Adelfinel

Farewell for Now

About one hundred forty-six years ago, the first contact between human and alien beings was initiated completely by accident. A fluke. If it wasn't for one misplaced coordinate in a hyperspace jump sequence and a following collision with an asteroid, it never would have happened.

Wether that event be for the best...or the worst, it's recorded in the history books as one of the most important events in time.

One hundred fifty-six years ago, in the year 2015, another important event took place, the first faster than light hyperspace jump ventured  from Earth to Saturn, and then back in less than one day. Before then that would have taken months, if not more.

Ten years later, after many exploratory trips within the solar system, the singular fateful launch sending one brave man beyond the reaches of the solar system.

It was supposed to be simple, nothing should have gone wrong. But everything did. The trip consisted of a single jump spanning over the entire length of the solar system taking just two weeks, then several longer jumps visiting and surveying nearby stars in a circular pattern relative to Earths location so as to reduce the chance of becoming disoriented as, at the time, advanced mapping software and navigation systems weren't invented yet. This was in the early stages of scouting potential worlds for colonization so routes weren't quite mapped yet. The ship would have to set a path manually, then follow the same path automatically back with the aide of a satellite within Earth's orbit.

This is where everything goes horribly wrong, starting terrible, then working up to disastrously wrong.

~~~~~

"Angels Bay.....this is Shadow Fox. All systems are green and ready for launch" a male voice spoke over a radio, and loud speakers that were broadcasting to the spectators watching.

"Affirmative, Shadow Fox, initiate final countdown. T-minus sixty seconds" the operator for Angels Bay responds.

Shadow Fox, a modest sized four engine exploratory vessel designed and constructed specifically for this trip sat on a launch pad, the engines primed and ready for launch.

The ship itself when sat on its landing gear is about six hundred fifty feet long with a wingspan of just shy of eight hundred feet. The interior is made mostly similar to a house but with differences in materials. For example the tables are made of special light weight magnetic metals that way magnetic cups and plates can be used, this is useful for low gravity situations, but mainly to keep things from floating about when a loss of power happens.

The ship came fully equipped to sustain a single person for an extended period of time. It had everything from a few years worth of food, water and even entertainment. It also of course had an operational armory, though the ship itself is technically unarmed.

The powerful Belavictorian Class 1 Interstellar Propulsion Engines were already warmed up and ready for primary ignition, the highly reactive fuel already starting to burn at room temperature.

The fuel is a special element not found on Earth. It was first discovered on an asteroid on the outer edge of the solar system. The explorers who discovered it named the element Eutium. It's highly reactive and highly explosive. It reacts strongly with uranium, regardless of wether the uranium is pure or depleted of its energy. The reaction that happens when a single atom of Uranium collides with a single atom of Eutium provides enough energy to boost a ship into orbit. To provide fuel for Shadow Fox, they used spent uranium fuel rods from the days of nuclear reactors and weapons.