About learning I'd travel through space

Dublin (Ireland), Earth, Sol System

So, about how I could make it to Earth as a kid...

Father's parents are wealthy enough to pay for passage to Earth, but they always asked that we pay for the transportation.  Of course, transportation to Earth usually costs a lifetime of average income - double that if you want suspension.  

I was 8 the first time my mother got the invitation from Earth.  I didn't understand why she was so happy.  Of course, I'd heard everything about Earth: endless seas, dense forests, cities within cities within cities... but I'd never considered the possibility of actually going.  Earth citizenship was to me nothing but an abstract concept that could one day get me out of New Lhasa.  A real trip to Earth?  I remember casually telling my friends, waving a disinterested hand at the notion, but quite honestly I was terrorized.

Jania Moreau was also insanely nervous.  She was my mother, and like she kindly reminded me over and over, it was her job to worry about me.  But she'd also insist on how fear could be a great guide.  How fear was the clearest sign of a step we needed to take in order to better ourselves.  She said fear was a biological reaction to a dangerous situation, but that modern technology had pretty much rid us of actually dangerous situations.  That left fear as a response to mental challenges, and those were the most important ones to overcome.

Well, Jania certainly didn't have space travel in mind when she went on her lecturing bouts about fear.  Technology having rid us of dangerous situations?  Tell that to the 4% space farers whose warp drive led them totally out of bounds, leaving them stranded for months, sometimes years in deep space (that is - if they ever did find energy to make their way back).  Tell that to the 1 out of 4 travelers in suspension who'd end up with radiation poisoning and in need of artificial organ transplant upon arrival.  Tell that to the dozen ships in our sector alone who got blown to pieces by Ks.

No, she was right to be nervous.  But she also felt she couldn't deny her only son that wondrous privilege: Earth.

Academy day 1: Sitting in Mess Hall

Academy Station AS3, Earth Orbit, Sol System

I'm aboard the Acadamy AS3 station. I wasn't expecting such a huge station.

We were told to report in mess hall for 2030. I've been here for 20 minutes with another two cadets: Cdt. Ryan and Cdt. Satoshi, and one Ensign Geiken. Nobody's really talking, except for the occasional "know what's going on?", "I saw some cadets heading for hangar bay, maybe we should go see?" and "so.. is this where we're supposed to meet?"

I think everybody's nervous. We'll be running some sims, tonight. I've never operated an actual TSN vessel coms station, so I don't know how that'll turn out.

Lt. Feltes just came in and informed us the simulator's glitchy. It should be another 10 minutes before another one free up.

As usual, everybody's struggling with my name. Mooroo? Mor-ah-oo? I think I'll tack phonetics under my ID badge : MOH-ROH =P

Ah! Lt. Feltes is back. Here's our call! Wish me luck.

Joined the TSN!

Dublin (Ireland), Earth, Sol System

That's it! My application for the Terran Stellar Navy has been accepted! Maybe I could man a station! Maybe I'll even get to step on an Artemis-class spaceship bridge! Maybe my childhood dreams of Captaining a ship aren't that far beyond! But for now, let's just focus on the present and celebrate this small victory. I'll probably just be washing dishes for a while.

In an case, I never thought I'd be so happy about a career. Things sure have changed...

More importantly, I never thought I'd follow in my father's footsteps. Hopefully I can become as good a soldier as Maman says he was, and remain as good a human being as Grand-Père.

But now, off to celebrations!

There's always a first time..!

Dublin (Ireland), Earth, Sol System

Because of her reputation as a Xeno-anthropologist, my mother, Jania, had been to Earth a few times.  She even made it to Dublin, once, where she was making a presentation at Trinity College about the Kralien Zeal (what she calls the Ks equivalent to religious faith).  Of course, she made is farther south of the Liffey to meet my father's parents.  The Colgans had never met her, and only had the occasional news about me, but were more than welcoming.  They treated her like a daughter, even though my parents had only dated briefly before my father died.  I guess they saw in Jania an extension of their relationship with him.  From her perspective, it was obvious that the relationship was silly, and wouldn't have lasted more than a few weeks after my father was stationed elsewhere.  But, out of respect, she never told the Colgans.

So there I was, 8 years old, sitting at the dinner table, watching my mother contact a bunch of friends to try to arrange a trip to Earth.  It took only a few calls to find a transport that would take me on board: the Majanta.  It was captained by an old romantic interest of my mother's, Captain Kurell Manx.  Cpt. Manx was (and still is) a fun-loving, ex-navy slacker who did cargo jobs for universities and research centers.  He specialized in the transport of ancient and alien relics and had acquired pretty much every forcefield available on the market.  An honest man, with a good heart, and an ever better thirst.

I was given a place, provided I could handled dishes.  Hahaha.  Dishes.  I think, to this day, I still dream of dishes.  I was 8 then, and by the time I was 9, I knew everything there was to know about dishes.  But then, I also knew everything there was to know about flying a spaceship.  I knew the terrible secret of spaceship bridges: Helm, Tactics and Command got all the credit (and the paycheck), but once they were launched, Science and Comms did the only work on board while the rest of the crew drank and gambled in the airlock.  I also learned another secret about flying spaceships: it isn't that hard.  It's mostly about making decisions, and letting the computers execute them.

What on Earth...

Dublin (Ireland), Earth, Sol System

I realized I should explain what I'm doing on Earth.  It's not that grand of a reason, frankly.

I am visiting the grand-parents (from Father's side) this month.  I am extemely lucky to have family here on the Mother World.  Probably the only good thing Father left me when he died.  When my mother was pregnant, I was considered too illegitimate to be allowed Death-In-Service compensation.  However, before I reached 5, my father's family applied for DNA testing so I could have Earth citizenship.  It was easily granted, and, starting a few years later, I've been travelling here to Dublin for a month or so every other year.

While this may represent a lot of travel for such a short stay, the flight has always been a wonderful experience.  Every time.  In fact, I've always been fascinated with space travel.  The magic of it all is just... wow - there's just no way to describe the beauty of a star field, the poetry of weightlessness, or the grandeur of a Nebulae.  Now, you may be asking yourself.. if a guy can afford going to Earth, can't he pay the extra for suspension?  Well, obviously, the answer is: no.

The Call of Duty

Dublin (Ireland), Earth, Sol System

Big news: I'm applying at the TSN Academy.  I know they have highly limited enrolment, and even more limited chances of actually making it to Cadet, but, the Hell with it - I'm applying.  Hey - what better time than now!  TSN has an office here in Dublin, and I have time on my hands to prepare the application.

I've always dreamed of being a Navy Captain, like the heroes we hear so much about.  Maybe it's more possible than I thought?

I think that, after basic training, I'll enroll in the Communications Corps.  I know it isn't the most glamorous position, and certainly not one that birthed TSN a lot of Captains and war heroes, but I consider it one of the most, if not THE most, important role in a bridge's crew.  Besides, I think I'd be pretty good, given my background in Xenopsychology and my experience in space travel aboard the Majanta.

My name is Horacius Moreau

My name is Horacius Moreau.  Most people just call me Moreau.  Would-be friends call me Ace, but that's always felt awkward.  Not that I have low self-esteem - I'm actually very good at what I do.  I'm just not the pilot jock the name "Ace" feels like.

I was born in La Paz, New Lhasa's capital.  "Capital".  Heh - feels important when put this way.  But it's hardly more than a village among a handful of villages on a remote colony.  Most people wrongly think New Lhasa is now a big and important planet because of its historic importance, but frankly it's as insignificant as it ever was.  Mostly a conservative nest of backward peasants (sorry Mom).

When New Lhasa was settled, in 2162, travel was mostly restricted to the 5% temperate zone close to the world's equatorial line.  The rest was too cold and rocky.  Terraforming, at its debut, was a very long process.  My grand-parents knew they wouldn't breath fresh air for pretty much of their lives.  But there was no hurry.

It wasn't before 2173 that the USFP started showing an authentic interest for New Lhasa.  An artificial satellite had been discovered.  Its origin was unknown, and it was still emitting.  Everybody was excited.  Scientific teams all the way from Earth came to break it apart and analyse it.  That's probably what alerted the Kraliens that someone had made it to New Lhasa.  Their planet.

Their claim for the small world was in a way justified - it had been almost 100 years since they had discovered the beautiful world: decent gravity, thick atmosphere, perfect for terraforming... It was almost ready for colonization.  Then we came and initiated our own terraforming process.  The rest is history.  The 2175 attack, the following war... Books call it a border dispute.  Obviously, they weren't raise on a planet that quickly became the first TSN outpost.

And that is where and when and how I was born.  My father was a wreckless scout pilot who would probably have left my mother weeks after his deployment ended, hadn't he died in a skirmish with the Ks.  My mother was the only local scientist who was assigned to the study of the New Lhasa Kralien satellite.  She's since become something of a notoriety in the field of alien studies, specialized in K technology.