Read Zero World for Free Online Page B

thought-accessible only. Say ‘begin’ to continue.”
    “Begin,” he said.
    Thought-access lock begins.
    We could not tell you of the nature of this mission until now because there had to be zero risk that you might transmit any of what I’m about to tell you back home.
    While you’ve been out there we’ve been very busy here, Peter. Busy reviewing the logs from the
Venturi
, busy studying the onboard video and audio the station captured before her destruction.
    This message had to be prerecorded because I now have no way to contact you, nor you me. You’ve traveled, Peter. Entered something and come out the other side. We’re not quite sure what that something is. Be assured another ship is being prepped to investigate but that will take time. Time we cannot afford.
    You were close and had transportation, so we decided to send you…through.
    I’m rambling.
    She took a deep breath, then fixed her gaze on the camera. On him, her agent.
    You may have heard the ESA was conducting secret weapons experiments out there. That is true, but they found something else, as well. Twelve years ago the
Venturi
discovered, for lack of a better term, a wormhole. Be it to another place or time or…dimension or whatever, we’re not quite sure. Nobody is, and the ESA isn’t talking or truly doesn’t know. That’s not important.
    The important thing is the crew of the
Venturi
went through. The whole ship experienced what you likely are now. A transition. Everything has probably faded to black, if their reports are accurate.
    Make no mistake, Peter, you’re traveling somewhere.
    What you’ll find there is something Alice Vale decided was worth the murder of her entire crew. She sabotaged that ship, Peter, and then she went back.
    She went back, it would seem, to play God.
    Outside the stars began to return. They were in different places now.

THE LANDER FLOATED , still and silent, above an unknown star.
    Gradually the flashing errors and alarms on his myriad of screens returned to a stable, if somewhat abnormal, state. With nothing else to go on, the algorithms that guided his ship had apparently given up on finding the familiar and decided to lock on to this massive sphere of fusion for the simple fact that it was there.
    The computer even gave the star a name: Unknown M-Class.
    This did not help his frayed nerves.
    Caswell did the only thing he could do and just sat there. A full-gamut frequency scan appeared on the main screen, searching for anything familiar. Nothing turned up. Another sweep began, specifically for the transponder from Alice Vale’s landing craft. It concludedwith no matches. The scan repeated and would continue to do so. He relegated it to a secondary display, idly wondering if Alice had fled the
Venturi
only to plunge into the star on this side.
    He realized suddenly that Monique’s recorded instructions had paused when the instruments went haywire. He tapped the screen and playback resumed.
    This is without a doubt the greatest discovery in the history of mankind, and Alice Vale may well have ruined it. Not just with her knowledge of the ESA’s weapons experiments, though that is our primary concern.
    We’ve cobbled together some data from the
Venturi
to help guide your ship. Unless our friends in Sci messed things up, you should start moving any moment now.
    On cue the craft’s thrusters blipped and coughed, sending him into a harsh rotation on multiple axes. His stomach lurched. He suddenly became aware of a mild headache that, like a purple cloud on the horizon, threatened to become something much worse very soon. While Monique continued her explanation he set about finding medication and a meal.
    A course has been set for the second planet in this system. As you may have already noticed, the planet orbits its star at roughly 1AU, same as Earth, and the similarities don’t end there.
    Caswell felt silly. Overwhelmed and silly. He hadn’t noticed any of this. In fact he could barely form a