The Beginning

Captain Stewart Slune stood in the canteen looking across to the spaceship sat in the docking bay. A marvellous feet of engineering, totally self sustaining and soon to be under his command. The Galliant was the first spaceship and in less than 24 hours would make it's maiden voyage.

Out of the thousands of initial applicants captain Slune was the one chosen the be the captain of the Galliant and after two years of vigorous training had finally reached his dream. His very own spaceship all ready to go exploring. He had not met any of the other crew members who were already aboard the Galliant, getting to learn their positions and waiting to meet their Captain. People from all countries and backgrounds made up the 100 crew members. From artists to doctors and translators to scientists, everything had been covered with the selection of the crew. With so many people from so many countries back down on earth this was a global event covered by the media on a very large scale. With a lot of the world leaders all at the headquarters anxiously awaiting the viewing of this historical launching.

'Captain' a voice from behind said, bringing Stewart out of his daze. ' It is time to meet your crew captain'. the president of the space program stood in the doorway of the canteen as Stewart turned. This was it, time to board the Galliant for the first time and meet the people he would be commanding and living with for the next 2 years. Butterflies fluttering in his stomach, thoughts bouncing around in his head. The Captain was understandably nervous. ' OK lets do this ' captain Slune said trying to sound more confident than he actually was as he walked over to the president. President Peter Price lead the way through the corridors and turned to look at the Captain ' So you all set for this then Stewart ' the president said. ' I've worked so hard for the last few years to get here.. I have to be ready ' Steward replied.

Approaching the ship the slate gray door opened with a faint swoosh, stopping the captain in his tracks for a split second, looking down the corridor, silver sides up to waist height with a royal blue above and across the ceiling and finished of with a dark blue floor. Captain Stewart looked around in approval taking in the lights that lined each side and the control panels here and there, flashing as the ships computer went about doing everything it needed to. An advanced computer capable of learning and implementing anything it learnt. In-fact the computer was so advanced it could practically tell you what you were going to do before you did it. Loaded with every detail of everything from earth from as far back as possible right up to the present second and always receiving more information to enable the Captain and the crew to try and make sense of whatever they may encounter on there journey. With the built in scanner to constantly scan a 500,000 mile radios in every direction and the ability to interact with anything it was learning all the time and updating the information it held.

Working their way to the lift, the captain and the president proceeded and when in the lift the president said ' cargo bay 1 ', the lift straight away into action silently moving down to the location. On arriving at the location the door swooshed open. A voice shouted out ' attention' and in one swift movement all the people stood up stern and to attention as the captain entered. Lined down both side were the 100 members of the crew. Walking down the middle of the crew to a platform that had been made up for an introduction speech. Standing next to the platform was first officer Trevor Tanner, who would be Captain Stewart's 2nd in command. As the captain and the president stood on the platform looking across the people. The press and the media all behind the crew with their cameras at the ready waiting to capture this great moment. The president of the space program Peter Price addressed the people first giving a speech on how long this project had taken and the importance of it, before handing over to captain Stewart. Captain Stewart Slune stood in front of everyone taking a minute to compose himself. ' It is with great Honour, Pride and Anticipation that I take command of this fine ship and look forward to getting to know this crew on a more personal level. Nobody knows what lies out there or what challenges we will face on the way. We have all been selected for our qualities and expertise and i look forward to working with you all. We go search of Hope, Knowledge and friendship but my number one concern is for the safety of my crew and this fine ship'. He paused for a couple of seconds looking at the crew and the said ' Safe travelling and good luck to us all '. At that moment the crew all gave a great cheer and clapped for the captain. 

Author's Note

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Reviews

[Katie de Lavani]

A nice 'beginning'. I'm always intrigued by spacecraft and their subsequent adventures across the galaxy. Perhaps it was the blocks of text that threw me a little off during the reading. The description you have is wonderful, but I can't help feeling something is missing. I look forward to the continuance of this journey!