Beyond Infinity

Stardate: 21-130513.19

This is Rito Yuuki, recording from the Starship Astroboy. We are about to embark on a summer-long trip to visit Lala's home planet, Deviluke, along with many other worlds.

This is my first really long trip into deep space, and I am so nervous! How did this even happen? I'm just a high school student. I don't even have any proper training to be an astronaut or whatever. But Lala wants me to be captain of this ship. Me! A Captain? Can you believe it?

Yami-san took us all in her own starship, the Lunatique, and we soon left Earth's atmosphere. This ship is huge! It's like a cruise ship moored in the blackness of space. That ship's hanger bay alone is bigger than my house! Two of Yami's own craft would fit snuggly inside!

Of course, it was Lala and Yami-san who designed the starship. Between the two of them, a magnificent vessel was created, with plenty of room for all of those who were coming with us. Momo and Nana were of course coming, but so are Mikan, Mea, Ryouko-sensei, Tearju-sensei, Zastin, and many of Lala's bodyguards.

It was Momo who was assigned to pick out the crewmembers aboard this ship. No doubt that this would further her plot for a harem. I shudder to think of what she's planning to do on this trip. Lala also told me that I could bring a friend to come along, so of course I chose Haruna.

Yami-san docked Lunatique in the unpressurized hanger bay, and we stepped through the airlock and into the reception deck. There, I saw the turbo lift, which functioned like an elevator, taking us to the other decks. Behind that was the warp core. It was a huge sphere with many strange devices poking out of it. Lala says that it is key to what allows us to travel faster than light, so we could reach distant planets. She kept talking about so much technobabble that it made my head spin. I didn't really get any of it, because at that moment, Zastin's shuttle had docked next to us, and the reception deck was suddenly full of people.

Lala gave us a tour of the ship, with its three main decks. Just above the reception deck was where we would eat. Lala showed us the kitchen, a really professional kitchen fit for a five star chef, Mikan was clearly overwhelmed with the place. I can just imagine her spending hours in here, perfecting her latest recipe.

On the next deck, at the very front of the ship, was the bridge. When I walked in, I immediately gasped, for everywhere I looked, I could see into the vast deepness of space. I turned my head to the left, and the looming surface of the Earth could be seen. Above us and below us spanned a huge windshield, revealing to us by the shear vastness of.

"I considered putting the bridge on the very top level of the ship, Lala said, "But I found that such a place would not show such a lovely view as this.

Lala pushed me onto the circular platform in the middle, where the captain's chair was. Before I knew it, she'd forced me into the seat. "I designed this chair myself, with you in mind," she said, beaming, "It has been tailor-made for you!"

The view from the captain's chair was ridiculous! In front of me the vastness of space loomed ahead. Below where I sat the helm and the navigator's chair. Lala said that this was where Yami-san and Mea-san would sit, charting our course and controlling the ship. Meanwhile, behind me were other important positions staffed by various people.

Lala walked me through them all. First was the communication officer who relayed all transmission from other ships in the area. This would be handled by Tearju-sensei who was knowledgeable in multiple alien languages. Momo and Nana were in charge of science databases as they each were experts in Plants and Animal species throughout the Milky Way. Lastly were the internal and external security chiefs, which was taken up by Haruna-san and Zastin, respectively.

Zastin's retinue did not have their stations on the main bridge. Instead, they had to climb downstairs to the lower bridge, which was in front of Mikan's kitchen.

Yeah, I can say that she practically owned the place now. Lala says that this way, Zastin and his buddies could better monitor the comings and goings of ships who wanted to enter our hanger bay, which was right beneath them.

Finally, Lala took us to see the uppermost deck at the very top of her ship, which was split between a lush garden in the front of the deck, and a sick bay in the back. Here, Dr. Ryouko would be our savior if we got sick or badly injured. Meanwhile, the garden would be Momo's sole domain, as she will grow otherworldly plants that were well adept in generating oxygen and scrubbing carbon dioxide for us. Above this deck, a thick sheet of transparent material separated us from the vacuum of space. Lala told me that it wasn't glass, but a substance known as Aluminium transparent material sloped down to meet the floor, and I could see that it was continuous with the transparent material that enveloped the bridge.

According to Lala, we would be heading towards the Alpha Quadrant, the region of space where Deviluke is. Lala says that quadrants are used to designate places in the Milky Way galaxy, and Deviluke was charted as the middle of the Alpha Quadrant. Tomorrow we're going to begin some short-term trial voyages, and we'll be taking a tour around the Solar System.

I'm so nervous! Compared to that trip to planet Mistletoe, this won't be a mere milk-run. To be voyaging in space for an entire summer would be such a bizzare adventure! What will we see? What strange new worlds will out there? Well, there's no point in worrying about that now. Our journey will begin tomorrow.

This is Rito, Signing out.