Meanwhile, Peter Hathaway is living retired on Mars with his wife, Alice, and daughter, Margarite. Hathaway's actions, revolving completely around pretending they are not alone, make his desire for a return to Earth very clear. For example, as a mechanical tinkerer, Hathaway wired an abandoned town below his house to sound alive at night with noise and phone calls. At night, when Hathway sights a rocket in orbit, and he puts on a laser light show to signal the rocket. After his initial failed attempt, the rocket returns to land. The rocket carries Father Stone and Colonel Wilder, who have returned from Earth. They reunite with Hathaway, who is troubled by his heart when they break the news of Earth's nuclear destruction. Undeterred, Hathaway brings the crew to his house for breakfast. Wilder remarks that Hathaway's wife's appearance has not changed since he last saw her, when he was present at their wedding. Wilder then explores the surrounding area, checking headstones that he saw earlier. He returns, pale, realizing that Hathaway's wife and daughter before them died in July 2000 from an unknown virus.