Dawn

FuzzyWang Rocket Co., Earth 17:14 Standard Earth Time 2164 Two scientists stood at a viewport looking out, marveling at the creation they had helped put together. “My God,” scientist Helen Jones muttered under her breath, taking a sip of her coffee.  “It’s bigger than I thought it would be.” Scientist Rupert Jones, her husband, nodded his agreement.  “Yeah, it is bigger than I thought it would be,” he said, not taking his eyes off the creation.  “Who could’ve imagined?” he went on, pausing only to sip his warm tea.  “Five years in the making.”  He took a look around the facility they were standing in.  “This place has really come up. too.  I remember when FuzzyWang was only an idea.  Heck, I remember when the...whatever it is they’re calling it was only an idea.” “The United Nations Space Forces.” “Yeah, that’s it.” They went back to silence, looking out at the gargantuan item that had finally been completed.  Seven years total had gone into the making of it; 2 into drafting and revising plans, and 5 to actually build it.  It was the first of its kind; the engineers knew that if it didn’t work, billions of dollars would have been wasted, and they’d all be out of jobs. “Hasn’t even been cranked up yet,” scientist Helen Jones remarked, using old terminology she’d heard her great grandmother use years earlier. “I just hope it’s used for peaceful purposes,” Rupert Jones added, walking over to refill his cup of caffeine.  “All those guns...” “It’s three guns, Rupert,” Helen Jones said with an exaggerated sigh.  “Two underneath the disk structure and one near the back.”  She watched her husband of nine years fill his cup and stroll back to the viewport.  “They’ll be used for defense only.” “Sure they will.”  They’d touched on a sore subject-- science and military.   At times, the two didn’t go hand in hand.  In this case, Rupert Jones didn’t see eye-to-eye with the engineers who had thought to put guns on the thing.  There wasn’t too much he could do about that, though.  The last deck plate had been put on earlier that day. “Wow,” said Helen Jones, still amazed by what they had accomplished.  “I wonder how the two exiled groups have developed.” She referred to the two groups that had taken small star shuttles and left the planet. One group went for the Alpha Centauri region, the other group was anybody’s guess.  Shortly after the formation of the United Nations Global Government, a few countries protested its existence, declaring it an over powerful threat, determined to squash all identities of existing cultures.  Surprisingly, among these countries was World War I and World War II heroes, Britain. Rupert Jones continued to gawk at the starship that silently hung in its dock before them.  He knew it to be what they called a Constitution class ship, and he knew its name. Challenger. “I only got one question,” he said, pointing his cup in the direction of the ship.  “Who’s gonna have the balls to command a ship like this?” Captain Travis Benton strolled out of the UNSF Commander-in-Chief’s office with his new orders in hand. He was going to get to command a starship, the first ever.  He thought the occasion was both an honor and a blessing.  A former adventurer and aerodynamics instructor,  he was called into duty shortly after submitting a request to command this new spaceship. The first ever UNSF Commander-in-Chief had told him to pack his belongings and say goodbye to anyone close to him.  He was going on a seven year mission.  The ship had its shakedown cruise in a week, and after that, they were out there to explore the unknowns. Captain Benton hadn’t even gotten the chance to see his ship yet, or meet any members of the command staff that would be accompanying him for the next seven years.  He couldn’t wait to get started. Driving his compact groundrunner home, Captain Benton reflected upon the quick growth of the United Nations Space Force.  Though the idea of a defense force for the United Nations Global Government had been proposed long ago, time had flown by from its birth to its immense headquarters in San Francisco, California, to its staffing, and finally to the creation of the first starship, Challenger. The purpose of the UNSF would be to explore the unknown of the universe, make peaceful contact with distant alien races, and serve as a defense force when necessary.  Benton hoped it didn’t come to have to serve as a defense force, but the unexpected did happen at times.  Checking the orders he had received from Admiral Mitchell, the UNSF’s first Commander-in-Chief, he saw that he’d get a tour of his ship later on that week. Man, he felt good.