PROCESSION

An October sun hung low in the turbid sky, setting it ablaze.

This far from the Capitol, the suburbs were spread thin.

Endless rows of identical concrete residential blocs were scattered across the landscape, each tower standing tall, spaced apart from its neighbours by open recreational areas and monuments celebrating the continued prosperity of the United Global Citizenry.

That day the streets were flooded with humanity. A rare sight in this sector of the Habitable Zone, which was typically empty during the industrial hours of the day.

Flanked by official Counsel vehicles, the three Adventurers gradually snaked their way downhill towards the launch site.

They were being ferried through the crowd of onlookers: thousands of members of the Citizenry were all lined up to catch a glimpse of history.

For the Adventurers, it was an intensely proud moment. They had trained for years to get to this point.

They would be the first humans to attempt space travel.

Real space travel.

You see, anyone could go on a holiday to the moon, but nobody had built a HyperRocket that could go inter-Quadrant.

Hope. Anticipation. Fear. Pressure. Anxiety. These feelings plagued the Adventurers.

There had also been protests about the mission.

Graffiti scribbled across the Capitol: KNOW OUR PLACE and THE COSMOS IS NOT OURS. There was a growing portion of the Citizenry who didn’t dare to dream of a life beyond Doma.

Downtrodden their whole lives, they felt as though they deserved the fate that waited for them on this forsaken planet.

It was said that the Gods themselves were watching this launch, this mission. Many people thought that once we were out in the cosmos, we would be squashed, as if we were flies, for daring to dream to journey beyond our home.

Others thought that the Gods were waiting with open arms to welcome us into the Heavens.

There were others still who thought we would be disappointed to see that we were alone out there:

No Gods, only men.

As they approached the launch site, the Adventurers saw their ship. Emblazoned on its side was a message to the cosmos: BUT MANKIND CANNOT STAY IN THE CRADLE FOREVER

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