"I am," he says with a nod.

Slowly and carefully, they begin to descend the stairs.

"I suspect we'll be seeing each other again," the captain shouts from above as they get further and further away from the ship. He waves. "Take care!"

Truthfully, part of him is relieved to be back on something attached to solid ground -- and yet, at the same time there is a sense of disappointment as well, as though when his feet touched the earth, it lost something fine.