Mission 16: Part 1

The loud clatter of utensils and trays filled the air as the noontime rush commenced in the central mess hall of Atlantis Base. Martin Sterling wove his way through traffic carrying his tray and hoping to find a seat. As he walked, he also kept a file folder of paperwork under his arm with the intent to try and catch up on some administrative tasks while eating. Instead, he spotted his fellow male Rangers sitting together at a nearby table. At the center of the table sat Erik holding a magazine while Bharata and Jake huddled up intently beside him peeking inside. The three appeared to be in the middle of an animated discussion and they only paused a moment when they were greeted by the Red Ranger.

"Afternoon gentlemen, what's going on?" Martin asked breezily as he joined them at the table and sat down.

The three younger Rangers all stifled a few giggles before Erik cleared his throat and tried to maintain some air of decorum, "Oh… Captain. We were just reading through this latest issue of Sports Illustrated."

Martin rolled his eyes with a gentle sigh as he began to take a sip of iced tea, "I see. Let me guess, the swimsuit edition just came out?"

"How did you know?" Jake asked.

"The way you three were drooling just now? Call it a lucky hunch," Martin winked.

Erik's smile only widened and he held up the cover revealing a familiar face, "Then I'm sure you already know your girlfriend Chrissy made the front cover of it, right?"

The Red Ranger took one look and spit out his drink in wide eyed shock. "What?"

The spray of iced tea hit Bharata full-on and the Green Ranger sat frozen in dismay before giving a sigh and wiping himself off. While Martin continued to choke and sputter on his drink, Jake swiped the magazine from Erik, "What? Hold on a minute lads. Are you serious?"

He pointed incredulously to the picture of the cover girl posing suggestively amid the beach and the surf, "The Captain here is dating a celebrity? A super hot celebrity? And you guys know her? How did all that happen?"

Erik scratched his chin, "Well, this past summer there was this really nasty Croc Bot at the Olympics in Rome and…"

"And I think that's enough for today. Thank you Lieutenant," Martin said in embarrassment as he swiftly plucked the magazine from Jake's hand and tried to regain some semblance of his dignity, "Jake… Christina and I aren't officially dating. Right now, it's more like a… uh… special friendship."

Erik and Bharata exchanged an amused look and simply rolled their eyes in silence as Martin continued to try and give a feeble explanation. Before he could embarrass himself any further, Lucy and Ella approached the table and startled him from behind. Ella gave a cheerful wave, "Hey! There you are! Dr. Beckett and I were looking for you guys."

Martin quickly rolled up the magazine and whipped it behind his back just as Lucy cast a confused look over toward him. She quirked an eyebrow at his odd behavior before shaking it off and turning to the others, "Rangers, we'd like you to come to the lab when you're done with your meal. It seems Erin has been busy with something and she wants to give us a little presentation."

"Well this should be interesting. Maybe she's made some major breakthrough on that alien data," Jake mused thoughtfully while rising from the table, "What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

As the guys got up and began to head out of the mess hall with Ella and Lucy, Martin took out the magazine again and glanced at Christina's photo on the cover. When no one was looking, he quietly tucked it away into his file folder and followed behind the others wearing a smug little grin. If Erin's presentation turned out to be a boring lecture, he at least had some interesting "reading material" to keep him occupied.

A little while later, the team gathered in the R&D labs where they met Erin, Julian, and the alien soldier Taldyr. Taldyr sat in a nearby chair with his wrists and ankles still bound as armed guards continued standing close by. The lab tech Julian stood at the opposite end of the lab table beside Erin and she was already beaming with excitement. The Yellow Ranger had some sort of device in front of her which sat on the table obscured by a cover. In all likelihood, it was for some dramatic surprise factor.

"Hey everyone! Thanks for coming!" Erin exclaimed as she waved her friends over and urged them to gather round, "Ever since we started to crack the codes of the Adventi script, I had been thinking of a way to speed up the job and push our weapons development along. With the help of Julian and Tal, I think I've found a way to do that."

Julian wore a half-hearted look on his face while Taldyr sat stoically in his seat and gave a small wave of his hand in acknowledgment. Erin continued proudly, "During my talks with Tal here, he told me something very interesting. Because he was artificially created, he's technically only one year old in human years."

"That's the ugliest one year old baby I've ever seen," Jake sniggered quietly before Martin silenced him with a gentle elbow.

If she had overheard the little quip, Erin ignored it, "That got me to thinking... how on earth do all the new Eidolon clone soldiers learn enough to be able to function as adults so quickly? The answer is... with this!"

She removed the cover and revealed a strange helmet-like device with a visor over the eyes. Bharata studied the helmet curiously for a moment and looked up, "Uh Erin? What is it?"

Taldyr cleared his throat, "That is what my kind refer to as a Conduit... the primary means through which we were directly given the necessary information to carry out our tasks."

Ella crossed her arms incredulously, "Conduit? For real? As in this helmet downloads data directly into your head... like you're some kind of machine."

"In a sense yes," Taldyr said in a calm voice without the slightest trace of irony.

Julian picked up the helmet and showed everyone the interior, "According to Taldyr, these helmets have a way to form links with the neural synapses in our brains. Once a connection is established, the necessary data is filtered through the helmet and safely transmitted into the brain."

"Wow... that's some real mad science right there," Erik exclaimed, "Are you saying if I wanted to instantly learn kung fu or something, you could program that right into my head, like something out the Matrix?"

Everyone gave him a puzzled look before he sighed, "Oh come on guys... it's another classic sci-fi movie from a hundred years ago?"

Lucy waved it off, "Where did you even get this?"

Erin took the helmet back from Julian, "This was actually recovered from that Xeno battle carrier that Martin helped shoot down in Dubai. It had been kinda damaged so Julian and Taldyr cobbled some parts together and made a modified version of this thing."

Dr. Beckett still looked uncertain as she examined the helmet herself, "Erin, are you sure this thing is even safe? And even if it was, what were you going to do with it?"

The Yellow Ranger took the helmet back, "I'm glad you asked. I was planning on downloading segments of the data cache into my head and having it spit back out the translated versions. Since I'm pretty knowledgeable with the alien language, I figured I could sort of act as a filter to get the necessary data to you quicker. Tal already helped update our Adventi database but if we ran that info through those translators, it may take a bit longer."

Julian grimaced, "I don't know Erin, I still don't like this idea too much. I know we're in a hurry to make progress here, but it sounds a little dangerous too."

Erin put a reassuring hand on her friend's shoulder, "I know Julian, but we aren't going to get anywhere if we don't take some risks too. After all, that's part of our Ranger job description."

"You sound as if you've already tried this thing out before," Ella pointed out skeptically.

"Actually... I did," Erin said matter of factly.

Martin's eyes went wide for the second time that day, "You what? Erin, shouldn't we get the go ahead from General Caldwell first? Or at least run it by the other engineers on the base?"

"Relax Captain. It worked fine before. I thought I could give a little demonstration here, and then make a formal pitch to the General later."

Lucy stayed silent as she stood beside Martin but her facial expression betrayed her misgivings. At the table, Julian plugged a cable from the helmet into a computer console and pulled up some files from the database. As Erin placed the snug fitting Conduit on her head, Julian flipped a few switches to power on the helmet before activating the linkup devices, "All right… download in progress."

Everyone watched in wonder while helmet's lights flashed and blinked and some images passed by on Erin's visor display. After a tense minute, the helmet powered down and Erin removed the Conduit from her head. "Ta da! As you can see, my brain has not been fried."

"Do you feel any different?" Ella asked.

Erin shook her head, "No, but I do feel a little brighter already. Will someone please hand me something to write with?"

Everyone exchanged a puzzled look before Lucy pulled a pencil and a few sheets of paper from her desk and handed them over. The Rangers watched in awe as Erin took the pencil and began to furiously scribble something down on the paper. After another minute, it looked to be a mathematical table of values followed by some engineering diagrams of an advanced circuit configuration.

"Uh guys? Since when did Erin suddenly become a genius in science?" Jake asked curiously.

"I never was," Erin replied absently while finishing the diagrams, "This is all coming from the Conduit. Now... how about someone giving me a parametric inverter?"

Julian reached for one of the lab's spare component parts and handed it over to her along with some tools. The Yellow Ranger amazed everyone again by quickly disassembling the device and putting it back together without stopping to think.

"Wow… I have to admit, that's actually pretty impressive," Bharata said folding his arms, "This stuff isn't Erin's forte but look at her go."

Erin proudly finished her work and held it up to Lucy for inspection. The chief engineer eyed the device carefully before removing her glasses, "I'm astonished Erin. It looks great."

The other Rangers gave some impressed applause while Erin took a small bow, "Thank you, but I couldn't have done it without my trusty partners on this project. Tal provided the specs on the helmet and Julian put it together."

Martin continued to look skeptical, "So you're saying this thing will make the data conversion process easier and quicker?"

"That's the plan," Erin replied, "What do you think?"

"I still think we should run this by Caldwell now and see where it goes."

Erin pumped her fist enthusiastically and offered a high five to Julian. The tech looked over to Taldyr warily and returned the gesture before Lucy cleared her throat, "In the mean time, I think it's best you also get checked out by the medical staff... just in case."

Erik walked over and picked the Yellow Ranger up by the shoulders amid her protests. As he pulled her out the door, he gave a reassuring wink to Lucy, "Don't worry Dr. Beckett, leave that part to me. I'll make sure Erin goes whether she likes it or not."

Ella sighed and shook her head, "Well... I don't know about you guys but I'm starving. I'm headed back to the mess hall for a meal. Anyone else want to come?"

"I could go for another cup of jello," Bharata shrugged, "Count me in too."

As the two walked out of the lab, Jake followed close behind, "Hey Bara… before I forget, where did the magazine go?"

Lucy turned with a questioning look toward Martin but he simply feigned ignorance with an innocent shrug, "I have no idea what they're talking about. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to do some, err... paperwork."

Over the course of the next several days, Erin got to work downloading blocks of vital information from the Adventi database through the Conduit. General Caldwell gave his approval and the Atlantis Base doctors green-lighted the continuance of the project. After each session and letting the information settle for a while, the stream of data was then reversed and the translated data was successfully extracted back from Erin's mind.

On one particular Saturday afternoon, the Nova Rangers sat in one of the base's rec rooms enjoying their day off. As late November approached, the weather had become chillier outside and the team opted to stay inside rather than take a cold trip out to the West End. In one corner of the room, Erin and Jake were locked in a close game of darts while Bharata lounged on a chair reading a book of poetry. On the couch, Erik sat with Taldyr watching television. Because the alien soldier had behaved and been cooperative during the process to help the Rangers, he had been allowed minimal privileges to walk around the central base and relax in public areas, albeit with armed guards still posted nearby. In a room full of Rangers, it was unlikely he would be able to get away with any trouble as it was.

Taldyr continued to watch the television and frowned, "I still do not understand why you Terrans find this activity entertaining. Instead of wasting this time, my fellow clones and I would still be doing combat drills."

Erik smiled, "Well, sometimes after a long hard day of work and exercise, we just feel like turning our brains off for a while and having some fun. Besides, some television shows and movies can be considered moving pieces of art which touch the soul or have something important to say about society."

"I fail to see what cultural significance Big Brother 110 has," Taldyr noted, "If anything, this reality television program makes a greater case for the Xeno Machina to wipe out your species."

Bharata stifled a laugh, "Point taken. Xenos-1, Humanity-0."

Erik rolled his eyes with a smile before the lounge doors opened and the team was joined by Martin and Ella. The Red Ranger ambled over and handed Erik back a case of dvds, "Thanks Erik, I finally finished watching some of those old Star Trek episodes you recommended. Though I think I'm still kinda torn over who the best Captain was."

Before Martin and Erik could launch into a debate, Ella interrupted and proudly held out a tupperware container filled with pieces of what looked to be a baked Italian tart, "Before those two bore you to death, Taldyr would you like to try some new Italian dessert I made? It's a mixed berry crostata."

Everyone stopped and stared at her as Ella held out the container, "I figured Taldyr must be getting bored with the prison food so why not do something nice to say thank you for his help recently."

Taldyr picked a piece up and took a bite. Everyone waited watching in silence before Taldyr nodded and gave an approving smile, "This is actually very good. Thank you Lt. Catalano."

"Oh good. I'm glad," Ella replied brightly before offering some to the others, "How about the rest of you?"

Bharata carefully took a slice and studied it, "This isn't another one of your experimental recipes … is it?"

"No. I decided to be boring this time and follow my Aunt's instructions," Ella sighed, "Now if we're all going to watch television, can we put something good on while we're at it?"

Erik glanced over, "Permission to change the channel, sir?"

Martin flopped down on the other end of the couch and gave a wave, "Make it so, Number One."

While the others chatted and bantered about, Erin and Jake got back to their competitive dart game. Jake grinned as he squared up and tossed his first dart onto the board on the wall, "Well Erin, it's a good thing Ella's cooking didn't kill your project assistant there. Who knows what we'd do then to recover that alien data, right?"

Erin shrugged and took her shot next, "Oh I dunno, I might still have some of that leftover data still floating around my noggin somewhere. It's hard to think that in just a few days we're almost done with all that now."

Jake gave a thoughtful look and aimed his next throw, "How's it been physically for you? I mean, that must be kinda weird having all that stuff being dumped into your head and then churned around for a while. You've been really pushing yourself lately."

"So far so good," Erin answered as she took her second shot at the board and matched Jake's score. "I mean, aside from a couple minor headaches afterward, it's been nothing a few aspirin and a good night's sleep can't fix."

"Well… for what it's worth, you're a lot braver than I am," Jake said as he tossed his last dart. "I know you've been kinda taking one for the team here, but you shouldn't feel like you have to prove anything to anyone either."

The dart landed in the bulls-eye of the dartboard before Erin stepped up. "I appreciate the concern Jake but like I said, I'm doing fine and I'm happy to push myself a little bit. Just you wait… with any luck, this whole thing will be over in no time flat."

As she raised her dart for her last shot, Erin felt a slight head rush and her vision momentarily blurred. That momentary break in concentration was just enough to cause the Yellow Ranger's last shot to go wide and miss the dartboard completely. The dart hit the wall and clattered to the floor while Erin shook her head and blinked in momentary surprise while she regained her composure. That was a little odd. Whatever happened just now was probably nothing and she decided to quietly dismiss it from her mind.

"As for now, it looks like this game is over," Jake said absently. While he had thought it strange that Erin had just missed her last shot so badly, he didn't really pay it any particular mind either. He collected the darts and held them out to her again, "Do you want to play best out of three?"

A/N:
Now begins the last major plot arc for the first season of this series. Oh, and in this humble Author's opinion, Best Captain is a tie between Picard and Sisko. ;)