A crossover or two (CHALLANGE ENTRY)
The Destiny's Fate
Character(s): Rush, Eli
Prompt(s): Book (very subtly used), End of the world is also present.
Fandom: Farscape.
"What is that thing?" Asked the Luxan warrior as he peered down at the strange orb.
“No idea, D.” Replied a human man as he turned the orb over in his hand. “Hey Pilot, you got any idea what this thing is?” He asked turning towards a clam shaped terminal.
“I'm sorry John, but I have never seen this type of technology.” Replied Pilot's holographic representation.
“What about Moya?” Inquired the Delvian priestess.
Pilot remained silent for a moment before replying. “Moya...has seen...remnants of a ship with similar technology, when she was very young.”
“Well, that's helpful.” Stated the former peacekeeper in annoyance.
“It's obviously useless junk, but it's foreign technology...it should be worth something.” Added the Hynerian royal, eying the orb.
“I hate to interrupt but Moya is a detecting a foreign mass...from within the near-by star.” Pilot stated diffusing a potential argument. “It would...appear to be of the same material as the orb.” Added Pilot his voice hinting at his confusion.
“Wait, so whoever left behind this orb...crashed into the star?” Asked John in amazement.
“If that is the case then perhaps, this orb contains a message from it's creators.” Suggested the Delvian woman, as John examined the orb more closely.
“I think you maybe right, Zhaan” He replied as he stared into what looked like a lens. “Question is...how the hell are we suppose to see what's on it?” John asked as he continued examining the orb.
“Pilot?” Asked the former peacekeeper in frustration.
“Aeryn...I've detected a low frequency emitting from the orb. I should be able to connect to it...” Pilot replied after a moment.
“Can you display the message?” D'Argo asked taking the orb from John.
“I believe so, yes.” Stated Pilot as he began to bring up a display for whatever messages the mysterious orb contained.
The messages contained on the device were, surprising to say the least. The people displayed on the recording were human's apparently from Earth just as John was. The majority of the messages were farewells, and last words to their loved ones. Several hours passed, several hours filled with tearful goodbyes when a young man appeared on the display.
“My name, is Eli Wallace and I'm 25 years old...if...if anyone finds this, I just want whoever finds this to know...to know what happened to us.” The young man stated seeming to be at a lose for words. “Oh man, where do I start?” He said with a wry chuckle.
“Our ship...well not our ship but...the Destiny...uhhh. Okay let me start over. The ship we're on is called Destiny, it's a really really old ship and we're billions of light years from our home. Crazy I know. We got here through the stargate which is this big...metal ring that's capable of creating a stable wormhole to other stargates. And when you step through...you're transported to another planet like, instantly.” Rambled the young man, pausing as he tried to gather his thoughts.
“ We dialed this nine chevron address...turned out to be a code, a code to this ship to...to Destiny. But...we're stuck out here, Destiny doesn't have the power to dial Earth, hell right now Destiny doesn't have any power.” Eli explained taking a breath to calm himself. “This ship...is so old that it just...can't keep going anymore. We lost power and now...we're on a collision course with a star with no way of stopping or turning the ship around. We're...dead, I mean even if one of the planets are habitable...there's no guarantee those picked in the lottery will survive.” Eli rambled on, his expression growing more grim as he went on.
“Even if we're gonna die...someone, someone should hear our story.” Added the young man before lapsing into silence. “I...I'm never gonna see my mom again.” He added before ending the recording.
“Holy crap” John whispered, breaking the silence as he stared at the blank display. “Pilot! Are there any habitable planets near-by?!” He half asked half shouted as he turned to face Pilot's display.
Pilot remained silent, unwilling to answer however he finally did. “No...I'm sorry” He stated, knowing why John had asked. “There...there's still data on the orb that we have yet to access.” Pilot added after a moment, accessing the remaining data.
The display lit up once more, showing an older looking man with dark brown eyes and medium length hair. He seemed troubled by something, remaining silent for several minutes.
“I....never meant for any of this to happen.”
Total word count: 772
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A New Opportunity
Character(s): Rush, Young, Eli, Greer, James.
Prompt(s): End of the world
Fandom: Farscape
“ I can't believe it...we're finally going home!” Stated a young man in a red t-shirt and gray hoodie. “First thing I'm gonna do is eat an entire pizza.” He added ignoring the odd looks he received.
“I'm afraid that's gonna have to wait Eli.” An older man in military attire stated in an amused tone. “We're going to be quarantined...for quite some time.” He added in a much more serious tone. “And that's assuming this even works”
“Thank you, Colonel kill joy.” Eli muttered as the Destiny dropped out of FTL, for what hopefully would be their final time.
“Rush.” Colonel Young stated in a commanding tone, ignoring Eli's comment.
“Yes, sir.” Replied the older scientist rolling his eyes as he began to steer the Destiny toward a near-by star.
Young shook his head in exasperation as he brought up his radio. “Lotta work.” He muttered before speaking into his radio. “May I have your attention please.” Stated Colonel Young his voice echoing through out the ship. “As you know we have spent the last several months making repairs to the Destiny's power reserves. As we speak, we are headed for a star to fill our reserves after wards...we will be attempting to dial Earth.” Young explained in a calm tone.
“I want everyone to start gathering their personal belongings, you are not I repeat, not permitted to bring anything back to Earth that has not been previously approved.” He explained further.
“All right.” Young stated, lowering his radio. “How long?” Inquired the Colonel eying everyone on the bridge with him.
“Well. The star is a good deal away and it will take some time to pass through it, seeing as it's a blue giant.” Rush replied, not even bothering to look up. “I would estimate-”
“94 minutes” Eli interrupted, smiling sheepishly as eyes turned toward him. “Give or take.” He added, even after all their time on Destiny he still couldn't stop himself sometimes.
“As Eli said, about an hour and a half.” Stated the Scottish scientist in exasperation.
Young nodded in understanding. “All right, while Rush handles the navigation the rest of you should gather your belongings.” The Colonel stated as he left the bridge.
“Do you think...it'll work?” Asked Chloe as she began packing her things. They had found a way reverse the genetic alteration, while there were no physical signs of what had taken place, the psychological damage had been done.
“Yeah...I mean with all that's happened I think we're due for some good luck.” Matt replied from his spot on their bed, though he had his doubts. This wasn't the first time they'd had a plan or way home only for something to go wrong.
Sighing Chloe sat next to Matt, burying her face in her hands. “I don't think I can handle another let down.” Muttered the young woman.
“I know what you mean.” Whispered Matt as he wrapped his arm around Chloe and holding her close. “But it's gonna be okay, I can feel it. We're going to get home.” He added with a smile.
“I hope so.” Chloe replied with a faint smile.
“Yeah...yeah so do I.”
The rest of the crew was feeling relatively the same; excited, hopeful, worried, doubtful. Everyone wanted to go home, they all hoped it would work but the fear that it wouldn't work flooded the ship and everyone on board.
The next hour and a half passed quickly for some, and agonizingly slow for others, but eventually the time came to dial Earth.
“All right people, we are about to attempt dialing Earth. Hopefully it'll work, if it does you are to head threw one at a time. Do not run, do not push others out of the way. You will go through in an orderly manner but do not waste time. We do not know how long we can keep the gate open.” Colonel Young announced from the stairs above the gateroom, the crowd below muttering in excitement.
Turning toward Brody, Young gave the scientist a nod. “Dial it.”
The gate began to turn as Brody began the dialing process, Rush was at the other console monitoring power levels. After what seemed like an eternity the final chevron moved into place, locking and with a deafening 'woosh' a wormhole was established. They had successfully dialed. The crowd began to cheer at the successful connection.
“All right, settle down people. Now the wormhole looks stable but we need to make sure.” Young stated with a smile as the noise died down. “This is Colonel Young, do you read me? Over.” He stated into his radio.
“This is General Landry, we read you loud and clear. Over.” Replied the voice of the General Landry over the radio, causing the crowd to erupt into cheers again.
“General Landry, you have no idea how glad we are to hear your voice. Over” Young replied with a full blown grin. “We'll began sending people through right away.” He added before lowering his radio. “All right people, time to go home.” Stated the dark haired man, motioning for the crew to begin filing threw the gate.
Within minutes the ship was nearly empty, with only a handful of people remaining.
“I'll see you on the other side.” Young whispered to T.J., who smiled in return before heading though the gate.
“I'm...I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm going to miss this place.” Eli muttered as he gave one last look around the gate room before facing the gate and stepping through.
Before passing all the way through, he was yanked backwards landing on the floor just as the gate shut down and the ship went dark.
“Dude! What the hell?!” Eli shouted, staring angrily up at Rush who seemed to have materialized beside him.
“Rush, explain NOW!” Young shouted, shaking in anger as he glared at the Scottish scientist.
“I'm sorry Colonel but...I couldn't....I couldn't risk it.” Rush replied as he looked back, a dark look on his face. “We drained too much power, the gate couldn't remain open any longer.” Rush explained returning his attention to the gate.
“The gate...may have remained active long enough for Eli to pass through...however, the amount of power it takes to keep a wormhole open for even a second over such an enormous distance...” He explained with a grim expression.
“Wait...are you saying the gate would have shut off whether I was through or not?!” Eli replied in shock. “I could have been killed!!” Shouted the young man, scrambling to his feet.
“Precisely.” Rush replied still staring at the inactive gate.
“Um...Dr. Rush.” Lieutenant James stated drawing the scientist attention. “The vents...there's no air.” Stated the dark haired woman.
“What?! No, no no no no.” Rush cried as he rushed over to one of the consoles which had gone dark. After a moment he darted through the doorway before he could be stopped.
“Rush!” Barked Young, before following after the older man. “Rush!” He called again, trying to keep up with the man. Noticing Rush had stopped, Young slowed down before stopping as well.
“Colonel Young...do we still have the communication stones on board?” Inquired Rush, his voice shaking as he stared at a closed door with an inactive panel. “If so, you should report to General O'Neill immediately and inform him that we are out of power.” Mumbled the older man.
“Right, good idea. I'll uh, I'll have Greer and James give you a hand with the door.” Young replied, his anger dissipating as the weight of the situation hit him. “Sargent Greer, Lieutenant James. I need you two to come give Rush a hand.” The Colonel stated into his radio as he made his way back to the gate room.
“Yes, sir.” Came Greer's voice over the radio.
“At least T.J. Made it back.” Young thought to himself as Greer and James passed him. “Eli...you okay?” Asked Young upon returning to the gateroom. The young man had come inches from death just minutes before.
“I've been better.” Eli replied while examining the end of his hoodie, part of it had still been in the event horizon when the gate shut down. “I'm...gonna. I'm gonna go see if there's still power at the Apple Core.” Announced Eli before he too, left the gateroom.
Back on Earth, everyone was in a frenzy, the gate had shut down moments after Lieutenant Johanson had made it through and no one had any idea why it had shut down so suddenly.
“What's going on?”
“Why'd the gate shut down like that?”
A flurry of questions rang out through the crowd, everyone wondering what happened, why and what would happened to those left behind. Would they ever see their friends again?
“Get these people to their quarters ” General Landry ordered, he needed to find out what happened but first the Destiny expedition had to be quarantined.
Hours passed before anyone hard anything. The former crew of the Destiny had been quarantined however they were allowed to interact with each other. Eventually though, the intercoms for their quarters came to life. “This is General Landry speaking, I've just spoken with General O'Neill, Colonel Young and the others are still alive however, they are effectively stranded. Without power” Announced the current head of the SGC. “I will inform you of any changes.” He added before the intercom system went silent once again.
Staring out at the stars from the observation deck, Colonel Young sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that day. He, Eli, Rush, Geer and James were all stranded, apparently without any power. Rush and Eli were making their way toward the bridge but it was slow going.
“Colonel Young, come in.” Rush's voice rang out through the radio, pulling Young from his thoughts. “We...'ave very little power, the shields are barely functioning and everything else is dead.” Explained Rush, his accent thicker than normal. “And...”
“And? And what, Rush?” Young replied wondering how much worse things could get.
“And...we are being pulled back into the star by it's gravity.” Rush responded lowly.
“Won't that just charge our reserves?” Asked the Colonel, all ready expecting Rush to shoot that idea down.
“Not this time, no. We've used too much power. The shields will fail long before Destiny even begins recharging.” Replied the Scottish scientist in a surprisingly calm tone.
“Meaning we're-”
“Back to the turbulence the heat and the death.” Eli interjected from his own radio.
“Thank you, Eli.” Young responded wryly. “Does the shuttle still have power?” He asked after a moment.
“Yes sir, the shuttle still has power.” James replied over her own radio.
“So we have a chance?” Asked the Colonel.
“Perhaps...the star's gravity may be too great for the shuttle.” Stated Rush exasperatedly.
“All right, everyone get back to the gate room now, we need to load up supplies. As much food and water as we can fit into the shuttle.” Young ordered, receiving 'yes sirs' from Greer and James. “That includes you, Rush” He added just in case.
It didn't take long to load up their personal belongings and supplies onto the shuttle. Unfortunately there was only enough food and water to keep the five of them alive for about a week. “Okay, let's get out of here.” Young stated as he disengaged the docking clamps and taking off.
“Is it....working?” Eli asked peering out the window of the shuttles rear hatch. “I think. I think it's working!” Cheered Eli as the distance between the shuttle and Destiny increased. “It's working.” He cheered again, laughing in relief. Dr. Rush however, was not nearly as happy as he watched the Destiny, the only thing he had left to live for, slowly being pulled into the star towards it's destruction.
He didn't move, even as they got further and further from Destiny, his Destiny. He remained standing at the rear hatch staring out the tiny window. A strange tightness began to envelop his chest as he watched Destiny approach it's final moments.
When the Destiny finally collided with the star, the shuttle shook violently from the shock wave and at first Rush just stared.
Without warning he let out a scream of anguish, slamming his fist against the shuttle's hatch before sinking to his knees, tears streaming down his face. Destiny was gone, his world was gone. Something inside him just, snapped.
“Oh my God!” Eli shouted rushing to the older man's side, Lieutenant James following suit. “Dude calm down!” Eli begged having no idea how to calm the man down.
“Dr. Rush, you need to calm down.” Lt. James stated in a calm tone, all the times she had aided T.J., had taught her how to remain calm in such situations. However Rush did not seem to hear her, nor did he seem to be aware of anything around him.
“Colonel.” Greer stated as he gave his CO a questioning look. “What are we gonna do?”
“I wish I knew, Sargent. I wish I knew.” Young replied as he glanced toward the back of the shuttle.
Three days passed, three agonizing days. There were no habitable planets near-by and they were now aimlessly flying through space, desperately hoping to find some way to survive. Colonel Young had used the stones to report to Earth again and Dr. Rush had become relatively unresponsive, usually just staring into space. Eli and Greer chose to occupy themselves by watching South Park on Eli's iPhone. The same episode over and over and over. James swore if they watched it one more time she might have to shoot them.
“It stinks in here.” James commented, scrunching up her nose in disgust. No mystery as to why it stunk, they were in close quarters, no one had bathed in several days and there were no toilets on the shuttle.
“Could be worse.” Eli responded dejectedly, he and Lt. James were the only ones awake at the moment.
“Really, how?” Vanessa asked arching an eyebrow in question.
“Umm...you could be on your period?” He suggested, only to receive a smack to the face, though it was a friendly one.
“But seriously how could it be any worse?” Inquired the dark haired woman, as she stared out the front window.
“We could be under attack.” Eli responded with a shrug and with in moments an enormous ship appeared in a burst of blue light. “Holy crap!” He bellowed, eyes widening in shock and fear.
“What the hell's going on?” Young demanded, having been roused from his sleep by the racket.
“This humungous ship just came out of nowhere.” Eli explained as he stared at the ship in awe, it was even larger than Destiny had been. “It's...not doing anything, yet.” He added lowly, nervously. “Should we...try contacting it?” Eli asked turning towards the Colonel.
“No, let's see what it does.” Young remarked as he approached the front of the shuttle to watch the enormous ship. “Doesn't look like it has any weapons” He observed lowly.
“That we can see.” Eli muttered darkly, they didn't have the best track record when it came to alien encounters. “Oh joy...they spotted us.” He added, noting that the ship was approaching them.
“Let's just hope, they don't see us as a threat.” Young replied, taking his seat at the controls. Moments after saying this the shuttle began to shake and move forward against their controls.
“Oh crap, they've got us in a tractor beam!” Eli cried as he began working frantically pressing buttons, trying to free them from the tractor beam. Sadly it didn't help, the shuttle didn't have the power to escape.
“Maybe, they wanna help?” Vanessa suggested lowly, even she knew how unlikely that was but she couldn't help but hope they were...friendly.
“Or they want to eat us!” Eli shrieked, on the verge of freaking out.
“Whatever they want from us, we should be ready for a confrontation.” Young declared, turning to face the other four occupants. “Greer, James.” He ordered, motioning for the two to grab their weapons. “Eli, you'll stay in the shuttle with Rush.” Added the Colonel as he glanced toward the aforementioned scientist, Rush was unsurprisingly staring at nothing.
“And if they're hostile?” Responded Eli as the distance between the shuttle and the strange ship grew smaller.
“I don't think it's going to matter, whether they're hostile or not.” Young replied handing the younger man a gun, even though he knew it wouldn't make much difference.
“Sir.” Lt. James stated, motioning out the window, they were still being pulled by the tractor beam but they were now inside the ship.
“All right you two, get ready.” Ordered Young as he moved toward the rear hatch, waiting for the shuttle to 'land'. Once the shuttle had landed, Eli opened the shuttle's hatch. There were several identical shuttles around them along with three other shuttles, each one with a radically different appearances.
“What...in the hell?” Greer commented as he looked between the different ships. “Colonel!” He shouted suddenly, aiming his gun at a strange yellow...thing that had come out of hiding however when he shouted the thing ran away.
“What!? What happened?!” Eli shrieked, poking his head out from the shuttle a panicked look on his face.
“Eli.” Young responded, motioning for the younger man to get back into the shuttle. When he didn't move the Colonel turned to see what had caught Eli's attention. Standing at the other end of the shuttle bay was a very large humanoid creature, standing in an aggressive stance.
“Oh crap, oh crap, oh crapohcrapohcrap!” Eli shrieked again, the alien rushing toward them. “We're gonna die!!” He wailed, ducking behind the shuttle's frame. As the alien approached, Greer, James and Colonel Young opened fire on the creature, however it didn't seem to slow it down.
The large alien shrugged off the bullets and went for the Colonel, grabbing him by the throat and slamming him into the shuttle's outer hull. It got right up into Colonel Young's face, sneering at him in an language he couldn't understand.
“Colonel!” Greer and James shouted in unison, however they were at a lost as too what to do since the creature had shrugged off their bullets. The alien snarled before dropping Colonel Young, it then grabbed his weapon, giving it a look over before tossing it away.
“Sargent...Lieutenant, put down your weapons.” Young commanded, he figured that was the best course of action now. Reluctantly they put their weapons down, Eli following suit. The alien snarled again, motioning for them to follow it.
As the three military personal began to follow, Eli ducked back into the shuttle grabbing Rush by the arm and pulling him up, coaxing him to follow. The large alien scrunched up it's nose in what appeared to be disgust.
“Look Rush...aliens.”Eli whispered, trying to bring the man from his stupor without success.
“What do you think it wants?” Vanessa whispered, falling in step with Eli.
“I have no idea but I'm holding onto my theory that it wants to eat us.” Eli grumbled still pulling Rush along. The alien seemed to laugh at his statement. “Wait...did? Did it understand me?!” Remarked Eli, staring in shock at the alien, leading them along.
“Seems like it.” Replied Vanessa, keeping her eyes on the alien. “And I think it's a guy.” She added sheepishly.
“You're probably right, I hope your right cause if he's actually a she I'm...ugh.”Eli whispered, shivering in disgust at the thought.
The alien lead them into what looked like the bridge of the ship they were on, there were several other aliens none of them looked anything like him. However they all looked humanoid, save for one that looked like a slug with limbs.
The aliens began conversing with each other, none of them spoke the same language yet they all seemed to understand one another.
“I wonder if they have Babel fish in their heads.” Eli commented with a wry chuckle, earning strange looks from his companions and the aliens alike. “What? Hitchhikers Guild to the Galaxy...hello.” He explained in exasperation.
The blue female alien spoke up, saying something to the bearded alien who replied with what sounded like a sneer. After giving some sort of command several of the little yellow things appeared, they encircle the group jabbing them all in the legs.
“Ow, what the hell!?” Eli cried, jumping away from the robot things.
“Calm down, human.” The large bearded alien stated in annoyance, the small group stared at the alien in shock.
“Woah. How come we can understand you now? And how come you know we're humans?! Why'd you rescue us anyway?!” Shouted Eli, speaking a mile a minute. He was having one of his, moments.
The bearded alien rolled his eyes further annoyed by the human's rambling. The blue alien answered, her tone calm. “You were just injected with translator microbes, microorganisms which colonize at the base of the brain-stem allowing those infected to understand most other languages.” She explained with a smile.
“As for how we knew you were humans, well, you're not the first of your kind we've encountered.” She explained, drawing Dr. Rush's attention however briefly. “We, well we rescued you...unintentionally. We were curious about your ship as we have never seen technology like it before.” Finished the blue alien the smile never leaving her face.
“Hold on a second, you've actually met humans before? When?” Young demanded, giving the blue alien a serious look.
“Yes, about 11 cycles ago. In fact he's on board, though I'm not sure where he is.” Explained the blue female. “I am Pa'u Zotoh Zhaan, a Delvian.” Zhaan explained calmly, before turning to her companions. “This is Ka D'Argo, a Luxan, Dominair Rygel XVI, Hynerian.” Zhaan explained pointing as she spoke. “Chiana, she is a Nebari” Added the Delvian woman as she pointed to the final occupant in the room. “And yourselves?” Zhaan inquired, returning her gaze to the five humans.
“Colonel, Everett Young.” Stated Young, decided to take the lead in introductions.
“Master Sargent, Ronald Greer.” Greer added in the same manner Young had introduced himself. Lt. James stepped forward following suit.
“2nd Lieutenant, Vanessa James.” Vanessa stated officially.
“Umm...Eli Wallace, civilian.” Eli stated sheepishly, before turning to Rush and introducing him. “Oh and um this is Dr. Nicholas Rush he uh.”
“I all ready know, I sensed it when you were all brought abroad.” Zhaan stated softly, her hands clasped in front of her.
“Yo, Zhaan, what's this I hear about a ship we've never seen be...fore.” Stated a man who had just entered the bridge, he was straightening his clothes, a human woman behind him doing the same.
“Who are they?” Asked the woman, glaring heatedly at the new passengers.
“Aeryn, John. These five are human's, they were on-board the strange ship Moya detected.” Explained Zhaan, turning to the two who had just arrived.
After further introductions were made, the remaining crew of Destiny were given quarters of their own and a chance to bathe. Once comfortable they were invited to join the crew of Moya for lunch.
“This amazing, I can't believe it! We run into aliens that are actually friendly and they can understand us and make it so we can understand them! How cool is that!?” Eli rambled as he and Vanessa followed a DRD which was leading them to lunch.
“I know, I was beginning to wonder if there was any friendly life out here.” Vanessa replied clearly in a good mood now that she was not only clean but wearing clean clothes.
“I can't believe that Aeryn woman isn't human. Can you?” Eli inquired as the walked, his mood had lifted at the prospect of food that hopefully didn't taste like crap.
“No, I can't. I mean it just doesn't seem possible.” Remarked the young woman, she and Eli had become good friends and he was probably the only person she felt she could speak freely with. The two continued to chat for the duration of their walk. When they reached their destination, they were greeted with plates full of...big green cubes.
“This looks...appetizing.” Eli commented as he sat down, his eyes never leaving the cubes of stuff, for fear that they might leap out and attack.
“They're food cubes, they taste much better than they look.” John commented before popping one into his mouth.
“Whatever you say.” Mumbled Eli as he stabbed one of the cubes with his fork and stared at it. Sighing in resignation he took a bite, his eyes widening in surprise “Oh my god...It...this actually taste good!” He exclaimed before he began shoveling the cubes into his mouth.
John chuckled at the younger man's reaction, Aeryn merely rolled her eyes at his behavior.
It wasn't long before the rest of the remaining crew arrived, Young and Greer both giving the food cubes strange looks however they both shrugged it off when they noticed Eli and Vanessa happily eating them.
“So, how did you end up in an alien galaxy billions of light years from Earth?” Eli inquired once he'd eaten his fill, now happily full for the first time in what felt like forever.
“Well, I was testing my propulsion theory. Everything was going fine at first, however during the experiment a wormhole opened up and sucked me up and spat me out in the middle of a dogfight. Been stuck out here ever since.” John explained casually as though he'd told the story a million times. “Didn't realize I was this far from home though.”
“Wait, I think I remember that. You're the astronaut that disappeared in a test flight back in '99.” Colonel Young commented in realization.
“That's me.” John replied simply. “So how did you guys end up out here?”
“Fffuuh...that's a bit difficult to explain.” Murmured Young, running a hand through his dark curly hair.
“Long story short, there are this alien devices called stargates scattered throughout the Milkyway and Pegasus galaxies. Stargates are able to create stable wormholes on the other side of the galaxy with a 7 chevron address, in a nearby galaxy with an 8 chevron address and then there's the 9 chevron address. Which turned out to be a code to dial an insanely old ship called Destiny.” Eli explained, making exaggerated hand movements as he spoke.
“Dialing an 8 chevron address takes more power than stargates normally have and dialing the 9 chevron address took an insane amount of power, we had to use the nuclear core of a planet in order to dial it. Which took very precise calculations or else the planet would blow up when we attempted to dial. Unfortunately the planet we were on was attacked and we were forced to dial the 9 chevron address without knowing where it lead at the time.” He rambled on, John hanging onto every word he said.
“So we went through and ended up stranded on the Destiny which was falling apart with no way to dial back. I mean we could have but we didn't have the power needed to dial Earth. So we had 80+ people just stranded on an insanely old ship with no idea where we were in relation to Earth...and life support was failing.” Eli exclaimed, lost in his own ramblings.
“We eventually got that fixed. Turns out though that unmanned seeder ships had been sent ahead of Destiny to drop stargates on planets. Unfortunately these gates were prototypes or something and couldn't dial all other gates within their galaxy.” Eli stated his shoulders drooping. “We lost a lot of people along the way.”
“About a week ago, we got the Destiny's power reserves repaired. We were able to dial Earth almost everyone on board was able to go home...except the five of us. The Destiny used too much power keeping the gate open, everything just shut down. The Destiny tried to channel all it's remaining power into the shields but they were failing.”He explained, now whispering.
“The Destiny was being pulled back into the star we'd just flown through...we had to evacuate with the shuttle. Destiny was destroyed and we were left to try and find a habitable planet before food ran out.” Eli mumbled hanging his head. “Then you guys showed up.”
“Woah.” John whispered, his mind reeling as he processed all the new information. “So you guys lost your ship and only way home?” He asked lowly.
“Yeah.” Eli replied in dismay.
“In that case your are more than welcome to stay here aboard Moya.” Zhaan remarked in a kinda tone, though she wasn't smiling.
“But, we shot one of your people.” Young replied in a distrusting tone.
“Yes, that is true. However we understand why you opened fire and there was no harm done. Luxan's are quite sturdy, small projectiles like that have little effect.” Zhaan declared the motherly smile she always seemed to have now back full force. “I have all ready healed his wounds.”
“So we really get to stay?” Eli questioned sheepishly.
“Of course.” Zhaan replied calmly, Young and Greer exchanged looks they didn't like it but they had nowhere else to go.
“So um, what kinda ship is this, I mean it's huge! Huger than huge!” Exclaimed Eli, the question he'd been wanting to ask since they first saw the ship finally tumbling from his lips. John couldn't help but grin at the younger man's excitement, he knew he was gonna get along great with the kid.
“Moya, is a Leviathan.” John stated earning curious looks from the newest additions to Moya's crew. “A Leviathan is a biomechanoid, a living ship.” He explained further, his grin growing wider as Eli's mouth dropped and his eyes lit up with excitement
“Living ship?” Came a scratchy and heavily accented voice, drawing the attention of everyone present.
“Yep, Moya's a female Leviathan and she's 34 cy...er years old.” John explained, pleased that he had gotten the man too speak.
“An' what exactly classifies Moya as a livin' ship?” Rush asked calmly, the remainder of his crew staring at him in shock. Eli of course seem quite happy the older man was speaking again.
“Well, Leviathans can live and die just like the rest of us and they can have children.” John replied casually grinning even more as their new companions' jaws dropped.
Rush smirked in amusement at Crichton's answer. “My, my, that's certainly...interesting.” Observed the Scottish scientist, his eyes shining with a renewed fire.
Perhaps his world hadn't ended after all.
Total word count: 5272
Character(s): Rush, Eli
Prompt(s): Book (very subtly used), End of the world is also present.
Fandom: Farscape.
"What is that thing?" Asked the Luxan warrior as he peered down at the strange orb.
“No idea, D.” Replied a human man as he turned the orb over in his hand. “Hey Pilot, you got any idea what this thing is?” He asked turning towards a clam shaped terminal.
“I'm sorry John, but I have never seen this type of technology.” Replied Pilot's holographic representation.
“What about Moya?” Inquired the Delvian priestess.
Pilot remained silent for a moment before replying. “Moya...has seen...remnants of a ship with similar technology, when she was very young.”
“Well, that's helpful.” Stated the former peacekeeper in annoyance.
“It's obviously useless junk, but it's foreign technology...it should be worth something.” Added the Hynerian royal, eying the orb.
“I hate to interrupt but Moya is a detecting a foreign mass...from within the near-by star.” Pilot stated diffusing a potential argument. “It would...appear to be of the same material as the orb.” Added Pilot his voice hinting at his confusion.
“Wait, so whoever left behind this orb...crashed into the star?” Asked John in amazement.
“If that is the case then perhaps, this orb contains a message from it's creators.” Suggested the Delvian woman, as John examined the orb more closely.
“I think you maybe right, Zhaan” He replied as he stared into what looked like a lens. “Question is...how the hell are we suppose to see what's on it?” John asked as he continued examining the orb.
“Pilot?” Asked the former peacekeeper in frustration.
“Aeryn...I've detected a low frequency emitting from the orb. I should be able to connect to it...” Pilot replied after a moment.
“Can you display the message?” D'Argo asked taking the orb from John.
“I believe so, yes.” Stated Pilot as he began to bring up a display for whatever messages the mysterious orb contained.
The messages contained on the device were, surprising to say the least. The people displayed on the recording were human's apparently from Earth just as John was. The majority of the messages were farewells, and last words to their loved ones. Several hours passed, several hours filled with tearful goodbyes when a young man appeared on the display.
“My name, is Eli Wallace and I'm 25 years old...if...if anyone finds this, I just want whoever finds this to know...to know what happened to us.” The young man stated seeming to be at a lose for words. “Oh man, where do I start?” He said with a wry chuckle.
“Our ship...well not our ship but...the Destiny...uhhh. Okay let me start over. The ship we're on is called Destiny, it's a really really old ship and we're billions of light years from our home. Crazy I know. We got here through the stargate which is this big...metal ring that's capable of creating a stable wormhole to other stargates. And when you step through...you're transported to another planet like, instantly.” Rambled the young man, pausing as he tried to gather his thoughts.
“ We dialed this nine chevron address...turned out to be a code, a code to this ship to...to Destiny. But...we're stuck out here, Destiny doesn't have the power to dial Earth, hell right now Destiny doesn't have any power.” Eli explained taking a breath to calm himself. “This ship...is so old that it just...can't keep going anymore. We lost power and now...we're on a collision course with a star with no way of stopping or turning the ship around. We're...dead, I mean even if one of the planets are habitable...there's no guarantee those picked in the lottery will survive.” Eli rambled on, his expression growing more grim as he went on.
“Even if we're gonna die...someone, someone should hear our story.” Added the young man before lapsing into silence. “I...I'm never gonna see my mom again.” He added before ending the recording.
“Holy crap” John whispered, breaking the silence as he stared at the blank display. “Pilot! Are there any habitable planets near-by?!” He half asked half shouted as he turned to face Pilot's display.
Pilot remained silent, unwilling to answer however he finally did. “No...I'm sorry” He stated, knowing why John had asked. “There...there's still data on the orb that we have yet to access.” Pilot added after a moment, accessing the remaining data.
The display lit up once more, showing an older looking man with dark brown eyes and medium length hair. He seemed troubled by something, remaining silent for several minutes.
“I....never meant for any of this to happen.”
Total word count: 772
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A New Opportunity
Character(s): Rush, Young, Eli, Greer, James.
Prompt(s): End of the world
Fandom: Farscape
“ I can't believe it...we're finally going home!” Stated a young man in a red t-shirt and gray hoodie. “First thing I'm gonna do is eat an entire pizza.” He added ignoring the odd looks he received.
“I'm afraid that's gonna have to wait Eli.” An older man in military attire stated in an amused tone. “We're going to be quarantined...for quite some time.” He added in a much more serious tone. “And that's assuming this even works”
“Thank you, Colonel kill joy.” Eli muttered as the Destiny dropped out of FTL, for what hopefully would be their final time.
“Rush.” Colonel Young stated in a commanding tone, ignoring Eli's comment.
“Yes, sir.” Replied the older scientist rolling his eyes as he began to steer the Destiny toward a near-by star.
Young shook his head in exasperation as he brought up his radio. “Lotta work.” He muttered before speaking into his radio. “May I have your attention please.” Stated Colonel Young his voice echoing through out the ship. “As you know we have spent the last several months making repairs to the Destiny's power reserves. As we speak, we are headed for a star to fill our reserves after wards...we will be attempting to dial Earth.” Young explained in a calm tone.
“I want everyone to start gathering their personal belongings, you are not I repeat, not permitted to bring anything back to Earth that has not been previously approved.” He explained further.
“All right.” Young stated, lowering his radio. “How long?” Inquired the Colonel eying everyone on the bridge with him.
“Well. The star is a good deal away and it will take some time to pass through it, seeing as it's a blue giant.” Rush replied, not even bothering to look up. “I would estimate-”
“94 minutes” Eli interrupted, smiling sheepishly as eyes turned toward him. “Give or take.” He added, even after all their time on Destiny he still couldn't stop himself sometimes.
“As Eli said, about an hour and a half.” Stated the Scottish scientist in exasperation.
Young nodded in understanding. “All right, while Rush handles the navigation the rest of you should gather your belongings.” The Colonel stated as he left the bridge.
“Do you think...it'll work?” Asked Chloe as she began packing her things. They had found a way reverse the genetic alteration, while there were no physical signs of what had taken place, the psychological damage had been done.
“Yeah...I mean with all that's happened I think we're due for some good luck.” Matt replied from his spot on their bed, though he had his doubts. This wasn't the first time they'd had a plan or way home only for something to go wrong.
Sighing Chloe sat next to Matt, burying her face in her hands. “I don't think I can handle another let down.” Muttered the young woman.
“I know what you mean.” Whispered Matt as he wrapped his arm around Chloe and holding her close. “But it's gonna be okay, I can feel it. We're going to get home.” He added with a smile.
“I hope so.” Chloe replied with a faint smile.
“Yeah...yeah so do I.”
The rest of the crew was feeling relatively the same; excited, hopeful, worried, doubtful. Everyone wanted to go home, they all hoped it would work but the fear that it wouldn't work flooded the ship and everyone on board.
The next hour and a half passed quickly for some, and agonizingly slow for others, but eventually the time came to dial Earth.
“All right people, we are about to attempt dialing Earth. Hopefully it'll work, if it does you are to head threw one at a time. Do not run, do not push others out of the way. You will go through in an orderly manner but do not waste time. We do not know how long we can keep the gate open.” Colonel Young announced from the stairs above the gateroom, the crowd below muttering in excitement.
Turning toward Brody, Young gave the scientist a nod. “Dial it.”
The gate began to turn as Brody began the dialing process, Rush was at the other console monitoring power levels. After what seemed like an eternity the final chevron moved into place, locking and with a deafening 'woosh' a wormhole was established. They had successfully dialed. The crowd began to cheer at the successful connection.
“All right, settle down people. Now the wormhole looks stable but we need to make sure.” Young stated with a smile as the noise died down. “This is Colonel Young, do you read me? Over.” He stated into his radio.
“This is General Landry, we read you loud and clear. Over.” Replied the voice of the General Landry over the radio, causing the crowd to erupt into cheers again.
“General Landry, you have no idea how glad we are to hear your voice. Over” Young replied with a full blown grin. “We'll began sending people through right away.” He added before lowering his radio. “All right people, time to go home.” Stated the dark haired man, motioning for the crew to begin filing threw the gate.
Within minutes the ship was nearly empty, with only a handful of people remaining.
“I'll see you on the other side.” Young whispered to T.J., who smiled in return before heading though the gate.
“I'm...I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm going to miss this place.” Eli muttered as he gave one last look around the gate room before facing the gate and stepping through.
Before passing all the way through, he was yanked backwards landing on the floor just as the gate shut down and the ship went dark.
“Dude! What the hell?!” Eli shouted, staring angrily up at Rush who seemed to have materialized beside him.
“Rush, explain NOW!” Young shouted, shaking in anger as he glared at the Scottish scientist.
“I'm sorry Colonel but...I couldn't....I couldn't risk it.” Rush replied as he looked back, a dark look on his face. “We drained too much power, the gate couldn't remain open any longer.” Rush explained returning his attention to the gate.
“The gate...may have remained active long enough for Eli to pass through...however, the amount of power it takes to keep a wormhole open for even a second over such an enormous distance...” He explained with a grim expression.
“Wait...are you saying the gate would have shut off whether I was through or not?!” Eli replied in shock. “I could have been killed!!” Shouted the young man, scrambling to his feet.
“Precisely.” Rush replied still staring at the inactive gate.
“Um...Dr. Rush.” Lieutenant James stated drawing the scientist attention. “The vents...there's no air.” Stated the dark haired woman.
“What?! No, no no no no.” Rush cried as he rushed over to one of the consoles which had gone dark. After a moment he darted through the doorway before he could be stopped.
“Rush!” Barked Young, before following after the older man. “Rush!” He called again, trying to keep up with the man. Noticing Rush had stopped, Young slowed down before stopping as well.
“Colonel Young...do we still have the communication stones on board?” Inquired Rush, his voice shaking as he stared at a closed door with an inactive panel. “If so, you should report to General O'Neill immediately and inform him that we are out of power.” Mumbled the older man.
“Right, good idea. I'll uh, I'll have Greer and James give you a hand with the door.” Young replied, his anger dissipating as the weight of the situation hit him. “Sargent Greer, Lieutenant James. I need you two to come give Rush a hand.” The Colonel stated into his radio as he made his way back to the gate room.
“Yes, sir.” Came Greer's voice over the radio.
“At least T.J. Made it back.” Young thought to himself as Greer and James passed him. “Eli...you okay?” Asked Young upon returning to the gateroom. The young man had come inches from death just minutes before.
“I've been better.” Eli replied while examining the end of his hoodie, part of it had still been in the event horizon when the gate shut down. “I'm...gonna. I'm gonna go see if there's still power at the Apple Core.” Announced Eli before he too, left the gateroom.
Back on Earth, everyone was in a frenzy, the gate had shut down moments after Lieutenant Johanson had made it through and no one had any idea why it had shut down so suddenly.
“What's going on?”
“Why'd the gate shut down like that?”
A flurry of questions rang out through the crowd, everyone wondering what happened, why and what would happened to those left behind. Would they ever see their friends again?
“Get these people to their quarters ” General Landry ordered, he needed to find out what happened but first the Destiny expedition had to be quarantined.
Hours passed before anyone hard anything. The former crew of the Destiny had been quarantined however they were allowed to interact with each other. Eventually though, the intercoms for their quarters came to life. “This is General Landry speaking, I've just spoken with General O'Neill, Colonel Young and the others are still alive however, they are effectively stranded. Without power” Announced the current head of the SGC. “I will inform you of any changes.” He added before the intercom system went silent once again.
Staring out at the stars from the observation deck, Colonel Young sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that day. He, Eli, Rush, Geer and James were all stranded, apparently without any power. Rush and Eli were making their way toward the bridge but it was slow going.
“Colonel Young, come in.” Rush's voice rang out through the radio, pulling Young from his thoughts. “We...'ave very little power, the shields are barely functioning and everything else is dead.” Explained Rush, his accent thicker than normal. “And...”
“And? And what, Rush?” Young replied wondering how much worse things could get.
“And...we are being pulled back into the star by it's gravity.” Rush responded lowly.
“Won't that just charge our reserves?” Asked the Colonel, all ready expecting Rush to shoot that idea down.
“Not this time, no. We've used too much power. The shields will fail long before Destiny even begins recharging.” Replied the Scottish scientist in a surprisingly calm tone.
“Meaning we're-”
“Back to the turbulence the heat and the death.” Eli interjected from his own radio.
“Thank you, Eli.” Young responded wryly. “Does the shuttle still have power?” He asked after a moment.
“Yes sir, the shuttle still has power.” James replied over her own radio.
“So we have a chance?” Asked the Colonel.
“Perhaps...the star's gravity may be too great for the shuttle.” Stated Rush exasperatedly.
“All right, everyone get back to the gate room now, we need to load up supplies. As much food and water as we can fit into the shuttle.” Young ordered, receiving 'yes sirs' from Greer and James. “That includes you, Rush” He added just in case.
It didn't take long to load up their personal belongings and supplies onto the shuttle. Unfortunately there was only enough food and water to keep the five of them alive for about a week. “Okay, let's get out of here.” Young stated as he disengaged the docking clamps and taking off.
“Is it....working?” Eli asked peering out the window of the shuttles rear hatch. “I think. I think it's working!” Cheered Eli as the distance between the shuttle and Destiny increased. “It's working.” He cheered again, laughing in relief. Dr. Rush however, was not nearly as happy as he watched the Destiny, the only thing he had left to live for, slowly being pulled into the star towards it's destruction.
He didn't move, even as they got further and further from Destiny, his Destiny. He remained standing at the rear hatch staring out the tiny window. A strange tightness began to envelop his chest as he watched Destiny approach it's final moments.
When the Destiny finally collided with the star, the shuttle shook violently from the shock wave and at first Rush just stared.
Without warning he let out a scream of anguish, slamming his fist against the shuttle's hatch before sinking to his knees, tears streaming down his face. Destiny was gone, his world was gone. Something inside him just, snapped.
“Oh my God!” Eli shouted rushing to the older man's side, Lieutenant James following suit. “Dude calm down!” Eli begged having no idea how to calm the man down.
“Dr. Rush, you need to calm down.” Lt. James stated in a calm tone, all the times she had aided T.J., had taught her how to remain calm in such situations. However Rush did not seem to hear her, nor did he seem to be aware of anything around him.
“Colonel.” Greer stated as he gave his CO a questioning look. “What are we gonna do?”
“I wish I knew, Sargent. I wish I knew.” Young replied as he glanced toward the back of the shuttle.
Three days passed, three agonizing days. There were no habitable planets near-by and they were now aimlessly flying through space, desperately hoping to find some way to survive. Colonel Young had used the stones to report to Earth again and Dr. Rush had become relatively unresponsive, usually just staring into space. Eli and Greer chose to occupy themselves by watching South Park on Eli's iPhone. The same episode over and over and over. James swore if they watched it one more time she might have to shoot them.
“It stinks in here.” James commented, scrunching up her nose in disgust. No mystery as to why it stunk, they were in close quarters, no one had bathed in several days and there were no toilets on the shuttle.
“Could be worse.” Eli responded dejectedly, he and Lt. James were the only ones awake at the moment.
“Really, how?” Vanessa asked arching an eyebrow in question.
“Umm...you could be on your period?” He suggested, only to receive a smack to the face, though it was a friendly one.
“But seriously how could it be any worse?” Inquired the dark haired woman, as she stared out the front window.
“We could be under attack.” Eli responded with a shrug and with in moments an enormous ship appeared in a burst of blue light. “Holy crap!” He bellowed, eyes widening in shock and fear.
“What the hell's going on?” Young demanded, having been roused from his sleep by the racket.
“This humungous ship just came out of nowhere.” Eli explained as he stared at the ship in awe, it was even larger than Destiny had been. “It's...not doing anything, yet.” He added lowly, nervously. “Should we...try contacting it?” Eli asked turning towards the Colonel.
“No, let's see what it does.” Young remarked as he approached the front of the shuttle to watch the enormous ship. “Doesn't look like it has any weapons” He observed lowly.
“That we can see.” Eli muttered darkly, they didn't have the best track record when it came to alien encounters. “Oh joy...they spotted us.” He added, noting that the ship was approaching them.
“Let's just hope, they don't see us as a threat.” Young replied, taking his seat at the controls. Moments after saying this the shuttle began to shake and move forward against their controls.
“Oh crap, they've got us in a tractor beam!” Eli cried as he began working frantically pressing buttons, trying to free them from the tractor beam. Sadly it didn't help, the shuttle didn't have the power to escape.
“Maybe, they wanna help?” Vanessa suggested lowly, even she knew how unlikely that was but she couldn't help but hope they were...friendly.
“Or they want to eat us!” Eli shrieked, on the verge of freaking out.
“Whatever they want from us, we should be ready for a confrontation.” Young declared, turning to face the other four occupants. “Greer, James.” He ordered, motioning for the two to grab their weapons. “Eli, you'll stay in the shuttle with Rush.” Added the Colonel as he glanced toward the aforementioned scientist, Rush was unsurprisingly staring at nothing.
“And if they're hostile?” Responded Eli as the distance between the shuttle and the strange ship grew smaller.
“I don't think it's going to matter, whether they're hostile or not.” Young replied handing the younger man a gun, even though he knew it wouldn't make much difference.
“Sir.” Lt. James stated, motioning out the window, they were still being pulled by the tractor beam but they were now inside the ship.
“All right you two, get ready.” Ordered Young as he moved toward the rear hatch, waiting for the shuttle to 'land'. Once the shuttle had landed, Eli opened the shuttle's hatch. There were several identical shuttles around them along with three other shuttles, each one with a radically different appearances.
“What...in the hell?” Greer commented as he looked between the different ships. “Colonel!” He shouted suddenly, aiming his gun at a strange yellow...thing that had come out of hiding however when he shouted the thing ran away.
“What!? What happened?!” Eli shrieked, poking his head out from the shuttle a panicked look on his face.
“Eli.” Young responded, motioning for the younger man to get back into the shuttle. When he didn't move the Colonel turned to see what had caught Eli's attention. Standing at the other end of the shuttle bay was a very large humanoid creature, standing in an aggressive stance.
“Oh crap, oh crap, oh crapohcrapohcrap!” Eli shrieked again, the alien rushing toward them. “We're gonna die!!” He wailed, ducking behind the shuttle's frame. As the alien approached, Greer, James and Colonel Young opened fire on the creature, however it didn't seem to slow it down.
The large alien shrugged off the bullets and went for the Colonel, grabbing him by the throat and slamming him into the shuttle's outer hull. It got right up into Colonel Young's face, sneering at him in an language he couldn't understand.
“Colonel!” Greer and James shouted in unison, however they were at a lost as too what to do since the creature had shrugged off their bullets. The alien snarled before dropping Colonel Young, it then grabbed his weapon, giving it a look over before tossing it away.
“Sargent...Lieutenant, put down your weapons.” Young commanded, he figured that was the best course of action now. Reluctantly they put their weapons down, Eli following suit. The alien snarled again, motioning for them to follow it.
As the three military personal began to follow, Eli ducked back into the shuttle grabbing Rush by the arm and pulling him up, coaxing him to follow. The large alien scrunched up it's nose in what appeared to be disgust.
“Look Rush...aliens.”Eli whispered, trying to bring the man from his stupor without success.
“What do you think it wants?” Vanessa whispered, falling in step with Eli.
“I have no idea but I'm holding onto my theory that it wants to eat us.” Eli grumbled still pulling Rush along. The alien seemed to laugh at his statement. “Wait...did? Did it understand me?!” Remarked Eli, staring in shock at the alien, leading them along.
“Seems like it.” Replied Vanessa, keeping her eyes on the alien. “And I think it's a guy.” She added sheepishly.
“You're probably right, I hope your right cause if he's actually a she I'm...ugh.”Eli whispered, shivering in disgust at the thought.
The alien lead them into what looked like the bridge of the ship they were on, there were several other aliens none of them looked anything like him. However they all looked humanoid, save for one that looked like a slug with limbs.
The aliens began conversing with each other, none of them spoke the same language yet they all seemed to understand one another.
“I wonder if they have Babel fish in their heads.” Eli commented with a wry chuckle, earning strange looks from his companions and the aliens alike. “What? Hitchhikers Guild to the Galaxy...hello.” He explained in exasperation.
The blue female alien spoke up, saying something to the bearded alien who replied with what sounded like a sneer. After giving some sort of command several of the little yellow things appeared, they encircle the group jabbing them all in the legs.
“Ow, what the hell!?” Eli cried, jumping away from the robot things.
“Calm down, human.” The large bearded alien stated in annoyance, the small group stared at the alien in shock.
“Woah. How come we can understand you now? And how come you know we're humans?! Why'd you rescue us anyway?!” Shouted Eli, speaking a mile a minute. He was having one of his, moments.
The bearded alien rolled his eyes further annoyed by the human's rambling. The blue alien answered, her tone calm. “You were just injected with translator microbes, microorganisms which colonize at the base of the brain-stem allowing those infected to understand most other languages.” She explained with a smile.
“As for how we knew you were humans, well, you're not the first of your kind we've encountered.” She explained, drawing Dr. Rush's attention however briefly. “We, well we rescued you...unintentionally. We were curious about your ship as we have never seen technology like it before.” Finished the blue alien the smile never leaving her face.
“Hold on a second, you've actually met humans before? When?” Young demanded, giving the blue alien a serious look.
“Yes, about 11 cycles ago. In fact he's on board, though I'm not sure where he is.” Explained the blue female. “I am Pa'u Zotoh Zhaan, a Delvian.” Zhaan explained calmly, before turning to her companions. “This is Ka D'Argo, a Luxan, Dominair Rygel XVI, Hynerian.” Zhaan explained pointing as she spoke. “Chiana, she is a Nebari” Added the Delvian woman as she pointed to the final occupant in the room. “And yourselves?” Zhaan inquired, returning her gaze to the five humans.
“Colonel, Everett Young.” Stated Young, decided to take the lead in introductions.
“Master Sargent, Ronald Greer.” Greer added in the same manner Young had introduced himself. Lt. James stepped forward following suit.
“2nd Lieutenant, Vanessa James.” Vanessa stated officially.
“Umm...Eli Wallace, civilian.” Eli stated sheepishly, before turning to Rush and introducing him. “Oh and um this is Dr. Nicholas Rush he uh.”
“I all ready know, I sensed it when you were all brought abroad.” Zhaan stated softly, her hands clasped in front of her.
“Yo, Zhaan, what's this I hear about a ship we've never seen be...fore.” Stated a man who had just entered the bridge, he was straightening his clothes, a human woman behind him doing the same.
“Who are they?” Asked the woman, glaring heatedly at the new passengers.
“Aeryn, John. These five are human's, they were on-board the strange ship Moya detected.” Explained Zhaan, turning to the two who had just arrived.
After further introductions were made, the remaining crew of Destiny were given quarters of their own and a chance to bathe. Once comfortable they were invited to join the crew of Moya for lunch.
“This amazing, I can't believe it! We run into aliens that are actually friendly and they can understand us and make it so we can understand them! How cool is that!?” Eli rambled as he and Vanessa followed a DRD which was leading them to lunch.
“I know, I was beginning to wonder if there was any friendly life out here.” Vanessa replied clearly in a good mood now that she was not only clean but wearing clean clothes.
“I can't believe that Aeryn woman isn't human. Can you?” Eli inquired as the walked, his mood had lifted at the prospect of food that hopefully didn't taste like crap.
“No, I can't. I mean it just doesn't seem possible.” Remarked the young woman, she and Eli had become good friends and he was probably the only person she felt she could speak freely with. The two continued to chat for the duration of their walk. When they reached their destination, they were greeted with plates full of...big green cubes.
“This looks...appetizing.” Eli commented as he sat down, his eyes never leaving the cubes of stuff, for fear that they might leap out and attack.
“They're food cubes, they taste much better than they look.” John commented before popping one into his mouth.
“Whatever you say.” Mumbled Eli as he stabbed one of the cubes with his fork and stared at it. Sighing in resignation he took a bite, his eyes widening in surprise “Oh my god...It...this actually taste good!” He exclaimed before he began shoveling the cubes into his mouth.
John chuckled at the younger man's reaction, Aeryn merely rolled her eyes at his behavior.
It wasn't long before the rest of the remaining crew arrived, Young and Greer both giving the food cubes strange looks however they both shrugged it off when they noticed Eli and Vanessa happily eating them.
“So, how did you end up in an alien galaxy billions of light years from Earth?” Eli inquired once he'd eaten his fill, now happily full for the first time in what felt like forever.
“Well, I was testing my propulsion theory. Everything was going fine at first, however during the experiment a wormhole opened up and sucked me up and spat me out in the middle of a dogfight. Been stuck out here ever since.” John explained casually as though he'd told the story a million times. “Didn't realize I was this far from home though.”
“Wait, I think I remember that. You're the astronaut that disappeared in a test flight back in '99.” Colonel Young commented in realization.
“That's me.” John replied simply. “So how did you guys end up out here?”
“Fffuuh...that's a bit difficult to explain.” Murmured Young, running a hand through his dark curly hair.
“Long story short, there are this alien devices called stargates scattered throughout the Milkyway and Pegasus galaxies. Stargates are able to create stable wormholes on the other side of the galaxy with a 7 chevron address, in a nearby galaxy with an 8 chevron address and then there's the 9 chevron address. Which turned out to be a code to dial an insanely old ship called Destiny.” Eli explained, making exaggerated hand movements as he spoke.
“Dialing an 8 chevron address takes more power than stargates normally have and dialing the 9 chevron address took an insane amount of power, we had to use the nuclear core of a planet in order to dial it. Which took very precise calculations or else the planet would blow up when we attempted to dial. Unfortunately the planet we were on was attacked and we were forced to dial the 9 chevron address without knowing where it lead at the time.” He rambled on, John hanging onto every word he said.
“So we went through and ended up stranded on the Destiny which was falling apart with no way to dial back. I mean we could have but we didn't have the power needed to dial Earth. So we had 80+ people just stranded on an insanely old ship with no idea where we were in relation to Earth...and life support was failing.” Eli exclaimed, lost in his own ramblings.
“We eventually got that fixed. Turns out though that unmanned seeder ships had been sent ahead of Destiny to drop stargates on planets. Unfortunately these gates were prototypes or something and couldn't dial all other gates within their galaxy.” Eli stated his shoulders drooping. “We lost a lot of people along the way.”
“About a week ago, we got the Destiny's power reserves repaired. We were able to dial Earth almost everyone on board was able to go home...except the five of us. The Destiny used too much power keeping the gate open, everything just shut down. The Destiny tried to channel all it's remaining power into the shields but they were failing.”He explained, now whispering.
“The Destiny was being pulled back into the star we'd just flown through...we had to evacuate with the shuttle. Destiny was destroyed and we were left to try and find a habitable planet before food ran out.” Eli mumbled hanging his head. “Then you guys showed up.”
“Woah.” John whispered, his mind reeling as he processed all the new information. “So you guys lost your ship and only way home?” He asked lowly.
“Yeah.” Eli replied in dismay.
“In that case your are more than welcome to stay here aboard Moya.” Zhaan remarked in a kinda tone, though she wasn't smiling.
“But, we shot one of your people.” Young replied in a distrusting tone.
“Yes, that is true. However we understand why you opened fire and there was no harm done. Luxan's are quite sturdy, small projectiles like that have little effect.” Zhaan declared the motherly smile she always seemed to have now back full force. “I have all ready healed his wounds.”
“So we really get to stay?” Eli questioned sheepishly.
“Of course.” Zhaan replied calmly, Young and Greer exchanged looks they didn't like it but they had nowhere else to go.
“So um, what kinda ship is this, I mean it's huge! Huger than huge!” Exclaimed Eli, the question he'd been wanting to ask since they first saw the ship finally tumbling from his lips. John couldn't help but grin at the younger man's excitement, he knew he was gonna get along great with the kid.
“Moya, is a Leviathan.” John stated earning curious looks from the newest additions to Moya's crew. “A Leviathan is a biomechanoid, a living ship.” He explained further, his grin growing wider as Eli's mouth dropped and his eyes lit up with excitement
“Living ship?” Came a scratchy and heavily accented voice, drawing the attention of everyone present.
“Yep, Moya's a female Leviathan and she's 34 cy...er years old.” John explained, pleased that he had gotten the man too speak.
“An' what exactly classifies Moya as a livin' ship?” Rush asked calmly, the remainder of his crew staring at him in shock. Eli of course seem quite happy the older man was speaking again.
“Well, Leviathans can live and die just like the rest of us and they can have children.” John replied casually grinning even more as their new companions' jaws dropped.
Rush smirked in amusement at Crichton's answer. “My, my, that's certainly...interesting.” Observed the Scottish scientist, his eyes shining with a renewed fire.
Perhaps his world hadn't ended after all.
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