Return to Camelot
Ray jolted awake, disoriented and unsure what had startled him out of his sleep. He looked around the room, but nothing seemed out of place. Why-?
The ship rocked suddenly, jerking so violently Ray was thrown from his bed. He crashed to the floor and lay stunned for a few seconds before getting his legs under him. He stumbled out of his quarters and ran toward Nate's room. Before he got there, he met Nate in the hall.
"Ray! I was on my way to you, are you okay?"
"Fine, what about you?"
Nate shrugged his shoulders and winced. "Got a little banged up with that last hit, but I'm okay. What the hell was that?"
"Time quake? But I've never felt one this violent before."
"Me neither."
Ray looked up. "Gideon?"
"You are correct, Dr. Palmer," the calm voice answered. "We have experienced a particularly violent time quake."
"Guys!" Sara ran toward them, with Ava trailing just a few steps behind. "Bridge, let's go!" She beckoned to Ray and Nate with a jerk of her head.
The four of them hurried to the bridge, Ava calling instructions to Gideon to gather the rest of the crew. After a few minutes, they were joined at the center console by the others - everyone still in their PJ's except Mick, who Ray was pretty sure never came out of his leather except under extreme duress.
"Gideon!" Sara snapped. "Can you tell what caused the quake?"
"A preliminary scan of the timeline reveals-"
"Shit!" Sara's voice was strident. Another violent quake rocked the ship, knocking some of them to the floor. Ray managed to keep his feet, bracing himself against the center terminal.
Gideon's holograph flickered, then winked out. Ray frowned. "That can't be good." He helped Sara to her feet, glancing around to confirm Nate and the others were okay.
"Thanks, Ray," Sara said.
"Gideon?" Ava asked, looking up. There was no response, and the console monitors had gone dark.
"Dammit!" Sara hissed.
"Engine room?" Zari asked.
"Yes, go! Ray, go with Z. Nate, Ava, Mick, let's hit the library. There's got to be some kind of clue we can find to explain these quakes."
The team split up, and Ray and Zari raced to the engine room. After a quick evaluation, they confirmed that the time drive was operational, but the engines had been damaged. Z sighed and lowered her head. "Thank God B is visiting Maman," she whispered.
"I know. Wait, how bad is it?" Ray asked.
"I could get the engines running again," Zari answered. "But the power cells are low. Must have been drained somehow in that last hit."
"No problem. I can recharge them with the blaster from my suit."
Zari shook her head. "It's too dangerous, Ray. If you don't stop the charge at exactly the right moment, the energy castoff could tear the engine room apart."
"Then I'll have to do it from the access panel outside."
"Outside? Ray, what if we get hit with another quake?"
"Don't worry, Z. I have the jets. If I get separated from the ship I'll just boost back to you."
Z looked dubious. "It could work, but..."
"I don't think we have a choice," Ray said. Z gave him a hesitant nod. Ray ran back to his quarters while Z explained the situation to Sara over the comms. He wasn't too surprised that the loudest objection came from Nate.
"Are you insane? Those quakes were bad enough to fry our engines! What do you think they're gonna do to your suit?"
"They've died down now, Nate," Ray said calmly. "Whatever caused them is probably done, and-"
"Probably? Sara, tell him it's too dangerous!"
There was a pause, and Ray knew Sara would side with him. "I'm sorry, Nate," she said. "But we don't have a choice."
"But-"
"Nate, we have to risk it," Ava said.
"What are you saying?" Nate snapped. "We have to risk Ray's life? No! There has to be another way."
Sara's voice came over the line, sounding patient and calm. "Nate. I understand you're worried. I'm worried, too. But if we don't get the engines back online, we're sitting ducks here. Another hit could take out auxiliary power, and we'd be in freefall with no life support. We can't take that chance."
Ray heard Nate's frustrated sigh, and he frowned. The panic-inducing urge to blurt out his feelings welled up in him again, but he tamped it down. The time quakes were done. They just had to get the ship up and running, and they'd be on their way to fix whatever had caused the quakes in the first place. "Don't worry, Nate. I'll be in and out... or... out and in, before you know it."
Nate sighed again. "Just be careful, buddy."
"I will."
Ray got into his suit, then sped to the cargo bay and opened the hatch. "I'm about to exit the ship, Z."
"Okay, Ray. You know where you're going, right?"
"Yup. I'll let you know when I reach the access panel." He made his way around the ship, surrounded by the eerie green haze of the temporal zone. He could see tiny fissures appearing and disappearing, like lightning strikes among unnatural clouds - a testament to the magnitude of the mess they would have to fix. He moved faster.
Soon, Ray reached the panel and opened the large access door, revealing the ship's power core. The light emitting from the coils was weak. "I'm here, Zari. Ready for me to start?"
"Yes," Zari replied. "The meter's right in front of me. Go ahead, Ray."
"Okay, say 'when'." He aimed for the cells and fired a stream of energy from the suit. The coils brightened gradually, and he listened for the word from Z.
"Almost done, Ray. Cut of the stream in three... two... now."
Ray shut off the laser immediately. "Did we get it?"
"Yes, we got it! Captains, I should have the engines back up in a few minutes."
"Good job, guys," Sara said. "Now get your ass back inside, Ray."
"Make it quick," Mick growled. "Pretty Boy's about to pass out."
"Oh shut up, Mick," Nate snapped. "You were worried, too. Meet you at the cargo bay, bro."
Ray laughed at the exchange. "Be right there, guys." Ray shut and secured the access panel, then boosted back around toward the cargo hatch. By the time he got to the side of the ship where he could see the cargo bay, Nate was already standing near the opening. Ray could see Mick standing behind him.
Ray grinned and boosted again to close the final distance. The time fissures flared suddenly, and the next moment Ray was bathed in a blinding flash of light. "Oh shit! Ray!" Nate shouted. "RAY!"
Ray was instantly aware that his mental link to the suit was gone. Events moved lightning quick after the flash was over. Ray tried to use manual controls to fire the suit's thrusters, but the only response was a "thrust system malfunction" notice. Ray reached for the ship, hoping the momentum from his last boost would get him close enough. Nate practically threw himself toward Ray, reaching for his hand while Mick braced himself against the bulkhead and gripped Nate's other arm to give him a few extra inches.
Ray strained toward Nate, but he didn't have enough momentum. He came within millimeters of Nate's outstretched fingers, but couldn't reach him. Ray looked up into Nate's eyes, and had time to see his own horror mirrored on Nate's face before the freefall took him.
"RAY! RAY!!" As he spun, Ray caught dizzying snatches of Nate struggling to get out, while Mick dragged him back. "Let go, I can't leave him out there alone!"
"No!"
"Mick, you son of a-"
"No, Pretty! You don't know where you'll end up. Gideon's fried, without you we'll never get him back!"
He heard a choked sob from Nate, before the comms abruptly cut off. The sky opened beneath him, and Ray crashed to the ground. The suit's technology buffered him from the impact, allowing him to survive the fall as it had in Feudal Japan. He survived, but his landing was still jarring. Ray struggled to remain conscious despite the pain of impact. He definitely needed to do something about the shock controls for emergency situations like this. He was able to use manual controls to detach and shrink the suit, but the blasters and thrusters were still offline. Ray managed to shove the case into the pocket of his sweats before exhaustion took him and he lost consciousness.