Once we board the ship we make our way to the cockpit, with Mindal lifting himself into a seat and the Colonel helping me into one of my own. Once he confirms I'm secured in the seat, he sits down in the pilot seat and pushes a seemingly random sequence of buttons to start the ship. As soon as he finishes pushing a square, red button the entire ship comes to life, humming loudly in a soothing manner. Mindal and I both look in awe as he presses another button and the walls of the cockpit completely disappear, allowing us to see outside the ship as if it were never there. The Colonel grabs a headset hanging from a hook above his head and puts it on. He speaks into it, requesting authorization for takeoff and I as soon as he finishes speaking the massive hangar doors slowly start to creep open with a loud groan. Once the hangar doors are open, he grabs the throttle in his left hand while holding a joystick in his right, and when he slowly pushes the throttle forwards, the humming in the ship gradually increases until finally we start to gracefully lift off from the hangar floor. He slowly pushes the joystick forwards and we begin to fly through the hangar until we finally cross the threshold of the massive door and enter the void of space.

The Colonel delicately maneuvers our ship upwards, skirting the outer hull of the medical ship until we eventually pass over the top and heading off on our course. As we move away from the medical ship, Mindal and I are both slack jawed, taking in the sight of Urtol below us. The sickly green atmosphere swirls in a never-ending storm of acid rain, the red oceans of alien algae lay peacefully upon the surface like a sea of blood, and the grey rocks of the mainland reflect the light of its' star like a dim mirror.

As we fly, the planet becomes more and more distant until finally it becomes nothing more than a little green dot against a sea of twinkling stars. Once Urtol is finally out of sight, we continue on our course for another hour or so, with Mindal and I enjoying the serene beauty of space. No one says a word until the Colonel finally speaks up. "We're approaching the warp gate now. We just need to wait for clearance and then we should be in the Sol system within the hour." I look out the front of the cockpit and see a long line of ships waiting in front of a massive ring, almost 20 miles across.

Warp gates are one of the most useful pieces of technology the humans developed. A warp gate can facilitate instant travel between any two systems in the Federation, by creating an artificial wormhole and punching a hole through space, it allows a ship to travel to its destination in seconds. Initially traveling to a new star system takes years, but once a warp gate is constructed, massive quantities of supplies and troops can be brought through. Allowing the Federation to create unraidable supply lines.

We continue waiting in line for another 15 minutes, watching as each ship in front of us enters the ring as space warps around them before they vanish completely. When our turn finally arrives the Colonel tells to brace ourselves and gracefully pilots the ship into the middle of the ring. As we enter I notice the ship warping around us, stretching and bending unnaturally like some kind of flimsy rubber. The distortion increases gradually until finally everything in my vision stretches suddenly and violently, and as soon as it happened, it was over. I look outside the cockpit once more, I could see the line of ships that had passed through in front of us and directly below us was a large green and blue planet. Earth.

The Colonel piloted us towards Earth and spoke proudly. "Welcome to the home world of Humanity and the height of Federation power!" We continue on our course, with the the planet below gradually growing in size as we fly closer. Eventually when the planet is almost completely taking up the view of the cockpit the ship turns sharply towards the horizon, veering off the path and leaving the normal traffic of ships behind. We continue to fly towards the horizon, crossing over an enormous blue ocean and heading towards a large green continent.

As we fly lower and lower, we start to enter the atmosphere, with white hot plasma flickering around the outside of the ship. I felt completely confident in the integrity of the ship, as it seemed to hardly notice the heating as it slipped gracefully through the atmosphere. As we dip lower through the air, we begin to slow, with the plasma losing heat until it disappears all together. The Colonel continues to steer us over the ocean until suddenly the ship slows to a halt. "We're here" he says abruptly. "What do you mean we're here?" I say. "There's nothing but ocean for miles around us!" The Colonel smiled. "That's kind of the whole idea." Suddenly, he pushes the joystick down and we slam into the water and Mindal and I both cry out in astonishment as, instead of the ship being blown to pieces, it easily slides through the waves and begins to descend in to the dark depths below. "You really didn't expect an expensive starship like this to be waterproof? You wound me." The Colonel said while laughing.

We sink lower into the abyss until the Colonel pushes a button and begins speaking into the headset again. "Yes, this is Colonel Wagner.... Yes they're both on board, have the accommodations been prepared?.... Excellent." He turns around to face us and speaks. "Everything is good to go. You two will be bunking together and we'll begin testing tomorrow."

We continue to descend for another 5 minutes, with everyone looking out at the pitch black water surrounding us until finally we pass some kind of invisible barrier and enter an enormous air pocket. Below us lies an extensive network of plasteel domes, connected together by reinforced glass tunnels. I can see thousands of people wearing black or white uniforms milling about, undoubtedly going about their tasks for the day. We continue our descent until I hear a thump and the ship stops moving all together. The Colonel pushes another sequence of buttons and the soothing humming that had been our companion for the past hour ceased all together. As the Colonel helped me back into my wheelchair and Mindal climbed back into his own, the ship's ramp opened with a loud hiss, revealing a group of black uniformed men waiting for us. Two of the men stepped into the ship and after saluting the Colonel, began pushing Mindal and I down the ramp.

The Colonel moved ahead of us, speaking to another one of the men in the group as we crossed the landing pad and made our way to a giant, reinforced plasteel door. The Colonel scanned his wrist and the door slid open with a might THUNK. And our group made its' way inside a large glass hallway. Looking through the glass, I could see a lush, green garden on either side of the hallway. Well cared for trees with strange orange balls hanging from their limbs dotted the beautiful garden and water flowed freely around their trunks. The Colonel seemed to have finished his conversation as he suddenly appeared at my side again. "Beautiful isn't it? The Lab has some of the only naturally growing fruit trees left in the Federation. They're expensive to maintain but fresh fruit alone makes them worth the cost." "Fruit?" I ask. I'd never heard that word outside of school. Fruit was an extremely rare commodity in the Federation, with only the wealthiest members of the population being able to afford it. "You bet!" The Colonel said. "Most of the staff here live below the ocean full time. Obviously it can get a bit dreary down here so the Federation authorized some fruit trees to be planted and cared for as a thank you for our contributions to the military!"

We continued down the hallway until we entered an enormous glass dome. The top seemed to be nearly 200 feet above our heads and the entire dome must have been nearly a mile across. The entire dome was filled to the brim with multistory buildings laid out in a neat grid pattern. The streets between the buildings were shaded by large trees, with vibrant flowers planted around their base. Our group continued walking towards the center of the dome, where a large, 10 story building dominated the skyline. As we moved, many people dressed in black lab uniforms or white medical uniforms greeted us as they went on about their days.

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When we finally arrived at the building I noticed heavy security, with armed guards posted at every entrance. As we approached the guards scanned our IDs and once they verified who we were, opened the door and allowed us to pass. Once inside the environment was completely different from the rest of the dome. The lobby of the building was constructed with a neat, modernistic style, with small, subtle plants dotting the walls. The entire room was completely white, except for a brown, wooden staircase leading to the next floor above.

Instead of heading towards the stairs, we headed towards a set of two, shiny elevator doors towards the back of the lobby. There were no buttons on the elevator, with an ID scanner being the only evidence that these doors could open at all. The Colonel scanned his wrist and waited for a few seconds before the elevator doors let out a sharp DING and silently slip open. We entered the small elevator, leaving most of our group behind, except for the Colonel and the two men pushing Mindal and I. The Colonel scanned his wrist against the inside of the elevator again and the doors closed before the elevator lurched into motion.

We travelled inside the elevator for a very long time. If I had to guess, we were at least a mile underground before the doors finally opened, revealing another white hallway populated by dozens of doors on either side. As we make our way past the line of white doors the Colonel speaks up. "I know you're probably both hungry so we'll stop by the cafeteria and get you both some real food." Confused by this I speak up and ask "What do you mean by real food sir? We're perfectly happy to eat standard rations." The Colonel and the two men pushing us just chuckled at my question but didn't answer, continuing on our journey towards the cafeteria.

I got the answer to my question the instant we rolled into the cafeteria. My nose was caressed by amazing scents of meat and spices wafting through the air. Sitting at tables in the cafeteria were hundreds of staff, all eating food that I had never seen before. Vibrant soups with chunks of meat and green things floating in them, large slabs of meat covered in a fluffy white food with sauce poured over it, and colorful, sweet smelling foods of many varieties. The Colonel shot me a look and busted out laughing. I hadn't even noticed I had been drooling on my shirt until now. The Colonel produced a handkerchief and wiped my face for me, saying. "Don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to sample everything here during your stay."

I looked over to Mindal, only to see him in a similar predicament. He was wildly looking around, trying to spot whatever he was smelling, with a ravenous look in his eyes. I chuckled to myself as we got in line and waited our turn to taste whatever wonders awaited us. The Colonel picked up trays for Mindal and I and grabbed two huge chunks of juicy meat and slapped a heaping scoop of the same fluffy white food I had seen earlier. He grabbed a ladle and spooned a huge amount of a delicious-smelling brown sauce over the top and smiled at me. "Steak with mashed potatoes and gravy is my favorite so I figured you guys would enjoy it too". I was skeptical, as this meat was a far cry from the rehydrated cubes of steak I had eaten while stationed on Urtol, but the food smelled delicious so I didn't complain. The men wheeling us around parked Mindal and I at a table and went off to go get their own food, both returning with large bowls of steaming hot soup. As Mindal dug in, the Colonel cut my food for me and shoved it in my mouth.

I had never tasted such bliss in my life.

I now understood why the Colonel had been yammering on about the food in this place back on the medical ship. The difference in the steak at The Lab and the steak on Urtol was incomparable. This steak was juicy and succulent, with delicious red juice flowing from the meat as I chewed, savoring every bite. I looked over to Mindal and saw a face covered in "mashed potatoes" and I laughed loudly. Mindal whipped his head around and embarrassingly wiped his face.

I was now entirely convinced that even if we may die from this project, we could at least live in luxury until the end.

Once we had finished our meals the Colonel got up to bring our trays to the washing station, returning with a bowl of "soft serve" for everyone. As our group dug in, we all had massive smiles on our face from the sweet, refreshing treat. When we were all satisfied, our group once again went on the move, heading towards a door opposite of the one we entered. The door slid open as we approached, revealing a cozy-looking hallway clad in light brown wood paneling. We continued down the hallway until we reach a door on the left with the words Officer Program written in bold lettering across the front.

The Colonel lifted my wrist to the door that let out a sharp beep and then did the same with Mindal. He then scanned his own wrist to the door and it slid open silently, revealing a cozy, well furnished common room. As we entered I could see five doors in total surrounding the common room. The Colonel wheeled me to the closest door on the right and raised my wrist to a panel on the left side. The door beeped and the panel lit up with the words Welcome Lieutenant! and the door slid open without a sound. As it opened I took in the cozy little room, finding a neatly made bed in the far left corner. On the right wall was a desk with a small lamp mounted on the wall above it. A large locker sat imbedded in the wall next to the desk with a heft looking lock sitting open. On the left side of the wall stood a doorway that connected to the room to the bathroom, which held a basic looking toilet with a stainless steel sink and a small mirror. In the very back of the bathroom stood a large shower, which was unlike anything I had seen before. Inside, there were hundreds of tiny nozzles where the water would presumably be dispensed. On the wall of the shower lay a panel with temperature control settings and custom scent options. "These showers are probably the best invention to come out of this place." Spoke the Colonel. "A shower in one of these babies will heal any cuts, scrapes, burns, bruises or sore muscles instantly. It won't heal any serious injuries but it's still a life saver after a hard day's work."

Once Mindal and I had both gotten a tour of our rooms they wheeled us both back into the common room before the Colonel spoke. "Rest up for the rest of the day and get settled in. If you have any requests or need assistance getting out of your wheelchairs simply scan your wrists to this panel on the wall and one of these kind gentlemen will be happy to assist you" He said pointing towards the panel next to the entrance doorway. "I'm going to have to ask that you stay within your lodging, as there's a lot of dangerous research being conducted that you're not authorized to see. But feel free to ask for food or entertainment, as we wouldn't want you getting bored". He then turns to exit the room but before he gets to the door I speak up. "Sir? I notice there are five rooms in total, if we're already here, where are the other three?" The Colonel turns back to face me "Good question! You two were the first to arrive, but three more should be enroute and arrive by the end of the day." Curious, I speak again. "Are they all in similar situation like us? I mean, do they all have permanent injuries." The Colonel seems to think for a minute before answering. "Three of you have permanent injuries, while the other two are healthy. The goal of this program is to find out if there is a noticeable difference in performance between different focus groups. You'll all be living together during the duration of the program, but I wouldn't get too attached, as there is a very good chance that not everyone will make it." I nod slowly content with that answer and the Colonel finally exits the room, leaving Mindal and I with the two men in black uniforms.

I turn towards the one that had been pushing me around all day and ask him for help to get into bed, as I'm exhausted from todays events and just want to pass out. He obliges and wheels me back into my room before lifting me into my bed and shutting the door for me after leaving. I then lay in bed going over the events of the day in my head, and thinking about what the future may hold before I eventually drift off, letting sleep claim me.