The forest was too empty and lifeless for a planet giving off such a technologically advanced energy signature. James T. Kirk was starting to get suspicious of the trees surrounding him on everyside; for the last half hour he'd had the feeling that they were watching him. He glanced over his shoulder when the feeling became stronger but found nothing. The feeling remained however and a shudder ran through him. There was something wrong in this forest.

Beside Kirk, Doctor Leonard, 'Bones', McCoy was just as jumpy though not for quite the same reason. McCoy was on his guard because of the tentaculed chipmunk like creature that had dropped from the branches above onto his head and bitten him on the ear, probably injecting him with hundreds of alien viruses and bugs. He had begged Kirk to beam him back aboard the Enterprise only to be refused. As Kirk had pointed out he couldn't have crew members randomly beaming aboard whenever they felt like it because it would be a bad example to the others. Admittedly he did have a point. Behind him Kirk was searching the ground for a suitable branch he could use. When he found one he held it up towards McCoy. Spock shot him a disapproving look but Kirk ignored him andcontinued to creep towards McCoy. When he was close he twitched the branch so the fronds tickled the back of the Doctor's neck. The effect was sudden and explosive. McCoy let out a cry of fear and spun round, his eyes wide. His expression hardened when his gaze fell on Kirk who was laughing his head off.

"Dammit Jim that wasn't funny." McCoy snapped, running a hand nervously through his hair. "I could have tripped or had a heart attack and then we would have been in pretty mess." McCoy usually could put up with Kirk's jokes but not when they were hiking through an alien forest with god knew what creatures lurking in the darkness.

Kirk remained silent and glanced nervously behind him for the fifth time in as many minutes."

McCoy frowned. "What's wrong with you? You seem rather jumpy for the person whose damn idea this way in the first place."

Kirk waved a dismissive hand and knelt beside a pile of rocks to inspect them more closely. If he wasn't mistaken there was a definite man-made straightness to them. "Spock. does this look like a wall to you?" He asked, half turning and bracing himself with one hand on the ground.

Spock knelt beside him and brushed away some of the plant life before raising his scanner. He was quiet for several minutes before he finally spoke again. "The rocks have been formed into symmetrical squares positioned on top of one another..."

"Otherwise known as a wall." McCoy cut in.

Spock ignored him and carried on speaking. "I belive there was at some point a form of civilisation judging by the other ruins." He said, slowly moving the scanner across the ground nearby. "The energy signature is slightly stronger here."

"Well why don't you do and find it's source then? The sooner I get back to my sickbay the better." McCoy said, absentmindedly touching the bite on his ear.

Kirk laughed quietly to himself. "Why, it this too adventurous for you Bones?" He teased as he ducked to avoid a low tree branch.

McCoy gritted his teeth to stop himself from swearing and turned to face Kirk. "Really? Too adventurous? I only came because you dragged me from the sickbay saying this expedition would be fun."

Kirk rolled his eyes and moved past McCoy, lightly slapping him on the shoulder. "You didn't have to come if you felt so strongly about it."

McCoy crossed his arms and glared. "Yes I did. If I hadn't come you never would have let me hear the last of it."

"His observation is correct Captain."

"Don't agree with me Spock, it freaks me out." McCoy snapped as he rounded on the Vulcan.

Spock returned to scanning the wall, unfazed by the outburst. Though their surroundings hadn't changed the signature had faded and now barely showed up on the scanner's display. He was aware of Kirk glancing over his shoulder and decided to let him make his own desicion about the reading.

Kirk sighed and scuffed his toe across the ground. "I think its time we were heading back to the ship." He said. When Spock nodded he continued. "We've been here three hours and haven't been able to find anything."

McCoy's face lit up at the announcement. "Finally, the news I've been waiting to hear." He cried, a slight spring entering his step at the thought that he'd soon be back in a safe, familiar environment.

Just as the three of them started walking in the direction of the clearing they had passed through earlier there came a high pitched whining sound. It was closely followed by a beam of focused energy exploding against a tree close to McCoy sending bark splinters flying in all directions. McCoy yelped and ducked. Quickly Kirk drew his phaser and squinted behind him, trying to see through the dullness beneath the trees. A large group of unfriendly looking individuals were convering fast on their position.

"We may want to consider running Captain. They appear hostile."

Kirk rolled his eyes. Trust Spock to state the obvious. "Thank you Spock." He said sarcastically, narrowly avoiding a second beam of energy. Behind them their pursuers began shouting and firing off more shots. Their voices were gutteral and the language they were speaking was unknown to the crew of the Enterprise.

"What do you think we did to annoy them?" McCoy managed to gasp out between breaths. He glanced back over his shoulder and as a result didn't notice the tree stump stickking up in his path. He stumbled over it and would have fallen if Kirk hadn't grabbed his arm to steady him. McCoy shot Kirk a grateful look and concentrated on his surroundings, not wishing to fall behind.

Kirk fell in behind the Doctor to make sure he wasn't going to fall again and watched him for a moment before reaching into his pocket for his Communicator. "I have no idea Bones, maybe they just don't like strangers visiting their planet." He said as he flipped the Communicator open. "Enerprise this is Kirk, please respond."

There was a moments pause. "Kirk, this is Enterprise." replied Lietenant Uhuru. "Is everything okay down there?"

"We've encounted." Kirk began but was cut off when one of the beams struck him in the back and several hundred volts of electricity coursed through his body. His muscles went rigid and he crashed to the floor, the Communicator falling from his grip. Kirk tried to cry out and found that his tongue felt like it was fused to the roof of his mouth. Seeing the Captain go down Spock and McCoy skidded to a halt and ran to his aid, McCoy checking for a pulse while Spock went for the Communicator.

"Enterprise, this is First Officer Spock. The Captain has been hit with a form of stun beam and is currently indisposed. There are also a number of hostiles converging on our position. Requesting urgent transportation." He said in his clipped, carefully controlled voice.

Uhuru's reply was almost instantaneous. "Engineers are still trying to get the transporter back online. I suggest you seek shelter and stay out of harms way until we are able to beam you aboard." She replied, worry evident in the tone of her voice.

Spock deactervated the Communicator and knelt down beside McCoy, examing the Captain with a critical eye. "Is he well enough to move? We can't remain here."

McCoy hastily finished his examination. "He'll be fine when he wakes up. Well apart from a nasty headache."

Spock regarded him sharply. If he wasn't mistaken there was a definite gleeful tone in the doctor's voice. "Just help me carry him will you?" He said with a sigh.

Together they slung Kirk's arm over their shoulders and carefully lifted him. He was quiet heavy and they would only be able to carry him for a short while before they would have to stop. Hopefully by then the Enterprise's transporter would be working.

The ground beneath them was rapidily becoming ever more uneven with tree roots forming a tangled mess underfoot. Eventually they were forced to admit defeat and came to a halt at the edge of a clearing. Carefully they laid Kirk down and Spock drew out his phaser, changing the setting from stun to kill. The hostiles upon seeing them stop let out cries of truimph and speeded up. Spock levelled his phaser at them and prepared himself for the fight that he knew was coming. Then one of the hostiles went down in a spray of blood. Startled Spock spun round to see where the gunshot had come from. What he saw was two people dressed in black uniforms walking in their direction, rifles pointed at the hostiles while a third darted forward and knelt down beside Kirk. Spock tensed.

He's fine. I've already checked." snapped McCoy.

The person backed away, looking sheepish. "I'm sorry, I was only trying to help. I'm a doctor you see."

McCoy glared at him. "Well so am I and I have this situation under control thank you very much."

The other two people with the doctor said nothing and calmly picked off the rest of the hostiles until there were none left alive. "See" The taller of the two stated smugly. "I told you there were Wraith on this planet."

The other person rolled his eyes and turned to Spock. "Looks like my team got here just in time. Who are you? What are you doing here?"

Spock went to answer but was distracted by the sight of the large grey ring with glowing triangular chevrons around its circumference and rippling water like surface which was dominating the centre of the clearing. He had never seen anything like it. The three strangers ignored it completly which gave Spock the impression that the ring was normal to them. As he watched the surface vanished with a peculiar sucking wheezing sound. He tore his eyes away from it. "I am first officer Spock of the USS Enterprise. We came to this planet to investigate an alien energy signature that we picked up on our scanners. Our Captain, James Kirk, was hot by a stun beam."

McCoy glanced up from where he was tending to Kirk. "Hey!" He cried indignantly. "You forget to mention me." He turned his attention back to Kirk. "Pointy eared bastard." He muttered.

Spock didn't react. "And this is Doctor Leonard McCoy."

The other doctor regarded the members of the Enterprise's crew curiously. There was something not quite right about them; as though they did not belong there. It could have been the bright primary colour jumpers they were wearing or their primative technology but he knew that something wasn't right. A sudden thought struck him. "Tell me, have you passed through any bright white lights in the past week?" He asked, eager to hear the answer.

"What are you thinking Rodney?" One of his companions asked.

The other doctor, Rodney, began to pace. "I think that, if I'm right of course, these people are very lost."

Kirk chose that moment to groan loudly. McCoy leant over him anxiously until his eyes opened and he blearily tried to focus on his surroundings. "Who are those people?" He asked. He winced when intense pain shot through his head.

Spock cleared his throat. "As a matter of fact we did indeed pass through a bright light five days ago. The anomaly let out a strong electro-magnetic pulse which knocked out our electrics with the result that our transporter is working intedmittedly. I don't believe I know your name."

The other doctor drew himself up to his full height. "Doctor Rodney Mckay at your service. The tall person with the dreads is Ronin Dex and that is Colonel John Shepherd." Shepherd raised a hand in acknowledgement and Ronin grunted. "What you experienced was a rare phenomenom known as a Reality Bridge which links together two seperate universes for a few seconds. Any ships or planets in the area when a Bridge opens will be sucked through into the other universe. Reality Bridges are so rare that only two have ever been recorded in the Pegasus Galaxy so far." He paused and glanced over at Shepherd who had just let out a yawn. "Sorry, am I boring you?"

McCoy let out a loud snort. "So what you're saying is that we managed to slip into a different universe. Brilliant!" He cried sarcastically.

"Don't worry." Mckay said with a bemused smile. "I can get you home. By studying the little data I have I have managed to create a machine cabable of opening a doorway from one universe into another. I can use it to send you back."

Upon hearing this Kirk stirred and struggled to raise himself into a seated position, ignoring McCoy's attempts to get him to lie back down. "Will it really work?" He asked, forcing out each word between gritted teeth.

Mckay wavered. "In theory it should." He said.

Muttering darkly under his breath McCoy finally persued Kirk to lie back down. "Crackpot sciencetists and their theories. Could get us all killed. What?" He said in response to Kirk fierce glare.

Shepherd meanwhile had walked over to the ring and had begun to press buttons on the console set in the ground before it. "Okay lets get back to Atlantis so Rodney can do his stuff. If you'll call your jumper you'll be able to fly it through the gate."

McCoy let out a loud laugh. "Good luck with that. There is no way the Enterprise will fit through there." He pointed towards the odd cylindrical ship sitting to one side of the ring. "Don't you have proper ships in this universe?"

Shepherd bristled and had to bite his tongue. "Oh and how big is your ship exactly?"

"A hell of a lot bigger than that." McCoy retorted.

Mckay pondered the problem. "I suppose we could give them Atlantis's co-ordinates and let their hyperspace drive do all the work." He mused before having a sudden thought. "You do have a hyperspace drive right?" he enquired a little desperatly.

Spock regarded him for a moment before he replied. "No, but we do have a warp drive."

Mckay began pacing again. "Hyperspace drives and warp drives work using similiar principles . It would just take them longer to reach..." He stopped when Shepherd cleared his throat.

"Aren't you forgetting something Rodney?" He asked, glancing up from where he stood by the gate. "This part of the Pegasus Galaxy is crawling with Hive ships. They'd easily be caught at warp speed."

Mckay's face fell a little as he realised that Shepherd was right. "That's true." He said. Then it hit him. "Of course, its so simple." He crowed.

"Care to share Rodney." Ronin drawled.

"The warp drive is simply a more primative version of our hyperspace drives. Both of them are designed to propel a ship quickly and efficiently from A to B. If I reprogrammed the warp drive I could get it to temporarily work at hyper speed." Eagerly he turned to McCoy who shrugged and guestured towards Kirk. Mckay knelt beside him. "How do you feel Captain Kirk about me reprogramming your warp drive?"

Still feeling a little dazed Kirk nodded slowly. "Will your companions be coming too?" He asked, hoping they answer would be no. His crew would be twitchy around strangers after he'd got shot. To his relief Shepherd shook his head.

"We can't. Ronin and I have to return to Atlantis to warn them of your arrival." He explained before turning his attention back to the gate.

"What happens if you don't warn them?" McCoy asked.

Shepherd flashed him a brief smile and hit the final button on the console. With a clunk the gate came to life with a kawhoosh of brilliant blue energy. "You'd be shot down." He said cheerfully as he stepped through the rippling blue surface.

McCoy was taken aback and stood there staring. Then hastily composing himself he muttered darkly under his breath. "What a great welcome. Bypass the red carpet and go straight to killing us." He oblivious to Kirk's reproachful expression.

"Be nice Bones, they're only trying to help us." He admonished. Gingerly, still wary of the sudden jolts of pain shooting through his head, he reached into his pocket and drew out his Communicator. Flipping it open he activated it. "Enterprise, this is Kirk. There has been a change of plan. We now have four to beam aboard as soon as the transporter is back online."

"Of course Captain." Uhuru replied. "Scott has finally managed to get the transporter back online again. Are you okay by the way? Spock told us you were hit by a stun beam."

"I'm fine, just a little dazed." Kirk reassured her as swirls of luminescence revolved around their little group. Ronin Dex watched Spock, McCoy, Kirk and Mckay vanigh from the surface of the planet before he disappeared through the star-gate, leaving the planet uninhabitated once more.