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spindizzy_wizard t1_j9vt7i1 wrote

Reply to comment by spindizzy_wizard in [SP] I stared into the abyss and it hugged me back. by biderandia

"Surgeon, Director, Report!"

"Director, while I will agree that James is somewhat euphoric, the records he transmitted clearly show the path from Sol to the Core and back. The velocity indicator is either broken or there's something fundamental about interstellar flight that we do not understand. My strongest recommendation is to allow James to continue his flight, while he returns to Earth frequently to share the data he recovers. It is not in the best interests of humanity, this project, or James, to curtail a flight so successful that is returning so much valuable data. Let the man fly!"

"Surgeon, you know the rules. He has to come back. He has to go through an evaluation. The board has to rule on his fitness to continue flying. Right now, he's euphoric, rebellious, and determined to continue flying no matter what. That's not going to go well with the board regardless of the data he's returning."

Return to that cold dead space called Earth? No! I cannot do that! Only, the abyss hugs me warmly, and shows me how I can rejoin it in flight anytime I wish. I cannot be held.

"Director? I'll return, for a time, but I will fly free again, and no man may deny me."

FALCON THREE FLIGHT REPORT SUMMARY

THE FALCON PROJECT MUST CONTINUE AS IT HAS PROVIDED INVALUABLE DATA TO HUMANITY. PILOT JAMES SKYWALKER HAS SUFFERED AN EMOTIONAL TRAUMA MAKING HIM UNFIT FOR CONTINUED FLIGHT. HIS DECLARATION THAT HE WILL FLY AGAIN REGARDLESS OF ANY RULING IS SUFFICIENT TO GROUND HIM FOR LIFE AS MENTALLY UNFIT TO ENTRUST WITH ANY MISSION. SURGEON AND ENVIRONMENTAL ARE DIRECTED TO EXAMINE THE RECORDS OF THE FLIGHT AND DEVELOP SHIELDING AGAINST WHATEVER EFFECT HAS SO DAMAGED A GREAT PILOT AND HUMAN BEING. WE WILL REMEMBER JAMES SKYWALKER'S FLIGHT WITH REVERENCE, AND WITH CARE FOR THE HEALTH OF FUTURE PILOTS. JAMES SKYWALKER IS REMANDED TO THE LUNAR HOSPITAL FOR EXTENDED CARE AS HIS PHYSICAL STATE IS PROFOUNDLY UNHEALTH WITHIN THE ONE GRAVITY FIELD OF EARTH. IT IS HOPED THAT WITH CONTINUED CARE AND TREATMENT HE WILL RETURN TO NORMAL SOCIETY. FALCON PROJECT WILL CONTINUE, IN JAMES SKYWALKERS' NAME.

LONG LIVE PROJECT SKYWALKER.

LUNAR HOSPITAL REPORT ON JAMES SKYWALKER

JAMES SKYWALKER'S APPEARANCE WHEN HE RETURNED TO LUNAR HOSPITAL FROM HIS SOJOURN ON EARTH WAS A TERRIBLE SHOCK TO THE ENTIRE STAFF. WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT HE WAS SUBJECTED TO ON EARTH, BUT IT VERY NEARLY KILLED HIM. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL WE PERMIT JAMES SKYWALKER TO RETURN TO EARTH FOR ANY REASON. HIS OBVIOUS JOY AT BEING BACK IN SPACE WAS LIMITED SOMEWHAT BY THE UNDERSTANDING THAT HE WAS NOT TO PILOT AGAIN, BUT HE REMAINED IN GOOD SPIRITS SAYING, "LET ME SEE THE DEEP BLACK OF THE ABYSS AGAIN, AND NOTHING CAN STOP ME." WE DEEM IT REASONABLE TO ALLOW HIM TO ACCESS THE SURFACE IN A LUNAR SUIT IF FOR NO OTHER REASON THAN TO ALLOW HIM TO SEE FOR HIMSELF THAT HE CANNOT FLY BETWEEN THE STARS WITHOUT A SHIP. IT MAY DISAPPOINT HIM, BUT IT IS THE SUREST WAY TO GET HIM TO UNDERSTAND THAT WHAT HE BELIEVES IS AN ILLUSION.

LUNAR HOSPITAL SECURITY REPORT ON JAMES SKYWALKER DISAPPEARANCE

THIS REPORT IS UTTERLY FACTUAL. ANY CLAIMS TO THE CONTRARY WILL BE SUMMARILY IGNORED.

JAMES SKYWALKER, WITH THE AGREEMENT OF THE LUNAR HOSPITAL STAFF, WAS PERMITTED TO DON A LUNAR SURFACE SUIT AND EXIT THE HABITAT ON THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON. THIS IS A COMMON TASK PERFORMED EVERY DAY BY STAFF OF THE SKYWALKER PROJECT COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK AS THEY PERFORM MAINTENANCE ON THE NETWORK EQUIPMENT. THERE IS NO WAY FOR ANYONE TO DEPART THE LUNAR SURFACE AT ANY VELOCITY WITHOUT AN IMMEDIATE RETURN (IN SECONDS) WITH ONLY THE RESOURCES OF A LUNAR SURFACE SUIT.

LUNAR SURFACE SUITS ARE NOT EQUIPPED WITH FALCON/SKYWALKER PROJECT COMMUNICATORS.

LUNAR SURFACE SUITS ARE NOT EQUIPPED WITH FALCON/SKYWALKER DRIVES.

LUNAR SURFACE SUITS ARE NOT EQUIPPED WITH LIFE SUPPORT GOOD FOR MORE THAN EIGHT HOURS NOMINAL, WITH UP TO FOUR HOURS IN THE EMERGENCY RESERVE PER EMERGENCY SURVIVAL PROTOCOL.

JAMES SKYWALKER'S SUIT WAS CLEARLY SEEN BY THE SECURITY TEAM ESCORTING HIM, AND AS SHOWN IN THE RECORDINGS ATTACHED, TO EXTEND SKYWALKER DRIVE WINGS ONE HOUR INTO HIS PLANNED TWO-HOUR EXCURSION. THIS FACT IS UNDENIABLE.

JAMES SKYWALKER'S VOICE CAME UP OVER THE SKYWALKER COMMUNICATIONS LINK AT THE SAME TIME, AS PROVEN BY THE RECORDINGS ATTACHED, AND REMAINED ACTIVE FOR A TOTAL OF FOURTY-EIGHT HOURS, RETURNING DATA ON A CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF THE MILKYWAY GALAXY AT AN AVERAGE CONSTANT DISTANCE FROM THE CORE ALONG THE ARBITRARY GALACTIC EQUATOR EQUAL TO THE DISTANCE FROM SOL TO THE ARBITRARY GALACTIC CORE.

A COMPARISON OF THE DATA RECEIVED MATCHES THE KNOWN PLANETARY DATA RETRIEVED OVER THE LAST FIFTY YEARS, PROVING THAT THE DATA IS NOT FAKED.

SKYWALKER VOLUNTARILY RETURNED TO THE SURFACE, WITH SUCH A REJUVENATED APPEARANCE THAT THE HOSPITAL STAFF HAVE STATED HE MAY TAKE OUT A LUNAR SURFACE SUIT ANY TIME HE WISHES, WITH THE PROVISO THAT IT BE EQUIPPED WITH ADDITIONAL BIOLOGICAL SENSORS TO RECORD WHAT HAPENS WHEN HE GOES FASTER THAN LIGHT.

EARTH SECURITY COUNCIL DIRECTIVE #1945667

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL ANY FURTHER FTL FLIGHTS BE ATTEMPTED FOR ANY REASON. FTL FLIGHT HAS SHOWN A DISTURBING TENDENCY TO GENERATE ABBERANT BEHAVIOR IN THE PILOTS WHO HAVE ATTEMPTED IT. ALL DATA RECOVERED FROM SUCH FLIGHTS IS TO BE PURGED FROM ALL PUBLIC RECORDS.

((continued))

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spindizzy_wizard t1_j9vt9ep wrote

The Skywalker/Goreman Incident

"Hello, Frank."

"Hello, James," sigh, "you certainly succeeded in one thing, James."

"And what would that be, Frank?"

"You've single-handedly shut down all FTL flight for the foreseeable future."

James laughs, "So! They issued that idiot directive? Well, Frank, it's even better that you've come to Lunar Hospital to see me, we're going to go on the surface and try an experiment."

"Is the staff in agreement?" Frank is both concerned and amused.

"Entirely. You look beat to pieces, if this works, you'll look like a million dollars."

"So what are we going to do?"

"Put on our lunar suits and go for a walk on the darkside. Beyond that, we'll see."

...

"James?"

"Yes, Frank?"

"It's awfully dark out there, isn't it."

"Yes. But it's a great place to go and live too."

"What do you mean?"

"Stare into the dark, think how much you want to go exploring, see the other stars, see other worlds, go where no one else has gone before."

"Like the old T.V. show?"

"Maybe. But maybe space will be more welcoming than it was in the show. Let's just sit and meditate on how much we want to go see the universe."

...

"James? She wants us to come join her."

"Yes, Frank, she does."

"How can we do that? We don't have a ship."

"We don't need a ship anymore, Frank. Watch me."

...

"James, how did you do that?"

"I wanted to fly, so I thought of the Falcon Wings and imagined they were there."

"And it worked?"

"Did you see me lift off and go flying? Are you still hearing me but through the Falcon Network?"

"Yes, and yes."

"Then it worked. I believe you can do this Frank. I believe that the abyss, that gloriously illuminated void between the stars, wishes to share what it sees with everyone who yearns to see it." James appears before Frank. "Take my hand, Frank. Let's go see what the abyss has to show us." Frank takes James' hand, and Falcon Wings appear.

"So that's how you do it." With wonder in his voice, "Race you to Andromeda, James!"

((continued))

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spindizzy_wizard t1_j9vtcnu wrote

TREASON TRIAL OF LUNAR HOSPITAL DIRECTOR

"With all due respect to the government, Your Honor, and with nothing but respect for the law, this court, and your office, there is no basis for a trial of treason. Treason is the betrayal of the country to a foreign power. There is no foreign power involved. Therefore there can be no treason."

"Your Honor, the defense is clearly ignoring the breach of a security council directive."

"Objection, Your Honor. The directive mentioned specific data and said nothing about the dissemination of information regarding healing individuals who suffer from a condition that we now know is not a disease, but an invitation to explore the universe."

"And thereby committed treason by sending untrained and uncleared individuals into the void to meet only god knows what fate, spreading information that the security council long ago decided should be kept secret for the safety of the human race."

"Since every explorer who has returned clearly stated that there were no other lifeforms, again, there can be no treason. Your Honor, the facts of the matter here are that the Security Council fears the loss of their personal power and nothing else. They seek to bend the legal system to shut the mouths of anyone who dissents from the government. This is not a proper use of the legal system in our humble opinion, and we ask the court to summarily dismiss all charges."

The judge bangs his gavel, "If you two will allow a poor country judge to get a word in edgewise...?" A glare bathes both of the lawyers, "Some people will say that I should recuse myself because I am the grandfather of James Skywalker. I say that's bullshit. James has spoken to me of what he has discovered, across all the galaxies that he and Frank Goreman have explored. To the best of his knowledge, we are the sole intelligent lifeform other than the Abyss, as he puts it, and the Abyss only wishes to share the glorious views of the universe that it has created. You might as well say that the Abyss is god, and we are being invited to join the party."

"Objection, Your Honor. You should recuse yourself. You have been unduly influenced by a pair of unbalanced minds that should never have been permitted to leave Lunar Hospital under any circumstances, a case which is already being tried under a different court."

"Overruled, you deliberately moved that court case out of this circuit to avoid having me on the panel. In any case, I have it on good authority that your case in that court is just as weak and sloppy as your case in this court. All charges are summarily dismissed, and the Government is reminded that it is not above the law, so any further cases filed on this matter, no matter how styled, in this or any other circuit, are considered automatically frivolous and will result in contempt of court charges of thirty days for each charge and ninety days for each case, to run consecutively and applied to every member of the prosecution. This court is adjourned!" Banging the gavel sharply.

((finis))

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