Due to enormous success, I decided to work on the second chapter right
away. I would like to thank all of the reviewers and will start doing
comments to you great people in the next chapter. Anyway, the two sides
will meet in this chapter.
I do not own Star Trek nor Trigun.
*********************************************************************
As Vash followed Knives into the recesses of the crashed ship, he was beginning to wonder if there really was something that still worked. The walls and floors had been covered in a thick layer of sand. The flashlights that he and his brother carried were the only source of illumination.
"Knives," Vash began. "Where exactly is this shuttle?" He was growing tired of searching with no results.
"It is in the hangar bay." Knives responded. He knew exactly where he was going and couldn't figure out why Vash didn't know. "Didn't you wander the SEEDS ships enough?"
"No. I didn't think it was going to help me 135 years later. Doesn't this ship have power still?" He was growing weary from walking in the dark.
"Yes, but I'm reserving it to open the doors so we can get the shuttle out. I'm not sure how much power is left." Knives finished as he approached a door that had been previously forced open. The words on the door said 'Hangar Bay 2'.
Knives slipped his body through the doors and was closely followed by Vash. Vash stopped in his tracks when he seen one shuttle still in perfect condition. As Knives walked over to its hatch, Vash walked around it to see how it had survived the crash. Knives opened the side hatch and stepped inside.
"Should I open the outer doors Knives?" Vash asked. Now that he had seen the ship, he no longer doubted his brother.
"No. We should get the girls down here and gather a few things before launching. We should also do it at night. We will attract less attention that way." Knives responded coolly as e checked the shuttles power readings.
"Ok. Then lets go get everyone." Vash started for the door to find his way back out again. Knives powered down the shuttle and followed him out.
"We should be ready inside of a day." Knives said as he caught up with his brother. "Then we will be off to find a new Eden!"
*******************************************************************
Captain Picard picked himself up off of the Enterprise's deck. As he opened his eyes he scanned around the bridge. All of the personnel were recovering from the rough trip they had just experienced. He stood up on shaky legs and headed for his chair.
"Damage report, Mr. Worf." He ordered as he fell into his chair.
The Klingon officer stood and manned his station. Slowly going over the numbers he prepared for the worst he could see.
"Phasers, torpedoes, shields, warp drive, and subspace communications all down sir. Minimal damage to deck 12. 23 injuries reported. Main power at 57 percent." The Lieutenant was concerned about being without weapons or defense.
"Mr. Data. Where the hell are we?" Picard started to regain all of his composure as the rest of the bridge crew returned to their stations.
"Interesting. Sensors cannot find any familiar marks in space. It would seem that we are not in our own galaxy anymore." Data responded in his normal voice.
"What? How far do you estimate we have traveled?" Picard was beginning to be concerned.
"I would estimate traveled distance at 700 million light years or more. Sensor logs indicate that the wormhole is stable enough to pass through in the same fashion as the Bajoran wormhole. However, with our experience on the Federation side, we would need warp speeds to travel it safely." Data finished. His habits of giving to much information were showing through again.
"Report on our surroundings." Commander Riker added his voice to the conversation.
"We are currently between two moons of a class H planet. Sensors detect that the system has binary stars and 15 planets. Sensors also detecting humanoid life on the surface." Worf finished. His voice trailed off after the last comment.
"Humanoid? Are you certain?" Riker commented.
"Yes sir. It is a pre warp civilization. Curios how they could live on a planet with no oceans or above ground water supplies?" Data added in confirming what Worf had reported.
"Continue scans." Picard tapped the controls on his chair. "Bridge to Engineering."
"LaForge Here sir." Came the reply over the ships intercom.
"How long until we have warp power again Geordie?" Picard asked.
"At least a couple of days. That wormhole really did us a number. I'm on it though. Engineering out." The intercom went silent again.
"It appears we have some time on our hands." Picard started. The officers that knew him could tell what was coming next. "Let's find out what we can about this planet. Mr. Data scan for settlements and what the locals wear. I'd like to send down an away team to find out why there are humans this far away."
"Aye sir." Data responded.
Captain Picard walked out off of the bridge and into his ready room to await the reports to come in.
"Captain's log stardate 53789.4. We have traveled a great distance and landed in an unknown area of space. While trying to restore engines we are investigating the nearby planet and its human life."
Captain Picard was sitting at the conference table waiting for the last of his senior officers to enter the room. When Dr. Crusher entered he took that as his cue to start the meeting.
"We all know that the first order of business is the damages suffered. According to Geordie, we should have engine power in a few days. So, onto the real reason why I called you all in here. There are human life signs down there on that planet. I want an away team, headed by Commander Riker. Data inform us on the conditions on the planet." Picard concluded.
"According to the information that short range scans has provided, we have determined that this race, at one point, had space travel abilities. We had detected several thousand crashed ships across the entire surface of the planet. Most cities have evolved from these crash sites." Data began.
"What about civilian attire? And local law enforcement?" Riker asked.
"They appear to wear attire closely resembling Earth's Old West during the early 1800's. Black powder weapons and steam-powered vehicles are the extent of their technology. Law enforcement seems to follow the same lines." Data responded. "However, the sensors detect no forms of scanners that could detect this ship or any transporter actions. We have a definite upper hand."
"Thank you Data." Picard cut him off. "I want to ensure you all that the Prime Directive is in full force. Don't attract any attention to yourselves. Find out what you ca about these crashed ships and where they originated from. Number 1, do you have a team ready?"
"Yes sir. Dr. Crusher, and Councilor Troi will accompany me. Trying to keep it light down there." Riker responded.
"Good. Then you are all dismissed. I expect the beam down to take place within the hour." Picard finished as he stood up. The rest of the officers also stood and filtered out of the doors.
************************************************************************
"Do we have everything?" Vash asked Meryl for the fifth time.
"Yes, again." She responded. "How many times do I have to tell you?"
"Ok. I got it this time." He replied as he looked around the hangar bay.
Vash and Knives had made all of the preparations to leave. They were just waiting for nightfall so they could begin the process of opening the outer doors. Waiting was beginning to bother them all.
"Daddy, when will we be leaving?" Rem had been more than patient for a child her age.
"Soon sweetie. We just have to wait until night so we don't draw everyone towards the ship." Vash responded trying to quiet his child.
"I hope it comes soon. I want to be the first to go into space!" For never having heard of the idea before, she seemed really excited to be in this small group.
***********************************************************************
In a back alley in the city of January was cast into shadows by the last afternoon suns. No one was present, and no one ever traveled through it. The dark alley suddenly started glowing with small blue particles. As the glow died down, Riker, Troi and Crusher were standing in the previously empty alley.
"Riker to Enterprise. We are safely down and proceeding out of the alley." Riker stated taping his com-badge lightly.
"Acknowledged Commander. Keep me informed of your situation. Picard out." Came the reply from the hidden communicator.
"Right. Lets go." Riker said to the two women. As they walked out into the sun, Riker was glad that he chose to wear a wide brimmed cowboy hat. His black pants, black shirt, black vest, and black duster fit in well with the local population when he seen them for the first time. Deanna Troi was wearing a red dress and a matching wide red bonnet. Dr. Crusher was wearing a blue dress similar to Deanna's with a white bonnet.
Riker led the way. He had studied the maps of the city that Data had provided him so they could find the places that ad the most people gathered. Beverly Crusher had her tricorder operating in her handbag scanning the local population.
"Deanna, what do you sense about these people?" Riker asked.
"Just average emotions coming from each of them. Nothing out of the ordinary." Her Betazed half gave her the abilities to sense other peoples emotions.
"We'll keep looking around then. We're bound to hear something." Riker led the way as they noticed homes ad shops along the road they were walking down.
**********************************************************************
Night was beginning to fall and the away team had uncovered nothing.
"It seems the locals have no knowledge about how they were stranded here. I doubt we can extract information from them." Riker was speaking into his communicator while hiding in the back part of a bar.
"We going to beam you up Number 1. No sense in you staying there all night." Replied the voice of Captain Picard.
"Sir. There is no real threat on the surface here. We could stay the night down here. It could give us a chance at getting to know some of the locals. We may find out some more from them." Riker replied.
"Where are you going to stay? Certainly not outside."
"We have scanned some of their money. We could replicate some of their currency and use a hotel. Transferring data now." Riker worked the controls of the tricorder in his pocket.
"Where do you want us to transport the money?" Picard asked.
"Place it directly in front of me. No one should see it."
The blue light of the transporter beam appeared and disappeared leaving behind a small wad of 100 double dollar bills.
"Will contact you from the room. Riker out." He picked up the small wad of cash and headed towards Deanna and Beverly who were currently engaging in a conversation with the bartender.
"So how many bounty hunters are after this guy?" Deanna asked the bartender.
"Anyone that can find him. He disappears after laying waste to entire cities. Until he destroys the next one." The bartender replied. "The funny thing is that no one dies when he shows up. It's like we don't need God for a miracle."
"He destroys whole cities yet no one dies? That is hard to believe." Beverly added.
"Yep, and some say he is the one who drilled a hole in the fifth moon. But that is just foolish. He has been declared the first human act of God by the Bernadelli Insurance Company." He said as he cleaned a glass.
"What did I miss ladies?" Riker said as he walked up.
"We were just talking to this man about Vash the Stampede. He is wanted for sixty billion double dollars." Deanna responded.
"That's quite a bit." Riker turned to the bartender. "Where's the closest hotel?"
"Oh, it's about four or five buildings down from here. Has a big sign that says.err. something INN. You can't miss it." The bartender replied.
"Thanks. Ladies, shall we go?" Riker turned to his companions.
"Of course Will." Deanna responded. She stood up from her stool and began to leave.
"Thanks for your time sir." Beverly said as she stood to leave.
"Anytime. Have a good night you hear?" He shouted as they all walked out of the bar.
As soon as they were out of earshot from everyone, Deanna Troi spoke up. "Will what did the Captain say?"
"He said to continue our investigation. We are going to be staying here for the night. The Enterprise sent some money to us." He said as he pulled the money out of his pocket.
"I guess we'll have them transport down a change of cloths." Beverly responded. "I could get to like wearing some of this regularly."
"Speak for yourself," Riker began. "These things are damned hot in this sun all day. Ok here's the hotel." Riker opened the door and stepped in.
"How many rooms?" The attendant asked as they all walked through the door.
"Two." Riker said as he walked up to the counter. Then continuing in a low voice. "I want them as far from the other guests as possible." He showed the small wad of cash to the man.
"Yes of course. The rooms are 20 double dollars a night." He responded handing Riker two keys.
"Here, this should cover us until we leave." Riker handed him the full stack of bills.
************************************************************************
Midnight had come. Knives felt that this was as good a time as any to open the outer doors.
"Ok. Everyone get on the shuttle while me and Vash open the doors." He watched the three females get inside of the ship before turning to his brother.
"Ok Vash. I'll start the power and you open the doors. It should only take a minute or two to open. Then we should rush to the ship and take off." He instructed making sure his brother understood the plan.
"Okie Dokie. Let's get this show on the road." Ash replied as e ran towards the control panel for the outer doors.
Knives worked his set of controls for a few seconds. "Power on!" He shouted across the bay. As he did so the fluorescent lighting came on.
"Door opening now!" Vash shouted back as he keyed the sequence into the panel.
The outer door of the ships hangar bay opened with loud creaks. As it did, sand poured in until they could see the clear night sky and one of the moons. It happened to be the moon that Vash had drilled a hole into with his Angel Arm. It reminded him of the great power that he had.
Both Vash and Knives started running towards the shuttle. Upon entering, Vash sealed the door behind himself. He proceeded to the cockpit and sat next to his brother. The shuttles power was already on and the engines were warming up as Vash sat down. Knives took the controls and began to maneuver the ship out of the doors.
"Are we really flying?" Came an exited shout from the back of the ship. "I'm the first little girl in space!" Rem finished triumphantly.
"Rem calm down. Your scaring mommy." Meryl said to her daughter. She was terrified that they were actually going to fly this lost technology. She looked out of the window and watched the ship pass by slowly.
"Relax Meryl." Milly began. "Vash and Knives are in control." Her bubbly attitude was always positive, despite what was going on.
"That's what is worrying me Milly." Meryl responded. It's not that she didn't trust Vash, but he hadn't done this for over 130 years. Did he still remember how to fly this thing?
Knives and Vash checked the panels in front of them.
"If I'm right, this means that we are good to go." Vash said pointing to the green light that was on in front of him.
"Ok. Here goes the engines to full power." Knives responded. The ship suddenly lurched forward as it shot out of the SEEDS ship and into the night sky.
"By my guess, we should be in orbit in about 2 minutes." Vash said looking at the readouts.
"How can you be sure?" Knives asked him.
"I'm not. I haven't seen one of these for 136 years. You can't expect me to remember how to use them right off, now can you?" Vash responded in a higher pitched voice than normal.
"Then that makes two of us. I hope this works." Knives called back. The reality of the situation is that they should have spent some time working with the ship before taking it into space. 'To late for that now.' He thought.
The small ship sailed through the sky and the upper atmosphere like it hadn't been buried for over a hundred years. As they exited the atmosphere and entered space, both Vash and Knives were in awe at the wondrous sight before them. They set the ship on an autopilot course and headed back to the passenger compartment.
Meryl, Milly and Rem were without words to describe what they were seeing. They could see their own planet from thousands of iles up. When Vash and Knives walked into the room, Meryl was the first one to choke out a few words.
"Is this real?" Was all she could manage to say.
"Yes it is honey. We set the shuttle on autopilot. We should enjoy the view before we start out." Vash said as he sat down next to his wife.
"Knives, is this what it was like on the SEEDS ships?" Milly asked.
Before Knives could respond, a warning sound entered the air. Vash and Knives both ran to the cockpit to find out what was happening. Meryl, Milly, and Rem followed them closely.
As Knives sat down he could already tell what was wrong.
"The ships engines are overheating. I can't do anything about it!" He shouted at the controls. "I'm sorry I brought you all on this ship. I thought we had a chance at a better life."
"What do you mean?" Milly asked frantically.
"He means that the engines are about to blow up and destroy the shuttle in the process." Vash answered for him. "Knives it isn't your fault. You couldn't have known."
*********************************************************************
"Sir there is a small ship entering orbit from the planets surface." Data informed Captain Picard. "It appears to have left one of the crashed ships."
"I thought you said that they didn't have space travel capability?" Picard responded.
"Apparently the sensors were unable to find this one operational craft." Data replied. He was normally never wrong about his scans.
"Can they see us?" Picard asked. He began to grow concerned about being spotted.
"Scans indicate that the ship is a small transport vessel of some sort. No sensor equipment aboard. Sir their engines have begun overheating. I estimate an explosion in approximately 30 seconds." Data reported.
"Move into transport range. We need to render assistance to them. Prime Directive does not apply to a space faring species."
"Moving into transport range." Worf reported from his station.
"Mr. Worf, report to the transporter room for when our guests come aboard. I will be there shortly." Picard commanded.
"Aye sir." The Klingon left his station and entered the turbo lift.
******************************************************************
Knives looked out the forward viewer. He was mad at himself because he sacrificed not only himself, but also Milly and his brothers entire family. He felt no better than he did after realizing the error of his ways against the humans. As he looked out the viewer, he noticed an object coming towards them.
"Do you see that?" He asked the others standing in the cockpit.
"Is that a ship?" Milly asked.
"I have never seen anything like that before." Vash stated
Suddenly a blue glow surrounded each one of them. They each noticed the small particles envelope their bodies. As Vash watched the shuttle cockpit suddenly disappeared and a large circular room with started to come into focus.
'Is this what it's like to die?' Vash silently thought to himself.
As the whirling blue particles stopped, he noticed two people and a control panel in the room.
"Where the hell are we?!" Knives shouted to everyone.
***********************************************************************
I told you that they would meet in this chapter. I think I will just leave you with this little bit of a cliffhanger as I leave. Please Review. Reviewers are so great.
I do not own Star Trek nor Trigun.
*********************************************************************
As Vash followed Knives into the recesses of the crashed ship, he was beginning to wonder if there really was something that still worked. The walls and floors had been covered in a thick layer of sand. The flashlights that he and his brother carried were the only source of illumination.
"Knives," Vash began. "Where exactly is this shuttle?" He was growing tired of searching with no results.
"It is in the hangar bay." Knives responded. He knew exactly where he was going and couldn't figure out why Vash didn't know. "Didn't you wander the SEEDS ships enough?"
"No. I didn't think it was going to help me 135 years later. Doesn't this ship have power still?" He was growing weary from walking in the dark.
"Yes, but I'm reserving it to open the doors so we can get the shuttle out. I'm not sure how much power is left." Knives finished as he approached a door that had been previously forced open. The words on the door said 'Hangar Bay 2'.
Knives slipped his body through the doors and was closely followed by Vash. Vash stopped in his tracks when he seen one shuttle still in perfect condition. As Knives walked over to its hatch, Vash walked around it to see how it had survived the crash. Knives opened the side hatch and stepped inside.
"Should I open the outer doors Knives?" Vash asked. Now that he had seen the ship, he no longer doubted his brother.
"No. We should get the girls down here and gather a few things before launching. We should also do it at night. We will attract less attention that way." Knives responded coolly as e checked the shuttles power readings.
"Ok. Then lets go get everyone." Vash started for the door to find his way back out again. Knives powered down the shuttle and followed him out.
"We should be ready inside of a day." Knives said as he caught up with his brother. "Then we will be off to find a new Eden!"
*******************************************************************
Captain Picard picked himself up off of the Enterprise's deck. As he opened his eyes he scanned around the bridge. All of the personnel were recovering from the rough trip they had just experienced. He stood up on shaky legs and headed for his chair.
"Damage report, Mr. Worf." He ordered as he fell into his chair.
The Klingon officer stood and manned his station. Slowly going over the numbers he prepared for the worst he could see.
"Phasers, torpedoes, shields, warp drive, and subspace communications all down sir. Minimal damage to deck 12. 23 injuries reported. Main power at 57 percent." The Lieutenant was concerned about being without weapons or defense.
"Mr. Data. Where the hell are we?" Picard started to regain all of his composure as the rest of the bridge crew returned to their stations.
"Interesting. Sensors cannot find any familiar marks in space. It would seem that we are not in our own galaxy anymore." Data responded in his normal voice.
"What? How far do you estimate we have traveled?" Picard was beginning to be concerned.
"I would estimate traveled distance at 700 million light years or more. Sensor logs indicate that the wormhole is stable enough to pass through in the same fashion as the Bajoran wormhole. However, with our experience on the Federation side, we would need warp speeds to travel it safely." Data finished. His habits of giving to much information were showing through again.
"Report on our surroundings." Commander Riker added his voice to the conversation.
"We are currently between two moons of a class H planet. Sensors detect that the system has binary stars and 15 planets. Sensors also detecting humanoid life on the surface." Worf finished. His voice trailed off after the last comment.
"Humanoid? Are you certain?" Riker commented.
"Yes sir. It is a pre warp civilization. Curios how they could live on a planet with no oceans or above ground water supplies?" Data added in confirming what Worf had reported.
"Continue scans." Picard tapped the controls on his chair. "Bridge to Engineering."
"LaForge Here sir." Came the reply over the ships intercom.
"How long until we have warp power again Geordie?" Picard asked.
"At least a couple of days. That wormhole really did us a number. I'm on it though. Engineering out." The intercom went silent again.
"It appears we have some time on our hands." Picard started. The officers that knew him could tell what was coming next. "Let's find out what we can about this planet. Mr. Data scan for settlements and what the locals wear. I'd like to send down an away team to find out why there are humans this far away."
"Aye sir." Data responded.
Captain Picard walked out off of the bridge and into his ready room to await the reports to come in.
"Captain's log stardate 53789.4. We have traveled a great distance and landed in an unknown area of space. While trying to restore engines we are investigating the nearby planet and its human life."
Captain Picard was sitting at the conference table waiting for the last of his senior officers to enter the room. When Dr. Crusher entered he took that as his cue to start the meeting.
"We all know that the first order of business is the damages suffered. According to Geordie, we should have engine power in a few days. So, onto the real reason why I called you all in here. There are human life signs down there on that planet. I want an away team, headed by Commander Riker. Data inform us on the conditions on the planet." Picard concluded.
"According to the information that short range scans has provided, we have determined that this race, at one point, had space travel abilities. We had detected several thousand crashed ships across the entire surface of the planet. Most cities have evolved from these crash sites." Data began.
"What about civilian attire? And local law enforcement?" Riker asked.
"They appear to wear attire closely resembling Earth's Old West during the early 1800's. Black powder weapons and steam-powered vehicles are the extent of their technology. Law enforcement seems to follow the same lines." Data responded. "However, the sensors detect no forms of scanners that could detect this ship or any transporter actions. We have a definite upper hand."
"Thank you Data." Picard cut him off. "I want to ensure you all that the Prime Directive is in full force. Don't attract any attention to yourselves. Find out what you ca about these crashed ships and where they originated from. Number 1, do you have a team ready?"
"Yes sir. Dr. Crusher, and Councilor Troi will accompany me. Trying to keep it light down there." Riker responded.
"Good. Then you are all dismissed. I expect the beam down to take place within the hour." Picard finished as he stood up. The rest of the officers also stood and filtered out of the doors.
************************************************************************
"Do we have everything?" Vash asked Meryl for the fifth time.
"Yes, again." She responded. "How many times do I have to tell you?"
"Ok. I got it this time." He replied as he looked around the hangar bay.
Vash and Knives had made all of the preparations to leave. They were just waiting for nightfall so they could begin the process of opening the outer doors. Waiting was beginning to bother them all.
"Daddy, when will we be leaving?" Rem had been more than patient for a child her age.
"Soon sweetie. We just have to wait until night so we don't draw everyone towards the ship." Vash responded trying to quiet his child.
"I hope it comes soon. I want to be the first to go into space!" For never having heard of the idea before, she seemed really excited to be in this small group.
***********************************************************************
In a back alley in the city of January was cast into shadows by the last afternoon suns. No one was present, and no one ever traveled through it. The dark alley suddenly started glowing with small blue particles. As the glow died down, Riker, Troi and Crusher were standing in the previously empty alley.
"Riker to Enterprise. We are safely down and proceeding out of the alley." Riker stated taping his com-badge lightly.
"Acknowledged Commander. Keep me informed of your situation. Picard out." Came the reply from the hidden communicator.
"Right. Lets go." Riker said to the two women. As they walked out into the sun, Riker was glad that he chose to wear a wide brimmed cowboy hat. His black pants, black shirt, black vest, and black duster fit in well with the local population when he seen them for the first time. Deanna Troi was wearing a red dress and a matching wide red bonnet. Dr. Crusher was wearing a blue dress similar to Deanna's with a white bonnet.
Riker led the way. He had studied the maps of the city that Data had provided him so they could find the places that ad the most people gathered. Beverly Crusher had her tricorder operating in her handbag scanning the local population.
"Deanna, what do you sense about these people?" Riker asked.
"Just average emotions coming from each of them. Nothing out of the ordinary." Her Betazed half gave her the abilities to sense other peoples emotions.
"We'll keep looking around then. We're bound to hear something." Riker led the way as they noticed homes ad shops along the road they were walking down.
**********************************************************************
Night was beginning to fall and the away team had uncovered nothing.
"It seems the locals have no knowledge about how they were stranded here. I doubt we can extract information from them." Riker was speaking into his communicator while hiding in the back part of a bar.
"We going to beam you up Number 1. No sense in you staying there all night." Replied the voice of Captain Picard.
"Sir. There is no real threat on the surface here. We could stay the night down here. It could give us a chance at getting to know some of the locals. We may find out some more from them." Riker replied.
"Where are you going to stay? Certainly not outside."
"We have scanned some of their money. We could replicate some of their currency and use a hotel. Transferring data now." Riker worked the controls of the tricorder in his pocket.
"Where do you want us to transport the money?" Picard asked.
"Place it directly in front of me. No one should see it."
The blue light of the transporter beam appeared and disappeared leaving behind a small wad of 100 double dollar bills.
"Will contact you from the room. Riker out." He picked up the small wad of cash and headed towards Deanna and Beverly who were currently engaging in a conversation with the bartender.
"So how many bounty hunters are after this guy?" Deanna asked the bartender.
"Anyone that can find him. He disappears after laying waste to entire cities. Until he destroys the next one." The bartender replied. "The funny thing is that no one dies when he shows up. It's like we don't need God for a miracle."
"He destroys whole cities yet no one dies? That is hard to believe." Beverly added.
"Yep, and some say he is the one who drilled a hole in the fifth moon. But that is just foolish. He has been declared the first human act of God by the Bernadelli Insurance Company." He said as he cleaned a glass.
"What did I miss ladies?" Riker said as he walked up.
"We were just talking to this man about Vash the Stampede. He is wanted for sixty billion double dollars." Deanna responded.
"That's quite a bit." Riker turned to the bartender. "Where's the closest hotel?"
"Oh, it's about four or five buildings down from here. Has a big sign that says.err. something INN. You can't miss it." The bartender replied.
"Thanks. Ladies, shall we go?" Riker turned to his companions.
"Of course Will." Deanna responded. She stood up from her stool and began to leave.
"Thanks for your time sir." Beverly said as she stood to leave.
"Anytime. Have a good night you hear?" He shouted as they all walked out of the bar.
As soon as they were out of earshot from everyone, Deanna Troi spoke up. "Will what did the Captain say?"
"He said to continue our investigation. We are going to be staying here for the night. The Enterprise sent some money to us." He said as he pulled the money out of his pocket.
"I guess we'll have them transport down a change of cloths." Beverly responded. "I could get to like wearing some of this regularly."
"Speak for yourself," Riker began. "These things are damned hot in this sun all day. Ok here's the hotel." Riker opened the door and stepped in.
"How many rooms?" The attendant asked as they all walked through the door.
"Two." Riker said as he walked up to the counter. Then continuing in a low voice. "I want them as far from the other guests as possible." He showed the small wad of cash to the man.
"Yes of course. The rooms are 20 double dollars a night." He responded handing Riker two keys.
"Here, this should cover us until we leave." Riker handed him the full stack of bills.
************************************************************************
Midnight had come. Knives felt that this was as good a time as any to open the outer doors.
"Ok. Everyone get on the shuttle while me and Vash open the doors." He watched the three females get inside of the ship before turning to his brother.
"Ok Vash. I'll start the power and you open the doors. It should only take a minute or two to open. Then we should rush to the ship and take off." He instructed making sure his brother understood the plan.
"Okie Dokie. Let's get this show on the road." Ash replied as e ran towards the control panel for the outer doors.
Knives worked his set of controls for a few seconds. "Power on!" He shouted across the bay. As he did so the fluorescent lighting came on.
"Door opening now!" Vash shouted back as he keyed the sequence into the panel.
The outer door of the ships hangar bay opened with loud creaks. As it did, sand poured in until they could see the clear night sky and one of the moons. It happened to be the moon that Vash had drilled a hole into with his Angel Arm. It reminded him of the great power that he had.
Both Vash and Knives started running towards the shuttle. Upon entering, Vash sealed the door behind himself. He proceeded to the cockpit and sat next to his brother. The shuttles power was already on and the engines were warming up as Vash sat down. Knives took the controls and began to maneuver the ship out of the doors.
"Are we really flying?" Came an exited shout from the back of the ship. "I'm the first little girl in space!" Rem finished triumphantly.
"Rem calm down. Your scaring mommy." Meryl said to her daughter. She was terrified that they were actually going to fly this lost technology. She looked out of the window and watched the ship pass by slowly.
"Relax Meryl." Milly began. "Vash and Knives are in control." Her bubbly attitude was always positive, despite what was going on.
"That's what is worrying me Milly." Meryl responded. It's not that she didn't trust Vash, but he hadn't done this for over 130 years. Did he still remember how to fly this thing?
Knives and Vash checked the panels in front of them.
"If I'm right, this means that we are good to go." Vash said pointing to the green light that was on in front of him.
"Ok. Here goes the engines to full power." Knives responded. The ship suddenly lurched forward as it shot out of the SEEDS ship and into the night sky.
"By my guess, we should be in orbit in about 2 minutes." Vash said looking at the readouts.
"How can you be sure?" Knives asked him.
"I'm not. I haven't seen one of these for 136 years. You can't expect me to remember how to use them right off, now can you?" Vash responded in a higher pitched voice than normal.
"Then that makes two of us. I hope this works." Knives called back. The reality of the situation is that they should have spent some time working with the ship before taking it into space. 'To late for that now.' He thought.
The small ship sailed through the sky and the upper atmosphere like it hadn't been buried for over a hundred years. As they exited the atmosphere and entered space, both Vash and Knives were in awe at the wondrous sight before them. They set the ship on an autopilot course and headed back to the passenger compartment.
Meryl, Milly and Rem were without words to describe what they were seeing. They could see their own planet from thousands of iles up. When Vash and Knives walked into the room, Meryl was the first one to choke out a few words.
"Is this real?" Was all she could manage to say.
"Yes it is honey. We set the shuttle on autopilot. We should enjoy the view before we start out." Vash said as he sat down next to his wife.
"Knives, is this what it was like on the SEEDS ships?" Milly asked.
Before Knives could respond, a warning sound entered the air. Vash and Knives both ran to the cockpit to find out what was happening. Meryl, Milly, and Rem followed them closely.
As Knives sat down he could already tell what was wrong.
"The ships engines are overheating. I can't do anything about it!" He shouted at the controls. "I'm sorry I brought you all on this ship. I thought we had a chance at a better life."
"What do you mean?" Milly asked frantically.
"He means that the engines are about to blow up and destroy the shuttle in the process." Vash answered for him. "Knives it isn't your fault. You couldn't have known."
*********************************************************************
"Sir there is a small ship entering orbit from the planets surface." Data informed Captain Picard. "It appears to have left one of the crashed ships."
"I thought you said that they didn't have space travel capability?" Picard responded.
"Apparently the sensors were unable to find this one operational craft." Data replied. He was normally never wrong about his scans.
"Can they see us?" Picard asked. He began to grow concerned about being spotted.
"Scans indicate that the ship is a small transport vessel of some sort. No sensor equipment aboard. Sir their engines have begun overheating. I estimate an explosion in approximately 30 seconds." Data reported.
"Move into transport range. We need to render assistance to them. Prime Directive does not apply to a space faring species."
"Moving into transport range." Worf reported from his station.
"Mr. Worf, report to the transporter room for when our guests come aboard. I will be there shortly." Picard commanded.
"Aye sir." The Klingon left his station and entered the turbo lift.
******************************************************************
Knives looked out the forward viewer. He was mad at himself because he sacrificed not only himself, but also Milly and his brothers entire family. He felt no better than he did after realizing the error of his ways against the humans. As he looked out the viewer, he noticed an object coming towards them.
"Do you see that?" He asked the others standing in the cockpit.
"Is that a ship?" Milly asked.
"I have never seen anything like that before." Vash stated
Suddenly a blue glow surrounded each one of them. They each noticed the small particles envelope their bodies. As Vash watched the shuttle cockpit suddenly disappeared and a large circular room with started to come into focus.
'Is this what it's like to die?' Vash silently thought to himself.
As the whirling blue particles stopped, he noticed two people and a control panel in the room.
"Where the hell are we?!" Knives shouted to everyone.
***********************************************************************
I told you that they would meet in this chapter. I think I will just leave you with this little bit of a cliffhanger as I leave. Please Review. Reviewers are so great.