Earth

Dustin smiled as Emely and Naera arrived on the bridge last out of the entire senior staff, both clearly out of breath and with their hair still damp from the showers. He’d left the two women to their fun in the aftermath of his and Naera’s sudden intimacy, leaving an alarm set with Sola to make sure the pair were able to make their way to the command deck in time for the ship’s exit from the weave.

Emely slid into her seat automatically, but Naera looked around a little confused; as chef she didn’t have her own station on the bridge. Before Dustin could say anything however, Meli beckoned the Caenii woman over and offered her the spare second seat at the scanning station. Nodding to himself at that problem being resolved, Dustin reached down and thumbed the communicator as their arrival approached. “Attention all hands” he began, pausing to think about how to phrase what he wanted to say next. “Some of you have been with me since almost the very start of my journey…” and here he smiled at Meli before continuing “…while others joined us just a few short days ago. As you are aware, we are about to return to the starting point, to the system from which I came. We have, thanks to the changing tides of fortune managed to complete the task I was assigned by my government and the galactic council several months if not years ahead of schedule.”

He took a deep breath before continuing. “We return to my homeworld in a time of change - for us as crew of the Solar Ascent, for my species Humanity, and possibly for the galaxy as a whole. Whether you are staying with me as Sola moves on to new challenges, or departing for the human fleet currently under construction, this marks not an end but a beginning for you all.” Then, as if on cue Sola’s voice cut in to announce the countdown to the weave drives going offline. Vidscreens flickered on across the ship, and in accordance with pre-set instructions from Dustin locked and magnified on a blue and green jewel glittering against the blackness of the night. “Welcome, my friends and crew - welcome to Earth.”

As Dustin toggled the shipwide comms off and sat back with a sigh of relief - even after all this time he hated giving big speeches - Meli stood and walked over to stand beside him. Squeezing his shoulder, she stared at the view of the planet ahead as they began to move towards it. “So, li’ah’a, that is your home?” She said softly. Dustin reached one hand up to rest it on hers. “Hardly. It’s my homeworld, yea, but home is where you are. Where you all are.”

The tender moment was interrupted by three people talking at once. Trea’k’s voice was the clearest - “Meli, you have an incoming private message - it’s flagged as being from your uncle, but isn’t on a diplomatic channel” - causing the Velca to move rapidly back to her console to scan through what she had been sent. The second voice was Rye’s, the Rabyth letting out a low whistle before she spoke. “So that’s where you’re from huh, Dusty? Hope we’ll get some time to do some site-seeing before we start running off again.” Dustin was about to reply that he was pretty sure the only sights the blonde was likely to want to see would be engineering museums when the final voice cut through his thoughts.

“Incoming communications from a nearby vessel, sir.” Emely’s voice was quieter than the others in their excitement - he gestured for her to bring up whoever was calling them on the main screen, not least because there shouldn’t have been any vessels this far out from the system, let alone this near to the jump point. The monitor flickered for a moment, before giving him a view of a pressure-suited figure that tapped the screen a couple of times. “Is this thing working? Helloooo?” The voice was female, accent tinged with hints of American ancestry and also clearly irritated by the technology. “Ah, looks like it’s running. Welcome back to Sol space, Ambassador. Axworth ordered us to fly honour-guard for you. Figured I should probably let you know so you didn’t get freaked out by the scanner blips.”

Dustin frowned a moment as he processed everything the woman had said before nodding. “Thanks for the heads up. The General didn’t tell me he had anything like this planned…” then, looking at the data from the scanners he added “…nor did he tell me that his little flying school was this prepared.” That earned him a chuckle from the other end of the line. “Didn’t think he would have, sir. The commander does love springing surprises on those of us that work with him - usually for our benefit. We’ve got priority flight all the way to Contact City on landing pad one, everyone else is on orders to keep out of the way, civvie traffic included.”

The pilot toggled her comms a second; giving orders to the rest of her squad Dustin guessed before she switched back to the channel to Sola. “Between you and me, I’d expect the civvies to do something to give you a proper welcome home too. My folks fly transit to the outer planets pretty often and they said the hauler’s union has something planned. Wouldn’t tell me what though, apparently I’m government now and can’t be trusted.” Dustin had to grin at that comment, before nodding. “Well, far be it from us to keep the people waiting. How quick should we go to get back without leaving you behind?”

During the discussion, Rye had been tapping away at her console feverishly and at Dustin’s words raised a hand. “Those fliers don’t match anything in the databanks, but if their reactor output is reasonable, they should be able to keep up with us - just about.” She said, earning a chuckle from the suited figure. “That’d be the talented miss Steamtender I’ve heard so much about. No offense ma’am, but you’re wrong on that front.” There was a slight thud from the speakers as the pilot slapped the side of the cockpit. “These babies will hold their own against the Solar Ascent with the reactors on standard. If we put them into fight mode, we can outpace you without even trying.” Then her voice sounded like she was frowning as she added “slight chance the core goes critical and we explode if we run them that way for more than an hour or so though. Not enough time to get back on the ground from this far out.”

Rye’s answering grin and ticking ear set all kinds of alarms off for Dustin. “Rye, I will see if I can get Axworth to give you a copy of the schematics.” He said quickly, adding “you are not allowed to start your first trip to my homeworld by getting arrested for trying to dismantle one of humanities first starfighters the moment you both hit the landing pad.” That earned a sigh from the Rabyth and an approving nod from the human. “Well then. Unless there’s anything else, I’ll see you on the ground Ambassador.” With that, the line went dead and the view of Earth returned to the monitors.

Dustin sat back in his chair, and smiled to himself. When he’d last looked at that jewel, it’d been on his way out of the system heading on an unexpected journey into the unknown. Now, he returned something of a hero to the people who inhabited that rock - a title he wasn’t entirely sure he was deserving of, but regardless would have to do his best to live with and live up to as his name was already well and truly written into the history books of humanity. He also didn’t return alone - looking around he took in all those who had joined his life and his crew in the months since he had left the birthplace of his kind.

Naera nibbled idly on a strand of her hair, the aftermath of earlier still taking time to settle in her mind and clearly unsure of her place on the bridge. Bleu, largely preoccupied with information on a tablet but sneaking glances at the planet on the screen when she thought other people weren’t watching. Trea’k, in soft conversation with Yril’k discussing something in the clicking language of the Vex’ess - from what little Dustin spoke, it was all to do with security during the upcoming transfers of crew. Rye, one heel tapping on the floor and humming to herself as she went back over the sensor logs of the starfighters that even now were escorting them home. And finally, Meli - his li’ah’a, his fiancé, his first lover since leaving Earth. She too had leaned back in her seat, whatever missive she’d gotten from her uncle clearly being a positive one by the gently contented shape of her ears and the smile that played across her face.

Not for the first time, Dustin pondered that to have any one of those women in his life would have made him lucky; to have all of them was something beyond luck. Acting on pure impulse, he tapped his controls, pulling up Axworth’s contact details and sending a rapid message via text so as to keep it secret from his lovers - especially the keen hearing of the Rabyth and Feliax women. A reply agreeing and promising to make the arrangements came through a minute or two later and he smiled. There would be time for the stresses of the galaxy that lay ahead of them soon enough, but right now he owed it to his loves to show them a little of what he thought of when he thought of Earth.