The shuttle shook slightly as it exited the Earth’s atmosphere. Jacob gripped the arms of his seat in apprehension. He had never been in space before and already he was hating it. The vibrations, the constant groaning of the ship’s metal that made Jacob think it was going to split apart in any second. Not only that but the fact that he was going out into SPACE, where there is nothing. Nothing but huge balls of fire, gas, and the occasional rocky world. Who in their right mind would actually want to go into space?
Alas, Jacob had no choice in the matter. As a soldier of the United Nations Armed Forces, or the U.N.A.F., he was one of the many “lucky” individuals that were to be sent on what many are calling the Voyage. Sure, he could have said no, but his curiosity got the better of him. This was perhaps the one and only chance to discover the origins of the Human race.
Now, high above the clouds, Jacob was beginning to have second thoughts. Maybe it wasn’t to late to transfer back to Earth?
His thought was cut short when the massive alien ship, the S.S. Intrepid, appeared in his little viewport.
There was some commotion as the others onboard shifted over to Jacob’s side to view the massive obelisk-like ship. It was huge! It was at least the size of New Jersey, maybe even a bit larger! It’s surface was seemingly smooth and jet black, making it nearly impossible to see if it wasn’t for the sun’s reflection. Four massive engines easily dwarfing the shuttle glowed a dim blue color. It’s pyramidal “head” was lost in the blackness of space.
“How the hell did we not see this thing for so long?” one soldier asked to no one in particular.
“Cuz it was hiding in the dark side of the moon is why,” another responded, mesmerized by the massive ship.
“Still,” someone else said, “Ya think we woulda detected somethin’. I mean, look at this beast!”
“It’s alien-tech,” Jacob said, “Wouldn’t be surprised if they could hide something like this from us.”
The other soldier grunted and they all continued to stare at the Intrepid, it’s massive hull growing larger and larger until all they could see outside was black. The soldiers were back in there seats by then, talking about the Intrepid and the Voyage. At least, Jacob assumed that was what they were talking about. After all, it was all he could think about.

He remembered when this all started about two months ago. It was July 7, 2084. Humanity had made its biggest discovery yet: warp. Well, limited warp at least. They decided to mount the very first Warp Core onto a simple unmanned probe. The probe’s mission was simple: warp to the moon and back. So it did.
Everything was going according to plan. The probe was fully operational, the Core was mounted and installed properly. All that was left was the actual “jump”. So everyone back at Earth gathered around their nearest listening and/or viewing device, all anxious to see the results. The probe charged up its Warp Core and then poof! Suddenly it was in the orbit of the moon.
Mankind was excited. It was their first jump and it was successful! Imagine what we could do now! Little did they know the effects of this accomplishment, one that would far supercede any Humanity as a whole could think of.
Hidden in the dark side of the moon, the massive starship Intrepid laid in wait. It had been hidden there since Humans could first walk, waiting for the right moment. That moment was now.
In the height of Humanity’s jubilation and excitement, the Intrepid revealed itself. It delivered a pre-recorded message made by the ship’s long gone passengers. It would be a message that would change everything Humanity knew about its origins.
Jacob could still remember vividly when the message appeared on his T.V. He was on leave and decided to spend his free time with his family: his loving wife whom he had been married to for over a decade, his seven year old son, and his soon to come baby, who he didn’t know was a boy or a girl because he and his wife wanted to be surprised. He remembered the initial shock when the black obelisk appeared seemingly from nowhere to the front of the probe. Suddenly, the view shifted to that of… of a man!
Jacob was completely baffled. Could this be… no. No, it just wasn’t possible. Yet at the same time, he could not deny it.
“Greetings,” the man/alien said, his holographic form staticy from years of not being used, “I am Raki Grelok, or The Prophet as some chose to call me. I have recorded this message to be found by our ancestors when they were deemed ready. If you are seeing this then obviously you are ready. Now, I know that by perhaps this point in time you already have established the fact that you have evolved here. I am here to tell you that you have not.
“You see, you are all actually the descendants of us: the Viendissi. Our ship, the S.S. Intrepid, and five others set out from our original dying homeworld of Viendi. Each ship had our own world to colonize. Ours was this one. Unfortunately, we had only limited warp capabilities and were only able to make small ‘hops’ from destination to destination until we would reach our target. While we made it here intact, there was a ship malfunction that caused all of our previous history and knowledge to be lost to us. There was panic yes, but ultimately we came to accept this as a blessing. A chance to start anew! To forget our blood-filled past and to finally start on a fresh page!
“Of course, in order to do this we had to forget and change our names. No longer were we the Viendissi of old but now the Humans of new, which is an ancient Viendissi word meaning, ‘The Reborn’. We also named this planet Earth, ‘The Rebirth’. Then, before we had erased our memories completely, we had all our scholars and historians onboard try to give at least a basic knowledge of what we were. Then I recorded this message, and now here we are.
“So you may be asking yourself, ‘What’s the point of all this?’ The point is to show you who you really are and to give you the opportunity to find out more. The Intrepid now belongs to you. Inside are the coordinates to all our previous jumps all the way back to Viendi. If you wish to, you may retrace our steps so that you can discover your true heritage. If you are however more content with ignorance then the Intrepid would still serve you as a means for obtaining advanced technology. Whatever your choice, I hope you find some use of this ship. Gods know we won’t. Now, farewell! We go now to erase our memories and start anew!”
With that, the message ended. The whole world was stunned into silence. Then suddenly boom! There was commotion all around. The science community wanted to obtain it to study its technology. The U.N.A.F. wanted to obtain it to gain advanced weapons and to ensure it didn’t fall into the wrong hands. The world’s scholars and historians wanted to study the information stored aboard, even if it was only a miniscule amount. Meanwhile people like Jacob simply were allured by the fact that they were descendants of an advanced alien species.
Yes, there were many forms of media that had already said this before, but none had any credibility to back it up. Most weren’t meant to be taken seriously but rather as a form of entertainment! But now, now all that has changed. Those stories, video games, movies, whatever, whether intended or not, were now all true. Not completely of course, but true enough.

Now it was September 2, 2084. Jacob was staring at the massive starship as its docking bay opened to allow the shuttle permission to dock. He had said his goodbyes to his wife and son and his newborn daughter. He told them that he might not be back for a very long time and that he may not come back at all. His wife told him not to say such thing, but Jacob knew that if worse came to worse they should at least be prepared for the possibility. He told his son to be strong and to look after and his mother and sister.
“Will you be back in time for my birthday?” his son asked in that child’s way, brown eyes damp with tears that threatened to spill over.
“I don’t know, Josh,” Jacob answered, “I hope I do.”
Josh looked down, nodding in understanding.
“Hey,” Jacob said soothingly, “Hey come here.”
He pulled his son into a tight embrace. Jacob didn’t want to let go for fear of never seeing his family again. Likewise, Josh didn’t want to let go for fear of never seeing his father again.
“I want to come with you,” Josh whispered.
“I know,” Jacob answered, “ And I’d take you if I could, but there are too many dangers in space.”
Though Jacob couldn’t see it, he felt the slight nod from his son.
After what seemed like an eternity, Jacob released his son and made his way to the car his wife was waiting in.
“Wait!” Josh said, “Hold up a sec!”
Josh bolted inside and came out a few moments later. He carried an old teddybear.
“Mr. Snuggles,” Josh said, “I used to use him to help me get over bad dreams. I think maybe you’ll need him more than me.”
Jacob took the scraggly old teddybear from his son’s hands. Now he was about to cry. Instead, he pulled his son into another loving embrace before he got into the car with his wife. The last he ever saw of his son was that of him standing on the sidewalk, watching as they drove away.
“You should be resting,” he told his wife.
“And you should be staying down here with us,” his wife responded.
“I have to do this Monica,” he replied.
She nodded. “So do I.”
It was a quiet ride until they made it to the shuttle launch pad. When they got there, Monica stopped the car and looked over at her beloved.
“Promise me,” she said, “Promise me that you’ll come back. For all of us.”
Jacob looked into his wife’s beautiful amber eyes and nodded. “I promise.”
She smiled sadly and kissed him long and hard.
When she finally pulled away, tears streaked her face.
“And don’t cheat on me for some green girl, got it?”
Jacob chuckled and swore not to before he got out and made his way to the shuttle. When he looked out his viewport as the shuttle was launching, he could still see Monica there in the car, watching as the shuttle ascended to space.
A beep interrupted Jacob’s thoughts.
“We have arrived on the S.S. WeirdAlienShit. I would like to thank you for flying Star Reynolds!” the shuttle’s pilot joked.
Jacob waited until the last man rose from his seat. Now, the Voyage had truly begun.