The Hyperspace Ideas

Ideas travel around the universe at nearly the speed of light. They're able to move that fast because they're incredibly small and have almost no mass. This makes them very hard to detect despite being one of the most abundant objects in the cosmos. With such a large number of them you'd think that ideas would be bouncing off every solid object that's ever evolved since the Big Bang, but ideas have a problem interacting with matter. This poor relationship with subatomic particles allows ideas to easily pass through stars, planets, mountains, and, in most cases, people.

You may have noticed that the properties of ideas are very similar to those of neutrinos, and you'd be right. But neutrinos can only be detected when they occasionally smack into an atom's nucleus. An idea, on the other hand, can actually be captured. To be sure, catching an idea isn't easy. You have to use all four of the natural forces at the same time and then rely on electromagnetism to hold the idea in place. If you're lucky enough to do this, you can then direct the idea to the frontal cortex of a human brain where, as we all know, the idea can spring to life, thereby producing what is commonly known as the "Aha!" moment.

Now, make no mistake, there are all kinds of ideas flying around out there, good ideas, bad ideas, abstract ideas, illogical ideas, and a few big ideas. They've been stimulating the dopamine neurons in our midbrains since the beginning of our species. We've developed a craving for ideas, and when humans crave something, a market for it soon follows. So now with a good spacecraft and the right equipment, a crew that's willing to take a few chances can collect some good ideas and sell them for a nice little profit.

###

"Dammit, Dev, you've got to get that heat shield running!" Captain Billie nervously pulled at his beard. "Pawpaw says we've got to go in the next few minutes or we miss our window."

There was a long pause, and then a deep, panting voice came across the comm. "I've almost got it, Billie. Go ahead and start the run." Another pause from the technician before, "I'm more worried about the EMF readings from the Toroid." Dev gave a short laugh. "You can't catch fish without a net."

Billie hopped down from the captain's chair and immediately grimaced from the pain in his weak, dwarf knees. Looking around the bridge of the Gretchen, Captain Billie caught the eye of the old Lucian navigator, Pawpaw, and the newest member of his crew, a teenage girl named Tucker.

"What are you two looking at?" growled Billie. "Pawpaw, calculate the dive into the photosphere. We start immediately. Tucker, get down to engineering and see if Sue needs any help. This is going to be a rough one."

Pawpaw turned his wheelchair toward the nav console and Tucker raced to the lift. The crew was family, but they all knew that Billie was in charge and when he barked an order you'd best jump to it. They also understood how critical these moments were.

The greatest part of the risk relied on the mathematical calculations of Pawpaw. The old Lucian had to chart a specific path between the carbon-oxygen white dwarf and its stellar companion so that the Toroid would have the maximum opportunity to capture as many ideas as possible. One mistake at any point of the dive and the S.S. Gretchen would be crushed by gravity, electrified by electromagnetism, and roasted by nuclear flares.

Through all of that, Sue, the chief engineer, had to keep the ship's engines going at top speed while Deveneaux maintained the shield generators and the Toroid. For something like this, the young Tucker wasn't much help. She was still learning the basics of running the ship, plus, this was her first dive run. So she had no idea the kind of dangers they were all facing.

"We're about to enter the companion star's photosphere," announced Billie on the comm. "Expect some vibrations."

"All shields are up and the EMF numbers are good," reported Dev. "Don't run into any stellar flares and we'll be all right."

Just as Billie predicted, the Gretchen began to shake. The deeper the ship plunged into the star's photosphere, the more the ship rattled. Before long the vibrations were threatening to tear the old ship apart.

A woman's raspy voice squawked from the comm. "The conduit on the main drive is failing. I have to switch to the reserve drive while Tucker changes the circuits. You'll have to adjust for that, Pawpaw."

The Lucian's slow drawl replied, "Can't change course now, Sue. There's a flare in the way."

"Change course anyway!" yelled Billie, "and, Sue, get Tucker out of that conduit. She'll be fried from the plasma backlash when we go through the flare!"

A moment later the Gretchen jerked to one side as Pawpaw made the course correction. When they entered the flare the ship was drenched in high-energy electromagnetic radiation. It wouldn't take long for the charged particles to eat through the shields and vaporize everything.

"Heat shields are going fast," warned Dev across the comm.

On the bridge, Billie checked the console's readouts and made a decision. Moving next to Pawpaw's wheelchair, he told the Lucian, "Head for the white dwarf. It'll mean going through the stream of matter that's being pulled from the companion star, but it's got to be better than this."

While the navigator made adjustments, Captain Billie called Sue in engineering. "Sue, you've got to restart the main drive. We need everything she's got."

Another jolting bump moved the Gretchen out of the intense radiation of the flare but into the matter-stream headed toward the dwarf star. Immediately the ship was peppered with a hailstorm of particles.

"What the hell are you doing?" Dev screamed over the comm. "Now the force shield is failing! We've only got a couple of minutes. Get us out of here, Billie!"

That's precisely what Captain Billie did. With one more change of course and a boost from the main engines, the ship broke free of the extreme gravity of the binary stars.

The Gretchen had been tormented by heat and radiation. She had endured the pounding of particles and the stretching of stellar gravities. Now she was silently coasting into the safe zone just beyond the chaos of the two stars.

"I think we're in the clear," Billie announced on the comm. "Check your stations. If there's no emergencies, let's all assemble in the galley later."

Captain Billie and Pawpaw went through their checklist and shut down most of the emergency programs that had activated during their hectic dive. Once they finished, the two of them took the lift to the ship's kitchen-dining area. The space was a bit small; two metal tables with benches, and a few basic appliances, but it was the best place for the crew to assemble.

Pawpaw wheeled into the galley and parked in his usual spot next to the fridge. Billie flopped down on the far bench and stared at the wrinkled face of the aged Lucian. While sitting there, the captain considered the entire Lucian race. It was a race that had used selective breeding and strict educational programmings to create people that were mathematical geniuses capable of quickly calculating the complicated navigational formulas to steer spacecraft across the cosmos.

"Thank you," said Billie.

Pawpaw gave him a questioning look.

"We never would have made it without you."

Pawpaw gave a nod of acceptance. "I did what was necessary, as did all of us."

When Sue and Tucker got to the galley, they took seats across the table from Billie. Tucker was quite small with short black hair, dark deep-set eyes, and a pixie nose. She was an orphan that had stowed away on the Gretchen trying to escape an abusive life on her home planet. Billie and the others had taken her in and were showing her how a spacecraft worked. Sue, on the other hand, was the physical opposite of Tucker. The engineer was tall, muscular and completely bald. She looked hard and rugged, but had a heart of gold.

The last to arrive was Deveneaux. He was heavyset, with curly hair, and a dark complexion. Most of the time he was a fun loving guy, who loved to joke around, but when something broke on the Gretchen, he was totally focused on fixing it.

"You know, if you really want to live dangerously we could wait for this binary to go supernova," said Dev with a smile. "That would be lots of fun. And you know how much I love fixing all the things you break."

Captain Billie smiled back. "So what's broken?"

"It would be easier to tell you what isn't broken, but there's no emergency. It'll just take a while to get everything back up to speed."

Billie turned to Sue. "How are the engines?"

"We have pulse power," she said, "but the hypercoil melted when I kick-started the main drive, so no jumping into hyperspace."

"I don't suppose we have a backup?" Billie asked.

"No, they're pretty expensive."

Billie turned to Dev. "Can you rig something up?"

Dev shook his head. "I can do miracles, but I can't do the impossible. You'll have to call for a delivery, and those guys are super busy. It could take several weeks."

Everyone fell silent as they thought about spending a month or more floating next to stars that would soon go supernova, but that was part of the risk they had all agreed to take. The theory was that you could catch more ideas by flying near an intense stellar event. It was a dangerous move, but there was the chance of a big payoff.

"We almost died," mumbled Tucker. She had put her arms on the table and was resting her head on them. Dev thought she had fallen asleep.

Billie was surprised by her response but managed to say, "We didn't die. We all made it." Then he looked at Sue and nodded toward Tucker. Sue awkwardly put her hand on Tucker's back and gently stroked it.

Tucker slowly raised her head. There was a smile on her face and a twinkle in her eyes. "It was fantastic! I loved it! Did you see? I got out of the conduit just seconds before it was filled with plasma. The ship was shaking and jumping all over the place. It was awesome! Let's get things fixed and do it again!" The others were shocked.

Finally Dev laughed, shook his head and said, "Teenagers."

"Probably an adrenaline rush," said Sue.

Billie nodded. "I think you're both right."

Tucker was confused. "What? What?"

"It's nothing," said Billie. "You're right, though, we need to get everything fixed, especially that hypercoil."

Billie turned to Pawpaw and said, "You should send a message to Rescue Services and tell them we need another coil."

"I'll send it," the Lucian said, "but we don't have the credits to pay for a new one."

Billie thought for a minute then said, "Maybe we can use the ideas we collected as collateral." Turning to Dev, he asked, "We did capture lots of ideas, didn't we?"

Dev pulled a tablet out of his jacket and placed it on the table. The display showed hundreds of tiny, twinkling dots against a dark gray background.

Sue leaned closer and her eyes got big. "Wow! I've never seen so many ideas!"

"This is just a display of what we have in the Toroid, but it's an impressive three-hundred seventy-two," said Dev. "That's a record for me, too."

"Are we rich?" asked Tucker.

"Maybe not rich," replied Billie, "but after we pay for the new coil we should have a nice little sum left over."

The next two weeks the crew busied themselves with repairs and maintenance that eventually brought the Gretchen back up to normal operations. Once that was done, Billie moved the ship farther from the stars, though Tucker wanted to dive for more ideas.

Once everything was fixed, it didn't take long for everyone to fall into daily routines as they waited for the rescue ship, but when those routines continued for too long, boredom began to set in. This led to stress, irritation, and even a spat or two. So after Tucker and Sue had a silly argument about the existence of zombies, Billie decided that everyone needed a distraction.

"It'll be three or four more weeks before the hypercoil arrives, so we're not leaving this star system anytime soon," announced Billie, "and lately it's become obvious that we're getting on each other's nerves."

"Does exist," whispered Tucker.

"Doesn't," snapped Sue.

Billie gave them an angry look then continued, "We've collected a lot of ideas, and after paying for the coil, we'll sell them and divide up the profits. But while we wait for the rescue ship I thought it would be fun if we each accept one of the ideas."

"You mean transfer an idea into our heads?" asked Sue. "Do we have the equipment to do that?"

"Yep," said Dev, "it's not difficult to pluck one out of the Toroid and pop it into a frontal cortex."

Tucker was skeptical. "I don't know if I like having something stuffed into my brain. Is it safe?"

"Ideas are passing through your head all the time," said Dev, "and every now and then one will stick, which causes an insightful thought."

"Well, don't mislead her," injected Sue. "Sure it might be an important, original idea, but it could just as easily be a small, frivolous notion. I've done it a couple of times. The results were interesting but nothing to write home about. It's all hit or miss. You never know what you're going to get."

"I know all that," said Tucker. "I'm talking about using some electronic device that Dev rigged up. Is that going to be safe? What do you think, Pawpaw?"

The Lucian wheeled closer to the table. "I worked with Deveneaux to build the transfer mechanism. I have no doubt that it will work."

Tucker nodded and said, "Okay, if everyone else is doing it, I'm in."

Dev placed his tablet on the table and, as before, it showed the twinkling dots on a gray background.

"Each of us can choose which idea we want," explained Dev. "I've mapped and numbered each idea on the tablet, so all you have to do is touch it and that one becomes yours. Later I'll pull it out of the Toroid and when you're ready, Pawpaw and I will pop it into your head."

Billie didn't hesitate. He quickly tapped one of the dots on the tablet. A location number appeared on the display. Dev, Sue, and especially Tucker took their time until they "felt" a connection with their choice. Pawpaw was the last to choose.

"What's this?" asked Pawpaw. He was pointing at a large shiny spot in a corner of the display.

Dev shrugged. "That's probably an error, a flaw, from when I duplicated the array of ideas from the Toroid onto the tablet."

Pawpaw touched the large spot and a number appeared.

At first Dev was confused. "Now why would … Oh, there must be an idea hidden by the brightness of the error. That's okay. That still works."

The next day everyone met in Dev's engineering station in the center of the ship. It was a very cramped area with workbenches full of tools and electronic gear. In the middle of the room were two control panels and a large, metal box with a few attached gauges and readouts.

"This is the Toroid," explained Dev. "All the ideas are held in here by a strong electromagnetic field. Each of us will put on this helmet, which will allow me to direct the idea you chose into your brain."

"Will I feel anything?" asked Tucker.

"Nothing," said Sue, "and the idea, whatever it might be, will then slowly develop in your mind over the next few days or even weeks. It's an exciting experience."

Each took their turn and received their idea. They all went back to their usual duties, except for Tucker, who locked herself away in her cabin for the rest of the day.

The next morning everyone met in the commissary for breakfast, which Billie was preparing. The top question of the day was, of course, if anyone was experiencing a new thought. Most didn't feel different except for maybe Sue.

"I usually read a little before I go to sleep," said Sue, "but last night I really got involved in this murder mystery and I couldn't put it down. That's not like me."

Billie served up scrambled eggs with biscuits and gravy. "That doesn't seem to have a connection to the ideas that we got. Maybe it was just a good story."

"Well, it was good, but more than that, I started thinking about other mystery novels I've read. I thought about plots and characters, and what made them good stories or bad. Suddenly all of that seems interesting to me."

"Hmmm, maybe there is a connection," said Dev, "but I'm not sure what it could be." He paused then, "It's kind of odd, while you were up reading last night, I was sleeping like a baby. I had a great dream about a time when I was a child watching my grandfather repair a neighbor's force field generator with a plasma welder. It brought back a lot of memories."

"Captain Billie, have you had any new ideas?" asked Tucker.

Billie was in a daze. He stared at his plate of gravy and swirled a spoon through it.

"Billie, are you okay?" asked Sue. "Billie?"

The captain was suddenly jolted out of his trance. "Oh, oh, yes, I'm fine. I guess I was just daydreaming." Billie looked down at the shape formed by the lumps of gravy on his plate. It looked oddly familiar.

"Where's Pawpaw?" Dev asked. "Is he skipping breakfast?"

"Yes, he's doing calculations on the computer," said Billie. "I suppose he's plotting our return trip after the hypercoil arrives."

"Maybe he's working on that big idea that he got yesterday," Dev said.

"Why do you call it a 'big' idea?" asked Tucker.

"I checked my tablet. Remember how there was a bright blob in the corner of the display? Well, it wasn't an error. It was an idea, a very large idea."

Over the next two days it became obvious that everyone had been affected by the transfer of ideas. For some, their ideas quickly became apparent; for others, they were still searching for what it meant.

Dev pointed to a burn mark on the wall of the conduit. "The plasma backlash must have come this far. Did it do much damage?"

"Oh, yeah," said Sue. "I had to replace almost all the circuits and, although the wiring wasn't exposed, most of it was fragged. Luckily the backup engine worked and pulled us clear, but it was close. So, I'm very interested in your idea to protect the main conduit."

"It started with that dream about my grandfather using the plasma welder. I remembered the welder used shielding gases to control the plasma. We already have a tank of hydrogen, so I figure if we add another tank of, say, argon we could flood the conduit with the mixture to protect it against plasma from a solar flare."

"Well, hopefully we won't be going through anymore flares, but if we do more dives on binaries that are ready to go nova, it would be nice to have something like that. It's a good idea, Dev."

"So how's your murder mystery idea going?"

Sue's face lit up. She was excited to talk about her book project. "It's mostly research, right now. Half the research is for the novel and the other half is to educate me on how to write. But I have a plot outline and I'm developing the main characters. I'm telling you, this is going to be unlike anything I've ever read, very unique and very exciting. I love working on it."

Dev took some measurements in the conduit then asked, "What about Tucker? Has she said anything about her idea?"

"Not yet; she claims she got an idea from the Toroid, but she's not ready to talk about it." Sue shrugged. "I can respect that. I guess we'll just have to wait. It's something like with Pawpaw. He keeps working on some math problem, but he won't say what it is."

"I feel sorry for Billie," said Dev. "He keeps drawing abstract pictures of swirls, lines, dots, and circles, but he can't figure out what it is or what it means."

The comm beeped and Billie announced, "Sue, Dev, when you have a chance come to the helm. Pawpaw's got something to tell us."

The pair took the lift to the bridge where they met Billie, Tucker, and Pawpaw. The Lucian was reading data on his computer screen while Tucker watched Billie draw another one of his weird pictures.

"What's up, Captain?" asked Dev.

"Not me," said Billie. "This is Pawpaw's show."

Pawpaw turned from his computer and began, "We've always assumed that ideas were produced when a virtual particle appeared and immediately annihilated itself. The big idea I got the other day expanded my mathematical knowledge of brane cosmology and caused me to question where the idea was before it sprang from the virtual particle."

"Whoa!" cried Tucker. "I understand virtual particles but what's this brane stuff?"

"Our universe and its three dimensions exist inside a membrane, or simply brane. This is surrounded by a higher-dimensional area that we call hyperspace. Think of these as a bubble inside a bubble."

"Oh, and hyperspace is what we fly through," said Tucker.

"When we have a hypercoil," added Sue.

"Precisely," said Pawpaw, "now, by my calculations this higher dimensional brane contains time, more specifically the future. The ideas we capture and use are actually leaking from our own future."

"Amazing," Dev said, "but I think of hyperspace as a short cut between places in the universe."

"Practically, that's what's happening, but the numbers show that hyperspace isn't about distance, it's about time."

Everyone fell quietly into their own thoughts. Most were trying to work out the concepts that Pawpaw had just described, but Tucker was thinking about something else.

"This all reminds me of a vision I had," said the teen.

"Vision?" questioned Billie.

"Yeah, I've always done this meditation thing because it calms me down and helps me to focus, but after Dev put that idea in my head it changed. It's just that … Oh, never mind. I'm just crazy."

"No, no, no," Sue yelled, "tell us! We've all been dying to know."

"Well, do you remember that space cruiser that disappeared, the Twilight Queen?"

"Sure," said Billie, "it was about ten years ago. It completely vanished; the ship and over five hundred people were just suddenly gone. The government spent months searching, but nothing."

"At the time I was just a kid living in an orphanage," Tucker continued. "My best friend and her new parents were on that cruiser. I became obsessed with the mystery and collected all the information I could find, but … " Tucker paused to take a breath and collect her thoughts.

Billie picked up the story. "There were lots of theories about it; pirates, meteor, sabotage, even aliens, but there wasn't any debris and the rumors were all bogus. It's still a mystery today."

"Not anymore," said Tucker. "I know what happened to it."

Everyone gave Tucker their full attention.

"While I was meditating, a very vivid, realistic vision appeared in my mind. I saw a beautiful starscape with a distant green nebula. While I was enjoying this vision a giant sphere materialized. It was translucent with smoky, blue swirls inside it that spun at an ever increasing speed, and then I noticed the Twilight Queen floating on the edge of the sphere. I remember being confused by this. Suddenly the sphere vanished, along with the star cruiser."

"It was a Time Storm that took the Queen," said Pawpaw. "Your description matches the calculations I've been working on. It's the reverse of what happens with virtual particles which expel ideas from hyperspace. The Time Storm is a gigantic object that sucks in anything nearby. Unlike virtual particles, Time Storms are very rare."

Sue summed it up, "So, Pawpaw's computations confirm Tucker's vision about the Twilight Queen mystery. That's incredible, but what do we do about it?"

"I want to go there," exclaimed Tucker. "I want to go into hyperspace and find the ship and my friend."

The others laughed which made Tucker mad.

"You can pass through hyperspace but you can't stop there," said Billie. "Pawpaw sets a course for us, feeds it into the computer, and the hypercoil takes over. One second we're here and the next we're someplace else. We know we went through hyperspace but we can't stop there. It just can't be done."

"Unless … " began Pawpaw who then turned back to his computer.

"Look, Tucker," said Dev, "even if we could go there, it's been ten years. That star cruiser isn't equipped to survive for that long. I'm afraid your friend and all those people are gone."

Tucker shook her head in anger and frustration. "No! They're there! I know it!" She turned to Billie with tears in her eyes. "Please, Billie, you've got to find a way."

"I have a way," said Pawpaw.

Everyone looked at the old navigator, who pointed at a jumble of numbers and symbols on his monitor. "The mathematical insight I received from my idea gave me the understanding of the origin of ideas and Time Storms. Knowing when and where the Queen's Time Storm occurred allows me to predict all of the Storms that have come after that. We can be at the next Time Storm in five months and get sucked into hyperspace just like the Twilight Queen."

All eyes looked to Billie. "What? You want to disappear into hyperspace? That's crazy. We don't know what's there. We'd probably die. A second ago you were telling Tucker how it couldn't be done and now you want to risk your lives on some wild adventure."

"We knew we were risking our lives when we agreed to fly into a binary star system," said Sue.

"I'm an orphan, petty thief, and a punk," whispered Tucker. "I've got nothing to lose."

"I knew I was risking my life the moment I signed on to this ship," joked Dev.

Pawpaw gave a bit of a smile. "Hyperspace is where all the ideas come from. We could be very rich."

Billie sighed and lowered his head in thought.

Tucker put on a sly grin. "I can tell you what you've been drawing."

"What?"

Picking up a pencil, Tucker pulled Billie's drawing closer. She marked some extra lines and added a twisting whorl, then turned it toward Billie. The others quickly moved in to have a look.

Billie stared at it for awhile then said with some disbelief, "A sandal?"

"A very fancy, woman's sandal," said Sue.

"That's the image that's been stuck in my head all this time?" asked Billie. "That doesn't make sense. All of your ideas were related to something in your lives, but why am I designing a woman's sandal?"

"We learned something from this," said Pawpaw. "You didn't give any thought to your choice of an idea. You picked quickly and randomly. The rest of us took our time and chose an idea that made a personal connection."

Billie shook his head. "Anyway, thank you, Tucker. That picture has been driving me crazy."

The teenager gave Billie a big smile and said, "So, can we go to hyperspace?"

"Well, the rescue ship will be here in two days, and then we can get back to civilization for repairs. We'll sell the ideas we collected and fatten up our credit accounts. Sue can work on her book and Dev can install that argon tank that he's talked about," Billie paused, "and, I suppose, in five months we can see about visiting hyperspace."

Tucker squealed with joy and gave Billie a big hug.

The captain reluctantly accepted the embrace and said with a smile, "Now if this doesn't work out, remember that it was your idea."

###

"Why is it called a Time Storm?" asked Sue.

"My calculations have determined that the ideas are coming from the future," said Pawpaw, "which is located in hyperspace. This portal that's about to appear will take us to hyperspace."

"So, why do you call it a 'Storm'?"

The Lucian stared at Sue. "I just like the way it sounds."

"Okay, you've got twenty minutes to get to your stations and strap in," said Billie. "We don't know how rough this ride will be."

No one made an effort to leave the commissary. They understood the risk they were taking, but their sense of family caused them to hesitate. Despite their faith in Pawpaw's computations, the crew knew this could be the end.

Tucker broke the silence. "Good grief, let's not get all mushy. We're going to get there and we're going to find that space cruiser."

The spell was broken. Everyone nodded agreement and then they exchanged hugs and handshakes before heading toward their work areas.

Captain Billie took Pawpaw up the lift to the bridge where he helped the Lucian into one of the new crash couches that Billie had installed. He then opened the comm to Sue and Tucker in the engine room, and Dev at his technician station. One by one they went through a check list of all the systems on the Gretchen to be sure they were ready for a leap to another universe.

"One minute," announced Pawpaw.

Everyone's monitor was tuned to an outside camera that was focused on the spot where the Time Storm was to appear.

"Thirty seconds."

"Force field is on," said Dev. "Heat and radiation shields up."

"Main engines ready to fire," added Sue.

Just before they saw the Time Storm, they felt it. A tingle ran through their bodies. This was quickly followed by a small electrical shock. Their monitors were filled with light blue swirls, just as Tucker had described from her vision. The next instant everything went black and emergency lighting came on.

"Did we do it?" asked Tucker. "Are we there?"

Dev laughed. "Yea, are we there yet, daddy?"

"I don't know," Billie replied. "The monitors are out and some of the systems are giving screwy readings, but life support is working. Everyone check your equipment."

Dev was the first to report. "Shields are off and I don't know why. I think I can use batteries to get lights and basic systems back up but it's going to take some time."

"Main drive and reserve don't respond at all," said Sue. "We might get pulse power going. Tucker and I are working on it."

Billie turned off the comm, unbuckled from the couch, and helped Pawpaw to his wheelchair. The navigator typed on the console but seemed disappointed with the results.

"We're in another universe," said Pawpaw. "The laws of physics are different here. We're working with a new set of rules and I don't know what they are yet."

The main power came back up causing monitors to turn on and lights to shine. Pawpaw immediately returned to his nav console. Billie checked the readings on all the ship systems.

"This is crazy," Dev reported. "Some of the electrical circuits are working in reverse, while others are working without any power at all. I don't understand."

"Get over here to engineering," called Sue. "Maybe you can get the engines running."

"All of you need to take a look at the pictures coming from the outside camera," said Billie. "This must be hyperspace."

Most of what they could see was a dark gray, which was very unlike the black void that dominated their own universe. Sprinkled throughout the gray were multicolored stars of various sizes. Each of these stars was surrounded by a luminous, hazy cloud, giving them a nebula-like appearance. It was all beautiful, strange, and mysterious.

"Captain Billie, we're receiving a hailing call," said Pawpaw.

Billie turned to his monitor. "I don't see anything. Do you have a directional signal on it?"

"It's behind us. I'm switching to the rear camera."

The screen flickered once, then the crew could see a large, bullet-shaped craft with two giant wheels on the sides of it. The main body of the ship had an array of windows that indicated four levels within the vessel. Once it got close enough, everyone could see that the side wheels were spinning very fast.

Static filled the comm as Pawpaw tuned into a new frequency and then an unfamiliar female voice said, "… receiving me? This is Captain Najda of the Hadiya. Are you adrift? Do you need help?"

Billie gave Pawpaw a questioning look. The navigator returned the look and added a shrug. After a moment of thought Billie opened the comm.

"This is Captain Billie Doyle of the Gretchen. We've lost maneuvering power, but life support and basic systems are operational." Billie took a breath. "Any help would be appreciated."

"Well, Captain Doyle, I can see by the design of your ship that you're not from this part of space. I've heard stories of a new propulsion system being used in faraway Boomja, but I've never seen one. What I'm saying is that I can't help you with your engine problems but I can give you a tow through the aether to Scaffold, that's the nearest port."

Billie reluctantly agreed to Captain Najda's offer and they worked out the details for the towing. The Gretchen's crew came up to the bridge just as the Hadiya was moving in closer.

"Wow! That thing's really big," said Tucker. "What are those wheels on the sides?"

Dev was staring intensely at the image on the monitor. "They're spinning very fast. They must have something to do with propulsion, but I don't know what."

"I'd love to get a look at their engine room," said Sue.

Billie was expecting the towline to be brought over by shuttle or robotic drone, but he and the others were shocked to see a man with a jet pack bringing the line to the Gretchen. Even more amazing was how the man was dressed. There was no bulky space suit, life support system, or pressurized helmet. The man wore a heavy parka, gloves, a knit cap, leather boots and a small oxygen mask.

"What the hell is going on?" exclaimed Sue. "How can he do that?"

Billie was astonished. "It's outer space. The vacuum, the pressure, the cold, the radiation."

"I've been ignoring the outside readings," said Pawpaw. "I thought the instruments were damaged from our transition to hyperspace, but I guess the readouts are real." He turned to his console. "Radiation is almost non-existent, the temperature is just below freezing, pressure is nominal, and the oxygen level is only half of what we're used to. This is definitely not like our universe."

"You're right. Remember, their captain didn't call it outer space. She called it the 'aether'."

"Of course!" added Dev. "That's why the engines aren't firing. It's not just some weird twists with the physical laws of this place. We've got to make adjustments for all of these other differences, too."

"How long will that take?" asked Billie.

Dev looked at Sue and they both shrugged.

"Hey, wait a minute!" cried Tucker. "We've been focusing on the differences, but what about the similarities? Look at that guy out there that's hooking up the towline. He's just as human as we are and the people here are talking the same language that we do. How can we be from different universes?"

"It's an alternate universe," said Pawpaw. "We've been calling this hyperspace and, yes, we use it like a shortcut to get to places in our universe, but it's also an alternate or parallel universe to ours. There are probably more similarities than differences."

It took two days to tow the Gretchen to Scaffold. During that time Sue, Tucker, and Dev worked on the changes to the engines, Pawpaw collected data on the aether, and Billie spent a lot of time on the comm talking to Captain Najda.

As they approached the port, Billie and the crew could see that Scaffold was a collection of buildings sitting on a massive platform that was slowly orbiting a small, yellow star. All of what they saw, star and platform, was surrounded by the hazy, nebula-like cloud that seemed common in this universe.

"It's a thicker, condensed form of the aether," explained Pawpaw, "so there's more oxygen. We won't need a mask or O-tank. Also on the plus side, the port is close enough to the star that it's warmer than elsewhere in the aether."

"There's a bunch of people on the edge of the platform," said Tucker.

"That's the berth where the Gretchen will be docked," Billie said. "Captain Najda told me that we should expect a crowd when we arrive. Remember, we're supposed to be from some mysterious place called Boomja, so we're a curiosity to these people."

Once the ship was moored, the crew disembarked. They were immediately greeted by a friendly group of locals who wanted to know about Boomja. Some were just excited to meet people from a distant place while others were curious about the Gretchen. A few stood on the edge of the crowd trying to get a glimpse of the strange visitors. One of these was a young girl with curly brown hair and green eyes. Eventually the girl squeezed past the others until she was at the front of the group. She then caught the eye of Tucker and the two stared at each other until…"

"Tucker?"

"Robin?"

The two jumped into each other's arms and cried with delight. They had been separated by ten years and two universes, but they had found each other. As their laughing and crying subsided, they noticed the confused looks from the crowd, so Robin grabbed Tucker's arm and pulled her off to the side where they could talk.

"How did you get here? What are you doing here? How did you find me?" The questions raced out of Robin.

Tucker giggled. "I'll explain everything, but first you have to meet the people that brought me here." Now Tucker was grabbing Robin's arm and pulling her toward Dev and Sue. There was a quick introduction, then all of them began looking for Billie. They eventually found him at an outdoor café with Captain Najda.

As they all approached, Billie motioned to them and said, "Sit down. All of you please sit. We've got some big problems."

"But, Billie, I found Robin," Tucker injected. "Everything is going to be fine."

"What? This is your friend from the Twilight Queen? That's great. Robin, come sit with us. We're going to have lots of questions for you."

Robin was confused but took a seat next to Billie. The others pulled up chairs.

"What the hell is going on?" demanded Dev. "Somebody needs to bring me up to speed."

Billie leaned forward and put his hands on the table. "Okay. To begin with, I've told Najda all about us and where we're really from, so we don't have to pretend to be from Boomja. More importantly was what she had to tell me. Najda, will you explain?"

Captain Najda was a tall, pear-shaped woman with long, black hair. She twirled a strand of that hair for a moment and then said, "It's all about pirates. This whole area of space has been plagued by pirates for decades, but in the last few years they've started working together and now they're much more organized. Places like Scaffold are being forced to pay tribute or they'll be savagely attacked. Now some of us have decided to fight back. That's why my ship and crew are here."

"And that's why the people were so friendly to us," Sue said. "They assumed we were here to help in the fight against the pirates."

"That's precisely what we're going to do," Billie replied, "but we need more information about these pirates."

"Which is why you wanted to talk to me," said Robin as she pushed closer to the table. "Let me explain from the beginning. I was just a child when the Twilight Queen was pulled into this universe, but I remember the panic that ensued, especially when the engines didn't work. Everyone was a bit relieved when a sidewheeler appeared from the aether and offered to help. The captain of that ship was Baron Kova, but he and his men had no intention of helping. They quickly overpowered the Queen's security personnel and took control of the star cruiser, which has since become Kova's base of operations for his piracy."

Dev seemed confused. "I don't get it. There were five hundred people on that ship. Didn't they resist the takeover?"

"There were lots of people that rebelled against Kova, including my new parents, but they were just passengers on a cruise ship. They weren't fighters." Robin lowered her head. "Lots of good people died fighting him, including my parents."

The group was silent for a moment then Billie said, "So if they never got the engines running, the Queen is still sitting in the same spot."

"It's in the same place. At least it was there a couple of years ago when some of us stole one of Kova's sidewheelers and escaped."

"That's good because Najda and I have been discussing taking the fight to Kova, but we also have to defend Scaffold. None of that can happen if we don't get Gretchen's engines running."

"Don't worry about that, Billie," Dev said. "Give me a couple of days and I know I can get pulse power going, but the main engines are a different story."

"The thing that worries me most," said Najda, "is that Kova's raiders have guns, rifles, and bombs. We've got very little fire power on our side."

The group silently thought about all the problems they were facing, until Najda said, "What we need is some really good ideas."

When Billie and Dev heard the word 'ideas', they looked at each other and smiled.

Later that day the crew plus Robin squeezed into the Gretchen's commissary. Once again they were going to take their chances with the ideas in the Toroid. Dev hadn't expected much, if anything, to be there but as it turned out, hyperspace was teeming with ideas and it wasn't difficult for the Toroid to capture them. When Dev turned on his tablet, it was filled with bright, shiny ideas.

This time, before making their choices, everyone concentrated on the kind of ideas they wanted. Once chosen, everyone moved to the Toroid where the ideas were immediately deposited in their frontal cortex. Unlike the first time, these ideas took only a few hours to fully develop and most of them proved to be very helpful … most of them.

"A belt buckle? Your idea is a new kind of belt buckle?"

Billie hung his head. "I'm sorry, Dev. It's not what I was hoping for either. What about you?"

"I've been working on some weapons that the defenders on Scaffold can use against the pirates. I've juiced up some of the laser scalpels in the med kits so they're more like short range pistols now. Then I took some extra force shield parts and made two directed-energy rifles. Also I made some thermal detonators and one big drone bomb."

"Impressive," said Sue, as she stepped off the lift and onto the bridge, "but I've been doing some impressive things too. I've got the pulse engines running and the girls are recalibrating the main drive, so I think we'll have that going in a couple of days."

"Sounds great, Sue. Pawpaw's been developing some ideas too."

The Lucian navigator turned from his console. "I've designed a magnetically accelerated ring that uses a high energy capacitor capable of shooting a beam of plasma at near the speed of light. It'll be charged by the main engine so we'll have to use Dev's argon-hydrogen shielding to control the plasma. If we're lucky we might get two shots from it before it cracks up."

"It sounds like we're really going to need that main engine," Sue said. "I better get back and help the girls." She headed for the lift but Pawpaw stopped her.

"There's one other thing," he said. "I've been studying the Time Storms. It seems they're actually localized cosmic inflation events."

"I've heard of cosmic inflation," said Billie, "and the way I remember it, that's not a good thing."

"Under normal circumstances you're right. The ultra-rapid expansion would push apart everything in the universe, from galaxies to atoms, but this is a localized version that temporarily opens a gateway between our universes. Of course, it would require the energy of a supernova."

"So, are you saying, we've got a way back home?"

Pawpaw shrugged. "Either that or we destroy a universe … maybe two."

"Well, I don't think I'll tell the girls about that," said Sue, as she stepped onto the lift. "Tucker would go nuts about that."

With Sue gone, Dev asked Billie, "So, what's the plan? Do we fight them when they show up here or do we attack the main pirate group on the Twilight Queen?"

"Well, if you and Pawpaw get those weapons developed and Sue gets the engines going, maybe we can do both. I've talked it over with Captain Najda and she wants to launch a surprise attack on the pirate ship just as it arrives here at Scaffold. So, I'm going to give her most of the weapons that you're making. At the same time that that is happening we'll take the Gretchen to the location Robin gave us and confront Kova's forces."

Dev seemed skeptical. "So how is that going to work?"

"The Twilight Queen may act as Kova's base but they never got its engines running, so I expect a couple of sidewheelers will be docked alongside the Queen. If we can take those out with Pawpaw's plasma beam weapon, Kova may surrender."

"And if he doesn't?"

"I hope it doesn't come to that, but if it does, Pawpaw has one more trick we can try."

###

After arming and training Captain Najda's fighters, Billie and his crew left for the location Robin had given them. With Gretchen's engines at full power it still took more than a day to reach the spot that was deep in the aether far from Scaffold. When Billie shut down the main drive and switched to pulse power, he also switched on the front camera and sent the image to all of the ship's monitors.

The first thing that caught everyone's attention was the hypernova. A massive star had collapsed into a black hole surrounded by a rotating disk of stellar material. Two highly energetic jets of gamma rays shot from the top and bottom of the core, illuminating the aether with a rainbow of colors.

"The Twilight Queen is near that top stream of energy," explained Billie. "In two hours we'll be close enough to see it. Unfortunately, they'll also be able to see us. Pawpaw is going to steer us to a spot between the Queen and the energy jet. When we get there we'll jettison the infinity bomb. Don't let the name scare you. It's really just something we'll use as a last resort."

Dev announced over the comm, "The device is in the tube and ready to be launched."

"The plasma beam accelerator is set up in the main drive," added Sue from the engine room. "If Dev's gas shielding controls the beam, we're in business. The girls are ready to clear it out quickly if we need to use the drive."

The crew didn't talk much on the way to the drop-off point. Everyone was reviewing what they would soon have to do or they let their thoughts drift off to the dangers that awaited them. If they became too nervous they would stare at the hypernova on the monitor and look for a glimpse of the Twilight Queen.

As the star cruiser slowly came into view, Billie's attack plan became easier to visualize. The giant cruise ship hadn't changed much since its disappearance ten years earlier. Except for a number of running lights, the ship was sitting dead in the aether. Nestled along the starboard of the Queen was a sidewheeler that was lit up with flashing red lights. The Gretchen had been spotted.

"There's a call coming through," said Pawpaw. "Putting it on the monitor."

A moment later the screen was filled with the image of an older man with gray, disheveled hair, dark eyes, and a beaming smile.

"Greetings, greetings, my friends, I didn't think I would ever see another ship like ours. This is a great day. First let me introduce myself. I'm Baron Kova. Many years ago I rescued the Twilight Queen when it first appeared in our space. I have so many questions for you, as I'm sure you have for me. Please dock your ship next to ours, come aboard for a proper welcome, and we'll talk about the future. Again, it's very good to see you."

Billie signaled Pawpaw to cut the connection.

"Any response?" asked Pawpaw.

"No, he wants to capture us and the Gretchen. We'll stick to the plan. Continue to move closer to that sidewheeler."

A few minutes later, as they narrowed the gap between them and their target, the sidewheeler pulled away from the Twilight Queen, made a slow turn, and headed straight for the Gretchen. At the same time another call came in from Kova.

"I don't know why you haven't responded to my previous message," said the pirate captain. "Perhaps your communication equipment is out. Whatever the case, it appears you don't understand where I want you to dock, so I'll come out to meet you. It would be easier if you stopped your acceleration, but if I have to I'll match your speed so we can link up. Do you understand?"

"Are they close enough?" asked Billie.

"Just coming into range," replied Pawpaw. "I'm starting the maneuver now."

Pawpaw cut pulse power and skillfully used the Gretchen's drift to flip the ship so the main engine pointed at the approaching sidewheeler. To Kova and the pirates it would appear that the Gretchen was going to make a run for it. Instead Billie gave the order to fire the plasma weapon.

Sue switched on the shielding gases and directed power to the plasma accelerator. A beam of purple light immediately shot from the rear of the Gretchen and raced through the aether toward the pirate ship. The discharge struck the sidewheeler on its port side, ripping through part of the hull and tearing free one of its paddle wheels. The ship came to a complete stop.

"I think that's taken them out of it," announced Billie, "but let's wait a minute to see."

Just before Billie was about to declare victory, a swarm of pirates emerged from the crippled sidewheeler. They were wearing oxygen masks and carrying various weapons and tools. Like angry bees the pirates were quickly jet-packing toward Billie's ship.

"Wow, these guys just won't give up," declared Billie. "Pawpaw, give us pulse power and move us away."

A moment later the navigator said, "It's not working."

"Sue, what's wrong with pulse? I need it now. I don't know what those guys plan on doing but they're getting close."

"I don't know what's wrong," said Sue. "I'm working on it now. Another thing, Billie, Robin has disappeared. Tucker is looking for her now."

Billie was focused on pirates. "Maybe they think they can open us like a can of beans. Well, that's not going to happen. Dev, turn on the force field. That'll keep them away."

There wasn't a response and the force field didn't come on. Soon the first of the pirates reached the Gretchen and began banging away at the hull, especially the main hatch.

"Dev? Dev? What the hell is going on?" Billie was getting frustrated.

Sue spoke up. "Someone sabotaged the pulse drive, Billie. I can fix it but it's going to take a few minutes." She paused. "I think you better find Robin."

The whacks and bangs on the hull intensified and the outside cameras showed that they were making progress. If something didn't happen soon the pirates would break through and take over the Gretchen.

A dazed and hurt Dev opened his comm to Billie. "She hit me from behind. She busted the shield generator. It can't be fixed." Dev took several deep breaths. "Tucker saved me. We locked Robin in the storage room. I'm going to the engine room."

While the noise of the attacking pirates echoed through the ship, Billie could only stare at Pawpaw hoping that an answer would come to him. He needed an idea and he needed luck.

The luck came from Sue. "Pulse power! Pulse power, Billie! Go! Go!"

Pawpaw engaged the power and the Gretchen pulled away. Some of the pirates lost their grip and fell away into the aether, but most hung on and continued their assault on the hull.

"Head for the bomb," commanded Billie. "We have to take our chances with it now."

Once they reached the infinity bomb, Pawpaw again positioned the ship so they could fire the plasma beam. Billie didn't waste any time and the fiery purple flame rushed out of the Gretchen striking the mysterious infinity bomb.

At first nothing seemed to happen, but that was because the infinity bomb was actually a catalyst that when highly energized could transition the quantum level of the Higgs field and move it from the meta-stable state to the true ground state.

What Billie and his crew saw on their monitors was a bright shaft of energy and stellar matter pulled from the jet of the hypernova to the point where the bomb was transitioning the Higgs field. It wasn't long before a giant translucent sphere appeared. Within the sphere the blue swirls twisted and turned with ever increasing speed.

"Oh, my," Sue said softly.

"Time Storm," mumbled Tucker.

###

The bodies of a dozen pirates floated in the vacuum of space near the Gretchen. Two other bodies were still clinging to the ship. The water in their bodies had rapidly boiled and turned from liquid to gas. Death wasn't instantaneous and was undoubtedly painful.

The crew had squeezed onto the bridge of the ship and was staring at the images of the pirates outside. Everyone was exhausted and shaken by what had happened in the last few hours. Dev was nursing a knot on the back of his head and Sue winced from a twisted shoulder she got from holding the hatch shut. Billie was consoling Tucker who couldn't stop crying over the betrayal of her friend.

As they slowly recovered, a new object moved into view on the monitor. It was the Twilight Queen. Pawpaw had precisely positioned the infinity bomb so it would draw power from the hypernova and, when the Time Storm appeared, the Queen would be transported back to their universe. It had all worked just as he planned.

"What do we do now?" asked Sue.

"We first need to figure out where we are in space," Pawpaw said calmly, "and then we have to contact the nearest authorities. We should also try communicating with the Twilight Queen. The pirates may still be in control there or, because of what's happened, the original passengers may have taken over." Pawpaw looked at Tucker. "And then there's the question of what to do with Robin."

"I can't believe she did that," sobbed Tucker.

"She fooled all of us," said Dev.

Billie handed Tucker some water. "She must have been spying for Kova before we met her on Scaffold."

"But she was my best friend," Tucker pleaded.

"That was a long time ago," explained Sue. "She grew up with the pirates. It's not surprising that she became one of them."

"Well, she almost killed all of us and she gave me a nasty bump on my head." Dev was still sullen, but as he watched Tucker wipe away tears his mood cooled quickly. "Okay, I'm not going to press any charges. What do you think we should do, Billie?"

"Let Tucker decide. We can hand her over to authorities, put her on the Twilight Queen with the others, or just release her at the first planet we come to." Turning to the girl, "So what will it be?"

Tucker looked into the eyes of the others and said, "I can't send her to jail and we don't know what's happening over on the Queen. From the past we both had I know she can handle herself, so I'd like to give her a second chance on a new planet in our universe."

Everyone nodded in agreement, and then Billie asked Pawpaw, "Have you figured out where we are?"

"The Haija Sector; we're not far from Briar Patch. It'll be about a week before the authorities get here."

Dev shook his head. "Then I won't waste any time. I've got the force field generator to fix and then all the repairs that will be needed to the hull."

"I better check the pulse drive," said Sue, "and clear the plasma thingy from the main engine."

"I'm trying to contact the Queen," added Pawpaw. "We need to know their status."

Tucker realized everyone was looking at her. "Well, uh, if the Toroid is still working … uh, I have an idea."

All together the others yelled, "NO!"

THE END

Bio: George Schaade is a retired history teacher that loves writing science fiction and humor. He's always been fascinated by the oddities of life and the quirks of human nature.

E-mail: George Schaade

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