News of war on Earth spreads across Mars to the settlers who remain. Many leave their homes to watch “the green star of Earth” (191) in the sky. They struggle with imagining the war across all that distance and reconciling themselves with the numbing aspect of life in a distant territory, realizing that “space was an anesthetic” (192). But looking at the Earth, their memories are rekindled, and several people inquire about their relatives back home.

To their horror, the Earth explodes and burns while they watch. The settlers are in shock and talk about contacting their relatives, but none do so. Once the Earth stops burning, a message is received from the planet, a light blinking in Morse code, its primary message: “COME HOME” (193). Soon after, the Proprietor of the luggage store sells out of his stock.