It was a cramped space that Data and the Enterprise's time traveling guest, Rasmussen, found themselves in. They were currently standing in Rasmussen's time machine which had barely enough room for them to have an arm length between them if they were both touching the opposite sides of the vehicle. On a small shelf on the back of the time machine sat the stolen ideas from the Enterprise that Data had been sent in there to look for.
Rasmussen had told Data that he had lie to the crew of the Enterprise. When Rasmussen had came on the Enterprise a few days ago he had told them he was a historian from the 26th century there to study an important historical event. Falling for this Captain Picard had welcomed Rasmussen onto his ship.
When it had been discovered that many ideas had started to disappear around the ship, before Rasmussen had been allowed to leave Data went on his ship to look for the stolen ideas. Here Rasmussen admitted that he was really from the 22nd century and he had stolen this time machine from a time traveler who was from the 26th century. Rasmussen was a failed inventor and he had planned to steal ideas from the future, find out how they work and then pass them off as his own invention. He now saw Data being there as an added bonus.
He currently had his stolen phaser on full change and pointed at Data.
"I believe a full charge would be enough to disable even you," Rasmussen said.
Data complete unfazed by this looked at the phaser than directly at Rasmussen.
"I believe your hand will open the door with you conscious or not."
Rasmussen was many things, but a foul was not one of them. He knew that Data was more than capable of following through with his threat and he was not fast enough to fire the phaser, before Data could stop him.
Rasmussen lowered his head and handed Data the phaser. Data took the phaser as well as the other stolen ideas and leaded Rasmussen to the door.
Unwilling to give up just yet Rasmussen had another trick up his sleeve. Though he was a failed inventor he had learned a great deal about technology while trying to be a great inventor. It was these skills that had allowed him to get his stolen time machine to work. Of these skills the one that Rasmussen had prided himself the most on was his hacking abilities, which he had used to get onto the Enterprise's secure computer files. He had only managed to get a few files, because the system was 200 hundred years newer than anything he worked with before.
One of the systems he had managed to get ahold of just happened to be Data's blue prints; he had tried to save that file but had been unable to. It had told him, though, where Data's on/off switch was.
While Data was leading him to the door Rasmussen reached over behind Data's left shoulder blade and before Data know what was happening, Rasmussen turned him off.
Instantly Data froze and became as stiff as a board. Data stood upright for about a second before he fall backwards on to the floor.
Rasmussen smiled.
"Your right Commander, my hand will open that door whether I am conscious or not. But you will have a hard time knocking me out now won't you."
Rasmussen looked into Data's still face for a moment in satisfaction and then he picked up the ideas that Data had in his hands to take back and put them where they were earlier. After doing this he stepped over Data and sat down in the pilot's chair. He had already set the time machine to take him were he wanted as all he had to do was wait.
For the first time in his life everything was going good for Rasmussen. Growing up he was told that he should look for another job other than being an inventor, because his chances of being successfully were very small. His brother in particular had made a point of telling him that every chance he got. And for years all Rasmussen seemed to do was prove them right with each fail invention after the other, while his brother became a very successful lawyer.
All that would change when he got back. Once he figured out how all this work he would finally become a successfully inventor.
The time machine's engines started up and in a swirl of colors the Enterprise's cargo bay started to disappear. This swirl of color also consumed the people who were standing there waiting for Data to come off the time machine. And like that Rasmussen, the time machine and Data were off the Enterprise and heading through time.
Rasmussen spared one more glance at Data and made up his mind that he would save Data for last. He would make the invention of androids as his last and greatest invention.
Rasmussen was so lost in his own little world that he did not notice a flashing light on the control panel. After a few minutes the time machine started to shake sending Rasmussen's stolen ideas off of their shelf and crashing to the ground.
Rasmussen quickly turned around and quickly took a look at the controls. The flashing light that Rasmussen had not paid attention to was indicating that there was engine trouble. A look a terror appeared on Rasmussen's face.
It had taken Rasmussen a long time to figure out how to work the time machine; this left little time to figure out how to fix the time machine if something went wrong.
Rasmussen got out of the pilot chair and started making his way to the back of the small ship were the engine was kept, in hopes that he would be able to figure out something to stabilize the ship. The ship was shaking so much though that even get across this small distance was no easy task. He fell twice on his way over there and on his second fall he landed on the wall where the panel to the engine was. Rasmussen pushed himself off of the wall and then started to open the panel to get to the engine.
Before Rasmussen could even get it open the ship gave a particularly violent shake which caused him to hit the ceiling. The focus of the hit knocked Rasmussen out and he landed on top of Data.
Now Rasmussen's and Data's fate was in the hands of a dying ship, which appeared to be at the end of its final flight.
The time machine continued to shake harder and harder. Rasmussen and Data were sent from one part of the ship to the other, never landing very gentle. The view screen which ever sense they left the Enterprise had shown a colorful swirl of light energy, sudden showed the black starry sky of normal space again. The ship was no longer traveling in time.
The time machine was now being violently pulled by a gravitational focus. As the ship went along the hull started to heat up as they entered the atmosphere of the planet which gravitational force was pulling them in. As the ship went down it continued to shake, when they hit the ground both Rasmussen and Data were thrown from the ship.
The time machine stopped in the middle of a forest. It had managed to take down several trees in its crash leaving a small travel to its crash site.
Leo did not know how much more of this weekend he could take he thought to himself as he watched Raph chase Mikey around the campsite. Mikey had thought that it would make their camping trip more interesting if he put a dead spider on Raph's face while he was sleeping. Needless to say that plan did not go well.
Though he would never admit it Raph has a completely irrational fear of bugs or anything that even looked like a bug. When Raph woke up and saw the spider he panicked and in his panic had managed to knock their tent down. All the while Mikey was laughing his head off. It didn't take Raph long to figure out what happened, which lead to Raph chasing Mikey around the campsite.
Leo know that Master Splinter had good attentions when he made the four of them go on this camping trip. Splinter told them it would be a great way for them to spend more time together.
He know that over the past couple of weeks him and his brothers had not spent much time together, but he would rather spend time with his brothers that didn't involve being woken up by being hit by tent posts as Raph tried to get away from a dead spider.
A sound from behind him, made Leo turn around. Don had walked over to him. Don was carrying two breakfast bars. He handed one to Leo and sat down.
"Raph somehow managed to knock over the cooler as well. So it appears that these two breakfast bars are what was not knocked into the dirt and since neither one of us had a hand in knocking over the cooler I think there ours." Don said as he pulled the wrapper off of his and took a bit.
"It would have also helped if those two hadn't stayed up last night eating like to staved pigs," Leo said pointing to the other two. Raph had just managed to catch Mikey and was pinning him to the ground.
"Yeah, and Master Splinter thought this camping trip would be a good way for us to spend time together."
Leo chuckled at this.
"Well I think I better go and help Mikey," Leo said putting the breakfast bar down and heading over to see if he could get Raph off of Mikey.
All of the sudden there was a loud noise, it sounded to Leo like a jet plane going off but they were nowhere near an airbase.
Don heard it to, looking up he saw a large object coming down. It looked like an asteroid, but it was much too close for that. In fact, it appeared to be coming their way.
"Look out," Don shouted noticing that it was coming their way. Don ran forward and somehow managed to knock all three of his brothers to the ground as the object fall just over their heads.
A few moments after it past them the ground shock as it landed.
Mikey was the first one to get up.
"What was that?" Mikey asked having not even noticed that the object was there before Don pushed Leo and Raph on top of him.
"I don't know, Mikey,' Leo answered.
Raph pushed Don and Leo off of him and got up.
"Well, I don't know about you guys but I'm going to go find out."
"Raph, wait," Leo said, put Raph was not paying him a bit of attention as he made his way over to where the object had crashed.
Don and Mikey quickly followed Raph.
Leo signed. In his family nothing was every normal and to think a moment ago he was upset about Raph and Mikey's antics with a dead spider.
Raph had heard Leo call out to him, but he paid no attention to him. He knew Leo well enough to know that he was just going to tell him not to go. Yeah, like their camping trip was so much fun. At least whatever crashed could give him something to do on this mandatory camping trip with his brothers.
Finding the crash site was not hard, whatever had crash appeared to have knocked down half of the trees in the forest. Trees were push to the side, leading on top of each other, had the tops of them taken off and one had somehow managed to get split horizontally down the middle. This made a trail right in the middle of the forest, they may have had to climb over of few fallen trees, but it leaded them right to the crash site.
When they got to the crash site, they could clearly see a small ship. The ship had clearly seen better days. The outside of the ship was covered in burnt marks were it had heated up from the atmosphere, there were places where one could clearly see that pieces had fallen off and much of the metal that covered the outside was bent.
"Someone clearly needs to have their flying license revoked," Mikey joked when they saw the ship. Raph, who was standing just to the right of him, reached over and slapped Mikey.
During this time Don had made his way down to the ship.
"Don what are you doing," Raph called.
"Someone might be in there," Don answered as if that ended all argument.
"Donnie, don't you watch movies? Bad stuff happens with fallen space objects," Mikey called.
Don rolled his eyes and continued to the time machine. There was a doorway at the back of the time machine, but no door. Don found this interesting but didn't stop to think about it as he checked the inside of the ship and saw no one in it.
"No one's here," Don said, turning around to face his brothers.
"That's not completely true Don," Leo said pointing up in a tree. He had just joined them.
His brothers looked to where Leo was pointing. A pale white man with black hair had gotten his foot stuck between two branches in the top of the tree and was just dangling there.
"Well, Donnie there is the person who was in that ship," Mikey said.
"We can't leave him up there," Leo said heading to the tree. Donnie followed him, and it took them only a few minutes to clime the tree and to get the man out of it.
When they got the man down they laid him down on the ground, just outside of the wreckage. Don started to look him over.
The more and more Don looked him over the look of confusion on his face only grew.
"This may sound strange, but I don't think his organic," Don said looking up at his brother.
At this his brothers looked confused.
"Say what," Mikey asked scratching the back of his head.
Don gave a deep sigh.
"I mean I think his a machine."
"You mean like a robot," Raph says kneeing down next to Donnie.
"From the way he appears to be constructed I would say more like an android," Don answered.
"Androids are a lot worst then robots, they are a lot more powerful and more likely to attack you," Mikey says stepping back.
Leo rolled his eyes. "Mikey not everything is like a movie."
"The first person to say something like that always gets it in the movies. I've watched something like this in "Attack of the Killer Robots from Space."
At this Raph gets up walks behind Mikey and slaps him.
"Mikey remember the last couple of times you compared our lives to movies," Raph asked crossing his arms in front of him.
At this Mikey's face went plank, like he was trying to dig memories out from the back of his mind. After thinking about it for a moment a stupid looking smile spread across Mikey's face.
"Yeah, that's what I thought," Raph said.
"That doesn't matter anyways; he appears to be turned off. He couldn't hurt us if he wanted to," Don stated as he stand up.
"Are you sure Donnie?" Leo asked, not willing to do anything that could endanger his family.
"Yeah Leo, I'm sure," Don answered, "We need to get him of here it's too dangerous to leave him here."
"No way," Raph said shaking his head and waving his hands for emphasis. "As much as I hate to admit it Mikey may have a little bit of a point. We don't know why he's here or who sent him. Taking him with us could put us right in the middle of something we don't want to get involved in."
"But he could be endanger and we can't just leave him here unable to defend himself," Leo argued.
"You say that like it's our problem," Raph said, but one could see his eyes soften at Leo's comment. Raph may act like he doesn't care, but he was not heartless.
Knowing this Leo simply looked Raph directly in the eye. Raph fidgeted a little under his brother's gaze, before he gave in.
"Find, but I still think this is a bad idea."
Meanwhile miles away on a military base, Bishop was looking over the reports from last week. It had been a slow week for Bishop and he was once again facing funding cuts. Last time to gain the money he needed he had to stage an alien abduction of the president. He hoped he didn't have to do anything that elaborate again; it took too much time away from his work.
He was on the last report when a buzzing sound filled his office. He had long ago set up a buzzer for his office. He wanted to be aware when someone needed to do business with him, without them pounding on his door.
"Enter," Bishop said without looking up from the report.
At that Bishop Head of Operations walked in. When he got to the center of the room he stood up strait and saluted.
"Sir, we believe we have spotted an alien ship entering the atmosphere."
This had Bishop's undivided attention.
"Are you sure," Bishop asked in a voice that promised severe punishment if he dared lie.
The man didn't say anything, but simply handed Bishop his tablet which had a detailed recorded of everything their sensors picked up.
As he read the information a smile spread across Bishop's face.
"Well soldier if this is what it appears to be you may be up of a promotion," Bishop said.
"Thank you, sir," the man said, but Bishop was no longer paying him any attention his focus completely on the information on the tablet.