The Voyages of the Penelope and the Yydryl

Yydryl was laughing at him. Not literally of course, but in its own special way.

It seems that the two beings hadn't taken to him very well. Asher supposed he should have expected that. They didn't know who or what he was and Studious was in all likelihood being a royal pain, further tarnishing their view of outsiders.

The large guardian being had ripped the bio-projector from the ground, canceling the projected image of himself instantly.

Of course, Yydryl found the predicament hilarious.

Asher gave the mental version of a long sigh before asking Yydryl to further help him out. The Ship complied instantly. Apparently Asher's presence was a great source of entertainment. Asher had to admit to himself that it was somewhat funny. If the two beings understood the reality of himself or Ship, they wouldn't see him as a threat at all.

Yydryl wouldn't facilitate him if he was.

The great Ship showed him images of the two beings cruising down hallways at speed, evidently after Studious. At his request, Yydryl budded a multitude of bio-speakers down the hallways that the beings were running. Ship was somewhat anxious to see what would happen next.

"I think we got off on the wrong foot."

The beings stopped running to stare at the walls in shock. An oddly colored shape on the floor stopped moving as well. Asher was intrigued but decided that now wasn't the time for random questions.

"Allow me to explain. Yydryl is facilitating this conversation just as it facilitated the last. I doubt I could 'hack' the Ship if I tried. In a way, it's quite similar to myself. You couldn't lock Ship's mind in your Swamp any more than you could lock in mine. It just doesn't work that way.

"Think about the situation for a moment. Would ship bud off speakers down this hallway for me if I was an uninvited guest?

"I'm merely here to locate Studious and determine his status. I would like to inform him that I am not his enemy. In fact, the concept of 'enemy' holds very little meaning to me anymore. I have other questions for later as well, but if you are uncomfortable, I can do without.

"I apologize for startling you. It slipped my mind that I can be somewhat disconcerting."

Cim following Carpets path and Silo and Chumley down the corridor, suddenly they hear the disembodied voice of the hologram. Cim stops.

“Ok, fair enough, maybe you can help him? Follow Silo and the Carpet.
I am going back to the bar. I want to be briefed on what the frack is going on here when you are all done. That means you too hologram. I will be in the bar drinking. Lots of drinking. Oh and the whales are gone.”

At that, Cim returns to The Swamp.
“Harvey Green Iguana!”



[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/13dd3614e2fb.jpg[/atsimg]


[edit on 26-8-2009 by cindymars]

Waking up I'm briefly disorentied, then I remember where I am, Tickette is asleep on my chest, there is a bandage around my head and I can feel the constriction of a bandage on my leg.

A med tech arrives, no doubt alerted by the sensor bed to my wakeful status. No snappy salute, that's a plus!

"I hope you are comfortable Sir," he says with the easy air of a professional, "Your head wound was not too serious although we topped you up with 3 units of blood, your leg required surgery, the flash burn was third degree in places, we have used synthetic graft and your natural skin will replace it in around three weeks without scar tissue." he reaches over and scratches Tickette behind her ear.

"Your friend here was a bit of a problem, when we tried to remove her she went from cute to ferocious, very protective, we gave her a a small dose of sedative and put her on your old clothes while you were under, she should be waking up very soon, Ensign Roberts has been asigned as your Adjutant and is waiting for me to finish before bombarding you with ships orders, as your med-tech I order you to first go to the Officers Galley and eat, there is a wheel chair here and I advise you to use it for the first 3 days. If you have any problems please don't hesitate to see us here." his all purpose pen bleeped and with a wave he was off to the next patient.

True to his word as soon as he left young Ensign Roberts was by the bedside complete with a snappy salute, "Ensign Roberts reporting as your Adjutant, Chief Warrent Officer Regimental Sergeant Major Prof-Rabbit, Sir!"

"Well son, that is one long title, I see you have been studying your protocol, lets just keep it to sir and drop the saluting please" I said with a smile.

"yes sir!" he still looks like someone glued him to a 4x2 hardwood post. "I have your personal ships datapad for you, all of your personal effects have been moved from your previous quarters to your new quarters, I have a fresh uniform here for you and the previous contents of your clothing Sir."

As I get out of bed Tickette wakes up and gives me a quizzical look, "Ok Tic, on the bed while I get dressed" Tickette climbs off my chest and sits on the pillow. Dressed and pocketing my things Ensign Roberts is ready with the chair.

"Forward Ensign to the mess per the doctors orders, Tic we are off!" Tickette leaps to my shoulder as the Ensign wheels the chair around as we head out the door.

Checking the data pad I see the top one is from the Captain and explains the ships lack of a Chief Engineer and a fair proportion of the engineering staff, not a good start, first stop the Mess, the food is reasonable fare for a starship but the coffee is horrible, Tickette is trying the vegetables off my plate and is not happy, I order some fruit which has Tickette chirping happily.

Next we head for the engineering section and I query the main computer for anyone with engineering qualifications including "rescuees" and am rewarded with a list of two dozen possibles.

"Ensign, have someone go to the space station's control room and retrieve the coffee machine they will find on the rear wall and have it installed in the ships control room and I would like this list of people in my office in 30 mins please"

I hand him my datapad and the Ensign swipes his reader across my screen.

"Yes sir!"


[edit on 27-8-2009 by prof-rabbit]

‘Chumley I don’t get it - I just don’t!’ I whispered to Chumley who shook his head and kept running beside me.

‘I mean, if Ship let this ‘thing’ in, then why does he need you and me to take him to Studious?’ Jogging to keep up with the path Carpet was laying for us, still the putrid green, I waited for Ship to answer, for the hologram-gone-audio thing to answer, but neither did, and neither did Chumley.

‘And why didn’t Cim come with us? I mean, do you think she knows something we don’t? I mean, maybe she’s taking evasive actions, right?’
Looking hopefully for any sign of encouragement from Chumley I was disappointed when I didn’t get any.
‘No way. No. Not the CindyMars I know. She’s up to something Chumley, you can just bet your size 86 boots on it. And she’s not the only one!’

Nearly swallowing my breath tying to speak as quietly as possible I began to lay out a plan to the guard as we jogged forward.

‘Ok, here’s what we do. I’m going to go for Studious. We...we need to figure out a way to get this thing to follow you.’

Without breaking his stride, his great legs pounding up and down, his head rolling with every stretch of his limbs I barely caught his faint nod, but, I caught it. He’d heard me.

Nearing a fork in the corridor I wondered if Carpet had heard us.

He had.

The leaping lizard color continued far in front of us to the right, a paler shade of gray branching off to the left.

Another whisper below my breath, another nod and Chumley was ready.

‘Ok Chumley, you and well, whoever you are, you two go on and find the U-Man Studious.‘ I called out, my voice loud, and trying to sound girly. ‘I um, well, I have to use, the hygienic room.’ I finished badly almost slapping myself in the head at such originality.

Breaking to the left to ready myself for the opposite path I called Chumley, my voice cracking.

‘You just go on ahead there Chumley, I’ll catch up to you two as soon as I’m through.’ I yelled and watched Chumley grimace.

‘Oh hell, if I sounded stupid to Chumley I’m really in trouble....’ I thought but none the less I broke off to the gray path and slowed to a stop only after I was sure I wasn’t being followed. As lame as it had been, it seemed the plan worked.

Knowing Carpet would take them in the opposite direction of Studious I kept going until could make out two g-gaurds sputtering to themselves while hovering over a shape in the distance.

It was the U-Man.

‘You two out of here! Now! Go get Leisure Officer Cim and tell her I’m in my cabin. GO!‘ I screamed at the guards who made their way off at top speed.

Falling to my knees winded and afraid I hunched over the fallen U-Man gently rolling him onto his back.

His wound was like nothing I’d ever seen before in my life.

‘Studious...?’ I called his name with little hope. Oh Creator, he was dead. He wasn’t breathing and there was no way his crew would have left him if he was still alive. Not for the first time I wondered where Antar the Healer was.

Speaking directly into his ear I spoke to the U-Man.

‘Ok Studious, you probably can’t hear me, I mean you’re probably dead, but, you’ve got someone, something after you. I’ve got to get you outta here, now!’

Reaching for the wooden cane laying beside the fallen man I jumped in fear when his hand grabbed my wrist.

My heart beat faster, my breath hitched and my eyes began to water. He wasn't dead!

Prying his fingers open I shoved the cane where my wrist had been, he grasped his cane in my stead and seemed to relax again.

Crouching low I pulled the U-Man up as far as I could, slid myself under his body and stood, talking his weight on my legs, pulling him onto my back while praying I wasn’t breaking his insides in the process.

No groan of pain from the U-Man and he didn’t let go of the cane.

I took that as a good sign.

Where was I going?
To my quarters where we'd be safe.

Ship had made my new quarters impervious.
Not even Carpet or Ship could get in without permission.

To my quarters and to my P.H.A.R.S.

If the Personal Healing machine worked for me it could work for anyone.

I hoped.


[edit on 27-8-2009 by silo13]

In The Swamp the bar droid Harvey appeared to be malfunctioning as he was hydraulically going up and down, spinning and moving in circles.

“Zezbut, zezbut, zezbut” Harvey kept repeating. “I have harmed Cindymars,
I will be put on discharge chute duty, my days as a bar droid are over, over I tell you, Fracking Zezbut!” No one was around to hear Harvey except for Cim who was half lying on a table speaking incoherently to no one as well.

“Time is structured, layered out like space, there are probabilities…” she phases out of sight and then back, out again and then returns. “which means there are various different time vectors….” once again she phases out and back again.

She sits bolt upright “Harvey do you see those green iguana’s flying around?”

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/3f3ea4861d9c.jpg[/atsimg]

“No Officer Mars, you have had enough to drink, how about some hot brown caffeine.”
replies Harvey.

“Nooooo I mean there.” she points with a limp arm gesture to the space in front of her.
“Real green iguana’s they are lizards, oh not like the Drac’s, NOW thats a LIZARD!” she says loudly and a bit slurred.

Again she phases in and out of the current time space coordinate.

“Frack, frack, fracking zezbut!” says Harvey



[edit on 28-8-2009 by cindymars]

The old man felt better gripping his cane. He felt as if the cane was his life and holding on to it gave him comfort.

As they walked further he could tell the alien carrying him was struggling under his weight. He tried to move to hold himself up, but didn't have the strength to move very much at all.

She carried him further and he passed out.

When he awoke he looked around realizing they were entering a lilac colored room of some kind. As the alien set his feet into some kind of couch pod he saw a vision of a star fighter on a large screen. He then slid into the pod wondering what type of fate awaited him.

Before the old man could think about it further he passed out again...

[edit on 27-8-2009 by Studious]

Half crawling half standing under the weight of the U-Man I gasped for breath and tried not to panic.
His body had grown so heavy I was terrified I'd drop him and have to leave him lay where he fell.
Pulling myself forward slowly I thought about calling a droid for help, and nixed that idea.
I wanted Studious in my chambers and the door sealed behind us now, not later, and with nothing, not even a droid intervening!
With a final push and a rush of adrenaline his body seemed to lighten and I was able to make it to my room and the PHARS.

After wrestling the U-Man into the healing machine, cane and all, I called the intercom to the droid station and ordered two G-guards placed outside my door.
Paranoid, maybe, no one could enter my quarters without permission, not even Ship or Carpet, but, the G-guards made me feel better.

Now it was time to sit back and wait. Wait to see if Studious would heal. Or not.

Reaching for a carafe of wine and a plate of food a working droid had left on my bedside table I drew the goblet to my mouth, and stopped.

Wait.

I’d not ordered any refreshments. How did the food and wine get into my sealed room?

With the hairs on the back of my neck rising to prickle up and down my spine I turned my antenna from side to side examining my quarters for anything unusual.

Taking the plate, carafe and goblet to the evacuator I dumped it all down the shoot and resealed the door panel. I hated to think of all that food and drink going to waste and ending up in the garbage processor bay, but I wasn’t taking any chances.

A long stride to the door of my quarters I spoke to the G-Guards stationed outside through the intercom system.

‘Droids. Scan the halls. Notify me when it’s safe to exit my chamber.’ Clicking the intercom off I waited.

A few minutes later the droid responded, I opened the door, stepped into the hall and crouched down as if to tighten my boot straps.

As quietly as possible I spoke out the corner of my mouth. ‘Carpet, I think I’m in trouble. Go get Cindy Mars, please. Ask her to bring some teleport tabs. Get her and Chumley back here to my quarters as soon as possible.’

Straightening up I glance over the corridor as nonchalantly as possible.

Nothing, I could see nothing.

After instructing the droids to send a working droid to me with a mountain of food and drink I slipped back thought the door to my room, the hairs along my forearms rising again like a cool breeze ran across my skin.

Something was watching me, I was sure of it.

What ‘it’ was, I hadn’t a clue.



[edit on 28-8-2009 by silo13]

I was amazed with what was happening on board both the Penelope and the Yydryl. One person, able to seemingly simultaneously exist on both ships. However, it appears there was a slight consequence that was looked over even by him.

"Toodles to science lab. Run a diagnostic on the core processors. I am showing an odd quantum feedback".

How I even recognized it was amazing. Quantum feedback has never happened. My external sensors were the first to be affected by it. I was getting all sorts of strange readings. Random information and sensor blips. A wormhole directly in front of us with the power of a super blackhole...that was impossible because the ship was not even moving.

"Science lab to Toodles, we have identified there is a small information stream coming from somewhere unknown. This is impossible, I can offer no explanation".

"Thank you Lieutenant, I might be able to offer an explanation. Let me get back to you on it though".

I ran an internal diagnostic on the piece that seeker left behind for us. It definitely still had an active link to the 5th dimension. Translated in the matrix as 00000000 in binary code...which is impossible in itself. Seems Seeker had to keep an active link between him and his piece, and it was routing through the 5th dimension.

"Toodles to engineering. We have a major problem. There is a quantum feedback in our core processors. We need as many people as you can spare, to solve the problem. Me and my men are already working on it, but this has to be solved before we fry the logical processors on board".

Entering main engineering I see a flurry of activity as junior engineering staff are trying to maintain ships systems, without a First Assistant Engineer, people are getting in each others way, it's time to get some order in the house,

"Officer on deck!" shouts a tall red head second assistant, and everyone jumps to attention.

"As of this moment saluting in the control room is banned!" I bark "I can be addressed as Sir or Chief Engineer, now someone better bring me up to speed as to why there is chaos in my Control Room!"

The red head speaks up, "Sir, we have problems with distribution and power fluctuations on three decks, starboard hanger bay is reporting a coupling failure and their launch rail is off line Sir!"

Wheeling to the main console I motion the second assistant there to vacate the console, he looks as if a weight has been lifted from his young shoulders, I bring up the schematics on the display, the hanger bay coupling is fried, sending two assistants to replace the coupling, I check distribution, load sharing is off, I type in an algorithm written by my professor so many years ago and modified over time, power displays drop from red to yellow then to green, load sharing is equalizing the couplings. I bring up the launch bay and reboot the rails, they go from red to green.

Keying the intercom for the starboard hanger bay I announce. " Starboard hanger bay this is the Chief Engineer, your launch rails are green!"

Turning back to the group behind me I give them a withering look. "Anyone creating chaos in my control room will find themselves replacing shower heads and repairing toilets, is that clear!"

"Yes Sir!" they chime in unison.

"Second engineers will pair up with third engineers for all duties, you will work as teams always, there are six overheated couplings that now need replacing, I want them done in 15 minutes! "

Turning the the Ensign I say "Mr Roberts where are those people I asked for?"

Ensign Roberts grabs the chair "Right this way Sir!"

Wheeled into the ready room there are a group of people waiting, I look at the list.

"Ensign there are only 23 people here, where is number 24?"

"In labor Sir" he replies.

"Well that is a valid excuse, we will do with what we have", I tap the datapad and get a list in order of rank and experience.

"Ms Craig I am assigning you as my 2IC" I look at all of them, "You are all seconded to this ship for the duration of the current emergency, I realize some of you are civilian but I hope all of us can work together, for those of you who are unfamiliar, we run on interstellar ships time. There are 100 seconds to a minute, 100 minutes to an hour and 20 hours in each day, you will need to work 10 hours on and 10 hours off" Looking over this group of mixed engineers I ask, "Are there any questions?" for the next 10 minutes I field what questions I can.

My datapad turns red and chimes "Emergency, emergency"

"Toodles to engineering. We have a major problem. There is a quantum feedback in our core processors. We need as many people as you can spare, to solve the problem. Me and my men are already working on it, but this has to be solved before we fry the logical processors on board".

"Cliff, Ames, Benson, see Mr Toodles in main computing, do what you can, Ms Craig your with me, all engineers to their stations, Ensign Roberts, control room now!"

We wheel around and a few moments are back in the control room in front of the main console, bringing up the quantum display I exclaim, "Crikey! we have a null address in the quantum stream, I want three engineering teams here now!" I yell.

Keying the link to spares I put in a -request- "Spares, I want two main power cables and three data link cables to the main hanger bay five minutes ago!"

Turning to the assembled engineering teams I bark orders "I want you all to get to the main hanger bay, there you will find the remains of the space station's control room. First team connect the power cables to panels 1 and 7 and route them to main power in the hanger, Second team route the data cables to terminals 1, 3 and 5, connect them to main data lines in the hanger, Third team replace all the fused relays in distribution panel 1. I want it done in three minutes!"

"Tickette!" my orange "scarfe" is alert in an instant, "Go home, get my com-link, hurry" I tap my left shoulder, Tickette nods and leaps off my shoulder becoming a russett orange blur, leaping from wall to wall she takes the shortest route to the hanger, five levels up she arrows into free air extending her legs and arms the skin between becomes sail like as she glides at high speed towards our former quarters, describing a neat loop to wash off speed Tickette streaks into the old control room as the startled personel work feverishly, retrieving my com-link from the cradle Tickette is again a blur as she heads back.

The first team reports power coupling complete, one minute later teams two and three report work complete, from the console I power up part of the old control room, Tickette streaks in and hands me the com-link, a slightly curved silver panel no larger than a finger with a touch surface in the center. Touching the com-link I ask "Sheila, online?" nothing, sending a 4 milli second surge on the power line I ask again, "Sheila, online",

"Yes, Professor" says a disembodied voice.

"Sheila, access ships logs for the last 40 hours" I wait.

" Accessing, - accomplished" says the voice

"Sheila, we have a quantum address of null on ship creating an infinite loop, processors are overloading, I propose sending an inverse phase quantum pulse through the ship, concur?" I ask.

"Proposal has risk, approximate 30% complete cascade failure, alternatives are unknown at this time" Sheila says.

"Sheila I want you to monitor the pulse, shield you core and adjust the phase shift to precisely 180 degrees, comply?" I ask.

"Yes Professor, ready"

My 2IC has her mouth half open so I explain, "Sheila is a positronic matrix AI and has no need for quantum processing, "she" is the only one fast enough to adjust the phase with precision"

"Ms Craig, shields to maximum, set the quantum emitters to an 8 Millisecond second pulse, without shield sync." I turn to my left "Mr Gray, ship-wide comms, override all channels" I send a voice message to Mr. Toodles via datapad, " Toodles, I am sending a reverse phase quantum pulse through the ship, reboot time approx. 2 mins" to the ship comms I announce

"All hands, all stations, this is the Chief engineer, prepare for a quantum pulse, stand clear of the hull and ships systems, failure to comply will render you unconscious for several hours, quantum pulse in two minutes" I key off the comms. "Everyone ready?"




[edit on 29-8-2009 by prof-rabbit]

Studious opened his dreary eyes and tried to look at his injured chest. Sitting up he hit his head on the top of the pod and he laid back down.

Soon however he realized he could hear outside the pod and heard someone speaking.

‘Droids. Scan the halls. Notify me when it’s safe to exit my chamber.’

The old man felt some comfort being able to at least hear what was going on. But he also could feel something else. It was the odd feeling of being watched.

He had the terrifying feeling that whatever was watching him wasn't whoever was speaking. But stuck in the pod he couldn’t see what was watching him he could only listen…


[edit on 29-8-2009 by Studious]

The U-Man began stirring inside the PHARS and a lot sooner than I’d expected.

I took that as a good sign.

Opening the hatch I wasn’t surprised when first out came the cane followed by the old man.

“Oh good. You’re all better.’

The U-Man looked refreshed, his color back both indicating he was more than ready to be escorted to his new quarters.

Calling the guard droids from the hall I asked them to please show the U-Man out of my cabin and to his own apartment and to reroute the food and drink I’d ordered for the injured Studious to accompany him.

I’d get something to eat in the bar when I went to check on CindyMars.

"60 seconds to quantum pulse, Mr Gray clear the comms panel, Ms Craig clear station two", I key the shipwide communications "med bay you will be without power for two minutes during the reboot, all stations 50 seconds to quantum pulse." I intone

I touch the com-link again "Sheila, data monitoring engaged, take the pulse controls at minus 10 seconds and give us a countdown please"

I send Mr Toodles a personal note via the datapad "Mr Toodles, I hope we have some spare processors, we are likely to need a few as the currently stressed processors will likely go down faster than a cold beer in Darwin"

I clear the main console just as Sheila's broad Australian accent begins "quantum pulse in 10 .. 9 .. 8 .. 7 .. 6 .. 5 .. 4 .. 3 .. 2 .. 1 engaged"

For 8 milliseconds there is a blinding ice blue flash as the emitters discharge and the quantum pulse hits the shields, a flash momentarily brighter than the sun, without sync the shields hold and the pulse wave reverses phase flooding the ship, ever have that "shiver down your spine"? the quantum pulse is like a chill from the arctic circle. The entire ship powers down and becomes eerily silent, emergency lighting powered by gell packs comes on, creating a gloom that appears almost darker.

Two minutes to reboot, unprotected, blind and powerless, Penelope floats completely inert, I can almost feel the entire crew counting backwards from 200 waiting for the first sign of life from the ship, eventually the very first sign is the ever so slight vibration of the thermodyne generators coming on line, followed by the ships lighting and systems, engineering consoles light up and displays brighten.

I touch the com-link "Sheila, report please"

Sheila is ready "Quantum pulse within desired parameters to eleven decimal places, quantum stream stable, all quantum address lines are verified, null stream address no longer present, damage minimal Professor"

"Thank you Sheila, please analyze a less risky method of solving the problem in the future, I will leave you on line, please de-link from the ships system" I key the com-link off.

I key communications for engineering, "All engineering crews, damage assessment, crews one through four report to Mr Toodles for assignment to replace processors"

I grab my datapad "Mr Toodles the quantum pulse was successful, all systems are online, I am sending four crews to assist you."

Bringing up the bridge comms I report "All systems online, minimal damage, repairs are underway, backup processors 100% operational."

I turn to my 2IC "Well Ms Craig, lunch?"

Luder opened a channel to the engine room.

"Good work down there, Professor Rabbit. Looks like you may have just earned your keep here. I need the engines spun up. We're going to be moving out very shortly."

Theresa checked some reports from the rescue crew.

"Captain, we have just received another 164 survivors from the surface of Earth. The ship is ready to move at your command."

Luder walked over to Mr. Toodles.

"Get us a coordinate lock on the Yydryl, if possible and feed the coordinates to the helm. Once you've done that, make for the Yydryl, best possible speed."

Luder opened a channel to the engine room.

"Good work down there, Professor Rabbit. Looks like you may have just earned your keep here. I need the engines spun up. We're going to be moving out very shortly."

I look at my 2IC "Looks like a raincheck is in order Ms Craig," I smile in her direction "Main engines on line, spin up the worm hole drives" bringing up the engineering comms I bark "all engineering crew, make ready to get under way"

I open bridge comms "Thank you Captain Luder, all systems are green, engines are ready, worm hole drive is on line."

Originally posted by mf_luder

Luder walked over to Mr. Toodles.

"Get us a coordinate lock on the Yydryl, if possible and feed the coordinates to the helm. Once you've done that, make for the Yydryl, best possible speed."

"Captain. I have found the Yydryl. They are in orbit around Rigel 2. I am forwarding the coordinates to the helm".

"Toodles to the science lab. I want all personell who has at least 2 years of study in computer mechanics to report to the central processing room. Team up with Profrabbits engineering teams and repair the damaged sections".

The enemy ships were moving ever closer to the Penelope. We had approximately 15 hours until intercept. I could find nothing useful in the debris field and began to wonder if we would ever leave this wasteland. There was nothing left for us here.

I hope seeker is doing well on the Yydryl. Can't get a comm signal to them at the moment and he is our only link.

"Luder, the wormhole drive is at full power. Ready to open a path to wherever. I have sent the coordinates of the Yydryl to the helm. We are prepared to depart when you are. All qualified personell from both engineering and the science lab are getting CPU repairs underway".

[edit on 1-9-2009 by Mr. Toodles]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/acfd47bb2f68.jpg[/atsimg]

From the bottom of the ocean she is attempting to break the surface. Cim feels for sure she will drown in this watery grave, she sees the great whales pass by in the distance.
“Why won’t they help me?”, she wonders. Cim kicks hard and stretches her arms trying to reach the surface. Finally she breaks through and gasp for breath. Suddenly she is not in the sea but in the Recovery Bay on the Yydryl in the healing waterfall.

She sees Silo standing there. “Were you trying to kill me or heal me? Why am I here?
Cim ask Silo.

“Cim! I was worried, I found you in the bar going in and out of phase, I didn’t know what to do, so I slapped you hard a couple of times, that grounded you, I guess, because you stopped. Then I thought to bring you here just to refresh you, Harvey told me about your consumption of Lizards and Iguanas. Were you trying to harm yourself? What were you thinking? Silo seamed a bit agitated.

“Nobody's perfect.” She says, “Let’s get out of here.”
On their way out Cim notices blood on the floor, “Is that my blood? Am I bleeding?” she is checking her head and body for an injury.

“No, it’s Antar’s and she is missing.” says Silo

“WHAT!? Your just messing with me now.” accuses Cim

“No I found it when I returned to SHIP and Chumley verified it.”

“You know Silo, investigation is just not what I do, I am an observer.
I hope that she is alive and that she is found in good health, and I am damn curious to know what in fracks name is going on here?”

“Me too!” answers Silo

“So while at the cabin, I got Milli a new cat, his name is Sasquatch and they got along real well. We had a little campout with the Rootak and they gave me a dream brew. In the dream I saw the whales and felt strongly that I needed to come back here to speak with Saraswati. He requested that I return him to Atlantis, so I did. So, the whales are gone.”

Silo stops their progression down the corridor, “Really? Wow! Why?

“He didn’t say, he knew who I was, and that I had the ability to send them back in time
and he said that he might need to contact me again. I really didn’t feel the need to question him. I am pretty certain that we will see him again.



[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/50dd5486e45c.jpg[/atsimg]





[edit on 1-9-2009 by cindymars]

"Ensign Roberts!" I call out knowing he is nearby somewhere, a moment later he appears.

"Yes Sir!" said the Ensign.

"Find me the Lieutenant from the flight deck that helped free Tickette, medium build, auburn hair, South American, bossy type, good upper deck"

"Yes, Sir" and he was off like a shot.

Touching the com-link I call out "Shelia, on line please"

"Yes Professor" says Sheila.

"Sheila, do we have enough supplies for the shield modifications we were working on to outfit the Penelope?" I ask

"Yes Professor, storage and the machine shop are undamaged, your personal hanger was depressurized but otherwise is intact." replies Sheila.

Ensign Roberts arrives with the Lieutenant in tow.

I get the snappy salute "Lieutenant O'Grady reporting Sir!"

"Lieutenant, saluting in this control room is banned!, at ease, please." the Lieutenant still looks like a goal post. "Lieutenant, you seem to have command and respect of your crews on the hanger deck, I would like to borrow two groups of six people proficient at modifying weapons and not afraid to think laterally, can you think of twelve people up to the task?" I ask.

"Yes, sir, all of my people are highly capable, but there are at least twelve excellent people I can loan you Sir!" there is a hint of curiosity in her eyes.

"good Lieutenant, I would like you to meet Sheila," I smile knowing what's coming, touching the com-link I get an immediate response

"Yes Professor" comes from nowhere. The Lieutenant is almost caught off-guard.

"Sheila, voice print Lieutenant O'Grady, you will need to direct her to the stores required for the parts and bring up the weapons blueprints in 3D on the hologram emitters in here please" a 3d hologram floats in the middle of the control room.

"Now Lieutenant, I would like you and your people to make two rail guns according to the plans here, you will find the machine shop on the second deck below what was the station control room, you can pare down the stations remains for materials but leave control center and my personal hanger intact, Sheila is a positronic AI and will be able to assist you with the details, all you need do is ask her a question, Sheila has control of a number of useful tools in the machine shop and will speed the manufacture greatly." The Lieutenant is intrigued.

"Yes, Sir!" the ever present automatic salute and the Lieutenant is off to gather her people.

"Ensign Roberts, a sign if you please above the door, (- Please leave your saluting hand in the recepticle provided -) lateral messages have more impact Ensign"

"Yes Sir!" he says grinning.

I key the comms for Engineering, "All groups report to the control room immediately"

In moments the control room has a dozen more people milling around.

"Attention everyone!" two thirds are at attention, the civilians are attentive, "In the stores area of what remains of the station adjacent to the workshop you will find a bank of 48 shield emitters, they are designated with red and green bands, you will retrofit the Penelope's shield emitters using those emitters in sequence, first two groups forward, next two mid section last two aft. all clear?"

"Yes sir!" the reply is almost in unison, just as quickly the control room is vacant.

I find the ships data pad and compose a message for Captain Luder "Captain, I have taken the liberty of refitting the Penelope's shields with a design I created for the station that were awaiting installation, the new shields do not rely on the ships energy reserves for integrity, instead they channel the energy fired at the Penelope for themselves, ie. the more energy expended by the enemy the stronger the shields become, however we cannot use energy weapons ourselves for the same reason.

Inert projectiles however are not so constrained, to this end I have teams working on two new rail guns, they fire copper disks one metre in diameter, these disks and the rail guns are inside a Bergenholm inertia damping field, the disks are fired using alternating pulsed lasers, the disks exit the rail gun and damping field at approximately 60% of light speed, I estimate you could make a 15th century Chinese puzzle box out of a medium sized moon. Each rail gun has a recharge time of 2.5 seconds.

Given the damage done to the station and surrounding ships I believe we needed something to fight back with.

Prof-Rabbit
End

[edit on 2-9-2009 by prof-rabbit]

‘Double edge sword’ I grumbled under my breath as Cim and I made our way out of the Recovery Bay.

‘What’s that?’ Cim asked sounding much better than when we’d arrived at the RB.

‘You said the Whales are gone. So, it’s a double edged sword. I was looking forward to learning to talk to them, you know, get to know them, but, now they’re gone and I’m glad I can use the tanks and the water lines for Ship’s Center.’

‘So that’s the double edged sword, now I gotch’a.’ Cim chuckled as we move forward.

Continuing our way down the corridor Cim broke in on my jumbled thoughts.

‘Where we going?’

‘To check on Studious. I feel kind of bad I kicked him out of my quarters so quickly but...’

‘What do you mean you kicked him out. He used your PHARS didn‘t he?’

‘Yeah, and it worked better than we could have hoped. He used it, got better right off so I sent him with a guard droid to a room.’

‘You mean you just let him use it and then pushed him out the door?‘ Cim asked and I nodded an affirmative.

‘And you did this why?’ Cim responded and would have stopped but I kept going.

‘I felt creepy he was in my quarters. I mean not creepy enough to let him die creepy, but still creepy. Ship and Carpet can‘t even go in there without my permission and I had....’

‘A U-Man...’ She finished. ’You felt creepy cause you had a U-Man in your quarters.’

‘Yeah, well, more because, well, it’s just that...’ I stammered feeling foolish but knowing I was onto something.

‘Spit it out...’ Cim commanded and this time she did stop.

Turning to face my friend I put my hands on my hips and tried to explain.

‘Well, where did his crew come from, for starters?’ I rushed on, ’I mean, we know, or at least we think we know where Studious came from. I saw the flash on the monitor screen when he hit Ship‘s Center and we found his escape pod after all. But! What about the crew? What about Twitchy Nathan and the rest? Last we knew they’d escaped, now they’re back again? It’s just freaky. So, I didn't want him in my room. I mean I didn’t want him to die but...’

‘But, you didn’t want him in your room.‘ Cim’s chin lowered and she looked me square in the eye before cocking her head to the side.

‘So tell me. How’d he get to your room?‘ Her eyebrows raised and I could tell she already knew the answer.

‘I carried him.‘ I answered blushing fiercely.

Cim burst out laughing and tears began to leak from her eyes.

‘You carried him? You?‘ She pointed at me with one hand dashing the tears from her eyes with the other.

I nodded, still blushing.

‘You’re a contradiction Silo.’ She continued laughing and began moving down the corridor again.

‘A ‘contradiction’?’

‘Yes, a contradiction.’ She chuckled. ‘Now, let’s go.’

‘Where?’

‘To find ’Creepy. If the droids did what they should have he should be resting in the Ambassador’s Sweet.’

Following on Cim’s heals I wondered if I should tell her.
Tell her I could feel we were not alone, that something else was there in the corridor and it wasn't Carpet.
The hairs rose again on my arms and the back of my neck.

Yes, we were being watched, and for the second time that day I had no idea who or what was doing the watching.

[edit on 3-9-2009 by silo13]

Cim did not like this at all. She really did not need this particular annoying U-Man here on the Yydryl and why did Silo care, why hadn’t SHIP just taken care of him.

“Silo where is Chumley? I want to speak with him.” says Cim

“He went to check on Deson and some new weapons.” Silo said

Something about the way Silo answered sounded strange to Cim.

“Did you see that? Cim says she caught a strange shadow from her peripheral sight.

Silo jumped and morphed into the wall. Cim had not seen her morph in awhile.

“I saw something.” says Cim doubtfully.

“Jezzbut you scared the eyelashes of my antenna” Silo came out of the wall.

“I am going to find Chumley now! Get that U-Man and meet me on the bridge,
I plan on speaking with that hologram too. I think it is time to find the U-Man ship the Penelope and return this people. Let’s get this done, I have other matters to attend to.”

“Sure Cim, I will meet you there, but I am not carrying the U-Man again”


[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/7a8706aa7eab.jpg[/atsimg]



[edit on 4-9-2009 by cindymars]