Manos rolls his eyes. “I wouldn’t be caught dead in those. Mine is the best one.” He leads her across a bridge to the Falcon 12’s entrance. “Let’s hurry and get up to space.”
“Yes, sir.”
They enter the rocket and close the door behind them, climbing two flights of stairs to the cockpit. Manos takes the command chair and looks up through the windows. “Good morning, Falcon 12.”
Recognizing his voice, the ship’s A.I. activates the control system. “Hello, Mr. Kharon. Will you be flying today?”
“Yes.”
“What is your destination?”
Manos points to the bright star. “We’re going to that wormhole.”
“Prepare for launch.”
The floor vibrates as the engine ignites. Automatic seatbelts lock Manos in place, moving him along a track and rotating ninety degrees to face the sky. He covers his face in the luminous starlight. “That thing is so damn bright.”
Felina hands him a pair of goggles. “This will help.”
“Thanks. Hurry and strap in. We have no time to lose.”
Felina jumps into her seat and it locks her in and orients itself for launch.
Manos dons the glasses and points. “Wow, look at that star!”
Felina sports the eye gear and her jaw drops. “It’s like the Sun, only bigger and brighter.”
“Let’s head up there and see what it is.”
A thunderous roar fills the cabin as thrusters catapult the rocket off the ground. Manos clenches his jaw in the gnawing g-forces. Seconds later, the rumbling turns to a soft murmur as the ship enters the deep atmosphere.
Earth’s curvature comes into view, its fragmented ozone layer outlining the edge. Felina points to North America below them. “Look, it’s so beautiful!”
The A.I. comes on as the boosters power down. “Welcome to Falcon 12. I hope you have a pleasant journey. Please keep your seatbelts fastened until we reach our target speed of 20,000 miles per hour.”
Manos unbuckles himself and climbs out of the chair.
Felina waves her hand. “Mr. Kharon, it’s not safe to get up now.”
Manos ignores her and reaches for a small refrigerator, grabbing two beers and falling back into his seat. “Peace of mind can’t wait.” He pops the bottles open and hands her one. “Cheers!”
She smirks. “Cheers to you, sir.”
As Falcon 12 enters space, Manos begins to drift weightless. Droplets of beer percolate across the cockpit. “Now this is a party.”
Felina stretches her arms and catches the drops with a handkerchief. “We should follow protocol, Mr. Kharon.”
A monitor beeps. “We have reached the target velocity. It is now safe to release your harness belts. We will arrive momentarily.”
Manos peers from the window. “The Earth looks so different with a second sun shining on it.”
Felina bristles. “Wow, the oceans are turquoise…”
“Look at Greenland over there. It looks yellow under the starlight.”
“This doesn’t seem real.”
“Are we dreaming?” Manos laughs. “It feels like I’m on acid.”
She appears worried. “I hope you’re not, sir. Let’s stay sober for this journey.” She points to the North Pole. “That’s the last of the Arctic glaciers. In a few years, the polar ice caps will be gone.”
“We should take some ice as a souvenir. It will be worth a lot of money someday.”
The ship flies past the moon towards the wormhole. Felina analyzes a navigation monitor. “Mr. Kharon, we don’t have an ETA to our destination. I’m not sure how far away it is.”
“Why is that?”
“I don’t know. It doesn’t appear on our map.”
He looks over. “Well, how do we know where we’re going?”
“I was hoping you would tell me, sir.”
They sit silently as the star grows larger in front of them, its incandescent bluish light filling the cabin. A black ring surrounds it and demarcates the boundary of a portal. The ship shutters as it approaches the object.
“Falcon, stop immediately!” Manos shouts.
The rocket rapidly decelerates, hurling Manos against the controls. Minutes later, they slow to a crawl and hover in space in front of the star. Manos helps Felina get back into her chair. “Are you all right?”
“Yes, I’m fine.” The bright light glows on her face. “Should we cross to the other side?”
Manos turns to her. “What if it’s a one-way road? We’ll be stuck in outer space forever.”
“That’s true.”
“Gareth said there’s a planet out there, but I don’t see anything.”
Felina activates the ship’s telescope and looks through the wormhole. She beams the image onto a monitor. In the magnified view, a dark object blocks a portion of the star.
Manos points. “That’s it! Zoom in.”
A blue world comes into view. Felina waits for the image to focus. “My God, there are oceans.”
“Gareth was right! This must be New Earth.”
“It has white clouds and an ozone layer—”
“And ice caps! That’s probably water on the surface…”
“Not necessarily, sir. It could be a poisonous sea for all we know.”
“It looks like Earth except the land is purple. Why is that, Felina?”
“I don’t know. We’ll have to inspect it.”
Manos rubs his hands in contemplation. “We should cross the tunnel.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely.”
“What if we can’t return?”
“That’s a risk we have to take. It’s the GoldRock way.” He buckles into the command chair and instructs Felina to do to the same. “Are you ready?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Falcon, go full speed ahead!”
“Preparing ignition…” The rocket accelerates and the g-forces hurl them backwards in their seats. As they cross the event horizon, flashes and streaks bounce across space and the cockpit shakes thunderously, detaching electronics equipment from the control panel. Starlight flashes randomly like magnified electrons dancing in orbit.
Then everything goes dark.
“Felina?” Manos shouts.
“I’m still here, sir.”
“What’s happening?”
Seconds later, light reappears as the ship barrels through the passage and exits the other side, spinning rapidly on its axis. The universe twirls from the cockpit window and a planet comes in and out of view. Manos shuts his eyes and vomits. “I’m sick to my stomach.”
Felina’s face grows pale.
“Falcon, stop the ship!” he shouts.
The air brakes activate and the Falcon 12 comes to a forceful halt. Manos releases his harness and hurls into a bag.
Felina breathes heavily. “That was excruciating.”
“I think I’m dying.” He gags. “Did we cross the portal?”
She stares from the window. “Yes, I believe so. Take a look.”
He peers out. “Oh, my goodness…”
They see Earth and the moon on the other side of the portal. Manos turns his head and spots a blue world with two moons orbiting it. “Where are we?”
“Falcon, what’s our position?” Felina inquires.
The navigation console flashes. “You are in the Barnard’s Star solar system.”
“Where the hell is that?” Manos asks.
“In the Milky Way Galaxy.”
Felina reads the monitor. “Mr. Kharon, you have to see this.” Her jaw drops. “I’m at a loss for words.”
Manos looks over. “What is it, Felina?”
“We just traveled six light years in less than a second. We’re 36 trillion miles from home!”
“How is that possible?”
“I don’t know, sir.”
“Get Gareth Allen on the line. Let’s finish this mission and return home.” He buckles in. “Falcon, take us to New Earth and land where it’s safe.”