Captain Carlos Tarasco took a deep breath as he waved to the crowd, or more accurately into the cameras beaming the satellite images across the Earth before he went to board his new ship.
The S.S. Valiant was one of the first of the newest generation of starships and the first one equipped with a warp drive. While the ship wouldn't exceed warp one, according to the warp scale provided by Vulcan scientists specialising in warp theory, the ship was the first step into exploring the galaxy.
As one of the surviving astronauts straight out of World War 3, Tarasco had been trained and given command of the Valiant.
Tarasco wasn't a fool; he knew he would be required to not only represent Earth with any other species they met along the way but he and his crew would also be tasked with charting/mapping deep space, discovering new phenomena, discovering ways of augmenting the warp drive, essentially discovering how humanity could exist out in space.
No pressure.
Carlos was enthralled, delighted and terrified in equal measure but he wasn't going to show it.
Waving one last time in the cameras, keeping his nerves to a minimum with some effort, Tarasco wondered how many people had tuned in; Earth's population was still recovering from the war, and in the two years since First Contact with the Vulcans, with the advanced technology of the Vulcans providing them with some aid limited to helping them clean up the environment and to help the human race deal with the aftermath of World War 3, but the technology needed to build satellites continued to exist while the surviving factions responsible for fighting to the bitter end began to die out.
Once he was inside the airlock of the Valiant, Tarasco grinned at Amir Rashad, his second in command. "Well?" He asked.
"Everything's going well; the ship's stocked and the warp engines are ticking over. Geirrod is desperate to try them out," Ramir grinned back.
Geirrod Agnarsson was the chief engineer on the Valiant; from what Carlos knew, he was also a veteran of one of the old space agencies, and he had a background in nuclear physics and astrophysics, so he made the logical choice the becoming Valiant's chief engineer, but Carlos barely knew him although he was a practical, simple man who preferred basic solutions to problems.
"We're leaving now," Carlos told his first officer as they marched down the basic, stripped-down corridors; Carlos was relieved they would be having artificial gravity, using science provided by the Vulcans, especially considering how dangerous it was to jump into warp without it. The Vulcans had not been entirely happy to give that branch of science over so quickly, and it had required delicate negotiations.
"Understood."
Carlos caught the tone of uncertainty in Amir's voice. "What's wrong? You don't seem one hundred per cent sure about this."
"I'm sorry, Captain. I don't mean to give out negative waves, but…," Ramir sighed, "we've just come out of a global war. Shouldn't we be concentrating on getting our planet and our problems sorted before we go into space?"
Carlos sighed. He had heard these concerns many, many times over the last few months since it was decided to construct the Valiant. The planet was ticking hot still even ten years following the war when Zefram Cochrane launched the Phoenix only two years ago, millions were still dead and the planet was only just beginning to be repaired. Even with the help of the Vulcans, progress was still slow and the birthrate was still rather low.
Oh, Carlos knew why someone had the genius idea of building and launching spaceships and probes, equipped with the new warp drive system. The idea was to inspire and jump-start growth in science and mathematics and engineering, and the sooner it was done, the better off they would be. But sometimes Carlos thought they were rushing this forward. There were even plans being put through by the end of the decade to build and launch a probe deeper into the galaxy using knowledge gleaned from the Valiant's transmissions.
"I know how you feel, Ramir," Carlos said, resting his hand on the other man's shoulder. "Opinion is divided on what to do with the new warp technology; while I agree our future is in space, as what Commissioner Simmonds implies, which is one of the reasons why they're pushing for the colonisation of the moon and Mars, and looking to getting out into the Oort Cloud, while this ship is being sent out to inspire new minds. I agree with you, we should be trying to rebuild our home and look to space exploration second, but at the same time, this is an exciting chance for us to see the galaxy. We should be pleased, not to mention thrilled."
"Oh, believe me, I am, sir," Ramir said. "I merely wish my wife and children were alive to see it."
"I know, I know. Believe me," Carlos bit his lip, the limitations of their new faster-than-light technology were a trip using just warp one would take years to accomplish and while the crew had suspended animation booths on board to save on resources like food, water and air, but to make things more stringent, the space agency had required the entire crew to have absolutely no ties. No family, and since many of the crew had come out of the war with nothing but dimming memories of their friends and loved ones, it wasn't a particularly hard thing to get.
"I wonder how they'd feel if they saw me now," Ramir said longingly. "All I have of my family is a photo album and an old set of DVDs."
"More than I have," Carlos said bitterly before they stepped onto the bridge. Relieved to get away from this painful conversation, Carlos took the command chair and checked over his console. Everything was prepared. Their orders were to pass beyond Jupiter, and into interstellar space.
"Prepare for departure. Lay in a course that takes us past Jupiter, and make it a good flight. I want us to collect samples from the Oort Cloud asteroids on the way," Carlos said.
"Understood, Captain."
"All stations report ready for departure, sir."
"Clear all moorings. Power up the sub-light drive. We'll go to warp as soon as we're clear of the moon," Carlos said. As the Valiant moved, the deck plates rattled with the force of the engine's vibrations. Carlos gasped when the Valiant jumped to warp; he had been in warp ships before, but those had been for his benefit, so he could get used to travelling faster-than-light.
When the Valiant sped past Jupiter, Carlos felt as if a door was closing behind him and one was opening up. For the first time, all of his doubts began to vanish. Suddenly he realised they should be rushing to get out into space, whether they were ready or not.
Carlos Tarasco had no idea what would come out of the reports sent back to Earth on the improvements to the warp and sub-light drives, to say nothing of the discoveries they would make, but he knew humanity's future was in space and their discoveries would be their legacy, paving the way forwards.