The Mako trundled over another ridge, tyres scrambling for purchase on the scree, and balanced precariously on the edge, teetering slightly.
Kaidan gripped the restraints tightly and eyed the drop with apprehension. "Ah, Commander?"
"Mmm?"
"Don't you think we should, you know, move to somewhere more secure?" The Mako shifted ever so slightly and he braced himself further.
Shepard chuckled softly, a low rich sound in the confines of the cab. She reached over casually and patted him on the knee. "Don't worry, Lieutenant. You're perfectly safe here with me."
Kaidan flushed, though in the ruddy glow of Agebinium's sun it was unnoticeable. She glanced at him and smiled, then returned her attention to the view beyond the screens.
He had to admit it was a compelling panorama: a bare exotic world bathed in red from the star hovering far too closely and menacingly above. The rocky bones of the planet protruded harshly into the thin atmosphere, casting stark shadows across the landscape. Distant stars sparkled in the plush, almost violet field behind the sun, and the eerie wailing of an alien wind could be heard even above the Mako's idling engines.
"So, why have we stopped? There's nothing here now you've sorted out that issue with the probe."
Shepard took a deep breath and gestured at the scene outside. "Just look at it, Kaidan. Look at it. It's another world. Somewhere hardly anyone's been. Don't you find it beautiful? And impossible?
"Just think. We're a million light-years away from Earth. We've come from the only place humanity has ever been. Our cradle, I guess. And now we're here. Two hundred years ago, this – being on another world, travelling between stars – was only a dream. Something people told stories or made vids about. Hell, even a hundred years ago it was impossible.
"And yet here we are, today. On another planet. Think about it, Kaidan. We've left our home world. We've gone off into space and we're exploring all these other worlds. Across almost the entire galaxy, seeing all the beauty these worlds have to offer, no matter how different it is from our own."
She stared out the window, eyes drinking in all that lay beyond. "We've left home," she added dreamily. "Left home, and the stars are our heritage now. All the stars, and all the worlds, all there for us to find."
She turned and looked at him quite seriously. "Doesn't it take your breath away?"
He looked at her, pale skin rosy in the sunlight, eyes wide and sparkling with life and wonder. "You take my breath away," he replied huskily, and leaned to kiss her over the centre console.