INTERNAL ERROR; DIVIDE BY ZERO. ABORT? Y/N

by Mr. David R. Dorrycott

All characters, devices, universes, & creations copyright their respective owners.

Snowaters fumed at the screen. Page by page she had scanned everything the Diamond's computers 'knew' about null space bubbles. Finally giving up she stood, turning away from the useless terminal.

"Its no use Kalith" she growled. "Like you said. These things are a one way trip. I'm surprised you hadn't encountered one before."

<Null Bubbles are one of the rarest events.> the living computer answered. <Perhaps once in twenty million years one appears.>

Snowaters threw herself on her unmade bed, curling up into a ball. "Yeah" she muttered. "But why did we have to find one." Pulling her covers up she sighed, reaching for a small bottle of cream colored pills. "How long before the IR drive fails" she asked.

Kalith understood her actions. They had been working on the problem for over a day. All they had learned was that these 'Null Space' bubbles were called Mobious Space, Universe Eggs, and a hundred other things. Well, they were a one way ride. Snowys attempt to leap them to any other reality had given them their one chance. The IR drive somehow canceled what had become a living nightmare. An unstable reality shifting caused as the Diamond, and all in her, were slowly being reduced to high energy particles.

"How long after that will we cease to exist" she asked.

Shrugging her shoulders Snowaters poured a half dozen pills into her hand. She closed her eyes before reaching for the glass of water. "I really would have liked to see Aries and Kela again." She sipped her water, then looked at the pills. "Its a cowards way out. Isn't it 'Lith."

<No.> Kalith answered. <Given the choices. A quiet death is better than further madness.>

She picked up several pills, raising them to her mouth. "Thanks 'Lith. I'd hate to think I finally died a cowered." Popping the pills into her mouth she swallowed, then reached for her drink.

Alarms sounded causing her to jerk. Her bottle of pills scattered on the floor.

"Already?" she gasped. "I thought there was still time."

<Negative. The portal has been accessed. We have two visitors.>

"Damn" she cursed, throwing off her cover as she jumped out of bed. "Stupid idiots. Their going to die with us." She ran towards the heavy door that sealed the SRVR chamber.

B.J. looked around. Dead bodies lay everywhere. A quick glance showed most had died from self inflicted wounds. He gagged, in all his travels he had never encountered such a violent screen.

"Don't go to pieces old bean" Eoi chimed in. "Its not real."

B.J. swallowed, reaching out to a dead female raccoon. At his touch the comely body slid away, falling to the deck with a muffled thud.

"Not real?" he gasped. Focusing his will the scene wavered a second before returning to solidity. "Maybe not Eoi" he answered. "But it's an awful good simulation."

"One of the Snow Mistress's better tricks" Eoi replied, floating towards a wall. "Main hatch is over here. I hear she's given Kelvorgian Commandoes heart attacks in here. She's a strange woman, for a peacenik."

B.J. walked towards Eoi. Unconsciously stepping over bodies as he did. It might be a fake, but the feel of a still warm body rolling under his boot was almost more than his stomach could stand.

Suddenly the entire scene faded away. A cold empty chamber of immense size replaced it. Eoi grinned as he floated away from a control panel.

"See? I told you it was a fake."

B.J. stopped as the massive door suddenly rolled aside, leaving him facing a small, barely dressed female.

"What?" she gasped. "Who-are-you-and-get-out-of-here-before-this-ship-blows" she continued in a rush.

Before B.J. could answer Eoi floated into her view and she stepped back. Her complexion faded markedly as she pressed herself against the corridor wall. She slid down the wall into a sitting position, one hand held up as if to ward off the tiny fluffball.

Eoi floated back to B.J. "Yep, that's good old Snowy" he quipped. "Scared to death of little old me."

B.J. quickly moved forward, motioning Eoi out of sight. Holding out one hand as he pulled off his hat with the other.

"Hello. I'm B.J. Bunny and we're here to rescue you." He said, a bit nervous. "Uh, You ARE Snowaters. Correct?"

Hardly glancing at B.J. Snowaters nodded. "Its a long story and we've less than twenty minutes before this ship ceases to exist" she answered. "Now both of you get out of here while you still can." She paused, looking up at the rabbit. "That is, if you still can."

"If we still can?" B.J. asked.

Standing slowly the woman triggered the doors control. It closed as Eoi eased out, keeping a constant distance from the frightened woman. "We're in a Quantum Egg" she answered. "Some people call it a Mobious Loop but it isn't. Kalith and I are stuck. Our quantum states were locked to the ship when we were trapped." She looked back at Eoi. "Maybe you two are luckier. I don't know but every second here increases your risk."

She took the rabbits hand and started walking. B.J. followed with Eoi slightly behind them. It turned out to be a short distance to the ships Bridge.

"What is a Quantum Egg" he asked as he studied the Bridge. An obvious mix of several technological designs.

"Bring up our data 'Lith" she ordered as she stepped up to the old Captains chair. Looking down into B.J.'s eyes she smiled. "I'll try to explain this before the sleeping pills hit me. Every race wonders how a universe is born." Screens filled with graphics lit up around them. "There's the Big Bang theory, Creationism, Steady State, all that rot. What really happens is a disturbance, or whorl occurs when a Black Hole" She pointed at a graphic. "Connects through inter-Reality space to another Black Hole. This Whorl quickly connects to several other Black Holes in other Universes. It has eddies and currents within it. These cause weakness's in the Eggs 'skin.' When a large enough, or energetic enough chunk of matter gets too close it gets collected. Once in the Egg it quickly breaks down into Quantum particles. Its a one way trip."

"What happens then" B.J. asked. Not that he couldn't see where she was heading, but he had noticed that as she talked the woman calmed. And calm was what he needed.

"Once energy builds up to a specific level the Egg breaks contact with everything but the Black Holes" she continued. "Its only dangerous during its first thousand or so years of life" she waved her hand at the main screens graphic. "Once enough energy is collected by the Egg it 'swallows' its Black Hole feeders and begins expanding. A new universe is born."

"I thought no one had guessed" Eoi commented.

B.J. looked back at Eoi. "You knew?"

Eoi blinked. "Hey. You can't be the Embodiment of Insanity and not know something" he replied.

“So where did the first Universe come from" he asked.

Eoi gave an innocent look and turned away.

Snowaters laughed, rubbing one hand through her hair. "Now that's where things get interesting" she answered. She covered a yawn as she leaned back in her chair. "I didn't find out" she replied. "But the oldest reality we ever found was only a hundred billion years or so old." She giggled "It'd been nice to know for sure."

B.J. rubbed his chin as he thought. "Is there a way out?" he asked.

"Sure" she half mumbled as the pills effect took hold. "But the Diamond doesn't has a thousandth trillionth of the energy required to fight a Black Holes gravity well." She shrugged "That's pre-supposing the ships structure could survive such a trip in the first place."

"What about magic" the rabbit asked.

<Magic has no effect on this ship. Nor on anything within shield limits.> Kalith answered. <This is due to the multiple trips across Universe boundaries. This ship. And all within it. Are in a constant state of Quantum drift.>

"Meaning" the rabbit mage asked.

"I think I understand" B.J. whispered. "Sort of like a blind man trying to capture a greased pig in a mud bath."

"A good example" Eoi chimed. "And unless you have an idea we better find a new place to play. This one isn't going to be here long."

B.J. looked at the now sleeping woman, then to Eoi. "I can't leave her here" he said. "I have an idea but its risky."

Eoi floated over to the delicate body, drifting down to settle on her stomach. "Haven't met the male that could let a pretty woman die." He settled into the warm hollow of her belly with a contented sigh. "At least. Not any good men. What do we do."