The Adventures of Professor Proton, Jr.: "The Proton Express..."

"The Adventures of Professor Proton, Jr: The Proton Express..." Part XLII...

"The Adventures of Professor Proton, Jr: The Proton Express..."

Summary: In my first longer Proton Jr tale, can Prof Proton Jr. aka mild-mannered Sheldon Cooper and Dr. Amy aka Amy F. Fowler save the world at Christmas...And can Proton Jr. keep that blond sob of an engineering genius Tom Swift, Jr. away from his girl?

Equally important...Should Cameragirl Penny allow this thing to appear on her acting credits or just accept that all hope of a professional career is gone and just enjoy while peddling her drugs?

Disclaimer: All is Chuck's...

Part XLII...

"Well, she's heading for the surface..." Bud eyeing Amy on video feed, then Swift as they stood in the Suburo compartment, now slowly taking on water despite their efforts to plug several small but steady leaks.

"Yeah, hopefully she should make it in an hour." Swift nodded. "Sorry about this, Bud." Indicating the rising water.

"Never a dull moment with you, ole pal." Bud grinned. "But lets keep blame where it belongs, Bwarry Wyckcliffe. Whom I hope to pay back in kind, soon." Nod.

"I just hope Bernadette and Proton are ok. But they've got Sermek to watch 'em and keep Arthur on his toes. Wish we could reach them, though."

"Lets hope alls well there and trust them to do their stuff. Bud, I think we've got two choices." Swift noted. "We try to get through to the suits in Arturo which are probably too damaged or...We try to release Suburo from the rest of the ship."

"With the weight on us, even if the manual release works..." Bud began.

"I have an idea. A risky one, and it'll depend on using just about all the battery power we've left." Hard stare.

Smile..."You know I like to live dangerously. And I agree, Arturo's a wreck and even if we could get through in the hydrolungs, the suits there are probably out of commission. What're the details on option number two?"

...

Aboard the alien vessel, Bernadette and Proton had reached an impasse with their hostess...

"You can't alter course even in an emergency?" Bernadette stared at the floating image.

"I'm sorry. I should be more...Specific. I/The ship can self-destruct if there is danger of a breech of containment or impact with Earth. I can self-destruct if an unapproved person or device attempts to enter and defense mechanisms do not contain them. However, I can't alter course at this point without my superiors' approval. And that would take several days to transmit and receive." Mary explained.

"Several days? That's remarkable..." Proton stared. "Is that some sort of subspace transmission?"

"The principle is similar but more comparable to use of warped particle transmissions via tachyons." Mary smiled.

"Fascinating..." Proton shook head.

"That's great, but we need to act now..." Bernadette insisted. "You allowed us to board. Isn't there anyway to do some sort of emergency landing protocol or course change that we could approve?"

"Your interface code allows access only, I'm sorry. A course change could only be done with authorized approval, I'm very sorry, Bernadette." The image offered a faint sigh. "But I can destroy myself once you and your companions evacuate, without danger to Earth, if you feel it's too dangerous for me to land at the set coordinates."

"That would be a terrible waste..." Proton shook head.

"I agree." Bernadette, pondering. "You have a system for landing, correct? Some sort of retro-rockets? Something?"