Chapter 22 - The Arrival

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The initial hours after departing Mars orbit were tense. Denton sensed that despite the assurances of Admiral Hozera and Leah, there was uncertainty whether the governor of Mars would stay true to his character of passive aggression or do something unexpected. The admiral was concerned that he might feel snubbed by the betrayal of Leah and lash out in frustration. However, as the hours passed, he could sense the tension dissipate as the distance between the ship and Mars increased. He could almost hear a collective sigh when the admiral cracked a smile and gave the captain a congratulatory slap on the back.

The rest of the trip to Earth was uneventful. Denton mostly kept to himself, reviewing the existing evidence in the investigation with Tanner and making obligatory visits with the admiral. He avoided Leah to the extent he could, still not sure if she could be trusted.

Denton was relieved when they finally arrived at their destination. He was eager to continue the investigation. He felt as if all the drama on Mars had been a giant distraction and had moved his focus away from where it needed to be.

As the ship docked in orbit around Earth, Denton was collecting his belongings when he received a call from the admiral. He requested Denton's presence on the observation deck before disembarking. The call left Denton wondering what other surprises the admiral might have in store for him.

The observation deck was a dome-shaped structure of the ship. It allowed for a 180-degree view of what was outside of their vessel. Denton made his way through the crowd that had assembled and found the admiral by himself, away from the rest of the crowd. He saw Denton approach and nodded a greeting with a smile.

"Thank you for coming," he said.

"I have nowhere else to be at the moment," Denton said and shrugged. "Besides, you don't decline the invitation of an admiral. Quite the crowd you've got here. What's the occasion?"

The admiral laughed and shook his head. He then pointed towards the edge of the observation window. "You'll see. There's something I want to show you."

Denton followed the direction his finger was pointing and saw nothing but black space and stars in the distance, no larger than pinpricks. "Oh yeah?"

"As we dock in orbit, certain sections of the ship rotate into other positions, for various reasons. A side effect of this is that the observation deck ends up with a fantastic view of Earth while docked."

Denton looked up again and immediately saw that the distinct movement of the stars that slowly moved upwards because of the rotation of the observation deck. "So we'll see Earth from here?"

"Have you seen her before?"

"Well, no..."

"Then it's a sight to see. You'll get a closer look soon enough, but it's as they say, first impressions and all that. Ok, wait for it, any moment now."

As if on cue, the light around the bottom of their view became brighter as the reflected light from Earth lit up not just the immediate surroundings but also the ship and the observation deck. At first, it was just the sliver of white that was the upper atmosphere. Then a thin line of blue appeared and expanded horizontally as the observation deck continued to rotate into position. The blue ocean gave room to green and brown. White wisps of white clouds came into view and covered parts of the surface with its random patterns. Soon, the view of Earth occupied most of the area of the observation deck immediately to the front of Denton and the admiral.

Denton, his mouth wide open, continued to stare at the planet for several minutes. This is Earth, the cradle of civilization. He was there in front of his eyes. So often, he had dreamt of actually setting foot on this ancient foothold of humanity. For a long time, he had wondered if he'd ever make it here because of his reluctance to travel through space. He gripped the steel railing in front of him and grinned. It was stunning.

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