The Old World

Intro

It was the year 2210 when the small crew of expeditionaries -at least that's what they referred to themselves as- had left the confines of the solar system that the humans of Earth called home. The Earth's day was May 21st, 2210.

The crew was under Captain Anderson. Six men and six women were a part of this small expedition, their goal, discover.

It was this vague and broad term of discover that led to the small and old vessel they were given to be named by them; Discovery. This was a colonization mission. They knew that much. Most missions of uncharted lands were done with AI, not live humans, but these were different times, a new age. They knew that whatever it was that they had to discover was something different than mere resources, or places to colonize for the great human race. It was something else entirely.

No one knew whether the countless colony ships that were set out from the solar system truly survived and succeeded. Contact was not possible outside the solar system, and the humans could only hope that the colonies survived. This mission was to be the first that would keep contact with the home system of Sol.

Luckily, the good ship and crew were tight knit. They trusted each other and had good standings, good chemistry. Their faith in eachother, they all assumed, may have been one of the main reasons they were selected for the mission.

In these strange times a new era was dawned upon humanity. In these years, the war between the worlds had only recently ended. Mars had won independence although still under the grip of Earth. Venus would soon become a great power, its colonies growing more rapidly than those of mars. The outer system colonies also would soon begin their gatherings and unification into a united front. These times were of great technological advancement. Resources were tapped and exploited among the solar system. Earth was clean again.

The man that had come to be called Captain Anderson well understood the knowledge and meaning in the expedition to the stars. "I am Captain Anderson. I served in the war and I have knowledge beyond all the other crewmates. I deserve then, to know why we are being sent so far away among the stars for a mission. Artificial Intelligence has been tried countless times already and we can safely assume the colony attempts were mostly successful, especially the ones close to home. Why then, are we being tested? I am no fool, I understand the ways of the agency better than most people, I worked for them."

The man of science and space flight, leader of the agency and director of the mission stood proudly to answer. "You are indeed smarter than most. You know there are easier ways of going about, sending humans into deep space. But we only recently were able to harness the power of hyperdrive. We have only recently been able to develop the means of which to communicate long distance. This mission will be forever the greatest exploration in human history. The first men beyond the solar system to another world."

"You did not answer my question. And don't lie to me. I know if we fail there will be many more to come... Do I dare ask how many times you have tried sending manually controlled explorations into deep space without revealing it? And how many have failed?"

"I can assure you that whatever lies beyond is something beautiful and ripe for humans to explore. Ten years from now, we will be in contact and our people will enter a golden age."

"Some would say we already have entered one."

"The end of the war brought about many inventions. All good for our people. But in time none of it will matter. We will soon run out of resources just as we have on earth. Soon we will need more, and it will be hard for our people to unify. In these times of unification and progress, we must explore the corners of the galaxy while we can, and establish ourselves before it's too late."

"Too late you say?"

"Too late for our species. We are timed here, Anderson. There is a limit, whether you want to accept it or not. When the clock strikes twelve and we've lost the battle against time, you'll realize how much it means. Every second, every hour we waste, is one second, one hour closer to our judgement."

"You're dark."

"I'm as real as it gets in the agency. People aren't focused on exploration beyond what we know. The war has taken a toll and recovery is important, I can't deny that, but we need to act quickly."

"What are your predictions of time then? How long do we have?"

"We have enough time, given our life. But it's our grandchildren's children's children that I worry for. The nations, the resources we leave them will be abused to the bitter end and they will have nowhere to go or turn. Unless our expedition is of course successful. In that case, they will."