Here There Be Dragons: Science Fiction

The circumnavigation of the globe was at hand, he thought, and then it would all be downhill from there. The patches of dragons would disappear from their maps, the fairies from the bottom of their gardens, and the hob from its spot outside the cottage stoop. There must be some way, he thought, some means of saving us from ourselves. He sat in his study and looked up at the maps that marked dragon and sea monsters and mermaids, and he sighed over their impending loss. And what if those earlier, fiercer things returned and humanity needed the allies it had gradually phased out. There must be a way to keep them alive. Preserved. A way to keep the unknown alive. He paced across his study and walked out to the balcony, then tilted his head back and stared up at the stars as he tried to think. He smiled.

Inspiration: Francis Drake's circumnavigation of the globe.
Story Potential: High. I think. But it would require very careful handling to avoid falling into the cliched "fairies hiding in the unknown" pattern.
Notes: I think I could do it though. I think it could be a really interesting science fiction story. And there would be space opera, and war, and culture shock/fear-of-the-unknown/divine madness. Erm. It does smell like a novel, though. I mean EPIC.