[ WP ] Begin with the sentence , `` I am alone , but I am happy '' .

I am alone, but I am happy. 
 
 I'll admit, I have n't been happy much at all since we were hit. Mostly, I've been terrified, and sometimes furious, and sometimes despairing. 
 
 It was a tiny, tiny rock, by cosmic standards -- smaller than a baby's fist. Even a baby's fist can smash a space station into rubble, though, when it comes in at a substantial fraction of the speed of light, far faster than our countermeasure systems could track. 
 
 Most of the safeties held fine. The holes it left were clean and we did n't lose much air before the seals kicked in. The problem was that it passed through the reactor room. It did n't hit the reactor itself, of course, or nobody would be around to write about it, but although the efforts to repair the damage were nothing less than heroic, it was an impossible task, and it was a matter of time before it went critical. 
 
 I'd like to say that everyone on the station was a hero, stayed calm, did the right thing all the time, and prevailed against impossible odds, but of course that never happens. We made mistakes, we panicked, we yelled at each other. I'm not an exception. It's the truth, though, that even if we had been perfect, I do n't think we could have done much better than we did. 
 
 All of the emergency sleepships were made operational with plenty of time to spare. We got everyone organized, we got the panic under control, and we got the emergency signals transmitted. When the ships arrive, our people will be waiting for us, and everyone will make it through. It wo n't even be that long, just a little over a year. We kept those ships in perfect shape, exactly according to procedure, and they were designed to operate continuously for decades. A year is nothing. My only regret is that when my husband wakes up, he's going to realize that I lied to him, and he's going to be really upset. 
 
 The complete report will be in the appropriate place on every sleepship, of course, but for anyone reading this journal, please make note that the launch bay of these science stations needs a redesign. Do n't let that get forgotten. I understand the security concerns due to the large amount of air that would be lost by an improper opening, but the inability to set a timed release means that in case of an emergency, a trained engineering officer with authorization codes has to be physically present at a console to open it, or worse, two suited workers per door to use the manual override. 
 
 Give my apologies to my husband. When I told him that chief engineer Suresh was going to die a hero, I was n't really lying. If he had n't gone into the reactor core itself to disengage the damage controller completely, none of us would have made it. He would n't have survived being transferred to the sleepships after his burns, so I eased his passage last night. As second of engineering, I was the most logical one to stay behind to operate the doors. The reactor will go critical in about 18 hours, so we actually made it with breathing room to spare. 
 
 But I can see the telemetry on the ships coming back, on each and every one of you, and I'm genuinely happy. I know that he's going to make it. I know my daughter is going to make it. Please make sure he knows I did n't go out afraid or crying. 
 
 I am alone, but I am happy.
