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We're going in search of the fabled hypnost flower. It's thought to be able to send people

into a deep sleep. When it's paired with a cryo chamber, it might, finally, allow our

crews to venture into deep space without aging. Cryo chambers keep space travelers' physical

bodies safe by lowering their body temperatures. This flower should help prevent even the slightest

bit of aging. Deep space missions can last for months and even years. It's much less stressful

on a crew to be able to sleep through much of the travel. So far, we haven't been able

to find a way to suspend the normal aging process in order to make such missions possible.

But the hypnost flower might just get us there. Other crews have tried to find it and failed,

but this time, with the Starship Rerm on our side, we're going to do it. Of course, we've taken

the Rerm out on test flights, but that was nothing compared to this. To sit in the captain's chair

on a ship like this and give the order to head out, there's nothing quite like it.

I've been a captain for five years now, and I spent a good many years as a first officer before

there, under the command of then Captain Anders. Now, Anders is an admiral. When she was promoted,

that left the Starship Northway without a captain, which is how I ended up in the seat for the

first time. The Northway was an old ship, but still a science vessel like this one.

Everything seemed to go wrong on that ship. The left thrusters went out my first day in command,

so we didn't even leave the station. We spent four weeks docked for repairs.

...