X. Space
"Creto, systems check."
"All systems nominal, Samus."
"Everybody strapped in and ready?"
"Ready." Lara replied from one of two additional chairs that had predictably lowered out of the wall.
"Strapped in at least." Joanna grumbled.
"Energizing engine power cells." Samus announced. "Commencing count down to take-off."
"It should be noted, Samus, that there are still several men in the immediate vicinity of the ship."
Samus looked up to view Von Croy, Pierre, and the many henchmen that filled the chamber and were now crawling all over the shielded ship. She had known their efforts to be utterly futile. She figured they were smart enough to figure that out as well and so she had forgotten about them. Samus pressed a button on her console, held down another, and spoke.
"This ship is about to blast its way free with a two-million kilowatt plasma cannon and then take off into deep space. Those of you who don't want to die should vacate the premises immediately."
As Samus spoke, a whirring could be heard overhead. The men's eyes had strayed to somewhere above the ship. Their stares became wide and they quickly scrambled out of the chamber, Pierre included. Only Von Croy remained staring bitterly into the windshield.
Lara immediately un-strapped her self, moved to the console and pressed the button she had seen Samus use.
"Don't be a fool, Werner." She said. "You'll be buried alive or blasted to noting. Neither of us wants that."
The old man stared angrily at the windshield, and it seemed to Lara, directly into her eyes. His voice, crackly and bitter, came through the speaker on the console.
"This isn't over, my young protégé." He cranked. "I shall see you again."
"Count on it." Lara replied.
Von Croy picked up Joanna's gun and cast a last glance at the ship. He then slowly turned and hobbled out of the chamber. Lara stared after him. She knew it was no idle threat. How it would be played out was anyone's guess.
"Are you done?" Samus asked Lara.
"For now." Lara replied.
The treasure hunter then moved back to her seat and strapped herself in, her thoughts mulling over her old teacher's words.
As Samus initiated the countdown and lowered the shields, a whirring was again heard above their heads. Joanna gripped her seat tightly. Several vibrations rippled through the ship followed by what sounded like hail on the hull of the ship. Joanna closed her eyes as she felt the ship began to shake.
Samus's voice rang clearly in her ears as she counted down from five, each number seeming to cause the ship to shake more and more violently. Joanna swallowed. A tremendous force suddenly pushed down on her. She gritted her teeth as the feeling continued for several seconds, though it felt like an eternity. Then, just as quickly, it was gone and she felt weightless…and sick.
"Initiating artificial gravity." Came Samus' voice.
Joanna felt herself plop back into the seat and she opened her eyes. She breathed heavily, leaned her head back and thanked whomever was listening that she was alive.
"We're clear of the atmosphere." Samus told the two of them, drawing their attention. "You can move about normally now, if you like."
"Where are we headed?" Lara asked her.
"That's really up to you." Samus replied, spinning around in her chair. "I doubt anything I know exists in this time period. We need to find a way to reverse whatever it was that brought us here. Once we're back to where I came from, we can head to the planet where I found that tablet and see if we can find anything more."
"We should head to the Mayian homeworld." Came Joanna's voice. "We're not the only ones in the wrong time period, I'm afraid."
"Oh." Lara exclaimed. "I'd forgotten all about your friend."
"Right." Joanna replied, standing up and leaning heavily on the wall. "He may have a better clue as to how we got here."
"What are the coordinates?" Samus asked her as she spun back to her console.
"How should I know?" Joanna responded. "Do I look like a space traveler to you? Don't answer that."
"Well he took off in a space ship." Lara suggested. "Can't we track his vapor trail or something?"
"Creto." Samus called. "See if you can find any traces of a trail left by a ship's engines."
After a moment, Creto's voice sounded clear in the chamber.
"There is a slight ion trail that tracks back to the forest from whence we came."
"Track it and set a course."
"There now." Lara told Joanna. "Aren't you glad you came?"
"No." Joanna replied. "Do you have a bathroom?"
Samus looked to Joanna who was looking quite flushed.
"Through that back room to your left." Samus directed her.
"Jo, maybe you should lie down." Lara told her.
Joanna shook her head as she moved away.
"I'm fine…"
But she did not make it far before collapsing, Lara moving to catch her. Samus got up and helped Lara move the unconscious agent into the resuscitation chamber. They moved the mask over her face and then stepped back as Samus pressed a button on the wall. The door slid shut and the chamber filled with the blue liquid. Samus looked at the readings on Jo's vitals. Seeing the concussion and laceration on her side, she turned to Lara.
"What was she doing walking around in that condition?"
"Being a stubborn fool, if you ask me." Lara replied. "How long will it take her to heal?"
"An hour, maybe." Samus replied. "I'm not really sure. Up till now I've been the only one to use this chamber."
"Well it shouldn't make much of a difference, should it? I mean, you are human."
Samus looked at her. The bounty huntress' face showed no emotion, but her dark eyes hid something deep within her that Lara couldn't place.
"You should get some rest while you can." Samus replied coldly, moving back to sit in her chair.
*******************
"I think I've got it."
Samus turned around in her chair. Lara was sitting on the floor in the middle of the room, staring down at the portable display unit Samus had given her. On her right was a brown, hardback book sitting open to a page filled with notes. On her left was a few pieces of notebook paper with the symbols from Samus' find scrawled out hastily, Lara's attempt at a translation below it. One thing Lara had never done well while on a job, was rest. She had spent the past two hours studying and translating the hieroglyphs Samus had found. She wasn't at all regretful. This sort of thing filled her with an energy and fire like no amount of sleep ever could.
"You've managed to translate it?" Samus asked her.
"Well, I can't be sure without more of the language to work with, but the symbols aren't as dissimilar as I first thought."
Lara stood, ignoring the pain in her legs that came from sitting in one position too long and walked over to the console. Samus set down the mug she had been holding and pulled the image up on the main viewer.
"If my guess is right…" Lara said as she traced her finger along the symbols on the viewer "…this says, '…fire…all consuming and unquenchable. It,' or 'He…in the light,' or 'is the light. Follow the narrow way. The way…everlasting. The living waters. It is…'"
"What?"
"It's this last symbol. I've never seen anything even close to it. It looks Egyptian. But paired with these other symbols, I haven't the foggiest what it could mean."
Samus looked at the last symbol. A bird-like humanoid sat with hands before it, palms open as if receiving or offering something to some unseen figure. She knew it as soon as she saw it. The mystery had just gotten deeper.
A beeping drew the women's attention to the resuscitation chamber. The liquid was quickly draining. The two walked over as Joanna slowly sunk to the floor.
The door slid open and Lara helped the slowly waking agent to her feet.
"How do you feel?" she asked her.
A little dazed, Joanna looked down at the viscous liquid that covered her body.
"Slimy." Was her reply. "What happened?"
"You passed out." Lara replied. "I told you not to push yourself."
Joanna just looked herself over.
"It'll take me a week to get this stuff out of my uniform. Oh, no, my equipment!"
"The liquid of the chamber evaporates off of anything inorganic within a half-hour, leaving no trace behind." Came Samus' voice. "Unfortunately, that does nothing for your skin. You'll find a shower in that back room where I pointed you before."
Samus then walked back over to her chair and sat down, facing the view screen and the image of the hieroglyph filled tablet it displayed. Samus pressed a button, removing the image and revealing the vast empty space that flew past them in brilliant streaks of white light. The bounty huntress picked up her mug and sat, contemplating.
"Thank you, Lara, I can walk." Joanna said, moving to stand on her own.
"Right. Just you be careful. You were right what you said before. We don't exactly know how things work here."
Joanna stood there a moment, her hair soaked and the blue liquid oozing down her face. She hadn't said such words to Lara. The closest her words had come were concern about Samus and her trustworthiness. But she had just decided to chalk it up to a dislike of aliens in general, given her recent experience. But now as she looked at the experienced treasure hunter, she thought she noticed Lara dart her eyes toward Samus and then back. Lara then stared at her intently. Immediately, Jo caught on.
"Right." She said as she nodded, and then added a smile. "I might try to turn on the shower and wind up blowing up the toilet. Thanks."
Joanna then moved past Lara, giving her a pat on the shoulder and headed for the back room. Samus sipped her mug, her mind mentally checking the different security measures she had available outside of Creto's intervention, including the pistol beneath the console and the one resting comfortably in the hidden chair slot next to her thigh.