The Pinhole

By L. John Ernst

Four astronauts in the future are sent by unknown forces through a time/space warp called "The Pinhole" placing them on a planet on the other side of the galaxy. Through three years of scientific and spiritual experiences, the future becomes known through a series of plot twists that will amaze the reader and help send the group's spacecraft back to Earth.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: May 2, 2013
• ISBN: 9781626758483

Book preview

THE PINHOLE

PART 1

CHAPTER 1

Monday was early Sunday, and Thursday was approximately Tuesday, if you want to put it that way. There’s really no way to explain it, or compare time as if we still lived on Earth.

Yet, the sphere we eventually landed upon was similar to Earth in two ways: There was an atmosphere with enough oxygen for us to breathe; and thankfully, water. All else was completely different, changing our sensibilities for the three years we have survived here.

The we I’m speaking of are myself, Commander Matthew Fox; the pilot of our craft and botanist, Sharon Norse; time/space propulsion engineer Johnny Ng (his first name I can’t pronounce); and medical doctor and Sargot Systems expert Natalia Smarnokov.

How we got here to this planet is a constant topic of discussion for us four highly-trained scientists, all top graduates of the world-renowned Kepler Academy in London. Our theories are many. I personally believe, being highly evolved in the modern science of Spirituality, that the Creator of the Universe called us here for some reason. Dr. Ng, on the other hand, feels that my thoughts are complete nonsense, and that a magnetic storm drew us through a pinhole (a small black hole that transports you through a time/space warp that, in theory, puts your craft on the opposite side of the galaxy). That, he believes, would be the best scenario; the worst would be that we were now in another, parallel universe.

Dr. Norse and Dr. Smarnokov have theories somewhere between Dr. Ng and myself. They both believe that some mysterious intelligence beyond our comprehension guided us here, but that the scientific readings derived from our Sargot System, the brains of our craft, prove some magnetic time and space warp occurred. But none of us has any memory of traveling through a black hole or pinhole, only our approach to this planet.

As Commander of this mission, I allow all theories to be expressed; my only concerns are for the safety and welfare of our crew, and to make sure that our GSV’s Sargot System is functioning properly. Without her, we have zero chance of ever returning to Earth.

Our GSV, short for Galactic Space Vessel, has a name: Amy. All the brilliant women and men who worked on this project kept coming up with names like Einstein, Singh (Earth’s first president), Galileo, all too serious and obvious. So the GSV team decided to let the trillions of grade school children on Earth name our craft. Amy won by 70 billion votes over the second-place name, which I don’t even remember. So Amy it is.

Amy is an engineering marvel, even with the logarithmic growth in scientific knowledge as we near the end of the 22nd Century. Propulsion techniques such as nuclear and solar power are so yesterday, as my kids would say, except for small engines like on our Corso Rover. Johnny Ng was pivotal in pioneering the use of cosmic energy, which is the code name for a very complex process. I don’t quite understand it myself, but I do know it involves the use of gravitational slingshotting, time warping, cosmic radiation, and other discoveries over the past 50 Earth years that can propel a space craft to the far reaches of our solar system in just minutes. Not only is the velocity far beyond the speed of light, it also increases dramatically the farther you travel. That’s something I have to ask Dr. Ng to explain to me again and again, because although I’m a scientist, the complexities of the intertwining forces are so incredibly complicated. My training as a Commander is to make sure everything runs smoothly, while leaving the details to the crew members who have their own specific assignments and specialties.

CHAPTER 2

Eden. That’s what I named our new planet. There was some discussion of naming it Earth II, but since our new home is as abstract and mysterious as Earth’s mythical Eden, it is obvious that we are not on Earth.

Water flows upward, not downward. Shade is warmer than being in the light of the blue giant sun that, by our calculations, is 750 million kilometers away. The cave we occupy was chosen for two reasons: Warmth, and protection from cosmic radiation. We can only leave our cave when wearing our Kelmar suits that protect us. Oxygen hasn’t seemed to be a problem, but away from our protective cave, we have to breathe through respirator masks so that no radiation touches any part of us.

But none of