Glück Ab Spaceport, Brutus, 2160
Whenever the Epsilon transports would return to Earth with a shipment of ore and refined titanium, it would pick up passengers for the return journey. Sometimes the ships would take people going to other colonies, in which case transports from those destinations would complete the connection at Glück Ab Raumhafen (Happy Landing Spaceport), the small spaceport on Brutus. Usually, though, passengers on the Epsilons were just going to Cassius Prime.
Late in 2160, one of these gigantic transports entered the Proxima Centauri system. Aric very rarely watched the landing of ships at the port, but today he was there with his wife and four children, eagerly awaiting the arrival of his relatives from Earth.
Ruth often quipped that she had an "A" set and "B" set of children, since their first two were born in Germany and the other two were born after they moved to Cassius.
Aric and Ruth had decided to name their children with the meaning first in mind, rather than the sound of the name. Their first-born, Treue (German for True), was a godly young lady of seventeen. Gabriel (Hebrew for warrior of God), who just turned sixteen, had gotten a job working for Ross Shepard, constructing buildings. Tov'yah, their second son, was ten years old and had an affinity for mechanical devices. His parents liked the uniqueness of his name, a direct transliteration from the Hebrew words "the Lord is good," and wanted it to be a memorial of God's goodness to them in the monumental move; he was the first to be born in their new home. The youngest was Ehre (German for Honor); though she was eight years old, her best friend and role model was her older sister.
Impatient anticipation filled the atmosphere of the building where the Schröders waited for the Epsilon transport to land. They hadn't seen Aric's relatives since five years ago, when Nigel Halloway urged them to take a vacation to Earth. They had had a very happy reunion with both Aric's and Ruth's families, coincident with his brother Tim's wedding. Ehre was only three at the time and therefore now couldn't quite remember the extended family. Both she and Tov'yah quizzed their parents for descriptions and ages of their uncles, aunts, and cousins. Caught up in the excitement, the older two couldn't help but join their brother and sister.
"Carsten Erzberger, Aunt Sara's brother-in-law is coming too," said Aric. "She said he can get absolutely any broken machine working again"
"I can't wait to meet him; we can talk about gizmos for hours!" Tov'yah exclaimed.
"'Gizmos'?" his parents wondered. They had never heard the term.
"Yeah. _Gizmo_ is an English word for whatever kind of machine," the ten-year-old explained. "Kind of like a gadget. I learned it last week from Sammy O'Brien," he said, referring to one of his friends.
"How many children does Aunt Sara have?" Ehre asked.
"Aunt Sara isn't coming, Ehre," Ruth replied.
"I know, but how many does she have?"
Ruth chuckled. "She and Uncle Robert have three children. The twins Elise and Frieda are...how old?" she asked her husband.
Aric did some mental calculations and completed Ruth's thought. "Fourteen years old, and Christoph is Tov'yah's age: ten. And Uncle Lukas and Aunt Adalia have two boys aged seven and four."
"Titus and Karl, right?" Treue asked, and her mother confirmed the names.
"I can't wait to hear the whole story of Uncle Lukas's imprisonment and release!" Exclaimed Gabriel. "That's so amazing."
"Yeah!" Tov'yah chimed in.
"Here comes the transport," Treue, looking out the window announced. The family all moved to get a better view of the T-77. The yellow and black box-like ship was descending to the landing pad with a grace and ease that belied its mass.
"They're here! They're here!" Ehre was jumping up and down in excitement.
But to the testing of the family's patience, the craft did take time to shut down its systems and allow the passengers to disembark. Though the process was relatively quick, the time seemed like hours to the eager observers.
When the long-awaited family members finally emerged from a corridor in the terminal, there were immediate whoops from the boys, other more civilized calls of greeting, and more than enough hugs to go around. Ten people were never so well welcomed to the colony as these.
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