Episode 6: New and Old Friends
USS Enterprise – Docked at DS9Captain Riker entered the bridge of the Enterprise and wandered over to the communications officer. Matters had been relatively quiet since the attack in the transporter room, and Picard had given him temporary command until he and the senior staff returned from the alternate Earth. His new command, the USS Titan, was en route to DS9, where the Enterprise was currently stationed. He had ensured security aboard the ship was tightened, and Major Kira had done the same on the station.
"Any word from the Captain?" Riker asked the Ensign.
"Nothing yet, sir."
"Keep me informed."
"Sir? Guinan is in the Conference Room. She said she wanted to see the Captain and that it was very urgent."
"Guinan? All right. I'll go see what she wants."
Riker head for the Conference Room, stepping through the door and spying Guinan standing by the expansive window, wringing her hands in a nature quiet different from her usual calm demeanour.
"Guinan? Is there anything wrong?"
"Oh, Commander…I mean, Captain Riker. Will Captain Picard be available anytime soon?"
"I can't say for sure, Guinan. I'm afraid we don't know when the Away Team will be back. You look very worried. What's the matter?"
Guinan took a seat at the table and placed her head in her hands, her voice sounding tired and worn out, "It's this attack on the ship. Everything about it is wrong. Just wrong!"
"I know. We lost some good people down there…"
"It's not that, Captain. As if that wasn't enough, that's not what I was referring too."
"What else could it be, Guinan?" Riker asked, sitting next to the anxious woman.
"You know my people are…sensitive to time. Well, it is nothing I can put my finger on exactly, but ever since the attack everything here has felt wrong."
"Wrong how?"
"I can't explain it. It just feels like a train about to derail. Like time is off its track."
"I'm sorry. I don't know what you mean."
"I wish I could explain it better. All I can say is…those robots weren't supposed to be here. They aren't…they aren't part of this time stream. Part of this whole reality. Everything is wrong since they have been here."
Riker stared at the woman, a perplexed look on his face. Guinan laughed a little and patted his arm. "Maybe it's just an old woman being nervous, Captain."
"Captain Picard always found your counsel to be very valuable, Guinan. I'd be remiss to do the same. From what I understood, Data did detect some kind of minor temporal flux. Maybe that has something to do with it."
"Maybe," Guinan said, rising. Riker rose as well, heading for the Bridge.
"If you know anything more, Guinan, let me know. And try not to worry so much."
"No, Captain Riker," Guinan said quietly to herself, "it is you who should be worried. I just wish I knew why."
Control Room – Stargate Command"Daniel, if you tell me one more time to calm down, I swear to God I'll pop you one," Jack said, his voice rising.
"Jack, calm down."
"Calm down? Calm down?"
"Look, it's not as if this is the weirdest thing that has ever happened to us, right?"
"Really? Well, maybe you would like to tell me what is weirder than having three people upstairs with General Hammond, who look an awful lot like a bunch of actors from television, who claim to be from a universe just like Star Trek?"
Daniel opened his mouth, paused, and then said, "Nothing comes to mind."
"All I know is, if Homer Simpson walks into the Gate Room I quit," Jack said, waving his arms in frustration just as Major Carter walked in, hiding a smile when she saw the rolling eyes of Dr. Jackson and Jack's irritated pacing.
"What'd the docs say, Major?" Jack asked.
"You're not going to like it, sir. The 'Captain' does have an artificial heart, way beyond the medical technology we presently have. The Engineer does have artificial eyes as well. And the one that looks like Data…well, he is defiantly an android, sir."
"An android? Are you sure?"
"He disconnected his arm, Colonel. If he is an actor, that's a pretty neat trick."
"That's just great. First we have a giant robot wander in here, now we have a Star Trek reunion on our hands. We'll have every geek and nerd in the country picketing the Mountain if this gets out."
"Sir, once you get up close to them they really don't look at all like they do on TV. The Captain seems older and more confident…he's really quiet charismatic. Up close they aren't what we've seen them to be."
"I thought you'd be excited about this, Jack," Daniel said.
"Excited? Why the hell would I be excited? All this alternate reality nonsense gives me a headache. Remember the last time we had to deal with this? Teal'c shot himself as I recall."
"It's just that…" Daniel began, unsure of how to say what he had to say.
"Oh, spit it out, Daniel."
"It's just that if they really are who they say they are…then you could get a tour of the real Enterprise."
Jack looked from Sam to Daniel for a moment, then wiggled a finger at Jackson and walked into the hallway, saying over his shoulder, "They're in the Conference Room, right?"
Conference Room
It is remarkable you managed to get the Stargate functioning," Data said to General Hammond and Teal'c, "the Federation has been experimenting unsuccessfully for quite some time with artificial wormholes."
"You can thank the fine people we have working for us, Mr. Data," Hammond replied proudly.
"I'd love to take a ride through it," LaForge added.
"You say you managed to find quite an assortment of advanced technology with this Stargate?" Picard asked.
"That and what the advanced races have given us to aid in our defence."
"Starfleet would have problems with giving technology to less advanced civilizations," Data mused.
"The humans have greater problems with the attempts by the Go'uald to enslave or destroy them," Teal'c countered.
"Point taken."
"Captain Picard, may I present Colonel Jack O'Neill, Major Samantha Carter and Dr. Daniel Jackson," General Hammond said, rising from his chair. Picard rose as well, reaching out and taking the Colonel's hand in a firm handshake.
"Colonel, a pleasure. The General here took the liberty of informing us of some of your exploits. Very exciting."
"You really do look different up close," Jack said. Picard passed a confused look from the Colonel to the General. "You didn't tell them yet, General?"
"No, Colonel. I'm not really sure how to broach that particular subject."
"I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage, Colonel," Picard said.
"Let's just say that we're quiet familiar with your exploits, Captain."
"Some of us, anyway," Sam said, "I never watched. The science seemed a little…farfetched for me."
"And yet, here they are," Jack retorted.
Picard was growing more and more confused, yet he hid it well. Jack went over to the television that had been wheeled in and studied the remote, walking around the table. "Let me show you and your guys a little something, Captain," he said as he turned the television on, working through the channels, "I'm sure it's on somewhere. It always is."
"Try Spike TV," Sam said, "Not that I watch it or anything," she added quickly.
"Uh-huh," Jack said, turning over to that channel.
"I should enjoy seeing some of the television shows from this time period," Data said, "your reality does seem to be somewhat close to Earth from our universe in this same time."
"Minus the alien invasions," LaForge said.
"Ah, here we go," Jack said, finding the station and adjusting the volume.
"I am Locutus of Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile. You will disarm your weapons and escort us to Sector 001. If you attempt to intervene, we will destroy you," echoed the television. The camera swivelled around to show Commander Riker, looking typically grim.
"I guess you know how this ends," Jack said, hitting the 'mute' button. He dropped the remote on the table and looked around. Picard and LaForge stared at the television with gaping mouths. The television faded to black, then switched to a commercial for super-absorbent Tampons.
"If you're really lucky maybe this will be a double-header. Part two might air right after."
"Fascinating," Data said finally.
"Was that…was that supposed to be us?" Picard asked to the room, not really expecting an answer. The Captain, for all his composure, felt as though the wind had been knocked out of him.
"The Bridge didn't really look like that…we don't look like that. But…it was pretty close."
"Pretty good facsimile, huh?" Jack said.
"Indeed," Data answered.
"In this reality…in this reality we are a TV show?"
"On for seven years. Well, first there was the original series, then there was a few shows after yours. Oh, and a bunch of movies too."
"Unbelievable," LaForge breathed.
"That's what I said."
"We're sorry to have thrown this at you and your people, Captain," Hammond said, "but we felt you should have all the facts in front of you."
"It was possible that in the myriad of parallel universes there would be a universe where this situation would occur. The chances of it just seemed to be extremely remote," Data theorized.
"And yet, here we are," Jack said dismissively.
"It is possible that the creators somehow managed to subconsciously connect to another reality without realizing it somehow. This could generate into further interesting research. Perhaps the human mind has greater subconscious knowledge of universes around them than we realize. This is very intriguing. I for one…"
"Data, we can discuss this later," Picard interjected, "right now we have more important matters to attend too."
"Of course, Captain."
"The robots," General Hammond said.
"The Assembled," Data corrected.
"Assembled? Sounds like some threat by Lego," Jack thought aloud.
"We managed to access some of their databanks during their assault on the Enterprise. Mr. LaForge and I downloaded some basic information about these constructs."
"Did you maybe find out what they are looking for?"
"The Assembled are searching for a device they call the 'Great Machine'. Its purpose appears to be two-fold. Either they plan to use it to power their transport devices for greater incursions or they hope to somehow destroy the parallel universes they encounter.
"Destroy a universe?" Sam interjected, "How could that be possible?"
"I do not know, Major Carter."
"Right now we have implemented a series of security protocols to stop another incursion if it occurs again. They won't be using our Stargate to attack this base any time soon," Hammond said firmly.
"It may not be that easy, General," LaForge said, "if what Data and I suspect is correct, like you these robots are looking for technology to advance their cause. They downloaded the entire Enterprise database, and that means they'll have access to our transporter technology. You may not be aware of this, but our transporters have been used to cause the dimensional threshold before we used it to travel here."
"Oh sure," Jack threw in, "Spock had that goatee thing going on."
"Um, anyway, we believe that the Assembled will no longer require a focal point for their dimensional apertures. Now they can send their scouts directly to other universes."
"This still does not solve their problems of power consumption, however. They are still looking for a means to power their devices to send larger objects through."
"What do you mean, 'larger objects'?" Hammond asked.
"Several robotic constructs, perhaps entire starships."
"Good Lord. How can we stop them?"
"That's why we are here, Dr. Jackson," Picard said, "We are hoping we could share our information and perhaps find other locations these robots have journeyed too. Somehow, we have to find a means to stop them outright."
Just then, Picard's communication badge crackled to life, "Captain Picard, are you receiving this?"
Picard tapped his badge in surprise, "Go ahead Enterprise."
"How cool is that? It's the Enterprise!" Jack exclaimed.
"Sir, Captain Riker is on his way to the transporter room with some important information for you. This communication line is very unstable….can…transport back?"
"I'm losing the signal but initiate transport when ready."
"Acknowledged."
"Gentlemen, Major Carter, it has been a pleasure. I will return as soon as I can."
"We'll see you then, Captain."
"Colonel O'Neill," the Captain added, "General Hammond mentioned you may be interested in viewing the Enterprise. Would you care to accompany me?"
"Oh General, you know me too well," Jack said, jumping up and heading for the Gate Room.