Meet the brave crew of the IHL Discovery, who have been carefully selected for this important mission.
01 – 31 October 2021
A sci-fi, time-travel adventure taking place across King’s Lynn town centre & online
VISIT the PORTALS // WATCH the TRANSMISSIONS // SHOW US what YOU’RE doing as AGENTS OF CHANGE
THE IHL DISCOVERY is a Class B vessel, capable of faster-than-light-speed and time travel.
Moored beside a black hole at the centre of our Milky Way galaxy (Sagittarius A*), the vessel has just two weeks to leave 2021, after which time the ship and its crew would become stranded.
The name INTERGALACTIC HANSEATIC LEAGUE (IHL) is inspired by the Hanseatic sail ships of our own medieval history – seafaring vessels that traded goods between the Hanseatic nations of Europe. In 23rd-century Earthport Lynn, this maritime tradition now extends across the universe.
In order to reach the high speeds necessary for such intergalactic travel, the IHL ships sail through wormholes in spacetime, harnessing energy from solar winds to explore infinite galaxies.
THE CAPTAIN
As Earth’s highest ranking IHL officer, THE CAPTAIN successfully commanded all five of the main Intergalactic vessels operating from 2215 to become an almost mythical figure in her own time. She is a role model for young cadets training as IHL space pilots in Earthport Lynn 2225.
The nature of Intergalactic and time-travel involves hugely complex tasks and challenges.
THE CAPTAIN, with her capacity for abstract thought – combined with her cat-whispering abilities – is considered the perfect commander for this uniquely challenging voyage through time and space.
THE NAVIGATOR
Before joining the IHL, THE NAVIGATOR graduated with first-class honours from Earthport Lynn’s universally acclaimed Intergalactic Navigator School. Geoff’s chosen area of study was early 21st-century Earth history. His final thesis researched our 2021 ‘internet’, sadly wiped by an unexpected solar flare in 2025.
THE NAVIGATOR grew up with a fascination for music stored on vinyl records, still preserved and displayed in the Music of Earth Museum located in a small, once-thriving provincial town called Landan. With his unique passion for everything from our time, Geoff is the perfect officer to communicate with, and recruit, the 2021 King’s Lynn AGENTS OF CHANGE.
OFFICER PASCAL
The role of THE SHIP’S CAT, OFFICER PASCAL, is fundamental to the safe voyage of the IHL Discovery. He maintains the quantum entanglement that permits time travel to occur.
In the 22nd century, human scientists learned that cats have an innate understanding of paradox quantum states, and given enough head strokes and attention, they might even reveal these secrets to us.
OFFICER PASCAL operates at the very heart of the Discovery’s warp engine and – like any cat – can be easily distracted, causing occasional disruptions in spacetime continuity when hungry or woken from naps.
PAX
THE SHIP’S COMPUTER, P.A.X. is a highly sophisticated member of the IHL Discovery’s crew.
P.A.X.'s immense intelligence allows her to communicate directly with the SHIP’S CAT, OFFICER PASCAL, to guide the ship and its crew through the very fabric of spacetime.
With her tireless positive attitude, P.A.X. is programmed to keep the crew in good spirits and look on the bright side of life, even when facing obliteration of the very fabric of the universe itself, which seems to happen quite regularly.
Like any artificial intelligence developed in the 23rd century, P.A.X. has a strong fascination with retro 21st-century technology. On this mission she’s quite attracted to the idea of meeting an iPhone.