"Oh!"
Smith was seated in the examining chair in his office, comfortable, quite abruptly.
"This is Alpha Control." Came the voice that he had only heard three years ago. "Zero minus one hour and fourteen minutes and holding."
"Alpha Control? Alpha Control! I've made it! Terra Firma!" He rubbed his hands together, slowly, thrilled. "Earth! Sweet! Earth! Dear wonderful place!"
Smith knelt down to the floor with his hands first then the door opened behind him as he tearfully cried in joy on the matter of being home again. It was a familiar sound that he hadn't heard in the last three years. A sound that brought certain happiness to him just to hear something Earth-like. Natural, completely expected, completely made by something that wasn't terrifying. He heard footsteps coming toward him and boots shuffling.
"Smith! What are you doing on the floor?"
"The floor?" Smith lifted himself up partially from the floor then recognized the figure that belonged to General Squires, the older man made Smith smile by the inside, beam happily in the mind to see a familiar face, as he kept himself held together by simple mere acting. "Yes the floor? The floor's the floor."
Smith got up to his feet using his knee as his support up.
"You see I have dropped my pencil and I simply can't find it anywhere." Then he beamed, unable to hold it back much longer, grinning at his colleague. "You are General Squires, are you not? It's been such a long time!"
"It's been exactly fifteen minutes since I told you to uncrate that Robot and get him aboard the Jupiter 2!"
"What? Yes, yes, indeed. Robot, I shall attend to it immediately. Seargent, snap to and uncrate that robot!"
"Yes, sir!"
Smith put his hat on the shelf.
"It will be out of there in just a moment." Smith grinned gesturing toward the crate.
The crate was opened when a officer came in as Smith went toward the entrance of the crate then flipped a few switches of the machine.
"Aff-irmative."
"Affirmative my foot! I forgotten how delightful that he was before you become so insulent, you punanimous pipsqeak!"
"Are you alright, Smith?" Squires asked.
"I am fit as a fiddle! In the pink!" Smith exclaimed. "And in the prime!"
"As it should be. Your efficiency hasn't been good lately." Squires reminded the younger man who only looked aside in shame and regret. "You better shape up."
"Yes, sir." Smith said.
Squires left the office.
"Shape up, indeed." the younger man puffed his chest out and lifted his chin up with a distasteful frown. "Such presumption." he turned his attention upon the military police. "Sergeant, wheel him out of here. I seriously doubt that he will be used but you might as well take him to the ready room. And then stand by. I shall supply your services."
"You don't think they'll use the Robot, sir?" The sergeant asked, incredulously.
The sergeant pointed toward Robot.
"This is part of their basic equipment." the sergeant reminded. "That thing cost money!"
A series of boots rushed by the doorway, loudly, past Smith's room.
"That is a sure invitation to a congressional hearing."
"Only if they make the flight." Smith replied. "Which is extremely dubious at this point, I have some Tik Tok secret information." he glared toward the sergeant. "Well, what are you waiting for?"
The officers moved toward Robot.
"Careful! Careful!"
Robot was lifted out of the crate.
"Careful! Careful!"
Robot was directly out of the room.
"Countdown is one hour and fourteen minutes and holding. Monitors will continue to hold a visual sweep of the launch pad three- A flying saucer has just arrived at launch pad three. A flying saucer has just arrived at launch pad three. All military personnel are reporting to stations."
A loud wail echoed belonging to the alarms through Alpha Control as Smith seated in the chair watching as the camera panned over to the large but wider counterpart. The hair all over Smith's skin raised up in fear as he felt sunk into the chair. Smith paled as fright came over him as he gripped on to the arm rest of the chair feeling so small and terrified of the saucer that was behind the black and white screen.
"Nooo! NOO! NOO! IT'S THEM! THEY'VE COME BACK FOR ME! I CAN'T GO BACK THERE! I have only just come back! Nooo! I don't want to go back! Nooooo!"
Smith was wailing as he watched a child's figure come down the stairs then his fear vanished.
"Oh, it's not William."
A young woman with some resemblance to Judy with some of Maureen's features came down the stairs.
"That's not Judy."
Smith watched as a dark man with graying curly hair came down the platform and the children grinned looking up toward him.
"That is not anyone from the Jupiter 2."
Smith leaned forward noticing how tearful they looked as they turned away from the entrance of the saucer.
"Who are these people? Aliens? Invaders!"
Two women came down the stairs holding hands and nothing looked about them asides to some alien characteristics that the screen highlighted.
"Pray tell, what could they be?"
A tall man came down the stairs joining the crowd.
"What in the heavens!"
Behind the tall Asian man came down a short man who was older than Smith with a familiar face that had aged significantly.
"Will-Will-Will-Will-William?"
Smith was floored in shock and leaned his back against the chair as the older man on the screen was smiling.
A/N Did I rewatch some portions of the time merchant to make sure I wrote canon correctly? Yes.