Through the Wormhole

Chapter II: Finding Rodinia

Learning to walk in the sunsuit was like learning to hoverscoot again. PPMC forced Dan to walk up and down her hallway while she laid up sorry and watched 3001: A Space Odyssey again.

A flustered Dan shouted, "Hey! Aren't you supposed to be helping me?" at her.

"Your trip—not mine," she answered, returning to her movie. "One more lap, Dan, and then we'll try it with your helmet."

So, that was what people called tough love? Dan never recalled Becca acting like PPMC around him. He glared, but it became easier to walk with the final lap. Regardless, the stupid sunsuit still made his small butt stand out. Did Molly prefer small butts or big ones?

"You thinking about your one-night stand over there?" PPMC called, shutting off the holographic screen in front of her.

"No!" Dan piped. "What makes you think that?"

"I can see it in the sunsuit."

"Ooohhh!" Dan immediately turned his back to her. "I hate you, PPMC!"

"I hate you, too."

They both laughed.

***

PPMC was stubborn and sassy but also true to her word. She and Dan reached Tonian Earth the next day after another practice round of Dan walking in the sunsuit. He almost had it, but now there was an extra weight on him—his helmet. It was white and red, but Dan couldn't wear his flying goggles with it.

He moved to the edge of the co-pilot seat when Earth appeared and giddily asked, "PPMC?"

"Yep, that's it," she replied. "Tonian Earth."

"Sick!"

Earth was both familiar and unfamiliar. The ocean was blue, but instead of seven continents, there was one: Rodinia. Dan saw no trees—just rocks and volcanic islands.

"This is so cool!" he yelled while PPMC dropped into Earth's young atmosphere. "I can't believe I'm really time traveling!"

"Well, believe it, Idiot, because it's happening." PPMC flew over Rodinia's shallow Mirovia Ocean and headed for a cluster of tall rock towers that pierced the heavens.

Dan stood up multiple times during the descent, leaving PPMC to push him back into his seat. A hiss outside and a gentle bump told him her wheels just hit Rodinia, and he whooped.

"Thank you for flying Airship PPMC," PPMC playfully mused. "We've landed on Mars—no, Rodinia—next to a cluster of Precambrian rocks."

Dan forgave her for calling Rodinia "Mars." It did look like it. "Let's go, let's go, let's go!" he yelped, hopping out of his seat again.

"Whoa, Dan!" PPMC instantly turned serious. "Don't strain yourself. You're sick."

"I am not!" However, Dan suffered another coughing fit and fell onto his chair. It lasted a good minute, and tears appeared in his eyes—it hurt so much.

"Come with me." PPMC helped him stand. "It's still morning, and days last eighteen hours."

"But I wanna explore!" Dan tried freeing himself, but PPMC was too powerful.

She took him to her emergency compartment and sat him on the bed, removing his helmet.

"Why are we here?" Dan inquired. "I feel fine. I want to explore Rodinia."

"Not until I check you out." PPMC gathered a medical box from the compartment's cabinet. "The space center also programmed me with a little medical knowledge."

"Oh, for the love of—!" Dan smacked PPMC's hand. "I don't have time for this."

She tightened her grip on the box. "Dan, I need to check you out."

"No," he protested, "I'm going to Rodinia."

"Dan, listen to me." Was she getting angry? "You're sick."

"No, I'm not!"

"Okay, fine!" PPMC threw down the box. Dan heard everything in it scatter. "You're not sick! You know everything! Go out to Rodinia and get yourself killed! See if I care! I'm tired of teenagers!"

"And I'm tired of starships who think they can replace my mother!" Dan snatched his helmet and put it on. He stormed out of the room and slammed the door shut. It wasn't long until he returned and questioned, "How do I get outside again?"

PPMC dramatically sighed. She quickly escorted Dan to the cockpit and opened the hatch, dropping the ramp soon after. PPMC shoved him onto it.

"Hey!" Dan snapped, stumbling. "Was that necessary?"

"Get out of my sight, Dan, and study your stupid Precambrian rocks!" PPMC punched a button in her cockpit. The ramp bounced, and Dan rolled the rest of the way down. "Don't come back until you fix your attitude!" PPMC pulled the ramp in and shut the hatch on him.

Attitude? Since when did Dan have one? All he said was that he felt fine, and PPMC overreacted. Now, there he was, lying on Rodinia, and he let the argument go.

The Sun's rays blasted him, but his sunsuit protected him.

Dan stood and peered ahead to the endless rocks and towers. "Wow," he squealed. Rodinia looked just as it did in his dream—a barren landscape resembling Mars's surface. No wonder PPMC confused it earlier, but whatever the case, Dan was there. He had survived the black hole, which meant it was time to fulfill his mother's dream.

He wished he could stop the happy tears from falling, but they kept storming. "We did it, Mom," Dan hiccupped. "Paleontology. This is real paleontology."