From: caz@owlnet.rice.edu (HWRNMNBSOL)
Subject: [Jackpot + Lopez] The Rustic Charm of Wormholes
Organization: Rice University
Date: Sat, 19 Dec 1992 02:28:25 GMT

One control cabin, three pilots, and a great big heap of trouble....

"Christ on a Crutch!  Jeri, lights on GravGRIP Two!"

"Shaddap!  Shaddap!  Hey, turn off that fucking siren!"

"We're shaking to pieces!"

"Crap -- OK!  GravGRIPS off!"

Sudden silence, barring the klaxxon.  Ojeda throws a boot at the speaker.
It shuts up.

"Way to go, Jeri."

"Yeah, good thinking.  Turn off the GRIP's.  Fall into the gravity well of
the sun.  Die a crispy death.  A fine example of crisis management."

"Shut up.  Look, we can get the boost we need by depressurizing the aft
cargo bays.  The blast will propel a bunch of stuff backwards and give us
enough velocity to break free.  Agreed?"  Another brief silence.

Psiokol breaks it.  "...Yeah, that might work....."

"....suppose so...."

"Alright.  Ojeda, check on aft gates two through four?"

"Lights off."

"Psiokol?"

"Explosive bolts away."  There is a tremendous jerk as the _Supernova_ 
leaps forward.  A smallish cloud of cargo can be seen fanning out behind
the 'lifter.  

ALL CLEAR, says the panel.

Psiokol looks at the aft viewscreens and watches the material flying off
into space.  "Hey, Jeri?"

"What?"

"What were we carrying this run, anyway?"

"Who cares?  Just some bunch of crap, most likely.  Damned Company -- never
know WHAT you're gonna be hauling...."

****************************************************************************

*KRATCHT*

"Jackpot?"

*SHHKKT* 

"Yeah, Lopez?"

*KRATCHT*

"Where the hell are we?"

*SHHKKT*

"Dunno.  Someplace without lighting.  Good thing our comm's are charged."

*KRATCHT*

"I can feel metal all around me.  Some kind of metal coffin?...."

*SHHKKT*

"Hey, I got it!  We're still in the sleeper units!"

*KRATCHT*

"I think you're right!  But how come we're awake?"

*SHHKKT*

"Power outage.  Hey, think the unit's exploded yet?"

*KRATCHT* 

"Heh.  We'll know when it happens, believe me."

[pause]

*KRATCHT* 

"Boss?"

*SHHKKT*

"Yeah, Lopez?"

*KRATCHT*

"I don't wanna die."

*SHHKKT*

"Me either."

[pause]

(In unison) " LEMME OUT!! LEMME OUT!! " (thump-thump-thump-thump....)

****************************************************************************

The peculiar white rectangle turns end over end in space.  Occasionally it
bumps into another piece of debris, making a low thunking sound.  It bears
the familiar scrape-marks of an object that has been dragged through the hull
of a decompressed ship.  The sleeper unit tumbles its way serenely through
the small cloud of cargo; the hammering from the inside cannot be heard in
the vacuum of naked space.

The cloud is starting to lose its original shape -- some outside influence is perturbing its structure.  Ah, there's the culprit: a pinprick of light
where no stars should be, a thin veil of dust shrouding its exact form.  An
intersticial time-space anomaly.  Very common in this region of space; almost
ridiculously so in this system.

The jetsom cloud sweeps into the sphere of influence of the wormhole.  Its
gravity, immense for an object its size, drags the entirety of the cloud
into a vortex that begins to swiftly drain, toilet-bowl-style, down into
its singularity.  With a whirl and an inaudible 'SLUUUUURP', the sleeper unit
whisks away through a crack in the walls of reality....

*****************************************************************************

*SHHKKT*

"Lopez?"

CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE

"Hey, quit foolin' around, ya little weasel...."

*****************************************************************************

*KRATCHT*

"Jackpot?  What was that?  I felt funny all of a sudden!"

CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE

"Oh, Jeez -- please don't be dead, boss!  ANSWER ME!!"

****************************************************************************

Sorry, boys ... radio waves only exist in *real* space......

-- 
HWRNMNBSOL