Author's Note: I'd like to thank the following people for giving me reviews: Scott the Wanderer, Sharnorasian Empire, Itak2003, and Dusel. Thanks for the feedback, folks! Anyway, there's no need to waste more time, so read on…!
Chapter Three—First Contact
The crew of the Enterprise-D went down to Docking Bay Three and anxiously awaited the arrival of the Millennium Falcon.
While they were waiting, the crew began to discuss why this ship was here and what it was doing in this section of space.
"Maybe this ship is from another galaxy," Data mused.
"That could be probable," Riker countered. "But how could they possibly get this far?"
"Unless they had technology far superior to our own," Dr. Beverly Crusher pointed out.
"Or, in theory," Geordi LaForge said, "There are such anomalies such as inter-dimensional wormholes. That could be the 'nebula' Captain Solo was talking about."
"These are all excellent theories," Captain Picard noted. "But it would be wise to remember that this ship could still be hostile. We should all be on our guard."
"Look," Worf stated, pointing. "The Millennium Falcon is coming in."
A hush descended over the crew as the ship landed in the docking bay. The Millennium Falcon was larger than they had expected; about five times the size of a Federation-class shuttle. The ramp on the ship lowered, and the person the crew assumed was Captain Han Solo walked down on it, a strange gun-like weapon cocked in one hand. He was flanked by several other people and aliens.
"Well, guys," Han said, pulling into the docking bay, "This is it."
"Look!" Luke said, pointing at some figures standing in the docking bay. "It's the crew of the Enterprise-D."
"No duh, Luke," the smuggler said, squinting at the figures. "What the hell are they wearing?"
"Looks like uniforms," Leia said.
"Hmm…whatever," Han said, expertly landing the Millennium Falcon into the landing area and shutting off the engines. Han took out his blaster and cocked it in his hand. "Chewie, get your crossbow ready."
"Han!" Luke chided. "I thought we agreed that they were friendly."
"Yeah, well, you should never trust strange ships. Trust me, I know. C'mon, let's go."
Han strided down the ramp, followed by Chewie, Luke, Leia, and the droids. The crew standing in front of them seemed very strange (to Han's standards, anyway). The Corellian could see their uniforms more clearly now. They were mostly black, with the torso area various colors, depending on the person in question. There were buttons on their collars (Han assumed this stood for rank), and they all wore pins on their uniforms shaped slightly like stars. All of the crewmembers were men, except for two women. Han could tell most of them were of alien races. What a rag-tag crew if I ever saw one, he thought. They all looked warily at Han and the rest of his crew. One of the crewmembers, a dark-skinned alien with a yellow uniform and a strange belt over it, pulled out a strange-looking weapon and aimed it at Han. No one else seemed to notice.
A balding human male stepped forward. The color of his uniform was red, and he had quite a few buttons on his collar. Han held out his hand (he assumed they did handshakes. He sure hoped so). "I'm assuming you're Captain Picard?" he asked.
To his surprise, the captain gave Han a firm handshake, smiled, and said, "You assume correctly, Captain Solo." Seeing the weapon in Han's other hand, Captain Picard's face fell to a strict frown, and he stated in a business-like tone, "Could you please put away your weapons? We're not going to hurt you."
Han was unfazed. "Sure, sure," he said nonchalantly. "As soon as your guy puts away his weapon."
The other captain whipped his head, looking at the alien crewmember in question. "Lieutenant Worf, please put that phaser away," he snapped.
'Worf' lowered his head and immediately put his 'phaser' away. Han and Chewie, likewise, set their weapons back in their holsters.
"Let us continue with introductions," Captain Picard said as though nothing had happened in the slightest.
"My crew first," Han said. Pointing to himself, he said, "You already know who I am, but I'm Captain Han Solo, and I'm from Corellia."
Chewie roared. Han, translating, stated, "This is Chewbacca. His friends call him Chewie."
Leia stepped forward. "I'm Princess Leia Organa, and my home planet was Alderaan." Counsler Troi noticed that the young woman stated that her home planet was Alderaan. What had happened to the planet? she wondered.
Luke stepped forward. "I'm Luke Skywalker, and my home planet is Tatooine."
Han grinned. "What about your crew? Captains first," he smirked.
"Excuse the interruption," an extremely pale officer stated, "but you appear to be forgetting someone." He pointed to the two droids. To the crewmen of the Enterprise, they looked like highly advanced robots. One of them was golden, and stood on two feet. The other robot was cylinder-shaped, appeared to have wheels, and was covered in buttons.
Han waved a hand. "Oh, them? Those are just the droids. They're not that important."
"Han!" Leia chided. She walked over to the droids. "This is—"
The golden 'droid' cut her off. "I'm C-3P0!" he exclaimed. The smaller droid made a whistling sound. "Oh, and this is R2-D2," 'C-3P0' added.
Captain Picard nodded. "I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard, and my home planet is Earth." He pointed to a bearded man, also in a red uniform, who stepped forward. "This is my second-in-command, Commander William Riker, also from Earth."
The pale crewmember came forward. "My name is Lieutenant Commander Data," he said, nodding curtly. Luke noticed that Data did not state his home planet, like the rest of the crew. This was out of place… Also out of place was that Luke did not even register Data as a biological life-form through the Force. Definitely out of place. I'm going to have to look into this, he thought.
The dark-skinned alien who had pulled out the phaser came forward. "My name is Lieutenant Worf," he intoned.
Another dark-skinned man with a strange device over his eyes came forward. "My name is Commander Geordi LaForge, and I am from Earth.
One of the women, a woman with red hair and light green on her uniform, stepped forward. "I am Doctor Beverly Crusher, and I too come from Earth."
The last person, another woman, came forth. Her uniform was much different than all the other crewmen, made from a shiny material. She had no buttons on her collar. "My name is Counselor Deanna Troi," she said in a silky voice, "and I am from the planet Betazed." Luke felt the Force flowing through her very strongly. I must speak to her also, he thought.
Captain Picard nodded. "That's it for introductions, I think. Now, you mentioned that you ship's systems are down, Captain Solo?"
"Yeah, most of my systems are down. It'd be great if I could have some help fixing it. It would take days for Chewie and me to fix the hyperdrive alone."
"Of course we'll help," the captain of the Enterprise stated. "I'll have Commander LaForge help you fix your systems. He is an excellent engineer."
Geordi shook hands with Han. "I'd be glad to help," he said. I can't wait to see what their 'hyperdrive' is, he thought excitedly.
Han shifted his feet. "I suppose you all have work to do, so we're just…uh…going to start repairing the Millennium Falcon."
"On the contrary," Captain Picard said. "We are not that busy at this time, as we were en route to Starbase 22. We'd be more than happy to give you a tour and assign you temporary quarters."
Luke's face lit up. "Quarters would be nice," he said. "It's pretty cramped for the four of us and the droids."
"It's settled, then. Commander Data, can you give our guests a tour of the ship?"
Data nodded. "Of course, Captain."
"Worf, please assign new quarters for our guests."
"Affirmative, sir," Worf said, walking away.
Captain Picard nodded again and smiled. "We welcome you to the Enterprise-D, Captain Solo and your crew," he said, shaking hands with everyone before leaving the docking bay.
Data motioned to the crew of the Millennium Falcon.
"Follow me, please," he said, leading them out of the docking bay.
Author's Note: And so we come to an end of another chapter. Next chapter comes the tour of the Enterprise, and a rather important meeting of the senior officers…! Thank you for reading, and don't forget to review!