The return journey began quietly. No grand speeches. No urgent countdowns. Just a shared glance between Jack, Sarah, and Emily as they stood at the edge of Dome One, watching Mars slowly fade into memory.
Jack whispered, "See you soon, Dragon Empire."
The launch sequence of DragonJ3T reversed, but this time, it wasn't escape. It was return. A homecoming with stories never before written in human history.
Inside the ship, the three of them moved like gears in a finely tuned machine. Months on Mars had bonded them beyond function—they moved as one, thought as one, dreamed as one.
Sarah recorded their departure with steady hands. Emily adjusted atmospheric stabilizers. Jack set the trajectory toward Earth with a calm so precise it was almost spiritual.
"Three months again," Emily said so
