As he and K'Elyr followed Trance to the *Andromeda's* command deck, Worf asked if the turbo lifts weren't working.

"Turbo lifts?" Trance asked.

"Yes," Worf said, "elevators between decks and parts of the ship."

"Nope," Trance said, "no elevators. You have to walk everywhere, or climb up and down these ladders."

K'Elyr smiled. "Well, that's one way to take the pounds off."

Trance nodded. "Oddly enough, Harper gets everywhere faster than anyone when he uses the conduits. No one else can do that. Tyr thought he could run on all fours, but no one has seen that."

"Yeah…" K'Elyr said. "Too much information."

When they got to Command, Worf noted that Olma and Commander Rhade had got there ahead of them … and the layout of the command deck. "Interesting," he said.

"What?" Rommie said.

Worf was taken aback. Although he had known Data for years, dealing with so life-like an android who was the embodiment of the ship around him…it would take him a while to adjust.

"Are the weapons stations back here?" Worf asked.

"You're not going to be cleared to fire my weapons."

"That's not what I meant…Andromeda. The floor plan of your bridge is very much like that of the *Enterprise*…the *Enterprise* I first served on." He walked towards the rear consoles. "The weapons stations would have been back here."

"The weapons were there, originally," Rommie explained, "though over time my crew…moved around. Those functions are transferred to the forward stations as need arises."

"The *Enterprise* work stations functioned in a similar manner." He looked around and noted Beka standing at the pilot's station. "Although on the *Enterprise,* the pilots had chairs."

"Yes!" Beka hissed without looking back.

Worf smirked. "Although I did not mind standing at the weapons station."

Beka growled.

"One thing," Rommie said, "what did you mean by saying the '*Enterprise* you first served on'?"

"Oh," Worf said, "unfortunately, the *Enterprise-D* - she had been the latest in a series of ships to bear that name and serial number, in honor of the first *Enterprise* commanded by James T. Kirk - the *Enterprise-D*was destroyed in battle."

Rommie seemed visibly shaken. "How many of the crew survived?"

"There were no casualties. Many were reassigned to her successor, the *Enterprise-E.*"

"Good. Sounds like I would have liked her…her? Did your ship have a female or a male-no, wait, it wasn't sentient-never mind. But it sounds like a good ship."

"Yes, she was." Worf thought, and smiled. "And although not officially sentient, Mr. LaForge-our engineer-had … colorful things to say about her when he had problems with the warp core."

Rommie smiled. "Well, that's what starships run on, Mr. Worf - matter, antimatter, and curses from the engineers."

Beka smiled without looking up from her work. "And it doesn't hurt if the engineer also provides flattery, compliments, pet names, and unneeded upgrades."

Rommie kept smiling. "Mr. Worf. In your experience, have you worked with pilots with a pathological need for cold show-" she broke off at the sound of Harper and Dylan's voices coming through the hatch.

Harper was talking as he entered with Dylan: "C'mon, Boss!"

"No," Dylan said.

"Please? Just think it over-"

"NO! For the last time, Mr. Harper, the other universe can not keep Tyr."

"You sure?"

"Yes!"

"Oh." Harper sagged, then brightened. "Oh, I know: Loan him out for a year or ten, some kind of exchange program."

"Mis. Ter. Harper."

"Ok." Harper turned to his console. "You want to pass up a chance at interuniversal peace and harmony, who am I to judge?"

Dylan blew out a stream of air, then nodded to Worf. "How are you two doing?"

"Fine," K'Elyr said. Worf nodded.

"Good." Dylan turned to his crew. "Status, people."

Beka said, "Well, I'm just putting us in a halo orbit around the L1 LaGrange point. From what Worf told me about how big DS9 is, we should have more than enough clearance if it comes through. Theoretically."

"I think you've handled it, Beka," Trance said.

"Good," Dylan said. "Rommie, open a-"

"Actually, Dylan, they're hailing us."

"When?"

"Just now."

"Oh."

K'Elyr snorted a laugh. "Sorry," she said. "Two universes you open a channel first…." She had to turn away.

"Well, that's good," Dylan said, "because it's better than being shot at. Rommie, on screen."

The central monitor lit to show Sisko and his officers in an amphitheatre-like command center.

"Captain Sisko," Dylan said. "You made it back ok."

"Yes, Captain Hunt. And I have word on Tyr Anasazi. The operation on him has been a success; he is expected to make a full recovery in a matter of hours."

Harper snapped his fingers and muttered under his breath. Everyone else ignored it.

Sisko noticed the exchange and decided not to get involved. "Mr Worf! How have they been treating you?"

"Fine, sir," Worf said.

"Good. Then the only outstanding issue is getting you back."

Dylan said, "Any thoughts on that?"

"Yes," Sisko said. "For that, I'll turn matters over to my operations chief, Miles O'Brien. Mr. O'Brien?"

"I've been going over data from Lt. Dax's tricorder," said a red-haired man. "Following our signal through the wormhole should bring you here, so the real question is what ship to use. I advise against bringing the *Andromeda.* From what I can tell, your sublight engines and artificial gravity should be ok, but unfortunately, Andromeda's quantum processors may not work here. You need something….a bit less sophisticated."

Beka leaned on the flight control station's railing. "Which means my little ol' *Eureka Maru* gets to fly into the unknown again."

Kyra smiled. "I'm sorry, Dear. Did you have other plans?"

"Yeah," Beka said. "Kickboxing. Times like this, I really want to beat someone up."

"Oh, I'm sure we can find something to give you a workout here."

"You can try."

Sisko and Dylan didn't miss the veiled threats between their seconds. They chorused: "Will you excuse me, Captain?"

The screen blanked.

"Sorry," Beka said, "but she still gets under my skin."

"I know," Dylan said, "which is why I want you to stay here."

"Dylan, no, you need your best pilot, and I am the best. You know that."

"Yes, Beka, but this is still a first contact situation with people from another universe, and it won't help if Sisko and my XO's are trying to murder each other-"

"Dylan, no, I can keep it together. Whatever else one may say about … the Major … you don't have to worry about me knocking her teeth out. Really. And I haven't let you down when it counted."

"No, you haven't." Dylan sighed heavily. "Fine."