Disclaimer Update: See end of chapter for additional disclaimers.
Chapter Summary: A few important things are lost in space.
Chapter Word Count: 5,247
"It's just a little singed," Pip said, poking Janey's hard suit, as they waited for Jocelyn to open the large metal door on the other side of the protective shield. The rest of Gold Team waited in standard entry formation.
"That's not a little singe," Janey said, trying to rub off the black mark down the front of her suit. "The Chief is gonna kill me, after she makes me clean all of the other suits after this op."
"I'll vouch for you," Pip said. "You should get a medal."
"You cut it awfully close," Squeak cut in.
Any reply by Janey was stopped by the large door slowly sliding into the wall, with a large rumble that shook the floor.
"Go... go..." Pin said, as Quinn dove into the opening before it was fully open. When the others joined her, she was standing in the center of a large room. Along the walls were a number of viewing panels, displaying random scenes from the crater and surrounding area.
"Some kind of viewing room," Quinn said, before her eye caught something.
On the far side was a recessed alcove containing a large crystal ring.
"Well, that's surprising," Quinn said. "Didn't think we would run into one of those."
"That looks like one of the Rings that Lady Andrea discovered," Jocelyn said. "I wonder where it goes."
"It might not go anywhere," Quinn said. "So let's not be in any hurry to try it out. Or it could go to the one out in the asteroid belt."
"That gives us a general age," Brittany said, in her ear. "All of the other rings are several hundred thousand years old, at least."
"What do you want us to do with it?" Quinn asked. "No one's been here for a long, long time, based on the layer of dust."
"Not air tight," Pin said. "Might need to fix that."
"Is there anything else there?" Brittany said. "Or do you still need that heavy scanner team?"
"Definitely need them," Quinn said. "It's the same material as everywhere else. Even the enhanced scanner on my test suit can't penetrate the walls. If there are any secret doors or hidden passages we aren't going to find them."
"I'll get a full team down there," Brittany said. "The rest of Black Team should be there soon. Did you want to wait for them?"
"How long? This suit is running low on juice," Quinn said. "I've got maybe another hour before I turn into a pumpkin."
"There's a shuttle up top with a suit tech and hookups just for you," Brittany said. "No pumpkin needed."
"Thanks, Brit, you're awesome," Quinn said.
"And don't you forget it," she said.
"Ladies, I've got to head out," Quinn said to her team. "This suit wasn't meant for long ops. Pin, you're in charge until the rest of Shadow Black team arrives. There should also be a Fleet Heavy Scanner team on the way. If they don't have security with them, cover them until it arrives."
"Got it Boss," Pin said. "Anything else?"
"A quick review of this op tomorrow," Quinn said. "Janey shouldn't have taken a hit from that shield. Take it apart and find out what went wrong."
"Yes, Boss," Pin said, before turning to the others and issuing orders.
Quinn headed for the tunnel, after one last look at the Ring. She'd yet to go through one and was admittedly curious, but there were other priorities. But having one on Mars could be useful.
"Hey Boss," Pip said. "Don't forget you have dinner with Lady Memory tonight."
"Shouldn't you two be back with the rest of Gold Team?" Quinn asked. "And when did you become my social secretary."
"Wherever you go, we go," Squeak said. "Orders from the top."
"You work for me," Quinn said. "I don't need the company."
"Not when we're on guard rotation," Pip said. "Only the combined Council can override that."
"You're not going to win, Quinn," Brittany said.
"I'm a trooper," Quinn said, grumbling, as she reached the outer entrance. "It's foolish to assign me bodyguards. They've got better things to do."
"You're a member of the Council," Brittany said. "You're entitled to protection."
"I'm my own protection," Quinn said.
"Call them your Handmaidens then," Brittany said, "if bodyguard doesn't work for you. They aren't going away."
"The Hand's Handmaidens," Pip said. "I like that!"
"Wouldn't you rather be leading your own teams?" Quinn asked them.
"Some day," Pip said. "But right now following you around is exciting."
"And gets us chicks," Squeak said. "They can't get you so we get them."
"But you didn't hear that," Pip said. "She didn't say anything like that."
"I don't want to know," Quinn said, grimacing. Handmaidens didn't sound much better, she thought. It was still a babysitting job.
"Looks like they still haven't turned off that camouflage shield," Pip said.
"There's probably a control center near the Ring," Quinn said. "They'll find it. Have you qualified in the new hard suits yet?"
"The ones Lady Andrea and the Potters wore for Lady M's rescue?" Squeak asked. "We've had the pod time to familiarize ourselves with them and the nanite treatments but our suits aren't ready yet. Maybe this week."
"If you're going to follow me around, you'll need them. They're the only suits that can keep up with this one. We have a couple more weeks of testing in this model."
"Okay, Boss," Squeak said. "The shuttles are over there," she added, waving towards a section of crater wall. "Looks like there's an elevator now."
"We'll just wait out here," Pip said, once they reached the shuttle. "Let us know when you're ready to head back to base."
"Okay..." Quinn said, wondering what they were up to. Pressing the hatch control, she slipped into the shuttle, the hatch closing behind her. It was occupied by one more person than she expected.
Quinn popped her suit helmet, exposing her face to real air for the first time in eighteen hours. She ran her hands through her short hair, trying to fluff it up after so long in the suit.
"What brings you here, Rache?"
"Hello Quinn," Rachel said. "I thought I'd come get you in person, it was taking too long for you to get back."
"Sorry, a few unexpected side trips today," Quinn said. "And the suit needs a recharge."
"Francis can take care of it," Rachel said. "Apparently I'm not allowed to touch the tech."
Quinn raised an eyebrow at the tech, who shrugged.
"Chief's orders," Francis said. "She didn't explain."
"I might have broken something the last time I wore one," Rachel said, blushing. "Something went wonky."
"What's going on Brit?" Quinn said, over the command comm.
"Ah..." Brittany said.
"Well?"
"You won't like it," Brittany said, warning her.
"Go ahead," Quinn said, frowning.
"Suit tech goes wonky around the Memory," Brittany said. "The techs haven't figured out why but it means she can't wear one until they find out why and can fix it, and touching one, especially an experimental one like yours? They don't know what will happen."
"Okay..." Quinn said, staring at Rachel. "They'll figure it out."
"If you could sit here, Lady Hands?" Francis told her, pointing at a seat. "We need to hook you up to power."
Nodding, Quinn gingerly perched on the cabin seat. Hard suits weren't that heavy but they did wreak havoc on ordinary furniture. Most chairs just weren't designed to support the weight of a hard suit wearing Clanswoman.
"How long?" Quinn asked.
"An hour," Francis said.
"Do we need to stay here or can we take the shuttle back to base?" Quinn asked.
"Your suit can charge while the shuttle is airborne," Frankie said. She started plugging Quinn's suit into a row of equipment.
"Good," Quinn said, after signaling to Pip and Squeak that the shuttle was leaving. "Let's get this thing moving."
"So, we now have a local Ring that we can use?" Rachel asked.
"Well, we have a Ring that isn't in the middle of an asteroid field," Quinn said. "We don't know if it'll work or where it goes. It'll take some research."
"Andy and her crew figured out how to use them," Rachel said.
"They were in a hurry," Quinn reminded her. "They were stuck parsecs from home and had no other choice."
"I'd like to go on a trip like that," Rachel said. "It sounded like fun."
"After we defeat the Bugs, you and I can go on a long road trip," Quinn said.
"Where?" Rachel asked excitedly.
"Wherever you want," Quinn said. "But not today."
"Can we take the Ring?" Rachel said.
"I'll have to check with the experts," Quinn said. "I haven't had time to look into how they work."
The sound of of the shuttle docking cut her off.
"Another twenty," Francis said. "I've already warned the pilot."
"Captive audience?" Santana said, entering the shuttle. "Don't see the Might Q tied up like that so often."
"Santana," Quinn said. "Has your scanning team found anything else in that crater?"
"Nada," Santana said. "But deep scanning takes time. They might find nothing. But that Ring is cool. Now we just need to find one on Terra."
"Might be too expensive to use it to commute," Quinn said. "It must take lot of power to run."
Santana shook her head. "Not as much as you'd think. The techs think it has to do with the crystal. It doesn't require as much power as the Rings in that other universe."
"What about all of those crystal storage devices Andy brought back?" Rachel asked. "Do we know what's in them yet?"
"That's a question for Brit," Santana said. She plopped down into an empty seat, making herself comfortable. "I don't think her wiz kid have quite figured it out."
"When are we having the inquest?" Rachel said.
"Inquest for?" Santana asked.
"For the Clan member they brought back, the one with the Goa'uld problem," Rachel said.
"Can't answer that," Santana said.
"Can't or won't?" Rachel asked.
"Can't," Santana said. "Someone needs to put it on the agenda for our next meeting."
"Oh," Rachel said, frowning.
"Boss, what are we doing on Pluto?" Pip asked, imagining the cold creeping through her hard suit as they stood on the frozen plain.
"You wanted to be bodyguards," Quinn said. "I'm testing the new hard suit in extreme conditions."
"Are we going to be fighting in a blizzard?" Squeak asked. "I can make snowballs."
"Not if we can help it," Quinn said. "The Bugs aren't too fond of the cold."
"So, Venus next?" Pip said.
"Right. You missed that," Quinn said. "That was three weeks ago. Learned a few things."
"Not to go to Venus?" Squeak said.
"It's not my favorite vacation spot," Quinn said. "It was worse than the sandstorm on Mars. Our hard suits are tough but they aren't ready for an extended campaign on Venus or Mercury. If the Bugs make it to those planets or any like them in other systems, Fleet is going to have to take care of them."
"So not even scouting?"
"The Shadows are testing hard suits for those environments that can handle their ops needs," Quinn said.
"Why not our hard suits?" Pip asked. "These fancy new ones?"
"Different operating parameters," Quinn said. "You'll have to talk with the Fleet suit architects if you want to know details."
"What's left to test, Boss?" Pip asked.
"We aren't testing nuclear blast survival," Quinn said. "Simulations say we'll be okay but Fleet wouldn't sign off on the test."
"The Memory said no, didn't she," Squeak said, giggling.
"Possibly," Quinn said. "Looks like our ride is here." She took off across the ice towards the waiting shuttle. Pip and Squeak kept pace beside her.
"A little early," Quinn said, as they settled into their racks.
"Might need your expertise," Santana said, over the comm. "We have a situation."
"Do I have time to change suits?" Quinn said. "This one isn't suitable for regular ops."
"Plenty of time," Santana said. "Fleet is in-system waiting for us. We can get you out of that tin can and into your regular one once we get there."
"So, what's going on?" Quinn asked. "Do you need me or a whole team?"
"The three of you should do it," Santana said. "We need a bit of mobile firepower. We've also got a Shadow assigned to the op."
"Details?" Quinn asked. "And where's Brit?"
"She's out on an op," Santana said. "Radio silence for the next month."
"Crap," Quinn said. "So just junior Shadows for intel support?"
"She can't be everywhere," Santana said. "Fleet intel is just as good."
"Just as good as a Junior Shadow," Quinn said. "Brittany's the best at what she does."
"There's a large gap between good enough and not here," Santana said. "The Shadows are well trained."
"Details?" Quinn repeated.
"It's another retrieval," Santana said. She paused to land the shuttle in Fleet's landing bay. They settled to the deck without a sound or vibration. "Or maybe a diplomatic mission?"
"Who are we rescuing and what's the priority?" Quinn asked.
"Priority? I want you all back alive and in one piece. Rescuing? Not sure yet. Seems to be an on-going extra-dimensional incursion."
"Another one?" Pip said. "We just got back from stopping those Nega-verse bozos from dragging us into their feud with that Moon Princess."
"She was cute," Squeak said.
"She has a destiny," Pip said, "and it doesn't include someone from a different dimension."
"This solar system seems to be full of portals to other places," Santana said. "I can see why the Confederation wanted us here. Someone needs to keep an eye on all of these accidental crossovers."
"It does seem as if it's unusually unstable," Quinn said.
"And not getting stabler any time soon according to Brit," Santana said.
"Didn't Brittany say she had a way of closing them all down?" Quinn asked.
"Only if we can find them," Santana said. "Her techs are still trying to find a way to detect them all."
"So, what is it this time?" Quinn asked.
"Robots from the fifth dimension!" Squeak said. "Or maybe Buckaroo Banzai himself?"
"Nothing from a movie," Santana said. "A town seems to be missing."
"A whole town?" Quinn said.
"Apparently," Santana said. "There's a forest where it used to be. And space has gotten extremely unstable."
"Anything special about the town?" Quinn asked. "Or just random?"
"No idea," Santana said. "But the US President has asked us to investigate."
"What else?" Quinn asked.
"His daughter might have been visiting a friend there at the time."
"Might have?" Pip said. "He isn't sure?"
"Thy have a contentious relationship," Santana said. "Her car was found nearby."
"Okay, so that's the rescue part. What's the diplomacy part?" Quinn asked.
"It's in the Salomon islands."
"Didn't there used to be a launch facility out there?" Quinn said.
"Japanese," Santana said. "They lost their funding when we bought NASA."
"They were part of NASA?"
"No," Santana said. "But they had a quick launch capability their Japanese sponsors didn't think they needed once they saw what we could do."
"What's the catch?"
"There isn't one, that I know of," Santana said. "They might not be happy to see us."
"So, stealth op? Why not some Shadows? They specialize in this kind of thing." Quinn said.
"The President doesn't want anyone to know his daughter was there. And there were several Kaiju reported in the area."
"Kaiju?" Quinn asked.
"Monsters. Like Godzilla!" Pip said excitedly.
"Godzilla is a movie monster," Quinn said.
"Might be another portal letting them in," Santana said.
"I'm starting to hate portals," Quinn said. "There are way too many in this system. Do we know if the Bugs know about this? It might make us a bigger target than we thought."
"Artie? Did the Confederation know about the portals?" Santana said.
"There is no mention in Confederation records of the kinds of portals you are encountering," Artie said. "And no intelligence available about Bug knowledge about the portals."
"We need to get them under control before the Bugs get here," Quinn said.
"Not disagreeing," Santana said. "Britt's spy kids are working on it, as I said."
"I'll take your word on it," Quinn said. "So, what's the plan for this Solomon Island thing?"
"You drop in and poke around?" Santana said. "I'd start with the launch center. We have almost no intel about the area, just what shows up on long range scanners. So we can get you a map of before and after and that's about it."
"So, they just picked up their whole village and moved it somewhere else? And no one noticed?" Santana said, listening to Quinn talk with the Village Chief. "How did they manage that?"
"Their gods helped them?" Quinn said. "I have no idea what he means. But it isn't a mystery anymore."
"What about the President's daughter? Where'd she go?" Santana asked.
"She's friends with the former astronauts," Quinn said. "They were having a sleep-over."
"A sleep-over? Is that what they're calling it now?" Santana said, laughing.
"The astronauts are three tiny Japanese women," Quinn said. "Pip and Squeak want to bring them home with us."
"They would," Santana said. "Do we want them?"
"They do have experience with space flight but they aren't big brains like the NASA scientists," Quinn said. "They were picked because of their size and the rockets used. Not sure what we'd do with them, unless we can find them a job at NASA."
"Riding rockets into space," Santana said. "They must have guts."
"Very much," Quinn said. "Two of them are actually related, stepsisters, and their father is the village head."
"See if he'll let them go with you," Santana said. "We'll get a shuttle down to you that can take regular passengers. And we'll take the President's daughter home."
"Okay," Quinn said. There was a long pause. "He said sure."
"Really?" Santana said in surprise.
"They're adults, he said," Quinn said. "At least I think that's what he said."
"The shuttle should be there soon," Santana said. "Get them packed up and ready to go."
"Where are you taking them?" Quinn asked.
"The President's daughter goes home. They get to visit NASA until Britt gets back and decides if we can use them for something. They aren't likely to have any Clan DNA."
"Not unless some Mayan princess made it to Japan," Quinn said.
"Well, we've run into a few in other places. I wouldn't be surprised."
"Hey San, did you miss me?" Brittany said, sliding into Santana's lap.
"Is that even a question?" Santana asked.
"Just asking," Brittany said.
"So, two weeks with a bunch of hot Amazons," Santana said. "How'd that go?"
"They bought it," Brittany said. "We've got a treaty for an outpost on their world."
"What'd it cost us?" Santana said.
"Training. We help them increase their tech level so they can make their own hard suits," Brittany said.
"I thought they didn't have Clan DNA?"
"They don't but they do have some interesting genetics," Brittany said. "We can show them how to get the same effects as we do."
"No problem with arming a potential trouble-spot?"
"We proved we were worthy of their culture," Brittany said. "And then there's the whole woman warrior thing they have going on."
"I'm surprised you didn't have to bring in Quinn for the negotiations. She's the ultimate warrior babe, even if she doesn't think so."
"Well..."
"What did you do?"
"I promised them a visit from her and her 'handmaidens' when we start building the base."
"Ha! That'll go over well," Santana said. "We almost lost Andy to them. They aren't going to want to let her go once they see her in action."
"We'll just send Rachel with her," Brittany said. "They won't break up a bonded pair. It's against their laws."
"Rachel and Quinn aren't bonded," Santana said.
"They will be, or else," Brittany said grimly.
"This I've got to see," Santana said. "When do you plan on telling them?"
"I won't have to tell them anything," Brittany said, smirking. "It'll happen."
"Are we taking bets on this?" Santana asked.
"What do you want to bet?" Brittany said, frowning. Slipping back off of Santana's lap, she paced back and forth across Santana's office.
"No buildings or real estate," Santana said. "That's too easy. And no chocolates or treats like that."
"Hmm... I'll have to think of something," Brittany said. "But the bet is on."
The ship rocked as asteroids bounced off of its shields. They'd come into the system at an oblique angle, bouncing through the orbits of several planets before finding themselves in a vast field of rocks and ice. Too many in their path at once to just be knocked away.
Time seemed to move at a slower rate as they traveled towards the second planet from the system's star. Santana could see rocks whizzing by in the front screens.
"Santana, watch where you're going," Rachel said, almost shouting.
"I am," she shouted. "Just a bit crowded out here. Stay in your seat."
"I'm not going anywhere," Rachel said, gripping her seat rightly. "How long before we get there?" "Another twenty minutes, if we don't run into something," Santana said.
"I thought you said this was safe?" "It's space travel in a small metal craft," Santana said. "It's as safe as you can get while traveling through space."
"Well, be careful? Some of us aren't space jockeys."
"Some of us are buckled into our seats," Santana said.
"Why are we feeling this?" Rachel said. "It's like being on a rollercoaster."
"We went through a gravity wave," Santana said. "It knocked out the inertia controls .They'll be back online in a minute."
"When are they expecting us?" Rachel said.
"The base opening ceremony is tomorrow," Santana said. "We have a meeting with the team tonight."
"Good," Rachel said.
"You're ready for tomorrow?" Santana said. "You can handle not being with your favorite Amazon warrior?"
"My favorite Amazon?" Rachel said, puzzled.
"Q-ball?" Santana said.
"Oh," Rachel said. "She doesn't think of herself as an Amazon."
"Well, they were impressed with her," Santana said. "Especially the way she defeated their champion. Fast but not so fast she embarrassed them."
"Is there a recording of it?" Rachel said. "I'd like a copy."
"I might be able to find one," Santana said. "I have connections."
"So Brittany was there?" Rachel said.
"Of course," Santana said. "And this was done in their traditional combat armor."
"What?"
"What do you mean what?" Santana said.
"What does their traditional arms look like?" Rachel said. "You sound like it was something unusual, like nude wrestling."
"Well, there was no wrestling," Santana said, laughing. "You should have seen Q's face. Spears and swords in the nude."
"You watched Quinn fighting in the nude?" Rachel asked.
"Why not?" Santana said. "You would too."
"Santana!"
There was a screeching tearing sound and the shuttle shook for a moment. And then shook some more.
"Hang on," Santana said.
"What's wrong," Rachel said.
"Looks like there's something wrong with the shuttle," Santana said.
"Really?" Rachel said sarcastically, as the lights dimmed.
"Please stay in your seat," Santana said. "Looks like we're going to have to go into stasis."
"For how long," Rachel said.
"No idea," Santana said. "But we're probably going to miss tomorrow's ceremony, unless they find us quickly."
"I've never done this," Rachel said.
"Sure you have," Santana said. "When we were kidnapped, they threw us into stasis. It won't hurt a bit."
"You better be right," Rachel said.
"Just be glad I'm running the show. In five," Santana said.
"I'm not ready," Rachel said.
"5..."
"Santana, can you tell Quinn something for me?"
"4... you can tell her yourself..."
"But what if I die?" Rachel said.
"3... you aren't going to die. The Clan has been using stasis fields for emergencies for forever.
"Tell Quinn I love her," Rachel said.
"2... you can tell her," Santana said.
"Santana!"
"1..."
"What do mean, their shuttle disappeared on the way to the ceremony?" Quinn said, staring at Brittany from the door to the small hut. "Where are they?"
"Something happened," Brittany said. "We've tracked them and they disappeared after reaching the system from Santana's cruiser. But then the ion trail just goes away. No wreckage. Nothing."
"Why were they taking a shuttle? There's a Ring on the planet," Quinn said.
"Santana has a crew mapping that system and the one next to it," Brittany said. "It's just barely inside of our mandate."
"Aren't most of the Ring inside our mandate?" Quinn asked, pacing back and forth in front of her.
"It's possibly a coincidence," Brittany said, "but yes. One of them is in old Ghost Clan territory. An unoccupied planet but still in their territory."
"So, if their shuttle had blown up there'd be evidence?" Quinn said.
"Yes. Some trace. Something left behind. There would have at least been a stasis pod."
"Are they still searching?" Quinn asked.
"Of course," Brittany said. "If they are anywhere in this system, Santana's Search and Rescue teams will find them."
"And what are we doing until then?" Quinn asked.
"Waiting," Brittany said. "My primary search team is also looking. But they haven't found anything yet."
"Portal?" Quinn asked. "We've seen enough of them."
"Haven't found one yet," Brittany said. "And no signs they were kidnapped." "So, mystery?"
"We'll find them," Brittany said. "We know they're out there."
"Ugh! My aching head," Santana said, sitting up with a groan. She looked around. The emergency lights were on but it was otherwise dark. She triggered her emergency channel. "Brit? Are you there?" but there was no answer. And no answer on any other channel.
"Santana? My head hurts," Rachel said, moaning.
"Don't move," Santana said. Getting up, she looked around for Rachel. In the dim light she could see her slumped against a bulkhead. "I told you to stay buckled in," she said.
"I am," Rachel said, her voice full of pain.
"Well, don't move any more." Santana carefully moved towards her.
"It's dark in here," Rachel said.
"The power is out except for emergency," Santana said. "We must have hit something."
"I'm not hearing anything on the comm," Rachel said. "How is that possible?"
"No power, the shuttle can't relay us, and the comms aren't strong enough to reach anything, wherever we are." As she finished speaking, she reached the panel for the emergency kit. Pressing a hand against it, she opened it and pulled out the small med-kit and a light, leaving the survival kit where it was.
Still walking cautiously, she made her way back to Rachel. Setting the med-kit down, she scanned her with the light, careful to avoid shining it directly into her eyes.
"Not looking too bad, Shorty," she said, seeing no visible signs of damage.
"Still hurts," Rachel said, shifting slightly.
"You ran into a wall," Santana said, opening the med-kit and taking out the med-scanner. Turning it on with a quick twist, she started to scan Rachel from top to bottom.
"What's the verdict Doc," Rachel said, her voice strained. "Will I live?"
Santana shook her head, and looked at the scanner readout. "It says you're okay. Just some bruises."
"Can I have something for my headache?" Rachel said.
"I don't see why not," Santana said. She grabbed a hypo from the med-kit. "This stuff is strong, it might make you a little more flakey than normal."
"I'm not flakey," Rachel said, protesting.
Santana shook her head. "Just stay still for a minute," she said. She pressed the business end against Rachel's shoulder and press the trigger. "There. Give it a minute and you should be pain free." She put everything back in the kit.
"Why haven't we been rescued yet?" Rachel said.
"Don't know," Santana said. "They're probably still searching for us."
"How long were we out?"
"Umm..." Santana stalled. She really didn't want to tell Rachel that her comm was telling her it'd been a month since they'd been in contact with Fleet. She couldn't think of anything good that would keep Brittany or Quinn from finding them for that long.
"How long, Santana?" Rachel said, sounding stronger. The meds must have taken effect, Santana decided.
"It's been a month. We were out for a month," Santana said.
"A month? Quinn must be going crazy," Rachel said. "And Brittany too," she quickly added.
"Nah, they'll be cool," Santana said. "It's just like we've been on a long vacation."
"You usually come back from a vacation," Rachel said. "And you can send postcards."
"We're probably not on any postal routes," Santana said. She got up and put the med-kit away. "You should eat something." She grabbed one of the survival rations. They weren't exactly gourmet but it would keep them from starving right away.
"Do we have enough food to survive a long stay?" Rachel said. "It's like being on a desert island."
"We have a week's worth of supplies," Santana said, "but we still have the stasis field so it isn't really a problem."
"Shouldn't we still be in stasis?" Rachel asked.
"Yup," Santana said. "Something must have caused the shuttle to turn it off." She tried to access the shuttle comm with her own. "It's not talking to me." She carefully moved to the front of the shuttle in the low gravity. Activating the command console, she quickly scanned the log, looking for whatever had put them in stasis and why they'd come out.
"There's a slow power leak," Santana said. "It needs our permission to put us under deep stasis now that the emergency is over so it can save power."
"Is it that smart?" Rachel asked. "It could have killed us getting us out of stasis."
"Smart enough," Santana said. "But it should have just shifted us into deep stasis without asking."
"Can we see where we are?" Rachel asked. "It must be somewhere Quinn and Brittany can't find us."
Santana nodded, and turned on the view screen. There wasn't enough spare power to scan but simple video was possible. "That's interesting," she said.
Rachel stumbled over to the command console. "Trees?" She frowned. "Weren't we in space?"
"Yes," Santana said. "And nowhere near a planet."
"So we crashed into a planet and didn't go splat?" Rachel said. "How is that possible."
Santana looked at the log. "Looks like the trip was sudden. We were in space, there was a collision and then we were here. Wherever here is. There's no comm traffic, at least not on any frequency this can pick up."
"We're lost, like in some bad 50's TV show," Rachel said, her voice rising in panic. "Do you think they'll find us before we're canceled?"
"They'll find us," Santana said. "No reason to panic."
"Of course you'd say that," Rachel said. "You're the positive plucky engineer. I'm just the in-flight entertainment. We're always the first to die!"
"You're not going to die," Santana said. "Take a deep breath and calm down."
"How do you know?" Rachel said, taking deep breaths.
"Because I won't let you," Santana said. "Quinn would kill me if anything happened to you."
"Well, with that kind of logic, why was I so worried?" Rachel said sarcastically.
"I'm well known for my logic," Santana said, winking at her.
Disclaimer Update: The Nega-verse and Moon Princess were created by Naoko Takeuchi. The Solomon Island launch facility and related characters are from "Rocket Girls", by HÅsuke Nojiri. The 'Ringworld' in this chapter was inspired by the ringworld in Larry Niven's novel Ringworld though none of the characters or aliens from his 'Known Space' universe appear in this story.