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The crumbling stone is all that remains of Ryland Grace. Nobody else on Earth remembers him. Everyone who knew him is dead. His students vaguely recall him as the cool science teacher they had in middle school, but no one remembers him. The way his hair stood up even when he tried to tame it, the way he wore his glasses dangling from one ear, the exact shade of his eyes. Everything that makes him up, everything that matters, has been forgotten.
His memorial stands tall in the Capitol, watching over the city. Dr. Ryland Grace, United States of America, reads the pedestal. Embedded in the stone are the parts that remain of the device that brought Grace’s life-saving information home. A gear, a mechanical wing, a motor. This is all that remains of the Hail Mary, of its crew, of those brave souls who gave their lives to save the world. The memorials of his crewmates stretch to the skies beside him, so desperate to fly even in death.
The other two astronauts, Yáo Li-Jie and Olesya Ilyukhina, memorialized beside Dr. Grace, were just as instrumental in the saving of humanity. Everyone knows that. Everyone knows these three household names. No one knows that Dr. Grace had to do it alone. No one knows that he had to give his friends, his comrades, burials on his own. No one knows that their bodies are floating in the frigid vacuum of space. Their bodies are gone, but their souls? Their souls are still up there, dancing among the stars and weaving through the comets. A fitting burial for a cosmonaut.
No one knows that the true saviors of humanity were Ryland Grace and an alien, first a stranger, then a friend, then a life partner. There is nothing Dr. Grace wouldn’t do for this alien, and there is nothing the alien wouldn’t do for Dr. Grace. True devotion is the only name for a bond like that. Soulmates would be an apt description, if you believe in that. I certainly do.
The statue is all that remains of Dr. Grace. He certainly is not teaching science to young children on an alien planet. He certainly is not living in a biosphere created just for him, so that he can be with his dearest friend for the rest of his unfortunately human life. No, certainly not. All of that is impossible.
Let me tell you a secret, something that Dr. Grace has discovered many times over. Everything is possible. Everything. Alien life-forms dimming the sun. Other alien life-forms helping combat the dimming of the sun. Entire spaceships made of xenon, a noble gas. This is only the beginning.
The universe does not give up her secrets easily. She clings to them, surrendering them only when they are forcibly torn from her. Few have ever coaxed these secrets from her. Dr. Grace is one of them.
She favors those who care for her. She favors those who study her patterns, who map her expanses. Those favored ones are occasionally allowed a secret or two.
Dr. Grace is one of these lucky few. He has worked tirelessly to save his own planet, and the planet of his dearest friend, and in doing so, has endeared himself to the universe. Why do you think she allowed him to reach 40 Eridani, to the planet his dearest friend calls home? He could not have done it without her favor. She could have easily thrown him off course, stranded him in the empty wastes, but she did not. She may not be merciful, but she is not cruel either.
She allowed Grace and his dearest friend to capture and cultivate the Tau Ceti amoeba, and save their respective planets, against all odds. Save Earth, save Erid. She heard their pleas, she witnessed their determination, and she responded in kind.
They nearly died, you know. The universe cannot interfere too much with the lives of mortals, even her favored ones. They tested the limits, and paid dearly for it.
Dr. Grace and his dearest, separated by hostile atmospheres, both willing to give their own lives to save each other. This devotion nearly cost them both their lives, but that did not matter to them. They would have done that and more, if it meant that the other was safe.
Some might think it a cruel twist of fate, that Dr. Grace did not return to Earth. He did not get to go home. He did not get to see his efforts pay off, and he did not get to see his home saved.
I disagree. If you could see him now, you would see that he is more at home than ever. He found a new home, with his dearest companion and friend, and he did get to see his efforts pay off. Erid was saved. That is more than enough for him.
Yes, the monkey’s paw curled. Yes, Grace did not die alone in space, but he also did not return to Earth. One could argue that he is still lost in space, still missing in action, but he is more at home than he ever was on Earth. The universe favors him, after all. She would not let go of him so easily.
Without even knowing it, completely lacking ulterior motive, Dr. Grace endeared himself to the universe. Simply by being himself, by being intelligent and wonderful and oh so devastatingly human, he endeared himself to the universe, and by extension, to the residents of 40 Eridani. To us.
Do you want to hear a secret? We can sense, you see, others who have been touched by the stars. Dr. Grace and his dearest coming together was no accident, no happenstance meeting. They have been connected by fate since both of them stepped foot on their ships. The Petrova line was their red string.
Let me tell you another secret. Listen closely. The universe divulges her secrets to those dearest to her, so prove your devotion. Study her skies. Map her systems. Learn her, and she will reward you. To earn the favor of the universe is not so easily done, but once done, it stays. She is a loyal mistress.
It does not matter that Ryland Grace is not remembered by those on Earth. He is favored by the universe, and that is forever.