I smiled and tilted my head as Frig walked past. “Really? I think I was, like, twenty-six then. I look younger than twenty-six?”
Ashley joined us as we walked. “What’s the hurry here? What trouble are you two getting into?”
I spoke. “Frig here thinks I look younger than twenty-six. What do you think?”
Ashley replied, “I think you are getting a big head is what I think. It’s time we got you back over to George to do a full workup on you. If that DNA serum is still not showing any ill side effects, it might be time to start rolling it out to the masses, don’t you think?”
I nodded. “Well, if it makes everyone feel half as good as I do right now, I would have to agree with you. And the trouble we are getting into? Frig thinks he has a solution for the wormhole aperture. We are on our way to try it out!”
Ashley smiled as she slipped her arm in around mine. “I’m up for seeing that!”
After boarding the Swift, I sat in the captain’s chair with Ashley seated on a bench just behind me. Frig sat in his usual spot beside me.
Frig spoke. “If you would kindly take us out to open space, Sir, it would be appreciated.”
I nodded in reply. “I would be happy to oblige, kind Sir.”
With the pleasantries exchanged, we lifted off and were welcoming the empty blackness of space a few seconds later. Frig got to work installing his updates as I spun my chair around to face my wife.
I smiled as I spoke. “So, about this younger-than-twenty-six thing. I was thinking we should go ahead and give you a shot of the serum, you know, so that others don’t start talking about you being a cougar.”
The half poking fun drew an unhappy expression and a punch to my upper chest. “Ow! Hey, I was just funning!”
Ashley replied, “There are some things a young lady does not like to be funned about.”
I remained silent, which drew another punch. “Ow! Well, what was that for? I didn’t even say anything!”
Ashley huffed, “You didn’t say it, but I know what you were thinking!”
I spun my chair back around. “Tell me something good up here; it’s too violent facing back that other way.”
Frig replied, “Sir, even I know that age is not a topic to be funned with when it comes to the ladies. Perhaps you should go back and read the gentleman’s manual again.”
I pointed my finger. “Ah, gentleman’s manual. I like that!”
Frig looked at his holo-display and spoke. “To answer your question, I believe we are ready for a test. I am punching in the coordinates for the Molov system. The cesium reactor should have adequate power for a jump to that system.”
Frig pressed several buttons, and a wormhole nearly twice the diameter of the Swift opened up in front of us.
I nodded. “Whoa. Are you sure that it’s safe to go through there?”
Frig launch a microprobe. Several seconds later, the data streamed through on his holo-display. “I believe this is the Molov system, is it not?”
I looked at the holo-display. “Hmm. Sure looks like it. OK, well, here we go, then.”
I pushed the throttle forward, and we eased through the wormhole like we were moving through empty space.
Once on the other side, Frig again spoke. “Now if you would be so kind as to take us back through the other direction.”
I pulled the throttle past the neutral point, and the Swift moved back through the portal in the other direction.
I spoke. “OK, that was easy. What now?”
Frig made several swipes and the wormhole closed. “Now, I want you to push that throttle full forward until we have passed light speed. Then hold us at that speed.”
I did as asked and was rewarded with the speed I desired in less than two seconds. Frig then made another swipe of his display, and in an instant we were flying through the Molov system.
I again spoke. “Ah, what just happened?”
Frig replied, “I opened a portal in our direct path as we were traveling above the speed of light. We moved through the portal almost instantly. If you look at your display, you will see that the portal closed behind us immediately. We can only hold the portal open if we are in close proximity to it.”
I turned my chair towards Frig. “That’s it? We can jump whenever we want? At any speed?”
Frig nodded as he again swiped the holo-display in front of him. “We can do each of those things.”
In another instant, we were heading back into the Tresha system.
Ashley placed her hand on my shoulder. “How far can we jump? How powerful a portal can we open?”
Frig replied, “Calculated results show a maximum distance of 746 light-years.”
Ashley sat back. “Well, there goes a visit to Earth. Hey, can we pack enough reactors on a ship to make it all the way there?”
Frig shook his head. “We would need more than three thousand of these cesium reactors for a wormhole that length. However, we can make the trip with this single generator. The wormhole takes approximately ten seconds to construct. With an additional two seconds for programming and passing through, we should be able to continuously construct wormholes as we fly. Given 746 light-years per wormhole, and the distance to Earth, we would have to make 3,352 jumps.”
I raised my hand. “So, how long would it take?”
Frig looked upwards as he quickly counted in his head. “Just over eleven hours given optimum conditions.”
I stood. “You are telling me we can reach Earth in eleven hours?”
Frig hesitated and then spoke. “Really, Sir. You are too easily excitable. You should sit before you faint.”
Ashley laughed. “Sit. And Frig, just answer his question. Are we eleven hours from Earth?”
Frig replied, “Just over eleven.”
I raised the Colonel on the comm. “Colonel Harper. I’m with Frig and Ashley on the Swift. We are going to take a little trip. We should be back tomorrow.”
The Colonel replied, “Dare I ask where it is that you are going?”
I smiled at the others as I replied, “We are going to keep that little secret to ourselves for the moment. I’ll fill you in fully when we return.”
Ashley spoke. “So that’s it? We just pick up and go?”
I nodded. “We have all the supplies we need right here on our belts. We have spares of the filters, food packs, and power packs. And we have the means on this ship to refill them. Besides, we will be back tomorrow. I say we just go right now!”
Ashley looked at Frig for a response. “He is correct, Ashley. If so desired, we could leave immediately after I have programmed in the jump sequence.”
I spoke. “OK, it’s settled, then. We are taking a trip to Earth. We are going home!”
After a silent pause, I continued. “And when we return, we are going to go looking for the Gambit fleet. They should still be out there, and we will take however long it takes to find them.”
Frig smiled a rare smile. “I should like that, Sir.”
Twenty minutes later, the wormhole generator was humming and our first of thousands of jumps was made. In a flash, we were 746 light-years from where we had previously been. Two jumps later, we were out of the Triangulum and into free space.
The blackness of space between the galaxies was as black as one could imagine. The Milky Way was only a dim smudge on my holo-display. Every twelve seconds, for the next eleven hours, the wormhole generator would hum and then go silent. The dim smudge slowly grew to a tiny galaxy and was then looming large in front of us.
I spoke. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it. I’m now wondering what we will find when we arrive. Is Earth still there? Has it overgrown from being abandoned? Has another species settled there?”
Ashley replied, “Sometimes you just think too much, Don. Overspeculation isn’t going to tell us anything.”
I turned my chair around. “Don’t you ever dream? Where is your imagination? Mine is running wild with ideas right now. What do you have going on up there?”
&
nbsp; Ashley thought and then replied, “I’m thinking about all the work we have to do when we get back. We have a whole government to continue to set up and organize. We have hostile species still out there.”
I shook my head. “All that can wait until we get back. This is a huge event for all Humans right here. Frig, what are you thinking about right now?”
Frig replied, “I was thinking about my people. Are they still out there? Have other Gambits survived? Am I the only one of my kind left?”
I turned back to Ashley. “OK, I can understand Frig’s thought patterns, but you need to get with the right here and now. This is Earth! Our beginnings! Doesn’t that stir some level of excitement in your mind?”
Ashley laughed as she nodded. “Of course it does; I just choose not to let my mind run away with speculative thoughts.”
I waved my hand at her and turned back to the holo-screen. “One of the greatest moments in our lives, and you want to think about government stuff. Pffft.”
The holo-display was soon filled with the stars of the galaxy arm where Earth was supposed to reside. Minutes later, we made our final jump into Earth’s solar system. My heart raced as Frig pushed the throttle forward to move us within sight of our home world.
I spoke. “Well, where is it? I count seven or eight planets. Where is Earth?”
Frig replied, “One moment, Sir. I seem to recall something about a code from the Defender ship. It says to broadcast this sequence on this frequency for a period of at least thirty-five seconds.”
As Frig continued to read, I threw my arms up in the air. “Well? Come on! Send the signal!”
Frig turned. “Please, Sir. Allow me to read the complete instruction.”
I leaned back in my chair as I crossed my arms. “OK, sure, fine, take your time, we have all day.”
As the signal broadcast began, Ashley stood behind me, placing her hands on my shoulders and squeezing. I raised my right hand and placed it on top of hers, stroking the back of her hand with my thumb. For a moment I forgot that my arms and hands were not my own. The feedback from the prosthetics was as real a feeling as that which I had been born with.
The thirty-five seconds turned to fifty seconds and then ninety. “Are you sure you sent the right code?”
Frig replied, “Please be patient, Sir. I am picking up power surges on the sensors. Perhaps there is something that has to be powered on.”
As we watched, I continued to squirm in my chair because of the lack of anything visible. Then it happened. A silvery-white ship of immense proportions wavered and then flashed into full view. It was a spectacular vessel with sleek lines and a distinctly rounded shape. It was very unlike the boxy, utilitarian designs of the Human ships I had known.
Seconds later, a second ship appeared, followed by a third and fourth. The handful of ships then grew into a small fleet. The small fleet then grew larger. For a full fifteen minutes, the fleet continued to grow. Spectacular was no longer adequate to describe the silvery-white space fleet before us. When the last of the ships came into view, our counter read more than 105,000 ships strong.
Ashley released her grip on my shoulders after she realized she had been squeezing them hard for several minutes.
I spoke. “That is one impressive fleet. Now, where is our planet?”
As soon as I had spoken, a single silvery-white square appeared just behind the fleet. As we watched, the single square turned to two, then four, then ten. At that point, the squares flipped on quickly and a spherical shape began to form. It was planet size, slightly larger than Tresha and Jarhead. The huge silvery-white ball hung in the heavens before us.
When the final square had turned on, the first square changed from the silvery white to transparent. We looked on in awe as the other squares changed, revealing a beautiful blue-green planet underneath. When the last silvery-white square had changed, we were faced with a clear view of our home planet.
Ashley pointed. “It has a moon!”
I spoke. “Have you ever seen anything so beautiful? Look, I can see great cities down there. And what spectacular colors! The greens and blues are just striking with the clarity of that atmosphere!”
Frig placed his hand on my shoulder. “Sir.”
I continued to gaze at the wonder before us.
Frig continued, “Sir. You should turn around.”
I pushed his hand off my shoulder. “Just let me take it in for a few minutes, OK?”
Frig again placed his hand on my shoulder. “Sir. Turn around.”
I sighed. “What is so important?”
I turned to look behind me. “What?”
As I turned back, I replied, “Ashley? She’s probably in the restroom or—”
I spun around in my chair as a cold chill ran down my spine. I stood, and with a single step, I was back at the door to the sleeping quarters. I jerked the door open with a terror-filled expression on my face. The room was empty!
I spoke. “Frig! Where is my wife!”
Frig replied, “I do not have the answer to that, Sir. She was there and then she was gone.”
I held my hands out. “What do you mean gone?”
Frig looked down and then back at me. “I believe we are facing two possibilities here, Sir. Either something in that fleet or something down on that planet transported her out of here, or—”
I again threw my arms out with an anxiety-filled expression on my face. “Or?”
Frig sighed. “Or, the Duke took her, Sir. If the latter is the case, then I would fear that he may have taken everyone.”
I sat in my chair, still in disbelief. “If he took everyone, then why am I still here?”
Frig replied, “You said he was having trouble tracking you. I believe the DNA serum you took disrupted whatever method he used for that purpose. But, Sir, before we pursue that, we should first see if she is on that planet. It is possible that whatever mechanism the Duke uses to track Humans is also used by these ships and this planet. Remember, the Defender was able to recognize you as being Human.”
I motioned towards the planet. “How do we get down there? Do we just go through that transparent structure surrounding it?”
Frig made several swipes at his holo-display as the wormhole generator began to hum. “We jump down there, Sir.”
We settled onto the well-kept grass in front of a white-spired building that rose up one hundred stories in the crisp, clear air. I stepped out of the rear hatch and onto the green grass. It felt soft under my BGS boots. The bright yellow sun shone down, yielding a moderate, very comfortable temperature.
The building before us had a set of great arched doors that stood twenty meters high, opening into a lobby with ceilings of the same height. Simple decorations and paintings of people adorned the walls.
A large box then descended down tracks on a far wall. When the box came to rest on the floor, a bell sounded and a door opened. A young, strong, handsome man in a white BGS suit stepped out into the lobby with a look of concern.
The man spoke. “Travelers. Welcome to Earth. However, your visit will be short. I can offer you whatever assistance you require to be on your way. There is nothing for you here.”
I replied, “I am Human.”
The man looked at me intently. “You appear to be Human, but you are not Human. You will have to leave immediately.”
I walked towards the man, and he raised a hand. “Please do not approach me. You will kindly board your ship and be on your way, by force if necessary.”
I stopped my advance. “My wife, she is Human; did you take her?”
The man again replied, “There are no Humans present on this planet. I have been pleasant with you up until now. Please return to your ship and leave this star system. You may return if you have a Human with you.”
I held out my arm and pulled it back.
I then poked out my chest. “Here, take a blood sample. I bet I have the same DNA as you!”
Frig spoke. “Sir. I think we better leave.”
I turned to see a robot, strikingly similar to the ones we had used at the Defender, standing behind Frig. It was time for us to go.
I turned back to the man. “And you are sure there are no Humans up there on that fleet?”
The man replied, “There are no Humans in the vicinity of this star system. Please, Sir. This is your final warning.”
I held up my hand. “OK, we’ll go, but we will be back. And you will welcome us with open arms.”
The man stood silently with a calm and stoic expression on his face.
As we walked out onto the bright green grass, I spoke. “We need to get back to Tresha. If everyone is gone, Frig, what are we going to do?”
Frig replied, “We are going to find them, Sir. We must find them.”
~~~
If you haven’t already done so, check out the SODIUM series (a prequel to AMP) at www.arsenex.com. The first ebook in that series is a freebie as well (during 2014 and possibly beyond). If you enjoyed this book please leave a review on the site where it was purchased. If you would like to be notified when the next release is available please leave a comment at [email protected]. Visit the author’s website at www.arsenex.com for the rest of the series and other works!
AMP The Core Page 25
