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Grace had been living on Erid for 10 full earth years.
He set up a stable life, teaching young Eridians
science, taking long walks with Rocky, and even working with Adrian and their science team. They were the best years of his life.
“Grace live on Erid 10 Earth years today!!” Rocky made a very loud entrance into Grace’s dome.
“That’s.. wow that’s right bud” he had forgotten that was today.
“Rocky get Grace gift!”
“Oh, Rock you didn’t have to-“
“No no no Rocky and all of Erid celebrate!”
Rocky ran circles around Grace as he stumbled trying to put his shoes on. Trying to get out the door before Rocky broke another lamp.
“All of Erid??”
“Yes, big gift.”
“How big…”
Rocky opened a vault door behind the engineered rocks of the shore. There, stood the Hail Mary.
“Grace visit home”
——-
“Home,” Grace said softly, staring at the tiny dot on the radar.
“my second home now,” Rocky said through his translator.
Ryland smiled. “You’ve literally never been there.”
“Still home. My friend there.”
Grace smiled.
⸻
The trip back took years, but less than the first trip. The Taumoeba worked. Earth survived.
Grace spent the journey teaching Rocky about human sports, which had only occurred to him that he ever really taught Rocky about their entertainment.
“So baseball is where you hit a ball with a stick?”
“A bat.”
“Why not just say stick?”
“Because it’s a bat.”
“Humans waste many words.”
“And Eridians don’t?”
“No. Efficient species.”
“Rocky, you once took ten minutes to explain three kinds of pipe.”
“Important pipe differences.”
They argued all the way across the void.
⸻
As they approached the solar system, Grace grew quieter.
He hadn’t expected to survive. He definitely hadn’t expected to come back.
And Earth had no idea.
As far as everyone down there knew, Ryland Grace had died in another star system years ago. The Hail Mary had vanished into space and never returned.
He imagined what Earth would think when a weird hybrid ship suddenly appeared near Jupiter.
Probably not, “Oh good, Hail Mary has returned!!!.”
“Terrified?” Rocky asked one day.
Ryland looked up from the console. “How can you tell?”
“You make same face as when coffee machine broke.”
“That was a terrible day.”
“Worst day,” Rocky agreed solemnly.
Ryland laughed despite himself.
⸻
The first human signal reached them near Mars.
A burst of radio chatter, sharp and frantic.
“Unknown vessel, identify yourself.”
Ryland stared at the speakers.
“Wow,” he whispered. “We’re really here.”
“Answer Answer” Rocky said.
Ryland hit transmit.
“This is Ryland Grace of the Hail Mary. Returning to Earths orbit.”
Silence.
Then static.
Then another voice, higher-pitched and definitely panicking.
“Repeat that transmission please.”
“…. Repeat, this is Ryland Grace of the Hail Mary. Requesting communication with Earth
More silence. Was it even possible for space to be more quiet?
Rocky clicked his claws together. “Humans broken?”
“I think we broke them”
⸻
By the time they reached Earth, every telescope, satellite, and military installation on the planet was watching them.
The news called them everything from “the ghost ship” to “an alien invasion.”
Grace found that part unfair.
“We are technically only a half alien invasion,” he told Rocky.
“Less than half,” Rocky said. “You very small amount alien.”
“No, I mean you- never mind.”
⸻
Eva Stratt stood in a bunker beneath Geneva and glared at the largest screen in the room.
“You are telling me,” she said slowly, “that an unknown alien spacecraft has entered our solar system, bypassed every defense network on Earth, and is now approaching at controlled velocity?”
No one answered.
No one ever liked answering when Eva Stratt used that tone. A young analyst cleared his throat.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Do we know what it is?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Do we know where it came from?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Do we know if it is hostile?”
The analyst hesitated.
“We… do not know, ma’am.”
Stratt folded her arms.
“I hate surprises.”
The room was silent except for the low hum of machinery and the occasional burst of frantic radio traffic.
Then another technician looked up sharply.
“We’re receiving a transmission.”
Every head in the room turned.
“Play it.”
Static crackled through the speakers.
Then a voice. Human.
Old, tired, rough around the edges.
“—repeat, this is Ryland Grace of the Hail Mary. Requesting communication with Earth.”
The room went dead still.
One of the generals laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because there are moments so impossible that the human brain rejects them.
Stratt did not laugh.
She stared at the speaker as though it had personally offended her.
“Play it again,” she said.
The voice repeated.
“This is Ryland Grace of the Hail Mary.”
Ryland Grace.
The man she had forced to save the world.
The man who had been dead for thirteen years.
Stratt sat down very slowly.
For the first time in years, she looked shaken.
“No,” she whispered.
⸻
Far above Earth, Grace stared at the blue-white curve of the planet below.
His hands were shaking.
“I can’t do this,” he said.
“You already did difficult part,” Rocky replied.
Rocky stood beside him in the control room, looming in the dim light. His shell reflected the glow of Earth on the screens.
“Saved species,” Rocky continued. “Twice.”
“Yeah, but now I have to talk to people.”
“Worse than saving species?”
“Much worse.”
Rocky clicked in amusement.
“You are strange human.”
“You’ve known me long enough to know that already.”
The radio hissed.
“Unknown vessel, you are ordered to remain in high orbit until further instructions.”
Grace sighed.
“They sound nervous.”
“You are dead man returning in alien ship,” Rocky said. “Nervous reasonable.”
“Thanks. Super helpful.”
⸻
The meeting took place by video.
On one side: Ryland and Rocky aboard the patched-together Hail Mary.
On the other: a room full of generals, scientists, diplomats, and Eva Stratt.
The screen flickered.
And there she was.
Older. Grayer. The lines in her face deeper and harder than before. But unmistakably Eva Stratt.
For a long moment neither of them spoke.
Then Stratt said, flatly:
“You look terrible.”
Ryland barked out a laugh.
“Wow. Nice to see you too.”
“You are dead.”
“Apparently not.”
“You had one job.”
“I did the job!”
“You were supposed to die after doing the job.”
Rocky leaned toward the camera.
“Question,” he said. “Why angry? Friend Ryland save your species.”
The room on Earth fell silent.
One general stumbled backward out of frame.
Someone fainted
Stratt did not move. Her eyes locked on Rocky. For one long, terrible second, the whole world held its breath. Then Stratt pointed at the screen.
“You.”
Rocky tilted slightly.
“Yes?”
“You are alien.”
“Yes.”
“You are in my solar system.”
“Yes.”
“You saved Earth?”
“Yes.”
“You brought Grace back?”
Rocky paused.
“Yes.”
Stratt nodded once.
“Then you are welcome here.”
The room went silent. Grace stared at her.
“Seriously?”
She turned toward him.
“Do not make me repeat myself, Grace.”
He grinned helplessly.
“Wow. I actually missed you.”
“Liar.”
⸻
The landing site was in the middle of the desert.
Floodlights turned the night white. Tanks ringed the runway. Hundreds of soldiers stood in lines with weapons raised.
Behind them, rows of scientists and officials waited in terrified anticipation.
And at the center of it all, standing alone with her hands behind her back, was Eva Stratt.
The Hail Mary descended through the darkness.
The hybrid ship looked monstrous under the lights. Half human engineering, half Eridian design. It screamed as its engines died.
Then it landed.
Silence.
The hatch opened.
Grace stepped out first. For a second he just stood there in the cold night air, staring at Earth.
Real wind. Real gravity. Home.
…. then he saw the guns.
“Wow,” he muttered. “You guys really know how to make a person feel welcome.”
No one lowered their weapons.
Stratt stepped forward.
She looked exactly the same as she had in his nightmares.
“Ryland Grace,” she said.
“Eva Stratt.”
“You disobeyed direct orders.”
“You wanted me to just die??”
“You were supposed to die”
“Yeah, well, I’m very bad at following instructions.”
For just an instant, something changed in her face.
Relief.
Then there was a heavy metallic sound behind him.
Clang.
Clang.
Clang.
Rocky emerged from the ship.
He unfolded slowly into the floodlights, vast and black and alien. Five legs. Massive claws. A body armored in plates darker than night.
Every soldier raised their weapon.
A hundred safeties clicked off at once.
Grace spun around.
“No! Wait—”
Rocky froze.
Very quietly, he said, “This seems bad, question?”
“It’s okay,” Grace whispered, though it very clearly was not okay.
Stratt stared at Rocky.
The entire world stared at Rocky.
Then Rocky lowered himself slightly and spoke through the translator.
“Hello. I am Rocky. I am friend.”
No one moved.
No one breathed.
Then, to Ryland’s horror, Stratt walked forward.
Straight toward the alien.
Several generals shouted at her to stop.
She ignored them.
She stopped only a few feet from Rocky.
For a moment, they simply looked at one another.
Then Eva Stratt, the most terrifying woman on Earth, held out her hand.
“Thank you,” she said.
Rocky looked at Grace.
“Question,” he whispered. “What do I do with tiny hand?”
Grace laughed so hard he nearly cried.