The Calm Before….

Chapter 1 -Unexpected

A/N – Crash-landing in a Harry Potter universe near you… This is my (hopefully interesting) attempt at a romance with plot…hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Norda, Exultation (the ship, not the feeling), and anyone that happens to be on it. If you recognize it, it's probably not mine.

"What's happening – quickly! Report!" Norda Radomira, intergalactically acclaimed engineer, and current supervisor of her engineering crew onboard the space ship Exultation, raced across the metal platform towards the group of people stationed around a tiny control panel. The sight that met her eyes was not a pleasant one.

"It's growing! I can't stop it – it's out of control –"

"At least try and stabilize it!" A hard woman's voice rang out over the frantic mob in the control room, trying to cut through the increasing terror that was palatable in the room.

Visible through a small Plexiglas window in front of the control panel was the reason for their terror: a glowing substance rapidly increasing in mass could be seen in the holding vault. The vault was regularly used on their ship to hold substances of unknown properties before they were studied, and was impenetrable to most substances.

"I'm trying – it…it's no use marm, we're going to have to cut it loose – "

"In this state?" Norda yelled back, fear causing her to lash out, "You might as well point a gun at our heads and pull the trigger! We wouldn't survive the fallout." She mechanically gripped the control consol in front of her, trying to fight off the rising panic that was slowly robbing her of reasoning.

"How do you know, we've never encountered this type of substance before…" The voice countered. Norda tried to place the voice in her memory, racking her mind to provide her with a face.

"At this rate," another male voice cut in, starling her out of her revelry. "We don't stand much of a chance anyway – it's reacting in a way our tests didn't anticipate…"

She turned her head sharply to face the speaker, then shook her head sadly from side to side. "No, having it blow up and take us with it was not something that was in the plan for the day."

Suddenly she hit the controls forcefully, feeling totally helpless. "Unfortunately, this substance has yet to be informed of the plan, or simply sees no reason to follow it."

What was supposed to be a routine substance analysis had quickly turned deadly on Norda's shift. The sample's isotopes had become very unstable because of the energy given off by the analysis beam that they were using to scan the substance. This had turned the substance into a highly volatile material, shorting out their ships control panel.

The Exultation's crew had turned a mere curiosity into a deadly bomb, ticking away in the center of their ship.

Its containment in the holding vault was only a temporary measure that was buying them time. But how much time they had, nobody knew.

"Try scrambling its energy source," somebody suggested. "It will disrupt the substance's isotopes and should – "

"Blow it up?" Norda yelled back.

"We should cut our loses before it increases in mass even more." The voice argued.

"At this rate, crewman, our losses range from the simple loss of computer control to the loss of human life. I don't like either of those outcomes – give me another option!" She directed her plea out towards her staff, frantically sorting through her training for something that would apply to the situation.

"I'm waiting for an answer!" She yelled out.

None came. The silence from her crew was absolute. No hysterical mumblings, or the sound of frantic footsteps on metal floor as people raced around to strengthen the vault containing the substance.

Nothing.

The only sound was the broken wail of the emergency siren, and the hissing and clanking of broken metal as the substance continued to grow and force its way out of the cage her crew had built around it.

Then a giant crack, like a horsewhip out of hell, rang through the ship. The floor heaved, bolts strained and groaned, and the entire ship seemed to shudder with the stress that the substance was exerting on it. Norda was suddenly slammed up against the control panel, and quickly felt its sharp corner bite into her left thigh. All around her, terror broke loose.

"I'm loosing containment!" Was the petrified scream – Norda identified the voice this time: Colbie, a new member of her crew. As green as they come, and full of that unexplainable inner urge to go out and try his fortunes in space. Norda wished things had ended better for him.

She probably shouldn't be thinking about his life in the past tense.

Regrettably, however, that line of thought wasn't something that she had control of at the moment.

Fire suddenly erupted from a nearby control consol. The power being diverted to keep the substance contained had proved to be too much for its fragile circuits. More blasts followed, as the power overload moved from one consol to the next, spraying fiery sparks as it went.

"Somebody get on that!" Norda cried out, pointing at the blaze. She was barley aware of a reply – all she could do was watch with almost hysterical humor as people ran to extinguish the inferno. Shock and disbelief were eating away at her mind. She couldn't believe that this was actually happening. After all her crew had been through together, this couldn't be how it all ended; all due to an anomalous substance.

Seconds later, the chilling cry Norda had feared all along rang out:

"It's gone, containment is gone!"

Norda watched in horror as the substance that was housed in the holding vault burst from its confines, a riot of ricocheting colors that pulsated with power. In alternate circumstances, she might have considered the sight a beautiful one. But now it was like an omen of death. She had no choice.

"Eject." she whispered hoarsely, her voice full of defeat.

"What was that ma'am?" Colbie asked, straining to hear her over the ringing claxon and the cacophony of screaming voices that echoed off the metal walls.

"Eject." She repeated, louder this time, and with more force. "Eject it, and pray to whatever being or entity you think is out there for some sort of miracle to keep us in one piece, because we're sure as hell going to need it."

Norda merely stared as Colbie's hands raced across the control panel, fingers trembling as they did their deed. Then he stopped dead, his nerve failing him. The final command that would eject the substance and resign them to their fate was stillborn, as his shaking fingers hovered over the final button that would complete the sequence.

Norda clasped his shoulder tightly with her left hand, trying to transfer some sort of comfort through that simple contract.

"Let it go," She whispered, willing him into action.

She would never know if he had actually heard her, or if it was simply the action that spurred him onward. But soon Norda was watching with almost morbid fascination as the airlock opened, and the pulsating substance was sucked into the vacuum. Then, chest tight with fear, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and waited for collision. For the bomb to finally go off.

"Brace for impact." she murmured softly to herself

She didn't have to wait that long at all.

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It was a rather beautiful day at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The sun was shining brightly, birds were singing merrily in the rafters of the old castle, and the giant squid was swimming lazily around in the lake, dousing water playfully on whoever was stupid enough to come too close.

But, through a window, a strange crackling sound could be heard, as well as faint laughter. For today was Hermione's 17 birthday, and a group of friends were busy enjoying her rather extraordinary gift…

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"So what exactly is it?" Ron asked thoughtfully, poking at the rectangular metal box on the floor with his foot

"Hey! Stop it, you'll break it." Hermione said, quickly grabbing the box and placing it back on the floor out of the reach of his foot. She lay back down on her stomach and continued to fiddle around with the dials protruding from the box.

"Didn't you hear the first time?" Ginny asked, bouncing slightly on the bed in excitement as she stared at the box.

"I don't know how any one expects to hear anything over the racket that thing's making – can you make it shut up?" Ron countered, scowling slightly at the box.

"I'm just tuning it – try practicing some patience until I get a frequency…"

"But how can you get a frequency? I thought it was made out of some sort of meat or something,"

"Oh for goodness sake Ron," Hermione said exasperatedly, rolling her eyes at him, "I don't know how anyone can be so totally clueless about all things muggle – it's a HAM radio, a sort of …"

"Muggle machine– exactly, that would be my point. Why exactly is there a muggle contraption working in Hogwarts? I thought that we had some sort of dampening field that stopped those sorts of abominations from coming in here. Maybe that's why it's making that weird noise…"

"Static Ron, it's called static," Harry remarked casually from his position perched on the bed.

"Static. Sure, whatever. Anyway, as I was saying, maybe it's the magic that's inferring with its working…"

"Oh, I'm positive it isn't. I've hooked the radio up to a different magical power source, and that should solve all the problems…" Hermione pouted for a moment, looking thoughtfully at the radio which was currently spewing static. "I just don't understand why it isn't working…"

"Pass it up here, Hermione," Harry said, holding out his hand in her direction, "I've seen Dudley fiddling around with these sorts of things before he breaks them, and I might be able to help."

Hermione passed it over to him, and he placed it on the bed beside him, looking attentively at it. The many dials that Hermione had been twisting gleamed faintly with the shininess of an object nearly new. He flipped a small switch on the side, then continued to turn the dials. The sound emitted from the radio slowly raised in pitch, then dropped back down to its normal static drone.

"Naw, its hopeless." Harry sighed, handing it back to Hermione.

"So, what exactly is that thing supposed to do?" Ron asked, looking at the radio dubiously, with an expression which clearly showed that he did not trust it in the slightest.

"Well, it can play music and all that, but the main thing that it can be used for is, well, communication."

"On a radio?"

"Yes, it's a wireless amateur radio communicator. You can contact other people on HAM radios across the world if they have the right transmitter. Most people broadcast use HAM radios as a hobby, but other people use the radios to broadcast information about events like mudslides and tornadoes. You can also listen in on other people's communications and…"

"Wow, sensational," Ron commented dryly, "Now you can eavesdrop on people's conversations at any time, and no one will know you're doing it. I'll make sure to mark it down on my next Christmas list…"

"Really Ron, you're being an idiot. It's all rather interesting actually…" Harry said, punching Ron lightly on the shoulder.

"I'll have to take your word for it mate, seeing as our little friend is unable to perform at the present time" Ron said, motioning towards the radio now in Hermione's lap with an outstretched hand.

"I really don't know what's wrong with it – I'm following all the instructions Mom sent me with it," Hermione moaned, flipping another switch.

Suddenly, silence filled the room, punctuated by a single note of sound, then silence again. All eyes in the room stared at the radio.

"Make it do it again Hermione." Ginny whispered, almost as if she was worried about frightening the radio before it could sound again.

"Goodness" Hermione said "I don't know really what I did, I suppose I'd better…"

"BEEEEP…beep…beep…beep………beep …BEEEP……..beep… beep…beep….…...beep………...BEEEEEEP…..BEEEEEEP…..BEEEEEEP"

Ginny clapped her hands together excitedly, and Ron peered down at the box with obvious curiosity. Harry, however, was unable to disguise his laughter at Hermione's disgruntled expression.

"Oh! That's classic!" Harry laughed "Morse code, and from the look on your face Hermione, you can't understand a thing. Just try another frequency…"

Muttering dark phrases towards the radio, Hermione turned one of the dials slightly, bringing up more static for a second before a deep male voice was heard through the room:

"This is oil tanker license number 329004-281-B requesting docking clearance, over."

Hermione arched her eyebrow slightly at this, as Harry bit back another bark of laughter. Shooting him a glare, she turned up the volume a bit.

" crackle …received 329004-281-B, please wait while request is processed, over."

"Tanker requesting estimated time of processing, over."

"Base estimates thirty minutes, over."

"Waiting at the harbor mouth, over and out."

Then static returned.

"Well, that was promising for a moment," Ron remarked, ignoring Harry who was currently rolling around on the bed in peals of laughter "Here, can I try?"

"Addicted to it already?" Hermione joked "Oh course, here you go."

Ron looked at the box thoughtfully, then started wiggling the dials like he had seen Harry and Hermione do. Static for a while and …

"Go back a bit Ron, I think you just went past something." Ginny said

With exaggerated care, Ron turned the dial backwards slowly, then hit the jackpot.

It wasn't a very clean connection, and the signal kept breaking up at odd moments, but a strong female voice could be heard, voice laced with alarm.

"Mayday, request immediate assistance……have need of……. encountered ….. crackle ……atmosphere too de…..burst of sound……….repeat……. out of control, substance …..crackle……… life support is offli…… cannot………… repeat assistance ……. casualties……."

In the background could be heard sounds of explosions, and frightened voices

"……any assistance…… have released…….unknown anomaly….. mayday …..help ….oh my word…."

Then there was a loud explosion, louder than all the rest, and the frequency cut out.

They all looked around at each other, eyes wide.

"I wonder what all that was about." Harry murmured under his breath, breaking the silence hanging in the air. Hermione shook her head, and then quietly turned the radio off.

No one spoke for a while. Ron was about to open his mouth when a whirlwind of air rushed in through the open window, throwing papers strewn around the room into an uproar. An unexplainable force blasted into the castle, causing it to strain at its foundations.

Ginny threw her hands up in front of her face to protect herself, and Harry pulled out his wand. Then a sound, more horrible than a banshee's cry, rang out. Soul shattering and unearthly, it reverberated through the hallways, echoing menacingly. A slow screeching sound started, growing louder and louder, as the wind slowed to a mere breeze.

Frightened, Hermione rushed over to the window, feeling Harry, Ginny, and Ron move in behind her.

"What on earth is that? Are we under attack?" Ginny asked breathlessly.

Like a brilliant shooting star, a burning wreck falling from the sky came into view through the window frame. It was massive, with fragments of metal flying off its bulk and catching into flame as they neared the earth.

"Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh, it's going to crash," Hermione breathed in despair.

It impacted into the ground with a force that blasted into the castle, causing the stones of the castle to groan, and Hermione to loose her footing. She fell to the ground with a dull thud, then quickly jumped to her feet to look out the window once more.

In the distance, a smoldering gash could be seen in the middle forbidden forest, a gaping cut across the land from where the wreck had first made landfall to where it had traveled before it had finally slowed to a halt.

The cry of startled birds started up, which could scarcely be heard over the groaning cry of cooling metal, which was audible even from such a distance. Then a fire, originating from the burning mass, could be seen, slowly licking its way through the treetops –

"What should we do?" Ron asked hysterically, wringing his hands, "Somebody's got to do something – it'll burn the entire forest to a crisp, it will…"

Hermione put a finger to her lips, and then pointed out the window with a shaking finger to where a lightly shimmering blue mist was starting to settle on the tree tops. Steam started to hiss from where the mist came into contact with the heated mass. Then silence reigned, a stark opposite compared to the screeching that had been heard earlier.

Everyone in the room stood there, the look of incredulity on their faces as they considered the events that had just occurred.

"Well, let's get out there."

In an exaggerated change of mood from the hysterical one he had been in moments earlier, Ron dusted off his trousers slightly with his hands, and started to move towards the door.

"Ron," Hermione said hesitantly. "It might be dangerous, we don't know what's out there."

"Well, whatever was going to happen has now happened." Ginny said logically

"And besides, Hermione, how often does a UFO land in the middle of your back yard?"

Ron stated, grinning slightly in an attempt to lighten the tension in the room

Hermione looked over to Harry to see if he would take her side of the argument. He merely shrugged. Swallowing slightly, and squaring her shoulders, she accepted the inevitable with the practice of one who has been forced to take that line of action many times before.

"Well, we'd best be going then – we'll be hard pressed to beat the rest of the school there.

(to be continued…)

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A/N Woot! What an interesting chapter to write. To all you HAM enthusiasts out there, I'm sorry for any errors in this piece. I'm new to the lingo of this technology, so please don't use any of the information found here for a scientific report or anything of that sort. (There are so many interesting websites that would be more than happy to give you the basics and more) Anyway, stay tuned (haha, please humor the author as she makes un-necessary puns) for the next installment!

Reviews are always appreciated… and will be rewarded with invisible life size replicas of the castle of Hogwarts – soon to be a real collectors item I'm told…