Alright, so I've finally gotten around to posting this, and I'm surprisingly a chapter ahead. The latest chapter I've written (#7) will need a good amount of revision, though, so I'll still be working. This chapter, however, I've added some sci-fi mumbo-jumbo that we all know and love, and some possible hints at other stuff that may or may not branch out. Enjoy!
Colonel Young let out the breath he had been holding when he had entered the stasis chamber three years prior. The last thing he remembered was closing his eyes and lowering his head as it had suddenly become very cold in the confined space he inhabited.
Stasis chambers were first utilized through cryogenics, theoretically freezing the body (and thus, the metabolism) like certain kinds of frogs could do. However, the Ancients had encountered the obstacle of being unable to preserve the brainwaves of the user for an extended period of time (much less 500 years), and were required to find some alternative. Freezing a body in ice had also proven difficult, as the ice would affect the state of the user, which was remedied by confining the ice to a secondary layer within the stasis pod, thus lowering the temperature within. The pod itself would intake all of the excess moisture through the air filtration system, preventing condensation on the subject's body with long-term use. The brainwaves were a different matter, and as the moisture had been extracted from the pod, so were the user's brainwaves until the user's awakening, frozen within the ship's computer, as if no time had taken place.
Despite no apparent transfer of energy taking place, Young felt tired, as if he really had slept for three years. He was sluggish, his hands tightened around each other as if they were made of stone. The first thing he did was lift his head, testing his muscles to find them fine, with no more fatigue impeding him. He remembered that Brody had been accidentally frozen mid-shout inside one of the pods for a couple hours, unfreezing to continue his verbal barrage against Eli to open the door before anything happened. Brody hadn't reported any initial fatigue, so Young assumed this was a momentary thing.
The first thing Colonel Young saw when he opened his eyes was his loyal lieutenant, Matthew Scott, standing directly in front of him. "Colonel" he remarked, acknowledging his commanding officer's wakened presence.
"Lieutenant" Young took an experimental step to the rim of the pod, "I assume by my being awake that we made it through?" A pang of worry hit him as he realized that Eli had been left out with the broken stasis pod, his fate uncertain as to whether or not he would be able to fix it and survive. "More importantly, did Eli make it?"
Scott raised an eyebrow, "he's fine, sir, but we have a...problem, to say the least." Matt was relieved at the fact that he had deliberately left their apparently chinese guests in the next room, as he would need to brief the colonel on the situation in private.
Young cursed himself with his inner monologue. What could possibly have gone wrong this time? "Well, Lieutenant?"
Scott took a deep breath and began his explanation, "sometime during the journey, I don't know how, but we ran out of power for the FTL drive, and the ship kept us in stasis while we drifted. Now, when we got to the next galaxy, Eli woke me up, and we had just enough power to make one final jump to a nearby star, with enough power to keep the stasis pods operational"
Young narrowed his eyes, "if you have enough power to keep the stasis pods up, why didn't you wake up any additional personnel?" Young had a point, and Scott, not knowing much on the subject, was forced to resort to Eli's simple analogy.
"I asked Eli about that. Apparently, kinda like a light bulb, you need more power to turn it on than to keep it operational. There was only enough power to wake up two people and have enough to jump. Now, we've recharged Destiny's systems and we can wake people up. Unfortunately, we found one of the aliens on our way to the bridge, and I recommend waking up security personnel to perform a sweep of the ship" Scott replied, the elephant in his mind trying to be noticed, and Scott forced himself to bring it up, uncertain of what the response would be.
"Good plan, lieutenant. Let's-" Young began, interrupted by his subordinate, the step he had taken impeded by Scott's movement.
"Sir, there's actually something else" Scott said, Young nodding for him to proceed, "We drifted for quite a while...500 years in fact"
"What?!" Young exclaimed, pushing down the anger at the knowledge Scott deferred to him. He could get angry at his lieutenant all he wanted, but them being in stasis much longer than they planned was out of his control, so it wouldn't do to yell at him. Now, were it Rush, it would be different circumstances.
Young took a breath, taking a step closer to Scott, "have we been able to establish contact with home?" he almost whispered, concentrating on the top priority. As ranking military officer, he had to focus on the important things, the top one being communication with Earth.
Scott waited a moment, trying to find a way to explain, "yes and no, sir" he said, being met with a look of confusion. "Okay, this is going to be a crazy one, but..."
"We do crazy for a living, lieutenant, now out with it" Young interrupted, trying to spur the young man into action.
"They're on the ship" Scott blurted out, noting the surprised look on Young's face. He might've believed it, and 'doing crazy for a living', he probably did, but that didn't stop Colonel Young from being shocked.
Young paused, "they found another Icarus planet?" he asked, knowing no other alternative.
"That's just it, sir, they didn't dial in" Scott said, Young's look of confusion returning as Scott launched into an explanation of their ship's visitors.
The door to the stasis hallways buzzed with the usual whirr of gears that the doors on the ship seemed to do, then a rush of air as it opened, revealing to Mal the not-so-familiar Lieutenant Scott, along with another older man in a similar uniform with dark curly hair.
The man's eyes selected Mal from his crew behind him, the lieutenant having likely described Mal to him while they were alone, and he approached.
The young doctor had been escorted by Zoe to the bridge to recover the sight of his sister, along with Wash, who had wanted to see how well it flied. Mal was accompanied currently by Jayne, the shepherd, and Inara, who had stayed despite Mal's orders, believing her skills as an ambassador extended to more than simply the bedroom.
"I take it you're Captain Reynolds" the older man said, extending a hand that was reluctantly shaken, "My name is Colonel Everett Young, welcome aboard the Destiny, and you have our thanks for reviving my lieutenant and...chief engineer from stasis" Young quickly improvised a title for Eli, making it seem like he was more important than an MIT dropout.
Mal shook the colonel's hand reluctantly, carefully regarding the man, "wasn't exactly my decision, but your thanks are mighty appreciated" he put on a fake smile, extending pleasantries that Jayne obviously wouldn't bother with. One of the orders he gave Jayne, god forbid he actually obeyed them, was to remain silent. The merc might've been their public relations expert, but he would much rather leave the diplomatic talk to the ambassador or the shepherd.
"So is your help, Captain Reynolds. I've been informed that you've had an encounter on your way through this ship. With your assistance, I'd like to revive some security personnel and perform a sweep of the general area. I'll have our engineer seal off sections of the ship we can search one by one. I once again say that your help would be appreciated" Young looked the man in the eyes, recognizing a soldier when he saw one. It was the way Reynolds stood, the way his hand was held beside the gun in it's holster ready to draw it, the way his eyes remained cold, shutting off emotion in light of the things he had seen, even with the friendly smile on his face. Young pegged the man as a potential ally than a possible threat, radiating authority in the few people behind him. The eyes of the short-haired man, whose hands treasured a gun Greer would enjoy taking out, were filled with contempt, obviously disliking his military status (he was sure that people didn't automatically hate strangers at this point in time, other than that there was no reason for the man's behavior). Only his loyalty to his captain -his commanding officer -kept his contempt from being vocalized. A man like this was something to be respected.
"Truth is, colonel" Mal began, "we've gone somewhat out of our way, and we'd rather not spend too much time on this detour, so unless you've got some kind of compensation on your hands, I'm not inclined to waste our time here" Inara gave Mal a look from behind him, a look of shock at his lack of charity which didn't go unnoticed, but stayed silent. Luckily, Scott had thought of something along the lines of what Mal requested.
"If it's compensation you're after, we're obviously unable to provide anything monetary, nor any food or equipment, however, my lieutenant tells me you have a ship that's not exactly running smoothly most of the time. In exchange for any help you could offer, I have engineers that would gladly restore it's capabilities to their top condition" Young countered Mal's polite refusal, obviously appealing to him. Serenity may have been the best ship in the verse, but parts were mighty expensive most of the time. Despite the way Kaylee fixed her up, Mal had to admit that she could use some help most of the time. the help of some professional engineers would definitely be worth something, if at the very least one security sweep.
"Well, now that you mention it, I believe we might have an understanding after all" he smiled appreciatively, leading Young to believe things were going to be very different from here on out.
Alright guys, now it's your turn to write something. Go down there and type something in the box that says "review". I'm eager to hear what you have to say and what possible suggestions you may have. Be as religious as AnneElliotsCat! I may not review all the stories I read as religiously as her, but I make an effort to try and do so. Now review!