Chapter Text
Ryland had been sitting in the cockpit for up to an hour, a half drunken bag of coma-slurry special sitting in his hands. He’d sent out a transmission to earth the second he stabilized his orbit. He didn’t expect anyone to see it immediately, no one was expecting him back, but he didn’t have to be happy about it.
The earth looked bad.
He looked before he began orbit.
Antarctica was bigger, probably even twice the size as when he left. The ice completely covered what used to be the southern ocean. The North Pole was no better. From what he could tell, the only place even remotely warm still was the equator, but he guessed it wasn’t saying much.
Would the taumeoba even work? What if he had missed something crucial in the breeding process and it all died on Venus? What if they died on re-entry? What if they aren't the solution? If he and rocky were wrong about how Tau Ceti stayed at full brightness, then both of their populations would S.O.L.
He takes a sip of the coma-slurry, forcing it to stay down.
God, he missed home. He missed real food. He missed teaching. He missed the diner he would walk to every morning and he missed the nights he would spend awake grading papers.
He thought about Carl. He wondered if he was still alive. Carl was around 10 years older than him, how he’s about 35 years older.
What would he say to Stratt? This question had been run through his thoughts countless times over that last couple of years. There’s so many things he wants to say, but so little ways to say it. He could let it go, ‘forget and forgive’ and all that. He could expose what she did to him to the whole world if that hadn’t gotten out already.
Who was he kidding, she’s probably on death row by now.
Ryland suddenly remembered his brother. He never got to say goodbye. The twins hadn’t kept in contact very well, the last time they called was about a year or two before Project Hail Mary was even created. He hoped Colt would listen. He hoped Colt would forgive him.
————
The buzz of the radio broke him out of his thoughts.
— Commander Yáo, come in. Repeat: Commander Yáo, come in. —
The exasperated voice of a ground control operator came over the transmission. Ryland chuckled. Right. He was practically a ghost, he should’ve expected this reaction.
“This is scientist Dr. Ryland Grace. Sorry to disappoint.” He let the bag of white sludge float Idly in the cockpit.
— Where’s Commander Yáo Li-Ji? —
Ryland sighed. His voice dropping with sorrow. “Yáo Li-Ji and Olesya Ilyukhina died during their induced comas during the trip to Tau Ceti. Their bodies are with the stars.”
There was a silence over the transmission.
— We’re working on your re-entry, maintain orbit. —
Ryland let himself float away from the pilot seat as he traveled down towards the dormitory. He’ll almost definitely be aiming for the ocean, anywhere without ice, he needs a way to get the Taomeoba and his research back to earth safely.
He takes a moment to glance over the lab. He doesn’t think anything in here will work, but looking doesn’t hurt. He floats down the door again, moving straight for the storage area.
He spends some time rummaging through the storage, eventually grabbing onto one of the storage bags and dragging out of the floor hole. Yes! He thought he saw handles on the bag when he first went through them. They were probably only added to make getting them in or out of the cramped room easier, but it’ll work hot this too!
He carefully packed the taumeoba breeders in the bag, cushioning them with some of his clothes he’d rather not leave in the Hail Mary. He grabs the laptop, it has all of the papers he’s written on his findings and the entire Eridian dictionary. If it's broken he’ll be distraught, so he makes sure it’s as safe as the breeder tanks.
He adds some of the models Rocky made him: the mini him and his ship, the Petrova Line, and a few other things Rocky left him as a memory. Finally, he needed his video diaries. He figures that it’s easier than explaining the whole thing while he’s getting medical attention.
“Incoming transmission. Incoming transmission.” Mary's robotic voice exclaims, reminding him that he has the earth on hold in the cockpit. He takes a final look over the room, ensuring he had everything, and closes the bag, floating it up to the cockpit with him.
— -ome in. Repeat: Dr.Grace, come in. —
He settles himself into the pilot seat, quickly replying to ground control before they think he’s managed to kill himself in the past 5 minutes. “I’m still here.”
— Confirm re-entry in T-120 seconds. —
“Uhh, yep.”
He really should’ve paid more attention to space movies.
Ryland gets himself situated in an EVA suit, fumbling through the control room to get himself back in his seat while he readies himself for re-entry. He keeps the bag of taumeoba and co. As close as he can given the lack of gravity, ready to leave this ship already.
— Ready to come home, Dr.Grace? —
“More than you know.”
————
The operator talked Grace through re-entry, confirming his angle.
The Hail Mary hit the upper atmosphere. The airlock window glowed with a bright orange light, as if the sun was just outside the ship. Ryland gripped the controls hard as it shook. Turbulence was his least favorite part of flying.
Ryland adjusted his angle, letting the earth's gravity take the wheel from there. He let go of the controls and held his suit tightly, closing his eyes as he plummeted towards the Pacific Ocean.
An alarm floated on his screens. The hull of the ship was starting to burn up and fall off. The cockpit slowly got hotter the lower his ship fell. Luckily, his suit had AC built in. The blasting of the alarm shot louder, multiple laying on top of each other.
He could faintly hear ground control counting his landing over the sounds of alarms and fire and wind that assaulted his ship and his ears continuously.
He would finally be back on earth.
He could finally see people again.
He could go home.