XOVER: The Farscape Project - part 2 of 5
Dawn341@AOL.COM
Sun, 20 Jan 2002 18:02:41 EST
The Farscape Project - part 2 of 5
For disclaimers and warnings, see part 1.
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Several months later....
Ryan picked up the phone and dialed a number that was as familiar as his
own. Duncan MacLeod had kept the same number, even after selling the
dojo and moving into a house a few years back. "Hey, Mac," he said when
it was answered.
"Richie! How is it going?" Duncan asked.
"Great. Just great." Ryan could barely hold in his enthusiasm. "It's
official, Mac. I'm going up!"
"In the space shuttle? Congratulations."
"I'm going into space! I can't believe it!"
"You've worked hard to get there, Rich. You deserve it."
"I'm only going to be backup. John is going to fly the actual test. I
guess they want me there in case he gets cold feet or gets sick or
something like that. Knowing John, he'd have to practically be dead
before he'd pass on flying this time."
"But you're still going up. And maybe next time, you'll be the pilot."
Ryan could hear the pride in his mentor's voice. He knew the words would
never be spoken, but it was enough to know that his teacher was proud of
him.
"So when is the big day?"
"Two days, assuming the weather conditions hold."
"Well, I'll keep my eye on the news channels. I doubt they'll show the
launch itself, but I'll be thinking of you. Good luck, Richie."
"Thanks, Mac. Got to run. I have a briefing in ten minutes."
"Watch your head."
"I always do. You too." With that, Ryan hung up the phone. They never
said goodbye - it was a tradition that had started between Duncan and
Connor, that had been carried over to include Richie.
*****
Three days later, onboard the space shuttle Collaroy
"Are you sure about this, John?" Ryan asked as he helped his friend get
ready to fly the Farscape module. "D.K. said you had the heebie-jeebies
about this test."
"I'm fine, Rich. Nervous, but who wouldn't be? I know you want to fly
this, but not as much as I want to."
"You're the boss." Ryan wasn't going to argue. John deserved this
chance. He slapped his friend on the shoulder, then went back inside the
shuttle where he could watch the launch.
Everything seemed to be going fine, until the wormhole appeared. Ryan
watched helplessly as his friend was sucked into it. There was nothing
he could do except watch.
*****
Duncan MacLeod was roused out of a sound sleep by the ringing of his
phone. Sleepily, he answered it.
"MacLeod?"
"Yeah." He peered at the clock by the table. "Do you know what time it
is, Methos? Just because you're awake in New York doesn't mean-"
"Turn on your television - to ZNN," Methos interrupted.
Duncan hurried to comply, still clutching the phone to his ear. "What's
wrong? What's happened?"
It seemed to take forever for the television to display its screen. A
young female reporter was standing out in the open, the IASA launch pad
in the background.
"... in breaking news, the space shuttle Collaroy has disappeared from
all monitors. IASA hasn't released any more details than that. The fate
of its crew is still unknown."
"My God!" Duncan whispered, unable to tear his eyes from the television.
"Richie..."
"I thought you would want to know," Methos replied. "I figured you'd
still be asleep. I'm going to catch the next flight out to Seacouver."
Duncan nodded, then realized Methos couldn't see that over the phone.
"Thanks, Methos. Have you told Joe?"
"Not yet. Although he may already know about it through the Watchers."
"If he had, he would have called." Just then Duncan heard the doorbell
ring. "On second thought, that's probably him now."
"I'll be there as soon as I can," Methos promised before hanging up.
Duncan hung up his phone and climbed out of bed. He put on his robe, and
turned on some lights as he went to answer his door. As expected, it was
Joe Dawson. He opened the door wide, letting the Watcher into his house.
"I know, Joe," Duncan said. "Methos just called. Do you have any more
information? Do they know what happened to the shuttle?"
"I'm sorry, Mac. While not official yet, they think the shuttle either
blew up or disintegrated. There's absolutely no trace of it. One minute
it was there, then it was gone. All they know is that there was some
weird electromagnetic disturbance."
"So, Richie is..." Duncan just couldn't say the word.
Joe slowly nodded, tears pouring down his cheeks. "He couldn't have
survived it. Even his immortality couldn't have saved him from something
that catastrophic."
Duncan slowly sank down on his couch, not wanting to believe it.
*****
One year later, MacLeod Enterprises home office
"D.K., are you sure this is a good idea?" Jack Crichton looked decidedly
uncomfortable in his suit.
"Duncan MacLeod was practically a father to Richie. I'm sure he'd be
willing to help us find out what really happened." D.K. clutched his
briefcase, hoping he had enough proof.
The receptionist replaced the phone, then nodded to them. "You can go
in, now." She pointed at a door on the far side of the room.
Instead of the one man they'd been expecting, there were four of them.
D.K. wasn't sure if this was a good sign or not. One of them came over
to greet them.
"I'm Duncan MacLeod," he said, reaching out to shake their hands.
"It's nice to finally meet you. Richie often talked about you." To be
honest, D.K. had expected the man to be a lot older than he looked. "I'm
D.K. Mansfield, and this is Jack Crichton."
"Of course, the astronaut. And John Crichton's father. I wished I'd had
a chance to meet your son. Richie often talked of him when he phoned."
"Thank you for meeting with us," D.K. said, steering them back to the
purpose of their visit.
"Well, your phone call was interesting." Duncan led them toward the
table. "These are some of my friends - they all knew Richie well. This
is Connor MacLeod, Adam Pierson, and Joe Dawson."
The men all shook hands then sat down at the table. D.K. promptly opened
his briefcase and pulled out a stack of papers. If he'd known there was
going to be more than one person, he would have made copies, but now
there was no time.
"This is the official IASA report on the Collaroy accident. They decided
that some kind of electromagnetic force caused the orbiter and the
Farscape module to suddenly implode."
"But we don't believe that is what really happened," Jack Crichton
added.
"Based on what?" Duncan asked.
"An implosion of that kind should have registered on the IASA equipment.
While it would be possible that the smaller Farscape module might have
imploded without making a very large explosion, the orbiter was large
enough that something should have registered. Plus, there should have
been some kind of debris, but there was nothing."
"That hardly proves anything," Connor MacLeod pointed out.
D.K. pulled out a cassette tape player. "This is my best evidence. The
last transmissions from the shuttle were badly garbled by interference.
We've had an expert try to reconstruct it." He pressed the play button.
"Being...in... looks like... hole... can't...free..." The tape was
filled with garbled words between the recognizable ones.
"That's the original message." D.K. changed tapes. "After cleaning it
up, here's what we think they said." Once again, he pressed the play
button.
"Being sucked in... looks like wormhole... can't break free."
"I'm sure I can find another 'expert' that could make them say anything
I want them to say," Pierson pointed out.
"That's true." D.K. tried to hold onto his temper. "It's our belief that
somehow a wormhole was formed, and the module and orbiter was sucked
into it. It's possible that John and Richie are still alive, but in a
different part of the universe."
"It's been a year," Pierson said. "There is no way they could survive in
space that long."
"It's possible that they could have found a habitable planet and still
be alive," Jack Crichton broke in.
"That's a pretty long shot," Connor replied. "In fact, there are many
that don't believe any planet but Earth could sustain life."
"And many others who believe otherwise," D.K. retorted.
"Assuming that your theories are correct, why did you come to see me?"
Duncan asked, looking thoughtful.
"The funding for the Farscape project was pulled after the... accident.
We're looking for funding to resurrect it."
"I've called in all the markers I can," Jack said. "I've managed to
raise some money, but not enough. I want to find out what really
happened to my son!"
"Don't you want to know what really happened to Richie?" D.K. asked.
"Yes, I would like to know," Duncan admitted. "But not at the expense of
another crew. Even if you recreate the same conditions, how can you ask
someone to risk going off into the unknown?"
"Because D.K. and I will be the crew," Jack said. "I've been up on the
shuttle. I can fly just about anything. And D.K. has the scientific
knowledge. I'm willing to risk my life if it means finding my son."
"We want to design a different module - with the same characteristics of
the Farscape module, but larger. It would also have to be capable of
lifting off by itself," D.K. explained. "Something that would require
less crew."
"And how much money do you need? And how long will it take?"
D.K. pulled the final set of papers out of his briefcase. He passed them
down the table, each person quickly looking at the figures. They finally
reached Duncan who raised an eyebrow when he saw the final amount.
"As for time, that all depends. I'm working from theory here. We would
have to recreate the exact conditions to cause a wormhole to appear."
Duncan sighed. "If you'll step outside, we'll discuss this," he finally
said.
D.K. and Jack exchanged glances as they stood up. D.K. didn't have a
good feeling about this, but he didn't know what else to say.
Once the two men had left the room, Duncan turned to the rest. "So, what
do you think?"
"It's a foolish task," Pierson quickly tossed out. "They'll be
committing suicide if they try to do this."
"But what if they're right?" Joe asked, speaking up for the first time.
"What if they are still alive? Shouldn't someone try to rescue them?"
"If the orbiter didn't implode, Ryan would still be alive. If we do
nothing, we've condemned him to an eternity of floating in space,"
Connor said. "But I also think it would be a very long shot to find one
little orbiter out there in the universe."
"What would it be like for Richie?" Joe asked. "Would he be aware of the
passing of time? Would he keep coming back to life, only to suffocate
again? Or is he dead - unaware of anything until there's breathable air
to bring him back to life?"
The three Immortals exchanged looks.
"I've never really been in that condition," Duncan admitted. "My deaths
have always been short-lived."
"The same is true for me," Connor said.
"It's different for each Immortal," Pierson finally said. "I've talked
to ones who don't remember anything during their death. But the only
time it happened to me, I would revive, only to die again. I don't know
how often it happened, but it was... unpleasant."
"Can any of you condemn Richie to that?" Joe asked. "I can get some
money from the Watcher organization. After all, there's an Immortal out
there in space somewhere."
"I'm willing," Connor said. "In fact, it might be interesting to go up
in space. Maybe we should make sure their shuttle is big enough for more
passengers."
"I agree," Duncan said, smiling at his kinsman.
"You're all fools," Pierson stated with a scowl. "But I've got some
money that I could invest in this project."
"Then let's get them working on it." Duncan stood up, and went to call
their guests back into the room.
****** end of part 2