Mr. Black: Continuing the trek...

(Star trek and Harry potter are not mine.)

"Personal Log: Stardate 5977.03. We have just received orders to, surprisingly, head back to Earth. It seems that Starfleet wants the members of the Enterprise crew to attend a special graduation ceremony of the Academy that will welcome several new member species to the service. The Admiral stated that having the flagship taking the graduates on their final cruise before being assigned to their duties would be good publicity.

"Personally, publicity is not what I would expect, given that there is so much going on in the Federation, and that Starfleet has never had a problem in getting recruits. The opposite really, as we always have more applicants than we have positions or ships available. Still, Command has insisted that we perform, what Bones has called a 'Dog and Pony Show.' Then again, Bones hates dress uniforms."

Kirk left his cabin and was on his way to engineering when there was a sudden, and unexpected --- shift, for want of a word. He went to one of the intercoms and stated, "Bridge, this is Kirk. Report."

"We're checking now Keptain," said the proud Russian navigator who was in charge of the bridge during this rotation, "We've stopped and are sending a message to Starfleet to inform them that we'll be late sir."

"Very good. Please have Spock, McCoy, and Scotty report to the bridge. Kirk out." With that James T. Kirk, captain of the USS Enterprise went towards the turbolift wondering what sort of stupidity, adventure, or deadly danger this signified. If he didn't know better, Kirk would swear that some deity had it in for him and his crew. If for no other reason than simple amusement.

---

It was a nice day. Calm, nothing happening, no visitors to the island, with the exception of Luna who for some reason refused to leave, and even the governmental idiots in England were being quiet. Harry knew it couldn't last.

That said, he started to go over what could be wrong, and realised that he hadn't seen the Professor for a while. Almost a month. Come to think of it, he hadn't seen Henchgirl around much either. Groaning, as he knew that something was going to go wrong, he decided to check out the Professors new hideaway lab.

A short while later, Harry cautiously looked in the door and realized he had greatly underestimated what was going on. Given the rather large constructs that were now laying around the lab, his nice, quiet day was going to take a turn towards adventure. Taking a deep breath, he walked into the lab and up to the Professor.

"Professor, what exactly is THAT?" Harry was almost afraid to ask.

It was actually quite clear what this mass of wood and metal and canvas looked like but just because something looked like a dalmatian puppy doesn't mean it wasn't a man-eating manchurian twilzel. Actually, with the Professor around it most certainly would be one.

"It is a space ship. Henchgirl and I have been researching those science fiction shows on the televisor and we thought it would be nice to know what other stars are like."

"But... it has got sails!" Harry wasn't yet convinced, and knowing what spaceships were SUPPOSED to look like.

"Of course it does. It's a ship after all." The Professor continued, not at all phased by the question

"But..."

"We tried other designs." The Professor pointed towards the deeper parts of the hangar where the mysteriously looming shapes started to make sense. "But they just didn't work out. Not the right colours, silly trousers..."

Now Harry was confused. "Silly trousers? On a ship?"

"The uniform, my boy. Can't go steering a ship through the vast reaches of outer space without wearing the correct uniform, now can we?" The professor smiled proudly. "And I just look smashing wearing a tricorne!"

"I suppose..." Harry tried to say

"Actually," once things were explained to a sufficient degree, at least acccording to his mind, the Professor went off on a completely different tangent, "did you actually know how far away anything out there is?

"Fairly far. It did take the American's..." Harry started to say.

"Just the other week Henchgirl and I were recreating that muggle event, the 'Race to the Moon'? You heard of it? Even with the new brooms it took us nearly a week. I won of course!" said the Professor proudly.

"Good but..."

"But our new space ship is much faster than that and our Japanese office is interested in using that prototype over there." 'That prototype over there' was a distinctively sail-less one somewhat resembling a...

"An old battleship?" Harry asked, his eyebrows rising up to his hairline.

"We found it on the ocean floor, so by salvage rights it's ours!"

"And I suppose the ship is ready to go?" Harry said, giving into the inevitable.

"Of course! Henchgirl is just gathering the Doctor and Luna so that we can make our first voyage!"

---

"Well Spock?" asked 'Bones' McCoy, trying to get a rise out of the Vulcan science officer.

"We seem to be out of our time, Doctor. From the information that Astrometrics has been able to gather, we are currently in Earth's late 20th to early 21st century." A calm voice answered. "I would say that we have encountered a temporal anomoly, however, I cannot say what type as of yet, or if we could use a second one of that nature to head home."

"Spock, do we have enough fuel to make a temporal jump, such as using a star?" Kirk asked.

Scotty spoke up. "I'm afraid not Captain. We haven't nae enough antimater to attempt a controled gravity well jump, at least not with the Dilithium crystals the way they are."

"What's the matter with the crystals?" Grumped McCoy as he folded his arms in front of him.

"Slight deterioration. We have enough to get to a planet that has crystals, but it will take weeks, if nae months to properly mine and cut crystals that would give us enough control to make a jump." Scotty replied.

"Mr. Scott is correct, which is why I am examining the possibility of using another temporal anomoly if we can duplicate what happened with the information our sensors collected.

Chekov was looking over his long range data when he noticed something. He blinked and then had Sulu take a look while he spoke up. "Kaptin, the sensors show a ship entering the system at warp speeds."

"Can you identify it." Kirk asked.

"An English frigate, circa 18th century. And I think they're hailing us." Sulu replied as he looked at the ship in from of them, not quite believing what he was seeing.

Chekov pointed at the main viewsceen which now showed a small man in a colourful uniform on the deck of the aforementioned ship and holding what looked like a megaphone.

---

Space, the final frontier.
These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise.
Her five year mission: to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before.

---

I've lived a strange life.
Done things other people only dream of.
Yet the only thing I've ever really wanted was to be bored.
Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be my fate or destiny.
My name is unimportant in the long term, and I doubt people would really want to remember me.
I know that I'd rather they stop making me famous.
I'm now surrounded by good friends, people who understand me, and who do not wish me harm.
I'm Mr. Black, and I'm just a guy on vacation.

---

"Confirmed Captain. They are hailing us, but..."

"But what, Uhura?" Asked Kirk.

"It's the signal sir. I'm hearing it, but it's not registering as coming into the communications system. No directed energy or radio waves to trace. It's...confusing." Answered Uhura as she kept trying to get her computers to register the signal, if for nothing else, but to reply.

"Put it on speakers." stated Kirk, knowing, just knowing, that somehow this would be one of the more rediculous adventures that he had ever been on.

"Hello? Hello? Helllll-lllooo? Is anybody there?" a voice came over the speakers as the bridge crew gaped at the man who started to hit his...megaphone. Amazingly, a young lady dressed in a womans suit out of the Victorian era came from behind him. After taking a look at the Enterprise, she then hit the man over the back of the head, knocking his hat clean off. They could hear an argument start up.

"Oww...What was that for Henchgirl?" the man said as he rubbed his head.

The woman, presumably named Henchgirl, yelled at him, "Do you think that you could contact them using that?"

"Why not?" the man said, "They're using English, and it says Enterprise on it."

"Because idiot, that ship and the lettering are like the American Muggle Military! Do you think they would be able to do things efficiently? They're Muggles after all!"

Scott took umbridge at this. "Na' Efficient! The lass does na' know wha' she's talkin' abou'!"

"Please Mr. Scott. We may learn something of their technology from the discussion." said Mr. Spock.

Bones rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything, although he wanted to.

"I mean, look at that ship design. It's obvious that those two huge pieces are the engines, given the propellers. The way it's made, the whole thing is stressed, and I would expect it to rip itself apart. What idiot makes a ship like that?" Henchgirl stated as she waved her hands at the Enterprise.

Scotty was literally growling now. Nobody insulted his girl! No one! He started towards the turbolift.

"Mr. Scott, let's not have a repeat of a certain shore leave. Agreed?" asked Kirk as he stared at the screen and listened to the conversation.

Scotty composed himself, as best he could. "Aye, Captain."

"I still say any intelligent being could understand this!" the strange man went on, "I'm sure they could do the same if they wanted to."

Kirk let his head slowly drop into his hand. It was going to be one of those missions. Why did these things happen to him.

---

Harry twisted his shoulders as he came out of the cabin and saw the ship before him. It was appalling. it was impossible. It would make the perfect joke, and the only other one who would appreciate this...He pulled out his cell-floo, "Doctor, we've encountered a ship. Once I believe that you know."

"One that I know? Out here?" came the startled reply.

"Yep!" stated a clearly amused Mr. Black. "I'm looking up at the USS Enterprise."

"The Enterprise?" Came a gasp of awe, "Which one?"

"NCC-1701. The Womanizers ship." came the reply as Harry started to laugh.

After a few moments, chuckling came over the Cell. "I've been hanging around the twins too long. Want to blow their minds?"

"I'm game. Let's play it by ear, and make sure we record all of it."

"That goes without saying. We have to attend the next Treker convention after this."

Harry got himself under control and went to see what was going on with the Professor and Henchgirl.

----

"The muggles are not idiots. They have come up with impressive feats of engineering." The Professor said, somewhat confused by Henchgirls attitude.

"I agree, they have created many great things. But that ship is not very impressive. I mean, look at the size of those engines, if they're Americans, why not use a more efficient engine design. And look at those pylons that are being used to support them and the saucer away from the main body of the ship!" Henchgirl exclaimed.

"It looks nice." The professor replied, as if making a huge discovery.

"What do you mean?" Henchgirl asked.

"Think about it. Perhaps they've made tremendous strides, in technology and estetics, over what our sources have indicated. I mean, the Americans have explored over a thousand worlds, and have ships in Area 51 that can go to other galaxy's, why wouldn't they make a ship like ours?" the Professor stated importantly, cleaning his hat as he put it back on.

"You mean..." Henchgirl asked, a little flabergasted that she hadn't seen it before.

"Yes! It must be a private pleasure vessal or cruise ship! It's the only thing that makes sense."

---

Mr. Scott was looking at the screen and was trying hard not to sputter. His baby a simple pleasure ship?

Mr. Spocks eyebrows had risen on both sides, a sure sign of surprise as he was entering the information that they had gathered from the conversation. Everything that was said indicated that they were talking about Earth, but that Earth in the 20th or 21st Century had spaceflight capabilities, fast enough to reach another galaxy? Perhaps the disaster that had affected Earth had destroyed references to those explorations as well as ships that were probably stored at the Groom Lake research centre.

Checkov and Sulu were grinning at each other. The ship may be strange, and the people on board stranger, but perhaps this would be a nice CALM adventure instead of the few hair raising ones. Maybe one they could laugh at later.

McCoy was smiling like crazy, seeing the comments between the two people on screen slightly unnerving his favourite target Vulcan.

Kirk kept his head in his hand, and quietly asked, "Do you have anyway we could communicate with them, Uhura? Anyway at all?"

"I'm working on it, sir." Uhura replied, quite agitated in trying to find some way to reply.

Checkov then said, "Sir, someone else just showed up on their deck."

Kirk looked up, and saw that the odd man and Henchgirl were joined by a man dressed all in black.

---

"What's wrong you two?" Harry asked.

"Oh, Mr. Black!" Henchgirl said, "You surprised me."

"We're just trying to communicate with that ship over there," The Professor said, "They are quite rude in not responding."

Harry looked up, blinked, and then said, "I recognize that ship."

"You do?" both of them said at once.

"Yes. The last time I saw it was in the late sixties, perhaps early seventies. Can I have the megaphone?" Harry said, hiding a grin.

"Certainly." The Professor said, handing it to him with some pomp and ceremony, especially since he liked playing the part of Captain.

Harry coughed, then held up the megaphone to his lips, "Hey Kirk! You there? I though you got rid of that thing and went with a different, smaller vessal?"

---

Everyone on the bridge just gaped. This Mr. Black knew Kirk! And he also recognized the ship from their missions into the twentieth century?

Bone's mouth was almost hanging open. "How," he grunted in a low voice, "How does he know you, Jim?"

Kirk shugged, "I'm not sure, but I want to find out."

"Come on Kirk, I know you're there." Mr. Black's voice continued, "You probably have Spock, Bones, Scotty, and Uhura there as well. Just turn on your communications and talk to us!"

"Captain?" Leftenant Uhura asked.

"Turn it on, Leftenant." Kirk said as he composed himself. "Good afternoon, this is James Kirk, Captain of the USS Enterprise. What can we do for you?"

"Hmm." Mr. Black went, "You sound younger than the last time we met. Anyways, it me, Mr. Black. I didn't expect to see you while taking a pleasure cruise with my friends. Want to come on board? We have several wines, and other beverages. Tell McCoy that I don't have any Rommulan ale, and Mr. Scott that I don't have any Saurian Brandy on board at the time, but we do have a few two hundred year old bottles of Fire Whiskey. They make a great Mint Julep!"

Kirk blinked, and looked at McCoy. "I'll see if anyone is up for it. I'll call you later."

After the communications system was off, Kirk started, "Comments."

"I am interested in finding out more information, specifically what they were talking about concerning American technology. If what they said is correct, then we are missing a lot of information in our databanks." stated Spock as he held his hands in front of his face.

"They've obviously encountered us before Captain," Uhura stated as she frowned, "Perhaps in our future given his comments, but he also recognized the ship, and we were supposed to have changed the timeline when we sent Captain Christopher back. It's the only time I can think of when they would have seen the Enterprise."

Mr. Scott was torn between angry and surprised. "Aye, there is that. There's also the fact that if what they're saying is right, how much have we lost? I would like t' see their engines and see how 'efficient' they are."

"Sensors indicate that the ship is made of wood, canvas, and steel. No weapons that would damage us, at least that our ships sensors can detect." Sulu said as he kept examining the readings.

"I vould like to see their starcharts." said Checkov, not daring to say anything else.

"Bones?" Kirk said, noticing that his usually talkative doctor was being rather quiet.

"All I want to know, is how they know my drink preferences? Romulan Ale and Mint Julep? That's knowing too much about a person, especially if they're from the twentieth century."

"Right. Uhura open a channel."

"Frequencies open, Captain."

"Mr. Black, we would be glad to accept your invitation. Where shall we transport?"

---

Kirk decided that the first group to go over would be small, but contain the people necessary to find out what was happening. For that reason, he had chosen Spock, Scotty, McCoy and Checkov to go along with him, leaving Uhura in charge of the Bridge and Sulu on weapons. Uhura, as she did not have much to do at the moment, and Sulu, because he was looking hungrily at the ship and obviously was not going to be objective. It fit too well into the helmsman's well known fantasies.

The replacement bridge crew was not told too much, but rumours were already starting to fly, and they were prepared for the sight of an ocean going vessal in the middle of space.

"Everyone ready?" Kirk asked as they got onto the transporter platform.

"Bad enough we use this thing," McCoy grumbled, barely audible, but still understandable, "But to transport out onto a deck that is directly exposed to space? I'm surrounded by idiots! We should at least be wearing environmental suits, better yet, space suits. And given it's not that far, why not use the damn shuttlecraft in case something goes wrong?"

"Doctor, sensor show that there is a large quantity of air surrounding the ship. There is no need to worry about it disappearing." Stated Spock.

"Damn those ears! And what would you know about it? Do you have any idea how they are holding the air there?"

"I would presume that they have some sort of field generator specifically designed to keep in the air. Starfleet Command and the Vulcan Science Academy are currently experimenting with such technology."

"Damn logical Vulcans! Always looking for a better way to kill a person." McCoy grumbled even more as he got ready for the transport.

Kirk kept his mouth stiff as he attempted not to smile. McCoy would never change. "Energize."

As they materialized on deck, The Professor played his whistle to welcome them aboard. Kirk smiled and saluted the odd man. "Permission to come aboard?"

The Professor smiled and saluted back. "Permission granted. Welcome aboard our Ship."

"Thank you, Sir. May I ask your name?" Kirk said diplomatically.

"My pardons. My name is the Professor." The Professor turned and introduced his friend. "You, of course, know Mr. Black. We have three others on board, and you can meet them inside."

"Hello Black, how are you?" Kirk asked, wondering what else to say.

"Quite well, Kirk. You definately look younger than last time, and why are you wearing that green/yellow tunic? I thought you had changed to a red jacket with a turtleneck." Harry asked.

Kirk coughed. "Well, I'm afraid that it's classified for now."

"Ah, I understand." Harry turned to the others. "Welcome aboard everyone."

He then turned to Spock specifically holding his right hand up in the Vulcan salute. "Dif-tor heh smusma – Spohkh."

Spock remained calm and responded "Dif-tor heh smusma – Nesh Kur."

Bones looked at Black, "You speak that mish mash?"

The Professor giggled, "Mr. Black speaks many languages. In fact, I don't believe there is a language that he does not know."

"You flatter me, Professor. Shall we go inside?" asked Mr. Black.

"Yes. Yes, of course." Kirk responded.

---

Meanwhile, in their dinning room, the girls were busy preparing for their guests.

The doctor and Luna had just completed placing a large turkey with all of the assorted side dishes on the table, while Henchgirl was preparing a series of drinks when the others came in.

"Gentlemen, may I present the others who are onboard." The Professor said as he walked to the head of the table. "I present you with my assistant, Henchgirl,"

Henchgirl rolled her eyes, and did a curtsey, as per the costume she was wearing. "Charmed."

"To her left is the Doctor, a marvelous font of information on the various medical technologies available to everyone on Earth, and a fantastic researcher who has more cures to her credit than anyone else living." The Professor continued in a pompous tone.

The Doctor smirked, "Good to see you again, Bones. Ever found a way to make Vulcan's emotional? Or at least get the replicators to produce proper Romulan Ale?"

Bones frowned at her. This was definately closer to the truth than he wanted to admit.

The Professor smiled as he introduced the next person, "Luna, who joined us for this maiden voyage, is an excellent crytozoologist. She has more knowledge of different species than anyone known, and is someone who searches for more to classify."

Luna looked lazily at the crew of the Enterprise, and then blinked at Spock. "Do you own a large bear-like creature that's more like a huge dog? You look like you would own one."

Mr. Spock's eyebrow raised at this, although he did not make a comment.

Kirk chose that moment to speak. "This is the maiden voyage of your vessel? May I ask the name and type of ship it is?"

"Of course!" The Professor said, proud to be able to show off. "Her name is the HMS Resource II, an Enterprize class frigate. In water, she displaces 594 tons, her outside size is a length of 120 and a half feet with 24 nine pound guns and four three pound guns. I'm afraid the rest is a secret."

Mr. Black chuckled. "You can tell them, Professor. They are exempt from the International Statute of Secrecy."

The Professor blinked, "Are you sure about that Mr. Black? Most of what we have on board is not something that they would be familiar with."

The Doctor spoke up. "They are cleared. I have it on good authority that they would not reveal anything to people that do not already know."

Henchgirl raised an eyebrow. Harry and the Doctor knew a lot more than they were saying. She would have to talk with them privately to find out what they knew, and how they knew. "Let's eat first. We can talk about technology later."

The Professor sat down as did the guest from the Enterprise. "Please, enjoy yourselves."

They all took some of the meal and then the Professor opened the dinner small talk. "How did you get the idea for making your ship look like a person has just knocked the end off of a cigar? It looks interesting, and I was wondering what other designs that you have."

Harry almost snorted his glass of wine out of his nose and the Doctor had to bite the inside of her mouth to stop laughing as Henchgirl and Luna looked in extreme interest.

"A cigar!" Scott exclaimed, highly insulted.

"Of course! It looks as though you've just taped the end off of the end of a cigar into an ashtray! It's a brilliant piece of aestetics that go back to old films!" The Professor exclaimed as he cut his turkey.

The coughing that Mr. Black, The Doctor, and McCoy were making confused the Magical personel and frustrated the Enterprise crew.

---

After everyone had broken up, Scotty going with the Professor, Henchgirl escourting Checkov to the bridge, Spock having been trapped by Luna, and Mr. Black talking with Kirk on the Deck, the Doctor decided to begin her fun by taking McCoy to her sickbay.

"I have to admit, your sickbay is pretty impressive." McCoy said as he looked around. While the ship looked old, it contained an amazing amount of medical technology.

"Thanks, I try. We've worked on a lot of things over time." The Doctor said as she gathered a few object. "This is what we call a hex-quarter. It's useful for recording, medical examinations, and so many things.

"Hex-quarter? I guess that's like our tri-corder." commented McCoy as he looked over the very thin silver case. Opening it, he noticed that it contained a plastic pen and two screens, quite a nice design really. He would have to ask Starfleet medical to redesign the tri-corders along these lines.

"Those old things? Why are you still using them?" asked the Doctor with a straight face.

"Still using them? I'll have you know that they are state of the art technology!" McCoy stated.

"State of the art? Then why did they stop producing them in the early 90's? Their memory levels were so small, and the sensor array was quite...limited."

McCoy raised an eyebrow of his own and smiled a bit. "Well, if they are limited, then why do we carry them?"

"To each their own I suppose." mummered the Doctor.

Deciding to switch topics, McCoy said, "Say, how did you meet Mr. Black anyways?"

"Hmm?" The Doctor hummed as though distracted, "Oh I met him in the Library of Alexandria. I was going through some medical scrolls, and he was going through all the scrolls on defense and offence. The Professor and Henchgirl were looking over the scrolls that Pythagoras had left on various sciences. The Architect, who we met visiting the Valley of the Kings joined us and eventually built our Castle."

"When was this?" McCoy asked, interested now. He didn't know they still built castles in the twentieth century to live in.

"Oh. The scrolls were quite fresh. Just donated to the libray really, around 530 or 535 BC or so. Quite a refreshing individual really."

"You were reading freshly made scrolls by Pythagoras when you met Black?" McCoy stated, not really coming to terms with this.

"Yes...Well, I was actually reading medical scrolls, but I got interested in what Pythagoras has donated. I was investigating some of the things Myrddyn had left, although I never got to meet him, Mr. Black did in Atlantis. Said he was a good cook, but a lousy Mage." the Doctor said as she got some of the self brewing flasks for the simplier potions to give to McCoy.

"Myrddyn?"

"Yes. He's more commonly known to history as Merlin. I think Henchgirl has a copy of one of his recipe books."

"Yes, I met Merlin myself. He was an interesting person, although amoral." McCoy grinned, remembering his encounter.

"Doesn't sound like him. Really, it sounds more like that imposter Flint. Did you know that Flint took his name, what, almost three milenia later, or was it more than that? It was so long ago, I tend to forget. Flint tells a good story though."

McCoy coughed, not expecting that. "So, any other people that are interesting?"

"A few others, but we can talk about them later. In the meantime, want to exchange knowledge? I'm not really supposed to let this technology go, but for a fellow physician, I think we can do it if we exchange devices and knowledge that are interesting to the other."

McCoy grinned, this was his kind of Doctor. Forget the regs and get right on to healing. "How many petabytes of information do you want to exchange?"

"Petabytes? Do you realize that the Hex-quarter contains around thirty googolbytes of compressed information?"

Although it didn't happen, McCoy's eyes wanted to bug out at hearing that.

---

Luna was having an interesting time with her guest. It was a rare treat for her to find someone who could defy her understanding of normal beings. She supposed it was because he was hiding something, but then again, everyone hid something. Just like Mr. Black. "May I ask what species you are?"

"I am Vulcan." Spock replied, "My people revere logic above all else."

Luna raised an eyebrow, "Logic is not all there is. It cannot explain everything when people decide not to see it."

"What do you mean?" asked Spock.

"Logic explains some things, but the world is made of more than logic. In fact, the universe is mostly magic." stated Luna, remembering that quote from a class she had taken at Hogwarts. "If the universe was not magic, then logic would be meaningless."

Spock became interested, despite himself, in this discussion of philosphy. "Then you refute the statement of cause and reaction?"

"Oh, things happen without cause all the time. It's living intelligences that confine the universe into the cause-effect ratio." Luna said as she pulled out her wand, "If it wasn't for me, being the cause, I couldn't manipulate the magic to do this."

Luna waved her wand and conjured a tea set. "Would you prefer Earl Grey or Orange Pekoe?"

Spock raised an eyebrow, the only expression of surprise that he would allow himself, "Earl Grey, if you please. Do you mean to say that you manipulate the energies of the cosmos to your will?"

"Of course! All intelligent beings can do this, if they are willing to understand that logic confines the being, not release them. Muggles know this, but purposely confine themselves to only using logic." Luna went on, remembering one of the discussions in Ravenclaw, of which she was a firm believer that only the mind restricted the reach of the being. "People who promote logic, or rather logic alone, lose the ability to recognize the other, more esotheric world where all knowledge resides."

"So you are saying that logic is only part of the equation." Spock stated, as he was trying to understand what she was able to do.

"Actually, the more logic, the worse the paradigm shift to that which will represent the complete death of the universe. Mr. Black and his people tries to prevent that, although he is Death personified."

---

Checkov looked over the bridge instumentation, which, really, wasn't all that much. All he could see was a large wheel, with which to stear the ship, a circular unit, which had full ahead, ½ ahead, etc, and a brass tube. "This is all you naviguate with?"

Henchgirl smiled, "For the most part. After all, this is a sailing vessel, although we did compromise by installing the control for how fast the engine runs. I know, it's not period, but it works."

Checkov frowned, "How do you tell which stars are which?"

Giggling, Henchgirl opened a panel just to the left of the wheel. "This is a pleasure ship, so we don't have all of the instruments that would be aboard a full working vessel. Instead we decide what we want to do using this."

She pressed a small button and a globe about the size of a man's head came up. In it, was a representation of the galaxy, all the stars glittering in their splendor. "It can project a star map above us, although this one is restricted only to this galaxy. We could have bought one for the entire supercluster in London, but that was a bit much to spend for something we are only going to use for day trips, or perhaps a trip of a few months. We can focus in on each of the solar systems as they are right now, although this is not accurate enough to show the surface of the planets. Then again, that's why we are out here, to see what's going on for ourselves instead of having someone else give us the information."

Checkov looked at the globe and almost drolled, very tempted to steal this wonderful device. It would open up vast vistas of exploration!

Wait a second...

"Did you say you got this in London?" a confused Checkov asked.

"Yes."

"London, England?"

"Of course not!" Henchgirl huffed, a bit annoyed that the supposed navigator didn't know where to get quality equipment. "We got it in London, Ontario. Canada is more involved in space exploration that Britain."

---

As Scotty was going towards the rear of the Ship with the Professor, he chanced to look into one of the rooms that had a door open. Not noticing anything, he continued on, until his brain caught up. Going back, he gaped at the large space within. "Professor, what is this room?"

The Professor turned around and saw what Mr. Scott was looking at. "Oh that! It's our dueling room."

"Dueling room?" Scotty asked, while shaking his head. "Do ya realize that it's larger that the outside of the ship?"

"Of course it is," the odd man stated as if it was obvious, "We do need room to practice, after all. Want to go in and see it?"

Scott looked to either side, and saw that there was only a half foot between the galley and the door, and on the other side, perhaps about a half foot before there was another door. "Aye. I would be interested in that."

Leading the way inside, the Professor pointed out the various features of the room, which included dueling platforms, a gauntlet for people to dodge while firing upon targets, and a weapons range. Quite similar to setups at starbases or training academy's and outposts. "Tis' a thing of beauty, Professer. How do you get it so large?"

"Well, it only a simple expansion, something anyone can do. Would you like to continue on to the engine room and compare notes on propulsion systems?" The Professor asked, wanting to get to know this engineer who could explain so many things that he was only begining to experiment with.

"Of course. I would like to know how you achieve warp propulsion. Our sensors indicated very little energy used compared to our ship."

"Well, the way we move the ship is based upon properties that we noticed when using the port trans or apperating, which means going through a subdimension to change places, at least on a planet. I admit, we could have just built a Stargate, such as the one they have at Stargate Command, but it doesn't provide the relaxing transportation of a ship. Instantaneous transport to another planet is so passe, you have to admit..."

---

Kirk and Mr. Black were on the foredeck, looking at the planet off to the right side and siping some brandy.

Harry had several options to play around, but he wanted to do something which would play with the mind of the man in front of him. Then he remembered one episode, one which, according to the books, affected Kirk more than he was ever willing to admit. Might as well have fun with the assumption everyone in the Wizarding World had of him. "Still thinking about her, aren't you?"

Kirk blinked, wondering what Mr. Black was talking about. For his part, he was enjoying his time here. He had always wondered what it would be like to stride the deck of one of the original sailing vessels named Enterprise. He had always wanted to be in command of such a ship, of feeling the wind on his face, and finding where the Dragons were. His ship was wonderful, and provided many opportunities, but there was little time for actual original exploration. Those times were gone, and seemed to be disapearing more every day. Instead of being an explorer, as was his original dream, he was becoming more of a military stooge. Yes, every commander of a starship had to have military knowledge, but it was a little known fact that each commander was a scientist first, and his specialty was universal history. "I'm always thinking of my ship."

Black chuckled, "That's not the girl I'm talking about. There was a certain woman who you loved, what seventy years ago or so?"

Kirk paled at the implication, and twisted his head towards Black. "Seventy--"

"Yes, what was her name again." Harry mussed as he put a hand to his mouth to cover the smile, "E-something or another...Edith, that was it, Edith Keeler."

Kirk was stunned. The only people who knew of the incident was Spock, McCoy and himself, other than the Guardian of Forever. "How did you.."

"I saw your strugle, your pain as you knew that she had to die. You need to know, that her death was not your fault, but her survival would have been an aberation." Harry took a deep sip of his drink. "Letting someone die, when you could save them is hard, harder than killing to protect another."

Kirk looked away, a sick, shocked look on his face, and some sweat running down his brow, "What would you know about it?"

"If Ms. Keeler had lived," Mr. Black said in a monotone, "Then the universe itself would have demanded a—correction—if you will. Such corrections are not something you want to see, or have happen. When someone avoids their fate, then usually the correction is worse. Much worse. In Edith's case, the Earth would have had the Nazi's win, and with their win, Earth would be in a precarious position. Worse, enemies would have arrived which would cause Earth to go in one of two directions, conquest of this Galaxy, ending in an eventual collapse as each ruler decided that they had the only right to rule, or complete distruction of the planet by 2157. I would prefer to not work that hard."

"Edith was a bright light. She saw the future, wanted the future. Why couldn't she live to see something happen to make it a reality." Kirk whispered as he gulped the brandy, struck at how Mr. Black was offhandly explaining this.

"All beings have an effect on others. You, of all people, should know that people should be free to decide for themselves while keeping watch over the evils that may occur. There is a saying, 'The price of freedom is eternal vigilance'. This is not accurate. The actual saying should be 'The price of freedom is to recognize and combat evil.'" Harry stated as he poured more brandy into the glass.

"The way you say that..."

"Earth is coming to a crisis point, one in which I, and others, may not interfere in, no matter what we want to do. If we took over, ignored the International Statute of Secrecy, and took over the planet for 'the good of the people', would we be any better than Hitler and the Nazi's?"

---

The away team gathered in the conference room of the Enterprise, rather quiet about what they had seen. At the moment, none of them had been able to talk with the others about the various technologies, or other things they had seen and learned about. Kirk was about to change that, and the universe may never be the same.

"What is your preliminary analysis, Spock?"

Spock looked at the others before begining. "I am...unsure what to make of the situation, Captain. It is obvious they are from Earth, using technology that should not be available to them, at least as far as our history tells us. The date is currently March 15, 2001, at least according to their calender, and their views of the universe are quite different from what one would expect."

"In what way," McCoy drawled as he played around with a small case, "Could it be the fact that their view of the universe includes legends? That they know Flint? Or could it be the fact that the technology is further advanced than what we have."

"Doctor, while it may be.."

"Spock, according to them, the Mark I tricorder's production was stopped in the 90's. This...scanner that I have in my hand has enough memory to run the entire ship, and has more information on medical technologies and species than I have ever come accross. Complete examinations of biometric lines and electrical conductivity of species, and how the energy flows through the bodies. DNA sequences and full explanations of the what each gene does for each of the species. I don't have to download a new database depending on the species or the planet, it's all right here!" McCoy sputtered.

"That does fit in with Earth's history, Doctor. The Mark I's were abandoned, and recreated after Earths first contact with another species. However, I am basing this on the discussion I had with Ms. Luna, and the earlier diner conversation." Spock said in a steady voice.

Spock frowned and brought his hands in front of his face. "First, Ms. Luna, and presumably all the members on the Resource have the ability to manipulate the universe on the quantum string level, something which seems comonplace for them. She described this as the universe being made of Magic."

"So, she has no use for logic?" McCoy grinned.

Spock almost smirked. "On the contrary. She agrees with logic, but only as an offshoot of living beings. In her view, logic has it's place, but must be tempered with emotion and a mind that accepts that something may happen without a cause. Mr. Black is where my concern lays, however."

Now Kirk was interested, given his earlier conversation. "I agree. Mr. Black knows much more than he is telling, more than he should."

"Yes." Spock agreed. "Let's start with how he greeted me."

"He spoke Vwulcan. So vhat?" said Chekov.

"Mr. Checkov, he spoke a particular dialect of Vulcan, one that is not heard outside of the Forge, and more specifically, one that was brought back into use by the Syrranites. It is also the dialect that is used almost exclusively by those who train for Kolinahr. There are perhaps only 20,000 people who speak this dialect fluently." Spock frowned. "Continuing, Ms. Luna has an...interesting...view of Mr. Black, having casually refered to him as death."

Kirks face paled, "Death. That might explain a few things."

"What things, Captain."

"Do you remember our voyage through the Guardian of Forever, Spock?"

"Of course." Spock replied, "The mission was rather, disquieting."

"Mr. Black knew of the entire mission, and of the consequences. He even stated that Earth was approaching a crisis point in which he could not interfere." Kirk stated, "What if, what if he really is Death?"

"Now you're being rediculous, Jim." McCoy snorted. "From my scans, they register as human. Perhaps long lived humans, but human. We've encountered their like before."

"But Bones, how would he have intimate knowledge of a mission that only you, Spock, and I know about? A mission that I keep buried deep in my mind for the consequences alone?" Kirk asked.

"I think they've been helping Earth, Captain." Scott then said, also fingering his own 'Hex-Quarter', "Consider that they mentioned that there is an 'International Statute of Secrecy. Suppose they are agents of one of Earths governments or, given their knowledge of traveling to distant planets, someone like Gary Seven, an agent of an advanced civilization here to help Earth make it to where the Federation can exist?"

"Possible, Mr. Scott. Tell me, what is your opinion of the Professor as an engineer, and your opinion of their engine technology." Spock said as he frowned slightly, taking in all of the datum as it was presented.

"Mr. Spock, if I had even a tenth of the knowledge that he does, Star Fleets ships would be able to travel the entire galaxy, perhaps beyond, without a problem." Scott said, slightly disgruntled.

"First, I encountered a room that was larger than the ship, it had t' be half the size of the main hull, and they were using it for weapons practice. They said it was a simple expansion technique. The only way that it could be created is by a warp field, but I've never heard of a stable warp field inside of a ship used in this manner." Scott said in an awed voice.

"There may be another explaination."

"Spock?" Kirk encouraged, looking for answers.

Spock pulled a keyboard from below the desk as he activated the desk viewscreen. "As I have mentioned, their technology indicates an ability to manipulate strings to produce what they require. At this time on Earth, String Theory shows at least eight different, equally valid versions for the universe ranging from six to twenty-six concurrent right angle dimensions. Given this, they could easily manipulate the physical space as per the desired strings. Indeed, if I am correct, they have no need for anti-matter or an observable power source. The power would come as necessary from how the strings are designed."

"Aye, this would explain their engines. They are extremely compact without a vent or other exhaust system, but provide a stable warp field and thrust, seemingly in any direction they desire." Scott said as he frowned.

"How big were the engines?" Kirk asked.

The enterprises chief engineer groaned, then said, "Captain, the engines were the size of the monitor."

Spock straigtened at that, "Mr. Scott, the engines were the size of this monitor?"

"Aye, that they were. And inside the engines were simple items, gemstones, gold coins, string, and you're na' going to believe this, bubble-gum."

McCoy started, "We were protected by bubblegum?"

"Aye."

McCoy turned back to the Vulcan, "You're not telling Star Fleet research about this."

"Doctor McCoy, the-"

"I said NO! I risked my life, and now I find out I was depending on bubblegum! They may have solved the problem, but I am not letting the idiots in research pretend they know what they doing!" McCoy virtually shouted to the entire room.

Checkov looked uncomfortable, "I just vant a copy of their navrigation system."

"Mr. Checkov?" Kirk asked, trying to get some uncomfortable ideas out of his mind.

Right now Checkov could use a drink, considering what he had heard. "They have a chart of all the planets, as they are right now, for the entire galaxy. Henchgirl said she could get one for the entire supercluster."

"Aye, that fits. The Professor mentioned something called a stargate, which Earth's governments use to send people to other planets instantaneously. That's why I was thinking of Gary Seven, since his superiors can send a transporter signal across the galaxy." Scott sighed, "I would like to see such a device."

Spock's eyebrows rose and then sent the information he accessed to the central screens. In it was a half complete sheet of paper that showed a device with symbols around the outside. "It appears that rumours of such a device exist. However, it is confined to the realm of Earth's conspiracy theorist. There has never been any proof that such a device has ever existed before now, and we cannot confirm this source of information either."

---

1 Note: Although never confirmed, the design of the USS Enterprise that was accepted is rumoured to have been created by Matt Jefferies, The person the 'Jefferies tubes' are named after, after a meeting between him and Gene Rodenberry, who had asked him to design the Enterprise, in which several hundred designs were created and reviewed. He then saw an ashtray with a cigar in a bar, and copied what he saw on a bar napkin. The rest, as the rumour goes, is history.

The truth is that the design of the Enterprise is based on parts of all of the designs that Mr. Jefferies created, and he created the ship with an engineers eye towards what would be necessary in a spacecraft for crew safety. He had design drawings and other information provided from NASA as well as knew the designs of various military ships. He concluded that in the future, engineers would be safety concious, especially when dealing with highly volitle fuels that interplanetary travel would require. His designs and ideas have actually been put into use in practical applications. This included having all major components acessible from the inside of the ship, and the ergonomic design of the bridge panels and equipment, a design that was made to reduce back and neck strain. He was overruled on Mr. Spocks viewer.

The rumour itself came from the executive levels of NBC studios at the time of the show, some of them not knowing of the past designs and Matt Jefferies military and design career. They believed him to be a simple artist similar to those used in the art and advertising departments of NBC studios.

A second reason for the rumour is the first time the NBC executives saw the Enterprise, it had turned upside down due to the weight and they thought that the ship should look that way.

2 Note: Harry is not thinking of himself as Death, but as a type of Immortal superspy. After all, a spy would be the person who can find out what Kirk has done in history.

From two different shorts by D.J. Thorens and Meteoricshipyards on the CaerAzkaban mailing list. MR. Black and Make a Wish by Rorschart's Blot.