C-2: Rose's Ship [Anika and Kevin H.]

Rose called her friend excitedly. After a short conversation, she let Lily know that she would be their pilot and Lilly invited Rose over to her partner Andrea’s home. Rose changed back into her pink shirt and shorts and skipped out the door after a quick pat for her cat Rosie. When she arrived at Andrea’s house, the three girls went up to Andrea’s bedroom so they could talk about the expedition.

The bedroom was bright and cheerful and made Rose feel automatically comfortable with her new friend.  She relaxed on a green futon couch and Lilly took up a white pillowed stool by the vanity as Andrea pulled out her laptop and began to explain the plan.

The ship had been designed for a single trip to a planet called Brikadia.  It was many light years away but the ship would be able to make it there within a day’s travel thanks to its revolutionary space folding technology.

Andrea happily brought up some images of the ship design so that Rose could look over her new vehicle.

“It looks great” she said excitedly “But how is it going to get back?”  She asked.

Andrea and Lily shared a smile before Lily responded.  “It won’t.  It is a one way trip.”

Before Rose could express her shock at the idea of being lost in space forever, Andrea jumped in to explain.

“The ship will not return but we have a dimensional portal device that will go along with you and allow you to open a door back to earth.  Once you arrive, we should be able to travel back and forth as much as we like.”

This seemed good enough for Rose and she listened to the rest of the plan.

Andrea continued to explain that Brikadia wasn’t safe for humans to live on so they would also be sending along a terraforming rocket.  Upon arrival, Rose was to launch the missile at the planet and then if the science was right, the planet would be safe for them to explore without space suits.

Lily just needed to work out the finishing touches on the space folding engine and they would be ready to go.  

Wanting to show off her work, Lily invited Rose to see the garage where she was working on the engine.  Andrea excused herself to work out a few more details for the navigation to Brikadia and the other two girls skipped off to check out the new technology.

The engine was a beautiful example of scientific evolution and with Rose’s help, Lily finished all the work quickly. So they packed up the engine and hurried off to the launch site where Andrea was waiting.  Rose got into her space suit and they all shook hands before she climbed aboard.

Before the cockpit glass could close though, Rosie came running out of the shadows and jumped into the ship.  All the girls giggled and decided it would be ok for Rosie to be the first intergalactic cat so the little feline curled up on the dash as the ship took off to Brikadia.

The ship flew at amazing speeds and Rose enjoyed the exhilaration of being the first girl to travel to another galaxy.  Rosie the cat wasn’t as impressed and slept most of the trip.  As they neared their destination, a display screen popped up with the planet Brikadia.

The top hemisphere seemed to be covered with a vast ocean and the bottom half with what would soon be a habitable land mass.  Not wanting to waste any time before setting down and opening the portal for her friends, Rose launched the terraforming missile and prepared her landing sequence.