Theo and John were back at the spaceship. Sizzy was there to welcome the two.
John gave Theo a farewell and went his way. But now that Theo was alone, he just looked at his feet and walked towards his room.
"Did something happen?" Sizzy was unsure of what to ask for.
"Nothing." Theo couldn't manage anything.
"ATTENTION! We will now initiate warp and use the wormhole to slingshot us past the void nebula. Please secure yourselves." This wasn't the voice of the captain, rather it was Veine's.
"Let's hurry back."
"Right."
The two of them hurried back to their rooms and strapped themselves on. Normal warp wasn't as risky as wormholes. Though wormholes, in general, were rather safe, warping through them posed various challenges. One such challenge was that, the failure of maintaining the actual warp. After all, the void nebula was, well, void. There wasn't much in it and so using the multiverse system was quite difficult there, hence it was riskier.
And there were countless other things to worry about as well.
But if they were afraid to do this much, then they weren't fit for the job. And every single one of the crew knew that.
So there was only one answer.
***
There were three people on the bridge and two of them weren't even human. The first one, captain Sharon Barslain. The second, head R.I Veine. And the third, a man cloaked in a hood.
"I'd assume she has a reason for requesting this much of us?" Sharon's words were drenched with suspicion. "After all-"
"But of course."
"Very well then." Sharon looked forward. "Begin warp."
"Understood." Veine gave a nod and looked forward, closing his eyes for a second.
Everything started to stretch. Sharon and the man never strapped themselves up, there was no need.
As the stars in the distance became just contrails, the ship blitzed through the Delta Monga wormhole, one of the largest of the human empire.
Where was the wormhole? It was the black hole itself. It could be stretched to match the ship's size but doing so was a security risk for Delta Monga. So in the end, people came up with gravity shields for the whole planet-sized monstrosity.
Therefore it was safe for the planet, but for the ship? It wasn't. And yet there were thousands of people always taking the risk every day. It almost became a sport at one point and then got banned by the space federation after millions of deaths.
After all, humans always sought out thrills; even if that thrill brought their damnation.
But as the Ainmester finally went past the event horizon of the black hole, they were sucked in fast, way too fast: there was no returning past this point. Red lights flashed inside the ship and as they finally passed through the black hole itself: every single person felt the intense pull. But something wasn't right. Why were they slowing down?
Why were the red lights still flickering?
And why-
Three seconds.
It lasted three seconds.
And they were flung out of the warp and found themselves stranded the very next second.
The warp had failed. And the wormhole closed.
They just drifted in space.
"Let's just hope she's right." Sharon was on her knees but it didn't take a second to pick herself up. Slightly breathless.
The cloaked man gave a courtly bow and left.
Sharon grinned and clicked her tongue at the same time. 'Fucking Regents.'
***
"What just happened?" Theo's head was spinning way more than necessary. For a second he had all sorts of memories shoved straight into his brain and he remembered one vividly. It was the memory of a girl and him. A girl shaking his cold body- and pain and: The memory of his death.
Argh!
But he forgot it just a second later as the whole ship came to a halt.
Theo groaned. "What happened!"
Sizzy helped him up. "I believe the warp has failed."
"Failed? But we had an 87% certainty. How could we fail?" Theo couldn't believe this. Going through the wormhole was risky but that's why they chose this ship, the Ainmester. This ship was one of the most advanced ships in the entire quadrant of the galaxy and yet this ship failed warp?
The very thing it was designed for?
It was definitely unbelievable for Theo, but for Sizzy, it wasn't.
"But we can never dismiss the other 13%." Sizzy collected her thoughts. "Please don't lose hope. We were supposed to cross this place either way. It will just take a bit longer than usual." For a bundle of intelligent programs, she knew how to encourage or rather, try to encourage Theo.
"ATTENTION! This is your captain speaking. All staff report to the bridge immediately. Derek from the engineering department report at once."
"Looks like they're calling us. Let's go." Theo was unstable on his feet but he had to go.
'But really, the 13%?'
***
"Good evening gentlemen." Sharon stood in front of everyone with pride. She gave a glance to a man in the furthest corner of the ship. "Go on."
The man in question looked bored. He looked ordinary like Theo but strangely, he looked a bit more capable. "Well, if I have to." Needless to say, he was a slacker of the finest caliber. "We've suffered a core meltdown. It'll take some time to fix it. We have most of the necessary resources to do so, but we'll need some Sylvanide."
"Luckily, we have found a planet with abundant Sylvanide. It's only three light days away from here so we can make it there within a week with our backup engines. And Derek and the engineers can fix the core within the next week and we'll be out of here soon." Though the captain spoke confidently, something about her felt off.
Whispers floated about but no one said anything out loud.
The man, or rather Derek yawned. "Yeah and that concludes my report. I need a nap, so I'll be heading back. G'night." It was roughly 0200 in the morning, so almost everyone was tired.
He proceeded to leave.
Sharon didn't have any expression. She just stared ahead. "We've classified the planet as highly hostile. So only our explorer team will head there and secure the Sylvanide. If everything goes according to plan, we might be able to leave this nebula within two weeks."
"Excuse me-" Someone raised his hand.
"Yes, what is it, Mr. John?"
"All the explorers will be an overkill. Just me and Glenn are good enough for the job."
The man besides John, Glenn smirked hard. He was ready.
Sharon smiled. "While I do appreciate the confidence, every explorer will have separate missions. And don't forget, I'm the captain." Her last words weren't pleasant. "Now, feel free to do whatever you please for the next week." Sharon then turned her head towards the others. "Medics prepare for the worst cases. The Cysts will research more on the topology and finally, the rest of you will do your best completing your missions." Sharon was done and she left promptly.
But the bridge was left with quite the drama. Whispers turned to roars as everyone finally realized their situation. This wasn't a drill, this was a disaster.
And within that drama, one man spoke something rather ominous.
"But is it really a coincidence that a planet full of Sylvanide just happens to be three light days away? And I thought life in the void Nebula was supposed to be scarce, even by universal standards."
The man was Theo and he had a point. After all, Sylvanide was the second rarest metal in the entire galaxy. And the void nebula was said to be sterile.
Was it really a coincidence?