Spirit  of  the  Stars:  Discovery  Prologue  

John  Redfield  

DISCOVERY AT CRITICAL LEVELS. ABORT MISSION. ABANDON SHIP.

DISCOVERY AT CRITICAL LEVELS. ABORT MISSION. ABANDON SHIP.

DISCOVERY AT CRITICAL LEVELS. ABORT MISSION. ABANDON SHIP.

"What are we supposed to do?!" Captain Pitlow

screamed. His surrounding officers stared with blank

faces, shocked that the revelation of a weak commander

had come too late. The newly elected officer had never

been in such a deadly situation. His training proved

worthless as he frantically paced back and forth across

the main deck of the UGS Discovery. The vessel of five-

thousand members had only been traveling for the past

month, but already the monotonous life of space travel

had weakened Pitlow’s resolve. This mission is far too intense, he kept reminding himself. I was not cut out for this. Eventually, as time wore on, his thoughts filtered

through his intensive training, biting at his heels until he

lost all memory of the standard protocol. The one thing

Pitlow remembered however, was how to use the

Starbeam Communicator to contact his superior officers.

But given the fact that these were civilians on his ship, he

would not dare jeopardize his image in the face of

thousands. Instead, he grabbed his intercom.

"Attention all aboard. This is not a drill. Please make

your way to the nearest escape pods with as much haste

as possible. Sergeants at Arms, please escort all families

out of their lodging rooms and lead them to the pod dock

to await further instruction. Thank you."

The intercom clicked off, and the deck went silent.

"But sir," a standing officer said, "Aren’t we forty-five

pods short? There are over two-hundred who will still be

left on this ship after they are all gone! What about the

rest of us?"

"Do not question the captain’s orders!" a booming

voice shouted. The voice was clear, but it was not on the

ship. The Starbeam Communicator worked both

ways. Dammit, General Pitlow thought, I am really going to get it now.

"Hello Admiral Stevens."

"Pitlow, I cannot afford for this ship to explode in

empty space. You need to listen to me, alright? There is a

nearby planet and if you follow what I say you will be able

to land this ship."

"But sir, our landing gear has malfunctioned and the

main reactor has been destroyed. We are headed straight

toward an asteroid field. Our power is draining and

frankly, we are going to die. How are we supposed to-"

"Step one. Program all escape pods to hyperjump to

Sarza II. There they will refuel and can return back to

Earth."

"James, get on that." The Lieutenant Commander

Stewart James quickly relayed the Admiral’s instruction

to all Sergeants at Arms. Immediately, pods ejected from

the ship like bullets from a revolver.

"Step two. From what I know you are nearing planet

Phyllix. Phyllix has thirty moons. Now, we only have

identified three of them, but from what we can guess

these moons are ice moons just like Saturn’s Titan and

Jupiter’s Europa. There is water, but it is scarce.

Fortunately, the Discovery has a water seeker. You

should have gone through the training, correct?”

"Yes sir."

"Then pilot your ship to the nearest moon and land in

a water body. From there, report your orbital coordinates

to the UGS Terminal IX and we will send out a recon ship

for you. It will take several months though, but I am quite

confident in you."

"But sir, do you really expect us to survive? I mean,

you just told me there are only three moons explored.

How will we know the surface of the moons unless-"

"Have faith, Pitlow. Goodbye-"

The Starbeam Communicator turned off. “Dammit!”

Pitlow screamed, “Why must he leave us like this?!”

Lieutenant Commander James looked up at his

leader. “All non-officer personnel have escaped via pod.

There are two-hundred twenty men and women officers

remaining. Awaiting your orders, sir.”

Pitlow turned to look at everyone on deck.

Surrounding him were thirty officers, all of the highest

standing. These men and women had served with Pitlow

for the last twelve years. Now, for the first time ever, they

were working for him. They knew his antics, his

misguided direction, his faults. And still they trusted him

with their lives. Pitlow respected them and looked to

them as peers, not inferiors. He wanted to prove to them

that he was not a weak commander. That he wasn’t

insane. This was his chance. “This ship is spinning out of

control. Our fuel cells only have enough to stabilize its

motion and head to the nearest moon. You all better hope

that moon is inhabitable, because we’re going to be there

for a long time. That’s considering if we even make a safe

crash landing. We don’t know how deep the water body

could be. We don’t even know if there will be any water.

We haven’t even tested the buoyancy of this ship under

damage. We are all riding on false numbers here, on false

odds. Officers, this is a suicide mission. We knew what we

were getting ourselves into. So, without further ado, let’s

get this ship rolling. Parker?”

Chief Pilot Andrew Parker piped up, “Awaiting your

call, Commander.”

"Head our ship to the nearest moon detected."

"Stabilizing ship." The rear rockets stopped the

propelling of the ship with an abrupt halt. Officers fell out

of their seats and one unlucky man hit the deck windows

before falling fifteen feet to the floor. A few officers

around him carried him off to the medical station, where

a horde of doctors would be ready to repair his fractured

back. The Discovery stood silent, as if a malfunction

never had occurred. Given the torn up exterior and the

missing wing, however, the starship was not a safe place

to be. “Set on a course of twenty high-thirty starboard.

Preparing to launch. Three…two…one!”

The ship burst full speed ahead toward an

unidentified moon. Officers on the main deck latched

themselves into their respective seats, thrilled by the

flight but not by the idea of dying. Everyone’s heart was

racing. Pitlow, a highly superstitious man, was reciting an

age old poem that he had recalled from his childhood. It

was eerie, but somehow through its words he found

comfort:

Let the spirit of the stars Be here with us tonight As we travel through the world Amidst our final flight And the ancients will cry out And the warriors scream and shout But we ourselves must know We carry eternal light