She walked through the whitish-grey hole in space and entered the stream. The universe of Wormhole Beta engulfed her like an infinitely large blanket. She felt warm, comfortable. When she stepped out of the wormhole, she found herself standing before Newman who took her hand and stabled her as she took her first few steps.

"Thank you," she replied and looked around. The room looked old, dark and unfamiliar. She saw furniture that was not meant for a human, at least not comfortably. What she could only assume was a chair or bed was long and flat, almost like a bench you might find in a locker room. It had several poles sticking out from all sides. No human could fit between the many spikes and no one would want too. In front of that was a bookcase looking piece of furniture. It had six holes along the side and large hole through the top. It stood around six feet tall, a little higher than Newman and about nine inches taller than Marjorie.

Feeble light shined through an open window illuminating dust which they had disturbed by walking around. The window was dark, but that didn't fully explain the dimness of the room. Newman wiped some of the crude away and pointed. "We're in abandoned Dyson Sphere. They stayed here until the sun died out."

She looked out and saw a tiny ember of light. It looked no bigger than the Moon as seen from Earth and shined about as bright as the sun as seen from Jupiter. She looked around and saw that this resembled the Sphere she had just left only the panels were scorched and blackened. As her eyes adjusted to the light she could see debris in orbit around the dead star. They were panels, the panels from the sphere that had been blown off when the star went nova. "How long ago did this happen?"

"Well, first the star went into the red giant stage, and that lasted a while then it collapsed in on itself and went supernova and now; it's a white dwarf."

Marjorie thought about this. This star had died millions of years before man first stood upright. It might have gone nova while dinosaurs walked the Earth. "If it went nova, what happened to the nebula gas?"

Newman shrugged. "They used it for material to build other spheres The Handlers who tend to me were here. They witnessed the destruction of the star and helped gather all the gas."

"That would mean-"

Newman interrupted. "They are very, very old."

"Do you think I'll get a chance to talk to them?"

"Maybe," he replied. "We need to head back. I'm starving, and I really want to know what's going on with Earth since I was away."

Juliet couldn't believe she was actually doing something other than staring at a computer screen. She was still looking at a computer screen, a rather old one, but she was helping with the mission instead of yelling out readings.

Professor Ricter paced behind her making her nervous. She was trained to think and work under intense pressure, but his very presence made it difficult to do either without questioning herself. She finished her examination of the computer then turned in her chair to face Fran. "I'm going to need cable, lots of it. I think we can connect each one of these computers to our system and use that to break into their mainframe."

"Are you sure?" Professor Ricter asked.

"Not completely sure. I won't know until we hook everything up."

The Professor gave a nod to Fran. "Contact the Commander, ask him for some cables and some of his computer engineers." He turned to Juliet. "Thank you for your help. I think we can handle it from here."

She looked up at Fran, confused. "I thought I would stay here."

"Fine," Professor Ricter said. "Don't get in the way of the professionals."

She was about to say something when Fran placed a hand on her shoulder. Juliet looked up and Fran just shook her head. "Come on, we'll take a walk to the ship." Fran said almost pulling Juliet away.

"Is he always like that?" Juliet asked.

"He's actually mellowed," Fran replied. "When we first met it took him two weeks before he could remember my name."

"I think he just needs a good woman." Juliet replied, surprised she had said it.

Fran laughed and they passed through the door onto the platform. "He has one," she said pointing to the Arwen.

"Are him and Captain Cook together?"

"They're very close, but I don't think they've ever gotten together."

"How do you know?"

"I don't," Fran replied as the two walked into the awaiting shuttle. "But you can sort of tell when someone is sleeping with someone, and I don't think they are. Personally, I can't see it. They work so well together as friends that a real relationship would probably destroy that."

"Couples can't work together?"

Fran lowered her head and, for a second, Juliet saw a flash of sadness cross her face. She felt so blind and stupid. "I'm sorry. I forgot you met your husband onboard the Arwen while working together, didn't you?"

"The same mission I met Professor Ricter. We discovered not too long after we were married we couldn't work together. Even if he was military and I was science, there was always a tension at home, especially if I had to ask for something and he had to refuse. Eventually we decided to work in different locations. He worked in space while I worked on Ulliam. I lost him during the Gyssyc war."

Juliet remembered the Gyssyc war very well. She was assigned to one of the moon bases. She had just missed being killed when a Gyssyc gamma beam sliced through the station. Forty of her friends died that day. Her stomach quivered when she thought what would have happened had she been there. "I think everyone lost someone in that war."

"We're alive now," Fran said. "That's something. However, the Professor's not a bad guy once you get used to him."

"Not sure I really want to get used to him," Juliet replied dryly.

Chapter eighteen.

Marjorie hesitated before walking into the room. She continued to have the lingering feeling she had been in this room before and it wasn't a good experience. That wasn't possible, she knew that yet, the feeling persisted even as she felt Newman give her a gentle push in her lower back. "Is everything okay?"

"Ever have that feeling of Deja vu?"

"Not too often." He dismissed. "Please, take a seat. I'll go get the food."

"They let you cook?" Marjorie asked taking the seat.

"I need to do something to keep me sane. They give me the basic ingredients and I figured out the best way to make them taste good. It took a lot of trial and error to get to the point I'm at. I'm going to make you the best dish I can." He smiled and walked out into another room. Moments later Marjorie heard the clanking of dishes.

She took the time to walk around, absorbing her location. She was impressed with how much he made this room look like a normal, ordinary living room. His handlers provided him with almost everything to make living here tolerable. A dark-brown leather couch sat a few yards away. In front of that was a coffee table which had some sort of computer sitting on top of it. Underneath the table was an area rug, it reminded her an oriental rug complete with dozens of tassels on both ends.

She looked up and saw the ceiling itself was glowing, producing a soft and somewhat pleasant light. Seeing all the amenities made her feel comfortable. This was just a dinner with another Captain. No different than if he had come to the Arwen to eat.

The smell of fish, or something similar, wafted from the kitchen area. She heard a loud pop, followed by some sizzling. He must be frying something. She recalled the food from his time period, high in fat and calories with almost no thought given to nutrition; it was all taste. Thanks to advances in genetically engineered foods what she ate now was tasty, low in fat and good for you. She hoped whatever it was he was making wouldn't make her sick.

"This is some place," she said. "How long did it take you to convince them to give you all this?"

"Not long, didn't even have to starve myself for it." He yelled. "They actually asked me what I wanted. Guess they knew I would need a comfortable place to live. The only thing they didn't understand was television. They knew what it was, but didn't see the practicality of it since they couldn't broadcast anything."

The door opened and he walked in carrying two glasses. Each glass had a thick, orange liquid in it. "This is pretty much all they have to drink," he said. "I know ways of making it taste like other things, so I decided to make this batch taste like Merlot."

"Nice," Marjorie said taking the glass. She sniffed it and, to her surprise, it actually did smell like Merlot.

He held the glass up. "To meeting the Captain of the-" he stopped in mid sentence. "You know; I don't think you ever told me what the name of your ship was and I didn't see it written when you landed."

"It's the Arwen."

He smiled. "To meet the Captain of the Arwen." They clinked their glasses together.

Marjorie took a sip of hers and placed the glass down on the table. It felt warm going into her belly, a warmth that quickly radiated out toward her limbs. She arched her eyebrows upward. "Wow, that's pretty good."

"I know." He placed his drink back on the table, turned and walked into the kitchen.

Marjorie looked at the drink and took another sip. It was really good. It tasted like no wine she had ever drunk before. The feeling after the warmth went away reminded her of what she felt like after a long, deep, restful sleep. She was surprised to find, after just a few minutes, she finished the entire glass. She ran her fingers along the inside to gather as much of the stuff as she could, she then licked the drops off her fingers.

The door opened just as she finished the very last of it. She held the glass up. "That was fantastic. Can I have some more?"

He smiled and took the glass. "I have plenty. What do you want it to taste like this time?"

"How about chocolate milk?" She replied suddenly feeling giddy. She wanted to laugh like a little kid, laugh like she used to before all the responsibility of life crashed down on her killing all she loved.

He continued to look at her even as he walked out of the room. "Dinner will be ready in a few minutes."

"Good, I'm starving."

"Why is your ship named the Arwen? When I was on Earth we named our ships after presidents, gods, or scientist."

"When we started building ships to go into space we quickly realized we would run out of names so it was decided to give all space ships names from books. Mostly science fiction or fantasy books. It seemed appropriate since science fiction was becoming reality. My ship is a Tolkien class battleship. All Tolkien class ships are named after characters from Lord of the Rings. Well, the good guys anyway, don't think we'll ever have a Captain of the Gollum. Captains are still a superstition bunch and who wants to command a ship named after a bad guy?"

"Seems like a strange idea to me," he replied walking back into the room. He carried two plates which he stacked on his right arm. In his left hand he had two more glasses of the orange liquid. Marjorie stood to help by grabbing the glasses. "Used to be a waiter, you never lose those skills even after four hundred years."

He placed the plates on the table. Marjorie looked at the plate and saw he had sculpted the food into the shape of a fish, a very deformed pale fish with tiny flecks of grey in it. It was more like a gelatin than a fish. She sniffed it and, just like the orange liquid, it smelled exactly like he wanted it too. "This really does smell like fish."

"It'll taste like it too. Sorry about the look, but you'll be happy to know it's very healthy for you. I could have made it look and taste like a chocolate cup cake and it would still be healthy. It's just a matter of knowing how to manipulate the molecules."

Marjorie took a taste and nodded in approval. "Very good."

"Tell me about Earth, what's it like now? When I left things were heading in the wrong direction."

"How far back do you want me to go? I know from your time things did get worst. What was known as the United States of America was involved in a war with China that climaxed with the launch of a nuclear missile."

"My god, from who?"

"It was the United States. They destroyed the missile not too long after it was launched. Some believe it was a mistake, others think it was a warning. The only thing for sure is after the launch both sides decided to talk. It was a very pivotal moment because China and the United States eventually went on to develop wormhole technology. The ability to travel from one star to another is really what finally brought peace to Earth."

"So, there are no more wars?"

"There are still some countries that like to rattle their sabers from time to time but for the most part, things are peaceful on Earth."

"So, no more wars." He said.

"We still have wars, just not on Earth. We recently got done fighting a very bad war. It killed hundreds of thousands and nearly wiped out the Earth Fleet. We won in the end but the cost was huge." She lowered her head remembering her lost friends.

"It's so strange. We still have war just not among humans. We now fight aliens. How strange to give up war on Earth only to take it into space."

"It's not entirely our fault," Marjorie replied. She didn't like his judgmental tone, didn't like the fact he was judging her and the Earth. "The first race we met, the Kreel, attacked the first colony outside of Earth. So, we built a fleet and taught them a lesson. We still have some enemies, and we still fight some battles but things are peaceful now. To tell you the truth we've only met about fifteen other races and most don't bother us and we don't bother them. The galaxy is big enough for everyone."

"Not everyone," he said. "You look like you enjoyed that meal."

Marjorie looked down at her plate and found it empty. She hadn't even realized she had eaten it. She was so wrapped up in her story. "I guess I did."

"How are you feeling?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Pretty good actually."

He stood and walked over to her and took her plate. "There's one question I'm surprised you haven't asked me. You never asked me how I managed to live for this long."

"I assumed you'd tell me," she said. "I didn't think it was the most important question to ask." The last of the sentence came out garbled, as if she were talking with cotton in her mouth. The room started to spin, and she had to grab the table or else she'd fall over.

She felt his hands grab her just as the plates crashed to the floor. He was supporting her, holding her as she leaned against the chair. "I'm sorry, Captain. They wanted me to do this. I refused at first but they made me an offer I couldn't say no too. They told me they'd let me die."

She felt her muscles loosen. She wasn't able to command them to do anything. As she fell he slid her off the chair and laid her down onto the ground. "I have some good news and some bad news," he said. "The good news is, they don't want you dead. In fact, they want you to live a very long time, which is why I gave you the last of my rejuvenation tonic. That orange stuff you drank is now repairing your cells. It's fixing everything that might be wrong with you. When you wake again your body will be as healthy has it has ever been. The stuff even slows down your aging so you'll be around for at least another two hundred years."

She wanted to say something but couldn't. He picked her up and walked her over to the couch. Gently, he laid her down, careful not to harm her. "The bad news is, they're going to do what they can to get Earth's location from your mind. They tried it with me but since I had no idea where I was when they found me all I could do was tell them the galaxy and the approximate location. They're a very patient race and would have waited millions of years if need be. Thanks to you finding one of their wormholes they know the general area, and they're going to use you to find the exact location. I guess that leads to my second bit of bad news, once they find out they'll destroy the Earth and use the materials to build the next Dyson Sphere."

Marjorie opened her mouth to talk, all that came out was a garble and a whimper. "I know, how can I do this? I can't say I'm not saddened by it but the truth is, for me, it's worth it because I'll be able to die. They've never let me die, every time I've tried, and believe me I've tried a lot, I would wake up in a new body. I'd still have the memory of me attempting to kill myself but nothing after that. I don't know if they cloned me and downloaded my memories, or if they somehow just grew a new body without my DNA. In any case, I would die, they would revive me and I would keep living."

From the coffee table he opened a drawer and pulled out what looked like a gun. "Took me a long time to convince them to make this for me, they finally did after we made our deal. This will be the last time you see me, Captain Cook. It was an honor to meet you. It was also an honor to share my final meal with you. Thank you for reminding me what it's like to be human, even for a few hours."

She tried to reach out to grab him, but her arm didn't respond. He walked past the couch and out of sight. Moments later she heard a gunshot, then the body hitting the floor.

The room was quiet after that. She smelled gun powered mixed with the still lingering scent of fish. She heard the door open followed by a skittering sound. The room was out of focus. She could only make out blob like shapes and shadows. She saw a shadow pass over her eyes. She detected a strong scent that reminded her of peppermint then, another shadow, followed by the smell of licorice. The shadows went away. Something was placed on her finger. She felt the sensation of falling. A darkness creped in, all sites and sounds were muted. She felt consciousness detach from her and float away. She received one more sensation, the smell of spring after a gentle rain, before everything shut down.

Chapter nineteen.

Juliet sat behind the desk with her head in her hands and let out of frustrated scream. The computer techs around her looked at each other and laughed. "We told you," one of them said.

"I know, I know, I just thought we could do it," She replied standing. Professor Ricter walked over. This was the last person she wanted to see.

"Well?" He asked in a way that told her he knew what the answer was.

"We can't get it to work. They use totally different computers. I don't even think they use binary to run calculations. I'm not sure what the use."