PASSE PERDU

Chapter 1

Summary: The Enterprise wakes up in the 24th century, but this time, they get to meet Voyager's crew…

Author's note: Well there's the second part, taking off where the prologue ended. I finally found out what I actually wanted to do with this plot: it tries an explanation as to why we never heard of the NX-01 before Enterprise (apart from the obvious fact that it's a TV series…). You'll see :-)
I hope you like it, critics are welcome (praise as well…)

Disclaimer: Enterprise and the rest of the Star Trek universe are not mine. What I'm doing with them here is, though.

"We have transporters ourselves but nobody likes to use them. They are not all that safe." Trip said frowning.
"We had 230 years to make them better, Commander. Don't worry, they are safe. We used them to transport you here." the Doctor said smiling.
Trip only sighed and accepted his fate.

When they finally materialized, Trip's mind stayed for a few seconds at the technical wonders of the 24th century. He had not even felt that he was beamed; merely saw how one environment was replaced by another. The transporters he knew tended to paralyze the person in question so that nobody could quite suppress the panic that gripped at them for a few moments. Not so now, he had the impression that he could move his body all the time – he guessed that this was probably due to the fact that the time it took to beam him from one ship to the other was a lot shorter. But not even the wonders of this new transporter could prevent him from finally taking in his surroundings.

They had materialized in a corridor not far away from the engineering room and it was dark. It would have been completely dark had it not been for the lights the other members of the team had just switched on. But what really made Trip recoil in panic was the silence. There was literally no sound. Even when Enterprise had been badly damaged, there was at least an irregular hum of her machines, the sounds of the ship's Human (Vulcan/Denobulan) inhabitants (and its canine inhabitant for that matter), the hum of all the devices they used to do their work. Never was this ship as silent as it was now. The silence combined with his own unnaturally loud heartbeat and the darkness created an atmosphere Trip would have preferred to leave immediately.

He had no idea how much time he stood there in shock until a voice registered in his mind. "Well, let's go. I need this ship up and running, this being literally dead in space is just plain creepy." Prometheus' first officer, Commander Leflok Tennan said, being the one officially in charge of the away team. The Bajoran Commander was known for his easy-going attitude hiding a brilliant and caring mind, this mix making him one of the youngest first officers in the 'Fleet. With a glance on his tricorder, he made a few steps forward and then turned at a junction. "A female crewman, in uniform. She seems to be in the same condition we found Commander Tucker in." they heard him say.

It took a few more moments until Trip finally managed to get himself moving as well. There, around the edge, a faint light illuminated the people before him. It came from an energy beam that connected a small device on the floor with what had to be the crewman's cryogenic chamber: it fitted her exactly, leaving only a few inches between her body and the outer shell of the chamber. On first sight, Trip couldn't detect a single piece of technology that would have explained why she was frozen – with the exception of the energy beam leaving the chamber in the area of her left hand and going directly into a small cubical gadget that itself was connected to the wall of the ship. They had explained the technology to him during the briefing a few hours ago: apparently, each cryogenic chamber was getting its energy from a small device like the one in front of him which was linked to a network on the ship, that distributed energy from a source in engineering to every single cell. Nevertheless, the Prometheus' engineers were still trying to understand the specifications of the technology themselves – a fact that Trip secretly found reassuring.

By the time he had examined what he could see of the technology and made sure the young crewman seemed to be okay – he recognized her as Sophie Miller from the engineering gamma shift – the others had already continued down the corridor in the direction of the engineering room. He quickly joined them, leaving the young woman and his own worries about the newest developments behind – focusing completely on his mission.

A few hours prior, Prometheus

After a good night's sleep – dreamless thanks to an injection the Doctor had given him the evening before – and a surprisingly good breakfast in the mess hall, Trip Tucker now sat in the Prometheus' large briefing room facing the stars. Next to him sat Michelle Laplace talking amicably to the Admiral in front of her. The doctor he had already met but who didn't seem to have a name and a relatively young man with ridges on the nose and a strange earring were there as well, both studying what seemed to be a modern version of PADDs. Suddenly the doors opened and Trip was in for a surprise: a Vulcan man walked in, wearing the same uniform as the others, with a red collar. Belatedly, Trip stood up like the others (with the exception of the Admiral) had done.

"Commander Tucker, welcome on the Prometheus. I'm Captain Stanel." The Vulcan said evenly and offered his hand. For a moment, the engineer was too stunned to say anything until his manners kicked in and he shook the man's hand.

"I… thank you … captain." He stuttered.

His confusion must have been obvious, when the Captain raised an eyebrow and went on: "Our scans showed a Vulcan on board your ship. May I ask why you are surprised about my presence?"

Trip almost smirked. Your typical Vulcan – always forthright. It didn't take him long to return to the present though. "I … uhmm. Well, T'Pol is about the only Vulcan in Starfleet and … well, I just hadn't expected to see a Vulcan here." As an afterthought, he added. "I'm sorry, sir, I meant no offence." (A/N: If you miss Trip's accent, use your fantasy please. I'm so not going to try to write it down – it would come out wrong anyway…)

"None is taken, Commander. Your reaction is of course perfectly understandable considering your situation." The man answered, nodded shortly (almost friendly, Trip thought) and went to his place at the head of the table.

As seemed normal, Commander Leflok began the briefing. He gathered himself, then gave a short overview of the newest findings the science teams had made concerning the cryogenic chamber they had found Trip in and the latest scans of the Enterprise. "Enterprise's situation hasn't changed. The ship is in perfect condition, there seem to be no damages, it just isn't powered."

"May I see what you found?" Trip finally interrupted the officer, too anxious about his ship to stay still much longer. Everybody shifted their attention to him. "I'm the chief engineer after all. I know this ship better than anyone."

Laplace smiled at that, the commander merely nodded and answered "Of course, Commander. Sorry, hadn't thought of that. There you go." And he handed the PADD over.

Trip skimmed the scans, a small part of his brain simultaneously studying the technology of the PADD he held in his hand. It was easy to operate, working quite similarly to the ones they used on Enterprise. The scans were incredibly precise, he noticed at the same time. The Commander was right, the ship seemed to be okay and nothing suggested why the ship was dead in space. "Somebody seemed to have simply switched it off." He finally said. "I can't see any differences to the specs I know – except this energy reading in engineering."

"That is the central energy source of the cryogenic system in your main engineering room." Commander Leflok answered his unasked question. Trip nodded, still immersed in the readings in front of him.

Finally, Captain Stanel outlined the strategy for the next days. "Commander Leflok, you, Commander Tucker and Lieutenant Commander Jensen will beam to the Enterprise and see if you're able to repower the ship's engines. Take a security team with you. Try as well to find other senior officers in order to wake them. It would be beneficial if Captain Archer was awake before we begin to rouse the rest of the crew. Starfleet Command demands that this mystery is solved as soon as possible, therefore it is imperative that we work fast."

"Aye sir." His first officer answered at that and began to stand.

"All is settled then. Good luck, Commanders."

Back to the present, Enterprise, Engineering

"This is small!" exclaimed one of the security officers when they finally entered the engineering room of the NX-01. He said what the majority of the team had been thinking but not dared to utter, but Trip was too startled to pay him attention. His beloved engineering was completely dead, not one single console was illuminated and even though logically he had known that it would be like that, he couldn't help but cringe at the sight. The only light came from their lamps and the small alien device that was sitting on the right side of the warp engine. Just like the chambers and the units they were connected to, the main energy source didn't bear any indication as to how it worked or where it came from. The technology was completely alien.

Commander Leflok shook his head. "Just like from the chambers, I don't get any readings from the device apart from the energy flow. It's probably best to not touch it until everybody has been transported to Prometheus. Who knows what could happen. Let's concentrate on getting the ship back online. Marc, Commander Tucker, see if you can find any reason why you couldn't switch it back on." He ordered his chief engineer Jensen and Trip and then turned to the security detail: "We will have a look at the rest of the ship and catalogue the cryogenic chambers. Let's hope we find the command crew soon."

TBC…

Was it all clear? I hope so; I had a few problems describing what I had in mind… Review please, I want to make this better…