Disclaimer: The characters of Stargate belong to MGM. The characters of Farscape belong to Jim Henson Productions.

Chapter 3

The Farscape Module

Previously on SG-Dread Knights:

The walls of the temple started to shake, and thud sound was rising. Clouds of dust and falling storm of small stones indicated that a doorway or something somewhere was opening. Suddenly, both Cam and Vala sensed that the floor was the something opening. They tried to reach the stairs but it was too late. The floor opened briskly, the lights faded and they fell…

And now:

Vala gradually regained consciousness. She coughed; her mouth was full of tiny, little dust, probably of the floor that opened briskly. She sat up and looked around her. There was not much to see as it was almost pitch black. She reached for her flashlight. Hopefully it had survived the fall.

The flash gave some light to the immediate environment but Vala directed it upwards. She managed to see the opening and gasped. They must have fallen at least twenty feet. She felt everything in her body hurt but hopefully she found out she could move, meaning so far nothing was broken.

"Cam." – She called, remembering she wasn't alone but there was no response. She got up slowly on her feet, dusting herself up. She rummaged through her pockets looking for the signal flare. As she got hand of it, she hit it. The brisk light of the flare illuminated several feet, making her gasp loudly.

She was in a vast cave chamber. "It didn't seem that big on the scanners," she thought. Vala located soon niches where there were braziers. She lit them up and they illuminated the cave. The walls were covered in drawings, some stranger than usual for a Goa'uld temple. There were some symbols she has never seen before, possibly in another language, previously unknown. But the drawings were not the most stunning site. It was the fifteen feet white craft parked in the middle of the cave.

The craft was obviously designed for two people. It had the same nose and almost design as an Earth shuttle, the ones of NASA, but somehow different. It also had some unknown attributes near the nose.

Vala moved to take a closer look. She had always been fascinated by any kind of crafts. When she was younger and still a con artist she enjoyed such new toys. She also enjoyed pocking inside them just to find out what makes them tick.

The inside of the craft was definitely Earth technology but the engine – that was a different story. Although it had some Earthling elements it was modified by some alien technology. As she continued to pock around it, she discovered that its propulsion system was also different. It resembled curiously enough the impulse system of the Goa'uld as a whole but looked much more advanced.

And then there was the odd attribute near the nose. Its purpose was not obvious but it was linked to the cockpit systems. Vala opened the craft's hatch and climbed in. She started pressing buttons; the craft's internal lights came to life.

"Cool!" – Vala exclaimed with the look that was clearly saying kid and candy.

Cam regained consciousness. He managed to remove the rubble of tiny stones off him and get up slowly. His eyes, ears and mouth were full of thin dust like after what happens after a sand storm. He cleaned himself up and looked around for the first time.

He was standing on a platform of a dimly lit hall or more likely a hangar. On the other side of his position, Cam saw two crafts unlike anything he's ever seen but quickly guessed their purpose – interceptors or fighters, or maybe both. They had pointy noses, jet black, and the wing span of approximately eight feet. The cockpit had enough place for two pilots. They also had a sting on each wing, which were possibly weapon's extensions.

Cam made his way to the crafts. He ran his hand through the nose as he used to do with the fighters on Earth, sort of lucky charm every time before flight. The "skin" of the crafts was surprisingly smooth, as though untouched by corrosion or time.

Cam looked for the mechanism that would open the hatch and soon found it or so he hoped. He pressed. The hatch of the craft opened silently. Cam peeked inside. The inside barely resembled an Earth interceptor but different and everything was in language he could not make out at all. Hopefully all crafts of this type resembled each other so it was not difficult for him to guess what was what. He climbed in and activated the internal light, which for his surprise did come to life.

He started pressing more buttons and as it happened he accidentally activated an active log.

"D'Argo son of Crichton, Molalla and I barely managed to escape the dreadnought before we were propelled into the wormhole. We emerged on the other side where we crash landed on some unknown planet. We are trying to make repairs but it's unlikely we'll make it… We are still processing the information we got….the Scarrens have allied themselves with a race called Wraith, which are even more vicious and way more dangerous. They had come through another wormhole, as far as we learnt or at least these are the rumors….Stalleek tried to follow us but failed…

Last Entry, on the far end of the ridges, we located a settlement. We hope we could get help there. Father, Mother, if you receive this message, do not come for us. We'll find a way back somehow. Love, your true little D, Molalla also sends her greet…."

The log ended leaving Cam extremely confused and baffled but mostly disturbed. He, of course, has never heard of a race named Scarrens but he has heard of the Wraith. But this was highly unlikely since the Wraith inhabited the Pegasus Galaxy only. Then again nothing was suggesting this log referred specifically to their wraiths or to their part of the universe. It could easily be meant for another galaxy. But taking such a chance was equal also to making a big mistake. He knew that quite well.

Cam exited the craft and entered into the other one hoping he would find another log entry. There wasn't one. Cam was a bit frustrated but he had made a fine find. He had to tell Vala. Vala, he suddenly remembered, he was with her when the gates of hell opened and swallowed them. He reached for his communicator.

"Vala, come in," – He called, "Vala, come in."

But there was only static noise. Nothing, no response and yet they fell together. She couldn't be that far. As he was to leave the immediate area to look for her, he heard a voice coming from one of the crafts. He quickly headed back.

"Cam, are you there?" – It was Vala's voice. "Cam, come in…"

"I'm here." – Cam said still panting. "I'm here. You wouldn't believe what I found."

"Sounds exciting, I also made a cool find."

"Ah, how are you reaching me?"

"I'm using the com system of a craft I found." – Vala replied. "The one on the drawing that we found in the basement, remember?"

"What?" – Cam exclaimed surprised. "You're kidding right?"

"No." – Vala's enthusiastic reply came. "I also found that this craft was not the only one in the vicinity so I tried to establish contact and get your attention if you were there, which obviously you are."

"Good! You're right. There are two more. On one of them, there is an active log. It's fascinating and quite disturbing in the same time." – Cam informed. "Also it would be great if we could take the crafts on the surface, they look quite alien…"

"I know." – Vala cut him off. "This one that looks remarkably like your Earth space shuttles is full of unknown technology and has some devices I'm not really sure of their purpose. I would love to spend more time to figure them out."

"Very well, but first we have to figure a way out of here." – Cam agreed.

"Oh, that's easy."

"It is?"

"Yeah, we'll blast our way through and…"

"No," – Cam cut her off this time. "You want to have the entire temple fall on our heads? There must be another way out. I mean after all these crafts got in somehow."

"True." – Vala said. "But the Goa'uld could have easily built the temple around this place with no access to it then the one we fell through."

"I don't think so." – Cam disagreed. "You and I, obviously, dropped in different places, although we fell in the same hole."

"Good point." – Vala admitted then added. "Which leaves us the question how to get to each other?"

"Ah," – Cam exclaimed. "I'm not really sure how to…by the way where are you?"

"I don't know but I'll guess not very far away."

"Good one!" – Cam said. "But it doesn't help much."

"I know." – Vala said. "Let me think."

"Let you…what?"

"Ha, very funny, Cam."

"Do you think…you could make these birds fly?" – Cam inquired.

"Possibly, curiously enough the propulsion system is very similar to the Goa'uld one." – Vala replied.

"You're joking, right?" – Cam exclaimed surprised.

"No, I'm serious." – Vala said.

"So…what…you are saying that the shuttle's technology served the Goa'uld on building theirs?" – Cam asked with total disbelief.

"I know it sounds crazy but it is very similar. Besides, who knows when this craft crashed here…," – Vala said. "Imagine that it did several thousands of years ago. After all, the Goa'uld are scavengers of others' technology."

"Good point," – Cam agreed.

"And also that would explain why human technology is so compatible to Goa'uld technology." – Vala continued.

"This is a bit of a leap, don't you think?" – Cam said.

"Yeah, it is." – Vala admitted chuckling. "I'll see if I get at least this one up and running."

"Good, I'll try to find a way out, of wherever we are."

"What about finding me first?"

"When you start the engines of the shuttle, I'll follow the noise. We can't be that far from each other." – Cam concluded.

"Great idea." – Vala said mockingly but started immediately working on powering up the engines.

Cam left the cockpit of the black craft and began exploiting the hangar. It wasn't that big. Actually, it remarkably reminded him of the subterranean and mountain hangars they've been using on the Alpha site. So if this was to be a subterranean hangar there must be a mechanism to make an opening or lift the hangar to a higher level.

Cam searched the corners of the hangar hoping to find a lever or something that could elevate the platform on which were the crafts but found none. He began to suspect that Vala might be correct in her assessment but then again he thought against it. After all they did reach this place through the basement of the Goa'uld temple who had built in the same opening code as the crazy cube building they found on P9S-333.

A sudden revelation hit Cam, P9S-333 – that place wasn't built by the Goa'uld or the Ancients, so how would this Goa'uld know how to duplicate the idea, or even a crazier thought crossed his mind, what if this temple did not belong to a Goa'uld at first… Cam remembered the log of the craft. He definitely recalled one of the names used in there – Stalleek. It had an unusual ring to the Goa'uld's name Tallic. Could it be the same person? There was definitely a resemblance.

But the cube building, as the science teams uncovered later, was almost several million years older than the know time around which the Ancients came to our galaxy. And it is highly unlikely that the temple here is more than a few thousand years old. Cam sighed. This intellectual and analytical stuff was not really his forte. Too many questions often arise even more questions to which only Jackson is best suited to try and find the answer. He on the other hand was more of the action type than of the thinking one. But since the fall of his teammates he had started to think or at least trying to reason like they did.

Cam shook his head. He had to banish those thoughts reminding him so often of his fallen friends so he could concentrate on the task ahead – finding a way out. His course of thoughts was cut off again by Vala.

"Cam, I had an idea."

"Shoot."

"You know we are still breathing…"

"What?" – Cam exclaimed perplexed.

"We still have air to breath. If this area was sealed the air would be still so it must get refreshed from somewhere. So, if you follow the air current that would probably lead up to the surface." – Vala explained.

"Good point." – Cam admitted impressed once more by Vala's logical reasoning. "Why didn't I think of it?"

"Good question." – Vala teased.

Cam did not bother to answer to this sharp comment. He stood still trying to determine the flow of air. His neck started getting cold after a while. He turned around to examine the walls. He soon found a crack but this couldn't be it. He used the back of his flash light to determine how much of the wall was hollow. He determined that it was big enough for the black craft to pass through. It must be some kind of chute.

Cam wanted to find a way to make it open instead of simply cracking the wall otherwise he could spend the entire day beating the crap out of the wall. Unfortunately he found nothing. It was as though this hangar was completely isolated. Hopefully, somehow it happened. The wall trembled and the chute was revealed. It led straight up.

Cam sighed relieved until something touched him creepily on the shoulder. Instinctively he jumped off scared – I mean who wouldn't. Turning around he faced the doubling with laughter Vala.

"You scared the hell out of me." – Cam shot quite offended. "Why didn't you say…?"

"I just wanted to see your reaction." – Vala said with difficulty still laughing hard.

"Very funny," – Cam retorted. "How did you find me?"

"Well," – Vala gasped for air then continued. "Well, first of all, you were making such a noise beating the wall so the sound reached me, and I followed. I found a path exiting the cave I was in. It led me by a furrow to that point over there," – She pointed then added, "And then I located the opening mechanism, just here behind that ledge, and then I slipped in while you weren't looking."

"Impressive but don't do this again." – Cam said.

"Sure." – Vala nodded, which Cam interpreted as "I will for sure do it again."

"Show me the shuttle." – Cam said.

"No, I want to see the crafts first." – Vala insisted.

"Over there." – Cam pointed.

"Wow!" – Vala exclaimed excited. She headed to them while Cam climbed out following the chute up to where he could, as it soon became quite steep for him to continue. But it definitely led up towards the surface. After all, it seemed that the builder wasn't that stupid, which also made Cam wonder if these crafts would really fly. They were stuck here for probably several thousand years.

"Can you make them fly?" – Cam asked when he returned to Vala.

"Oh, absolutely," – Vala replied with confidence. "It will just take some time."

"Well, time is something we have in abundance."

"Not so really," – Vala contradicted him.

"Why not?" – Cam raised an eyebrow.

"We haven't eaten since when?"

"Oh, right." – Cam admitted.

In just two hours, Vala managed to get the black crafts into the air. She seemed so happy. Cam was truly surprised that after all this time those craft still had the necessary energy needed to fly. Vala flew off with the first craft straight up the chute.

Cam had to wait another hour or so before Vala reappeared. She had to come down the same they got in – through the basement floor, which was not the ideal way of getting back but since they haven't found another way in it seemed the only one.

"Where did you park it?" – Cam inquired.

"Where do you think?" – Vala said while dusting herself up after the fall.

"Oh, sorry," – Cam realized he should be helping Vala to get up first than getting straight to the point, "Here you go."

"Thanks," – Vala said. "The craft is near the Tel'tak."

"How was it?" – Cam asked interested.

"Amazing," – Vala replied with delight. "It's much easier to fly than a Death Glider but it is much faster and maneuverable. It's a real delight."

"Good, now I think it would be best if you showed the shuttle!"

"I agree." – Vala nodded. "We should take both crafts but first it would be prudent if we study the drawings."

"Drawings – what drawings?" – Cam asked.

"The ones, I found in the cave where the shuttle is."

"Why?"

"They tell the history of this place. And…"

"And we should study them before taking off with the birds otherwise we'll be stranded again…"

"Good, you get it," – Vala smiled. "Finally."

"Let's go then." – Cam said gesturing Vala, "Lead the way."

Vala shook her head, "Is it that difficult to find the way?" She took lead. They followed the furrow till they reached the cave. It was bigger than the one in which Cam had fallen the first time. But parked in the middle was the beauty all in white with some black on the nose.

The shuttle had some markings as Cam noticed when he approached. He distinctly recognized the symbol of NASA. The craft looked like a small version of a real shuttle. Its wings were twisted upwards. But the whole of the craft or should we say module seemed to be much more aerodynamic than anything Cam has ever come across. Cam circled around looking at it amazed by its smoothness and elegancy.

"Cam, come and look at this." - Vala called.

Cam came at once. He looked at the particular drawings Vala was showing him. He clearly saw a wormhole then two crafts emerging from it. Then the crafts crashed on the planet where the two humanoid pilots apparently made contact with the locals, at least it looked that way. The two pilots then seemed to have spent the rest of their lives on the planet as respected leaders. But curiously enough, there was no Goa'uld depicted so far.

The drawings then changed. They showed another wormhole and the shuttle coming out of it. It obviously landed but what happened to the crew of the craft was not clear. And then the drawings showed some grand cataclysm, and the skies opened, possibly another wormhole, and a great ship emerged taking the pilots (of the shuttle) away.

It was then when they found a reference to the Goa'uld Tallic. He came from the sky and found the crafts. He studied them then built his temple around their crash site and ruled the world ever since. The drawings ended with some strange symbols, one of which resembled the markings on the shuttle.

Cam returned to the shuttled and looked carefully. The markings were almost worn off but then he gaped. He could clearly see it now.

"Vala!" – Cam called.

Vala came to him. She looked at where Cam was pointing and clearly saw it. The letters were shabby but readable – NASA – FARSCAPE.

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Lordheaven