[ TT ] As a child your father left on a space voyage , never to return or be heard from again . Now , twenty years later you 've decided to search for him .

I slipped my earphones on to drown out the low-pitched rumble of the ship's engines as she lifted off from the ground. As classic tunes from my youth bathed me in tranquillity, my mind was cast back to my childhood. Growing up was tough. My dear mother raised me all on her own. Dad left her before I was born. He told her that the war needed him and that he would definitely return one day. 20 years later and I still have n't met him yet. 
 
 Before I went to sleep each night, Mother would tell me stories full of wonder. They were the same stories that my father had told her when they first met. Stories full of magic and romanticism. They made me want to go and find my father one day and to finally reunite with him amongst the stars. This dream drove me to become obsessed with science, science-fiction and everything space-related in general. I watched every episode of Star Trek, I was the first in line to see Star Wars and my bookshelf was crammed full of the works from the likes of Asimov, Clarke, Dick, Niven, Herbert... My list could go on. 
 
 *Mother would be so happy to see me here*, I thought to myself as I sat silently in the ship's crash couch with music drifting into my ears. If only she had n't died when I was still a boy. I would never forget that fateful day when I witnessed my mother dying. I was too young and too powerless to help her. 
 
 `` I've got to find my dad. Take me to him,'' I said quietly. I gently touched the metal plaque on the dashboard with my ship's name engraved on it. *Aurora*. I called her'Rora for short. 
 
 `` Coordinates locked,'' came a female voice echoing around me. `` Identification required to proceed to warp speed.'' 
 
 `` Oh, c'mon'Rora. You know me!'' I laughed. `` Fine, we'll play it your way.'' I turned my music off and stowed away my earphones. With a click of a small button on the side of my ear, a metal helmet unfurled from its compact storage within the earpiece and enclosed my face. The heads-up-display flickered on inside my mask and the communication channel between'Rora and me was rerouted to my helmet. 
 
 `` Initiate FTL warp drive,'' I commanded. `` Authority... Star-Lord.'' 

