It hangs in space, glimmering with borrowed starlight, a radiant gem of a world. Pristinely beautiful, its immense girth is breath-taking, even to those who come seeking such a place, a clean world, young and unsullied. Generations past, beyond the memory of the Waking, the first Dreamers surrendered a used-up planet to the pull of a dying star, and launched the "Waking to Dreams", the great colony ship, into the unknown reaches of space beyond their galaxy. Now, with nearly all of the thousands of dream-stations occupied, and the growth tanks about to release a new generation of Children, the Waking crowd into viewing chambers, watching in awestruck silence as their destination grows steadily nearer.
Selected by the members of the 31st Waking and monitored in detail ever since, this world shows itself so closely matched to the original parameters that it seems to have been designed on purpose for the newcomers. Even the Children are astounded by the perfection of the chosen target, though they have known and observed this world since the day they entered the growth tanks and linked into the virtual living environment.
The target world offers a balanced cycle of seasons, consistent over the stretch of two centuries of observation. There are no existing sentient or presentient life forms, but the assortment of plant and animal types is so varied as to send the scientifically minded among them into transports of excitement. Those who have spent the journey planning against the myriad pitfalls inherant to colonizing an unknown world are somewhat calmed by the target's unusually wide temperate zones, which will allow for maximum dispersion of various groups upon the surface.
In the final weeks of its 500-year voyage, the "Waking to Dreams" fairly thrums with activity. Forty-eight generations of Dreamers are roused from their dream-stations, and the final generation of Children emerge adults from the growth tanks. All are at first stiff and feeble, their bodies at a physical peak, yet awkward and foreign to minds accustomed to mere virtual movement. Every room, every corridor, every off-duty station is filled with people stretching and working their unfamiliar limbs, and time on the exercise equipment is at a premium. The halls ring with laughter and lively conversation as extended families meet in the flesh for the first time. Dreamers of earlier Wakings relieve the members of the forty-ninth from their shipboard duties, allowing everyone the time to locate children and parents, and rejoice at their swiftly approaching Landfall...
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Submission Name: Travel: Prologue
