Interstellar Voyage

In the distant future and above him a starry night sky was Stefan, kid who was about seventeen years old full of curiosity smoking his cigarette while the summery wind was blowing his long dark hair and the smoke from the cigarette dimming his glasses making him look like a total nerd, the next moment all of a sudden changing his expression on the face, it was clear he had something in mind. “I can try that!!!” he shouted.

Pulling up his chair and immediately sitting on his bureau that was messy with notes, books, papers and whatnot which gave the impression that it looks like Einstein`s office. The next moment he pulled out a paper from the printer looking sort of like a map, and raced straight to his telescope, gazing at the stars for a while. “Damn I have to show this to NASA!” he was surprised and at the same time excited. He quickly tucked away the paper in his backpack and sent an email to someone. The next week he got a confirmation, he requested and audience with NASA and he got it, probably what that email was, anyhow he had to go and present whatever he had or whatever that paper was.

And went he did.

Standing there in NASA`s courtyard that was filled with parked cars in different colors, the green trees and the well cared grass, made the scene look terrific-what a nice place for a picnic he thought. Rehearsing his speech in his head, now and then trying to calm himself. “Alright Stefan you got this, calm down, you have things that might change the history of humanity”. What was so much into that paper that NASA had to know?

He was sitting in the waiting room which was all white, the marble tiles on the floor, the walls even the plastic frame on the windows was white the boredom was gnawing him, he pulled out his phone and started chatting with his friends from his neighborhood Aleksandar, Jovan, Petar and Viktor. “So guys I`m about to attend to this meeting, wish me luck”, but the responses were quite the opposite instead he got “good luck you ape, good luck you mongol” and whatnot. “Thanks guys that was so inspiring” he replied in anger, whilst a woman in white scientific coat approached him “Hello you must be Rogu žarov?” he stood from the chair “ahh…yes that’s me”. The woman was surprised he was not as old as she was expecting. “My name is Michelle I work as a technical assistant here and I believe you asked for a meeting with us am I correct?”, he only nodded his head in confirmation “Well right this way follow me to my office” as he grabbed his backpack and followed Michelle. On the table he placed all that paper that he printed out occupying nearly all the space available “I Know that every dot is the center of the universe, but listen to this” “I`m all ears” replied Michelle “So on this map there are four galaxies”-one was in the upper part of the paper, one was in the middle and the rest two were left and right. “Ok so the galaxy in the middle is actually the Milky Way, and also where planet Earth is located. Where the Milky Way was he marked the position with one dot, and continued explaining “The other dot I am pointing at is actually the position where our sun is located” as he placed his finger on the paper, and the smaller dot is actually the planet Earth” .Michelle was probably asking where is this leading, but still she let him finish. ”So the sections of lines you are seeing are starting from planet Earth and ending to some other planets” he finished explaining and turned his look towards Michelle, as she instantly changed her expression picking up her phone “I Want someone from planetary science in my office immediately we are onto something” .After five minutes in the office George walked in, he is a person somewhere between his fifty`s, short hair and round glasses. Michelle passed him the paper. “I want full resolution satellite images on these coordinates” George accepted and left the office.

Twenty minutes went by and George came racing in in the office “So… the galaxy on the right has a planet…” trying to catch his breath “but it`s all frozen with constant ice and snow” he continued. “Well what about the other two?” Michelle was impatient, George turned toward Stefan “Well those two…it would seem they are in the goldilocks zone, which also happens to have atmosphere, liquid water, rocky ground all the requirements for life therefore they might support life” he stopped to take a breath “Congratulations kid, I think you may have found us a new home” Michelle looked at him and said that they need to visit the CEO of NASA right away. All that to Stefan came a bit as a shocker first finding two life compatible planets and now meeting the director.

Khan the CEO of NASA was a man of his word he took a peek on the paper and asked if this is like a map or something, but Michele corrected him saying that they might of found themselves a second home “Show me the satellite images” ordered Khan and as soon as the image appeared on the big screen they were all excited. The planet looked gorgeous on the satellite image with its ellipsoid shape, with the green continents mixed with a little brown for the mountains, the blue seas and the white atmosphere which was cleaner that the one from Earth they guessed it might just be because no carbon dioxide is released.

The last thing no one was ever expecting was Khan telling Stefan to create his own expedition on an adventure to survey the planets. “Well…” Stefan slightly scoffed “You can`t leave that to me sir, I will obviously call upon my friends” everybody in the room was shocked as well but the next think that Khan said was more than crazy. “Very well we will train them too” Khan sounded very confident in what he was saying, but the others just could not understand if he was joking or he was serious .But he continued saying that they need to undergo some training programs and leave when they are ready, the only thing Stefan had to do now is to name the crew, in this case Stefan didn`t had to think much and started naming his friends:

Petar Carev-Stefan`s best friend, short brown hair, middle height, eyes as black as a black hole. He is a very responsible person he can patiently listen to everyone`s problem`s and support them in their decision`s. Surely this type of person is supposed to be up there in space.

Aleksandar Manev-young fella with buffed body, the gym is his hobby. People can hardly understand him what he is saying but he can surely get them out of trouble or put them in one. But the unique thing about him is that he was quite good at medicine.

Nikola Stoimenov-has a middle height and a short dark hair, smart fella he knows his physics and how stuff actually works. He is the top candidate for an engineer.

Jovan Kalajdziev-tall as a basketball player and always opened for proposals and always helps out if he can. He and Stefan constantly get in deep conversations about space and science, but most of all he adores rap music.

Viktor Barkov-short person, but a great comedian, he always knows how to cheer up in hard times. But he can sometimes fascinate with his ideas.

David Todorov-middle height, short dark hair, mostly interested in rock music, he used to study together with Stefan where his grades where all A`s combined with diplomas. Nobody doubts in his capability to deliver what he is asked.

Tea Petrovksa-short person, but tall in her attitude towards everyone else, always positive and cheerful boosting everyone`s morale. She is also studying medicine it would not be a problem working with Manev.

Sara Gjurcinova-as much as she is tall as much she is beautiful, with dark eyes she is Tea`s best friend they will surely need one another up there in space.

Petar Cvetanovski-tall fella, with short dark hair same as Manev with buffed body, good listener but the best of all he is very friendly and understandable.

After the naming Khan suggested the recruiting, but Stefan instantly grabbed his phone. “What if I were to tell you that you should drop out of school and come join me in an adventure trough space” the group chat exploded with “hahahah`s” they didn`t believe him even more than what he said. “Like that’s ever going to happen” typed Viktor, but they were soon to realize he was serious.

The next few days Stefan spent them in recruiting the rest first up was Carev. “How would you like some radiation from space?” Stefan asked him ironically, but Carev agreed, then he went to Stoimenov whilst smoking a cigarette. “How would you like some cancer from space, rather than cigarette`s” next was David. “Would you rather die in a shuttle that explodes on lift off”, David instantly agreed he didn`t need any more explanation, also Stefan hadn`t talked to Sara and Tea in ages so he asked David to tell them.

The next day all ten of them were in NASA`s courtyard all lined up and in front was Khan. “Your training is about to commence, this is Jane” she was about forty five years old with blonde hair. “The next six months you will spend in training and nothing else, and the only person that you are going to answer to is me” hissed Jane. Khan also warned them not to piss off Jane. “So have you considered what your role on the ship would be?” Jane kind of caught them by surprise so they took a bit of time to settle this matter, after some time Stoimenov stepped toward Jane asking her if they could take a peek at the ship first. Kahn and Jane agreed and led them toward the hangar. Unfortunately for them the ship was not in the hangar, but there was a legend of him with every part explained with 1 was the nose of the ship with ellipsoid shape, number 2 was the body of the ship with a shape of a rocket of course but instead it had an ellipsoid nose, the wings for aerodynamics and balance were with number 3, the back body of the ship was with number 4, and number 5 were the thrusters. Khan immediately started explaining to them that the nose is actually the bridge of the ship along with its captain and pilots, next there is the body where they will sleep, eat, exercise and he also warned them about the back of the ship which is very important because it contains the radioactive core to produce energy and also warp, and their stocks of food and water.

After some time they notified Jane that they had a deal between each other about the roles so:

S.Rogu žarov-is going to be the captain, everybody agreed on that

P.Cvetanovski-is going to be the first officer, something like captain`s right hand man.

P.Carev-is going to be the chef, and make sure no one stays hungry.

D.Todorov-he is the technical assistant overlooking after the whole ship

N.Stoimenov-is going to be the main engineer, taking care of the core and weapons in the ship.

T.Petrovska-no doubt here she is going to work in medical bay.

A.Manev-he is also in medical bay together with Tea.

S.Gjurcinova-she is actually going to be the pilot.

V.Barkov-he is going to be the pilot as well together with Sara.

J.Kalajdziev-he is going to be the helmsman, activating warp sequence on captain`s order.

Everything was set roles and such the training commenced for them. The first three months they were actually separated because everyone had to learn their job for example David was studying about the mechatronics of space ships, Tea and Manev were expanding their knowledge in medicine, Barkov and Sara were in simulation on how to pilot a ship, and also Carev acquired some new cooking skills. The last three months they were together learning the parts of the ship, they were in a pool with just enough pressure to stimulate zero-gravity, driving rovers and studying their parts and how to fix them, also learned how to weld in case of damage, but most importantly they learned how to work as a team.

After six months

The yellow envelopes were lying on Jane`s desk with their red marks “PASSED”.

Jane and Khan gathered all of them in the courtyard “Congratulations you all passed”, couple of whistles and “wohoo`s” were heard in sign of happiness. Petar went toward Stefan. “Well you never told us how you found those planets” just as Stefan was about to start explaining Khan interrupted. “Stefan there will be a press-conference today perhaps you might have to explain how you found those planets, uhh.. and I almost forgot but probably Professor Adam will be attending tonight” Stefan`s face changed from happy to even more happy as he turned to Petar. “Well probably you are going to find out tonight” After some time Stoimenov and Stefan went for a smoke. “You looked pretty happy when you found out that Adam would be attending” Stefan just looked at him with strange expression. “Actually he is my inspiration after all he is the reason we are all here” Stoimenov changed his expression to puzzled but then Stefan explained. “Adam is actually my inspiration about science and whatnot, along with Einstein but yet again I still can`t understand the theory of relativity” Stoimenov slightly laughed as they entered back inside. Adam was actually one of the famous scientists of that time.

Everything was ready the press-conference started and Stefan came to his favorite moment. “And if we draw a line from planet Earth we get the position of the other planets” the hall echoed with applause`s as Khan came to stage. “Thank you ladies and gentleman that was Stefan Rogužarov captain of the…,oh damn we haven`t named it yet” in the backstage there were a lot of different suggestion`s about the name like David`s “Enterprise” and Viktor`s “Conqueror because we shall conquer planets and such” Manev even suggested “Titanic” but Carev didn`t really liked that one, but Kalajdziev stepped up and in a grimy voice said “Star Fury” the captain and the first officer seemed to like that one as Stefan stepped up to Jovan saying Star Fury it is.

Not long after the naming Khan called all of the crew on the stage. “These are the brave humans which will endure on such adventure” as the applause`s lasted they left the stage. They were preparing to leave but Khan stopped Stefan. “There is someone I want you to meet” Stefan was confused who could it be?, but as soon as Khan opened the door a familiar face reflected on Stefan`s eyes it was Professor Adam who looked much older than Stefan was expecting, the captain was excited at the same time speechless. “H…Hi sir” he managed to say, but Adam was much more relaxed. “Come close kid” as they shook hands “what you did was awesome, your discovery is brilliant” Stefan thanked him for that. “Sir Can I tell you something?” asked Stefan. ”Sure thing kid” Adam smiled. “You were my inspiration sir” Stefan nodded his head. “Good luck out there captain” said Adam. “Thank you sir” as he left the room.

One day later all of them were in a briefing room as Jane explained to them that they will leave in two days, but before that they will have a night off, in that moment all of them jumped from the chairs cheering and whistling. Jane turned to Khan. “Are you sure about this?” Jane asked Kahn. “They are young, let them have some fun”. The same night all of them were formally dressed and went into a night club where they had fun but they drank too much so much so that the morning they woke up in San Francisco as they were lying on a hill with a view to the Golden Gate bridge as Barkov stood “The more we sit here the more I don`t want to go to space” but Petar stood up too. “Fuck it I`m first officer” he probably didn`t want to miss this chance, but Stefan yelled as well. “And I`m the captain!!!” Barkov probably got encouraged of what they were doing so he yelled as well. “And I`m the pilot!!!” “And I`m the chef!!!” yelled Carev from the back, David was laughing so hard that he didn`t hear the NASA car sneaking on them from the back, of the car came out Jane she was pissed off from what they did as she yelled to her man. “Damn get them to NASA please!!!”

Six hours later they entered the briefing room. “I hope your hangover is over” as Jane minced words the others were entering the room. “I`m glad I didn`t had to preform detoxification” explained Tea to Jane, they took their places and Khan started explaining. “In exactly eighteen hours you will leave in a smaller ship that will carry you behind the moon where the U.S.S. Star Fury is and from there they will warp”, David laughed and said that all this was reminding him from Star Trek but it is what it is.

The morning they were all having breakfast but Stefan was not that cheerful, Petar noticed that. “You okay dude?” as Stefan looked at him. “I`m fine it`s just that I saw a picture of Neil Armstrong having his breakfast before leaving Earth” Stoimenov raised his glass. “Hey-we will be okay”, Stefan stood up too. “Cheers to us then” as they finished their drinks.

Couple of hours later Jane was calling for all of them, while Khan was calling out to someone named Blackwell “Yes sir?” he came racing in front of him. “It`s time”, Khan turned toward Stefan as he held the visor. “Good luck kid” “Thank you sir”, all ten of them entered the shuttle and lastly was Blackwell who will transport them to the Star Fury. Khan immediately went to the control room and said to the employees that he will commandeer this launch, as he started right away,Retro?,GO!,Fighto?,GO!,Control?,GO!,Telecom?,GO!,Surgeon?,GO!,Guidance?,GO!,”Blackwell this is Houston you are clear to go”. Blackwell pressed bunch of buttons “Roger that sir, all right lifting off in t-minus 10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…,and we have a lift off!!!”

“I hope you are comfortable cause it’s a long way to the moon” warned Blackwell “Houston” called out Stoimenov “Yes” Khan immediately responded, but Stoimenov laughed. “ahh men I`ve always wanted to say that” while everybody in the shuttle laughed. After some time Blackwell told them they just passed the international space station, which was much bigger now that the Chinese and Russians have linked up with it. After eight hours they finally arrived as Barkov and Kalajdziev rushed to the windows to see it. The ship was gorgeous it was even better than the one from the legend it had lights and colors, and had its name painted on the back of the body. Just as the shuttle connected to the ship everyone rushed into the tunnel. “Good luck out there captain” said Blackwell, Stefan was the last one to stay in the shuttle. “Thank you sir” as he entered the tunnel. When Stefan arrived at the bridge everyone was admiring the ship and there was a reason for it was just awesome, the bridge was a big room with the captain`s chair in the middle and David`s technical desk just behind the captain, Kalajzdiev`s and Petar`s desk in front of the captain ,then couple of stairs down there where the two pilot`s desk`s for Barkov and Sara, but most of all it was the big window as big as the whole room the view was filled with the blackness of space and the little bright dots of stars and just a fraction of the moon. ”Captain on the bridge!!!” yelled Kalajdziev as Stefan sat on the chair, he immediately told Kalajdziev to warp “Is everything ready?” asked Kalajdziev. “Wings are set and ready” confirmed Sara. “Thrusters at full capacity” added Barkov. “The tech is all good” said David from the back. “Rockets are secure I`m powering up the shield” said Stoimenov. “Wait shields?” asked Tea over the radio. “Yeah so we don’t hit any debris while we are in hyperspace” answered Stoimenov. “GO!” confirmed Stefan. “Yes captain launching warp sequence” The ship started making some alienish sounds, but it disappeared in an instant.