Chapter Twenty: Welcome Home

The emergency Return Vehicle was recovered without incident, and the crew of the recovery shop worked dillagently to open up Fatboy. It was no to long before Jonathan was once again trying his best to expell the liquid from his lungs - the sensation of drowning returned once again.
Marcelle had considerably difficulty with the transition again, Jonathan stood over her and encouraged her as best he could.
It was chilly in the large bay of the ship, and they were covered in the liquid of faster than light travel. Teh crew of the rescue vessle wrapped blankets around Jonathan and Marcelle and led them to showers where they could clean the fuild off and find some clean dry clothing.
Before too long, Jonathan was once again sitting in conference, this tiem with the captain of the vessle who was representing the leaders of the space exploration division of the government. He quickly learned that nobody had recived his call for help - perhaps his makeshift ship had never made it back to Earth. The mission profile demanded that the second stage go on whether they heard from Jonathan or not.
Jonathan once again recounted his tale, and the reason why he was returning to Earth.
The captain of the rescue ship heard the tale with nearly no interuptions, jut the occasional question for clarification, and accepted it with a nod.
"I think you shoudl talk to the preseident." he said, simply.
Jonathan was sent down to Earth one the ship was in orbit. They landed at the Bahgdad central Spaceport, capital of the United States of Earth. It was perhaps one of the kindest sights to ever lay themselves upon Jonathan's eyes. Back on earth, with the warm glow of the sun, and the gravity that was just right. He could feel it in his bones; this was his home.
The President of the USE was a very tall man with white hair. He was at the spaceport in person, with a large escort, to meet Jonathan.
Jonathan was, after all, a national (and thus planetary) hero. This was teh return of the first ever man to travel faster than the speed of light. He was home, at last. The that everybody thought was dead. Crowds were gathered around the spaceport, people were jostling to see Jonathan's return.
The President strode up to Jonathan and smiled. He said in an undertone as he shook jonathan's hand, "Smile for the cameras, son. You're a hero. We'll talk about the serious stuff soon enough."
The President winked at the crowd as he walked up to a podium. He was a crowd pleaser; the people of Earth loved him. He was serving his third term in office. He was a very charismatic man, and an excellent politician. He always did his best to fufil his own platform. "Today is a great day in the History of Man," his voice boomed out over a sound system. "Like the ancient Neil Armstrong, who first walked on another of our worlds - the moon - and the brilliant biologist Gregor Spinowski who first found extra-plantary life, today marks a great day. Today we are all honoured to once again have in our presence the next historical figure in the exploration and colonisation of Space. Today, Jonathan Brooke returns to us from the depths of space."
The mass of humans cheered, and Jonathan was pushed towards the podium. He had not considered a speech, nor had he expected this kind of homecoming when there were such important issues to discuss.
The president shook Jonathan's hand again, smiled, and stepped aside to free up the mircophone.
Jonathan stared at it for a while. He chose his words carefully. "We are on the edge of a new stage of human history. There are great challanges ahead of us, great battles to be fought with the very nature of the universe. I have seen what is beyond the next star, and I can tell you that it will not be easy, but humanity can and will pass on out of the system, and in someway, humanity will prevail."
He did not speak long, but the crowd seemed enamoured with his words. The President once again took up position at the podium and began to speak to the crowd. Jonathan stood back and let the words glass his over. Marcelle and Norman were nowhere to be seen, but Jonathan knew this world. He knew the traditions and he knew that they were safe. Here, at home, he knew where he stood. There was no mystery to Earth, not for him. He knew how Marcelle must have felt at that moment.
A few minutes of speach and the President turned towards Jonathan and said "That's that. I suggest we get out of here before they start asking for autographs." the President's eye twinkled a little as he moved through the crowd. He shook the occasional hand, but mostly smiled and walked on, nodding acknowledgements at his fellow citizens.
Jonathan was led by an escort of men in stark suits to an expensive sedan. He sat in the back seat and was soon joined by the President.
As the car pulled out of the Spaceport, the President turned to Jonathan. "Look, son, I know you're tired, but I was given a very interesting report by one of the captains of the in-system ships. You've come here with and alien and a woman who is not from Earth, but is still human?"
"Yes, sir." Jonathan replied.
the president sat in contemplation for a moment. He sighed. "Its going to cause trouble, isn't it?" For a moment, the man looked much older than he was.
"I'm sorry, sir, but I have no doubt that it will."
"Please, Jonathan, call me Harry. Just because I'm a political leader doesn't mean I don't have a name." The President sighed again. "Can you tell me just how much trouble is going to get stirred up around here?"
"Not really how much will be stirred up on Earth, sir. It's hard to say what might happen if you were to contact the society out there. In fact, I suggest you don't right now. And who knows how the people of Earth would react if they discovered that there were seemingly utopian worlds among the stars where they could be living."
"Earth isn't all that bad you know, son."
"Oh, I understand that, Mr. President -"
"Please, Harry."
"- Harry. It's just that these worlds have everything that pre-Destruction earth had plus a thousand years of development on top of that."
"I can see that we're going to have to talk about this a lot more." The President said. "I'm going to drop you off at the presidential suite at the Royal Hotel. You're companions should be there already. Welcome home, Jonathan."