Scavenge for the Future

by Evilhumour

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

It was later on when Zaat came to them, saying that he had found the beginnings of the jumpgate; it would still take several hours to actually reach it and who knows how much longer to activate it if they even could.

Aerostorm had yet to return to the controls as she was being cautious despite Spliced’s declaration that it was unneeded. Instead she had been watching Spliced and Scratched work on the data storage, pulling it apart as best as they could without damaging any of the components or the message itself and their reactions were proving Spliced’s theory of a frame-up.

“That’s Lhat’kan wiring if I ever saw one; see how they use secondary colours and cross over here?” Spliced said to Scratched, holding it over to the other mare who nodded her head.

“And these have to be Gratetan screws; I mean who else uses triangular heads but them?” Scratched asked with the older mare nodding her head in agreement.

“So it either means the outer shell was a ploy by these other governments to frame the Terakians or…” Aerostorm said with Scratched’s ears falling to the side while she just stared forwards.

“This plot goes so much further than a simple frame up,” Spliced said. “I just cannot see what one would gain from a galactic war. There is nothing good that comes from one.”

“Are you sure about that?” Aerostorm asked. “I mean, they could weaken the existing governments and make their own internal takeover so much easier…”

“That was the plot of that holodrama we watched last month and you know it,” Zaat called from his own spot. “Things like that shouldn’t work in real life!”

“And there more security checks in place for such a thing than you would expect,” Spliced said. “Governments like Hesturland have survived for this long for a reason.”

“How many other governments have fallen, by the way?” Aerostorm asked.

“Too many to count; most of what you see today are shells of larger empires that fell apart from even larger ones,” Spliced said. “Empires wax and wane all the time but it’s never good when something like war forces it.”

“Hey, Spliced, can you come up here?” Zaat suddenly called from the cockpit. “We got to the jumpgate but…”

At that, all three of them made their way to him and peered out the main viewscreen. “How long ago did you say it had been since you came here?” Scratched asked, turning to look at the alicorn.

“I didn’t,” Spliced said looking at the derelict jumpgate. It was mostly intact but clearly abandoned and had seen much better days. There were many panels missing from the surface, some of which were still floating in space around the jumpgate. Aerostorm gave a low whistle.

“Must have been a long time since anyone came through this area,” she said.

“Just what I was thinking,” Zaat said. “I hope one of you has some idea of how to fix this thing. Otherwise, we’re in for a long haul to another system.”

“I do, and I hope you have enough spacesuits for all of us,” Spliced told him. “Come on, let’s get to work.”

With Zaat giving his spot at the controls to Aerostorm, he and the two mares headed for the airlock and the environment suits stored there. Spliced nodded in approval at the condition of the equipment as they drew them out and began putting them on.

“So, on top of being a chemist and medic and a businesslady, seeing as you were running a bar, you know how to put a jumpgate back together?” Zaat asked as he climbed into his suit.

“When you spend several thousand years on your own, you either find new ways to keep yourself busy or you go completely out of your mind with boredom,” Spliced said. “And I prefer to keep my wits about me, thank you very much.”

Zaat raised his hands. “Just asking is all.”

“Right.” She then flicked her eyes towards Scratched. “If you will allow me.” Scratched nodded her head slowly before Spliced took her wrist computer and began to type at breakneck speed. In moments, she had a holographic rendering of the jumpgate, with a highlighted section near the control deck. “We should enter here; it will give us some indication to the overall status of its final days. After accessing the main files and restarting the engine, we can have it prepared to take us to where we need to be.”

“That’s if it still works or there is even an engine still in th… you know how to make one, don’t you?” Zaat said.

“I have lived a very long life; there is little I don’t know at this point,” Spliced replied. “Like I said, I had to find a lot of new ways to keep myself busy. During my early years, I even began to teach myself rocketry by working through the science of it all.”

“That’s incredible,” Scratched said before she blushed. “I mean, the whole knowledge thing, not the other bits.”

“You would not say that if you lived as long as I have; it is one thing to learn it but another to learn it the slow way,” Spliced said as she checked over her suit. “I think we are ready to make our approach, Aerostorm.”

“I hear you,” Aerostorm’s voice came over the com. “Approaching now and preparing for docking procedures.”

The group was quiet as the Excelsior flew into the jumpgate’s airlock and made its landing.

“Good thing we have those environmental suits,” Aerostorm reported from the cockpit. “There’s no air out there, or any way of accessing their system to try and pressurize this place.”

“Do they have a force bubble pressurization system?” Zaat asked.

“Not one that’s working, from what I can tell,” Aerostorm replied. “Better make sure you’ve got extra air packs in those things.”

“Already did,” Zaat reassured her.

“Good.”

Zaat turned to Spliced. “I’m going to seal things off in here, then we can head out. And since you’re more familiar with this place, you can lead the way.”

Spliced nodded, and watched as Zaat activated the controls.

A few minutes later, the trio had exited the ship and began to board the jumpgate.

“So,” Scratched ventured as they headed for the door. “Anything we should expect in there?”

“I don’t know; I cannot recall exactly the reason for the closure of this one,” Spliced said as her horn began to glow and cut an entrance for them to use. “Though I doubt we will see any corpses.”

“Oh?”

“They would have had a team tear the thing down if there was anything of that nature; it would be bad publicity for them to have a jumpgate where people died. Better to destroy it than to admit to their faults.” Spliced shook her head. “I’m guessing it just got phased out of general use for whatever reason and the last few crew members left it to fall apart on its own.”

“Well there’s only one way to find out,” Zaat said as Spliced finished creating her opening and the three of them walked in.

Author's Note:

Much shorter than we usually do but we want to show we are back.

Comments

[ShadowLDrago]

“Too many to count; most of what you see today are shells of larger empires that fell apart from even larger ones,” Spliced said. “Empires wax and wane all the time but it’s never good when something like war forces it.”

No kidding.

“When you spend several thousand years on your own, you either find new ways to keep yourself busy or you go completely out of your mind with boredom,” Spliced said. “And I prefer to keep my wits about me, thank you very much.”

That, is fair.

“I don’t know; I cannot recall exactly the reason for the closure of this one,” Spliced said as her horn began to glow and cut an entrance for them to use. “Though I doubt we will see any corpses.”

That's, somewhat reassuring.

Much shorter than we usually do but we want to show we are back.

Quality over quantity, I don't mind.