USS Orville

NOVEMBER 2376

"Captain, I'm picking up something odd on sensors." Isaac's reported as his mechanical silver hands dance over the console. The computer chirps, showing a readout on the screen that's definitely not the usual space debris.

"What do you mean by odd?" Captain Mercer asks while looking down at his armrest console. The reading on the screen shows nothing.

Isaac recalibrated the sensors to their highest sensitivity setting. That is when he had picked up the cloaked ship. It was on the other side of the planet, and he couldn't get a visual confirmation because the ship is cloaked. "Unknown radiation signature."

"What sort of radiation?" Commander Kelly Grayson echo's Isaac's words, raising an eyebrow.

"Unfamiliar Commander," Isaac said as his faceplate that's covering his optical sensors scans the harmonics that's laid out on the monitor. "But according to the readings, it's similar to blackholes and subspace that we've encounter before."

Lieutenant Gordon Malloy smirked from his station. "Dibs on naming it if it turns out to be a freaky new space thing."

"Isaac, first dibs on naming it." Lieutenant Gordon Malloy butts in with his cantor. "If it turns out to be a freaky new space thing."

Everyone on the bridge rolls their eyes, as for Isaac, he turns his chair facing Gordon with his index finger pointed.

Captain Ed Mercer leaned forward, squinting slightly at his armrest display, though the readings showed nothing definitive. "Isaac, can you pinpoint an origin for this radiation or any patterns that might give us a better idea of what we're looking at?"

Isaac's head tilted as he processed the question. "Negative, Captain. The readings are anomalous. They bear some similarity to gravitational waves emitted by black holes, but there are additional harmonic distortions in subspace that are unlike any previously encountered."

Commander Kelly Grayson crossed her arms, leaning in closer to view the display on the main screen. "So, it's something like a black hole, but not quite? Are we talking naturally occurring, or...?"

Isaac swiveled slightly toward Kelly. "The phenomenon does not align with natural signatures typically associated with gravitational anomalies. It is likely artificial or the byproduct of a complex technological process."

Gordon Malloy, ever one to lighten the mood, shot up an eyebrow. "So, maybe some aliens out there figured out how to make their own black holes? I mean, we've all had days where that'd come in handy."

Captain Mercer half-smiled, letting Gordon's quip ease the tension. "Isaac, can we get any more detail? Or figure out where exactly this ship—or whatever's producing the signal—is heading?"

Isaac's silver fingers danced over his console again, adjusting various settings, as his optical sensors displayed swirling calculations. "It appears to be maintaining a stationary position, approximately 10,000 kilometers beyond the planet's outer atmosphere."

Kelly straightened up. "A stationary cloaked vessel emitting black hole-like radiation signatures? That doesn't sound like anyone dropping by for a friendly visit."

Ed nodded in agreement. "Definitely not the welcome wagon. Bortus, hail them. Let's see if they feel like talking."

Bortus tapped the comm, his typically stern expression unchanging. "Unknown vessel, this is the USS Orville. We have detected your presence. Please identify yourself and state your purpose in this system."

Silence filled the bridge as everyone waited, but only static returned on the open comm line. Ed sighed, glancing back at Isaac. "If they're not answering, let's see if we can get a visual confirmation. Any way to tune our sensors to penetrate that cloak?"

Isaac's faceplate shifted, a slight pulse of light emanating from his optical sensors as he considered. ""I will attempt to adapt our scanner frequencies to match the radiation signature. However, any attempt may alert the vessel to our intentions."

Kelly's voice was low and careful. "Better they know we're watching than let them think we're clueless. Go ahead, Isaac."

After a few tense seconds, a shimmer appeared on the main viewscreen. It was faint, barely perceptible—a mirage-like distortion in the backdrop of space. But the outline of a vessel was unmistakable, and it was enormous.

Gordon's eyes widened. "Whoa. That's... bigger than I thought."

The silhouette resembled a vast, angular craft with sharp edges and a design distinctly unlike anything from the Planetary Union or known galactic species. Isaac continued to refine the visual until the vague outline solidified into an unfamiliar structure. Alien, ominous, and possibly armed.

Captain Mercer leaned back in his chair, eyes narrowing. "Bortus, alert engineering. I want shields at full power and weapons on standby."

"Understood, Captain," Bortus replied, his deep voice unwavering as he initiated the commands.

Kelly exhaled slowly, still fixated on the alien ship. "Ed, if they didn't want us to know they were here, they might not be too happy we found them."

Ed nodded. "Let's proceed cautiously. Isaac, keep those sensors locked, and let's try another hail."

"This is Captain Ed Mercer of the USS Orville. We don't mean any harm, but we will defend ourselves if necessary. Identify yourself."

For a long moment, static hummed in response. Then, unexpectedly, the bridge speakers crackled, and a voice, distorted and deep, replied.

"Cap...tain M...cer, It's good to h...ar you're voice..." a voice on the intercom said, although static obscured most of the message. The bridge crew exchanged glances.

Isaac's head tilted slightly. "The signal is being distorted by the subspace harmonics of the ship's cloak. However, it appears the entity on the other end is making an attempt at communication."

The voice grew clearer, though it remained heavily modulated. "This is... Lieutenant Commander Char... rke of the Tau... Fed..ration Navy."

The bridge went silent. Charly? It couldn't be. "Is that you, Charly?" Ed called out, hope and disbelief fighting for dominance in his tone.

"Lieutenant Commander," Ed Mercer doesn't know who he is speaking to, but the garbled mess gave him some clue. "You might want to shut off your cloak."

The static subsided, and a clearer, though still mechanical, voice responded. "We cannot. It's a... Our ship is... when we went through the spat... rupture."

Mercer's eyes widened. "The spatial rupture?"

"Yes," the voice affirmed.

The room remained tense, the implications of their words hanging heavily in the air. A Tau'ri Federation ship here. Ed or Kelly never heard of the Tau'ri Federation.

"I...sending you comm...freq..."

Isaac quickly input the data into the comms panel, and a new message crackled through. The voice is clearer now, and the image of the ship on the viewscreen grew sharper, revealing the sleek, black form of a Tau'ri stealth frigate, the SSV Bray'tac.

"SSV Bray'tac, this is the USS Orville," Mercer announced, his voice tight with excitement and concern. "What's your status?"

Then the image of Lieutenant Commander Charly Burke is on the viewscreen. The bridge crew jaw dropped like they have seen a ghost. "Ed, it's good to hear your voice," she said with a mix of relief and urgency. Her uniform looked unfamiliar, but her face remained unchanged.

"How is it possible?" Commander Kelly Grayson whispered; her eyes locked on the viewscreen.

"Long story," Charly said, a hint of a smile playing on her lips. "Our cloaking generator fused with the ship's shield array when we hit a turbulence patch coming through the rupture. We can't drop the cloak just yet."

"May we render assistance?" Isaac said as he approaches the viewscreen.

Charly turns to her left and nods, she appears on the bridge of the Orville in a bright bluish flash of light, catching them by surprise. But she is not alone, she is with a man with dark light skin with a tattoo on his forehead. He wore a greenish military fatigue with a strange patch that says SPOC. stands for Special Operations Command.

"Captain, meet Ry'ac, my husband. It's a bit of a long story too," Charly says with a smirk.

Ed Mercer and the bridge crew stood in stunned silence as Lieutenant Commander Charly Burke and her companion materialized in front of them. The eerie familiarity of her presence combined with the shock of the unknown made the moment surreal. Ed took a deep breath, regaining his composure, and stepped forward.

"Charly," he managed, voice thick with emotion, "I can't believe it. How is this possible? We thought… well, we thought you were gone."

"Lieutenant Commander huh?" Kelly Grayson said with a smile as she gave her a light hug.

Charly gave them a faint smile, her gaze steady but warm. "I thought so too, Captain. But fate had other plans. After that last mission… let's just say I ended up in a place I never expected."

The man beside her, Ry'ac, remained silent, his gaze scanning the bridge with an assessing calm. The tattoo on his forehead seemed to gleam faintly under the bridge lights, lending an otherworldly quality to his presence. His stance was disciplined, clearly a seasoned soldier, yet he seemed out of place in a way none of them could ignore.

Kelly, still processing the shock, turned her attention to Ry'ac. "Special Operations Command, I'm guessing?" she asked, glancing at the patch on his uniform.

Ry'ac inclined his head. "Correct, Commander Grayson. Special Operations Command under the Tau'ri Federation's Special Operations Command. And… well, yes, I am her husband. But we'll get to that soon."

Gordon, who had been watching the scene unfold with an expression of sheer disbelief, finally spoke up, his eyes flicking between Charly and Ry'ac. "So, let me get this straight. You fell through some kind of space rupture, ended up married to… well, a guy with a tattoo on his forehead, and then found your way back here on a stealth ship?"

"It's a bit more complicated than that, Gordon," Charly said, her eyes sparkling with the excitement of the journey she hadn't yet shared. "I know it sounds crazy, but yeah, that's the short version."

Isaac, analyzing the situation with scientific curiosity, interrupted. "Lieutenant Commander Burke, I have detected biological changes to molecular structure."

"That's one of the things we came to discuss." Charly nodded, her eyes shifting between the Orville's crew.

John Lamar, the chief engineer stood at the entrance of the bridge. He ran all the way from Engineering to the bridge and out of breath. He slowly approaches Charly with an open arm, "Charly." is the only word he could say.

As they head into the briefing room, Charly starts to fill in the gaps of her story while walking alongside with Kelly Grayson to her left and Captain Ed Mercer to her right. "When the Quantum core exploded, it transformed me into something." She pauses, glancing at each of them to gauge their reactions.

Other crew members started to stare like they saw a ghost. They approach her reluctantly as if she might be an alien posing as their dead crewmember. Charly could see the doubt in their eyes, and she couldn't blame them. They held a funeral for her.

As they enter the briefing room that's a few feet from the bridge, everyone from Commander Kelly Grayson, Lt. Gordon Malloy, Lt. Commander John Lamar, Lt. Talla Keyali and Lt. Commander Bortus took a seat. Captain Ed Mercer stood with Charly and Ry'ac as she starts to begin.

"What did I miss?" Came a voice of Dr. Claire Finn as she appears at the door, exhausted and out of breath. Her uniform jacket is unbutton but wearing a white top. When she saw Charly, her eyes widened. She froze for a moment before rushing over to her, "Charly?!"

The room erupts in a flurry of questions and gasps, but it's Captain Mercer's calm demeanor that brings order. "Let her speak," he said with a gentle voice.

"Thank you, Captain," Charly says with a nod, turning to Dr. Finn. "It's good to see you too, Claire."

"But... how?" Dr. Finn whispers, her hand reaching out to touch Charly's arm, as if to confirm she's real.

"It's a long story," Charly says.

"And we are all here to hear it." Captain Ed Mercer says. His tone is firm but not unkind.

Charly takes a deep breath and starts. "Where do I begin?" She looks at Ry'ac for support, and he gives her an encouraging smile. She turns back to the room. "After I overloaded the Quantum Core." She pauses, collecting her thoughts. "I ended up in a different universe. It appears that I possess a gene and the Dysonium particle fused with my DNA." She runs a hand through her hair. "The Tau'ri found me and revived me."

The room is silent as her words sinks in. Lt. Malloy is the first to break the silence, his eyes wide with disbelief. "A different universe?"