Under the Milky Way
by Mudak
Chapter 4
When the space ship reached a point far enough outside of earth’s gravitational pull, Captain Miyamoto sent a radio transmission back to earth requesting permission to create the wormhole and to navigate into it. Because of the distance, he had to wait approximately eight minutes for the response to be received: “All systems are go! Good luck and godspeed!”
He turned to face the rest of the crew. “Is everyone strapped in? We’re about to make the jump.”
The rest of the crew either said, “Yes, sir!” or gave a simple ‘thumbs up’ sign to confirm their readiness.
The captain began turning dials, flipping switches, and pushing buttons on the control panel in front of him. The ship began to vibrate for a few seconds, followed by a loud banging sound and a bright flash of light that was visible through all portholes.
The Russian native yelled, “It appears that Einstein-Rosen Bridge is opened!”
“Agreed and confirmed,” said the Chinaman.
Captain Miyamoto took a deep breath. “Very good. Prepare to go where no man or woman has ever gone before.” He pushed a specially designed throttle forward, and the ship lurched into the wormhole.
The ship began to shake and shimmy, faster, harder, and more violently than anyone on board had anticipated or trained for. The American and the Russian let out yelps of pain as the straps holding their arms into their seats dug into the sides of their bodies.
“Are you two okay?” asked the German.
“Y-yeah,” said the American. “I just… My seatbelt isn’t fitting right and I don’t know how to adjust it.”
“Whatever you do,” said the captain, “don’t take it off.”
“I wouldn’t think of it.”
“We should be out of the wormhole quickly,” remarked the Chinaman. “Just hang on for a few more minutes.”
The American grumbled but agreed. He took a deep breath and tried to will away the pain and discomfort. After a few minutes, the vibrating of the ship slowed down and he and his Russian colleague both heaved deep sighs of relief.
Olga remarked, “We must be pulling out of wormhole now.”
“I believe so,” said the Captain.
With a lurch, the ship came to a stop.
“W- we’re… We’re here!” exclaimed the captain. “Is … is everyone all right?”
The American couldn’t help but wipe a tear from his eye as he acknowledged that he had gotten through the passageway and now sat in a vehicle, orbiting a distant star, 22 light years away from home.
With the American’s tears of joy at the weight of history upon them, the other crew members began to cry as well. They all unstrapped themselves from their chairs and joined in a group hug.
The German pulled out of the hug first. “Somethink feels … strange. I don’t know how… Wait. Yes I do…”
Olga started nodding her agreement at what Kristina had expressed. The men scratched their heads, unsure what Kristina felt.
Kristina looked down and away from the rest. “I … It’s very strange, but my breasts feel … heavier.”
Olga smiled and said, “Mine, too.”
“Could that be because this is a red dwarf and now what you’re used to from our own sun?” asked Wei.
“Anythink is possible, I suppose,” said Kristina. “Vould you men excuse me while I loosen my clothink?”
“Oh, of course!” said Jonathan. He and the other two men turned away as the two women loosened their cabin suits and unclasped their bras, letting them float off into the cabin.
The two women started to giggle as they buttoned up their shirts again. “All right, gentlemen,” said Olga. “You may turn around again. Do you feel any differently, ahem, anywhere?”
Jonathan’s hands went down to his crotch but said, “No. Nothing out of the ordinary.”
“Nor I,” said Ichiro. “It’s strange that you feel, well, strange.”
“That’s vat I vas thinkink,” remarked Kristina.
“Well, if there’s no other problems,” the captain said. He glanced around the cabin and all four members of his crew were shaking their heads to indicate no other problems, “I suggest that we each go to a different point in the ship and get pictures and take measurements to get our bearings for where we are relative to the planets that are orbiting this star, and to the star itself.”
The five of them separated, carrying walkie talkies as they each went to their assigned positions.
The American radioed to the other four, “I think I can see a planet out of my window. It vaguely resembles Venus from home. I’m too far away to make out any real details of the planet.”
“Excellent, Jonathan,” said Captain Miyamoto. “Try and get some good telescopic photos. Maybe we’ll even be able to see one of its moons.”
“Can do, Captain.”
Olga spoke into her receiver next. “I see… There’s something quite peculiar. Something shimmering and white. It looks like … like it’s moving!”
“Moving?” echoed both Kristina and Wei at the same time.
“Yes. It seems to be coming closer. I don’t know what to make of it. Does anyone else see it?”
In rapid succession each of her colleagues said, “No.”
“It looks like it’s getting closer to us. Why don’t you all come down here and see what I’m talking about?”
Captain Miyamoto jumped into the conversation. “I don’t want everyone to leave their posts on account of this. How about one or two of you join Olga to get a sense of what’s going on?”
The German radioed back. “But vait! I think I see something also! I see … a light. A blinking light. It is in my periphery und I understand it not.”
Olga responded. “Yes. The blinking started a moment back. It is almost as if … someone is trying to send us a message.”
“Don’t be silly, Olga,” said Jonathan. “We really only just got here. The only way someone out there would be trying to contact us would be … if they knew we were coming in the first place.”
“Vell,” Kristina said, “Haff you seen this light? If not, then come to either my window or Olga’s window and see for yourself. If you can provide a better explanation, I’d very much like to hear.”
“I’ll be right there,” said the American.
The captain said, “Very good. Everyone else, stay where you are.”
After a brief silence, the Chinaman said, “I think I see a moon orbiting that planet over there!”