description: Richard Starlight said these words to Oritz Konig on April 19, 2153."What is unusual are people like the people who will not lie no matter what the cost, who won't steal, who are loyal and respectful to the end, willing to take risks with little reward, who will pursue a dream doggedly to bring it to reality. People like this aren't ordinary at all--they stand out. These are the people who understand my father's vision."Richard smiled. "Two summers ago, Oritz, when the trouble started on Mars, I took two of these Starmen on a short drive on the lunar landscape. Zip was here on Mars, in Eagle City. Mark and Joe accompanied me. At the time, they were newly graduated from the Academy and hadn't had any assignments yet. I remember telling them about the meaning of my father's name, how he'd taken a new name to signify light in the great darkness of the Collapse, as stars are points of light in the darkness of space. I told them that no matter how overwhelming the darkness might appear, they were still charged to be people characterized by light, the inspiring light of beauty and adventure, which the darkness cannot overcome. I reminded them that this was why they had been selected as Starmen--they were the ambassadors of Starlight Enterprise to the universe, the best that we and human civilization had to offer. When they committed themselves to our vision, they became people called and chosen to be as different from ordinary people as light is from darkness."Seven years and five days later, when The Last Command brings the Starman saga to its amazing climax on April 24, 2160, Starmen David Foster, Mark Seaton, and Joe Taylor will prove that they are indeed “the best that we and human civilization had to offer."
language: English
title: The Last Command
titlecomplete: The Last Command
ratings_count: 5
publisher: Americana Publishing