Two private ventures have just launched tourists into the edge of space. Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic was followed nine days later by Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin. Passengers saw the curvature of the earth, the thin line of atmosphere, and the lack of borders. They experienced the thrill of weightlessness. For a price varying between $250,000 and $28,000,000, we could also take the ride. Would you? I certainly would.
I won’t, because it is financially out of my reach. But I have no ill feelings about the cost. Private ventures are certainly entitled to recoup their expenses and make a profit. I applaud and admire the organizational effort to reach beyond. So instead of physically traveling, I will continue to fantasize, to read, and to write.
In my Dominion Saga, humans are terraforming and settling the distant planet, Dominion. In another part of the galaxy, a settlement on the remote moon Lazakh is facing some challenges. The Artimas series is headquartered on the well-established planet, Soliterre, the center of the Crown Alliance that rules this galactic sector. The Crown Alliance’s enforcement arm, Outwatch, patrols all planets, near and far, within that territory. The Outwatch Adventures and spinoffs carry us to other far-flung planets. I could go on and on, but perhaps my time is better spent continuing to write the stories.
I’m wishing you a wonderful ride, whether on the shiny new spacecraft created here on Earth or via the pages of fiction, be they mine or someone else’s.
Jora Dublinn 