Crossed Over

by t-jumblr

Hoping that a folding-space drive can shorten their voyage home, the crew of Voyager accidentally jumps into another universe. Working with the terrorist Commander Shepard (F), Voyager works to get back to their own universe. Shepard and Liara try to reconsile their relationship after Shepard's death and Liara's becoming the Shadow Broker.

1. Act 1

ACT I

Part 1:

"Captain's Log: Stardate 54212.4

Ever since Lt. Paris' experience with the folding-space drive, he and Lt. Torres have been working to adapt Voyager's warp core to replicate folding space on a larger scale, reducing our long journey into a series of short "jumps." If it succeeds, reaching home will be a matter of months instead of decades. However, Tom tells me that it will be a bumpy ride."

Even though the flickering lights of the bridge, Captain Kathryn Janeway could see her vision blurring. She must have hit her head during the jump, and as always, rubbing her temple didn't seem to help.

"Report," she said to no one in particular.

True to form, Harry was the first to respond from his console, "Decks three through seven reporting minor injuries, long-range sensors, phasers, and a few secondary systems are down. Nothing too serious."

Her questioning continued, "Where are we."

"Can't be sure, Captain," Said Tom, "Without long-range sensors Navigation isn't much help. I think we're still in the Delta Quadrant, but no idea where."

Fantastic. Captain Janeway had hoped, but in the back of her mind she knew they'd wind up still in the Delta Quadrant. Speaking of mind:

"Are you alright?" Asked Chakotay from his position at her side.

"I'm fine. I just bumped my head during the jump. I'm sure it's nothing." She responded.

"Perhaps you should let the doctor take a look at that."

"I'll be fine. A little sleep, a little coffee, I'll be right as rain."

"Captain," Tuvok interjected. He spoke without looking up from his console. He always waited until he was halfway done before looking up. No one minded. "Short-range sensors are picking up a small vessel off our starboard bow." He looked up, "It appears to be disabled."

"On screen" she said, once again rubbing her eyes. By the time she looked up, the rest of the bridge crew was already mesmerized. She stood up and moved to the center of the room to get a closer look. She spoke without breaking her concentration on the view-screen, "Harry…"

"Oh…Uh…" Harry snapped back to the bridge. "Our sensors are having trouble penetrating their hull: some kind of subspace interference emanating from their drive core. It looks like they still have life support, but not much else. There are around thirty people on board. Mostly humanoid…I think…their life signs are faint."

"Disease?"

"Can't be sure, ma'am."

"Chakotay," Janeway began to order, "Take an away team. Send The Doctor in first to make sure it's safe. I'm not interested with bringing a plague aboard." Tom, Harry, and Chakotay moved toward the turbo-lift. Janeway continued, "Offer them whatever help you can. I want you to find out who they are, where they're from…" From the turbo-lift Chakotay looked back at the screen, "And how did a ship with English on it end up in the Delta Quadrant."

As the turbo-lift doors closed, Chakotay looked back at the screen. He could still make out the word painted on the side of the small but sleek ship…NORMANDY.

Part 2

"Wow, Shepard. You look…different." Liara said, standing in the entryway of the Captain's Cabin of the Cerberus ship SR2 Normandy. The asari was right; Shepard did look different. Instead of her usual "form follows function" approach to appearance, Shepard had exhibited effort to "look nice" for Liara's visit. She wore a black cocktail dress and heels. Her red hair was taken up in such a way that it didn't look like much effort was put into the style, but Shepard knew that it was much more difficult than it should have been. Filleting a Husk? Simple. Blowing up a Blood Pack Pyro with a well placed Incendiary round? Piece-of-cake. Up-do? Impossible. Unfortunately for Shepard, she didn't look comfortable when dressed up. To Liara she still looked beautiful, but awkward.

"Is it too much?" Asked Shepard. Liara's teasing may have struck a vulnerable nerve. For Liara, looking pristine was an easy feat. Through her upbringing, Liara had developed an heir of sophistication. From the moment Shepard met her, Liara had always looked prim, proper, and pretty. Even when conjuring a black hole with her biotic mind, or throwing a Krogan around the room, Liara always looked well put together.

"You look nice. I merely meant that this isn't the way you usually look. I like it." Liara reassured her.

" Well," Shepard started, "It's not every day I get a visit from the Shadow Broker." Liara had tried to forget. Liara never enjoyed being an information broker. She didn't enjoy digging into people's lives without their knowledge. She hated intimidating people. Using people. She desperately missed her archeological studies. Digging into dead people's lives was okay, they didn't mind. She became an information broker on Illium because she had to. To find Feron. To find Shepard. But at least on Illium she was able to step away from it; she could go to her apartment and take a breath, surrounded by her Prothean artifacts and memories. Not as the Shadow Broker. There, an information broker isn't what she did, it's what she is. There's no escape from it, except on the Normandy. For a short while. With her.

"Well" Liara started, "It's not every day I get an invitation." Liara moved toward her and put her hands behind Shepard's neck, resting her arms on Shepard's shoulders. Shepard placed her hands on Liara's waist. "I don't think I've ever seen you in a dress." Liara said. "Where did you get it?"

"Kasumi needed help with a…mission…on Beken…" Shepard started.

"The Donavan Hock heist?" Liara interrupted her. In parts of her mind, Shepard always wondered what it would be like to be with someone who would finish your sentences. She never imagined it would be quite so…specific. Though, when you're dating the Shadow Broker, you don't really get to be the bearer of surprises.

"Yes. The heist. Kasumi said I needed to look formal, so she gave me this dress. It's been collecting dust in my locker since."

Liara giggled, "Shepard, I never thought you were the type of woman to wear a stolen dress."

Shepard popped up, "The dress is stolen? The dress is stolen! I had no idea! How did I not put that together?" Shepard continued until Liara moved her hands from the nape of Shepard's back to her cheeks.

"Shepard," she said, "stop." The two moved in to kiss.

"FfwwwaBOOM" a loud boom rattled the entire ship as a bright light flashed through the skylight in the cabin. Shepard let out a half scream-half choke as all the muscles in her neck, arms, and legs tensed. She fell to the floor, lifeless.

Liara, intertwined with her, tried to catch her, but fell to the ground as well. She held Shepard's head close as she talked into the comm, "Dr. Chawkwas! There's been an emergency! We need you in the captain's cabin!"

…no answer…

"Dr. Chawkwas? Can you hear me?"

…

"Dr. Solus? Do you read? There's been a medical emergency!"

…

"Dr. Solus?"

…

"Garrus?"

…

"Anyone?"

Part 3

The Doctor beamed onto what appeared to be the Normandy's bridge. As soon as he fully manifested he performed a visual scan of the area. There were only two types of ships in The Doctor's experience: absolutely dirty ships, and immaculately clean ships. He was relieved to learn that this was the latter. The ship was just as small on the outside as it was on the inside, though a long hallway leading to what he assumed was the helm made it appear a bit bigger. As he looked around he didn't seen any sign of disease. There were a few crewmembers scattered around a large triangular console in the center of the room. They were all on the floor, in heaps. It appeared that they all fell in the middle of their duties. This hinted to The Doctor that this wasn't a disease that rendered the crew unconscious, unless it is one doozy of a disease.

He pulled his medical tri-corder out of its pouch and began to scan the air: nitrogen, oxygen, nothing out of the ordinary. No traces of pathogens outside of a mild influenza, certainly nothing capable of instantly incapacitating an entire crew. He scanned the closest person to him: A young woman with short, bright red hair. No significant traces of bacteria, viruses, or parasites. It appeared that she was just asleep. He tried to jostle the sleeping woman to wake her, but she did not even stir.

He tapped the badge on his chest, "Doctor to Voyager. There's no infection, it looks like they all just fell asleep. It's all clear here, you're safe to board."

"Thank you, doctor, we'll see you soon." Chakotay said from Voyager's transporter room.

The doctor waited and looked around. His crewmates did not materialize after a few seconds, which seemed like an eternity.

"Doctor to Chakotay, did something go wrong? Where are you?"

Chakotay answered, "The subspace interference is playing tricks with the transporter lock. We had to beam into their cargo bay on deck 5. I'll get back to you as soon as we have a plan of action."

"Okay. Don't take too long." The doctor glanced around, a little spooked by a ship filled with sleeping people. Just as he was about to continue his tri-corder scans of the crew, the Doctor thought he heard some shuffling noises coming from the next room.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" The Doctor moved anxiously to the door. Using another holographic interface he opened the door and walked into…

Tom, Harry, and Chakotay explored the shuttle bay. There were two shuttles in the hanger, but no people.

Tom reached the elevator, "Come look at this. Looks like there are four other decks: engineering, the crew deck, something called The CIC, and the captain's cabin. If we want to get some answers maybe we should split up? Each take a deck?"

Chakotay resisted, "I don't think splitting up on a strange ship is a good idea."

Tom said, "Doc just said everyone is asleep. Maybe when they wake up they won't want to help us out. Why not get as many answers as we can as fast as we can, before they wake up?"

"What do you think, Harry?"

"Tom has a good point." Harry said sheepishly, "We have an opportunity. Perhaps we can get the answers we need and get out, avoid violating the Prime Directive."

"Looks like I'm outvoted." Chakotay joked. "Doctor, where are you?"

There was no response.

"Doctor. Do you hear me?" The three away party members listened intently. Maybe Tom's "split up" idea wasn't as good as…

"Oh, sorry. I am here." The Doctor responded.

"Why didn't you respond?"

"I just discovered the most amazing science lab I've ever seen! This place is fantastic!" A sigh of relief from the away team.

"That's great, Doctor."

"I'm serious. Give me enough time in this lab and I can cure any disease imaginable! I can't believe this lab was empty!"

"You're on the second deck, correct?"

"I believe so, Yes."

"Okay. Stay there and investigate the crewmembers. See if you can discover what happened to them."

"Aye, sir."

Chakotay turned to Harry and Tom, "Harry, you head to engineering. See if you can find the origin of the subspace interference. Tom, you check out the captain's cabin. See if there are any answers there. It looks pretty small, so when you finish go down to the second deck and help The Doctor. I'll explore the crew deck to see if there's anything to learn there. Any questions?"

"Yeah," said Tom, "Why didn't you tell us this in the lift?

Part 4

Embrace eternity.

Shepard felt a pulse shoot through her entire body. It moved like a bolt from her head to her finger tips and toes and back again. She gasped for air and sat up, shooting out of Liara's lap. "What happened?"

"You fell unconscious. I had to give you a telepathic jolt to wake you." Liara responded.

"Don't ever do that ever again. Unless I am awake…and we're alone…then do it as much as possible." Shepard said, still gasping for hair.

Liara smiled. If Shepard can joke, she'll be alright. Shepard continued, "What's going on?"

"The entire crew was knocked unconscious by some sort of energy surge, and it gets worse…We've been boarded."

"We what?"

Liara moved toward Shepard's personal console and opened video feeds from around the ship. "The first just appeared on deck two. Three others appeared in the shuttle bay. It looks like those three getting on the elevator."

"Thankfully it's so slow. Is there anyone else in the crew that is awake?"

"I'm not seeing anyone. EDI is offline or else I would ask her to use her sensors."

"How did you..?"

"I acquired a temporal implant when I first arrived on Illium. It prevents me from being rendered unconscious in just a situation."

"That's some damn good foresight." Shepard stood, she was still a bit off balance and needed to support her weight on the wall of her aquarium, but she stood. "It's up to us to take back the ship."

"Do you think that's entirely fair?" Liara asked

"Doesn't matter. We have to do it."

"I meant for them." The women smiled. This isn't what they thought they'd be doing, but at least they'd be doing it together. "Do you need help?"

"No, I am fine." She tried to stand without the support of the wall. She wobbled. Before she fell, Liara ran to her side and caught her. "I will be fine." Liara held Shepard up as she took off her high heels. "That should help."

Just as Shepard was able to stand on her own, the door to her cabin opened. The women met eyes with a human. Blonde hair, tall, skinny, and wearing a cloth uniform without shielding. The three looked at each other for a moment, stunned.

He started to speak. Liara shot her arm forward and enveloped him in a stasis field before he got the chance to utter a sound. "I am sorry, Shepard, I wasn't sure what to do."

"No. You did the right thing." Shepard walked toward the man, frozen inside the field. His eyes darted around the room. "Liara, you have more intel than anyone. Do you recognize this uniform? This symbol?" Shepard indicated the pin on the man's chest.

"No. I've never seen it before."

"So now we have two objectives. Take back our ship and learn more about our attackers. Take down the field." Liara blinked at the man, and the field came down. With one swift blow to the side of his head, Shepard him knocked out. "I need to board their vessel." Shepard reached behind her, trying to reach the zipper of her dress. "Liara, can you help me get out of this dress?""Shepard, do you really think now is the time to…" Shepard glared at Liara. "Oh. Right. Of course. Sorry."

Liara helped Shepard get out of her dress.

Part 5

The elevator doors opened to reveal…another door. Seems like an inefficient waste of space. From the looks of the ship's schematics the captain's cabin wasn't much bigger than Tom's cabin on voyager. If they had put some sort of locking mechanism on the lift you could use that as your front door. You could add, what, at least fifteen square feet to the cabin?

Tom looked at his tri-corder and took some readings: two life signs inside the cabin. He stepped inside the cabin, still looking at his tri-corder. The life signs were stronger than he thought. He looked up and saw…he wasn't quite sure what he saw. There were two women, one human, one alien. Both were wearing gowns and were embracing in the middle of the room. It seemed like they were on a date. Oh, to be a fly on the wall.

Was one the captain? If so, which one?

Tom realized he was staring and began to speak. Before he could finish the word "I," Tom saw a bright flash, and everything went blue. Tom couldn't move or speak. In his panic Tom saw that his sight was refracted, like opening your eyes in a swimming pool. His hearing suffered a similar phenomenon.

His eyes darted around the room, looking for the origin of the field. He couldn't see it. He realized that even if he found it he couldn't do anything about it. He shifted his gaze toward the women. The human, a redhead, was much closer now. She was in his personal space; in his face. She was talking to the alien, but their speech was muddled. He couldn't understand what they were saying. While she was talking her eyes never left his. Even through the refraction her gaze was strong. Determined.

Suddenly the blue disappeared. Tom could move again. Before he could do anything he saw another flash. Then blackness.

Chakotay entered the crew deck. Why was it dark? The lights were working in the docking bay. The deck was utter blackness with a few bright spots of color here and there emanating from holographic interfaces on the doors and consoles. Chakotay turned on his flashlight and strapped it to his arm. He started to visually explore the space. He walked away from the elevator. He saw that most the deck was behind the elevator. This seemed to be the social center of the ship. Many crewmembers were collapsed around the large table in the middle of the room. Chakotay was careful to step over the people. He couldn't shake the feeling that…He pulled out his phaser.

"Whoever you are, I'm not here to hurt you." Chakotay said

"Funny. That's exactly what you are doing." The raspy voice said back to him.

Chakotay quickly spun around to face the origin of the voice. "What do you mean?"

"Look around you." The voice was behind him again.

Chakotay did not know if this was true, or if this was some kind of ambush. He held out an olive branch, "If this is true, I apologize. I'd like to help you, if you will let me."

"Interesting. You incapacitate an entire ship, and then offer help? You are either talented pirates, or incompetent philanthropists. In either case, I cannot allow this to continue."

Chakotay heard a light "thud" on the floor behind him. He got a shot off with his phaser, which missed but helped illuminate the deck. His opponent moved fast. Too fast. Too fast to see. All Chakotay saw was his dark, shimmering eyes. Within seconds he felt an impact on his chest just below his right shoulder which caused his arm to go numb and drop the phaser, a second impact on the other side of his chest which numbed his left arm, and a blow under his rib cage on his right side that caused the muscles on his side to instantly contract, causing him to fall over. He couldn't move.

"I've been instructed to keep you alive, so have no fear. If you retaliate, I will be forced to kill you. Please do not make me."

Harry entered the engineering deck. Right outside of the elevator was a window into the docking bay. He could see the two shuttles: a shuttle that matched the markings of the ship and another shuttle of an entirely different design.

"Okay. What's first." Harry saw four doors. Two for engineering, one for port cargo, and one for starboard cargo. "Door number one, number two, or number three…how about number four." Harry went into one of the doors marked "Engineering." After the short hallway Harry walked into the engineering room, which is remarkably smaller than Voyager's, then again, the ship itself is remarkably smaller. Harry noticed three crew members in the room: two humans, a man and a woman; and an alien. The alien wore a purple environmental suit. Why? Life support was online, why would she need the environmental suit? Life support is online. Harry then looked at the drive core. It was a massive sphere. Much bigger than Voyager's warp core. If it is as powerful as Voyager's warp core this ship must be ridiculously fast. Could they hit warp 10? Harry took out his tri-corder and began to take data. Looks like it isn't as powerful as Voyagers. Not really. They could travel faster than the speed of light, but not much. Than how did they get out here in the Delta Quadrant? This is the source of the subspace interference, but Harry couldn't tell how. What was core doing that was interfering with Voyager's sensors? Harry knew there's more to this ship, and he'd love to study it, but it would take longer than he's willing to devote to it at this point.

Harry stepped over the aliens and out of engineering. "Lets see…port or starboard?" Eh, I'm closer to port. Harry opened the door to the port cargo. There wasn't much cargo. The only thing he saw was a large open capsule. In front of the capsule was another alien. He knelt down next to the alien to get a closer look. This one wasn't like the alien in engineering. He was very large and reptilian, with rock like crests on his forehead and a large hump on his back. Harry wondered what his function was. As he began to stand back up he heard a clicking noise, and felt cold metal on his head.

"You are lucky, he would kill you without hesitation," said a hurried voice. Harry slowly turned to see a small amphibious alien holding a weapon. "I, however," the alien's large eyes narrowed, "haven't decided."

Part 6

Shepard put on the man's uniform. It was baggy, unshielded, and completely unsuitable for combat. Though, it was comfortable. She wondered if that was really important enough to risk the life of the wearer. She would have to be careful if this plan went bad, and, considering many of Shepard's much better plans had resulted in disaster, it was a definite possibility.

"What do you think?" Shepard flippantly asked Liara.

"It isn't properly fitted," She responded, in full business mode, "Assuming this is a military organization you might stand out. It might be beneficial to acquire the uniform of someone closer to your shape."

"I'll be sure to maul the first woman I see." She paused, "Liara, I don't like this plan."

"It'll be fine. If you keep your head down you should be able to get in, get the information you need, and get out without attracting too much attention."

"Not that part. I'm fine with that. What I'm not okay with is leaving you to handle the ones on Normandy."

"You don't think I can handle it?"

Shepard took her hands, "You know that's not it. I just…"

Liara moved her hand to Shepard's cheek. Shepard, without thinking, leaned into the hand. "I never told you what happened when you…after the first Normandy? Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

"You could always flay them with your mind…" As soon as the words escaped her lips, Shepard knew she should have left well enough alone.

Liara took her hand away, "I could." The women gazed at each other for a heavily silent moment.

Neither one could honestly say that they knew what they were doing anymore. Their relationship was so drastically differant it was two years ago. From the moment they met, Shepard and Liara's relationship had been saturated with an innocent curiosity. Both women were fascinated by the other. They yearned to learn more about the other, and this curiosity turned into affection, which turned into love. Since taking command of the Normandy SR 2, a ship so close, yet so far, to her home, Shepard has on multiple occasion stared out the window above her bed and imagined settling down with Liara. A home on a planet. With her. And kids. But she would always look at her aquarium and think "I can't keep fish alive without help. What good would I be with kids?" Still, the thought made her smile.

But now, after reuniting with Liara on Illium, That dream seems even further away. The love is still there, but so too is a frustration. Liara had transformed while Shepard was gone. Before the Collectors first attacked, Liara had managed to maintain a semblance of her innocence. She still saw the galaxy as a relatively good place. After all, no matter what evil they came across, Shepard was there to counter balance it, and she was absolutely, undeniably good.

However, without Shepard and her mother, Liara was forced to experience life on her own, and she started to see the galaxy as a menacing place. She saw her former self as naive and childish. While she never wavered in her love of the supposedly late Shepard, she questioned her devotion as dependence. She resolved to never depend on anyone in a way that might hinder her perception of the way things are. Now that Shepard is back, Liara was both found and lost. She wanted desperately to be as hopelessly devoted to Shepard as before, but didn't know how.

This philosophical change in Liara weighed on Shepard. To her, she went to sleep and Liara was warm, caring, and optimistic. She woke up and Liara, while still well intentioned, had become cold and calculating. Shepard, in all aspects of her life, identifies as a protector, and now the one person she desperately wanted to protect didn't seem to need or want it, which made Shepard wonder, "what else can I offer?"

"Why the hell did you say that?" Shepard thought as she pulled away and walked to the door of her cabin. "Say something, you idiot! Anything! 'I'm sorry,' 'I've missed you,' 'I care about you,' anything! Come on!" She silently walked to the door and opened it. Before walking to the elevator she turned around, lovingly glanced back at Liara and bravely said the most loving, emotional thing she could muster, "Liara…keep your head down."

The Door closed.

Part 7

The Doctor knelt down and scanned his third patient. This orange haired woman showed the same symptoms of the others. Her vitals were steady and strong. She had no noteworthy viruses or infections. Her brain was perfectly active. If he didn't know better, The Doctor would say she was asleep. It's as if entire crew just fell asleep at their stations. He played with his tri-corder a bit to see if there was anything he was missing. He heard the elevator open behind him. One of the other crew members must have finished his deck. The doctor decided to continue his tests; he has learned that if his shipmate needs anything, than they will bring it up themselves. He wasn't expecting what he heard.

"Put the devise down and step away." A woman said. A woman? There were no women on this away mission! He turned around and saw a tall, muscular woman in an ill-fitting Starfleet uniform pointing a phaser directly at him. Her dark red hair was disheveled, but her face was focused on him. The Doctor did not recognize this crewman, a lieutenant from the looks of her pips, but he put down the tri-corder and stood up.

She continued, "Hands up. Slowly." The doctor said nothing. Was there something wrong with her memory? Who was she? The doctor deduced the obvious, this person is not a crew member. Where did she get the uniform and phaser? Tom! "Where is the Lieutenant?"

"He's fine. For now. Put your hands up." She curtly responded.

The doctor raised his hands and rolled his eyes. "You should know that you are wasting your time. The phaser won't hurt me. I'm a hologram."

"A VI? Not on my ship. Not without me knowing."

The doctor's arms dropped to his side in indignation. "A VI? I beg your pardon, but I am no mere virtual intelligence. I have a robust program, I am fully self aware and make my own decisions."

The woman looked puzzled. Suddenly, orange holographic shapes formed around her left arm. She held her hand up to the Doctor. "Well, looks like you're telling the truth. But how…"she paused, "That thing on your arm. That's remote emitter, isn't it?"

The Doctor covered the mobile emitter with his hand, "No! That's nothing. Why?"

The woman holstered the phaser and poked at the orange holograms on her arm, "Okay, here's how things are going to work. You're going to tell me everything I want to know, or I'm going to start playing around with your program."

"I most certainly will not! Until I see my crewmates, you will get no help from me!"

"There's a lot of data here. It would be terrible if I accidentally deleted something."

"You're bluffing, there's no way you can hack into my program. My emitter is…"

"Look at your arm." The Doctor looked at his left arm. It was wildly flapping around through the air.

"What? How are you doing that?" The arm stopped.

"Okay, now that we know I'm in, how about some cooperation?"

Part 8

Shepard sat on the stairs to the Galaxy Map rubbing her eyes as the hologram stood still in front of her. "Okay, let's run through this again. You are 'the doctor.' You have no name. And you are from…"

"The Federation starship Voyager." He interrupted. Again. If she didn't need answers, and if she were good enough of a hacker to find it, Shepard would delete his mouth.

"The Federation is..?"

"The United Federation of Planets."

"Which is?"

"In the Alpha Quadrant."

Shepard was getting frustrated. "The Delta Quadrant of what?"

The doctor, also frustrated, repeated the answer again, "The galaxy."

"Liara, do you read? Any of this ringing a bell?"

Liara spoke to Shepard in her hidden earpiece, "No. I've never heard of this Federation or Delta Quadrant before."

The hologram interrupted…again… "Listen, if you come back to the ship with me and my crewmates, I am sure the Captain would…"

"Not going to happen." Shepard said.

"Commander," said Liara in her ear, "it might benefit us to board the other ship. It would give us a chance to learn more about them."

"Liara, are you crazy? Why would I give myself up to a ship that knocked out my entire crew?"

"I'm not suggesting you give yourself up."

Shepard groaned, "Tell you what," She said to the hologram, "I'll go with you. But the other three intruders stay here. I'm not going into hostile territory without some collateral."

"No deal. How will I know that they are safe?"

She put her middle and index fingers to her ear, "Liara?"

Liara's answer came over the intercom, "The other intruders are being held in the medical bay. They are all unconscious, but unharmed. I am here with Mordin and Thane. Mordin is working on a way to wake up the crew that doesn't involve giving them a neural shock."

"Well, how did they wake up?"

"Mordin had his omni-tool set to shock him awake if he ever fell unconscious without setting it on a timer. As soon as he woke up and heard people moving around the ship, he woke up Thane, also with a neural shock."

"Ah. Until you get word from me, none of the prisoners are to be harmed. Understood?"

"Of course."

The Shepard shot a look to the hologram, "All I want to do is talk."

"Okay. Fine. I'll take you to Voyager. But leave the phaser here. You obviously don't need it to harm me. I won't take you if you can harm my crew.

"Okay." Shepard dropped the phaser. The hologram tapped the symbol on his chest, "Doctor to Voyager… Are the transporters working?"

Shepard heard a voice emanating from the symbol, "Yes, sir."

The hologram glared at Shepard, "Two to beam up."

"Two?"

"Yes…two. I will explain when I get on board." Suddenly, everything went blue.

When the blue dissipated, Shepard was standing on a platform in strange room. On her right was the hologram, in front of her was one man behind a console. Before she had time to think, Shepard pulled the emitter off the hologram's arm, disintegrating him, and threw it at the man. The emitter hit him in the eye, surprising him and causing him to flinch. He looked up just in time to see Shepard sliding over the console, delivering her boot to his head. He lay motionless on the ground.

Shepard spoke into her earpiece as she bent down to grab the hologram's emitter, "Liara? I'm in."

Part 9

"Captain," Tuvok said, still looking at his console, "The doctor and another member of the away team just transported back to Voyager, but I'm not getting a report from the transporter room."

Janeway spoke to the room, "Captain to the Doctor…" No response. "Doctor, can you read me?" There was no response. She turned to Harry's station, which was now occupied by a crewman, "Are communications down now, too?"

"No ma'am. Communications are operating normally."

The captain turned back to Tuvok, "Head down there and see what's going on." Tuvok nodded and entered the turbo lift.

"Deck 4" he commanded, and with the whir of the turbolift, Tuvok started his investigation. As he left the lift, he passed an officer he did not recognize. She had red hair, and, as she entered the turbolift, Tuvok noticed her uniform was not fitting properly. If he were not already occupied he would have stopped her and addressed the issue with her uniform. He did not have time. He told himself that he would have to remind himself as to who she was, and send her a memo regarding uniform etiquette.

Upon entering transporter room 1, Tuvok found the transporter operator incapacitated. He rushed to the operator to check his vitals, he was breathing and had a pulse. After reporting the medical emergency through his communicator, he searched for the doctor's mobile emitter.

"Computer, locate the doctor." Tuvok commanded.

The computer responded, "The doctor is not on Voyager."

"Did the doctor transport to Voyager?"

"Affirmative."

"Did the doctor transport off Voyager?"

"Negative." Tuvok had to think, if he transported here, but did not transport away, than logic dictates that he is on board. Perhaps he transported here and was then deactivated.

"Can you locate the doctor's mobile emitter?"

"The mobile emitter is in Jefferies tube A-14."

"So," Tuvok thought, "he was deactivated and is currently being carried. By whom?"

Tuvok walked to the opening of the Jefferies tubes. He crawled through the confined space, keeping an eye out for possible ambushes. He decided not to bring a security team, fearing that the site of a security team would encourage whomever is carrying the doctor to do something to harm the emitter. Tuvok wanted the situation to remain calm and controlled. As he crawled he continually asked the computer on the location of the doctor. It seemed that the person who was carrying the doctor was going to the lower decks. Tuvok hypothesized that the perpetrator was heading to engineering or the shuttle bay. To avoid raising a panic, Tuvok decided not to alert anyone to the existence of the suspect. He did, however, ask the crewman running the shuttle bay to postpone any shuttle launches until he gives his authorization.

After a few minutes of crawling, Tuvok found the emitter lying on the catwalk. Tuvok picked up the emitter and carried it to a junction so he could stand. He held up the emitter and reactivated the doctor.

"Please state the nature of the…Wait a minute…Where am I?" The doctor asked.

"You are in the Jefferies tubes between decks 9 and 10. You were deactivated and your emitter has been carried through the ship." Tuvok said in his normal uncomforting tone.

"What? The last thing I remember was beaming into the transporter room!"

"Is there any information you can provide on the identity of your mystery currier?" The doctor thought for a moment, his memories are always fuzzy when he is unexpectedly deactivated. "Yes! Someone from the other ship! She took me hostage and forced me to bring her to Voyager!"

"What does she look like?"

"She's in a Starfleet uniform, human, about this tall, red hair…" The doctor didn't have to finish, Tuvok already had a face in mind.

Tuvok tapped his communicator, "All security teams, we have an intruder alert. Wearing a Starfleet uniform, red hair, and appears to be a human female. Last seen in the Jeffries tubes between decks 9 and 10." He shot a look at the doctor before heading out of the tubes. He decided to follow his hunch and head for engineering.

"Wait, Tuvok, what am I supposed to do?" the doctor asked.

"Head back to sick bay and prepare a report. We need to know more about what happened on the away mission." He walked toward the turbo lift.

While on the lift he received a message from B'elanna Torres, "Torres to Lt. Commander Tuvok, I need a security team outside of engineer…" Torres was cut off.

"Lt. Torres, are you there? What happened?"

After a short pause she responded, seemingly winded "I was just attacked by a woman wearing Tom's uniform. I didn't recognize…"

"Computer, isolate Tom Paris. I need a security team to engineering immediately, I will be there soon." As soon as the lift doors opened Tuvok ran out toward engineering, phaser drawn. He came to the section of the corridor that was sectioned off by force fields. The intruder looked toward Tuvok, smirked, and raised her hands.

Part 10

"Liara, I'm in." Shepard said into her earpiece as she picked up the hologram emitter.

"That was fast?" Liara responded in her ear.

"They seem to be able to instantaneously teleport people. I'm in a room on their ship."

"Can you find a console? Perhaps we can learn more about the ship."

Shepard stood up and scanned the console in the room with her omni tool, "It looks like the one in here isn't fully networked with the rest of the ship; it could be that none of them are."

"Unlikely. It could be that this console isn't because it has a specific purpose. Try going to a higher traffic area, like a hallway. You may be able to find a more useful console there."

"I'm not thrilled about scanning a public terminal."

"You can do it, honey."

Shepard walked out of the transporter room. She found a console with a map of the ship just outside. "This looks like it will help a little better. Hold on." Shepard looked side to side to check for onlookers. When the coast was clear she quickly scanned the console with her omni tool. "Did that help."

"A little. It told us where to go for information. If you want answers you should either go to the bridge or engineering."

"I'm open to suggestions."

"Engineering is much bigger. It might be easier to get information without detection if you go there."

"Engineering it is. Lead the way." Following Liara's instructions, Shepard walked to the elevator. As she approached she passed a crew member. He was wearing a similar uniform to the one Shepard commandeered, except the red section was a tan color. What did the color signify? Rank? Specialization? Where his ears pointed? Shepard did a bit of a double take, but he was already gone. She walked into the elevator and looked for the elevator control.

"There's no interface." She realized.

"What?" Liara asked.

"There's no interface. There are no elevator controls."

"Perhaps there is some sort of biometric scanner to prevent intruders from moving about the ship."

"Shit." Shepard stormed out of the elevator, "Is there another way?"

"There are some small passageways that connect the decks. Though, you're going to have to crawl."

"Show me the way." Liara led Shepard to the entrance to the tubes. Shepard crawled through them, heading down to main engineering. After a while of crawling, she heard a soft clanging noise. Shepard paused and looked behind her, but didn't see anything. She kept moving down.

"Okay. Here we go." She opened the hatch to main engineering. The room was huge, bigger than the space housing the drive core on the Normandy: multiple levels, lots of engineers, and a big cylinder housing some sort of plasma in the middle of the room. Everyone seemed to be preoccupied and the feel of the room was very hurried. Perhaps something wasn't working correctly?

Shepard found an unoccupied console on the opposite side of the cylinder from the entrance and scanned it with her omni tool. She was unable to make out the symbols on the console in the ship, so she read from the tool directly.

"This can't be right." She exclaimed.

"What is it?" Liara asked.

"They don't have a mass effect core."

"What?"

"Their ship is powered by an energy emanating from a crystal. Not a mass effect reaction…"

"But that's impossible. How could they use the mass relays without a mass effect core?"

"They can't. There's nothing here about mass relays here at all. Looks like what they have is basically similar to a really efficient FTL drive."

"Then how did they get out here? They're human, right? From Earth? We're way to far from earth to make it with FTL."

"I don't know. I haven't been hassled at all. The ship is pretty massive. I'm going to look around and see if I can't find something that tells me a bit more. I'll send you what I've gotten so far."

"I can direct you to a nearby astrometrics lab."

"I have no idea what that means, but it sounds important. Lead the way." Shepard deactivated her omni tool and walked out of engineering. She was careful to not make eye contact with anyone on the way out. Soon after she walked out of the massive engineering doors, she heard the doors open once more.

"Hey, wait." A woman's voice came from behind her. Shepard stopped and turned around, nonchalantly as possible, "yes?" The woman approached. She was wearing the tan version of the uniform. She had hair a similar length of Shepard's, but had a line of ridges running up her forehead. She reminded Shepard a bit of a Krogan.

"What are you doing?"

Shepard had to lie, which was something she was finding herself doing much more often recently, "I was running a diagnostic."

"A diagnostic? On what?"

"Helm control," Shepard said, trying her hardest to not say it as if it were a question.

"Helm control? Who are you?"

"I'm…"

The woman tapped her chest and cut Shepard off, "Torres to Paris, What's the big idea of…" As she said this, the words echoed on a slight delay through the emblem on Shepard's Chest. The woman was now truly puzzled. And angry. "Torres to Lt. Commander Tuvok, I need a security team outside of engineer…"

As soon as she heard "security team" Shepard knew she had to disappear. She tried to push the woman against the wall and cover her mouth. The woman bit Shepard's had, causing her palm to bleed a small bit.

Shepard had underestimated her, wouldn't happen again. Shepard decked the woman across the cheek. The woman stumbled back, but didn't lose her footing. Shepard threw another punch, which was ducked. The woman connected with Shepard's ribcage. Shepard regretted not having her armor as she feigned defeat.

The woman straightened her back, letting down her guard. Shepard exploded, her fist connecting with her stomach. The woman fell to the ground. Shepard moved away as nonchalantly as she could.

Shepard turned the corner toward the entrance to the tunnels. "Buzzt," Shepard felt a shock as she suddenly hit a hard kinetic shield. She turned to run, "buzzt. She hit another one. She was trapped.

"Goddamnit." She said. She should have seen this coming.

"Shepard, what's happening? What's wrong?" Liara asked.

"I'm trapped." Shepard responded as two men wearing tan uniforms ran up, beam weapons drawn.

"Thane and I are coming to get you."

Shepard stopped her, "No. Wait. I don't think I'm in danger yet." She turned to face a third man in a tan uniform, the man with the pointed ears she saw earlier. She put her hands up, "I may finally get some answers."

Part 10

Janeway stormed into the brig. She was furious that the away team hadn't yet been recovered. Over the years she had become very protective of everyone in her crew. They had become a family, and some of her family was missing. She was going to find out why.

Entering the room she saw the brig's console operator and Lt. Commander Tuvok. Behind the force field sat the intruder. She sat on the bench, arms crossed, watching the crewmembers in the room. To Janeway, the fact that she was wearing a Starfleet uniform added salt to the wound. Janeway went to Tuvok.

"Report. What have you learned?"

"Not much. When we arrived here she demanded to see you. She hasn't responded to any questioning. She has remained motionless since arriving." Janeway glared at the woman sitting on the bench. The woman glared back. They tried to get a read on the other. Size each other up.

"I'm Captain Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager. To whom am I talking?" The woman didn't answer. She continued to read the situation.

"Captain," Tuvok pulled Janeway to the side, "I would like your permission to perform a mind-meld."

"A mind meld?"

"She refuses to cooperate. It may be the only way to learn about the status of the away team. I have exhausted every other option."

Janeway hesitated. She always felt uneasy when Tuvok requested to use a mind meld. She wasn't comfortable allowing him to enter the mind of someone. Even though Starfleet did allow for the use of mind melds in criminal investigations, she always felt it was overreaching, but lives were at stake, and she needed to get her family back. "Do it."

Tuvok nodded at the crewman at the controls, the force field buzzed. Tuvok stepped through and it buzzed behind him. He spoke to the prisoner, "I am going to perform a mind meld. This telepathic connection will better allow us to communicate. Clear your mind." Tuvok knelt down and reached out his hand. Before he could touch her face, the woman grabbed his wrist. Tuvok was surprised at her grip.

"There's only one person allowed inside my mind. And it's NOT you." She pushed his hand away. Tuvok stepped back.

"It seems you are a bit more talkative." Janeway said.

"I learn more from watching than talking. You treat your prisoners very well. Better than the asari."

"Who are you? And where is my crew."

"My name is Commander Shepard of the Normandy SR 2." She waited for a reaction, and was thrown when there wasn't one. "Your crew members are perfectly safe and will be returned unharmed."

"Why the sudden change of heart?"

"For one, you didn't harm me. Besides the attempt to violate my mind." Shepard glanced at Tuvok, "And for another, I don't think you all are from around here."

The captain responded, "What tells you that?"

"Well, one, you have no mass effect core. Two, even though you appear to be military, I don't recognize your uniforms which don't seem to be combat ready, as they don't provide any armor or shields. And three..." She lifted her left hand, which suddenly had orange geometric shapes glowing around it. She hit a holographic "button" and blue electricity emanated from her hand, deactivating the force field, "…you didn't disable my omni-tool before imprisoning me." She held her hands in the air, as Tuvok and the security officer already had their weapons drawn. "I'm a little tired of talking at the end of a gun. What do you say we start over?"

ACT II