Chapter 18: Through the Wormhole

"Prepare for light speed, Dan the Man," PPMC told me. "First stop, black hole deep in the Milky Way Galaxy."

It felt like my heart was going to come flying out of my mouth. I was just as terrified when I first learned I had to travel through a black hole.

"I want to go back to Earth!" I shouted at PPMC, but she already reached for the light speed switch.

"In three, two, one... Let's do this thing!" She pulled it up before I could stop her.

Whoosh!

PPMC and I flew the fastest we had ever flown.

Eyes wide with terror, I fell up against my seat.

PPMC was having the time of her life. "Whoo-hoo! This is fun! I feel the need for speed!"

"I feel the need for life!" I shouted.

The time machine beeped like crazy. It wasn't long until it turned on. Next to the geologic time scale appeared a clock. The clock did not show the current time, but how many million years PPMC and I were supposed to go back to. First was 760 million years ago (the Cryogenian Period), second was 315 million years ago (the Carboniferous Period), third was 150 million years ago (the Jurassic Period), and fourth was 55 million years ago (the Eocene Epoch). Tucked in the corner of the clock was the emergency time period.

PPMC and I dropped out of light speed.

The starship jolted, chucking me forward like a baseball. "Attention, Daniel Matton. We have reached the site of the black hole," PPMC announced.

"Ahh!" I screamed. And I thought the simulation was scary!

The black hole was in front of PPMC and I and about thirty feet below. It had to be at least ten times the size of the simulated one! I had never seen a black hole that looked so violent. It looked like a whirlpool in outer space.

It sucked in multiple stars, all which flickered from fear, and swallowed them whole.

"Oh, Mamma! PPMC, we have to get out of here!" I shouted.

"No can do, Dan. The black hole has us."

Sure enough, the gravity caught PPMC and dragged her towards the depths of deep space. She started to spin, and her lights flickered on and off until they went out altogether. The only source of light came from her time machine.

"PPMC, the lights!" I shouted.

"Don't freak out, Dan. This is supposed to happen."

"Tell me what to do!"

"Sit back and enjoy the flight."

"Sit back and enjoy the flight"? Was she insane? There was a freaking black hole in front of us!

I couldn't watch this. I shut my eyes and hid behind my hands. "Well, it was nice knowing you, PPMC. I'll see you in the Afterlife," I concluded.

The gravity only grew stronger the closer PPMC and I approached the black hole. I felt it tugging her bow.

She stopped spinning, but then she jerked for a second time. "And down we go!" she yelled.

"I'm doomed!" I felt PPMC drop and waited for my arms and legs to stretch out. However, they never did. They were still very much intact. Holy smokes! Was it working?

PPMC answered my question. "We are in the black hole and are currently making our way to the wormhole."

No way!

Very slowly, I pulled my hands away from my eyes.

Insane! PPMC and I were indeed in the black hole! We had passed the first level of Portals and Aliens with flying colors! Now it was on to Level 2.

The inside of the celestial object was large and looked like a dying planet doing one last rotation on its axis; it spun so fast. Hundreds of lights that once belonged to stars decorated it. They tried to escape, but the black hole kept pulling them in. I honestly pitied them.

Laughing, PPMC said, "I told you, Dan. I told you I could withstand a black hole. Now we just need to travel through the wormhole and white hole, and our adventure will truly begin!" She dodged starlight and headed deeper into the black hole. Gravity jerked her to the left and right. She also tilted forward and backward. Oh boy, I was glad I had not eaten yet. I felt like I was riding on one of the most dangerous roller coasters in the world.

The insane spinning knocked the consciousness right out of me, causing me to feel sick. I was only semi-conscious when PPMC and I reached the wormhole, and I coughed in my helmet. Ouch! That really hurt my chest, but I had to be strong. Mother was there with me.

Since there were no imprisoned stars in the wormhole, it was much darker than the black hole. It looked just like the simulation, with it being a tunnel in space.

PPMC pressed a button on her control panel that turned on her headlights. No matter how hard she tried, the gravity would not let up. It grew stronger by the second.

Portals and Aliens, Dan. Portals and Aliens. You need to get the alien through the portal to the new world.

PPMC yelled at me, "We're in the wormhole! Stay with me, kid! We can do this!"

But I was so sleepy. I also felt absolutely awful. I could barely breathe in my helmet because my nose was so stuffy.

PPMC whirled out of control.

Oh gosh, it was torture. I lost track of how many loops the roller coaster had. My head shook. I saw six time machines instead of one. Which one was the real one?

PPMC tried to pull away from the gravity, but it was beyond difficult. "Now, Dan! Press the Precambrian button now!" she shouted. She was also getting worn out.

I shook my head back and forth, as an attempt to stop my world from spinning, and reached for the Precambrian button. However, I missed it. There were just too many time machines. I tried again, and missed for a second time.

Oh heck.

Fortunately, I got the button by my third try, and I pressed Go.

PPMC gave me a quick pat on my shoulder. "Well done, Dan! To the Cryogenian Period, 760 million years ago!"

The hand on her clock moved counterclockwise, indicating that we were starting to travel back in time. Everything was going according to plan, and then it happened.

From out of nowhere, PPMC's horn blared, and her time machine started to spark! It was malfunctioning!

Oh gosh! Somebody shut that horn up! I wanted to throw my hands over my ears, but I couldn't. The horn reminded me of a rooster's annoying cock-a-doodle-doo.

PPMC started to panic. "What the–? This isn't supposed to happen! The gravity is too much!" She then remembered that I was with her and instantly switched back to her optimist self. "Time to bring in the heavy artillery!"

I don't think she realized I was dying. It literally felt like an elephant was on my chest.

PPMC pressed an emergency button on her control panel that switched out her starship engines with her emergency ones... rocket boosters.

Time progressed, but the time machine only sparked more.

I turned my head away from it and yelled. It was a miracle that I did not get electrocuted.

Out of nowhere, visions of the time traveling overtook my mind. I saw the Cryogenian volcanoes and stromatolites, the Carboniferous coal swamps and arthropods, the Jurassic sauropods and theropods, and the Eocene horses and hippos. The blurry image of a pterosaur seemed to stare straight at me. Her wings flapped gracefully under a setting Sun.

I heard Mother. "Don't be scared, Dan. I'm here with you, and I'm going to get you out of this. Trust me."

The visions left, but PPMC and I were far from safe. She messed around with her time machine for at least five minutes, but eventually, everything started working again. Her horn stopped blaring, and the time machine quit sparking.

I could barely keep my eyes open. If I threw up in my astronaut helmet, then I was blaming her.

"Hang in there, Dan! Please!" she begged.

"Get me off this thing! I never want to ride a roller coaster ever again, Mother!"

Wait a minute, did I just call PPMC "Mother"? Why?

She finally stopped spinning, and her rocket boosters booted her forward. They tossed us out of the wormhole and into the white hole. The hand on the clock stopped at 760 million years ago.

As one can imagine, the white hole was white. It was a bit smaller than the black hole, but definitely just as powerful. The wormhole started to suck us back in, away from freedom and towards our doom.

PPMC talked to herself. "Come on, PPMC. You can do this. You need to keep Dan safe. I'm not going to let a little gravity get in my way. Not when we're so close." She gave her emergency engines a boost and fought against the gravity like a swimmer fighting a current. "Come on! Come on! Work!"

"PPMC, please, I don't know how much more of this I can take," I sobbed.

"I'm trying, Dan, but the gravity is so powerful."

"Then shut it off!"

"I can't."

The hand on PPMC's clock moved clockwise, then counterclockwise, and then clockwise again. Time was running out for both of us. In a matter of seconds, we would be trapped in time.

"Work!" PPMC demanded.

Finally, her booster engines managed to get us out of the wormhole. The hand on her clock stalled for a minute, but then it returned to 760 million years ago.

Boom!

PPMC cannonballed out of the white hole and back into outer space. She made haste to punch the light speed button and shouted, "Light speed, get us out of here!"

Her emergency engines saved us. PPMC moved faster than the speed of light, but all her machines beeped uncontrollably.

We left the black hole, wormhole, and white hole. We had gotten the alien through the portal to Time Travel City.

PPMC came out of hyperspace, rocking like a rocking chair, and entered a brand-new world–the world of the Precambrian Time, Cryogenian Period, 760 million years ago.

I was way too beat up to cheer.

She was, too. Her voice started to break. She sounded exhausted. "Dan, we're here. We made it."

What a disaster. That was nothing like the simulation.

Coughing, my head hit the back of my chair. "'In forms both big and small,'" I whispered. "Mother, please, I don't want to die."

A gush of cool air brushed by my helmet.

I heard Mother say in her gentle voice, "You need to rest, Dan. You're sick."

"So I guess this means no waffles?" That was the last thing I said before my head drooped. I slipped into a state of deep unconsciousness.

PPMC and I now floated freely in space, not knowing when and where we would land. But wherever it was, there was one thing for sure. The time traveling had officially begun. Welcome to the past, present, and future. Welcome to our journey up the geologic time scale.

***

And that's the end of Part 1! How was it? Great? Oh, thank you! That means a lot. To this day, I still can't believe I actually survived that wormhole, despite how sick I was. Well, I promised we would have a Q&A, so hit me! What would you like to ask? Yes, young lady in the back?

Why did Dada wait so long to tell me I was the star of the project? Well, he wanted it to be a surprise. Dada always loved to pull pranks on me. He gave me Betsey to get me comfortable before the "big" surprise, which was of course the PPMC Project. Great question! Next?

Was my mother in the wormhole with me? She definitely was. Her presence never left, because she wanted to make sure PPMC and I were safe. Mother was always funny that way. Next?

What was the first thing I saw in the Precambrian Time? Oh, well that will have to wait until next week. I can't spoil it for you, right, little one? Where's the fun in that? But I'm glad you're so curious.

Any other questions? No? Awesome! It's fun to have you guys on the edge of your seats. I can't wait to share Part 2 with you! I personally think Part 2 is where the real adventure begins. Y'all have been such a great audience, and I hope to see you again next week. Good night, and drive safe!

***

Let's give a round of applause for Daniel Matton, the star of the PPMC Project! Thank you, Dan, for taking time out of your busy schedule to read your story. I'm sure you're going to see lots of the same faces next week. So many people want to know what happens next, me included. It's great that we have such an amazing crowd tonight!

Everybody, Dan's not going to leave quite yet, just in case there are any last-minute questions. He also doesn't mind signing any book copies. Right, Dan? Aw, you're such a nice guy.

Keep on smiling, everyone. Please join us in this same room next week as we continue the reading, and try to keep your space pants on. Part 2 of Through the Wormhole is coming, written by the one and only Daniel Matton!

End of Part 1

Word Count: 40,000