The astronauts were about to go to sleep; Earth had set, too, so no messages could be sent to Mission Control until it rose again. But, incredibly, one of the crew spotted something moving out on the planet’s surface.
It was —
No. No, it couldn’t be. It couldn’t.
But it was. A spindly, insectoid figure, perhaps a meter high, coming toward the lander.
A Martian.
The figure stood by one of the Bradbury’s articulated metal legs, next to the access ladder. It gestured repeatedly with four segmented arms, seemingly asking for someone to come out.
And, at last, the Bradbury’s captain did.
It would be months before the humans learned to understand the Martian language, but everything the exoskeletal being said into the thin air was recorded, of course. “Gitanda hatabk,” were the first words spoken to the travelers from Earth.
At the time, no human knew what Teltor meant, but nonetheless the words were absolutely appropriate. “Welcome home,” the Martian had said.