On the Brink

Captain Jason "Andy" Anderson had dreamed of travelling to another star at lease since 2185 when he was just 10 years old and saw an old film about ships on the high seas. Now he was the captain of the "Magellan", the first interstellar capable ship ever built.

And what a fantastic ship it was! Of course it wasn't an ocean going ship with sails and a giant wheel - it was far better! It was made of steel and composites and borosilicate glass, but to him it was a fine lady that he had the privilege to know and work with every day.

He and his crew of 110 scientists, technicians and support staff had spent years travelling all over the solar system gaining invaluable knowledge and experience for that first trip to another star. The only problem was that no interstellar trip was even planned.

Even with a single world government, there were still plenty of opinions on what should and shouldn't be done. The arguments were always the same- "If God wanted us in space He wouldn't have made us need oxygen" and "We don't even know if there is any intelligent life out there." Andy didn't know anything about God, but he knew it was high time to go find out if there was intelligent life out there.

Everything changed, though, six months ago when a radio signal was detected coming from something moving between the orbits of Neptune and Uranus. Andy and his crew had intercepted what appeared to be a probe and brought it back for study. Now it had been determined that this probe was from a planet around Proxima Centauri and was an open invitation.

All arguments were forgotten as Andy and his crew began preparations for the first ever interstellar flight.

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