Dear reader,

It was but an hour ago (in this timeline) that I sat paralyzed by fear when I was awoken by the call of duty.

“Cadet! Enter your spaceship and meet us at the station!”

I quickly clothed myself and entered my vessel unaware of the adventure to come.

When I arrived at the station I realized that this was more than a practice exercise. I was but one of many cadets awaiting further instruction. I would be lying if I said that I was not overtaken by imposter syndrome as I looked at the warriors in the other vessels. “Surely, this is a mistake! I am not ready to fight alongside these intrepid soldiers!”

A sergeant approached demanding my card. I handed it over without hesitation. He inserted the card into a machine which gained me entrance to the line where the other vessels idled.

I could see up ahead that these vessels were being prepared for takeoff by a crew of skillful mechanics. Beyond that there was nothing save for mist, fog and—did my senses deceive?!—multi-colored space goop. “I am not ready for this!” I said to myself.

One by one the ships departed into the misty darkness. My hands trembled as I waited. I was next. One of the masked mechanics aggressively waived me forth. Suddenly three of them descended upon my ship. “There is no going back,” I thought to myself. My doom is certain.

That is when I heard a voice. Whether it was from within or without I could not discern. “Trust in the light,” it said. As I flew ahead a string of blinking yellow lights appeared. Two voices did battle within: one telling me to look where I was flying, the other, calmer, telling me to trust in the light. And so I gave in to the latter. I was overtaken by the very mist and goop the other ships faces but I carried forth through the darkness for what seemed like an eternity.

Suddenly, I could see daylight up ahead. “Keep following the light!” I told myself. A masked commander bid me slow down. He tapped my ship as though to thank me for my courage as well as to give me safe leave.

And so I sit back in my cabin having risked life and limb. Still trembling. Still afraid. But with a sense of accomplishment.