"Blast Off!" - Part 28
Fury sighs and leans forward against a metal console. Steepling his gloved hands, he leans his head forward until his helmet is resting against them.
"Let me get this straight." he says at last, "The foam which you sprayed on the canopy -"
"To keep out ze lethal radiation."
"Yes, to keep out the radiation." Fury waves off the Doctor's interjection, "That foam managed to seep inside the main console and short out all the wiring?"
"Not all." Archie corrects fastidiously, "Only eleven percent of systems are inoperable."
"Perhaps, but they're eleven percent we need." Fury straightens, "We've lost the navigation relays, and most of our atmospheric manoeuvring systems. The latter isn't a problem unless we blunder into atmosphere - though that's all too possible at the moment - but the navigation relays leave us blind. Literally, in this case." He gestures at the hardened purple foam on the viewscreen.
"Can we risk removing some of the foam?" S'Ondra asks, "Just enough to see?"
Gustav shakes his head, then stops and nods, unhappily.
"Ja, we could. But only Archie would reach ze Earth alive."
"Let's call that a choice of last resort." Fury quips, grimly. "What are our options for repairing the relays?"
"Not good." Archie proffers some perforated printer paper, but the Captain waves him off. "Repairs can be made, but we're likely to run into something before then."
"And without shields, we'll be destroyed."
"That is correct."
"Can we hook you up to the console, Archie?" S'Ondra asks, "You've got a computer inside you. Can you do the navigating for the ship?"
Archie shakes his head,
"The physical connections to the navigation systems are damaged. I cannot interface."
"Ah!" Gustav suddenly exclaims, "Ze Q-Drive!"
"The what?" Fury frowns, "Doc, it doesn't work. That's why we're in this mess in the first place."
Gustav dismisses the objection with a wave of his hand,
"Zat was before I realised about ze extra co-ordinates." He says, excitedly, "Now zat I have coded zem into ze drive, ve can jump from here to ze Earth, like zat!" he tries to snap his fingers, but the gloves of his suit stop them from making any noise.
Fury regards this as an ill omen,
"What if there is something else you haven't realised?" he points out, "I don't want to dump this stuff on a still-living planet, Doc. There may be a time when we need to risk it, but I'd rather exhaust all other options, first."
"But I tell you, I have all ze coordinates, now."
"Still -" Fury stops n mid-objection. Slowly, a smile begins to creep onto his lips, "Doc, tell me how the Q-Drive works, again."
"It is really very simple." Gustav, while evidently confused by the sudden interest, is not one to turn down an audience, "You simply enter ze co-ordinates where you wish to go, and ze Q-Drive exchanges ze matter zat is around it with ze matter zat is in ze destination."
"How does it know where to put everything?"
"You tell it where you vish to go -"
"No." Fury interrupts, "I'm not asking about how it moves us. How does it know where to put the stuff that's already where we want to go?"
"Vell, it gives it the co-ordinates of ze ship, of course."
S'Ondra's eyes gleam as she realises the Captain's point.
"Doctor, you mean the Q-Drive has our current location stored in it?"
"Yes, of course, at all times -" Guatv breaks off, "Dumkopf!" he exclaims, "Captain, you are so brilliant I could kiss you!"
"Please don't."
"Quickly, Archie!" Gustav rushes over to the robot, "Ve must feed ze co-ordinates from ze Q-Drive to the main console, so zat ze Captain can pilot us once again."
Fury, after watching the Doctor and robot working for a few moments, turns his attention to S'Ondra,
"So, while the two boffins are busy, I don't suppose there's any chance you plan to congratulate me?"
"What for?" the Princess raises a regal eyebrow, "It's my father's invention that's going to save us." The, taking her leave of the thwarted Captain, she goes to assist Gustav.
"Just put your finger zere, leibchen."
Fury, muttering under his breath, returns to the pilot sea. After a few moments, the displays come to life, running through list of co-ordinates. Immediately, the Captain brings the engines back online, swinging the nose of the craft around toward Earth.
An hour later, the tiny silver ship roars into orbit over the blue-and-brown ball that is their destination. Fury, his touch on the controls as light as ever, sends the ship skimming just over the top of the atmosphere.
"Ready to release the bag." He reports, finger hovering over the release switch."
"Trajectory is good." The Doctor reports, "Release now."
Fury's finger descends, and the cables holding the bag in place immediately unravel. As the Pathfinder's nose lifts, the bag continues on its path, plunging into the atmosphere. Almost instantly, the furs burn away into nothing, leaving the mould - spores bursting out in mid air - to drift down toward the surface.
Inside the ship, all is bedlam as the crew celebrate the end of their task. Fury and Gustav embrace, thumping each other on the back, while Archie lights up every bulb on his body. S'Ondra hugs her father and the robot, both. For a moment it seems as if she and Fury will also embrace, but at the last moment she stiffens, and shakes his hand instead.
Crushing a look of disappointment, Fury turns to the console and re-engages both the shields and life support.
"We've done it, people." He reports, "We've saved Venus."
As the Pathfinder settles into an orbit around Earth, the reality of their situation begins to come home to the crew. They four of them - the only two humans alive, a princess without a people, and a robot - are lost in a parallel universe with no way to get home, in a ship that has been half destroyed by the events of the past few hours. Soot blackens many of the consoles, purple foam covers the canopy, and systems all over the vessel have failed.
Elation fades, and as the crew share a silent moment of despair, the screen fades to black along with it.
Next Time, on Q-Ship
"After days of arduous repairs, the Pathfinder is fully operable once more. But the ship's stocks of Xenon are almost exhausted, and the crew must travel to Jupiter to refuel.
Their route to the great gas giant takes them through the asteroid belt, where they discover a strange anomaly! A pyramid, decorated with the symbols of ancient Egypt, stands alone on the rocky surface of a lifeless asteroid.
Who could have built this structure?
Why would they do so?
And does it offer salvation for the crew, or perils untold?"
A montage of images flashes by:
- a grey stone pyramid
- something spider-like scuttling out of shot
- a high-tech sarcophagus
- S'Ondra, in a black vinyl outfit that's even briefer than the usual attire
- Fury, at the controls of a ship, plunging toward the ground
"Join us next time, on Q-ship, when the crew encounters the mysterious Space Tomb."
