CHAPTER ONE: Unto the Unknown

Anthony stepped into the microphone and began to speak in his gruff but somehow soft tone of voice. The one that his men loved to hear. It was the tone he used to communicate the thoughts of God himself. Or at least, that's how Anthony put it.

"Fellow Terrans, in just a short while, I will be in command of a vessel with the capabilities to travel anywhere in the Galaxy well within the span of my lifetime. On our journeys, we the crew of the S.S. Valor will honorably and courageously uphold the ideals of the human race in unshakeable determination towards its further domination of the cosmos. It is without doubt that we will make contact with hundreds, perhaps thousands of intelligent lifeforms besides we humans, and in those dealings I swear to represent the governments of humanity in asking for peace everlasting and a harmonious living among the astral plane. The Lord as my shepard will lead and guide me in the right course of action to the further prosperity of the human race and all life in the Universe and as long as I shall live, I pledge to follow dutifully his instructions. Humanity, I am your captain. This is your crew. We will not let you down."

Slovak looked at his hands, and a picture of Earth in them. "I didn't think I would be leavin' my home." He thought, while looking at the picture. Slovak looked at the captain while he spoke, he was in one of the many seats assigned for the crew during the speech. Slovak's mind raced, he knew the captain, he was honorable, and humble. Though, he had to follow the chain this time, he couldn't just go straight to the general, he had to go to his CO, the boss before the boss. "Damn...." He thought, "This is gonna be harder than I think." He chuckled softly, and looked at the captain again to focus on the speech.

Zachary stood near the middle, listening silently to the load of bull that was the Captain's speech. More politics. Great. Sadly, because he was in the middle and an officer to boot, there was no way whatsoever for him to sneak away to get on the ship ahead of time. Looking up at a guy in front of him holding a picture, he thanked god most of his family either didn't like him or was dead. Since he had no one to say goodbye too, he had nothing to hold him here. Perhaps that was the excuse Administration was using to get rid of him. But who cares about an old sea dog like me? Other than me, that is. Zachary returned to listening to the speech and waiting for the order to board the Valor. He had things to do.

Captain DeCasanova walked with his hands together behind his back, slumped forward, unlit pipe in his mouth so he could chew on the stem. He was the first to arrive at his quarters and he had no bags to leave. He had packed nothing. Everything he needed was provided for him. Six work uniforms, plus one dress uniform. A small armory of gauss pistols supplied by request, three to be exact. Everything else was bland and boring space age monotony. The rooms were white and the walls were made of plastic and sloped up to the walls so as to lead one to feel that they were living in a fishbowl. Anthony had grown used to it. The bed was a queen size with red sheets and a black blanket and pillows. He never understood why they chose that color palette for officer's quarters. He had a small bathroom with shaving cream, tooth paste, and other necessities. And another special creature comfort provided of the captain was a supply of refined quality pipe tobacco and a fully-stocked, but small liquor cabinet.

After he had spent approximately thirty seconds in his room, he took his place on the bridge. First to arrive. He sat down in his chair and looked out the window at the blue and green marble that was Planet Earth. He could've started to wonder when he'd see her again. But that would take too much energy. And he had spent that dealing with the bureaucrats before he finally got on board. He sighed and sank in his chair.

Zachary is one of the last crewmen on, and steps into his rooms, near the edge of the officers quarters, which are marginally larger than the other officer's (exception being the captain), likely due to how he chucked the liquor cabinet out the window (figuratively), leaving a small alcove which he stood his weapons rack up in. His baggage was in the form of an old, beat-to-death metal footlocker with wheels that had a matter compression device inside, allowing a lot of stuff into it. He pulled a few uniforms and some work clothing out, before placing a myriad of weapons into the rack. First came a short sword, a dull sheen adorning the metal. Then his kukri, followed by several other large knives of varying make, before a whetstone finished off the rack. On a special-order pegboard on the wall went The firearms, among them a Jerry-rigged plasma rifle the navy didn't know about yet, twin gauss rifles that looked like SPAS-12 combat shotguns from the 21st century, a photon gun, and several pistols, many of which were absolutely ancient, if powerful, make sand models, most in the form of small rail pistols. And the crown of it all, a massive crossbow made of metal alloys that would put a bolt through several inches of armor plate. Zachary spent a moment gazing at it all and promising to himself to rearrange it later before he did an about-face and strode to the bridge, coming in ahead of everyone but the captain by some miracle or other. He did a quick salute before stepping to the engineering console and looking it over.

Kodiak monitored the security as everyone boarded the ship. He pondered who some of the people were, but Kodiak told himself he would find out later. He put on some sunglasses that looked liked 21st century oklies, but very few people knew what went on inside them. He activated the HUD on them, which popped up al in blue. Evrything on the HUD had a designation. Each made his job easier. First, he sent a message to the captain, saying "All aboard sir." He then went on to the armory, where he made sure everything was still in place. The armory to Kodiak was nothing. At West Point, it was near a mint station, and by God, was the Armory there prepared for an all-out siege. Kodiak went on to his quarters to where he dropped his carry-on off at. While doing so, he begn to think "The Adventure begins."

"Will the crew please prepare to enter hyperspace (I assume that's what they call the space between the two exits of the tunnel). I have never captained a ship with such a device, but here's what my chief science officer tells me. You make experience nausea at first and you may develop a headache building pressure behind your eyes. We have plenty of aspirin and plenty of wastebaskets. Use them as you see fit." Anthony then turned off the intercom.

He turned to the first helmsman, "give us 80% impulse power."

He looked at the second helmsman, "Open the tunnel, if you please, sir."

The crewmen pressed several buttons and slid some dials around to comply with the captain's request.