Chapter 7

Dixie drove Sam to Station 51. Roy and Johnny were watching at the door for the pair to arrive. Captain Stanley stood by wondering if it was all nothing more than a joke that his fireman were playing on him.

Roy welcomed the two women. "Come on in." Roy motioned.

The pair entered.

Roy continued. "Chet said the wormhole is in the back of the engine bay." he led the women to the area.

Dixie found nothing out of the ordinary. "What does it look like?"

Sam told her. "It won't be visible to the naked eye. If it was visible, it would be either gigantic or unstable." She walked around the area. "Did Chet say how he entered?"

"Johnny is trying to get him back on the radio." Roy mentioned.

Johnny then entered the garage bay holding a large radio "Chet, you there?" he spoke.

Over the radio was Chet's voice. "I'm here, Johnny. We had to recharge the radio here."

"Sam is in the station." Johnny stated as he spied her. He then stated. "I'm going to let you speak directly to her." He handed the radio to Sam.

She looked upon the large and heavy hand held radio. "This thing is a brick." she mentioned. "They don't make them like this anymore." She keyed the microphone. "Chet! This is Sam."

"Hey Sam. Nice to finally talk to you. Roy has been telling me all about you." he mentioned. "Who would have guessed you are his granddaughter."

"Nice to talk to you too, Chet. Can tell me where you were and how you found the wormhole?"

"I heard a hum in the rear of the bay. Then everything started shaking. Then I was here." he told her.

"The engine is still running?" she gathered.

Chet replied. "It's sitting on the table in the bay humming. Is it supposed to hum?" he wondered.

"It is." she nodded. She started to walk around the area. "I don't hear any humming." she reported. "Did you feel anything else? Like static electricity or anything like that?"

"I felt like the hair on the back of my neck was standing up." he recalled.

"Electro magnetic field." she suspected. "I don't think the wormhole is stable. It has to be moving. If it was closed, we would not have the ability to use the radio to communicate."

Chet asked. "How do I get back home?"

"That's a good question." she winced. "I'm stuck on this end. If the wormhole is moving, I need to find it first."

Older Roy's voice came over the radio. "Sammy! If the wormhole is moving, can it leave the station?"

She winced again as she nodded. "It can travel through structures." she reported.

"How big of a situation do we have here?" Older Roy asked over the radio.

She replied. "This is a major screw up."

"Should we cut power to the engine?" Older Roy asked.

"No," she shook her head. "We could lose the wormhole or worse."

"What would be worse?" he asked.

"It could collapse into a black hole and suck the earth into it." she painfully replied.

Young Johnny stated. "That would be worse."

Older Roy asked. "What do you need us to do on this end, Sammy?"

"Baby sit the engine and keep coms open." she told him. "I need to find the wormhole and somehow get back."

Chet's voice came over the radio next. "Can I do anything to help?"

"Take care of grandpa and Uncle Johnny for me." she requested. "They only have you now."

Chet assured. "I will watch out for them."

Sam added. "Make sure Grandpa gets his meds."

Young Roy rolled his eyes. "I'm not a child, Sam. I'm sure older me can get his meds."

Older Roy than spoke over the radio. "Chet can cook for us. Don't worry about us. Worry about getting back home."

"I will, Grandpa." she replied. She handed the radio back to younger Johnny. "Least we got coms."

Captain Stanley asked. "Just how much danger is the station in, Dr. DeSoto?"

"Hard to tell on this end." she shrugged. "I need to get to the other side and examine my engine but, I'm stuck here."

Roy urged. "She needs access to the station, Cap. Start her as a new recruit."

Captain Stanley gave a sigh. "Alright. I can tell the guys you are a new recruit in training under a pilot program for women. Not sure how well the boys handle this."

Sam stated. "Listen to me, Captain. In this station is an invisible moving wormhole that can go through walls. Any of your men could get caught by it at any time and end up in the year 2025. Luckily, the engine has pinned the other end of that wormhole to the station. I have to build another engine on this end to capture the moving wormhole. I don't know if that is even possible but it's my only chance at gaining some control over this thing. The last thing I am worried about is what the boys will think of me. I don't care what they think of me being here. Technically, you should evacuate the station and not let anyone in here. And if the government finds out there is a rogue wormhole in this station that connects to the year 2025, I'm pretty sure that is what they will do."

Johnny soon figure. "Not only do we have to find a way to send Sam home and bring Chet back, we need to save Station 51 itself."

She agreed. "Exactly."

Roy agreed. "We don't need the government showing up. Next thing you know the National Guard will take control…"

Johnny snipped. "They we get Mulder, Scully and the Men in Black." He referred to pop culture.

"We don't want that." Roy had to agree.

2025

Chet decided that Sam essentially placed him in charge by asking him to look out for older Johnny and her grandfather, Roy. His job was baby sit the station, the engine and take care of the now much older fellow firefighters. He looked in the refrigerator and found it was nearly empty.

"Don't you guys got any food here?" Chet asked.

"We have been kind of busy." Johnny stated.

"I'll go the store and get groceries." Chet volunteered.

Johnny and Roy traded glances. Roy asked. "With what?"

"My car…" he winced. "My car is not outside, is it?"

Johnny shook his head. "Nope. Just my car and Roy's car. Roy, let's Sam drive his Outback."

"Okay, give me the keys and I'll go get some food and any meds you guys need." Chest stated.

Roy shook his head. "You cannot go out there in uniform and how are you going to buy food?"

Johnny stated. "You go with him, Roy. I'll baby sit the engine."

"Okay." Roy agreed. He motioned. "Come on, Chet. You are going to be here a while. I'll get you something to wear and give you a crash course in 2025."

Soon, Roy and Chet emerged from the station. Chet noticed it was now late in the afternoon by the sun's position in the west. He looked about. The station itself looked the same but the area was very different. More structures were now standing in areas that were once empty. He spied the two vehicles that belonged to Roy and Johnny.

Roy went towards the Subaru. He opened the drivers side door. "This is my car, Chet." he told him.

Chet opened the passenger's door and slid down on the seat. He noticed. "Cars look different here."

"They all look the same." Roy complained. He started the engine and grumbled. "Least it's still gas."

"Still gas?" Chet asked looking over the futuristic dashboard.

"They are pushing electric cars big time. I just want a good ole fashion gas engine car." he sounded. He placed the car in reverse. In the center of the dash a screen showed the image from behind the car.

Chet gasped. "Whoa! You got a camera in this?" he turned half around to see out the back.

"Standard." Roy told him. He backed out of the driveway and onto the road. He placed it in gear and they soon were on their way.

Chet looked on as they passed what once familiar areas. "This is way different."

"It's been fifty years. Things change." Roy reminded him.

Chet observed, "Hey! Todd's Pizza is gone."

"Long gone." Roy nodded.

"Is the mall closed?" he asked noticing the parking lot was nearly empty.

Roy informed. "Dead mall. Malls are not what they used to be."

Chet finally asked. "What am I doing now?" He wondered why Roy and Johnny never mentioned how his older self was.

"You died last year." Roy sullenly replied. He swallowed hard. "I'm not sure if I should have told you that. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have." he regretted.

"I was seventy nine. I guess that's a good run." he concluded.

Roy stated. "It was from complications from surgery. I never got the details. Maybe you can find a better doctor or something." he shrugged unsure if Chet could change his fate.

Chet sat in silence pondering the information. "Maybe I can do something. Either way, I was an old man and that's a pretty good run. How many of the old crew are still alive?"

"Not many." Roy told him. "Fifty years is a long time. Dixie died the year before Sam was born. Cap died some time ago."

Chet knew he was given information he would never have been given if it wasn't for the accident. He decided to not press Roy for more. He squinted. "Is that McDonalds?" It didn't look like McDonald's to him.

"Yup." Roy nodded.

"What happened to the red roof?" he asked.

"Still the same awful food. Just a new look." Roy told him.

Chet gasped in shock. "Is that the price of gas?"

Roy nodded. "It sure is."

"Holy!" his mouth dropped.

"It's the taxes the state put on the gas." Roy informed.

Chet sat beside himself. "That's really expensive."

Roy agreed. "It sure is." H then joked, "When you get back run for office and fix this mess, Chet."

"I might just do that." he told him.