Chapter One
Gathering at Babylon
"Captain's Log Stardate 1265.3. Lately, Discovery's systems have been acting up. They're showing similar symptoms of the Enterprise just before she went down. Since we tracked that down to the holographic communications systems on board her, I've ordered that we disable them here on Discovery until we have time to examine them further. Personally, I'm fine with this, but I know there are several crewmembers who miss the holograms. We're still in pursuit of Lieutenant Spock, and have no updates as of this time."
Captain Christopher Pike finished his log entry and stretched. Being in pursuit of his science officer still felt wrong. After all, he and Spock were assigned to the Enterprise at the same time, but he knew Spock was hiding something from him. If only he knew what.
Pike left his quarters and began his rounds. He often liked taking a tour of the ship before getting to the bridge. He thought it was important that the crew saw their Captain. He wanted to remind them that he was more than just a man in the big chair. He wanted them to know he was there for them, and that they were his first priority, even more so than the mission.
His first visit was Engineering. As soon as he entered he found Ensign Sylvia Tilly in a panic. "C-Captain! I-I'm sorry, I wasn't aware there was an inspection today!"
"Not an inspection, Tilly, a stroll," Pike said, walking down the stairs onto the main floor, "Reno and Stamets not in yet?"
"No, sir," Tilly replied, nervously, "Their shift doesn't start until oh-eight-hundred hours." She rubbed her hands together anxiously.
Pike nodded. "Anything to report? Any ...bugs?"
"None that we've found, sir," Tilly explained, "Aside from the holographic communication system, that is."
"Got it," Pike smiled, "Keep up the good work." He turned and began walking out of the room.
"Y-Yes, Captain!" Tilly called back.
Pike stopped and look behind him. "Oh, and Tilly?"
"Yes, sir?" Tilly froze, worried about what was to follow.
"Ease up a little," Pike replied, and walked out of Engineering, though he could hear Tilly call 'Yes, sir!' after him, which earned a small chuckle. Pike wished several people 'good morning' as he strolled through the hallways. It didn't bother him, though. In fact, he enjoyed it.
Pike turned into the mess hall, and walk up to one of the replicators. "Two scrambled eggs, extra cheese, with a side of hash browns and one cup of coffee, extra creamer." After a few moments, the replicator deposited Pike's requested meal, and he searched for a table. Every table seemed occupied, and he knew walking up to a junior officer to ask them to sit there wasn't exactly a great way to start off a conversation. Luckily, there was one table available.
"Morning, Burnham," Pike said, looking down at his new science officer, who was busy reading a report of some kind.
Burnham looked up. "Good morning, Captain." She replied. Pike stood in silence for a moment, waiting to see if she would invite him to sit with her. After a few moments, he decided to ask himself.
"Mind if I sit here?"
"Of course not," Burnham replied, and Pike sat down across from her at the small, silver table. He looked over to the report and thought for a moment.
"Doesn't your shift begin in an hour?" He asked.
Burnham nodded, "Yes, but I thought I would read some sensor reports beforehand."
"Uh-huh," Pike replied and scooped up a fork full of eggs and place it in his mouth. "Hmm...needs more salt."
"Sir?" Burnham asked.
"The eggs, Burnham," Pike clarified, and Burnham nodded. "Maybe I should talk to Saru about putting salt shakers on the tables, just in case. Y'know, like restaurants have."
"What do you mean?" Burnham asked, putting down the report.
"Restaurants," Pike reiterated, "Often, customers feel the meal they're served is a little lacking at times, so they'll add salt or pepper to the food for some extra seasoning to make it to their liking."
"I'm sorry, Captain, but I didn't visit many restaurants when I was on Earth," Burnham replied.
"Maybe when this whole crisis is over, I'll have to take you to one," Pike said, taking another bite. "Y'know, when I was a kid, my parents and I occasionally traveled to New Orleans, and we went to a restaurant there...oh, what was it called again? I don't remember exactly, but it had some of the best creole food you've ever had. Agh, what was it called again? This is gonna be bothering me for a while."
"If we're lucky, sir," Burnham replied and began looking back at her report.
Pike began looking around the mess hall and searching for anything to do. He found that each table was very stark of any kind of decorations or games. "Hey, Burnham?"
"Yes, Captain?" The science officer replied.
"What do you do around here for fun?" Pike asked, taking a bite of his hash browns.
Burnham cocked her head to the side and thought for a moment. "What do you mean?"
"Fun," Pike reiterated, "Recreation. When you're not on duty and have time to yourself, what do you do? I've noticed that no one on Discovery has a hobby or a past time. You just seem to wake up, do your job, and go to bed. No one seems to do anything with their spare time. Even look at the mess hall. There are no games, no nothing."
"We had a party in the mess hall once," Burnham noted.
"What kind of party?" Pike asked.
"The...fun kind?" Burnham struggled to find words.
"But what did you do at this party?" Pike wondered.
"We, uh…" Burnham attempted recount what happened at the one party she had been to in onboard Discovery, "We..listened to music, we danced, we...ate food?"
"Sounds like every frat party at the Academy…" Pike groaned, at took a drink of his coffee. "What music did you listen to?"
"I believe it was a variation of a classical song, sir," Burnham replied.
"Like..what?" Pike asked, "A band, an orchestra?"
"A band," Burnham clarified.
"And what kind of variation was it?" Pike asked, taking another bite, "A cover, a remix?"
"A remix, sir," Burnham said.
"Do you remember any of the songs?" Pike took another drink.
"I don't remember, exactly," Burnham trailed off, remembering that night, "Something about staying alive?"
"Oh!" Pike exclaimed, and everyone in the mess hall turned to stare at the captain, "Stayin' Alive, by the BeeGees!" Pike shouted with food still in his mouth. He swallowed and smiled. "Alright, we're going good. So how'd the party end?"
"Very quickly," Burnham replied, "The ship became taken over my Harcourt Mudd and was put into a time loop where he always either destroyed the ship or killed Captain Lorca."
Pike went silent and stared at his science officer for a period of time. He looked to the ground and shook his head. "And I thought Talos was weird…"
"Sir?" Burnham began, but Pike cut her off with a wave of his hand.
"Some things you're better left not knowing, Commander," Pike wiped his mouth with a napkin and stood up, grabbing his tray as he did so. "I need more coffee." He walked over to the replicator and disposed of his leftover food and got more coffee. "Join me on the bridge, Commander?"
"Yes, Captain," Burnham replied, standing up and following her superior officer to the turbolift. The pair entered and began their quick journey to the bridge.
"You really got caught in a time loop?" Pike asked, holding his coffee in his right hand.
"Yes, sir," Burnham replied, "Though Commander Stamets was the only person to realize it due to his connection with the Mycelium Network."
"How'd you get out of it?" Pike asked.
"We blackmailed Mudd," Burnham said.
Pike slowly turned to her. "...blackmail?"
"Yes, sir," Burnham replied, still looking forward.
"Well," Pike sighed, "There's one to add to the tactics book." The turbolift arrived at the bridge, and the pair entered the area.
As Burnham took her station, Lieutenant Detmer shouted 'Captain on the bridge!"
"As ease, Detmer," Pike chuckled and moved towards the Captain's chair. Commander Saru stood up out of the chair and moved to his station as Pike sat down. "Status report."
"All is quiet, Captain," Saru reported, "Aside from the issues with the holographic communication system, we have suffered no system issues."
"Good to hear," Pike took a drink of his coffee, and waited as a yeoman brought him a PADD with today's more minor reports. "Thank you, Yeoman Alister." The yeoman walked off the bridge and Pike examined the report. Sure enough, everything was running smoothly. Aside from the holographic communications systems (which Pike couldn't care less about), Discovery was operating at peak efficiency. In fact, the warp drive was actually worked better than it was before. Ever since Commander Reno had been brought on board from the Hiawatha, she'd made some minor modifications to the warp drive that Commander Stamets probably had never dreamed off. After all, Stamets was a scientist who worked with mushrooms whilst Reno had kept her crew alive for eight months by plugging them into technology. Pike knew who he thought should be Chief Engineer.
Pike also worried about three clashing heads in Engineering. Reno was a traditional engineer, who relied on dilithium and raw power. Stamets was a newer type of guy, trying to eliminate dilithium all together. And Tilly was somewhere in between. Pike was worried that so many clashing personalities might destabilize the working environment there. And while he thought that Reno and Stamets were more just clashing ideals, he was more worried about Tilly. Not because she wasn't qualified for the job, but she lacked command abilities. Despite being accepted into Starfleet's Command Program, Pike didn't think she was cut out for command, at least, not yet.
Pike knew anyone could gain leadership qualities, but he had a feeling that Tilly had only been accepted into the Command Program due to her natural smarts and her performance in the Klingon War. But he had a feeling that he, and those around him, could teach her what they knew. She would need it in a life and death scenario. Pike had heard of a new simulation on Earth that was gaining popularity among the cadets at Starfleet Academy. He thought Tilly should take it.
But as time ticked on by, Pike just sat in his chair, not really being needed. Today was a simple day, and nothing seemed to be going on. That was until Lieutenant Detmer's console began beeping.
"Captain, we're receiving a distress call," Detmer announced, responding to the beeping noise from her console.
"Where?" Captain Pike replied, perking up from his chair slightly.
"About three light-years away," Detmer said, "From the Alpha Centauri system."
"Let's hear it," Pike replied, and a static-filled message filled the bridge.
"Captain J-...-dan of B-... dis-...-aware-...help…" The message cut off quickly and Pike turned to Detmer.
"How quickly can we get there, Detmer?" Pike asked.
"About half an hour, sir," Detmer replied, calculating the time from memory.
"Let's go, then," Pike ordered, "Detmer, take us there, warp factor seven. All hands, yellow alert!" The crew rushed to their stations, and Discovery's engines roared to life as the ship entered warp.
"Distress signal sent!" A crew member shouted over the erupting systems. An alarm blared in the background and most of the lights were dark. The station was operating on backup systems now. "But, that burnt out our communications system entirely."
"Then let's hope someone is listening," Captain Sheridan said, turning to Commander Ivanova, "What's the status from all decks?!"
"Most of the crew quarters are safe," Ivanova reported, "But security's a mess, and looting is being reported. Garibaldi's doing what he can, but he's short staffed. And with power down in most of the sectors, there's not much we can do. Hell, he had to tell that that through a messenger with internal comms down."
"I'm going down to help him," Sheridan replied, "Keep things going up here."
"Yes, sir," Ivanova replied, and Sheridan ran out of C&C. Ivanova walked over to the one window in C&C and looked out into space. Except it wasn't space. The station seemed to be surrounded by an electrical field of some kind, blue in tint and churning with electrical currents. Either they'd been surrounded by something, or they'd been moved. "Anyone know where we are?" She shouted.
"No, Commander, navigation systems are down," An officer replied.
Ivanova cursed under her breath and gazed at the command center. Many systems were down, power was failing and there were more problems to worry about. The station hadn't been attacked. There was a flash of light, and suddenly over half the station's systems were down, as if they'd been shot at by a powerful weapon.
Ivanova then heard a noise. A sort of groaning, wheezing sound. "Commander!" an officer shouted, "Detecting a massive energy surge right here!" Ivanova stood there as something faded into view just in the hallway. It was tall, though not as tall as the center itself. It was shaped like a box, but it had doors on the front with windows, and a light flashing slowly on the top of it. Engraved near the top of the box were the words 'Police Public Call Box.'
The sound stopped with a quiet pounding noise, and the door of it opened. From the box emerged a tall, thin man, with a head full of curly gray hair. He was wearing a deep maroon coat, with a black waistcoat and a white shirt. He pulled something out of his pocket and pointed it at the ceiling. It began making a buzzing noise as the tip of it began shining blue. As the man pointed it, the alarm turned off, resuming the quiet of the bridge. He put the device in his pocket and walked over to Ivanova.
"Sorry," the man said, with a deep, baritone voice with a Scottish accent, "But I can't think with an alarm blaring through my ears."
Ivanova reached for her sidearm and pointed it at the stranger, "Who are you?"
The man took a step back and immediately raised his arms, "Hey, hey, no need for guns. I'm here to help."
"State your name, rank, and intent," Ivanova ordered.
"The Doctor, doctor, help." The man replied.
"How did you get here?" She asked.
The Doctor pointed at the box near the corridor, "Spaceship."
"Why did you come here?" Ivanova asked.
"Short answer, you need help, and I can offer said help," the Doctor explained, "Long answer, your station has been moved across time, universes and space and I'm here to mediate what happens next to make sure you don't blow each other to pieces." The Doctor took a step toward Ivanova. "I know who you are, Susan Ivanova, as do I know all the command staff for Babylon 5. We've met before, though you don't remember doing so."
"How could I not remember?" Ivanova asked.
"Because it hasn't happened yet," the Doctor said calmly, "Not from your perspective." Ivanova flinched slightly but kept her aim at the man. After all, he was an intruder on the station. "Listen, I know you have doubts. It's in your nature and what makes you a good commander. But right now, you need to put those doubts aside and let me help you and everyone else here. Please." The Doctor lowered his arms and looked Ivanova in the eye. With a groan, Ivanova lowered her weapon.
"Alright, Doctor," Ivanova began, "You seem to have the answers to all this. Explain."
"Babylon 5," the Doctor explained, "along with various other things from different universes have all been pulled into this one. And I'm familiar with all of them, so I'm here to help. Babylon 5 is the first to arrive, so it makes sense to start here."
"When you say other universes, what do you mean?" Ivanova barked.
The Doctor groaned and thought for a moment. "Okay, uh...Imagine a..burger, yeah, imagine a burger. You, along with your universe, is the meat in that burger. The other ingredients are other universes. Someone or something has taken a knife and cut out a small portion of each of those ingredients and are not putting them together somewhere else." There was silence for a moment as Ivanova, and the rest of the staff stared at the Doctor with confused expressions. "This isn't helping, is it?"
"Not really," Ivanova replied, crossing her arms. "Look, can you help get the station back up and running?"
"Maybe," the Doctor shrugged, "But you've been pretty badly damaged. Right now, though, I suggest you get communications up and running first." Ivanova opened her mouth to interrupt, but the Doctor cut her off. "I know that might not seem like a top priority with everything else going on, but trust me when I say that you're going to want those more than anything."
"Why?" Ivanova groaned.
"Because you're not the only ones who are randomly going to appear here," the Doctor explained, "And they won't all be hospitable as Babylon 5."
Ivanova stared at the man, trying to read his emotions. She didn't think he was lying, but she didn't think he was actually sane, either. Whatever the case, he seemed to be hiding something. But right now, he was the only who had any idea of what was happening.
"Commander!" an officer shouted from across C&C, "Detecting a massive energy surge off starboard!"
Both Ivanova and the Doctor positioned themselves to view the area in question and could see a massive electrical disturbance to the right of the station, deeper in shade than the rest of the field. "What is that?" Ivanova asked in a hushed tone.
The Doctor glanced at her and then back outside the station. "The second house guest."
Just after that was said, there was a blinding flash of light. The Doctor and Ivanova blocked the light and after a few seconds, the light faded. And the electrical disturbance was replaced with something else. "Is that a ship?" Ivanova questioned. The thing outside the station was wedge-shaped, with smaller laters going upward, all coming up to a neck with a massive section of metal.
"Confirmed," another officer shouted as she did some minor calculations, "The vessel doesn't match anything in our records. Scans show that it's almost sixteen hundred meters long!"
"That's a fifth the size of the entire station!" an officer exclaimed on the other side of the room.
"Earth Force doesn't even have anything close to that!" Another officer said.
"Any weapons?" Ivanova asked.
"Several," The officer who did the calculations replied, "There are over one-hundred turrets on the ship, and I'm reading a hanger bay below the ship, but I don't know how many ships might be in there."
"It's an Imperial I-Class Star Destroyer," The Doctor said, glaring at the ship.
Silence filled the room as every officer stared at the old man. Ivanova faced him. "How do you know that?"
"I told you," the Doctor didn't change his gaze, "I know what's going to happen. I've seen that ship before. It's called the Refractory, commanded by Captain Julirand Eccsta."
"Which means?" Ivanova asked.
"It means," The Doctor began, "You should get your communications up and running. Captain Eccsta is fairly reasonable, but she didn't get to be one of the few top women in the Galactic Empire by being a diplomat." He turned to Ivanova. "That Star Destroyer is as crippled as Babylon 5 is right now, but they don't have nearly as much to fix, and they'll be functional within half the time we are.
"Now I suggest that you make communications your first priority because if Eccsta doesn't get any response within a few hours, she'll take it as radio silence, and will attack." The Doctor took a step closer to the Commander, "And in its current state, Babylon 5 doesn't stand a chance against an Imperial I-Class Star Destroyer. Right now, talking is the best option."
As the Doctor glared at her, Ivanova debated the Doctor's comments. He was unknown. He'd randomly appeared on C&C inside a box and asserted himself on the situation. But at the same stroke, he seemed to know what was going on. And he was the only one who understood too. But that could mean he was a spy and was playing her. But that was a job for Garibaldi. Right now, Ivanova felt that she could trust him.
"How long will it take to complete repairs on communications?" Ivanova asked the crew.
"It's not just the repairs that are going to be difficult, Commander," an officer explained, "It's getting there. The communications grid itself is misaligned. Someone needs to go outside the station and realign it. Along with that, we need to repair the support system in grey sector, which we'll have to do first otherwise we might short-circuit the entire system."
"I can realign the communications grid," The Doctor raised his hand and all eyes turned to him.
Ivanova crossed her arms. "How?" She asked, skeptically.
The Doctor pointed to the box, "I told you, I have a spaceship. It doesn't just appear and reappear in places, though that is a key feature. It does have the capability to fly in space, though it will be dangerous."
"Dangerous how?" Ivanova questioned.
"Well," The Doctor explained, "It won't be dangerous for me, the TARDIS can survive practically anything thrown at it, but it's Babylon 5 you have to worry about. Once Captain Eccsta sees movement, she might open fire. And don't forget that the Refractory can get its weapons functional a lot quicker than we can. Which means-"
"Which means," Ivanova cut the Doctor off, "We only have a short period of time to make repairs." She stroked her chin. "Do you know how long it will take them to restore weapons?"
"Given Eccsta's track record," The Doctor said, "I'd say a little over an hour. She'll hold off doing anything unless she's provoked for a few hours. After that, she'll open fire."
"How difficult is it to repair the communications support systems?" Ivanova barked to her crew.
"It's not," an officer replied, "In case the alignment of the grid changes, the support system immediately shuts down to prevent damage. Resetting it would be easy, but we'd have to be careful. We'd have to get to the breaker area. We'd reset a few that would turn the system on, but not completely. We'd have to wait until the communications grid was realigned and then reset the other breakers."
Ivanova looked up at the ceiling and cursed. "Why do these things always have to be so complicated? Are there any engineers in the area?"
"With interior comms down it's too hard to tell," the officer said.
"What about Captain Sheridan?" The Doctor suggested, "Isn't he available? If we can get a hold of him and tell him where to go and what to do, maybe that'll work."
Ivanova crossed her arms. "How do know Captain Sheridan's further down in the station?"
"I told you," The Doctor groaned, "I know what's going to happen. Please do try to keep up."
"And in any fact, how do you expect to contact him when comms are down?" Ivanova asked.
"Ah, good point!" The Doctor ran off to his box and went inside. A few moments later, he exited carrying three objects. "Walkie-talkies! I quadrupled the communication radius so you'll be able to talk to Sheridan all the way from C&C." He handed two of the objects to Ivanova. "They rely on radio signals, so even if we do get attacked and suffer further damage, we'll be fine. Give one to Sheridan, and I'll keep another. That way we can all talk to each other. Hold down this button to communicate. Don't mess with the other one. I'll be waiting outside, so contact me when you're ready!" The Doctor ran back to his box and a few moments later, the box disappeared with the same sound it had when it appeared the first time.
The C&C crew turned to Commander Ivanova for guidance. She quickly regained her composure and walked over to a nearby officer and handed her a walkie-talkie. "Find Captain Sheridan. He should be in Red Sector. Give him this, and tell him to hold this button to make it work, and to use it to talk with us. Go, now!" The officer ran off, and Ivanova turned to the remainder of the crew. "Everyone else, we're in a critical situation. While the command staff will work on getting communications up and running, I want the remainder of the crew working on the other critical systems. Internal comms, weapon systems, launch bay doors; those are our top priority. Get moving!"
The crew rushed to work, and Ivanova clutched the device the Doctor had given her. She prayed this would work. Because right now, she didn't see any other options.
"Where are we?!" Captain Eccsta shouted to her staff.
"Unknown, Captain," a lieutenant said, "Many of our systems are heavily damaged."
Eccsta rolled her eyes. "You don't have to tell me twice…" When the Refractory was hit, Eccsta had been standing next to a console that blew. Her uniform had been slightly singed off and her blonde hair had been disheveled out of it's tightly knit bun, leaving several strands dangling in front of the right side of her face. But above all else, she felt the burning sting from the flames that scorched her face. She was almost lucky her hair was now covering it.
"Captain," Commander Banrim, the Refractory's first officer, whispered to his superior officer, "Do you see that?" He gestured outside the ship. Amidst the energy field was a large object.
"Is that a space station?" Eccsta noted, squinting to see across the area.
"Confirmed," an ensign replied, "A space station roughly five times the size of the Refractory. Limited weapons and many of its systems appear to be disabled."
"So they're in the same ship we are…" Eccsta muttered under her breath.
"Sir?" Banrim asked, not hearing his captain properly.
"If they're as disabled as we are," Eccsta rubbed her chin, "They could have been entrapped just like we were. But, they could also be our captors."
"Why would they be our captors?" Banrim wondered.
"An easy way to get sympathy from your captives is pretending to be a captive yourself," Eccsta explained, "That way, you can lure your opponents into a false sense of security until the right moment and then you pounce."
Banrim's eyes narrowed and flipped back and forth from the station in the distance to his captain. "I'm...not sure I understand, Captain."
Eccsta chuckled and shook her head. She never understood how Banrim had gotten so far in the Imperial Navy. His lack of understanding of even the most basic tactics made him more qualified for sanitation than being the first officer of a Star Destroyer in Eccsta's opinion. But, what he lacked in basic judgment he made up for in intimidation. Despite his short stature, he had a booming voice that made people want to carry out his orders. Eccsta had only met one with a more commanding voice, and he was more likely to choke you into submission.
Eccsta found that at the end of the day, Banrim made for a good loudspeaker to carry out orders. Her orders. Many had said that Eccsta herself was more intimidating given her height, which is why she'd gotten so far in rank, but she knew better. There were many reasons she'd been done so well in the Navy, and her 'intimidation factor' was only a small reason.
"Commander," Eccsta began, "Get communications operational, following my engines and weapons. I want to attempt contact with that station, and if we don't get a reply within the next few hours, we'll open fire." Eccsta turned around and walked down the bridge.
"Wait, Captain!" Banrim called, "Why would we open fire?"
"We're not taking chances, Commander Banrim!" Eccsta replied, "And I don't trust a random space station lying in the middle of a massive energy field." She put her hands behind her back and straightened her back
'Never show your crew weakness,' her old captain had said once, 'They won't trust you to be their commander otherwise.'
She remembered his words as they stung like the burn on her face. But she absorbed the pain. She couldn't let it interfere with her duties. Not when her ship and her crew were in question.
'Remember Julirand,' Lev had said then, pushing her throat against a wall, 'Your crew will only accept you if they fear you. Once you lose that fear, you have anarchy.'
She stopped at a nearby console and saw her reflection glaring back at her, its eyes fierce and its face burnt. Julirand didn't like it.
And that's why she knew her crew would fear it.