"I tell you. It's fate that is guiding us!"

"And I'm telling you it's pure luck that we get anywhere at all in this old thing!"

"Don't you listen to her old girl. She's just jealous that she hasn't aged as gracefully as you."

"You what? Do you really want to try out one of your new regenerations so early on?" Ace stood defiant in the console room staring down the new, and in her opinion, petulant Doctor.

"Now you don't mean that Ace. I know you better than you know yourself."

"Yeah maybe you did, before you dumped me on Earth without a word of explaination! I've still not forgiven you for that you know?"

"I did tell you why Ace, you just weren't listening. There was something that needed doing. I knew people would die. If you had been one of them... Well I would have been distraught. Entire civilisations were wiped from existence in that war." The Doctors eyes lost their focus for a while as he remembered The events. "You would have been in mortal danger, constant danger, and I would have been in no position to help."

"I could have looked after myself." Ace argued, though only half heartedly, she knew the Doctor wasn't telling her something, and it was big. He liked his secrets, always did. But this wasn't so much a secret as it was a burden to him. A weight on his soul that he was unable to lift on his own. "Any way, I'm only four years older, this old thing must be a few hundred years on from when I left."

The Doctor brightened slightly, knowing that Ace was deliberately trying to divert him from his obviously painful memories. "Yes well, you look good for it."

"Aye, I have to agree wi' ye' there Doctor. Ye're a fine lookin' lass!" If it weren't for Jamie's innocent charm, Ace might have taken it as a come on and punched the Scotsman.

Instead she blushed at the earnest compliment, "Uhm, thanks Jamie."

The Doctor almost laughed at Ace's temproary discomfiture but something on the console got his attention first, "hmm, that's odd. That shouldn't be there." He peered closer at the display. "A CVE? But all but one of them was closed. How could this be a new one, without the people of Logopolis maintaining them?"

"I have no idea what you just said Prof.. Doctor, plain english please?" Ace looked at the Doctor wondering if he would bother explaining.

"It's a hole in spacetime, whereby new spacial mass can travel between universes, effectively staving off entropy, albeit temporarily." Convinced that this was all the explaination required the Doctor returned to his analysis of the anomaly. Ace and Jamie stared at each other with a complete lack of comprehension in their eyes.

Suddenly the Tardis was rocked uncontrollably, all three of the travellers were shaken and fell to the console room floor. The Doctor was the first to pull himself to his feet with the help of the console to bear his weight. "A gravity well? You should have been able to adjust to that girl. But then again, this is immense. Can that CVE really be generating this much gravity? The mass on the other side of the event horizon must be immense, we're being pulled in, hold tight." Another wave of sudden movement and the Tardis rocked again, and shot towards the CVE. Reality was pulled inside out, and the Tardis crew felt as though they were as well. For a moment Ace felt as though she would vomit, but then it was over. As suddenly as the shaking had begun, it was over. The Doctor was again on his feet first looking over the console. "Well all the stars are in the right position, no negative factoring. So we're not in E-Space, that's a good thing. The bad thing being, I have no idea where or when we are. The Tardis is picking up familiar star clusters nearby, but is completely unable to identify where we are in relation to them."

"OK? So we're lost, but at least we're lost somewhere familiar, I can live with that. Can this thing get alzheimers?" Ace half joked.

"No it cannot. The Tardis has a sophisticated self repairing neural network. Any sign of anything like that and the Tardis would immediately re-route any vital systems until it had repaired or replaced the affected neural pathways." The Doctor retorted. "There is also evidence of recent chroniton activity in the area, so whoever is out there has been travelling through time."

"Could it be the timelords?" Jamie asked, finally getting to his feet nursing a bump on the back of his head.

"I don't think so Jamie," said the Doctor, abandoning the console to check on Jamie "It's a slight bump, but any dizziness, let me know immediately. Right, I'm going to check the scanner, I could be able to get my bearings that way." The Doctor hit the scanner switch, and a holographic display appeared over the console. "That would appear to be Earth! And.." The Doctor stopped as the image rotated to show what was, relatively speaking, behind the Tardis. It revealed a saucer, looming much to close for comfort. "Evasive manuevers, hold tight it could get bumpy." The Doctor hit the Dematerialisation switch and the rotor sprung into life.

Aboard the saucer there was a bustle of activity, "Captain, short range sensors just picked up a minute chroniton displacement within 50 meters of the ship."

"After what we've just been through, I'm not taking any chances, continue scanning for anything unusual." At that a loud siren began wailing.

"Intruder alert, Deck 5 section 12."

"Security personnel to Deck 5. I want you to lead the team. Mr Worf!"

U.S.S. Enterprise. Starfleet Registry NCC 1701-E.
Deck 5. Section 12.

"Oh look, grey walls. You always did know how to show a lady a good time Doctor." Ace Chided.

"I also remember a time when you would have snarled at me for calling you a lady." The Doctor smiled as Ace caught up with the comment a few moments later. "I think the Tardis dropped us off inside that ship we saw on the scanner. If that was Earth we saw, then this may be an Earth ship, so the crew could be friendly."

"Aye, but they could also be bug eyed beasties ready to attack and kill on sight." Jamie added.

"Fair point, and given our track record, perhaps stealth would be our best option right now."

"Stop right where you are!" A gruff voice shouted from along the corridor.

"Oh well, it was a nice idea while it lasted." The Doctor looked and saw five people running along the corridor, the individual at the front of the group was immense, dark skinned and with a pronounced ridged forhead. "Good evening, I am the Doctor, and..." The alien at the head of the group growled. "Oh, I'm sorry, i should have said, Good morning." The Doctor's comment and lopsided smile met with a steely glare from their new captors.

"I am lieutenant Worf, you will come with me. Any deviation from my direction, will result in my men shooting you where you stand."

"Charmed I'm sure." The doctor said, desperately trying to defuse the situation. "As I was saying, I am the Doctor, this is Ace, and this is Jamie. We're travellers and materialised here to avoid colliding with your lovely ship." The Doctor noted that Worf's expression had not changed in the slightest.

"You will walk ahead of me, any unauthorised movement and..."

"Yes, yes, we know the drill. You'll shoot us where we stand."

"Exactly. Now move." As the group passed the Tardis, Worf paused for less than a second. "Guard that thing!" One of his security detatchment immediately stopped and stared at the incongruous shape of the police telephone box.

"That thing, as you called it, is perhaps the most sophisticated piece of equipment you are likely to encounter in your life. I do hope she didn't hear you, she's getting very touchy these days."

Again, there was not reaction from the stoic Mr Worf. "Stop here." They had stopped outside a set of doors. The Doctor could pick up the sound of movement, an elevator of some kind. The doors swooshed open. "Inside!"

Once inside, worf said, "Bridge", and the lift was in motion.

"Voice activation? Well I never, I've been meaning to install that on the lifts in the Tardis, never gotten around to it though, always somewhen to be. I'm sure you know how it is."

"No."

"Ah. alright. So we're going to the bridge? Your captain want's to see us then? Very good, soon have this misunderstanding cleared up." The Doctor wondered why Worf was smiling.

The lift doors opened onto a compact and dimly lit area, lined with consoles, and in what looked like a severe state of dissarray. "I'll have full engine control back in a few minutes captain. We're first in the queue at McKinley. I'd estimate a 28 day clean up and then we'll be back in business." The voice came from all around them, and the Doctor noted it was a bald man standing to the front section who responded.

"Understood, Mr LaForge, proceed at your earliest convenience." The man looked round, "Ah our guests." Sarcasm dripping on every word. "Who are you and what the hell are you doing aboard my ship?"

"As I explained to Mr Worf, I am the Doctor, this is Ace and Jamie, my travelling companions. We arrived here completely by accident, an evasive maneuver to avoid colliding with the hull of your ship."

"Doctor? Doctor Who?"

"Yes, heh, quite."

"Sickbay to Captain Picard." Another voice, female this time.

"Yes Doctor" The captains voice softened somewhat, the Doctor noted.

"I have a final casualty count. We lost 43 crewmen to the Borg. 40 were assimilated the other 3 were killed in the fighting. 17 injuries, the most critical have been transported to starfleet medical. How are things up there?"

"We have some intruders, can you come up to check them out? They look human, but I want to be certain of that."

"On my way."

With that, the intercom link was terminated. "Picard? Picard? I know that name from somewhere. Where do I know that name from? Of course, chateau Picard. Your Beaujolis is a masterpiece. i remember having a bottle of the 2250 one year, absolutely exquisite."

"Thank you, I'm so glad you enjoyed it." Again the sarcasm was self evident. "You still haven't answered my questions fully enough. What are you doing here?"

"As I said, it is purely an accident. We would be more than happy to be on our way. If you could just..." The Doctor didn't get the chance to finish his sentence as a blinding flash of light filled the bridge of the starship.

"Oh no, not now Q." Said Picard in an exasperated voice.

He turned, but was shocked by what he saw. A bloody and battered man in what appeared to have once been the same uniform that he himself wore. "Jean Luc, it's all over. The cosomos is doomed. I just thought I'd let you know." And the man collapsed.

The bridge of the Enterprise was a cacophony of different voices all speaking at once. The captain was asking his female Doctor a question, she was asking a medtech for a hypo. Worf was snarling to the intercom that he needed more security personnel on the bridge.

Then the alert sirens went off.

"What the devil is going on today? If this is a malfunction, someone's head will roll." Picard looked drained as he sat in the chair in the mid-section of the bridge.

"Sir, a vessel of unknown configuration just dropped out of warp, it's heading directly for us." A young man, no. The Doctor noted circuitry, an android?

"Shields mr Data. Is what's left of the fleet in any condition to assist?"

The Android replied, "Shields are at 65, engineering reports that is the best they can do without time in spacedock. Other ships in the fleet are moving to join us to intercept the intruder. The Alexandra, the Yosemite, and the Intrepid are en-route. Time to intercept with the intruder is 4 minutes."

"Jean Luc, I have to get Q to sickbay. I don't know if he's really ill or not, but going on appearances, I would say he's critical."

"Alright Beverley, do what you can for him. Transporter room 2, emergency transport, Dr Crusher and patient, directly from the bridge to sickbay." The woman identified as Dr Crusher smiled as she was swallowed by a shimmering light and vanished along with the mysterious Q"

"Sir, we are being hailed by the incoming vessel." The android Data said.

"On screen, and let's hope they're friendly."

The Doctor gasped as the image sprung onto the wall in front of them. "We are the Daleks. You have been identified as being enemies of the Daleks, you will surrender to us and be assimilated. If you do not comply, you will be exterminated."

"What the hell was that?" A tall bearded man who had somehow managed to appear in the chair next to the captain, stood up.

"I have no idea number one. But they sounded enough like the Borg for us to not take them seriously."

"They're called Daleks. Formerly resident of the planet Skaro. They are the most malevolant species it has ever been my misfortune to encounter. Though, this 'assimilation' they mentioned, is a new spin." The Doctor said directly to Picard. "I have no idea what they are doing here though. They are indiginous to my Universe. Unless, the barriers between the universes has ruptured somehow. Yes, that must be it."

"You know these creatures? How can they be destroyed?" Worf spoke, barely above a growl.

"The usual methods work best, shoot them till they don't move anymore. It's a tactic that has always worked in the past. And the future."

"Weapons are at 48 effectivness Captain. I do not hink they will be sufficient to penetrate the enemy vessel's shields. We also only have 2 quantum torpedoes left." Data stated matter of factly.

"Contact all remaining ships in the fleet, converge on our position and engage the enemy. We need to deal with this now." Picard had stood up and taken two steps towards the view screen, as if to get a closer look at the looming ship as it got closer.

Weapons fire flared from the Dalek vessel, it impacted on the shields of the Enterprise. "Return fire." The order, short but to the point. Beams of red light were visible on the screen, arcing outward from Enterprise to meet the Dalek vessel. The beams seemed to bounce inneffectually off the enemy ships shields. "Continue firing mr Worf." Again barrage after barrage filled the screen, joined by blasts from other ships joining the fight.

"Captain, if I may. Can you communicate with the Dalek vessel?" The Doctor asked as sweetly as he could manage in the circumstances.

"Why in the name of God would you want us to do that?" Again the tall man spoke, as he marched over to the Doctor. "They appeared right after you did. Maybe the two events are connected. Hm?"

"Yes, I'm beginning to suspect that they are. That is why I need to communicate with that ship."

"The combined weapons fire of the remaining fleet vessels is having no effect Captain." Data reported, "their shields are holding."

"Open a hailing frequency to the Borg, I'm sorry, Dalek vessel, Mr Worf." Captian Picard said. I want to know what is going on here.

"Frequency open."

"This is the Doctor." The Doctor said to the blank viewer. "I know you can hear me, you don't need to respond. Just listen carefully. You know who I am, and I most certainly know who you are. You have two options here. You can retreat and keep your shiny new ship in one piece, or you can remain here and be destroyed."

"Doctor!" Came a vocal reply form the speakers. "Your appearance is most unexpected, and most unwelcome. You are the one who will leave. This is not your Universe, you and the wretched timelords have no dominion here, it belongs to the Daleks." A face, if you could call it that, appeared on the viewer. "Here, we have the power. The supreme power, belongs to the Daleks."

"Yes, yes, I've heard that so many times before Davros. You rant and rave, about a new Galactic order, then I pull off a master stroke, and kick your rear end into touch. Do we need to do this again?" The Doctor sounded almost exasperated.

"Your vessel's shields are failing, it's weapons cannot harm us, I do not see that you have the advantage here Doctor. Your ship, all these ships will be destroyed, and this world that you love so much will be assimilated into the Dalek collective."

The communication link ended swiftly. The Dalek attack continued unabated. The Doctor looked sorrowful as he took the three steps to the station at which Mr Worf was standing. "These are the weapons controls? Yes I thought so, have all the ships in your fleet remodulate their weapons to this frequency." The Doctor tapped a series of numbers into the control panel. Mr Worf looked at them.

"These settings will reduce phaser efficiency to a mere 25. You are trying to get us killed."

"They will only need to be 25 effective, as they will cut right through the shields on that ship like a hot knife through butter."

"Try it Mr Worf, it would appear we have nothing to lose and everything to gain." The captain had turned away from the viewer and was now staring at the crestfallen Doctor.

"All ships report ready."

"Then commence firing." New blasts streaked from not only Enterprise, but 5 other vessels within range of the Dalek ship. The beams impacted simultaneously on different areas of the Dalek shields, and continued right through the shields and impacted directly on the vessel itself. Huge erruptions took place at the points where the beams struck. The Doctor looked away from the view screen.

"The Dalek ship is retreating captain. It is maneuvering away at impulse speed." Mr Data turned from his station to look at this captain, "should we pursue?"

"Yes Mr Data, we cannot allow them to get away and regroup their forces. Pursue and continue the attack."

Mr Data turned back to his console and input some commands, and the ship started towards the now retreating Dalek vessel, firing as it went. Then the Dalek ship was gone. "They entered what appeared to be a Transwarp portal captain, it has already closed, further pursuit will not be possible."

"Very well, stand down red alert, but I want continuous scans of the area, I want to know if they return."

"Aye sir." data input more commands and the red lighting faded to be replaced by a softer amber glow.

"Thank you, uhm, Doctor? We owe you our lives." It was a short dark skinned woman, with eyes like pools of dark water who had spoken. "I am Deanna Troi, ships counsellor."

"Thank you Ms Troi. But I do not think that thanks are in order. I just caused the deaths of living creatures aboard that ship. Me! I sometimes forget that. But it was recently pointed out to me, I have been responsible for more deaths than I would care to count, and I have today, added to that total."

The Doctor, stepped away from Deanna, and turned to face the bulkhead, his head hung low, with his hands covering his face.

"Sir, the teams from McKinley say that the repair effort is being hampered by the Borg adaptions to our systems. They appear to grow back as soon as they are removed." Riker paused as he continued reading the report, "they say it could take up to 3 weeks to remove all of the borg components and begin the repairs proper."

"Unacceptable number one, I want every man they have on the repair crews, enhance them with our own teams, I want people working on this 24 hours. I want this ship ready to fight if needed." Picard crossed his ready room to the replicator, "tea, earl grey, hot." The console lit up briefly as a steaming cup of tea appeared in the slot.

"We have no idea how much, or more to the point, how little, time we have just bought ourselves Will, we need to be ready for anything." Picard returned to his chair. "I can still hear them Will. Their 'song'. It will always be there I suppose, but I know they will never give up. This new Dalek aspect does not change what they are or what they want. They will keep coming, and we need to be there when they come."

"I'll tell McKinley immediately sir." The Enterprise's first officer turned to leave but turned back, "That 'Doctor' wishes to see you captain. He says it is quite urgent."

"Send him in. I want to know who he is anyway. I want to know if I should thank him or throw him in the brig."

"Aye sir" said riker with a wry smile on his face.

"You say that you travel through space and time, in this? I find that hard to believe."

"Believe it Pasty head" Ace retorted. "This is one souped up time and space travelling hotel. It's just that the chameleon circuit's a bit mucked up."

"Aye, the Doctor was always gonna be fixing it too, he never got round to it though. None of them did." The young Scotsman added smiling.

The Tardis door was opened and the Doctor appeared carrying a large piece of equipment with him. "Right Mr Worf, I'm ready to see your Captain now, if you'd be so kind?"

The Doctor was marching down the corridor almost before Worf knew it. Worf Darted after him. "The Captain will see you, but I must ask you what that is that you are carrying."

"Oh this old thing? Well, if I'm correct, your repairs are being hindered by alien technology that was grafted to your ship. Yes?" Worf grunted, "I'll take that as a yes. Well this little piece of kit will take care of that little problem for you."

Ace and Jamie were left standing with two security guards all of them looking completely bemused. When someone walked along the hall. The hair on the back of Jamie's neck stood up in the presence of the mysterious dark skinned woman. "Hello, my name's Guinnan. I understand you two are 'new' here." jamie nodded. "Well, I always invite new arrivals to my place for a drink. Come on." She led the way to one of the turbolifts just a little way away from the Tardis. As she went she wistfully looked at the box, as though ancient memories were surfacing she then noticed the confused looks on the security guards faces, "You guys coming or not?" Jamie and Ace started after her with the guards in hot pursuit.

"Well Doctor. Before I let you use your device, I need you to answer a few questions. Who the hell are you? How did you get on my ship in the middle of a battle? And how did you know how to circumvent the Borg, I'm sorry, Dalek shields?"

"Ah, just the basics then? Alright. My name is the Doctor, I'm a timelord from the planet Galiffrey, but I'm not from this universe. I was pulled here against my will by a CVE which almost destroyed my navigational systems. We actually materialised outside your ship on a collision course and had to make an emergency landing inside. I knew how to defeat the Daleks because I have been fighting them on and off for over a millenium! There, all up to speed? Good, now I want..."

Picard held up his hand to stop the Doctor in mid sentence. "Do you honestly expect me to believe any of that? We have had our experiences with parallell worlds" Worf grunted as though he had had too many experiences with them, "but your story is unbelievable. You claim to be over a Millenia old?"

"Well, not this body obviously, but yes, I have been around for quite some time. But I get the feeling that you are going to take some convincing on that."

"So this is 'your' place is it?" Asked Ace as she walked in the door of Ten Forward. "Nice!"

"I do what I can! Drink?"

"Got any Vodka? I need a kickstart right about now. He'll have a water, he's hyper enough as it is." She nodded her head towards Jamie.

"I hear that you come from another Universe. That true?" Guinan asked as she worked behind the bar.

"I couldn't tell you. The Doctor says so and he's never lied to me, well, this one hasn't lied to me anyway. So, I guess we are."

"A very round about way of saying yes don't you think? I've had experiences with other realities, not many of them ended very well. Tell me about yours. Ever been to Brighton?"

"My God, it's... It's..."

"I think the words you're looking for are 'bigger on the inside than it is on the outside." The Doctor interjected as it looked like Commander Riker was going to go on all night. "This is my TARDIS, an acronym for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space. Effectively a time machine. It is dimensionally transcendental, which means that the interior exists in a seperate dimensional plane than the exterior, she can expand herself to accomodate almost any size or need."

Data looked around the console room in awe. "How is it powered?"

"It has a direct link to the Eye of Harmony. A harnessed perpetual supernova that my people created tens of thousands of years ago. It's power is almost limitless and can be directed in so many different ways."

"Alright, so you were maybe telling the truth about how you got here. But why should we trust you with that device, how do we know you aren't trying to destroy this ship?"

"Destroy the ship? That would be an act of unbridled stupidity on my part would it not Commander Riker? I need you and this ship, just as much as you need me and this device. I have no knowledge of your Universe, you by the same token have no knowledge of the Daleks and what they are capable of. I believe we have been thrown together by fate, we are destined to help each other."

Suddenly a light flashed on the console, the Doctor moved to it "It's a distress call, the TARDIS is programmed to respond to them immediately. I'll put it on the speaker."

"This is Gowron" a gruff voice sounded over the speakers. "Chancellor of the Klingon Empire calling on any sentient within the sound of my voice, the Klingon Empire has fallen. The Borg have..." The transmission ended abruptly.

"Gowron?" Worf almost whispered.

There was another noise from the TARDIS console as the rotor began moving. "What's going on Doctor?" Riker reached for his phaser instinctively.

"We're heading for the source of that distress call commander, as I said, the TARDIS is programmed to respond to all such calls."

"You're taking us to Qu'O'Nos? In the middle of a Borg attack?"

"I suppose I am."

"Oh hell!"