"Captain, I think you should see this."

Picard rose from his command chair and joined his Helm officer Lieutenant Commander Tsu at her console at the front of the bridge. He leaned over and watched the dizzying array of lights change colors and patterns in an almost musical composition. Commander Tsu looked up at the Captain over her shoulder. She had been here on the Enterprise before, almost ten years ago and even now, with many years more experience under her belt, she still felt nervous in Picard's presence. He was such a great man.

"Captain," Tsu started, "I'm getting very strange readings on the long-range sensors."

Picard looked back at his Security Officer Worf who nodded his head. He had the same readings.

"Put it on the screen" and Picard looked up to see a blue-white vortex of energy swirl as it aimed its massive maw at them. "What is it?" Picard asked.

Commander Tsu quickly punched several more buttons and finally looked up in resignation.

"I've never seen anything like it, sir. I can tell you this, it's moving toward us and it's accelerating. It will make contact in less than a minute."

"Change course to avoid it, Commander."

Tsu punched up several commands on the console, and then turned white.

"It's changing course with us, Captain. Nothing I do seems to help."

"Red Alert!" Picard barked out. Loud alarm klaxons screamed and bathed the Bridge in red lights as the defensive shields whined to life, surrounding the Enterprise with a protective cocoon of energy. The vortex continued on its path, ready to swallow the ship and all the souls on board like a hungry animal. Picard felt himself falling back, he felt the sharp crack on his head and the warm blood flow out from the wound, and then he felt the blackness envelope him.

"Evasive maneu..."

"Captain Kirk," Spock stated very coolly, never looking up from his monitor. Kirk moved slightly in his command chair, shifting his weight onto his left hip and turned his body to face his Vulcan science officer and friend.

"Yes, Mr. Spock."

"Captain, there is an indication of something unusual in the neighboring sector."

Kirk twisted up his face in a contorted smile. He really hated it when Spock answered a direct question with something so damn vague. Dr. McCoy looked on from the railing and smiled.

"You green-blooded hobgoblin, how's he supposed to think when you give him half-answers."

Spock turned to face the self-proclaimed "ol' country doctor" and raised his eyebrow in typical Spock fashion.

"Doctor, there is no reason to insult me. I simply wanted the Captain to know the facts as I can present them at the present time."

McCoy looked to Kirk and rolled his eyes. Kirk smiled. He secretly liked the way these two bantered back and forth and he though they secretly liked it too. He looked forward to the view screen and watched the stars stream past.

"Mr. Sulu, change course to investigate."

Sulu reached down with his right hand and turned the large plastic wheel with several star systems embossed on it that served almost like a steering wheel for the powerful ship.

"Aye sir, changing course."

Spock turned again from the science console and looked to Kirk again.

"Captain, the energy readings have moved. They now appear to be on a collision course with us, moving at approximately warp seven."

Kirk looked back at the view screen. There, suddenly, a violet-black mouth yawned before them. Kirk realized that not only were the stars streaming past, but he was as well. For a moment, he was one with the stars. He felt wonderful, but he knew there was danger here.

"Red Aler..."

"Captain?"

"Sick Bay, medical emergency. Captain Picard has been injured."

Picard wanted to get up, but the ringing in his ears and the whirling nausea in his gut told him at once that he should not. He could just focus his eyes on Data standing near and realized that his uniform had a section ripped away from the bottom. Why would Dr. Soong think to give a cybernetic being with mega-quadrillions of computational power a navel? He reached up to the pain in his head and felt a cloth there, moist with blood. The smell was over-powering. Slowly, he focused his thoughts and realized that Data had ripped his own uniform to provide the soft cloth for the gaping wound on the back of his skull. The bleeding was contained and Dr. Crusher would surely work her magic to heal him soon.

"Captain, are you all right?"

Riker was kneeling nearby as he kept vigil over his fallen Captain. Picard heard the whoosh of the turbo-lift and turned his head slowly to see Dr. Crusher enter. Counselor Troi sat in her seat, still shaking off the effects of whatever it was away. Beverly sat down beside him and quickly opened her tri-corder. After a few waves, she smiled, satisfied that although bloody, the wound was not serious. She pulled out another instrument and sealing the breach in Picard's head. She and Riker slowly help Picard to sit. He would need more attention, but that would have to wait.

"Mr. Data, you're out of uniform" Picard said and smiled.

"Apologies, Captain. I will attend to it immediately" and Data stood and started to leave. Picard sometimes forgot how literal Data took things.

"Mr. Data, you can wait to change, thank you for attending to me. What happened?"

Data looked down at Picard. "You fell down and hit the occipital region of your skull..."

Picard held up his hand to stop Data's explanation. "I meant to the Enterprise."

Data stopped and went to his console, pushing buttons with phenomenal speed.

"It appears that we went through some type of wormhole. The Enterprise is now some forty parsecs from where we were, but it also seems that we are not when we were either."

Picard had sat in his command chair by now. Surely, he was still suffering from the effects of his injury, as he thought he just heard Data say something very unbelievable. "Say that again, Commander?"

Data turned and looked at Picard.

"It would appear that not only has the Enterprise travelled a great deal of distance in a matter of seconds, but we have also travelled into the future. I will have an exact time-frame in a couple of minutes."

"Time travel into the future, Mr. Data? That shouldn't happen naturally in space. Some type of external force would have to be present to make that possible," Riker said.

"That is true, Commander. I would suggest that we find out what has caused this."

"We're going to, Mr. Data" Picard answered, "and soon. Are there any more residual energy readings?"

Data looked at his console again and then answered. "Yes sir, a large reading off the starboard bow looks to be another wormhole similar to the one that brought us here is forming."

"Shields up!"

A large mouth re-opened and then closed as suddenly as it appeared. In its place, another starship appeared, fuzzy at first, as if it wasn't totally there yet. Then, the vision cleared. Picard and Riker both leaned forward in their chairs as the ghostly shape of the other ship cleared. They had seen this ship before.

"Mr. Data, is that what I think it is?"

Data looked down, and then answered. "Yes, Captain, it is as it appears. It is the Enterprise, registry NCC-1701-A."

Picard whispered, "James T. Kirk."