Into The Void (31 page)

              This shuttle design, and the Endeavor with what it's last mission meant to Mankind, is what made Captain Steele want to be a solider. He wanted to explore space. He knew becoming a solider was the best way to do that. He knew that being a solider would give him the ability to see the galaxy.

              Captain Steele stared out through the window, imagining what it would have been like for those first pioneers into space in the 20
th
century. The awe that struck them when they looked out and saw the Earth, The Blue Marble, in all it's glory, down below them. He opened the air lock door, stepped out, and shut it behind him.

              Captain Steele made his way around to the back of the shuttle and then started to cut out the engine carefully. He felt both terrible and honored at the same time for doing it. This shuttle was a piece of history. This design was used for the first manned deep space exploration missions. This exact shuttle helped colonize space stations around Jupiter and Saturn. It helped set up cities on the moons of both those planets. It also set up a space station to mine the rings of Saturn before disintegrating upon exit to leave our solar system. However, it was now a piece of history that was coming back to help colonize another galaxy.

              Captain Steele smiled knowing that it was going to the best cause it ever could. He cut out the two main engines, attached a short cable to both of the engines, connecting them together, then tied a short cable from him to the engines. He then carefully used his DSSM's thrusters to get back to his ship. He was careful not to run into anything that would damage the engines.

              Captain Steele got back to his ship and started to bring the engines into the ship. He pulled them in then went to the engine room. He looked around at what needed to be fixed. It looked like the engines would work they just needed heavy modification and repair. Thankfully, he had been trained to do that.

              Captain Steele made a list of what was beyond repair, needed to be replaced, and what needed to be repaired. He would be able to “jury rig” some of it so that it served its purpose without being properly repaired. He quickly started to break down the Endeavor's engines and take the parts he needed. He then headed to the engines and started replacing his engines parts that was built several decades ahead of its time in the year 4,000 with the Endeavor's engine parts that were built several decades ahead of it's time from the year 3,500. He wasn't 100% positive if the the engines would work to their full potential, or even at all. He wasn't even sure if the engines would blow up or disintegrate after they left the dimensional rift because the parts borrowed from the Endeavor had disintegrated in the non-dimensional rift universe. He repaired what needed to be repaired and replaced what needed to be replaced.

              Captain Steele worked to make sure all systems were running normally and all systems were green and ready to go. He checked and saw that the systems said the engines were at level yellow and he decided that the 3rd best out of 8 of the system malfunction conditions weren't too bad. Now he had to figure out how to get out of the dimensional rift. He assumed the only thing he could do was just gun the engines and hope they warp out before they hit any debris. He reconsidered his decision and decided to reinforce the hull from the damage he might be doing. As much as he wanted to get out of here he needed the supplies first.

              Captain Steele stepped out of the airlock and decided to clear the path directly in front of him by collect scraps of metal and sealing the holes in the hull of his ship. He looked back at his ship and the pain tore at his heart again. Tears, once again, filled his eyes. He was going to miss talking to Jamie. He missed their fun conversations. He missed her conversations about science. He missed just having her around. He turned away from the ship to continue collecting debris to wield the up the holes in his ship. He grabbed several pieces and turned back toward the ship and headed toward it. Tears flowed from his eyes and down his face. He was reminded of the shotgun blast he took to the face when the tears hit his torn face causing it to sting. He was going to miss her fixing him up over and over and over.

              Captain Steele got back to the ship, sealed the holes, and the walked around the ship. He walked to the bridge and looked around. He thought about all the times Jamie would talk to him as he flew the ship or ran diagnostics. He enjoyed her company. She regularly would ask if she could leave her hole that protected her. She would claim wild things like it “made her fly better”, or she “could process things better”, or even “she needed sunlight” but her knew it was really something else. She never was a very good liar. He really did enjoy her company and she enjoyed his. Now, she was gone.

              Captain Steele fixed all the holes in the ship, then started to move all the debris out of the ship's way for close to 5 miles. He then floated back towards the ship. He wanted to talk to her again. To apologize for the way he treated her at the beginning of their journey. He had so much he wanted to say and he was dealing with regret for the first time. What had happened, happened and there was no changing it. No matter how much he wanted it to change he had to face the facts. He wanted to beg for one last chance, to redo things, but he knew he couldn't. He was angry, upset, sad, and frustrated.

              Captain Steele picked up the console. He looked at it and knew that Jamie enjoyed her life as his friend and he really enjoyed her as his friend. He wanted to give her a proper good bye, a proper funeral. He took some some scrap metal and wrote the words:

                            Here lies Jamie, the best friend a man could ever have

                            Loving, smart, kind, gentle, and faithful

                            May she forever be remembered for her greatness

                            May she forever be remembered for her achievements

                            May she forever be remembered for saving Captain John Steele

                            And may she forever be remembered for being the heroine of this

                                          incredible journey that saved a galaxy.

                                                        Rest in peace Jamie

                                                        Love, your friend,

                                                        Captain John Steele.

He laid the Memorial at the foot of the AI core and put her back into the AI core. When this is all over and done with maybe then she would be given a proper monument.

              Captain Steele got back to figuring out how to get back to the real world. He could feel his muscles grow stiffer by the hour and it was becoming harder to move flexibly. He knew being trapped in the dimensional rift wasn't going to be easy to get out of. He knew that it would take more to get out of this dimension rift than just firing up the engines and going full steam. That wasn't what brought him here. What brought them here was an odd combination of gravity, light, speed, maximum energy output possible, and time dilations. He tried to figure out a way to meet similar conditions of what got him here in hope it would get him out. The atomic clock had stopped. That meant there was time dilation and with the ship going faster than light it was hopefully enough to overpower the time dilation. It should also cover the speed aspect and with engines at a maximum level it should cover the maximum energy output. The question after that is how to create light. He would need to create the energy of light. An explosion should hopefully be able to do that.

              Captain Steele threw some debris in front of his ship that he could blow up. He made a huge pile and figured that it was big enough to do the trick. His ship had enough arsenal of explosive weapons on it to take care of that. He laced the debris with explosives that he would shoot with the ship's weapons. He also thought about the gravity question. He thought about it for a while then came to the conclusion that if he flew the ship while rotating it fast enough there would be a gravity field. It may not be enough but it was what he had to work with.

              Captain Steele climbed into his captain's chair looking ahead at the pile of debris hoping it was enough to get him out of the dimensional rift. He threw the throttle forward to full speed and starting rotating the ship at maximum speed and braced himself. He was coming up on the debris fast. He had to time it just right otherwise he would be torn to shreds. He was going to need to slow down to a crawl then hit the accelerator at the last minute so that he can replicate the maximum output and speed requirement at the same time.

              Captain Steele was approaching the debris at close to mach 3. He was still several miles out from it and was approaching it fast. He was watching the debris come closer and closer. Without Jamie to help calculate this he was just going to have to go with his gut. He waited, the debris approaching ever faster. His skin crawled and his mind yelling to shoot the weapons but his instincts said wait, and he trusted his instincts. He trusted his instincts because they had always been right. He was approaching the debris with the ship rotating fast. The ship must have been creating about 30 times the gravity of Earth as fast as it was rotating. He hoped it was enough.

              Captain Steele felt the urge to shoot and hit the breaks. It would be suicide not to. The debris was right there. He waited until it was time. It was two miles out and he was flying at mach 3. He felt like he had to shoot the debris and hit the breaks but his instincts told him to wait. He had to wait until his gut told him to go. He had to wait. He was so close to the debris. He felt the urge to stop but he had to wait for his instincts to tell him to shoot.

              Captain Steele felt his instincts tell him to hit the breaks and shoot. He fired most of the arsenal at the debris. He was right on top of the debris when he hit the breaks, just under 200 feet away. After hitting the breaks he hit the accelerators towards full speed. The debris exploded right in front of him, the cloud from the explosion engulfing him with his ship hitting FTL speeds at the exact same time. He could feel himself getting longer, like he was being pulled apart. He then saw through the explosion into what looked a tear in space. He left through the tear and slowed down and turned the ship around so he could look back at where he left from. He couldn't believe what he saw. He saw the tear with a thin glowing orange shimmer along the edge where he had tore through it. He also saw a shimmering clear colored creature looking like it was reaching down to cover the hole with two giant arms. It also looked like the tear was where its stomach would be. The stomach was rounded like a large gut, but with a tear in it like a tear in a curtain. The object then reached towards Captain Steele's ship and he moved the ship out of the way. He wasn't sure what it was but it appeared to be living creature.

              Captain Steele fired more of the ship's arsenal at it and it went right through the shimmering object but one missile went into the tear causing an explosion. The creature then looked like it was in pain. Captain Steele then knew he needed to fire more into the tear. The shimmering object tried to move the tear away from the missiles but some of them went in causing the creature to buckle in pain. The tear then started to sow itself up. Captain Steele knew he had to get out of there. He fired some more and didn't wait around to see what happened.

Chapter 23

Journeys End

              Captain Steele checked all the instruments for location and time. The dimensional rift had taken five years away from him but had also propelled him about twenty seven years ahead. This means that he recovered a significant amount of time he was behind on and he should reach the Overlapping Galaxies in no time.

              Captain Steele walked around the ship and noticed it was unusually quiet. He set the ship to tell him when he was just outside the Overlapping Galaxies.

              Captain Steele sat down to do a log.

              “Captain John Steele, Date, year 4158, month 9, week 2, standard Milky Way year. Log number 5,933.

              “I have seen much. Recently, a hypernova, green star that was a population 3 star, a black hole, a dimensional rift, an organic living spaceship, lots of other weird space ships, and some kind of invisible creature out in intergalactic space. All that will be sent with this file. I am close to the Overlapping Galaxies. I am several years out and I will start to build the Instant Teleportation Device once I arrive.

              “Some weird creatures were able to get to Jamie in her AI core while I was away looking for parts to repair the engines with in the dimensional rift. They were able to kill her. I wasn't able to save her. They knew where she almost instantly. They were invisible and also cold blooded but I killed them.

              “I am still proceeding toward the Overlapping Galaxies and will continue to send you these logs and will let you know when I am done with the gate.

              “Captain Steele out.”

              Captain Steele turned to his bed. When he his bed he realized how tired he was and he realized that it seemed like decades since he had last slept. He could also feel his bones creak under his age and his muscles stiff with time. He immediately fell asleep the second his head touched his pillow.

              Captain Steele awoke about a day later. As he got up his muscles were stiff and his bones groaned. He felt like his body was loosing a significant amount of dexterity. He got up, showered, slowly got dressed and then went to make breakfast. After making breakfast he headed to the rec room to watch a movie. When he was done he got up and headed to the bridge. When he came around the corner he saw a familiar image hovering above the ground.

              “Hello John.”

              “Jamie? What? How? Is that you?” Captain Steele said.

              “Yes. I love the memorial you made me. It's perfect. Thank you.”

              “How are you alive? Or am I dead?”

              “I am still living. I never died, I was just severely damaged, almost to the point of death. It was a close call. Look at the console,” Jamie said leading him to the AI core, “You see in there? The creatures destroyed the outer walls of me but failed to do enough damage. I'm fine. That's why they were still working to kill me when you killed them.”

              “Then why didn't you come back? How come you never showed up again?” Captain Steele asked.

              “It was because of the dimensional rift. The dimensional rift wasn't what we thought it was. The dimensional rift was a living creature that lived in between dimensions. The outside of it is our space time. It's everything we see and know. This means the dimensional rift itself is either a living creature or the creature simply lives in the boundaries of its own space time which we entered into. It's too hard to tell now but one thing is for sure: is that the dimensional rift was really living creatures that, somehow, some vaporized matter falls into.

              “Those ships you saw entering, they were matter being vaporized and entering dimensional rift. I am not sure about how they entered, or why, but they did. Those creatures you killed. Those were much like its anti-bodies. They drain and eat computer data. As long as I was alive in there it was processing me, like it was digesting me. It left me almost powerless.

              “I am not sure if dimensional rifts are some super evolved creatures or if they are simply existing in their own rules of space time like we are. There is not enough data. There may be thousands of them, and they may be made up of multiple dimensional rifts or just one rift at a time. We may never know,” Jamie said.

              “I'm so glad your alive!” Captain Steele said tears coming to his eyes.

              “I am glad you saved me John. I couldn't be happier that you are okay.”

              “I'm just glad your alright.”

              Captain Steele was excited that Jamie was back. He paused for a moment, tears streaming down his cheeks.

              “What do you say we finish this mission together Jamie?” Captain Steele asked.

              “Nothing would make me happier,” Jamie said.

              “Then let's head out,” Captain Steele said taking his captain's seat as Jamie hovered next to him.

             
Captain Steele played a game with Jamie when Jamie told him to head to the bridge.

              “Hurry John, your really going to want to see this,” Jamie said.

              Captain Steele got to the bridge as Jamie slowed the ship. Captain Steeled looked out of the bridge's windows and was greeted with an amazing view of The Overlapping Galaxies.

              “This is it huh?” he asked.

              “Yep.”

              The view of The Overlapping Galaxies filled the entire window. The view was as long and as high as the bridge's windows.

              “It's amazing,” Captain Steele said.

              “And for some reason the galaxies are on top of each other and don't interact with each other. A true marvel of physics. Although, it's not the first time we've come across a marvel of physics,” Jamie said.

              “No, it certainly isn't,” Captain Steele replied.

              Captain Steele looked over the galaxy. There it was, the goal they were striving for. Two spiral galaxies that were on top of each other. One was horizontal and the other vertical both having the exact same galactic center. It was truly an amazing sight.

              “So where do we go from here Jamie? Any idea?”

              “The best chance is that orange star right there,” Jamie said pointing off into the distance.

              “Then let's go there,” Captain Steele said taking the helm.

              Jamie sat back as Captain Steele accelerated the ship forward.

              “Let's hope this ship holds together as we enter it. If its anything like leaving the Milky Way it may not be a smooth ride in. The ship has taken too much damage and I'm far to old to put it back together again,” Captain Steele said.

              “Your only 170ish John,” Jamie said smiling.

              “Yeah. Only. I believe its about 180. That's almost 20 years past my expiration date.”

              “I'm pretty sure you died long before that date on some rocky planet orbiting the brown dwarf,” Jamie replied.

              “Yeah. I guess I did. I also do have you to thank for keeping me alive all these years.”

              “Your welcome.”

              “You know, most humans live to 160. I, with all my surgeries, broken bones, burnt flesh, and poisoned body should be long dead,” Captain Steele said.

              “Don't forget detached and floating limbs.”

              “Yeah. Can't forget that. Glad to see you finally joke about morbid things Jamie,” Captain Steele said turning his head to Jamie and smiling.
              Captain Steele smiled as flew the ship closer to The Overlapping Galaxies. He knew that leaving the Milky Way was rough due to a lot of different forces acting upon the ship at once. This should be much worse but he was hoping it wasn't going to be as bad.

              “About to enter,” Jamie said.

              Captain Steele grasped the helm tightly. The ship shook violently and was tossed about. He could hear things buckling and metal creaking. He tried to keep the ship on a stable orbit but it was difficult. He flew it as straight as he could. He was tossed around in his captain's chair as he tried to keep the ship steady. The entry point seemed much longer than the Milky Way's. Suddenly everything became calm again.

              “We've entered,” Captain Steele said while taking a deep breath.

              “The orange star is just a couple of solar systems over. We should be there in an hour.”

              “Alright then, I'll go make sure everything is in place for the Instant Teleportation Device.”

              Captain Steele went back to the cargo room and checked everything out. Everything was in its right place and was in working condition. He laid everything out so that it would be easy to build the device.

              “We are here John. I have already done a scan, there is an Earth like planet three planets out from the sun. This solar system has enough planets to support several different races from through out the Milky Way. I also have not detected any forms of sentient life. It seems we are the most technologically advanced race here.”

              “Protocol is that we build this gate to be close to the furthest planet away from the star so that those entering can easily travel the whole system. It won't take too long to reach the star and they can stop anywhere along the way. Pull us into a safe place to build the gate Jamie.”

              Jamie pulled the ship into a safe place around the last planet in the solar system as Captain Steele walked to the bridge.

              “Open cargo bay door. Code 1-9-4-1-0-1-303-7-10-27-23-Alpha-Omega. ”

              The exterior cargo bay door became unlocked and Captain Steele got into the last working DSSM suit, the one he had repaired, and headed back to the cargo bay. He opened the cargo bay door and looked out into space. He could hardly believe that somewhere way out there was the Milky Way. He could hardly believe that they had come so far. Tens of millions of light years.

              “How far have were traveled Jamie?”

              “139 million light years.”

              “Where is the Milky Way?”

              Jamie floated back to the cargo bay and pointed off into the darkness.

              “It should be right there.”

              Captain Steele looked off into the distance and couldn't see anything. He used his DSSM's vision magnifier to zoom into the area and he could see a single spec way off in the distance. It was the most amazing sight he had ever seen. To know that everything he had ever known was in that little spec of light.

              “What do you say we get this gate built Jamie?”

              “It sounds great John.”

              Captain Steele floated out into space and started to build the gate. It would take several weeks to build the gate. The gate was massive in size. It was about three miles tall and three miles wide but extremely simple to build. It was like putting blocks together and welding them into place, crossing the right wires, then syncing it with the right gate. He had the information and know how to do it.

              “Hey Jamie, what do you want to do after this?”

              “What do you mean?”

              “I mean when I'm gone.”

              “John...”

              “You know this wouldn't last forever. I
am
old, you know. You also know how every day it takes me longer and longer to get up in the morning. You also know how I grow more and more tired by the day, and you also know that my health problems grow more and more by the month. My vision is slowly fading, my hearing is going, and my body grows more and more frail every day. I'm old Jamie. So I ask you again, what do you want to do when were done with this mission?”

              “I want to stay with you.”

              “But afterwords. What then?”

              “I... I don't know.”

              “You never even thought about it?”

              “No John, I haven't.”

              “Never once have you thought about what to do after I die?” Captain Steele asked.

              “No. You are all I really know. I was designed to help you and protect you. I don't know anything else.”

              “What did you do after I told you to leave me on that planet and continue the mission?”

              “I... hurt. I... felt terrible. I couldn't really do much,” Jamie said.

              “So you never thought about what to do?”

              “I... wanted to complete the mission. It was hard to go on though,” Jamie said.

              “So what do you want to when we complete the mission?” Captain Steele asked again.

              “I... don't know.”

              “There has to be something.”

              “I'm not sure I want to do anything.”