All her years of work would finally amount to this. The culmination of decades of Research, countless hours testing new technologies, and finally it was time to launch. As Director, she had the privilege of remaining with the bridge crew until they reached escape velocity. It was exhilarating, the roar of the engines, being thrust into space, the feeling of weightlessness once they reach the lower atmosphere. Of course, she had trained for all of this but nothing could prepare her for the real thing. 

Helmsman: [color=00aeef]"Well Director? It's a long trip ahead of us. Any last words before we all catch some serious shut eye?"[/color]

Director Izumi: [color=662d91]We're doing it. Going where no one has gone before, exploring new worlds. I can't wait to see what wonders awaits us in the unknown. Transfer all controls to automated systems and report to your stasis pods, good night everyone."[/color]

The ship chirped a confirmation and she headed to her own pod situated in the bay reserved for department heads and higher leadership. Once all remaining crew were asleep she started the sequence for her own pod. She muttered to herself [color=662d91]"Third star to the right, ahead full."[/color] just as the automated systems initiated a burn sequence. As she drifted off she imagined new worlds to explore. Were they teeming with life? Would they meet sentient extraterrestrial life forms? Maybe not the latter but it was a sweet dream. 
[hr]

[center][b]787 YEARS 4 MONTHS 1 WEEK AND 2 DAYS LATER[/b][/center]

She awoke from stasis in a haze. It was expected of course but still disorienting. She would have to make a note to look into ways to make the process less jarring in the future. She checked the monitor on the pod as her door came open. Her vitals looked normal, at least she assumed since she isn't a medical doctor. It was a bit difficult to breathe but otherwise fine. The security head and his deputy had woken up moments before she did. Head of Security Daniel Monroe, a seasoned veteran of the US military and a good man from what she'd been told. She never did get any support in changing the security uniforms to red, for the best probably. 

Silly thoughts aside, they had just awoken in new space. Far away from the old world in search of a new one or even possibly, several new ones. It occurred to her that she had been sitting in her pod for some time now and should probably get moving.