![]() ![]() I tapped a spot on the table and the aeroponic gardening column descended from the ceiling. It is our destiny.” The special announcement ended, and the usual morning news resumed. The Founder’s dream of voyaging to other worlds, to spread our race to every corner of the galaxy, must certainly be realized. “-By hope, determination and ingenious technology, it is all but assured that someday, the tyranny of the blue star will come to an end. But I knew the day would come when she realized it was a bluff. When your little sister is on the verge of tears, instinct kicks in and you do whatever’s necessary to restore her smile. Eventually we’ll blow the blue star to atoms, then finally venture beyond the sky…and claim the cosmos in the name of the Founder!” Our warships larger and more sophisticated. Life can’t just go on like this forever, trapped like rats on a dying planet. She looked skeptical for a moment, but has always been too eager to believe. Brushing the long red hair from her face, I whispered “You just know they’re gonna destroy it one of these days.” I didn’t know what I could say to comfort her that wouldn’t be a lie. Elena sulked at the table, head in her hands. Mom came down as soon as the smell reached her. But the performance of the new kinetic reversal shielding technology, the highlight of today’s ambitious assault, justifies renewed hope.”ĭad descended the stairs and set about preparing breakfast. “Now, many will take this latest failure as reason to abandon the dreams of our Founder. Feigning the appropriate dismay, as if he didn’t know what would happen despite making a career out of reporting on the last dozen attempts. In the kitchen, the announcer’s face looms large on the wall. She descends back into the house to agonize over it, but the rest of us stick around watching the tangled wreckage burning up in the atmosphere. ![]() Mom pinches him for it, noticing Elena’s devastated expression. But the arc intensifies, penetrates the shielding, and the warship erupts in a magnificent fireball. The shields hold out longer than any prior attempt. Finally, a larger arc than the rest reaches out and connects with the warship. The blue star emits those familiar wispy arcs of blue energy, destroying the missiles before they arrive. Missiles launch, in twos and threes at first. Spiraling green beams leap from the side of the ship, almost instantly traversing the distance between the warship and the blue star. Weapons so new, the televised announcer struggled to pronounce them correctly. The warship began to fire fearsome volleys at the blue star. Both of them waiting complacently for what I also knew would occur. Silently, uncompromisingly orbiting our world. Hanging overhead, radiating its piercing blue rays. ![]() I’ve been told there was a time before the blue star, but I cannot imagine a world without it. Ever present, at least so far as I’m concerned. Misplaced, sadly.Ībove it, the blue star. The abrupt, muscular lines of the hull suggest brutality, excess, and confidence. Propelled by the same technology that holds up the platforms, but geared for speed and maneuverability. I raise a hand to my eyes a bit too late. Intense green light bursts forth from the warship’s engines. Waste of money, there’ll be nothing to celebrate soon. I could see small fireworks going off above some of the residential towers. Other homes, offices, parks and so forth spread out below on their own interconnected triangular and pentagonal platforms, as clouds roll lazily past far below. Our home is one of the higher platforms, positioned just about perfectly to spectate. Both look on wistfully as the unmanned warship climbs into the sky. Mom and Dad are already up there in folding chairs, hair tossed about by the wind. I remember what it was like when I still believed. Part of me wishes she could stay like this. She’s young enough to have seen only two prior attempts, so there is still hope in her. It doesn’t stop until I relent and, rubbing the accumulated crust from my eyes, follow her up to the roof. “Hurry, it’s already launched!” My sister Elena shakes me violently even though I’m clearly awake. I know what will happen, but by now there’s an element of tradition to it, and it’s always a spectacle. ![]()
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