The Endless Hole

1 Selection

Joe and Lydia walked hand in hand along the cheerfully bubbling clear creek that ran across the far end of the target practice range. It seemed to have a cheerful ring as the water gurgled as it tumbled gently down to the pool below it.

Both of them had a fishing rod in hand, a bait bag of live worms, crickets, and meal worms over their shoulders. A row of fishing flies went down their fishing vests that they wore. They had gone out right after breakfast in hopes of catching enough bass, catfish or panfish for lunch. The creek was stocked with rainbow trout early each spring so if they were lucky there would still be a few of them left during this early fall morning.

Joe’s focus was on getting to his favorite fishing spot. Since a young boy he had considered it his lucky fishing hole.

He had his mind on the other Hole, the one that punched through to some other universe. He had been discussing this with Tom.

They were discussing how far away the Hole they punched would put them from the Milky Way. Tom, Linda, and their team of astronomers had located a small far distant galaxy outside of the Milky Way. Joe had teased them about the fact that they were bypassing millions of solar systems within the Milky Way just to get out of the ghetto.

Tom had laughed and said that he had grown up on the wrong side of the tracks and was now was just trying to get on the rich side of the tracks.

He squeezed Lydia’s hand and asked what she thought of the Hole.

Lydia knew that Joe was talking both about the spot that he was taking her to fish and the Hole to a galaxy that was far outside of the Milky Way.

She decided to focus on the fishing spot.

She replied that it had become her favorite spot because they both always caught enough to share with everyone back at the house. She added that she hoped that there would be a few trout left for her to catch but a few nice bass or maybe a fat lazy catfish would do.

She thought about the discussion, focused on the destination to that immensely faraway galaxy, with both Linda and Tom. They were both convinced that using the approach that they had used in verifying the safety of the first Hole, they should be able to do the same with a Hole that went billions of miles farther away because the distance through the Hole would be the same in both cases.

The distance was zero.

She knew that Joe was ready to give it a try. The modifications and changes to Doorship Two was almost complete and the recommissioning ceremony date had been set by the President.

The only remaining action was to go through the very thorough preparation that Joe was again insisting on.

Joe nodded at Lydia’s response and cast the line with his favorite fly. The immediate hit made him smile as he played the line and slowly brought a fighting and jumping bass in toward him. He pulled him up and held it by the gills as he extracted the fly. He filled his catch bag with water and dropped the bass in.

He watched as Lydia caught a brown trout and skillfully guided in to her net. He knew that it was going to be their lucky day.

He felt that the team had all been enjoying lucky days. The modifications of Doorship Two was transforming it into a ship that surpassed the Cosmos Odyssey by having additional comfort features for the crew. The Cosmos Odyssey was of ceramic hull design and superior to the basic steel design of Doorship Two but Joe had made extensive modifications that he felt made it equal to the Odyssey. He was glad that he had the backing of both of the Generals and the President as he made what he thought were rather expensive financial decisions.

He was also feeling good about the additional crew members he and the rest of the team had interviewed and agreed on before they were selected.

Tom and Linda had recommended a Scottish linguist that had been knighted and had earned the title Sir Fergus Angus Barcley.

He had observed that Lydia had immediately connected with Sir Barcley. He had a great sense of humor and sported a closet full of Scottish kilts that he made a point of wearing to every one of his interviews.

Joe figured that Sir Barcley was testing the team.

Joe immediately knew why Tom and Linda had recommended Sir Barcley. Not only was he fun to be around but he was fluent in more than twelve languages and had written as many books on how language affected culture, how culture enriched language and how the clashes of culture accelerated the changes in language. Joe figured if they again ran into intelligent beings Sir Barcley would be an invaluable member of the team.

The second person that made it through the interviewing process was a surprise to everyone. Uncle Ted was the one to recommend him. He was a young man that had impressed him in his ability to prepare food.

He was Uncle Ted’s current best chef student.

His family had immigrated from Nicaragua and he was first generation American who had attended the University of St. Thomas for two years before realizing that he had little interest in what he was learning.

Fabio Maria-Gonzalez had been recommended by one of the ranch hands when the ranch needed another hand. He got interviewed by Uncle Ted and his father for a job as a ranch hand.

His father had liked the attitude that Fabio displayed and hired him when Joe was still in high school. Joe had always enjoyed being out with him when he participated in the work on the ranch.

He was surprised by Uncle Ted’s recommendation, had taken it seriously and was very pleased that Fabio had impressed everyone on the team.

When Fabio was informed that he had been accepted he smiled and said that when they all came to the ranch he was going to be the chef to prepare their meal.

He asked if he would have a full kitchen and selection of ingredients to work with on the Cosmos Voyager.

The team gathered soon after and Fabio walked in with his chef’s hat. Uncle Ted accompanied him and said that he had promoted Fabio from being a Chef’s assistant to Full Starfleet Chef.

That brought a smile to Joe’s face and he said that he would have to make that not Starfleet but Cosmos Chef responsible to identify all the goods that would be sent up to the Cosmos Voyager. He would also be responsible for the inspection and any additional modifications needed to make the Cosmos Voyager the best kitchen in the Universe.

Fabio had tears in his eyes when he heard of his new title. He said that his mother and father were very proud that he had been selected and had sent their thanks to the team he was joining.

Jorge said that he would be holding a farewell barbeque at the base and he wanted to make sure that Fabio’s parents would be there.

Fabio smiled, nodded, and said that he was sure they would accept the invitation.

Sir Barcley stood up, raised his glass, and gave a toast to the best Cosmos team in the Universe. He then asked if he would still stay on the team if he brought his wife to Jorge’s celebration.

Lydia smiled and said that she wanted to let him know that if she didn’t, he would lose his place on the team.

Sir Barcley again raised his glass, said salute and that he would obey the orders of the first in command.

The following week the entire team transmitted to the Cosmos Voyager for a final walk through. Joe had previously been through the Voyager with the team to make certain they did not have a repeat of the sabotage that they had with the Cosmos Odyssey.

Everything was going smoothly until they reached the kitchen where Fabio looked at the stove and asked why there was no exhaust hood.

He looked in the supply locker and asked where the person responsible for selecting the food had been born. When he opened up the cold storage area he groaned and said that he wanted to do a major overhaul of the food that had been sent up.

Joe responded that Fabio was in charge of everything to do with the kitchen area and should communicate with the people responsible with its design and the supply of foods and cooking utensils. He should arrange to get everything done before the departure date.

Jorge had been part of the final tour. He commented that Joe had learned quite a bit from the experience that the Cosmos Odessey had gone through and the Voyager appeared to have benefited dramatically.

Joe nodded and said that he had learned that he could be attacked by beings that were frightened and he could be attacked by beings that liked to fight. In either case, it put his team in danger, and he wanted to make sure his vessel could take the hammer and only bend.

Jorge asked if his through the Hole move would be different than it had been the previous time.

Joe replied that the two small four person crafts would go through ready to fight. Samantha and Darian would be in one of the weaponized crafts and Sir Barcley and Fabio would be in the other.

Lydia, Tom, and Linda would each control one third of the lasers that would be sent through. The difference was that there would be eighteen lasers that would specifically be sent through to clear the space where the Cosmos Voyager would occupy and eighteen would be sent through as immediate defense lasers that pointed outward from the sphere they were emerge in. He would control the Hole generator and would make sure it was immediately refueled and could be used as a hole cannon.

Jorge shook his head and said that he would not want to be the ones that made a mistake and attacked the Voyager.

Joe said that he was hoping to go through the Hole and spend time scanning the space in the faraway galaxy and be rewarded with a series of solar systems that they wanted to check out for life. He had little desire to meet beings like the Wǔ who seemed to thrive on war.

The following day was the official recommissioning day when Doorship Two would become the USS Cosmos Voyager. Joe was informed that the President had requested that Lydia become the Voyager’s Captain and he assume the position of Admiral responsible for both the Voyager and Odyssey. She had also requested that Tom and Linda be named Senior Scientific Specialist of the Fleet, at a non-command rank just above that of Captain, and that both get a significant bonus for their scientific breakthroughs.

This time the seating at the recommissioning ceremony had everyone in one group. It was Joe, wearing his white Admiral uniform, who went to the podium first to announce the recommissioning and renaming of Doorship Two to USS Cosmos Voyager.

He then introduced President Lacey McAdam whose vision had made it possible for the solar system and the Universe to be opened up. He stepped aside and saluted her as she came to the podium.

Lacey walked up to Joe and gave him a hug and whispered into his ear that he was the one that had made it possible for her to be re-elected a for a second term and that he was responsible for the success of the USS Cosmos Odessey and she was sure he would once again be successful.

She then turned to the audience and into her prepared speech.

2 Scottish Gunslinger

Sir Barcley had accepted an invitation for he and his wife, Morag, to spend a week on the ranch.

Lydia enjoyed having him on the walks that she and Trey took each day. He always had a unique take on the subject that Trey brought up. He would share what the Scottish take was on the political happenings around the world and he always had a joke that disparaged the British Crown. This seemed to be a natural thing for him to do.

Morag took to Uncle Ted and was eager to be working with him in the kitchen.

Uncle Ted liked the way she took over the kitchen and the two of them got into preparing traditional Scottish dishes that they then served to everyone on the ranch. They were cooking up a storm and did not seem to care about the amount of food they were preparing. They sent it out to the bunkhouse where it was all eagerly consumed.

Joe had observed what was going on in the kitchen and praised Fabio for pulling together some additional recipes to take up to his kitchen on the Voyager.

He and Sir Barcley spent several hours each day at the target range firing a series of different rifles as well as the crossbow. It was clear to Joe that Sir Barcley was very good with all the weapons. He asked about that and laughed when Sir Barcley replied that he had always dreamt of battling the Brits and had practiced to be one of the marksmen that would ensure a Scottish victory.

Joe let him know that he would be assigned to one of the small attack craft. When they went through the hole he would be in one of the attack craft and have Fabio as a partner.

Not long after everyone’s return to the base, Joe asked them to assume their assigned stations on the Cosmos Voyager. He wanted to go through a series of practices before they went through the Hole. He said that he wanted each of them to practice their role until they felt they could do it with their eyes closed.

Tom commented that Joe had triggered an idea. He suggested that all attack weaponry be automated to respond automatically to an attack but programed to prevent it from creating a friendly fire scenario. The automation would greatly improve the speed of response should they be attacked.

Joe said that the ideas should be implemented immediately and tested out.

Sir Fergus said that he had sent up several dozen bowling balls to the Cosmos Voyager that he was going to use for target practice. He looked at Fabio and asked if he was any good at shooting.

Fabio nodded and said that with a rifle he felt very proficient but with a laser or space missile he had no idea how good he might be.

Sir Fergus chuckled and said that he had sent enough bowling balls up that the two of them would be able to comply to the order to hit them with their eyes closed.

Their practice out near the Voyager was joined by Darian and Samantha. The two space fighters tested the automated friendly fire prevention program and verified that they could not accidentally shoot each other. The bowling balls all suffered the ultimate fate and both teams were pleased with their ability to rapidly fire their lasers and their rockets. Each of the fighters had two lasers that could be fired separately and they had a dozen rockets, half that faced forward and half that faced to the back. The control thrusters could move the crafts in circles, flips and twists. The two teams put on a demonstration of their maneuverability that Joe was very pleased with. He said that from then on, Sir Fergus would be known as the Scottish Gunslinger.

Sir Fergus then started wearing his six shooter that Joe’s father had given him.

The day after the practice, Sir Fergus came into the meeting room wearing a black kilt with a large forty five in a black holster. He drew the gun, pointed in the air, and declared that he wanted to be called Barcley the Black. That had the entire team laughing as he did a Scottish jig as he wave the six shooter in the air.

Tom jumped up and the two danced around together.

Lydia, Tom, and Linda had put on their own display of expertise as they shot cabbage heads into oblivion using their array of lasers. They then jokingly asked the two fighter craft to gather the shredded cabbage to be used in a gruel for the team.

Joe had sent up three huge boulders that he launched out in front of the Hole generator. He then fired a very abbreviated burst of the hole cannon.

The fuel use of the Hole generator had been adjusted by working with Tom and Linda to give the cannon very small partial loads that could be used for close in fighting. The Hole generator could fire more than a dozen times as it used up a full fuel charge. None of them knew where the holes they generated went so Joe had only fired twice. He then assigned the Earth support team to determine where the holes went.

The Earth team members got excited when they were able to find the holes and look millions of miles across the Milky way. They announced that they were looking through a peep hole that let them see most of the way across the Milky Way. Jorge assigned full time teams to see what they could learn by looking through the two space key holes.

Joe had the team go through practice one more time. This time they would remain on the Voyager and be prepared for the actual trip to another galaxy. He sat that evening as Fabio proudly served his first meal aboard as the Starfleet Chef, the title that Uncle Ted had embroidered on the cap.

Everyone agreed that if all their meals were going to be as good as he served them, they would all have to spend extra time running around their new interior walk way.

Joe had laughed and said that he was sure that they would all be running.

Tom, Linda, and their team of astronomers had selected a galaxy that had the simple numeric label M-107. This was the latest galaxy to have been identified that was the farthest that current telescopic instruments could detect.

President McAdam, her cabinet, and the Chiefs of Staff were once again sitting in the situation room awaiting the early morning departure of the USS Cosmos Voyager. The Chiefs of Staff had all watched the shooting display the day before and commented that this time their Admiral of the Star Fleet was not leaving anything to chance. The Air Force Chief of Staff said that he was jealous of the fun that the Star Fleet seemed to have and that he was ready to become one of the fleets recruits.

President McAdam spoke into her microphone to congratulate the crew of the USS Cosmos Voyager and wished them good luck. She watched as each member gave her a thumbs up.

Then she listened as once again Joe had everyone participate in the transition. She was aware that half of the team was going through the Hole sitting in small attack crafts. She was surprised that Joe had insisted in a much heavier armament than he had thought about when he took the USS Cosmos Odyssey through.

Joe fired the Hole cannon and then watched as the first eighteen laser rockets went through and cleared the area that the Voyager would occupy. Once they had stopped firing, he then ordered the eighteen fighter lasers sent through. His next order sent through the first door and its living unit.

He then gave everyone their cue to count down with him and on three they fired the propulsion unit and the USS Cosmos Voyager disappeared from the space it had occupied above the Earth.

When it came through the air around them was filled with laser beams that were successfully hitting the Voyager. All alarms were going off and everyone responded by assuming their fighting mode.