Thanks for the reviews. Here's another chapter in time for Thanksgiving.

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Chapter 3

Captain Kathryn Janeway tapped her communicator, opening a link to the Bridge. "Security stand down. Ensign Ramirez, bring Mr. Harper to my quarters."

"Wait. I know that voice. Is that you Captain Janeway?" Harper asked into the air. The young man relaxed knowing he was in friendly company.

Harper was escorted to Janeway's quarters by Ensign Ramirez, a member of the security crew. The engineer enjoyed the ride on the elevator. Harper realized he could get used to not having to climb around from deck to deck on the Andromeda. He made a mental note to request permission from Captain Hunt to have elevators installed onboard Andromeda.

Andromeda's engineer flashed a wide grin upon seeing Captain Janeway and the rest of the familiar faces in the room. "Oh man am I glad I ended up on Voyager. At first I thought maybe I ended up on a Nietzschean or Kalderan ship. But I just have one question; why and how did I get here?'

"That's two questions," Seven of Nine pointed out.

"Okay, I stand corrected. Not that being corrected by such a hot looking crewmember such as you is so bad," Harper remarked with a twinkle in his blue eyes.

Seven of Nine shot the engineer a stern look which had little affect. Harper normally received that type of reaction from women. It was no different in this universe he realized.

Janeway surmised that Harper didn't know how he arrived on Voyager either. Which meant somebody or something else had to be involved. "Let me get this straight Mr. Harper. You have no idea how you came to arrive here on Voyager?"

Harper finally took his leering eyes off of Seven of Nine and shifted uncomfortably. "I was busy fixing a circuit board one moment and next thing I know I'm on board your ship with a bunch of big guys pointing their force lances at me."

Chakotay leaned back in his seat. He wasn't sure that he trusted this outsider's story just yet. "You mean to tell us that you have no idea as to how or why you might have been transported here onto Voyager?"

Harper considered the possibilities for a moment before answering, "Well, now that I think about it, that Q fellow we met seems a likely suspect. I don't suppose any of you knows where he hangs out?"

"I don't believe Q is responsible for your arrival here Mr. Harper," Janeway reasoned. "Q would have done something like this in the past but as you know he has reformed. However Q has a teenage son .."

"Who is going through that awkward teenage stage," the engineer finished. "I get it. It makes sense anyway. I can't say I wasn't any different when I was that age. Come to think of it, I was a lot worse."

Seven of Nine arched an eyebrow. "I wasn't aware that you used to go around tormenting life forms that were less powerful."

Harper chuckled out loud. Obviously this hot babe took things literally. He thought the blonde woman may be an android like Andromeda's avatar. "No there are no life forms inferior to non- genetically modified humans on Earth. Well, maybe the cockroaches and such. I wasn't exactly Santa's Little Helper though. I meant I know what it's like to be a teenager. I imagine it would be just as tough a time for a member of the Q Continuum."

Janeway was silently glad the young Andromeda crewmember appeared to understand Q2 did not seem to have a desire for revenge. "I'm glad to hear that you understand Q's son. He really isn't a bad young man and I am sure he meant you no harm."

"Well, no harm no foul. I'm willing to forgive and forget so long as the squirt sends me back to Andromeda in the same shape or better than that in which I left it," Harper replied as he sat down in the chair previously occupied by Paris. The engineer saw the frown that had crossed Torres's face and immediately stood up. Uh, I'm sorry was I not supposed to sit here? You'll have to forgive me. I'm afraid I'm diplomatically challenged."

Torres immediately tried to smooth things over. "It's quite alright Mr. Harper. Tom, I mean Lieutenant Paris, was sitting in that chair when he vanished. It was about the same time you arrived."

Harper lowered his head, realizing that this was Paris' wife he was sitting next to. "Oh, you must be B'Elanna. Tom talked quite a bit about you when he was on Andromeda."

Janeway stood up and began the introductions. Harper smiled and shook hands with Chakotay and gave another leering glance at Seven of Nine. Janeway noticed the look, but pretended not to. She decided to let Seven of Nine handle the situation herself. "We were just having a meeting about our away mission when you arrived Mr. Harper. Perhaps while I try to contact Q you would be kind enough to answer some question that my senior staff may have about slipstream drive and artificial intelligence in your universe."

"Yeah, sure thing Captain. I'd like to check out your holographic and defense shield technologies," Harper remarked as he sat back down.

***

Tom Paris couldn't believe his eyes. He was in a run down city. It looked like a ghetto; certainly nothing like Paris had seen before. Paris coughed as he breathed in the thick, foul air. Wherever I am it's not Kansas, the helmsman thought to himself.

Paris heard footsteps behind him and looked for someplace to take cover. Paris determined it would be safer not to make his presence known until he knew where he was. The young Starfleet officer took cover behind a burned out vehicle.

Paris watched silently as a family of humans walked by. There were the parents and two young daughters. Paris judged the older girl to be about eight and her sister to be about five or six. All four family members looked underfed and sickly. The father coughed several times before pulling a thin, threadbare sweater closer to his torso. With all of the dirt and stains covering the clothes the family wore Paris couldn't make out the color of or patterns on the clothes.

Voyager's helmsman was about to introduce himself to the family and offer assistance when several large and muscled men approached. The large men carried guns and wore uniforms of some kind. He didn't know if the large men were hostile so Paris decided to watch a little longer before showing himself.

Tom Paris was horrified when two of the large, armed men grabbed the each grabbed one of the young girls by the shirt collar. The little girls were easily lifted off the ground, despite the protest of the parents. Both of the human parents were knocked to the ground as they attempted to retrieve their daughters from the large armed men.

Paris pulled out his phaser and set it on stun. Then the blond fired at the burly men from behind the old vehicle. Two of the large attackers were knocked unconscious by the phaser blast. The third attacker fired a weapon at Paris who ducked further behind the damaged vehicle he was using for shelter. Paris quickly fired another blast from his phaser, rendering the large enemy unconscious on the ground next to the other attackers.

The two young girls were still crying as their parents picked their daughters up from the ground and hugged them tightly. Paris put away his phaser before coming out from behind the vehicle. He slowly walked over to the family to offer what little comfort he was able.

Both parents stepped back, each one clutching a daughter, as Paris approached closer. The fear in all four pairs of eyes was obvious to Paris who immediately stopped. "I just want to help. Trust me."

"Trust you? Why should I?" the husband hissed. He was obviously not used to trusting strangers.

"I just want to help you. I saved you from those men," Paris said pointing to the attackers lying on the ground.

The rail thin man let out a sarcastic laugh. "Nobody helps Kludges."

The younger daughter, still sitting in father's arms, looked into Tom Paris' eyes and then at her father. "He doesn't look like an Uber, Papa."

The man smiled at his daughter and then eyed Paris suspiciously. "He may not be an Uber, but anybody dressed in new clothes is a collaborator."

Paris realized that these people must always dress in filthy ragged clothes. It must be the norm on this planet. Paris tried to allay the fears of this poor family. "I'm not from around here. I come from a starship called Voyager. On Voyager we have replicators that produce what we need."

Four sets of eyes regarded the helmsman with even mores disdain. "Then you'd be a spacer," the man said, backing away from Paris. That's just as bad; thinkin' you're so high and mighty. You spacers think you're above us all; that we're just dirty little mudfeet."

Then a word that the father had used registered in Paris' mind. Uber sounded familiar to Paris. "Excuse me Sir, but did you use the term Uber?"

The family had started to leave but then stopped. The husband turned around and gave the Voyager helmsman a look of frustration. The husband and father of young daughters were obviously anxious to leave. "The name's Liam Mulray, and of course I used the word Uber. That's what we call the Nietzscheans. Don't tell me you haven't heard of the word."

Now it all made sense to Paris. This is not some backwater planet. This is Earth. Harper's Earth. The Earth of Andromeda's universe. "Uh yeah, I have heard of the term Uber. I know a man named Harper who's from Earth."

The man considered the name Harper for a moment then a hint of recognition glinted in his eye. "That wouldn't be Seamus Harper would it?"

Paris smiled at the man. The helmsman finally was finally getting through the tough, distrustful exterior of the stranger. "That would be him. I think he said he was from around Boston."