 What would have happened if Phil had gone on the mission?
If anything could go wrong, they wouldn't be sending me; you know that. But I don't think I ever really believed it was possible—not until this morning when you said tonight was the take-off. It existed only because of the huge ship standing poised in the take-off zone five miles away in the desert. Phil turned the car off the highway onto the rutted dirt road that led across the sand to the field where the ship waited. He read Phil's pass, shined his flashlight in their faces, and then saluted.
 He would still have been disappointed after fulfilling his dream because of how things ended with Mary.
 Mary would have forgiven him for following his dreams and they would work together to continue their relationship.  His anger would've caused him to make a mistake that would have ended in his death.  He would have been ecstatic to finally have lived his dream, and gone on to live his life.  He would still have been disappointed after fulfilling his dream because of how things ended with Mary.