T'Sara is the Vulcan archaeologist borrowed from the ST: TNG book The Devil's Heart. In it, she was extremely old when she died, but here, she is middle-aged, whatever that means in Vulcan terms.

Everyone else on the Hakudo Maru is my invention.

I theorize that in ST: the Undiscovered Country, the Enterprise used a cloaking device to go into the Klingon Empire. Logically, experienced Klingon sensors would only be able to tell there was a vessel in their territory, but not what kind of vessel. Uncloaked, the Klingons would have been able to identify the vessel as a Federation starship without communicating with the deceptive Uhura. This explains the anomaly in the movie well and also explains why the Enterprise wasn't challenged by patrols around Rura Penthe, a very important prison. (Even in the USA, a very civilian society as opposed to the Klingon militaristic society, we have vigilant patrols around important prisons) It still further explains why the later Treaty of Algeron forbids the Federation to research and use cloaking technology.


"This is another universe entirely, gentlemen," Kirk reiterated. "As far as we know, except for Earth, none of the homeworlds we are familiar with exist here." He nodded at Spock to continue the brief he was telling to the senior officers gathered in the main conference lounge. It was good that all the Romulan ale on the ship was stashed away. Kirk doubted that the ale would ever see the Briefing Room again.

"Known space," Spock continued, "is dominated by five main powers." Spock lightly pressed a finger on a device lying on the table. It was Vree technology bought from the now generous Starmaster Hachee. The device glowed and emitted a three-dimensional image of white stars. If Kirk was reading the holographic constellations right, the map was centered at Epsilon Eridani and extended up to 'only' 100 lightyears in all directions. They must not be as extended here as in his home universe. One of the stars was glowing particularly brighter than other stars. It was the sun of Vreetan and Deruzala, Zeta 2 Reticuli. It was made all the more brighter by the proximity of its twin sun, the sun of Photikar, Zeta 1 Reticuli. At another gentle touch, stars glowed colors in groups: red, purple, green, blue, gray and yellow. Spock pointed at the red stars. "We are currently at the edge of one of these powers, the oligarchic Narn Regime with its homeworld at the 82 Eridani System. In our quantum reality, the second planet in 82 Eridani is home to a primitive agrarian civilization protected by the Prime Directive. It would be interesting to find out what made the Narns an interstellar power in this universe. Possibly, it is related to a race called the Centauri who conquered them in the twenty-second century." Spock's finger moved among the stars to stop in the group of purple stars, which looked slightly larger than the red group. "The Centauri Republic centered at the Zeta Tucanae star system—" Dr. McCoy interrupted.

"I thought these Centauri conquered the Narn?"

Spock raised an eyebrow. Sometimes, humans could be very illogical in spite of the evidence before their eyes. "Doctor, empires do not remain static in the grand scheme of history. They are in a constant state of flux, waxing and waning with the times. The Klingon Empire is a case in point. As you are very well aware, the Klingons have 50 years left to maintain their empire on their own." Spock exhaled. It wasn't a sigh, not quite. McCoy, however, still caught the Vulcan exasperation and tightened his lips in his own exasperation. "OK, following your confounded mechanical logic, these Narns somehow broke away from Centauri rule and built their own empire in space. Correct me when I'm wrong, as you are fond of doing. Maybe my logical analysis is too emotional for you, but if I was conquered by an alien, I would try to chase him down and beat him up for conquering me." Spock bowed his head formally. McCoy was not sure if the Vulcan was mocking him. No. Actually, he's sure of it.

"Do you see, Doctor? If you simply apply logic instead of impulsively drawing conclusions, you would be able to prevent me from correcting you."

Yep. The confounded Vulcan was mocking him. McCoy glared as the Enterprise's chief science officer continued his brief.

"The Centauri Republic, something of a misnomer, is actually an imperial monarchy and has been a starfaring species since the fourteenth century. It has expanded and contracted in various stages. Currently, the Centauri are experiencing an ascendancy, or more accurately, a renaissance of interstellar power."

In the holographic star map, some of the red stars close to Centauri space darkened to a much deeper blood red, almost purple. Kirk shifted uncomfortably in his chair. It looked as if blood seeped from the purple stars across the neighboring power. Was it a Vree technique or was it Spock? He noticed that the Vree homestar was right at the edge of this bloodied region. No wonder the Vree were so tense at the Enterprise's appearance. Spock's voice continued its timber. "Following your very astute point, Doctor McCoy, the Narn and the Centauri are at war. This region indicates current Centauri conquests as far up to date as the Vree could get."

Scotty grimaced. Repeats of history are pointless and extremely damaging. Especially when it comes to wars repeating themselves. Earth had its own share of repetitive history. The centuries of wars between the ancient nation-states of France and Germany, and others like them. It was as if the Romulans decided to bloodily rehash the Earth-Romulan War over and over again.

"And what of Earth?" Chekov queried.

Kirk leaned forward. This part should be interesting, he thought, as Spock pointed at a group of stars glowing green. It was flush against the red and purple of Narn and Centauri territories. Judging by the distances, the Solar System was approximately 10 lightyears from Centauri space and the Earth Alliance fanned out away from the Centauri Republic. It appeared too close for comfort.

"The Earth Alliance spans 14 star systems with extensive outposts beyond. Most Earth colonies are still heavily dependent on the homeworld. Very few approach the minimum self-sufficiency recommended for Federation colonies." The star map showed that it was on the other side of the two warring powers from where the Federation starship was. "The Vree has extensive trade relations with Earth, but it is currently disrupted by the Narn-Centauri conflict, so we do not know the current affairs of that space. Since most of us on the Enterprise are human, Earth may be amiable about helping us if we go there."

Kirk winced. "By going through a war zone?" He didn't find the idea of maneuvering among battling warships very favorable to establishing good relations in this universe. It was a literal minefield. First contact situations are tricky at best and to make first contact in the midst of a war could spell disaster. Oh, he'd made first contacts in war zones before, like Eminiar VII and Vendikar, but these were only local planetary and interplanetary wars as opposed to wars between large interstellar empires. He hoped the cloaking device wasn't too damaged in the battle with General Chang. They may need it however distasteful it was to the Starfleet ethos.

Spock glanced at Montgomery Scott. The answer, he knew, would interest the chief engineer immensely. "The species of this universe do not appear to have developed subspace technology in spite of their extensive research into the nature of hyperspace. Without subspace technology, sensors cannot exceed the speed of light. Tachyon, the only naturally superluminal element, is mainly used for communications. As our entrance into the Vree system indicated, the local races depend on long distance sensor buoys which send tachyon-based telemetry to ships and planets. It would be most fascinating to see how intelligent species traverse space without subspace- based technologies. We have already seen the method of interstellar travel with the Vree's hyperspace vortex. So, Captain, logically, we can cross the intervening territories without detection, unless we slow to impulse near any inhabited system or space installation. Therefore, there is no need for a cloak."

Scotty leaned forward, reminding Kirk of the engineer's wide-eyed excitement at Sargon's Planet, Arret. "How does this hyperspace work?"

"We do not have sufficient data. The Vree could only sell us so much. But according to our sensors, the vortex is little more than a wormhole tearing through the barrier between the two spaces. Hyperspace, what little we could see, is somewhat like subspace and local starships generate the vortex with a 'jumpengine' to immerse themselves completely in hyperspace. As yet, conditions of such travel are unknown. Logically, being outside of normal space means the inability to detect anything in normal space. Again, we still have insufficient data."

Scotty breathed excitedly. "It be like goin' straight into subspace without creating a subspace field around a starship! The speed of it! The Starfleet Corps of Engineers have theorized about that. A part of the Transwarp Experiment, it was. Captain, if we could get our hands on hyperspace technologies, transwarp would finally be truly possible for the Federation!"

If we could return home. Kirk hoped it was not a matter of if but of when. Kirk pulled Spock back to the subject at hand. "You said there are five major powers...?"

"Correct, Jim." Spock pointed at the group of blue stars. This time, the territory indicated did not straddle the borders of any of the other indicated major powers. "The Minbari Federation is the second oldest of the main powers. In spite of the official name, the Minbari appear to be the primary species in their space, leaving other species to remain as Minbari protectorates. If we are to look for an analog of our Federation, it should be the League of Non-Aligned Worlds." The League's stars were apparently haphazardly scattered between the main powers rather then gathered in a coherent group of yellow stars, some of which were actually isolated from the main body between the Earth Alliance and the Minbari Federation. The two Vree stars was part of this League. "However, this League is much looser, more accurately to be called an alliance of mutually independent worlds."

Chekov raised a finger to poke into the cloud of stars at the gray stars. "And this area? What's in there?"

"The oldest of the five main powers, the Vorlon Empire."

Scotty whistled. "All of it? Gotta be hundreds of stars in that wee space—"

"It extends off the chart," Spock interjected. "The borders have not yet been entirely mapped by any of the species known to the Vree in this universe. However, the known volume of it is such that it can adequately contain the Federation, the Romulan and Klingon Empires within itself." Kirk stared at the hovering holographic stars. The Vorlon Empire straddled the coreward borders of the Minbari, Centauri and League territories, nearly overpowering the holographic star map. It had to be a major player in interstellar politics.

Kirk slowly shook his head at the wonder of such interstellar complexity. Even though the reach of the local powers was much shorter than in his home universe, this quantum reality was much more Balkanized. It was as if Captain Jonathan Archer failed to pull the five allied races into a Federation and each race went their own ways in the twenty-second century. The psychohistorians and anthropologists at the Daystrom Institute would have a field day with this universe. He muttered rhetorically, "Where can we go for contact and help?"

Spock chose not to regard Kirk's words as rhetoric. "Jim, there is a way for us to initiate First Contact with all of the governments at once. In spite of the complexity of the spaces involved, their diplomats have managed to meet together in a port of call in neutral space. Not quite unlike the failed colony at Nimbus III." The Vulcan touched the mapping device, manually highlighting the star of Epsilon Eridani. "The interstellar forum is in this star system on an Earth space station. Every starfaring independent world within a 75 lightyears radius has an ambassador posted there. At a constant Warp 7, we can reach the Epsilon Eridani System in six days."

Scotty spoke up. "Captain, we need to repair the ship. The wee lass is in no shape if the locals turns out na friendly. We do na have a starbase for repair. Can we na ask the wee gray Vree for repair materials?"

Kirk schooled his face to show a brave façade of captaincy, but he was not able to keep from tightening his lips. It was frustrating. Back in his home universe, he could always rely on at least limping back to Federation space or any of its allies for resupplies and repairs. But here...he didn't even know that Earth would be able to help in any way. "Scotty, we need to pay for anything we want from the Vree. Short of selling our technologies, we are too poor to beg for even one phaser."

"Indeed," said Spock. "We are forced to look elsewhere. I recommend we go to the Epsilon Eridani System for other options."

Kirk curtly nodded and stood up, thereby adjourning the brief. He paused and held out a hand to touch Spock's elbow. He must be getting very tired if he couldn't think clearly about local identities. "What's the name of that space station?"

"Babylon 5."

Laurel Takashima was still stunned. She was staring out the impossibly enormous portside windows of the Recreation Room of the Hakudo Maru. She could see the Brittany hanging in space and highlighted by the sun of this star system.

Another universe entirely. Sure, hyperspace is another dimension, but it doesn't have any native star system or species. Except for the stories about the Lost Planet. It was just a legend and a story in the bestseller book The Crimson Castle. The writer, Alexa Belli had a good imagination, but the people on this alien ship had her beat, except it wasn't fiction. The truth is stranger than fiction.

The noise of swishing silks called her attention from behind. Laurel turned around quickly. T'Sara had promised her solitude in the Recreation Room with food laid out on a table. It must not be threatening, because Reza Malin and the guards had not barred the entrance of whoever was coming.

It was Lady Neclauna Nore and another woman with the backdrop of stars in the starboard windows. The other woman had the same intense black eyes. Laurel had to keep her mouth from falling open. The other woman was beautiful, beyond beautiful. Dressed in maroon and black, the young woman's skin was ivory pale with midnight black hair flowing like a waterfall to just below her shoulders. Laurel knew that she was considered beautiful, but compared to this one, she might as well be merely pretty or even plain. It was foolish, but it irritated her. She had to remind herself that she was an Earthforce officer and straighten herself for the inevitable introductions.

Lady Neclauna smiled benevolently, if coolly. "Captain Takashima, may I introduce a protégé of the Fourth House and a researcher in the University of Medara, Liria Satarah." Liria made a small curtsy, like a noblewoman to a commoner. If she was human, Laurel would feel even more irritated at the almost condescending regal formality. But this Liria was beautiful. And tall. A thin waist, but tall. Probably six feet tall. A full foot taller than herself so that Laurel had to look up at Liria's face. She almost felt a pull toward Liria. It wasn't like the magnetism of Dr. John Howard, but it almost felt like she was attracted to the alien woman in spite of the fact that she did not lean that way. It was disturbing.

Apparently, Reza Malin was not immune to Liria's 'charm.' "Allah," Reza said, sounding as if he was saying his thoughts out loud unconsciously. "If there is such a thing as perfect human beauty, in face and form, than you—"

"Commander!" Laurel shouted. Malin stiffened in embarrassment, his ears turning red, which was quite a feat, considering his Persian-Iranian skin pigment.

Liria laughed musically. "It's understandable, Captain Takashima. I am not a full Betazoid. My father was a Deltan," Liria said proudly, as if it was perfectly clear. A mixed alien breed! Laurel had to suppress the automatic revulsion at the idea. Liria smirked. "Don't worry, I took an Oath of Celibacy before joining the expedition." Laurel nearly choked, and Malin's eyes bulged. Oath of Celibacy?

Lady Neclauna cleared her throat and narrowed her eyes at Liria who, after a silent and pregnant pause, frowned back. The Betazoid noblewoman smiled apologetically at Laurel. "Please excuse Liria. She has not yet fully accepted the fact that this is a different quantum reality and you may not have heard of Betazed or Delta IV."

Reza Malin was nervously trying to make his tongue work through a very dry mouth. "Umm, Miss Nore...what is this...umm Oath?"

Neclauna and Liria looked at each other and giggled. Liria silently looked at Neclauna and the silence felt pregnant to Laurel again. What's going on? Is it a Betazoid thing? The feeling of familiarity tickled her again. Neclauna nodded once and answered, "Deltans have very strong pheromones. Extremely strong. It is said a human cannot survive a sexual encounter with a Deltan without prior conditioning." This time, Malin choked, sounding as if he was having a heart attack. Pheromones. That explained Laurel's vague and troubling attraction to Liria. That cleared it up. She did not want to go through another identity search she'd endured in her college years. Neclauna arched an eyebrow at Malin before finally saying amusedly, "The Oath of Celibacy is to protect sexually immature races from the Deltans'...qualities."

Reza Malin's mind was blank of anything to say. Sexually immature? He suddenly became aware of Liria's eyes on him. Her expression didn't change, but those dark, dark eyes made him feel naked. Unbidden, the thought came of Liria with no clothes. Malin felt his face burning hot. Liria smiled as if she knew what Malin was thinking and feeling. She offered a hand to Malin who accepted it. Her hand was firm, surprisingly strong and was...silk? Something softer, smoother. Malin nearly shivered.

"I hope you can help us in our predicament," Liria said. Malin nodded slowly, while Laurel frowned. How could anyone's skin be so soft? Noticing Laurel's frown, Malin pulled his hand away as politely as possible. Neclauna touched Liria's elbow and looked admonishingly at the younger woman. Liria bowed her head slightly, seemingly in submission to an unvoiced request. Again, the apparent silent communication. The familiarity tickled even harder at Laurel. Suddenly, it seemed that Malin felt a little less attracted to Liria even though she was still the same stunningly beautiful woman. The pheromones. Deltans were probably able to control their pheromones. It was probably a good thing that Delta IV didn't exist around here. He could see the potential problems that may entail. Slavery. A Centauri conquest. Humans dying of sex rather than sex-related diseases.

Laurel stepped forward to assume the authority that Malin had nearly usurped. "We will do what we can. But I doubt that we can return you to your universe." Her comm link chirped for attention. Laurel raised her hand to her mouth and pressed the link for activation. "Takashima, go."

It was the voice of the comm officer on the Brittany. "Captain, the DeSoto reports the completion of the jumpgate. They will activate it soon."

About time. "Thank you. Plot a course back to the gate and prime the engines. We will be back."

"Yes, sir."

Neclauna still stood regally, but the glint of eagerness shone in her eyes. Laurel smiled. The activation of a jumpgate was a wondrous event. Few could ever get tired of the miracle of that technology. These people from the other universe claimed to not know of jump technology. Instead, they relied on something called the 'warp drive' to travel in space, apparently capable of distorting space around a ship for speed. Sounds like a very advanced form of gravitic drive. If they were telling the truth, they were in for a treat. "May we offer you escort to the jumpgate?"

"Thank you, Captain Takashima. I'm sure that the Director and her assistant will appreciate that." Neclauna turned and left the Recreation Room. Liria's lips turned up at a corner. Laurel and Malin weren't sure if the Deltan-Betazoid was smiling.

Dr. John Howard was looking at the main viewer. He could see the Brittany just ahead and beside the Hakudo Maru. Far ahead, Howard could also see another Earth ship, the DeSoto beside a construct that looked like an incomplete version of a Starfleet drydock frame. He could not believe how primitive these so-called Earth ships were, and he also could not believe the size of these ships, especially the DeSoto, which ops had claimed to be 6,104 meters long. Such a huge expensive waste of materials and resources. Nevertheless, he was impressed with their size. He shook his head in wonder. Primitive ships and worlds matched with a traveling technology that seemed centuries ahead of what these primitives should be capable of. If there is a God, he had a sense of humor. It was an anomaly he intended to figure out.

T'Sara was busy using the ship's equipments to analyze the 'jumpgate.' Vulcans. Always relying on machines to do the looking for them. But this T'Sara, though unfailingly logical and unemotional, had an unusual understanding of the emotions of other races. She had her uses, as much as the machines. Howard had to be careful around her. The communicator trilled for attention. He moved to activate it, again resenting the loss of Giuliana Margolis. The Starfleet liaison and observer had fallen into a coma in the transit into this universe. Now he had to do everything that Giuliana did. It was vexing. Laurel Takashima's face appeared on the main viewer.

"Hakudo Maru, we're activating the jumpgate. Enjoy the show." She smiled before signing off. Howard could see a form of harness holding the Earthforce woman into her chair. No gravity control technology. How could they stand traveling in space in such a primitive environment? It was a wonder he didn't see the content of stomachs floating around Laurel's head.

The main viewer switched back to the view of the jumpgate and the nearby DeSoto. The nearer ends of the jumpgate's brackets glowed bright. The four lights ran down the length of the gate, picking up speed while causing the Hakudo Maru's sensors to register a massive energy buildup. When the bright lights reached the further ends of the gate, light exploded between those ends as a hole is punched into hyperspace. An orange-golden vortex spilled out of the explosion, exposing the hell of hyperspace to the cold order of normal space.

Everyone with eyes upon the newly completed jumpgate gasped at the wonder of the technology. The Hakudo Maru people were completely speechless while their scientific equipments went crazy. Even T'Sara was impressed and it took much to impress any experienced and well-disciplined Vulcan.

"Hail the Brittany," ordered T'Sara. John Howard barely bristled at the order. Maybe he shouldn't have pushed her into making herself 'subcommander' of the ship when they found Giuliana unconscious. The communication link was tied in with the Earth military craft. T'Sara then requested permission to enter the jumpgate.

"Director," answered Laurel cautiously, "you do not have the codes for the gate or for any of the other gates and hyperspace beacons. You could get lost in hyperspace and I wouldn't recommend that." Captain Takashima thought for a while. Earth Central still had not responded to her reports, yet. No matter. The answer would soon become prompt if she took things in her hands. "We could escort you to the nearest Earth outpost." She nodded to Reza Malin to add that to the reports bound to Earth.

T'Sara bowed her gratitude. "We accept your offer." The sensor reading of the jumpgate had proved most fascinating. An unknown chemical element was detected within the construction of the vortex generator, 'jumpgate' they called it, although it had properties similar to duridium and uridium.

The DeSoto moved into the jumpgate. The length of that gargantuan Explorer class ship elongated as it entered the open gate and vanished in a flash into the hellish maw of hyperspace. It was leaving to build another gate for the next star system. The Brittany signaled the red Surak-class starship to enter the gate before following it into hyperspace. The blue outline on the red ring around the Hakudo Maru glowed slightly brighter as its subspace fields manipulated the impulse engines. Its sharp nose poked into the tunnel of the swirling vortex.

T'Sara and John Howard stared into the roiling hell of hyperspace. Howard could barely catch his breath. In a warp drive, at least hell was contained within the matter-antimatter annihilation chamber, not all around outside a ship. Inexplicably, they felt pushed a little backward as the ship toed its way into the roiling vortex. The inertial dampeners should have canceled that, but it was probably part of the strange technology's properties. The universe elongated for all on the Hakudo Maru as the ship was stretched into a long strand of atoms.

The ship went back into its own usual shape within hyperspace itself. John Howard stumbled as the deck lurched. The hull seemed to groan in distress. His eyes swiftly took in the sensor readings coming in.

"Gravity waves!" Howard rushed to the ops console, while holding onto the wall to keep from falling down. T'Sara was likewise holding herself into the command chair. Howard forced himself to remember the sequences and hurriedly increased the structural integrity field's strength. The Hakudo Maru was buffered by yet another cloudy gravity wave and it shuddered.

They were in hell. Howard remembered an ancient Chinese curse.

May you live in interesting times. Indeed. Things were getting too interesting.