11. Chasing Dreams
Ophir stopped working to glance at his watch. He sighed and clipped his radio to his belt. Standing, he commented, “You know where I’ll be.”
The only other in the room was Rush and the scientist nodded without looking up. Ophir left without another word, purposely going the wrong way. He stopped next to the room where the communication stones were. He checked his watch again. When he looked up, Young and Scott were walking towards him. Ophir shifted his weight and waited.
“You disappearing?” Young asked, the comment meant to be casual. Ophir nodded in reply and Young continued. “I’ll contact you when you can come back.”
Again, Ophir nodded and allowed the pair to pass. He turned and back tracked enough to get back on course. He stopped by his room and grabbed his iPod before continuing to the stairs. He scaled down the ladder quickly before aiming for the same corridor as last time.
He opened the door he had just fixed, listening as the door slid apart with as little noise as possible. He stepped through and closed it, listening once more before he started down the corridor. Stopping before the next door, he pressed the door release only to hear grinding gears. Shaking his head, he put his headphone on and went to work.
He had just found the problem when his radio made some noise. Pulling himself out from the wall, he pulled an earpiece off, waiting. Sure enough, his radio blared, “Ophir, come in.”
He unclipped his radio and replied. “Go ahead.”
“I need you in the Control Room.”
“I’ll be there in a few.”
With a half hearted sigh, he stood, leaving tools and pieces where he had set them. It was a short trek back to the control interface and Young glanced at him when he entered. Wray was with him and Ophir knew this was about the meeting Young and Wray had just gotten back from. Sure enough, they started to explain a plan to using the next star they fly through to power the gate.
“Given how little we know about this ship…” Rush muttered, clearly not liking the idea. Ophir couldn’t blame him. There were too many risks.
“Can't we at least try it, and abort if something goes wrong?” Wray asked, sounding slightly frustrated.
“Well, unfortunately, the "something goes wrong" part would most likely mean the ship exploding,” Rush clarified.
“Not according to the people who came up with the idea.”
Rush rolled his eyes. “Well, if only all science was that definitive, Colonel. You're just gonna have to choose who you wanna believe.”
“Besides, the idea isn’t new,” Ophir commented, actually giving his two cents about the idea. “I’ve looked at the possibility of doing just that before. There’s no way with what systems we have limited access to. We either have to get the master code or forget about going back to Earth.”
Neither Young or Wray liked that but only Wray commented. “We can’t tell these people we’ll never get home.”
“Then tell the folks back at Earth that we’ll try and get back when we can,” Ophir offered, shrugging. “But, trust me, it won’t work.”
The two before him looked dishearted at best. It was all Ophir could do not to throw his hands up in exasperation. He turned to leave. “If you’ll excuse me, I have a door to repair. If you need anything, I’ll be on Channel 4. Call three times in 10 second intervals. I should answer by the second time.”
Rush nodded, not looking up at the amber eyes that had fallen upon him. Ophir nodded at the Colonel as a goodbye and Young returned it. Ophir walked away, changing the radio channel as he went. By the time he had gotten back to the door, he had his headphones on and was listening to some upbeat, techno song, actually smiling and enjoying the pleasant emotions brought on by the music.
It wasn’t till Ophir was nearly done that his radio went off. Pulling himself out of the wall for a second time, he removed an earpiece and listened.
“Ophir.”
Ophir unhooked the radio from his belt. “Go ahead, Rush.”
“Telford’s on board in Young’s body. He wants everyone in the Gate Room.”
“Let me guess, he was sent to take over Destiny and implement the rescue plan the IOA came up with,” Ophir stated, sounding oh so pleased.
“Something like that, yes,” came the reply, a smile on the edge of the words.
Ophir chuckled, a light smile turning up the corners of his lips. “I’ll be right up.”
Ophir clipped the radio to his belt once more and stood, replacing the earpiece. He made his way through the ship with little interaction with the others. He moseyed on into the depths of the crowd gathering and stayed near the middle. No one seemed to notice him as Young stepped forward with Eli and Chloe. It took a split second for Ophir to notice the signs of Telford and others in the three. Telford and the scientists explained the plan to the rest of the crew.
“And what if the power flow can't be controlled?” Riley asked.
Eli’s body spoke up and Ophir put name to the mind; Dr. Williams. “Well, if there are any dangerous fluctuations, we just shut it down and allow the ship to continue powering up.”
Brody added, sounding dubious, “Early tests show it should work.”
“We're not going to be putting you in any more danger than you’re already in just being here,” Telford commented.
The other scientist, McCormack, spoke up. “From what I gather, supplies are desperately short.”
“And, given the condition of the ship, it could experience a fatal breakdown at any time,” Williams added.
Wray jumped in and Ophir raised an eyebrow, wondering what side she really was on. “No-one is trying to alarm you unduly, but we can't continue to scrape by, barely surviving.”
“Obviously we can't say for sure that this is going to get you home, but the best minds that we have are working on this and I'm sure you'll agree…” Telfort looked at the assembled crowd and locked eyes with Rush. The scientist was standing at a doorway, secluded from the group. “…it's well worth pursuing.”
Without a word, Rush turned and left the room. Ophir moved through the crowd, tailing Rush.
“You have a plan,” Ophir pointed out when he was walking beside the older scientist.
Rush glanced at him only to see Ophir’s gaze before him. Rush returned his gaze down the hall. “Of course. I’m not about to let Telford take over this ship.”
“Going with the lesser of two evils,” Ophir commented, almost as if a side thought. Rush didn’t commented but he did glance at the young man.
They came to a stop before the Observation Deck and although Rush entered, Ophir turned to leave. “Going to work on that useless project of yours?”
Ophir looked at him before restating, “I’ll have my radio on Channel 4. Three times at 10 second intervals.”
Rush nodded and Ophir disappeared, moving quickly before someone he really didn’t want to run into made it to the Observation Deck. He returned to the hallway he was working in only to stop at the console. He shut the power off in the entire section, blocking power flow through the area. He sent a quick message to Rush before putting his headphones on and turning his iPod on. He went to work.
It the amount of time Ophir had gotten the one side fixed, the console was beeping. Taking his headphones off, he walked over to see three messages, all from Rush. They were the updates he had requested.
Telford is going to be firing the weapons system to drain the power.
Great. Ophir moved it aside. He would reply to all three at once.
Riley was working in one of the corridors trying to repair the system. There was an accident. Will let you know how he is.
Ophir moved that message aside as well.
TJ said it’ll be touch and go with Riley.
Ophir deleted all three before bringing up a blank. He quickly imputed, in ancient, Telford’s a moron. He’s going to blow the damn ship up trying to save it. Give my regards to Riley.
Ophir sent the message off, shaking his head. Returning to the door, Ophir went to the other side. He looked it over and was satisfied with what he saw. A few tweaks and he returned the paneling. He walked back over to the console and returned the power. Trekking back, he pressed the door release. This time, the door opened, but the sound was still painful. He returned to the console and returned the power settings. Just as he was about to turn the console off, a message popped up. He frowned.
I agree. Telford’s a moron. When we drop out of FTL, we’ll be firing the weapons. Don’t be working.
Ophir deleted the message and replied, Understood.
Ophir shut the console down and went to the door. He pulled off the paneling under the door release and made a face. With a heavy sigh, he went to work. Ophir was nowhere near being half way done when the ship dropped out of FTL. Pulling himself out of the wall, he left all the tools there and headed towards the ladder. The console was on with a message and Ophir stopped to read.
You heading up?
Ophir chuckled, deleting the message. Of course. I’d rather not die because of Telford’s inability to listen. I’ll be in my quarters for the duration of the fun and eventful flight I’m sure we’ll have. I’ll still be on Channel 4.
With the message sent, Ophir kept the power setting and left the corridor. It wasn’t the best thing to be doing but Ophir would rather be in his quarters than actually facing Telford. He’d rather not give either Young or Telford a reason to shoot him. A chuckle escaped as he unlocked his door. He was pretty sure only Telford would shoot him, though.
Ophir closed his door behind him, locking it. He sat on the edge of his bed and placed the radio on the nightstand with his iPod before flopping back onto his bed. With a sigh, he stared at the ceiling, listening to the faint sounds roaming the ship from the weapons firing. It didn’t take long for the power to go out in Ophir’s room and he decided to take the chance to get some sleep.
He rolled over under the covers just as Destiny jumped back into FTL, fully aware of the fact that the little bit of sleep he was going to get was not going to be very helpful. Either way, he settled down and dosed, oblivious to the world around him. Sometime later, Destiny dropped out of FTL, waking Ophir from the light sleep he was in. With a sigh, he kicked the covers off and dressed.
He sat down at his desk, turning his laptop on for the first time since arriving on Destiny. He plugged in his tablet and brought up Photoshop. By the time he had gotten a rough sketch of what he wanted to do done, the ship started to shudder. Finding that the perfect time to shut everything down, he waited till his laptop was fully off before heading to the Gate Room, avoiding the most direct way to the room with the communication stones. Sure enough, when he entered the Gate Room from a side door, he saw Telford and the two scientists leave, Scott yelling after them, “Where the hell are you going?”
Rush looked across to Brody and nodded quietly to him. Brody picked up a radio and hurried out of the room. Scott raced over to Rush as Ophir walked over, hearing Scott bark, “Do something!”
Calmly, Rush picked up his own radio and waited. Ophir merely returned the nod from Rush and went to the other console, flipping through screens casually.
Brody’s voice came through Rush’s radio. “They're gone.”
“Thank you,” Rush replied. Putting his radio down, he activated the controls on the console and the Stargate went dark, slowed down and stopped. The electricity stopped sparking around it and all went quiet. A moment later, the lights turned back on. Everybody in the room looked at the consoles and Rush walked around his. He stepped out in the centre of the room, stating, “If I can have everyone's attention please.”
The crew gathered around him while Ophir worked on the console.
“I'm sorry to have to tell you that, uh, we will not be going home. Not yet, anyway. But you can all relax and return to your quarters. The ship will not be exploding…” Rush smiled. “…at least not today.”
“Normal power levels will be restored soon, right?” Scott asked.
“Yes.” Rush looked around at the crowd and gave them a quirky smile. “Thank you!”
Murmuring amongst themselves, the crew broke up and started to leave the room. Destiny's power levels started to rise and it was clearly heard. Wray, TJ, and Greer walked over to face Rush. Wray’s face clearly showed her fury. “You staged the whole thing.”
“So all of this was just to get rid of Telford?” TJ inquired.
Rush looked as if he didn’t care. “Had to be done.”
“So you're sayin' that the ship is not gonna explode?” Greer clarified.
“Oh no, we would most definitely all be dead had I not put certain limits in place. I also arranged for the alarms and warnings to go off regardless - a bit of theatre. Always nice.” Rush seemed to notice for the first time that everyone around him was looking rather furious at him. “Their plan was never gonna work.”
“You could've warned us,” Scott pointed out. “You scared the crap out of everybody.”
“Well, I didn't know who was on my side, did I?” Rush snapped bitterly. He turned and walked away. The group watched him go, speechless. Ophir disappeared, heading back to work on the door.
Ophir entered the Control Room sometime later, wiping his hands on a rag as the sound of Young’s speech he had missed was heard from Eli’s console.
“We're going to have to be tough, disciplined. The road may be longer than many of us hoped. We will have to sacrifice, compromise, work together without exceptions.”
Eli paused the video as Ophir walked over to his console, flipping through windows briefly. Young walked into the Control Room, not seeing Ophir.
“I thought you did a good job. People need to know the truth…but they also need hope,” Eli commented.
“I need you to do something for me.”
Eli swung around on his chair to face Young. “Sure thing.”
“Go over the data collected as they tried to dial the Gate.”
“I have already. There's a lot I don't understand,” Eli pointed out.
“Well, then, you need to learn as fast as you can, and you talk to whoever you have to.”
Eli frowned. “D'you think Rush is hiding something?”
“That's what I want you to tell me.”
Eli nodded, looking a little unwilling. Young turned and left and Eli swung back around to the console and continued the playback of the earlier recording.
“We are going to survive. We are going to make it home. Make no mistake. My first priority is to make sure that we all return to those we love.”
Ophir smiled gently, piping up, “So what did you not understand about the data?”
Eli looked at him, shocked, before grinning at him.
...last for a while
