Brief

Jim, Simon and Sean are all working toward the impossible – colonizing another planet. They have a new spaceship that uses dark matter and can defy the laws of physics as we know it. With twenty genetically modified astronauts whom they have trained since birth, they overcome government opponents and take the ship to another planet and plant the UN flag on their new home.

What We Liked

This story is about mankind’s greatest challenge – getting off a planet that is degrading and overcrowded. There is the exciting prospect of using dark matter to make a super fast spaceship and genetically modified astronauts to fly them.
Navigation a tense political climate with people who don’t want the project to succeed, Jim and Simon successfully find a new planet – with the help of the Chinese no less – and send their 20 astronauts to the new planet and plant the UN flag.

Film: Astrcolones are genetically modified people, raised from birth for a specific mission.
That is a fascinating topic to explore, as is their mission – to colonize another planet!
Their mission depends on the utilization of dark matter, something scientists have only dreamed about. We watch it happen, and we also see the fallout. Specifically, factions in the US and Chinese governments who don’t want it to happen mainly because the lead scientist wants to share the tech with the world and claim the new planet for the UN – not just China or the US. This story has a fast paste, intersperced with amazing, fantastical technology with great set pieces such as the spaceship itself actually flying and easily evading fighter jets.

TV: This would be an interesting TV show, with great Sci-Fi tropes like genetically modified
people, trained since birth for a specific mission – and the specific mission itself which
is to colonize another planet. The other interesting aspect of this show is the seemingly impossible creation of a spaceship that would be fueled by dark matter.
This would make it extremely fast and efficient, able to reach other galaxies in short matter of time. The characters are all heroic in the parts they play. It would be a great character drama with plenty of story points that would leave an audience hanging until the next episode, and of course to the final mission itself which is fantastical in its elements.

Key points:
Space exploration.
Genetically modified humans who grow up in a lab for a specific mission.
Dark forces in world governments who want it all not to happen.
Futuristic spaceships.
Brilliant and dogged characters who intend on making it work.

Synopsis

On board a UAP (formerly designated as UFO) starship called SOLUS1, Adam is concerned that two fighter jets would intercept them, being unaware of their mission. The jets fire, but the missiles disappear as the UAP takes amazing evasive maneuvers. The return to base and Dr Johnson and Adam are angry about the jets - they had a dialogue going with the military and it never should have happened. At The Heritage Institute in New England, 18 year-old Simon is nervous about his internship. His
studies have been bioscience and aeronautical engineering. He meets the institute heads, Henry Wilson Steadman, Marjorie West, and John Darcy Russell. They compliment him on his paper, “A New Race for a New World,” and underscore the need for humanity to move off a dying planet.
He is assured that they will fund his research into new humans that can withstand leaving earth and a new propulsion system to get them there.
Biophysicists Gertrude Sweeney and Stephen Feldman await Simon. Simon presents his proposal: to use CRISPR to create new humans who can withstand the atmosphere and gravity of other planets and stopping points (planets) for when they embark to a new earth. He also wants to explore dark matter and see how it reacts to gravity in order to create a propulsion system. Two years later, and Simon’s work has been a great success. The board is allotting buildings to his research and they want to donate the eggs and embryos as “founding fathers.” In one half of the giant lab, the children were incubated and educated. In the other half, they’re working on the dark matter problem and Simon realizes he needs a partner like Elon Musk, but has one from school, Sean O’Grady from GSpace.
Twelve years later, and the missions are coming along. Jim Sharkey checks himself into a luxurious Irish castle/hotel and runs into Sean, whom he knew from boarding school. Jim catches him up on his exciting and dangerous life. Sean wants to hire him to ferret out people who would sabotage the work they are doing and invites him to a GSpace party in New York where he meets Simon. In New York, Jim meets Sean’s beautiful assistant, Samantha. After the speech and presentation, a lot of people head to the bar. Jim meets Bobby Lynch, his hero who took the Space X rocket to the moon. Samantha joins them, and then takes Jim up to his room and although everything is hazy for Jim, he remembers making intense love to Samantha. Jim flies to Nevada to check out Gspace and Simon’s work with dark matter. On the plane he reads all about dark matter and that the government is obviously going to use it to one-up other countries on defense. He gets into the compound and is in awe. He meets Sean, who gives him an all-access pass and a tour. Some people live there, and there are training facilities for the would-be astronauts. Jim meets Charlie, Sean’s head of cybersecurity who goes over some of the bigger hacks from the Russians and Chinese. He meets a man named Adam in the cafeteria, who doesn’t reveal what he does at Gspace. He meets Simon who has an office-like spaceship control room along with a library and art.
Simon explains to Jim that he’s needed to ferret out any cyber threats from other countries, and he wants to work with them and make a UN of countries who share - instead of compete - for outer space and technology.
Jim sees the triangular shaped UAP that has been confounding the government. Then he sees the enormous SOLUS1 spaceship. Barry, the chief engineer, takes him on the tour. It looks like titanium but is a newer metal that is opaque on the outside but clear from the inside. It is powered by dark matter which means it can also refuel as it travels since space is 70% dark matter. It can travel at warp speed. The food and facilities are much better than on the ISS. There are vehicles and drones on board for when they reach their new home.
Simon addresses the genetically modified 20 cadets (Samantha being one of them) and explains light speed and the capability of the ships companies like Space X already have. He goes on to explain that there are 4 billion planets that are like earth, and he believes there is life out there. He says China has the best telescope in the world to help choose which planet will be their destination. A Chinese friend has invited him there to check out the telescope. In China, Simon meets his old buddy and roommate Tony Tsu, where he tours the telescope and then reveals that he wants to share his dark matter work with the entire world, despite China’s very generous offers for him to come work for them exclusively. Simon is put up at the luxurious China Club, a 400 year old palace, where Tony fetches him for dinner with Dr Wei - while two guys place listening devices in Simon’s room and rig his computer so they can see everything he’s doing. He meets Dr Zhang, shows a picture of the spaceship, and relates his plan of cooperation amongst countries. Zhang tell him of an Earth-like planet they have located and Simon is thrilled. When he gets back, Charlie tells him he was hacked by the Chinese and they switch out his laptop. Tom Murphy works for Charlie and is staking out the LA airport. He sees two plain looking Chinese men who depart the plane later than everyone else and go to the Chinese consulate. Sean plans a meeting with the Vice President to voice his opinions on other countries’ involvement. Simon also plans a meeting, but with a different agenda. Billy Houston meets Jim at a bar in DC. They’re buddies from the Gulf War and Jim catches him up on the space mission. Jim goes to Key West and meets John Russell, an old man who started the Heritage Institute and who owns a big yacht. They get on the boat’s helicopter. They land on an abandoned oil platform. Jim, Sean and Simon watch as the SOLOS1 takes off from the launch pad with four astronauts test flying it. They attract the attention of two fighter jets but easily evade them and land back on the platform. A general is woken up and is told of the rogue fighter jets - they were not supposed to be there.
He is angry and vows to get to the bottom of it. He calls in Secretary Spencer and demands to know why those jets were authorized to shoot down SOLUS1. They argue, but the general orders him to leave SOLUS1 alone. A Chinese consulate in Houston is closed by the US government, and China responds by closing an American consulate there. Billy Houston fills Jim in on factions of the US government's’ rejection of the SOLUS1 program. Jim thanks him for the update and gets back to Simon and Sean, and a conference call is arranged. The Vice President surprises everyone by joining. Adam, the captain of SOLUS1, is introduced as one of the new breed of astronauts who can withstand prolonged space travel. Simon tells them of his ideas on having a UN flag planted on a new planet instead of different countries vying for control. He tells them that there are dark forces within the US that don’t want this and he will ferret them out.
CIA Deputy Director Whitely, a right-winger, is on the phone with someone whom he directs to kill Simon for being a traitor. Jim and two Secret Service agents are in a car outside his house recording the conversation.
They go in and arrest Whitely. Simon travels to Vienna and gives his presentation on SOLUS1 and the enhanced astronauts to the international Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. They applaud. Simon is satisfied with the plan to bring the G7 nations on board. The China telescope has identified the most suitable planet to shoot for and names it FASTa. Simon believes they can reach it in a week. The astronauts board SOLUS1 at Kennedy Space Center and Adam, the captain, makes a speech.
The ship reaches FASTa. Adam speaks. He plants the UN flag and claims the planet for Earth. The media on Earth is all over the amazing accomplishment as pictures of the new planet get beamed back to Earth.
The team plans on checking out other planets that were deemed Earth-like and already have twenty more genetically modified, but young, astronauts ready to go.

About The Author

Pat Mullan is a thriller writer, poet, and artist. He was born in Ireland and has lived in England, Canada and the USA. He now lives in Connemara, in the west of Ireland. He has published poems and won awards for his first thriller book at the Love and Murder festival in 2005 in Chicago.