Loadstar

Alone on the bridge he is standing
At the helm of this digital skiff
The Commodore of the 64th fleet
Speaks in basic nautiglyph

A quick glance at the charts before him
The coordinates have all been read
Diligently he pecks out the next command
Seeking souls to man the masthead

If the sea is cooperative today
Then navigation should be a breeze
For “i”equals 1 to n
Where n is of infinite degrees

Wait, the crew has not arrived yet
Not enough hands have made it on board
This expedition requires more memory
To set a course by Orion’s sword

In the chartroom the codes are decrypted
When a syntax error disrupts the flow
A few course corrections later
And the cruise once again is a go

Now before this journey can begin
A crucial step must first be repeated
Though the voyage plan has been drafted
A request for passage must be completed

With commands now clearly spelled out
The Commodore heads for the radio room
He must check his latest assumptions
Before the final calculations can resume

Back at the console he toils
Load star, the sacred command
Preparing the skiff for departure
Course set for an 8-bit wonderland

The crew is finally ready for input
The console on the bridge is aglow
The Commodore stands tall at the helm
Fingers aligned on the keyboard home row

The BASIC bytes are finally free
The screen is up and READY
10 PRINT “INFINITE FUN”
He smashes the RETURN key
20 GOTO 10 RETURN again
READY? RUN