HOBBS III The Vanguard's Journey Home

by Peter Gao

Stuck in the 21st century, the crew of the Vanguard must figure out a way to get home...until they heard about a program called Star Trek

HOBBS III – The Vanguard's Journey Home

The Admiral was disoriented and tried to stand up only to find her balance completely off. Something was creating problems with her Borg implants.

As she tried to steady herself, she fell forward and through where the forcefield should have been.

Boltini managed to stand up and bellow, "Give me a report, you stupid idiots!" A NES hurried to comply.

On the Vanguard, there was only slightly less disarray. "All stop! What happened?" Adam's voice penetrated the smoke.

"We just went through some sort of rift," Kaitz reported.

"Where are we?"

"We appear to be in the Sol system," was Kaitz' perplexed reply.

Before Adam could say anything, a voice came over the comm. system. "Transporter room to bridge. I've got Admiral Hawthorne and EWDEE."

Adam blinked. "Good work Nibbles. Admiral, EWDEE, we need you up here. Bridge out."

Within a couple of minutes, AdmH and EWDEE stepped out of the turbolift. Adam smiled as he said, "Welcome back, Admiral."

"It's good to be back," AdmH replied sincerely. "All right, does anyone know what's going on here?"

All eyes turned to Kaitz, who put together a report. "According to sensors, we're in the Sol system. However, scans of Earth reveal that we seem to be somewhere in the early 21st century. The technology is almost completely obsolete."

AdmH thought for a moment, but was interrupted. "Admiral, the Terminator is hailing."

"Onscreen."

-

GeorgeKirk contacted every vessel within comm. range of the Fesarius, trying to figure out what had happened to the Vanguard and the Terminator. The picture he got was fuzzy at best. Apparently, the Vanguard had last been seen headed in the general direction of the Briar Patch, and the last sighting of the Terminator had been a light year away from Earth. Reports of a massive explosion near the Briar Patch were coming in. GK began to worry. A short conversation with the mysterious Balok, and the Fesarius was on its way to the Briar Patch as fast as its engines could go.

-

Voyager was dark and quiet. Only the emergency lights and a few flickering consoles provided any illumination. The steady hum of the warp core was missing, replaced by a quiet stillness that screamed as a spinning piece of debris bounced harmlessly off of the viewscreen. Admiral Janeway and the rest of the senior officers carefully got to their feet, assessing the damage for themselves before stepping behind their consoles and delivering reports.

"We have damage reports coming in from all decks." Lieutenant Kim broke the stifling silence. "Twenty-three wounded, two dead."

"What was that?" Janeway said, half to herself.

Lieutenant Kim examined the sensor readings. "The Terminator fired some sort of Trilithium weapon at that moon base. The explosion tore a rift in space, and apparently the Vanguard and the Terminator were pulled through."

"Do you know where it leads?"

"No, Admiral. It's closed too rapidly for me to be able to see where it leads to."

Janeway sighed. "Right now, our priority is to get this ship back into good working condition." She tapped her combadge. "Janeway to Torres..."

-

Boltini appeared on the Vanguard's viewscreen. "I don't suppose you have a few spare redshirts I could borrow? We coincidentally just experienced a drastic drop in our supply over here, and the new batteries for the cloning facilities won't arrive until Tuesday."

"No, we do not. A moment please." The Admiral turned to Kaitz. "Where exactly are we in the Sol system in relation to Earth?"

"We are just a few hundred miles outside the orbit of Jupiter, about forty degrees behind Earth's position in its orbit."

"Very well. Is Jupiter anywhere nearby?"

"It's about one quarter of an orbit away from us at this time."

"I see. As I recall, Earth had a few relatively advanced telescopes at this point in history. Ice, work with Kaitz to turn the ship so that it presents a minimum profile to Earth. We'll be heading for cover or deep space after consulting with the Terminator."

"Aye, captain," the two officers said.

"And Kaitz, do we have any idea of what that was?"

"No, captain, not yet."

The Admiral turned back to the screen, uneasily noting that the other ship's bridge seemed to have experienced a distinct drop in population during the past few minutes. "Boltini," she called, "do you have any idea what just happened?"

"No, but I can tell you're going to blame it on me," Boltini said menacingly.

"My apologies if I implied that. I was hoping that your ship's alien sensors had been able to make more sense of the event than had ours."

"Sir!" An NES dashed across the bridge to stand at Boltini's side and salute. "You told me to report as soon as we found something-"

"Oh, did I?" Boltini said cunningly, turning to hit the ensign full in the face with a Maniacal Glare.

"Yes sir, you did." The ensign was looking a trifle nervous.

"Are you quite sure? Perhaps a malformed clone told you that…or a shapeshifter. Maybe you imagined it all in a horrible nightmare," Boltini said darkly, waving his hook in a menacing fashion.

"Err, perhaps you're right," the ensign said, apparently trying to humor his superior.

"So why," Boltini said, as he ominously stepped closer to the ensign and shook his hook at the lad to emphasize his words, "did Mister Ensign deliberately violate Boltini's standing order that Boltini is not to be interrupted when Boltini is discussing Matters of Importance with another ship?"

The NES looked frightened and at a loss for words. The Admiral tried to distract Boltini. "Er, Boltini-"

"A moment, Ad-mee-ral," Boltini mocked, waving his hook at the screen dismissively. "Internal matters."

"Err, maybe you're a malformed clone? Or a shapeshifter? And so I wouldn't have been violating the standing order, because it wouldn't apply to you," the NES suggested timidly.

Boltini scratched his scalp. "Hmm, I hadn't thought of that. Perhaps I am. I shall have to investigate the possibility later. So, what have you come to tell me?"

"Err, sir...it's kinda secret." The NES waved helplessly at the screen. Boltini looked, saw the other crew watching, and nodded.

"I see. Terminator out." The communications link went dead.

The NES cleared his throat and began. "It appears that, just before the rift was detected, several of the containers holding the experimental weaponry in Cargo Bay 4-V malfunctioned, allowing the respective munitions in each container to mix together-"

"Ah, yes, the fillings for the raspberry/anti-blackberry pies. Go on."

"Well, sir, it appears that your scientists' theories were partly confirmed. A large spatial rift developed. But it was much larger than expected, possibly due to the large number of containers that malfunctioned. Also, there was a temporal element to the rift. Sir."

"Temporal? When are we now?"

"Sir?"

"Never mind. I'll get the answer from these Starfleet fools."

-

"We can't allow Boltini to approach Earth," Adam said while pacing back and forth across the bridge. "He could-actually, he would-interfere with the timeline and probably foul things up royally."

"We'll just have to distract his attention," the Admiral decided. "Possibly by suggesting that we return to the Briar Patch for investigation."

Boltini's face popped up again on the viewscreen.

"Ok Starfleeters, when are we?" he asked with a scowl.

"What?" said the Admiral quietly to herself.

"What?" Adam thought to himself.

"What kind of stupid question is that?" PG said out loud.

"Silence that dog Ad-mee-ral!" Boltini shouted. "Or I will silence him for you, or maybe for me, or maybe for Adam I'm not really sure. Does anyone else hear that buzzing?"

"No Boltini," the Admiral said as she approached the screen. Boltini was swatting wildly at the air. "Are you having some sort of insect problem?"

"I don't think so, I've just got a strange buzzing in my head," Boltini said. "Now answer my question!"

"Calm down Boltini," AdmH said. "It appears that we've gone back some time to the early 21st century. Boltini, we need to move the ships towards Jupiter. Earth might be able to see us."

Boltini was swatting at the air again. "Hmm? What, oh whatever, helm move us behind Jupiter. Doesn't anyone else hear that buzzing?" Said Boltini as the viewscreen turned back to the picturesque scene of Earth's Solar System.

-

"Did he just call me a dog?" Asked PG in a calm anger.

"I think he did." Said NAH, trying not to snicker.

"Where do we go from now?" Asked Adam.

AdmH pondered for a moment. "Let's go to the Briar Patch, just in case."

"Agreed."

"Did he just call me a dog?" Asked PG in a calm anger.

"I think he did." Said NAH, trying not to snicker.

"Where do we go from now?" Asked Adam.

AdmH pondered for a moment. "Let's go to the Briar Patch, just in case."

"Agreed."

"Did he just call me a dog?" Asked PG in a calm anger.

"I think he did." Said NAH, trying not to snicker.

"Where do we go from now?" Asked Adam.

AdmH pondered for a moment. "Let's go to the Briar Patch, just in case."

"Agreed."

"Admiral," said Kaitz. "Did you just feel something odd?"

"Now that you mention it…"

"Did he just call me a dog?" Asked PG in a calm anger.

"I think he did." Said NAH, trying not to snicker.

"Where do we go from now?" Asked Adam.

AdmH starred at him quizzically. "Something's wrong."

"I felt it too." Said Adam.

"Mcmac, scan the area, is there something amiss?"

"I'm reading massive amounts of Chronitons on the hull."

"What can we do to get rid of it?" Asked AdmH.

"A burst of anti-chronitons should work." Said Kaitz."

"Did he just call me a dog?" Asked PG in a calm anger.

"No time." Said AdmH. "Mcmac, full power to deflectors, give me a burst of anti-chronitons."

"Yes ma'am."

A ringing swept through the ship as the pulse was emitted from the deflector dish. Everyone was disoriented for a moment, but soon recovered.

"I'm not reading any residual chronitons on the hull." Reported Mcmac.

"Why could've caused our hull to be blanked by chronitons?" Asked Adam.

"Well, that was a temporal anomaly, must have came from that."

"Wait," said AdmH "if we were coated with that stuff…what about the Terminator?"

-

Boltini looked up from a PADD as an NES approached with a tray of cookies. He surveyed the tray as the NES trembled at his side. Boltini reached up and swatted away the tray.

"You fool!" Boltini screamed. "I wanted peanut butter cookies, not oatmeal raisin."

Boltini pulled a pie out from a hidden compartment in his throne and hit the NES in the face with it.

Boltini looked up from a PADD as an NES approached with a tray of cookies. He surveyed the tray as the NES trembled at his side. Boltini reached up and swatted away the tray.

"You fool!" Boltini screamed. "I wanted peanut butter cookies, not oatmeal raisin."

Boltini pulled a pie out from a hidden compartment in his throne and hit the NES in the face with it.

Boltini looked up from a PADD as an NES approached with a tray of cookies. He surveyed the tray as the NES trembled at his side. Boltini reached up and swatted away the tray.

"You fool!" Boltini screamed. "I wanted peanut butter cookies, not oatmeal raisin."

Boltini pulled a pie out from a hidden compartment in his throne and paused for a second. He looked down at the pie then at the NES. He considered for a moment, and then hit the NES with the pie.

Boltini looked up from a PADD as an NES approached with a tray of cookies. He surveyed the tray as the NES trembled at his side. Boltini reached up and swatted away the tray.

"You fool!" Boltini screamed. "I wanted peanut butter cookies, not oatmeal raisin."

Boltini pulled a pie out from a hidden compartment in his throne and hit the NES in the face with it. He stood up and walked over to the science station.

"What the hell is going on?" Boltini demanded.

"Vanguard to Terminator," said AdmH voice through the comm. system. "You are in a recurring time loop. Drop your shields and we can get you out."

"Drop our shields Ensign," Boltini ordered.

A ringing swept through the Terminator as the pulse emitted from the Vanguard's deflector dish struck its hull.

I should have waited at least one more time, Boltini thought to himself. I would have liked to hit that guy with the pie again.

-

"They are out of the recurring time loop." Said Kaitz. "And Admiral, I took the liberty to beam aboard a sample of the chronitons, they might be some use."

"Good idea." Said AdmH "Hail the Terminator again."

"Hailing." Said TC.

Boltini's face reappeared on screen with crumbs around his mouth. "What now!"

"My staff and I agreed that we should go back to the Briar Patch for clues on how to get back, hopefully you'll agree as well."

"Uh…ok." Said Boltini lazily as his face disappeared from the screen.

"That was easy." Said PG.

"It was…" said AdmH. "we'll worry about him later, at least he's cooporating for now. Ice, set a course for the Briar Patch, maximum warp."

"Aye aye."

"PG, I want tactical up and running in an instance if Boltini has any tricks up his sleeve."

"You got it."

-

Boltini sat down in his command chair and drummed his hook against the armrest. His eyes flicked back and forth watching the crew press buttons and monitor the systems. He flicked his eyes faster and faster. He started to get dizzy and fell out of his chair. The crew stopped to look at him and Kick hurried over to help in back into the chair.

"Are you alright Boltini?" she asked.

"Of course I'm Boltini!" Boltini roared. "Who did you think I am?"

"You are Boltini, Lord of Darkness," Kick said.

"Really? And who are you?"

"It's me, Kick, Mistress of Evil, Keeper of the Sacred Tomes of Doom," Kick replied, looking very confused.

"Sacred Tomes of Doom?"

"Your pie cook books."

"Pie? I want a pie," Boltini said. He suddenly swatted at the air and Kick jumped back to keep from being impaled. "Doesn't anyone else here that buzzing?"

"Sir?" the helmsman said. "We have reached the Briar Patch."

"Excellent," Boltini said, suddenly regaining a sense of darkness and sanity. "Drop us out of warp. Put the Patch on the viewscreen."

They all looked up at the screen but only saw stars and the Vanguard.

"What's going on here?" Kick demanded. "Are we in the wrong place?"

"Kick?" Boltini said. "Do you think I'd look better with my hair dyed pink?"

"What!"

Boltini swatted at the air again, "I wish somebody would stop that damned buzzing."

"We're being hailed by the Vanguard," a NES said.

"Open fire! All pies!" Boltini yelled as he jumped to his feet, then collapsed on the deck.

The crew stared in silence.

"Put the Vanguard on the screen," Kick said.

AdmH's face appeared on screen. "Kick? What's happened to Boltini?"

"Hehehe…she has red hair…" chuckled Boltini in the background.

"What's wrong with him?" Asked Adam.

"What do you want?" Said Kick.

AdmH knew that she wasn't going to answer her question. "I'm sure you've noticed that the Briar Patch is not here."

"Yes," said Kick. "Nothing but empty space…"

"Bzzzz, hehehe…"

"…Like Boltini's head."

"Anyway," said AdmH. "We think we have a theory."

"Go on."

"According to our scans, that rift was not only temporal but also inter-dimensional, we could be in another universe completely."

"So you're saying that there's no Patch in this universe?"

"Pretty much."

"How about we get back to where we started?" Said Kick commandingly.

AdmH eyes shifted for a moment. "I'll have to talk this over with my staff. Hawthorne out."

-

The senior staff sat around the teardrop-shaped window in the Briefing Room. Everyone knew that something suspicious was going on.

"Ok," said AdmH. "Something's wrong with Boltini."

"We all saw him." Said Adam. "He seemed to have lost his mind."

"It was funny." Said PG.

"Agreed." Said NAH. They were both snickering.

"That was pretty funny." Said AdmH. "Still, there's the problem of Kick wanting to go back to the Solar System."

"She must know that she could screw around with this timeline." Said Vanessa.

"Yes, even if it's another universe, I think we have a duty to protect it from those two."

"Bridge to Hawthorne!" Came a distressed voice from the comm. system.

"What is it?"

"A shockwave Admiral, it's heading straight for us!"

-

The senior staff ran onto the bridge just as the front of the shockwave struck the ship. Many of them lost balance in the process. AdmH looked up among the sparks and saw the cosmic turmoil unfolding before her, huge puffs of orange clouds erupted into existence, covering both the Vanguard and the Terminator.

"The shockwave is emanating from a point 100 million kilometers away!" Reported mcmac.

"Stabilizers! Turn us into the wave!" Shouted AdmH.

"Aye aye!"

"Admiral! I'm reading massive amounts of rocky debris in the explosion!" Said Kaitz.

"Evasive maneuvers Mr. Ice!"

Then she saw it, a chunk of rock the size of a city. It was careening towards them like a football. They were going to miss it; their ship was edging away from its path.

"That rock is on a collision course with the Terminator!"

There was no time to do anything. The fragment crashed its way into the Terminator, immediately taking off half of his hull. Small pieces of the collision struck the Vaguard. The bridge crew starred in horror as the massive vessel swayed with the shockwave.

"I'm reading an energy build up in their core!"

"Transporters!"

The Terminator continued to spin and sway in the turbulence; energy bolts flickered from here to there. In a flash, the superstructure disintegrated, and the rest followed. Almost as fast, the shaking stopped, the space around them calmed down. The ordeal was over.

"How many people did we get?" Said AdmH gravely.

"About 40 people."

"Look." Said Ice as he starred at the view screen.

"Oh my…" said PG. "It's the Briar Patch."

"Funny how it works out, doesn't it." Said AdmH.

"Where do we go from here, Admiral?" Adam asked as he tried to regain his bearings.

The Admiral leaned back in her chair for a moment as she tried to take in everything that had just happened. "I want a meeting now. Adam, take a security team and bring Kick up here to join the meeting. I want Boltini in sickbay under heavy watch. Tell Anna to keep a level 10 forcefield around him at all times; I want to know what the hell is going on in that man's head." She looked tense, and everyone on the bridge could feel her self-confidence slipping ever so slightly. People began to shift uncomfortably at the thought that their leader may not have a plan of action for once.

"Right." Adam understood and headed to the turbolift only to stop short and turn back to the Admiral. "What about Keyser Soze?"

The Admiral straightened suddenly. The thought of Keyser had not crossed her mind since she was beamed back to the Vanguard. "The Keyser? Is he still alive?" She had a small bit of hope in her voice that took most by surprise.

"I don't know, Admiral, but, if he is, what would you like for me to do with him?"

"Bring him here as well."

Adam left the bridge and headed to Cargo Bay 2 where the Terminator's crew was being held under the watchful eye of The Vanguard's security team. As he entered, he noticed that Boltini was doing the chicken dance while Kick and Keyser Soze watched on with amusement and worry.

"Kick, Keyser, come with me. You two," he motioned to two heavily armed security guards, "come with us. I don't want to take any chances."

"Yes, sir." One of the men motioned with his compression phaser rifle for the two Nemeses to follow the Vanguard's first officer.

"You," he pointed to a third guard, "escort Boltini to sickbay. Have Doctor Anna scan him for anything unusual. The Admiral has ordered a level 10 forcefield around him at all times while in sickbay. Also, call for more guards in here." Said Adam as he looked around the cargo bay worryingly.

"Yes, sir." The guard proceeded to fulfill his orders. Adam and his group left shortly after the extra guards arrived.

"Ohhh a trip? Where are we going?" Kick started to skip behind Adam as he led them to the bridge.

"We're going to meet with the senior staff. The Admiral thinks you two could be of some help."

"The Admiral is alive?" The Keyser sounded surprised but relieved.

"Yes."

The armed escort arrived in the meeting room a moment later. Admiral Hawthorne stood as they entered and looked as though she might run over and hug Keyser for a fleeting moment.

"Keyser, Kick, welcome aboard." She motioned for them to have a seat among her senior staff.

"I wish it was under better circumstances." The Keyser took a seat to the left of the Admiral with Kick sitting next to him.

"I'm sure." Said AdmH. "Unfortunately, I'm not apt to give up control of my ship anytime soon, Keyser." The Admiral smirked a bit at the thought as she took her seat.

"No, I suppose you're not. How's Jason?"

"Safe and sound, naturally."

"Admiral, I don't mean to interrupt, but..." Adam tried not to look as annoyed and scared as he felt.

"Right, of course, sorry Commander." The Admiral straightened in her chair and took a moment to compose herself. "Ladies and gentlemen, it seems we've found ourselves in a most unusual situation. We're trapped in a dimension other than our own with 40 people on board that have been our enemies for as long as we've been a crew, if not longer. Our supplies are low, our way home seems slim to none in arriving, and I have lost a large chunk of my crew. Welcome to Voyager Junior people. I'm glad I've known Kathryn Janeway for a while, otherwise, I'd be at my wit's end by now. Kick, we need you and you need us. I can't keep your people in my cargo bay. It's waste of supplies and my time. Can we come to some agreement on this until we're back in our time and place?"

"I don't know. I like being evil."

"You can't be evil if I push you out an air lock." The tone in the Admiral's voice made her crew shudder and the Keyser smile.

"There's my Ann." He leaned back with a grin on his face.

"You wouldn't really push me..."

The Admiral raised her hand to stop Kick. "I'll do whatever it takes to get my people safely back home."

"Ok, well, I like living more than being evil. I guess we can work together, but can I still be the Evil Mistress of Doom?"

"Sure. Keyser," She turned to face the still grinning man. "Are you with me or not?"

"Normally, I'd say no, but we have bigger reasons to stay on the same side here." His face turned serious. "I don't' want anything to happen to…I'll help you as much as I can."

"I'm glad to hear that." The Admiral sighed. "Ok, people, now we have to do some assigning and get everything together. I want to know what the hell that explosion was. We need a game plan before we move from here, and I want it within the next 48 hours. Let's do it."

-

EWDEE and Anna watched as the security guards escorted the deranged Boltini to the main biobed and established the forcefield. Boltini seemed fascinated with the tingly forcefield, and traced patterns in it with his hook. When he let out a high-pitched giggle, Anna looked at EWDEE.

"We have to do something. We can't keep him sedated, but who knows how his condition might deteriorate if he stays like this. He's one of the Nemeses, and I admit that I'm biased...but as a doctor, I'm sworn to do everything I can to preserve life. If there's something I can do, I have to do it. He's in no position to decide otherwise."

EWDEE thought about this for a moment as she absently listened to Boltini's attempt at a one-man band. "I've been thinking about this for a long time, Anna. I knew Nikolai...Boltini in my Academy days, and I never could really accept that the Nemesis with the hook and eye patch was what the friend I had at the Academy had become. It's a wild theory, but I think-" She was interrupted as Boltini sang Klingon opera at the top of his lungs for three seconds before returning to tracing patterns in the forcefield. "-I think that there's got to be something in there that's making him evil."

Anna considered this. "It sounds bizarre, but you may be right. Whatever's in there, it may be causing this."

"Right." EWDEE nodded, suddenly professional. "Let's sedate him, and do some scans. If conditions are favorable, I'd like to remove whatever it is that's causing this. Maybe, just maybe, we can get Nikolai back."

-

An hour passed, then two. Anna and EWDEE agreed that the microchip implanted in Boltini's brain was the source of most, if not all, of the problems. Admiral Hawthorne was consulted, and approval was given. The hook and eye patch were removed and set aside. The operation went smoothly, and the microchip was carefully extracted. Finally, the operation was complete; Anna woke Boltini as EWDEE monitored his vital signs.

"His vital signs are normal...now let's see if everything else is."

Boltini's vision slowly cleared as he came out of his sedated fog. His surroundings were unfamiliar, but not hostile. He was thinking more clearly than he had in years, and the oppressive weight on his consciousness that had haunted him was gone. Now, to figure out where he was...

"Boltini. Nikolai?"

He recognized that voice. It carried memories with it; memories of emus, tequila and Payday candy bars. "Kith? What am I...where..."

"Are you...you all right?"

"Yeah, Kith, where..." At that point he came to a realization. "My eye...why can't I see out of...what happened to my hand...oh my God, what happened to me!"

EWDEE looked upset and relieved at the same time - upset because Boltini was upset, and relieved because he was apparently his old emu-herding self again. "Nikolai. Nik, calm down."

"What happened to me, Kith?"

"A lot's happened. Are you feeling all right?"

"Yeah..." The memories of the past few years, though omitting those from the Section 31 days, came back to Boltini. Horror crossed his face as he recalled the cold-blooded killings, the orders to fire the pie cannons, the Mega Pie of Doom, the pink afro he wanted so badly- "What happened to me?" he repeated, shuddering.

"I can't tell you all of it," EWDEE said softly. "I can tell you that something happened, and you turned...evil."

Boltini took a moment to think about this. "So I was under some sort of mind control?..."

"In a way. That may have been what caused your insanity."

Boltini touched his good hand to where the eye patch had rested, and then to the stump of his wrist, still lost in memory. "I was truly insane, wasn't I?"

EWDEE tried to divert Nikolai Boltini's thoughts. "We can get you prosthetics to replace your eye and your hand."

Nik looked up, straight at EWDEE. "You're a doctor now?" He smiled. "How fitting."

EWDEE returned the smile. "I've missed you, Boltini."

-

"Look at that." Said PG as he stared out of the viewscreen.

"What?" Said NAH absentmindedly. "And just you know, we're supposedly to be working right now."

"Yeah, whatever…"

NAH straightened up. "What is it?"

"The cloud…the Briar Patch."

"Is that all?"

"I've always liked it here, the colors, the movements of the clouds…"

"Yeah, that's nice. Can you hand me that PADD over there?"

"Ok…"

NAH muttered something incoherent to PG, who was still transfixed at the nebula.

"What's that?" Said PG.

"What's what?"

"Mcmac, can you get a scan of the cloud?"

"What do you think I've been doing for the last hour?"

"There's the ship there, I'm positive.

"Ship eh?" Said mcmac as he squinted at the screen. "Alright, let me see what I can do…"

There a moment of silence as mcmac pounded away at his consol. "Got it, small ship, shuttlecraft, one occupant."

"Did you hear that Admiral?" Said PG.

"I sure did." Said AdmH. "Hail it."

There was no answer.

"They could be too damaged to answer." Offered Ice.

"Wait…" said TC. "I'm getting a transmission, audio only."

"Let's hear it."

Through the hazy static that emitted out of the comm. system, a broken voice came through. "Get…out of here!"

The small ship then promptly exploded.

The Admiral jumped up from her chair. "Mr. Ice, get us out of here!" she ordered.

The Vanguard's engines flared to life as it jumped to warp.

"What's going on back there?" Adam asked as they sped away.

"Sir, it looks like there are more explosions, the Briar Patch is continuing to expand," Kaitz answered as she read her console.

"Admiral, what course should I set?" Ice asked.

"Get us back to the Sol system," the Admiral said after a moment's thought. "We need to get back to some place we know exists in this universe."

"Aye Admiral, setting a course."

-

Down in sickbay Boltini was sitting by himself on a biobed. He was rubbing the stump where his hand should have been. Glancing upward he saw that EWDEE and Anna were still at Anna's desk going over his medical scans. EWDEE looked up and saw him watching them, and walked out to talk to him.

"How're you doing Nik?"

"I'm, well, I'm really pretty confused," Boltini said. "Everything is so messed up right now."

"Do you need anything?"

"I'd like to talk to the Admiral if she gets a chance," Boltini said.

"I'll see if I can arrange it," EWDEE answered. She smiled at him and walked back to talk with Anna again.

-

"So we're going back to where we started? Inquired Adam.

"Yes, where else would you suggest?" responded AdmH.

"No where else, now that I think about it, there must be a reason why we ended up there in the first place, so far from where we departed from our universe."

"Confused?"

"...A bit"

"Well, don't be, I'll be in my ready room, you have the bridge commander"

"Aye aye."

AdmH sighed as she replicated a cup of black coffee in her ready room. She didn't like time travel, and this is the worse kind, when you don't know how to get back. She sat down behind her desk and took a sip of the coffee. She was just enjoying it when the door chimed.

"Come in"

"Admiral?"

"EWDEE, what can I do for you?"

"...It's about Boltini"

"What about him?"

"He wants to see you""What for?"

"I don't really know, he just wants to...talk."

"All right, send him in."

A few moments later, Boltini arrived under heavy guard. The Admiral was surprised to see Boltini without the eye patch or the hook.

"I see that your prosthetics are working, Boltini."

"Yes, ma'am. They seem to be ok." He shrugged and unconsciously ran his good hand over his prosthetic hand.

She motioned for him to have a seat and sent the guard to stand watch outside her ready room door. "What can I do for you, Mr. Boltini?"

"Admiral, I have a lot of questions that I need answers to. I think you can give them to me."

"I'll do my best."

"Have you killed me before?"

"Yes."

"How many times? I feel as though you have twice."

"In one sense, I have. I killed once by following orders and once to save the galaxy."

"Do you have plans to kill me again?"

"I don't have any plans on it."

"What happened at the end of my Section 31 days?"

"You were captured by the Romulans and sent to one of their camps."

"How did I escape?"

"I wish I knew."

"What did they do to me there?"

She paused for a moment unsure of how she should answer. This was always the pivotal moment for all the other clones of Boltini. This is where they would go crazy and turn evil. Did she really want to go through that again? She felt she owed him the truth such as it was.

"They tortured you… badly… and for a very prolonged amount of time."

"Why did you leave me?"

"I had no choice. I was following orders."

"Did you even care about me?"

"If I had gone back to you, we would have put the whole team in danger, all fifty of my crew. I wanted to go back for you, Boltini, but the odds were very much against us. The needs of the many…"

"…Outweigh the needs of the few. I understand."

"Do you?"

"I have no desire to kill you for what you did."

"Well, it's a start. What else can I do for you?"

"I want to help you."

"I'd be pleased to have you back."

He nodded his appreciation. "How long will you keep me under guard? Kith seems to think a week or so."

"I want you at 100 percent before you start back to work."

"I see."

"Mr. Boltini… Nik, please don't think for a moment that I don't want you here. Please, don't think I ever wanted you gone."

"I know. I understand. It all seems to be very clear and very understandable now. I remember how I was, what I've done, and, frankly, I'm surprised you're seeing me without an armed guard right now."

"I'm taking EWDEE's word for how you are now until you give me reason not to."

"Thank you."

"Anytime. Anything else?"

"No ma'am."

"In that case, return to sick bay and send my regards to Anna and EWDEE."

He smiled. "I will." Boltini stood and left without another word, but a look of innocence was on his face that Admiral Hawthorne had not seen there since the original Boltini. It was promising.

-

The Admiral keyed in the code to her quarters and walked in to the peace and unsettling quiet. She threw her uniform jacket across a chair and settled on her couch with a cup of coffee and a stack of data PADDs. Sometime between now and tomorrow morning she had to come up with a plan. If she didn't, she was afraid she would lose face with her crew.

Her mind whirled with emotion and doubt as she read through PADD after PADD trying to see what other captains and admirals had done when faced with similar situations.

Admiral Kirk had found himself in the past and gotten back by sling-shooting the Enterprise around the sun. As a captain, Kirk had done that once before. Both times he had succeeded, but he was still in his own dimension, just a different time period. Captain Kirk had also found himself in a mirror universe, but there was a transporter involved. Captain Sisko had as well, but again there were special circumstances involved. Captain Janeway had found herself thrown back in time, but the Temporal Time Police had helped fix that problem…

She stopped reading reports as Kathryn Janeway's name crossed her mind. Janeway and Voyager had been left behind. No doubt Janeway was looking for the Vanguard, and Kathryn never stopped until she got what she wanted. Maybe it was Kathryn trying to help that had inadvertently created the explosion?

Hawthorne ran her hand through her hair and leaned back on the couch trying to refocus her mind.

Her door chimed.

"Come."

Keyser Soze walked in carrying a bottle of red wine and two glasses. "Hello, Admiral."

She signed and rolled her eyes in an over exasperated manner. "If you're looking to get me drunk Keyser, you know it will take more than a bottle of replicated red wine."

He smirked and handed her a glass. "I know, but I figured you could use it. We may be Nemeses, but I know you well enough to know when you're about to reach your breaking point. I thought some relaxation time would be good for you."

She watched him pop the cork, pour for both, and take a sip of his wine. "Since when did you become so concerned with my well-being?"

"Since you're my only chance to get back home in one piece. Besides, if you go insane now, how am I suppose to capture you and torture you to the brink of insanity when we get back?"

"Of course," she took a sip savoring the flavor, "how could I have missed that? What was I thinking?"

They sat in a peaceful silence for a while sipping wine and listening to the quiet peace.

"You know, Ann," he stood and faced the window, "you and I could take over this dimension and quadrant. We could be co-rulers of the galaxy."

"We could, but it would set a bad example for our son," she retorted flatly as she stared at his profile.

"I thought you might say that." He turned to face her. "Will there ever be a time when we forget who we are?

"What is that suppose to mean?"

"We use to do that, you know. That's how we worked as a couple. We came together and nothing else mattered but us."

"But it didn't last long."

"Damned Starfleet principles."

"No reason to get hostile."

"You enjoyed your evil side. I know you did."

"You're right. I did."

"Then come back to it; come back to me."

"You know I can't do that. I no longer lack a conscience. I can't just turn my back on those who need me, those I'm responsible for."

"Not once?"

"Not ever again." She placed the empty wine glass on the coffee table next to her cold cup of coffee and stood to face him. "Why are you here Keyser, my love?" Hurt, pain, and the longing for what was passed through her eyes as she looked at Soze waiting for an answer.

"I wanted to see you."

"To hurt me?"

"No."

"To kill me?"

"No!"

"To what, Love?"

"To be with you again before we have to go back to who we were before all of this happened, to be in your presence once again and feel your warmth and compassion, to be with you when you're Ann and not the Admiral."

She sighed and reached out to trace his facial features. She cocked her head to one side and shot him an evil smirk. "You just want to get lucky."

"Blame a man for trying?" He caught her hand in his and placed a gentle kiss on the inside of her wrist.

"No." She stepped forward and leaned against him looking up into his eyes and gasping as he forcefully grabbed her other hand with his, pushing them behind her back.

"Good." He chuckled as she absently struggled to break free. "You never stop fighting, do you, Ann?"

"Would you have me any other way?" She twisted her smaller frame trying to make a show of getting away, but they both knew with her Borg enhanced strength that he couldn't hold her if she didn't want him to.

He laughed out loud. "Never." He leaned down and kissed her, and, in that kiss, he demanded her everything. He demanded she give in and once again become his.

She broke the kiss. "Love, we can't do this. There's too much," she searched for the words lost in the swirl of sensations and feelings she more often than not kept buried, "there's not enough…"

"Yes, we can." He leaned down close to her ear, his breath giving her chills as it passed by her ear. He whispered, "Forget it. Forget them. Forget everything." She moaned lightly, and he kissed her again, and the world outside was lost to them.

-

The doors to the mess hall slipped open and Boltini and EWDEE stepped through them, followed closely by an armed guard.

"All I'm saying is give her a chance Nik," EWDEE said with a laugh.

"But I distinctly remember being a full lieutenant when I was captured, I can't believe that she's gotten me the rank of…ensign!" Boltini protested as they walked up to the replicator.

"You know it's for show right? When we get back…who knows what's going to happen. Coffee, black," EWDEE ordered. She picked up the steaming mug and took a sip.

"Gah, how can you drink that stuff?" Boltini said. "Blood wine."

He picked up the cup of blood wine and sipped it. "Yuck, lousy Starfleet replicators..." He trailed off as he saw EWDEE staring at him with a look of disapproval on her face. "Sorry, old habits die hard. And I developed a taste for this stuff."

They moved off to a table in the corner and sat down. The guard stood by the door, seemingly oblivious, but Boltini knew the guard wouldn't hesitate to shoot him.

"How's it feel to have two hands again?"

"I got to tell you, it's a little strange," Boltini said as he sipped his wine. "At first I just wanted a hook cause it looked cool, so I had one specially made that I could hold all the time. Then on a targ hunt a targ bit off my hand, fake hook and all. I've had a real hook ever since. And all the clones had hooks so Starfleet wouldn't know when one died. Same with the eye patch."

"You didn't tell me how you lost your eye," EWDEE said.

"That's a funny story actually, involving a drunk Ferengi and two Orion slave girls..."

Across the mess hall the doors opened and Jason Hawthorne walked in. He ordered a drink then sat down at a table and looked over a PADD.

"Don't I know him?" Boltini asked.

EWDEE turned around and looked at Jason, then turned back to face Boltini.

"That's Jason," she said. "He was one of your slaves."

"Oh god," Boltini muttered then buried his face in his hands. "What happened to me Kith?"

"I don't know Nik, but we can figure it out," she said.

"Maybe I should go talk to him," Boltini said.

"I don't think that would be such a good idea Nik."

Just then Jason looked up and his eyes met Boltini's. They stared at each other, and then Jason quickly got to his feet and left the hall.

"Damn," Boltini said quietly.

-

The bridge was fairly quiet and still...except for the ping-pong ball that flew across the room at regular intervals.

Kaitz, at the Science station, watched the ping-pong ball sail across the room, over PG's sleeping form draped across the command chair, and neatly caught it. She returned the ball to Cap. Ice, at the helm, but the throw went wide and bounced off of the console. PG stirred in his chair.

Cap. Ice shot Kaitz a mock glare. "Shh!"

"Sorry!" she mouthed back. She watched again as Ice launched the ball into the air...

...and plunked it on the top of PG's head. He sat up suddenly and looked around. "OWW! Who did that!" He looked behind him, at Kaitz, but she was apparently absorbed very deeply in readout from her console (or perhaps she was trying to get that last bit of spilled strawberry smoothie off). PG turned to glare at Ice, who looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

As PG opened his mouth to start yelling at whoever had so rudely interrupted his nap, Kaitz interrupted him. "Umm, I'm getting a strange communication..."

"Saved by the bell," Ice muttered.

"...Never mind, just some odd static, nothing to worry about."

"Crap."

PG tried to yell at Ice again, but was again interrupted. "No, seriously this time, I'm picking up a...radio signal..."

"From Earth?" PG said, sparing Ice.

"Yes..." Kaitz frowned, working. "Want to listen to it?"

"Put it on."

The remnants of a song faded away, and were replaced by a deejay's voice. "And that was 'Star Trekkin' by The Firm, played in honor of the beginning of Creation's three-day Star Trek convention, being held at the Las Vegas Convention Center. All your favorite Star Trek stars will be there, including my personal favorite, Kate Mulgrew, who played the smart, sexy, and beautiful Captain Kathryn Janeway on Star Trek: Voyager..."

The bridge fell into a stunned silence. The silence endured until the ping-pong ball that had been forgotten until then exploded, showering everyone with ping-pong ball dust.

PG seemed to be the first to recover. "Bridge to Hawthorne..."

The bridge crew waited…the Admiral wasn't answering.

"Bridge to Hawthorne" PG repeated, growing nervous.

Again, there was no answer. PG turned around and saw that Kaitz was just as nervous as he was, even though a piece of Ping-Pong ball was in her hair, which to PG looked quite humorous.

"Computer, locate Admiral Hawthorne" Kaitz commanded, without noticing a small grin on PG's face.

"Admiral Hawthorne is in her quarters," The computer announced.

"Well, this is damn peculiar…" PG muttered.

"AdmH here."

"Are you alright Admiral?"

"I'm fine""Are you sure Admiral?"

"No problems PG, sorry about the delay, I was trying to fix my replicator, and, of course, this toas-I mean, replicator never works right, it might have shorted out the comm. circuits in my room"

"I see" PG thought about the excuse for a moment, which he thought didn't sound right, and then went on with current matters. "Well, Admiral, we've just intercepted a radio transmission from Earth"

"Divert the signal to my room"

"Got it." Answered TC, as he typed away at his consol.

There was a pause, the bridge crew waited for the reaction and instructions of their leader, and then, after about a minute:

"Is that all?"

"Yes Admiral."

"I'll be on my way."

Again, the bridge crew waited, and then moments later she came in, attempting to zip up her uniform. Her hair was disheveled, and she seems to be sweating.

"Anything wrong Admiral?"

"I assure you PG, nothing's wrong...Where's Adam?"

"He's down in Engineering helping Vanessa with the transporters, it hasn't been functioning properly since the explosion...and he left me in charge"

"He has a good eye" AdmH joked.

"Thanks Admiral...so, what's your plan?"

"Well, here's the problem...I don't think Starfleet has ever encountered something like this…"

"Perhaps we should investigate?" Suggested Kaitz.

"Good idea…Alright, helm, lay in a course for Earth, how long will it take?"

"Approximately, 5 hours, 24 minutes at present speed"

The Admiral looked at PG with a worried glance, a feeling shared by most of the bridge crew - What the heck is going on on Mother Earth?

"And you have double-checked that the signal did indeed come from Earth?"

"Double- and triple-checked, Admiral; the projected position of Earth at the estimated time of broadcast fits neatly with the observed vector of the signal." Kaitz recited each step as if she had done this a hundred times before-which she had. The only difference was that she was used to analyzing signals from alien cultures and from troubled starships. Now she had intercepted an hours-old radio signal from centuries past, and she felt like a paleontologist who suddenly found herself in the Jurassic, face-to-face with a dinosaur whose bones she had been studying just a few minutes before. She pushed the unsettling feelings back. "The signal strength at this distance is about what we might expect from a Terran radio transmitter of this era. Furthermore, the background static is attributable to the atmosphere that existed on Earth at this time and to the other factors that usually affect sub-light transmissions over these distances."

"Any records of a 'Kate Mulgrew'?"

"No trace of any person with a phonetically similar name existing around this time. Of course, most records from this era were lost-"

"-in World War III," the Admiral finished for her. "I see." The Admiral seemed lost in thought for a few seconds, and then looked about at the crew. "Thoughts, people?"

"They mentioned Admiral Janeway." Said mcmac. "Can't be a coincidence."

AdmH thought for a moment. "We don't know how to get back to our own time and dimension, that's for sure…I think we'll just have to look at any evidence we got."

"Agreed." Said PG.

"Admiral, I'm detecting something." Kaitz announced.

"What is it?"

"A temporal signal...it's coming...from Las Vegas!" Kaitz announced, looking alarmed.

"How can that be? Pin point it!"

"It's coming from a large building of some sorts, an auditorium perhaps. Admiral, whatever it is, it's not supposed to be there."

The Admiral thought for a bit, looking from officer to officer, looking for any sign of understanding, as if one of them knew exactly what is going on.

"Prepare for an away mission."

-

The empty bathroom was bathed in a sparkle of blue light as the Vanguard's away team materialized, dressed as a bunch of normal twenty-first century people. Tricorders were pulled from pockets, opened, closed. "Everything's reading as normal."

Admiral Hawthorne looked around. "This looks like..." She pushed one of the bathroom stall doors open. "...A public bathroom."

"At least no one's here," PG remarked.

Several members of the away team waited for someone to walk in after PG said that. No one did.

The away team filed out of the women's bathroom, one by one, and looked around.

The scene that greeted them was nothing short of a huge crowd. They had come out in the dealers hall, and there were people roaming around everywhere. Eyes widened as a trio of green-painted scantily clad women trooped by. A voice rose in a hearty Klingon drinking song somewhere near the center of the room.

It didn't take long for AdmH to recover. "All right, people. Split up and look around, in this room only. We'll meet back here in thirty minutes." The away team did as told, diffusing into the crowd and nearly trampling a miniature EMH and his family in the process.

-

Nikolai Boltini waited for the doors of the turbo shaft to open then stepped out. He walked through the corridor to sickbay and stepped inside. He glanced around for Anna and spotted her sitting behind her desk. He walked into her office and set the package he was carrying down on her desk.

"What's this?" she asked.

"Just a little present," Boltini said with a genuine smile. "For helping me."

Anna smiled then lifted the lid off of the box. Her eyes got wide and she looked up at Boltini.

"Is this some kind of joke Boltini?"

He reached into the box and took the pie out. "No, it's a real pie, a safe pie. I promise nothing fishy is going on. You can scan it if you want."

Anna smiled, "No, I'm sorry I didn't trust you Nik. I'm going to have to get used to that. Now, let's get some forks."

-

Nick waited for the elevator doors to open then stepped out. He walked through the lobby then pushed open the door leading into the dealers' hall. He carried a box with him, and had a devilish grin on his face. He looked around the room and finally spotted AdmH and EWDEE standing by a booth carefully studying a toy phaser. EWDEE was passing a realistic looking tricorder over it, and Nick was confused about why they were studying it so closely.

He made his way across the room as quickly as he could. He opened the box and pulled out the pie. He snuck up slowly behind the two and raised the pie as if to throw it.

"Boltini! If you throw that pie at Heather," Ann Hawthorne said with a laugh from behind him.

Nick turned around slowly. The Admiral and EWDEE turned around slowly as well. Heather, who was standing a few booths away, turned around slowly too. They all stared at each other, and then PG tackled Nick.

"PG let him go." The Admiral rested her hand on the phaser that was clipped to her belt under her jacket.

PG looked confused. "But, Admiral, he has a pie!"

Ann looked at Heather. "Did you set this up?"

Heather looked confused. "No, ma'am Miss Hawthorne. They must have known you would be here."

Ann chuckled. "Boltini, you can still make me laugh. Did you set this up?"

Nick attempted to sit up from where he had been thrown to the ground. "Nope, I don't know who this guy is, but PG is over there looking at that console some kid did in his shop class. I've got to admit, though, he's a dead ringer. They all are."

"Excuse me." The Admiral stepped in. She had a death glare that would stop a starship at high warp. "But, what the hell is going on here?"

Ann placed a hand on her hip. "I hope you're kidding, because, if you're not, I'm about to make you wish you hadn't just pulled my own death glare on me."

"You're death glare?" The Admiral paused a moment to collect herself. "Who are you people?"

Ann looked at Heather. Heather shrugged. "Ok, I'll play. I'm Ann. I play Admiral Hawthorne on the USS Vanguard. But, you can call me AdmH. Now, who are you?"

The Admiral went into automatic. "I'm Admir... Ann. My name is Ann…as well."

"Well, 'Ann', you could learn a lesson or two on how not to anger people. You know, I don't believe in making people mad if I can help it." Ann helped Nick off of the floor. "Come on, Boltini, EWDEE, Adam, Captain Ice, Anna, and mcmac are waiting for us at the autograph booth. I want to get Kate's signature before her hand gets tired."

Nick dusted himself off. "Ok, AdmH, but you owe me. You know how much I don't like her."

"And you know how much I adore Janeway. I'd worship that woman if she'd let me."

The Admiral listened with surprise and interest. "Kate?"

Ann regarded the Admiral for a moment. "Yeah, Kate Mulgrew. She plays Captain, now Admiral, Kathryn Janeway. She's a goddess. Truly drool worthy. Legs to die for, auburn hair to admire. The most striking eyes I've ever seen, and Janeway's command presence and personality is nothing short of fantastic." Ann stopped herself realizing she was gushing again. "She's my favorite out of all the Gene Roddenberry's Trek inspired series. Voyager is really my favorite. Well, nice meeting you, 'Ann'." Ann and Nick left a bewildered Admiral, EWDEE, and PG staring after them.

"Admiral," EWDEE leaned in to a stunned Hawthorne, "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."

-

Kaitz was wondering in the auditorium, head down looking at her tricorder. It is very hard to find that temporal signal she thought, but she'll find it, she always finds these things. It seems to be straight ahead...hold on...

"PG?"

Peter turned around, then his eyes widened, and his face twisted into a surprising look, followed by a raised eyebrow.

"Kaitz?" Peter muttered. "It can't be!"

"What's wrong?"

"How can you be here? I thought you were in the Philippines!" Peter exclaimed, and for good reason, his friend, who has been out of the country for a while seems to be standing right in front of him, even though they were talking online the night before, and he was sure that she was still in the Philippines at that time.

"The Philippines?"

"Ah, who cares? You made it! Kinda weird isn't it, how you envied all of us last night on the BBS?"

"The BBS?"

"Alright, you're just playing dumb with me right?" Asked Peter exuberantly.

"PG, come down."

"Why? All right, whatever dude, come on, Janeway, I mean, Kate's signing autographs! Come on!"

"Kate?"

Peter paused for a moment; his facial expression changed so rapidly his jaws hurt. He stared at what he believed was his friend Kaitz, from the TrekBBS, who seems to have had her brain stolen.

"Are you alright?" Peter asked. "And where did you get that thing?" He pointed at the tricorder in Kaitz's hand.

"It-it's nothing." Stammered Kaitz as she tried to hide it. At that moment she realized that PG was wearing completely different clothes when compared to what he had on, back in the bathroom where they first materialized.

"No, let me take a look at that." Peter said, forcefully wrenching the tricorder from Kaitz's hand. "Whoa…this is so real, and it's heavier than you average plastic tricorder too, it's almost…too real." Peter said as he gazed at the tricorder, subconsciously turning this way and that, trying to see it from all angles.

"Give me that!" Kaitz ripped the tricorder from Peter's hands.

"Alright, I don't know what you did with the real Kaitz, but I'll be at the autograph table if you feel like talking to me again." Peter smirked as he wandered out of sight of Kaitz, who was standing there, looking worried, and limply holding a tricorder.

-

"How strange…maybe it's jetlag or something…" Peter wondered, before bumping into Anna and mcmac.

"Hey Pete!" Mcmac said, high-fiving him.

"Hey PG!" Anna said, shaking his hand. "Long time no see"

"Yeah…speaking of nicknames, something really strange just happened…"

-

"I wonder what's going on in here? I don't think having my tricorder out is a good idea though." mcmac mumbles to himself as he puts away his tricorder. " I think its time to do some old-fashioned investigation, by asking questions"

Mcmac approached a young lady who was standing next to one of the columns looking around.

"Hi, I noticed you from over there. You look like you might be in shock, is there something I can do to help you?" asked mcmac.

"Sorry, I'm just in awe of where I am right now; I never thought I would get here. Oh by the way my name is Heidi and you are?"

"Oh, nice to meet you" says mcmac, " You can call me, uh…Mac"

"Well its nice to meet you Mac, can I offer you a drink?" asked Heidi

"Sure" replied mcmac, while thinking that this would be a good time to do a bit of reconnaissance.

Mcmac and Heidi walk over to the bar and took a seat.

"Barkeep, can I have two Warp Core Breaches please?" asked Heidi.

"Coming right up" said the barkeep

"Don't you love the accuracy of the sets in here" said Heidi, " One could actually think that they were in Quark's actual bar back on DS9!"

"About that" said mcmac. " I haven't the slightest idea what you are talking about. I'm new in town and I'm supposed to meet some friends of mine here, they said I should come and experience new life and new civilizations. What exactly is this?"

"Oh, you don't have any idea at all! Well then, let me fill you in.," said Heidi. "We're at a Star Trek Convention, have you ever heard of Star Trek?"

"Can't say that I have, I don't get around much" said mcmac.

"Well you should, its great. Well, a while back, a man named Gene Roddenberry created this television series called Star Trek. It chronicled the adventures of Captain James T. Kirk, and the rest of his crew, which included such figures as Doctor McCoy and Spock. It was a great show, talked about things that couldn't be talked about on television and showed a future where mankind could live peacefully with its neighbors and explore the galaxy. You with me so far?" asked Heidi

"Yup" said mcmac. It sounds like I'm in history class again; I hated my Federation History class. Mcmac thought to himself.

"What are you two talking about here?" asked the barkeep as he brought the two their drinks.

"This gentleman here doesn't know a thing about Star Trek. I was just explaining things to him," replied Heidi.

"Did you mention TNG yet?" asked the barkeep.

"Just about to, you want to take the helm Captain?" said Heidi

"Sure thing," said the barkeep "TNG or The Next Generation, chronicled the adventures of Captain Picard and his crew on the USS Enterprise. It was such a pity to see it destroyed."

"Now now," counseled Heidi "They got a new one!"

"Yes, but then they had to go and smash the front of it up in Nemesis!" said the barkeep.

"Yes, well, it was part of the plot. Besides, sometimes you just have to take a risk."

"True"

Mcmac took a sip of his drink, and almost choked when Kate Mulgrew walked up to the bar.

"Do you got any coffee here" asked Mulgrew.

"For you, we always have a fresh pot" smiled the barkeep.

Mcmac turned and stared at Mulgrew.

"Admiral? "

"Please, call me Kate, I like that much better then being referred to as my stage name, though ma'am will do in a pinch," said Mulgrew with a wink.

"I was just explaining to him about Star Trek, he hasn't seen it before." said Heidi.

"Well, we can't have that can we?" smiled Kate. "We're having a presentation in two hours, why don't you come on down? And bring some of your friends along, and you can meet the cast backstage if you want."

"Sure, that would be great. I'm sorry to have to leave, but my friend is expecting me." Said mcmac.

"Wait!" said Heidi, as she scribbled down her cell phone number. "Give me a call sometime." and she handed the napkin to mcmac.

"Thanks." Said mcmac as he walked away

-

PG and AdmH walked around the auditorium, looking at their tricorders everyone once in a while.

"This is no good, there's too many people here." Said PG.

"Agreed." Said AdmH. "We still have 15 minutes before we have to rendezvous, I suggest we split up."

"Yes ma'am." Said PG as he started to walk in the opposite direction.

"Huh," said PG after 5 minutes of walking. "I'm not good with sensor data...that's why I'm not at sciences..." muttered PG as he struggled to walk among the crowd.

PG continued to scan and mutter, until finally, and inadvertently, he came to a long table, lined with people who seems to be signing their names on a pieces of pulp-made white sheets.

"Paper? Wow, they are primitive."

"Are you lining up?" came a voice from the back.

"Ice!"

"Peter!"

"What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for the autographs, long time no see!"

"What do you mean, we just sa-oh wait."

PG's head was swimming with thoughts, what the hell was going on he thought, there seems to be two of every member of the senior crew...but then he realized that he was holding up the line, so he absent-mindedly approached the long table.

"Name?"

PG quickly looked around before landing his eyes on Q.

"Q! What are you doing here?"

"Excuse me?"

"I'm mean...never mind, I'm sorry, maybe it's claustrophobia..."

"Oh, I know how you feel...sort of, tell you what, here" John De Lancie quickly grabbed a sheet of paper and signed his name on it, then quickly gave it to PG, smiling. "Free of charge."

"Uh, thanks, thank you very much!" PG said, trying to look thankful.

"You lucky piece of crap!" Ice joked after he led PG out of the line up.

"Pardon me?"

"Oh come on, Lancie never gives autographs for free!"

"I'll tell you what, I'll meet you later, I gotta go...to meet someone."

"It's a lady isn't it? Go ahead, good luck"

"Yeah..."

He shook his head as Ice walked away among the crowd. This is weird, he thought. He glanced down at his tricorder and continued to scan. 5 minutes passed, then 6. It was time to head back.

"Wait a minute…" said PG as he looked down at the tricorder. The signal was close by.

-

In the dealers' room, mcmac was amusing himself with a set of primitive "action figure" dolls that looked like the crew of Captain Picard's Enterprise when he heard an unmistakably familiar voice say:

"All right, don't move a muscle and keep that temporal signature where I can see it."

He whirled around to see GeorgeKirk holding a small phaser to the back of a prop dealer in a very cheap-looking Ferengi headpiece.

"GK!" mcmac said, "How did you-"

"Hiya mc," GK replied. "Kinda busy right now." he poked the phaser into the dealer's back. "Set it down on the table nice and easy or they'll be scraping pieces of you off the walls for a week."

"What are you talking about!" Said the dealer pathetically.

"Drop it! Don't touch that button!" Yelled GK.

The dealer's hands fumbled with a small futuristic looking device and accidentally pressed a button. There was a bright flash. Both GK and mcmac shielded their eyes just in time.

The light faded, revealing, hanging there in the air, a portal. Both GK and mcmac starred at it in awe.

"What the hell is that?" Asked mcmac. "And what the hell was that?" Asked mcmac as he pointed at the small device lying beside the unconscious dealer. "And what's wrong with him?"

"That's a portal, I think that's some kind of transdimensional device that got lost in time, and I think he fainted from the flash of light."

"Oh…ok."

"That portal…" said GK as he slowly walked up to examine it.

"Careful." Said mcmac.

"It's San Francisco!"

"Can't be."

"It is!" Said GK, as he got even closer.

With another flash of light, the portal snapped shut and the small device powered down.

"You know what that means, don't you?' Asked mcmac.

"What?"

"We can use it to go home."

"Mr. GK, what's happened? Why was it so bright?" Said Balok, wandering in.

"Who's he?" Asked mcmac.

"Just someone I got a little help from for getting here. Balok, mcmac, mcmac, Balok."

"GK?"

Mcmac and GK spun around and saw PG standing there, tricorder raised. "What's going on here?"

-

"GK! What are you doing here?" The Admiral said when she saw him, mcmac, Balok, and PG running towards her.

"I'm here to help, my ship's in orbit."

The Admiral's face lit up, if GK was able to get here, maybe he knows a way to get back.

"Do you know how to get back?"

"I did. Balok here was able to use his ship to generate a portal to allow my ship to get through. His ship was too big to fit. It's a shame too, I knew I had enough energy to get home if I saved it for only one trip but…"

"But what?"

"I emerged near the Briar Patch, and the gases messed up my system, I spent more energy getting out of that soup than I had hoped.

"We'll get your ship charged."

"What about the Vanguard then?"

AdmH sighed. She was so excited about finding a way home she forgot the obvious.

"How's Voyager?" Asked AdmH.

"She's gone, Admiral Janeway said that they were going to get a science team working to get you back."

"Good…"

"Admiral, we found something." PG piped in from behind GK "It seems to be a kind of transdimentional device, I think it's capable of getting us back."

"Let me see the device."

AdmH took the device and examined it, everything seemed to be very strange to her, and it was definitely not Federation.

"Where does it come from? Any ideas?"

"I detected it from orbit," said GK. "I think it might have been lost in time or lost in dimensions or something. I think the people here thought it was a toy."

"And it works?"

"We saw it work, in fact we saw San Francisco!"

"I see…Hawthorne to Adam!"

Adam's voice echoed out of the Admiral's combadge.

"Adam here, is there a problem?"

"I think we have a way back, stand by."

"Standing by."

"Alright, everyone, back to the meeting place, it's time to go home!"

-

AdmH and the rest of the away team swarmed around the bathroom where the first beamed in.

"Is he going with us too?" Said AdmH looking at Balok.

"Of course."

"I think we better get inside." Said PG. "There's too many people out here."

"Hey!" Ann called. "Don't you know that's a boy's washroom?"

AdmH looked at her exact double and knew that she wasn't going to get out of here easily. She sighed.

"I have no choice then."

"Tell me who you really are… 'Ann'."

AdmH reacted in a flash. "RUN!"

"No wait!"

The crew and Balok ran for it, they knew they had to get away from the others if they wanted to beam away without being noticed.

"This way!" AdmH called, pointing down a nearby alleyway.

The crew ran into the alleyway, looked around and realized that they are indeed alone. Admiral Hawthorne tapped her combadge.

"Hawthorne to Adam, beam us up!"

"Got it!"

At that moment, Ann ran up to them, and as they energized she ran up to Ice and grabbed on. To her friends who were watching this from just beside the entrance to the alleyway, she simply disappeared, to god knows where.

"Looks like a transporter beam!" Peter exclaimed.

"I knew they were real!" NAH said.

-

"Nibbles?" Adam shouted through the comm. system.

"I've got them, but we're one heavy." Nibbles responded calmly.

"What? Who is it?"

"Hello" Ann whispered.

"It's…the Admiral." Nibbles said, bewildered.

"What!"

"It's the Admiral, there's 2 of them…"

"…I'll be there," Adam said. "TC, you're in charge."

"Finally!"

Adam broke into a run when he exited the turbolift, narrowly missing a few ensigns. He was panting when he got to the Transporter room.

"Report Nibbles!"

"Adam?" Ann said. "What are you doing here?"

"What are you talking about?" And then a realization came to Adam's eyes. "Admiral?"

"Huh?"

"Adam," the real AdmH called over Kaitz's shoulders. "Looks like we need an explanation," She said as she walked over to Ann. "From you!"

"Uhh…"

"…Put her in the brig, for now."

"What!" Ann's face turned white. "But I didn't do anything wrong! What kind of ship is this? A prison barge?"

"It's a Starfleet ship, where people don't just grab someone when they are being transported!" AdmH's face was flushed with blood, her voice sounded very different to the senior crew that was standing right behind her.

"Admiral, I think we should just give her a room on this ship…" mcmac suggested.

"…Fine" She turned to Adam. "Prepare a room for Ann here, we need to talk afterwards, meet me in my ready room."

Ann was escorted to her quarters by a pair of security guards; she barely blinked, as she did not want to miss any of the details of the ship, any panel, any doorway. "This place is amazing, is this really a Starfleet ship?"

The security guards ignored her.

"You people sure aren't as polite as I though you would be!"

-

"Enter" said AdmH as she sat down behind her desk.

"I'm here Admiral." Adam said. "Is there a problem?"

"I think there is…I don't feel like myself lately…"

"What do you mean?"

"Like my mind is somewhere else." She paused. "Do you want something to drink?"

"Some coffee wouldn't hurt."

"Alright." She stood up and walked over to the replicator, Adam watched as the Admiral almost tripped on one of the outcrops of the table. Strange, he thought.

"One coffee, black, and one Blood wine." She ordered, and 2 cups appeared.

"So, what were we talking about?" The Admiral said, sitting down.

Adam stared. "Admiral, you do realize that you just replicated some blood wine."

AdmH paused for a moment. "So I did…this is what I mean Adam, I don't feel like myself." She started drinking the bloodwine. "Not bad…"

"You know, I think your right." Adam said, with a mocking smile. "Maybe you should go see Anna or EWDEE."

"No, I think I'm alright…you may go."

"Admiral, I really think you should go to sickbay, it's not like you to drink Blood wine."

"I'll go visit dying ensign later."

"What?"

"What?"

'You said "dying ensign"'

"Did I?"

"You did…" Adam thought for a moment. "When's the last time you talked to Keyser or Boltini?"

"What?"

"When was the last time you talked to Keyser or Boltini?"

"I think…about a day ago."

"I see…Admiral, I think you should get some rest."

"I agree, I'll see you tomorrow then, dismissed."

The Admiral watched as Adam left her behind on her couch in the captain's ready room, and there she stayed, sipping her bloodwine. "I should've tried this a long time ago," she said to herself. She sat there for half an hour, sipping and thinking before getting up to go to her quarters, she was tired, it had been a very strange and eventful day. She walked through the corridors, looking around at all the ensigns and lieutenants when a thought appeared at the back of her head: "Wouldn't it be fun if they all died?" AdmH was transfixed at the thought for a brief moment, then continued walking until she reached her quarters.

"Good to see you back Admiral." Said a dark figure sitting on AdmH's bed. "How was your day?"

"My day was fine." She paused. "Did anyone see you come in here?"

"No one in particular."

"Good." She sat down on the bed. "Where were we?"

"We were making love."

"Don't be so blunt."

He put his head on her shoulder and whispered, "I can be as blunt as you want me to be…"

The Admiral leaned over and kissed him. "I can't do this Love, I think people might be onto me."

"Don't worry about them, all we need is ourselves…"

She exhaled slightly, then grabbed Keyser and fell into bed.

-

"I tell you, they look at me as if I was a lunatic!" Boltini screamed at EWDEE in the Messhull, causing many raised eyebrows.

"You're not helping by yelling, you know that right?" EWDEE responded with a small laugh.

"Oh that's funny, very funny."

"Look at it this way, do you think your worst enemy can change sides over night?"

Boltini sighed. "Good point." He sipped some coffee. "You know, this stuff's not bad, I could get used to this…"

At that moment, PG, Kaitz, GK and Vanessa strode into the Messhull; they were talking very quietly and were oblivious to whatever is happening beside them. So oblivious that PG tripped over a chair and fell over onto Ensign Tracy.

"Oops, sorry there."

"No problem sir."

"Ok, what were we talking about?"

"We were talking about the way home." GK replied.

"Are you sure that it worked?" Vanessa asked.

"You reviewed the data." PG said.

"Well, it's hard to say this, but I barely understand it."

"Hold on a sec." Said PG and walked towards Boltini's table. Boltini looked just in time to see PG standing over him. His face was very serious.

"Boltini, how have you been?"

"Just fine."

"Good." Throughout all of this not a trace of emotion crossed PG's face, a chill went down Boltini's spine. "EWDEE, Adam told me to tell you that you should take a look at the Admiral, he said that she is not acting like herself lately.

"I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks." PG turned to Boltini. "Goodbye."

Boltini watched as PG walked away to a table surrounded by his colleagues. "He doesn't like me."

"You did call him a dog."

"Oh sure, throw that back in my face why don't you?"

"Come on, cheer up." EWDEE sipped her coffee. "Oh, remember when I first came into Starfleet Academy? How people thought I was weird?

"It was the emus."

"It was indeed."

-

"So, how do we go about doing this?" Asked PG as he looked over the PADD containing scans of the transdimensional device.

"Well, from what I understand out of that PADD, it needs a lot of power." Kaitz said.

"How do you figure that? That device was pretty small."

"It's not the size that matters, it's what it can do."

"Hehe"

"Grow up PG!"

"Sorry, so what do we have on the ship that could generate this power?"

The science officer, the Renaissance man, the tactical officer and the engineer looked at each other. "The deflector!" They all said at once.

-

"We have a plasma leak on deck 13!" Kaitz screamed at the top of her lungs across the smoke filled Bridge.

"Sealing it!" Shouted PG.

"It's no good…" Vanessa said as she tapped her consol with her already-raw fingers. "The leak is spreading!"

"We have an overload in Engineering!" GK called.

"I'm reading micro breaches all over the warp core assembly!"

"COMPUTER, FREEZE PROGRAM!" PG shouted into the bridge. Suddenly, everything froze, besides Vanessa, Kaitz, GK and himself. "Computer, reset program." With that the smoke and fire disappeared, and the normal red alert lights were turned off. "Well, that was a bust."

"Looks like the Deflector can't handle it." Vanessa said. "Looks like we underestimated the power needed to open the aperture.

"Understatement of the year!" Shouted PG.

"You don't have to shout now, you know that right?"

PG coughed. "Sorry."

"Alright," said Kaitz. "What can we do?"

"I have a theory." GK said as walked over to the science consol and tapped a few buttons. "I think we're missing a piece of the puzzle."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, something's missing."

"Something's missing alright." PG whispered out of the corner of his mouth.

"I heard that." GK said without tearing his eyes away from the consol, which was good considering the rude face PG was now making at him. "I knew it!"

"What?" Vanessa asked.

"The reason why the aperture didn't open is because we didn't have the right component."

"Well then, what's the component?"

"Uhh…"

"Great! We're back in square one, aren't we?" PG asked.

"Not really, it won't be hard to find this component, just let me take a look at this data in my ship…which is where by the way?" GK asked.

"In the shuttlebay." Vanessa answered at once.

"Alright then, I'll be on my ship for the time being, I'll call you up if I find anything."

"Wait!" Kaitz called to GK as he made for the door. "What should we do?"

"Umm…" GK thought for a minute. "Sleep?"

-

How am I going to do this? Thought Adam as he walked down the corridor towards Ann, the new arrival's room. He has been preparing for this the whole day, on one hand, Ann was from 21st century Earth, a primitive culture, but on the other hand, she was almost exactly like the Admiral and would probably understand him as fast as she did, which was really fast. Before he knew it however, he had arrived at the door.

"Come in." Said Ann.

"Hi."

"Adam, right?" Ann said, sitting down on her bed. "Good to see you again."

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine thanks…" She was silent for about a minute before speaking. "This is a good ship."

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Adam said with a chuckle.

"I didn't think so…" She was silent again. "You know, I wouldn't mind operating some of the systems aboard, seems very complicated."

"Oh no, if you want, we can teach you." Adam said, filled with sudden excitement.

"Woah, come down there tiger, there's plenty of time for that." She said as a smile appeared on her face. "I miss my friends."

Adam's excitement vanished faster than matter on the Vanguard's transporter pad. This was the subject he feared, the one that he had been practicing to reply to on his way here. "I bet they miss you as well."

"I hope they do, I'm their Admiral, after all."

"Pardon?"

"Admiral." Ann repeated. "It's their nick name for me."

"Oh…" Adam said, a fake smile appearing on his face. "So, when are you planning to return to Earth?" Adam thought that was a stupid thing to say, and his face showed it.

"Don't worry, I understand."

"Huh?"

"The Temporal directive, right?" Ann said with a smile. "I assure you commander that us primitive humans are not what you think we are."

"Of course not…" Adam said, this time with a real smile.

"Well, to answer your question, I don't plan to go back."

"What!"

"Don't be surprised Adam, you know I was going to do this."

This was true, Adam knew that Ann was almost the exact copy of the Admiral, and she probably don't have much of a family either.

"I guess I did." Adam said, a slight smile reappeared on his face. "But this is going to be pretty confusing once we get back to my own timeline…"

"Oh?" Ann said, her excitement peaking. "When are we going back?"

"I'm not really sure, it all depends on PG, GK, Vanessa, Kaitz, and their subordinates."

"Well, let me just say that on my Earth, I wouldn't trust them to open a can of beans!"

Adam laughed, this is turning out much better than I would've hoped, he thought. They talked and laughed for a good hour, talking about their friends and families, and how they are different or similar to their counterparts, it was indeed much better than what Adam had thought.

-

"Hmmm…"

"Mr. GK…Do you need help?" Said Balok in his high-pitched voice.

"No Balok, go back to sleep."

"I do not want to, I am not tired, and there is no Tranya!"

"Look, when I figure this out, we'll get you back on your ship, where there are loads of Tranya, of course, I can only do that if there is silence!" GK said irritably. "Looks like you're developing a rash."

"Yes, that is right." Said Balok as he ran his small hands over his arms. "They have been itching since yesterday."

"I think I can get some cream for you…" Said GK as he walked over to the replicator. "One skin cream, um, any kind will be fine." Suddenly, a pile of white cream appeared on the platform in the replicator.

"Damn!" GK cupped his hands trying to scoop some of the slippery cream off of the platform. He handed some of it to Balok. "Should've ordered a tube or something." Said GK as he walked to his bathroom, trying to get rid of the cream.

"Sure is slippery…" He whispered to himself as he tried to wash it off. Then suddenly, his eyes filled with excitement. "That's it!" He ran to his consol, picked up the PADD that has the aperture data on it and read through it.

"Feels better." Said Balok.

"Shhh, I'm thinking."

-

"A lubricant?" PG said as he took a sip of his chicken soup.

"Yes, I thought of it when I was treating Balok's rash."

"But how can a cream help us?" Vanessa asked.

"Well, we're not actually going to use cream!" GK said, waving his hands around in front of him in excitement. "What we need is the missing piece, right?"

"Yes"

"Well, I've found it, it's more than just power, we need a lubricant to open up the aperture."

"Well, what is this lubricant?"

"Chronitons."

"Chronitons?" Kaitz said.

"Yes, I looked through the data, we need Chronitons and maybe Gravitons in order to open a temporal and spatial aperture." GK paused for a moment. "There is a problem though, in order to get the chronitons, we have to extract them and refine them ourselves so that they are the right type for a portal to the right time and place, and I'm afraid the ship just isn't powerful enough for that." He looked at all of them. "Why are you all smiling?"

"Well, before you came aboard, we got a sample of Chronitons from the rift that got us here in the first place." Kaitz said, with no effort in controlling her smile. "And according to this PADD, we have enough."

"Great!" GK said, clapping his hands together. "Let's get started!"

-

"Anna, I'll have to leave you in charge." EWDEE said as she glanced at her timetable.

"How come?"

"I've promised Adam to take a look at the Admiral."

"Good luck." Anna said with a slight chuckle as she walked past EWDEE.

"I'll need more than luck!" EWDEE said, laughing as well. They both know that the Admiral never liked medical examinations, it must be worse if she had to face a house call. "I'll be in the Admiral's quarters."

"Alright."

As EWDEE made her way to the Admiral's room, she thought about what she and Anna just talked about, and decided to inform her of the surprise house call before hand. "EWDEE to AdmH." EWDEE kept walking as she waited for an answer, but none came. "EWDEE to AdmH." She waited again. Finally, after about a minute, a voice came out of the comm. badge.

"What's the problem?"

"Admiral, I'll be at your quarters in about a minute, I'm making a house call."

"What?" The Admiral's voice sounded irritated. "Under whose orders?"

"Adam."

"Did he?" She paused. "Alright."

EWDEE kept on walking as she approached the Admiral's quarters; the Admiral was sounding very strange she thought.

She entered without much problem. The Admiral was in her bed wearing her dressing gown, with the blanket around her waist.

"This better be quick." She said.

"Don't worry Admiral, this will be over in a few seconds." Said EWDEE as she scanned her top to bottom. Nothing out of the ordinary was registering on her Tricorder.

"Well, looks like you're as fit as you could be Admiral."

"Just as I thought."

"I hope you won't punish Adam too much." EWDEE said with a laugh.

"I won't make any promises."

EWDEE laughed as she left AdmH quarters. As soon as she left however, The Admiral let out a groan, and then quickly tapped a small panel under her skin. A figure suddenly emerged out of nowhere in a flash of green light.

"Did that hurt?"

"A bit, storing someone in my transporter buffer takes a lot of energy."

"Dying Ensign is such a nuisance."

"…Perhaps."

-

For the last couple of days, a special bond has formed between Ann and Adam, there are times when they would talk all night about their worlds and how they are different from what they thought they would be like, or times when Ann would tell Adam the latest sports and political news that Adam enjoys so much, or times when Adam would regale Ann with the Vanguard's Adventures.

'Then he said. "I'm as constant as the Northern Star!" or something like that.' Adam chuckled. "Some Shakespearian stuff mostly."

"Wow." Ann listened intently. "Then what happened?"

"Well, NAH thought that we might be able to track it using our sensors."

"Wait a minute." Ann suddenly blurted out. She strained our mind for a second. "Star Trek 6!"

"Huh?"

"Star Trek 6!" Ann repeated. "That's exactly what Kirk did!"

"Kirk?" Adam said, confused. "I know Admiral Kirk."

Ann almost fell out of her seat. "You…you know Admiral Kirk!"

"Yeah, I served on his ship for a little bit before I got my own command." Adam said casually, as if this was a normal thing.

"Cool!" Ann said. "But wait, doesn't that make you…"

"Old?" Adam suggested. "No not really, I was transported through time to the 24th century."

"Then how old are you?"

"There are a few things I keep hidden and my age is one of them!" Adam said with a mischievous smile.

"Yeah right!" Ann said. "I'll figure it out!" She thought for a moment. "30?"

"No."

"31?"

"No"

"Am I at least warm?"

"What does that mean?"

"Oy, nevermind." Ann said sighing. "So, you were telling me about Keyser?"

"Oh yes, after he sent his henchmen for us, we fought Boltini's ship and was brought to this timeline via an aperture of some kind."

"What a story!" Ann said with a small laugh. "This Keyser person sure sounds evil…"

"He might be, but I think old age has caught up with him." Adam said taking a sip of coffee. "Either that or a year in complete solitude softened him up a little."

Adam's face was very serious as he said this. "Now that I think about it, I haven't seen him for awhile."

"You think he's escaped?"

"No, I would've heard something from the guards by now, he seems to like spending his time alone."

"Well, it's probably the prison life." Ann said. "Well, when am I going to meet my counterpart again?"

"Hmmm…" Adam thought for a moment, he hasn't seen or talked to AdmH for a while now either. "I don't know, seems she likes to stay in her quarters too, at least lately."

"That doesn't sound like me."

"I know, it doesn't, maybe I'll have a talk with her later."

"PG to Adam." Said PG's voice through the comm. system.

"Adam here."

"Sir, we're ready for the demonstration."

"What demonstration?" Ann asked.

"Hold on a sec." Adam said waving a hand in front of Ann. "PG, can I bring someone with me?"

"I don't see why not, who do you have in mind?"

"Ann."

"Ann?" PG was quiet for a moment. "Sure, bring her down."

"Alright, I'll be there in a moment." Adam stood up and stretched out his hands to take Ann's. "Want to join us?"

"What for?"

"For our way home."

-

Adam and Ann walked in on PG, Vanessa, and Kaitz working in the shuttlebay, ensigns and lieutenants walking frantically everywhere trying to make sure the test will go well.

"PG!"

"Adam?" PG said barely turning his head. "Are you ready to see this?" There was a tone of excitement in his voice.

"We're ready."

PG tapped a few buttons and walked over to them, he shook Ann's hand and addressed the situation.

"Adam, this is what's going to happen." Said PG, waving his hand around like GK when he was excited. "GK has got his ship fixed, and once you give the word, he'll pilot it out of here." He gestured for Adam and Ann to follow him. "We'll be able to chat with him via this screen, and see the aperture through this one." Said PG as he pointed to two screens on the wall. "Alright commander, give the word."

"PG." Adam said. "The word is given."

Ann couldn't help but laugh.

"Alright." PG said as he pressed a few buttons surrounding the two screens. "GK, Anytime you're ready."

GK's voice came over the comm. system. "I'm ready, open the doors." With that the shuttlebay doors opened. A moment later the familiar blue tint and buzzing sound appeared as the forcefield snapped into place. The Triton City powered up its newly repaired engines and flew out of the shuttle bay. Inside the small ship, GK is busily working to make sure everything will go right.

"Let's see…" GK muttered as he tapped buttons here and there. "Chroniton reserves check, shields check, deflector check, plasma regulators check," He pressed a large red button. "PG, I'm ready."

PG's voice came through the comm. system, "We're ready, go ahead."

GK tapped a few more buttons, the soft humming of the ship started to grow louder and louder. Inside the shuttlebay, Adam, Ann, PG, Vanessa, and Kaitz were staring at the screen intently. Suddenly, the ship was hit with something; some people lost their footing and fell over.

"Adam to bridge."

"Mcmac here Commander."

"What was that?"

"We're reading a gravimetric distortion, it's growing."

"Is this supposed to happen?" Adam asked PG.

"Yes, from our tests anyway."

They kept starring at the screen while more and more distortions hit the ship. Finally, Vanessa spotted a small filament of energy emerging from nowhere. The filament grew in size and number, eventually dozens of filaments started is issue out from a central source.

"That's the aperture I presume." Adam said pointing at the screen.

PG tapped a few buttons. "Yes sir, it's approximately five meters in diameter."

"How much Chronitons are you using?"

"About one percent of what we got." PG smiled. "As I said, it's going to work."

Vanessa squeezed forward through the small crowd gathered at the screen and pushed a large red button. "Vanessa to GK, are you ok?"

"I'm fine, a little shaky, but it's normal."

Vanessa looked around at everyone. "Looks like we did it!"

"Yeahs" and "Greats" filled the shuttlebay, there were hi-fives and handshakes everywhere, but only Ann noticed the problem.

"Hey, Adam, the aperture is getting smaller."

"What?" Adam said, still shaking hands with Ensign Cramer.

PG and Vanessa quickly ran to the screen, PG pushed the red button again. "GK, why is the aperture getting smaller?"

"I'm running low on Chronitons!"

PG looked around at everyone, they all agreed on it. "GK, shut it off and come back."

-

"So now we know that we only have one chance." Kaitz said as she sipped her coffee. She, Vanessa, PG and GK had agreed to meet in the Messhull after the launch to discuss it, none of them wanted a long meeting because it would've meant that something has gone wrong. "Only one shot."

"Yeah." Agreed GK.

"Well then." Said PG. "Let's get started on modifying the ship's systems, it shouldn't take too long, come on!"

"No!" Vanessa said. "We still don't know where that aperture leads, we need to launch a probe."

"Do we have enough Chronitons for that and the ship?"

"It's only a probe, it shouldn't take too much of our supplies."

They sat in silence for the next minute or so. Finally, GK spoke up. "The aperture we created was only about five meters in diameter, we'll need a microprobe."

"No problem." Said Vanessa.

"Alright." PG said with a sigh. "A probe it is then."

-

Admiral Hawthorn has spent the last 80 hours of her life in her quarters, she had tried to get out, talk to her crew, about her dire situation, but one thing, or rather one man always held her back, always tricked her into staying. She started to hate the walls surrounding her, punching into them everyday. The smell of coffee that usually permeates her room is all but gone, and is replaced with that of blood wine and raw flesh. He talked to her day and night, even if she isn't listening, but he can feel it, feel it when she walks back and forth in her room, even when she is taking a sonic shower, he could feel her listening, always listening. She knows that she is listening, but she can't do anything about it, his voice always creep back into her skull, whether she is asleep and dreaming of a massacre, or awake tending to her reports. He cannot let her go, and she cannot leave him, it's as if an unbreakable cable linked them. It was at the 81st hour when Keyser grabbed her by the shoulder and spoke to her more seriously and snidely than ever before.

"Listen love, it is done."

"What's done?"

"It" he emphasized. "Is done."

She didn't give a second thought to it. "Now what?"

"Now we follow our plan, now YOU follow MY plan."

-

"Come in" said Adam without taking his eyes off of a PADD.

PG entered the captain's ready room. "Sir, we're ready to launch the probe."

Adam got up, laid down the PADD and walked towards the door without a word.

"Is there a problem sir?" PG asked.

"No…" Adam said absentmindedly.

PG held out a hand and grabbed Adam's shoulder. "Are you sure sir? You don't look well."

Adam glanced at PG who was very serious. "Fine, I guess I could tell you." He sighed and strode back toward his desk. "I went to see AdmH about an hour ago."

"Oh?" PG's eyes widened. "How is she?"

"Not herself." Adam sighed again. "She seems to be out of energy, depressed." Adam got up again and walked towards the large windows that lined one of the walls of the ready room. "She's been acting odd ever since she came back from down on the planet."

"How was EWDEE's examination?"

"She was fine, physically at least."

There was silence in the ready room, neither PG nor Adam know what to say next, the Admiral has never acted like this, she has come close, but never like this. She has crossed the line.

It was PG who first broke the silence. "Sir, I think you should take a look at the probe launch."

"Oh." Adam was snapped back to reality. "Of course, let's go."

Adam joined PG as they both entered the bridge. "Is everything ready?" Adam asked.

"Everything is ready sir!" mcmac said.

Adam strode over and sat in the Captain's chair. "Launch the Probe!"

He saw it; he saw a streak of light as the probe entered the viewscreen.

"Activate the probe's particle emitter."

"Emitter activated."

"Issue in the Chronitons."

"Issuing."

They waited and waited, the entire bridge was tense, and then finally, a sudden line of white flashed on the viewscreen. Soon, more and more tinsels of energy emerged from the same spot.

"The aperture is opening." Reported GK, who was standing beside Kaitz near the Science station.

"Thirty centimeters in diameter." Said Kaitz. "One meter…two meters…three meters."

"Alright, power the probe's thrusters and take it in."

"Aye aye."

"Switch to probe telemetry." Adam ordered, and the black star field that was on the view screen vanished to be replace by a white vortex of energy.

"We're getting data back," Reported mcmac. "It might be a bumpy ride, but I think we can handle it."

Suddenly, the image on the screen shimmered, and almost disappeared.

"Stabilize that telemetry!"

"I'm trying…" mcmac said. "It's no use sir, the probe is running out of Chronitons!"

"But we still don't know if it'll lead to our timeline!" Adam looked around; sweat was dripping down his face. He had to think of something. "Power up our deflector and pump in some Chronitons!"

"What?" PG said in protest. "But what about the Vanguard?"

Adam was speaking very fast. "We need to keep that aperture open until the probe get to the other side!" He inhaled violently. "If that aperture doesn't lead to our timeline, it doesn't matter if the Vanguard get in an aperture or not!"

The image on the screen continues to flicker until suddenly, the whole screen went white. Adam shielded his eyes.

"We're getting telemetry sir." Informed Kaitz.

Adam looked at the viewscreen, it was very blurry, but he could almost make out two ships, one larger than the other.

"Is it back in our timeline?"

"Scanning…" mcmac said as he quickly tapped a few buttons. "Confirmed. The probe is back in our timeline."

Adam can't help but smile. "Are those Federation ships on the screen?"

"I think so."

"Sir," TC suddenly spoke up. "One of the ships, it's hailing us!"

"How?"

"They must be using the probe as a relay station!"

"On speakers! Quick!"

The voice was very hard to understand, but there was no doubt who it was.

"This is Admiral Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager, We detect that you are also a Federation ship, do you require assistance?"

Adam's eyes lit up. "Can we communicate with her?"

"I'm trying…" TC said as he quickly pressed the consol in front of him.

Then, quite suddenly, the consol turned dark, and so did the bridge, in fact, power went out all over the ship.

"What's going on?" Adam screamed as the viewscreen turned blank.

"I don't know!" Mcmac said as he quickly tried to access power control. "Power's out all over the ship!"

Outside the ship, the aperture collapsed in a large gravimetric explosion.

-

Keyser had everything figured out, he hadn't changed, and he won't change. He has been talking to the Admiral none stop for 81 hour when he realized that she was ripe for the picking. He got up, walked to her, and grabbed her shoulder. He leaned close.

"Listen love, it is done."

"What's done?"

"It" he emphasized. "Is done."

She didn't give a second thought to it. "Now what?"

"Now we follow our plan, now YOU follow MY plan."

"And what plan is that?"

"Search your mind." He said mysteriously. "Do you understand?"

She blinked. "Yes."

Quick as a bird, she gathered up her uniform and put it on, grabbed a phaser rifle and headed out the door with Keyser. She shot anyone that was in her way. Death came to more and more people as they made their noisy way to Engineering, The Admiral stretched her limits and encompassed both herself and the Keyser in her Borg shielding. They strode into Engineering, and quickly the Admiral killed almost everyone there. As for the senior officers, she rounded them up and put them behind a forcefield. At the same time, Keyser went over to a consol and tapped a few commands in. The ship shut down.

"What the hell are you doing!" Spat Vanessa, who was kicking and pounding on the forcefield.

Neither Keyser nor AdmH responded.

"Security will be here in a minute! You just wait!" BASICman and Jim tried to hold her back.

At this, Keyser turned his attention to her. "No they won't." A smile cracked open on his face. "Everyone on board is behind one of these forcefields." He said as he touched one of them.

"Computer shut off power to the force fields!" Jim cried.

"It's no use." Keyser said filled with glee. "You can't do much with something that has been allowed by the Admiral." He looked around at AdmH, who was busily working on a consol.

"Admiral!" Vanessa said, astonished. "But…how?"

"I've made my choice lieutenant." Was all she could say, she didn't even turn around.

Vanessa collapsed back on the floor beside Jim and BASICman. She was deep in thought, and only noticed the growing sound of the warp core when Jim poked her on the shoulder. "What are you doing?" She asked Keyser

"Isn't it obvious?" Keyser said without turning around. "We're activating the warp engines."

"Why?"

"Why do I do anything?" He asked.

"What?"

"Heh." He chuckled. "You still don't get it, do you? I might have spent a year in a Federation prison colony, but I still have my desires. I still want power! I still want the Federation!"

"There is no Federation in this universe!"

"Not yet no." He said. "But at least I could have my revenge."

"What are you talking about Keyser?"

"I'm going to get my ship back."

"The Terminator?"

"Precisely."

"But it's gone!"

"Not in this universe it isn't!" He spat. "In our universe, the Terminator is gone, but in this universe the Terminator could still be floating out there!"

Vanessa looked back at Jim and BASIC. There was a very large chance that the Terminator doesn't exist in this timeline; they are just wasting time and energy, energy needed if they want to get home! She sat back and looked onward as Keyser and AdmH worked away. She had lost almost all hope until the consol that the Admiral was working on started to beep.

"What's wrong?" Keyser asked as he walked over to her.

"Looks like we're missing a few plasma injectors."

"What?" His face twisted into frustration. "How?"

Vanessa spoke up. "I didn't think we needed to go to warp, so I removed them."

"You idiot!" Keyser walked over to her and shot her through the forcefield.

"Is she dead!" Jim asked as BASIC tried to feel her pulse afterwards.

"No, stunned."

Keyser marched back to AdmH. "Where can you get some plasma injectors?"

"Supply closet 47."

"Go get it!"

-

Ann has been stuck in her quarters with no one to talk to for over fifteen hours. She understood that because she knew that everyone must have been working on the probe and the ship itself. Still, she was bored out of her mind, and that's why, when the lights suddenly failed in her quarters, she grabbed a phaser and walked out of her room. She carefully crept along the walls, hoping to get to the bridge, but she didn't know where to go, the usual maps of the ship that line the walls at every few meters have gone out along with the normal lights. Now the ship is a blood red cave lighted by the emergency lights, filled with dead bodies everywhere. Ann didn't know what happened, she almost tripped on one of the dead bodies. She bent down to look at him; he was shot in the chest. She was just staring at the wound when someone, or something moved to the right of her. She quickly got up and pointed the phaser at whoever or whatever it was. Then suddenly, a phaser burst came her way, narrowly missing her head. In the confusion, Ann fired her own phaser, and to her shock, she hit the target. She quickly ran to her victim, she looked down and almost called for help – She shot herself, or rather the Admiral. It was at this time when everything came together in her head. Keyser doesn't sound like the kind of person who changes, she thought, and if he is indeed…evil, then no doubt he will try to manipulate someone to fit his needs, he needed followers, as Adam had said, and who better than the Captain? And no doubt he would take over the ship, just like in Star Trek. She thought this was probably too farfetched. Still, she decided that it was better to be safe than sorry. She unzipped the Admiral's coat, and put it on herself, she also grabbed the Admiral's Phaser rifle. Afterwards, she started walking, creeping, looking for any sign of the Keyser; she had her phaser in front of her, ready to fire. It took a long time, but she finally spotted a line of light coming from a door, she stared at it and realized, in the darkness, that she was outside of Engineering. She was just about to turn away when the door opened, and there stood Keyser.

"Where the hell have you been!" He screamed at her.

"Uhh…"

"Where's the plasma injectors!"

Without thinking, Ann looked down to her free hand. "Oh…I don't know what happened to them."

"Damn!" he spat. "Maybe I should've gone easy on you…go get them!"

Ann walked away, she didn't know where the plasma injectors are, but at least she knows where she was, sort of. When the door opened, she caught sight of Engineering, with the engineers either dead or trapped. She knew that her theory was right, or close to right. And then, quite suddenly, she walked into someone.

"Oh, Admiral!" Ensign Tracy said. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine…"

"Do you know what happened? I was trapped in a forcefield, but I think the emitters where I was must be malfunctioning."

Ann grabbed Ensign Tracy by the collar. "Listen kid, I'm not the Admiral, I'm Ann. You listen to me, Keyser has taken the ship, he thinks I'm Admiral Hawthorn and that I was going to get plasma injectors, if I get back to engineering with them, I might have a chance of defeating him. I shot the Admiral, she is being manipulated by the Keyser, and she's about 100 meters in that direction." She pointed to her left. "Now, I need you to tell me where I could get some plasma injectors and afterwards you will take the Admiral to sickbay, understand?" She said all of this very quietly and fast.

Ensign Tracy had a glazed impression on his face, it took sometime for him to take it in.

"Do you understand ensign!" Ann repeated.

"Yes."

"Good, now tell me where to get some plasma injectors!"

Tracy led the Ann towards supply locker 47, which was only about 10 meters away. She grabbed all she could.

"Now, get over there to the real Admiral, and take her to sickbay, I'll try to shut down the forcefields, somehow."

Tracy nodded and ran away down the hull. Ann started to march towards engineering; it took her sometime since she wasn't sure where she was going. After about ten minutes, she found the streak of light.

"Finally!" Keyser said as he took the injectors from her and started installing them.

"I'll be over here." Ann said, walking over to a consol, which seemed to be the right one, as Keyser did not object. She looked at the consol. It was very confusing. In truth, she did not have any clue as to how to shut down the forcefields. She randomly pushed a few buttons, and nothing happened. However, she did notice that the humming of the warp core decreased by a little bit. She pressed the buttons again, and again, and again. Suddenly, the entire ship shook, she was thrown over the consol.

"What's going on!" Shouted Keyser. He marched quickly to Ann's consol. "You've destabilized the warp field!"

"I didn't mean to…"

Keyser couldn't take more of this; he punched her in the face, knocking her across Engineering. But the damage was done, an overload started from her consol and started to spread across the ship, any system that was still with power are now without…including the forcefields. Keyser saw to this, he quickly turned around and shot BASICman and Jim before they could to anything, and then he turned and tapped away at Ann's consol.

"Hold it right there!" Ann said, trying to get up, she had her phaser rifle pointed at Keyser.

He slowly backed away from the consol with his arms raised. "Now now Annie, don't do anything stupid…"

She stayed quiet and tried to shoot him, but she was too slow. Keyser quickly reached down into his boot and pulled out an old Klingon dagger. "Maybe I punched you a little too hard…" He threw the dagger at her with all his strength; it made a sickening sound as it pierced her abdomen. She didn't scream in pain, it would've taken too much energy. Her face was suddenly drained of color, filled with a stunned expression. She slowly dropped to her knees, once in a while groaning in pain.

"Hahaha!" Keyser laughed as she fell. "This is pathetic." And with that he turned around and started to work on the consol to get the power back.

Ann was dying and she knew it. She could feel the blood draining out of her and onto the cold Engineering floor. She could feel the cold of her hands as they loosened their grip on the Phaser Rifle. She could still hear Keyser's laugh…with her last ounce of strength she grabbed her phaser rifle and fired. She did not know who or what it hit, or if it hit anything at all, all she knew that footsteps soon came, someone cheering, someone panicking, and that's all she knew before she lost consciousness.

-

Adam never liked bad news; unfortunately the one he received today was the worst yet.

"What!"

"I'm sorry sir…" PG said apprehensively. "I don't know what happened, but everyone who died was killed by a Starfleet phaser."

"How do they know it was the Admiral!"

"The Phaser rifle Ann said that the Admiral carried with her, it was fired at least 20 times before Ann got to it." PG signed. "That, and AdmH's testimony."

Adam stared hard at PG, who backed away. "I'm sorry sir, if you want, you can talk to her."

"Where is she!"

"In the brig."

-

Adam marched angrily into the brig; he stopped just short of the forcefield. Inside the brig, AdmH and Keyser were holding hands.

"Is there something wrong Adam?" AdmH said in a strangely calm voice.

Adam stayed quiet, he licked his lips over and over, as if he was going to say something, but he can't find the words. His face was twitching.

"Yeah, speak up." Keyser said.

Adam finally found his voice. "Is it true, Admiral?" He sounded very calm.

"What is true?"

"That you single handedly killed 20 members of your crew?" His voice remained calm.

"It is true."

Adam broke down. "But why! What happened!"

"It's my choice."

"That's crap and you know it! The real Admiral Hawthorne wouldn't have done this!"

"With all due respect Adam, you are no judge of if I'm real or not." Her voice was as calm as ever.

Adam stared, again lost for words, he heard it, but he couldn't believe it. His mouth quivered, his head was drained of blood. He stood there for about 10 minutes at which time both Keyser and AdmH merely stared back at him, with no emotion whatsoever on their faces. Adam turned on the spot and stormed out, so fast that he accidentally hit the door as it tried to open fast enough. In the corridors, Adam blindly stalked; he did not know where he was going. Eventually, he collapsed in a heap onto the ground, his world shattered, the person who he trusted the most, the only person that he would rely on at any time, in any situation, has betrayed him, has acted out of line. It was Ensign Tracy who found the commander sprawled on the corridor floor, he called sickbay.

-

"Adam?"

"Huh?"

Anna's face hovered in front of his. "Anna?"

"Yes Adam, are you alright?"

Adam rose out of the biobed slowly. He looked around; he seemed ok. "I'm fine thanks."

"Well, good." Anna turned around to arrange some equipment. "Any idea what happened?"

"Nothing." He glanced around sickbay. "How is Ann?"

"Oh she's fine, I'm just letting her rest for a bit, she's been through a lot."

"Yeah…can you wake her?"

"Sure."

Adam got off the biobed and walked to Ann's, her face was serene, as if she was having a good dream. Anna pushed the hypospray into her neck, Ann murmured something, and then opened her eyes.

"Adam?"

"Yep, how are you feeling?"

"You look terrible."

"Am I that transparent?"

"Almost as transparent as air."

Adam smiled. "Seriously though, how are you feeling?"

"Like a shuttlecraft landed on my stomach." She rubbed her eyes. "How long was I under?"

"About a day."

"And what about you?"

"Huh?"

"You never told me why you looked terrible."

"Oh that…it's nothing."

"That's a lie."

"How do you know?"

"I know you enough to know that." Said Ann, smiling as well.

"Fine, your counterpart killed 20 of her crew." Silence followed.

"I'm sorry."

If it was anyone else, Adam would've replied with a halfheartedly "that's alright," but this time it's different. He was staring back at the person who just betrayed him; yet, she was different, very different. "We'll just have to see what happens when we get back to Earth."

"Oh? When is that?"

"In a couple of hours." Adam looked worried. "This is your last chance."

"For what?"

"For staying home."

Ann let out a high laugh. "You just don't get it do you Adam, I'm here to stay, and stay here I will!"

Adam grinned, he knows that he shouldn't be this happy now, but he couldn't help it.

-

"All officers to their stations!" Adam bellowed through the comm. system.

All through the ship, ensigns and lieutenants ran to their stations, they all know what is happening and what is about to happen.

Adam turned to the bridge crew. "Is everything ready?"

"Yes sir!"

"Alright then." He sat back down on the captain's chair. "Full power to shields and hull integrity and divert everything else we got to the deflector!"

The bridge crew worked away on their consoles. "Deflector activated." Mcmac said.

"Issue the Chronitons."

"Issuing."

The bridge again waited as more and more chronitons are pumped into the weakening subspace. Then suddenly, just like before, a number of energy tendrils appeared, except this time they were longer and more numerous. The ship was hit with wave after wave of distortions, the crew tried to hang on.

"Report!"

"Aperture at 50 meters in diameter!" Kaitz reported.

"We have to get it up to 140!"

"80 meters…100 meters…120 meters…."

"This is as big as it can get sir!" mcmac screamed through the distortions.

"Alright." Adam said as he tries to stay in the captain's chair. "Mr. Ice! Take us in!"

The Vanguard slowly edged forward towards the aperture, it was as if the ship did not want to go in there.

"Aperture penetration in 5…4…3…2…1!" Kaitz said.

The entire ship was jolted, people tried to grab onto something but to no avail.

"INERTIAL DAMPER!"

"THEY'RE OF NO USE IN HERE!"

Adam tried very hard to stay in one piece, but it didn't work. Only moments in he was tossed across the bridge like a cork. He hit his head on the navigational consol – he was seeing double.

"COMMANDER!" Ice screamed. "ARE YOU OK!"

"I'M ALRIGHT! KEEP THIS SHIP LEVEL LIEUTENANT!"

"AYE AYE!"

-

Power was going on and off in the ship as various officers tried to hang on for dear life. Down in the brig, the forcefield was flickering, on and off. The ensign in charge noticed this of course, but he was too busy trying to keep himself level. Keyser noticed all of this as well, and in one flashing movement, he jumped out of the brig, landing on the ensign. He tried to fire, but as soon has he reached for his phaser, he felt a sharp pain in his leg, no; it was more than that, for Keyser has just cut off his foot. The ensign howled with pain, and tried to cradle his broken stump of a leg, he did not even see Keyser's dagger coming as it aimed for his chest.

"Come on!" Keyser said as he pulled his dagger out of the dead ensign's heart. "There's a way we can get off this garbage dump of a ship!" He screamed at AdmH, who promptly got up and simply walked out of the brig.

"Same routine!" Keyser said as they left the brig.

As soon as they did, they encountered Ensign Tracy, who was then promptly shot dead by the Admiral. In fact, no one was left alive from the brig to the shuttle bay: Keyser and AdmH's destination.

"Which ship?" AdmH asked.

"Isn't it simple?" Keyser waved his arms for AdmH to follow him. "We need a ship that won't be easily traced." He said as he headed for the Triton City.

-

"SIR! I'M READING PHASER FIRES!"

"WHERE!"

"FROM DECKS 6 TO 11!"

Adam had no time to think, according to sensors, the ship was only about half way through the aperture, and he did not forget about the blinding wall at the end of the tunnel…

"WE'LL WORRY ABOUT THAT LATER!"

"SIR!"

"YOU HEARD ME!" Screamed Adam as he tried to hang on to the railings, it wasn't working, he can't hold on much longer…

"SIR!" Screamed Ice as he saw Adam flung over himself right into the viewscreen. He lay there collapsed in a heap, and did not move.

-

"Report."

"It is a Type H gravimetric anomaly." Tuvok said. "It is approximately 120 meters in diameter."

"Tom." Admiral Janeway said placing a hand on his shoulder. "Back us off to a safe distance. Harry, does it have anything to do with the smaller anomaly we encountered yesterday?"

"Yes." Lieutenant Kim said. "It has the same energy signature."

-

"GET HIM TO SICKBAY!" Screamed PG as he sat down on the captain's chair, trying to hold on.

The ship shook more and more. Then PG saw it, an extremely bright spot directly ahead, it was the wall.

"EVERYONE! HOLD ON!"

The shockwave hit, people were tossed around until they hit something, anything, another crewmember, a wall, the warp core… In the shuttlebay, Keyser and AdmH held on as the shockwave hit the Triton City, lifting it off of the shuttlebay floor. Outside of the ship, large pieces of the hull were being peeled off; many unlucky crewmembers were blown out into the energy vortex.

And then suddenly, everything was calm, all movement ceased.

"Report!" PG cried through the smoke filled bridge.

"Casualty reports are coming it." Said GK, now filling in for PG. "We are reporting 32 dead, and 37 people wounded."

PG looked down, so many got hurt; so many deaths, and they were so close to home too…

-

"It's over love." Keyser said softly to AdmH. "It's time."

The Triton City powered up its engines and the familiar humming begin.

"Target the shuttlebay doors" Keyser said. "Fire!"

-

"Damn…" PG breathed as he looked to the ground.

"It's not your fault sir." Ice said. "Nor Adam's, we had to get home."

Then, suddenly, the ship shook again, although it's nothing compared to what they just went through, it was still a call to raise alarm though.

"Report!"

"The shuttlebay doors have just been destroyed."

"Who by?"

"The weapon signature is…" GK paused. "MY SHIP!" He abandoned his post immediately and exited the bridge, PG followed.

"Are you going to the shuttlebay?"

"Where else?"

PG and GK ran past injured crewman being treated, ran past dead bodies, finally reaching the shuttlebay. PG and GK stepped in.

"My god…" GK breathed.

Before him, the shuttlebay was in ruins. Shuttlecrafts were tossed like children's toys across the bay. There was a huge hole in the shuttlebay door, and the Triton City was, of course, gone.

-

Captain's Log, Stardate 57893.6: We are currently on our way home after dropping off Balok on his ship thanks to the crew of Voyager and the Solstice, and of course, my crew. Yes, you heard it, MY crew; I have been given a field commission of Captain for the time being. As for our former captain, we cannot find her since our sensors would not work against GK's cloak. His information on the Triton City did not help either; no doubt the Keyser must have reconfigured the ship's security codes. Furthermore, it seems that, besides AdmH, he has taken someone else, Jason Hawthorn. Poor child…On a side note, the crew's morale is better than what I have imagined, I guess the fact that we're back in our own universe must be comforting. I, on the other hand, am not feeling that well; maybe a good vacation on Risa is what I need…

-

"So," PG said as he sat down with GK, mcmac, Kaitz, Vanessa and NAH to play a game of poker. "You all know the rules, but first things first." He turned to GK. "What are you going to do when you get back?"

"I guess I'll go and find me a new ship."

"This soon?" Asked Vanessa.

"Well, I'm not really sure, the Triton City was a good ship."

'Bah! Don't use "was!"' cried NAH. "You'll see, we'll get it back."

"Always the optimist."

"Sue me."

"Ok people, I think that's all the character interaction I can handled." Said PG. "Let's play!"

He started to deal out the cards, 5 for each, as he muttered to himself.

"Alright, you all know what to…" PG stopped and glanced at a lone figure sitting all the way across the Messhull, no one was sitting beside him or even near him. "Do you think we need a new player?"

"Huh?" Kaitz said, without taking an eye off of her cards.

"Boltini, I feel sorry for him…" PG paused for a moment, then got up and walked over to him.

"PG?" Boltini glanced up. "Is there a problem?"

"No, I just wondered if you wanted to play some poker?"

"I would love to!" Boltini quickly stood up and accidentally knocked over his bowl of soup, which he didn't notice. "I got to say, it's getting a little bit lonely on this ship."

"I'm sorry."

"What?"

"When I talked to you last time." PG said with a frown on his face. "I was very impolite."

"Oh that." He waved it off. "Don't worry, I get that all the time."

PG and Boltini sat down around the table. "Alright Boltini?" GK asked. He was smiling.

Boltini stared around. "You mean…you're not afraid of me?"

"Not at all." They all responded simultaneously.

"Look." NAH said. "I'm sorry about all of this, but you have to admit, it's not without reason."

"Of course." Boltini sighed. "I just wish I could make it up, somehow."

"You will, don't worry. There's plenty of time left." Vanessa said, handing Boltini some cards.

"You know what I wonder?" Boltini asked suddenly as they started the game. "Why Keyser didn't take me, but instead took Jason."

"Well." Kaitz said behind a fan of cards. "Um…"

"Good reply!" NAH said sarcastically.

-

Adam has spent almost all of his free time in the Captain's ready room since he left sickbay. He did not talk to anyone, nor did he want to. All he ever does is sit around, sipping coffee, and looking over old personal logs. However, it didn't take long for someone to realize that something was wrong.

"Come in." Said Adam as the door chimed.

Ann entered wearing a smile on her face. "Good day Captain!"

"Ann." Said Adam as he attempted to sit up straight. "How have you been?"

"The more important question is, how have YOU been?"

"I'm fine."

Ann walked across the ready room and sat down beside him. "You don't look well."

"That's because I don't feel well."

Ann stared at him for a moment. "You miss her, don't you?"

Adam sighed. "Not exactly…"

"Oh?" Ann's eyes widened. "Listen Adam, I know why you're like this, I also know that you miss her."

Adam was silent.

"Fine, don't talk to me, I'm sorry that I remind you of a person that you're disappointed with."

It hit a nerve. "Damn it Ann! I followed her for so long! I've always trusted her! And now she does this! Well I'm sorry!"

Surprisingly, a smile appeared on Ann's face. "Doesn't that feel better?"

"She said it was her choice…"

"Of course, everything we do is our own choice, what is behind that however, is what makes us different."

"What?"

"Don't you get it Adam?" Ann said, staring into his eyes. "She's not gone, who do you think made that choice for her?"

"…Keyser."

"My guess as well, it happened all the time in Star Trek." Ann sat back on the couch. "You know Adam, I think you should step out of this room for a little bit…and when's the last time you've showered?"

For the first time in days, Adam grinned. "Several days."

"I can tell."

Adam turned to her. "You don't look so well yourself."

"Oh?" Ann paused. "Well, something has been bothering me too."

"What?"

"When I was back home, I had a purpose, I knew what I was going to do in life…now I'm not so sure."

"You want a purpose?"

"I wouldn't mind one."

"How about Starfleet?" Adam asked. "You'll make a great captain."

"Are you kidding me?" Ann laughed. "Nah, not in this life time."

"I'm serious, I've reviewed the security tapes, the way you handled the situation. Everything is there!"

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying, maybe you should join Starfleet."

Ann didn't know how to feel. "Umm…"

"It won't be hard."

"It's not the difficulty that I'm worrying about…"

"Then what?"

"I'm not sure."

"You wanted a purpose, I'm giving you one."

Ann thought for moment. "Sure…why not." She said that last part very quietly, sort of to herself.

"Ok…" Adam said, "I'll see what I can do about it."

Ann stared back at Adam, who was now standing in the middle of the room. She laughed.

"What?"

"Looks like I'm a good counselor."

Adam looked around him. "Heh…maybe so."

Ann got up. "Come on, PG and Boltini is having a poker night in the Messhull, I know something about poker…" She winked at him.

Adam laughed. "Well, I was quite the poker player in my youth, hasn't played for awhile." Adam thought for a minute. "Why not, let's go."

Adam walked through the door along with Ann. "I just hope they know my rules…"

"Which are?" Ann asked.

"Five card stud, nothing wild…And the sky's the limit."

The End

Contributors

EWDEE, NAHTMMM, Boltini3000, PG15, Captain Ice, AdmHawthorne, mcmac, GeorgeKirk, BASICman,