Conversation

"You know what I miss most, Zhou?"

"What's that, Rajen?"

"The red dust in my clothes and the sound of the Martian wind blowing against the observation window."

Zhou looked out the portal at the shrinking image of Mars. He turned to Xiaoke, his wife and fellow traveler on the multimonth journey to Earth to visit her dying grandparents. They held hands, smiled and nodded at Rajen, whose wife, Beena, was asleep in the traveling quarters.

Zhou and Xiaoke had left their children to take care of their Martian home during this two-year trip, assuming their genetically-perfect breeding and accelerated training had prepared them for such an absence by their parents.

"I see what you mean, Rajen, but you can imagine I miss my children more."

"Indeed. I look forward to seeing mine back on Earth. Mentally merging memories is one thing but actually touching your kids is another."

Xiaoke leaned forward. "I agree. I can sense the smell of Earth up here," tapping her forehead, "but I want to know what my nose detects. Perhaps there is a discernable difference!"

Beena coasted into the room. "And to dig my hands into a pile of fresh curry!"

They all laughed, a snorting sound that Martian residents develop due to gravitational effects on their physical features and changes in lung capacity from breathing filtered and conditioned Martian air. They would spend a week or so adapting to Earth conditions as well as sharing their new Martian accent with friends and colleagues they'd left behind many years ago.