“There is still a chance that I’ll be able to pilot the
Perseverance and her crew back to Earth. Dael, Aarya,
and Leonid are first-rate engineers, and they even
installed the ship’s class M Shkadov engines.”

“There are an estimated 798 million people listening to this
broadcast, Major Fraction. Hold on, O.K., I have a question from 12 year old Danielle in Hartford Connecticut. Go ahead, Danielle. Danielle?”

“Hello? Major Fraction? Can you hear me?”

“Hi Danielle! Yes, I can hear you. How are you?”

“Happy 4th of July! I was wondering what planet Earth looks
like from Mars?”

“That’s a great question, Danielle! Happy 4th of July, but
more importantly, happy independence day Mother Earth!
Khalila recently said that she looks like one beautiful and
familiar face from space, and I can’t think of a better way to
describe it. I believe this is only just the beginning, and I
can’t even describe how small we all feel just now.”