Countdown to New Beginnings

Nine in all, crew members all sharing the same goal, to successfully break orbit from their home planet, travel to another planet, to colonize and model a second Earth, but without the troubles that home had long ago created for themselves. It represented humanity's chance to start over.

Jim Bernard, captain of Star-9, 51 years of age. Divorced from his wife ten years ago and has three grown-up children in college back home on Earth.

Allie Burton, second in command of Star-9, 46 years of age. Never married and has no living dependents back home.

Chris Berners, communications officer of Star 9, 29 years of age. Never married but has one teenage girl back home with his girlfriend of eleven years.

Ellen Tuere, medical officer for Star 9 crew, 37 years of age. Married for twenty years and both she and her husband decided that they didn't want children, both wanting to work on advancing their individual careers. Backup support from Ellie should any needs arise, that might require psychological input.

Alan Fryer, cryogenics engineer and backup safety systems for Star-9 life support management, 29 years of age. His wife and family died six years ago after being involved in a fatal home invasion shooting. Ellie would be monitoring his post-traumatic stress closely during the mission.

Jessica Brindle, in-flight control (engineering systems) 39 years of age. Her husband is back home now caring full-time for their three young children.

Patrick Steiner, waste and reclamation officer, 21 years of age Not married, and no children to speak of. Patrick was the youngest ever astronaut to go on such a mission, it was his first assignment by the British space agency after only graduating from university one year earlier.

Ellie Bannon, certified deep space psychologist and responsible for the welfare of the crew, is 34 years of age. Ellie would be responsible particularly for closely monitoring Alan's post-traumatic stress closely during the mission. Her sole backup would be coming from Ellen should any needs arise for physical health concerns.

Geoff Ellenby, head of the Alpha Centauri survey team, is 41 years of age.

Each one of the crew had their individual connections back on Earth, whether family or children, but all had friends that they were leaving behind. While they had all undergone intensive psychological testing for the Star-9 mission, Ellie clearly understood that this long-term mission was not going to be quite easy, she was under no illusion that this was simply going to be a 'walk in the park' for her in managing the mental health for any of the crew. Her only backup would be coming from Ellie should any needs arise. Whilst every single member of the Star-9 crew would be responsible for specific tasks onboard, it was blatantly obvious to each one of them that they were going to need to support one another without a doubt. Communication, disagreements, likes, and dislikes, were all inevitably going to form onboard at some time or another between them. Star-9 provided little escape for private time, other than their separate sleeping quarters. It was to be their home for a long time to come, and even after reaching Alpha Centauri, they would remain very close together.

Captain Bernard checked his helmet and suit one final time. He felt a sudden surge of adrenaline and excitement as he heard the countdown coming in loud and clear over the integrated helmet intercom.

“Ten…nine…eight…”

He glanced around the cockpit of Star-9, the most advanced spacecraft ever built so far by humanity. He witnessed the faces of his crewmates, both four men and four women who had trained with him for years to prepare for this moment.

“Seven…six…five…”

He cast his mind to thoughts of his family and friends back on Earth, who were watching the launch live on TV. He wondered what they were feeling, what they were thinking. Most of all, Jim hoped they were proud of him and his brave crew, although it remained foremost in his mind that friends & families would be terribly missing them too, as much the same for their own feelings - after all this was a one-way mission and they would only ever be able to talk over video communication links from now on (and this would sadly become the normal behavior permanently for them.)

They would never see home again, Star-9 was a voyage to the stars to create a new home for the entire nine team members, a chance to recreate Earth for millennia to come. People would live, work, and die as the new colony formed there, new generations never knowing the place where human life was first created other than information in books, which were safely stored within the holds of Star-9.

“Four…three…two…”

Bernard thought about what the mission ahead was to hold, in what was planned to be the most ambitious and daring project in human history. A one-way trip to Alpha Centauri, the nearest star system to Earth. A journey that would take them decades without the new assisted warp drive technology. Star-9 was by far an ambitious project with the long-term aim of establishing a permanent colony on a habitable planet, to expand the frontiers of humanity.

“One…zero… 100% thrust achieved... we have a successful liftoff for humanity to break away from home!”

All nine of the crew, securely restrained in their negative gravity-designed, cushioned seats, could perceive a powerful thrust as the rocket engines ignited, lifting Star-9 and its payload into the blue skies. The crew heard the cheers and applause from the ground control and the spectators. They could all see the blue planet recede in their windows, as Star-9 began to reach orbit.

Captain Bernard smiled and gave a thumbs-up to his crew. They had all finally done it, after copious testing and long-drawn-out difficult years. They were finally on their way to Alpha Centauri.

They had been training for this moment for years, but nothing could prepare them for the final farewell. They were the first human crew to embark on a mission to Alpha Centauri, the nearest star system to Earth. The journey would take over four years, and they would spend most of it in the new technological advancement of self-sustaining cryogenic chambers, enabling deep space travel possible by placing the space crew to be suspended in a state of artificial hibernation.

They had said goodbye to their families and friends before boarding the spaceship, knowing that they might never see them again. They had recorded messages and videos for their loved ones, to be sent periodically during their voyage. They had packed their personal belongings and mementos, hoping to find some comfort in the unfamiliar environment.

Each of the crew had undergone rigorous physical and psychological tests, to ensure that they were fit and ready for the challenge. They had learned everything they could about their destination, the potential hazards and opportunities, the scientific objectives, and the ethical implications. They had bonded with their fellow crew members, forming a tight-knit team of six brave explorers.

They had also faced their fears and doubts, wondering if they were making the right decision, if they would survive the trip, should they ever return home. They had hoped and planned that both themselves and the ground crew on Earth had weighed the risks and benefits, but they were not oblivious to the fact that the unknown would come into play during their mission, the costs and rewards, the major sacrifices, and achievements certainly did not plan for all eventualities. They had accepted their fate and embraced their destiny.

********

Nine days into their mission and the view of their home was very much a tiny blue speck on their navigation monitors. None of the team had yet come to comprehend that when they next checked their reverse navigational screens, this image would no longer be there for them; simply the black void of deep space and forward images would be displaying the approach toward their end goal - Alpha Centauri. All the crew was already sick and tired of eating the prepacked vacuum food packs and drinking recycled water, but they tolerated these, knowing full well that they were about to enter cryogenic freezing chambers at this point in their journey, so gave sparse attention to it at that point.

Now each crew member was standing in front of their waiting cryogenic chambers, already prepared, and changed into wearing their thinner suits that were designed to protect their physiologies during the artificial environment of the enforced hibernation procedure; that would keep them safely asleep for the prolonged deep space flight to Alpha Centauri, anxiety, and sadness. They exchanged words of encouragement and gratitude, hugs, and handshakes. They smiled and joked, trying to lighten the mood.

All but one of the crew members climbed into their chambers one by one, following the instructions of the onboard computer. Alan Fryer would be the last person to climb into the cryogenic chambers as his responsibility was to oversee that each of the rest of the crew's pods was functioning at 100% of capacity and that vital signs for each of them were performing without concerns and each was safely hibernating. They checked their own vital signs and equipment, making sure everything was working properly, prior to climbing into their individual pods and lying in a comfortable supine position, before giving Alan the thumbs up. They closed their eyes and took five deep breaths, slowly feeling a cold liquid beginning to fill their veins.

They drifted into deep computer-controlled artificial sleep, dreaming of stars and planets. They were ready for the adventure of a lifetime.

Friends & families would be terribly missing them too, as much the same for their own feelings - after all, this was a one-way mission, and they would only ever be able to talk over video communication links from now on (and this would sadly become the normal behavior permanently for them.)

Alan Fryer, refused to climb into the final remaining cryogenics pod until he was happy that all of the remaining eight were functioning appropriately, and the main life support monitoring systems gave him the green light on all the stasis pods.

Twenty minutes passed by steadily before Alan was completely satisfied that all monitoring systems were operating smoothly, before hitting the 'override manual systems' button. and tentatively climbing into his own stasis pod.

The onboard medical bay rapidly fell silent other than the intermittent tones of the nine chambers where the crew was now sleeping soundly. Safety overrides were in place to rouse the crew should anything go wrong at any point in their journey. The computers were programmed to slowly wake Alan first so that he could be in the position to monitor the waking stages and transition periods of the rest of the team members. The entire arousal process would have them all awake nine whole days prior to the requirement for the crew to take over manual control in anticipation of achieving a stable high orbit around Alpha Centauri.

For Jim, Allie, Chris, Ellen, Alan, Jessica, Ellie, Patrick, and Ellie, the adventure into the unknown depths of deep space had only just begun for them.

********

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