Introduction: Out amidst the stars, far past the point Earth appears as a pale blue dot, a human spacecraft plunges forth towards new and exciting worlds.  The passengers know they are never going home, not after the lengthy journey ahead of, and to a lesser extent behind them.  They while away their time frozen in body and plugged into a simulation in mind waiting for a new planet to explore and colonize.  Still, space is a place large enough for a surprise or two as our protagonist, the underqualified Mike Jackson (no relation) is soon to find out.~~~I will be posting chapters here and on my wordpress blog-thing, hopefully within minutes of each other multiple times a week.  Currently on hiatus.  If I get back to writing this one, it will be after I tweak it to make it feel less like an empty world with too many extras in the background....