It was the middle of the night, the air was pleasantly cool. Leri, the moon that controlled Gais' tides, shown brightly in the cloudless sky. Around it, a mural of various stars and planets. They weaved a deep story of constellations and shapes. To think that Staiuskind had gone up there. The two Staius in the yellow car were young, recent creations. They had yet to fully develop a neural network of electrons. Nevertheless, they were old enough to be trusted on their own. Dust plumed in their wake, they were offroading. The radio was on. "Gooooood evening Narrev! This is your disk jockey, one-eyed Rrruuumbbleeeerrrr! Say say say, what's a little Perintan night without a little Rock n' Roll? We gotta rock tonight, till' broad daylight! Gonna rock around the clock tonight! Take it away, Kiul Brothers!" The voice of the disc jockey was replaced with a rock song. The two Staius smiled, their favorite. They eventually came to a stop at a bluff, getting out from the vehicle. They sat on the hood, taking in the night. The moon illuminated them both, and the field of stars was dazzling. They were miles away from civilization -- their car had ensured that. A small town was illuminated on the horizon, some streetlights polluting the sky with light. They had a drag race in the morning, they knew that. But the night was young and the weather was perfect. "Can't believe they're launching the Reaul 7 tomorrow. Think we'll be able to watch it on the telly?" one of them spoke, eliciting a reply from the second. "Hell if I know. I hope we win the race, your hotrod's pretty fast. Just don't tell em' it's your mama's car." A sigh. A giggle. They looked up at the stars. Some day, Staiuskind would control it all, surely. [center]**---**[/center] "The eyes of the world now look into space. To the moon, and the planets beyond. We have vowed we shall not see it with a hostile flag of conquest, but by a banner of freedom and peace." The voice paused for applause. "We choose to go to the moon not because it is easy, but because it is hard." "Why do we wish to go there? Because it is there. Space is there. And we're going to climb to it. The moon and the planets are there. New hopes for knowledge and peace are there. And therefore, as we set sail, we ask the First Star's blessing, as we embark on the most dangerous and most hazardous journey upon which our kind has ever embarked." More applause. The television cut out. It switched to the mission control. There, a hundred Staius were packed into a room, watching their terminals and screens. The launch of Reaul 7 was in order, and the eyes of the world were upon them. If this mission was successful, Leri would be landed upon, and the Staius who landed would then return. It would be a great achievement for Staiuskind. "Go no go for launch countdown. Cut the chatter in this room." the announcer said, at the behest of the director of the Narrev National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The various peoples at the consoles gave the go for launch, each one in order, and the launch countdown began. The nation was glued to their television sets. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. Initiate engines. 3. 2. 1. Launch. The rocket lifted up into the air, and soon to the atmosphere. It shed its main rockets, and moved to secondary orbital thrusters. That too was then shed, and the ship with three astronauts aboard was sent into space. Then, later, 210 hours into the mission, mission control was again called to action. They were entering lunar orbit. They were go for power descent. The ship began the descent, with two astronauts aboard the lander. Millions of people were watching as the lander hit the surface. The astronaut, their shell covered in reflective gold foil -- a lesson hard-learned in solar radiation from previous accidents -- stepped down onto the surface. Cheers filled mission control. "For here we have been, and for here we will wish to return." The two astronnauts planted a flag of the Federated States of Narrev, and placed a plaque by its side. The plaque read: HERE STAIUS FROM THE PLANET GAIS FIRST SET FOOT UPON THE MOON WE CAME IN PEACE FOR ALL STAIUSKIND. This was all broadcasted worldwide, every channel covering it. Not out of force, but out of each channel's own decision. From Cantor to Narrev, all corners of the globe were watching the two Staius. Then, came the broadcast of the astronauts on their plaque. "This is our commemoration that will be here until someone like us, until some of you, who are out there, who are the promise of the future, come back to read it again." Thus finished the first broadcast from Gais' moon. It was a historic moment for every Staius, and a historic moment for their entire species. They had completed their first evolutionary steps into the universe.