Chapter 1
The sun shined bright on the old fire station that sunny summer morning. Station 51 was well maintained but sat empty as a new fire station was erected to replace the old. The city had sold the fire station off in an auction and the new owner had arrived in a blue Subaru Outback. The car parked in the drive before the large door. The door swung open and a young woman with short light brown hair, hazel eyes stepped out of the car. She wore jeans and a flannel over a white tank top with a pair of sneakers.
From the driver's side emerged an older man with short white hair, hazel eyes and a rounded face. He wore tan trousers and a white shirt as his eyes settled on his old fire station. Roy DeSoto paused for a moment as the station looked just as he recalled.
The young woman spoke. "I'll unlock the door, Grandpa." She dangled the key.
A grin crept across his face. "I can't believe you actually own my old fire station, Sam."
She mentioned. "It was a steal." She unlocked the door and led her grandfather inside.
Memories washed over Roy as he followed his granddaughter in. He had to gather himself for a moment. "Boy, does this bring back memories." he mentioned.
"I bet." she had to agree. She looked about and found the light switch. She flipped the switch to illuminate the large garage bay. "I can put my engine in the garage bay."
"Engine 51." he grinned at her.
She rolled her eyes. "Not that kind of engine."
He asked. "Just what kind of engine are you trying to build, Sam?"
She beamed excited. "A warp drive engine. It will make space travel possible, Grandpa. This old station is perfect for my prototype."
"A space engine?" he clarified.
She nodded. "Yes!"
"Sounds complicated." he assumed.
"I suppose." she had to agree.
He asked. "You need any help? Not like I'm doing much nowadays."
"I can use some help." she agreed.
Roy couldn't help but smile. To be able to work in the old fire station once more was a dream come true, even if he was now retired and frankly too old to fight fires. "I can help. Whatever you need me to do." he promised.
"I have lots of stuff to do." she agreed.
A voice called as another older man stepped into the old station. "Roy!" It was John Gage. He was much older with gray hair but still had big brown puppy dog eyes. He wore blue jeans and a blue shirt. He smiled at his old friend upon stepping inside. He then greeted. "Sammy! You are all gown up." he noticed.
"Hi, Uncle Johnny." she replied as she gave him a hug. He wasn't really her uncle. The DeSoto family simply adopted him as such.
John walked over to Roy. "Like we never left, huh." he mentioned.
"Feels like it." he had to agree. "Sam says I can help her with his new space engine she is designing."
Johnny looked upon Sam. "Can I help too?" he asked.
"I can't pay ya." she warned. "I can't pay either of you."
"I will volunteer." he insisted. He too wanted a chance to work in the old station again as nostalgia tugged at his heart.
"Okay!" she agreed. "I can always use a couple of extra hands."
Later
A few days had passed and the retired fire station was now home to an experimental engine that sat on a table in the middle of the garage bay. A number of computer were also set up around the bay and though the station seemed normal on the outside it was anything but on the inside.
Roy and John assisted Sam DeSoto in everyway they could. They cleaned, cooked, answered emails and tended to errands. The two really didn't understand the physics behind Sam's engine. They really had no idea what she said when she dove into technical issues. But, they were happy to help anyways.
Roy's wife had passed and he was now an elderly widower. His children grown, his grand children were also growing up fast with Sam in the lead. His life became dull and boring. He wanted something to do and the engine was just the project that he could help with.
John's life was not as he expected. He never married, never had kids and his days as a bachelor were now one long blur of failed romances. He had a great career, as did Roy. Both became Captains and both retired with honors. His biggest regret was not having a family of his own and being alone in his old age.
He welcomed the chance to volunteer his time to help Sam and Roy. He didn't receive a penny in compensation but never felt so wealthy as he did at that moment when he got a chance to work in the old fire station once more.
Things were progressing rather well for Sam. Her engine was assembled and ready for the first test run. She was focused on her career and never had time for any relations. Fresh out of college and a prodigy that NASA and private companies both had eyes on; Sam was a shooting star in the world of technology and space.
The trio gathered for a pre test run that evening. The goal was simply make sure the systems were operating smoothly and not activate the engine. Roy and Johnny stood on each side of the table as Sam sat at the computer positioned at the head of the table. She stated. "Okay, this is just a system check. Tomorrow is the actual test run." she clarified.
Johnny stated. "So, if this engine works we can build ships like in Star Trek?"
Sam nodded.
He grinned at Roy. "Maybe I can get a ship named after me?"
"Why?" Roy asked.
"Because the U.S.S. Gage sounds cool. Like the Enterprise." he teased.
Roy smirked. "If we get a fleet like in Star Trek, the first ship should named after Sam since it's her engine. The U.S.S. DeSoto."
"My name sounds cooler." he insisted.
Sam simply shook her head. "You two are the Odd Couple." she stated amused.
Johnny rolled his eyes.
Roy asked. "How do you even know what the Odd Couple is? You kids don't watch old shows."
"I watched it on Youtube." she informed. "You can find all sort of old shows and movies there."
Johnny pondered. "Maybe we could start our own Yourube channel?"
Roy asked. "Doing what?"
"Telling stories about our days on Squad 51." he imagined.
"I doubt anyone will want to hear that." Roy disagreed. "Kids today don't care about what we did fifty years ago."
"I think they would." Johnny disagreed.
Sam grimaced.
Johnny caught the look. "What?"
She was focused on her readings. "I got system error." she informed. "Try to tighten that gyro on your side, Uncle Johnny." she instructed.
Johnny picked up a nearby screw driver and began to fiddle with the engine before him.
"Didn't seem to help." she sighed unsure what was wrong.
Johnny stated. "Maybe you got a bad fuse?"
"It doesn't use fuses." she informed. She didn't see Johnny and Roy start to fiddle with the engine as she was focused on the screen before her. "What the!" she gasped as a massive power spike erupted.
The blast immediately hit John and Roy with a massive bright light. Sam jumped up and bolted over the table top towards the engine to manually disconnect it but she was too late as she was absorbed into a the warp filed.
Roy and Johnny both went to the floor unconscious as the engine settled back into a pulsating hum.
1975
Roy blinked as he heard a familiar voice. He wasn't sure what happened to him. Slowly, his eyes came back into focus. He found himself sitting at the table in the kitchen of the fire station. Across from him sat John with a blank look upon his face. He noticed John looked very young. He also noticed he was wearing the blue uniform from their days in the fire department.
Johnny also blinked as his eyes came into focus. He looked across and found Roy sitting across and looking back at him. He noticed his friend looked much younger and he was wearing a familiar blue uniform. He then heard a familiar voice.
"What's wrong with my cooking?" Chet asked.
Both Johnny and Roy turned their heads to the head of the table and spied Chet Kelly sitting at the table eating.
"What?" Johnny asked confused.
"What's wrong with my cooking?" he repeated.
"Um…" Johnny looked back at Roy. "What happened?"
"I don't know." he replied.
They then heard another familiar voice. "Roy! Johnny!" It was Captain Stanley's voice.
Both men rose to their feet. Confused they made their way out the kitchen and into the garage bay. They saw the fire engine and the rescue truck both sitting in the bays. The Captain was down on one knee leaning over a body on the floor.
Roy noticed the face. "Sam!" he gasped. He immediately came to her side and began to asses her.
Captain Stanley stated. "I just found this girl. You know who she is?"
Roy found Sam was alive but not responding. He looked at Johnny. "She's not waking up. She must have done something."
"Who is she?" The Captain asked again.
Johnny looked at Roy and figured something very odd had happened. No one would believe that she was Roy's granddaughter. He excused, "She's Roy's…sister." it sounded good to him.
"She has a pulse and is breathing." Roy reported. "Eyes are fixed." He started to asses for a head injury. "We need to get her to a hospital."
The Captain stated. "I'll call for an ambulance."
Roy kept guard over Sam. He wanted to cry but he simply could not bring himself to let his guard down. He had to get her help and then figure out what just happened to himself, Johnny and Sam.