Naugatuck Valley Community College
AURORA FIRST PLACE Jason Hesse* As the last data tower clicked back into its housing, an effusive cheer resounded throughout the upper levels of the Aurora. Smiles and laughs erupted forth, and the five crew members gave each other heartfelt hugs and voiced their congratulations over and over at their marked accomplishment. At long last their mission was complete; they could finally return home to Earth. Eventually the merriment simmered down to a low boil and Captain John Warren stood up to address them all. “It’s a damn fine job you’ve done, each one of you. I just wanted to say how impressed I am with the dedication, tenacity, and—by God, I’ll say it—incompetence displayed by every single person on this damn ship. I mean, really Peter? How long did it take you to realize when Danny rearranged your astrological data to look like Albert Einstein?” Peter wrinkled his nose, still smiling. “A few hours.” “Give or take a few days!” Danny shouted from the other side of the bridge. The crew broke into fresh laughter. “Or Sarah, when you misplaced the gravimeter?” “Misplaced? You mean victimized by theft, right?” she said, shooting a very conspicuous glare at the ship engineer, Maria. Maria shrugged, failing to hide her sizeable smirk. “It turned up.” Fresh laughs arose, even from John before he continued. “What I’m trying to say is, despite the pranks, the bad luck, any setbacks we encountered, you all came together and triumphed in spite of it all. A unit greater than the sum of its parts. We did something great here, and you’ve all earned a little rest. We’ll be back at NASA HQ soon enough, and then,” he said, pausing for effect with a gleam in his eyes, “then the real party begins.” John stepped down from his impromptu podium to join his crew as they settled into their success. “Oh and one last thing,” he shouted above the merriment, “set us a course, Danny! Take us home!” “Can’t it wait, Cap? We’re celebrating,” he said, his disappointment bordering on genuine. 3
