Space and Time

Chapter 1

First it was the feeling of dusty, rough carpet on her arms and then the sound of distant panicked voices growing closer that intruded on Sophie's deep sleep. She pressed her eyes into her forearm, squeezing them tight to shake off the shockingly vivid dream. However, the voices continued to grow, and the musty smell of carpet filled her nose. Light began to seep through her eyelids as she turned her head. This was not right. Awareness hit her all at once, this was not her bed. This was not her room.

She scrambled to her knees, blinking in the light. Her surroundings were like nothing she'd ever seen before, metal arches stretched up and into a curved ceiling along a long hallway. She grabbed one to pull herself to her feet and the carpet bit into her knees. The footsteps continued to close in, hollow and muted but growing louder. Instinct took over and she threw herself into a run, scrambling disoriented on stiff legs away from the approaching voices and thundering steps. The hallway loomed ahead of her as she stumbled, following the curve of the wall. It ended abruptly at a pair of vaulted metal doors. A bunker of some kind or a submarine? But how? There was no time to think as she desperately searched for a handle. She could feel the seam but could find no way to open them. She threw her fists against the door in desperation as the voices closed in.

"It's got to be in this section, we sealed the doors as soon as we detected the anomaly." The voice was British, and from what she knew of the accent it was quite posh.

"'And yet we still have not found it." A second voice, another man. The words he spoke were in English but the intonation was closer to a snarl and the accent was unplaceable. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end as if she was being stocked by a predator. Then a creature the likes of which she'd ever seen rounded the corner, it moved like a man and almost resembled one, but the ridges on its face made it clear that it was something else. "Freeze!" It snarled and pointed something towards her. She flinched backwards, pressing her back into the cold metal of the door. Sophie looked around desperately, surely there had to be some escape. Then a man rounded the corner.

"Worf what is i-" The man stopped suddenly. "A woman?!" He furrowed his brow, obviously confused. "What on Earth?"

"Go away! Get away from me!" Her voice was raw with confusion and fear, she could feel tears now trailing from her cheeks. The man stopped paused and softened his features. When he had rounded the corner he had been carrying something in his hands as if it were a gun, now he lowered it and tucked it into his belt. He raised his hands and began to move forward slowly as if he were approaching a frightened animal.

"My name is Julian Bashir, I'm the stations doctor. No one here is going to hurt you, we're just as confused by this as you are at the moment."

"Julian, use caution. It may not be as it appears." The lumbering creature pointed the thing in its hands at her again, she realized that he too was holding it like a gun. She flinched at the sound of its voice. He softened his posture slightly, although he kept whatever he was holding pointed at her.

"You don't have to be frightened, No one is going to hurt you." The doctor ignored the warning, continuing to inch closer. "I've told you who I am, now who are you?" His voice was soft, but insistent.

Her eyes darted frantically back and forth between the two. None of this made sense, it must have been a dream. That was the only possibly explanation. Although, she felt very much awake. "Sophia." Her voice shook and she pressed herself even harder against the door as if she could melt into it and disappear. "Where am I? What's going on?"

"Hello Sophia, this gentleman here is my friend Warf-" The other one grunted disapprovingly at the sound of his name. "And that is a very good question. You are on the Station known as Deep Space Nine, in the Gamma Quadrant. Does any of that sound familiar?" The doctor moved forward a few steps, now only a few meters in front of her.

Sophia shook her head, those were all words she knew but the combination might as well have been nonsense.

"We can question her later, Bashir." The man with the face ridges said sharply. "She is a security risk in the hallway."

"Warf, this young woman is clearly confused and frightened. Let's not do anything to make it any worse, shall we?" The man smiled at her, but he looked tense. "All the same you may have a point. Sophia, there isn't much we can do to help you out here in the hall. I'd like to take you to our ships sick bay; would that be alright with you?"

Warf huffed his disproval but waited for her response.

Sophia looked back and forth between the two men yet again. The doctor, Julian, seemed earnest enough. It didn't seem like she had much of a choice either way. She clutched her hands to her chest and nodded hesitantly. She felt the cool, silky fabric of her pajama shirt against her arms. Why was she in her pajamas? None of this made sense.

The doctor placed his hand on his chest. "Julian to Odo, our anomaly would appear to be a young woman. I'm bringing her to sick bay. Would you be so kind as to meet us there?" His tone was deliberately flippant, but the tense undercurrent remained.

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that? I'm afraid you must be mistaken, that is simply not possible." Another mans voice rang out, crisp and clear.

"A woman, Odo." The doctor had placed his hand on his chest again. "And impossible thought it may be here she is."

"Indeed… I'll be there shortly."

The doctor stepped forward and gently laid a hand on her shoulder, she flinched. "It's just a short walk to the sick bay, then we'll ask you some questions and run a few tests to make sure you're all in one piece. We can worry about how you got here after that. Do you think you can make it?"

Yet again, the only choice seemed to be to nod in acquiescence. If this was a dream she might as well go along with it until she woke up, and if it wasn't… she couldn't wrap her head around that possibility.

With the doctor beside her the three made their way down the twisting hallway. The tall man stayed behind her, device still in hand. The hallway opened out into a huge open promenade, with balconies all around. It seemed to be a hub of some sort, although it was completely empty, with only a dim light to light their passage. They passed a number of what appeared to be shuttered storefronts and one very loud and bustling business that made her flinch into the doctor as they walked. Finally, they came to another set of metal doors and the doctor pushed a button on the wall. The doors slid open with nothing but a whoosh to indicate that they had moved at all. Sophia struggled to take in the room around her. Huge curving grey walls stretched around the room, with flashing lights and buttons all around. Black rectangles covered the walls and boxes sat on tables next to strange gurneys. She hesitated, but the doctor put a gentle hand on her back and guided her through the doors to one of the white gurney shaped tables.

The tall man with the strange forehead feel back wordlessly to stand by the door. He seemed satisfied now that she wasn't an immediate threat, but he started at her as if to say she wouldn't be leaving that room without his express permission.

"Take a seat here Sophia, there you go." Julian took her hand and helped her up onto one of the tables. Her knees shook as she stepped up to it. "I'm just going to ask you a few questions, if that's alright with you." The doctor's bedside manner was impeccable, and she nodded yet again despite feeling more and more every moment that she must be losing her mind. "I suppose we'll start with the basics. What's your full name?"

"Sophia Anderson. Sophie."

"Alright, very good. And can you tell me todays full date?"

"March 17th, 2021."

"I beg your pardon?" Bashir was looking at her as if she'd said something utterly ridiculous.

Sophie creased her brow. "Maybe the 18th? It was the 17th when I went to bed and.."

"Are you absolutely sure of the date?" The doctor cut her off, his concern undisguised now.

"Well no, I don't know if it's the 18th or the 17th…" Oh god, was she concussed? Maybe it was actually June and she was hallucinating. She could have tripped over something in the dark if she got out of bed, maybe she'd hit her head? It was almost a comforting idea, a least that was a frame of reference she could understand.

"But the year, what year is it?"

Sophia's eyes narrowed. "It's 2021." She spoke slowly enunciating each syllable. She might be disoriented and frightened, but she surely couldn't have lost track of the year.

"You're absolutely sure?" There was an urgency in the doctors voice now, he leaned in closer to her in clear concern

"You're confusing me, I don't know what you mean!" Her voice began to rise, and fear swelled in her chest again. The sky was blue, grass was green and the year was 2021. If she was wrong about any of those things she was losing her mind.

"The star date today is 50058.3, does that mean anything to you?" Bashir's tone was serious now, it was his turn to speak slowly and deliberately.

"What's a star date?!"

At this Bashir's brow creased, he brought his hand to his forehead to rub his temples in thought for a moment. He looked at her suddenly with dawning comprehension. "What if I told you it was the year 2373?"

Sophie's head went completely blank. She had the vague sense that she might be screaming, or maybe crying. Both? Bashir swiftly grabbed a strange box and pressed it to her neck. She heard a whoosh and felt a prick before the edges of her vision blurred and she drifted off into darkness.