Jupiter.
After the Forward made its final acceleration pass, all its Plasma Engines ran at full capacity.
At full load, the electrical power generated by the ship's four nuclear fusion power plants was prioritized for the propulsion engines performing the Forward's final acceleration, aside from the power reserved for the core section.
As the engines lit up the stars, the Forward broke free from Jupiter's grasp and shot away like a cannonball.
Ten minutes later, with all the engines still running, its speed continued to increase, albeit very slowly.
The captain immediately issued an order.
"All units, attention. Shut down all working engines. The Forward is entering silent mode."
"Repeat, shut down all working engines. The Forward is entering silent mode."
At the order, the Forward blended into the darkness of space.
The ship entered a stable cruising phase. From then on, unless its flight path revealed asteroids or other hazards that might threaten the ship, the Forward would continue at a steady speed in its current direction.
Until it reached a new star system.
But that would be generations from now.
With the ship on course, the captain breathed a sigh of relief, then turned his attention to the headache of dealing with the crew's problems.
"What do you think? Should we distribute crop seeds to the crew?"
In the captain's quarters, representatives from the five great powers sat around a table.
None of them felt confident about the suggestions from Blue Star's command center.
As the five people at the heart of the Forward deliberated over the various treatment plans Blue Star had proposed, the ship's Artificial Intelligence suddenly reported, "Reminder: Crew member 0946 is suspected of having Space Phobia Syndrome."
At this, the five people of different ethnicities in the captain's quarters all raised their brows.
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