Title: Armageddon HP Style
Author: Jennifer
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters, nor do I own an of the original scenes or dialogue from the movie Armageddon.
Chapter Twelve: Freedom Good to Go
"Independence has flatlined."
Ron lay unconscious, but alive nonetheless, under a pile of rubble. He awoke suddenly, with a start. He pushed some of the wreckage out of the way and uncovered his brother. He lay there with his eyes closed, not moving, not breathing.
"Fred!" Ron cried. "No!"
He held his brother for what seemed like the longest time. "Can anybody hear me?" he yelled. "Hello!"
All our tears have reached the sea
A part of you will live in me
Way down deep inside my heart
The days keep coming without fail
New wind is going to find yourself
That's where your journey starts…
"Ron!" came a voice.
"Where are you?" Ron called.
"I'm here," replied Volga, appearing from a pile of wreckage.
Ron reluctantly let go of his brother and walked over to Volga. "It's just us," Ron said sadly. "Volga, it's just us."
"Hey, down here!" came a voice from below the rubble
Ron and Volga pushed it away to find Blaise laying on his back in the destroyed shuttle. "Oh, man, I've never been so happy to see you," he said to Ron. "I never thought I'd be so happy to see your ugly face!"
Blaise stood up and the three of them walked toward the Armadillo. "We're only three astronauts left now," said Volga.
"We're not even astronauts. We're school students," came Ron's reply.
"Houston, do you read?" one of the pilots said over the radio.
"Check your main thrusters," said the other pilot.
"Is everyone ready?" asked Harry.
Finally, after a lot of preparation, they walked into the airlock and opened the door that led them outside to the asteroid. They walked a few yards, trying to adapt to the new surroundings and find a good place to drill.
"This place is like Dr. Seuss's worst nightmare," muttered Draco.
"Iron ferrite…it's all iron ferrite," said one of the pilots.
"God, I hate knowing everything," moaned Draco.
"Alright, we'll get better signal transmission for the radio up there," the pilot said, pointing.
"Bring Oliver in." At that moment, Oliver came in driving the Armadillo.
"We couldn't have picked a worse spot to drill," said Draco.
"Well, I can pretty much guarantee it's not going to be thicker than fifty feet," Harry said.
"How do you figure that?" asked Draco.
"Cause if it is, we're screwed."
Then, they began to drill. "You alright, Oliver?" Harry asked.
"Just makin' hole," was his reply.
They all watched in amazement as the drill chewed through the rock. "Friggin' outer space," Oliver grumbled.
"Alright, let's punch it through!" Harry yelled.
The drill shuddered violently, as though it had a mind of its own. "Hey, Harry, you see that?" Oliver asked.
"Yeah, I see it, but what is it?"
"Aw damn, we broke a drill bit!" Oliver yelled.
"Wow, this is a goddamn Greek tragedy," Draco commented.
"We've all see broken drill heads before, right?" asked Harry.
"Not after ten feet," George replied.
"I've never seen one," said Draco.
"Well now you've seen one," replied Harry.
"What do you want?" George asked.
"Unpack the judge!"
Blaise, Ron, and Volga got in the Armadillo. "Do you know what you're doing?" Volga said as he stared at Ron sitting in the driver's seat.
"No. You know what? I have no idea what I'm doing! This button—" he pressed a button on the control panel—"I have no idea what that does! All I know is that I lost one of my friends and my own brother back there, we're miles from Harry's shuttle, we don't know if he's okay, and I'm trying to get rid of this damn beeping!" he pushed a beeping red button repeatedly.
"Houston, can you read me? This is the Freedom," the female pilot said.
The NASA team rushed around, pressing buttons and working to get up whatever radio connection they had with Freedom.
"Shut up, I'm getting something," she yelled.
The people at NASA were relieved that it wasn't just their imagination. William sighed. "Thank God we have you, Freedom."
"Lock their coordinates before we lose them again!" someone yelled.
"Houston…Houston—we lost them," said the pilot. "Get the remote satellite hooked up!"
"I'm gonna show you how we do things where I come from," Ron said. He fired the guns on the Armadillo and blasted hundreds of holes in the wall of the shuttle. "Get ready!" with that he drove through the wall and out onto the asteroid.
"Seed it," said Harry.
They drove the drill further into the asteroid. "Come on guys, the clock is ticking! Let's go, go, go, go, go!" Oliver yelled.
"Oliver, I need more power out here!" Harry yelled.
"Whatever you say, boss," Oliver replied. "Let's drill through this turd!"
"Come on, come on, come on," Harry said through gritted teeth. "Dig…dig…dig. Chew this iron bitch up."
"Draco…" Harry called.
"What is it?"
"I think the transmission's stuck!"
"No! Shut it down! Shut it down!" Harry screamed, waving his arms.
Suddenly, there was a big burst, and Harry was thrown backward off his feet.
"Harry, are you okay?" George yelled.
"Blew the transmission. Damn it!" Harry cursed, standing up. "Come on, God, just a little help. That's all I'm asking."
"I think we're close enough, he might've heard you," said Draco.
"We have a problem," said a NASA official.
"What is it?" William said.
"Before the crash of the Independence, the asteroid's lunar roll was stable."
"But now…?"
"But now the lunar roll is unstable on all four axes."
William sighed. "What does this do for radio communication?"
"Not good. We'll have definite contact with the shuttle for only seven more minutes. After that it's radio darkness."
"For how long?"
"After seven minutes…we may never hear from them again. But we're trying to bounce a signal off a Russian military satellite and reestablish contact that way."
General Abbott spoke. "If we lose communication, when do we lose the ability to remote detonate that nuke?"
"If we have radio communication for seven minutes, then we can remote detonate for an additional five."
Another official spoke up. "What he's saying, General, is that after twelve minutes, we may lose the ability to remote detonate."
"I've got to inform the president," General Abbott said, walking away.
Harry and Draco walked back onto the ship after losing two drill bits and blowing their first transmission. They got to work on unpacking their third drill bit and second transmission when the pilot walked in. "We're drilling through some kind of metal I've never seen before," Harry said.
"So how deep are we?" the pilot, Colonal Smith said.
"We could really use your help with unpacking this next transmission," Harry said, obviously ignoring Colonal Smith's question.
"I have an assessment report due now. We're supposed to be at two hundred feet. So…how deep are we?"
"Not as deep as we'll be when you shut up and help us unpack this transmission."
"We have eight hundred feet to drill. You've had two and-a-half hours. What is our current depth?"
"Harry stared Colonal Smith in the eye. "We're at fifty-seven feet," he said. "Now if you'll help us unpack this trans…" But Colonal Smith was walking quickly out of the room. "Colonal Smith! Wait here, Draco," Harry said. "Colonal Smith!"
The screen was blurred and full of static. "That's as good as it's gonna be right now," said the female pilot, NASA commander Teg.
Colonal Smith sat down in front of the screen. "Houston do you copy? We got a signal of a remote satellite." He held up a card that read "U.S. Air Force Drill-Time Only. Zero Depth." "Puts drilling final at ten hours. Please advise, that's four hours past zero barrier. Please advise."
"What the hell is…" Harry looked at the card. "'Zero Depth'? and who are you talking to? Is that William? Move over…" Harry got in front of the screen. "William, this is what happens when you drill. We cannot use your 'Personnel Only Drill-Time' card!"
"We're losing coms again," said Commander Teg.
"Is he getting this?" Harry yelled.
"Give me the coms," Colonal Smith said. "This means no communication."
"Then we'll go back to the cargo bay and fix the remote satellite!"
"Guess what, Harry. You had your chance. You didn't do it."
"My men and I will go and get this hole dug!"
"You and your men are the biggest mistake in the history of NASA!" Colonal Smith yelled. Harry stared in shock.
"We've lost communications," a voice said. William sighed.
"Things aren't lookin' too good right now," said an official.
"No shit. We got to get that radio back up."
