Some of these brilliant scientists have taken part on the development of a space motor that allows to accelerate a vehicle without limits, so that that motor could reach the Nature imposed physical limit.
All this progress is really due to Dr. Alem's revolutionary theories. He has given his whole life for this and was able to build it up with Dr. Nat's help. However, the credit goes to everybody. And it is due to that reason that the ones chosen for the journey were proud and grateful to all of the researchers and engineers of 39th section.
The launch day had arrived, it was finally November 16th. The hangar was fully crowded of people, TV cameras and journalists of all media. The crew (the android included) go up to the spaceship's access ramp while people is greeting them with admiration gestures. The astronauts walk with difficulty because of the uncomfortable spacesuits; they seem to be walking in slow motion and, in the same way, remember how they lived their last day.
The truth is that this mission, though being a round trip, means a likely definitive farewell from most of their loved ones, as they will sense some slight relativistic effects that will bring them some years towards the future. Years in which some of them could have passed away. So the excitement is bittersweet: they feel happy about the adventure, about becoming pioneers and surpassing mankind's limits, about showing a new way. In the other side, they are sad as they could not be able to share this, having fear for not finding someone of the loved ones when coming home and for losing part of one life. At the same time these thoughts invaded the minds of these space explorers, their bodies hide this fear and return the greetings to the people there gathered.
Minutes later, after the crew entered the vessel, hangar's background gates started to open slowly.
The spacecraft's hatch was already closed and the access ramp was been taking back. Visually, it was as if it was been absorbed, disappearing completely. One could not identify then where the hatch and the ramp had been instants earlier, the vessel's external structure being totally homogeneous and smooth.
The astronauts start taking off their spacesuits.
- How uncomfortable these clothes are - Dr. Nat began commenting while removing her helmet.
- What a performance! We dressed up the suits for impressing the crowd and get photos taken and videos recorded by them. But someone can really think that we are wearing them every time inside the Anacronopete? - Lur said.
- I fear so - Alem took a pause -. Furthermore, there are people who believe only what they see and hear from media.
- Then the world is crazy now! We hope to be more prudent in fifty years - Lur joked.
The spaceship's interior part has no windows, everything is hermetic. However, there are exterior cameras that are integrated and perfectly camouflaged around all its shell, allowing the team to see what is happening outside. The small room they are located in is obviously the control unit. All control screens hang up on the wall next to the ovoid's small axes, being in front of them some tables which mix up with the structure's smooth curvature. In the egg-shaped room, a white tone predominates, very bright in almost early object. The four of them are sitting in their comfortable armchairs that are joined to the structure. They are concentrated writing complicated test sequences in order to check the correct working of the whole system. They are doing so around ten minutes, but they hear something suddenly...
- Attention please, City Controller is talking to you. We are performing the diagnoses in order to proceed to the opening of the central prism's upper gates.
- Understood, Controller - Lur said in his role of ship's first pilot.
- Test of light motor simulation succeed. But there remains only 10% of fuel.
- Lur, have you completed expert system's sequences? - Alem is anxious.
- Relax, these things take their time. RoCo still has to perform the navigation settings. But we are doing everything right, anomalies have not been detected yet.
After 3 or 4 minutes, RoCo confirms:
- Naviga<>tion coordi<>nates se<>tted.
- Thank you, RoCo. Controller, we ask you for permission for the take-off. Everything is ready - Lur smiled while looking at his companions.
Meanwhile, outside the ship some important politician is being interviewed by a lot of TV cameras and radio microphones.
- Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this big advance is due to our research politics, the effort in grants we have given to AVRI (Advanced Vehicle Research Institute) and, of course, due to our awesome team of scientists!
- Do you know that Dr. Alem has been working on this project almost after finishing his PhD, this is, for 30 years? - a young journalist from a radio station replied.
The politician stuttered a bit and answered vigorously:
- My dear youngster, I did not want to diminish the work of anybody. Clearly I have talked clumsily, excuse me for that. The contributions of Dr. Alem and his team's work have been remarkable. But that motor's development was extremely expensive, and it has been our government, sensible to this breakthrough, which believed and wagered for this project.
- So then, do you think that, if your party had not won the elections two years ago, Dr. Alem had been unable to build his motor? - the same reporter insisted.
- Ha, ha, ha, you are awful, you turn everything I say against me! Let us see, why to argue! The fact is that today is a great day.
Some people in the crowd, clearly infiltrated supporters of the politician, started to applaud in order to divert attention and interrupt the sequence of annoying questions.
Again inside the vessel:
- Attention please, there is green light. Spaceship Anacronopete, you are allowed to take off.
- Thank you, Controller - the main pilot said -. Turning on motors in 3, 2, 1,...
The ignition sound resounded inside the hangar. The crowd was looking at the maneuver with attention. Reporters were reporting everything that was happening there. Slowly, the ship elevated a few centimeters and remained floating in the air. It moved in the same slow pace towards the hangar's exit in the skyscraper's 40th floor. Only after fully going out from the hangar, the vessel increased its velocity upwards.
In only a few seconds, the spaceship was above the skyscrapers and moving to the central prism's upper gates.
- Controller, the estimated departure time to the first lock is 3 minutes - Lur reported by radio.
As we already said, hermetic cities are provided with their own vehicles for inner displacements and with the teleporting mechanisms for travelling outside it. However, as a security measure, all prisms have gate mechanisms in their upper side in order to allow going in or out in case of contingency. In this case, this is the only way the vessel can leave the city.
- Our detectors indicate that they are arriving here in 20 seconds. Please, reduce speed. The first gate is opening - Controller notified.
- Understood. Let us slow down.
The first gate completes its opening.
- You are allowed to go through first lock.
- Thanks, Controller.
Lur piloted carefully.
- We are inside.
- Closing gate - Controller told.
Just after the first lock's hermetic gate had shut down, Nat commented.
- Now what happens?
- It is the set<>ted proto<>col, Dr. Nat.
- That is it, now they are establishing the vacuum in the area we are now in, as in the next one - Alem detailed -. When we get to the second lock, after we exit and it closes, we will be outside.
Once the ship went out from the central prism, Lur said.
- Changing the control to the second pilot.
Then RoCo took the lead and started elevating the vessel quickly, but not in a perpendicular trajectory with respect to the prism but describing a parabolic one.