Chapter 30 - Dress Uniforms

"To be the first to enter the cosmos, to engage, single-handed, in an unprecedented duel with nature—could one dream of anything more?"

—Yuri Gagarin

Danny's rather flat statement landed with a thud. "Well, there it is," he said, gesturing at the screen.

The main screen slowly resolved into a sharper representation of the system. They’d already had a rough idea from the ship’s sensors, but now with more data it was all coming into focus. Alpha Centauri A and B sat in their binary orbit, each one dragging a bunch of planets around with it. Proxima Centauri hung farther out, a faint red dot on the edge of the map. It looked simple, almost boring, but it was another star system rendered in actual data on their actual screen. He felt like a speck staring at it, which was honestly terrifying and kind of great at the same time.

It was a little anti-climactic. But still... they were looking at another star system.

"Alpha Centauri," Emily said with theatrical reverence.

"So… what are we looking at?" Joey asked, squinting at the screen.

Danny sighed, clearly not in the mood to explain the basics. "Three stars. A and B are binary, and Proxima’s orbiting the pair, but we knew that already. The planets…" He sighed again. Two sighs in ten seconds. Classic Danny. The guy had discovered an entire star system and he was already annoyed that nobody understood it fast enough.

"Sixteen of them," Ryan interrupted, jumping in before they could all breathe. He pointed at the data feed, looking so damn proud of himself. "Sixteen confirmed bodies so far, plus moons and asteroid belts." Sixteen planets. That was a lot of exploring to do.

The room went quiet for a moment. His hands were clammy against the console. They were actually here, staring at the place they'd been focused on since they started the search for the FTL drive, the system everyone back home could only dream about seeing. He couldn't decide if he wanted to laugh or throw up. Maybe both. God, he hoped he looked more captain-like than he felt.

"Proxima Centauri b," Zoe said, pointing to the faint dot near the third star. "That’s the one we’re after, right? Where the signal came from."

Danny nodded. "That’s the theory. Likely in the Goldilocks zone, but we’re not going to know much until we get closer and run more detailed scans."

He tapped a few commands into his console. “And yeah, that’s where the signal came from. Definitely not random," he finished while looking at Ryan pointedly.

Ryan let out a skeptical snort. “Come on. It was probably just an artifact. Subspace does weird shit to EM data. We’ve been over this.”

Danny didn’t look up. “And I’m saying it didn’t match any known artifact profiles.”

“It didn’t match anything,” Ryan shot back. “That’s the point. One glitch and suddenly we’re chasing ghosts.”

They were already arguing, which was great, and Luca looked between them and decided this was a problem for later, or ideally never.

Emily’s brow furrowed. “So basically, we’ve got numbers and dots,” she concluded.

"For now," Danny admitted, his whole face lighting up behind his glasses. The guy was practically vibrating. "This is just the first pass. The good stuff comes when we get closer and start doing orbital surveys." Luca grinned. If Danny was this excited about dots on a screen, the actual surveys were going to be unbearable.

Joey tilted his chair back. “Well, it’s not exactly the sci-fi poster I was expecting,” he commented.

Luca smirked. "What were you hoping for? All three stars lined up with planets orbiting like clockwork?"

"Space dragons," Joey replied. He was trying to get a rise out of him. Luca knew it.

"Alright, let's not get carried away," Luca said, straightening up. Space dragons would be a hell of a discovery, but they had real work to do. "Danny, Ryan, keep parsing the data. Prioritize orbital patterns and radiation levels, especially around Proxima b. We need to start planning the next phase before we get too close."

"Looks like we have a destination," Luca said, and maybe a potential payday. The IFC had financed a large portion of their ship and supplies, and in return, the crew got bonuses for habitable planets, resource-rich asteroids, high-level portals, new tech. Anything strategic. If that signal had truly originated from Proxima Centauri b, they were going to find the source of it.

"According to mission protocol, we need to send out our communications probe now that we’ve mapped the system," Chris stated. He’d memorized the mission protocol. Luca was pretty sure Chris had memorized every protocol ever written. "In case anything happens to us, we have to make sure our data gets back to Earth."

"Good call, Chris. Ryan, Danny, let’s get the logs ready and organized," Luca instructed.

"We also need to do our first recording," Emily added.

"Ugh, I completely forgot about that," Luca groaned, though a part of him was excited to document this moment. "Where should we set up for it?"

"The observation deck is the best spot, lots of room to pose. Let’s change into our recording outfits!" Zoe exclaimed.

"Change? Aren’t these uniforms enough?" Luca asked, looking down at his bodysuit. He had gotten so used to wearing it that he didn’t even think there were other options.

"No way! We can't be seen in these outfits; these are for us." Emily replied. "Captain, Zoe, and I will distribute the dress uniforms. Everyone meet us in the observation deck in two hours." Luca had no idea what those uniforms were going to look like, and that felt like a personal threat.

"Dress uniforms?" Luca stared at her. "When the hell did we get those? And why am I just hearing about this now?"

"Because you never read the complete inventory manifests," Emily said with a smirk. "They were packed before we launched. Special design for official recordings and first contact scenarios."

Zoe was already halfway to the door. "Come on, Em! Let's grab them before the guys mess everything up." She was practically bouncing. "I want to make sure everything fits right."

"Wait," Luca called, pushing himself off the wall. "I'll come help you carry them." He wasn't entirely sure why he offered; maybe it was the panic at what these uniforms might look like, or maybe it was an excuse to steal a few minutes with Emily.

"Perfect!" Zoe shouted over her shoulder, already sprinting down the corridor. "I'll go ahead and start sorting by size!"

Emily turned to follow, but Luca caught her arm gently. The others were still chattering about uniforms and system scans, giving them a rare moment of semi-privacy.

"Hey," he said, his voice lower. "You okay? After everything with the satellite, I mean."

Something in Emily's face shifted. "Are you actually checking on me, Captain Rossi?" The corner of her mouth twitched up.

"Maybe I am." He stepped closer, close enough to see her green eyes. "It's been a hell of a day."

"A hell of a day at the beginning of a hell of a mission," she agreed, quieter. She looked down at where his hand still rested on her arm, then back up to his face. "I meant what I said earlier. I should have caught that battery issue."

"We all make mistakes," Luca said. He was surprised how easily he'd let go of his earlier frustration. "What matters is that we fixed it."

She studied him for a long moment. Her shoulders relaxed. "When did you get so agreeable? It's unsettling."

"I have my moments," he replied, one side of his mouth pulling up. "They're rare, so enjoy it while it lasts."

She let out a quick, undignified snort that made her own eyes widen in horror, and her hand flew to her face. "I should go help Zoe before she decides to redesign the uniforms herself." But she didn’t move. Not right away. Instead, she leaned in, her eyes locked on his.

"Emily..." he began, not entirely sure what he was going to say.

"Later," she said, her fingertips brushing against his chest as she stepped back. "We'll talk later."

---

Luca scanned his team, assembled on the observation deck. It didn't feel real. He was standing in front of these people, somehow in charge, and they expected him to give a speech.

Public speaking could go straight to hell, but a small, ambitious part of him still thought he could get good at this. He imagined commanding crowds, announcing discoveries to the whole world like he was actually built for it, Captain Luca and the crew of the Triumph of Darron making history on cue.

The little touches were everywhere, the kind of details Zoe and Emily had clearly obsessed over. Emily stood beside him, grinning like she'd pulled off something incredible, and her eyes were bright under the deck lights.

She caught his eye and winked. Great, now he was blushing. The new dress uniforms were definitely a step up from their usual bodysuits, even if he felt like a complete impostor in his.

The guys wore white shirts under navy blue jackets, officer pins at the collar. Ryan kept tugging at his sleeves like they owed him money. Joey looked like he'd been wearing dress uniforms his whole life, the bastard. Chris filled his out like a recruitment poster.

Luca adjusted his own jacket and felt like a kid playing dress-up at his dad's office.

Zoe and Emily had gone with flowing skirts, and they looked like they belonged on the cover of something. Emily, in particular, looked so unfairly good in that skirt that Luca had to remind himself he was supposed to deliver a speech and not stare like an idiot.

They could've passed for the kind of crew you'd see stepping off a naval vessel docked at some high-profile port.

Every single one of them had earned their spot here. Him too, probably, though he still wasn't entirely sure how he ended up in charge of this whole operation.

The deck had been transformed. On any other night it was the best spot on the ship for a romantic rendezvous under the stars, and the view was phenomenal.

Tonight though? Ryan had hooked up a large screen on one wall, currently displaying the logo of the Triumph Initiative. A camera sat on a tripod nearby, its red recording light blinking. Luca half expected the speakers to start playing patriotic music.

Luca nodded to Ryan, who stepped forward and tapped the console, probably enjoying the hell out of this. A chime sounded. Recording.

He swallowed, and it was loud enough that Ryan probably picked it up on the recording. The deck was dead quiet. His palms were slick against the podium. He hated this, and he was only standing here because mutiny apparently came in dress uniforms now.

"Alright," Luca said. His hands were shaking but his voice held. He gripped the edge of the makeshift podium. Half his crew looked ready to cheer and the other half looked ready to bolt.

"This is it. The first humans in history to travel to Alpha Centauri." He paused, and let the words hang. They landed harder than he expected.

It was all over their faces. Years of sacrifice and stubborn belief, and here they were.

"And we've already made discoveries that go beyond what any of us could have imagined," Luca said, hoping they found something useful out here, for the IFC's sake, and for theirs. They needed a win. Also, Dad would be proud. He hoped he and the boys were doing okay back home.

A tap on the podium switched the screen behind him from their gorgeous Triumph Initiative logo to an infographic. Sixteen planets, estimated sizes, orbital paths, moons, asteroid belts. Danny had made it look way more impressive than the raw data deserved, and honestly, it played well on camera. Still, they needed a hell of a lot more actual data to make this mission worthwhile, and Luca found himself silently begging the universe to let there be something valuable out here.

"We represent the best of humanity," Luca said, correcting himself when he nearly defaulted to America. They weren't supposed to use America anymore, just the United Earth Republic or the U.E.R.; that was the warning they'd received from Karen; it was propaganda for unity or whatever. Since they funded the project, they'd be their little mascots.

"We are explorers. Adventurers. And we're here because we refused to believe anyone who told us this was impossible." His crew stared back at him. Every single one of them had earned their place here, and looking at their faces right now, he almost believed he deserved to be the one standing at this podium.

Chris stood at parade rest, all muscles and quiet authority. Ryan, who Luca wanted to punch half the time, especially after he beat him up, and the battery incident, and god knows how much other shit he’d pulled. Zoe had her chin up and her shoulders back, looking like she could navigate them through a supernova without breaking a sweat. Danny was already sneaking glances at the data feed on his tablet, because the guy literally could not stop sciencing for five minutes.

And Joey somehow managed to look like the only actual adult in the room, even if he was a buzzkill sometimes. As for Emily, Luca had already spent enough of this speech trying not to get distracted by her.

"Together, we'll uncover the mysteries of this system and carve our place in history."

And the crazy part? He actually believed it.

They were going to make history. And if they were really lucky, they might even survive it.