Space

AD NW
Five women sat in the conference room, each one brought in for their specific set of skills. Not a single
word was uttered throughout for they eagerly anticipated the arrival of Professor James Smith, the
Director of Human Spaceflight. He had claimed to carry some good news.
The type of news that could alter their lives forever.
A few minutes had come and gone when finally, they heard the door open to reveal a dark haired
middle aged man. Tall and sharply dressed with a tablet in hand, he strutted into the room like he
owned it.
"Morning, ladies." he greeted cheerily, "And welcome to the Avengers initiative."
The youngest of the five covered her mouth with her hand while she tried her best to stifle an
unwanted laugh. The rest, however, could only give out polite smiles, their interests reserved for the
good news that they were promised.
"Come now," he pulled out a chair at the head of the table, "Where's your sense of humour?"
"What of this news, Professor Smith?" one of them, a woman with an oval face, asked matter-offactly.
"Ah typical Evelyn, always straight to the point." he winked as he set the tablet down, "I wanted to
have some fun but why not. Show them the mission files, please. Project Artemis."
At his request, the tablet projected an image of a planet from its surface, a wall of writing right next
to it. Everyone leaned forward in their seats, their interests piqued.
At last, the moment that they had waited so long for.
"I started Project Artemis with questions frequently asked by many; were we truly alone in this
universe? What has stopped us from reaching out if we weren't? Why not seek them out ourselves?” he
began, “But for reasons which were obvious, it was difficult for me to gain the Agency's approval.
This mission was truly speculative in nature, and being the frugal scientists that they were, some
physical evidence was needed. And I hardly had any, truth be told. The ones that I've received at the
time weren't exactly... promising."
He paused his story and turned his attention towards someone seated at the far end of the table. A
woman, to be precise, her gaze faraway and distant. The look of someone with much on their mind.
He simply smiled at the sight, and returned his attention towards the room.
"And then one day we got this signal, a sort of garbled audio if you will, that was almost impossible
to make out. I was just about to throw in the towel before Kaydn here stepped in and saved the day.
Her brilliant mind found us the coordinates to this planet. Project Artemis would have remained a
pipe dream if it weren't for her."
The woman seated next to him harrumphed.
“And a big thanks to you too, Humaira. She was the one who recommended Kaydn in the first place.”