Reach for the stars – by Duran the Gladiator and Shade-Duelist
(Civilization fan fic)
"Eleonore!" It was an odd sight for the people that were gathered in the meeting room to see their leader, Daniel Stephenson, hug a young woman none of them quite knew: President Stephenson was a widower and thus she couldn't be his wife...
"Father! How wonderful to be out of my office again!" The mystery was clarified, and several older ministers sighed in relief. Of course they knew that their president had a daughter, but none of them thought the serious-looking woman they now saw would be that daughter. "Now, what is it you wished to see me about? ...It has to be something state-related, or you wouldn't call me out here for nothing, would you?"
"State matters indeed, Eleonore...", her father said and snapped his fingers. A holographic projection issued at the centre of the table and the young woman gasped. It was a space ship, looking ready to be launched.
"Father... what does this mean...?" She then blinked and looked around the table. "The Apollo Project... The new telescope... The discovery of..." She didn't need to finish her sentence.
"We've discovered a habitable planet in our nearest solar system. That's the discovery that was issued by the media, but the underlaying discovery is much greater... much more..." Her father sat down and motioned for her to do the same. "You see, this next solar system, Alpha Centauri, has only two planets, both of which are habitable – but only one of them is 100 suitable for human habitation. The space ship you see before you, the first star ship ever built, is much more than an ordinary space ship like a shuttle or a rocket." The older man paused, allowing his words to seep in. "It's a ship suited for interstellar travel."
"Interstellar travel..." The girl shook her head.
"Yes, Eleonore, interstellar travel. We're going to colonize that new planet." Again, her father paused, but now all eyes slowly moved to her as they scrutinized her reaction. "And you will lead this new settling mission."
"Me?" Time grinded to a halt around her. She blinked, unable to digest precisely what had been told to her. "W-why me?"
"Because you are my daughter. Our family have had firm control over matters for centuries, millennia even. In ancient times, we were chieftains and senators – emperors and kings in the middle ages, and presidents in the modern age. I was voted president three times by the people already, and my reign is nearly over… yet it will be continued. Your brothers will be the next family candidates for the elections of 2025. And you, my dearest child, will be the first female leader and the first leader of a space colony." He turned around and motioned for the gathered government. "All the ministers agree that you're the woman for the job. Your academic and politic records are impeccable, you enjoy a great popularity among all classes of society and you have a way with words. The people will follow you without complaints, and your decisions can be confided in."
"May I think about this, father?" The young woman looked shaken, and several of the ministers nodded to their leader, signalling he should show a bit of compassion.
"You can debate it at leisure, girl, but we wouldn't settle for anyone else – remember that!"
The next weeks, Eleonore thought of it whenever she could. She weighed the pros and cons carefully and decided that it would be only right for her to go. It was about so much more than politics: it was about ideals and principles. She made up her mind and went to her father's office after the second week.
"Father, I'll do it." Her voice was steady and her eyes betrayed a calmness that was nearly frightening, but she smiled softly. "But I have conditions."
"What are they? I'll make sure every one of them is fulfilled, dear." His voice was warm and there was a caring look in his eyes.
"Well, firstly, I want to hear all the details. Secondly, after I've heard the details, I want to see what teams you plan to put on board and who you put in those teams. Thirdly, if the spaceship hasn't been named yet, I want to name it. And fourthly…" She paused a while, thinking about the best way to formulate what she wanted to say. "Fourthly, I want to be able to contact you as long as possible. Can our research facilities investigate if that's possible?"
"I'm sure they can…", her father said. He smiled as he looked outside, at the bustling city that stretched out beneath him. "Are these all your conditions, dear, or…?"
"I think that's all." She sighed suddenly. "I can't believe I won't see you again…"
"Elly, dear, leadership comes at a price. Some are willing to pay it, some aren't. But it's a way of telling who would be the better leader. It's alright to face things with anxiety, but never forget what you're sacrificing and why." He rose and hugged her briefly. "You're my brightest and bravest child, you know that? Now, go on to your apartment. I'll arrange for a meeting with the scientists in charge with the project so far."
"Miss Stephenson? Would you please follow me?" A petite secretary led her to a meeting room in the Hillside State Research Institute: Eleonore felt tense as she was guided through several corridors until they arrived at a double door. "Here you are. Professors Goldman, Tellis and Vandooren are waiting for you inside." She turned and left, leaving the young woman no other choice but to push open one of the doors and enter.
"Miss Eleonore Stephenson, I presume?", said an old man who cast her a rather pompous look. "Professor Albert Goldman, and these are my colleagues Vincent Tellis and Gabriel Vandooren.", he continued, pointing first to a rather long and slender man that had a lopsided grin and then to what was probably the youngest professor she had ever seen.
"How do you do?", she said as she shook the hands the two others extended – at least they treated her normally, she thought as she glared at the pompous elderly professor.
"Now, you wanted the details? …Where would you like us to start?"
"With the beginning, please. Who discovered this inhabitable planet? How can you be sure that its colonisable and how sure are you? How long will the journey there take?"
"That's my cue, I guess…", the youngest of the three said. "I'm the one who asked for a grant in order to get a better telescope. I have observed the Centauri systems for a long time during my assistantship under the late professor Severeyns and suspected that the nearest one had at least one habitable planet. From my calculations and observations, it had the perfect distance to its sun, the perfect orbit – everything we needed…" Eleonore nodded eagerly as he went on, soaking up the information like a sponge soaking up water. The new telescope had revealed to professor Vandooren that his suspicions were correct and he had brought up the colonization issue when he found out about the Apollo Project. Soon, the preparations were made and work began on the parts that would come to form the spaceship. The journey would take about forty to forty-five years, but with the possibilities offered by cryostasis and the 'timeless sleep' it induced, that would be no problem. People on board would be put into cold sleep and wouldn't age during the journey there. A minimum of crew would be awake, with shifts to ensure that everyone would survive the trip through space. Then, professor Tellis took over and told her of the nature of the mission. Next to colonization, research would be an important goal and that was why about ten percent of the people on board would be scientists of all areas. With a wink, he added that he, too, would be on board, which made Eleonore shiver as she noticed his lopsided grin again. Then, the pompous professor spoke about the teams that would be on board. There would, of course, be a large scientific team led by professors Jonathan Greenbaum and Elena Tourian-Mynski (which somehow sounded eastern European to her); then a team of constructors and engineers that would be led by a man named Peter Gavriilakis; a detachment of marines led by lieutenant Norah Brown; a cultural branch led by her mentor, professor Henry D. Salmandros; and regular settlers – families or young couples – which would be under her supervision, a task in which she would be aided by her father's top advisor and closest friend, Benjamin Everett-Greene. She nodded as the youngest of the three suggested to show her around the spaceship as it was being finished, finding his personality charming and his general behaviour towards her not only friendly but endearing as well.
"Now, before we enter… I want you to think hard. Look at the ship as it stands out here. Inside, look at the magnificence of each part separately, then consider the grandeur of the combination of all those parts. When we come out again, tell me how you would name it." She smiled, recognising her father's hand in his words, and nodded. The ship took her breath away as it was enormous, yet not threatening at all. Professor Vandooren skilfully guided her through the ship, commenting on its various parts and revealing funny anecdotes to her as they went. Then, as they finally stood outside again, he looked at her expectantly.
"Wow…", Eleonore said as she shook her head, trying to order things in her mind: it was so much to digest…
"'Wow' would be an original name for a ship, but surely you can do better than that…", she said with a smile, and Eleonore found herself smiling as well.
"I would name her the 'Hopeful'.", she decided with a firm nod of her head.
"Well, then it will be the SS Hopeful's departure that will start this colonizing mission in a month…"
After the month had passed, which had been swifter than she could imagine, Eleonore found herself preparing for launch. She was now putting on a special space suit that would keep her warm once they had left the atmosphere, over which a protective suit would go that would keep the pressure bearable between lift-off and leaving Earth's atmosphere. Looking round, she saw professor Vandooren stand behind her in his thermic underwear. She blushed and turned back to putting on her gloves. She had seen the young academic a lot during that previous month, when she had been busy preparing everything for the colonizers and checking the progress occasionally. He had always been friendly toward her, and she found herself charmed by his demeanour every time. She took another peek to make sure he was clothed and went over to him when she noticed he had his suit on and was now putting on his boots.
"Professor Vandooren?"
"Miss Stephenson, you're going to be seeing a lot of me in the next few days – maybe even weeks. Please, you can call me Gabriel." He smiled, and instantly she smiled in response.
"You're right. Well, Gabriel...", she said, savouring his first name as she spoke, "You can call me Eleonore. After all, we will be seeing a lot of each other in the next few days." She walked up to him. "...No, I was just wondering..."
"If I'm nervous? Yes, I am. It's a good thing that jerk Goldman isn't going along..." He grinned. "Ah well, at least I still have you all to myself a bit longer – to talk, that is...", he quickly added as an afterthought.
"Well, don't we have a lot in common? That professor Goldman seemed like a jerk when I met him. And don't worry, you can have me all to yourself too...", she said – and suddenly realised how her words had sounded. "To talk, of course...", she added with a blush. He blushed as well, then walked up to her.
"What do you say if we prepare now and talk", he said with clear emphasis on the word, "when we're in space?" His voice showed that talking was not what he had in mind at all.
"What is there left to talk about then?", she said, voicing her thoughts – and his, for he looked up at her in surprise. "We're grownups, there's no need to deny what we feel and what we want. But you're right... now is not a good time to talk." She, too, emphasized the word. He nodded without a word. As they both had finished putting on their suits and gear, they headed out wordlessly – hand in hand.
Humankind is not a species to stay put. From the very early beginnings of our existence, we swarmed out like bees from their hive, until we had colonized the entire earth and civilised it. Now, we face the transgression of another boundary. Again, we have swarmed out into the expanse in front of us – space, the universe – and again we will not stop until we have been everywhere, seen everything. Our nature cannot be denied, nor can it be contained. We yearn for infinity: and when we will have transgressed that final boundary – time, death, decay – only then will we be truly satisfied.
Eleonore Stephenson
Thoughts on colonizing Alpha Centauri's planets.
As we look up and see the twin sun shine upon us, as we look down and see the new earth ready to be cultivated, as we glance around us and see our humble villages and small community grow around us, the one thought that appears in all of our minds is simply: now we truly are alone.
Professor Gabriel Vandooren
A new dawn, a new beginning.
Professor Vandooren and miss Stephenson arrived safely on the new planet, which was named Terra Nova. There they lived fruitful lives and saw their small colony grow into a thriving planet wide civilisation. Their children saw the first interstellar ship head back to Terra Prima or Earth, and their grandchildren lived during the first Singularity and became transhumans.