The ships had been floating around space now for three years and during that time they had never stopped looking for a place that might be able to sustain them. Gideon had ended up on the lead ship and so he stayed in the 'know' about how they were doing. People were starting to get desperate. Even though there were rations designed to keep all the people on the ships alive for at least fifty years, it felt as if they had been in space forever.
Things changed when they finally spotted the place that Lucius had named New Earth. Every scan and observation suggested that it would be habitable and after much conversation and debate the decision was made to send down the most able bodied among the ships. Gideon Hansler would join Frank Lucarelli as the leaders of the expedition down onto the planet. All of the occupants on the ships who were between the ages of 17-20 had been preparing for all three years for the eventual colonization of a new planet and so between them all they were meant to be equipped with the skills necessary to keep everyone alive. The goal would be to set up camp. Get everything stable and then begin having children so that humanity could live on even if Earth was over. This information was communicated with Gideon and Frank but wasn't exactly common knowledge. Gideon understood the importance of such a venture, but that didn't mean he liked it or wanted to be the one to explain to all the young adults that once they were sure they were safe they needed to all start hitting the sheets.
Physicals were conducted, arrangements were made and then came the fateful day that they were put in transportation capsles and lowered to the surface of the planet. For the first time in three years tentative feet touched solid ground and then the sounds of excitement and celebration began. "Grass! Trees! We can breathe!"