The simulacrum of Serena opened her eyes with a start. Her eyes pure white instead of having an iris with only a dark spot at the center as pupil… haunting to look at. “Sir…” she said in a flat, yet dulcet tone, “we are approaching what appears to be the exoplanet designated JW1104. It is a hot Jupiter like world with 17 moons around a red giant star. Spectral type G, main sequence… approximately 8 billion years old based upon its metallicity.”

“Open the dome, please, Serena.” Jack said. "Let’s see it."  “Aye.” She replied, in a cold flat tone.  Immediately, the dome began to open. Proteus had view screens, of course. It had electronic cameras on the outside of the ship. Jack didn’t have to open the dome, but he did because nothing parallels the beauty of gazing upon something like this with your naked eye. Also, there are some things, some subtleties cameras just can’t see. The sight that greeted him was both beautiful and astounding.   The planet was bright and colorful beneath them.

No matter how many times Jack saw this, it took his breath away. This is one of the reasons why he enjoyed being a jammer so much. His love for the stars. Even though he knew that the stars aren’t really constant, they are "constant enough".  The untamed, unbridled beauty of the cosmos is something he has grown to love.

"One of the moons of this world has an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere." Serena said, interrupting the Captain’s hypnotic fixation, "It seems worthy of further investigation."   "Sir, " she said, "I believe this warrants waking the rest of the crew, do you concur?"  "Yes, " he replied, "Proceed with the process of awakening them, notify the doctor."   Usually, the bridge of the craft was filled with other officers, but he hadn’t noticed their absence.  It was only when he gave the order to awaken them that he realized just how alone he is.

Next Chapter: Reverberation