28 MAY 3301
Shadow President Hudson today called an Emergency Session of Congress to address concerns surrounding Starship One’s disappearance.
During the meeting, the Shadow President openly mocked the idea that Starship One’s disappearance could have been caused by simple engine failure.
“Jasmina and I weren’t close – heck, we hated each other, and that’s the truth of it. But the idea, the very notion, that our best and brightest out there on Starship One would have let that bird fly with a busted engine... No way. Those guys are military. We need to be looking for who did it. We need to nail them NOW. The assassin is busy covering their tracks while we speak. This dithering inaction and woolly thinking is typical of this administration. Let’s face it Halsey had enough enemies like those onionhead guys, numerous frontier systems she has annoyed, and the elephant in the room – the Empire.”
Acting President Winters took a more levelled approach.
“I appreciate the sheer gamut of emotions my esteemed colleague must be feeling, but at times like these, level heads must prevail. We have found no evidence of foul play as yet. Our engineers are sifting through copious amounts of data and so far it does look like a very unusual catastrophic failure rather than sabotage.”
28 MAY 3301
Despite claims that the disappearance of Starship One was due to a failure in the ship’s Frame Shift Drive, rumours abound about a more sinister, possibly extraterrestrial explanation.
Alex Snoori, host of the popular interstellar talk show Beyond Top Secret, had this to say to his listeners.
“It’s an outrage, that’s what it is. Do you think those Martian fat cats that rule over us want you to know the truth? I don’t think so.”
“Learn your history, people. It wasn’t all that long ago that our ancestors were being plucked out of the black right into the belly of bugs. Wake up sheeple, you don’t want to be sitting around dressed up like mutton when they come for you. Do not let the government tell you lies. You’re smarter than that.”
“There’s been a lot of hullabaloo about strange things being found out there recently. Weird, pulsing, alien things. I don’t know where they came from, but I do know that they’re creepy, and gross, and almost certainly dangerous. You think it’s a coincidence that the President went missing just weeks after those THINGS turn up? Don’t be so naive. WAKE UP sheeple, you’re being lied to.”