Ad Astra Pilot: Encounter at Alpha Centauri
Chapter 1: The Proposition
Thus far, Phineas and Isabella are married—as are Jeremy and Candace, Ferb and Vanessa, Baljeet and Ginger, Buford and Adyson, Irving and Katie, Django (who is an unranked and enlisted officer) and Milly, Holly and Geon Im (a Korean-American), and Gretchen and Peter Leyva (a Hispanic American). Basically, everyone is married that we know of and care about. This takes place in 2030, 5 years after Phineas and Isabella's marriage. Most of this crew of friends is still made up of only part-time officers due to their special standing with the Flynn-Fletcher Academy as being the first to ever go as far as they did into space. Let's dive in, shall we?
== Spring of 2030… ==
To say the least, most of the ships in TerraFleet had been kept in quite some restriction for the past several years. As with all things, the growing stage was slow and somewhat painful. No ships had even gone totally outside the Sol System yet! With all the people that needed to be trained at the Academy and all the ships that had to be built in preparation, there was little interaction of any kind with any aliens besides Meap and his species ("Species 1"). Phineas, the father of this era-to-come, was the most disappointed. Even the most venerated ship of the fleet, the Liberty-Class USS Phineas-A, being the second starship to bear the name, was being used for inner space training of cadets and newly-enlisted crew members, which is why Lieutenant Commander Buford Van Stomm and his wife Adyson had to move around from ship to ship as the Chiefs of Security whenever they were on duty.
Well, even with a fleet of 300 ships now ready, only 112 were fully-equipped with all weapons, shields, sensors, and full fully-trained crews by the summer of 2030. Phineas and Isabella, who still lived in Danville in a rather nice yet small place nearby their old houses and had a son one year into the marriage; they named him Christopher Flynn (or Chris for short). He was already 4 years old and already quite the builder in the house. At his age, he was building his own action figures of himself, his family, and his friends for himself to play with (which he had enabled to be controlled by their minds). His favorites were the ones he made of his parents in their current uniform style with phasers and lightsabers (although no officers carried them on their person at this point besides security officers or enlisted security members). He longed to go on an exploration mission into deep space with his father, although…yeah, you all read the problems the fleet was having with stuff in general.
One day, Phineas spoke before the Flynn-Fletcher Academy, saying that he intended to go exploring outside the Sol System soon, which he had not done since he was 15. Although he had the rank of Captain, he held the authority and charisma of an Admiral, as he and a few others directed most affairs of the fleet anyways. He gave the following short speech:
Friends, family, fellow members of TerraFleet, enlisted or ranked, I come to you all with a grieved heart…you know what? Forget the formalities. I'll get right to the point: we've only been wading ankle-deep in the ocean of space for the past several years. I say it's time to swim. I will take myself and crew to the Alpha Centauri System for a short-term exploration mission to get us off on the right foot. Who's with me?
Isabella, who was always supportive of her husband's big ideas and plans, was the first to rise in the crowd of the speech auditorium. Others soon followed, leading to unanimity among all comrades. "That's what I thought" announced Phineas. "Besides, where's our thirst for new knowledge gone? We practically only know Meap and Species 1 and the Martians! I will leave on my wedding anniversary as a way of celebrating 5 years with my beautiful wife Isabella" he said, looking at Isabella, who sat in the front row with the Phineas-A crew. She blushed as the crowds cheered and applauded for them both. "I will need a complement of engineers and security, so anyone interested in joining may apply with my brother, Commander Ferb Fletcher. Since even our biggest ships are small, I will have my full complements just in case; I will need 64 volunteers to work as security, doctors, and engineers. Commander Fletcher will decide accordingly. This meeting is adjourned; Godspeed to you all. All members of the Phineas will meet with me at the Chez Platypus tonight at 7:00. I've reserved spots for you all—just come in uniform. Thank you and have a good afternoon and evening."
Their actual mission will be what I left you all off within A New Star is Born(the vision of them in the future that I gave you all about them 15 years later [2030], which is when this story takes place). I named this story after the first Star Trek:The Next Generation episode, Encounter at Farpoint. This is only the pilot, mind you, so if it doesn't turn out well, feel free to comment on what you think needs improvement. After this story, I intend to focus a bit more on Phineas and Isabella's civilian lives and the development of their family. Read on!
