Chapter Seven

The Mission of The Prophets


Starfleet Deep Space 9 Space Station

Bajor System

July 17, 2377

The U.S.S. Wildstar pulled into upper pylon one and docked, and General Kira Nurys was waiting at the airlock to go aboard the massive ship. The ship's captain, Stephen James Ashcroft, had been in command of it for well over a decade, and Kira didn't think he'd ever give up the main seat on board. The Wildstar was a massive ship compared to others in Starfleet, over twice the size of a Galaxy-class ship. It held five Defiant-class ships, as well as two squadrons of fighter craft. It could also separate its saucer section from the warp drive section, and have two ships fight at once, because the saucer section also had a warp drive. Ashcroft was the one who learned about ablative armor from then-Commander Sisko, and had the Wildstar coated with it to make it even tougher.

The airlock opened and Ashcroft stepped out of it and onto the main deck. "Request permission to come aboard, General.," he said, formally. Instead of staying professional, Kira laughed and hugged him. "Please,General! This lack of professionalism will have a negative effect on the troops," he said sarcastically, which made her laugh even louder!

Kira kissed him on the cheek and said, "It's good to see you again, Stephen!"

Stephen brushed his hand against her cheek and replied, "You too, Nurys."

Several years ago, on the pleasure planet Risa, they had met and had a brief love affair, but the spark didn't last and they soon became very good friends. He smiled as he ran his hair through her long, red hair. "Never thought you, of all people, would grow your hair long," said Stephen.

They made their way to his quarters on board, as his ship was due to stay on the station for several days, and he decided to spend some leave time there. Once settled, they made their way to her quarters for dinner, which would consist of spicy Bajoran hasperat sandwiches, a favorite of his.

Stephen took a bite out of his hasperat, then quickly gulped down some water and waves his hand in front of his face, which elicited laughter from Kira. "Damn, Nurys! You sure packed that full of spices, didn't ya?"

Kira laughed again and was about to take a bite out of her own sandwich when the flash of light hit her again.

She was back on that strange planet again, but this time she was near a shipyard of some kind, near the coastline. The ships being constructed were alien to her, and seemed to have warp nacelles.

"Hello, Nurys.," called out a familiar voice.

Kira turned around and noticed the familiar form of her former commanding officer, Starfleet Captain Benjamin Sisko, walking towards her. He was the same as the last time she saw him alive: baldhead, goatee, and his dark skin were a contrast to the light-colored textures around them.

"Sisko," she asked in astonishment.

Sisko nodded, "The one and only." He chuckled and smiled, then drew serious as he continued saying, "Nurys, the time is drawing near for you to enter the Temple of the Prophets. Things are beginning to pick up, and we'll need your help soon, so the sooner you get on your way, the better. And be sure to take the Orb of Prophesy and Time with you, for the Prophets."

Kira looked at him in shock and asked, "What is coming, Ben? What are we going to be facing?"

Sisko walked up to her and put his hands on her shoulders. "I wish I could tell you all that is going on, but it would overwhelm you. Just do what I ask and all will be explained soon enough."

He started to walk off. Kira realized the vision would end soon, but she asked one last thing before she left. "Sisko, are you dead?"

Sisko's shoulders clenched a bit, and he turned around and looked at her uncertainly. "I don't know, Nurys. I honestly don't know."

Kira blinked her eyes and she was back in her quarters. Stephen was busy finishing off his hasperat, and looked up to see Kira staring out at him.

"Something wrong, Nurys?"

Kira got up from the table and walked to the window, and briefly watched the wormhole, the Temple of the Prophets, open up as a ship from the Delta Quadrant came through. She turned back to him and said, "Stephen, I been having visions, and I am not sure exactly what to do about them."

Stephen got up from the table, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and walked over to her. "I'm sure whatever these visions are have some meaning, because you've never struck me as someone to have her head in the clouds. Why don't we sit down on the couch and you tell me what is going on?"

Kira nodded, and they sat themselves down on her couch, where she began to tell her story.

On Board USS Wildstar NCC-1971

July 20, 2377

9am

Captain Stephen Ashcroft was in the conference room with his command staff, along with Bajoran General Kira Nurys, Chief Miles O'Brien, and Kai Pila Neral. He had just gotten through his briefing on the visions Kira had been experiencing when his executive officer, a fierce looking Russian woman named Katrina Litinova, spoke up. "Captain, this is hardly enough evidence to take the Wildstar into the wormhole along with the Defiant III. With all due respect to General Kira, we need more evidence to go by."

"Very well, Litinova, I can provide it. Yesterday, I stood in front of the Orb of Prophesy myself and I had a similar vision to the General's.
What I can tell you is that, while the people in my vision didn't give a lot of details, it was clear to me that they need our help, and that we need to enter the wormhole."

Security Officer Belinda Montgomery then spoke up, "What will it hurt going into the wormhole? If nothing happens, we come back and we're none for the worse. If something is up, we should definitely check it out. Whatever this supposed new enemy is, we know it's not the Dominion, because they have been very compliant with the terms of their surrender.If this is a new enemy, we need to find them before they find us."

Litinova thought for a moment, then nodded, "All right, Lieutenant Commander, you have a point. I have my reservations, but I agree we should check it out.," she then turned to the captain, "When do we leave?"

"Right now. Everyone we need is on board, as well as the two Orbs that we requested. Windsor will command the Defiant III and Kira will stay on board here. We can leave at once."

No one said anything for a couple of moments, and Captain Ashcroft activated his communication link, "Ashcroft to Bridge. Set a course to take us into the wormhole. Impulse speed."

One of the officers on the bridge, Garcia, acknowledged the command. "Course plotted and engines engaged, Captain. Estimated time to wormhole, ten minutes."

"Thanks, Garcia.," replied Ashcroft, who then turned back to those assembled in the conference room, "If there's nothing else, then you are all dismissed."

Everyone made their way to the door, and almost all of them left, save for Montgomery. "Sir, are you sure this is the right thing to do?"

Ashcroft picked up his computer PADDs and said, "Yes, I do."

Montgomery came back from the door and they shut back, and the two of them were alone in the room. "Permission to speak frankly sir."

Ashcroft laughed and said, "In other words, you want to drop ranks and tell me that I'm nuts, right?"

Montgomery nervously shrugged and said, "Well, the first part is correct..."

Ashcroft interrupted her, "I'm kidding, Belinda. C'mon and tell me what's on your mind."

"Well, sir, I'm worried that you are letting personal feelings for Kira get in the way of your judgment. This story of 'visions' is a bit farfetched, if I do say so myself."

Ashcroft turned and looked at her and said, "I've also had similar visions about this myself."

Montgomery looked at him stunned, as if she didn't understand what he had just said. "Sir, are you sure..."

"Yes, Belinda, I am. Look, we've known each other for a long time, and you are my right hand person on this ship. So I trust you to keep what I have told you a secret. If Litinova finds out, she might raise a bigger stink about this than she already has."

"You don't think she'd take over the ship from you over this?"

Ashcroft waived her worries away, "No, no, no. Litinova and I get along well enough, but she plays things by the book a little too much. She's only been on board for a couple of months, and she's still trying to fit in. Believe me, Belinda, if I thought she were plotting to get me out of my command, she'd have been outta here a long time ago."

Montgomery nodded and asked, "What if the visions are indeed true?"

Ashcroft sighed and replied, "Then we are in a whole world of trouble."

On Board USS Wildstar NCC-1971

July 20, 2377

10:45am

The Wildstar had proceeded slowly along the inside of the wormhole and was just about to come to the end of it when the flash overtook them.

Ashcroft was aboard his old ship, the Arcadia, and he was in the presence of his first wife, Victoria, who, along with their one-year-old son, Brandon, had been killed aboard the ship during an attack by the Tholians.

"Steve, it's been a long time," she replied.

"Vicki? Is that you?"

Victoria nodded, "In a way, yes. The beings in the wormhole have somehow brought me back to help you out. You are about to be sent into another universe, and you must proceed to a world called Minbar."

Stephen nodded, but he wasn't paying as much attention to her words as he was her body. He still remembered her flowing long black hair, and how it felt in his fingers when they made love. He missed coming back to his quarters and finding her playing the piano again, with their newborn son on the floor playing with his toys.

"Did you hear me, Steve, or are you daydreaming about me again," she asked with a smile on her face.

Stephen coughed and said, "Yeah, go to another universe and find a world called Minbar. Vicki, where's Brandon?"

Vicki smiled and said, "He's fine. We're having a great time and wish you were here, but you have a lot to do before you come to see us again."

Stephen shook his head and asked, "What do you mean?"

"You have a destiny, my dear husband, beyond this war. There is a lot that will happen in your life and you must be ready it. You will play a very important role in the future of the Federation, and it will not be easy, but it will be worth it."

"Why are you telling me this?"

Vicki smiled, walked up to him, and kissed him on the lips. They briefly embraced and then she was gone, and he was back on the bridge.

His exec, Commander Litinova, looked at him with wide eyes, "It's true. I saw my late parents and they told me..."

"...to go to a world called Minbar. And I thought the universe couldn't get any weirder.," said Ashcroft, who then spoke to the officer at the helm, "Deitz, take us out of the wormhole."

"Aye aye, sir," replied Deitz, and they were just about to exit the wormhole when there was another flash and the ship lurched briefly.

"What the hell was that? Report," commanded Ashcroft.

Litinova looked over her console, and could not believe what she was seeing. "Sir, whatever this place is, it isn't the Delta Quadrant. Star patterns are all wrong, and we aren't picking up any of the usual communications. We are being hailed though."

"Put it on screen."

The screen came up and there was a dark haired woman on screen, in a uniform very different than Starfleet regulations allowed. It became clear very quickly that they were not in their own universe anymore:

"Can anyone help us? This is commander Susan Ivanova of Babylon 5. To any ships in grid epsilon. We are under attack. I repeat, we are under attack. The captain is dead, defense grid is down, they are boarding us, they are coming in all over the place. We've tried to evacuate as many as we can, and Garibaldi has rigged the fusion reactor, but.. my god, here they come. Switch to external cameras. They've got weapons lock.Here comes. Here comes. Aah!"

Then the feed switched to another ship, and another bridge, with a crew wearing a totally different kind of uniform. The commanding officer spoke:

"This is Captain Derek Wildstar of the Space Battleship Yamato. We are on our way. Hang in there, Babylon 5."

Ashcroft stared at the screen and was silent for a moment. Then he turned to his security chief and asked, "Montgomery, scan the area for any space stations or orbital platforms."

"Aye, sir.," replied Montgomery, and she briskly worked her console to perform the scans, which gave her an answer very quickly, "Sir, I have picked up a station about 20 million kilometers away from us. I'm not sure if they have seen us, but there is what looks like a warship and several smaller vessels making their way here. Orders?"

Litinova spoke before the captain could give any orders, "I don't think they have spotted us, because the second message came from behind us. I recommend we cloak and move aside and see what happens."

Ashcroft nodded and gave the orders, "Alright, Montgomery, activate the cloaking device. Deitz, take us to impulse and move us about 50 million kilometers away from this area. Keep scanning those ships as well as the rift we came through."

Deitz and Montgomery both said, "Aye, sir," at the same time, and went to work. Ashcroft leaned back into his command chair and closed his eyes.

"Do you have any reservations now, Katrina?"

She looked at him with a sober expression on his face. "No sir, I don't anymore. It's just...so unbelievable."

"On that, my dear commander, I wholeheartedly agree!"

Queentown, Iscandar

Date Unknown

Sisko and Valen were walking away from the shipyards where the fleet was being constructed. They both walked in silence back towards the transport which would take them to the royal palace.

"When do we return to your time?"

Valen looked at him and shrugged, "I'm not exactly sure. The Legendora want to be sure I'll survive the time jump, so they have been treating me with some medications that I haven't a clue as to their effectiveness, but I haven't felt this good since I was 18!" Valen let out a soft chuckle.

"18? That's so long ago that I can't even remember how it felt! So are you sure it'll be alright for me to come along?"

"Certainly. Although I should warn you about my assistant Zathras, because he has the habit of popping up in the most unexpected places.
Kind of like a few officers that served under me!"

They shared a laugh as they entered the transport and headed towards the heart of the city, and, after a brief flight, they landed and walked inside the palace.

Meeting them there was Starsha, Alex Wildstar, the Legendora liaison, and a creature dressed in a variety of furs and pelts. Valen motioned to Sisko to approach the creature, and he made the introductions, "Captain Benjamin Sisko, this is Zathras. Zathras, this is Captain Sisko."

"Pleased to be meeting you, Sisko.," said Zathras, "I was just telling the others that we are ready on board to make the jump back to our own time."

Sisko nodded and replied, "That's good news. Thank you, Zathras." He then turned to Valen, "So when do we go on board Babylon 4?"

Valen smiled and said, "As soon as the shuttle pilot comes out of the ladies room."

Coming out of the women's bathroom was an Asian woman of medium build, dressed in a similar uniform as Valen. She came up before them and asked, "Well, are we all packed and ready to go? Don't want anyone to forget his or her toothbrush!"

Valen laughed, "Sisko, this is Catherine Sakai, my fiancée back when I was Jeffery Sinclair, a Human."

Sisko shook her hand and, without another word, the lot of them made their way to the transport.