--- The High Hills, Camp Galileo ---
January 10th, 2026
Sharpe walks down the hallway of the main facility at Camp Galileo. Galileo is the only spaceport in Uros and the main science and research facility in the region.
"Ok girls. When we walk through the door do not bother anyone. Everyone is busy getting this base up and running. Am I clear girls and you Rory?"
"What?" Rory looks at him, shocked that she was single out. All the other girls giggle, all understanding why.
He smirks and glances down, feeling a tug on his jacket. Selina is holding onto his jacket, feeling a bit nervous being at a new place. He also wonders if she is worried something might happen to him, just with that new Apostle Jasis who tried to kill him after sexually assaulting him. "It is ok kid."
Right now, he does not care. He has been waiting for this day since when he learned that the United States Space Force was coming to Uros. While he is in the infantry, he has always loved the topic of space and everything about it. The topic is so vast and has unlimited possibilities where anything can be possible. Most of his favorite shows are related to space, Transformers, Star Trek, Orville, Stargate, Battlestar Galactica and more.
He always wanted to talk about the subject of outer space with the girls but held off. When the topic finally came up, he wanted to show them everything. It is selfish but he wanted it to be a fun experience for them, something they can do together.
He hands his badge to the guard and the guard opens the door. "If you have any questions, ask me first. We don't want to bother anyone."
He walks in and sees dozens of computer stations, the digital tables, and large screens everywhere. Just like what you see at a military command post and NASA control center. The large room looks like something from a future Hollywood movie.
He then sees the girls looking around with big eyes. They have seen a setup like this at Alnus Command and Vanguard Command where Sarah works at, but this is far grander sight. He sees the girls looking at everything as they try to figure out and understand what is going on.
"Holy smokes," Tuka said with surprise in her voice. "The room is so bright. I don't think I have ever seen so many screens in one place."
"Girls do not bother the staff. They are busy," He said as he stands there. While they look around at the high-tech equipment all over the control room, he is impressed by the sight. Deep down inside he always wanted to go into NASA and check it out.
One of his deepest dreams he has always had is going to the red planet, Mars. He never understood why he wants to go there; he just was always fascinated by that planet. While he is one of the first thousand Americans to come to an alien world but the world that's been labeled Uros(1), it looks very Earth-like. He likes the red, desert-like feeling from Mars. Some feeling about the frontier that attracts him to it. He always told people when the topic came up that he wanted a rank on Mars so he could be a space cowboy. While that has always been a joke, it just shows how much he wants to go.
As he walks inside, he sees the giant Seal painted on the back wall and under it says the 25th Space Wing. Unlike the other Space Wings, the 25th was created as the President's military expansion to help support military and future civilian operations here. Just like the new 8th Alnus Division, the 25th will be permanently stationed here to support our space logistics.
"This place looks amazing," Rory said. "What is it?"
"This is the control room for their operations," He responds. "From here, they will be able to control satellites we put up into space."
"I am still not sure I understand what space is," Rory said and glances over to Lelei.
Lelei places a figure on her chin and thinks. "I am still trying to figure it out myself. I think I get it, but it just never sounds right in my head." She then looks over to him. "It is like the water between islands, right?"
He thinks about that and nods. "That is... a good example. Let me try and clear it up. Imagine two islands and literally nothing between them. That is why we build special boats to get us across."
"Where did the water go?" Tuka asks.
"There isn't any," Lelei corrects. "Correct?"
"Correct," He responds. He then starts using his hands to help explain his point. "Here is the cloud level. This is where our planes operate. Above here is space. There is literally nothing here. No clouds. No birds. No air. Nothing. That is why we call it space, it is empty."
" When you say it like that space sounds boring," Rory comments as she crosses her arms.
"Only for the simple mind," He quickly responds.
Rory nods her head but then looks directly at him. "Wait, what?"
"Does that make more sense?" He asks. He then sees them nodding their head, understanding what he said but he can see some doubt in their reaction. "Don't worry. I have a movie tonight we can watch. It will help explain everything. Apollo Thirteen. Great film."
"What does your job have to do with this?" Selina asked. "There are thirteen Apollos? I thought there was only one?"
He takes a deep breath, finding it a little frustrating. He is good at dumbing things down when it comes to the space topic - it is not an easy thing to explain to a society that still believes their world is flat.
"Selina," Lelei said. "Remember back at the resort we saw their space sailing ship dock at that strange-looking port* above their moon."
Selina looks to Lelei and nods. "Yes. They called it Art…. Something."
"You two are talking about the Artemis Program," He responds.
"Correct," Lelei said. "I looked that name up it is one of your past gods in your history books. Please correct me but you name your space sailing ships of your gods?"
"That is correct Lelei," He said, impressed by her research. He knows they saw a report back at the resort on Earth about this. "Our past program back in the sixties was called the Apollo. Apollo-11 was the first spacecraft to land on our moon. We like to name things related to space after Greek and Roman gods."
"And the new one is called Artemis?" Rory said. "Why do you call them after your gods?"
Before he responds, he stops and thinks. "Probably because it sounds cool."
"Ok, but what does this Space thing do?" Selina askes. "I get the space part, but I don't see the point of it. I understand your Army and your aircraft but isn't that all you need?"
"That is a good question Selina," He said. "On Earth, we have these machines called satellites that orbit around our world. They allow us to talk and see people on the other side of the world in real-time. As you know from that news report, we have these two stations and outpost up there."
"Right now, the government has the International Space Station and the Lunar Gateway Station. The ISS is our main research outpost. What they do is do biological and medical research, looking for cures and how the Human body works." He said.
"Then there is another space station called Lunar Gateway," He continues. "While the ISS orbits Earth, Gateway orbits Luna. It supports our deep-space operations and helps our land and explore our moon. It also is supporting Lunar operations and construction of Armstrong Outpost(2) on the moon surface."
"All that is the government-sponsored," He continues. "The long-term idea is for private business to expand into space. We already have two major companies that have space stations up there. They are Axiom Commercial Space Station and Bigelow Commercial Space Station(3) are under construction. Plus, we have private companies like Boeing and SpaceX that have their spacecraft that help out." He adds.
"You seem to know a lot about this stuff Jackson," Rory points out, surprise on his knowledge on the subject.
He rubs the back of his head, slightly embarrassed for some reason. "A little. But that is why we created the branch. Our country and our allies rely so much on this region for everything, if we lose it our economy falls apart. While exploring this world is important, space is the next major economic breakthrough for us. We are currently leading in that domain and that is why the Chinese want to stop it. That is why we created the branch, to protect all that investment."
"Wow," Rory said. "Sometimes I find it hard to imagine how different our worlds ours. Our world feels so small at times."
"And yet it holds many mysteries that still baffle us, Captain Mercury." This man walks up.
They all turn around and see this man walk up. Rory blushes a little, not use to having her rank be used. "Just call me Rory, please. I am not used to being called that yet."
"Colonel Tim Esper," He says as he gives him a salute. He stops when addressed. "This is Lelei La Lalen, and the elf is Tuka Luna Marceau and this one is my daughter Selina. You already know Rory Mercury."
"Everyone in the military knows you four," Tim said. "Welcome to Camp Galileo."
"Thank you very much, Colonel," He said. "I hope we are not a bother."
"None at all," Tim said. "We are get doing final preparations before launch. But as I was saying, so not underestimate your world girls. With all our science and understanding of the universe, your world throws everything we know out the door. Let alone the Gate. DARPA and Area 51 are having fun figuring how that works."
"You are talking about magic?" Selina asks.
Tim looks down at her. "Correct. But that is only one thing we are looking for answers. New resources, alien races, and cultures. How similar and different everything is. We can go land on the moon and go to Mars but on your world, we are learning what is our place and role in the universe."
"That is well said," Lelei replies.
"I liked it," Tuka adds.
Rory smiles and nods. "Glade we are not in second place." She then points to Sharpe. "You people own us then."
"You just want donuts," He said and sees her nod her head. He shoots her a 'be good' glare. "But the Colonel is correct. There is a lot we can learn from each other. I expect these conversations to happen more once the war is over. This will switch from a Military led mission to a science one."
"I have a question," Selina asks.
"Yes, kid?" He asks.
"I get what you all mean by having sailing ships up there and ship stations above the sky," She said. "But how do you get there? Is it like your airplanes? Take off and just keep flying up?"
"Good question," Tim said. "You see those large windows at the other end of the control room? Go look out them and you will get the answer. The major here can answer the questions. He seems to understand how our operations work."
He sees the girls look at each other and then rush over to the large windows at the end of the control room. He looks down at Selina and then both talk over to the windows.
"There are a lot of screens," Selina said to him as she looks around.
"Yes, there are," He replies.
"What are they for?" Selina askes.
"You know how I fight with a rifle?" He said. "They fight using computers. It is pretty complicated, but they make sure I can talk with other units far away. They also help warn me bad guys are coming. Everyone has a role, Selina."
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"Wow," Selina said as she watches the personal work on their computers and talk to each other.
Once he gets there, he looks out the window. The Control Center is on top of one of the small hills and down below in a small valley, he sees the massive launch platform, just like the ones NASA uses to launch its rockets into space.
"Wow…," Rory mumbles.
"That is tall," Tuka comments. "I was expecting an airfield like in Alnus."
Selina tugs on his jacket. "What is it?"
"Ladies, that is how we go to other worlds without a Gate. A spaceport." He said and sees the excitement and confusion in their eyes as they try to figure out how it works. "We have these massive rockets that push us right up into the sky and beyond. Our rockets hold our spacecraft and satellites are on top of it and is released once it gets up there."
"That does not seem efficient," Lelei points out. "It seems like your just brute-forcing yourself off your planet."
"That is correct," He responds. "Currently we have no other way off our planet besides the Gate."
Selina points on the window. "Is that the rocket there? It looks familiar."
"That is the Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX," He said with some energy in his voice, enjoying the moment. "They are one of the companies that help us go into space. We have contracts with them and others like Boeing and Blue Origin to send up satellites into your space. So, we can better communicate, map out your planet and have better resonance in fighting and exploring on this planet."
"Can we watch it goes up?" Rory asks.
"Maybe," He said. "That depends if they do their test launch before we leave. We are here for two days and I know it is supposed to happen soon."
"I have a question," Lelei asks.
He looks to her, not surprised that she does. He is more surprised that she has not had as many questions. "Go for it."
"You keep saying satellites," Lelei said. "I don't think I fully understand that that means now. You say they orbit around the planet? I get the station ports part. They stay in an assigned spot while floating in space over your world, but I don't understand the other thing."
He nods and thinks, realizing he assumed they just understood terms he already knew. He looks around and remembers that he saw a small globe of Earth on a desk in the back. "Follow me."
He walks over and passes some Space Force personal as he heads back to where they started. Once he got to this desk, he picks up the globe and holds it out for them to see.
"This is what a satellite is," He said as he uses his figure as an example of a satellite. He then moves his figure slowly around the Earth. "A satellite is a machine like a drone but operates above the clouds. Some of them hold position in one place but most go around in circles around the planet thousands of times."
"That is, it?" Rory said, not impressed. "You could have said a drone that flies around really high in the sky."
"But what do the satellite drones do?" Selina asks.
"As I said before, they allow us to talk to each other even though we are on opposite ends of the earth," He said. He uses his hands to visually show what he just said. "They also can take a picture of the ground and that is how we make maps. Like what you saw on my Blue Tracker in my vehicle. Or allow me to talk to you when I am on the field Selina, without the lag and static."
"So, you are saying when you put these satellites into space you will be able to see all the lands of Falmart?" Tuka asked, shocked by that revelation.
"That is correct," He responds. "It will take some time to do that but sometime in the future we will see all of Uros." As he said that he notices Lelei looking at the globe but with this annoyed and confused look on her face. "Are you ok Lelei?"
There is a short silence as everyone looks to her. She then points to the globe he is holding. "That is not correct."
He looks at the globe. "What do you mean? That fact that it is a sphere?"
"I don't understand," Lelei said. "Why is it round?
He smiles, expecting this topic to come up sooner or later. He sees all the girls look at her. "Well, Earth is around. All worlds are round. The reason this is because the bigger the world or star in space, the more gravity it has. Basically, the world is pulling down on itself because it is so large, creating a sphere. It is like taking a pop can and crushing it with your hands. It naturally forms a ball with enough strength."
"No, it's not," Lelei said.
He looks at her, shocked by what she said. He is not a custom to her disagreeing with him. She already knows about gravity; she even has a spell related to it she been perfecting. He starts to wonder if she believes he is lying to her, something he has never done. He has withheld information but never lied. If they ever ask a question about a topic that has been considered sensitive, he will answer it because it showed that they are ready for the answer.
Lelei then pulls out her phone and then shows him a picture of Earth. "See, it is flat." She then starts showing other pictures, all show the Earth flat. "Also, at your Ranger headquarters, this is this giant poster of Earth with all your allies on it. That poster is flat, and I saw a smaller one in your office." She then points to the wall in the control room. "See, there is another one right there."
He rubs his nose, trying to not laugh. He did not expect a misunderstanding like that. It never even dawned on him something simple like a picture might negatively influence her to come to the wrong conclusion. He always wonders why she never brought up this topic before and now he understands why.
Lelei is one of the smartest people he has ever known. Her knowledge of this world and her ability to grasps how his world works and merge both world's viewpoints has impressed him. Her feedback is a major reason why we are winning the war in the way we are. However, no one is perfect, and everyone has a dumb moment. This is all still new to her and she is still young.
"I am impressed that is how you came to that conclusion," He said. But he is interrupted by Lelei as she tries to take control of the conversation, wanting to be right.
"What you said has been proposed by the Sage Passol, one of the senior's astronomy sages in Rondel," Lelei said. "Their theories are considered a joke, a laughingstock in Rondel. Your world can't be round." She then looks back at the globe. "Unless your world is different than ours but that makes no sense. If your world is round and I can see on your expression that it is true otherwise you would be lying to me which you never would. That means… is Falmart around too?"
He smiles and about to say something, but she points her staff to him to shut him up.
"So that is why you people separate Falmart and Uros all the time. Falmart is just a piece of land on our world, which is around like Earth," She says to herself as she puts the puzzles together in her head. "But if that was true then why can we see… oh…" She stops as her eyes widen.
"There you go sport," He said with a smile, seeing the world viewpoint in her head expand, opening the door to new possibilities.
"They were right all along," Lelei mumbles to herself.
Rory walks up between them. "Ok, what just happened? For the rest of us what just happened?"
Lelei looks to Rory and the other girls. "You know how we thought our world was flat? Well, that is not true anymore. It is just so big we never could travel around it, so we assumed it was flat. It is a ball just like Earth. We are balls that float around."
Both Rory and Tuke chuckle at what Lelei said. He shakes his head trying not to chuckle. He sees Lelei standing there confused about why they are laughing.
"Why are you laughing?" Lelei asked.
"Never mind. You are just cute sometimes," Rory said and looks at her and shrugs. "Interesting, I guess. It doesn't change anything though."
"Not yet," Lelei responds. "But it will later."
He chuckles and feels his jacket be pulled. He looks down and sees Selina looking up at him. "Yes?"
"You have pictures of other planets on your poster at home," Selina said. "Of Mars and the Jupiter and others."
"That is correct," He responds knowing where her question is going. "They are also around. Including Earth, there are eight planets go around our sun. Just like in ours, your world goes around Flare."
"Just like your satellites?" Tuka asked.
"Pretty much," He replies. "That is pretty much space. Everything goes around each other."
"How do you know all of this?" Tuka asked.
"Because he is a nerd," Rory says. "That's what Alicia said."
"Last time I checked nerds rule the world," Colonel Tim said as he approaches. "I have been listening to the debate, very interesting, very fun."
"Colonel," He said.
"Major," Tim responds.
"Colonel Tim, I have a question for you," Selina said. "Are launcher machines into space the only thing this please dose?"
"Good question," Tim said. "The answer is no. Camp Galileo has many missions; most are civilian missions. While our primary mission is to get satellites into space to support the war effort, we have four science and research outposts here."
"The Uros Research Expedition was formed, funded and backed by our allies," Tim added. "Their job is to discover the mysteries of this world like biology and geology. We have NASA, ESA, JAXA and other nations space programs here to study your astronomy and what kind of resources your world has. And that is just the beginning."
He looks to the girls. "He means we are here to study your planet nature girls." He sees all of them now understand what Tim is saying.
"Sorry about that," Tim said.
"But why?" Tuka asked. "I am glad that you see value on our planet. It makes me feel like we are not barbarians compare to your world. But with all your technology what can our world offer that you don't already have?"
"A lot of things girls," He adds. "Technology is not everything. You never know where you will discover something. One of the reasons why we are studying your plants is to look for possible cures for diseases or new food sources."
"Correct," Tim said. "I can't speak for our astronomers however this is the first time we get to gaze at the stars from a different point of view. Visiting a new star system this close was deemed impossible for the next two hundred years, maybe longer. This is an opportunity no one wants to miss."
"Your world is a great example," Tim continues. "While we assume there was life on other planets, Earth was our only example. Uros is the first time we confirmed life is out there. This is a golden opportunity to learn a brand-new world with life on it. Everything we do here is a first. That is one of the reasons why we built a big telescope on top of one of the hills. To see what is around your system and see if there’s anything different."
"What is a telescope?" Lelei asks.
"You haven't shown them a telescope yet?" Tim asked as he looks to Sharpe.
He shrugs it off. "I was waiting for this day to happen first. I wanted them to gain the knowledge first, so they appreciate it more later."
One of the big reasons why he withheld this information from them for so long was because he did not want to rob them of the experience and moment of gaining new knowledge. He thought seeing that door open in Lelei's eyes was beautiful. She asked them questions and figured out the answer on her own.
He has been trying hard not to steal moments like that from them. He hopes they understand, he does not want to lie to them for the sake it is hiding the truth. He just does not want them to rely on him and his people giving them all the answers. He does not want them to become reliant and lazy, seeing it has a disservice to their personal growth.
"On Earth, we have telescopes that can see past your sky and into space," Tim said. "We built a powerful telescope to look for other worlds that orbit around your star I mean Flare."
"Wait," Lelei said, jumping at what he said. "There are other worlds that go around Flare? Like in your world?" She then looks to Sharpe, wanting answers.
"Ah yes," He said. "There are eight planets that go around our sun. Most stars have planets that orbit around them. We call the model Heliocentrism, where objects like Earth and Uros orbit around their host star."
He then sees Lelei looking down at her phone and typing what she just learned. She probably is researching what Heliocentrism and what it means. He can already tell that she will probably stay up all night research everything they talked about today.
"Like your satellites," Selina points out, trying to be helpful.
"Correct," He said with a smile. "There is a good chance you have a few that you can't see with the naked eye."
"I haven't heard the theory myself, but I have heard something about Flare like this before I left Rondel," Lelei comments. "They were always considered as jokes. I brushed them off, but they seem to be right." She then looks up to Tim. "Can I see it?" She said, assisting.
He looks to the Colonel. "With permission sir?"
"I see why not," Tim said. "I was given orders to allow you to explore the camp, as long as you don't interrupt operations."
"That won't," He said and then looks to Lelei. "Later today or tomorrow we can go see the telescope and talk to the people who work on them. It will be cool."
"I have a question that has been bugging me for a while," Rory askes. "Why is this so important for your people? I get how this is interesting, I have a lot of processes and I know I been quiet on this conversation but what are you looking for?"
He looks at Rory, hesitant to respond. He waits for Tim to answer but then sees him pointing to him with his eyes, telling him to answer.
"I am going to introduce you, girls, to Star Trek and the Orville. Those shows explain that question very well," He said. "But the best answer I can think of is this. It is the one place we cannot go but it feels like it has all the answers. We call Space the final frontier, the last place Mankind has yet to touch."
He thinks on his answer more and then continues. "I don't know about Uros history but on Earth, history pretty much someone trying to take your land and you defending your land. You can sum it up to that. Space exploration has been something different. Even though we are in a rivalry with China, Space is still in that area where we choose to corporate over compete. Why we push so hard to explore the universe is to see if we are alone or is a high power at work. And whatever the answer, where is our place in it all. It is the endless possibilities that it has to offer."
"I couldn't say it better myself Major," Tim said. "I hope that was a good answer for you, Rory."
Rory looks at Tim and then at him. She smiles and nods. "I believe so. I am understanding everything better now."
He wonders why she smiled and wonders what is going on in her head. But he shrugs it off, enjoying the conversation. "Yup. On top of that, as JFK(4) once said. We do it not because it is easy but because it is hard."
"Correct," Tim said and looks to him. "Major Sharpe. The reason I came over here is when you are done, can you report to me. I have something I need to talk to you about. Once you are done."
That request bothered him quite a bit. He has been through enough covert missions to understand the hidden message the Colonel is saying. 'Report to me, I need your help with something'. He just does not want to make whatever he is thinking public. "Roger that Colonel. Thank you for allowing me to give them a tour."
"Your welcome," Tim said and walks off.
"I have a question," Tuka said after Tim walks off. "I have noticed you and more of your people calling our world Uros. Why is that?"
"It is rumored that Uros was once a god from the distant past," Lelei said. "However, that is a subject of debate in Rondel. My research has shown he has a few cult followings, but he is not a mainstream God. His name only appeared in a few texts that have been recovered after the Dark Age."
"Ok," Tuka said.
"Yup," He responds. "We had a conversation a while back. Lelei and Rory were explaining some of the gods and he came up. I was asking what the name of their world was called. Not the continent Falmart but the world."
"I remember this conversation," Rory said. "To sum it up our world doesn't technically have a name. We always called it Falmart because that is where we lived. But because on their world science is more advance so he was curious about a name."
"I get that," Tuka said. "But how did Uros became the name?"
"When we first arrived at this world, we called it the Special Region," He explains. "But that gets boring after a while. We like to name things, especially if we are going to be here for a while. I put what I learned from that conversation into my report. I guess some people in charge saw that and it became the name. We like to name worlds based on god names, so it is fitting to name it after one of your gods, assuming he does exist."
"Now girls, you can go explore," He said. "I will come and get you once I know where we are staying. If someone looks busy to stay out of their way but go enjoy yourself. There is a lot of things here that might interest you."
He sees them nod they are to his order. "I have to go to work. Selina…"
"She can stay with me," Lelei said.
"Thanks," He replies and walks away to where Colonel Tim at.