It had been twenty years since that fateful Galaxy Fest.
The papers and magazines all called it a million dollar extravaganza to relaunch the Galaxy Quest franchise.
You knew better.
You were just nine years old at the time, and had no interest in Galaxy Quest. You were just Sarabi Johnson, the bratty little sister of sixteen year old Andre Johnson. You followed Andre around all the time, mostly because your parents were always telling your brother to "watch your little sister." The greatest joy in your life was mocking your brother and his other geeky friends over their love of all things Galaxy Quest.
That all changed on the final day of that fateful Galaxy Fest.
Andre's equally geeky friend Brandon Wheegar had called and told your brother to gather all the roman candles and other similar fireworks that he could find and head to the parking lot of the convention center where Galaxy Fest was being held.
As usual, your parents told Andre to "watch your little sister," and, as usual, you mercilessly mocked your brother and his friends for standing out in the middle of the parking lot, shooting off fireworks, with Brandon waving around a stage prop.
This all changed when the command module containing the cast of Galaxy Quest buzzed you and knocked you on your ass.
The events that transpired next staggered the imagination. A piece of incredibly advanced alien technology landed in the middle of a major American city and nobody cared. The government really thought that it was a studio stunt, and slapped them with all sorts of fines for not filing the proper permits and so forth. When "the stunt" was deemed a success, a huge number of studio executives and personnel stepped forward to claim responsibility. Studio lawyers stepped in to clean up the mess and, in twenty years, what should have been humanity's most historic event became a Galaxy Quest trivia question. Also in twenty years, when the studio auctioned off a ton of Galaxy Quest props, you acquired the command module, but that's another story entirely.
Everyone who knew the real story...the cast of the Galaxy Quest, a group of die hard teenage fans and you...weren't that interested in trying to get the real story out there. To them, it was all about establishing ties between old cast members and between actors and fans. When Galaxy Quest was relaunched, your brother and his friends all had jobs with the franchise. A sister of one of the guys in the parking lot even plays the first officer of a Galaxy Quest spinoff.
You were literally the only person in the world who seemed interested that humanity had made first contact with an alien race and everything that represented.
If it hadn't been for that fateful day, your life would have been very different from what it was today. The women in your family have always been incredibly attractive, and you're no different. You might have even become the lingerie model that your detractors often refer to you as.
But after Galaxy Fest, you became obsessed with all things science. You were the only one who had access to the command module, knew it wasn't a prop and, most importantly, wanted to take advantage of that fact. You got to see Laliari, aka "Jane Doe" in her true Thermian appearance, and learned how to do maintenance on a Thermian appearance generator.
Laliari's appearance was off-putting at first, but you eventually became inured to her appearance and even found some aspects quite appealing. This led to a short period of bingeing in erotic literature involving gentle tentacle fantasies, but you'd just as soon forget about that part of your life.
By age twenty-four, you had a doctorate in aerospace engineering and a slew of other degrees, ranging from abstract algebra to xenobiology. Your grandest ambition was to go to work for the space agency and head up a probe mission, where you would be involved in everything from design to deployment. Unfortunately for you, the space agency only saw you as eye candy. You knew any job you got at the space agency wouldn't allow you to fully express your creativity.
So you decided to go into the private space business. By age twenty-nine, thanks to the initial backing provided to you by your Galaxy Quest family and friends, the name Sarabi Johnson ranks right up there with Elon Musk and Sir Richard Branson when it comes to private space ventures.
A month after your twenty-ninth birthday finds you out in west Texas at the site of a future spaceport. You've received all your permits and have secured all your financial backing. Construction will begin in two weeks.
Your looking up at the night sky, wondering what the Thermians are doing in their part of the galaxy, when you
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