Beyond Sol

Prologue

I sat in my chair at the table, I was about 15 at the time. "Your day was alright Carter?" My mom said, "Yeah, Pretty good. School was just fine." I lifted my fork, Putting a bunch of noodles in my mouth, Chicken noodles to be precise.. "NASA Just announced a new mission that they're making."
"Yeah? What's that?"
"The first mission to...." I thought for a minute "Alpha Centauri"
"Oh, You've always just been such a know it all" My mom chuckled and rubbed my hair. "Hey mom-" A notification buzzed on both of our phones. I looked down at mine. It read
"WARNING, PLEASE SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY. LOCATE YOUR NEAREST BUNKER AND EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY"
My mom moved her plate aside. "Come on! We gotta go!" She shouted. The 2 of us jumped from our chairs and ran outside. Blaring sirens blasted across the street. 6 TFA-75 Jets flew over us, Adding more noise to the chaotic mess. "In the car!" I slid into the car, My mom turning on the engine and driving to the bunker.

We had arrived at the bunker, Stopping the car next to hundreds of others.
We quickly rushed into the bunker as loud explosions echoed throughout the region. I stopped before entering. Turning opposite of the bunker. Something ripped through the air, Although I couldn't see it. A bright flash of light hit my eyes. After I regained focus I saw a massive mushroom cloud. Something had happened. Someone had dropped a nuke. I rushed into the bunker as the door slammed shut. It was hard concrete followed by layers of different materials that kept anything from getting into the bunker.
"GET DOWN!" Someone yelled as a shockwave hit the bunker. It practically popped my ear drums as it echoed throughout the bunker.
It sent vibrations through the bunker so fast you were on the ground before you could process anything. A screen was on the wall next to a landing of the stairs. It showed a map of the world. The map showed many areas puffing up with ash and smoke. The entire world was quite literally destroyed. The screen went black as an EMP hit. Then the heat. A soaring wave of heat hit the bunker, Temperatures inside sky rocketing to unbelievable temperatures. The visible layer of concrete on the door had started to crack. "Come on we gotta go, we gotta go." My mom had said. The two of us rushed down the stairs, Temperatures sort of getting cooler. We had reached the bottom of the stairs, With hundreds of other frightened families. We had just started running through halls, Constant explosions and banging above.
We heard people screaming with each explosion, This. This was nuclear fallout.
They stopped. And we stopped running. We had heard banging against the door. It sounded like a hammer. The door had crumpled, Collapsed from a hammer. An alarm was sent throughout the bunker, Saying something along the lines of "EQUIP GAS MASKS IMMEDIATELY" At this point, I was scared to death.
"Gas masks? Why do we need gas masks!"
"Just put them on!" I had equipped a gas mask, It tightened to my face. A yellow ish gas had flooded the base. About 20 people had entered the bunker, Full hazmat suits. "What?" They had logos on the side. It read. "CSA ASC" Canadian Space Agency? They had approached me and
someone else in the bunker. "Hello, Carter Allan, We are with the CSA. You have been selected. You cannot know any more information for the time being until you come with us." I turned to my mom. "Go." She said, I nodded and turned around again. "Yeah, Let's go." I said in a low tone. The 20 CSA guys started walking, Me and another person trailing behind. "Eliza." She stretched her hand out. "Carter" I shook her hand. Picking up my pace to keep up. "You know what this is about?" I asked. "No, Not a clue." We had started to walk up the stairs. We reached the exit, Walking outside. The sky was hidden with a cloud of ash. Jets flying over. "Christ..."
We had boarded an armoured vehicle, 5 Metres long.

We arrived at a facility, A large structure. With red blaring lights, Blinding me. A man in an odd suit had told us to follow him. He had pushed open a door. Revealing what seemed to be a 200 Metre tall structure inside. It was 150. "What in the name of god?" I said. Eliza also seems to have a very puzzled look. "We call it the Spectrum." The man said
"I'm sure you guys have heard about NASA's new mission?"
"Yeah" "Mhm"
"We're building the transit vehicle. Made to carry crews for up to 15 years. Equipped with habitation modules, Two gravity rings, Cryo pods, And a hyper intelligent AI We called AETHER."
"And how would this get to Alpha Centauri in less then hell, A billion years?" Eliza asked.
"That's where some sci-fi stuff come into play, In the engineering sector we invented a, Warp drive to put it lightly"
"That's physically impossible, It defies physics." I interjected.
"Not anymore, Big boss guys at the top figured it out." He said back.
"Both of you have been chosen for your strength and abilities in your mind."
That's why we had that mind test last week. I had a test the previous test testing our mind and physical strengths, Guess it paid off.
"Both of you will train for this for over 20 years, If you accept. You will have a crew of 7, The first colonisers, The heroes for our worlds."
"Do you guys accept the mission? To save all of mankind in our solar system?" He asked.
"Yes," Eliza said. I looked around. I thought it was a very hard mission to pull off. My head started to hurt. What about my family? "What about my family?" I asked. "They will be taken very good care of, She will have video live stream access to you until Triton." A tear had almost fallen from my eye. "Mom..." I said to myself. I knew the risks, The fact I might not come back, There was not a guaranteed chance I would make it out alive. "We tested that warp out, Got from Mars to Neptune and back in minutes." The man said. "What's the mortality rate here, What's my chance of dying?" I said. The man sighed.
"50 percent."
"Is this a guaranteed chance humanity could be saved?"
"Yes, This provides a backdoor into a new world, A new life."
"Do you accept the mission? To Save Mankind? Carter."
I imagined the sunset on Alpha Centauri B. A steady wave hitting the shore with 20 moons in the sky, 3 Suns lined up in the sky, Behind me the Spectrum, Solar panels wide and open, Sitting on sand. I snapped back. "Carter" "Do you agree to save humanity? To be our leader into a new world?"
"I accept."

TO
SAVE
MANKIND