Beyond the Edge of Light

Beyond the Edge of Light

I always wanted to be the first one to a planet. When I was a kid, I thought it might be Mars, but that happened too soon. The Chinese beat us all to Jupiter while I was still on my first Mars voyage. My first command was the second expedition to Saturn. But the other gas giants fell to other commanders, and then we were out of planets.

When I was just a child, Pluto was still a planet, but then they found a bigger chunk of ice farther out. And then more. Now it's just another Kuiper object, but one more famous than the rest. After twenty-eight months of travel, Pluto and Charon and Nix and Hydra await us now, here far beyond the planets. At least I've led the first expedition to the Kuiper.

Only worlds around other stars beckon us now.

- Personal journal of Captain Jonathon Steed, 17 May 2048