The Star Trek franchise was the brain child of Gene Rodenberry, the Great Bird of the Galaxy. It is now owned by somebody else, certainly not me!

Worf felt consciousness return unusually slowly for someone with his warrior reflexes. The beeps and hums of the shuttle's operation filtered in first, then he felt the carpeted floor beneath him; finally he opened eyes that stung from the light and saw two women sprawled near him. The shuttle, the floor, and the women were all unexpected. He'd really expected to be dead.

It had started with the odd little changes that were more confusing than anything. A painting was out of place on the wall. The cake was chocolate instead of yellow—probably the influence of his wife—but why did he remember the yellow cake? Gradually the changes escalated. Deanna was not his wife. Deanna was Riker's wife. Picard was dead. Picard and Deanna were both dead. When the ship finally popped into space near about 200,000 other Enterprises, he was on the bridge of a beleaguered derelict, courtesy of the Borg. Captain Riker had ordered him to fire on the shuttle and he had obeyed once. As he moved to obey the second time, the lights of a transporter caught him. The next thing he knew, he was laying on the floor next to two women.

Feeling the aches and pains of a poor transport, he pulled himself to his feet. He checked his position and ignored the women for the moment,. They were in free space. There was no fleet of Enterprises dotting the view. Somehow the universe had shifted one more time.

"Where are we, Captain?"

The voice was familiar. Worf turned to see who spoke. "Tasha[1]? "

"That's right. It's still me. I'm still alive, and I'm still not your wife."

"Wife!"

"Lay off, Captain. I didn't believe your fairy story about a universe for every decision back on the ship, and I don't believe it now. You know, you've acted weird ever since your brother became the head of the Klingon Empire.[2]"

"Look," Worf had had a long day, and although it wasn't over, he was about to make it a whole lot better or strangle a skinny blond human. He didn't much care which. "You're not my wife. On that, I agree."

It stopped Tasha cold. "Hmm, well, yes." She cast about for something else to say. Her eyes lit on the only remaining form. "Who's she?"

"I do not know, but she appears to be in need of assistance."

"You look for a tricorder...medical, if we're lucky." Tasha knelt down next to the inert form and checked for a pulse. "She's alive."

"Yes." Worf had found the tricorder in its regular compartment. "There are no injuries."

"Then why isn't she awake?"

As if to give lie to Tasha's question, the mystery lady groaned and opened her eyes to see Yar crouching over her. "Who the hell are you?"

The voice was hauntingly familiar, as was the accent. Worf would have sworn he'd never met this woman before if it weren't for them. "I am Worf." Best to keep it simple, "This is Tasha Yar." He looked around the shuttle for a moment before adding, "You are aboard a federation shuttle craft."

"I know damn well what we're aboard." The woman answered impatiently, "I'm the one who stole it."

"Then you must have been the one who beamed me over here." Tasha got the words out about a millisecond before Worf could.

"I read in the Captains' mind that one of them was going to fire on you. Even I could tell you weren't going to survive a phaser blast. I did the only thing I could think of. I beamed you aboard."

"And then the ship exploded." Tasha finished for her. "Thank you. But why did he beam with me?"

"He did not." The voice came from the other room and all three looked to the sound. Walking out of the shadows near the exit was Data dressed in Klingon attire with the coloring and latex forehead to match.

"Data!" It was in three-part unison.

"Perhaps it would be best if each of us told our personal histories. We seem to each come from a different quantum universe."

"I will begin." Worf was glad to see Data. Here was an anchor in his rapidly shifting world. All of them recognized him. It would be a point of commonality. "I am Lt. Worf, Security Chief aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise. My commanding officer is Captain Jean Luc Picard."

"Picard? But he died four years ago in a battle with the Borg[3]." Tasha interrupted.

"No, Captain Picard died in a prison camp two years ago[4]." The mystery woman corrected.

"Please do not interrupt." Data said calmly, "Each of your personal histories will be different."

"That is correct." Worf nodded to Data with satisfaction, "In my history Captain Picard was killed by the Borg.[5]" He waited for comments, but when none were forthcoming he continued, "I am married to Counselor Deanna Troi." Tasha gave him a startled look, but didn't interrupt. "Lieutenants LaForge and Crusher and I were working on Geordie's visor when the Cardassians[6] first attacked our ship. It jostled my hand, and the next thing I know I was standing in the corridor outside my quarters. Captain Riker was asking me how the Bat'leth tournament went. I had not attended the Bat'leth tournament, but in my hand was the trophy for first place. I told the Captain that it was successful, and quickly entered my quarters. Deanna had organized a surprise party, against my express wishes. Commander Data gave me a painting, which my wife hung on the wall facing the entry. I cut the cake, yellow cake, and then a wave of dizziness forced me to close my eyes. When I opened them, the cake I had been holding was chocolate, not yellow. The painting was moved to another wall."

Data held up a hand. "That is sufficient for the moment. At that point you had made at least two quantum shifts."

"We determined that fact a short time later. The pulse from Geordie's visor must have been the trigger."

Nodding, Data gestured to Tasha, "Would you care to go next?"

Without preamble, she began. "I'm Lt. Commander Tasha Yar. I'm security chief aboard the Enterprise. My immediate superior is Commander Data, first officer under Captain Picard. There is no such creature as Riker aboard our ship, and I've never heard of Deanna." She glanced at Worf, "Sorry." Shifting in her seat, she continued. "The first problem I encountered was when I met Lt. Worf at the shuttle. He, uh," Yar started to blush. "He kissed me. Said he was happy to be home, and how were the kids. I decked him."

The other woman snickered. Worf sent her a dagger look and growled deep in his throat. She tapered off to just a smile, and Tasha continued. "We were both called to the bridge. The Cardassians were harassing a telescopic array in our sector. Ever since the Bajorans kicked them off Cardasia, they've been antsy to pick a fight with just about anyone.

"We met Geordie in the turbo lift. Just as the doors to the lift were opening on the bridge, the Cardassians hit the Enterprise with a salvo of torpedoes. It shook the ship, and Worf lost his footing. He grabbed me; Geordie grabbed me; and then something else grabbed me. It was like the grandfather of dizziness. When it went away, I was on the bridge of a completely unfamiliar ship. The colors were different. There was only one chair in the command area. All the consoles were different.[7]

"But the people were the same. Picard, Data, Geordie, Worf, they were all there. Oh, but the Cardassians had become Bajorans. And they weren't trying to destroy the telescope array; they were trying to settle on it. Said the Ferengi had sold it to them."

The nameless woman grinned, "They probably had. You know the Ferengi."

"No, I don't know the Ferengi," Yar said. "They were discovered by the U.S.S. Potemkin less than a year ago.[8]"

"I interrupted, I'm sorry." The woman leaned back against the bulkhead and folded her arms.

"Yes. As I said, the people were the same, but the uniforms were all jumbled up. Picard was a civilian, Worf had on the insignia of a captain. We just about sorted out what to do with the settlers, when suddenly we were surrounded by thousands of Enterprises."

The mystery woman waved her hand impatiently. "And the rest, as they say, is history."

"That would bring us to your story." Data said, gesturing to the mystery woman.

The woman laughed. "Mine is very short, and I think you're going to love parts of it." She said pointedly to Worf. "I was at a Bat'leth[9] tournament with my mother and step-father. I hate Bat'leth. It's all blood and bodies grunting and sweating. Mother loves it because of the bodies grunting and sweating. When Worf won, mother was ecstatic. They decided to celebrate by heading up to the Fire falls and having a picnic. Since it's the two of them, you can translate that as orgy. I couldn't stand it any longer. I stole a shuttle and headed back to my duty station on the Enterprise. Part way there, Worf shows up in the co-pilot's seat.

"We've been casting around looking for the Enterprise ever since. We began to retrace our path back when we started getting a whole bunch more Enterprises than was comfortable. Pretty much the rest of it you know."

"We do not know your name." Worf said.

"Oh, yes." The woman's eyes actually twinkled, "I saved the best for last. I'm a telepath, you see. I know just what my name will mean to each and every one of you." Data started to protest but she forestalled him. "Yes, even you, Data. I may be the only person in existence who can read the mental emanations of an android, but even you think, Data." She turned back to Worf. "My name is Kestra[10] and you're going to love this next part. You see you are my stepfather. You're married to my mother, Lwaxanna[11] Troi."

"Ambassador Troi? But that's..." Worf tried to think of an adjective that was adequate.

"Disgusting? Revolting? Horrifying?"

"Yes." Worf let out a breath.

The woman laughed delightedly, "Yes, isn't it just."

[1] For someone who was originally killed by a tar baby, Tasha Yar, played by Denise Crosby, gets around.

[2] Worf challenged the incumbent head of the Klingon Empire Reunion

[3] In the normal Star Trek universe Captain Picard who had been made into a Borg, Locutus, was rescued by the Enterprise. Best of Both Worlds

[4] This was recounted in the episode, Chain of Command

[5] In, of course, the episode, Borg.

[6] Alien race first seen in STNG The Wounded

[7] This is actually the Enterprise from Mirror Mirror, where Kirk and crew crossed dimensions.

[8] Discovered by the Enterprise in our universe, in the episode The Last Outpost. Kestra's universe didn't meet up with the Ferengi until the USS Potemkin found them in 2370 (Star Date 45596)

[9] A Bat'leth is the traditional Klingon sword. It is made of metal and wood, curved like a bow and with the blade on the inside of the curve. It is held with two hands in the handles along the curve.

[10] Kestra, the older sister of Deanna Troi, was killed in a swimming accident in the episode Dark Page Lwaxanna Troi found it hard to come to terms with the death, so never mentioned Kestra's existence to Deanna.

[11] Lwaxanna Troi is Deanna Troi's mother and a full Betazoid.