In the dark, perpetual night of space a crescent arc of brightness slides, seemingly effortlessly through the void. Puffs of vapor spray and it starts to spin slowly, like a whale turning languidly around by it's flukes. Seen closer the whole outline of it becomes clear; a large sphere, over a hundred feet wide, the dull white hull reflecting the sharp light of the distant sun. Closer still, near one end of the giant white globe, dull orange lights shine through ports, outlining three shapes as they huddle over controls, two of them quietly speaking.
"Primary drive feeds... check"
"Rotation secure, on line for forth burn. Holding for checklist."
"Reactors... 1 through 5 online. Still getting the flicker on 6."
"Heat distribution stable. Hull map within 5% of expected conditions."
"Prime coolant lines... check, Reactor 6 online, I'm keeping the inhibitors on standby and flush systems warmed up."
"Life-support tank shows green. Primary feeds clear."
"Captain? Comm-line from LFC. I think it's Admiral Benning."
The third figure hunches forward in his seat, tapping controls on his chair while the other two continue the checklist. Gray hair is visible under his peaked light blue cap. Lines cross his face lending a severe feel to his face which his cold gray eyes do nothing to disway.
"Admiral. Captain Lindhurst reporting. Orbit burn successful and we are now lining up for our starting run."
On a small monitor in the chair's arm a wavering image appears of a dark haired woman with similar military style clothing to the Captain. Her expression is just as severe, though her more youthful features don't carry it as well as his.
"I take it the Nuke drives worked well then?" she said, her clipped speech given at a rapid fire pace.
Captain Linhurst's mouth tweaked in what might have been mistaken for a smile for a moment. "The 'Nuclear Thermal Rockets' worked better than in tests Admiral. We still have over seventy eight percent of our fuel reserve remaining, thanks in no small part to Chief Engineer Timmins and his staff."
A faint smile came from one of the two figures infront of the captain. The other leant over to him and mouthed 'Don't let it go to your head!' before returning to her check list.
"Good, good. How long till you can fire up the WG?"
The Captain paused for a moment, reading displays infront of him and listening to the continuing checklist.
"I think in about half an hour, though I'll get back to you after I've spoken to our resident genius in the control booth. Was there anything else Admiral?"
This time the Admiral paused, frowning as she stared at the camera intently.
"No Mike, just the formal 'God's speed'... and take care of yourself out there!"
"Will do Admiral." he said, and saluted to the camera by the screen. "I'll be back in touch tomorrow. Keep your ears open."
Another smile from the Admiral and the screen went blank.
"I suppose I have to check on Professor Abi now." The Captain said, jovially as he stood up. "If I'm not back in ten minutes send a team to extract me!"
"Good luck!" muttered Timmins.
The Captain self-consciously straightened his light blue uniform, brushing the braid slightly. With a sigh he nodded to the two at the controls and headed out of the bridge aft ward.
Timmins turned to his companion with a smile.
"Fifty Creds says he doesn't last five minutes." he said, pushing a button on his panel and hearing the hiss of an intercom engage.
"You're on!" said his partner with a grin.
"Sometimes I wonder about you Liliya. Don't you ever get tired of losing?"
"Dream on Sam! The Captain's made of stern stuff!"
"Maybe, but Kazuko's made of diamond!"
*******
Captain Michael Richard Lindhurst, veteran of the Lobar riots, New London evacuation, and even the Trent assault on Mars stood outside the laboratory door and tried to calm himself. Nervously he tipped back and forth, feeling the pull up and down shift in the familiar twist of the artificial gravity. Soon this section would have to stop rotating and he'd get the usual reports afterwards of ailments from various new crew members that hadn't got their space legs yet. Personally he preferred zero gravity, it made it so much easier to hide nervous fidgeting... if you had enough practice.
With a sigh he put his 'Stern Face of Authority' look on and pressed the buzzer.
"Not now!" came the short response followed by the click of the intercom switching off.
Gritting his teeth Captain Lindhurst took out his override key and opened the door manually. The laboratory was cramped, with benches on every wall and one down the middle of the room. Two people were here, both in white lab coats. One was a small boy, maybe seventeen with thick glasses, the other was a six foot, stern looking woman with a permanent scowl on her face.
"Miss Abi, we..."
She interrupted him with a raised hand, not even looking at him as she continued to peer into a monitor.
"Raise beam levels by 2%"
"MISS ABI," the Captain said between grated teeth, "We are in position fo.."
"I SAID 2% Sedwick! That's better. Get me the data sheet for that run."
For a few seconds the Captain counted in his head, trying to calm down before speaking.
"We are in pos.."
"Yes Lindhurst. What?" she said, staring at him unblinkingly.
"We are in position." he said slowly "How soon can the generator be ready?"
For five seconds her stare bored into him, making him feel like an insignificant speck. This was worse than the retrieval at Sanalos bay!
"I said it would be ready and it will be ready on schedule, Captain." she said.
"HOW SOON?"
"Captain, there is no need to shout!" she said quietly, still staring at him intently. "I will warm up the pulse chambers now. You can start creation of the wormhole in twenty two minutes."
"Very w..." but before he could complete his sentence she had turned her back to him and was peering at another monitor again.
"Sedwick, get the prime accelerators on-line at 20%."
Michael bit his lip and turned away. Somehow he managed to keep from screaming as he headed back to the bridge.
********
"See, told you he'd keep his cool." Timmins said as he turned off the intercom to the Lab.
"Oh right, shouting at her was really cool!"
"He didn't blow up, that's what counts."
They both shut up as the door opened behind them.
"Is the Captain around?" said the tall newcomer. He was crisp in a gray one piece ship suit, shining boots, black gloves and a gray and black almost peakless square cap on his crew cut blonde hair.
"He'll be back in a sec," said Liliya "keep your hair on Brandt."
"Very well Lieutenant." he said and sat down at the fourth chair in the cramped bridge.
Soon the bridge door opened once more.
"All right Lieutenant Guzov," intoned the Captain as he entered, "plot our entry angle and get ready to move through the wormhole when the good doctor back there deigns to open it for us. Sound the Cancel Spin alert." Liliya Guzov nodded and turned to her console. A low siren sounded three times and a soft recorded voice echoed throughout the ship.
"Gravity section will cease rotating in two minutes. Fasten down all loose items and stay near handholds till section reaches complete zero gravity."
"OK, Chief Timmins lets have the report on the main drive. I don't want any surprises." Timmins nodded and got to work. Then the Captain noticed Lieutenant Brandt. "Hanz, something wrong at Tactical?"
Brandt stood and saluted, one hand automatically grasping a hand hold on the wall, staying completely still despite the slowly diminishing gravity.
"No sir, all systems nominal. I just felt it was wise to have Tactical spread out in case any section of the ship is damaged during transit, Sir!"
"Well, I guess Polly can handle Tactical without you for a few minutes. Welcome to the bridge, such as it is." he turned his chair forward again looking between Timmins and Guzov, out the viewing ports as the stars turned slowly while they maneuvered. Finally their motions ceased and he glanced at his chair's clock.
"Just about time, is the feed to LFC live?"
"Yes sir." reported Timmins.
"Good, then lets get this show on the road hmm?"
Liliya Guzov nervously bit her upper lip as she gave commands to the ship, and to the main lab. It seemed Professor Abi was good to her word and the worm hole generators were cranking up. Slowly the field grew and Liliya noted the power drain from the batteries. All seemed in order.
"There it is!" the Captain said softly as a dull glow appeared infront of the ship. Slowly it grew and became fainter. The glow was just effects from the generators, the wormhole itself was almost invisible except a lensing effect. The intercom spoke again.
"Gravity at zero point one Gees, zero point Oh five, zero. Rotating section braked and locked. All crew clear to move."
All the crew on the bridge were strapped in, though The Captain had to remember to press his hat on a little more firmly to keep it there. For the next few minutes the glow infront of the ship spread wider and wider, getting dimmer and dimmer, leaving a patch of darkness growing infront of the ship, occulting the stars and leaving a ring of clustered stars around it.
"Wish it didn't look so much like a black hole." the Captain muttered.
The intercom beeped and Lindhurst answered it.
"Bridge, Captain speaking."
"Wormhole at maximum extent." Came the crisp tones of Professor Abi "Energy reserves will hold it for ten minutes. Hole radius is nine hundred and forty meters and holding. You have a 70% clearance around the ship for passage." the Captain started to respond but Abi cut in: "Lab out."
Through grated teeth Lindhurst turned back to the view ports.
"OK Miss Guzov, you heard the woman, take us through!"
*******
In the darkness of space the dull crescent of white slid slowly towards the spherical emptiness before it, seeming to twist and bend as it entered, sliding out of sight in a very odd way. After a while it had completely vanished, leaving the Solar System with only the hole it had left through as evidence it was ever there.
*******
Darkness was outside the bridge, for a few moments the Captain wondered, had something gone wrong? Then slowly light built up ahead, then spread out into a pattern of stars.
"OK, easy does it Liliya. Get us clear before shutting it down. How's the feed?"
"Sorry sir, lost it half way through, too much distortion."
The Captain sighed, that had been a long shot, most wormholes had far too much distortion to send radio waves through.
After a few moments The ship climbed out of the wormhole completing it's first interstellar journey. Lieutenant Guzov's board shifted, orange lights shifting to green, or in one or two cases red.
"Worm hole generators have been shut down. Engines online."
Chief Timmins turned to the Captain.
"Energy bank is at fifty eight percent and charging. Reactors all at 85% power."
Slowly Lindhurst sat back, relaxing. He hadn't even been aware he'd tensed up through the whole trip.
"Very well. Lieutenant Brandt, since you're here give us a sensor report will you."
"Yes sir!" Hanz Brandt replied, turning to his console.
"All in all a good transition. I've seen far worst on the L5 run. Lieutenant Guzov, let me know if..."
Hanz butted in, his voice a little higher pitched than usual. For him this was an extreme tone of voice, something must be wrong.
"Sir, all star maps have failed in comparisons. I'm rechecking, but this isn't Proxima Centauri Sir!"
The Captain snapped back to Guzov rapidly.
"The hole, is it still active? Get the generators back on line and hold it open!"
"Sorry sir," Liliya responded, "it's already closed."
The bridge was silent in shock for several seconds. Where were they and what on earth would they do now?
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