Jumper One.
Chakotay watched with bated breath as the holographic HUD in the cloaked Jumper showed the Talon firing the particle weapons through the two Wraith ships that appeared out of Hyperspace. He stared as the ships were destroyed before turning to Edwards who was performing hit and run attacks, decloaking to fire weapons before cloaking immediately for cover, "What was…"
"I think my superiors will be able to answer your questions, Commander," Edwards said glancing over at him before looking at the HUD once again. And when she did, a smile appeared on her face just as she received a message.
"This is Red One to Jumper One," a male voice said as Chakotay stared at the HUD, which zoomed in close to a small black fighter which had something he had only read about, physical thrusters in the rear. He saw them activate after the fighters entered the planet's atmosphere while the Jumper was making its way towards them while staying cloaked.
To Chakotay the existence of thrusters was a novelty, and then he noticed the booster at the rear of the fighters they passed by before turning a hard one hundred and eighty degrees, 'the inertial dampening system on his ship is far more advanced than the one on Starfleet shuttle craft. I didn't feel that turn at all.' Clearing his head as the Jumper decloaked and Edwards started talking to someone named Major Klein, the pilot of the fighter designated Red One, Chakotay thought back to how the technology on the fighter was ancient. He then glanced at the sidearm on Edwards hip, and thought to himself that it was ancient as well, 'and a simple weapon when compared to a phaser.' He then glanced up at Edward's face as she spoke to Major Klein, 'they have ships that could be comparable to Starfleet's, with the weapons to match. But others parts of their technology are old. This is a unique situation we're in.'
Chakotay then looked out the front view port as the fighters were assigned one of the three towns to protect. They were soon joined by two more Jumpers carrying Marines from Atlantis, with one of the pilots telling Edwards that the third carrying "AR-1 is on the way to Prasane."
"Let's clear the skies for these folks," Major Klein said before the fighters separated, along with one Jumper.
"I have five remaining drones," Edwards said.
"Make 'em count, Captain," Klein said. "Red Wing, Blue Wing, Jumper One, attack."
One by One, Chakotay saw the enemy fighters – what Edwards and the others called Darts, fall like flies. The Drones from the Jumper, a weapon system that Chakotay knew he was unfamiliar with, tore apart several fighters while leaving the rest for the other black coloured fighters that Edwards called F-302's. Chakotay did feel several jolts when the Jumper was hit a few times – the ship losing its cloaking ability after the fourth hit, but he was unharmed. As was Edwards.
Eventually, Jumper One and the 302's finished their jobs while Jumper Three landed and out poured ground troops from the rear compartment to take on any Wraith that were still alive. In the end, a total of ten residents had been killed, with several injured, and another ten taken away through Wraith transport beams.
And all Chakotay could do was watch before turning to Edwards and telling her that there were two others, two of his crew who were situated in Prasane.
"The 302's are still taking out the Darts" Edwards said as she mentally switched the HUD to a top down view on what was happening over the skies of Prasane. She saw a Jumper land before telling Chakotay, "AR1 and the Marines have already landed. They'll be clearing the Wraith ground forces while the 302's take care of the Darts in the air. Maybe it's best if you contact your team through your comm system?"
Chakotay nodded his head before pressing the communications badge underneath his tunic.
"Chakotay to Kim," Chakotay narrowed his eyes when there was no answer.
"Chakotay to Kes," He breathed a sigh of relief when Kes answered, and was instantly worried again when she said that Kim was unconscious.
"There's a medical team in the town," Edwards said. But before she could finish speaking, a worried Chakotay pressed on his badge again and tried to contact Voyager, but he was getting no response. He wanted to beam Harry to the infirmary on board so that the Doctor could take a look at any injury Kim could have, and then heal him. But after getting no response after contacting Voyager, Chakotay guessed that the communications array on the ship must have been damaged. He then looked back at Edwards who reassured him that the doctors in the town were some of their best.
All Chakotay could do was nod his head; his face etched with worry.
The Meal Hall.
Kes tried not to be rattled by the sounds of gunfire erupting all around her while she fired one blast after another from the phase in her hand while her free hand lay on Kim's chest. The young man was still unconscious when Kes was startled by a roar that passed overhead. At the same time, there was another roar heading for them when suddenly, the alien the man called Paris called Wraith outside the building fired into the air. She, and the others, stopped firing when the Wraith very cut down by weapons fire from above.
"We have back-up," Cadman said as she looked out the window and into the sky.
"Sheppard to Cadman," the man known as Colonel Sheppard, the leader of AR1, said over the radio as Kes put away the phaser and placed both of her hands-on Kim's chest. "We'll be there in under a minute."
"Understood, sir," Cadman said as she and the others started to fire on some Wraith who were being driven their way by the F-302's buzzing overhead. It would be several seconds later that Kes saw the Jumper slam into three Wraith heading for the hole that led to the building, followed by the rear door opening and fifteen people in uniforms rushing out. They spread out into the town while four others followed behind. The four, Kes guessed, were in a group as they rushed into the building. Kes saw that they were wearing all the same uniforms, and carrying the same weapons. The only two who were different were a dark brown haired woman who had two rods on her back, and a muscular and tall man who had some kind of a weapon in a holster on his right hip.
"Major," Sheppard said walking over to her. Cadman nodded her head before giving him a quick report about what happened. In the meantime, Kes watched the woman look around while the man with the additional weapon rushed out of the building with another worried man.
"McKay?" Sheppard said when he heard the scientist say that he needed to check in on Dr. Keller.
"We have injured here," said the woman as she crouched down next to one of the patrons who was knocked on the head by a brick from the explosion that created the hole on the side of the building. The woman then went to another young woman lying on the ground, and then to another man- all the while feeling their pulse. She would look over her shoulder to say that medical assistance was needed.
"Rodney," Colonel Sheppard said turning to McKay. He knew that McKay was worried about his girlfriend, Dr. Keller. He had been ever since they heard about the attack on Prasane – and that was the only time he had seen McKay so insistent on hurrying to the Jumper Bay. "Radio Dr. Keller. Tell her we have wounded."
"Oh… yeah," McKay said shaking his head as he reached for his radio. While McKay was calling the doctor, the uniformed woman who came with Colonel Sheppard's group reached the unconscious Kim and Kes. She reached down and felt his pulse while smiling at Kes.
"He is alive," the woman said as Kes nodded her head. She noticed that the woman suddenly narrowed her eyes and tilted her head slightly before a smile appeared on her face. It was then that Kes reached up and felt her ears, the band she placed around her head to cover her ears had come off.
'Must have come off in the commotion after the explosion,' Kes thought as a tinge of worry travelled through her body.
"My name is Teyla Emmagen," the woman spoke gently while sensing the young woman's nervousness, "you and your friend are going to be alright." Teyla felt his pulse again while looking into the young woman's eyes. She noticed the pointed ears and folds that surrounded it out of the corner of her eyes, and it made the woman curious about which planet the young woman in front of her was from. Teyla then looked down at Kim and guessed that he was human, but she couldn't place the species of the young woman.
It was then she heard a voice coming from the unconscious body of the man lying on the floor. She saw Kes' eyes widen in worry before the latter leaned down and scrambled to move the tunic the man was wearing to one side. Kes then stopped when a man's voice was coming under her tunic. It was Commander Chakotay. Kes looked away from Teyla's questioning eyes and took out her communicator before telling him that Kim was unconscious. She listening as, after a few seconds, Chakotay asked Kes to stay with Kim… that he would be there as soon as possible.
Teyla glanced at Colonel Sheppard and Ronan who were near the far corner of the building, 'they must not have heard the conversation.' Teyla then shifted her eyes back to a nervous Kes who placed the communicator back behind the clothes she was wearing.
"I… I'm Kes," the young woman replied just as a blonde and three others rushed in carrying metallic cases.
"Jennifer," McKAy said as he rushed to the woman. He was about to hug her, but stopped when he realized where they were. Instead, he gave the blonde an awkward handshake… Kes glanced at the blonde who smirked at McKay before she looked around.
"Dr. Keller," Teyla raised her hand, "there are some injured there," and Teyla pointed out the injured before dropping her hand by her side before saying that Kim was injured as well. Dr. Keller nodded her head before ordering the town doctor, who was with her, to check on the injured.
Teyla then turned back to the worried Kes before saying, "he will be alright. Dr. Keller is our Chief Medical Officer, and one of the best doctors I know." Kes nodded her head at Teyla just as Dr. Keller rushed up to then and kneeled down next to the Agosian woman. The doctor glanced at Kes, noticing her eyes, before nodding her head and asking if she was hurt anywhere.
"No," Kes said before nodding down at Kim, "but he…"
Dr. Keller began a quick assessment on Kim before looking back up at Teyla and Kes, "he has a slight concussion. He'll wake up soon but he'll have one heck of a headache." Dr Keller looked up at the worried Kes and assured her that he was going to be alright, "I've already got people with broken bones back there. Compared to them, your friend's lucky. He'll be alright and…"
It was just then that Kim groaned while slowly moving his head from side to side.
"See," Dr. Keller said, "I'll check up on him after he's regained consciousness." She nodded at Kes, and then at Teyla before moving to another injured older man who was identified by the town doctor. As Kes leaned down and whispered to Kim that he was going to be alright, Teyla couldn't help but wonder where Kes and Kim came from. She knew they seemed to have some kind of advanced technology, and wondered why it was that Atlantis hadn't encountered her people during their war with the Wraith.
'And anyone technologically advanced enough to stand up to the Wraith would have already been destroyed,' Teyla thought to herself, 'so how….'
"Teyla?" Colonel Sheppard called out as he walked over with Ronan and Cadman by his side while McKay was helping Dr. Keller, "I see you made a new friend?"
"Is he going to be alright, Teyla?" Cadman asked as she looked at the groaning Harry who slowly opening his eyes.
"Yes, Dr. Keller said she would check up on him once he has regained consciousness," Teyla replied.
Voyager, at that same time.
"Captain," Paris said as he wiped a trail of blood from the left side of his head, an injury he received after the last jolt once plasma fire hit Voyager's unshielded hull. He turned around on his seat and said that they were being hailed, "on video and audio."
The Captain took a deep breath as her mind ran at light speed. She was about to speak to the captain of an Earth ship, an Earth interstellar vessel, in the early twenty first century. The Starfleet part of her was saying that she couldn't reveal anything about their future, but at the same time, they needed help to get back to their own time and universe. 'I'll tell them we're from the future of another reality, they should be able to understand that their reality and ours have diverged in significant ways. Our futures won't turn out the same.'
Janeway looked down at Paris, and nodded her head.
"On Screen, Mr. Paris."
"Aye," the man said turning around to his console and tapping on the surface. He then looked up at the screen, as did the others on the bridge, when they saw a woman with dark brown hair , hazel coloured eyes, who looked as if she was in her late thirties, looking back at them.
"I'm Colonel Amanda Hawking of the Earth ship Talon," she said nodding her head.
"Colonel," Janeway nodded her head while taking a step forward, "I'm Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager."
"The Federation?" the Colonel said with a curious look on her face, "Captain, we haven't heard of any organization in Pegasus called the Federation. Are you from around this sector of space, or….?"
"Pegasus?" Janeway asked, interrupting the Colonel, while Paris turned around in his seat. At the same time, Tuvok had his eyebrows arched upwards, and Ayala grabbed the sides of his console to keep himself steady, "Colonel, what do you mean by Pegasus?"
"I'm sorry," the Colonel shook her head, "I keep on thinking that the natives of this galaxy may have another name for it. I'm sure you have another name, but where we come from, we call this galaxy the Pegasus Galaxy. For instance…."
"The Pegasus galaxy?" Janeway stared at the Colonel with her mouth hanging down, "I…"
"Captain?" the Colonel said, her voice reflecting her concern as she watched the blood flush away from Janeway's face, "are you alright?"
"Colonel, when did… when did humans from Earth begin exploring the Pegasus galaxy," Janeway asked what was in the minds of the bridge crew who had been listening to conversation with bated breath. None of them could believe what they were hearing; Starfleet itself was still exploring the Alpha Quadrant, and here were humans from Earth exploring another galaxy.
"It's been a little over seven to eight years, with a break of a year in between," the Colonel said as her eyebrows narrowed.
"Colonel," Janeway said as her mind tried to wrap around what she was being told. There was a part of her that wanted proof that they were in another Galaxy. One part of her screamed out that being in another galaxy was the reason why their star charts were useless. But another part of her told her that it was impossible. That they couldn't have travelled millions of light years in only a few seconds. 'But then again, there were those ships that attacked us. Ships that were not in any Database in the computer.' Janeway needed answers.
And the only way she could get answers was to be truthful; to a certain extent. She resolved not to talk about the future.
So, she continued to speak, "this is going to sound unbelievable. We're from an area of the Milky Way known as the Delta Quadrant."
"Okay," the Colonel said, her voice trailing off while shaking her head. The Colonel was confused on how a ship from the Milky Way could have travelled through Hyperspace to Pegasus without knowing about it. And the other question was, how it was that another race other than the Ancients, the Asgard, and now the Tau'ri from Earth had inter-galactic hyperdrive. At the same time, she was thinking to herself that, from what she knew about the Goa'uld, the Federation would have been the first on the Goa'uld's list of threats, "so your ship somehow made it to Pegasus without you knowing how it happened?"
"We're from the future of an alternate universe," Janeway said as the Colonel frowned before asking if she had Janeway's permission to conduct a scan on Voyager.
"Believe me when I say that your story's the least surprising thing I've heard, Captain," the Colonel said while Janeway narrowed her eyes in surprise. That was the answer that Janeway had been least expecting, and so the redhead nodded her head. The Colonel then turned her head to the left and said, "Waters, run a scan on Voyager. And run a detailed scan of the area… fifty light years in all directions for any quantum readings that are out of place."
"Yes, ma'am," a female voice replied before the Colonel turned back to Captain Janeway.
"Captain," the Colonel continued, "we've retrieved some of your people from space. They're in our infirmary. I've been informed that there were many who were badly burnt, and we'll be healing them here before they are sent back to you. If that's alright."
"Yes," the Captain said.
"Do you need any medical teams on your end to help you?" the Colonel asked as she stared at a corner of the screen which showed the bridge of Voyager. A small square at the corner of the screen showed Voyager hanging in space with several damaged parts of the hull, and the hull breaches, highlighted in red.
"I'll have to speak with my Chief Medical officer," the Captain said before she put her hands together, "our communications array has been damaged, and I have my First Officer, my Operations officer, and one of my crew on the planet. They were there when the aliens attacked, could you locate them?"
"Of course," the Colonel replied before leaning in to the left as a young man whispered in her ear. The Colonel nodded her head before thanking the young man who dashed off. Colonel Hawking then turned to Captain Janeway and confirmed that their scans did show that Voyager had a different quantum frequency. Janeway then saw the Colonel take a deep breath, and her heart started pounding. But before she could ask anything, the Colonel spoke first, "Captain, our scans don't show any quantum fissure. There are signs that one did exist, but it's gone now."
"With all due respect, Colonel," Janeway said. She was in disbelief. The breach still had to be in the area. It just had to be. The Captain knew that if they could use the warp field, then the breach could be identified, and then Voyager would be able to use a deflector pulse to enlarge it and get back home. Janeway closed her eyes and shook her head. She then opened her eyes and stared at the Colonel, "I think I'd like to get our sensors back up, and then use them to identify the breach that brought us here."
"Captain," The Colonel said gently; she sensed how frustrated the woman must be feeling, 'I'd feel the same way too if I'm out of my universe and in another one.' She then continued, "I understand your suspicions about what I've just said. You are more than welcome to use your own sensor array to examine the space around us."
"Tuvok," Janeway turned around and whispered, "can B'Ellana give me minimum warp power. Just to extend the Warp field?"
"Power has been severely depleted, Captain," Tuvok said shaking his head, "Lt. Torres has transferred power to the structural integrity field, while the reserve power has been rerouted to life support and impulse engines."
"So, no warp?"
"I am afraid not, Captain," Tuvok replied. Janeway then turned to the screen where Colonel Hawking was talking to another man in a white coat. Janeway saw the serious look on the Colonel's face. She then nodded at the man who then rushed off, before the Colonel turned to Janeway.
"Captain, we do not have data on the races of some of the crew we beamed over," the Colonel said, "I don't know if your infirmary is overtaxed by any injuries on your end, but if we could get a biological database on…"
"One moment," Janeway interrupted before looking down at Paris and asking him to contact the Doctor. Once the Doctor was on a screen at a port side console, the Captain asked if he had space for more patients.
"The infirmary is full, Captain," the Doctor said. The Captain could see dozens of crew in the background, some were lying on the floor, and some on the bio-beds, "I need Mr. Paris here to assist."
"Tom, go," the Captain said nodding her head as Paris turned on his seat. He nodded his head and the hurried off before Janeway took in a deep breath. The Doctor was doing all he could in a bad situation, and now Janeway was being presented with help. "Doctor," Janeway said as she looked at the port screen, "I'm getting you some help."
"From where?" the Doctor asked.
"There will be a briefing of the senior staff as soon as we get back Ensign Kim, Kes, and Commander Chakotay," the Captain said before turning to the Colonel, "Colonel, if it's alright with you… your medical team would have to follow our protocols which I am sure the Doctor would be able to provide them."
"Understood," Colonel Hawking said.
"Tuvok, transmit the coordinates for transporter room one," Janeway said, "I want a security team travelling with our guests at all times." Tuvok then nodded his head, following which Janeway turned towards the Colonel and said it was one of their protocols.
"I'd have to do the same," Colonel Hawking said. Janeway then asked that the non-human injured crew members be sent back to Voyager so that the Doctor could take a look at them.
"Our Doctor is more familiar with their biology," Janeway said before turning to the Doctor and ordering him to be prepared for, and Janeway then turned back to the Colonel since she wasn't sure how many injured were non-humans.
"We have four in the infirmary," the Colonel confirmed.
"I can make room for four more, Captain," the doctor looked around the crowded infirmary, and then back at the screen.
"Please beam the patients over to the infirmary, Colonel," the Captain said while Tuvok organized an armed security team at the infirmary, and another one that was already rushing to Transporter Room One.
"Of course," the Colonel responded. "They'll be beamed over in three minutes. And I assure you they will be unarmed."
Janeway nodded her head before the both of them closed communications. Colonel Hawking turned to Lt. Andres and ordered to keep their transporters locked onto the medical staff, "beam them out immediately when they sound an alarm."
"Yes, ma'am," the young woman said.
"Fowler," the Colonel said as she walked towards the front viewport and stared out at the damaged Voyager, "contact Atlantis; tell them we have guests from another reality. And we need to find a way to get them back home."
TBC.