X

First Warp.

In the cockpit onboard the Phoenix, Azalea and her brother were going over the last-minute checks. The Starfleet engineers had done a lot of good work in repairing the Phoenix, luckily none of them had damaged or tampered with the Shunt drive once they found out the Cochranes hadn't built a warp engine, while there had been a few things they hadn't been sure of, the Cochranes were grateful they hadn't done anything to damage the Phoenix permanently.

"How's the core?" Zefram asked.

"It's ready. The nuclear and antimatter fuels are ready," Azalea said. "The tachyon collider is charged."

Riker's voice interrupted them. "Only got an hour to go, Doc. How are you feeling?"

The Cochrane siblings turned and saw Riker poking his head into the cockpit. Azalea turned a concerned gaze towards her brother. She had been seeing him slowly recover since he'd been shot, she just hoped nobody pushed him again. "I've got a four-alarm hangover either from the whiskey or your laser beam," Zefram rubbed his face tiredly as Azalea, " ...or both," suddenly he looked straight into Riker's face, a wide, manic smile gracing his features, "...but I'm ready to make history! Ha, ha, ha."

Azalea punched his arm while Riker smiled at Zefram's enthusiasm. "Zefram! Don't make him think you're crazier than you are."

"Oh, leave me alone and don't hit me!" Cochrane sulked, making his sister roll his eyes. Over the intercom, Troi's voice said, "Troi to Commander Riker." "Riker here," Riker said.

From the intercom, Troi said, "We're ready to open the launch door." Riker smiled. "Go ahead." In the cockpit, Riker and the two Cochranes watched as the silo hatch opened and light streamed in. Azalea and Zefram both winced, blinking in the harsh lighting as they tried to adjust to the sudden glare.

"Look at that!" Riker breathed in awe.

When the Cochrane siblings' eyes adapted to the glare, they tuned questioningly towards him. The siblings glanced at him curiously. "What, you don't have a moon in the twenty-fourth century?"

Riker smiled. "Sure we do. It looks a lot different. There are fifty million people living on the moon in my time. You can see Tycho City, New Berlin, even Lake Armstrong on a day like this."

"Fifty million people?" Azalea whispered, shaking her head for a moment as she accepted the enormity of what they'd heard. "There's been all kinds of talk about colonies on Mars and the moon for years. You guys really did it." Zefram's own eyes lit up with the possibilities of a space colony. "Aha,' he said absentmindedly. "And you know, Doctor…," Riker began.

"Riker, stop!" Azalea quickly shouted, and in the cramped cockpit, it made both men wince and the guard outside worriedly poke his head in before leaving quickly. "Remember, our deal."

Riker flinched. "I'm sorry," but it was too late. Zefram growled in frustration. "Please ...don't tell me it's all thanks to me. I've been hearing that since last night, and I'm still recovering from being shot this morning."

Azalea winced.

Zefram went on, "I've heard enough about the great Zefram Cochrane. I don't know who writes your history books or where you get your information from, but you people got some pretty funny ideas about me. You all look at me as if I'm some kind of saint or visionary or something."

"I'm sorry Docs, but I don't think you're a saint, but you did have a vision," Riker smiled as he took in the cockpit of the Phoenix, " ...And now we're sitting in it."

Azalea snorted. "You wanna know what my vision is?" Zefram snapped as he decided to make these people see what the truth was, "….Dollar signs! Money! We didn't build this ship to usher in a new era for humanity. Do you think I wanna go to the stars? I don't even like to fly. I take trains. We built this ship so that we could both retire to some tropical island filled with ...naked women."

"And men for me, don't forget," Azalea piped up.

"Oh yeah, men for her, too," Zefram waved dismissively before he twisted his neck so he could spit back the rest of his reality check down Riker's throat. "That's Zefram Cochrane. That's his vision. This other guy you keep talking about. This historical figure. I never met him. Azalea didn't meet him. I can't imagine we ever will."

"Neither of us can," Azalea said. "Someone once said 'Don't try to be a great man. Just be a man, and let history make its own judgements," Riker said.

Azalea frowned at Riker. Zefram snorted. "Rhetorical nonsense. Who said that?" A cheeky smile crossed Riker's face. "You did, ten years from now."

"Why do you keep doing that, telling us about a future that might still not happen?"

Riker ignored Azalea's question. "You've got fifty-eight minutes, Doc's. You better get on with the checklist."

X

The launch was ready. In the silo control room, members of the Enterprise crew were working with the 21st-century consoles. In the Phoenix, the Cochrane siblings were working with Riker and La Forge, both experienced men on the checklist.

"ATR settings?"

"Active," La Forge replied.

"Main bus?"

"Ready," Riker said.

"Electromagnetic field generators?"

Azalea smiled. "All ready.

"Tachyon accelerators?"

"Charged," Azalea said.

"Right, okay," Zefram said. "Initiate pre-ignition sequence."

"Sequence engaged. Rocket motors are fuelled."

X

In the Titan V control room, Deanna Troi controlled her excitement with an effort. "Control to Phoenix. The final launch sequence checks are complete. Good luck."

X

In the Phoenix cockpit, Riker grinned cheekily. "Thanks Deena."

He heard Deanna snort.

"Everybody ready to make some history?" Riker asked. "Always am," La Forge smiled.

"Definitely," Azalea grinned. But Zefram wasn't as content. "I think I forgot something."

"What could you have forgotten?" Azalea frowned at the same time Riker said, "What?" "I don't know. It's probably nothing."

X

In the Titan V control room, Troi said, "Begin ignition sequence."

X

In the cockpit, Azalea took a deep breath. "I can't believe we're actually doing this," she breathed.

"Twenty…," Deanna counted down.

Suddenly Zefram clapped his hands in despair. "Oh, God!"

"Nineteen…"

"Now I remember," Zefram started going through his pockets desperately.

"Zef, what is it?" Azalea asked.

"Eighteen…"

"What is it?" La Forge asked.

"Seventeen…"

"Where is it?" Zefram ignored the questions and continued searching through his pockets for something.

"What?" La Forge shouted.

"Sixteen…"

"We can't lift off without it," Zefram said.

Azalea frowned suddenly, a suspicion entering her mind….

"Fifteen…"

Riker breathed in disappointment and he started shutting down the controls. "Geordi, we've gotta abort!"

"Fourteen…"

"No, no wait," Zefram grinned as he pulled out a yellow disc. "I've found it!"

"Oh, god, no, Zefram. Not that," Azalea winced.

"What is it?" Riker asked.

"Thirteen, twelve, eleven, ten…"

"You'll see," Azalea said as she prepared herself, as Zefram stuffed it into a player.

X

In the Titan V control room, Deanna was still counting down. "Nine, eight…," she said.

X

In the Phoenix's cockpit, Deanna was nearing the end of the countdown.

"Seven…"

"Let's rock 'n' roll!" Zefram Cochrane grinned as he pressed play, and the booming sound of his questionable tastes in music boomed out of the speakers, deafening everyone just as Deanna reached six. The Titan V rocket blasted off and lifted up. Azalea flinched as the force of the rockets pushed against her as gravity pressed down on her body. She couldn't believe how little work had gone into making spacecraft lift off in the last 50 years.

"Can you turn that down a little?" Riker asked, trying hard not to wince.

Cochrane turned off the player. He had gotten his fix. "Hey! We've got a red light on the second intake valve," La Forge said while Azalea began finishing her calculations. "Ignore it. We'll be fine. ...Prepare for first stage shutdown and separation on my mark. Three, two, one, mark."

Azalea looked out of the windows and she saw the different segments of the rocket that took them into space drift away. "Okay, let's bring the time core online," Riker said.

"I'm aiming for a point near the moon and then a quick jump to Mars. That should attract their attention and give our alien friends something to watch," Azalea said as she finalised the calculations.

"That's a good idea," Riker commented.

"I only hope it'll be enough," Azalea said.

"Oh, wow," Zefram whispered in awe. Azalea looked up and she saw that her brother was looking out of the windows of the cockpit. Intrigued she looked out herself, and she caught her breath when she saw the awesome beauty of the Earth. La Forge chuckled at the siblings. "You ain't seen nothing yet."

"It doesn't even look damaged from the war," Azalea whispered, but everyone heard her. "I've seen pictures of Earth in books, on the internet. Nothing could have prepared me for this."

Riker smiled at her. "In our time, Earth is seen and admired by artists throughout the Federation. The planet's recovered greatly in the last ten years since the war."

"I just can't understand it anymore," Azalea shook her head.

"Understand what?" Geordi asked curiously as he multitasked with his own work and looked at the female Cochrane.

"The war," Azalea said simply. "ECON were power mad. They launched a terrible war and everyone was fighting. There was nothing but killing, and destruction as all kinds of weapons was used in the battles. Conspiracies, rumours, bioweapons, tortures… they were all used, and yet this sight makes me wonder what the point was. It is...just so hard to believe that down there, on that planet, were political groups of megalomaniacs who wanted to force their own version of the future down everybody's throats, and yet from space, it all seems to be petty."

"That's because it was, Lea," Zefram said softly, turning in his chair to face her solemnly. "It was all pointless. The planet had barely recovered after the Europa mission brought back that life form and we synthesised a means of repairing the atmosphere and the seas and returned them to what they had been three hundred years ago, repairing the damage we caused only for the war to break out. I never understood the point of political games that would do that. But we have a chance to change that now."

Azalea smiled. The sight of the Earth had changed her brother. While she was sure his basic personality hadn't changed, he was more confident and certain of the changes in front of them. "Something to drink to," she told Zefram.

Zefram laughed. "Yeah," he replied while the Starfleet officers watched and listened, knowing this was a private moment for the Cochranes before he sobered. "Right, let's get on it."

"Okay," Azalea went back to work. "Dark Matter accelerators are ready. The tachyon projectors are ready. The time field generators in the cockpit are ready."

"Plasma injectors are online," La Forge said as he checked the systems from his seat, trying to get some comfort in the zero-g environment of the Phoenix. "Everything's looking good. I think we're ready." "

They should be out there right now," Riker said thoughtfully. "We better break the light barrier in the next five minutes if we're going to get their attention."

Azalea finished her navigational calculations. "I've set the coordinates to take us beyond the moon and around near Mars; if these people have got sensors as good as you say they are, then they should be taking note of our presence."

"They are good. They're also a thorough people; they have been exploring this region of space for centuries, and they've refined their sensors so they can keep track of a speck of cosmic dust as it travels through space," Riker assured her.

"So they know we're here?" Azalea nodded. "Good. That makes our job easier."

"Main cells are charged and ready," La Forge said.

"Let's do it," Riker said.

"Engage," Cochrane didn't notice Riker and La Forge share a smile.

"Time field is looking good," La Forge said, "Structural integrity is holding."

"We're accelerating. Speed, twenty thousand kilometres per second," Riker said. Zefram had just finished some of the later checks when he saw a shadow creep over the console, he swung around, and his eyes widened in awe.

"Sweet Jesus!" Azalea turned and she saw her brother had just spotted the Enterprise in orbit. "Oh my God!" She whispered as she took in the swan-like beauty of the Enterprise. "She is beautiful."

"Relax, Doctor. I'm sure they're just here to give us a send-off," Riker said.

"Are you sure about that? " Azalea asked uncertainly. "They're coming really close."

Riker looked out through the portholes again. Azalea Cochrane had a point. The Enterprise was coming in very quickly, she was blocking out the sun. Riker frowned puzzled as he watched the Enterprise come closer and closer.

"I dunno about you, but I think the Shunt drive is nearly ready," Geordi said, but Riker caught an uncertainty in his face. He too had seen the Enterprise come closer, and he was just as concerned and curious. The two Starfleet officers knew if it was as simple as a send off the Enterprise would have just come closer, but not this close. They didn't understand what was going on, but they had a horrible feeling something was wrong.

Azalea caught their looks. "What is it?"

"Nothing," Riker replied quickly.

"No, what is it?" Azalea demanded. "Don't act cagey with us, not right now! What is wrong?"

The two Starfleet officers glanced at each other, with La Forge looking grim.

"It's possible the Enterprise could be under the control of the Borg," Riker said gently.

The Cochrane's were silent as they absorbed this news. They had both found out enough about the Borg and what they planned to do to be extremely worried. "What?"

"How long have you guys known this?" Azalea demanded.

"We lost contact with the Enterprise since last night, but we didn't know for sure, but now it's important we engage the Shunt drive now," Riker said patiently and calmly.

"We already knew that, but we didn't think it was these Borg, Commander Riker," Azalea replied.

"Is Lily one of those cybernetic zombies, do you think?" Zefram asked in horror.

"Honestly, we don't know," La Forge said, "but we have to do this now before they get too close. If the ship is under the control of the Borg, the consequences could be catastrophic."

Azalea bit her lip. A part of her wanted to cancel the mission for all their sakes, but at the same time, she wanted to beat the Borg and deliver a sound victory to let them know they'd lost. "C'mon Zee," she said. "Let's do it. Let's show these things Cochranes are made of strong stuff!"

Zefram nodded and turned back. "Fusion drive is pushing us further. The time field generators are ready. We need to accelerate close to the threshold to trigger the drive."

Riker checked the instruments near himself. "Thirty seconds to shunt threshold. ...Approaching light-speed."

"We're at critical velocity. It's now or never," Cochrane said.

The Phoenix shuddered.

"What was that?" Zefram asked in confusion.

Azalea looked out of the portholes. "Mr La Forge, what are those?"

With effort, Geordi leaned forward and he saw three pulses of light streaking away from the Phoenix. "Quantum torpedoes," he breathed. "They're weapons."

"So the Borg are in charge of your ship," Azalea said in horror as she wondered what sort of devastation they could bring to an already weakened Earth.

That was enough for Zefram. "I'm engaging the Shunt drive now."

Azalea knew her brother didn't want to be a target anymore, and she didn't blame him. "We're at the velocity now, Zee," she said.

Zefram pulled the shunt lever. There was a flash of light and the Phoenix arrived in orbit of the moon. "Is that it?" Geordi asked in disappointment.

"What did you expect? The Shunt drive uses time travel to move us instantaneously," Azalea said. "There's no movement."

"I know, it's just I was expecting something more," Geordi sounded a little bit like a kid who had gone on a day out, but he had found it disappointing.

"Hey, we're talking about the most practical way of travelling faster than light, and you're disappointed. In a few years after a lot of work and research into making it better, we should be moving across the galaxy with this!" Azalea said.

"Drop it, Geordi," Riker said as the shunt drive engaged, and with another flash of light, they emerged above Mars. Azalea gasped when she took in the sight of the Red Planet.

"That should be enough," Riker added before the Cochranes' turned the ship around, and they spotted a blue light in the sky.

"Is that Earth?" Zefram asked. La Forge leaned forward. "That's it," he nodded in confirmation.

"It's so small."

Riker grinned. "It's about to get a whole lot bigger."

"Oh, don't," Azalea chided him, "we have so much to do."