eight o'clock in the evening of May 15, 2136
Icarus was on his way . The attack had begun ; it was too late to stop , now . And on the machines the odds read a hundred to one -- for failure . At eight o'clock in the evening of May 15 , 2136 , Icarus was launched toward the star Centaurus . A day later , while all Terra waited , Icarus entered the star , traveling at thousands of times the speed of light . Nothing happened . Icarus disappeared into the star .