This is the Preamble for Stellar Transportation & Colonization, Inc., a major government in an upcoming TC plugin I'm working on, The Ages Trilogy.
Without further ado, the STC Preamble:
The small, white ship floated through the blackness of space. Thousands of miles behind it were the alien worlds of Pluto and Charon, twin planets on the edge of the explored Solar System. The ship was about 50 meters long, with gracefully curved wings and a definitively streamlined shape. It had large insignia on its wings and hull, showing a silver, cigar-shaped spaceship crossing over a stylized gold sun, on a blue background with a red border. On the port side of the nose of the ship, there is a picture of the ship breaking Earth orbit on a black starfield and the word 'StarSeeker' emblazoned on the hull. Near the juncture of each wing and the hull lies a large teardrop-shaped bulge that smoothly bridges the gap between flat wing and sleek hull.
On board, a tall, wiry man taps a few keys, and says "Computer, set course for Proxima Centauri." A display screen lights up with a picture of a small, glowing, fluctuating red sphere, with the words
PROXIMA CENTAURI
above it,
HIP: 70890
TYC: 9010-4949-1
LONG: 313° 56.035'
LAT: -1° 55.575'
in the upper left corner and
MAG: 15.44
RAD: 0.4
TEMP: 2869°K
B-V: 1.81
DST: 4.223 LY
ETA: 4.972
in the lower left corner. The man speaks into a microphone on his control panel: "Alright, folks, please put all seat-backs in the upright positions, secure all trays, and fasten your seat-belts. Weeza goin' fo' a leetle riide." All talking in the passenger compartment ceases, replaced by an awed and slightly worried hush. He turns the mike off and says, "Computer, seal the windows." In the passenger area, dark metal panels slide over the windows with a hiss. More metal panels then slide over the windscreen on the bridge. "Computer, engage HyperDrive." A faint, low hum sounds.
An unimaginably bright white dot appears a few meters in front of the ship. As the tear in the fabric of space widens, the occupants of the ship can see a brilliant, pulsating blue light, seemingly flowing towards the center of the wormhole. Then the center itself opens up, presenting a perfect circle of even more perfect black. The maw of the wormhole is ready to receive its passenger or prey.
"Computer, prepare for Hyperspatial Jump." On board, you can hear an electrical whine as the engines ramp up to full power. The wormhole burns even more intensely, now a mesmerizing deep blue color. Back on board, the man sits down in a chair about a meter to the left his companion crewmember, straps himself in, sighs heavily, and says "Computer, engage HyperDrive."
For an instant, there is a banshee shriek as the drives use several trillion watts of power to thrust the little ship and its occupants through Hyperspace. All the passengers feel as if they are being slowly ripped apart by a thousand knives. Each one, barely able to form a conscious thought due to the incredible pain, quietly prays to die, just to end the pain. After that one eternal instant, silence prevails. The man, in a scared and hushed tone, says "Computer, disengage HyperDrives." The low humming stops. "Computer, de-seal the windows." The dark metal plating glides smoothly with more hissing, revealing the starfield.
At first sight, it's the same thing they were looking at before. But upon closer examination, small anomalies appear: that star shouldn't be here, it should be there.
And on the bridge, a silence of awe has taken over: the StarSeeker has successfully conveyed its literally starstruck occupants to a short distance away from Proxima Centauri. 500AU away, to be exact, according to the display screen. It's still faint, but Prox Centauri is the largest star in the starfield, and it's right in front of them. About a quarter as big, and slightly brighter, are Alpha and Beta Centauri.
The man's companion finally speaks: "Hey, we made it!" The captain replies, "Yeah. Yeah, we made it."
He then does something that brings him to tears: "Computer, turn the StarSeeker to face the Sun."
That is a sight that, even though he will go on to discover uncountable new worlds, colonize nearly all of them, and become the most famous man in human history, that is a sight he will never forget.
(This message has been edited by moderator (edited 10-17-2002).)
