which technically is true... but the real reason is that it's harder for government to make you vanish if you have eyes on you. Maybe not much harder, but anything helps.

It takes him a while to adjust, but ultimately he settles into his routine as a teacher. He doesn't say much to media -- or anyone else digging for information. Just a generally empty statement with a positive message.

"Government unofficially does things most people couldn't or wouldn't believe. Even if you could and did, you'd be powerless to stop them anyway. Live your life with love and happiness, be good people, and make the best of the time you have."

Two years after the incident, Dr. Turner, Belton, and McMillan get mysterious phone calls. A voice says they know what really happened and have been keeping an eye on them in the intervening time. Not going to the media or revealing what really happened was a test and they all passed. You all have been recruited by an agency that calls itself Delta Green...