The level of light from the star was bright enough now to trigger the activation sequence.

Although the activation sentinel had been watching it for many years, it was never satisfied with the numbers until recently.  There was nothing profoundly different about it, except that it had constantly stayed above the threshold for some time now.

Before the central processing unit could be activated, the sentinel needed to bring up a few minor peripherals, and one experimental primary system that could never be realistically tested before now.

Light levels from the destination solar system were still too faint to collect solar energy, but it was correctly theorized that unlike our own sun, this giant offered another form of diluted energy.  That being solar winds.

The craft had to deploy two tethers in opposite directions.  One toward it's destination, and the other away from it.  Both were sent equal distances from the craft, at 2.8 kilometers each.

This configuration was designed to capture the change in the magnetic field offered by the solar winds that differed by the inverse square of the total distance in the tether array.

It wasn't much by astronomical standards, but it created two benefits to the little craft.  The first benefit was in the collection of electrical current, and the other was a side effect of propulsion that pulled it towards it's destination.

For the first time in 150 years, the craft was accelerating due to a non-gravitational force.

![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Solar_Wind_and_Earth%27s_magnetic_field.png)

Related: [We Come In Peace](https://steemit.com/fiction/@inertia/we-come-in-peace), [Deviation](https://steemit.com/fiction/@inertia/deviation)