Happened

Starbase 04
17:13 SET
2195

“So what happened?” Admiral Blackbird asked a day later. “Where have you been for the last week?”

They were currently at Starbase 4, the Explorer’s home port. The Stealthlon, the Explorer, and the survivors of the 4th Fleet, including the Foch-D, came back victorious. They didn’t come back without heavy losses, though. Currently, Mansel, Brungess, and Admiral Blackbird were in the lounge, Mansel and Brungess with Root Beers in hand. Blackbird was nursing a cup of coffee. He needed the caffeine, Brungess thought.

Mansel started off the tale. “The new superluminal engines were a failure,” he said after taking a sip of his dark brown drink. “The containment field cracked and the deutronium and the neutridium mixed.”

“The Chief Engineer vented the two particles ahead of the ship,” Brungess continued, interrupting Mansel. “The resulting mixture of the particles resulted in the instant birth and death of a star.”

“A star!” exclaimed Admiral Blackbird. It suddenly dawned on Blackbird that while searching for the Explorer, they had come across a dying star, the same one that the vented particles had created. “What next?”

“Well, the star collapsed in on itself,” Brungess continued. “Causing--”

“A wormhole.”

“Correct.”

“We entered that wormhole,” said Mansel, “and thus ended up in an alternate universe, both different and similar in comparison to our own dimension.” Both he and Brungess, constantly interrupting each other, recounted all of their events to the commander of the 4th Fleet with crystal clarity, leaving out no point.

“Well,” said Admiral Blackbird, pouring himself some more coffee, “that’s quite an adventure two and your crew were in. You said you were putting in Naval Cross recommendations for...who?”

“Lieutenant Quan’Tan and Ensign John Simpson,” Mansel responded, both grateful and yet wholly saddened by their sacrifice.

“I’ll be on the lookout for it. As for now,” he claimed before taking a sip of his coffee, “I need to look in on repairs and fleet status.” He rose and began to walk away from the table before he stopped and turned. “You two have the most adventures of anyone I know,” he said, referring both to their days at the Academy and the present. “Stay safe.”

Brungess looked at Mansel. “So it’s just us, huh?” he asked before knocking off his fourth Root Beer.

The starship Captain nodded. “It always ends this way,” he stated, glancing over the table at his best friend. “I hope the alternate Stealthlon didn’t catch too much trouble with their UNSF.”

Brungess shrugged, deciding to go for another Root Beer. “Who knows?” he said, looking around the lounge at the other officers. “I’m sure they caught something.” He peered intently at Mansel. “Do you think we’ll ever be able to get back to that universe?”

“That particular one?” Mansel asked. “No. Not with the infinite number of universes out there. The odds of us getting back to that specific one universe are almost impossible to calculate.”

General Brungess, UNSF/EDF liaison officer, shook his head. “That’s good enough for me,” he answered, raising his drink in a toast. “A toast!” he exclaimed before realizing his cup was empty. “To those who have been there and back.”

“I’ll toast to that,” Mansel said, striking his glass against Jim’s. “One thing’s for sure, though,” he said, then drained the rest of his drink.

“What’s that?”

“It was fun.”