Sky Trek: The Time Capsule

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Directly beneath the ‘sealock’ chamber was another, larger room. At the far end of it was an open lift large enough to carry the seven-person team downward in one fell-swoop. It didn't take long for the team to board it.

Fortunately, this time the controls were more accessible via a small panel on the far side of it. With a quick read-over, Liara was able to activate the lift, sending it downward at a brisk pace. After moving through a small, enclosed, metallic shaft, they then found themselves moving down the center of a large, four-story tall, cubic corridor.

On every side of each level were closed, twin-doors. Allowing access to them were a series of balcony catwalks which wrapped around each levels' sides, each connected via stairways. Like everything else they had seen so far, it was well lit by various ceiling and wall lights. And though somewhat spartan when it came to ornaments, the place still had a hint of beauty due to its silverish complexion: including the occasional intricate pattern of gold scattered here or there.

Geordi was the first to react with a loud, impressed whistle. He glanced at Shepard, raising his eyebrows. "Blowing this place is gonna feel like a crime, you know."

"I'll say," Liara said, glancing around in wonder. "Can you imagine what it must have been like to work down here?"

"Work down here?" Tasha asked. "I thought it was just a vault."

"'Vault' was just a convenient name for 'a place that has lost technology stored in it'," Liara corrected. "For all we know, it could also have been a laboratory, a shelter..."

"An armory?" Undyne interjected hopefully. "Think the Gallifreyans were into giant robots?"

"Still holding out hope for a steam mech division?" Tasha teased.

"Just don't think the Empire should have the monopoly on them," Undyne pouted.

"They don't seem like the massive war machine type," Geordi said. "Though I bet whatever's powering this place could put a mana battery to shame."

"Hopefully we'll be able to find it," Shepard said. "Sounds like a good place to plant C4-F."

A second after she spoke the lift arrived at the bottom of the corridor, a small clanging sound accompanying it. Immediately, the group's eyes widened. Previously hidden under a section of catwalk was none other than a large, hollow ring.

"Yoooo!" Undyne said. "Tasha, isn't that one of those things you said you saw on Farpoint?"

"A warpgate," Tasha said, still stunned. "I wonder…"

"If the Freyan may have been one of the people to use it?" Liara said, stars practically twinkling in her eyes. "Starting to seem like it!"

"For all we know, they could have helped design the things," Geordi pointed out.

"Wait, I thought using them to move around was just a myth?" Alphonse said.

"Not after Farpoint," Tasha said. "There was strong evidence to suggest the Threstrals knew how to use them."

"We can't sit here speculating," Shepard said, her voice filled with focus as always. "If you want time to study, we have no time to lose. We need to split into groups and cover as much of this place as we can."

"B-But--"

"Sorry, Liara, you know the drill." She began pointing at people. "McKay, LaForge, Yar, you'll search the third floor. Liara and I will take the fourth. Elric and Undyne, you have the bottom two. Each team should grab as much C4-F as they can carry. Remember, the primary objective is to look for structural weakpoints to set your explosives on. Secondary objective is to detail any tech or other significant items down here. Remember to be careful, people. We still know next to nothing about what's down here."

She took a deep breath. "And soon, nobody else ever will."

--

The groups sped into their searches.

On the third floor up, Tasha stepped in front of one of the double doors, blinking in surprise as it opened automatically. They couldn’t see what was beyond them just yet, however, as it led straight into a corner.

“Heh, even the doors in this place are pretty wild,” Geordi said.

“I'm impressed, too," McKay nodded. “Wonder what mechanism did that? Would be nice to have time to study it." His voice turned sour. "Whelp, guess we’ll never know.”

“Second thoughts on this whole thing?” Geordi asked.

McKay sighed. “Let’s just say I think you’re right: destroying this place is a crime. Or at least it should be.”

“You know the stakes,” Tasha said.

“Of course I know the stakes,” Rodney grumbled. “Know them, salted them, and dipped them in sauce. But that’s the point. The stakes are so high that we shouldn’t be rushing into anything. There has to be an alternative to just blowing everything up. It just feels so… dumb."

"What other options do we have?" Tasha asked.

"Oh, I don't know," McKay said sarcastically. "Maybe strike a deal with the Empire? The other nations? Share the discoveries here equally?"

Tasha gazed at him skeptically. "I'm not sure the Goa'uld or the Empire are the 'sharing' types. Even the Klingons would be iffy."

"The Federation is a diplomatic powerhouse," McKay said. "There has to be some way we could make a deal."

“Let’s put a pin on that for later,” Geordi said. “Right now, we don’t even know how much stuff is still in here. For all we know, the Freyans could have stripped it before leaving."

“Well, let’s take a peak, shall we?” Rodney said, smirking towards Tasha. “Lady’s first?”

“Very gracious,” Tasha said, giving him a sarcastic look.

At that, they went through the door frame and rounded the corner. Though Tasha expected to run into some sort of laboratory or storage room, the actual contents were quite different from that.

"Huh."

Puzzled at first, it didn’t take her long to realize they were in someone’s long forgotten quarters. There was a small, comfortable looking bed at the far end of the room, along with what looked like some sort of stove, sink, and kitchen counters, a few pots and plates still adorning them. Whoever lived here must have been studious, as there were also a few shelves lining the walls. They were relatively empty, but there were still a number of books and trinkets scattered around. It looked as if someone had grabbed what they could in a hurry.

“Holy smokes,” Geordi chuckled. “I think we’ve hit the jackpot already.”

“I’m surprised everything hasn’t crumbled to dust,” Tasha said, stunned. “Especially the books. Everything looks so… pristine.”

Geordi nodded. “The Freyans must have perfected atmospheric control. Limit changes in humidity and temperature and you could theoretically preserve things even longer.”

“We are allowed to take the books, right?” Rodney said, rushing up to one of the shelves. “Actually, forget I asked. I don’t care. I’m bringing back at least one.”

"Not like we can read them without Dr. T'soni," Geordi said, pointing at the ancient texts printed on them. "For all we know, they could just be about history. The captain wouldn't object to that. Right, Tasha?"

Tasha didn't respond, as she was barely paying attention to them. It was what was hanging on one of the walls that had caught her eye: a large, framed, color photo of two human-looking men in a savanna-like setting, their wild grey hair making them look like mad scientist twins.

And that wasn’t even the strangest part of it. That would be what was in the background of the photo: several massive, long-necked reptiles.

“Woah,” Tasha said, smiling slightly in excitement as she moved to examine it. “Are those…”

“Dinosaurs,” Rodney said, raising his eyebrows as he peered at it over his shoulder. “Heh, the Freyans must have discovered a living population. A lost world, so to speak."

“You think that’s weird? Look at the guys in the photo,” Geordi said. “Always heard the Freyans looked like humans, but they’re nearly identical.”

“Do you think one of them… lived here?” Tasha asked, almost with a hint of sadness in her voice.

“Maybe,” Geordi said, sighing slightly. “Does feel kind of… imposing, doesn’t it? To us it’s a treasure chest, but to whoever used these quarters... it might have been their home.”

“And I’m sure whoever that was wouldn’t want all of this to go to waste,” Dr. McKay said, eerily cheerful in tone as he gazed upon another book. Its cover appeared to show a detailed sketch of some form of half-human, half-machine entity, split right down the middle. Parts of it were labelled by unintelligible Gallifreyan text. "I can practically smell the genius under every cover!"

"At least we know they're books," Geordi said, moving over to examine another object. "I have no clue what this thing does."

He gestured to what seemed to be a golden, flatscreen monitor of some kind sitting on a polished desk. It was connected via a few metal tubes and wires to a small box. And connected to that were a few other devices: an ovaloid-like object with a few buttons on it and a small sort of typewriter, Gallifreyan symbols dotting its keys.

"Whatever it is, I think it's important," Tasha said. "Look where it’s placed. Center of the desk."

"Good point," Geordi nodded, quickly figuring out how to and disconnecting the box before placing it in his backpack. "Dunno if I can fit the other stuff, but I'm taking this at least."

"I wouldn't," Tasha said. "The captain specifically ordered we leave any technology behind. Bringing it back could be considered insubordination."

"In this one case, I'm willing to take the risk," Geordi said firmly. "Besides, he could just have us chuck it in the ocean if he doesn't approve."

"If he does, I declare mutiny," Rodney laughed.

Tasha gave him a sarcastic look. "Please don't make me cuff you."

"Hey, he's the one who's committing a crime: a crime against scientific progress," Rodney grumbled, walking over to another corner of the room. Here, there were another pair of closed doors, though these weren't opening automatically.

"Huh. Wonder what's behind door number two." He looked around the area of it for a second. "No door controls. It might be locked from the inside."

"Maybe it's embarrassing tie-dye t-shirts," Tasha quipped, earning a chuckle for Geordi.

"Or something sexier," Rodney smirked.

"Really?" Geordi said, giving him a look.

"You know what I meant!" Rodney groaned.

"I don't," Tasha said.

"Me neither," Geordi smirked.

"By 'sexier' I meant something more valuable than clothes, not whatever's running through your dirty minds!"

"Relax, doctor, we're just playing around," Tasha chuckled.

"Oh hardy har har," Rodney sighed. "Do you two want to get this door open or not?"

"Looks like it's not getting any power," Geordi said, gazing it over with his glowing eyes. "Circuit's been cut behind that wall on the left. If it got juice, I'd bet it'd open automatically like the others."

"I really need to get a pair of those eyes," Rodney said.

Geordi raised an eyebrow at that. "You have any idea how painful that process is? And I'm not just talking about the removal."

Rodney gulped. "On second thought, I'll pass."

"Let's just figure out how to open this thing manually," Geordi said.

"Wait a minute. If it's not getting power..." Tasha trailed, smiling slightly. "Maybe this is where I step in."

She concentrated for a moment, drawing on some of her mana reserves Undyne had filled up for her. To her satisfaction electricity began to sparkle around her fingertips.

"Hey, careful!" Rodney warned. "This isn't the time for magician tricks!"

"He's right," Geordi nodded. "Too much and you'll fry the circuit. Though if you start low…"

"There's still virtually no chance this will work," Rodney huffed.

"Depends on if there's a conductive path to the cut wires…" Geordi said. "I really don't see the harm in trying."

"A sealed door in a sealed vault," Tasha said, smirking Rodney's way. "You know it's worth a shot."

Rodney thought for a second, then rolled his eyes. "Fine. But if something goes wrong, don't say I didn't warn you."

"No reward without risk," Tasha said. "That should be Skyfleet's motto."

“Not exactly the words I’d expect from a security officer,” Geordi joked.

“Yeah, yeah,” Tasha said. “Just trust me - I’ll be careful.”

With that, she walked over to the door and held her palms up to it. Even before she touched its metal surface, small arcs of electricity were surging into it. She concentrated, trying to control how much she was putting into it the best she could, adding more and more as the seconds rolled on.

“That is… that’s awesome, not going to lie,” Geordi said, smirking.

Rodney tapped his foot. “Still not opening the--”

“GOT IT!” Tasha beamed, the door swinging open in front of her.

Rodney shook his head in bafflement. "I can't believe that worked."

Geordi gave him a playful smirk. "Finally starting to appreciate magic?"

"Don't push it," he grumbled.

As the two exchanged quips, Tasha peaked inside the 'closet', which in actuality turned out to be a small storeroom. However, that wasn't what surprised her; it was the contents.

“Uh, Geordi, Dr. McKay, you may want to take a look at this.”

--

A floor above them, Liara and Shepard stood before the first door in sight. There was a symbol next to the double doors - a label of sorts - Liara was quick to translate.

"'Containment Facility - Caution Advised'," Liara said aloud, puzzled. "Containment of what?"

"I don't know," Shepard said, warily. "And I really don't like the look of it. But we need to check it out. We can't afford to miss any structural weakpoints."

Without another word, she stepped in front of the door, which opened automatically. To their surprise, it turned out to lead downward; a flight of stairs lining the floor in a descending tunnel.

"Don't trip," Shepard joked, leading the way into it.

"I don't understand," Liara questioned as she followed him. "Why would they have a downward staircase lead from the top floor?"

"Don't look at me," Shepard shrugged. "Never been one for architecture."

"Yes, but--"

She paused, more Gallifreyan symbols were lining the stairwell tunnel's walls.

"What do they say?" Shepard asked.

"Something about this being a 'failsafe detonation point'," Liara read. "Then there's something about seeing the… the something something 'laboratory reference manual for more information.' I couldn't translate the first part, unfortunately."

Shepard took a deep breath. "A failsafe, huh? Sounds like a self-destruct mechanism."

"Perhaps they were conducting unsafe experiments?" Liara pondered. "Experiments that they couldn't afford leaving this place. Maybe biological in nature?"

"This is making me regret not packing HAZMAT suits," Shepard grunted.

"We were in a rush," Liara consoled. "We brought what we could on short notice. It wasn't your fault."

"I suppose," Shepard sighed. "Just wish I wasn't always on such a tight schedule. But that's MACO, and now Skyfleet, too, for you. Never a moment where you aren't flying by the seat of your pants."

"You don't need to tell me," Liara said. "I remember the adventures we've been through."

"Like when we first met?" Shepard smirked.

An image of herself being trapped in a Prothean stasis rune flashed through her head, causing her to simper. "On second thought, maybe I shouldn't have brought that up."

"Sorry," Shepard chuckled. "I do miss the old days, though. Just you, me, and the crew hunting down Saren. Short timetables or not, they were simpler times."

Liara pondered his words. "Do you still resent not finding him?"

"I blame only myself," Shepard said. "The Federation Council, though a pain in the ass at times, gave us all the resources we needed, and the rest of you performed admirably." She then narrowed her eyes. "Though I still haven't given up hope of completing that old mission."

As if she wanted to end the conversation, Shepard led them forward, leaving Liara with a puzzled expression. After another brief moment of walking they finally reached a door. Unlike the others, this one was not double in nature and no way automated. It seemed incredibly sturdy, and on its front was a large valve wheel such as those found on maritime ships.

"We're going to have to open it," Shepard said, a hint of apprehension in her tone. "Remember, we have to make sure the whole place is, at the very least, completely flooded."

"And these type of doors are usually water-tight," Liara sighed.

"Exactly."

Shepard gripped the wheel, and with noticeable strain despite her tip top physique, began to slowly turn it. A moment or so later, there was a small clank, and the door was unlocked. With the help of Liara, she pushed it open.

The duo peaked in. The room was near pitch-black. Unlike the rest of the facility, not a flicker of light could be seen.

Without hesitation, both Liara and Shepard detached the flashlights clipped onto their belts and clicked them on. Shining their torches into the room, they found it to be large but surprisingly barren. There was, however, what looked like two metal rings in the center: one on the ceiling and one on the floor, parallel to each other.

And inside the bottom one...

"... What… is that?" Liara gulped.

--

"So Alphonse, right?" Undyne asked, having finished checking their first and mostly empty room on the bottom level.

"Al is fine," he said, giving her a polite smile.

"Works for me," Undyne said. "But yeah, word is you used to roll around in a metal suit of armor?"

Al winced slightly. "You could say that…"

"Hey, nothing wrong with armor," Undyne said. "I have a pretty kick-ass set of it myself. Forged right in the Underground's CORE. That baby had and still has temperatures in the quadruple digits. Easy peasy for smelting even Deep Iron."

“Oh?” Al asked, his voice growing more curious. “Not many people in Amestris know about the Underground, including myself. When you say CORE, you’re talking about some sort of lava tube, right?”

“Pfffft, no,” Undyne laughed. “It was this giant energy producing… thing that used a uh…” She suddenly frowned. “Screw it. Alphys could tell you more. Really wish I didn’t have to keep saying that.”

“Huh? Why?” Alphonse asked.

“Dunno,” she shrugged. “Guess just hanging around so many geeks-- er, smart people lately has…” She shook her head. “Bleh, it’s nothing.”

“Secret’s safe with me if you wanna talk,” Al offered.

She sighed. “Fine, guess I’m just feeling a little… dumb. Especially around that Dr. McKay guy. He always seems to rub it in whenever you say something not at his level, ya’ know?”

"I understand,” Alphonse said. "Heh. He actually reminds me of my brother a little bit."

“Huh? Your brother didn’t seem that bad to me,” Undyne said.

“He isn’t so much anymore,” Alphonse said, smirking slightly. “But back before… certain events happened, let’s just say he was a little… cantankerous?”

“Cantankerous?” Undyne said, frustrated.

“Means ‘easily angered’.”

Undyne sighed. “Bleh, there we go again. Me not knowing something.”

“Hey, just because you don’t know something doesn’t mean you’re dumb,” Alphonse said firmly. “If you know a lot, it just means you’re book smart. There are millions of different other ways people can be intelligent.”

“Like what?”

“Well… being able to adapt quickly, for one thing,” Alphonse said. “And Victor said you and Tasha really shined with that last week.”

“With the Latawiec?”

“Uh huh,” Alphonse said. “You really went 'full throttle', as my brother would say!”

She grinned ever so slightly. “Heh, we were kind of awesome, weren’t we?”

"If saving all of our lives isn't, I don't know what is."

"Fair enough." She then nodded appreciatively. “Thanks. I needed that. You’ve got a kind soul, you know that? Reminds me of Tasha and another human I know. Just don't tell anyone about my… er, emotional moment of weakness, alright?"

Alphonse gave a thumbs up.

"You're alright, Al," she beamed. "Anyways, you said you're from Amestris, ri--"

She was forced to pause, interrupted by a series of loud clanks and then a mechanical whirring sound coming from the nearby warpgate. The two twirled about, their faces caked with surprise. The formerly static object's inner ring was now spinning back and forth, its various ancient symbols lining up with the numerous chevrons positioned on the gate's outer ring, each of them shining brightly as it did.

"Okay, so this is happening," Undyne said apprehensively, glancing at Alphonse. "What exactly is happening?"

"I have no idea," he said, equally baffled. "M-Maybe it's nothing? Something routine?"

"I thought these things were used to teleport stuff or something like that," Undyne said. "Seems weird they'd do that as part of a routine."

"Whatever it is, we need to tell Commander Shepard," Alphonse noted, before wincing slightly as he gazed at the minute long route to the fourth level. "Easier said than done, though. Brother was right: we really should have brought radio packs."

Undyne gave him a stern look. "My turn for a pep talk: save second guessing for later. We need to come up with a plan ASAP."

He nodded. "True, it's just how--"

Before he could finish, there was a tremendous whooshing sound. What looked like a tidal wave of water had suddenly erupted from the center of the gate. Before anyone could blink, it had ploomed to a size nearly as wide as its origin and outwards over ten feet. Then, as quickly as it came, it retracted, leaving behind a shimmering, watery surface extending across the mouth of the device.

"Would you believe me if I said this is only the second strangest thing I've seen?" Undyne asked, summoning a blue spear and carefully moving closer to the gate.

"It's beautiful," Alphonse said, nearly mezmorized, before snapping out of it. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"Getting ready to kick some ass if needed," she said, twirling her spear, a hint of an excited grin on her face. "For all we know, hostiles could be getting ready to come through."

"And you're happy about that?!"

"Didn't expect to get to fight today," she shrugged. "And someone's gotta keep an eye on this thing anyway. I'll take care of that, you get Shepard."

"And leave you here alone?" Al said skeptically.

"I can handle a few bad guys if needed," Undyne said confidentially. "If that's what about to… swim through? Still not sure how it works with the whole shimmering water thing."

The universe was quick to answer her questions. For a brief second later, two figures appeared out of the ring, shocking the two Enterprise crewmembers even further.

"Uhhhh..." Alphonse gulped. "Hello?"

Both were rather strange in appearance. One had a face, minus his eyes, completely wrapped in white bandages, looking like some sort of mummy. The other had slick black hair and wore an outdated, Great War trenchcoat. While it was impossible to tell the bandaged one's expression, the latter looked almost as surprised as they did.

Almost.

A curious and almost playful look soon came upon him. However, his companion was clearly not in the mood for that. Without hesitation, he drew a pistol from his holster, pointing it at Undyne. His eyes narrowed into a glare as the weapon's cartridge glowed a bright yellow.

Undyne seemed to instantly ascertain this threat would need a different counter. As soon as she saw the pistol, she dissipated her spear, held her palms forward, and summoned a twirling ball of flame. She held it in place, giving a menacing look towards the bandaged individual that she hoped relayed a simple message:

'Don't try it.'

"Woah, easy there, everyone," the jet black haired individual said, almost chuckling as he did so. "Let's take it down a notch, shall we?"

"Captain…" the bandaged man growled, his voice as deep as thunder.

"I know, Jacob, but we didn't come here to knock around our own team."

"Own team?" Alphonse asked in a slightly calmer tone. "What do you mean?"

"Yeah, who the hell are you people?!" Undyne snapped.

"Well, you're both Skyfleet, judging by your uniforms," the 'captain' said. "And last I checked, that was under the Federation. So yeah, same team."

"You're… working for the Federation?" Alphonse said in a slightly hopeful tone.

"Which branch?" Undyne asked, her voice dripping with skepticism.

"Federation Intelligence," the bandaged man said coldly. "And as far as I'm concerned, that's all you need to know." He glanced at his partner. "We don't have time for this. We need to give the signal. There are likely more Skyfleet officers here."

"Nope, just us," Undyne said.

"Er, yeah," Alphonse coughed. "My friend here was teaching me, um, deep sea diving on our… vacation, and what do you know? We found this crazy place!"

"Thank you for confirming my suspicions," the bandaged man replied.

"To be fair, at least they tried," the captain said. "But enough fun and games, it's time to get this show on the road."

"Make a move and you're gonna get toasted, buddy," Undyne growled, flaring the fire in her hands for a split-second.

Alphone's eyes widened in horror. "Undyne, you can't! That's a--"

"Shhh!" Undyne hissed.

"Listen to your friend," the bandaged man said. "Federation law forbids the use of offensive flame magic. As someone who once baptized in it, I can understand the reasoning. Would you turn against the nation you swore to defend just to win a minor skirmish against someone who may or may not even be your enemy?"

Undyne glanced away from him.

"We each have transceivers," the captain explained. "Either way, the signal gets out. Won't be able to fry both of us in time."

"The signal for what?" Alphonse asked. "What are you doing here? How did you figure out how to use the warpgate? What--"

"Depending how this plays out, we'll see about getting you answers," the captain said. "For now, I need you to get your pretty friend here to surrender."

"'Pretty friend?!'" Undyne growled. "The Hell are you on, creep? Who do you think you are?"

He shrugged. "Just giving a compliment, but maybe it's a bit too forward. I should have at least started with a name." He then gave one of the most darling smiles Al had ever seen. "I'm Captain Jack Harkness. And who might you be?"