Through Dangerous Times

Arrival

"Really?" Barry said, laughing slightly at the comment.

"Well, I'm pretty sure if our moon is really a weapon of planetary destruction, it is safe to say that the QAN is the least of our worries," Caitlin said, standing in the doorway.

"Woah, when did you get here," Cisco said, sounding quite alarmed.

"Since we boarded the ship."

"No, I mean... don't worry," he trailed off, focusing his attention back on the controls.

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The group were now moments away from the QAN, arriving in less than a few minutes. The station was equipped with a docking port, positioned directly in front of the trio. They were all fully equipped in their space suits, in case the QAN's life support had failed. Previously in a year, a supplies capsule had been sent to the station containing everything the group would need during their stay there if it were to be successful, which took up one of the two docking ports. All three were strapped into their respective seats, as Cisco slowly positioned the rocket to the correct balance.

"Guys, we will make contact within seconds, brace yourselves."

The rocket slowly entered the remaining dock, a huge bang of metal could be heard throughout the whole rocket as this happened, locks slowly sliding into place, keeping the rocket securely attached to the station, all three cheering as they did so.

"Welcome to the Quod Amor Navis," Cisco stated, removing his helmet temporarily to take a few deep breaths, before re-applying it.

"I shall open the doors now, if the life support is down then, well, we will know, mostly due to the lack of artificial gravity, cold temperatures, etcetera. Everyone knows their jobs, Caitlin you know where to go to find out the status of all the systems, Barry, come with me, we shall find out what is wrong with this place."

"Okay, boss," Caitlin said sarcastically, as he opened the doors of the ship, all three of them falling from their floating positions to the floor of the rocket.

"Well, we have gravity," Barry said, standing up and lending a hand out to Caitlin, helping her up and out of the ship.

"Thanks," she said with a smile, something he didn't see from her particularly much.

"So, I shall be off to the life support systems, you two be safe, okay? Barry, make sure you don't get hurt, or even worse killed, not that I don't trust you, I just don't trust Cisco to not try something completely dangerous. And well, we don't want you getting hurt," she said with a small laugh, turning around and heading into another room.

"Just because I brought up the idea of space-bungee jumping, doesn't mean I was going to do it," Cisco muttered under his breath, however not sounding angry in any way, more amused if anything.

The main docking area that they emerged into mainly consisted of a pretty open room, with two of the walls being entirely glass, making for a nice viewing point. The station consisted of a white, grey and blue colour scheme, making for another nice touch. Doors on either side of the room had a LED screen next to them with directions and such, the doors being those that were in many sci-fi movies, circular with two parts, the top part moving up and bottom part moving down as they were opened.

"I have never been here, only seen pictures, but it is so much better than I pictured," Cisco stated, heading over to a nearby elevator.

"Agreed," Barry stated, not being able to stop looking around the place.

"Also, are you still worried about Caitlin not liking you?"

"A bit, yeah,"

"Try not to, in my eyes she seems to be... adapting," he said, gesturing towards the elevator as he entered, Barry not far behind.

As they entered, both Barry and Cisco had to perform a retina scan, before Cisco punched in the place where they were both headed, being the command ring.

"Please buckle up and secure any loose items. This elevator will experience a momentary lapse in gravity," an automated voice said through the speakers before the elevator started to move upwards, both Barry and Cisco fastening up their seatbelts.

As the lift rose up, it moved into a cylindrical tube that connected one part to another part of the QAN, allowing for an incredible view of the space around them. The Earth looked incredible, the moon just behind it, making for one of the best views any human could ever experience. A beautiful blue glow surrounded the Earth, the moon, at least in their perspective, blocking out a portion of the sun, allowing for an amazing shadow effect, the rest of the moon shining with a silver light. Thousands of stars were dotted everywhere, possibly hundreds of constellations visible from here. The rest of the space station also looked incredible, consisting of three major sections all spinning around another large cylindrical object in the centre, being the main engine and digital control centre of the station, the spinning motion allowing for artificial gravity. The three sections were connected by tubes, one of which the two were moving through at the current moment. Bright blue and white lights were visible from all over the QAN, creating a very futuristic vibe. 

"It is such an amazing view," Barry stated, unable to remove his glance from the sight.

"Welcome to space," Cisco said with a smile, looking through it himself.

It was around this moment that they started to experience the lapse of gravity, both of them floating up slightly in their seats, but being mostly restrained by the seat belts, before the lapse ended, normal gravity returning. They had almost finished the ride, approached the command ring, which was located in the second main module of the station.

Looking out the window one last time, just simple to take in this incredible sight, Barry placed his hands upon the windows, looking down at the Earth, with America and South America currently being the main places visible at the current time. Some major cities such as New York and San Francisco could be seen from up here, being built to a massive scale over the past century or so, the lights from said cities being visible from the station.

"Command Ring", the automated voice said, as the elevator exited the travel path and into the main structure, the view disappearing as the life docked. Both of them stood up and left the elevator, walking into the ring.

"I know how you feel, I remember my first time seeing that, not too long ago, back in 2100. It's truly amazing, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it's unlike anything I have ever seen," Barry replied.

"However, as much as I would love to spend the time staring out into the cosmos, we do actually have quite a big problem to fix,"

"How could I forget," Barry replied sarcastically, as they headed to the opposite side of the ring to the main control centre.

The command ring was how it was stated, a giant ring, and due to the artificial gravity, one could simply walk a full loop of the ring and end up right back where they started, acting as if an actual ring was placed vertically on a table, and a miniature person were to walk right around it. The area that Barry and Cisco were headed to was the opposite side, or in other terms directly above them.

"Isn't it weird to think that in 30 seconds we will be upside down, or at least upside down relative to where we are now, but when we are there, we would be upside down now and upright then. Gravity is weird," Cisco stated, causing Barry to laugh.

"Mhm," he muttered as they reached the main control centre.

Cisco did another retinal scan to access the centre, both of them walking in. The area was packed with computers, as well as a window overlooking the majority of the QAN. Many blueprints were stuck onto the wall, as well as digital holograms of certain things and blueprints appearing around the room, almost seeming out of place, and randomly placed to an extent. Cisco headed down to the front of the room, turning on the main computer.

"Gideon, show me the malfunctions of the ship,"

A holographic image appeared in front of them both, a detailed model of the ship, with indicators where any problems were, with a label above reading 'Click on an error to receive an overview'

"Oh no..." Cisco trailed off, staring at what had been displayed in front of him.