The Last Wish of the Star Voyager🔊

Staring at the endless canvas of the cosmos that stretched before him, Leonard McCarter felt an overwhelming sense of solitude; an iota of existence adrift in the massive infinity of time and space. Leonard was the last astronaut aboard the Star Voyager, a human-made spaceship that had left Earth fifty years ago for an exploratory voyage beyond the boundaries of known space.

The Star Voyager was an engineering marvel of its time and had a crew of fifty experienced astronauts, each a specialist in their field. They'd set off from Earth on a mission to chart a course to the furthest reaches of the universe and find answers to humanity's oldest question - 'Are we alone?'

As the days turned into years, and years into decades, Leonard had seen many of his crewmates grow old and eventually succumb to the passages of time. He, the last of the Voyager crew, was now inching towards his own twilight. His only companions were the memories of his comrades and the constant hum of the spaceship's engines.

One day, Leonard picked up an unusual signal on the ship's scanner. It was a faint, pulsating rhythm - too deliberate to be a natural occurrence. Leonard, with what strength he had left, rerouted the spaceship in the direction of the signal. After weeks of navigation and anticipation, the Star Voyager arrived at the source of the signal – an unexplored planet adorned with a blue atmosphere and green masses that looked shockingly similar to Earth.

The Star Voyager descended onto the planet's surface, landing on a wide, grassy plain. Leonard donned his spacesuit, opened the airlock, and walked upon the soil of an alien world that felt eerily like home. He was soon welcomed with a surprising sight – a community of human-like beings who came forward with arms raised, a universal sign of peace.

Leonard was greeted by their leader—an elderly figure with a wise demeanor—who introduced themselves as the Uloh, a peaceful species devoted to the pursuit of knowledge and understanding of the universe. They had been transmitting signals into space, hoping to make contact with other sentient beings. Leonard explained his journey and his mission, causing visible excitement among the Uloh.

In the final days of his life, Leonard celebrated humanity and passed on stories of Earth, its achievements, and its flaws, to the Uloh. He taught them about different cultures, science, and arts, and the Uloh shared their own knowledge in return, creating a bond that bridged lightyears of distance. Leonard’s final wish – the answer to humanity's oldest question – had been fulfilled.

Humans were not alone in the universe. And although he would leave this world a lonely voyager, Leonard McCarter died in peace, reassured that his mission was a success. Back on Earth, fifty years later, a faint, pulsating signal filled the control rooms of space agencies, an echo of Leonard and the friends he left behind on a distant planet. The voyage of discovery had only just begun.

Leonard McCarter, the last astronaut of the Star Voyager, was alone no more. Neither was humanity.