Alien Singularity

Chapter 2. Star Shot

It was another historical moment for human space exploration. The whole world gathered around to watch the launch of human's first attempt to reach the stars. The Star Shot project was a global endeavor encompassing scientists, engineers, along with governments and business entities from all over the world - both Earth and Mars.

One hundred solar sails were deployed in space, orbiting in sync with Earth's rotation. That night was the moment the whole world has been waiting for many years. Earth and Jupiter aligned with Proxima.

The operation took place in a large building. There were rows of computers where the crew operated.

The commander met with his team. "Alright guys," he began. "You all know the drill. Fire when I give the signal." The commander then waved everyone to their positions and made his way up to the balcony. "And this is a really important mission so don't mess it up!" he called to his crew.

A giant screen in front of him turned on. It displayed the night sky with many red rings, much like a scope of a firearm.

A few minutes later, the solar sails came into view.

The captain was about to count down, but he discovered that his throat was dry. He thought about sprinting to his office and taking a gulp of coffee and sprinting back, but he decided against it. He opened his mouth and began the count down in a hoarse voice.

"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, fire!"

As the fleet reached the center of the rings - bullseye, a bright red beam shot out from the southern tip of Chile and instantly reached the solar sail fleet. As the entire world watched in awe, all the one hundred shiny, golden mirrors, with only a dim reflection from the moonlight, suddenly became blindingly bright red as they reflected the laser beam, creating a massive light show. The lights quickly faded away, as the solar sails picked up speed and almost instantly vanished into the deep space, leaving only a dim, red trail.

The crew cheered, for they had successfully carried out the operation.

The captain came down from the balcony and approached one of the men. "Send the message to the Cassini station."

* * *

At the Cassini station on Ganymede, Kyler was busy drinking his coffee. It was a new type, right out of the new coffee machine that he had set up a few minutes ago. He was still getting used to the light gravity on Ganymede as he picked up the coffee cut trying not to spill any. As Kyler was into his fifth sip, the signal blared, causing him to drop his mug and spilling hot coffee on his legs. He struggled to hold in his scream of pain and limped over to the control panel.

The panel showed that Kyler received a new message, and pressed a button to display it.

It read: Laser cannon operation successful on Earth. Fleet is heading your way. Forty percent of light speed confirmed. Everything is on schedule as planned. Prepare to fire the laser cannon.

Kyler cursed. He had coffee on his khakis, and there was no time to change into new clothes. He hit another button and spoke into the microphone on the control panel. "Solar sail fleet is heading our way. Meet in the operation center." With that, he hurried over to the operation center. Kyler just hoped that no one would think that he defecated in his pants.

Kyler opened the doors and found himself to be the first one in the room.

Moments later, his crew flooded into the operation center. Kyler noticed that many of them were staring at his khakis. Please make them think it's only coffee, Kyler thought.