Space, with its vast distances and uncharted territories, must resemble the uncharted oceanic expanse that existed prior to voyages by sea. Christopher Columbus must have felt a similar thrill of awaiting adventures as we do now. This day shall be remembered as humanity’s first space exploration to discover the other side of the universe.

In times past, the secret to space travel was right in front of us, yet beyond our grasp. “Dark Matter”, “ether”, and the simple “vacuum” of space were the words humanity used to describe the vastness of the universe outside the safe atmosphere of Earth. Then…some 200 years ago, we discovered our first clue. We had been training our space explorers and scientists for years using specialized pools of water and even the ocean. But the day we discovered the Hydrogen River, we truly began to understand why such water exercises worked so well.

Today, we launch our first long-voyage space ship to sail the Space Rivers. We search for new worlds, adventure, unimaginable discoveries, and the Source of the Space Rivers. We hope to return with proof, as did Christopher Columbus, that Space Sailing is feasible and discovery… and discovery…

Music began blaring throughout the house.

“Laurie!! Turn that off! I can’t think with your noise blasting my eardrums!”

Presently, the volume lessened, but the train of thought had been lost. Lance shook his head and rubbed at his temples. This speech was due in a week. He had time to work on it again later.

Lance tapped his stylus against his chin as his thoughts drifted.

Space Sailing was still a hotly debated concept with the public. The world governments had traded and argued and fought to monopolize the technology; and somewhat succeeded. But they had also held each other in check; preventing those accomplishments that the public now demanded.

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The Earth was becoming uninhabitable. Various religious factions refused to have each other as neighbors without war. Global warming had melted the polar ice caps and slightly adjusted the tilt of the Earth on its axis. So, it was hot. Fertile lands were becoming arid desert. Humanity kept growing. The Earth was overpopulated. Less food plus more people plus hot climates created bad tempers. The public learned of the Space Sailing projects and demanded the governments work together for a solution. Initially, the governments assumed that a new Earth to settle and live in would satisfy the masses. But the public had higher goals. Each religious faction wanted their own world. Everyone wanted the comforts of home, such as technology, to take to their new planet. And absolutely no one wanted to volunteer several years of their life to discover and settle a planet for someone else.

In compromise, the governments made promises and released the data of previous exploration attempts. The genius mind of Raphael Nambkin stepped in to create the first engine that could harness energy from the Hydrogen River. Other engines were created. Commercial ships were built. Eventually, with the collaboration between the governments and the commercial sector, the Foray was built.

The Foray was Earth’s ultra-scientific, state-of-the-art, long-voyage space sailing ship. It stood empty for a decade. No one knew what it would take to follow the Hydrogen River to the Source.

Then another milestone was breached. During that decade, other Space Rivers were discovered. The discoveries amped up the public’s enthusiasm for adventure. The governments used the opportunity to create competitions and fuel the fire. Now the volunteers came pouring in! A crew was chosen and trained. The Foray was updated. The Earth held its collective breath for the day of launch.

One week, Lance thought. It would all finally climax in one week. And the speech was a necessary formality to keep up the public’s support.

Lance rubbed at his temples again. It was getting late. He would work on the speech some more tomorrow.