Lights flickered back to life on the bridge of Atlantis, illuminating the damage. Jack was laying under the main table which had came loose from the floor and landed on him. Carla was laying across her control station, her arm at an odd angle. Jon was laying under the edge of a console, blood pooled around his head in a small puddle. One of the consoles came to life and beeped, writing spilled across the screen. Had anyone been awake to watch it they would have seen it was displaying the condition of Atlantis and it wasn't good information.
Twenty-two decks down in Engineering, Brad and Mike were in no better shape than the people on the bridge. Two of their people had been killed when a catwalk collapsed on top of them. Mike had been sitting at his work station when all hell broke loose and had stayed there trying to figure out what was going on. He was laying next to it, unhurt. Brad on the other hand had been standing next to the main reactor running diagnostics when the catwalk he was standing on collapsed. His leg looked broken and he was pinned by a support beam.
Three decks up in Medical it looked like a small hurricane had wandered through. Andie had been trying to get out at the time of the fold, she was now on the floor in the middle of the room. One of the doctors who wasn't as lucky as Andie was laying half through the window that separated surgical from the rest of the med bay, there wasn't much left of his face. The other doctors and nurses had managed to avoid most of the upturned equipment and were in pretty good shape.
The worse place hit was Landing Bay Alpha. One of the main doors was missing, this had happened during the attack. Fortunately the containment fields protected the people in the landing bay. Terri happened to be in Launch Control when the power failed and containment was lost. The eight people trying to lock down the three shuttles that were on stand-by would never see home again. Terri was laying across the command console with a small gash across her forehead.
Oojoung woke up with a splitting headache, he slowly sat up and looked around. Zeus and Hera were sitting next to him with their heads between their front paws watching him. Several things came to Oojoung at that moment, he was alive and relatively unhurt. The strange animals had not harmed him and weren't making any aggressive moves towards him. He also noticed that the lights in the corridor were dimmed and flickering. Oojoung reached up and deactivated the homing beacon, he had decided he wanted to live and not die. Helping these strange hoomans would be the only way to achieve this.
Oojoung stood up and deactivated his camo unit, the dogs stood up and watched him as he walked over to a holo terminal. Oojoung tried to access the base's computer but found that it was down. He turned and walked back down the corridor the way he had come, back towards Engineering. He stopped in his tracks as he passed one of the clear panels in the hall. Oojoung stared out at the stars as they tumbled in the window. The hoomans had managed to launch the ship, which in itself was surprising. That they had escaped was a miracle.
Outside the ship small hatches opened and spider like robots crawled over the hull. Other panels opened and larger versions launched into space and attached themselves to the hull. They began firing thrusters to stop the tumble of the ship, while the others started repairing what damage they could.
Oojoung walked up to the door outside of Main Engineering but it didn't cycle open for him. He looked around for damage but couldn't see anything that would prevent the door from opening. He reached up to the access panel opening it, he bent down and peered inside. He squatted down and pulled a small device out of a pocket and ran it over the panel watching the displays. The two dogs sat to either side of the door waiting for it to open, looking back at Oojoung every so often. There was no power running through the panel and that was needed to cycle the door.
Oojoung pulled a device from his belt and slid it through the crack in the door twisting it to the right. After a long second the doors gave way and slightly parted, allowing him to peer into Engineering. A light smoke filled the room and he could see people laying on the floor. He pulled the device back some and then touched a button on the end of it. The device started humming slowly pushing the doors open more, it worked by creating a mini force field, very useful for getting through doors you're not supposed to.
Once the doors were open wide enough Zeus and Hera slipped through and started their search for their masters. Oojoung wasn't far behind them and let out a gasp as he finally saw the damage. He picked his way through the damage in front of him, making his way to where Zeus was whimpering. Zeus had his head rested on the chest the hoomen known as Brad. Oojoung approached slowly and knelt down beside Zeus and reached out placed his hand in front of Brad's face to see if he was breathing.
'Warning Main Reactor Failure in 10 Seconds... Switching to Secondary Reactors... '
Oojoung was thrown to the ground as Atlantis was rocked by another explosion, he scrambled to his feet thinking they were still under attack.
'Emergen... Explo... on D... 4... Seconda... ctor... oom... 5... '
Then suddenly the computer voice went quiet and Oojoung could hear the groan of metal as Atlantis was trying to stop tumbling. Then the worse thing that could happen at that moment did, the power went out. Oojoung stood up as soon as the emergency lighting kicked in, walking over to the main reactor. He reached over and pulled the by-pass board out of the access panel where they had rigged the reactor to get it running. He looked it over, noticing some of the circuits were fried and shook his head as he tossed it aside. Reaching into the pouch on his side he pulled a small box out and set it down on the floor. He reached over and popped the latches open on it, pulling a circuit board out. He turned the board slowly checking for signs of damage and once satisfied stood up and slid it home in the vacant slot; nothing happened.
Several of the repair drones stopped working and started moving towards a hole in Atlantis's hull. Once there they proceeded inside the ship and separated, moving in different directions. After three hours the drones had managed to get life support up and running again and the containment field power grids back on-line. They managed to get three of the secondary reactors routed back into the main power supply by by-passing the severed connections. The drones on the outside were still working on patching the hull, although they got the tumble stopped and were slowly moving her out of the vicinity of the entry point for their fold. They were programmed to do that in case they were being followed.
They couldn't repair Atlantis completely, they would need a dry dock to effect most of the repairs. What they could do was repair places where the hull was breeched to stop the loss of vital things like air and water. They did this by shooting the breeched hull with nanites that used their own bodies to seal the breeches.
Jon woke with a start, his alarm blaring to the world that he should be up already and getting ready for school. He jumped up out of bed and made his way to the bathroom that he shared with his sister, turning on the cold tap and splashing his face. As he looked up in the mirror he saw his sister walk in yawning.
"Morning sis," he said plainly
"Morning," she said half smiling.
Terri reached into the shower and started the water running to warm it up. She turned pulling her panties down and her long night shirt up and sat down to do her morning duties. They always showered together in the mornings, it was faster and they had been doing it since they were little. She secretly loved her brother and not in a sisterly fashion, though she never told him. They always were seeing each other nude one time or another and it didn't bother either one of them.
"Man have I got a dream to tell you," Jon said as he turned and leaned on the sink.
"Oh?"
"Yeah, ask me later and I'll tell you about it."
Jon removed his clothes and stepped into the shower letting the water wash over him. Terri joined him shortly after and let him help wash her hair and back then she returned the favor.
"Jon, Terri, hurry up you two or you'll be late for school." Their mom yelled.
Ten minutes later they bounced down the stairs and ran into the kitchen grabbing some pop tarts and kissing their mom on the way out.
"So?" Terri asked as they waited on the bus
"Huh?" Jon replied looking up from his laptop
Terri leaned over and looked at the screen to see what he was doing. "Figures, always playing those strategy games, as if there isn't better things for you to spend your time on."
"Yeah, right; like what?"
"Girls for one, are you going to tell me about the dream or not?"
"Oh, later when we have more time"
"Great get me all worked up and then leave me hanging."
"Sorry, I just don't think I'll have time to tell you about it all right now."
"Ok, no problem I can wait. Oh, there's the bus."
Terri stood up and picked her bags up as Jon shutdown his laptop and gathered his things.
Brad and Mike stood outside the high school entrance waiting for the group to assemble before they went in. Terri and Jon waved as they got off the bus and headed their direction only to be joined by Bill. Bill was an outcast of sorts at the high school so they all watched out for him. He was a year ahead for his age, not that he minded, but he was also labeled a geek. This bothered him because none of the girls wanted to talk to him and the ones that did wanted only one thing, his mind.
Andie, Bill's older sister, was in college having got there at the age of 14. She was a wiz and wanted to be a doctor. Her whole life revolved around school and studying, she never dated. They rarely saw her and when they did she always had her nose stuck in some type of medical book.
Brad and Mike's family were independently wealthy. They lived on a compound that the government had sold to their parents years ago. The research and development that went on there helped improve the military and civilian lives around them. It was also highly classified and security was very tight. They had a small private army that patrolled the compound keeping unwanted guests out. The school even had some in place for their protection, they were shadowed 24/7 when out of the compound.
Brad's interests were in the mechanical aspects of things. You could take apart a V-8 engine, mix all the parts up and he could figure out how it went back together and have it running. He just sucked at two things, school work and girls, both were a mystery to him. Though he vowed to solve the girl mystery one of these days, soon he hoped.
Mike on the other hand loved anything computer related. As soon as Mike was old enough to figure out what a keyboard did he was hooked. By the age of 15 he could write programs in almost any language and could repair most problems with a computer. He was a hacker, one of the elite, he could slip in a system and out before you could say 'Superman'. He even went so far as to write a special program for Jon. It was a strategy simulation that could create any type of battle from any era. Mike also had the hots for a certain girl named Andie, everyone saw it but Andie.
Terri was a weird one, she loved languages and had started studying them as soon as she could speak. It started out because she didn't like not knowing what people were saying around her and then just became an obsession. The only other love in her life besides her parents and brother was flying. Her dad got her hooked the day he took her up in a bi-plane a friend of his had restored. From that point on she was either studying languages or flying planes, simulated or real. Her brother had gotten her hooked on Wing Commander and from there it grew quickly.
Jonathan was a one of the brightest people anyone knew, his strategic mind knew no bounds. It started with chess then it turned into studying every war that ever happened. Then he got into computer simulations like, Shogun: Total war, Uncommon Valor, Medieval Total War and then into space sims. He loved figuring out ways to beat the odds, he was quick witted when under pressure, the more pressure the better.
William, or Bill as everyone called him, was a jack of all trades. He enjoyed competing with Jon in his war simulations and was a fast learner. He also dabbled a bit in flying sims and helped Brad and Mike with their projects at the compound.
"So are you all coming over tonight for lessons?" Mike asked as they walked in to the school. Mike and Brad were helping them learn Aikido and Judo, training them actually. They felt like their friends should be able to protect themselves at all times. The two brothers had been taking classes since the age of 5 from Marc the head of security at the compound.
Jon looked over at his sister and when she nodded he replied "Sure we'll be there."
"Yeah my sis and I will be too." Bill piped in.
"Andie is coming into town?" Mike asked brightening a bit.
The whole group snickered as Bill said "Yeah, she's already here. She got in this morning before I left for school."
School was the usual boring stuff, until lunch time that was. Brad ran into Jon as they walked to the cafeteria and they started talking about his project at the compound. That's when all hell broke loose snapping the two boys out of their discussion.
"I told you to leave him alone!" Terri's voice screamed on the other side of the crowd that blocked their way.
"What's he to you bitch?" a male voice retorted
"He's my friend and if you touch him again you'll regret it."
Mike and Jon started pushing their way through the mob that was gathered watching the display.
"Well I don't give a shit what you think. I told him he had until today to get that report to me or I was going to take it out of his ass."
"I told you Anthony, I wasn't doing your work for you." Bill's voice slurred
"And I told you it wasn't an option." Anthony snarled back.
Mike and Jon broke through the front of the crowd and took in the view for a second. Bill was leaning against the wall blood leaking from his nose. Terri was standing between Anthony and Bill trying to protect Bill. The problem was that Anthony was about three times larger than Terri and everyone knew he was a black belt in Karate. Anthony was the school bully and everyone hated him, yet no one would stand up to him. He was also the leader of a bunch of school misfits and that made him all that more dangerous.
Jon glanced over taking in how many friends Anthony had with him, it didn't look good. That's when he noticed Brad standing behind them staring at Jon and giving him a slight nod. Anthony had just grabbed his sister's shirt and swung his arm back when Jon stepped forward.
"That would be a mistake Anthony." Jon said in a dead even tone. It was enough to give Anthony pause.
"Yeah, why's that pip squeak?" Anthony retorted not letting go of Terri's shirt.
"It's bad enough you started this shit here in front of all these students, assaulting Bill like that. But now you're going to hit a girl, a girl who is my sister. If you so much as harm a hair on her head I'll hunt you down and catch you when you least expect it and put you in the hospital. I'll hurt you so bad you'll have to sip dinner through a straw and have your mom wipe your ass for you." Jon said as he stepped a bit closer.
Anthony laughed and let go of Terri turning his full attention on Jon. "You're a funny man."
"I'm not playing with you. Everyone here knows how good I am at planning things. I don't see a problem planning the right time to take your ass down. I would suggest you and your friends go find someone else to pick on and leave us alone."
Anthony stood there taking in what Jon had just told him, deep down Anthony was scared. He knew Jon's reputation and Mike's, who he had just seen standing behind Jon. He also knew Brad was somewhere around here because Brad and Mike were never far apart. Those two were also protected, messing with them was out of the question. Because as sure as the sun rises in the morning there were at least four or five bodyguards somewhere close by watching Mike and Brad. He would have to catch Jon alone or with his sister, then he could kick Jon's ass and do what he pleased with Terri. Bill he could get to whenever he wanted but wasn't worth the trouble really, he had mainly wanted to make a point to the other students.
"You win, take your bitch of a sister and her loser friend and beat feet." Anthony snarled. Anthony then backed away and disappeared into the crowd.
The teachers showed up late as usual and broke the crowd up. The last time a teacher interfered with Anthony that teacher ended up beat half to death in the school parking lot. Everyone knew who did it but no one would talk or point the finger, even the teacher remained quiet.
"One of these days I'm gonna..." Terri said under her breath as she helped Bill to a table. She had helped him clean up his face and get his stuff gathered back up.
"Gonna what sis? Get your ass handed to you by Anthony, not that I doubt your ability to give him a run for his money. I think between him and his goons you'd be over matched." Jon said with concern in his voice.
"I know it's just... just... oooooh! I don't know, he just needs brought down a notch. That's all."
"Let someone else do it Terri, no sense getting hurt." Mike said as he sat down and turned Bill's head his way. Mike probed Bill's nose to make sure it wasn't broken; it wasn't.
"I'm ok." was all Bill said as he sat down to eat lunch.
"Good, because if you got hurt. Your sister would have my ass." Mike said as he turned and started drinking his soda.
"Two things" Bill said glancing up at Mike. "I'm hurt and you would love her to have your ass."
Soda sprayed out of Mike's nose and all over the table as he coughed and sputtered. Everyone at the table busted out laughing as Mike turned deep red. Bill just grinned and turned back to his lunch.
Jon and Terri got off the bus and headed the few blocks to their home to get ready for the training session. As Jon turned the last corner that led to his house, the last thing he saw was a large knuckle sandwich hit him between the eyes.
Jon sat bolt upright in bed at the sound of the alarm blaring through Atlantis. His dreams interrupted, not that he really needed to relive the beat down he got from Anthony.
'Captain to the bridge, set condition red throughout the ship. All personnel to
battle stations, this is not a drill.' A female's voice blared across Atlantis' internal comm.
Jon jumped up and grabbed his uniform pulling it on as he ran out the door towards the lift to the bridge. People both human and alien passed him, making way, as they ran to their designated stations. Jon was puzzled he didn't remember this many people on Atlantis, the funny thing was he knew people's names even though he was sure he had never seen them before. He stepped into the lift and had it take him to the bridge, as he turned he caught his reflection out of the mirror finish of one of the panels. He was stunned at what he saw, grey flecks ran through his hair and a scar traced from his right cheek to his chin. He was looking at himself yet he was looking at himself that was older.
The lift stopped and cycled open, the vision in front of him stopped him in his tracks. The bridge was fully manned; there were also two security personnel at every door that led into the bridge.
When the security officer saw him step onto the bridge he yelled out, "Captain on the bridge."
Bill stood up from the command chair and everyone came to attention.
"The bridge is yours sir." Bill said stepping down. Bill was older too, a beard covering his chin.
Jon walked down to Bill and said "At ease everyone, what's the situation XO?"
Jon and Bill walked to the main planning table set in the center of the bridge.
"We have two incoming Invaru Battle Cruisers, they just appeared here on the edge of the system." Bill replied pointing to the hologram of the system. "We don't think they have spotted us yet, I have fighters on standby."
Jon nodded when he heard the lift open once again and someone took a position to his left. He glanced over at the newcomer and his thoughts were briefly interrupted as he looked at the goddess standing beside him. She bowed slightly to him smiling as he took her in, her skin changed colors as she moved. Her skin reflected the light of the room giving her a natural glow. Her hair almost seemed to float about her head, strands of platinum streaked with amber. Her eyes were the color of pure gold that shown with intelligence that seemed beyond his grasp.
Princess Deatra C'loth of the Eutharan first tier house, she was next in line for the throne. She took his breath away as these thoughts leapt into his mind. She looked at him, a little concern crossing her features.
'Are you ok my love?' Her musical voice said in his mind.
"Yes... yes sorry about that, it's just every time I see you it takes my breath away." Jon's face colored slightly as did the Princess'.
Jon turned his attention back to the situation at hand, looking over the display in front of him. He watched as the two cruisers slowly moved through the system looking for their next jump point. His hand reached up and brushed his collar activating the internal comms.
"All stations rig for silent, all hands to battle stations. Flight crews to stand-by." His voice echoed. He turned his attention back to the table as he watched Atlantis slowly close the distance. On the hologram the running lights from Atlantis went out and she altered course to intercept the two cruisers.
He turned to Bill and said "XO take the secondary bridge."
Bill nodded and headed to the lift after he saluted, several officers followed him as others took their places.
"Atlanta give me a read out on the cruisers and their predicted jump point." Jon said turning back to the planning table. When nothing happened Jon looked up and saw several of the bridge officers looking at him. Jon shook his head and thought 'Now why would I ask that? Atlanta's computer core was destroyed in a battle several years ago.' Jon shook his head trying to clear it, shaking some of the sleep from it.
"Sorry, momentary lapse I sometimes feel she is still with us. Tactical complete last order please." Jon muttered once again turning to the table.
"Aye sir, information coming through now." The Buranis replied
Lines dotted the hologram and information started spilling around the two spots marking where the cruisers were.
Suddenly klaxons blared to life as the collision alarms went off.
"Sir, jump event forming 200 feet off port bow and it's large." A voice echoed across the bridge.
All hands brace for impact... Emergency crews to stand-by... A female computer voice said.
Before Jon could issue orders an Invaru Carrier came through the jump point.
Anyone looking from space would have seen Atlantis get pulled into the event horizon as the mammoth carrier came through. Atlantis stood no chance and was crushed like an egg shell, all hands were lost and all hope for defeating the Invaru was crushed. As the bridge split open Jon heard himself say he was sorry to the Princess hugging her tightly. His last thoughts were of his sister and friends old and new.
The Invaru Carrier also took major damage and requested assistance from the two cruisers. Coming to a halt it started to sweep the debris field looking for signs of life. The other cruisers joined in the search while sending repair crews to assist the carrier in repairs.
"Sir I have found a hull plate with the ship's designation." A young Invaru ensign said.
A tall four armed humanoid turned and looked in his direction, two of the arms came around front and crossed over the Invaru Commander's chest. His multi-facet eyes took in the Ensign, his brain pulled up the information it was seeking.
"Report Ensign Enius." Was all he said.
"Sir it looks like we stumbled onto the Atlantis."
The Commander's arms loosened their grip and he stumbled back a bit "Are you sure?" If it was true then they might have just turned the course of the war. So sad to destroy Atlantis in an accident. He would have liked to match wits with this Captain Jonathan.
"Bringing it up on main screen now, Sir"
The Commander looked over at the screen and watched the plate tumble until the lettering was visible. There it was in several different languages, including the native language of his people; ATLANTIS IDF 001-B. He grinned as he watched the plate tumble.
"Retrieve that, I want to take it to the home world and put it on display. I also want intensive scans for any life signs in the wreckage. Send a message pod back informing the council of what has happened here." He swiveled his chair around and looked at another Ensign asking "How long until repairs are complete?"
The Ensign replied, "2 hours, Sir." Never taking her eyes off of the screens in front of her.
After the repairs were complete, and they had exhausted all means to find anyone living in the wreckage, the Carrier and its escorts made for home. The Carrier carried the hull plate identifying the wreckage and also what was left of the main bridge. It was set up on display on the Invaru home world as a warning to anyone who opposed them. It worked as planned; the resistance was defeated in less than one month. The human race didn't survive the years after the fall of the resistance and were exterminated. The once proud Earth, where everything started, was reduced to nothing more than a big ball of dust that wouldn't support life.
Jon slowly opened his eyes and rolled over on his back. He could tell he was still on the bridge and from the look of things it was bad. Jon slowly sat up and almost passed out again as his head pounded to the rhythm of some non-existent rock band. Once the pounding diminished Jon got slowly to his feet and looked around. As he took in the damage he checked everyone for life signs, Carla and Jack were still alive. Although Jack's pulse was weak and Jon was sure his back was broken. Carla was in better shape, her right arm was broken, and she had a few scrapes and bruises, but other than that she looked fine. The other two bridge crew were dead, one had a deep laceration to the side of his neck and had bled to death. The other one's head had been crushed by a fallen beam, Jon was pretty sure she hadn't felt a thing.
Something dripped and hit his arm, that was when Jon finally noticed the blood. Jon reached up and touched the side of his face and felt the laceration. It wasn't too bad or too deep but it would leave a scar because of how wide it was. Jon checked himself over and started to look for a functioning console where he could at least try to get an idea of how bad it really was. That's when the beeping caught his attention which in turn lead him to a functioning holo station. A button flashed on the screen 'Start Up' and Jon didn't hesitate as he touched it.
As the lights on the bridge started to brighten and holo consoles started to come on-line it finally dawned on Jon. He turned and ran for the lift but as he approached the doors still didn't open. He looked around and found a piece of slim metal and started to try to wedge the doors open.
"Terri I'm coming just hold on," Jon muttered as he pried harder on the doors.
Oojoung was looking around for a working console when the main reactor shuddered back to life. That's when Oojoung heard Brad groan and moved over to him. Oojoung pulled out the medical kit he had acquired from another part of the ship when he had first gotten there. He started looking through the contents but had no idea what he needed to put Brad back to sleep. If Brad woke up and started to struggle to get out, Oojoung knew he might actually die. Not finding anything Oojoung did the only thing that came to mind, he reared back and punched Brad in the jaw as hard as he could. Brad had just started to open his eyes when he saw the fist connect with his face and blackness took him once more.
Oojoung heard something making clicking noise behind him as he checked to make sure Brad was still alive. He spun and came face to face with a Spider Drone which startled him so bad he jumped up and back. The drone scanned Oojoung and Brad, then moved to Brad injecting him with something. Oojoung meanwhile, had gotten a little bit braver and was poking the drone with a stiff piece of wire. For the life of him he had never seen something like this and he was curious about it. Holding the wire in his left hand he reached out and poked the drone with a finger; nothing, no reaction. Oojoung scratched his head then did the only other thing he could think to do, he grabbed it by one of its legs and started trying to pull it towards him, something happened this time.
The drone being pulled away from helping Brad turned, dragging Oojoung around behind it. When it didn't see anything, it turned back and started to cut the beam that was pinning Brad down. Oojoung tugged again, hard, on the drone's leg. This time instead of turning around and looking the drone did the only thing it knew to do, it sent electricity down the leg that was being pulled. That's how Oojoung ended up against the wall passed out, with the hair that was exposed smoking. Zeus and Hera stood watching the thing help one of their masters.
Mike shook his head trying to clear what cob webs he could from it. He stood up and looked out at the main reactor just as Oojoung was electrocuted and thrown against the wall. He took a few steps forward and spotted the dogs, but his eyes returned to the strange being that was lying against the wall smoking. It looked like it was either dead or knocked out, so he turned his attention back to the spider like construct that was standing over his brother.
Mike looked around and found a suitable sized metal tube and slowly snuck up behind the drone. When he raised it and smashed the drone as hard as he could Zeus and Hera jumped and ran through the door that was partially open. The drone stopped what it was doing and turned to face Mike, just as he was taking another swing.
"STOP!" a female's voice shouted from behind Mike
This caused Mike to falter and miss as he tried to turn and see who was shouting, while keeping the drone in his view. When he finally did manage to get them both into view what he saw was a relief.
"Atlanta, boy am I glad to see you." Mike started to say
Atlantis looked Mike up and down and said "Do I know you?"
Mike frowned.
Andie groaned as she started getting up off the floor. Once she was standing up she took stock of her surroundings and herself. For the most part she was unhurt, mainly bumps and bruises. Medical was a mess though, stuff was scattered all over the place, that's when she saw one of the doctors laying half way through the surgery window. She ran over and checked for a pulse but as she turned him over she knew it was a lost cause. She heard the other doctors and nurses start to wake up. She moved from person to person checking them for injuries.
Medical primary routines on-line... A computer voice said
Andie looked up and saw several of the consoles come back to life and the main doors reset themselves. "Ok, let's gather what equipment we can and get moving. There are people out there that need our help." She said as she started packing an emergency medical kit.
Doctors and nurses started moving with a purpose.
'Containment fields back on-line... Main power rerouted... 'A computer voice said.
Terri picked her head up off the console in front of her and rubbed her neck. She looked around Launch Control but everything looked normal. When she stood up and walked to the window that over looked the launch bay she noticed the blast screen was down.
"Computer open blast door 4."
The blast door slowly cycled up revealing the launch bay below. Terri gasped at the devastation that had been done. One of the main outer doors was missing as were two of the four shuttles she had standing by. There were little spider like robots running around in the bay and it looked to her like they were fixing things.
"Boy this place just gets stranger everyday."
Static interrupted her train of thought, "Control this is Briefing room 12, anyone there?"
"Tom is that you?"
"Terri, oh my God, we thought you were dead."
"Nope not yet, have you heard form Jon and what's your situation?"
"No we haven't heard anything from the bridge; the comms have been down until now. We're locked in, something about decompression."
"Yeah, we lost one of the main doors. But it looks like containment is back on-line and that Atlantis has some type of self repair routine. There are spider-like robots running around repairing things if my guess is correct. Just hang tight where you are for now. I'm going to try to see if I can get a hold of Jon."
"Ok"
"Computer connect me to Commander Hunter."
'Unable to comply, communications in that section is currently down, ' The computer's voice replied.
Terri moved to the small lift that led to the lower deck but the power was still out. Terri leaned on the clear doors that stopped people from accidentally falling into the lift and started to cry. She didn't know what she would do if she lost Jon now. After a few minutes she wiped her eyes and turned back to the window. She knew he was alright, he had to be alright.
Terri walked back to the window again watching the spiders work. She knew the rest of her people were ok for now, that's why she told them to sit tight. She watched one of the spiders walk over and pop a panel off, reach inside and start pulling boards. It scanned each one and then replaced it, until it found one that was burnt. It then turned and moved to a larger spider and handed it the board. The larger one then put it in a slot and a few minutes later it pulled it back out and handed it back. The little one walked back and replaced the board and the fighter and shuttle racks cycled, resetting themselves.
"Yup, defiantly repairing stuff."
Jon had given up on getting through the doors besides how would he get down even if he did get through? He instead turned his attention to Carla and Jack, grabbed an emergency medical kit and headed to Carla first. He patched her up as best he could trying not to move her arm much, he even made a sling out of some bandages. She was awake now and thanked him for his help, when she saw the other crew members she nearly fell apart.
Jon grabbed her by the shoulders "Carla I need you to run a diagnostic on Atlantis and then try to get communications up and running. We need to see who all is still with us."
When she didn't respond Jon moved into her line of sight and shook her gently and told her again.
"Y-yes S-sir. I'll do my best," she replied.
Carla moved to one of the operational consoles and sat down, going to work.
Jon turned his attention to Jack, his pulse was still weak. So Jon just gave him something to keep him asleep until Andie or another of the medical team could get here. That is if they're still alive.
"What do you mean, 'Do I know you'?" Mike asked.
"The question is pretty self explanatory." Atlantis replied as she stepped past Mike to look at Brad.
"Atlanta I realize we have only been here a few days but I thought we had worked close enough that you would remember me."
"Atlantis, I'm not Atlanta, she is the base computer. Atlanta is a lower function of my sub routines, for when I'm off-line and being worked on."
Mike's jaw dropped, "So you really don't know who we are?"
"No, parts of my memory core are still rebooting. But for now I'll take you at your word. Your friend is in need of medical attention, although, he is stable and it looks like only his leg is broken. Can I ask what you are doing working with a Buranis?"
"What's a Buranis?"
Atlantis pointed to the still smoking Oojoung, "That is a Buranis. Last I knew my people were still at war with them and several other species."
Mike moved over and looked closely at Oojoung, "Frankly I don't know, I have never seen him before."
"Ahhhh, there it is. Yes I see now. Sorry about that Chief, I seem to have been off-line for quite a while. I have just gained access to where you and the others come in to the picture. Reviewing security files," Atlantis closed her eyes.
Mike stood up and walked over to a console and brought up a damage report. He heard some noises as several other engineering crew arrived through the door that Oojoung had opened. Two of them had weapons strapped to their hips.
"Place him under arrest and keep an eye on him. I don't know how he figures into this, but I'm sure Jon will want to talk to him." He motioned to the two security personnel. They nodded and moved Oojoung back into Mike's office sealing the door and locking it. They each took up a position to either side of the door.
Mike turned his attention back to the rest of people in the room, "Ok lets get this cleaned up and start effecting repairs. Two of you see if you can find any medical personnel and get them here. The rest of you start trying to repair what you can."
Mike looked over where the repair drone was busy working on a console, at least they had extra help.
"No need Chief, we will be arriving shortly." Atlantis said as she opened her eyes. "But for now I need to go to the bridge and talk to the captain."
"Where?" Mike asked as she faded out.
Jon was busy trying to reroute power to the lift so that he could get off the bridge and try to get help for Jack and find out about his sister. Carla had told him that the damage was bad but it looked like Atlantis was effecting repairs on herself as best as she could.
Jon had his head inside of a panel looking at the conduits and trying to figure out what to do when Atlantis appeared.
"Captain," Atlantis said.
"Shit," Jon said as he banged his head. He pulled himself out from the panel and rubbed his forehead. When he finally opened his eyes after the pain had slowly faded he saw Atlantis waiting patiently. "Atlanta!"
"Atlantis" she corrected, "Atlanta is no more I'll explain it later to you when we get to our destination."
"Huh? What destination? And why did you call me Captain?"
"This class of space ship can only be commanded by a rank of Captain or higher. Commander was fine while we were at the repair dock but now I must upgrade your rank. I have already logged the change of yours and Commander William's ranks. As for the destination, we will fold to a small outpost repair faculty where we can effect repairs on Atlantis and I can further train the crew. Medical has made it to Engineering and Flight Control, they are on their way here and I have one of the repair drones fixing the power conduits to the lift."
"Uh, Ok I guess. How long until fold?"
"Ten minutes, we are almost in position now."
'Magnetic Dampeners On-Line Running at 15%... Fold Drive Charging... ' A computer voice said
"Are you sure that's safe? I mean to fold in our current condition?"
"Yes, perfectly, the repair drones will reinforce the hulls integrity for the fold."
"Well I'm still not happy about the fold considering what happened the last time."
"Me either" Carla interjected.
"We will be ok. The dampeners went off-line right when we folded, that's why the crew was knocked out," Atlantis replied.
The doors to the lift opened. Andie, Terri, and Bill stepped off the lift, Terri immediately ran into Jon's arms and started crying again. Andie started to check on Jon but he motioned her to take care of Jack and Carla.
"Are you ok?" Jon asked Terri. She just nodded and hugged him tighter. "Where were you Bill?"
Bill mumbled something.
"Sorry didn't hear that."
Bill turned a nice shade of red and replied, "I was caught in the bathroom in my quarters."
Jon just stared at him and started snickering.
"Yeah, yeah, live it up."
After Jon and Bill helped Andie get the table off of Jack, the other medical personnel showed up to help get him moved to Medical. Carla was forced to leave her post and go with Andie to have her arm set.
Between the three of them and four repair drones they had the bridge some what back into shape in no time. The drones had even repaired the main holo projector so they could once again see where they were. Jon sat in his chair and watched the stars on the screen as he waited for the Fold. As he waited three security personnel arrived and took up positions on the bridge. Marc was in Engineering with ten more security lending a hand with repairs there. Jack's back was broken but Andie though he would make a recovery and Carla was on her way back to the bridge. One of the Nurses had seen to Jon and the others on the bridge as Jon refused to leave. The rest of the crew was on body detail and search and rescue. So far the body count was at 25 and Jon knew it could have been worse. Atlantis was busy directing the drones and preparing for the fold so for now she was just standing beside Jon not saying anything.
'Fold in 10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2... ' Atlantis counted down.
Everyone tensed.
With a flash of light Atlantis disappeared again, the crew only felt a brief tug as she folded. Much to everyone's relief the fold was uneventful and they arrived safely. Atlantis appeared in a flash of light next to what could only be described as a space station. It was huge. Jon got up out of his chair and walked to the screen looking at it, everyone on the bridge was looking at it.
Atlantis spoke for the first time in ten minutes, "Welcome to Ghost Station."
Jon turned and looked at her, "It looks dead."
"Yes it was abandoned during the last war as the Empire pulled its forces in for defense."
"So why haven't the Invaru claimed it?"
"Because if they were to try and claim it without the proper codes it would just self-destruct and take anything in the system with it."
"So then why are we here, I don't have the cod..." Jon's eyes lit up.
Atlantis smiled, "I have the codes, this was my post before the war and as a flag ship I carry the codes."
Bill whistled as though saying wow.
Terri gasped as the station started lighting up as if someone had tossed a switch. Which drew the attention of Jon, who looked at her and then looked at what she was looking at.
"Oh my," was all Jon could say.
"Oh my is right, Mike and Brad are going to wet themselves." Terri said.
'Atlantis this is Ghost Station, you are cleared to dock at repair bay three, ' A female voice said.
'Ghost Station this is Atlantis, we acknowledge repair bay three. Docking computer active, ' Atlantis's voice replied
Atlantis slowly moved around the station to repair bay three. Once there several arms reached out and latched on to her and gently pulled her in, securing her in place. Three gangways reached out and latched on her hull in several places. Slowly Atlantis shutdown and switched to station power and life support. Ghost Station started a diagnostics on Atlantis so that the station's repair crews would know what was wrong and would be able to effect repairs. The only problem was that there were no repair crews or personnel for that matter.