XOVER: The Farscape Project - Part 1 of 5
Dawn341@AOL.COM
Sun, 20 Jan 2002 18:00:33 EST
The Farscape Project by Dawn Cunningham
None of the characters in this story belong to me. I'm using them
without permission and receiving no monetary gain.
Do not post or publish this story anywhere else, without my express
permission. Feel free to share it with others as long as the disclaimers
remain intact. Permission is granted to post this story on the 7th
Dimension Highlander fiction archive
Warnings:
Okay, so I lied. I didn't think it was possible to get Richie Ryan into
the Farscape world. He promptly set out to prove me wrong. This is a
crossover with the Farscape universe. It starts out before the series
actually takes place, then ends up where the series is currently at.
>From this point on, the series and my universe may go in two totally
different directions.
This is the first story in what may become a series of stories. I am
trying to set up this new universe to see where it will go.
Characters:
>From Highlander:
Richie Ryan with brief appearances from Duncan MacLeod, Connor MacLeod,
Methos, and Joe Dawson
>From Farscape:
Just about everyone in the cast
Acknowledgments:
Once again, Melanie gets the credit for trying to fix all my typos. I
keep adding more in though. She always improves my stories.
Comments are always welcome at Dawn341@aol.com
If you wish to read any of my Highlander stories, they are archived at:
http://members.aol.com/dawn341/fiction.html. My other universe stories
can be found at: http://members.aol.com/dawn341/fiction2.html
*******
The Farscape Project by Dawn Cunningham
John Crichton leaned both forearms against the railing and stared down
at the Farscape module with pride. From the second floor walkway that
ran around the hangar walls, he had a clear view of his greatest
achievement. Not that he could take all the credit. His childhood
friend, and fellow scientist, Dwayne Keith Mansfield - otherwise known
as D.K. - had helped him design the plane.
He'd always loved flying - he'd started before he could even drive. His
father had been responsible for that. John had worked as a test pilot to
help pay his way through college and graduate school. Now, he had his
P.H.D., and worked for IASA - the International Aeronautics and Space
Agency. They, and several very generous private donors, were giving them
a chance to prove their theories.
Soon, they'd start testing the Farscape module's systems. Then it would
be off to Australia to test whether the module would actually fly. While
it seemed like a long way to go just for a test flight, politics had
become a way of life. It would have been so much easier if he'd only had
to work with NASA. However, funding cuts had forced them to go
international, and now Australia wanted to be involved. It wasn't enough
to just name the newest space shuttle after a famous Australian, and to
have Australians be part of the crew. They wanted some of the testing to
be done there.
John sighed, then stood up straight. All of the mechanics, and ground
crew had called it a day, so he might as well, too. While he knew every
inch of the module, they tended to get upset if he worked on it after
they were gone. Maybe he'd grab something to eat, then put in some time
in the flight simulator. He wanted to be ready for the test stage.
"Hey, John!"
He looked down and saw D.K. jogging across the hangar floor. He headed
for the stairs, and met his friend at the bottom of them. "What's
happening?"
"Have you heard?"
"Heard what?"
"They've hired another test pilot for the module!"
"What?" John couldn't believe what he'd just heard. This was his idea,
his design, and his ship. He wasn't going to let someone else fly her.
"They've hired another test pilot!" D.K. repeated. "They brought him
through the complex a little while ago, and introduced him. I've been
looking for you ever since."
"We'll just see about that!" John headed for the office area at a fast
trot, determined to straighten out whatever paper-pusher who'd come up
with this idea. He had a good idea who was involved. Doug Mitchell was a
constant thorn in his side. Since his company was putting up a major
chunk of the money for this project, he seemed to think he could make
all the decisions.
Before he had a chance to find Mitchell, he found the man who was in
charge of the project, Kevin Brody. John liked the man, and knew he kept
things under control. He was responsible for picking the team who'd been
working on the Farscape module.
Brody took one look at John's face, and sighed. "Let me guess... You've
heard the news about the test pilot."
"We don't need another test pilot!" John insisted. "I'm going to fly the
Farscape module."
"And you will... once it's been proven airworthy. John, just think about
it for a minute. You and D.K. are the key to this whole project. If
something should go wrong in the test phase, we'd be up the creek
without a paddle. Why, we might even have to scrap the whole project! It
only makes sense to use a test pilot during the most dangerous parts of
the project."
John could see the reason behind Brody's request, but that didn't mean
he had to like it. "This guy doesn't know the first thing about the
module. How is he going to manage to fly it?"
"That's why he's here now. He'll start on flight simulation training
first thing tomorrow. By the time we go to Australia, he should be up to
speed on the module."
"But I fly the final test - the one in space - right?"
"Of course. Although we are talking about sending him with you on the
Collaroy. That way we will have a choice when it comes down to the final
test. But it will be your call, John. I promise you that."
"All right. So, where is this guy?"
"He should be here any minute. Judy is showing him around the facility.
I told her to bring him here last. It will be interesting to see his
reaction when he first sees the module."
"And if I don't like him?"
"Just give him a chance. If he doesn't fit in with the team, then we'll
replace him. There are plenty of test pilots out there." Brody glanced
back over his shoulder. "Here he comes now. Play nice, boys."
John studied the man headed for them. He didn't look old enough to vote,
let alone be a test pilot. He had reddish-blond hair that was cut in a
crew cut, similar to John's. He wore blue jeans, a red T-shirt, a
leather jacket, and boots. The man had a swagger, like he owned the
place. He also looked like he was more intent on chatting with Judy,
than looking around. This was not good. Especially since John had been
trying to capture Judy's attention, too, without any luck. And knowing
his luck, Ryan would probably be able to score with Melanie, too.
Brody had gone to meet the pair, and he must have sent Judy off, since
she turned and left. He and the test pilot continued over to where John
and D.K. were standing.
"You've already met D.K.," Brody started, "and this is our other genius
on the project, John Crichton. John, this is Richard Ryan, test pilot."
Ryan stuck out his hand, and gave them a huge smile. "It's Richie, and
I'm pleased to meet you."
John shook hands somewhat reluctantly. Even close up, Ryan still looked
too young. Before he had a chance to say anything, the test pilot's eyes
drifted past John and widened dramatically.
"Wow! Is that the... uh... plane I'm going to be flying?"
John tried to swallow his resentment, and led the way back to the
module. "We call it the Farscape module."
"Cool. How does it work?"
He couldn't have asked a better question. Before he realized what was
happening, John was involved in a detailed discussion about the module.
The next thing he knew, more than an hour had passed, and Brody, and
D.K. had disappeared.
Ryan glanced at his watch. "Oh, man, I'm sorry. You were probably headed
out of here. I didn't mean to keep you this late. This could have waited
until tomorrow."
"I didn't have anything planned," John responded. "It wasn't a problem."
"Great. Hey, maybe you could give me some suggestions on places to eat.
I've never been here before and I could sure use some beer about now."
"I know this great place - and it serves the best pizza around. It's not
too far away. We could go together." If the guy liked pizza and beer,
then maybe he wasn't so bad after all.
"If you're sure you don't have anything else to do. I hate drinking
alone."
They walked out to the parking lot. "What are you driving?" John asked.
"You can follow me to the place."
"That's my ride." Ryan pointed to a motorcycle parked nearby.
John practically had to wipe the drool from his chin. He'd long ago
given up his motorcycle because it was too difficult to haul around all
his papers, tools, and assorted pieces of the module that he always
seemed to cart around. Maybe he could talk Ryan into letting him borrow
the bike for a joy ride sometime.
Once they'd gotten to the restaurant, and had beers in front of them,
John decided to find out more about Ryan. "So, how long have you been
flying?"
Ryan shrugged. "About six years. At first it was just something to try
out, but my flight instructor told me that I had a definite talent for
it. He used to be a test pilot, and helped me get started in the
business. I've been a test pilot for the last two years."
"What? You must have started flying when you were twelve."
"I'm older than I look. I'm almost twenty-five. I've got a bachelor's
degree in aeronautical engineering, but I'm not the kind of guy who can
sit in an office cubical all day drawing up plans for someone else. Most
of the other test pilots I know think that you're crazy, so it made it
easier for me to get this job."
"And what do you think?"
"That you're crazy." Ryan gave him a big grin.
John stared at the other man for the longest time, then grinned back.
"Then you're right!" He lifted his beer and toasted his new teammate.
"And you must be just as crazy to want to work on this project."
Ryan lifted his own mug and tapped it against John's. "I've been told
that before. To craziness!"
By the time they'd eaten their pizza and finished several beers, John
was certain that Ryan would fit in with the rest of the team. Maybe this
wouldn't be so bad after all.
*****
Several months later...
John wiped his sweaty palms against his pants before toggling on the
monitor in front of his station. He wished the test was done and over
with, but it hadn't even begun yet. If anything went wrong, it could
mean the death of one of his friends.
Even now, Ryan was strapped into the Farscape module. The craft was
suspended from the wing of a very large military cargo plane headed for
the test site. Since the module had never been designed for take-offs,
it needed another plane to do that function. The space shuttle would do
it for the final test. Once they were within the test zone, Ryan would
fire up the engines and detach the module.
Hopefully, then he would be able to fly the module, and successfully
land it. Failure could cause him to die. A design flaw could kill the
young man.
John kept telling himself that the module had worked fine in the
simulator. And Ryan had easily mastered the concepts, and logged plenty
of hours training for this flight. But that still didn't mean the module
would fly.
"Ten minutes to target zone."
The disembodied voice of the cargo plane pilot echoed through the test
facility. John quickly typed in the commands to give him access to the
monitors and cameras on the Farscape module. D.K. was busy doing the
same thing at the next station.
"It's going to work, John," D.K. said. "It's going to work. Richie can
handle the module just as well as anyone can."
John smiled at his friend. Obviously, D.K. was having the same thoughts.
The three of them had become quite a team. "It's going to work."
It had to.
"You ready for this, Rich?" he asked through his headset.
"Let's rock and roll!" Even through the speakers, Ryan's cockiness was
evident, but John knew him better than that. Underneath it all, he was
just as nervous as the rest of them. The view screen in the front of the
room came to life, showing the interior of the module's cockpit. Ryan
gave a thumbs up sign before turning back to his controls.
John quickly walked Ryan through the engine startup procedures. When
everything looked good, he signaled for the decoupling procedure. D.K.'s
hands flashed over the keyboard in front of him.
"Decoupling.... Now!" D.K. almost yelled out.
John glued his eyes to his monitor, checking out the readings as the
Farscape module started on its free flight. Everything was looking good
until the engines quit.
"Engines stopped!" Ryan's voice filled the room. "Trying to restart."
The view screen in front of the room showed the test pilot frantically
pushing buttons in the module. John worked just as quickly, trying to
figure out what was wrong. Even worse, the module had started to spiral
down through the atmosphere.
"Rich, you have to bring her out of the spin! Even without the engines,
the module should be able to glide down!"
"I'm trying."
John watched the altimeter setting as it quickly cycled downward. If
something didn't happen in the next thirty seconds, they would need a
microscope to find the remains of Ryan.
Suddenly, the plummet seemed to stop. John's eyes flew up to the view
screen.
"Got it! Engines restarted!"
John closed his eyes for a moment and gave a silent prayer of thanks.
Then he turned his attention back to his monitor.
"No offense, Crichton," Ryan spoke up, "but I've got paperweights that
fly better than this module of yours."
John looked up at the view screen. Ryan did seem to be having problems
controlling the module, but he was doing it. "Maybe it's the pilot," he
suggested.
"Right. Or maybe it's the warped mind of the guys who designed it."
"I think we resemble that remark," John said with a smile at D.K. "Time
to land her."
"Okay. Landing strip is in sight."
Ten minutes later, the Farscape module was safely on the ground, and
John could finally relax. He signaled to D.K. and they hurried outside
to congratulate Ryan. Tonight there would be a huge celebration.
Tomorrow would be soon enough to work out the problems.
***** end of part 1