CHAPTER 3
THE WORMHOLE
JUNE 2, 2048
48 The cockpit now opened its airlock, connecting it with the rest of the Axwell-class ship. It had been a few days now and the ship was now distant from the Earth. Later in the day the ship would activate its wormhole generator to travel to the patch of space near the planet. Preparations for the generation were being done right now. The crew was abuzz with discussion - checking on the wormhole generator, talking about how advanced the day's technology was, et cetera. Some of the crew did final checks on the generator before it was to be fired for the first time.
49 The generator was one of a kind, operating on a special kind of classified substance it uses to create wormholes. It was the product of thousands of prototypes, hours of hard work, and lives risked. Many of the prototypes failed in a way - until prototype #1,729 which made it into production. And here, aboard CSVL-9895, was the very first production unit.
50 "CW9895 to Control. Wormhole generation in 6 hours. Proceeding to deploy zone. ETA 5 hours." Turner said through the condenser microphone positioned in front of him amongst all the knobs, levers, and sliders. Oh, how he missed Earth. How he missed his childhood… He stared into the blank field of space in front of him, extending into seemingly unmeasurable infinities in all directions. His childhood - he could hardly remember it. Earlier studies on his brain showed a massive gap in memory from his tenth year up to his eighteenth. He could hardly believe it as that news was broken to him. However, it wasn't completely erased. He had tidbits of memories of his 10th year to his 18th. He was involved in the naming and development of these vehicles he were running through space right now - and there must be a reason why he named the two large segments of the ship Julius and Venus, why this mission was the 9,895th, and why there was a goldfish bowl on display in the cockpit room. It was all a mystery. He ordered his second officer to take control for a little bit as he laid down on the bed in one of the bedrooms inside the cockpit. He fell asleep and drowned in his dreams…
51 Captain! Wake up! Wormhole generation in 30 minutes, sir!
52 Captain Turner rose from his bed. He took the controls and contacted Mission Control. "CW9895 to Mission Control. We are at deploy zone and in 30 minutes will drop the bass."
53 "Control to CW9895. Excuse me?"
54 "CW9895 to Control. Sorry, I meant we will deploy the wormhole in 30 minutes."
55 Thirty minutes passed.
56 "Control to CW9895. You are clear to drop the bass."
57 "CW9895 to Control. Affirmative!"
58 Turner pressed a button, and dubstep music started blaring out the PA system of the ship. The fourth officer giggled. Echoes of confused voices started filling the ship.
59 Turner's first officer stammered. "S-Sir… you've pushed the wrong-"
60 Suddenly an artificial-sounding voice droned over the music. Wormhole generation sequence initiated. Generator fully charged.
61 Turner locked on to a patch of space five km away from him and targeted the cluster of space where they were to come out the other side of the wormhole.
62 The voice spoke again. Target locked. Firing in 3. 2. 1.
63 A bright, blue ray came out of the front of the ship, forming a distance away from them into a large, light-blue-and-white vortex spinning around a core.
64 "CW9895 to Control. Wormhole formed. Requesting clearance to proceed."
65 "Control to CW9895. Affirmative. We don't know if our signal can hold up given such a long distance, but we'll try. Good luck!"
66 "Engine to full throttle! We're goin' in!"
67 The whirr of solar-powered main engines could be heard, rising in pitch by 12 steps… 24 steps, as the speed of the craft increased logarithmically. The ship went faster and faster, and the rate of its acceleration kept increasing over time. Soon enough there was a flash of white… and they were gone.