Something of an Announcement, Something of a Teaser
Below lies potential spoilers for later chapters of COA, currently un-uploaded, some unwritten. The following is subject to change, but the idea has been so pervasive in my mind, so obsessive and unavoidable that I felt I needed to write something, and ended up finishing a nearly 4200 word first-chapter of my upcoming Alternate-Future(?) novel/story, Fires of Prometheus. The story's set place in the COA universe, and below you'll find the speech that more or less set the gears in motion that the story centers around. Open if you dare >:)
“Ladies and gentlemen, and variations thereof, thank you for having me at this year's assembly. I promise you my speech will be brief, but I assure you, it pertains to the subject at hand.
As you all know, one of tonight's main points of discussion is that of humanity's future in space. No human alive today can possibly perceive the pace at which our species has developed in the past century. Ninety years ago today, our species launched a small metal sphere into the heavens, one which did little more than emit radio signals, but one which dazzled and horrified onlookers and world leaders alike. This was the dawning of the space age, this was the next step in a series of steps that would elevate our species’ capabilities to explore and understand the universe around us, and our place in it.
Nearly fifty years ago, we took another giant leap. Prometheus, the program which powers many of your lives, was this great leap. Like the Titan Prometheus of ancient Greek mythos, ours too delivered a tool to humankind. It wasn’t fire, but the gift of solar power, of energy, the gift of nearly unlimited efficiency in and around space, and the gift to explore it more freely. We’ve made use of this blessing in the years since, and if it wasn’t for the Prometheus program, and the great minds that inspired and drove it further, who knows where this nation, and humanity as a whole may be.
We rode Pegasus atop the fires of Prometheus, delivering crews to the Moon, and later to Mars. We used the solar thermal spacecraft to deliver uncrewed missions farther than ever before, venturing to the orbits of Neptune and Caelus in search of answers to decades old questions. We used the starlight program for peace, delivering interstellar probes to proxima centauri, who in the coming years will finally deliver their data back home. Prometheus was one of these world changing programs, an event in human history on scope with man’s first landing on the moon, and with the invention of the atomic bomb.
I believe it is time for another major decision to be made. I believe that time is of the essence, and that a potential challenge lies ahead that only our willingness to solve prevents us from reaching.
The discovery of genetic material in the sample returned by the ESPR spacecraft in the closing years of the 2020s has undoubtedly shaped not only America’s, but all nation’s space exploration ambitions. I remember being in congress when these findings were presented, hearing the shocked gasps of my fellow congresspeople as it was announced that we did find something.
It is because of that, that I believe now, more than ever, this nation should commit itself to doing the daring, doing the unthinkable, and pursuing the brightest of futures at the edge of our technological capabilities. We possess the capabilities to complete this endeavor. We’ve possessed those capabilities for years now; But I believe that the time is now, that this nation, and the nations of the world, commit themselves fully to the sending of humans to explore the moons of Saturn in the coming decade.
It will be challenging, there is no lack of understanding in my mind on that fact. However, the prometheus program, and the great minds who have furthered its reach, have granted us this capability. Like the delivery of fire from atop mount Olympus, the modern Prometheus program has delivered us power unimaginable, and just in time to explore our solar system with a new hope, and a new goal, one of establishing first contact with whatever may lie ahead. But why go? Some of you may ask. Why now?
I believe the answer to this can be found in our common history. Why venture to the moon nearly eighty years ago? Why attempt to fly at the turn of the 20th century? Why venture across the Atlantic in the 15th century? Why tame the horses? Why attempt to master fire? It is in our nature to venture into the unknown, to reach for what we don’t have, to stick our hands into the abyss, and see blindly what lie ahead. It is human nature to wonder, it is human nature to explore. It is in our DNA to venture out to these untamed frontiers in search of something some uncountable, unmeasurable itch that humans seem to have.
I believe it is in this vain that we must go. We’ve been given evidence that something might await us at our destination. Like the first natives to sail across the oceans connecting Asia and the Americas, we too must venture beyond the horizon. Greener pastures may await. Bountiful and unimaginable scientific treasures may await us there as well. We will not know until we try, and if not now, then when. I will be asking my nation’s congress as I ask you to do the same, to allot my country's space agency an appropriate sum to begin work on sending a human odyssey to the Saturnian system.
We seek blessing on this endeavor, we ask that the smartest minds of all humanity keep the mission's crew safe. We ask, humbly, for your support and cooperation in this endeavor, as the task at hand looms far larger than what one nation alone may tackle. This effort will be a multinational one, one which might take nearly two decades to see completed, however I believe it is worth it, and I hope I have convinced you of the same.
Thank you.”
