Under the Milky Way
by Mudak
Chapter 2
On the date of the launch, the five astronauts lined up for publicity photos with their respective families before they boarded the ship that would travel further from the planet earth, than any vehicle ever created. Dr. Steiglitz stood up to take final questions from the crowd of well-wishers, reporters, and people who wanted to be a part of this historical occasion.
A young boy raised his hand. The scientist smiled and said, “Do you have a question, little boy?”
“Yes!” He smiled broadly at being recognized. “Why won’t we be able to see the ship while they’re over there?”
“That’s an excellent question! The short answer is that we haven’t figured out how to watch things through a wormhole with the precision we need, and that, if we were to train our telescopes on that star, we wouldn’t be able to see the crew. We’d be seeing light sent out from that star about 22 years ago. So, maybe, in 22 years, we’ll be able to aim a telescope on the star to see these five brave men and women.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome.”
A hush fell over the crowd and, after a moment, Dr. Steiglitz smiled broadly and said, “Well, if no one has any questions for me or the crew, I’d like to teach you all how to say good-bye and good luck in their native languages.” She looked at Captain Miyamoto and said, “Sayonara. Kōun”
The crowd repeated the farewell. He raised his hand and stepped onto the bridge that connected to the space ship.
Dr. Steiglitz indicated First Lieutenant Dmitrieva and said, “Do svidanya. Vsego khoroshego.”
As the crowd attempted to speak her language, the Russian curtsied to the crowd and followed her captain onto the ship.
“Zai jian. Hao yun,” said the scientist to the Chinese astronaut, who bowed to the crowd repeating the phrase.
“Auf Wiedersehen. Viel Glück.” The German bowed her head, smiled broadly, turned on her heels, and strode confidently across the bridge behind the rest of the crew.
“Good-bye! Good luck!” The American waved to the crowd and boarded the ship, closing the hatch behind him.
Dr. Steiglitz said, “So let’s commence the countdown. Takeoff in T minus ten minutes.”