Through the Wormhole

Chapter XI: Lessons in Geologic Time (Part Mesoproterozoic)

"What exactly is my mission?" Dan said aloud.

Chenoa's face lit up, and she turned to PPMC. "Would you do the honors, PPMC?"

"Of course, Professor." She held out her robotic hand, palm up. "Gauntlet, please. You may want to get comfy, Dan, while we explain this."

He arched his eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because, Idiot, it's a bit of a long explanation."

"Say what?" When did PPMC learn Dan's most common nickname? It usually didn't bother him when someone called him that, but it did when it came from PPMC. She could try all she wanted, but she would never be Dan's mother.

He felt a grief wave sneaking up on him. Dan distracted himself by listening to the annoying starship. He refused to cry in front of Professor Chenoa.

PPMC pressed the largest button on the gauntlet.

"Gauntlet activated," a voice sounded. Just like that, it floated out of PPMC's grasp and hovered between her, Dan, and Chenoa. "Welcome, Dan. You currently are in the Quaternary Period, Holocene Epoch, 3023."

"Wow," he squealed, blushing.

"PPMC is programmed to travel through a black hole, wormhole, and white hole to prehistoric times," continued the gauntlet. A blue laser escaped its head, creating a holographic barrier between Dan, PPMC, and Chenoa. "Your mission as the Star of the PPMC Project is to travel to the Neoproterozoic Era, the Carboniferous Period, the Jurassic Period, and the Eocene Epoch and study how life has changed over time."

While the AI explained that, a movie came to life before Dan. It showed an image of PPMC floating in space, surrounded by stars, and a celestial object appeared before her. The diagram expanded and showed the black hole, wormhole, and white hole. The black hole sucked PPMC in like a vacuum. She traveled through its dust bag and popped out of its intake port. The words "time traveling" flashed above her.

Oblivious at first, Dan stretched and placed his hands behind his head. "Oh, okay. I can do that." Then, the realization sank in. "Wait, what? Did you say 'black hole'?"

Chenoa came in for PPMC. "Uh, yeah."

"I have to travel through a black hole?" Dan bellowed.

"That's the only way to get to a wormhole," Chenoa answered, shrugging.

"Huh?" Without warning, Dan collapsed back onto the launch pad. Nevertheless, he quickly got up and glared at Chenoa. "Are you crazy, woman? I'll be spaghettified if I travel through a black hole!"

Chenoa quickly waved her hands. "No, you won't, Dan! That's the way PPMC's built. She can survive a supernova, so she can survive a black hole. It's a very, very simple task. You get to take a trip up the geologic time scale!"

Dan sneered. "Yeah, it's simple, but I'll be spaghettified before I even reach the Neoproterozoic Era!" Everyone at the space center hated him—not just his daddy. "Besides, even if I do survive, the ultraviolent rays of the Sun will fry me! So, either way, I'm going to die!"

"Oh, Dan," Chenoa said in a grandma-like voice, "you're taking this too seriously. We wouldn't send you up if we thought PPMC couldn't succeed. We're not sacrificing you to the geologic time scale. You're just going on an adventure. Your dad built you a special sunsuit to wear during Precambrian Time. Besides, PPMC will look after you. She's programmed with your mother's personality."

"My mother would never let you guys do this to me!" Dan found himself yelling. He clenched his fists, and a tear ran down his pale cheek. "You can't replace her with a starship! I loved my mother, and PPMC has no right to pretend she's her!" Oh, gosh. The panic attacks he had when Becca first died returned.

Dan stumbled and clutched his chest.

Chenoa's smile vanished. "Dan..."

"I loved my mother!" Dan ended up back on his knees. "In forms both big and small. In forms both big and small," he repeated in an attempt to calm down. He never thought he'd say this, but he did.

Dan met Chenoa's concerned face and ordered, "Get my dad. Right now!" When she didn't move, he punched the launch pad. "Get my dad!"

"Uhh, right," Chenoa finally said. She turned off the holographic diagram, and PPMC handed her the gauntlet.

Chenoa hustled down the launch pad's path, past the blinking lights on either side, and disappeared into the space center.