A new series, The Saga of the Aeneas, begins at Noble Cobra Magazine:

It was the greatest engineering project ever attempted by man.

Seven kilometers long, and two across at its widest point, the Aeneas dwarfed any other man-made object by a considerable margin. The internal surface area alone, not counting the upper decks, came out to just under the size of Denmark.

The ship was roughly in the shape of a huge cylinder, tapering toward the front, making it something like an enormous spear or dart to be hurled through the cosmos. Inside were five uneven concentric layers – not counting the inner surface – grouped around the central conduit which ran the whole length of the ship. Gravity would be created by means of centrifugal force as the ship rotated upon its axis. The inside surface would be coated with a thick layer of earth and cultivated with all manner of plant life, providing both food and air. There would even, it was said, be rivers and a small freshwater sea to act as water sources.

The mission of the Aeneas was to transport a population of human beings some eleven light years to the Epsilon Eridani system: mankind’s first permanent extraterrestrial settlement. With a top speed of less than a twentieth the speed of light, however, the Aeneas would require nearly three centuries to reach her destination. Those who embarked with her would be buried in her. Ten generations or more would be born, grow old, and die within her walls.

It had taken a joint effort of the world’s great powers more that thirty years to build, not counting the enormous efforts expended in engineering, research, and planning. Now, with the completed ship receiving her finishing touches in orbit around the Moon, there came perhaps the most crucial element of all; the choice of crew.

Despite the well-known fact that whoever departed would neither return nor see their journey’s end, such was the hold that the ship had on the imaginations of the world that millions of men and women from every corner of the globe had applied to be a part of the mission. Months of rigorous of tests and examinations had, bit by bit, narrowed the field to some ten thousand finalists.

Much to his own surprise, James Smith found himself to be one of those finalists.

Read the rest here