Chapter 1
Colonel Steve Austin loved his new undercover assignment as a firefighter with Station 51. In a way it reminded him of his days in the Air Force. Sporting a blue uniform, hanging out with a guys, sleeping in bunks and going assignments. No former pilot and astronaut could resist driving a big fire engine with lights and sirens as they went to a call. Not only did Steve become one of the crew but also well respected.
Captain Stanley wish he had a hundred copies of Colonel Austin manning the station. Not only was he an ideal firefighter but had a calm demeanor that shined like a guiding light through every call.
In the back of the engine bay sat the engine that anchored the rogue wormhole. The area was off limits to most of the men and under Sam DeSoto's control.
For the last few weeks things have been progressing rather well. The wormhole was now stable. The men still had access to future technology and entertainment. Colonel Austin became a welcomed asset and all the men knew of his bionics which he utilized during calls. Chet's Youtube channel had passed one hundred thousand subscribers making the firefighter an influencer in the future.
Sam sat at the computer near the engine in the back of a bay. She wore the blue fireman's uniform as part of her cover. She was updating the program for the engine. She completed the work and needed to reboot the computer for the program to install. She shut the computer down, like she had done many times before. But this time was different. The engine also shut down.
She gasped. "No! What the hell? Why did the engine shut down?" She feared the wormhole would start wondering or worse, collapse leaving her stuck in the past. She grabbed her radio. "Sam to Grandpa." she called. She got no answer. "Grandpa?" she radioed again hoping to her the older man's voice. The radio was silent.
"This isn't good." she winced.
Rescue 51 was out on a medical call. She wasn't sure what to do. She got up and walked over to the kitchen to fetch the Colonel. Sam called. "Steve!" She spied the Colonel sitting at the table, sipping a cup of coffee as he read the newspaper.
He looked up. "Everything alright, Sam?"
She shook her head. "I updated the computer, went to reboot it and lost the wormhole. I tried the radio but no one is answering from the other side."
He put the paper down and coffee cup down. "Let's see what we got." He followed her back to the bay.
She took her seat at the computer. "It's still updating. But the engine is offline. Either the wormhole collapsed or it's moving again."
"If it's moving your should be able to radio the other side." he concluded.
"I tried." she told him.
He grasped the radio. "Steve to anyone in Station 51." he spoke. He got no reply. "Roy? Johnny? Old me? Anyone?" Still no reply. He grimaced. "We could have lost the wormhole."
"Which means I am stuck here." she added.
"We will find a way to fix this." he soothed. "Reboot the engine and maybe we can reconnect."
"I have to wait for the program to install the rest of the way." she sighed.
"How much longer?" he asked.
"It's a big update." she informed. "Could take a while."
"Let me know when it's up and running." he told her. "And don't try anything without me." he pleaded.
"I won't." she sighed.
Short Time Later
Roy and Johnny had returned to the station after the call. They were greeted by Steve and Sam who informed them of the engine shutting down and losing contact with the other side of the wormhole. The pair sat in the kitchen with Steve and Sam debating the next move.
"I can try to reestablish the wormhole with this engine." Sam stated. "As long as the engine in 2025 is running, it should connect."
"If it's not running?" Johnny wondered.
She pondered. "It's wormhole. It can go anywhere. To another planet even."
"We're not talking Martians are we?" Johnny asked.
Steve assured. "There are no Martians on Mars."
"That's reassuring." he miffed.
Roy stated. "Least everyone is here. Chet is not stuck in the future. The only person stuck here is Sam and she knows her way around."
Sam squinted and asked. "Don't you want me to go back home?"
He admitted. "Well…I'm an old man in 2025 and don't have that much time left. If you are here then I get to spend more time with you."
She blushed. "That's so sweet, Grandpa." Then she realized. "If I'm stuck here, time I catch up to my time, I will be old like you."
Johnny smirked. "And the rest of us."
She gave a sigh. "Being stuck in the 70's is not how I wanted to spend my golden years."
Johnny countered. "Your golden years is not for fifty years, Sam."
She rolled her eyes annoyed again.
Steve suggested. "Let's try to reestablish the wormhole. Worst case scenario is we hand the engine over to NASA."
"Alright," Sam agreed. She rose to her feet and led the men to the engine bay. She went to the computer and gave the command to start the engine. It started up with a hum.
"Smooth so far." Steve told her. He gathered the radio. "Colonel Austin to Station 51. Roy, Johnny? You read me?" He looked at the younger fireman as the radio remained silent.
"Anyone there?" he asked.
Over the radio a new voice replied. "This is the Galactica."
The four traded glances.
"The what?" Sam asked baffled.
Steve keyed then portable radio. "Can you identify yourself, Galactica?"
Over the radio a male voice replied. "This is Commander Adama of the Galactica. Can you identify yourself? This frequency is being beamed onto my ship."
Sam asked. "Did we contact the Navy by accident? Is my wormhole roaming though some ship on the ocean?"
"This is Colonel Austin. Can you give me your whereabouts, Commander? What ocean are you in?"
"Ocean?" The Commander scoffed. "This is a deep space vessel. Not a boat. Who is this and how are you beaming this signal into my ship?"
Johnny asked. "Did he say deep space?"
"He did." Roy nodded.
"Commander." Steve answered on the radio. "This signal is coming through a wormhole onto your vessel. Can you tell me where you are located?"
The Commander hesitated. "How about you tell me where you are located, Colonel?"
"Earth." he replied. "California."
Sam asked. "Should we be telling aliens that? And why do they speak English?" she pondered.
A long pause came over the radio.
Steve asked. "Can you still read me, Commander?"
A moment later the Commander replied. "I read you loud and clear. Your wormhole has been detected in our engine room. We are securing it."
Sam figured. "If the wormhole is in the engine room than it has to be a gravitational wave engine…" she winced. "Shit! We just made first contact."
Steve spoke into the radio again. "Commander. Where is your ship located?"
"We are located 5 centurans form the Alpha sector in Omega quadrant." he informed.
Sam asked. "Are they in the Milky Way?"
Steve asked. "What galaxy are you in?"
"Gala galaxy." he told them.
Johnny asked. "Where is that?"
Sam told him. "Gala is Greek for milk. I think it's the same galaxy."
Colonel Austin radioed. "Commander. We could be in the same galaxy. We call it the Milky Way. Gala is another name for milk here."
Sam informed. "If they have locked down our wormhole we could go right to their ship."
Steve added. "And they can come here."
Roy grew wide eyed. "You mean E.T. here?"
Steve nodded. "The wormhole is a doorway."
Johnny warned. "I don't think Cap is gonna like this."