[fic] "Time Travel: Redux"
Title: Time Travel: Redux
Fandoms: Eureka/Firefly
Characters/Pairings: Henry, Zane; Mal, Kaylee, Jayne
Word Count: 1517
Rating: PG
Author's Notes: Written for rodlox in the 2012 Crossover Exchange.
There was a spaceship in the middle of the Global Dynamics' lobby.
Scratch that. There was a spaceship taking over the entirety of the Global Dynamics' lobby.
The staff crowded around the ship, poking at it until the door opened.
Henry was the first one to speak. "Hello travelers, my name's Henry. I'm in charge of this place. You're at Global Dynamics in Eureka. So, welcome to Eureka!" He was ready to welcome the newcomers to the town, but they had other plans.
They came out of the ship with weapons drawn. These weren't ordinary weapons, they weren't even similar to anything they'd been experimenting with at Global Dynamics. They were even more advanced than that.
Henry held his hands up. "I assure you we mean no harm. We're very peaceful."
One, assumingly the leader, set his weapon down. The rest followed suit. "Where are we again?"
"Eureka, Oregon," Henry repeated, "Home of Global Dyanamics."
"Eureka? Oregon?" the assumed leader asked, "Where is that?"
"Well sir, the United States," Henry told them.
He got ready to draw his weapon again. "The Earth, let alone the United States hasn't been around in a couple centuries. What year is this?"
"Sir, it's 2012. What do you mean, a couple centuries?" Henry was no stranger to time travel, having done so himself, but he was sure there had been no way for that to happen a second time.
"We're from the year 2517," another member of the crew stated, "And we'd like to get back to it."
"Yes, of course. I wouldn't assume you would want to stay here," Henry nodded, "I know all about being sent to the past, how stressful it can be, and how bad you can want to get home. We'll do everything in our power to make sure that happens. You probably ended up in the best place." He offered them food and drink. "I'll get my top guy to get right on it and make sure you get home." He made their new guests comfortable with food, drink, and comfortable seating as he had his entire staff gather around so introductions could be made.
After introductions were made, Henry turned to the crew. "I'm going to leave you guys in Zane's hands. He's in charge of research here, and he's one of the smartest people here. If anyone can get into a system and figure out what makes it tick, it's Zane." And he left.
Zane led them through the halls. "We have many state of the art items here, though they might not be that state of the art to you guys." He opened doors and showed off machines, "Much of the technology in place today was first created here, especially in the military fields, as Eureka started as an army base."
The crew looked at all the technology. Kaylee touched a machine. "Wow, I haven't seen one of these in real life. I've only learned about these in history class!" She grinned watching the machine work.
Zane looked at her before continuing. "Yes. I assume this was the machine that was tweaked to bring you back in time to this year. I'm thinking with a few more tweaks, to try to undo what was done before and that should get you back to your own time."
Jayne scoffed. "Right. You're going to get us back where we belong with 200 year old technology. I'll believe it when I see it."
"Well, it was this exact same technology, which I must remind you is ahead of its time here, that got you here. It stands to reason the same technology would get you back. Unless you happen to have some time travel equipment in your ship. In that case, you may be on your way."
Jayne shut up, and Mal took that opportunity to speak up. "As we do not have any time travelling devices on the ship, I will have to ask you excuse him and do what you need to get us back home."
Zane nodded. "Not a problem." He sat at the machine and started typing away at its keyboard. Without knowing who was responsible for playing with it and what they did, it was going to take quite a bit of work to reverse the blast, and finding out what exactly happened in the first place was going to be the hardest part.
The crew headed back out while Zane worked. Jayne shook his head and turned to Mal. "Are you out of your mind? How can we trust this guy?"
"Well, what other choice do we have?" Mal said in response, "We have nothing on the ship that allows us to time travel, so what do you think we should do other than work with them and allow them to help us?"
"Work with them? Oh no, I am not working with them. If you need me, I'll be trying to find us our own way home. On the ship."
He stormed off and walked onto the ship. He went about checking every knob, button, and dial. He was determined to do this on his own, without the help of these... ancient people. With all the technology they had, something had to work.
But he wasn't Mal. Or Wash. Or even Kaylee. He didn't know all the inner workings of the ship. And without pushing every button, dial, and knob, even the ones that were rarely touched, he was never going to figure it out. "No. There's no way there isn't something that travels through time on this ship. With the technology we have."
Zane rubbed his eyes and looked around at the machine. "I need some help. I need someone to keep track of what I have and haven't pressed," he walked out of the room a moment and ran right into Jayne. "Hey. You busy?"
"What do you want?" Jayne crossed his arms. He didn't have the energy right now to deal with people right now, especially the ones from the past. He wanted to be left alone while he figured out a way to get himself and the rest of the crew back home.
"I could use some help," Zane started, "I keep losing track of what I've already tried and I know I'm retrying combos. If you wouldn't mind keeping track for me, I'd really appreciate it."
"So, let me get this straight," Jayne smirked a little. "You want me to help you out. Uh huh, right. Find someone who cares."
Mal walked up at that exact moment and stopped Jayne in his tracks. "Help him. It'll be good for you."
"You're making me work with him?" Jayne was not amused. "I can't believe this!" He scoffed quite a bit as he followed Zane into the room. "Okay, so what do I do?" He hoped it would be quick, easy, and require as little talking as possible.
"Well, every time I try something, mark it down," Zane explained the way Jayne needed to mark his combinations down so that he'd recognize what he'd done. "Pretty simple, actually."
Jayne nodded. He could do this. He could do this and there would be little talking and interaction. He started to mark the combinations, but was starting to be awed by Zane's skills. He had almost hacked into the mainframe of the machine. He couldn't do that. No way.
"So um," Jayne started, "You're actually pretty damn good at this."
Zane smiled. "Well, we are all geniuses here. Except Carter, he's the exception. But he's cool enough to keep around. He's our sheriff." He kept working. "What century are you guys from?"
"Twenty-sixth," Jayne answered, "It's quite a bit different, obviously."
"Obviously," Zane smiled, then he sat up quickly. "I think I've got something!" He typed some more, "I'd recommend getting the rest of your crew in here so I can tell them what to do."
Zane made the last few tweaks and rubbed his hands together. "Excellent! I've got it figured out!" He turned to the crew. "Okay, if you guys just head back onto your ship, I'll hit the final buttons and you'll be on your way."
They nodded, and one by one shook his hand and thanking him before walking onto their ship. Zane waited to make sure everyone was on the ship and the doors were secure before hitting a few buttons on the machine's panel.
And, like that, the ship was gone just as quickly as it had arrived. Zane got up and headed to the lobby, taking a place next to Henry. "Got it working."
Henry gave Zane a friendly slap on the back. "Good work. Very good work."
"It's what I do."
Mal looked out the window of the ship. "Space. There's nothing but space!"
Kaylee jumped up. "He did it! He actually did it!"
This led everyone else on the ship to do the same, as if they needed to see for themselves that they were actually home.
Jayne looked out the window, having to see it for himself. "God damn, the guy did it." Even he was impressed.
Fandoms: Eureka/Firefly
Characters/Pairings: Henry, Zane; Mal, Kaylee, Jayne
Word Count: 1517
Rating: PG
Author's Notes: Written for rodlox in the 2012 Crossover Exchange.
There was a spaceship in the middle of the Global Dynamics' lobby.
Scratch that. There was a spaceship taking over the entirety of the Global Dynamics' lobby.
The staff crowded around the ship, poking at it until the door opened.
Henry was the first one to speak. "Hello travelers, my name's Henry. I'm in charge of this place. You're at Global Dynamics in Eureka. So, welcome to Eureka!" He was ready to welcome the newcomers to the town, but they had other plans.
They came out of the ship with weapons drawn. These weren't ordinary weapons, they weren't even similar to anything they'd been experimenting with at Global Dynamics. They were even more advanced than that.
Henry held his hands up. "I assure you we mean no harm. We're very peaceful."
One, assumingly the leader, set his weapon down. The rest followed suit. "Where are we again?"
"Eureka, Oregon," Henry repeated, "Home of Global Dyanamics."
"Eureka? Oregon?" the assumed leader asked, "Where is that?"
"Well sir, the United States," Henry told them.
He got ready to draw his weapon again. "The Earth, let alone the United States hasn't been around in a couple centuries. What year is this?"
"Sir, it's 2012. What do you mean, a couple centuries?" Henry was no stranger to time travel, having done so himself, but he was sure there had been no way for that to happen a second time.
"We're from the year 2517," another member of the crew stated, "And we'd like to get back to it."
"Yes, of course. I wouldn't assume you would want to stay here," Henry nodded, "I know all about being sent to the past, how stressful it can be, and how bad you can want to get home. We'll do everything in our power to make sure that happens. You probably ended up in the best place." He offered them food and drink. "I'll get my top guy to get right on it and make sure you get home." He made their new guests comfortable with food, drink, and comfortable seating as he had his entire staff gather around so introductions could be made.
After introductions were made, Henry turned to the crew. "I'm going to leave you guys in Zane's hands. He's in charge of research here, and he's one of the smartest people here. If anyone can get into a system and figure out what makes it tick, it's Zane." And he left.
Zane led them through the halls. "We have many state of the art items here, though they might not be that state of the art to you guys." He opened doors and showed off machines, "Much of the technology in place today was first created here, especially in the military fields, as Eureka started as an army base."
The crew looked at all the technology. Kaylee touched a machine. "Wow, I haven't seen one of these in real life. I've only learned about these in history class!" She grinned watching the machine work.
Zane looked at her before continuing. "Yes. I assume this was the machine that was tweaked to bring you back in time to this year. I'm thinking with a few more tweaks, to try to undo what was done before and that should get you back to your own time."
Jayne scoffed. "Right. You're going to get us back where we belong with 200 year old technology. I'll believe it when I see it."
"Well, it was this exact same technology, which I must remind you is ahead of its time here, that got you here. It stands to reason the same technology would get you back. Unless you happen to have some time travel equipment in your ship. In that case, you may be on your way."
Jayne shut up, and Mal took that opportunity to speak up. "As we do not have any time travelling devices on the ship, I will have to ask you excuse him and do what you need to get us back home."
Zane nodded. "Not a problem." He sat at the machine and started typing away at its keyboard. Without knowing who was responsible for playing with it and what they did, it was going to take quite a bit of work to reverse the blast, and finding out what exactly happened in the first place was going to be the hardest part.
The crew headed back out while Zane worked. Jayne shook his head and turned to Mal. "Are you out of your mind? How can we trust this guy?"
"Well, what other choice do we have?" Mal said in response, "We have nothing on the ship that allows us to time travel, so what do you think we should do other than work with them and allow them to help us?"
"Work with them? Oh no, I am not working with them. If you need me, I'll be trying to find us our own way home. On the ship."
He stormed off and walked onto the ship. He went about checking every knob, button, and dial. He was determined to do this on his own, without the help of these... ancient people. With all the technology they had, something had to work.
But he wasn't Mal. Or Wash. Or even Kaylee. He didn't know all the inner workings of the ship. And without pushing every button, dial, and knob, even the ones that were rarely touched, he was never going to figure it out. "No. There's no way there isn't something that travels through time on this ship. With the technology we have."
Zane rubbed his eyes and looked around at the machine. "I need some help. I need someone to keep track of what I have and haven't pressed," he walked out of the room a moment and ran right into Jayne. "Hey. You busy?"
"What do you want?" Jayne crossed his arms. He didn't have the energy right now to deal with people right now, especially the ones from the past. He wanted to be left alone while he figured out a way to get himself and the rest of the crew back home.
"I could use some help," Zane started, "I keep losing track of what I've already tried and I know I'm retrying combos. If you wouldn't mind keeping track for me, I'd really appreciate it."
"So, let me get this straight," Jayne smirked a little. "You want me to help you out. Uh huh, right. Find someone who cares."
Mal walked up at that exact moment and stopped Jayne in his tracks. "Help him. It'll be good for you."
"You're making me work with him?" Jayne was not amused. "I can't believe this!" He scoffed quite a bit as he followed Zane into the room. "Okay, so what do I do?" He hoped it would be quick, easy, and require as little talking as possible.
"Well, every time I try something, mark it down," Zane explained the way Jayne needed to mark his combinations down so that he'd recognize what he'd done. "Pretty simple, actually."
Jayne nodded. He could do this. He could do this and there would be little talking and interaction. He started to mark the combinations, but was starting to be awed by Zane's skills. He had almost hacked into the mainframe of the machine. He couldn't do that. No way.
"So um," Jayne started, "You're actually pretty damn good at this."
Zane smiled. "Well, we are all geniuses here. Except Carter, he's the exception. But he's cool enough to keep around. He's our sheriff." He kept working. "What century are you guys from?"
"Twenty-sixth," Jayne answered, "It's quite a bit different, obviously."
"Obviously," Zane smiled, then he sat up quickly. "I think I've got something!" He typed some more, "I'd recommend getting the rest of your crew in here so I can tell them what to do."
Zane made the last few tweaks and rubbed his hands together. "Excellent! I've got it figured out!" He turned to the crew. "Okay, if you guys just head back onto your ship, I'll hit the final buttons and you'll be on your way."
They nodded, and one by one shook his hand and thanking him before walking onto their ship. Zane waited to make sure everyone was on the ship and the doors were secure before hitting a few buttons on the machine's panel.
And, like that, the ship was gone just as quickly as it had arrived. Zane got up and headed to the lobby, taking a place next to Henry. "Got it working."
Henry gave Zane a friendly slap on the back. "Good work. Very good work."
"It's what I do."
Mal looked out the window of the ship. "Space. There's nothing but space!"
Kaylee jumped up. "He did it! He actually did it!"
This led everyone else on the ship to do the same, as if they needed to see for themselves that they were actually home.
Jayne looked out the window, having to see it for himself. "God damn, the guy did it." Even he was impressed.