Sorry for the wait... I was in a gaming mood. I think I'm over it now, so hopefully the wait for the next chapter won't be so long.

Ryan positioned the drone just above and behind Luna. From there he could see the two top and larger middle crystal-like structures for the crystal device glowing.

Anton pointed at the glowing structures, “Cooool.”

Chie nodded, “I suspect things will become even more so in a few moments.”

Becky held her breath.

Mayu watched the others’ reactions and smiled before turning back to the hologram.

Ryan started a countdown from ten. He had a much better view than the rest of them, thanks to his various camera feeds, sensors, machine data feeds, and the drone, but once he got to ‘one’ his connection to much of this data and that of the crystal device itself cut out. Still, he didn’t have time to comment about it as what the drone captured next made up for it.

It happened in an instant. The two small crystals he could see flashed, then soon after a ripple appeared just in front of Luna. Milliseconds later, the main crystal flashed, but much longer than the four smaller ones. Over the next half a second, as the main crystal discharged, the ripple expanded, then became a ring.

Around the ring the normal galaxy shone in its usual brightness, but inside the ring the view of the galaxy was still there, except now thousands of stars obscured it.

Becky took a step back, “Is that… a wormhole?”

Chie looked at Becky, then back to the hologram.

Anton’s shoulders slumped, “What happened? Just glowing lights and a hole opened up. I was hoping for lasers or something shooting from the front or something…”

Chie turned to Anton, “You do realize lasers are invisible unless there’s material along the path it can reflect off.”

Anton smiled wryly and nodded her head, “Yeah, but…” She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again and grinned, “You know what… I’d say a freakin’ wormhole is pretty cool too!”

Ryan’s sensor came back online, but he didn’t see much at the moment.

Becky returned Anton’s grin, “Yeah! Just think, instant travel over millions of light years!”

Ryan was somewhat familiar with wormholes from sci-fi movies, “This is pretty cool! I wonder if this has something to do with how we got out here.”

Anton nodded, “I bet! I mean, the wires were already burnt out, so it’s been used at least once.”

Chie tapped her chin, “Perhaps. I think our next priority should be to scan a cable from the last set. If we can fit it inside the scanner, that is.”

Ryan noticed something on his scanner and focused on the wormhole.

Anton nodded, “We should check out the cables when we’re done here.”

Chie crossed her arms and studied the hologram, “Yes, that sounds like an excellent idea.”

Ryan turned on his thrusters, moving Luna towards the wormhole, “Guys, this thing’s getting smaller. Going through before it gets too small.”

Becky squinted and studied the wormhole, “I can’t tell, but I trust you.”

The wormhole wasn’t too far ahead, and even on the barely working thrusters, he made it through with some time to spare, “Made it!”

Becky nodded in approval, “Wonderful!”

Anton whooped, “Alright! Now let’s go find some fuel! We can check those cables later.”

Chie turned to Becky, “I will help Anton with repairs so we’re ready as soon as possible.”

Anton raised her hand and turned to Becky too, “Have fun! I’ve got this!”

Anton turned and left, followed by Chie.

Becky turned to the ever silent Mayu, “We just might get through this!”

Mayu looked confused, but smiled, “I am happy. Can I help with things?”

Becky shook her head, “Ryan and I should have this.”

Ryan started scanning the nearby stars so Becky would have something to work with when she was ready.

Mayu bowed her head slightly, “I understand.”

Becky chewed on her lip for a second, then gave Mayu a sympathetic smile, “Listen, if I find something you can help I’ll ask Ryan to call for you.”

Mayu bowed her head again, “Thank you, Becky.”

Becky nodded, “I’ll be in my room. It’s the only place around here I don’t have to worry about getting distracted.”

Mayu smiled, “Yes, Anton goes many places.”

Becky gave Mayu another smile, then left the room, “See you later!”

The moment the door closed, Mayu sighed, then in Japanese said, “Mr. Ryan. What is this” in English, “wormhole?”

Ryan didn’t really get it himself, and replied in Japanese, “Uh, I know a little.” He then remembered an explanation he’d seen on the internet and created a hologram of the map he’d made before they went through the wormhole and added a 2D plane underneath, “Um… If we travel the normal way it is far.”

He put a line from where Luna had been and connected it to the globular cluster they were hopefully in now. He hoped he could explain things well enough using his limited Japanese.

Mayu nodded.

Ryan “folded” the 2D plane like it was a piece of paper so the globular cluster was now “touching” Luna, “If we fold things,” he punched a hole through the 2D plane, “and make a hole, we can go through.”

Mayu stayed silent for a moment, tilted her head to the side, straightened up, and furrowed her eyebrows, “I dislike science.”

Ryan chuckled, “Yeah, I don’t understand good too.”

Mayu smiled, “Thank you, Mr. Ryan. I think I understand more now.”

Ryan turned off the holograms, “What will you do?”

Mayu thought for a moment, then nodded, “I will help fix the fuel with the others.”

Ryan opened the door, “Okay. I will help teach you.”

Mayu bowed her head, “Thank you, Mr. Ryan.”

Mayu left the room.

Ryan turned his attention to his scans for Becky’s work. He wished all the sensors worked because it would speed things up a lot. Before he only needed to scan in one direction so it hadn’t mattered, but now he needed to scan every direction so things were going to take a lot longer.

He already had an idea about how crowded the globular cluster was, but being inside it brought things into a fresh perspective, seeing hundreds of thousands of stars in a small area. 

The first thing he noticed was that Luna was about as far in as he’d wanted, but the star he’d targeted wasn’t where he’d predicted. He found it, but he’d been off enough it wasn’t as close as he’d liked.

This proved not to be an issue. With how many stars there were in the cluster, he soon found a star close enough he could resolve it with his scanner enough to make out sun spots. 

It was a small, red star, like most of the stars in the cluster.

He thought about searching for planets around it, but Becky said he’d have better luck finding them away from stars. Something about planets getting ejected easily from their stars in globular clusters. This was also the reason he had cared little about not being close to the star he’d chosen.

Hours and a few FTL jumps later Becky made an announcement, “I think I got something!”

Becky had walked Ryan through a lot of astronomy stuff as she studied his scans so he saw it not long after she did, “Are you sure?”

Becky pursed her lips, “I think so. It’s definitely not a star, too cold.”

Ryan checked the progress on repairs, “They finished patching the hydrogen tanks, but they’re still working on the collectors on the hull.”

Becky shrugged, “We’ll be fine! Still have to go to it and scan it.”

Ryan opened a channel to everyone, “Guys, gotta come inside again for another jump. We found something that might be a planet.”

Anton stopped installing the bracket she was working on, “Sweet! That was faster than I thought it would take.”

Chie stopped cutting a piece of hull around a different collector, “Indeed.”

Mayu was waiting for several parts to finish printing, “Congratulations, Becky. Mr. Ryan”

Ryan turned the scanner back to the object, “We’ll have about a day and a half of fuel left after this jump, so here’s to hoping it’s what we need.”

Anton and Chie entered Luna through a breach and got a safe distance away from it.

Ryan turned on the FTL. This was going to be the longest they’d run it at once, but he felt confident there wouldn’t be any problems.

A few minutes later, they arrived with no issue.

Immediately he turned his sensor towards the object. It was hard to see, but Becky’s guess was right and there was indeed a planet there. 

Ryan pulled up a hologram for everyone, “Here it is.”

Anton only looked at it for a moment before heading back outside, “I think I’ll enjoy the view better from outside.”

Chie tarried a little longer before following, “I agree with Anton. Now that I am accustomed to EVAs, I have come to appreciate the view outside.”

Mayu leaned towards the hologram before nodding, “I want to see from outside too.”

Becky scratched her head, “I wish it was easier to see, but I guess it’s not going to be very bright this far away from any stars.”

Ryan remembered images he’d seen of Jupiter, and how brightly lit one side was because of the sun, “Yeah, but I’m not gonna complain.”

Becky smiled and nodded, “And I have another thing to show to my colleagues when we get back! Now we’re the first humans to see a rogue planet, be intergalactic, go through a wormhole, enter a globular cluster, and use a warp drive!”

Ryan chuckled, “Unless people really have been abducted by aliens.”

Becky rolled her eyes and groaned, “Maybe…”

Ryan brought up the first close up scan of the planet, “Maybe we can be the aliens and abduct people when we get back?”

Becky laughed, “That might be a fun way to introduce you to my colleagues.”

Ryan laughed too, “I’ll have Mayu get an anal probe ready.”

Becky shook her head and shivered, “Uhh, I’ll pass on that.” She turned to the new hologram, “For now, let’s see what we have here…”

Ryan thought all this scanning he needed to do would bore him, but Becky explained everything to him in simple to understand terms which made the entire experience enjoyable to him.

Becky pointed to a moon they found orbiting the planet, “This! This is it!”

Ryan zoomed in on the planet, “Yeah?”

Ryan still had trouble telling how big everything was relative to anything, so was going to trust Becky’s opinion. Even then, Becky seemed to guess a lot.

Becky nodded to herself, “Can you call the others over comms?”

Ryan did, “Guys, Becky has some good news.”

The others stopped their work and waited.

Becky cleared her throat, “I believe the planet is actually a brown dwarf, or failed star, so it would be dangerous to harvest gas from it without knowing Luna’s capabilities. However! There is a moon orbiting the brown dwarf that should fit the bill nicely. I think it is a Neptune sized planet, so it is a good size for a first try.”

Chie put her hand to where her chin would be and spoke after a moment, “What sort of issues should we expect from this moon?”

Becky put her hand on her hip, tapping her finger, and Ryan could see by her facial expressions that she was going over a lot of things in her head.

Becky relaxed, “The atmosphere. If we can enter the atmosphere without burning up and handle the wind and weather, we should be fine.”

Chie nodded at Becky’s response, “It appears the ship was designed for refueling this way, so I would think it should be a simple endeavor.” 

Anton scoffed and pointed to a nearby breach, “Maybe if it wasn’t full of holes.”

Becky’s face fell at Anton’s remark, “Yes, that is a problem.”

Ryan thought to the thrusters, “Not just that, but the thrusters barely work. I can use the FTL to go slow enough to do what we need so it might be okay, but we’ve never tested it near a planet before.”

Anton sighed, “Don’t have time or have the resources to repair the hull and thrusters. Gonna hafta chance it.”

Becky’s face looked grim, “I guess we will.”

Mayu spoke, “I will have medicine ready.”

Anton’s body language showed she wanted to say something, then she shook her head and stayed quiet.

Chie resumed her work, “I will have faith in the ship.”

Becky nodded in agreement, “Yep!”

Anton sighed, “I can at least do a one over on the thrusters. Make sure the wiring is good to go.”

Becky turned to the door to her bedroom, “I can do that while you two finish work on the collectors. I think I know what tool to use.”

“I’ll help her too,” Ryan added.

Mayu, who was on her way back to the fabrication room, increased her walking pace, “I will help too.”

Becky smiled, “Great! Meet you there!”

...And Mayu and Becky didn’t have much to do.

Becky closed a hatch to the last thruster and sighed, “Looks like the wiring on this one is good too.”

“Must be the thruster parts on the hull,” Ryan said.

Becky sighed again, “At least we know it won’t be the wiring that breaks.”

Ryan brought up the data from the last time he used the thrusters, “I’ve mostly been using the FTL to move around, but the thrusters didn’t seem like they were close to burning out.”

Becky tapped a finger on her arm, “Hmm… I’ll look at the thrusters from outside. Maybe a little cleaning will help?”

Ryan thought it was a good idea, “‘K, I’ll guide you to them.” He opened a channel to Mayu, “Mayu, Becky is going to check outside.”

Mayu had been checking the thrusters on the opposite side of Luna and was already on her way to meet up with Becky, “I will go too.”

Becky kicked off from the wall and floated towards the fabrication room, “I’m going to grab some more tools. I’ll get some for you too, Mayu.”

Mayu turned to the usual breach, “I will go ahead first.”

Ryan checked on the progress for the hydrogen collectors through Anton’s camera, “I’m guessing Anton and Chie will finish in fifteen or twenty minutes, so they’ll be able to help you then.”

At the moment, most of the ship had no air, so it didn’t take Becky long to grab several tools and meet Mayu outside.

Becky glanced to where Anton was welding a new section of hull around the repaired hydrogen collector before turning to Mayu, “Find anything?”

Mayu had her helmet against the hull over a thruster outlet and was looking inside, “No. I think replacing is good only.”

Becky’s shoulders fell, “Well, we still have time, so let’s check the others just in case.” 

Becky handed Mayu some tools.

Mayu took the tools, “Yes.”

Becky turned away, “Let’s see who can check the most before they finish!”

Mayu let out a barely audible giggle then turned the opposite way, “I already have one.”

“That doesn’t count!” Becky laughed.

Ryan considered messing with them, but decided against it because they were short on time, “Says the one who gave herself a head start. You’re going the wrong way, by the way.”

Becky didn’t stop, but looked around until Ryan updated the HUD on her and Mayu’s helmets to show the location of every thruster.

The results were much the same as for the first thruster.

Ryan hoped it wouldn’t matter, “So, looks like there’s not much we can do.”

Becky and Mayu exchanged looks, then met up with Chie and Anton.

Becky watched Anton weld a support into place, “Mayu and I looked at the thrusters. We think there’s nothing we can do without replacing them.”

Anton gave a slight nod, “Mmhm.”

Becky looked to Chie, who was welding another support into place, “Should we wait inside, Chie?”

Chie didn’t make any obvious movement, “Anton and I should not be much longer. Perhaps you can secure the loose objects in the med bay and fabrication room.”

Becky nodded and turned to the usual breach, “Ah! Great idea! No telling how rough the ride will be!”

Mayu followed Becky, “I think med bay is safe. I will help with the making room.”

Ryan chuckled to himself, “Still having a hard time saying ‘fabrication’?”

Mayu paused for a moment before quietly saying, “Yes.”

Becky turned to look at Mayu, “You’ll get it.”

Mayu shook her head, “I think “making” is better word.”

Becky shrugged, “How about 3D printer? Sounds better than ‘making room,’ but easier to say.”

Mayu nodded once, and with an adorable Japanese accent said, “3D purintaa.”

Becky nodded, “Yes, much better.”

Mayu still seemed uncertain, “I see.”

Becky nodded again, “Your accent has already gotten much better. Give it time.”

Ryan thought the same, “Yeah, Mayu. I think so too.”

Mayu bowed her head, “Thank you. I will keep practicing.”

Becky patted Mayu on the shoulder, “And we love to help you practice. Let’s work on ‘fabrication’ while we tidy things up, ‘k?”

“I’ll help too,” Ryan added.

Mayu bowed her head again, “Thank you, Mr Ryan. Becky.”

Becky took her hand off Mayu’s shoulder and headed for the breach, “We can practice on the way too.”

Mayu glanced at Anton and Chie before following Becky, “Yes.”

With Mayu and Becky gone, Anton looked up to Chie, who floated on the opposite side of the cutaway section of the hull, and pushed a button on her arm to make it so only the two of them and Ryan could hear each other, “Think the thrusters will hold?”

Chie shook her head, “If the FTL doesn’t work properly near the planet we will find out.”

Anton looked at the wormhole generators near to where they worked, “Maybe we should replace the cable to the wormhole drive?”

Chie shook her head again, “We still need to image them using the scanning device. If we use them, now we might not be able to make more.”

Anton went to scratch her head, but her helmet got in the way, “Yeah, and it’d take too long to charge.”

Chie finished repairing her support and moved to install the next, “I am not so concerned. I lived a long life and am content even if this second opportunity at life is cut short.”

Anton shook her head, “You kidding! We’ve got an awesome spaceship that has a warp drive and a wormhole generator! It would be such a waste to destroy it.”

Chie paused with her welding, “I think I would prefer a fiery demise into a planet’s atmosphere over drifting through the cold vastness of space as our air runs out.”

Anton sighed and scratched at her helmet, “I don’t know.” She groaned and started welding again, “Let’s just get this done. It’s gonna be exciting either way.”

Chie nodded.

Ten minutes later, the two joined Becky and Mayu in the fabrication room.

Anton waved for the two to follow her, “Come on! If it makes a mess, we can clean it later.”

The doors and cabinets that stored the tools had latches on them, so Mayu and Becky had already secured most of the tools.

Becky looked at the last few tools, shrugged, and followed Anton, “Okay, but you’re helping clean.”

Mayu seemed more reluctant to leave, but still followed Becky and Anton into the mess hall.

The three entered the mess hall to see Chie relaxing in a chair at a table near the door.

Anton sat next to her, “So, this’ll be fun.”

“I’m so excited! We will get to see an alien world up close!” Becky said as she sat in the chair next to Anton.

Mayu sat in the last chair between Becky and Chie, then nodded enthusiastically, “Yes! I am thinking it will be wonderful memories!”

Anton’s face flashed doubt for a second, before shaking her head and a grin appearing on her face, “Let’s get goin’!”

Ryan brought up the hologram showing the sensor data and a live feed of the moon, “Alright! Gonna approach using the FTL at about… one percent the speed of light then go from there.”

Ryan turned on the FTL drive and started their approach to the moon.

Becky nodded her approval, “Sounds like a good experiment to see what the FTL can do.”

Anton seemed less convinced, “I wonder if we can keep a warp field up in an atmosphere…”

Chie sat up straight in her chair, “Judging by the state of the thrusters, I would hope we will not have to rely on them.”

“I’m not worried about them burning out, just… I’m not sure they’re powerful enough,” Ryan said.

Becky nodded slowly, “Yes, the planet’s gravity should be several times more than Earth.”

Anton began tapping her fingers on the table with a conflicted look on her face, “I…”

Ryan felt some strain on the FTL as they approached the planet and moon. He only needed to increase the power to the FTL to remedy it so it didn’t concern him, especially since at the speed they were going used a tiny fraction of a percent of the drive’s maximum power.

Ryan slowed their speed, “We’re getting close. Slowing us some more.”

Everyone sat up straight in their seats, grabbed the table, and stared at the feed from the sensor.

Anton shifted nervously, “We there yet?”

Chie groaned, “This is why I never desired children.”

Becky laughed, “Oh, children are wonderful! When we get back to Earth I think I’ll settle down and start a family before I die again. I missed out the first time, so I don’t want to put it off this time”

Mayu nodded, “Children are wonderful! They are difficult, yes, but wonderful.”

Chie looked from Becky to Mayu and Ryan saw her expression show hints of sadness, “Perhaps…”

Luna’s sensors showed the moon looming ahead of them. It was hard to make out details visually thanks to the distance to the nearest star, but the cluster itself seemed bright enough to provide enough light to at least see weather patterns. The whole moon seemed covered in clouds as there weren’t any visible land masses.

Ryan noticed they neared the atmosphere and slowed down more, “Guys, entering the atmosphere in a few seconds. Better hold on to something.”

Ryan closed every blast door near a breach, just in case.

Anton and Chie grabbed their chairs, while Becky grabbed the table. Mayu grabbed the table with her hands and locked her legs onto the chair. Becky noticed and did too.

Ryan tried his best to imitate a pilot speaking to his passengers, “Ladies and… uh… we’re about to enter an area of extreme turbulence. Please fasten your seatbelts and remain seated until the seatbelt sign turns off.” 

Ryan made a seatbelt sign typical of one found in an airplane appear above the door frame.

Becky let out a hearty laugh, “Good one!”

Anton chuckled, “What seatbelt?”

Chie smiled.

Mayu seemed to consider the words for a moment, then smiled and laughed lightly.

Ryan noted the lack of seatbelts and put that on his to do list.

Luna entered the atmosphere.

Ryan recalled Becky’s recommendations. First, go in the same direction as the wind and match its speed. Second, don’t go too deep into the atmosphere. Third, avoid storms if possible.

Becky had already figured out which way the wind blew, but hadn’t been sure about how fast it was blowing so Ryan could point Luna in the right direction, but he’d have to guess how fast he’d need to go.

Ryan noticed the air compressing in front of Luna, “Guys, it looks like it’s gonna get rough soon.”

But it never did, other than some occasional buffeting from the wind that Ryan easily compensated for. He could even see the turbulence with the sensors, but the warp field didn’t care about them, so the wind was the only thing he needed to pay attention to. 

This didn’t prevent the atmosphere from entering the various breeches and blowing around the nearby areas, which thankfully caused no damage from what Ryan could tell.

Not much later he noticed that, other than some barely noticeable warping, it seemed like the warp field had little effect on the atmosphere too, which was probably why it entered Luna unhindered. Probably.

 

Chie seemed to notice the FTL’s lack of interaction with the atmosphere too, “Hmm, it appears that because we are not using aerodynamic lift we are not experiencing turbulence.”

Anton thought for a moment then nodded, “That makes sense.”

Becky tilted her head to the side as she considered, “Now that you mention it…”

This relieved Ryan, so he felt it a good time to move on to the next step, “Opening the collectors.”

Anton stood up and stretched, “Well, this is kinda disappointing.”

Chie let go of the table and leaned back, “It is not surprising. As we discussed earlier, Luna seems designed to do this.”

Becky relaxed too, “Makes sense.”

Mayu visibly relaxed but didn’t let go and kept watching the hologram.

Ryan made a ding sound and turned off the seatbelt sign, and said in the static filled pilot’s voice, “Ladies, it is now safe to walk around the cabin.”

Mayu let go of the table and chair.

Ryan laughed, he hadn’t realized Mayu was waiting for him to say it was safe.

The collectors started collecting gas. Most of it was hydrogen, but there were some other gasses too, like helium. The other two that appeared in any meaningful amount he didn’t recognize.

Ryan brought up a hologram showing the other gases, “Hey, Chie. Do you know what these are?”

Chie looked at the hologram for a moment, “Hmm, this one is methane, and I believe the other is hydrogen sulfide.”

Ryan recognized methane, but not the other, “Should I keep them?”

Chie shook her head, “No, they are simple enough to synthesize and I cannot think of any uses for them at the moment.”

Becky turned to study the hologram, “We should keep some samples. I want to create a database of emission lines for spectroscopy.”

Chie smiled and nodded, “I have some interest in that if you would not mind my assistance.”

Becky returned Chie’s smile, “I would love that!”

Becky had already mentioned spectroscopy to Ryan. It was pretty cool how you could detect elements by looking at light through a prism and seeing what was missing.

The hydrogen tanks finished filling so Ryan changed Luna’s course to take them back to space, “Looks like we’re done here. Got a full tank of gas!”

Anton sat back down, she looked relieved, “Yeah!”

Becky cheered.

Mayu grinned, “This was easy. I am glad.”

Chie smiled and walked to the food dispenser, “Would anyone else like some refreshments? I believe this is a good time for a celebration.”

Becky and Anton went to join Chie.

Mayu looked at Ryan’s camera and said in Japanese, “Thank you, Mr. Ryan.”

Mayu’s compliment made him realize something as he watched the other celebrate. He was lonely. Yes, he could talk to them whenever he wanted, but he could do nothing other than watch. Every time he saw them eat or even touch each other, he felt this loneliness. He also realized he took part in their conversations less and less as time went on and had long since stopped using the holographic image of himself. 

 He had known deep down about these feelings as they grew, but they seemed trivial compared to their predicament and had pushed them to the back of his mind. Now, with the sense of urgency gone, he couldn’t ignore it any longer.

Still, he knew he wasn’t alone, and someday, they might find a way for him to be more than a voice.

Ryan told himself he would think about it more later and turned off all the holograms, “You’re welcome. Now, go join the others. We’ve finally got time to have some fun.”

Mayu smiled and nodded, “Maybe we can make some games later?”

Ryan started thinking about what he could make, “I’ll get on it.”

Mayu nodded again, “I will think of things to play too.”

Mayu went to join the others.

Ryan wasn’t sure, but it seemed as if the atmosphere among the others on the ship had changed for the positive. Now they could move at their own pace. Now they could start looking for a way back to Earth.

***

Anton’s drone floated through the void between galaxies, barely visible from the light from the distant galaxy its builders had as their destination.

This changed when a hole appeared in space near it. Through this hole, an orb of golden light appeared and hovered around the drone, inspecting it. The light seemed particularly seemed interested in the etching on the cover of the box and danced around it for a moment.

Finally, the golden light engulfed both drone and box and returned through the hole it had come through.