Revamped!
Chapter 65: A Hidden Relic Part Three
Below the Norwegian Sea - 19:35 PM
Emily reaches forwards to grab the crown and the closer her hand gets, the more the ground starts to shake. Emily immediately pulls her hand back. James tries to grab the crown but the same thing happens so he pulls back. Emily takes a step back and faces the ocean. Her scans pick up nothing.
"Try and grab the crown," Emily tells James. "Jarvis, scan for anything strange as he does so."
James reaches for the crown again and as the ground trembles, red lights pierce her eyelids, going haywire. Her retina display sends an array of multicoloured gibberish about the warnings.
Emily's eyes open wide. "Stop!"
James stops and pulls his arm back as the scans disappear and report nothing.
"Something's down in the abyss," Emily tells James. "Do we still get it?"
James shrugs. "If it's an Asgardian relic, maybe someone stole it and hid it here."
"Or they purposely placed it here to get rid of it or to make everyone believe it went missing."
They face each other silently as they stipulate on a strategy. Then they agree mutually on a plan: get it and get out quickly.
"Get ready," James warns.
Emily nods.
James reaches for the crown and ignores the earthquake building up. He grabs it and runs up to Emily. Before Emily could get the rest of her suit on, a tidal wave shoots up and takes them both in, bringing them into the rushing current.
-o-
Above the Norwegian Sea - 19:17 PM
The FBI, CIA, and NASA could respond to the questions brought to them about their involvement with past Asgardian activity. As the conversations with them continue, Merida picks up major seismic activity coming from below the ocean's surface where Emily and James are, activity strong enough to break the Richter scale. Their quinjet shakes a bit, distracting everyone. Merida tracks their locations before it all blanks out just as the seismic activity stops.
"Stark, James, do you copy?!" Merida yells in her headset.
No response.
FBI: We will trust SHIELD to carry on with this investigation.
CIA: Given that you already have a team down there, it's only best that you finish what you started.
NASA: But we request that you report to us your findings.
Their jets fly off. Merida curses about them wanting no involvement in the sudden earthquake. Whatever works to get them out of here. As their conversations end, Merida still has no luck in getting contact with Emily and James. When her teammates remove their headsets, they see her worried look and their expressions drop.
-o-
Location Unknown - Time Unknown
James shoots up awake on his stomach with a mouthful of sand. He spits it out, rubbing his tongue to get rid of all the sand. He takes a moment to catch his breath and check that all his limbs are there (which they are) before standing up and taking action.
"Emily!" He calls, his mouth extremely dry.
No response.
James gets up and stumbles for a bit before gathering some proper footing. He's glad he won't need physical therapy anymore. He runs across the shore until he sees Emily lying on her back non-responsive. James dives to his knees as he checks for a pulse. When he finds one, he immediately removes her helmet and lightly slaps some colour into her pale face. Thankfully, Emily wakes up and spits the sea water that got in her mouth into James's face.
"I feel like I just went through a washer's spin cycle," Emily says.
"Can you contact the team?" James asks. "I know we're on shore but I have no idea where the hell we are."
Emily tries but there's nothing. Instead, he helps her up and they both walk along the shoreline together to wonder where they are. Their only hope for a way out is a small abandoned-looking plane.
"You can hot-wire this?" James asks.
"Sure I can," Emily replies. "The mechanical in 'biomechanical engineering' was meant for this moment."
-o-
Emily pulls a thick red wire from the mass. Then a blue one, biting off the ends of each with her mouth and twists bits of wire from each end together. She reaches deep into the centre of the machine and pulls out its brain - a motherboard the size of a shoebox. That's not surprising for her.
"If I just rewire this one section…" Emily mutters to herself. "I should be able to connect the drive."
When she does that, the motherboard sparks in her hands and a web of blue energy spreads across the entire device. She's never been so relieved.
-o-
James sits in pilot's seat as the plane comes to life. A sterile feminine voice comes over the ship's speakers.
Unknown: James, I can't set the automatic lift. You'll have to take off manually.
James gasps at the controls. "This plane can talk? It knows my name?"
Emily: It's me, you idiot!
James cocks his ears towards the speakers. "Emily?"
Emily: Listen, auto-control's systems have some sort of bug. The power cell is on the fritz as well. I think it can make it, but you'll have to take off without computer assistance.
James gulps. "Without computer assistance? Are you sure?"
A short silence follows Emily's voice and James can detect that Emily knows something's up with him flying a plane.
Emily: You do know how to fly a plane, right?
"Uh…" James scans the controls in front of him. "Yes?"
In all honesty, James hasn't flown a plane or jet or any flying vehicle since The Academy. When he was evaluated, he did enough to pass. He didn't see a reason to have to know how to fly one since he knows how to fly by himself and his teammates know how to pilot. (That excuse didn't sit well with The Academy.)
James squares his shoulders and reaches for the controller. A moment later, he presses some buttons and lifts switches until lights stream across the dashboard. The engine thrums to life as the plane rises off the ground smoothly. James exhales a long breath but chokes on air as the plane jerks and his pulse begins to race.
Emily: The power cell will die! You have to engage the backup thrusters!
"Engage what?!" James yells, looking around. "Oh, never mind, I found them."
The engine flares again with a sudden jolt of power. The plane lurches from side-to-side as James feels a bead of sweat trickle down the back of his neck.
Emily: What are you doing up there?!
"Quit distracting me!" James yells, gripping the controls and letting the plane a little too much.
Emily: How many flight instructors did you put under cardiac arrest?
James finally steadies the plane and they fly smoothly from here - mostly because he set it on autopilot.
