Victor Weng shook people's hands until the arthritis in his knuckles left him feeling like his hands were on fire. He smiled and nodded until his teeth hurt. People milled around the Executive Lounge that hung suspended over the command center which sat like a reversed amphitheater, each technician at his station and the screens visible to those in the lounge.<br/><br/>Commander Velez stepped to his side and spoke low.<br/><br/>"The President has asked me to plead with you one more time to stop this farce before it becomes a fiasco of galactic proportions."<br/><br/>Victor smiled, "The president has always been so good at turning a phrase, but I'm afraid that his words are falling on deaf ears."<br/><br/>Velez sighed. "You are taking the best and brightest this galaxy has to offer and one ordinary girl quite possibly to their doom."<br/><br/>"Perhaps it's all that you've seen in your years as a soldier. But I believe with all my heart that we do a disservice to all men and women if we forget the value of the human spirit." He let his hand sweep from the screen that showed the hive of activity in the engine room to the screen that showed Sarah sitting at her console answering messages that poured in from all over the galaxy. "I believe above all things in the human spirit to do great and noble things. I believe that the greatest spirits are often the humblest. Even if they face adversity, we must not discount any crew members ability to raise above it all. To do more than survive. To thrive!"<br/><br/>"The president isn't the only one who knows how to turn a phrase, my friend." Velez gave his old friend's shoulder a squeeze as Mission Control announced the launch.<br/><br/>At her station, Sarah shut down and strapped herself in. Her hands shook as Mission Control announced the two minute countdown. Other voices echoed over the comms announcing systems were online in each of the sections of the ship.<br/><br/>Every member had a reason to leave family, friends and careers behind. New scientific discoveries, wealth, even redemption drove the crew as a whole to face the dangers ahead, but when New Horizon left the atmosphere of Earth, Sarah would be leaving behind the fresh grave of her father. She left behind all she had known for love of a father and his dream to see her have a life better than he could give her.<br/><br/>She could hear his voice in her head reading Shakespeare to her as a little girl from one of her mother's old books.<br/><br/>"Doubt thou the stars are fire;<br/>Doubt that the sun doth move;<br/>Doubt truth to be a liar;<br/>But never doubt I love.<br/><br/>As her body slammed back into the seat, tears slid down her cheeks and she whispered softly, "never doubt I love."<br/><br/>One day, in the not too distant future, those private words of love to her father would be pulled from the archives and become the rallying cry of a galaxy.