Title: Temporal Distortion - An Andromeda/UFO crossover
Rating: PG-PG13
Spoilers: Quite a few episodes from both shows are referenced
Summary: The characters from Andromda and UFO meet
up for a bit of adventure.
Archive: The Command Deck. All others please ask.
Disclaimer: I don't own Andromeda or UFO and probably never will. I am not making any money on this story.
Chapter 1
The Andromeda Ascendant, the last remaining war ship of the long defunct Commonwealth, was in an orbit near a distant planet light years from Earth. Onboard the High Guard ship Captain Dylan Hunt had called for his senior crewmembers to a meeting in the briefing room in
his captain's quarters. Rommie, the avatar of the Andromeda Ascendant was
standing beside her captain as he waited for the senior staff to arrive.
Hunt had his senior crewmembers meet in the briefing room in his captain's quarters. Rommie, the avatar of the Andromeda Ascendant was standing beside her captain as he waited for the senior staff to arrive. Commander Telemacus Rhade arrived with Executive Officer Beka Valentine and took seats at the briefing table. Lieutenant Seamus Harper rushed in minutes later and took a seat around the table. The last crewmember to arrive was Trance Gemini, golden-colored woman with a mysterious past.
"I'll get started right in on the briefing now that we're all here," Dylan announced. "We have two missions this time, and before any of you say anything, I don't like the idea any better than you do."
"I assume that means we'll be splitting up?" Rhade commented coolly.
Dylan nodded his head. "Yes you and Harper will take the Eureka Maru and help escort a group of fugitives who survived the crash of their ship."
Beka Valentine shot her captain an icy look. She didn't like it when others took the Maru. It was her ship, left to her by her late father, which made her highly protective of the old ship. "You're sending Rhade and Harper on the Maru? Have you forgotten that it's my ship?"
"No I haven't forgotten Beka, but I need you to pilot the Andromeda. You're the best slipstream pilot around and we're going to need your skills," Dylan reasoned. The High Guard captain briefly turned his gaze away from the angry blonde woman. "Andromeda, bring up the map of the location of the crash site of the Talaxan ship.
A holographic map suddenly appeared in the middle of the table for all to view. Seamus Harper's blue eyes widened at the realization of the location on the map. "Hey that's in the Milky Way galaxy. It looks like one of Jupiter's moons," the engineer blurted out.
"Correct Mr. Harper," Dylan confirmed. "That's why I'd like you to go since being from Earth you are more familiar with the area. Rhade is going for his piloting skills. And to make sure you stay out of trouble."
"Me get into trouble? When have I gotten into trouble?" Harper protested in his typical nasal tone he used when agitated. "And the indecency charge doesn't count."
Rhade didn't even bother to hide his amusement. "Someday you must regale me with that story."
The Earther cast an irritated look in the Nietzschean's direction. "That'll be the day."
"If you both are through I'll continue with the briefing," Dylan remarked in an attempt to steer the meeting back on track. "We have received pleas of help from a group of Talaxians , who survived the crash of their ship in the Milky Way galaxy. The half dozen or so survivors managed to transmit a message to a nearby Wayist mercy ship. The mercy ship relayed the message via courier.
A look of understanding dawned on the faces of the Andromeda's crew. Beka was the first to speak up. "So that's the message the courier brought earlier today."
Dylan smiled at the blonde-haired executive officer. "Give that woman a cigar. The Wayist ship asked for the Andromeda's help because it doesn't have the ability to protect the survivors."
"Something tells me I'm not gonna like the answer but I'm gonna go ahead and ask anyway. Why would the crash survivors need our protection?" Harper asked with trepidation.
The captain sighed as if knowing this mission was going to be a tough sell. "One of the survivors is a woman named Marifel," he began explaining. "She is one of the Talaxian rebel leaders who are wanted for treason on her home planet."
Beka leaned forward in her seat like a cat ready to pounce. "You're gonna send my ship out to rescue a bunch of wanted fugitives? Not to mention the fact that my engineer will be on my ship."
"What are they wanted for Dylan?" Trance asked with her usual curiosity.
Dylan turned to the golden alien. "Marifel is wanted for treason. According the records Andromeda was able to find and download, Marifel began protesting on behalf of the slaves on her planet. The slaves were from other planets, brought in to work as servants and pick the crops on Talaxia. It seems the Talaxian didn't take kindly to her protests on behalf of the slaves and sent in troops to suppress the group. The protesters managed to fee nearly 50 of the slaves and escaped from Talaxia. The ship they were on developed mechanical trouble while traveling through slipstream forcing the pilot to exit slipstream in the Milky Way galaxy where they crash-landed."
A concerned expression crossed Trance's face. "Then we should help the protesters before the Dragans catch them and turn them over to the Talaxian government."
"Easy for you to say Trance," Harper retorted. "You're not persona non grata in the area like I am. The Dragans aren't gonna be happy to see me after all the ruckus I raised on Earth." His demeanor softened when the engineer saw the concerned look on the golden woman's face. "I didn't mean to snap at you Trance. I'm sorry."
Trance smiled over at Earther. "It's okay Harper, I know you didn't it."
"Mr. Harper," Dylan continued. "I'm counting on you to gain the trust of the rebels. They're likely to be reluctant to want help or trust strangers. You being a bit of a rebel yourself may be able to convince them we want to help."
Harper studied his captain for a moment before responding. "Look I'm not sure I can be of any help on this mission but I'll go. Besides, I may get a chance to visit Earth."
Rhade raised an eyebrow almost imperceptibly. "I was under the impression that you had no plans to ever return to Earth."
"It does bring back bad memories," the engineer admitted. "I mean getting beat up by the Dragans on a regular basis and trying to keep from being the next meal for a Magog is bound to stir up the kind of memories a person would rather forget. However, I never did give my cousin Brendan a proper goodbye. I should do that some time."
"Good, I'm glad you see things my way Mr. Harper," Dylan remarked. "Now if there are no objections I'll move on to the 2nd mission." The captain took their silence as a 'yes' and continued. "The rest of us will be on the Andromeda heading towards Hesperia." Stunned silence greeted Dylan, who looked as if he had been expecting the reaction.
When she regained her composure, Beka leaned forward in her chair. "Hesperia? That's in the Ptolemy System. Very few people go there and for good reason. Because people don't go to there the slipstream routes are among the trickiest around."
"That's why I wanted you to pilot the Andromeda," Dylan replied succinctly. "I know the risks but when you find out what our objective is I think you'll find it worth the risk."
A chortle came from Harper's direction. "Only if there's a 100,000 Throne payday at the end of the job for each of us."
The captain looked over at his engineer with a serious expression. "You're not going along with us to Hesperia, Mr. Harper so you don't have to worry about the risk,' Dylan reminded.
"What are we going to be doing on Hesperia?" Trance asked quietly. The golden alien had been quiet until now.
A frown crossed Dylan's face as he took a deep breath. He pressed several buttons in front of him on the table, which caused a hologram of a smaller than average planet with a purple colored atmosphere. "Hesperia, as you might know is a peaceful and prosperous planet," the captain informed. "Unfortunately, it's being threatened by Kalderans. The Kladerans have staked a claim on Hesperia and the rest of the planets in the Ptolemy System."
A series of confused looks greeted the Captain. Rhade was the first to speak. "The Kalderans have never claimed that solar system as part of their territory. Is there any explanation for the Kalderan interest?"
"The Kalderans are interested of an ancient artifact that the Kalderans believe proves that Hesperia had once been part of the Kalderan Commune," Dylan explained before standing up. "That ends the briefing. Commander Rhade you and Mr. Harper will leave in one hour. I'll have Rommie bring you a flexi with all the details of your mission."
With that, the senior crewmembers left the briefing room, muttering amongst themselves as they walked out into the corridor.
Colonel Alec Freeman entered Commander Ed Straker's office at S.H.A.D.O. headquarters, located outside of London. "Well are you all ready to leave for Moonbase?" he asked his superior. The American Commander was engrossed in a report he was studying so Freeman leaned on the edge of the table and waited.
After a few moments, Straker closed the cover of the report and held it out toward the colonel. "Yeah I just wanted to give you this latest ufo rincident eport before I left."
"Good I'll study it straight away. Have a safe trip Ed," Freeman remarked as he tucked the report under his right arm.
Straker stood up, straightened his dark brown Nehru jacket and grabbed a briefcase from the top of his desk. "Thanks Alec. I better go find Paul so we can get going."
"Did somebody say my name?" asked Paul Foster when he entered the office. The young man was dressed in a plumb-colored Nehru jacket. Despite their military ranks, many of the S.H.A.D.O. personnel wore civilian clothes, rather than S.H.A.D.O uniforms. The civilian clothes generally consisted of natilly tailored Nehru jackets.
The Commander looked over at dark-haired Foster and responded, "I believe I did mention your name Paul. Are you ready to leave for Moonbase?"
Paul nodded his head as he stood near the door. "Yes sir."
Alec Freeman sat down in the commander's chair and smiled to himself as he watched the two men exit the room. Commander Straker and Colonel Paul Foster were so different in many ways. The commander was in his late 30s with pale blond hair and blue eyes, while Foster was nearly 30 and had dark hair. Personality was where the two men were really different. Commander Ed Straker kept his emotions well hidden, as befitting his Nordic appearance. Paul Foster's emotions were always bubbling beneath the surface and often managed to get the better of the young man.
"Any idea how the aliens plan on attacking Moonbase sir?" Foster inquired as they climbed aboard S.H.A.D.O.'s Lunar Carrier. The Carrier would take them on the first leg of their journey to Moonbase.
"No, the all the data we have isn't specific enough," Straker answered as he took his seat on the Lunar Carrier. "It looks like as usual we're going to have our work cut out for us."
Foster leaned back in his chair and buckled himself in. "And as usual you will manage to figure out in time what the aliens' plans are."
The Commander buckled his own seatbelt as he glanced over at his subordinate. "I'm flattered in your faith in me but you give me too much credit Paul. S.H.A.D.O. has always been a team effort and always will be."
The brunette colonel squirmed slightly in his seat. "I merely meant that you always seem to be able to take the data from all the various computers and other sources and make sense of it."
"It's my job to make sense of the information I'm given," Straker replied matter-of-factly. "Is everything ready for takeoff?" he called out to pilot Lt. Bigby,
From his seat in front of Straker and Foster, Bigby nodded his head as he pushed several button on the console in front of him. "Yes sir. I just completed the pre flight check."
Straker turned his gaze straight ahead as Foster began piloting the Lunar Carrier up into the earth's atmosphere. Once the Lunar Carrier had gotten high enough into Earth's atmosphere, it would release the Lunar Module, which would continue the journey to Moonbase.
Foster and Straker had moved to the Lunar Module in preparation for the separation sequence. The young colonel took the pilot's seat while the Commander took the adjacent seat. The separation sequence was nearly complete when an alien ship appeared suddenly appeared in the distance.
"Looks like we've got a UFO at 3 o'clock high," Foster commented as he kept the alien ship in sight..
"Keep it from getting too close Paul," Straker calmly ordered. "Moonbase will need room to shoot it down."
The Maru had just exited slipstream in the Milky Way galaxy when a squadron of six Drago-Kazov fighter ships greeted them. Eureka Maru's sensors immediately picked up the Nietzschean ships and alerted Rhade in an emotionless AI voice. Rhade was able to take evasive maneuvers and place himself in position to shoot down one of the hostile fighters. One of the Drag-Kazov ships fired from behind, causing the Maru to jerk sharply to the right.
"I better go see what the damage is," Harper remarked as he got up out of his chair and stumbled back to the engine room.
Rhade kept steered the Maru into a left hand bank. "It may get a little rough. I'm gonna have to take some evasive maneuvers."
The engineer quickly grabbed onto the door jam to keep from being thrown to the floor. "Thanks for the heads up, but do you think you could give me a little more warning next time?
"You should be glad I gave you any warning at all Harper," Rhade replied.
Harper didn't bother arguing the point and continued on to the engine room. The Earther coughed as smoke from one of the panels hit his lungs. He coughed several times while waving at the smoke. Harper headed for the slipstream drive to make sure it was wasn't damaged when a sudden maneuver by the Maru sent him flying across the room. The engineer felt his head hit something solid before blacking out.
"I managed to lose the Dragans but I don't know for how long. How are the Maru's engines holding up?" Rhade called out over the ship's intercom only to be greeted by silence. The Nietzschean waited a few second more before engaging the autopilot and getting out of his chair. "Harper if you're playing some kind of game you better think twice," Rhade warned. He wouldn't really do anything to harm the smaller human but the Nietzschean enjoyed teasing his fellow crewmember.
Rhade stepped over one of the Eureka Maru's panels in the corridor that had dislodged during the attack. As soon as he entered the engine room Rhade saw Harper's limp form lying on the deck. The big man kneeled down and turned his friend over for a cursory examination.
Harper had a large gash on his head and small cuts over his face and arms. In addition a lump had appeared near the gash on Harper's forehead. Rhade carried Harper to the medical section of the Maru and laid the younger man on the bed. "You better not die on me Harper," the Nietzschean ordered with severity. "Beka's gonna be mad enough that her precious Eureka Maru's been damaged. She'd kill me if her engineer died too."
Rhade left Harper in medical and returned to the engine room where he began attempting to make repairs. As he checked on the slipstream drive, the Nietzschean begrudgingly had to admire Harper's engineering skill.
After a half hour of repairs, Rhade went to the cockpit and tried to fire up the slipstream drive. The Earther in medical would need to be checked out by a doctor soon. According the map readout on the Maru's console, they were now a slipstream jump from Milky Way galaxy and a Wayist ship that had a medical facility onboard, thanks to the Drago-Kazov attack.
As Rhade fired up the slipstream drive, something in the back of his head told him the sound wasn't what he was used to hearing from the Maru. He pushed the concern to the back of his mind as a slipstream portal was opened. Rhade guided the Maru into it and minutes later was at the turnoff where he would exit slipstream and be at the Milky Way galaxy.
As the Maru exited slipstream an odd-looking ship came towards it, heading into the slipstream portal.