“Aren’t you being a bit paranoid?”
“I think paranoia is the best choice of action here. History has shown when an advanced race meets an inferior race the advanced race always oppresses the inferior one.”
“I know my history.”
“Captain, there is something else, and it’s a selfish reason that only you may know.”
“I’ll take it to my grave.”
The Professor looked around the hallway to be sure no one was coming. “I’ve spent almost every waking moment since the minute I could read learning how things work, learning how the universe operated, thinking I knew everything but knowing I still had more to learn. Being here, seeing what another race has accomplished made me realize no matter how long I live I will never be capable to duplicate this. I might not even be able to completely understand it, and that makes me wonder why I’ve dedicated all my time to learning when, in the end, it won’t mean anything.”
“Professor-“
“No, Marjorie, I know you’re going to try to say something that will make me feel better.”
“No, I wasn’t.” Captain Cook said sternly. “I was going to tell you to get over it. I’m going to need you to be level headed. I’m going to need you to be the confident Professor Theo Ricter I’ve become friends with. One of the things I admire about you is your conviction in your ideas. More often than not, you’ve been right. This place is fascinating, but we can’t worry about how or why it’s here. We need to concentrate on how to get out and I’m going to need your leadership to make that happen. I’ll be your psychologist when we’re in Wormhole space heading back to Earth, but until then I need your head right here.”
“Hmm,” he said, the corner of his lips curling up in a reluctant smile. “Is that the tough love I’ve heard that Captain’s use to encourage their crews?”
“No, it’s a Captain talking to her top science officer.”
“I see,” he replied then nodded. “I think I can put aside my paranoia for now, but it’s something we’re going to have to talk about later.”
“Fine. On our way back to Earth we’ll both come up with a package to present to the President. However, first, we need to get back. Now, float to your office and come up with something. I want to go home, and I want you to lead the way.”
He smiled again then slowly, awkwardly, moved down the hallway.
When he disappeared, Marjorie took her hand out of her pocket. It was trembling now more than ever before. She made a fist and tried to stop it, but it continued to disobey her commands.
******
Tensions ran high all over the ship. Several zero gravity fights broke out. Fighting in zero gravity could never really hurt anyone, unless they crashed into a bulkhead, but the crews that gathered to watch the fight made sure everyone stayed in the circle until the two fighters were exhausted and sent to the brig to cool off. The source of the stress wasn’t hard to figure, in the two days since they arrived in the negative zone no one knew how they were getting out.
The Professor and his crew had kept Captain Cook in the dark about their findings and, even when pushed, he kept his mouth strangely silent. They worked hard and requested several dozen probes. Every fifteen minutes or so she would receive word that they had to fire another probe into the core.
After several days they had results and requested a meeting with her. She was thankful to get any information and gladly accepted the invitation.
She entered the main conference too to find Professor Ricter and Doctor Lipton floating above the table talking to each other. When they saw Marjorie, they both stopped. “Captain,” Doctor Lipton said excited, “we think we have a way out of here.”
“I’m listening,” Captain Cook replied.
“The first thing we need to ask is, what is that sphere?”
“I thought it was the core of the planet.”
“So did we until we started firing probes at it. Every time we fired a probe it sank into the surface and disappeared. We could get some data from them but nothing much until we fired a probe with a long cable connected to it.”
Professor Ricter then spoke. “That’s when things got interesting. The probe hit the sphere, and disappeared like the others but we got some data through the cable before it snapped. Captain, the probe started speeding up, and we knew we weren’t dealing with anything we’ve seen before.”
Now Doctor Lipton talked; her voice was higher, and grew more excited with each sentence. “So, we sent a few more probes in and recorded the speed.”
It was like a choreographed presentation as Professor Ricter picked up where she left off. “And those speeds were faster than we could imagine.”
“How fast?” Captain Cook asked, not really sure who was going to answer.
“Almost 60% the speed of light,” Doctor Lipton said.
“How is that possible?” Captain Cook asked very interested.
“We’re not sure,” Professor Ricter said.
“Okay, tell me how you think this will get us out here.” Captain Cook knew both well enough to know they needed someone to tell them to return their focus to the problem at hand.
They just looked at each other, now neither one wanted to talk. Finally, Professor Ricter said, “We believe that core is a wormhole opening.”
"A wormhole to where?”
“We don’t know,” Professor Ricter replied. “But all our tests tell us this is a wormhole.”
“Wait a minute,” Captain Cook said. “How is the possible? Any wormhole opening will have Strangelets all over the place, which means this place couldn’t exist.”
“Not all wormholes are equal. The ones we create use Strangelets. This one could use something different. Something we don’t know about. A wormhole is a hole that leads to another dimension, or universe. We really haven’t figured out which yet. The wormhole space we know bend's space in such a way it allows us to travel further than we ever thought probably. The universe this wormhole goes to might have different rules for speed, which means we could go faster than we thought imaginable."
“I don’t understand, are you telling me we could enter this wormhole and travel faster than light?”
“It seems possible, the probes we sent in there weren’t that fast, I can’t even imagine how fast the Arwen could go at full power.”
“Okay, so what do you recommend we do?”
“We both think this wormhole lead somewhere that’s also open.”
“Why do you think it leads somewhere?”
“An educated guess,” Professor Ricter said.
Captain Cook sighed. “Professor, a few days ago you told me we needed to get as far away from the aliens who created this world as possible. How do we know this wormhole won’t take us right to them?”
“I don’t see any other option.”
Captain Cook thought about it for a long moment. They could head back into the high gravity, thick water, and strange ribbon aliens and try to escape or they could go into an unknown wormhole and appear anywhere within the universe.
“How confident are you this wormhole has an exit?”
"I don’t see how there can’t be an exit.”
“But you’re not sure?”
“No, I can’t be sure until I’ve seen it. It wouldn’t make sense for there not to be an exit, and I think anyone who can build something like this had to have built a way out.”
“That makes as much sense as anything else,” Captain Cook replied. “Okay, we’ll go into the wormhole and see where it takes us. Get yourselves together, we’ll leave as soon as possible.”
*****
Captain Cook nodded at the communication officer, seconds later she heard the crackle of the ship’s speakers as they turned on. “Attention Arwen crew, this is Captain Cook speaking. Please, stop what you’re doing and listen. After a few days of debate between the senior staff and the science crew it was discovered the core of the planet is a wormhole and it seems our only way out of here. Where that wormhole le
ads I don’t know. How long we’ll be in wormhole space is also a mystery. It’s very possible we might never come out. Based on all the information I have I feel it’s worth the risk. No matter what happens, we need to remember that we are still professionals, and we will act as such in this troubling time. Prepare yourself for the return of gravity and for whatever might be out there to greet us. Captain Cook out.”
“Well said,” Professor Ricter mused. He strapped himself to the science station’s chair looking up at the Captain.
“Thank you,” She replied then turned to Commander Pippleton. “Have you checked on all the stores of food?”
“Yes, Captain. We have three months of fresh food in storage and about two years of dried and compressed food.”
“I can only hope we’re not gone for two years.” She looked over at the helm officer and said, “Helm, set a course for the wormhole; we're going in.”
Professor Ricter’s demeanor became excited as he looked at the readouts displayed in front of him. Marjorie wished she had the same feeling of excitement as he did but as the Arwen passed from real space into the new dimension, she felt they were about ready to embark on the longest mission of her life. She looked down at her left hand; it trembled uncontrollably and this time, she didn’t make a fist to try to stop it.
Chapter twelve
While in the Beta wormhole the Arwen reached a speed of 99% the speed of light. After the excitement of traveling faster than any human before wore off the routine of a long space flight set in.
The crew had been trained for long flights. They knew their duties and they did them well. Marjorie wasn’t worried about any mutiny. Morale was high and people still seemed excited. She wondered how they would be if they spent more than a year here. Her biggest fear was how things would develop if there was no way out.
They fired a probe every three weeks to scout ahead to see if there was a light at the end of this tunnel. The last probe provided no new results. They would spend at least another three weeks in space.
Marjorie worried about tremble in her hand. The tremble moved its way into her shoulder. The tremble worsened at night and only settled down a bit when she took the medicine her doctor gave her. That medicine was almost gone.
She needed help and there was only one person she could turn to. She arrived at Professor Ricter’s room, knocked and waited.
“I’m napping, go away.”
“Professor, it’s me. It’s important.”
Moments later the door opened and a robed Professor Ricter stood. His eyes looked tired, his hair uncombed. This was the level of comfort they had with each other. There would be no way Professor Ricter would let anyone other than her see him this disheveled. “Come in.”
“Thank you,” Marjorie said stepping into the room. She couldn’t help notice several graphs and images taped to his wall. The images were marked up with lines and mathematical equations she would never understand. “What’s all this?”
“I’m not ready to talk about this right now so please don’t ask any questions. If that’s the reason you’re here I am going to ask you to leave.”
“No, no,” Marjorie replied not really interested in his wall. “I need to talk to you about something very sensitive.”
“Is this about your hand?”
She laughed, which was a reaction she didn’t expect. He seemed to notice everything in everyone. “How long have you known?"
“Not that long. I noticed you kept your hand in your pocket more and more often. I would sometimes see the pocket moving. My grandmamma had Parkinson’s and she would do the same thing before it got so bad nothing she did could hide it. Do you have Parkinson’s?”
“No, I have what is called Fullerton disease. It affects spacers who travel in wormhole space a lot. No one knows exactly what causes it. Some think some form of unknown radiation that slowly dissolves the nerves.”
“I’ve heard of it. Your nervous system is slowly breaking down, correct?”
“You make it sound so clinical,” she replied. A bad joke. When she saw he wasn’t smiling she said, in a more serious tone. “Yes. I went to my family doctor when I was on Earth and he did some tests. He told me right before we left and gave me some pills that have helped. I needed to go back within a few months for some more tests. Our little mission was only supposed to last a few months, so I wasn’t worried but-“she tailed off trying to keep her voice level and calm. This was the first time she’s even attempted to put into words what was happening to her.
“But, we got stuck in another universe with no idea when we’ll get out.”
“Exactly.”
“How can I help you?”
“I don’t want anyone knowing about this. Not until they need too anyway. That includes the ship’s doctor.”
“Why doesn’t he know this now? I figured anything this important he would know about.”
“That’s why I went to my family doctor not a military one. I asked him to keep it quiet until I returned from the mission. He’s been my doctor most of my life and respected my request as long as I promised to come back when I returned from Earth.”
“So, why not tell him now?”
“I can’t take the chance he’ll deem me unfit for duty and order me to rest. He has the power to do that you know.”
“Are you fit for duty?” Professor Ricter asked seriously. “I’m not going to help you if I think helping you will endanger the ship.”
Meeting his stern tone Captain Cook answered. “If I thought my illness would endanger the ship I’d put myself in sick bay. I’m fine and I will be fine for at least another few months. I still have my pills and I’ve been doing the exercises assigned to me. I need your help with a few other things, personal things that I can’t do myself.”
He lifted one eyebrow. “Such as?”
“I need you to perform some deep massages.”
For the first time ever she saw his face blush just a bit. In a very slow and cautions voice he asked, “How deep and what needs to be massaged?”
She couldn’t help but laugh. “The affected areas. My hands, arms, shoulders, feet and legs.”
“And you trust me? You trust this won’t turn into something-“he paused, as if searching for the right words to finish his sentence.
Marjorie saved him by saying, “Yes. Professor, we have a great friendship and I think we both know it will never get beyond that.”
“No, it won’t,” he replied quickly. “It’s out of the question.”
She cocked her head, curious now. “Why do you think it’s out of the question? People have asked me why we never got together. We do spend a lot of time with each other, and I enjoy the time I spend with you and yes, I’ve thought about it. Haven’t you?”
“Any answer I give will only make you feel bad.”
“Try me,” she said.
“Fine,” he replied. “But I did give you the chance to back out of the answer. The truth is, you don’t meet my standards. I have never met anyone who has, and I don’t think I ever will.”
Marjorie chuckled at his answer. “Oh come on. You can’t believe that.”
“No, it’s true. I learned a long time ago that I could never meet anyone who could be compatible with me, my work, and my lifestyle.”
“What lifestyle?”
“Late nights in the lab, barely getting any sleep while I find another subject to educate myself with. What woman would want to put up with that?”
“Probably a lot.”
“I haven’t found one.”
“That’s because you never really looked. I would bet that you’ve met lots of smart, engaging, funny women in your life, and I bet they scared the hell out of you.”
“Excuse me?” He said, anger building in his voice, his body stiffening as if getting ready to pounce on some prey.
“Sorry, that came out wrong,” Marjorie replied trying to calm the beast that was Professor Ricter’s ego. “What I mean is, you’ve probably met the right person b
ut you’re afraid to commit.”
He gave her a thoughtful look, his anger subsiding. “My work is my mistress. There are numerous scientist throughout history who’ve never married. Perhaps when people write about me they’ll say how brilliant I was and, as a footnote add, never married.”
Marjorie stood from the chair. “I won’t think any less of you if you never married. I’ll be by tomorrow morning for my first massage, will that be okay?”
“Yes, I will see you tomorrow. Have a nice night, Captain Cook.”
“You too, Professor Ricter.”
******
After another two months in wormhole Beta space they were finally able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. One of the probes detected a few neutrinos that could have only originated in real space. The ship celebrated by throwing a huge party in the hanger deck. Captain Cook arrived half way through, gave a rousing speech, and then left without ever taking her left hand out of her pocket.
Professor Ricter watched from the corner. He knew her trembling wasn’t any better and he wondered if the massage treatments were helping at all.
Before the party ended the Professor was on his way back to his room. He was tired and needed the rest. They estimated they would leave Wormhole space beta within the week and he needed to be ready for it.
When he turned the corner he saw Marjorie leaning against the wall for support. She looked at him and tried to smile. He could see her fear and her worry. That sent a sharp pain of sympathy through his body. Sympathy was not what Marjorie needed right now, she needed support. “Hello, Professor. I’m happy to see you. I was waiting outside your office standing as long as I could. A few staff members walked by and saluted. It took all my effort to salute back- then I lost all feeling in my legs and fell.”
The Arwen Book two: Manifest Destiny Page 9