The Key of Forever

by Antonio Cabañas

Prologue

Disclaimer: Star Trek in all its incarnations and all related characters are property of Paramount Pictures. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and all related characters were created and are owned by Joss Whedon. Star Trek, and Star Trek: The Next Generation created by Gene Roddenberry. Star Wars and everything related with it is property of Lucasfilm Ltd., and was created by George Lucas.

Tony Castro and the USS Corsair were created by me, other adventures of her can be found in my site (look at my profile if you want to see the address).

Spoilers: Big spoiler for Buffy season 5 finale. Spoilers for Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek: Generations and Star Trek: First Contact and Deep Space Nine until season 4.

Author Note 1: This story is a sequel of the story "Trek to the Hellmouth". If you don't want to read it, here is a quick resume: After the events in Star Trek: First Contact, the Enterprise-E is relaunched, but remains of Borg technology aboard launch the ship back in time toward the moment when Buffy killed Adam. Adam becomes a Borg, but he quickly comes to dominate the Collective. But the time paradox in progress start to opens the Hellmouth. The Enterprise crew, guided by Tony Castro, an admiral that was invited to the launching and had contact with the Watchers and the Slayers in the past, contact the Scoobies, and the events began to take a rollercoaster ride from there: the Borg Queen reappears, from the Hellmouth emerges the Mirror counterpart of Admiral Castro, Adam devises a plan to absorb the energies of the Hellmouth, destroying Earth in the process. Finally with the sacrifice of Mirror Tony they destroy Adam and close the Hellmouth.

Author Note 2: for the nitpickers, this story takes place shortly after the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "The Sons of Mogh".

I wish to thank my beta-reader Carycomix, for his help and support through all this time. Unfortunately, he is not available at this time, so this 1st chapter will have its good share of errors.

Answer to Reviewers:

Please, review!

Summary: Dawn visits Buffy's tomb and something happens. "Meanwhile", in the 24th Century, Captain Tony Castro discover a very unsettling thing, and Captain Sisko of Deep Space Nine witness a real blast from the past…


Lykandia System. Starbase 580. Stardate 49581.9

Captain Antonia Castro of the USS Corsair was enjoying a good meal in the Starbase lounge when she noticed that somebody had left a PADD on her table. She looked around but she couldn't see anybody near the table. She got the PADD and examined it. On it, scribbled faintly over the polished surface there was a number that she recognized, because it had been a recognition code used by the Watcher's Council. She took it gingerly and read it. The news was very bad.

'Oh, Karen.' she thought. 'How could I reach you in time?'

She looked around and noticed a familiar sight at that Starbase, a human accompanied by a tall, shaggy humanoid, who boasted of owning the fastest ship in two galaxies. This was one of the areas open to people from "the other side", after all. She got up and walked to them.

"Captain Solo, can we speak for a moment?" she said when she reached them.

A Sunnydale Cemetery. 06/22/00

The tombstone read "Elizabeth Anne Summers. 1980-2000. She saved the world a lot.". That final joke brought a sad smile to Angel's lips.

"Hi, Angel." said a familiar voice.

"Hi, Dawn." He said without turning to face her. Not for her, but for her company.

"Hello, Angel" said the Buffy-Bot in a voice so similar to the real Buffy that he had to reassure himself that Buffy was dead.

"It isn't too late for you to stay here?. The Sun is going to rise in a few minutes." asked Dawn, concerned.

"I have my car parked in front of the gate. Don't worry, Dawn."

"Look who is here! Mr. Tall, Brooding and Handsome in person." said Spike. Angel hadn't heard him coming.

"William, that joke was funny the first time, but you have repeated it everytime we met, last year."

"Spike. Thanks to you, I'm not William anymore."

"Do you think that I don't know it? I'm responsible for your existence, through Drusilla's. All the murders that either of you have done are on my conscience."

"Shut up, you two!" said Dawn, hitting Buffy's tombstone. "This isn't the place for one of your fights."

They both looked at Dawn, and Spike glowered at her.

"What?"

"Your hand…" said Spike, his voice suddenly strangled.

Dawn looked down and saw a few drops of blood flowing from her broken nail, just as the Sun started to rise over the horizon.

"Uh, oh" was the only thing that Dawn managed to utter before the energy vortex swallowed the three of them, leaving only a very confused Buffy-Bot.

Deep Space Nine. Stardate 49582.1

The station shook suddenly when Sisko was arriving at the Operations Room. He could barely keep his feet on the ground, something that most of the people there couldn't copy.

"Dax, report!" he shouted.

"It's some kind of temporal anomaly, captain! It suddenly appeared, emitting a wave of energy!"

"On screen!"

The trill science officer quickly complied, although at first there was nothing on the screen. Then slowly, a blue light appeared at the center on the screen, pulsating with an almost heart-like pace. Seemingly insubstantial at first, soon it began to coalesce into a shape. The shape of an starship.

"Dax, what can you say about that?"

"The instruments register an object in the center of the anomaly. But I can't determine its mass, density or even what is it by what the instruments say." she looked at the screen and added "I think that just now it's a moot point."

The object was clearly visible now, although it was enveloped in a blue glow that wavered at intervals.

"Constitution-class. Refitted configuration." Sisko was the first to identify the ship that appeared on the screen. "Dax, magnify the image. We need to identify the ship."

"It's not necessary, Ben. I have just isolated a faint Federation transponder signal coming from the anomaly." said Dax "USS Agincourt, NCC-1724. That doesn't make sense."

"Why is that, old man?"

"There were two Constitution-class USS Agincourt. Both destroyed in battle, without the shadow of a doubt."

USS Agincourt bridge.

Dawn was the first of the three to regain consciousness. She found herself on the side of a cramped room, with people standing everywhere. No, they weren't standing, she corrected herself. They were paralyzed in mid-action, and judging by what she could see, things weren't good. The environment looked somewhat familiar, and the people were clad in some kind of uniform consisting in a maroon jacket, black pants, and a colored turtleneck sweater under the jacket. Over the left breast they wore a insignia… that insignia… it was similar to the one that the guys from the future that appeared last year wore. Could have they landed in a… how it was called? Spacefleet? No, Starfleet. They seemed to have fallen into a Starfleet ship.

"You have awakened, good. Now, can you explain what you have done to the ship?" said a voice that sounded eerily familiar. Dawn followed the sound of the voice and, sitting before a console between two doors, was Tony Castro, wearing the same type of uniform as everybody else, and with a gun-like device in her hand, aimed toward her.

TO BE CONTINUED…