"Rocky!" Grace grunted, albeit cheerfully, as he was rudely awoken by the sound of a spoon being banged against a pan. It had been a long time since anyone had woken him up like that, and even longer since that wakeup hadn't come with a hangover.
"Is earth tradition, I learn on portable earth thinking machine. Statement" he says, his tone said that he would be smirking if he had a face - Grace just knew it. Grace sat up stretching out his muscles after sleeping what must have been almost ten hours.
"Erid scientist discover many interesting things. Statement. Give Rocky permission to tell Grace now." He said, idly tapping his paws against the ground excitedly venting steam that fogged up his xenonite suit; if Grace didn't know any better he'd say that his carapace was about to burst.
There was a rushed atmosphere while Grace got ready, filled with Rocky's encouragements of "Why Grace so slow," and " stupid stupid stupid," until Grace was finally awake enough to carry a conversation. He walked across the beach in the biodome while Rocky skittered alongside him.
"Erid scientist figure out faster-than-light-travel. Statement." Rocky says without any beating around the bush, Grace appreciated that Eridian social norm very greatly. "You reach Earth in under 3000 seconds."
Grace was stunned, he almost fell from how abruptly he stopped in place. "You're kidding?" Grace whispered. An hour. That's all it would take to get back to earth.
"No, not funny. Earth humour weird. Statement," Rocky said, once again almost dancing in place rather than staying still. "Grace want to go home, question?"
Grace milled over the question, did he want to go back to earth? Was it worth the risk? Was anyone he once knew still alive? He would appreciate stocking up on some skittles, he supposed.
"I'm not staying there," Grace said definitively, earth had stopped being home the moment he started living on Erid. "They might try to make me," he added nervously, his last experience on earth was less than ideal.
"Rocky kill everyone on earth, then himself," he says, Grace can't tell if he's joking or not either.
"I don't think Adrian would be very supportive of that," Grace said, feeling a crushing sense of anxiety for the first time since he had been told the hail mary was ready for relaunch. He had said no then because it would take too long to be worth it. But now... it was just a drive down the road, he had driven longer for a Costco rotisserie chicken before.
"Adrian love Rocky no matter what," Rocky said with what Grace had learnt was sarcasm in his tone. Though his words weren't a lie, Adrian would defend Rocky no matter what he had done - even when he had held the taumoeba hostage until biodome agreements were made for Grace.
"Will you come with me then Rocky, question?" Grace said, speaking with the same quirks as any other Eridian; ones he hadn't even thought about until that moment, how he was going to have to communicate with earth again.
An hour had never felt so long, the journey was awful; like the worst turbulence on a plane paired with an inexplicable dizziness as if everything around is buffering. When the ship finally slowed down Grace could see earth through the window - only added for his human viewing pleasure; he had missed the view on the way to tau ceti, a huge blue orb screaming home.
The ship somehow managed to settle itself into earth orbit without burning up, bobbing across the sky while Grace stared at the planet below. It had been so long since he had last even thought of the people he left behind.
"This is earth speaking, we see you in our orbit!" A voice called over the radio, Grace stared at it with excitement and anxiety. What was he even meant to say?
He pushed the button down to engage the microphone, "this is Dr Captain Ryland Grace of Erid speaking."
Silence. Long long Silence.
That voice was familiar. Grace laughed to himself, it was a bittersweet reunion.
"In the flesh Stratt." Grace replied over the radio "I needed a refresh on my skittles stash," he tried to joke, his teeth almost chattering with nerves.
"Of course." She said seriously, she had a tendency to take things literally. Grace breathed out a breath he didn't realise he was holding.
"If we land this, Promise me you'll not drug me and kidnap me again hey?" Grace tried to laugh it off but it almost sounded like a sob.
"I only did what was necessary to save earth," there was guilt in Stratts voice. It comforted Grace to know she felt bad, she ought to.
Landing was worse than when the maximum speed had been reached, it was awfully bumpy and Grace almost lost the contents of his stomach several times over.
Rocky equipped a xenonite suit, as did the other members of the crew who all insisted that Grace was not to do anything but enjoy his flight. Many officials had come to greet him - or more likely the aliens he had bought with him. Grace didn't care, he knew what he was here for.
"The biohazard procedures a bit much?" Grace said to Stratt across the meeting room he was sat in - feet planted on the table and face buried in a burger. Rocky was standing defensively on one side of him and another Eridian Grace had called Geode on the other side, all the rest of the crew decided they were to guard the ship.
"Who knows what you have after years in space," Another officer answered through the biohazard suit, wrinkling his nose at Grace as he slurped down a second iced coffee. So far he had refused to answer any questions and demanded a meal, real food that would probably wreck his guts later but that was a problem for later.
"I forgive you Stratt." Grace said, finishing his burger. "I understand why you did it." He paused and took a breath, "and I'm glad... i would never have found my way home otherwise," Grace looked Stratt directly in the eye "which is why I'm telling you, I'm not here to stay... my home is on Erid now."
The whole room was thick with silence, people looked between themselves as if they didn't know where to even begin.
"I understand," Stratt said with a small nod, looking between Rocky and Grace. "You have someone to go home for."
Grace handed over many meticulously translated documents; about Erids culture, about their technology, about their biology, and about the research towards faster-than-light travel. Peace treaties were signed, Erid declared earth an Ally and agreed that communication could continue between the two planets. The final thing Grace handed over, with a smile on his face, was his updated PhD thesis - entitled "Fuck you. I was right." It was his full observations as to how almost no life on Erid required water nor was made from water.
In return he left earth with samples of meat to replicate (bye bye me-burgers), many plants and their seeds, and plenty of skittles. He didn't mind if he wanted anything else.
The store was only an hour away from home.
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