[One hour to Course Correction. Abraham Kepler is now entering the Kepler 111 system.] The robotic voice of the ship's intercom informs everyone, bringing a crowd of soldiers to every window.
They haven't seen home in ten long years, and everyone is anxious to commit the visual to memory. After today's ceremony, they will no longer be soldiers, but returned veterans retired with full honors and benefits. So few of their batch have returned this time though, and the planet only sends soldiers once a decade, so the return is a big thing here, with a week-long celebration among the civilians and a number of formal events for the veterans, but set up more like a dating service than a formal ball.
Of course, none of them have ever seen one before, having been young children when the first one was held, and leaving the planet to take up their duty before the second of their lifetimes.
