The
spinning wheel was enormous, 6,000 light years across, far too large for all of
it to be seen. Jax Sorens turned left to look at Dr. Ono. The starship Jax
piloted, the White Hand, hovered 200 light years away from the center of this
rotating behemoth.
“It
really is what we thought,” whispered the doctor in awe. “Over 3,000 years ago
an ancient alien civilization constructed a set of spinning wormholes, laid out
in a gigantic rotating disk. The outer end of the holes travel near light
speed, so time is slowed down there. But at the center, time moves at a normal
rate, faster than the arms. Taking the starship through the center out to one
of the arms will literally move us back in time.”
“What
amazes me is you got us all the way out here into the deep dark of
intergalactic space,” said Jax.
“Oh
that was nothing. Just a little industrial application of negative energy
density.”
“Yeah
right.” Jax rolled his eyes around the cramped cockpit. The White Hand was tiny
compared to most interstellar craft. It had been designed just for this mission
and only held the two of them along with numerous touchscreens and plugs for
direct brain input. They'd carried with them a large supply of wormhole
casters, a supply over half depleted now. They'd left a vast string of them
trailing behind, leading all the way back to the Milky Way galaxy. They could
make a jump from where they were to the center of the spinning wormhole time
machine, then the remaining casters in the cargo hold would get them back on
the return trip to the Milky Way, only this time thousands of years in the
past.
One
of the screens flashed red. Jax said what both of them were thinking. “Is that
an incoming com?”
“Could
that be…the aliens? Didn’t the sensors show no sign of recent occupation?”
“Dunno
who, doc. Let me check.”
A
second panel flashed. Doctor Ono tapped the screen, eyes wide. “We have a
vessel decelerating from near-light speed headed our way.”
“Ooo,
crap, I’m powering up the weapons!”
“Perhaps
you should check the com first?”
“Or
simultaneously. I’m on it.”
A
very familiar voice sounded through the now-activated panel. “White Hand, this
is Dr. Ito Ono. Do not jump to the time machine. I say again, do not jump to
the center of the alien device!”
Jax
glanced to his side to ensure the doctor was still with him. He was.
“Uh,
Dr. Ono, you are right here beside me in the cabin...” His voice trailed off.
Now
his own voice sounded. “We’re both here. The alien machine drained the negative
energy in our casters. There was no way for us to make the trip back home in
this earlier time frame. We’ve been travelling at near-light speed from one of
the arms that let us out 3,200 years ago. Thanks to Mr. Einstein, only two
years subjective time has passed for us.”
“I
see…that explains why we didn’t find casters already strung out this way from
our return trip, from thousands of years ago…” muttered the Ono still inside
the White Hand. Or their version of the vessel, because Jax saw that the
starship decelerating from the direction of the wormhole time machine was none
other than the White Hand itself.
Dr.
Ono’s voice repeated over the radio. “I say again, do not jump to the alien
device. The ship will drain its total energy reserves on our near-light speed
emergency burn to return to warn you. This vessel cannot return back to the
Milky Way. If you do not make the leap at all, you will have enough energy to
get back.”
The
doctor in the cockpit of their vessel scratched his chin. “But if we don’t make
the jump, how will we be able to warn ourselves not to go?”
Jax's
eyes widened. “But if we make the jump and warn ourselves, we won’t have enough
fuel.”
“We
could switch vessels I suppose, jump the spent one to the machine and let the
other two take ours back.”
“But
then we STILL wouldn’t be warning ourselves.”
“We
could send a radio message once we get there.”
“But
then we still won’t be here to go back!”
Dr.
Ono scratched his chin and frowned.
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