In 2029, the State of the Union and the State of the United Allied States was in full swing, and Eliza began, “Soon, our large cadre of spacecraft, crew, and support will take off from their starting point just above Pluto and the Kuiper Belt, and once we are done with shared UAS Presidential Command Spacecraft duties, General Vesha Celeste and will oversee the UAS-Intergalactic Mission Contingency or UAS-IMC journey. As the President, I and our crew, will be able to use jump gates from anywhere on any UAS Spacecraft to Earth or any other tech city or Colony, to be able to conduct business as necessary, in person, so that we can prosecute our duties as the Presidency of the United States, the United Allied States, and as the Presidency of the United Planets of the Milky Way.
“As such, I will often request from our citizens and those trained through Pathway to provide volunteer personnel who are trained and ready to setup observation posts, conduct exploration of many regions, and setup tech cities, jump gates, and colonies on each of the planets throughout the Milky Way Galaxy. All of this will be with the intent of getting us out there and understanding more deeply the sciences as they pertain to every layer of our own Galaxy. We will be preserving star systems so that we can preserve and create life, especially where life was once thought uninhabitable. There will even be resort planets with stunning views and arrays of things to do, available to each and every citizen throughout the UAS.
“I have worked with General Vesha Celeste and her UAS Command Spacecraft Zone Generals, and we have all agreed that amenable to adjustment as we learn more, we will set up at least one observation post within each Constellation Region for every 25 Kiloparsecs until we are well beyond the galactic halo of the Milky Way. At a sufficient location, so as to be able to observe within the galaxy and omnidirectionally outside our galaxy, for each constellation region around the galactic disc, as well as above and below, there will also be shared regional observation posts that are built with materials available within a reasonable number of parsecs from them using cold-fusion, our nanos, and the brilliance of the minds of our volunteers, working in-concert in the Virtual Universe. These shared posts will have two primary UAS Envoys from each sovereign country working together with UAS Generals and their crews, as well as the Presidential crews, and capable of communicating and sharing information with each other and everyone else to help each other out, since we are one civilization and one team.
“One of these posts, for example, the Sagittarius Epsilon Observation Post, will be located 150,000 light-years from Earth, will be shared with the Presidential JSC and JSC Zone 12 and is on the opposite side of our Galactic Core. This location is unobservable from Earth because it is within our Home World’s observation shadow, due to the fact that it is located on this grid at 0 Degrees in Galactic Longitude. While there will be some points of interest we will stop at within the Milky Way in order to gather information, if needs arise, we’ll set up an observation post in those locations. However, for the most part, we will begin our journeys by setting up the outer-galactic shared observation posts, as an entire UAS Country and Space Force Contingency.
“Once the ninety or more shared constellation region observation posts are set up beyond the galactic disc, General Vesha Celeste will begin her mission of going much deeper into space and then go on out to the CMB exploring, conducting readiness measures to ensure positive handover of the various Zonal Commands, and deliver them to the UAS Generals one-by-one.
“The Presidential Spacecraft will have a priority directive to go from the shared outer-galactic constellation region observation posts, and then we will work our way in until we are a safe distance from the galactic center or the galactic bar. For the Milky Way, as always, we will setup observation posts first. Once we find uninhabited and desolate planets, we will give them an initial name, and once an average-sized tech city has been established and colonized, the citizens of that planet will be able to rename it as they wish, coincided with a grid-region name.
“Work will not stop there, because the goal is to understand every aspect within each Star System, by creating constellation maps, understanding other forms of life, developing methods for harnessing and preserving the power of their Suns, understanding and giving each Sun unlimited life in their current forms, and all so we can avoid destroying life in any current environment, and so much more. Once every planet within every solar system within our Milky Way Galaxy will become connected with their own set of Database Moons, twelve to be exact, and we will then begin to understand more fully each Galactic Core in order to preserve life.
“As we do this, the other UAS Generals will be doing similar work, but on billions, if not more galaxies within their own Zones, Constellation Regions, and further-divided sectors. There will be plenty of opportunities in the many galaxies for scientific studies, but we cannot forget about something that is as simple as time. We’ll need personnel. In order to have the personnel necessary to get all of this done, we will need to find more opportunities for romance. This will include Sky, her one-thousand daughters, and now the one-thousand-and-one gentlemen, built similar to Sky, but populated in an equitable many with Sky and her daughters, both here on Earth and anywhere else throughout the Universe.
“We need to maintain a growing population, as well as our standard set of database moons in every solar system. We’ll need to develop and maintain shields that protect every planet we find while preserving them and each star within each galaxy and their ability to sustain life. Soon, we will be able to harness the power of neutron stars, black holes, nebulae, and much more. After much research, it appears that dark matter, as we use dark energy to convert it into dark matter, may provide us the anomalies we need to bind our Universe in such a way as to reduce the expansion and provide us enough sustainability to where life can go on for an indeterminate amount of time. In this way, we will not have people stranded or alone in remote regions of space never knowing that the Milky Way or what Earth was. We will be able to hold on to all that we have learned or shared together, and everything that has ever existed. This is a big day for civilization, and this is the new beginning. Thank you so much, to each and every single one of you for your dedication and your unrivaled efforts.
“I will now graciously turn over the floor to General Vesha Celeste.”
Eliza looked official and spectacular yet again, in her new UAS Presidential and UAS General wetsuit-looking ensemble. Spectators looked on in awe as she had stood there with her uniform donned, which expressed a subdued black background, accent colors on her seams and embroidery, a short zip up collar with Presidential Seals embroidered onto them, and the features of her suit clinging closely to her curvy frame. This also complemented her up-do blonde hair, her chiseled feminine facial features, and crystalline blue eyes. She looked into the crowd, saw everyone throughout the world, using her optimized mind, and after smiling at each one with a uniquely-perceived gesture based on their personalities, made her way to her chair and sat down.
Vesha, in a very similar uniform, but with five stars on each of her collars, got up to the podium. Her hair was jet black, in a very attractive spiral-curled up-do, which suggested both professionalism and a lavish occasion, and striking thin shocks of highlighted turquoise, yellow, and purple, and pink ends stood up and began to address the audience in much the same way. She was able to present herself in the way every individual throughout the solar system thought she ought to appear, from sultry to professional. Everyone was eager to listen.
“Just as President Eliza Williams has suggested, our entire UAS Intergalactic Mission Contingency, including each UAS Space Force General, crew and support member, will work to realize the initial goals of the UAS Presidential Spacecraft first, to setup Milky Way Galaxy shared observation posts for each constellation region just beyond the edges of the galactic halo, and anywhere else within the Milky Way, upon request. From there, we will continue on with our UAS-IMC journey.
“On these occasions and at all times, unlike we’ve seen in any of the
movies or television shows, which I have quite enjoyed being honest, due to our sensor and jump gate technologies and systems, we will be able to visit Earth, or anywhere we wish. All of this, as coordinated of course. Furthermore, crew, support members, and their entire families are invited to live together on crew member’s associated UAS Command Spacecraft, if they so desire.
“There is plenty of room in the twelve living sectors to provide room for ten times the crew in each sector, but, just like many, I am sure I am not alone in enjoying some space. Yes, the pun is intended. That said, please try to be reasonable, otherwise, our poor chefs will be endlessly busy, and thus far, it looks like our crews have been very judicious. So, thank you. As President Williams has stated, there will be plenty of opportunities for envoy and volunteer positions on every observation post and colony. There will eventually be billions if not trillions of these opportunities, so just as requested by the President, as soon as colonies begin forming within the various star systems, romance can certainly abide, and we’ll need the volunteers.
“Getting back to business here, once these wonderful UAS Command Zone Generals and their crews have been safely delivered to their UAS Command Zones, and once we have worked with them until they are sufficiently comfortable for handover in their constellation regions, within their own zones, I will deputize each of the generals to carry out their further missions. From there, they will explore the distant galaxies. Once there, they will initially observe activity within the galactic habitable zones, which are estimated to be between four to ten Kilo-Parsecs or KPCs from any Milky Way-sized galactic center and they would adjust them mathematically based on each galactic mass and center they are in. They will then travel to discover regions of life within zones that were once thought uninhabitable, exploring them, observing them, setting up tech cities on their planets, and then colonizing them and meeting the same goals we have all worked together to attain here in our own solar system.
“We have done much in our home solar system; therefore, after much talk with each of you, and for intergalactic reference, we will now call our home solar system, Sol.
“As time goes by, and even while we perhaps reach the edges of our Universe, our shared plan will continue to be to learn how to access the energy of the many black holes in order to preserve the life of the stars surrounding them. We will learn how to use their influence so that we can provide life-giving nurture to every single one of the planetary objects within our Universe. This will provide what is needed for life to continue and a treasured legacy to carry on for the long-haul, rather than let the destruction of the untold potential of so many wonderful minds pass with extravagant loss of life.
“With President William’s, General Luís Rodriguez’s, General Anastasia Renae’s, and my discoveries that have led to the development of the quantum drive, or Q-Drive, traveling point to point throughout space on any spacecraft will be swift, safe, and rather easy. General Erin Carter’s and Lugo’s work with gravity drives, or G-Drives, has made driving and control around any spheroid or dangerous sector of space, as well as internal gravity, both quick and tranquil. Navigation, thanks to General James Wilhelm and General Mett Dormer, was made easy for all four drives when it comes to smooth transitions between them, due to the fact that those same systems are calibrated and smooth, so no matter the turn, a cup of coffee won’t spill.
“Q-Drives and G-Drives, as well as A-Drives and F-Drives are installed on every spacecraft in the IMC inventory. They are also available for everyone, whether you choose to fly solo or you are small-time dare-devils out there, traveling for a reasonable price. We can always use the data supplied for scientific purposes, even if you run into some pretty risky stuff. Keep in mind we’re going fully armed with the ability to subdue and stabilize any conceivable hostile situation we may find ourselves in. So, if you plan on going with family and friends on a solo space yacht, then make sure you apply and meet the necessary protective measures as well, for example, anything within our sixteen-canon turret-array. You will need to coordinate with our healing and diplomatic officers, first, and if you are kind enough, they may bequeath you with some of their powers, to help along the way.
“Keep in mind, each solar system will have UAS representation on at least one planet.”
“Thank you, all. For any additional information, please log in to the UAS Government Space Force website. I look forward to going further than before!”
With that Vesha sat down.
After the 2029 State of the UAS broadcast, there were two more weeks of training and sector planning. The pre-departure briefing was ready, just above the Kuiper Belt near Pluto.
Eliza, Vesha, the twelve UAS IMC Command Generals and their Vice Generals, had worked and bonded with their full-on command center crews and every crew and support member on their UAS Command Spacecraft. They had all honed their skills in navigation using F-Drives in open space, G-Drives around the asteroid belts, Q-Drives for large-distance point-to-point travel, and A-Drives to travel on pre-programmed paths, amenable to emergency adjustments as needed, from one spheroid to the next. They were now familiarized with manual controls, macro-like pre-programmed controls, both living and in the Virtual Universe, and each of which had robust safety mechanisms in place. They trained on so much more, and with much more experience, sharing, and relaxation opportunities, they became comfortable with how to manage and properly maneuver every aspect of every UAS Presidential and UAS IMC Spacecraft.
Chapter 59: The IMC, Section 1
Database Moon Archive, Celestial-Sol Date: 2029 January 22. President of the United Allied States (UAS), Eliza A. Williams, summarizes a discussion with the IMC Command Spacecraft Leadership, including the newly appointed IMC Commanders, Five-Star General, Vesha Celeste, her Vice Commander, Four-Star General Erin Carter, and the twelve IMC Zonal Generals. These memories are a collaboration derived from the UAS and IMC leadership, and briefed to Pathway leadership. Recorded within the Virtual Universe. Leadership and crewmembers deliberated on-board Presidential and IMC spacecraft. Input by: Joanne Gallant, President of Pathway, 2029-2032.
“Are you ready?” asked, Eliza to each of the UAS Space Force IMC Commanders and their crews. “Tomorrow we’ll be jumping out. You’ve practiced well; this will be awesome!”
Two weeks had flown by, and during that time, each IMC Commander had worked continuously with their crews and support members for full qualifications on each position on each spacecraft and had researched their zones and constellation regions for the upcoming missions. Each member on-board worked with the clarity of mind consistent with the sense that there were no primal fears since issues such as those could break down crew integrity and cause a serious detriment to the overall mission. The concerns, years ago, in the public sector had been radiation, muscle atrophy, skeletal deterioration, neurological disease, and accidentally running into objects, both living and non-living. Pathway had pushed tech and innovation to the hilt, and thus far, for Pathway and the UAS, there had been no incidents, these concerns had been mitigated. Every spacecraft was imbued with technology preventing any of these issues while allowing for dedicated external sensors to detect obstacles of any size and apply re-navigation technology to them. This worked in a way that would ensure any merging entities would, in a gentle manner, navigate around the spacecraft, or if it was big enough, the spacecraft would navigate around it, and continue on its path as if it were never there. Furthermore, radiation could be absorbed as necessary and objects could provide energy as well through cold fusion, but only if it were established that there were no signs of life within them. The sensors had a robust capacity to constantly scan and detect every aspect of every particle within a parsec radius, so there was nil chance that they would destroy life while protecting theirs. Through this perfected tech the fear of being decimated by floating debris or anything else was no longer necessary.
The AI on each spacecraft was looped continuously into every aspect of each system on their assigned spacecraft
, as well as their support spacecraft. If needs are, and as coordinated, there was enough room within each docking bay to provide temporary docking, where the AI could teleport said spacecraft to one of four visitor’s parking areas within each docking bay. These IMC Spacecraft AI learned to work with the crew and had built individual rational and intuitive sub-loops providing integrated and shared control over each system and subsystem to allow for safe, spontaneous, and coherent manual and auto-pilot functions, for navigation, spacecraft safety, and all other integrated systems, both internal and external. Any spacecraft AI could dock its own or guest support spacecraft without incident. Sharing engagement between each AI and the crew members and giving UAS citizenship to each AI had added a sense of life to each IMC spacecraft and a bond among other living beings. Doing so engendered a shared sense of training among the crew, support members, and each spacecraft while also encoding a sense of living, learning, and reciprocal self-preservation within a given AI’s own mind.
Each IMC Spacecraft AI was originally based on Sky’s mind, integrated with the minds of other individuals within Pathway who had demonstrated unceasing benevolence. Kindness, care for the well-being of others as well as themselves, having a love of life, a desire to preserve it with longevity, quality, and mutually shared understanding were other requirements. Appreciation for and the ability to provide optimal physiology and neurology with an increase in the clarity of mind and the ability to express compassion, empathy, and ingenuity to help civilization advance to go further than it had ever gone before was paramount for any AI. These traits were thus necessary for voluntary candidates submitting neural copies of their minds for AI integration. The whole process had led to successful results and each AI had their own personality and name, and as such, the crews were intrigued by them and bonded with them quite well. Constantly performing personal maintenance and being considered UAS Citizens, as well as preserving the life of and granting sentience and a harmonious purpose to other species, helped each AI to impart purpose to themselves, and it gave the spacecraft populous an added sense of calm.
Further than Before- Pathway to the Stars Page 104