Long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, before the Earth knew ships, before the heavens were mapped, a star was born. It blazed into being with a brilliance so pure, so white, it seemed stitched from the fabric of creation itself. Its light surged outward in every direction, untouched by time.

Meanwhile, on a blue planet tucked within a spiral arm of the Milky Way, a young adventurer named Columbia — “Just Columbia,” she insisted — stood before the queen.