"S/he" and "hir" are my attempt at applying subject nouns to hermaphroditic people.

The timetable for the universes has been accelerated, as you will see. Enjoy!

Kirk finally fell out of his chair. The fall would have knocked the breath out of him if he was not already half numb. He felt the shock-absorbent carpet of his beloved starship. So they were still in one piece, as far as he could tell.

Spock was struggling from his back onto his hands and knees. Kirk heard someone vomit roughly, and he looked up. Chekov was on the ground, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He was looking around as if he wanted to run away. Everyone was down. Uhura was sprawled on the floor, wide-eyed and stunned. The helmsman, Ensign Redpath, gripped his console so hard, his knuckles threatened to break, staring at nothing. Dr. McCoy was huddled in a ball, weeping openly; Gillian's fingers were digging into her tear- streaked face. Red scratch marks followed the paths of her tears as if she wanted to rip away whatever she saw or even rip out her eyes for seeing it.

Kirk swallowed, pushing his vertigo down. "Wha...what happened?"

Spock stood up and appeared to force control back on himself with a shiver, as the lights came back on full power on the Enterprise. "We apparently experienced a surge of power relating to the alien device. It...pushed us somewhere. It is...a miracle, as you may call it, that we weren't destroyed by that much power. I wonder how the ancient owners could use the device without such a drastic experience."

The intraship communication system chirped for attention. "Bridge, this is Scotty. What's goin' on? What happened? Whatever you did, please do na do it again. The poor ship canna take it again, damaged as she still is." Kirk pulled himself back into the command chair and spoke. "Acknowledged. I don't know. We're trying to figure it out." He wiped the sweat off his forehead with the burgundy sleeve of his uniform and turned to Spock, grabbing onto his arm. Kirk drew strength from the touch.

"Spock..." Kirk breathed to clear his head. "Spock, I lived...I...I lived and died...I don't know how many times. Each life was different, but it was me....My God, it was me."

Spock shuddered, something that Kirk had never seen in his best friend before. "Perhaps the device was the epitome of the Theory of Quantum Mechanics in action. For each action we make, there is an opposing action that we have not made. Logic does not dismiss the possibility that we could have had different lives. Different lives for the different ways things might have happened. Most fascinating." Those other lives had opened Spock's eyes to the possible turns his life could have taken.

Kirk nodded, seeing the logic of it. Federation science had barely scratched the surface of Quantum Mechanics. But he would have preferred the experience to have been as mundane as a transporter accident, like when he stumbled into the Terran Empire universe. The important thing is they were all alive and well.

The Terran Empire. That jogged the memory of his life as Emperor Tiberius. He had never wanted to visit that horrible barbaric universe again. Irrational fear began to rise in his guts and he had to suppress it.

"Where are we?" he demanded. The vista of the stars seemed to be different. Titan V and its sun were gone. He found himself pleading that they would encounter no Imperials. "Uhura, shut off the ship's automated subspace beacon." He went to straighten Gillian Taylor, as the Kenyan woman dragged herself to her console, still a little shell-shocked, and followed her captain's command. Gillian started at his touch and stared at him. She grabbed Kirk's proffered hand. "James...I...I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I was only concerned about the whales George and Gracie. I didn't mean to force you to take me into the future." Gillian's eyes widened in fright. "I know that if I had stayed back in 1986, I would have seen the Terror War, maybe even the Third World War after that." When she read of that period in Earth's history, she'd never imagined that the United States would change so much. She was never an American patriot. Marine biology always gained her attention the most. And taxes, of course. Thank God, the Federation doesn't have taxes. She, along with millions of fellow citizens, had thought that they knew better than to allow their nation to change that far. Yet it had, perhaps because of that self-assured knowledge. "The twenty-third century is wonderful...but...it's not right for me stuff myself down your throats." Kirk smiled soothingly. "Gill, it's all right. We have plenty of room in the Federation for you. In the past nine years, you've done well. For example, you've helped reseed Earth's oceans with an extinct species. How many other people could say that?" Gillian smiled, though her eyes were still wet. "You're right, James. You're right."

Kirk then turned to say, "Bones, you all right?" McCoy curtly nodded once. "Jim, I have to be in sickbay. There would be long lines of people waiting for psychological solutions by now." McCoy shuddered and went into the turbolift.

Chekov was composed enough to check his readings, while an ensign discreetly cleaned the mess he left on the floor. He looked confused and checked once more. "Keptin, the stars are not where they are supposed to be." Kirk quickly went to stand over Chekov's shoulder. He watched as the Russian tinkered his console. "Jim...judging by the stellar drift, we have been thrown 34 years back in the past."

"Intriguing," Spock said. "Not only interspatial travel, but time travel as well." So they were now in a time before Kirk took command of the Enterprise and was still serving on the USS Farragut. It would be interesting to meet himself, as long as this was not the Imperial universe he dreaded.

Chekov almost gasped. "We are in the Neutral Zone!"

Alarm swept through the entire bridge crew. Even Gillian Taylor knew how serious that was. In the universe Kirk knew, the Neutral Zone had not been violated by any vessel until the Romulan sneak attack on Federation outposts in 2266, seven years in the future. He certainly did not want to be responsible for a premature interstellar incident. Slightly intimidated by the alarm that his announcement had generated, Chekov added quietly, "In approximately one minute, we will drift straight into Romulan space. We are 1.8 light-years from the Romulan star system of Tranome Sar, to be exact."

Uhura had been listening on the subspace bands. "Captain, there's nothing in subspace. It's quiet. Usually, there's subspace static to indicate use by other races, but all I hear is a very low murmur. There are no buoys to indicate either Federation or Romulan territory."

Stunned, the bridge crew turned to stare at Uhura. Spock had noticed the same thing on long-range sensors. "Indeed. There are no outposts on the Federation side of the Neutral Zone, nor is there any on the Romulan side. Starbase 10 is gone. Essentially, there is no Romulan Neutral Zone."

"What?" Kirk said in shock. His nervousness about being in this universe increased. He remembered from reading the other Enterprise's history database that Earth did not stop at the Battle of Cheron in the Earth-Romulan War. Rather, Earth, Vulcan and Andoria continued to pound the Romulans into submission to the Empire with "clean" atomics. It stands to reason that there would be no Neutral Zone. But what about the lack of subspace activity? That didn't make sense. Perhaps this universe is not the Imperial universe he had been dreading after all.

Chekov reported, "Long range sensors are detecting activity in the Tranome Sar System. Ships of some kind."

The captain nodded knowingly. "Before the Romulans conquered that system, it was Zeta Reticuli, home to the Reticulans. Perhaps they have answers. Mr. Redpath, set course for Tranome Sar...Zeta Reticuli, whichever it is around here. Warp 4."

The field of stars was punctuated by two particularly bright stars. The binary star system of Zeta Reticuli, although it was essentially two complete star systems orbiting each other closely. Into this neighborhood dropped the Enterprise out of warp.

Gillian Taylor gazed upon the vista of stars and the faint wisps of nebulae through the windows of the quarters given her. Memories of the transition into this universe were fading. There were too many for her to remember, but enough was retained for her to ponder. Many had shown her staying behind on Earth as Kirk returned to his time, and many had shown her in the twenty-third century, witnessing wonders and terrors of the universe. Very few, thankfully few, matched what little she could still remember of her dream back on Titan V. A hauntingly beautiful woman, her features still blurred as if through a mirror, or window, covered with water, and hints of odd silently screaming and twisting faces creating a nimbus around the woman. She felt that she should recognize the woman, but the woman also felt totally foreign. Gillian shivered. It was just a dream. A confusing dream, but still just in her mind. The twin bright yellow stars tugged at her eyes.

"Scan the system," ordered Captain Kirk. "Bring us at half impulse to the fourth planet of Zeta 2 Reticuli. It should still be their homeworld around here." It was a potential first-contact situation. It also felt odd to be cruising in what should be Romulan space without worrying about Romulans appearing out of nowhere and shooting before asking why he was on the wrong side of the Neutral Zone. This was, for now, unknown territory and ideal for Starfleet's objective of exploration.

Uhura reported, "Captain, there is still no subspace communication." She never felt more frustrated than now. She was tempted to employ the very untechnological technique of hitting her console with her fists. She continued, "But there's a lot of tachyon activity. It could be what's blocking communications."

Spock's logic allowed him a leap of realization, as close as he could get to what humans call 'hunches.' "The tachyon activity appears to be artificial, therefore logic dictates that this universe uses tachyon for communications. We should change frequencies to receive tachyon communications." Spock adjusted his scanners a bit more to get a clearer long-range reading. "Vessels in the star system do not match anything in the Federation database, although there are similarities to pre-Federation records, especially government files from one of Earth's ancient nation-states."

The bridge crew was startled by an alarm klaxon. Chekov almost shouted, "Proximity alarm! Alien buoys just activated...Sir, we're being scanned."

"Yellow alert. All stop. Keep scanning. Convert frequencies to tachyon communications on the double!" ordered Captain Kirk.

"Sir!" Chekov shouted. "Spatial anomaly forming. Unknown properties, but it appears to be a vortex."

"Onscreen!"

A swirling blue vortex tore out of the fabric of space, looking for all the world like a wormhole. A star appeared to flash in the dark maw of the vortex and a gray and blue saucer-shaped vessel quickly slipped out into normal space. The vortex collapsed on itself behind the vessel. It was huge, nearly 200 meters longer than the Enterprise and had a much greater mass than the Federation starship. Kirk wouldn't like taking his damaged starship against such a vessel in battle.

Uhura had been hastily converting the starship's subspace communicator, so she was startled when the communication device in her ear crackled. "Sir, we're being hailed on tachyon." She glanced at Spock. So he was right, as usual. "Audio only. Communications are not calibrated enough for tachyon visuals." She pressed a button to put the hail on speakers. The universal translator struggled for a while until it finally got the alien language translated.

"I am Hachee, Starmaster of the Vree Merchant-Adventurer Guild ship Valifee. Identify yourself and state your intentions in the Vree homesystem."

Spock lifted an eyebrow. Kirk noticed it, too. Emotion. The alien sounded tense, nervous and suspicious. The Reticulans that the captain knew were supposed to be emotionless. Not unemotional like the Vulcans, but truly devoid of emotions. Although he heard of a few who were emotion junkies, forcing a victim to feel intense pleasure or pain so that the Reticulan could draw the victim's emotion into himself like a drug. This universe still has its familiarities, yet there were differences. It was disturbing. Kirk signaled Uhura for the answer hail.

"This is Captain James T. Kirk of the Federation starship Enterprise. We are here only to explore and contact new worlds."

"James Kirk? Enterprise? Those are Earther names. What are you really here for? And where did you get your ship?" The suspicion in the alien voice increased exponentially. The entire crew was startled. It was too much to hope for, but Earth exists in this universe as well! "Keptin!" Chekov's voice almost shook. "Alien wessel is arming weapons. Antimatter weapons."

Kirk pounded on a communication button. "Scotty! We may need all available power to the shields." The Scottish voice answered in the affirmative. The captain turned his attention back to the Vree ship. "Hachee, we come from the United Federation of Planets. Have you heard of it?"

"Earther, is this a trick? A joke? I understand that Earthers are fond of humor, but these are trying times. I've never heard of your...'Federation'. We may ask the Minbari about that. The closest is the League of Non-Aligned Worlds, of which the Ventuki Conglomerate is a member." It was clearly a warning. A sigh could be heard. "This is old information you should know. Where is your mothership? You are too small to have jumpengines."

A wealth of information was in the Vree's response, yet it was not as helpful as Kirk would like. If they thought the Enterprise was too small to be an interstellar vessel, he wondered just how big this universe's starships were. "We do not have a mothership. Tell me...of what organization is Earth a part?"

Soft laughter rang out of the speakers. Laughter! Laughter from an alien that was supposed to be Reticulan. It was hard to let go of preconceptions. "What strange humor you Earthers have. Very well, I'll play along. It would make these times a little less trying for me. The Earth Alliance is the organization you want. Do you want me to point the way? Though I wouldn't recommend it." The Vree still sounded suspicious.

Kirk still did not understand. 'Earth Alliance' sounds like their version of the Federation, but this alien didn't seem too fond of humans, or 'Earthers' as he called them. In his universe, the term was derogatory, but the Vree doesn't seem to mean it as an insult. "Thank you, no. Do you have territorial star maps I could see?"

Hachee was puzzled. The Earther's behavior was too odd. Was it a delaying tactic? S/he turned to hir fellow Vree on the Xill-class saucer Valifee, waving an elongated hand over a glowing symbol to mute the audio connection. "Keep the scanners strong. They could be Raiders or mercenaries for the Centauri and could be waiting for other ships to arrive. Kamahi, what think you of this?"

Hir second officer turned his black eyes away from the glowing holographic instruments. "I know not what the Earthers are trying to do. Either they are insane or they are sincere. Sincerity about insanity or ignorance...is there a difference? I truly know not." Kamahi laughed. "Their ship does not match anything in our records. They could have stolen it from an unknown alien race, they could have actually built it themselves. Earther script is on it, as you can see. The energy in their ship is unfamiliar, but it contains a lot of power. Maybe enough power to open a jumppoint of their own, in spite of their size." A new symbol glowed into existence in Kamahi's holographic instruments. "Antimatter is detected." Hachee moved hir head slightly back and widened hir black eyes, to show hir surprise. Raiders, although voracious, could never afford the resources for that kind of engine. Kamahi waved a hand over a glowing symbol and a hologram of the Federation starship solidified in the center of the command chamber. Tiny symbols washed over specific areas on it, swirling in shapes of flames. "They appear to have endured damages in a battle...but their ship construction is too fragile for it to be a true warship. It may account for their inability to have visuals. Their translation protocols, however, is very good, even if we had trouble making our communicator compatible with their odd technology." S/he glanced at the viewscreen showing the scarred alien vessel hanging in the starscape and turned back to the scanning hologram, wondering if humans could be as slippery as the Centauri. "If they want star maps, then they should buy them. It is a rare chance for us to actually sell for a profit something that everyone else has." Tinkling laughter poured from Kamahi's small mouth. It was too much of a joke. S/he silently vowed to visit one of Albendazel's temples to show hir appreciation once s/he returns to Vreetan. "But take care, Starmaster Hachee. It is a time of war, even if we are not involved. Yet." War was not the only reason for the Vree's tension. Recently, a form of darkness had fallen across the skies of the Vree worlds and, as far as they knew, the nearer alien worlds as well. The darkness had swallowed the stars in unnatural night only seconds after the air and ground rippled in waves. Ship crews reported similar ripples. It was as if reality itself had gone mad for a few seconds.

Hachee inclined hir head in agreement. Hir eyes reflected Kamahi's memory of that momentary reality dysfunction. S/he waved a hand over another symbol, reactivating the communication link. The Earthers must be getting impatient by now. It is never good to push a human's patience too far. Earther impatience had saved the League worlds from the Dilgar, but it also nearly destroyed humanity in the Earth-Minbari War.

"Captain...Kirk, is it? We have star maps you might like. But they are not free. What can you offer in currency or trade?"

Captain Kirk leaned forward, thinking hard. The Enterprise didn't carry much in the way of currency. Gillian may know something about that, but he doubted that ancient American money would satisfy the Vree. Gold should be one of the universal constants, but nearly all the gold on the starship was needed as part of components. Scratch the gold. An exchange of information? Since there is probably no way to return to the home universe, the Vree could not use the information. He didn't want to accept the possibility that he may not be able to return home, but the Vree didn't know that. "Starmaster Hachee, would an exchange of information satisfy you? A trade of star maps?"

"We may need something more than merely star maps." Something more. Kirk came to a decision. "We come from another universe, so our star maps should be more than adequate. We can also offer information about your own people in our universe."

Hachee, at first, would have called this human one of the biggest liars s/he'd ever met. But this ship was not in any of the records that the Valifee had on hand, and it may account for the initial communication incompatibility. S/he cautiously responded, "Captain Kirk, that would be...acceptable. Please send your information. We will verify its value before sending our star charts to you." Hachee waved a hand over a glowing symbol, causing it to fade and sink out of sight into the holographic console. By now, the strange ship would know that the Vree weapons were powering down. S/he hoped it wasn't a trap. After four minutes of Vree verification, Uhura nodded once, signaling the reception of the Vree star charts. Kirk smiled at the ease of this particular first contact situation. "Ok, we have charts to look over." This couldn't have gone better than he hoped. What an unimaginable chance for exploration and first contacts! Hachee was dumbfounded. They had to be telling the truth. Otherwise, they couldn't have put in this much detail. Vreetan and its colonies ruled by a 'Romulan Star Empire' with one major outpost in 'Federation' space! And the Vree in that universe had no emotion or even a concept of humor! Horrifying. It is abundantly fortunate that Albendazel came to Vreetan and introduced humor to Hachee's people. "Kamahi, send this information to the Guild Grandmaster at Photikar and to Ambassador Zilchah."
Somewhere at the Rim

Laurel Takashima's nerves were still slightly rattled. Protecting the construction of a jumpgate at the Rim was not exactly what she'd call exciting. However, just hours ago, the air rippled in waves and she thought she saw the stars themselves darken. A starless universe for only a few seconds. But it was enough to inspire panic on the Earth ships in the system. The report was sent to Earth Central, so now she had to wait. Boredom, however previously unbearable, was blissful in its return. She leaned back into her chair. Well, she had to lean back, considering the seat harness holding her. She missed her stint on Babylon 5. Gravity, real food even if it was horrendously expensive, meeting aliens, real food rather than those bland freeze-dried rations, constant excitement, did she include real food in her list? She sighed, looking out the windows at the front of the bridge. The huge Explorer-class ship was hanging beside the trellis of the new jumpgate under construction.

Maybe she should not have fallen in with the wrong crowd at Babylon 5. Problem was...she couldn't avoid that crowd, not with what she had done on Mars. The problem finally gave up following her trail to the Rim.

The officer at the scanning post turned his head to Laurel and said, "Ma'am, unknown artificial object just entered the extreme range of our scanners." Laurel perked up. It was just what the doctor ordered for her boredom. At least it wasn't the brief madness. "Silhouette?"

The scan officer shook his head. "Not acquired yet. You don't suppose it's Raiders?" Raiders were hardly to be seen at the Rim, but then again, the reach of the Rim was far beyond the grasp of any military force in the known galaxy. "Move us to 5,000 klicks from the object. Inform the DeSoto of this development and recommend that they scatter their furies for patrol."

"Aye, sir."

The Hyperion-class cruiser fired its engines just hard enough to give thrust to the lumbering ship, leaving the Explorer to its gate construction and temporary isolation. "Silhouette acquired!" the scanning officer shouted excitedly. "It's a ship. No match on file." Laurel grunted her acknowledgement. So far, the alien vessel was the only one in the star system beside the Earth crafts. They still had to be careful. The second planet in the system was rich in Quantium-40 and the fourth planet was barely habitable, just good enough for colonization without the expensive domes. It was possible some other alien race had claimed this system for that most valuable of all rare minerals. Well, the Earth Alliance got the first dip by building the needed jumpgate. Laurel raised her voice over the din of the engines. "This could be a first contact situation. Keep your eyes open." She squinted to see the shape of the silhouette on the scanner screen. It was an odd shape, definitely alien. A toothpick-shaped cylinder thrust through a circular construct, like a thread through the eye of a needle. The circle construct could indicate a centrifugal technology level on par with the Earth Alliance. They could handle this alien, then.

"Send the standard first contact and Interlac protocols," Laurel ordered. Her eyes eagerly searched the stars in the bridge windows, hoping for a glimpse of the alien ship. The comm officer looked up from her computer screen. "Captain, they're not receiving our protocols. Either they're ignoring us or they're too alien to understand us."

Laurel frowned and glanced at Reza Malin, her XO. Or perhaps they were pissed that we stole their star system. "Scatter the furies," she ordered. Within seconds, she could see the pinpricks of six starfuries flying ahead of the ship to take up a defensive screen between the two ships.

"Sir, we're in visual range." The nav officer activated a large screen for a magnified viewing of the alien ship. Laurel's eyes widened. The alien ship's technology was definitely not on par with Earth. It had to be at least equal to that of the Centauri. The alien ship was entirely red, except for the windows and the glowing blue line outlining the ring around the ship. The ring was connected to the ship only by a tapering pylon at the bottom. She could not imagine the engineering and inertia problems that would entail. It spoke of alien technologies and theories not mastered by Earth or many of the alien worlds that she knew of. The tapering stern was similar to those on the Centauri Primus-class battlecruisers, so it could mean the alien had gravitic technology. If this was a warship, it had too many windows in it. The elegant sleekness and simplicity of the alien ship appealed to her Japanese ethos. She turned to the scanner officer. "Weapons reading?"

"I'm not sure, but I think they have at least two missile tubes and three energy weapon ports. The power reading is off the charts for a ship of this size. Some kind of energy, probably their version of ECM, is interfering with twenty percent of my reading." The scanner officer stared at Laurel for further orders. The alien red ship was at least 430 meters shorter than the Hyperion cruiser that Laurel Takashima commands and it was terribly under-armed in comparison as well. But if it actually had that much power, Laurel had to be careful. A repeat of the Omega Incident or Captain Jankowski's mistake wouldn't do, especially with two of the Five Powers on the warpath.

"Sir! Erratic tachyon pulses!" the comm officer shouted. His anxiety relaxed a little after some scrutiny. "Either their tachyon relay is damaged or they don't have one and is using some other device for tachcomm." The comm officer reported activated a monitor. Laurel leaned forward as far as she could in her chair harness. She was momentarily glad that her hair was tied in a queue and loosely held at the nape of her neck by her uniform collar. She hated her long hair floating forward to obscure her vision in the micro-gravity environment of her ship. She felt a twinge of yearning for Babylon 5's and Mars' gravity. The communication screen snowed at first, then it flickered into an image that still had flickering arrows of malfunction shooting across it now and then.

At first, Laurel thought the image was of a human, but the illusion was quickly banished. It was clearly a woman, but her eyebrows slanted upward from above her nose and her ears tapered up to a point. Her olive skin had a faint green tint to it, so her skin color was that of an actual dark olive. Her black hair was a little too severe for Laurel's tastes and she appeared to have a calm self-assurance bordering on arrogance. It was disconcerting. The alien woman reminded Laurel too much of the Minbari and the extinct Dilgar all at once.

The alien's voice was at first garbled by static, but it soon cleared enough for her to hear. "Unidentified vessel, I am Director T'Sara..." The alien identified herself as if she was a queen. T'Sara's eyebrows drew in the most subtle frown Laurel Takashima had ever seen, and the frown was directed somewhere off- screen. "...Sub-Commander of the Federation research ship Hakudo Maru." Laurel was startled to hear a Japanese name given to the alien ship. She was again startled when she realized she was hearing English being spoken by this woman of a species she was sure Earth had never heard of before. She squinted to see if T'Sara's lips moved out of synch with the English words, indicating a sophisticated translator at work. Nope. This alien was actually speaking in English. "We...come in peace." There. A hesitation. Why? Laurel drew herself up straight. "I'm Laurel Takashima, Captain of the Earth Alliance ship Brittany. Please identify your species. Oh...and state your purpose for being here." She smiled. The alien woman had to know that her questions were backed by greater firepower at her disposal.

She could see the alien woman hesitate before speaking. The hesitation had a calculating feel to it. "I am a Vulcan from the planet Vulcan. Most of the people on this ship are not Vulcan. Some are Betazoids from the planet Betazed. Others on the ship are from other worlds in the Federation." Ah. A kind of very cooperative League of Worlds. Could mean trouble for Earth's claim over this star system. "Our...purpose is research. That point can be clarified in person, if you're willing to come visit us."

All in all, that was suspicious. Laurel was not an expert on alien facial expressions, but this T'Sara has not shown any emotion on her face except for that subtle frown directed off-screen. But her instincts were not raising red flags. So far. She glanced at her XO, Commander Malin, still harnessed into his chair. The Persian shook his head. He didn't want his commander to be in a situation that could potentially be a trap.

"T'Sara, can I come with guards?" If the alien refuses, Laurel would refuse as well to visit. It would then be an impasse.

"By all means, do. We would have offered an exchange of people, but our sensors show that your ship does not have its own gravity. Since we are not Starfleet-trained, we are not used to that kind of environment." Laurel and Malin raised their eyebrows in surprise. If their scanning equipment was that sensitive, combat may not be a good idea after all. She sighed. "OK, we're coming."

The Vulcan woman bowed her head serenely before signing off. How very Minbari.

Laurel Takashima had chosen to bring five guards along with her XO. The shuttle swept past the front part of the Hakudo Maru, affording them a close view of the elongated red main hull of the alien ship. The scanning officer had reported that the ECM vanished as soon as the shuttle departed the Brittany. The guard who doubled as the shuttle pilot reported that the shuttle was now under guidance by tractor beams. It was disconcerting and extremely uncomfortable to allow themselves to be taken control by an unknown alien race. Make that races, if what T'Sara claimed was true. The shuttle was brought around to the back of the tapering pylon of the Hakudo Maru, revealing one of the two shuttle bay doors opening to welcome them. When the shuttle was aligned with the open bay, Laurel stared dumbly. She could see three people standing in the open shuttle bay. And they weren't being blown out in space, either. As far as she knew, not even the Minbari could do that.

When the shuttle went through the threshold of the bay, Laurel could see a nearly invisible blue force field faintly crackling at the shuttle's entrance. Suddenly, instead of feeling weightless, she could feel the almost wrenching pull of an Earth-normal gravity. Her stomach seized this chance to relax after such a long time of holding its content down in micro-gravity environment. She revised her opinion of the alien ship's level of technology. If this was just a research ship as T'Sara claimed, she wouldn't want to encounter a warship of this 'Federation.'

The shuttle landed with a gentle bump. Laurel, Malin and the guards took off their harnesses. The pilot-guard would stay to keep the shuttle secured and primed for departure, just in case. Upon exiting the shuttle, Laurel could see three other shuttles in the cavernous bay. Two of them were white boxy affairs, while the third was definitely a miniature and blunter copy of the Hakudo Maru, slightly larger than the Earth crew shuttle. She didn't have time to visually analyze everything. The three aliens were stepping forward. The one in the middle must be T'Sara. The Vulcan woman was a hand shorter than Laurel, but thin, almost gaunt, and walked rather easily. Her flowing robes were in earthy colors with gold script running vertically along the edge of an outer robe. She must be from a desert planet with a heavier gravity. It was still disconcerting. T'Sara's face reminded Laurel of the Dilgar while the graceful bearing was so like the Minbari. She hoped it didn't bode ill for future relations.

The other two people appeared to be humans. A man and a woman. The academic-looking man with the dark aquiline face and deep dark eyes that seem to see a little farther than ordinary eyes like an ocean sailor, had a pull...a magnetism. She knew that kind of man. She'd seen such men and women before. This man had the air of the more successful people within IPX, those capable of loosening purse strings to keep funds flowing into the bottomless maw of the past. Laurel took an instant dislike to the man, however foolish that was. The humanoid woman gazed at Laurel from the other side of T'Sara. Now her bearing was more like a queen than T'Sara. What struck Laurel were her eyes. Large eyes that look human except the fact that the iris was the same black as the pupil. She was not sure if the woman even had an iris. Reza Malin, judging by the way he stared at her, was also struck by the eyes. Attraction of beauty, apparently, was a constant among their species. Laurel came forward with a hand thrust out ahead of her.

"T'Sara, I presume," Laurel began. The Vulcan woman's eyes glanced at Laurel's outstretched hand almost as if it was a distasteful creature, and returned to the Earthforce officer. Laurel quickly pulled her hand back to her side, embarrassed. She should have bowed, thus avoiding a potential faux pas. She turned to her XO. "This is Commander Reza Malin, my executive officer. We are members of the Earth Alliance's military arm, Earthforce."

T'Sara bowed serenely to each Earthforce officer and raised a hand toward the black-eyed woman with the long dark hair full of ringlets. The Vulcan soft voice intoned, "Lady Neclauna Nore, Daughter of the Fourth House, Heir to the Blessed Books of Katara and Holder of the Sacred Scepter of Betazed." Great. A noblewoman. Neclauna smiled disarmingly, although she still held herself straight like a queen. Her eyes seem capable of peering into Laurel's soul, into her mind. Laurel couldn't put her finger on where she had seen that kind of look before. The Vulcan, her eyes carefully examining the Earthforce officers, continued. "And this is Dr. John Howard, Assistant Director, historian and archaeologist from the University of Cydonia on Mars."

Laurel Takashima started. Reza Malin sputtered, "Mars? Not...Mars, the fourth planet in the Solar System, Earth's first colony?" Dr. Howard gazed at Malin and nodded. This was crazy. This xenoarcheologist must have gone beyond the Rim by hitchhiking on alien ships, or on an IPX ship. Laurel wouldn't put it past Interplanetary Expeditions to pull this kind of stunt and not inform Earthforce.

Dr. John Howard inclined his head. "Well, yes. Just...not your Solar System. My Solar System. My Earth is the seat of the United Federation of Planets. You see...we're from another universe. We came here by accident and we're lost."

Laurel gaped. This was looking to be a very interesting day.

Somewhere in the far reaches of the galaxy

Interdimensional activity detected in Spatial Grid 7396, Octant-66-omega. Halt attack on Species 689 homeworld, designated Norcadia. Diverting course of Cube 578 to investigate interdimensional activity. Priority at level 5. Opening transwarp conduit to transwarp aperture in System 85983. Ignore Species 973 in the destination system, designated Taurhai.

We shall comply.