1 Chapter 1
The spacecraft took off from the surface of the earth with countless thrusters blasting at the same time however there was not even the slightest jerk during this yet the passing clouds and then the blue sky and the incoming darkness reflected on the fact that they had indeed begun their journey into space.
Terrence Rossetti's feelings at present were like a myriad of stars, different but unique in themselves. From the excitement of the first travel in space to the nervousness that comes with it, everything was special. So special that he wanted to write it down in his dairy.
"Snap out of it, Terrence"
I looked at the beauty in front of me, who had her eyebrows raised, arms folded while tapping her feet in annoyance.
"You need to submit the report in two hours" she huffed.
"I'm almost done with it" I said calmly to Noemi Connor, my current research associate.
"So fast, that's good. I am just going to submit mine to the professor. See you later then"
She left quickly after saying that, closing the door of the laboratory shut at once.
I left my feelings aside for later and started working on the report again.
Suddenly, the door opened again and I thought Noemi was back for something she had left behind but I saw it was Desmond.
"Say Terrence, want to have a drink with me to celebrate your first time in space?"
Desmond Crawford was an out an out pleasure seeker. Good thing Noemi isn't here, otherwise there would have been yet another argument to look out for as their personalities clash heavily.
He sat down opposite me with a gesture as if the whole laboratory was his.
I chuckled. It is really fun to have such people around.
He really knows how to live his life in merry!
After being together with the crew members for the last few months, I have long known that they might have different personalities but are very kind in nature and we are like a family now. The
"Let's have some at night, I still have to finish my report" I said smiling helplessly.
"Aw man, Dr. Sullivan really is a strict and solemn type of person. I find it really hard to get along with him. How do you manage working under him day and night? If it were me, I would have died of boredom" he said.
"He is really good at his work, that's why. Also, only you would find it difficult to have a conversation with him because as far as I know as long as it is research related he can go on speaking for hours on end" I smirked.
"I am just a poor little engineer, just spare me from the research related work. I will go an pester Scott. I think he has a stash of wine hidden somewhere in his cabin. Ciao."
Then off he went looking for Scott.
I feel only a little bit of pity for our vice captain for his loss of wine.
...
Interstellar Era 723, Month October.
While jotting down on my diary, I looked out of the window. The surrounding was dark with a tinge of dark blue. There is light shimmering here and there due to the passing star that is near or far from our spacecraft.
Dr. Sullivan Crawford always says that there may be life on various stars which we have yet to explore. They may be like the paramecium we know of, a unicellular organism, very simple or complex like a human being itself, perhaps even better.
It is not the first time this thought has come to the mind of humans yet even after years of advancement in science and technology, where we ourselves have changed from pure weak humans to genetically modified strong beings, we have so far not come across any extra terrestrial life forms.
I think it is quite unfortunate.
Interstellar travel has always been long. This time our destination is The Large Magellanic Cloud, the satellite galaxy of the Milky way. It might take about eleven and half months to reach there with our current spacecraft's speed. After all LMC is 158200 light years away from earth.
Quite near I must say.
As the place known as "The astronomical treasure house", there lies the scope of interest of various scientists.
Precisely, this time our target is the dust that lies near the supergiant star Rynel-47, from the Tarantula nebula, one of the most active star forming region.
According to the stellar map, the whole star is enclosed in dust and gas, as in like a barrier. The dust cloud are of three different colours, from green at the bottom to blue in the middle with red at the top of the star which extends to large lengths in all the sides.
Our focus will be on the blue region as it seems to have some kind of unknown element present in it. This unknown element was found a few months ago by the galactic probe and thus our mission started.
This particular element's use has not been found till now nevertheless there seems to be something unusual about it as it neither shows any reaction with the other elements nor shows any radioactivity. Considering the fact that up until now all the cosmic elements have shown radioactivity to some extent, this lead to its peculiarity.
Anything strange is always worth collection and analysis, therefore, Dr. Sullivan took the job.
A while back when I went to submit my report, he was still doing some experiments related to it. Truthfully, he is very dedicated person.
After writing the last few lines, I closed my diary and got up to leave my cabin. I proceed to the cafeteria area where I have to meet the others and celebrate the beginning of the journey that is filled with expectations.
...
"I don't think you should drink anymore Desmond" said Scott Rogers exasperatedly.
"Haven't you had enough of my wine already" he continued to grimace.
"I want to get drunk. I am so not stopping before that" Desmond replied.
"You have still not gotten drunk? Are you sure? Because I think you might drop to the ground any second" said Noemi.
"Genetically modified human beings can drink alcohol like water. So, theoretically, he is not drunk" said Dr. Sullivan from his seat.
"What do you mean by "theoretically" professor?" asked Carlos, our dear captain.
"If a person assumes that he is drunk, then maybe he is, as the brain signals respond to our thoughts and changes the physical state accordingly" replied Dr. Sullivan.
"Get back on your feet and stop drinking" said Celine while knocking on Desmond's head.
"Ow, ow, Celine, have mercy. Is it difficult to given to your partner's wish once in a while?" Desmond fake cried.
"Precisely because I am your working partner, I don't wish to have to do the engine checks by myself tomorrow" uttered Celine.
"Fine. I will stop now. Scott, help me back to my cabin, will you?" requested Desmond.
"Yeah, I can, considering the fact that you will not continue to drink, I will do you the favour" answered Scott.
....
I woke up early the next day and went to have breakfast and met Evelynn in the dining area.
"Morning Evelynn, or should I say good night?"
She looks quite sleepy, very very much, taking into account that she has just mixed large amounts of mustard in her porridge.
"Don't ask" she sighed "I had night shift with Josephine and Amelia, who kept complaining the whole time about how miserable they were, staying in the cockpit and looking after the driving of the spacecraft while everyone else was celebrating. They felt left out and what not. I never knew people can complain about something for so long".
"Why, did you not feel bad? You missed it too right?" I asked.
"Not that much. I don't drink and I am not good at socializing. I asked Sir Scott to take a break and took the job of navigation system check" she shrugged.
"Good work. I have not seen Mr. Rogers take leave before. This is perhaps the first" I said smiling.
I finished eating and left behind Evelynn, who had to accomplish the task of eating mustard porridge.
...
Interstellar Era 724, Month August.
Looking at the spectrographs, I was busy analyzing, when Noemi came to me with some files.
She looked flustered for some reason.
"The process of collecting the unknown element is about to complete but Dr. Sullivan found some disturbances in the green dust region. It can be inferred that there is actually a red dwarf star hidden in it. It is an undiscovered star, so we have no idea about its current state but from the looks of it, this star is not a good sign for us" she said.
"This is bad. Disturbances can be due to many reasons but if professor is worried about it then there is high possiblity that this might affect our spacecraft" I said.
We fell silent. What does our future await?
A sound from the speakers broke the silence.
[Announcement. I am the captain of the ship, Carlos, requesting all the crew members to assemble at the cockpit. I repeat, I request all the crew members to assemble at the cockpit.]
"Let's go. This must be a big deal since the captain even made an announcement" said Noemi.
I can only pray for the best.
