Chapter Two
The Emissary and the Emperor
The Yeager continued its scan of surrounding space, slowly pulling away from the M-class planet. Amazingly, the people seemed to conform to Bajoran physiology. In fact, the entire system seemed nearly identical to its other-universe counterpart."
"Oh-Be-A-Fine-Girl-kiss-Me."
"What?" Deanna asked. She didn't understand William's statement.
"Oh-Be-A-Fine-Girl-kiss-Me. That was the old style designation for the different classification of stars. It was easier to remember than, O-B-A-F-G-K-M. It represents star temperatures from hottest to coolest. Even after more than three hundred years, we still use those designations. This star is a K-type, a little cooler than Earth's star and its almost exactly the same as our Bajor. We're almost a thousand light years out and if we didn't know better, we couldn't tell the difference."
The Betazoid doctor frowned. "But essentially Earth is identical in this universe also. Maybe the people are different but the planetary system is the same."
"That's my point, Doctor. It's the only one, so far, that we've found that's exactly-relatively speaking-the same as in our universe. That in itself-"
Deanna was no longer listening to Lawson. Instead she was focused on Captain Sisko. He had a look on his face that she had never seen before.
"Captain?"
He wasn't listening. Instead he was looking at the viewscreen at empty space. "All stop."
"Answering all stop."
"We're detecting a massive increase of verteron particles directly in front of us. Sir, recommend that we move away from this area."
"No," Ben answered, just as an almost blinding light flared in front of them. Space itself seemed to open up. The light dimmed and front of them appeared a huge tear that seemed to open up like a the pedals of a flower."
A wormhole.
"It's beautiful."
Lawson frowned. "It doesn't look real. Captain?"
***
A stunned Ben Sisko found himself in the middle of his living room in his old home on Earth. Everything was in place, the couch where he accidentally spilled his bean sauce while trying to feed his infant son Jake; his mother's picture was next to the image of his family-everything was as it should be. But it didn't feel correct. It was if he were in a waking dream. Then he saw his father.
"The Sisko is confused," his father said. "He doesn't understand."
"Dad? What's happening to me? Where am I? I heard the call. Why am I here?"
"This Sisko is like the other," his father said, not answering his question. "He insists on asking many questions. We thought he would be different. The Sisko is consistent."
"Who is the other? What is wrong with you?"
"We have come for the Sisko," another voice said. That sweet, familiar sound chilled him to his soul. "He must be made whole."
"Jennifer?"
"The Sisko must enter the Celestial temple. Time races," the Jennifer image said beckoning him towards the wormhole.
"Into that thing?" he asked seeing the wormhole-like object in front of him. "Why?"
"The Sisko wants to return home, does he not? The Sisko needs to be one."
"Jennifer." The image in front of him, and that's what it was, looked so real. He missed her so much that for one insane moment, he almost did as she asked. But uncertainty stopped him. "We all want to go home. Are you saying that this can take us home, to our place and time?"
"Only the Sisko. He needs to be whole."
Those words were said with a finality that made Ben glare at he wife's image. "I'm not going anywhere without my people." Another image appeared behind him and he whirled around to meet the new apparition coming face-to-face with-
-Himself.
"This is getting very tiresome," Ben growled. "I want some straight answers now."
Ben Sisko smiled at Ben Sisko. "And you'll have them," the other Ben said. "That is why I am here. I know this is strange, but everything will become clear. I apologize for the way we introduced ourselves to you. "But they," his copy said, pointing to the others, "are not very good at explanations."
"Who are they?"
"They are aliens who built this, the Celestial temple. This artificial wormhole is their creation. It extends from the Alpha quadrant to the Gamma quadrant. And further. Against my wishes, they have been trying to contact you, to bring you back. Only you."
"Why only me? What's so important about me? And who are you?"
"I am you, Ben. You are me, or rather a part of me."
Captain Ben Sisko of the Yeager backed away slightly. "I don't understand," he said warily.
"This is not the time to be frightened, brother. This wormhole is connected to our home universe's wormhole and much power has been expended to contact you and offer a way home. It must close in a matter of days now or both will be damaged beyond repair. You have a choice to make and not much time to do it, so listen very carefully," the Ben image said. "I am Benjamin Sisko of the Alpha quadrant, as are you. But your existence is an unintentional artifact cause by the result of you entering the temporal anomaly that brought you to this universe. There was a fracturing of time and space when you encountered the Enterprise-C as it came through the temporal rift. That created the timeline that you remember and existed in. When Picard chose to go back through with Garrett, space fractured even more creating several additional temporal-spatial anomalies."
"There were Powers that corrected most of the fractures but they were unable to re-integrate you and one other in the time allotted. So they sent you here, at this time and this place. This is no accident that you have wound up here, just before the assault on B5. There were many factors for placing you here at this critical point in the universe's history. You being here has caused tragedy, but it offers hope and a change. Your being here may also prevent a great catastrophe from overtaking this galaxy. The mistakes were made long ago and your being here may help to correct that error."
"In the base timeline, the Federation and Klingons have joined together and become a major threat to the plans of the temporal guild of the future. This threat could not be tolerated and they tried to destroy both governments by setting them against one another. The ultimate result is the timeline that you come from. Those forces sent the Enterprise-C back into time, creating an incident in which the Federation would be at war with the Klingons effectively breaking both organizations and blunting the future successes of both. The Enterprise-C should have returned through the temporal anomaly alone and the timeline would have corrected itself. But now you're here, a completed fragment, if you will. Your particular timeline no longer exists. Forces whose purpose is to maintain balance in the multiverse purposely collapsed it. So, now you have a choice."
"And what is this choice?"
"To come home or stay here, in this universe."
Ben Sisko looked at the other Ben, his face carefully neutral. "Nothing is ever that simple."
"You're right," Ben said looking at his other self proudly. "There is a catch. If you return to your home universe, you will cease to exist. You will become a part of me once more. There are rules that govern us and the universe will not allow the fragment-you, to inhabit the same space-time as me. You have the exact same quantum signature as I do, but originating from a universe time-space that no longer exists. If you or any Federation-Klingon ships or personnel return, they will be re-absorbed by their original counterparts as though they had never been. The balance will be restored and your life as you know it, will be over. As you and your people are now, you are independent entities with free will. If you come back…"
"We'll be lost."
The Jennifer image moved close to Ben. "The Sisko must be complete. This Sisko will not care when he is joined."
Stunned, he realized that those words were meant to be comforting for him. "You offer the hopelessness of non-existence versus being trapped here in this universe forever."
"Your children can return because they will be a blending of two universes and therefore unique. But I can offer nothing for you, except to become a part of me."
"I won't go."
Ben smiled approving of the decision. "Where's there life there is hope. Live your life and remember."
"There is so much I need to know. What about the war? What about the Federation and my-our father, is he still alive?"
"The Federation, the Klingons and the Romulans are at war with a terrible enemy. We are holding our own, but the Cylon Empire is strong and now they're fighting for possession of the Celestial temple. We've had other problems also, but our father and Jake and my little one is doing well on Bajor. "
"Jake is alive?" There was small tear forming. He swiftly brushed it away. What little one?
"Here," Ben said pressing a small object into his hand.
The image of his father and wife looked on in confusion. "The Sisko is not coming. Why?"
***
"It is a wormhole," Lawson confirmed to him. "And it's stable," he said, looking at it very hard. "But it's like nothing I've ever seen."
"Captain?" the Betazoid repeated.
The sound of Deanna's concerned voice assaulted his ears. It took him a second to realize that he was back on the Yeager. On the view screen the wormhole flared and disappeared.
"What's wrong? For a second I felt that-"
"There's nothing for us here," Ben whispered. "It's a way home, but it's certain death. I've talked to the aliens that created the celestial temple," he answered, pointing to the wormhole. "I've talked to my counterpart. He warned me."
Lawson gave him 'the look' and Ben half-smiled in response. It did sound crazy.
However, Deanna had detected the short bonding. "Concerning what?" she asked utterly convinced his experience was true.
Ben Sisko detailed his conversation to the others and fifteen minutes later, all of them sat down in shock.
"All this happened in less than five seconds?"
"Time has little meaning to them. But yes, it did. We are realized, independent fragments of someone else's existence, a result of the temporal fracture we went through. But we are complete beings too physically close to the originals. If we go back we will be re-integrated into our counterparts whether, they are alive or dead."
"My God. Our families?"
"We can never go back," Lawson stated flatly. He looked off. "We're lost."
"No," Sisko corrected. "We are marooned. But we are not lost. We simply haven't found the proper way home yet." However, his gut was telling him otherwise. "Plot a course, maximum warp. There's nothing for us here."
***
A disheartened Captain Sisko left Williams in charge, went to his quarters and fell into a deep and fitful sleep, once again finding himself in the same dreamlike state he'd experienced earlier on the bridge. However, instead of being in his old home, he found himself inside a massive, alien structure, a space station he surmised. Drawn to the window, he peeked outside and saw the same wormhole blossom, allowing two starships entry. He nodded in understanding. Curious, he began to walk around the station's main floor. There were hundred's of people of all species onboard. But the far majority were Bajoran and Human. Intrigued by this fact he began exploring his surroundings eventually making his way to the bridge itself. There he found himself face-to-face with-himself.
"Hello, Captain Sisko," his opposite said to him. He was dressed in a Starfleet uniform similar but not quite the same as his old uniform, which had a more severe military look to it. "I see you've converted to the older style of dress of Garrett's time. Very practical."
Ben nodded, half expecting this meeting with his other self. "You seem to know a lot about us."
"I've been observing you as much as possible. We didn't have the power to contact you directly until you were close enough to the Wormhole. The best we could do was watch and send you indirect communications while you slept. His counterpart sat and he followed suit.
The 'package' I gave you was, call it a psychic trigger, a set of memories if you will, from my past. It is to compare what our life would have been if we had not been separated. I did not want to leave you with questions that could never be answered. You are a part of me and I know that we both would want resolution to this situation. So, I have someone here you should meet."
A young man, with a thin mustache, and as tall or a bit taller than he, moved attentively towards him. The young man was handsome and looked just like his mother. "Jake," he whispered, looking at his twenty-four year-old son.
"Hello, dad," his son answered.
Behind him was his sister, Judith waiting patiently. Whether this was real or not, it didn't matter. Instantly Ben hugged the son that could have been. In his timeline, Jake was dead but in the other, his son was alive and apparently very well. There was so much he wanted to know!
The Emissary moved back to allow him time with his son. A short time later, another person, a woman entered the bridge and stood directly in front of him. He recognized her instantly. "Mother." He went to hug her but stopped short as he felt the coldness radiating from her.
"I am pleased that the Sisko fragment remembers me," his mother said.
She looked like his mother's image but there was something, an alien-like quality that made him somewhat wary.
"The Sisko fragment does not want to hear what his mother has to say," she said to him with the barest hint of warmth evident in her voice. "The truth is not always what you wish it to be. But I am your mother, or a fragment of her. You are not fully human, but half-Bajoran. And you have the blood of the Prophets within you. Your science is not advanced enough to detect what the prophets have hidden." Her eyes moved to the other Ben's direction and there was definitely a trace of warmth there. "The Emissary's response was much like yours. But," she continued returning her attention back to him, "You too are my son and you will not be abandoned."
She moved closer to Ben and he did the same. This was all so strange! Touching her hand, he felt the connection, heard the truth in her words. "I never knew-"
Something in the woman softened as she examined her son. "Life has been hard for you. The truth was hidden until the Emissary could accept the words. But you too are my son and you both are strong. You have made your choice and it could have been no other. My people wish that the Sisko would become one with the Emissary no matter the cost. I do not. My wish is that you live your life. I wish that you would be happy."
With loving gentleness, she touched his forehead and memories flooded into his mind. "Your history as it should have been. The stories of the prophets and of Bajor are all there. Have no fear. This will not interfere with that which you are now. They will give you strength for the dark times to come. There is one here who covets you, my Sisko. He will come to join with you. Beware! To join him is to suffer an eternity of sorrow and pain."
"Who is this person? When will I meet this enemy?"
"Time is unimportant to him as he is as timeless as the sun," she cautioned him. "You will know him and stars will die in his passing. Beware the Light of the Star."
"You don't speak like the others of you kind," he whispered.
"The Emissary, your brother, has taught me well," she whispered back. "Remember, you are the Sisko. We go now to search for your other lost fragment. He will have the choice also."
"And one more thing," his brother, the Emissary added. "The event that brought you here has also brought others who are now traveling to Earth. The fracturing that brought you to this reality was a multiversal tear. But it had consequences for only a micro-minority of sentient beings, and just about all of them, were returned to their rightful place in time. You and the third Sisko, along with his people were trapped in yet another universes different from this one. Like you, they have run into an Earth not their own. The Peacekeepers united, are a formidable enemy and those Picard, Garrett and Sisko fragments have done horrible things in protecting Earth and the surrounding star systems. Another war is beginning there."
"The last group was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time and pulled to this universe and this time. Intercept them and bring them to Babylon Five, for their protection. They will need your help and the survival of this universe's Earth and the other races may well depend on them in the future."
The dream began to fade. Faintly, he heard his mother's and his brother's final words. "Ben, live well."
"Don't go!" he whispered. But he was awake now and the connection broken. They were gone, he knew without a doubt, forever. But they had left something.
-A photo.
"Computer make a copy of this photo and key it to my personal effects." Tenderly, he looked once more at the parting gift. His mother, father, son and his 'brother'- as he could have been. It was his family. He shook his head in wonder. It's nice to have two brothers he thought.
After a moment, he punched his comms. "Commander Williams, change course to these coordinates…"
He could feel the frown on his friend's face. "May I ask why, Sir?"
"There's someone we have to meet," he answered cryptically. "They are as lost as we are. We're going to send them a beacon."
***
Three days later in the military central command on Centauri Prime, Emperor Cartagia positively beamed. "The plan is excellent, General Madero," he smirked. Grabbing the plans once more, he observed them intently once more before he slammed his hand onto the table. He had a tendency to do that when he was most pleased. His Generals stood opposite him, please that the plans meant with his approval.
The truth was, they were relieved that their insane leader was happy right now and that together they had forged what they hoped would be the death-knell of the Earth Alliance.
"Excellent," he said once again. Whatever his people thought of him, they weren't foolish enough to say it to his face or even whisper it out loud and those who did disappeared at night, never to be seen again. That sent a chilling message to all present within the palace and throughout his world in general. There would be no dissent unless that person or persons had a death wish.
General Madero an older male, who kept his hair short, in tight curls, allowed a small smile of his own to flash across his thin lips. "With the Drazi colonies of Shambah III and Fendamair under siege, Earth Force must respond or a valuable ally will be lost." The colonies, one a primary farming facility and the other an industrial-military complexes, were the lifeblood of the Drazi people, absolutely essential for their survival. The Centauri territories almost completely surrounded the Drazi in the first place, cutting off trade and expansion for the last four hundred years; the result being that the Drazi were slowly being strangled by their hostile neighbors. "We're threatening the colonies so overtly that the Drazi must respond with everything that they have. So must Earth Force. And if they do, we'll be free to attack and eliminate their main defense installation they're building at their destroyed Proxima colony."
"This analysis does have a certain validity," added General Vida, Commander of the Centauri Lightside assault force. If they could hit and destroy the forces in Drazi space and at Proxima III, Earth Force's strategic back would be broken and they would be unable to mount an offensive strong enough to threaten Centauri forces. It was a variation of the same strategy used against the Narn. "But we must remember the past and what the Minbari did to them during the war and how valiantly they resisted. They gave ground only when they were forced to and throughout, maintained that insane creed to try to bring everyone back whether they were alive or dead."
"But they lost the war," Madero sneered. "No matter what was said about the Minbari surrendering, the Earther's victory was a lie."
"Yes, for all practical purposes, they lost the war," Vallano Confirmed. "However the Earthers fought for every inch of ground. They died like carrion insects, but they never gave up. Their pride, even against insurmountable odds, kept them going. We must be aware that they may never surrender and if they did we could never trust them."
"That is their weakness," Vida intoned smoothly. "President Clarke's pride and paranoia will not allow him to ask the Non-Aligned worlds for help even if they could. The Minbari are occupied with the Drakh and only Babylon Five's meager forces are marginally committed to him. If we subjugate the Drazi, then the Earth will be left on its own. Their technology, although more advanced than the Narn, is still inferior to ours."
"True." Cartagia knew that he may be considered, by some to be unstable, to say the least, but he was a soldier as well, and a good one at that. He was trained by the best of the best. He was also the only surviving heir of the late Emperor. He made sure of that. Most of his family had been poisoned, wound up on the wrong side of an inconvenient war or involved in some sort of fatal accident. Sure, there were rumors that he was to blame for some of the deaths, but no one was brave enough to confront him or stop the slaughter. They were too weak. And the Emperor understood this, which why he needed to impart his strength to them. The Shadows had the right idea. Blood and conflict strengthen the populace and the people required an example so that they would once more remember who they were. After all, a god needed strong subjects. "So simple a plan," he stated. "And with that simplicity, we will crush them and I will have Clarke's head on a pike, next to Sheridan's and Delenn's and those alien Captains, Picard and the woman's who dared to defy Us. And let us not forget the Clynkon creatures." He frowned for a moment. "Exactly how does one pronounce those loathsome creatures' name?"
"I believe that they are called Klingons, My Lord."
"Thank you. When I find these Clynkons, how they will suffer," the Emperor said, not caring in the least for the correct pronunciation. "I will find their world and burn it to ash," he nodded, more to himself than to the others in the room. "We will have our revenge, all in good time."
"Their President is a fool," General Vallano said. "He goes out of his way to denounce any 'alien' influences and now has to swallow his pride and help those same aliens, if he and his people have any chance to survive. I wonder how he feels now?"
"Like an impotent worm," Cartagia answered haughtily. When the laughter died down, he continued, his mood darkening even as he thought about the earth station and the Federation battleships. "They vex Us. The alien Earth ships vex Us. Why weren't they destroyed at Babylon Five?"
The answer was obvious since the attack on Babylon Five three months ago had turned into a fiasco. Nearly two-dozen heavy Centauri warships were caught between Federation, Klingons and B5 guns and were summarily slaughtered. That the Centauri attacked first mattered not at all. News had spread from one planetary government to another and the scathing rebukes, criticisms and jokes had nearly brought down the house of Cartagia the Magnificent. The captured Narn home world received most of the Emperor's backlash. Several small cities were incinerated as the most vocal of the Narn critics dared to voice their opinions. They had been hunted down, their places of origins identified and eliminated by high orbital bombardment.
The lethal object lesson did nothing to dissuade the Narns from their disrespectful attitudes and actions against the Centauri Republic. Reports from several small convoys had proven that fact as Narn heavy cruisers and the Clynkon aliens hit any convoy that wasn't accompanied by a full combat ready escort group. Cartagia frowned. During the Narn-Centauri war, almost all of the Narn heavy ships had been destroyed or captured and Tactical estimated that there were less than ten Narn heavy cruisers unaccounted for. Indeed, that might be true, since no more than seven had actually been identified in these latest attacks. But those seven and the six smaller destroyers were different from any the Centauri had encountered before. They were faster, much faster and their firepower seemed to have quadrupled as well as their defensive armor. In five major strikes, only one Narn had been destroyed and the ratio had been three Vorchans to one. And always the Clynkons were there killing his soldiers and ships with impunity. How he despised them!
There was a plan prepared to deal with them also. The convoy was already on its way, the trap already set. If the Centauri military was having difficulty, then all would discover how well the Drakh dreadnaughts would do against them with their Shadow enhanced weaponry. After all, what good were allies if you couldn't use them from time to time?
"That should be the final end of the Narn's defiance
and their ally."
"But it does not solve the long-term problem," Vallano said, fanning his long crest of blackish-gray hair. "Originally, there were two Starfleet vessels, then they built another, then the Clynkons came. How many more of these vessels will arrive unexpected into our space?"
"We can't worry about who will or will not come." General Vido answered. "We must concentrate on the here and now. The Federation ships seem to be more concerned with protecting Babylon Five and they can't be everywhere at once."
"Sir, the reports state that the large one called Enterprise is not there, but at Proxima III. We do not know where the small one called Yeager is, but it appears that it has gone on a long journey and may not be back for some time."
"Were ships sent to follow it?"
"No, none of our ships could keep up, not with their bizarre FTL mode of travel, but we have discovered how to track their movements."
General Coddo 's distaste was evident. Why didn't they use jump tech like everyone else? "It is good that Earth Force does not have full access to that technology yet," he stated. He was a small man with deadly eyes, one of those responsible for the bombardment of Narn. "But what happens if Earth Force begin incorporating it onto all of their ships?"
"This is why we are at war with them," Cartagia responded, justifying this new conflict. "We cannot allow Earth to become a dominant force in this sector. The result can only be disaster for the Centauri people. Let us destroy their capabilities while we can. Then we will find the Federation and Clynkons and my vengeance shake the foundations of this galaxy, as befitting the god I am."