SG-1 and General Hammond were back around the meeting table again, Samantha Carter beside the display screen, which this time showed a revolving schematic of a location in space-time, a green line bisecting a cube filled with points of light.

"As far as I can tell," she was saying, "and from what we discussed with Lieutenant Commander Ivanova, the location of Babylon 5 isn't on the Stargate network. In fact, it's not in this universe at all."

"A parallel universe," said Daniel, "like the one we saw through the quantum mirror."

"Or our future," said Sam. "They come from Earth, but it's the year 2258 for them. This may be where our timeline is headed."

"Doesn't have to be our future," said Jack. "It could be the future of a timeline that branched off from our own, centuries in our past."

Sam looked at Jack, surprised. He didn't usually contribute to the theoretical discussions. On the contrary, Jack – ever the military man – was usually eager to skip the theory and move straight on to the practical.

"What?" he said with a shrug. "Sometimes I get tired of playing dumb at your little Science Club meetings."

Hammond couldn't suppress a chuckle at that.

"It's a possibility, sir," Sam admitted, ignoring Jack's teasing. "In an attempt to find out for certain where – and when – this station is, we tracked the trajectory of the wormhole as best we could. The path passes right through the centre of at least three suns and pretty near a black hole, before… Well, at that point we gave up trying to follow it. The point is, I believe the link between our Stargate and what Ivanova calls a 'Jumpgate' is due to a chance conjunction of celestial bodies so precise that it will never again occur in the lifetime of our universe."

"So," said Jack, "it's now or never?"

"That's one of our main problems," replied Sam. "As far as I can estimate, we will only have around twenty-four hours before the pathway shifts out of alignment and we can't get there at all," she paused, looking uneasy, and added, "…or back."

"Uh, I can think of another problem," said Jack. "Like, how do we get back? It's not as if they have a DHD or even a Gate we can use to manually dial. What, are we hoping to click our heels together and say there's no place like home?"

"Kosh will get us home," stated Daniel.

Jack turned to stare at him. "You sound awfully sure of that."

Daniel could only shrug. "It was in the message," he said. "Okay, not in the message, exactly. It wasn't spoken to me, but it was more like the knowledge was placed into my mind. Just like I knew the Gate coordinates, I know Kosh will be the one to get us back."

Jack shook his head. "See, I'm not liking that as an exit strategy."

"We have to try, though," implored Daniel. "That dream was a plea for help. Not only that, but this pathway, this bridge, whatever it is, represents a chance for us to visit what might well be the future of mankind in space."

Hammond leaned forward in his chair. "This Kosh sent you a Gate address that somehow spans time and possibly even dimensions, and it worked, so I have to assume he's also powerful enough to get you all home again."

He fell silent for a few moments, considering his decision, until finally he spoke again, making clear from his tone that his deliberation was non-negotiable: "I'm giving you exactly eighteen hours from now to get there, to do what you have to do, and to return home. I won't risk any longer than that."

"Aren't we all forgetting something else?" asked Jack. "How do we get through the Stargate to Babylon 5? There's quite a lot of space between the two. I mean actual space."

Sam braced herself. This was the part she had not been looking forward to explaining. "I've spoken to Ivanova," she said. "and she's going to send out a ship to pick us up." That was the easy part over, now for the tough sell: "We'll need to wear suits, of course."

Jack raised his eyebrows. "Space suits?"

Sam smiled. "Can you think of better suits to wear in space?"

General Hammond stood up, indicating that the meeting was at an end. "I'll arrange for four suits to be made available ASAP," he said.

Jack sighed. "We'd better make a move then. If we're gonna boldly go…"

Commander Jeffrey Sinclair sat at his desk as he did most mornings, receiving the latest update from his first officer. Today's briefing was a little unusual, however, even by Babylon 5's standards.

"And they say they're from Earth?" he asked.

"They also say they're from the past," replied Ivanova.

"You don't believe them?"

"I'm not sure, although stranger things have happened. Either way, I'd like to bring them aboard, find out more."

Commander Sinclair smiled. "At worst, I suppose Doctor Franklin could always use a few more psych cases to study."

"In this place?" said Ivanova. "Try showing me someone who isn't at least a little nuts. Anyway, they're suiting up now and I'm preparing a ship to go out and meet them."

"Wait a second," said Sinclair. "They're coming through the Jumpgate in space suits? They are nuts!"

Ivanova shrugged. "They say at their end it's not a Jumpgate in space. It's an Earth-based device for pedestrian planetary travel."

"They walk?"

"Apparently so," replied Ivanova. "Here's hoping they get through in one piece."

"I'll let you get on with your preparations," said Sinclair. "Contact me when they're aboard."

As an afterthought, he added: "Take Garibaldi with you when you go to meet them. Can't hurt to have some security along. Hell, if they're crazy enough to walk through a Jumpgate, who knows what they're capable of?"

Jack dropped the visor of his space suit, listening to the sound of his own breath muffled in the confines of the helmet.

Behind him on the ramp that led up to the Stargate stood Sam, Daniel and Teal'c, similarly suited up, and before him, an open wormhole rippled and glimmered.

"Okay," said Jack, as much to check the functioning of the radio communicators in the helmets as for something to say. He pointed a gloved hand up at the Gate. "Let's do this."

They stomped up the ramp and stepped through the shimmering wormhole. Their vision was instantly filled with the now-familiar screeching vortex that hurled them from Earth to their distant destination. For a few seconds before the end of their journey, the colour of the vortex deepened to a dark, stormy blue, the vortex twisting and contorting.

They emerged from the Jumpgate wormhole. There ahead of them was Babylon 5 and even from this distance, they could make out the little signs of activity in and around the station, with lights blinking on and off, tiny ships circling it, and the station itself constantly turning around on its axis.

"Uh, why aren't we moving?" asked Daniel.

"We are," Sam assured him. "It's just that with no gravity and no acceleration, you don't get any sensation of movement and there's nothing close enough to us to provide a visual reference for our relative position."

"Oh," said Daniel, sounding very little the wiser. "Glad I asked."

They floated along for a minute in silence, taking in the majesty of the unfamiliar stars spread out around them like tiny diamonds on black velvet.

"Well," said Jack, "that got old surprisingly quick. Ivanova, if you're gonna pick us up, now would be a very good time."

Ivanova's voice crackled through the helmet radio. "Relax," she said. "I've just left the station. I'm on my way to pick you up."

The team strained to see any craft that may have left Babylon 5 and, after a few moments, they could just make out a tiny shape pulling away on a course towards them. The craft grew larger as it flew nearer – much larger – and soon, the massive bulk of a cargo carrier hung over their heads.

"Look at the size of that ship!" Sam exclaimed. "I mean, Babylon 5 looked big, but if this ship was docked inside it, then the station must be even further away than it seems."

"Hold on," said Ivanova, over the radio. "I'm going to open the lower hold doors and bring the ship down to meet you."

"I hope she knows what she's doing," muttered Jack, eying the huge ship with trepidation.

"I heard that," replied Ivanova.

Above them, the two massive doors began to slide apart slowly.

Suddenly, the conical bloom of an incoming wormhole opened up in the expanse of space before them. From it emerged a large, ugly-looking cruiser that immediately launched half a dozen fighters which streaked towards Ivanova's ship.

They could hear her panicked voice over the radio. "Babylon 5," she yelled, "I have six bogies incoming on an attack vector. Require immediate fighter assistance. Repeat: immediate fighter assistance."

The enemy fighters opened fire, streaks of laser splashing across the cargo carrier's exposed hull, scorching and buckling its armour.

The Stargate team could do nothing but hang there, drifting helplessly in space.

"We're sitting ducks!" cried Sam in frustration.

"Returning fire," shouted Ivanova. From somewhere on the top of her ship, a single laser began pulsing out shots at the fighters, but it was clear she was hopelessly outgunned.

As the fighters circled around for another pass, Ivanova's voice crackled over the radio. "This is gonna get ugly!"