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Well, thank you for inviting me!
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Ad Astra Series Preview
Video Preview for Ad Astra Spinoff Series
This is the 8th story in Tiberius64's story series (Klingon64 on FanFiction.net), which also begins a fanfiction spinoff series called Ad Astra ("to the stars" in Latin). This story takes place 5 years after Love's Full Blossom (a skip from 2025 to 2030), when humanity is just about to enter its deeper space exploration era. By this time, Phineas and Isabella Flynn have a son named Christopher Flynn (Chris for short). Below is the link to the FanFiction.net version.
Ad Astra 1: Encounter at Alpha Centauri
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Full-Text Story[]
Chapter 1: The Proposition[]
"Ad Astra 1 Encounter at Alpha Centauri" Promotional
Video Promotional for Ad Astra 1: Encounter at Alpha Centauri
The USS Phineas PF-01-A (Liberty Class)
== Spring of 2030… ==
To say the least, most of the ships in TerraFleet had been kept in quite some restriction for the past several years. As with all things, the growing stage was slow and somewhat painful. No ships had even gone totally outside the Sol System yet! With all the people that needed to be trained at the Academy and all the ships that had to be built in preparation, there was little interaction of any kind with any aliens besides Meap and his species ("Species 1"). Phineas, the father of this era-to-come, was the most disappointed. Even the most venerated ship of the fleet, the Liberty-Class USS Phineas-A, being the second starship to bear the name, was being used for inner space training of cadets and newly-enlisted crew members, which is why Lieutenant Commander Buford Van Stomm and his wife Adyson had to move around from ship to ship as the Chiefs of Security whenever they were on duty.
Well, even with a fleet of 300 ships now ready, only 112 were fully-equipped with all weapons, shields, sensors, and full fully-trained crews by the summer of 2030. Phineas and Isabella, who still lived in Danville in a rather nice yet small place nearby their old houses and had a son one year into the marriage; they named him Christopher Flynn (or Chris for short). He was already 4 years old and already quite the builder in the house. At his age, he was building his own action figures of himself, his family, and his friends for himself to play with (which he had enabled to be controlled by their minds). His favorites were the ones he made of his parents in their current uniform style with phasers and lightsabers (although no officers carried them on their person at this point besides security officers or enlisted security members). He longed to go on an exploration mission into deep space with his father, although…yeah, you all read the problems the fleet was having with stuff in general.
One day, Phineas spoke before the Flynn-Fletcher Academy, saying that he intended to go exploring outside the Sol System soon, which he had not done since he was 15. Although he had the rank of Captain, he held the authority and charisma of an Admiral, as he and a few others directed most affairs of the fleet anyways. He gave the following short speech:
Friends, family, fellow members of TerraFleet, enlisted or ranked, I come to you all with a grieved heart…you know what? Forget the formalities. I'll get right to the point: we've only been wading ankle-deep in the ocean of space for the past several years. I say it's time to swim. I will take myself and crew to the Alpha Centauri System for a short-term exploration mission to get us off on the right foot. Who's with me?
Isabella, who was always supportive of her husband's big ideas and plans, was the first to rise in the crowd of the speech auditorium. Others soon followed, leading to unanimity among all comrades. "That's what I thought" announced Phineas. "Besides, where's our thirst for new knowledge gone? We practically only know Meap and Species 1 and the Martians! I will leave on my wedding anniversary as a way of celebrating 5 years with my beautiful wife Isabella" he said, looking at Isabella, who sat in the front row with the Phineas-A crew. She blushed as the crowds cheered and applauded for them both. "I will need a complement of engineers and security, so anyone interested in joining may apply with my brother, Commander Ferb Fletcher. Since even our biggest ships are small, I will have my full complements just in case; I will need 64 volunteers to work as security, doctors, and engineers. Commander Fletcher will decide accordingly. This meeting is adjourned; Godspeed to you all. All members of the Phineas will meet with me at the Chez Platypus tonight at 7:00. I've reserved spots for you all—just come in uniform. Thank you and have a good afternoon and evening."
Chapter 2: The Dive[]
The Flynn-Fletcher Insignia
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Phineas, Isabella, and Christopher Flynn in 2030
== June 14, 2030… ==
The crew complement was as follows:
Bridge
Captain Phineas Flynn
Commander Ferb Fletcher (First Officer/Science)
Lieutenant Commander Isabella Flynn (Communications)
Lieutenant Commander Irving [last name unknown…] (Secondary Science)
Lieutenant Katie [same last name as Irving…] (Tactical/Weapons Console)
Lieutenant Commander Buford Van Stomm (Security)
Engineering/Security
Lieutenant Commander Baljeet Rai (Chief Engineer)
Lieutenant Commander Ginger Rai (Secondary Engineer/Transporter Operator)
Lieutenant Commander Adyson Van Stomm (Security)
Yeoman Geon Im (Chief Petty Officer—Engineering)
Yeoman Peter Leyva (Security)
Yeoman Django Brown (Security)
Various other engineers/security guards
Medical/Counseling
Lieutenant Commander Holly Im (Chief Medical Officer)
Lieutenant Mildred "Milly" Brown (Secondary Medical Officer/Top Nurse)
Lieutenant Gretchen Leyva (Ship Counselor)
Various other nurses
Spacedock (Star Trek)
"Lieutenant, set us on a course…second star to the right…and straight on 'til morning" said Captain Phineas Flynn. "Aye, captain" said Lieutenant Vanessa Fletcher. "You know, it's interesting to think those 15 years ago, we didn't really hold official ranks. You know? We were just kids playing around and having a great summer…ah, those were the days…don't you agree, honey?" asked Phineas Prime to his wife. "Yes, yes I do" said Lieutenant Commander Isabella Flynn to her husband. "Well, because of our simple games back then, humanity is in its space exploration era…" Phineas just closed his eyes in memory of all the events of 15 years before and in waiting of all the adventures to come of this exploration mission…This new Phineas was supposed to be capable of Warp 9.9 at max (3,035c, or 564,510,000 Mi./Sec.), considerably faster than its predecessor (the original Phineas could go at Warp 9 [1,516c or 281,976,000 Mi./Sec.]). As Phineas remembered his first time going out into space as a child, something occurred to him. Phineas said to Ferb "Number One, you have the conn. I think I'll bring my son up here to the bridge." "Aye, sir." In a few minutes, Phineas was back on the bridge with Christopher, who was just eating in the mess hall with the other kids.
Chris, being so young, was amazed at the sight of stars zooming by through the forward display. "Hey, daddy, when are we gonna get there?" Phineas simply responded "in a little while, Chris. Wanna go with me to the holodeck?" Christopher smiled warmly and nodded. Phineas smiled warmly back and said "alright. Let's go. To the rest of you here on the bridge, feel free to relax and bring your kids up here. I'll be down on Holodeck 1 with my son here. Number One, sorry to ruin your short break…you have the conn." Ferb smiled and rolled his eyes before saying "aye, sir" while Phineas and Chris walked to the turboshaft. "Deck E" said Phineas after the door closed. In 30 seconds, the door opened and Phineas walked out with Chris through the hallway, engineering and security personnel saluting them along the way. "I've never been on one before. What's it like?" asked Chris in his childhood innocence. Phineas smiled and briefly looked down at him before looking forward again and saying "you'll see."
They arrived at the door after making one more turn around a corner. "What do you wanna do? A day at the beach? Disneyland? Or did you have a book you've always wanted to live through?" Chris thought and said "actually…I always wanted to try that rollercoaster you said you built when you were a kid! Can we?" he asked excitedly. Phineas, surprised, then said "really? You're not afraid? Man…your cousin Amanda hates thrill rides! But alright; I'm not gonna object. Besides, I could use some nostalgia." Phineas typed in the program and the door slid open, all effects slowly coming into being. They both looked up at the huge rollercoaster in the old Flynn-Fletcher backyard in awe (even Phineas marveled at one of his most famous creations). "It's kinda…lonely here…can you put people here, daddy?" "Sure. Computer, add an appropriate child complement as was 20 years ago—objective mode." Suddenly, they saw Phineas, Ferb, and their friends all as kids.
The holographic kids seemed to be ignoring adult Phineas and Chris. Chris, after waving at them, looked up at his dad. "We're on objective mode, Chris. We're gonna experience what my friends and I did 19 years ago. Let's get in!" They both excitedly sat down, listening to child Phineas give the instructions on buckling in before dropping the seatbelt he was making an example out of. After they reached the top, child Phineas asked "you all signed the waivers, right…?" before the ride cars zoomed down into spirals, loop-de-loops, and corkscrews around and through Danville. As the coaster was inexplicably pulled upward and the cars zoomed off the track to Mount Rushmore, the Eiffel Tower, and up into space, a computer doorbell sounded. "Computer, freeze program" said Phineas as all ceased to move around them. "Bridge to Captain Flynn." "Go ahead." "We're almost in the Alpha Centauri System. You're needed on the bridge." "Very well, Number One. I'll be up. Flynn out. Computer, save from current time index and end program." Phineas and Chris landed on the holodeck floor with a thud as all holograms and shields ceased immediately.
Chapter 3: Away Mission[]
The turboshaft opened up on the bridge, Phineas and Christopher entering the room. Phineas went to his Captain's chair, telling Ferb "thank you, Number One." Ferb smiled and went back to his science station, where his daughter Victoria was sitting and looking at all his computer screens. He sat her on his lap as he got back into his chair. "Captain, we'll arrive in 30 seconds" said Vanessa. "Helm, drop out of warp gradually here. I wanna see this binary star system for what it is. Slow to Warp 0.5." Vanessa said "Aye, sir" and pulled back slowly on the throttle. The zooming stars slowed, no longer streaks in a matter of seconds; an asteroid belt was present, so Phineas ordered shields to be raised as Vanessa slowed considerably and navigated through the field while Katie phased and torpedoed any in their way from her tactical station. "All decks, brace for light impact" announced Phineas to the crew from his seat. There were some mild hits from small meteoroids, but negligible effects.
A few planets came into view in a minute; a ship even flew by. They followed it towards the fifth planet of Alpha Centauri B, which looked very much like earth but in shades of red. "It's…beautiful…" said Isabella, not knowing really what to say. "Fascinating" said Irving from his secondary science station with his son Jonathan at his side. "Yea…" his son said in agreement. "Well, in order to not scare the natives, we'll go down via shuttlecraft to someplace in the outskirts of some settlement. The away team consists of Mr. Fletcher, Mr. Van Stomm, and myself. You on the bridge may contact us with our prototype communicator badges. Mrs. Fletcher, you have the conn. Away team with me; we need to get the communicator badges from Mr. Rai and put Mr. Van Stomm's wife in charge of security. Chris, behave for your mother and the crew; I'll be back." Phineas hugged his son while Ferb said bye to his wife. They both went into the turboshaft to engineering, where they collected the prototype comm badges from Baljeet, got Buford, and walked to the shuttlecraft bay.
They took the Archimedes (the name he finally gave the Captain's Yacht) down through the planet's red
A male and female Thoronon
atmosphere. After the clouds and turbulence cleared, distinct and aesthetically-unique villages appeared. Phineas piloted down to the surface, setting the craft down some distance outside the village. They opened the hatch (they had confirmed prior that the planet had an oxygen atmosphere) and stepped onto the surface. The gravity here was a bit less, so every falling move was a bit slower than that of earth. They shielded the shuttlecraft and then proceeded to the village, which they arrived at in ten minutes' walking distance. The vegetation around was still green like that of earth, but in unusual shapes. The ground was a moist reddish soil with no rocks or pebbles. These people had advanced technology in many facets of life, albeit a primitive, traditional social setting. There were open-air markets, trading posts, and communing throughout the roads. The villagers all gave much attention to the Terran newcomers, causing uneasiness inside the away team of three. Even more unsettling was the fact that these natives talked amongst themselves in whispers at the sight of them. Some official-looking personnel approached the team armed, their faces not showing the friendliest looks. "I am Captain Phineas Flynn of the starship Phineas. My intentions are peaceful and of an exploratory nature." One guard looked at another, nodded, and said (surprisingly in English) "You're ''''the famous Phineas Flynn…we've been waiting for you." Phineas looked uneasily, saying "I don't understand." "Follow us. We intend no harm and have no intentions against you and your friends." The team followed cautiously behind as they were led to the base of a mountain, where they proceeded up an escalator. When they arrived, there was a small palace-like structure that slowly appeared, as if it were cloaked. "We cannot go any farther" said one guard. "Your presence has been requested in there. We do not know what he wants…" "He…?" asked Phineas. "Well, let's go check it out." They walked into the throne room, which was illuminated as soon as they set foot in it. There was a fancy throne there with a human-looking being sitting and watching in elegant clothing.
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S'lar in his judge robes
"Welcome, Phineas Flynn, Ferb Fletcher, and Buford Van Stomm of earth. These people whom you have made contact with are the Thoroni. Many of them have heard of you from your exploits with Meap and your trip to the Shooting Star Milkshake Bar…" "Yeah, that was good…" said Phineas with a grin. The being's facial expression returned to one of seriousness. "Back to serious matters. I suppose you're wondering why I have summoned you here. I have been observing mankind for a long time now, and I have been rather…disappointed. While you have some of the brightest intellectual potential in this universe, you have squandered your abilities on self-seeking. People throughout your history have shown arrogance, violence, insanity, emotional compromise, and every sort of immorality imaginable. Not only that, but you try to conceal your faults by biological excuses, birth control, suicide, and other forms of deception. You approve of others' faults in the name of political correctness and tolerance, instead of at least speaking up and making your disapproval known. Quite frankly, your species is primitive and violent despite its incredible capacity for good." "We have just entered our deeper space exploration era; you can't possibly be losing patience now!" said Phineas. "Yeah! I'll admit I was a bit…rough as a kid, but look at us now! We're going from star to star!" said Buford, before being corrected by the word "almost" from the being.
"Who are you to judge a whole race like this? Why do you?" asked Phineas. The being sank backwards in his chair, saying "you'll find out." At these words, Phineas disappeared, as well as the being. "Captain!" yelled Buford and Ferb simultaneously. Ferb tapped his communicator badge, saying "Fletcher to Phineas—the Captain has just disappeared…we'll begin a scouting mission about the planet's surface to see if we can locate him." "Phineas to Fletcher," said Vanessa at the conn, "Lieutenant Commander Flynn has just been taken!" Now Buford was cracking his knuckles, muttering "this little…whoever he is…is gonna pay!" "Fletcher to Phineas, we'll keep you informed as we survey the planet. Fletcher out."
Chapter 4: The Test[]
"Where…where am I…?" asked Phineas, finding himself in some remote, rocky, hill-covered semi-arid desert range. Soon after he arrived there, Isabella did as well. "Phineas!" "Isabella!" The two hugged before Isabella asked "what's all this about?" "I don't know. There was this being who…" "You mean me…?" asked the being, who appeared in front of them instantly in his chair, which hovered a few feet off the ground. "I have brought you two here to test your abilities and character. I cannot promise that harm won't come to either of you two. You two have demonstrated on multiple occasions that you do not believe in revenge or senseless killing of a perceived threat. I want to see how far that goes…" The being disappeared, and soon afterward, one reptilian creature and one member of Species 1 appeared (whom they recognized as Mitch), both armed with weapons of their own. When Phineas and Isabella pulled out their phasers, they found them useless and powerless; the aliens had the same fate.
The being's voice echoed throughout the sky, saying "consider yourselves opponents—choose whatever pairing or grouping you choose, but there must be at least two opposing sides. Both sides will fight until one succumbs and is defeated by death. Your communicators and personal projectile and energy weapons are useless, and neither of your ships' scanners will be able to detect your presence in this secret area. There is no way out except by survival, lest all die due to unwillingness to fight. May the best opponent or opponents win…" The being then went silent as Mitch and the reptilian allied conspired together; the reptilian would take on Phineas and Mitch would take on Isabella. "Isabella, come with me!" Phineas and Isabella ran off to look for any and all raw resources they could find. The reptilian was a bit slow, so Mitch got quickly fed up. "You know what, you hulking heap of flab! I'll get the resources and materials! You take your sweet time and think up something to defeat these two pests with!"
Phineas ran with Isabella to the rock hills and formations. "Isabella, I know what we're not gonna do today. For one thing, this guy's just tryin' to test us and prove to himself that we humans are inferior. We can't…" "…kill them" said Isabella, finishing his sentence. "I know. But what else can we do to get out? They'll kill us if we don't…" before she could finish, a rock came plummeting down from the sky, barely missing the two. They looked out from the rock formations and saw that they had built a crude catapult. "Alright, that's it. We're out of here. Isabella, come on." They ran down the other side and found thick, strong desert plant vines, crystals, and various mineral deposits. Phineas' eyes widened, reminding him of his childhood and all the access to materials he now had found. "Isabella…" "Phineas…" "I know what…" "…we're gonna…." "…do today!" they said together. They hurried down the rocks and gathered all that they could. Phineas and Isabella together quickly constructed their own catapult, launching large rocks in quick succession.
Mitch was incapacitated by being hit in the shoulder and leg. "Go on…whoever you are…or, whatever you are…kill those two!" The reptilian then fired back from the side opposite the rocks from Phineas and Isabella, successfully shattering their contraption and kicking up ground debris, incapacitating Isabella, who now lay bruised and bleeding on the ground. "Isabella!" "Go…on, Ph-Phin-neas…I just need some time to…rest…" Phineas carried her to the shade of a low rock formation, sticking a life support device on her arm. He kissed her lips briefly and then got some sticks, sharp rock tips, and some plant vines, making several arrows. He then found some strong pieces of wood and made a crossbow. He test fired his crossbow, which sent the arrow considerably far (at least 100 yards). He then carried it chest-level and began scouting around.
Phineas vs a Sorunon Reptilian
Once he turned a bend around a large rock, he found the reptilian, slowly advancing with no weapon. Phineas loaded quickly and launched; the arrow penetrated the beast's flesh, which neither prompted a cringe nor slowed it down. The slow zombie-like walk of this beast sent fear through Phineas. On one hand, he didn't want to be killed, but he didn't want to have to resort to brutality to kill a resilient enemy. In this thought process, the reptilian reached for Phineas' shoulders, to which Phineas began to physically push back. This reptilian was considerably stronger, but not nearly as agile, so Phineas slipped out of his grasp and hurried away. With the day heat beginning to set in, Phineas was becoming ever-more weak. "I…I…what did I do to deserve this?" he screamed upward at the sky. He then retreated to the place where he had left Isabella. She was lying peacefully asleep; he went over to her to go comfort her.
"H-hey…Phineas…" "Oh, Isabella! I'm gonna fail us down here!" Isabella put her finger on his lips and simply said "Do I…have to remind y-you of…the ISS Phineas brig? How we…escaped with no odds in o-our favor?" Phineas instantly straightened up, hitting his head on the low rock formation. "Ouch…alright…you've con-v-vinced me…alright…just think big…just think big…just think…" As Phineas walked around the area, he found a hollow wood tube. "Hmmm…if a simple launcher can't penetrate its skin that well…I need some more force in my shot…" he looked around the mineral formations and found some yellow crystals with yellow dust beneath their formations. He smelled the rotten egg smell and nodded, realizing it was sulfur. He put some large rocks at the back end of the tube, sealing off the back end. He then put a small hole in the wood tube, where he put some dry plant brush as a fuse. After putting in some sulfur powder, he found some hard diamond-shaped mineral debris to use as shard ammunition. As he finished, the reptilian could be heard coming nearby.
Phineas rushed back to where Isabella was, finding the beast there, about to grab at Isabella. Phineas quickly and quietly lit a match (he had brought a box of matches just in case) before jumping out from around the corner, saying "NO ONE TOUCHES MY WIFE!" The makeshift cannon fired off, sending shrapnel into the alien's flesh; he fell to the ground, still alive but injured badly and bleeding (it had bluish-green blood). Phineas noticed a crudely-made knife lying by his left hand. Phineas quickly rushed over to pick it up. After wiping sweat off his brow, he tossed the knife aside, yelling up at the sky "No…I won't do it! Find your entertainment elsewhere!" Instantly, Phineas and Isabella were transported back to the throne room along with Mitch and the reptilian, all healed of wounds. The being and his throne reappeared where it was originally soon afterward. "You humans are so hard to understand…one moment, you're mindless, overly-emotional, irrational, and illogical…the next, you're loyal, honorable, merciful, and understanding. I knew you would pass, Phineas Flynn; I just wanted to see with my own eyes how well you would respond—as you have on more than one occasion with various enemies who threaten you and your partner there."
"I am a man who is bound by my conscience to uphold certain moral principles" said Phineas. "Revenge is never the answer to dealing with an enemy—even if they do something that really gets under your skin." "Well said. You've definitely been ready to come into contact with other species. This planet is home to the Thoroni. The reptilian was a type of Sorunon; the Soruna in existence are the primates, arboreals, reptilians, insectoids, and reptilians. The Soruna reptilians are rather bad-tempered, as you have probably seen." "Yes. Yes, I have." "Don't worry about me any longer; I may drop by to say hello from time to time, but that won't be for a while…I myself am not omnipotent, in case you were wondering. I get my powers from someone your early ancestors knew as 'the Great I AM.'" Phineas knew what this meant, saying "I've never been too much of a man of faith, but you've driven me to reconsider…" said Phineas. Isabella leaned on and hugged his arm, closing her eyes and smiling. "Then I have, as you humans say, 'killed two birds with one stone'…I must be off. See you…out there…Oh, and by the way, you can call me S'lar…just for future reference" He smiled as his throne floated off and the throne room disappeared, leaving Phineas, Isabella, Mitch, and the Sorunon Reptilian on the red mountaintop.
Chapter 5: New Friends[]
After an hour of searching in the Archimedes, Ferb and Buford began to worry. "We've skimmed the whole surface of this worthless ball of dirt and still no…!" Buford was interrupted by a computer scanner going off. "There they are. Phineas and Isabella are both at the top of that mountain. Archimedes to Phineas, we've located the Captain and Lieutenant Commander Flynn" said Ferb. "Well done, Commander. We'll be waiting for you up here. Chris is getting worried here…" "We hear you, Phineas. Tell him that Uncle Ferb has his dad. Archimedes out." They landed the shuttle on the mountaintop, picking up Phineas and Isabella. "Welcome back, Captain" said Ferb. Phineas, being entirely informal, said "it's good to be back, Ferb. May I have the honors?" "Of course." Phineas then took control of the craft, piloting it up to the Phineas. It landed in the shuttle bay, where Vanessa and Christopher were waiting.
"Daddy!" yelled Chris as he ran towards his parents, hugging them both. "Where were you? What happened?" "We met a rather interesting person today" said Isabella. "Can you tell me about him?" "When you get older, honey." "Come on, people, let's get back up there. I wanna get back home and rest." They all walked back to the bridge, where Buford relieved his wife of Bridge Security and Phineas relieved Mrs. Fletcher of the conn. "Put me on to the crew, Isabella" said Phineas to his wife informally. "This is Captain Phineas Flynn. I think we've had enough adventures for today, and that we'd all better head home. I cannot personally speak for any of the rest of you, but I for one am worn out for today. We'll keep on exploring these strange new worlds and seeking out new life and new civilizations, but for right now, I think we'd better rest up some and bring back more ships next time. Flynn out."
Captain Philip Nunez of the USS Constantine
"Lieutenant, set a course…for home" said Phineas. They were soon on their way back home, arriving in an hour or so in the Terran solar system. Once back in earth orbit, they received a message from spacedock. "Isabella, bring it up." "Aye, sir." "Captain Flynn here, spacedock, go ahead." It was Captain Philip Nuñez of the USS Constantine, who, like Phineas, had the powers of an Admiral like himself. "Sorry to have to break you the late news, but we've just received a hail from two species that call themselves the Thoroni and Soruna that want to meet us after an alleged encounter with you on your visit to the Alpha Centauri System. They apologize that some being named 'S'lar' had intervened and not allowed you to have a proper first contact with them." Phineas smiled and responded with an informal "Awesome! What do they propose as a meeting place?" "Here on earth at the TerraFleet headquarters." "Time to call in the news teams from all over the world, then…let's make this big, then, shall we?"
Soruna species (Primate, Arboreal, Reptilian, Insectoid, Aquatic)
"Sure. Once you reenter spacedock, we'll have you back here on earth at the TerraFleet headquarters. We'll just use the transporter. Nuñez out." Vanessa had the ship put back into spacedock with fluidity; the crew disembarked beginning with the bridge crew and ending with the engineering, security, and medical crews in that order. They beamed down to earth, where a majority of the crew (the non-bridge crew) was briefly debriefed and allowed to leave for home. Meanwhile, the skeleton crew stayed at the TerraFleet headquarters in preparation. Soon, a shuttle was requesting passage through the planet's atmosphere. Within a few minutes, a Thoronon ambassador was in the speech auditorium, where news crews from all over the world were packed. Soon-to-follow was a group of five Sorunon ambassadors—a primate, a reptilian, an arboreal, an insectoid, and an aquatic in a scuba suit. The reptilian looked at Phineas with a scowl, which the Sorunon primate chided him for. Phineas smiled in the light that this was the beginning of potential alliances with other species…
== The End! ==
Allusions[]
- A warp-powered starship (Star Trek)
- The title (allusion to the Star Trek: The Next Generation pilot episode Encounter at Farpoint)
- The continuation of a ship's name by starting a lettering system in the registry # [i.e. NCC-1701 is succeeded by NCC-1701-A, NCC-1701-B, etc.] (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: First Contact)
- The analogy in Phineas' speech to wading only ankle deep and now being the time to swim (Star Trek: Enterprise episode Broken Bow)
- The holodeck (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise final episode These are the Voyages..., 'Star Trek: First Contact, and Star Trek: Insurrection)
- A special Captain's Yacht shuttlecraft (Star Trek: Insurrection and Star Trek Nemesis)
- A powerful being who tests a ship's captain to judge humanity's abilities (the character "Q" from Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: Voyager)
- The line "You'll find out" (Q from the Star Trek: The Next Generation final episode All Good Things)
- A fight on a semi-arid desert planet with a slow yet strong reptilian creature where the captain makes a cannon to incapacitate it yet refuses to kill it (Star Trek [Original Series] episode Arena)
- A species with five major groups--primate, arboreal, reptilian, insectoid, and aquatic (the Xindi from Star Trek: Enterprise)
- A species with blue skin and antennae with white hair (Star Trek [Original], Star Trek: The Animated Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Enterprise)
Author's Comments[]
- "This one was the first story of a series I had been announcing and predicting for for months, but had never gotten around to beginning for time's sake (constant business). I personally think it was a good pilot to feature Phineas and Isabella's first child and show humanity at the beginning of its deeper space exploration era. Yes, I took some pretty big things from Star Trek, but heck, that's what I'm using as a working model to show humanity in its era of going from star to star. Gene Roddenberry was a genius...pity he was an agnostic and a naturalist...I added a Christian element to this story by implying the God of Judeo-Christian faith's existence. I used a relatively unused name for him: The Great I AM, which was used by our ancients in Moses' time."