No Limits by Katherine Garbera

tell them about his ‘son’ the astronaut.”
    Jason squeezed her tight and she heard his breath catch. She turned to look at him, but he’d tipped his head up toward the sky and she gave him a moment. Gave him the time he needed to get his emotions under control.
    That was the thing about grief, she thought—it wasn’t just over and done. It kept sweeping along and hitting her when she least expected it. But talking about Dad tonight felt right. Felt like they both needed to get some sort of closure in regard to the man who’d meant the world to both of them and had left them so unexpectedly.
    She knew that if it hadn’t been for Mick’s death, she and Jason wouldn’t be here. They would both be living their ordinary lives.
    â€œI miss him,” she said.
    â€œI know. What do you think he’d say about us turning part of the ranch into a training facility?”
    â€œI have no idea,” she said. “It’s different. Is this your way of staying with NASA even if you don’t pass the medical?”
    He shrugged. She noticed he did that a lot when he didn’t want to answer a question. She got it. It was easier for her to talk about him than to examine herself.
    â€œSort of,” he said. “Ever feel like you were born at the wrong time?”
    â€œNot really. I’m pretty happy right where I am.”
    â€œYeah, I can see that. That’s probably why everything has hit you so hard with your dad,” he said. “I mean...”
    She reached up and touched his face. “I get it. Why do you wish you were born in a different time?”
    â€œWell, if I was born thirty years earlier, I could have been part of the moon landing and those missions. Twenty years later and I’d be the perfect age to land on Mars one day. Instead...”
    â€œYou are doing the work to enable others to go to Mars. To allow us to see if there is other life in the universe,” she said. “This facility—the missions you would be training astronauts for are key to the next step.”
    He squeezed her tighter. “I sound like a punk, complaining like that.”
    â€œI wouldn’t word it like that,” she said.
    â€œNo, you’re much too nice. But my buddies in the Cronus program...”
    â€œLike who? Tell me about them. Are there any women?” she asked. “I’m friends with Jessie Odell, the adventurer, and she does some crazy-ass stuff—surviving in the wilderness, going places where very few men and even fewer women have been.”
    â€œI’ve heard of her. Who hasn’t?” Jason said. “How do you know her?”
    â€œWe’re pen pals. After my smoking incident in the barn, Dad thought I needed a better use of my time. So he found her fan mail address—she was still doing that show with her parents—and I wrote to her. I told her about living on the ranch. She grew up on the ocean and...we connected. We both were isolated in our own ways.”
    â€œThat’s pretty cool. I felt that way when I got assigned to my first mission and started training with Dennis. He’d done a bunch of missions, but we connected. He’s like a big brother to me.”
    â€œAnd now he’s the guy in charge of the Cronus program, right?”
    â€œYes. If I pass my medical tests, I’ll be competing for a place in his program, along with a bunch of other guys.”
    â€œDo you know most of them?” she asked.
    â€œYeah. I’m probably one of the senior astronauts.”
    â€œYou’re not that old,” she said.
    â€œGeez, thanks,” he said. “I meant because of the mission-hours I’ve clocked.”
    â€œI know it will be very hard for you if you’re grounded permanently,” she said. “Why would you want the facility here, outside Houston? Won’t that make it even worse?”
    â€œI’ve spent my entire career working toward manned