Continuity: Takes place in season 4 of Buffy. Everything remains the same,
with the following exceptions; after the death of Maggie Walsh, Riley is
made head of the Initiative and given the task of hunting down and
eliminating Adam. For a back story reason I have yet to decide, the
Scoobys' are aware of Tara as a witch and friend of Willow, but not of
their growing relationship.
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the vampire slayer, any associated characters, places, events and any other materials related to it. They are the creation of Joss Whedon. I thank him for creating this marvellous universe, which we can all enjoy. I also do not own StarTrek The Next Generation, including characters, places, objects, institutions and other materials related to it. It is the property of Paramount Pictures. I thank Gene Roddenberry for creating such a fantastic playground for the mind. I suppose I own Lt. Jimmy Matzo, but that's it so far.
Spoilers: Anything up to the end of "The I in Team" of season four of Buffy.
Author's note: I am aware of the formatting problems at the moment and apologise profoundly. For some reason beyond my simple grasp of PC knowledge, MicrosoftWord has decided to stop working and I can't find the CD to reinstall it! So I've been having to write on WordPad and I'm trying a number of techniques to resolve this issue. Failing that, as soon as I get MSWord reinstalled I'll have the last few chapters reformatted and replaced. I thank you for your perserverence and have only this to say......please have patience, puh-leaseeeeeeeee!!!
Chapter 5: The Calm Before The Storm
Agarta sat at his desk, ruminating on what his master had decided. How could he take this from him! How could he? He had spent his whole life preparing, under-going countless rituals and tests of faith, only for it to come to this.
Without looking, he reached out with his left hand and grasped a glass, raising it to his lips only to discover that it was empty. He sighed and placed it back down. Besides, this was no time to feel sorry, he had rituals to perform and contingencies to prepare. These Federationites would prove troublesome, he had to find a way to keep their effectivness neutralised or it would all be for nothing.
He stood and walked out of his small office, the only private space he had, approaching three cultists who were gathered together preparing to cast a spell over the building and it's surrounding area. One of the warlocks saw him approach and stood straighter, the others turning to face Agarta in the same instance.
"The spell is almost ready to be cast, Father" he said, his voice deep and gravelly.
"Good, are you sure it will work?" he asked. If this spell failed then the coming task would become even harder than it already was, if not virtually impossible.
"Quite certain Father" the ashen faced man replied.
"For your sakes, I hope so. I dislike failure." His voice was cold and menacing, "As does our lord." he added. With satisfaction he saw the man blanche slightly at the implication that their lord might become angry with him personally. He walked away leaving the trio to their spell casting, watching now would only make them more nervous and that would be counter- productive. He had put the fear of a god into them and that would suffice to keep them inline.
**********
As the combat team gathered in the vast main hanger of the Initiatives underground complex Picard beckoned Riley to one side, his face serious.
"I assume since you held us here that our shuttle is somewhere in the complex as well?" Riley looked at him for a moment and then it clicked,
"You mean the craft that you crashed in?" he asked, needlessly he assumed, but better to be certain.
"That is correct." Picard replied, somewhat shortly.
Man, this guy's wound pretty tight thought Riley. But then again, who wouldn't be? Stranded not only in another time but another reality, thinking about it Riley decided that he too would probably be a little bit highly strung.
"Yes, we have your craft in a secure facility." He answered the captain. Now was not the time to be keeping secrets. Besides, the question was a formality, he knew. That they had the craft was unquestionable since they had examples of all the loose equipment from it on hand. Picard looked at him quite seriously now,
"I must ask you to halt any examinations that you may be performing on the craft immediately."
Even though he had been expecting something like this Riley was still taken aback by the authority with which Picard issued his request, nay demand.
"Why?" Riley asked in return, "That craft of yours contains highly advanced technology that could help turn the tide of battle against the demonic forces."
"Exactly." Picard countered "And that technology is centuaries ahead of where you are currently. Although simply our presence here as undoubtably caused a high degree of temporal contamination I have to act to minimalize that contamination. Please cease your examinations." He could see the military commanders face was set in stone, as was his choice, it was glaringly obvious. So he played his only trump card.
"Look, if you don't, we'll stun everyone in this facility, find the shuttle and remove it ourselves. You can seize the father yourselves."
Rileys face paled slightly. He had seen the effectiveness of their weapons. He stepped closer to Picard and spoke quitely, almost inaudibly.
"Are you threatening me and my men, Captain?"
"Of course not, Finn." Picard replied evenly "I am simply laying the situation out for you. I would be guilty of gross misconduct to leave that shuttle in the hands of your orginisation. Please have all research discontinued and the area where it is located sealed and guards placed at all entry points."
Riley sighed. He really didn't have much choice, there was no way they could stop this coming apocalypse if they were all stunned into unconciousness.
"Very well Captain, if you insist."
"I do."
Riley turned and stalked away to issue the orders. Picard watched his retreating back for a few moments. He hadn't liked having to do that. but as he had told Finn, it was his responsibility to reduce the contamination that their presence in this timeline was undoubtably causing.
**********
Riker and the others sat silently in the shuttle as it rose through the sky, heading back to orbit and the Enterprise. The shuttles sensors had been blinded momentarily by whatever had destroyed the aircraft, but repairs to the Enterprise should have been at least partly complete now. The starships powerful sensors should have recorded the events that had unfolded below.
But communications were, for some reason, down. Geordie believed that it may have been residual interference from whatever anomaly had destroyed the aircraft, so they were trying to rise above it.
As the atmosphere thinned to the blackness of space the console gave a beep and the communcation channel came to life.
"Enterprise to Phoenix, it is reassuring to see that you are intact." Datas' voice came through clearly.
"The feelings mutual Enterprise. Did your sensors record anything unusual about forty minutes ago?"
"They did Commander. An energy distortion of unkn..." Riker interupted the Enterprises' acting captain,
"Data, just transmit all of the available sensor data to the shuttle, we'll returning to the surface soon. Expect to loose communications again."
"Acknowledged Commander, transmitting now."
The control panel beeped as it confirmed receipt of the information. Then Riker had an idea,
"Data, I want you to launch a couple of modified probes to act as communication boosters, see if we can't break through this interference."
"Confirmed Commander. By my estimate, modifications to the probes will take approximately fifteen minutes."
"Okay Data, speak to you soon." He closed the channel and once again the shuttle began it's descent.
**********
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the vampire slayer, any associated characters, places, events and any other materials related to it. They are the creation of Joss Whedon. I thank him for creating this marvellous universe, which we can all enjoy. I also do not own StarTrek The Next Generation, including characters, places, objects, institutions and other materials related to it. It is the property of Paramount Pictures. I thank Gene Roddenberry for creating such a fantastic playground for the mind. I suppose I own Lt. Jimmy Matzo, but that's it so far.
Spoilers: Anything up to the end of "The I in Team" of season four of Buffy.
Author's note: I am aware of the formatting problems at the moment and apologise profoundly. For some reason beyond my simple grasp of PC knowledge, MicrosoftWord has decided to stop working and I can't find the CD to reinstall it! So I've been having to write on WordPad and I'm trying a number of techniques to resolve this issue. Failing that, as soon as I get MSWord reinstalled I'll have the last few chapters reformatted and replaced. I thank you for your perserverence and have only this to say......please have patience, puh-leaseeeeeeeee!!!
Chapter 5: The Calm Before The Storm
Agarta sat at his desk, ruminating on what his master had decided. How could he take this from him! How could he? He had spent his whole life preparing, under-going countless rituals and tests of faith, only for it to come to this.
Without looking, he reached out with his left hand and grasped a glass, raising it to his lips only to discover that it was empty. He sighed and placed it back down. Besides, this was no time to feel sorry, he had rituals to perform and contingencies to prepare. These Federationites would prove troublesome, he had to find a way to keep their effectivness neutralised or it would all be for nothing.
He stood and walked out of his small office, the only private space he had, approaching three cultists who were gathered together preparing to cast a spell over the building and it's surrounding area. One of the warlocks saw him approach and stood straighter, the others turning to face Agarta in the same instance.
"The spell is almost ready to be cast, Father" he said, his voice deep and gravelly.
"Good, are you sure it will work?" he asked. If this spell failed then the coming task would become even harder than it already was, if not virtually impossible.
"Quite certain Father" the ashen faced man replied.
"For your sakes, I hope so. I dislike failure." His voice was cold and menacing, "As does our lord." he added. With satisfaction he saw the man blanche slightly at the implication that their lord might become angry with him personally. He walked away leaving the trio to their spell casting, watching now would only make them more nervous and that would be counter- productive. He had put the fear of a god into them and that would suffice to keep them inline.
**********
As the combat team gathered in the vast main hanger of the Initiatives underground complex Picard beckoned Riley to one side, his face serious.
"I assume since you held us here that our shuttle is somewhere in the complex as well?" Riley looked at him for a moment and then it clicked,
"You mean the craft that you crashed in?" he asked, needlessly he assumed, but better to be certain.
"That is correct." Picard replied, somewhat shortly.
Man, this guy's wound pretty tight thought Riley. But then again, who wouldn't be? Stranded not only in another time but another reality, thinking about it Riley decided that he too would probably be a little bit highly strung.
"Yes, we have your craft in a secure facility." He answered the captain. Now was not the time to be keeping secrets. Besides, the question was a formality, he knew. That they had the craft was unquestionable since they had examples of all the loose equipment from it on hand. Picard looked at him quite seriously now,
"I must ask you to halt any examinations that you may be performing on the craft immediately."
Even though he had been expecting something like this Riley was still taken aback by the authority with which Picard issued his request, nay demand.
"Why?" Riley asked in return, "That craft of yours contains highly advanced technology that could help turn the tide of battle against the demonic forces."
"Exactly." Picard countered "And that technology is centuaries ahead of where you are currently. Although simply our presence here as undoubtably caused a high degree of temporal contamination I have to act to minimalize that contamination. Please cease your examinations." He could see the military commanders face was set in stone, as was his choice, it was glaringly obvious. So he played his only trump card.
"Look, if you don't, we'll stun everyone in this facility, find the shuttle and remove it ourselves. You can seize the father yourselves."
Rileys face paled slightly. He had seen the effectiveness of their weapons. He stepped closer to Picard and spoke quitely, almost inaudibly.
"Are you threatening me and my men, Captain?"
"Of course not, Finn." Picard replied evenly "I am simply laying the situation out for you. I would be guilty of gross misconduct to leave that shuttle in the hands of your orginisation. Please have all research discontinued and the area where it is located sealed and guards placed at all entry points."
Riley sighed. He really didn't have much choice, there was no way they could stop this coming apocalypse if they were all stunned into unconciousness.
"Very well Captain, if you insist."
"I do."
Riley turned and stalked away to issue the orders. Picard watched his retreating back for a few moments. He hadn't liked having to do that. but as he had told Finn, it was his responsibility to reduce the contamination that their presence in this timeline was undoubtably causing.
**********
Riker and the others sat silently in the shuttle as it rose through the sky, heading back to orbit and the Enterprise. The shuttles sensors had been blinded momentarily by whatever had destroyed the aircraft, but repairs to the Enterprise should have been at least partly complete now. The starships powerful sensors should have recorded the events that had unfolded below.
But communications were, for some reason, down. Geordie believed that it may have been residual interference from whatever anomaly had destroyed the aircraft, so they were trying to rise above it.
As the atmosphere thinned to the blackness of space the console gave a beep and the communcation channel came to life.
"Enterprise to Phoenix, it is reassuring to see that you are intact." Datas' voice came through clearly.
"The feelings mutual Enterprise. Did your sensors record anything unusual about forty minutes ago?"
"They did Commander. An energy distortion of unkn..." Riker interupted the Enterprises' acting captain,
"Data, just transmit all of the available sensor data to the shuttle, we'll returning to the surface soon. Expect to loose communications again."
"Acknowledged Commander, transmitting now."
The control panel beeped as it confirmed receipt of the information. Then Riker had an idea,
"Data, I want you to launch a couple of modified probes to act as communication boosters, see if we can't break through this interference."
"Confirmed Commander. By my estimate, modifications to the probes will take approximately fifteen minutes."
"Okay Data, speak to you soon." He closed the channel and once again the shuttle began it's descent.
**********
