Boris Yakunin's Story

”Veris. Thank you. I am confident that those diagnostics are already in capable hands and are being attended to. Please notify me when the pods return.”

McCart finally allowed himself a moment of… jubilation, as he stared out over the Bridge’s primary windows. Such awe. Such wonder. Planets unknown to mankind, around a star previously just a blip on a telescopic image. A message on the Admiral’s inbox came up.

"Congratulations old man, how does it feel to be the Grand Admiral of the first space expedition outside our solar system? Forget Mayor of Lockhart, Admiral. I'd be surprised if you weren't nominated for president. Congratulations in advance."

McCart joyously shook his head. He was content with the message.

[color=DarkSlateBlue]”Congratulations to you, too, Hunter.

It feels… overwhelming. We’ll talk about it more over a bottle of wine sometime.

And president? President of what? I do have dual-citizenship, you know? President of Texas, or were you thinking something more… D.C.? Or maybe President of Toy Land? President of St. Henry’s Home for the Senile?

I suppose we shall see.

The uproar that had erupted on both the Bridge and the Relay was most definitely echoed throughout the whole of the ship, indeed the whole fleet. It seemed almost like a deafening buzz of applause and cheers, right for at least 15 minutes. From the FCC, the Admiral could see the various smiling faces of the young men and women aboard. It inspired a ‘kink’ of pure ecstasy in the old man for a moment. He remembered Katie at that moment – she’d love to be here.


He waited for a moment to allow the hum to die down, slightly. At what seemed the apex, he stood up from his chair and stood just in front of the navigational module, using it as a pulpit above his congregation. From his raised position over the Bridge, he stared off into a few of the eyes that caught his own. Raising his right hand as if calling a cab, he called the attention of Captain McCoy.

”Veris. Bring up a camera and focus it on me. I’d like to address the fleet. Broadcast to all public facilities,” the Admiral said to his trusted side.

A small, spherical pod was discharged from the ceiling of the Command Level and kept itself in hover around the Admiral’s FCC. It’s lights turned from green to red, indicating broadcasting. The screens and holo-modules of the Bridge, likewise, manifested the Admiral’s face. It was safe, at least to McCart’s mind, to assume the case was the same on the Thunderchild and the Apollo.

Clearing his throat, the Admiral began to speak, culling the roars of the crew to attention.

”Ladies and gentlemen, damen und herren, madamoiselles et monsieurs, damas y caballeros: my… fellow children of Gaia, my fellow Earthlings. Welcome to Kepler-62.”

The crew burst into cheering once more, forcing the Admiral to humbly stretch out his hand as if to understandingly snuff their cheers away.

”After over two years, we are finally at our destination. Many of us have just woken from cryosleep today. Many of us haven’t been in cryosleep for awhile but with all the busy-bodying, I bet it feels like cryosleep.

“We are all the very first humans to use hyperspace, leave our local system, and see with our very own eyes the horizon of another star. Before us lies perhaps a system filled with destiny.

“For the time being, we will engage slowly. Apollo shall work on deciphering which of the planets will be the safest to engage and then I’ll determine who’s going where and when.

“Congratulations. Now if there be life out there other than our own, let’s introduce ‘em to our King.”

At that, the Admiral initiated a track from his personal datacore, and broadcasted it to each of the ships public facilities.