Test Flight Evacuation

They said it was safe.

It began with an ex-girlfriend and I, don't know why my ex was there as well, being drafted for a test flight on a vessel so advanced, that no one in the public of earth knows it exists until it takes off. There was no training given to us for piloting this behemoth, only a medic and two spec-ops soldiers under my command. Keep in mind that until this point in my life, I was a civilian who had no technical training of the sort but for some reason, the powers that be thought I was the best person to lead this test flight, or that's what I thought. The take-off was tough on our bodies, none of us had been into space before.

When we left the earth's atmosphere, we were in awe of the vast open void of space. We all moved around the ship taking in the sights, taking pictures with thought we'd be able to share with friends and family upon our return. The AI computer had been piloting the large vessel since we took off. As we pass the International Space Station, we start to wonder when we'll actually turn around and head back to Earth, that is when the computer calls our attention to a pre-recorded message from the leaders of the Earth to the crew officers that are on the bridge. In the video message, it was the leader of the UN, I had not seen his face for some time but I knew who he was only because he was always on the news when they had an article about the UN. It informs us that this was not a test flight but an actual emergency evacuation of the U.S.S. Aurora Tau carrying the seeds of all species and the DNA of the creatures of Earth along with a fully functional biodome set up on top of the central area of the ship. As well as some scientists, biologists, historians, engineers and tech specialists with a variety of humans to help restart the human population on another planet in another galaxy.

These measures were enacted because they had detected hostile ships at the edge of the galaxy that were destroying each planet as they moved and were heading for Earth. The reason this was not made public at the time was to avoid mass panic and to give the world enough time and freedom to move all the necessary personnel to where they needed to be. By the time the message was halfway done, we had just flown past Jupiter and could see the planet Neptune glow a bright yellow before disappearing. The message also assured us that we would be safe, stating the ship was equipped with the most advanced stealth technology they could make at the time which was comprised of the prototypes of the world's most secret military projects.

At the end of the message, it specified that each of us awake on the ship should find our allocated rooms. The rest of the messages were tailored for each individual to tell them what was expected from each of them. My room was the captain's quarters. As I entered the room, the message continued stating my name and rank that I achieved in a video game I used to play. The statement explained that the video game was a way to gauge what kind of people they would need for this mission. The choices I had made were those of the kind of leader that could handle the situations I would be facing, showing the kind of temperament and diplomacy that would be relatable and friendly to non-humans we may encounter on our journey into the unknown.

As we returned from our cabins, we began to ask each other about ourselves as most of us had never met before. Before we could really get to know each other, the computer informed us that it was nearly time for manual piloting to begin, as we wondered how any of us would even begin to pilot the ship, a young blonde woman walked onto the bridge, right past us, sat in the navigator's chair. The AI scanned her retina and she provided voice authentication. When she did that, the pilot's console came out of the floor of the room and set itself up like a cockpit. She then introduced herself and asked for orders from the captain, she was staring at me like I knew the procedure. I explain that I was just thrown into the situation without being fully briefed so I have no knowledge of where we are to start heading. She then tells me the information was given to different people specific to their roles, as she is the navigator, she is to provide me with the possible destinations where inhabitable planets may be located. The ship has multiple power sources including solar power and a nuclear fusion reactor. The most powerful and self-sustaining is a medium-scale particle accelerator that can power the ship and get us anywhere in known space. She provided me with three locations where we could begin our search for a new home. I selected PA-99-N2 b of the Andromeda Galaxy, asking all on the bridge to give a reason not to try that one. I remembered reading that some years ago, scientists had discovered the planet via gravitational lensing and that it is the closest candidate planet for life outside of the Milky Way. As no one disagreed and trusted my judgement as captain of the vessel, we were on our way.