Sky Trek: The Time Capsule

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“Captain, we should be about a klick away from the coordinates,” Luna stated.

“And yet no land in sight,” Riker said, gazing out the bridge windows and over the bow of the Enterprise. All that could be seen were clear skies and ocean waves. “How certain was Skyfleet of its location?”

“Neither Skyfleet or the president gave a margin of error,” Picard said. “We have to assume the coordinates are relatively accurate.”

While they spoke, Luna was fiddling with the bulky, mechanical calculator at her station. After a second, she seemed to get the desired result. “At present speed, we’ll be directly over the coordinates in 10 seconds.”

“Nicely done, CN,” Riker said, pulling out a mechanical stopwatch from his uniform and clicking it on.

“And Celestia said mathematics were a useless study,” Luna said, smiling whimsically to herself. “She never could get the hang of calculus…”

Picard raised an eyebrow. “I thought your teacher was a wizard?”

“A wizard who believed in a broad curriculum,” Luna corrected.

"His diligence is our boon, then," Picard noted.

At that moment, Riker clicked off his stop-watch. “Ms. Hopper, cut the mana drive and extend braking sails.”

“Aye, sir,” the young, long-haired psychic complied.

Picard turned to Charlie. "Ms. Magne, please patch me through to our belly lookout."

"On it,” she said, now expertly manipulating her relay board. “You should be loud and clear."

Picard raised his voice slightly. “Mr. Wheeler, do you see anything unusual directly beneath the ship? Or anything for that matter aside from the obvious?”

“Sorry, captain, just waves,” a voice stated through the intercom. “Just got done searching with a spotlight, too, just in case. Got nothing. Um, and also, sorry for being kind of unprofessional, but is El up there?”

“Hey Mike!” Jane beamed.

“Hey! How are things in--”

“Thank you, Mr. Wheeler,” Picard grunted, giving Charlie a nod.

She gave a frowning Jane a sympathetic look as she cut the comms.

“What now, captain?” Riker asked.

“Mmm,” Picard said, bringing a hand to his chin. “It stands to reason that if the Gallifreyans wanted to keep their legacy preserved somewhere, they’d want it to be in a remote location.”

“Beneath the waves, maybe?” Shepard suggested.

“There would be no better place,” Picard said, before turning to Victor. “Mr. Stone, please lower a multi-beam echosounder probe. Let’s see if the seabed has any unusual features.”

“With pleasure, captain,” Victor stated, grinning slightly. “Been wanting to test this baby out.”

A moment later, a small hatch opened on the belly on the skyship. From it came a metallic sphere which began to lower via cable. Though the Enterprise was hovering around 200 meters above the ocean surface, it didn’t take long for the probe to splash beneath the waves.

“Starting to get readings now,” Victor said, gazing at a green-tinted screen at his workstation. Slowly, various lines began to trace on it: topographical data. To the untrained eye, it would seem like gibberish, but to him: “Yepper - we got something, captain. Solid rectangular feature is showing up kind of jutting out from the seafloor. Ten to one odds that thing isn’t natural.”

“An entrance of some kind?” Riker suggested.

“Perhaps to a structure buried beneath the seafloor,” Picard said, a hint of wonder in his voice.

“Definitely beyond what our engineers can do,” Leia said. “Even with magical assistance.”

“Ensign, what’s the depth of the object?” Picard asked Victor.

“Looks like it’s at a depth of about 200 meters. Unusually shallow for this far from land. Looks like we got lucky.”

Picard shook his head. “No, not luck. The Gallifreyans may have chosen this particular location for a reason. Just the right depth to keep their secrets hidden but not deep enough to be inconvenient to access.”

“We shouldn’t waste any time, then,” Shepard said. “Captain, permission to assemble an away team.”

“What do you have in mind, commander?” Picard asked.

“We’ll bring the Normander dropship as close to the surface as possible,” Shepard said. “Then, we drop right down on it.”

“Finally making use of the new diving suits?” Riker asked.

Shepard smiled slightly. “I have something more… unorthodox in mind.”

“Oh?”

“We could have one of the mages create a forcefield around the away team,” she explained. “All we’ll need to do then is ride it to the ocean floor.”

“Wait, what about oxygen?” Leia asked.

“She’s right,” Riker said, nodding. “Even if your mage manages to create a 20 foot bubble, you wouldn’t have much air.”

“Got an idea about that, too,” Shepard grinned.

--

“This is a terrible, terrible idea!” Dr. McKay whined. “A terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea!”

Shepard resisted rolling her eyes with all her might. “I understand your concerns, Dr. McKay, but--”

“No, I don’t think you do,” Rodney growled. “Do you know how precise an alchemist would have to be to transmute the right quantities of CO2 to Oxygen? Pretty. Friggin’. Precise. Otherwise we either suffocate or die of oxygen poisoning.”

In the Bridge Spire’s conference room, six individuals sat around a long, wooden table. Rodney was, as usual, not in a good mood.

“Alphonse seems more than confident in his abilities,” Shepard said, gesturing at one of the two blonde, young men in the briefing room.

Alphonse glanced about nervously.

“Right?”

“Well, uh …”

Rodney gave Shepard a blank look. “Oh yeah, he looks like he’s ready to write a dissertation on it!”

“Easy, Rodney,” the other young, blonde man, Edward Elric cautioned. “Only I’m allowed to bust on my brother.”

“Thanks, Edward,” Alphonse said sarcastically.

“Look, we don’t have much of a choice here,” Tasha said. “From what the captain said, speed is everything.”

“Then we should just use my diving suits instead of wasting time on this!” Rodney snapped.

“Uhhh, aren’t they kind of bulky, though?” Undyne said, the semi-aquatic Astral folding her arms.

“Bulky but safe,” Rodney mumbled.

“Yeah, but that might cost us time we need,” Undyne pointed out.

“Says the fish person!" Rodney snapped. "You’re not the one who has to travel to the seafloor in a bubble.”

“Fish person?!” Undyne growled, the muscular woman towering over the cantankerous scientist. “Look, we’ve put up with plenty of your BS, Dr. McKay, but that’s going too far!”

Rodney gulped slightly, before glancing away from her. “... Alright, you’re right, that was stupid. Sorry.”

Undyne suddenly grinned at him. “Just busting your chops - I don’t really care. Do you know how many sushi jokes I’ve had to put up with?”

Tasha, naturally, burst out laughing. McKay, meanwhile, glanced about the room, as if unsure how to react.

“Hate to say it, but Dr. McKay has a point,” Edward said. “Only a top-level A-Type Alchemist could pull something like that off.”

“Thank you,” Rodney said, relief apparent in his voice.

“Fortunately, Alphonse is a top-level alchemist,” Edward beamed.

Alphonse looked back at him, nearly flabbergasted. “That’s probably the nicest thing you’ve said to me, brother.”

“Won't be me who will have trouble breathing if you screw this up,” Edward grinned.

Alphonse practically deflated. “Whelp, it was good while it lasted.”

“Come on, we need a straight answer here,” Shepard said, folding her arms. “Can you do it or not, Mr. Elric?”

Alphonse thought for a second, before nodding. “Yes, yes I’m positive.”

“Then that settles it,” Shepard said, before smirking at Rodney. “Of course, you’re free to stay on the ship…”

“Tempting.”

“If you want to miss studying Gallifreyan technology first-hand.”

“...”

Her smirk grew wider. “I’m told it’ll be at least 30 years before even Vulcan Elves can walk around their micro-continent.”

Dr. McKay shook his head, exasperated. “Alright, alright, fine, we’ll do it your way, commander. However, let’s at least bring along some small oxygen tanks if anything goes wrong.”

“Sounds good to me,” Shepard nodded.

“Who's gonna make the shield for you guys, though?" Undyne asked. "Cus I don't know those types of spells."

"What spells do you know?" Alphonse asked curiously.

"The stabby kind," Undyne said, summoning a blue-green energy spear in her hands. "Also, I'm good at lighting stuff on fire. Ironic, right?”

“That could certainly come in handy,” Shepard said.

She gave a toothy grin. “You betcha. If the C4 we bring isn't enough to blow the place, how bout’ I just torch it?"

“Assuming there’s even any air in the vault,” McKay said.

"Quit worrying, you two," Edward grinned. "This isn't just regular C4 I whipped up, I’m calling it C4-F. These things can tear through a foot of solid steel. And they work underwater."

“How can you be that confident?” Tasha asked.

Edward’s grin widened. “They’re enhanced by fire salts.”

"Wait… wait what?" Tasha said, flabbergasted. "I thought those were just a myth? How the hell did you manage to get ahold of some?"

"Premiere chemist in the Federation, remember?" Edward smirked. "I have sources."

“Vinny helped you get them, didn’t he?” Alphonse said cheekily. “Drachmans have always been good at blowing things up, after all.”

“Shut up, Al,” Edward grumbled.

“Yes, yes, yes, you’re very good at what you do,” McKay sighed. “I’d still like to know whose hocus pocus is going to keep me from drowning, however.”

“That would be my hocus pocus, Dr. McKay,” a new voice said.

“You’re late, Dr. T’Soni,” Commander Shepard said, her tone more teasing than angry.

“I apologize, Commander,” the clearly excited Asari Nymph said formally, walking over to the conference table and taking a seat. “I was compiling everything I have on the Gallifreyans and then consolidating the most useful information into a backpack-sized--”

“It’s alright, Liara,” Shepard said. “Long-range radar says we’re still in the clear. That being said, the captain still wants us to depart within two hours. I intend to be underwater within one.”

Dr. McKay raised an eyebrow. “While I’d normally trust an archeologist more than a trained magician, I thought that’s who we’d be getting for this.”

“Asari Nymphs are naturally gifted in barrier magic, Dr. McKay,” Shepard said. “She should be able to handle this pretty easily.”

“Indeed,” Liara nodded. “In fact, I’ve used a similar technique when exploring underwater Prothean ruins before. I am a little concerned about making a sustained forcefield more than eight feet in diameter, however.”

“The team is only composed of seven people,” Shepard said, glancing about the room. “Everyone in this room plus Lieutenant LaForge minus Specialist Edward. I’m sorry, Mr. Elric, I know you like sticking by your brother.”

Edward shot Shepard a look. “Hey, I said that in confidence!”

“It’s alright, brother, I know,” Alphonse said.

“Yeah, but I didn’t want everyone else to,” he mumbled, folding his arms.

Shepard deadpanned, before turning towards Undyne.

“Fortunately, Sergeant Undyne here--”

“Yo!” she said, waving.

“--happens to be aquatic, so she’ll be swimming along with us. Your bubble should be more than enough for the rest of us.”

“Bit of a tight squeeze,” Tasha joked.

“You should have tried riding in a horseless carriage with Al when he used to be made of metal,” Edward said.

Tasha raised her eyebrows. “Used to be made of what?”

“Brother, you said you’d stop talking about that!” Alphonse grumbled. “It just confuses people.” He glanced towards Tasha, looking apologetic. “I’ll tell you about it later.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Tasha said playfully, before turning back to Shepard. “Sorry, commander. Didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“It’s fine - I think we’ve covered everything,” she said. “Remember, I want to be underwater in an hour. Gather up everything you need and meet me on the Normander in 45 minutes. 1500 hours.”

"Wait, quick question. Should we bother with radiopacks?" Alphonse asked

"It might be worth it for you," Edward pointed out.

Shepard paused, gazing at nobody in particular with a thinking look on. Finally, she shook her head. “Normally I'd say yes, but given the circumstances, no. They're too bulky. Any other questions?"

The group stood silently.

"Alright then," Shepard said. "Remember, it's possible someone is going to show up to screw with us any time now, so move like we're expecting that sort of company. Go, go, go!"

--

“Sir, somebody’s just showed up on long range radar,” Stone said, a hint of worry in his voice. “One contact heading directly towards us. Range 50 kilometers, relative bearing 87 mark 27."

“That’s directly from the Galactan Empire,” Luna stated.

“Looks like a large skyship,” Stone continued. “My guess? Sky Destroyer. They’re hauling ass, too. Will be in weapon’s range in one hour and thirty minutes. Didn't even think they could move that quick.”

“They must have made improvements to their engines,” Worf said. “A pretty big coincidence they managed to do so right around the same time we did.”

“A good point, Mr. Worf, but we’ll have to look into that matter later,” Picard said. “Right now, we need to figure out what they want.”

“We’re too far from their territory for them to just be ‘checking us out’,” Leia said. “Not that they need an excuse for aggressive BS, but it just wouldn’t make sense.'

“She’s right, captain,” Riker advised. “They must have been tipped off.”

Picard squinted in thought for a moment. “It seems to be the most likely explanation, though I’d like to keep the door open to other possibilities.”

“Still having trouble following your gut, huh?” Leia said, slightly annoyed.

“I never said we weren’t going to be cautious,” Picard said. He then swivelled his chair 180 degrees. “Mr. Worf, go on yellow alert. Have all gunners report to their stations.”

“Aye, sir.”

Klaxons began to blare yellow.

Picard then turned to Charlie. “Ms. Magne, contact our flight teams. Have all support craft ready to launch on my signal. After that, let Shepard know he needs to launch his mission as soon as possible. Oh, and contact Counselor Troi and have her report to the bridge. Her help would be appreciated.”

“Would you like that with a side of fries?” she joked.

Picard gave her a blank look in response.

“Guess not,” she simpered.

Riker turned to Picard. “We’re still trying diplomacy, right?”

“Before doing anything, I’d like to confirm what they’re up to,” Picard said firmly. “But yes, as much as we possibly can. Our orders explicitly state to avoid starting a war, and I intend to follow them to the letter.”

Leia gazed at him ominously. “You may not want a war, captain, but trust me, they do. By every definition, the Empire is a fascist nation, and a fascist nation needs conflict to survive.”

Picard gave her a wary look. “With the Empire being led by a more… rational leader in Thrawn, isn’t there a chance they may be open to talk?”

Leia thought for a second, before shaking her head. “Thrawn is as unknown as the Unknown Regions he comes from, but you don’t become a Grand Admiral by being soft - not in the Empire. He’s also one of the few non-humans to achieve that rank, despite their general xenophobia. That should give you an idea as to what he’s capable of.”

“You’re speaking like he’ll be coming here personally,” Riker said.

Leia chuckled slightly. “Though we know little about him, we do know he enjoys leading from the front. That might just be the case.”

“Well then,” Picard said, narrowing his eyes. “Look sharp, everyone. We may be receiving a state visit."

--

“Admiral, radar’s showing a ship at the designated coordinates,” an officer reported on the bridge of the Chimera.

“Looks like they beat us to the punch,” Eli said, slightly disappointed.

“Unfortunate, though not unexpected,” Thrawn said calmly. “The Federation flagship is almost certainly using their new Green Hornet encryption technique for radio communications. It’s time to see if what our spies provided us was worth the effort.”

“Aye, sir,” Eli said. “Just a reminder, though: Federation ships do not use radio for internal communications. They’re entirely wire-based.”

“Not to worry,” Thrawn said. “I’m specifically interested in hearing the communications between them and their away team.”

“Away team?” Palleon said, curious.

“The Federation prizes knowledge to a great degree," Thrawn explained. "One of their best attributes. It’s likely they’ll attempt to study the Gallifreyan vault before destroying it.”

"How are we supposed to secure it for ourselves if they already have a team on the ground?" Palleon asked.

"I will consider it an acceptable loss if we do not secure the technology and it is merely destroyed," Thrawn said. "As long as they make no attempt to extract it, of course, which I don't believe they will. Not with Picard in command."

"Then we just need to sit back and wait to Picard to do the job for us," Eli said, relaxing slightly.

"That would be preferable. However, as I stated earlier… it may not be so simple. There is a third party that may try to obtain the technology on the Federation's behalf, even if they do not ‘officially’ want it." Thrawn narrowed his eyes. "Make no mistake: we will do everything in our power to make sure that doesn't happen."

"What if Picard objects?" Palleon asked.

Thrawn’s tone grew colder than usual as he answered: "Then the wreck of the Enterprise becomes a second curious ruin in this stretch of ocean. May future civilizations find it interesting."