Through the Wormhole

Chapter XV: Genetically Modified Boot Camp (Part Silurian)

PPMC made a mad dash to prep everything for blast off. Chenoa's speech was her cue that they were down to T-Minus one hour. She grabbed Dan's astronaut suit from his bedroom, buttoned it down, and returned to her cockpit. She draped the suit over the co-pilot seat and checked her time machine. Once PPMC was sure it was ready, she shut it off and tested her horn. Honk! Its purpose was to scare off any prehistoric animal who came too close.

The next thing PPMC tested were her headlights. She needed them to find her way through the wormhole.

Finally, PPMC ensured the light speed button worked. The trip to the black hole would take a few days even with it, but PPMC fretted not. She planned to beef Dan up during those few days and get his lazy bum ready for some research. She already had his two best friends ready: Senior Mop and Junior Bucket.

If PPMC had a throat, she would clear it, but since she didn't, she rubbed her hands together instead. This was the moment 200 years in the space center's prison had led to. PPMC remembered her early days when Chenoa's ancestor built a miniature, AI-powered model spaceship as his first draft, but an unfortunate kink in her programming crippled him for life. That wasn't going to happen to Dan. The space center learned from their mistake, but PPMC wondered if lingering guilt from the accident was considered an emotion.

She brushed the memory away and escorted her hands to her cockpit's hatch. "Let's do this thing!" she announced, dropping it like the New York Ball.

The first thing she saw were Dan, Ben, and Chenoa with their hands over their ears.

"I think your horn's good, PPMC," Chenoa admitted, dropping her arms.

She faltered. "Oh, whoops." She forgot about the human's sense of hearing. PPMC struggled to find her words. "Come in, come. Dan, it's time to give you a makeover."

"Just don't turn me into a cyborg," he growled, moody as ever. Sweat trickled down his temples, and he coughed into his arm.

Chenoa asked the question. "Dan, are you feeling all right?" She moved her palm toward his forehead, but Dan smacked it away.

"I'm fine. Let's just get this stupid launch over with."

"Geez, calm down." It was strange to see Chenoa irritated. Or was annoyed the better word? "I merely don't want to send you up if you're getting sick, Dan," she added.

"I'm not! I've always wanted to travel through a black hole. It's been on my list of Things I Want to Do Before I Die for a while. Or was it my list of Death Plans? Ugh." Dan slapped his hand to his face.

He, indeed, was the Master of Sarcasm, wasn't he? His attitude screamed he couldn't wait to go time traveling, but he kept attempting to hide his excitement. Only a true lover of geologic time did that.

PPMC and Chenoa helped Dan put his astronaut suit on. Ben, meanwhile, kept his distance and gripped the wall. Did PPMC see worry on his face, or was she imagining things? She assumed that's what fear looked like.

"Chenoa?" Ben said, pushing off, "before you put his helmet on, may I have a moment with him, please?"

"Of course, Ben." Chenoa handed PPMC Dan's white and gold helmet and left the cockpit.

"Let me guess," Dan stated, turning to Ben. "This is the moment the parent gives a huge speech about kicking the kid out of the nest?"

"... Maybe?" Ben stuttered. "Is it a crime for a parent to say goodbye to their kid before they leave for college?"

"That's next year, Dad."

"Hands-on research up the geologic time scale is close enough." Ben grasped Dan's shoulders. "Let me look at you for a moment, Daniel."