Chapter XI: Lessons in Geologic Time (Part Mesoproterozoic)

 Prehistoric times? The reveal piqued Dan's interest, but only by a bit. What did black holes, wormholes, and white holes have to do with PPMC?

 He offered his hand to Chenoa.

 She studied it and put the gauntlet in his palm. Chenoa started down the small hallway she and Dan encompassed and pointed at the glass doors. "PPMC is out here, Dan."

 Dan only half listened because he tried to figure out how the gauntlet worked. He flipped it over and held it up to his face. "What the—? Professor, you're associated with this thing. How's this work?"

 "Associated?" She laughed. "I don't think that's the right word, Dan. It makes me sound like I'm an AI." She tried to keep a straight face, but Dan could tell it was difficult. "Come on. I'll tell you outside." Chenoa giggled the rest of the way to the door, but Dan didn't understand why.

***

 The launch pad looked vastly different when tourists didn't crowd it. Dan could see the rest of PPMC at the end of the path, sitting atop the launch circle like a bird on her eggs. She was rectangular-shaped, with a round stern and bow, but smaller than he expected, even with her set of wings. The Sun poked up behind her, and its rays washed over her white and navy body.

 Wait! The Sun was coming up. Heck! How long did Dan sleep?

 "Professor?" he asked, tugging her lab coat. "What time is it?"

 "It's 8:00," she replied, pulling away. "You slept for eighteen hours, my friend."

 Dan almost cursed but stopped himself and replaced it with a bewildered expression. How hard did he hit his head? Ben was the one he meant to knock out with the sledgehammer—not himself.

 "We let you sleep to get you rested for blast off tomorrow," Chenoa explained.

 Crap! That was tomorrow? Dan had to get out of there and fast. It wouldn't be easy with Chenoa standing there, though, alongside the complicated thoughts motoring through his big head. He couldn't forget his mother's words, too. But he had to do it... maybe after he heard more about the prehistoric part of the PPMC Project. Gah! Dan sure hoped he wasn't falling for his father's delusions.

 Once Dan and Chenoa reached her, PPMC's creepy hands emerged from an opening on the side of her cockpit. "Hey, Dan!" she said in a voice that strangely wasn't robotic. Are you feeling better?" Her hands approached him and tapped a tender spot on his temple.

 "Ew! Ew! Ew!" he groaned, swatting her away. Since when could spaceships talk? Dan held the gauntlet like a sword and threatened PPMC with it.

 Giggling, she flicked it out of his grasp.

 Chenoa caught it before it hit the launch pad.

 "Don't. Touch. Me." Dan backed away from PPMC. He shuddered and rubbed the goosebumps under his coat sleeve. "Let's just get this over with. What's the PPMC Project?"

 "Well, you certainly are impatient, aren't you?" PPMC inquired. She shook her hands. "Just like your mother."

 "My mother?" Dan glowered. "How do you know about her?"

 "I'm programmed with her personality."

 "Really?" Dan scoffed. "You don't sound like her at all."

 PPMC hovered over him, indicating she was annoyed. "Well, that's because I'm still learning." She moved her hands closer, and Dan toppled onto his backside.

 "What's the PPMC?" he growled.

 Chenoa quickly intervened and helped him stand. "PPMC is the first starship to travel back to prehistoric times, Dan. Your dad chose you as the Star because he said you love geologic time."

 "What exactly is my mission?" Dan said aloud.

 Chenoa's face lit up, and she turned to PPMC. "Would you do the honors, PPMC?"

 "Of course, Professor." She held out her robotic hand, palm up. "Gauntlet, please. You may want to get comfy, Dan, while we explain this."

 He arched his eyebrow. "Why?"

 "Because, Idiot, it's a bit of a long explanation."

 "Say what?" When did PPMC learn Dan's most common nickname? It usually didn't bother him when someone called him that, but it did when it came from PPMC. She could try all she wanted, but she would never be Dan's mother.

 He felt a grief wave sneaking up on him. Dan distracted himself by listening to the annoying starship. He refused to cry in front of Professor Chenoa.

 PPMC pressed the largest button on the gauntlet.

 "Gauntlet activated," a voice sounded. Just like that, it floated out of PPMC's grasp and hovered between her, Dan, and Chenoa. "Welcome, Dan. You currently are in the Quaternary Period, Holocene Epoch, 3023."

 "Wow," he squealed, blushing.

 "PPMC is programmed to travel through a black hole, wormhole, and white hole to prehistoric times," continued the gauntlet. A blue laser escaped its head, creating a holographic barrier between Dan, PPMC, and Chenoa. "Your mission as the Star of the PPMC Project is to travel to the Neoproterozoic Era, the Carboniferous Period, the Jurassic Period, and the Eocene Epoch and study how life has changed over time."

 While the AI explained that, a movie came to life before Dan. It showed an image of PPMC floating in space, surrounded by stars, and a celestial object appeared before her. The diagram expanded and showed the black hole, wormhole, and white hole. The black hole sucked PPMC in like a vacuum. She traveled through its dust bag and popped out of its intake port. The words "time traveling" flashed above her.

 Oblivious at first, Dan stretched and placed his hands behind his head. "Oh, okay. I can do that." Then, the realization sank in. "Wait, what? Did you say 'black hole'?"

 Chenoa came in for PPMC. "Uh, yeah."

 "I have to travel through a black hole?" Dan bellowed.

 "That's the only way to get to a wormhole," Chenoa answered, shrugging.

 "Huh?" Without warning, Dan collapsed back onto the launch pad. Nevertheless, he quickly got up and glared at Chenoa. "Are you crazy, woman? I'll be spaghettified if I travel through a black hole!"

 Chenoa quickly waved her hands. "No, you won't, Dan! That's the way PPMC's built. She can survive a supernova, so she can survive a black hole. It's a very, very simple task. You get to take a trip up the geologic time scale!"

 Dan sneered. "Yeah, it's simple, but I'll be spaghettified before I even reach the Neoproterozoic Era!" Everyone at the space center hated him—not just his daddy. "Besides, even if I do survive, the ultraviolent rays of the Sun will fry me! So, either way, I'm going to die!"

 "Oh, Dan," Chenoa said in a grandma-like voice, "you're taking this too seriously. We wouldn't send you up if we thought PPMC couldn't succeed. We're not sacrificing you to the geologic time scale. You're just going on an adventure. Your dad built you a special sunsuit to wear during Precambrian Time. Besides, PPMC will look after you. She's programmed with your mother's personality."

 "My mother would never let you guys do this to me!" Dan found himself yelling. He clenched his fists, and a tear ran down his pale cheek. "You can't replace her with a starship! I loved my mother, and PPMC has no right to pretend she's her!" Oh, gosh. The panic attacks he had when Becca first died returned.

 Dan stumbled and clutched his chest.

 Chenoa's smile vanished. "Dan..."

 "I loved my mother!" Dan ended up back on his knees. "In forms both big and small. In forms both big and small," he repeated in an attempt to calm down. He never thought he'd say this, but he did.

 Dan met Chenoa's concerned face and ordered, "Get my dad. Right now!" When she didn't move, he punched the launch pad. "Get my dad!"

 "Uhh, right," Chenoa finally said. She turned off the holographic diagram, and PPMC handed her the gauntlet.

 Chenoa hustled down the launch pad's path, past the blinking lights on either side, and disappeared into the space center.