The Space Station - Chapter 1 - Page 4

Now looking beyond the engine module, the gaze of Functionary refocused to penetrate further into the depths of space, in the direction from whence the ship had come. Barely now, and with some limited knowledge of the galaxy, Functionary could make-out a particular star and could see, or rather imagine, the system of planets which revolved ceaselessly around it. There, a large gaseous planet slowly revolved around the now distant star and around that planet, in turn, a small, cold, stony moon orbited. That moon had been Functionary's home, for the past five years.

The first thoughts which came to Functionary of the existence he was leaving far behind on that small and insignificant moon, was of his personal life. Functionary had actually been born elsewhere. It was the lot of a Space Functionary to move great distances leaving behind the life they had, with relatively little chance of ever returning. Yet, despite his vocation and relatively solitary nature, Functionary had put down a few roots during his time on that now distant moon. He had made a few friends and what he had thought was one special and potentially long-lasting friendship. Now, he was unlikely to see any of these individuals again. For most people, space travel remain a profoundly unusually and irregular activity. Many would never leave their home planet and would never travel between planets let alone planetary systems. Others might experience space travel once or twice in their lifetimes. Even for Functionary, the chances of any further immediate space travel in the next few years had now become very unlikely and, with all the hundreds of potential postings, he was very unlikely to retrace his steps when his chance to move on did come.