Capt. Supermarket 2004-10-24 1 I haven't said how large the enemy forces are yet but they are significant. The posting coming out in December will detail the details.
Ren: Garibaldi felt Deanna, not Laurel. I didn't make that clear enough. There's a bond there and it's getting stronger and Michael doesn't fully understand it yet. As for Neroon's attitude? Wait for this one. You will like it. Notice I have a little comparison between the Minbari in Veneer' and TWS.Thank you, everyone for your wonderful comments!!! Please keep them coming.
Now on with the story.Chapter 30
Paradox-
The Armageddon conflict-Part 6
Cook 1 Colony:
The United Planets cruiser C-57-D arrived in the Cooke system a full day before the Earth Alliance cruisers and that made Captain Adams ecstatic. The modifications to the hyperdrive system now allowed them to travel faster than mankind-at least from his universe's Earth-could have imagined. Most of it was due to Robby, the robot created by a genius, would-have-been, father-in-Law. It had modified the engines, gravity systems and the updated inertia systems with a little input from the Federation Officer, Lieutenant Commander Data. It hadn't taken that long either, especially since his ship's technology was at the very edge of the breakthrough in the first place. Alien technology wasn't necessary to make the needed jump. As a result, his cruiser was now faster than anything in this region of space.
The hyperdrive engines manipulated hyperspace in a manner different from anything that this universe had seen before. But at the same time even though the approach getting into hyperspace was differed, his hyperspace and 'theirs' was connected. His ship could 'see' other vessels in their hyperspace and from what their navigator Robby, had told him the C-57-D could navigate jumpspace without the need for beacons to determine their relative position.
Oh, how that made their value increase!
Even the Federation ships couldn't do that in jumpspace, although, now that they had refined their own sensors, they could detect his ship in hyperspace. Several governments had approached them, offering generous amounts of currency for their technology. Needing the money, he did sell the synthesizer technology from Robby's data to the Minbari and a couple of the league of Nonaligned Worlds members. It wasn't the famed replicator technology used by the Federation ships. It was a step behind and not instantaneous, taking as long as a week to produce certain complex crystalline formations, but it was easier to develop and manufacture and a lot less costly. There was the also added incentive that the technology could be bought, something that was almost impossible with Federation tech.
And it recreated organic foodstuffs, made-to-order in less than fifteen minutes. Synthetic apples and pears were a big, big hit on the station. The fruits, vegetables, etc, were as good as their replicated counterparts. Adams had also decided to sell the clystron-based hyperdrive communications technology enabling anyone to transmit and receive in hyper or normal space with none of the limitations. Modifications would allow for real time navigation in hyperspace and it was faster than tachyon transmissions. That was going to be a big hit. If they were going to be stuck here, the might as well be filthy, stinking rich. But they had to survive first and that meant that they needed to pull their weight against whatever was coming their way.
And even EarthDome had changed their attitudes since the war. Earth was in serious trouble and he was personally delighted that he had made the decision to head to Babylon 5 instead of there. The plague had spread across the planet and more and more deaths were being recorded at a terrifying rate. Mars, still a colony in this reality, was screaming that they wanted nothing to do with Earth and was seriously considering joining the Proxima III and Cooke colonies in forming their own union.
"Skipper, we have the Cooke Colony. Lieutenant governor Akinson's on the comm.-board."
"Thank God you're here," The blond-haired woman yelled. Behind her, he could see that the room was disheveled. There had been some sort of fight. "Where's the rest of EarthForce?" Looking at the screen, she squinted. "What's with the different uniforms?" Then: "Who are you?"
"We're from Babylon Five," he answered. "We're not a part of Earth Alliance but several of your cruisers will be here within twenty-fours."
"You're part of the rebel group, the ones with Sheridan," she assumed. The woman looked at the image of his vessel. "They should have sent a bigger ship," she said as the cynicism fairly dripped from her lips.
"What's happened here?" Adams demanded. He didn't want to sound too brisk with the woman. Whatever had happened here had obviously stressed her out.
"We were attacked by some unidentified race," was the response as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "We believe they destroyed Cooke III. We haven't been able to contact them in the last twelve hours. Several of the jumpgates in the region were destroyed. Whoever they were bombed us from orbit. We think it was the Centauri."
"How many people?" he quietly asked.
"Only about a thousand were killed in the attack here" she responded. "But many of use were injured. They took out our power station and the spaceport. We're basically trapped here, helpless. Why would they do such a thing?"
"I don't believe that it's the Centauri," Adams said. "This is something else."
"Earth has been ignoring us for the last two months," was her bitter reply. "We've been detecting various ships, many of them unknown. We've been sending constant data streams to them, but we never received a response-until now. Then we saw the fleet, just before we lost contact with everyone."
"What was the overall size of the fleet?"
I don't have a clue. At the time, I wasn't interested in counting the number of ships dropping bombs on us. They were ships like we've never seen before. They simply appeared above Cooke III and we haven't heard from anyone since. They didn't seem to consider us much of a threat, so they left us alone for the most part. We don't know what happened to Cook II, either."
"We'll check it out."
"Why waste your time?" the woman asked. "It's plain that Earth doesn't care about us. First they call us traitors, and treated us like salves. And then, when we need them, they're not around."
"I can't speak for your government Lieutenant Governor Akinson. But I promise they will be here and we're not moving until they do."
Babylon Five:
There was quite a stir when both the Minbari fleet and a small squadron of Narn warships lead by a Klingon battle cruiser entered B5 space. CnC fully expected a battle to break out between the Narn and the lone Centauri Primus and it was somewhat of a surprise that nothing other than a slight shouting match had occurred.
KahriG'Kar arrived by transporter about the same time as did Captain Garrett. G'Kar was absolutely delighted by the new technology given to them by the Klingons. Unlike the Prime Directive mandated by the Federation, much of the Klingon technology was being shared with the Narn and the Narn had reciprocated for all they were worth. Their planet was in shambles, the result of the Centauri's mass driver assault. But in the recent months, Klingon replicator tech had helped the planet and its people to recover far quicker than anyone thought possible. The planet's atmosphere was still filled with dust, the temperature, cooling. With the help of small transporters designed to filter the dust and dirt from the planet's atmosphere, the Narns were quickly cleaning the atmosphere of pollutants. That was very, very good but eventually it would present several drawbacks.
Soon the other nations would find out what the Homeworld had and then, Narn space would be filled with spies and raiders. Several small ships, some of them shuttle-sized, had been retrofitted with high-speed impulse engines, and gravity and inertia systems. And they were well on their way to producing their own warp engine in about two years. And being the first, they intended to make a killing in the market when everyone came to them for the technology. Therefore security around Narn was going to be tight. Thank G'Quanthat there were security trained Narn on B5. He was sure that he could make an arrangement with Mr. Garibaldi to help to train more as needed. And if the Kahri's plans turned out, then security would be a major consideration. His relationship with Mr. Garibaldi would be very fruitful if he planned it correctly. The Human was an expert in security matters and a trusted friend as well. If and when he retired, G'Kar intended to offer Michael a capital job as the CEO of a security-consulting corporation on Narn. With his help it could be one of the best in the galaxy.
There were only a few number of Klingons that had survived the transition into this universe, less than four hundred, but they were being treated like royalty and were now somewhat spoiled by all of the attention. From them, the Narns now had upgraded weapons and shields for their ships and they were now using the abandoned Centauri space station orbiting their planet as a major industrial center to generate and transport needed items. Housing supplies and food created from the replicators were being ship planetside as soon as it was generated. Even with this magical technology, they were still in desperate need, but now re-energized, the Narn population was fast recovering.
"Wonderful device," he excitedly whispered to an irritated EarthForce member as he walked by. "I highly recommend them. But first, I suggest that you stop trying to kill each other and get on, as you Humans say, 'the bandwagon' before you're left too far behind." Smiling, he continued on his way, comforted by the fact that the Earth Alliance Human wanted to hurt him.
On the other hand, Alyt Rannaonn absolutely hated being transported from one place to another by having your body broken down and re-constructed someplace else. The sensation itself wasn't unpleasant, but the implications inherent with its very existence were. These Federationists took for granted technologies that the Minbari hadn't come close to producing. And in the back of his mind he dreaded what would happen if a fleet of their ships came roaring into the region. That was a problem that he would have to talk to Neroon about in detail as soon as possible. Talking to Delenn was a lost cause, involved in a scandalous relationship with a Human, a married one, no less.
What had begun as a small private meeting was rapidly becoming a large conference. G'kar and Londo amazingly sat done next to one another and even more surprisingly shared a drink.
"I still hate you with every fiber of my being, you know," G'kar said in a manner that sounded like he was discussing the weather. "I nearly died from excitement when I heard about the explosion that killed your emperor. I truly hope there is something left to bury of your beloved leader."
Londo didn't take the bait much to G'kar's disappointment. "Some things are for the best," he had told the Narn.
G'Kar stunned himself when he had asked the Centauri, "are you alright?" and realized that he had truly meant it.
How unexpected.
"I have been to Z'ha'dum," Londo said as though his comment had said it all. "And now it is coming to us."
USS Enterprise:
Thomas Riker always liked the cut of the Colonial brown uniform as opposed to the Federation red and black jumpsuits that was so common among the Federation. But there was no way-absolutely, no way- he had any intentions of wearing the cape when he beamed onboard the Enterprise. That would be a bit too much.
"Ready for transport," the transporter officer told him.
"Six to beam over."
The familiar feel of the transporter took control and next, he was on Enterprise. He immediately recognized Captain Picard and Transporter Chief O'Brien. There was a blond with short-cropped hair, looking remarkably like Adjutant Sela if she were Romulan, and there was Doctor Beverly Crusher.
"Welcome onboard the battleship Enterprise."
'Battleship, not starship', Riker thought to himself. That's something new.
There was a slight pause as Picard's half smile faltered before he regained his composure. In fact all of them had responded in one way or another at his obvious similarity to Commander Riker.
"Forgive me Lieutenant Commander," Picard said. "Your resemblance to Commander William Riker is astonishing."
Thomas smiled. "William and I share a unique history," he said slowly. "It's the result of a transporter accident. There was a problem getting us back to the ship so the transporter chief used a double lock. One of us made it through. The other lock was terminated as per standard procedure, but I found myself reflected back to Nevala IV. And I was stuck there for eight years. We're both William in every way, but I chose to use the name Thomas. This happened in my reality."
Crusher nodded and did O'Brien.
"So you're William Riker," O'Brien whispered.
"We both are. But that's in the past. What's done is done."
"Stand by for transport," O'Brien said once more. As Transporter Chief, he understood more than most people about the delicate balance between successful transportations and complete disaster. A second transport completed its cycle and Captain Sisko along with two Romulans appeared.
"Sela," Thomas said as he turned to greet her. "We were wondering what happened to you."
"Q," she spat. She was about to start venting until her eyes spotted someone familiar-
-Then froze when she saw the one person that could not have existed. "It can't be. You're dead." Shock collided with rage; confusion warred against shame. Q had made good his threat. This was an absolute nightmare in the making.
Meanwhile, Tasha Yar stared unabashedly at the Romulan. She was dumbfounded by the similar features that was so close to hers-but older, harder-
-With Vulcanoid ears.
"Who are you!?"
"That's your daughter, Lieutenant," Thomas answered as everyone turned to stare at him.
"My mother is dead," Sela snarled in response. "She's a quantum anomaly." Her voice was stiff with anger, fear, and a bit of shame added for flavoring.
"No," Thomas corrected. "She is your mother." He shook his head. "We all have a lot to talk about."
He felt sorry for them both. He really did and now he understood why Janeway had given him this wonderful responsibility. Paradox. Who else better to explain this than him?
Combat log 53268.3
This has truly been one of the strangest meetings that have ever had the pleasure to grace the Enterprise. Every single individual here has been affected by temporal causality in one form or another. What I have learned has made me rather pessimistic as to the outcome of this adventure. Lieutenant Commander Riker is being fairly cautious, and understandably so, as he has begun to explain the current conditions in the Federation he knows.
The Romulan woman Sela, and my Security Officer Tasha, are torn between the need to communicate with or attempt to kill, one another. For safety, I have separated them. Commander Riker has taken a dislike to his counterpart, an action I can understand if I were in his position. Man considers himself unique and when he finds out that he isn't, it-takes time to adjust. Only Commander Sisko seems to be taking this in stride.
As Captain of the Enterprise I am torn between keeping an open mind concerning this entire extraordinary event and continuing the rushed repairs of my ship. Thomas Riker has offered his entire crew's resources to help in the repairs for which I am grateful. The Rantoul is more advanced than the Yeager and their understanding of engineering is more than ten to fifteen years in advance of our own. This is very likely due to the high cost of war with the Klingons. This preliminary meeting and the one with Admiral Janeway will participate in will determine which actions I must take. If this galaxy is doomed to the Sinhindrea, then the questions become 'should we stay'? Or do we even have a choice in the matter? I am not ready to give up on our return home.
Conference Room 3:
"The Admiral will give you the details," Thomas had told them. "But there has been a temporal war in our universe and you've been caught up in it. I understand that Captain Sisko has informed you of most of it, but I'm here to help fill in some of the gaps. While I am not privy to all of the information, I do know that the two Enterprises and K'mpec's Honor were caught in the battles wake.
"We do know that before you were separated, the first Enterprise-D was destroyed saving the Enterprise-C which returned back through the temporal rift to the exact moment and place that it left. It was destroyed in the battle with Romulan warbirds. There were a few captives, including a Lieutenant Tasha Yar," he said.
Glancing at his Lieutenant, Tasha, Picard could see dozens of emotions splayed across her face.
"When Captain Garrett died, the result of a Klingon sneak attack, the Lieutenant's request to be allowed to accompany the Enterprise-C was granted. The 'C' made it through and the timeline was repaired but not completely fixed. Tasha was captured by the Romulans and produced a child-Sela."
"Why did my counterpart allow Lieutenant Yar to go into the past, thereby changing the timeline," Picard asked. "He should have understood the risks involved in creating temporal paradoxes."
"Sir," Thomas said to him. "The Enterprise-C created an altered timeline in which Tasha was still alive. In the original timeline she was dead, killed in a useless conflict. Your counterparts were very close to one another-like family in many ways. He wanted to give her a chance at life, just like the entity called Q gave you a chance by sending you here instead of allowing you to cease to exist. And the twenty-two year war with the Klingons never happened. But Sela was a result, the price if you will, for peace."
"But the Federation is at war," Picard stated, "with an enemy called the Cylon Empire. Every ship is needed there. If we go back, we can contribute to make a difference."
"Yes, Sir," Thomas answered immediately although he didn't think it was possible and judging by their faces, they had their doubts, too. "But before that we had a skirmish with the Klingons, instigated by the Dominion. The Federation, the Klingons and the Romulans ultimately banded together to defeat them. Collectively, we've lost thousands of ships. We were still reeling from that conflict when the Cylon Empire came along. Now, everybody's fighting against them. The planets Remus and Romulus have been destroyed. Andoria came within a hairs-breath of suffering the same fate as Romulus. Bajor is in a life and death struggle with the Cylons. The Dominion has entered the war against the Cylons, because they know they're next on the list. We're talking tens of thousands of ships, sir. The Gorn are about to get into it. We're in talks with the First Federation."
There was absolute silence as the words soaked in.
"On top of that," Thomas continued, "the Borg have made a deal with the Cylons and you have no idea how that makes this." He could tell them about the Borg later. Janeway would no doubt give them more information than they would have ever wanted to here about the Collective.
"That war is a part of our mission, but so was finding you. And we needed to evaluate the threat of the Sinhindrea. If we survive the Cylons, then the Sinhindrea will make our current war seem like warm up exercise. Thousands of worlds have been destroyed by them. They possess a hatred of and hunger for all life and what is worse is that they are here."
"I've heard the name Borg, several times," Picard said. "Who are they?"
"Another enemy we have to defend against," he said. "That is another long story that you need to be filled in on."
Picard suspected that this meeting had to be the most exhausting meetings he'd ever chaired.
The meeting continued for another hour before they broke into smaller groups. Sela and Tasha left together, followed by two security guards. Thomas and William were talking. Geordi, like a kid in a candy store, was busy pumping the engineering staff of the Rantoul for more information.
Lieutenant Troi seemed somewhat uncomfortable around Riker and they both kept staring at one another. What that was about, he had no idea. But Deanna had returned to Babylon Five to join Captain Garrett, who was unable to attend this meeting.
Colonials were the new government that brought these enhanced Cylons to the Alpha quadrant, the Federation was more powerful and advanced than he'd imagined, and even the Romulans were different from everything he'd known.
Did they even have a place there anymore?"