Posted by: Wiggles
« on: March 01, 2023, 03:28:33 PM »26 March 2050
-Birmingham-
What's more is that the remaining empty seating was open to the public. Faces of all kinds squashed together in amongst the red seating. Some standing, some sitting on a chair or its armrest, others hoisting up a child or friend onto their shoulders to get a better view. It was rare enough for the public to rub shoulders with their governing officials - and those of other countries. Only when the theatre had been filled to bursting did someone approach the podium placed just off-centre on the stage. Families and friends and strangers; over a thousand people and all of them not making a sound.
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On the 13th of February of this year, Captain Second-Grade Julie Piccard of the 'GEV-12 Houjian' - a geological survey craft - was performing standard scans of the celestial bodies of the newly-explored Alpha Centauri system. Hovering at a regulation twelve-thousand kilometres above 'Alpha Centuari-A II', a planet roughly half the diameter of Earth, Captain Piccard's scientific team picked up readings of artificial structures on the planet's surface. . . "
The clearing of his throat filled the space of the theatre. He shook, fumbling with his papers:
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As per regulations, 'GEV-12' held itself in orbit to perform more thorough scans. At 7:29am Beijing Time, we received a report from Captain Piccard confirming the existence of artificial structures on the barren plan--"
The theatre crowd drowned out even the speakers.