“Relax, Jay,” Emily said. “Anybody want a sandwich?”
Nobody. Neither did she. Max rarely drank, but he could have used some whiskey then. There was of course nothing like that in the storage lockers.
They were all watching their links as the first half hour dwindled to two minutes. When the time finally was gone, Jay lifted his head and closed his eyes. “I knew this was going to happen.”
“Let’s just be patient,” said Emily.
They’d discussed before what they would do if Horace, like the previous missions, simply disappeared into the night. He’d said he might get distracted, would maybe encounter something spectacular. But he’d assured them he wouldn’t stay more than thirty minutes. “I don’t want you guys getting hung up because of me. If this doesn’t go well, do not come after me. Under any circumstances.”
They sat listening to the silence for a second half hour. How Max would respond to this outcome had been at the forefront of his mind since he’d accepted the assignment six weeks earlier.
“This is not good,” said Emily.
Jay let them see that he agreed.
“Not much we can do,” Max said.
“So we wait three days?” asked Emily.
“Those are our guidelines. At least three days.”
“Max, if he’s not back in three days, he’s not coming back.”
“I think that’s the point.”
“If he’s in trouble, he needs us now, not over the weekend.”
Emily got up and left the cabin to get some coffee. Jay took a deep breath. “She’s right. We can’t afford to wait any longer. If we’re going to help him, we have to do it now.”
“Jay, you really want to go after him? We’re looking at a third failed mission. And we’ve no idea why.”
“Then we should find out.”
“We’ve been explicitly instructed not to do that.”
“I understand, Max. But Horace would never have gone off and left us over there.”
“I agree,” said Emily. She was standing behind them with her coffee.
“Okay,” Max said. It was, he thought, the dumbest decision he’d ever made. He went back to the bridge, where Emily joined him. Jay stayed in the passenger cabin. Max asked if they were both sure about this. They simply nodded. He told them to secure their belts, activated the engines, and started slowly toward the mashed light surrounding the gateway. He took a deep breath as they passed through into the tunnel. A reflection of the Breckinridge appeared high on their port side. He matched the velocity Horace had used and counted off nine minutes, two less than had passed before the shuttle had gone out though the exit.
“This is a much bigger vehicle,” Emily said. “That might help.”
“Maybe,” said Max, having no idea what she might be suggesting.
“Good luck to us,” said Jay.
The Breckinridge was barely moving. They passed through the wormhole, and approached the exit. Max saw a shadow fall over the ship’s prow. No, not a shadow. The prow was disappearing into darkness. Then the area housing the bridge followed, and the prow was back. But the surrounding lights were gone, replaced by a thin gray mist. “We’ve crossed over,” he said. “We’re on the other side.”
“What’s all the haze out there?” asked Jay.
Max turned on the radio. “Horace, you there? Answer up please.”
Emily broke in. “Stop us! Stop moving forward.”
Max applied the brakes.
“Okay. Stay where we are.”
“What’s wrong?”
“The mist. We don’t want to lose touch with the gate. Where the hell are the stars?”
They slowed to a stop and sat waiting, but there was still no reply from Horace. Not even any static.
“Horace? Can you hear me?”
“Ouch.” Jay’s voice, from the cabin, along with a thump.
“What happened?”
“I got out of my seat too soon. Bumped my head. I don’t think the artificial gravity’s working.”
The generator was on. But Max could feel his body pushing against the restraints. He looked through the door into the passenger cabin. Jay was off the deck, afloat, hanging onto the top of a chair. “You okay?” he asked.
Jay pulled himself down. “Yeah. I’m good. I was scared for a minute. I thought we’d lost power.”
“No, we’re okay. Gravity’s off. Probably got a loose coil or something. I’ll check when we have a minute.”
“Where’s the fog coming from?” asked Emily.
“Horace,” said Max. “Please respond. You there?” The silence was overwhelming. Jay was feeling the bump on the side of his head. “You sure you’re all right?”
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
There was nothing outside but mist. And the radio remained quiet. Not even any static. And no stars. Maybe they were inside a cloud. “All right, let’s see if we can find him.” Max activated the scanner and the screen lit up. “He can’t be far.”
“Let’s hope,” said Emily.
The scan came up empty. “That can’t be right,” said Max. “That covers every direction. There’s nothing out there. Not a damned thing.”
“But he’s only been here a half hour,” said Emily. “The shuttle doesn’t have a star drive, does it?”
“No.”
“But he’s gone,” said Jay.
A chill ran through Max. He turned the scanner off and then switched it back on, with the same result.
Jay looked scared. Probably they all did. “Max, somebody must have taken him.”
“Somebody with pretty good tech.”
Emily pushed back in her seat. “We still can’t see anything.”
“Not even the wormhole,” said Jay. “All we’ve got is mist everywhere.”
“Horace, please answer up.”
“He’s not here,” said Emily.
Slowly, carefully, he swung them around. When Rex informed him he’d completed a one-eighty he moved forward, again with extreme caution. He couldn’t see anything that indicated he was approaching the gate, and didn’t feel at ease until the prow began to disappear.
He took them through the wormhole and emerged back in the shadow of the black hole in a sky full of stars.
“I hate this,” said Emily. “What could have happened to him? What are we going to tell them when we get home?”
The gravity was back. But Jay was still hanging onto the back of Emily’s seat. “I’m wondering,” he said, “how I’m going to explain this to Horace’s son.”
“I didn’t know he had a family,” said Max.
“Just the son. Karl. He divorced years ago. I think his wife got tired that he was never home.”
“I can understand that.” Max needed a distraction. But nothing was going to be able to take his mind off Horace. “He’s not there,” he said. “He couldn’t have gotten outside the range of the scanner in a half hour.”
“Did you put the antigrav back on?” asked Jay.
“I never turned it off.”
“Somebody turned it back on.”
“I don’t think it’s the equipment,” said Emily.
Max looked down at her feet, placed securely on the deck. He released his belt and stood. Jay was right.
“It’s not the equipment,” Emily said again.
“What are we talking about?” said Max.
Emily was on her feet also. “We should go back.”
Jay looked horrified. “Why?”
“I think I know how to find him.”
“It’s simple enough,” she said, as Max turned them around. “There’s only one reasonable explanation for what happened.”