Ad Astra

Families and friends gather at the dock, waiting for the......second inaugural flight of the United Earth-born Fleet X-AE-XII, called "Archangel" by those who know her well. She's an older ship, about thirty years behind, but she was at the battle of Caramay, Sigma Eight, and even shuttled refugees off the collapsing Planet T'harr. A decorated vessel, to be sure, one most young human aviators ogled at the museum on Earth Beryllium, from which she launched originally. To think! Some of those same souls who were inspired by the Archangel's flights are now going to serve with her!

A strange honor, sure. But after about 90 years of hunting for better Antimony sources, humans are running out of their supply. The Grel'lix, a largely unknown race on the outskirts of the Treaty, are having a similar issue with an iodine variant they (loosely) call "Redjuice." The translation isn't ideal. Still, humans were invited with great caution to their latest trade negotiations, and that is exactly why X-AE-XII has been taken out of mothballs. She won't show up on the Grel'lix scanners as an enemy, and she already has the holding tanks necessary to make the first trade.

A few of Archangel's original crew remain, even humans, but the Captain is the stiff-necked daughter the great Admiral Orion Hamilton himself. There are rumors that Pleiades rues the opportunity to prove herself on her father's ship, but there's no mark of this in her casting-off speech. In fact, more of the nerdy child raised in the ship's underbelly comes through.

The beacon rings out in the dock as final kisses and farewells are exchanged. Time to board, and take this legend back to the stars!

Bing!
All crew please report to your stations. Final checks pending. Launch in T-minus ten minutes.
Bong!

The shipwide com system shows its age, but is still useful for large announcements. Captain Hamilton's voice is back to the cool, collected tone that her subordinates know to expect.

But one by one your own coms buzz on your collars.

Security detail, please report in the half hour for first assignments.

Professors, will you join me in the medbay please?

Oi! First shift'er not, all mechanics should come an' see this beauty crank from mothballs 'ta point five Cee fer tha first time in two decades!

Professors, a pleasure to meet you. The doors to the medbay hiss open and you're greeted by Chief Medical Officer Sotra Davis. His half-Relik features give him an angular expression, but his eyes are still human - including a well-meaning but clueless analysis of his guest.

I look forward to working with you, of course. I also help monitor some of the unique physiological needs of various crew members. If there are any issues with takeoff, for instance, I can assist.

---

It'll take us 5.3 Standard days to reach the Grel'lix. Your reputations preceed you, but this part-week is far more important. Only the best will be on the security detail for negotiations.

You stand in the room with several dozen others who will be assigned to various shifts. Clearly "within the half hour" is polite talk for "now." It's rigid here, but workable. Straightforward. Far better to be security for this trip than one of the diplomats.

Lieutenant Kron, a Galdorian with very pronounced eyebrow ridges and scaly olive skin, reviews his expectations before assigning everyone to their first shifts. You have evenings to start. Well. Maybe you can talk to Elsie before she leaves for work.

---

Lieutenant Commander Moira Bruce is......a lot to take in. She worked as a young prodigy on the Archangel, and is very clearly delighted to be home again. Her thick curly brown hair bounces and shudders as she climbs around the engine bay with impressive agility for her build. Only a few of the off-duty mechanics are here right now.

Oi! You! She points at Jonh. Yer clearly a man who knows what ta' prioritize! All these young kids. They dunnae appreciate a little grease an' grime. Get up here!

She offers you a hand as you climb to a platform below an air cycler. It's loud, but it's a fantastic view of the glowing red engine.

---

There's another announcement on the ship as it slowly starts leaving the harbor. You drift at a normal overland flight speed until you leave the gravity bank, at which point you feel yourself lifting slightly off the ground. This is to counteract the g-force of launch, and as the Archangel lurches forward toward half-celeritas (about 150 million meters per second), you don't shift too much. In the blink of an eye, Earth-Beryllium vanishes in a rush of stars. Behind, you leave your loved ones, your pasts, and the hopes of the planet.

The officer who called you looks your way.

Well? What do you think?

Absolutely. Although, now that we're traveling at speeds higher than .25C, I'll want to monitor the symbiote's positioning periodically. I can't imagine it'll travel more than a few millimeters, but that's quite a range in surgery.

Pleased with his response, Bruce passes the code reader that's already running analysis. Dust, like an ancient Earth Prime furnace being turned on for the first time in the season.

Ah'm thinkin' there might be a bad connection with tha exhaust port, but we won't know that until we've leveled speed fer a parsec or two.

Not that I am aware of, though -

Ping!

---

All of you are called to the conference room. When you arrive, you see Captain Hamilton waiting for you, standing behind the table.

Thank you for joining me. I will be brief. This is a delicate diplomatic endeavor, and surely there are those within the Treaty and outside it that hope we will fail. You have been assigned as my task force for the purposes of finding and preventing any attempts to disrupt the mission.

Engineer Jonh, at the recommendation of Lt. Commander Bruce.

Professors, for your...unique access to human-alien relations.

And Officer Cabral, for your lack of experience. Not being bogged down by various bureaucratic machinations within the Treaty will actually serve as a benefit in this case.

Your cover story will simply be that at the recommendation of your leaders, you are on the small-group detail for this mission. Which, in fact, is true.

Are there any questions?