[TheCelestialOne]

This is my first fanfic EVER so I appreciate any constructive criticism.
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Title: Intertwined Fates
Author: Brian Jansen (AKA TCO or TheCelestialOne)
Contact: [email protected]
Rating: PG-13
Category: Crossover: Star Trek/Babylon Five
ST ship information used in this fanfic can be found Here***

***Note: These ships are non-canon and only apply in this fanfic.

NOTICE: THIS STORY MAY BE DISTRIBUTED FREE OF CHARGE BUT MUST NOT BE SOLD OR EXCHANGED FOR FINANCIAL RETURN IN ANY FORM.

--------------------- BEGIN COPYRIGHT/DISCLAIMER NOTICE-----------

"Star Trek", "Star Trek: The Next Generation", "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine", and "Star Trek: Enterprise" and all related Star Trek related material, it's characters and certain technological devices and/or references to such, from the television shows and movies, may be or are registered trademarks of, and may be or are copyrighted by Paramount Studios and whatever Corporation it may or may not be owned by.

"Babylon Five", it's characters, certain technological devices and/or references to such, from the television show, past present of near future, may be or are registered trademarks of, Babylon 5, characters, names, and all related indicia are trademarks of Time Warner Entertainment Co., LP.

Additional characters are the creation of the author who is solely responsible for them as such. Neither Studio is responsible for the content of this story.

THIS STATEMENT MUST ACCOMPANY THE STORY 'A UNIVERSE OF CHANGE' IF DISTRIBUTED. THIS STORY IS FREE OF CHARGE AND MAY NOT BE SOLD OR EXCHANGED FOR FINANCIAL RETURN IN ANY FORM. THIS DEDICATION MUST ACCOMPANY ANY DISTRUBUTION OF THIS STORY.

---------------------END BEGIN COPYRIGHT/DISCLAIMER NOTICE-----------

Prologue

“Any word from the scouts, mr O’Brien?” Admiral Necheyev asked as she walked into the main control room, Ops, of Deep Space nine. O’Brien, standing around the circular table checking the sensors, replied quickly, “None yet, Admiral.” After a moment of ackward silence in the large control center of the Cardassian station Necheyev walked up the stairs to the captain’s ready room. As she approached the large door she stopped and turned around. Her face was void of any emotion as she spoke, “I want all senior officers report in the conference room in 15 minutes.”

15 minutes later, in the conference room

All senior officers onboard DS9 sat around the large oval table in the gloomy conference room with Ezri Dax, Worf and major Kira, who recently returned from Bajor, on the right side. And O’Brien with the newly promoted doctor Bashir on the left side of the black table. Admiral Necheyev stood next to the view screen that was integrated into the wall at the head of the table. She turned around and touched the LCARS interface. Promptly the LCARS display activated. The screen showed schematics of a massive battleship. All the officers were in awe by the schematics as they’ve never seen such a thing before.

“This is the Phalanx. The new flagship of the Federation.” Necheyev began. “Since as of late our scouts have been disappearing in the Gamma Quadrant. We are going to find out why.” Necheyev said after she turned around to face the officers. O’Brien, being an engineer at heart, was absolutely fascinated by the design. He stood up and walked towards the square screen to examine the schematics more accurate. “Intriguing, isn’t it?” Necheyev asked. O’Brien didn’t answer the Admiral but she knew she was right.

“But what does this have to do with us, admiral?” Ezri Dax asked as she looked up from the PADD she and all other officers were handed. Necheyev smiled, “I’m glad you asked. In 2 hours this ship and several escort vessels will arrive at the station. You all, will be the new bridge crew of the Phalanx.” After the Admiral finished that last sentence a deep silence fell in the room.

“Why us?” a deep voice asked breaking the silence in the room. It was Lt. Cmdr. Worf who had returned to Starfleet after his diplomatic assignment as Klingon ambassador. It was a question that nobody but the Klingon could ask. “This crew has had the most experience with the Gamma Quadrant species. As such, Starfleet Command has picked you to lead this mission. But as you will soon see, there will be some others joining this mission.” Necheyev answered with a small and almost unnoticeable grin on her face.

“Now, for the details of this mission. This mission is basically a test run for the experimental technologies used on the Phalanx. However, this is also to send any Dominion forces or other hostile forces a message.” Necheyev answered in a very serious tone of voice. She once again turned to the viewscreen and pushed a few buttons. A list of ships appeared on the screen, “This is the Phalanx taskforce.”

The list on the screen was quite impressive for a taskforce:

Main Taskforce:

USS Phalanx [Phalanx class Battledreadnaught]
USS Virgo [Falcon class heavy cruiser]
USS Defiant [Defiant class Mk. II warship]
USS Valiant [Defiant class Mk. II warship]
USS Deimos [Steamrunner Mk. II light cruiser]
USS Firestone [Steamrunner Mk. II light cruiser]
USS Virginia [Yeager class scout/attack vessel]
USS Lamar [Yeager class scout/attack vessel]
USS Helena [Saber class light combatant/gunship]

Total fighter complement:

37 x Peregrine class space superiority fighters
16 x Raider class heavy assault fighters (Federation refit)

“Ma’am, isn’t this taskforce a bit large? Whoever is on the other side, Dominion or otherwise, might not react very kindly on such a force entering their space.” Major Kira asked politely. Necheyev, smiled, “That is the whole point of this mission. To make a statement. We will no longer stand by as they continue to threaten us.” Worf nodded in agreement. It was for the first time he approved with both his heart and mind with Starfleet. In the past they always seemed to avoid combat until it all exploded, but since the Dominion war was over it seemed as if Starfleet had received a wake up call.

”Admiral Necheyev, I am sorry to disturb you but the Phalanx taskforce has arrived and are asking if you and the senior staff members come aboard.”

Necheyev looked up, “Thank you ensign. Tell them we are on our way.”

Yes, ma’am.

O’Brien was the first of the senior officers to go to engineering on the Phalanx, “This stuff is amazing… Advanced Expandable Ablative Armor, multiphasic shielding, advanced weaponry.” The Chief was almost glowing as he inspected the room. As with almost any ship Federation starship, the warp core stood proudly in the middle. The blue light emitting from the large cylindrical device lit up the entire section around the core. The crew assigned to the ship were very busy regulating the energy flows in the experimental warp core.

Meanwhile on the bridge, the rest of the officers were in awe as well, as they stood on the slightly darkened bridge. With the black captains chair on her traditional position in the middle and a large circular table much like the one in Ops on DS9 behind it was almost as if it was the bridge of a station. The bridge had an oval shape. In the aft section of the bridge several large LCARS stations were integrated into the middle of the wall. To the right of those stations there was a door. That door led to the captains ready room. On the left side was another door, the door to the turbo lift.

Ezri managed to draw her attention away from the bridge for a moment and turned towards the Admiral, “Admiral, who will be in command?” At the same time Ezri asked that question, the doors of the turbo lift opened and a man stepped out. “That, would be me.” Again, the officers were stunned, as the new captain walked down the ramp next to the turbolift. “Jean-Luc, how nice of you to join us.” “It is a pleasure to be anywhere on this absolutely magnificent ship, Admiral.” The bald headed man replied. Picard turned away from the now smiling Admiral and looked at the officers. “Mr. Worf, it good to see you again. It is good to see you all. I know that you are a fine crew and I have no doubt that that will not change.”
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[TheCelestialOne]

Chapter 1: Departures

The atmosphere on the bridge of the Phalanx was tense. Everyone was surprised that they were chosen to be on this mission. Even captain Picard, who had quite an impressive record, was surprised. And even though the Enterprise would always be his favourite ship, the Phalanx could very well come very close to it. Picards knew this ship was different and that they had to adapt. There would be no more families or children. The Phalanx was, much like the Defiant, an actual ship of war. And on a ship of war there is no place for families and children. Picard knew that, as did the rest of the crew.

Picard stood up from his seat and looked around. Behind him he saw Worf and two other officers busy behind the tactical panel at the large circular table. Next to him sat major Kira, his new second in command. At his other side sat Ezri Dax. At both sides of the large bridge were the science stations and both were manned. One by Lt. Barclay, the new science officer of the Phalanx. He stood at the left panel. The blue-skinned Lt. Zar, who was a Bolian, stood at the right side. He was the communications officer. In front of Picard was unlike the on the Enterprise where there were two panels, a large and long panel. He saw that only one of the two halfs of the panel was manned. It was a Vulcan female Lt. named T’Rell. It was quite rare to see a Vulcan in Starfleet service these days but nevertheless their objectivity always seemed to help a crew.

Picard knew who was supposed to be in the empty seat next to T’Rell, but didn’t know why he wasn’t there. As he thought about it, the turbolift doors opened and a pale-skinned person stepped onto the bridge. Picard smiled at the man, “Welcome aboard, mr Data!” And again, the entire bridge crew besides captain Picard and admiral Necheyev was surprised. “I apologise, captain. My shuttle was delayed.” ”No need for apologies, Lieutenant.” The admiral said. “I must be going now, Starfleet Command requires me back at HQ. Good luck.” She continued as she walked into the turbolift.

Picard nodded and turned to the new holo-screen in the forward section of the bridge where the normal viewscreen used to be. Now a three dimensional image was projected of DS9. “Status report.” Picard ordered. Worf immediately responded, “Weapons fully operational. Shields also operational. Ablative Armor is functioning.” His report was quickly followed up by Lt. Barclay, “Short range sensors are fully operational as are the long range sensors. Lateral sensor array is functioning at 100% capacity.” As the lieutenant finished Picard nodded and tapped his communicator, “Mr. O’Brien, status report.” “Well, sir. They did a hell of a job back at HQ designing this thing. Warp core is running at 98% efficiency, which is way above standard requirements. We are ready to go down here, captain.” Kira nodded and as per regulations reported that all stations reported to be ready. “Very well, signal the fleet to undock and head for the wormhole as soon as the admiral has left the ship.” A few seconds after Admiral Necheyev left the ship, the taskforce undocked from the dark brown pylons of the station.

“Mr Data,” Data turned around in his chair and faced his captain “who was in command of the Defiant again?” “Captain Cordelia Fayre, sir.” “Thank you, commander.”

Aboard the Defiant

It was Cordelia’s first command and she was proud to be assigned to a ship as the Defiant. However, she couldn’t help but be in awe of the Phalanx. The 170 meter long Defiant looked like a miniature vessel compared to the 3000 meter long Phalanx. The small bridge crew agreed in silence. A young ensign interrupted that silence, “We are in formation.” The new captain looked at the ensign and nodded, “Very well.” After that the silence returned.

I can’t help but getting this weird feeling about this mission. I don’t know why but…” she thought as the silence continued.

Back aboard the Phalanx

Data was quite comfortable next to T’Rell because just as he himself, she showed no emotions. But as he found his thoughts wandering off he once again focussed on his panel. Only to notice that they were just in range of the wormhole. “Captain, we are in range. We can jump on your signal.” He reported. “Make it so.” Picard said while making a small gesture with his hand. The huge blue and white vortex opened and welcomed the ships. The Phalanx entered the wormhole first, followed by the smaller vessels.

Once they were inside the wormhole the ship shook. “Picard to O’Brien, what was that?” Picard asked his Chief Engineer.

“Sir, we are having some difficulty keeping the matter/antimatter stream in the warp core aligned.”

Picard opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by his science officer, Lt. Barclay, “Sir…?” “Yes?” Picard calmly replied. “I am getting some strange readings. I can’t get a lock… Wait! The energy is concentrating here, on the bridge!” Just when Barclay finished his sentence a white flash appeared in front of Picard. The bright white flash that illuminated the entire bridge slowly dissipated. By the time the white light was dissipating, every bridge officer had a phaser in their hands. The light now dimmed further and a shape could be seen. After several seconds a dark silhouette could be seen. Not very long after that a voice could be heard.

”It is good to see you again… old man.”

Dax looked surprised and instantly knew who it was, “Ben, is that you?” By now the white light was gone and the man in the middle of the bridge was indeed captain Benjamin Sisko. “Yes, it is.” He replied. Ezri almost wanted to cry but didn’t get the chance as the ship once again shook. This time it was not a simple misalignment of the matter/anti matter stream. Somehow Sisko knew that.

“SIR! The other ships in the taskforce. They are reporting the same disturbances we are having.” The Bolian Lt Zar reported to his captain. Picard looked at Sisko with doubt in his eyes. “Do you know more about this?” Sisko nodded, “Not everything, but for now you must brace yourself. Tell that to the other ships as well.” Picard waited a few seconds but it occurred to him that he actually had little reason to doubt the dark skinned captain and nodded in the direction of Lt. Zar.

Just when the order was given, the ships began to shake even harder. But suddenly a large blue and white flash appeared before everyone’s eyes…



Chapter 2: Arrivals

A grey moon silently floated through around a small desolate planet. A bright flash lit up that grey moon. The dark side of the moon was just as bright as the side that was facing the white dwarf in the middle of the system. Not long after that the Phalanx and its companions appeared out of nowhere. The small USS Helena just managed to stay out of the moons gravitational pull as she came through what appeared to be a hole in space.

“Status reports! Now!” Picard almost yelled while standing up from his chair. A few minutes later it turned out that all systems besides the warp core and long range sensors were still operating. “O’Brien to Picard, the warp core has shut itself down after it was exposed to high levels of theta radiation. I can get it back online but it will take several hours.” Picard looked at Sisko with suspicion. “Very well, Chief. Carry on.” He calmly replied. “Anything on sensors, mister Barclay?” he continued. Barclay turned his chair around to face Picard, “Nothing on short range sensors, sir. I have sent a damage control team to repair the damage to the lateral sensor array. It should be repaired soon.” Picard nodded in approval.

In the meantime major Kira and Dax were talking to captain Sisko. Picard also stepped in the direction of Sisko. “I want all senior officers of this ship and all captains in this taskforce in the conference room in 15 minutes.” Picard said while looking straight at Sisko. Who in turn looked straight back. “That means you too, captain Sisko. I want some explanations.”

“Sir…” the Bolian communications officer interrupted, “Captain Fayre was heavily injured in an explosion on the bridge of the Defiant. She has been transported aboard our ship for further medical attention.” Picard simply replied with “Understood, lieutenant.”

15 Minutes later, in the conference room

It was crowded in the room with all ten captains and the senior officers of the Phalanx sitting around the large black oval table. Picard and Sisko, who in those previous 15 minutes already discussed some things stood in front of the large LCARS display on the wall. Picard turned away from Sisko and face the others in the room grey room. “Captain Sisko here, wishes to explain a few things about what happened.” Picard stepped forward and sat down in the chair at the head of the table. He nodded in the direction of Sisko.

“After I left to visit the Prophets in the Celestial Temple, I came to see fantastic things. The Prophets don’t exist in a linear manner in our timeline as we do. They perceive everything as one moment. They are what they themselves call “non-linear beings”. Since time did not exist where they lived I knew the accident in the wormhole would occur before it actually happened.”

Sisko paused for a moment as he expected questions. And that was the truth. Major Kira, who was still a firm believer in the prophets, had the first question, “But then why did you come here? Obviously you couldn’t stop what happened. Was it the will of the Prophets that told you to return?” Sisko smiled, “No, it was my own choice. You see, the Prophets may be “non-linear beings” but they are not multi-dimensional beings.” Dax looked up with a surprised look, “Are you saying we travelled into a whole new dimension?” As the young Trill asked that question many of the people in the room started to whisper in disbelief.

Sisko quickly raised his voice, “Yes, that is what I mean.” As Sisko spoke the silence returned, “However, during my stay with the Prophets neither they nor I was able to see the future of this taskforce. That led me to belief something like this was about to happen.” Dax laughed, “You just can’t ignore the possibility of adventure can you, Benjamin?” All of the old DS9 crew members who served under captain Sisko now laughed, including Sisko himself.

Lt. Barclay to captain Picard, Long range sensors are operational. I think you should come and take a look, sir.”

“On my way, Lieutenant.” Picard stood up and faced the captains and his bridge crew, “All new information anyone gathers will be shared as we find it. Remain on yellow alert until further notice. Dismissed.” Picard ordered. He then quickly turned his attention to Sisko, “Eh… Captain Sisko, captain Fayre of the Defiant has been injured as you know. And I think you wouldn’t mind assuming command of your old ship.” The bald headed captain said with a grin on his face. “Not at all. I am looking forward to it! But first I think I should change into the new uniforms.”

A few minutes later on the bridge of the Phalanx

“What have you found, mister Barclay?” Picard asked with a touch of anxiety in his voice. “Well, currently we are in a planetary system with 2 class Y planets and not a whole lot of interesting things. But when the long range sensors, which by the way are only at 45% capacity, came online I saw this.” Barclay pointed at the screen in front of him. On that screen a large station orbiting a seemingly dead planet was displayed. “What is that?” Picard asked. “I have no idea, I have cross referenced it in every database we have and I haven’t found a match. I also scanned and cross referenced the ships docked with the station and they too are not in our database. But until we have the sensor operating at at least 85% efficiency we won’t be seeing a whole lot more.” Picard didn’t waste any time replying, “Well then, I believe captain Sisko might be correct. Keep working on the sensors.”

The Bolian communications officer turned his chair around and faced Picard, “Sir, the Virgo has gotten their sensors operational. Captain Gerard wishes to speak to you.” “I’ll take it in the ready room.” Picard replied while walking off the bridge into the small room.

Picard touched the PADD that was integrated into his desk. As he did that a holographic image of a Starfleet captain appeared in front of his table. It was captain Gerard, a healthy looking human with long black hair and a goatee. “Captain Gerard, good to see you. What is that you wanted to speak to me about?” Captain Gerard had a serious look on his face as he was about to reply to his fellow captain, “A few minutes ago we got our long range sensor array back online and fully operational. The results of the initial scan are somewhat disturbing.” Picard had a serious face now too and looked straight into the eyes of the holographic representation of Captain Gerard, “How so, Gerard?” “Well Jean-Luc, it confirmed that we are in a different universe. As we scanned the station that we picked up on our scanners earlier, we noticed numerous of different species living on it. None of them appeared in our database. None but one.” Gerard now had Picard’s full attention, “Go on, captain.” He calmly replied. “That one race is Human.” Gerard revealed. Picard was surprised to say the least, “Captain Gerard, you are certain of this?” “We triple checked it and we came to the same conclusion over and over.” Gerard replied with a tone of anxiety in his voice. Picard leaned back to think about it. After a few seconds he opened his mouth, “Seeing as it is now safe to say we are not where we are supposed to be I take it they are not from Starfleet?” Gerard shook his head, “No, but they apparently do originate from the Sol system. One of the few systems that is as in “our” Alpha Quadrant.” “Well, thank you for notifying me. I will contact the taskforce soon with a message. Picard out.”

Picard was wondering what they got themselves into now. He had been in more then a few weird situations but this was by far the weirdest but yet also the most intriguing one. Picard, being an explorer by nature, couldn’t resist the urge to contact the station. But first he wanted a rational explanation. And who better to give a rational explanation then his old friend Lieutenant Commander Data? Picard tapped his gold and silver comm badge on his chest, “Mister Data, please report in my ready room.”

Not much later the pale skinned android entered the small, well lit room. “You requested my presence, captain?” “Yes, have a seat, Data.” Picard replied while walking towards the replicator. “Tea, Earl Grey, Hot.” Earl Grey tea was almost the only thing captain Picard drank while on duty. “Mister Data, I want to hear what you think happened to the taskforce.” Data looked at his captain with his usual pale and emotionless face, “Of course captain. The sudden appearance of captain Sisko during our time in the wormhole was a surprise to all of us. But his explanation seems logical. If these life forms, the Prophets, are really not confined to a linear existence in a timeline they would be able to tell the future but not be able to see different dimensions. And since there is no obvious reason to doubt captain Sisko I have to agree that this is a different dimension. According to recent studies of interdimensional travel there should be numerous of parallel universes that exist beyond our own dimension. This dimension we have entered might quite possibly one that has very little in common with our own reality.” Picard waited a moment before he replied, “Yes, I agree with that. But the question we have to answer now is how to get back.” Data, looking as undisturbed as he did before, calmly replied, “I suggest that since we have no viable options that we know of, we try to find someone who can give us more information about where we are. Once we have enough data we might be able to find a solution to that question.” This time Picard didn’t hesitate, “Very well. Thank you for your time mister Data. You’re dismissed.”  Data didn’t reply and walked out of the room to resume his duties on the bridge. Just as the doors closed a buzzer went off, it was Chief O’Brien.

O‘Brien to Picard. We managed to get the warp core back online. But she can’t go beyong warp 6 at the moment. We are working on that problem right now.”

Picard smiled and was pleased by the work the Chief did. “Very good, Chief. Keep up the good work. Picard out.” As Picard finished his sentence he got out of his chair and walked onto the bridge. “Lieutenant Zar, open a channel to the fleet.” The Bolian quickly complied with his orders, “Aye, sir.”

“This is captain Picard to the rest of the fleet. I have an announcement to make. As you all know, some spectacular events have occurred and has put us in a unique position. Through a rift in space we have travelled to another dimension. A parallel universe if you will. Now I ask you to not to see this as a dangerous situation but as something special. We now have the opportunity to take a glimpse into another universe. Eventually we will find a way home, but for now we can explore new worlds and new civilizations. Something that is, and always has been a part of the very foundation of the Federation.” Picard paused a few seconds after his speech, “Picard out.”

2 hours later

Major Kira, who by now as every senior officer has been briefed about the situation, turned to Lieutenant Zar. “Mister Zar, contact the fleet and tell them to plot a course for the station and follow us.” The blue skinned communications officer nodded, “Aye, sir.”

[Gloriano]

 realy nice i like it

[Nico]

will be cool when ST ships start going down

[TheCelestialOne]

Originally posted by Venom
will be cool when ST ships start going down

*beats the **** out of Venom*



j/k

But really, I'm looking for constructive criticism. I need stuff I can use to enhance my story writing abilities. I'm beginning to really enjoy writing

[Nico]

can't really help, english is not my native language, and altho I can communicate quite well in english, I really can't say if a sentence is good or plain, if you know what I mean.

[TheCelestialOne]

No... more comments?

I'll be writing up another chapter soon

[TheCelestialOne]

Just so people know, the story begins a few days before Matters of Honor (Season 3 start ep.)
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Chapter 3: Newcomers

”Why does everything have to happen at once? Why can’t we have a moment of piece?” Susan Ivanova thought while sitting in a chair on the middle of the control center of Babylon 5. ”Nothing makes sense lately. It all seems so hopeless…”

It was late and the control center was manned by only four people. Nobody liked to work the night shift, but Susan Ivanova seemed to be glad to have a silent moment to herself. Something she hadn’t experienced for quite a while with all that has been going on. With the Centauri going to war with the Narn all of a sudden, them bombing the Narn homeworld even the damned ministry of Peace was getting on her nerves. Them wanting to make an alliance with the Centauri seemed idiotic to her.

After some time thinking about the recent events, Susan was ripped out of her thought process by someone entering C&C. Ivanova stood up from her seat and turned to see who it was. It was Micheal Garibaldi who entered the grey and blue room. “Ah, Micheal. Have you come to rescue me from this nightmare they call night shift?” Susan sarcastically asked. Micheal grinned, “You really don’t want to leave me in control of the station.” Susan, now a little bit more awake then two minutes ago, also smiled, ”You are probably right. You’d throw everyone you didn’t like off the station.” The chief security now walked up to commander Ivanova. “It’s too bad you people know me that well. It ruins any pranks I want to pull.” Susan still smiling yawned as she wanted to reply to Micheal but was cut short. “But I’m not here to joke around. I came to deliver my daily security report.” Susan now had a more serious look on her face, “Damnit… Not now. I’m having enough trouble to stay awake as it is. I don’t need a boring report on top of that.” Micheal laughed, “I still got it!” “Ow, damn you, Micheal! Now why did you come here?” Micheal still smiling, “No reason really. I just like to annoy you when you are the night shift.”

Susan and Micheal were suddenly interrupted by the buzzing of one of the panels in front of one of the crewmembers. “Commander!” he almost shouted. “Eight… No nine ships just appeared on our sensors. They came out of nowhere!” Both commander Ivanova and Garibaldi had no idea what he was talking about. “What do you mean “appeared out of nowhere?”” Another crewmember in C&C turned to face the two senior officers, “Sir… They are emitting a extremely high band frequency. Maybe they are trying to communicate.”

Aboard the Phalanx

Picard was waiting for a reply but didn’t get one. “Lieutenant Zar, did they receive the message?” The Bolian communications officer nodded, “Yes they did, but I think I see the problem. They use low band frequencies to communicate. I believe their communication systems are not compatible to receive and translate incoming messages on our standard frequency.” Ezri now stood up and faced the Bolian, “Can’t we just send a message  on a lower frequency?” Lieutenant Zar nodded, “Give me a few seconds… There! Channel is open but audio only, Sir.”

Picard took a step forwards and started talking, “This is captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Phalanx of the United Federation of Planets. We have no hostile intentions.”

”This is Commander Susan Ivanova of Babylon 5. Please state the nature of your business here.” was the reply Picard got.

Picard himself didn’t even know what exactly they came to do but had to say something, “We require assistance. Perhaps we can set up a meeting?”

”Very well, currently all docking ports are full. You can dock in one hour at docking bay 2. We are sending you instructions now.” the female voice replied.

Picard now knew that whoever was on that station had no knowledge of transporter technology. But he didn’t want to overwhelm them by just beaming in. “Very well. We will meet you in one hour. Picard out.”

Picard now turned around and walked up the ramp to the door that led to the conference room. “Mr Data, T’Rell, Worf, Kira and Lieutenant Dax, you’re with me. Lieutenant Zar, contact the Defiant and tell captain Sisko to meet us in the conference room as soon as possible.” The blue skinned male nodded while Data, T’Rell, Worf, Kira and Dax followed Picard to the conference room.

A few minutes later the dark skinned captain Sisko walked into the room as well and sat down next to Dax. Ezri Dax was excited to see her old friend again but she hadn’t really gotten the chance to talk to him. Picard sat at the head of the table leaning back in his chair. “Since this is essentially a first contact situation I want you to join me when we meet them. And since this is a new universe I am expecting that they also have no knowledge about us and the races on our ships. That is why I chose you all to join me on this mission. Since you are the highest ranking officers of your races in the taskforce I am asking you to represent your race in this situation.” Ezri wanted speak but Picard held up his hand as a gesture that he already knew what she wanted to say. “I know it is unusual but nothing about this mission has been usual until now. Any questions?” The room remained quiet as a sign that there were no questions. “Well, prepare yourselves and report to the main hangar in 50 minutes. Dismissed.”

Aboard Babylon 5, John Sheridan’s quarters

The room was dark and quiet. Very quiet. The commander of the station was asleep but was torn from his dreams as the screen on the wall in the living room made a noise. Sheridan didn’t respond immediately, but when the sound went off again he woke up. “WHAT!? Can’t I ever get a full night of sleep?” Sheridan cursed some more as he almost tripped over the round glass table that stood next to the red couch in the middle of his quarters. After some struggling with a pillow that lay on the ground Sheridan made it to the screen. As he pushed a few buttons the face of Susan Ivanova appeared on the screen. “This better be good or you’ll be looking at a demotion, Susan.” Susan smiled, “I think we have a first contact situation here. A group of ships led by a huge 3 kilometer battleship just appeared out of nowhere. They will be docking within the hour to meet with us.” Sheridan, who by now was fully awake, nodded. “I’ll meet you there in 45 minutes.” Susan grinned, “There is one more thing, sir” Sheridan had already turned his back to the screen now turned around to face it again. “What is it, Susan?” Susan didn’t waste any time, “They spoke English. That leads me to assume they know who we are.” Sheridan nodded, “We’ll see who or what they are when we meet them. Sheridan out.”

50 minutes later

The metallic hull plating of the captain’s yacht reflected the light that the lights of the blue and grey station emitted as the shuttle entered the docking bay. The blue light coming from the two nacelles lit up the dark docking bay slightly. The shuttle cautiously moved through the docking until it reached the end. There the shuttle finally docked. After the artificial atmosphere was generated outside the shuttle, Sheridan, Ivanova and Garibaldi entered the docking bay to receive their new guests. It didn’t take long for the guests to get out of the shuttle. The two bal headed captains, Picard and Sisko exited the shuttle first. Followed by the large Klingon, Worf and the smaller Trill and Bajoran. The last to exit the shuttle were Data and T’Rell. They, as usual, both had an emotionless look on their face.

John Sheridan was surprised how the two bald headed captains looked like humans. Nevertheless he stepped up to Picard and saluted. “Welcome to Babylon 5. I am the commander of the station, John Sheridan. This is my second in command, Susan Ivanova and my Chief of Security, Micheal Garibaldi.” Picard also saluted even though it wasn’t standard practise in the Federation to do so. “I am captain Jean Luc Picard, commander of this taskforce and representative of the United Federation of Planets.” Picard turned to captain Sisko, “This is commander Sisko. He is as me a representative of the Federation.” Picard now pointed to the large Klingon, “This is Lieutenant commander Worf, representative of the Klingon Empire.” Worf looked straight at Sheridan. “It’s and honour.” The robust Klingon said. Picard now turned his attention to the small Trill, “This is Lieutenant Dax. She is the representative of the Trill. Next to her is Kira Nerys, representative of the Bajoran government. Further we have T’Rell, representative of the Vulcan society. And last but not least, Lieutenant Commander Data.” Picard was glad that the introductions were over.

Sheridan, still tired, took a step aside. “I suggest we move to a more comfortable area of the station. There we can talk more freely.” Picard and his companions besides the Vulcan T’Rell and Data all smiled and nodded.

As they walked through the well lit corridors towards the conference room, Sheridan approached Sisko. “Captain Sisko?” Sheridan asked. “Yes?” Sisko quickly replied while keeping a straight face. “I understand your race speaks English. May I ask where you are from?” Sisko smiled and everyone now knew that Sheridan and the other had no idea that they too were Human. “I’m from New Orleans.” Sisko replied with a big grin on his face. The group now stopped. Sheridan, Ivanova and Garibaldi looked at Sisko with a puzzled face. “Did you just say New Orleans? As in New Orleans on Earth?” Garibaldi asked. “Yes.” Sisko quickly and calmly replied. “It will all be explained shortly.” Picard said in an attempt to get the group going again. It worked.

It didn’t take long to get to the conference room. The group entered the room and were pleasantly surprised. The seats where normally the League of non-aligned worlds would be were in the back and the table stood in front of those seats opposing them. Sheridan pointed the seats where normally the League would sit. “Have a seat.” Picard and his companions didn’t hesitate and took Sheridan up on his offer and sat down on the front row. Sheridan, Ivanova and Garibaldi sat down at the table directly in front of Picard and the rest.

Before a word was spoken the doors of the room opened. Two people stepped in. One of them was a bald man and had some sort of bone on his head. The other was a female. She also had a bone on her head but had long, beautiful dark hair as well. As the two entered Sheridan stood up. “May I present to you ambassador Delenn and her assistant, Lennier. They represent the Minbari government.” Picard, Sisko, Dax and Kira smiled and made a small bow. Data, Worf and T’Rell didn’t move and kept a straight face.

Sheridan, standing in front of his seat, started talking. “I hereby officially welcome you to Babylon 5 and hope you will enjoy your stay. But as you might understand we have a few questions. And I have no doubt that you have a few yourself. First off, I wanted to ask you to explain how you could’ve been born in New Orleans.” Picard smiled and stood up to speak. “I understand this might seem confusing. The explanation I am going to give will most likely be a bit hard for you to believe. You are right however, to think that both of us are Human. But the difference is, is that we are from another dimension.” The room suddenly fell silent for a few seconds but soon Sheridan replied. “You are right, that is hard to believe. You said you were from the United federation of Planets. What is that exactly?” Picard now had a serious look, “The United Federation of Planets is an alliance between nations and planets in our universe. Obviously in this parallel universe the Federation does not exist. But beyond that we don’t know much about this parallel universe as we have only been here for several hours.”

Delenn now also stood up from her seat, “I do not think you are untruthful. I believe you, but can you explain why you have come here?” she asked Picard. Picard turned his attention to Delenn, “Madam ambassador, we had no intention to come here. Our ships were caught in a spatial anomaly while travelling through a wormhole. That anomaly brought us here a few hours ago. We have no idea how this happened. Once our scanners were online we saw this station and picked up Human life signs so we came here for an explanation.” Delenn smiled, “This is quite a special occasion then.” Sheridan and his officers were puzzled how Delenn could trust them so quickly. Delenn now turned to Sheridan, “John, they can be trusted. I can feel it.” John, however reluctant, agreed.

“But John…” Commander Ivanova asked. “Not now Susan.” Sheridan replied whispering. “I have one more question. How come our sensor didn’t pick you up until you were well within scanner range?” he asked Picard. But this, Picard didn’t know. Data saw that Picard had trouble answering and stood up, “Captain, if you would allow me.” Picard nodded in agreement and was relieved Data stepped in. “According to the sensor data we collected your sensors are unequipped to detect vessels travelling at speeds faster then light. That is why you only detected us when we dropped out of warp. With a few modifications your sensor array can be equipped to detect vessels travelling at faster then light speeds.”

Garibaldi looked surprised, “Faster then light? You mean faster then light and get squished speeds? Nobody can travel at those speeds.” Picard now looked straight at the Chief Security of the station. “You are free to visit our ships and I will be more then happy to show you around.”

The conversation went on for several hours but in the end an agreement was reached. Data about the Federation would be exchanged for data about the universe the taskforce had landed in. In addition to that the taskforce was allowed to remain near Babylon 5 until they could figure out what they had to do to get back to their own universe.

Even though Delenn and Sheridan said they trusted the newcomers, Ivanova and Garibaldi had their suspicions about them. Nevertheless after having talked to them they didn’t act on those suspicions.

[Raptor]

More, MORE!

[TheCelestialOne]

This one is a bit shorter but nonetheless very important!

Chapter 4: Revelations

The quarters on the Defiant were cramped. Even the captains quarter was barely big enough for one person but Sisko was quite comfortable with it. He sat quietly at his desk in the grey, well lit room. He tapped the integrated PADD on the black desk and pushed a few buttons. After a few moments the screen lit up and an image appeared. It was Delenn. She looked puzzled. “Captain Sisko. This is a surprise.” Sisko smiled, “I need to speak with you… In private.” Delenn still looked puzzled and had no idea what this was about. “Why, if I may ask?” Sisko now no longer smiled but had a straight face instead, “I need to talk to you in person. What I have to say cannot yet be revealed. All I can say is that it concerns a future that is covered in shadows.” Delenn was shocked by what the Starfleet captain told her. “ Meet me in my quarters in 15 minutes she quickly said.

15 minutes later, in Delenn’s quarters

“Captain Sisko, I am not going to waste any time here. What did you mean when you said “a future covered in shadows”?” Delenn asked as the grey soon as the door closed behind Sisko. “You know what I mean.” Delenn still had no idea why Sisko was here. “But why…” But Delenn was cut short by Sisko. “I’ll explain everything.” Delenn nodded and invited Sisko to sit down.

“The Bajorans worshipped them and called them “The Prophets”. They chose me to be their emissary. I visited these beings and found out that they existed outside of time and space. They showed me your universe and told me about the Shadows. They called themselves one of “The First Ones”.” Delenn was shocked by what Sisko knew but at the same time it removed any doubt she might’ve had about the story captain Picard told them. “Now I ask you, Delenn, to help me. No, to help us. You and I both know that that which is coming is inevitable. You will need any help you can get and I strongly believe that the Prophets showed me this for a reason.”

Delenn stood up and walked a few steps away from Sisko and then turned around to face him again. “I will help you. But I do have a question. If you were with the First Ones that lived outside of space and time, don’t you know the future?” Sisko shook his head, “The future is not predetermined. The future is based on choices, and choices aren’t made until the time is there.” Delenn nodded. “One more thing, Delenn. We cannot tell anyone else about this yet. That is something I must do.” Delenn looked up at Sisko, who by now was walking towards the door. “I understand.” She softly replied. Sisko now walked out of the room without saying a word.

As Sisko left Delenn’s quarter, Londo Mollari walked around the corner and saw the dark skinned man in a Starfleet uniform leave Delenn’s quarters. “Captain!” he shouted. Sisko turned around and saw the Centauri ambassador walk in his direction. Sisko almost couldn’t resist the urge to laugh at the Centauri because of his hair but barely managed to keep a straight face. “Ambassador, what can I do for you?” Londo looked surprised. “How do you know I’m an ambassador. “A little data exchange between the us and Babylon 5.” Londo grinned, “I see you have come well prepared. Well, may I ask you to join me for dinner? You can bring your friends if you want.” Sisko saw this invitation for what it really was, an attempt to get information about the taskforce and those aboard. “No thank you, ambassador. Maybe another time.” Londo was no longer smiling and even almost felt embarrassed. “Very well, mr Sisko… See you around.” Londo replied in a very demeaning manner.

Thirty minutes later, at the recreational area on the Phalanx

The room was filled with Starfleet personnel. A large oval bar was positioned right in the middle of the room. Many tables were placed around it and many of them were occupied. It seemed as everyone was just going about their business as if nothing happened in the last twelve hours. It was to be expected of Starfleet personnel to know something could happen on a mission, but nobody expected something this extreme to happen. But yet only a few seemed anxious. One of them was Kira Nerys, who sat at a table near a window with Ezri Dax.

Dax looked out the window staring at the unfamiliar stars and the station floating above the planet. All of a sudden a bright flash appeared. It seemed as if a vortex opened. Four large metal looking pillars seemed to hold the vortex together. Not long after the vortex opened a pair of small freighters exited the vortex and just as it started, it ended in a flash. It was the third time she witnessed that. She now turned her head and looked at Kira. “Why do you look so worried? I think it is amazing to be in a whole new universe.” Kira looked up after having stared at the white table for several minutes, “Amazing? How can you say that? We are lost and have no way of getting home.” The Trill smiled at Kira, “Normally I would be worried too, but I guess the Dax symbiont won’t let me. But don’t worry.” Kira shook her head, “But why did the Celestial Temple rupture? Why did the Prophets return Benjamin?” Ezri, still smiling replied, “Look at it this way, if the Prophets sent us here it must be for a reason. Why else would the let the Celestial Temple bring us here?” Kira now to managed to bring a small smile on her face, “I guess you are right. I shouldn’t worry and have more fate in the Prophets.”

After she finished that last sentence they both didn’t say a word and just looked at the unfamiliar stars that surrounded them.

Aboard Babylon 5, C&C

Ivanova was glad her nightshift would be over soon as she had trouble keeping her eyes open. She couldn’t wait to go to bed. But while sitting in the chair looking at a viewscreen full of stars and the jumpgate her thoughts wandered off.

”These newcomers… Are they telling the truth or not? I like to believe them because they seem like good people but lately we can’t seem to trust anyone…” Susan thought. ”Ever since Santiago died and Clark took over things have gone to hell.” Susan now stood up from her chair because her shift was finally over.

Sheridan walked onto C&C to take over from Susan. “See you in eight hours, John. I just hope your day will be a bit more exciting as my night.” Susan said while yawning. Sheridan laughed, “Yeah, I know... Night shifts are boring. But at least you had something to do with the arrival of the Phalanx and these new people.” Susan now stretched her arms, “Well, personally, all I want now is my bed. Good… day.” Sheridan smiled as he walked up to the chair where Susan just sat.

[TheCelestialOne]

Chapter 5: Chaos and turmoil

2 Weeks later

Captain Picard had called all of his senior officers and all the captains in the taskforce for a meeting to discuss their current predicament. The meeting had been going on for several hours now. Again the conference room was quite crowded. Picard picked up a PADD that lay in front of him. “Everyone of you has had a chance to read up on the situation here in this universe and it really doesn’t look good. The Narn being attacked by the Centauri, the Earth Alliance president’s death and random attacks by an unknown force… It all sounds like this entire galaxy is in turmoil.” Ezri Dax looked up and faced her captain, “Captain, are we going to do anything about this? I mean, one way or another we will get involved.” Picard nodded, “I know, but we barely know anything about the situation besides what they gave us. We can’t pick sides based on what they say. So unless any hostile act is commited against us, we will not intervene.” Worf now too turned to his captain, “Sir, given the situation I would like to suggest we deploy more security teams on the ships to prevent any unauthorized persons to come onboard.” Picard nodded, “Permission granted, mr Worf. Any other questions?” Picard looked around the room to see if anyone wanted to suggest or ask something but it remained quiet. “Very well, dismissed everyone.”

1 Hour later on Babylon 5

Picard was off duty for at least another 2 hours and had taken the opportunity to take a look around the station. As he walked through the well lit corridors of the station he felt a strange sensation. It was as if he felt that somebody was following him. But he ignored his feelings as he thought they were just fooling him. After another ten minutes of strolling through the station he again felt that same sensation and again Picard just ignored it.

As the Starfleet captain walked further down the hall he heard someone calling him. “CAPTAIN! Wait!” It was the Centauri ambassador. Picard, just as Sisko, had trouble not laughing. But Picard had seen far more strange creatures in his career as a Starfleet captain so he managed to keep a straight face as well. “Ambassador Mollari. What is it you want to talk to me about?” Londo was glad he finally could talk to one of the Starfleet captains. “Well, I wish to discuss some things about the relationship between our people. You see, my government sees you as a separate entity and wishes to have good relationships with you.” Picard smiled and nodded, “I am more then happy to discu… “ But the sentence was cut short by a massive explosion down the corridor.

Unbeknownst to the Centauri ambassador and the Starfleet captain, Lennier ran at both of them and jumped in an attempt to get them out of the path of the flames. He managed to get Londo away from the blast but he didn’t manage to save Picard. As the flames enveloped him, Picard cried out in pain but it was over quickly as his burned remains fell down on the floor.

Londo had no idea what just happened. All he knew was that Picard was dead and Lennier unconscious. Londo walked around aimlessly as the security forces and medical teams poured down the corridor. “Please follow us, ambassador.” One person of the medical staff said to Londe. But Londo couldn’t hear anything because of the blast.

Aboard the Phalanx

Kira Nerys sat in the captains chair as she was alerted by Lieutenant Barclay. “Ma’am! I just picked up an explosion on the station!” Kira quickly stood up and walked up to the panel Barclay was standing next to. “By the Prophets!” she softly said. “Kira to Bashir!”

It didn’t take long for the doctor to reply, “Bashir her.”

Kira tried to sound calm as she talked to the Starfleet doctor, “I want you to assemble a medical team and beam down to the station. There has been an explosion.”

The doctor quicly and calmly replied, “Understood.”

Babylon 5, at the explosion site

The doctor and four of his assistants materialized at the blast site. The surrounding security officers had no idea what was happening as they’d never seen a molecular transport before. The security officers, including Micheal Garibaldi, pointed their weapons at the Starfleet medical personell. “Wow, take it easy, we’re here to help.” Bashir quickly said. Garibaldi stepped forward towards the doctor, “Why should we trust you? For all we know you planted the bomb.” Garibaldi’s comment ticked off Bashir, “Listen, I came here to help now put down your damned weapon and let me help!” Garibaldi allowed Bashir to help but didn’t let the Starfleet personnel out of his sight.

“Oh my god!” Bashir yelled out. “This is captain Picard!” he yelled as he held his tricorder over the ashes. Garibaldi too was shocked to hear that and was convinced that the people from the Phalanx taskforce had nothing to do with the explosion. The companions doctor Bashir had taken with him were shocked as well but continued assisting in treating Lennier and Londo. “Doctor, these two will be fine should we transport back onto the ship with…..” a silence fell amongst the Starfleet crew as the assistant looked at the scorched ashes that was once captain Picard. “Yes.” Bashir said with a tear in his eye. He tapped his badge on his chest, “Bashir to Phalanx, five to beam back directly to sickbay.” Before he got a reply his assistant had lifted up Picard’s remains in a special container so that it would be beamed aboard with him.

20 minutes later, in the conference room aboard the Phalanx

By now the news of Picard’s death had spread across the taskforce. It was awkwardly quiet in the conference room as everyone tried to cope with what happened. Even Data seemed to be sad in his own way. Kira, with a tear in her eye, walked up to the head of the table and pushed a button on the PADD that was integrated in the table there. “This is Kira Nerys to everyone in the Phalanx taskforce. As you might’ve heard, our beloved captain Picard has died in an explosion aboard the station. Now I ask you all to remain calm and do your job so that we all can go home. That is what captain Picard would want you all to do. The funeral ceremony will be at 1600 hours. Kira out.” She knew this couldn’t have come at a worse time. Even though it is always a bad thing to lose a man like Jean-Luc Picard, in this time he was needed most. The crew looked up to him.

1600 hours, the funeral

Data walked up to the stand in the holodeck to give a speech about his captain and mentor. “Even though I feel no emotions, I do feel the loss we all have suffered here today.” he started as he looked up to the large crowd that sat in chairs around him. Even Delenn, Londo, Sheridan and his senior officers had come to pay there respects. “He was my captain, my mentor and my friend. I am proud that I can say that. He was, still is and always will be with us.” Data ended his speech and looked over the crowd. He saw a lot of people crying. “Now I ask you to follow me to pay the final respects to our beloved captain and friend.” Data asked the crowd.

Everyone followed Data to a room where the casing of a torpedo was placed on the ground. It contained the remains of Captain Picard. It was traditional for any Starfleet member that was killed in the line of duty to be shot out into space as a final resting place. As an ensign blew a whistle the senior officers that stood next to the torpedo casing saluted as it was fired out into space.

Babylon 5 sickbay

Thanks to Starfleet issue medical instruments Lennier had awoken from what appeared to be a coma. Delenn stood next to him as he woke up. As did captain Sisko and Sheridan. Now that Lennier  was awake, he explained that he saved Mollari's life at the risk of his own, "All life is sacred. But when the object of your actions does not share that belief... ahh, I fear that I have served the present by sacrificing the future." Lennier said to the three that stood at his bedside.

This is Worf to captain Sisko.”

Sisko tapped his comm. badge and replied, “What is it, mr Worf?”

Our sensors have detected another explosive device. We beamed it off the station where it exploded. We also beamed aboard the person who placed the bomb but he committed suicide before we could restrain him.” Worf answered.

Delenn, Sheridan and Sisko were all shocked by this message.

Babylon 5, conference room

Delenn and Lennier sat next to Londo, and next to him sat Sheridan and his senior officers. Sisko was now placed in command of the taskforce and explained the Babylon 5 officers and ambassadors what the man did and how they caught him in the act. Sisko took a step forward and faced the people that sat in front of him. “His last words before he committed suicide were “My goal was accomplished”” Sisko continued explaining. Ivanova now turned to Sisko, “What did he mean by that?” Delenn interrupted Sisko as he was about to answer. “He was trying to create chaos. Why I don’t know. But he succeeded in doing just that.”



Chapter 6: Descisions

3 Weeks after Picard’s death

The loss of Captain Picard could still be seen amongst the crew of the Phalanx taskforce. Ezri Dax, as councillor, suggested that there should be more recreational activities to keep the morale of the crew at least at a manageable level. But even that didn’t take away the pain. But even then life goes on.

Aboard Babylon 5

Captain Sisko walked past the shops on Babylon 5 and admired the diversity of the unknown species that were on the station. As he made his way to a bar to sit down for a moment he heard someone calling his name. It was G’Kar, “Captain Sisko, I wish to show my compassion for your loss. I know what you are feeling. I too have lost a lot lately.” Captain Sisko walked up to a chair and sat down. “Yes, I heard about the Narn-Centauri war going on. I heard the Centauri even bombed your homeworld.” The Narn in his somewhat old looking clothing also took a seat, “Yes, those wretched Centauri scum killed our friends and family.” Sisko looked up and then looked straight into the eyes of the alien. “Look, if you are here to call for our help you won’t get it. We can’t choose sides yet. We know too little to take action. Now if you’ll excuse me…” Sisko didn’t bother saying goodbye but just walked away.

G’Kar was disappointed that yet again he had failed to gain support for his cause. He turned around and walked away from the chair Sisko sat in. Once G’Kar reached his quarters, Ta’Lon and Na’Far stood next to the door. They were both the so called new representatives of the Narn homeworld. But G’Kar knew they were nothing but puppets for the Centauri regime on their homeworld.

In front of the two men another group of Narns were shouting at Ta’Lon and Na’Far. “TRAITORS!” The group of Narns were part of the Narn resistance against the Centauri. One of the Narns continues to insist that Na'Far's sole purpose is to break their souls, and wants him to go back to Narn. Not much later fight breaks out, but they are interrupted by G'Kar and tells them that they cannot succeed if they fight amongst themselves. “If the only way to solve these problems is to return to Narn, I will do so do so.” G’Kar said to all.

As G'Kar leaves the station, he is stopped by the many Narns of the resistance. “G’Kar! You cannot leave! You are valued and needed here!” G’Kar turned around to face his fellow Narns. “If I do not leave for Narn this might never end.” But despite G’Kar’s efforts they refused to let him leave, and though he tries to insist he is leaving in order to help them, they didn’t let him leave. “But think of your families and friends that are still on Narn! I do this for them… And for you.” One of the Narns in the group stepped forward, “If it means that all Narn can once again taste freedom we accept that price.” All the other Narns nodded in agreement. Even Ta'Lon, who stood in the back of the corridor, had been convinced to stay and join the Narn resistance, and tells G'Kar that only with his help can they eventually succeed. G'Kar agrees to stay aboard the station.

Aboard the Phalanx

Sisko had returned from the station after his little chat with G’Kar. He was not sure what to do in this situation. Should he help the Narn, contact the Earth Alliance and see what they have to say or stay here at Babylon 5 for the time being? Sisko continued to stair at the holoscreen that showed a three dimensional projection of the station but was interrupted by Lieutenant Barclay.

“Sir, a ship just entered through the gate. It fits Vorlon specifications.” He said. Sisko looked up and faced Barclay. “I want a thorough scan of that ship.” Sisko ordered while standing up from his black captain’s chair. “Aye, sir.” Was the reply Barclay gave. The Lieutenant wasted little time and immediately began scanning the alien vessel. “Sir, our scanners seem to be unable to penetrate their armor. All I can give you is that the armor is not artificial, it’s biological. It almost seems to be alive.” Sisko need as he walked back to his seat. “Very well, mister Barclay. Please add the new data to the database.” Barclay nodded and performed the order.

”This ship… I’ve seen it before.” Sisko thought. ”Ah, yes. This is one of the ships the Prophets showed me. But what does it mean?”

In O’Brien’s quarters, the Chief was working with some of the data he acquired on the station about hyperspace jump engines. He had transferred all the data onto a PADD and was reading it. He thought the data was presented in a what childish manner but it was the best he could find;

----

HYPERSPACE JUMP ENGINES
Hyperspace "Jump Engines" allow a vessel to open a passage into Hyperspace, which provides a short-cut that bridges the vast expanse between worlds without having to break the speed of light. Theory states that "Hyperspace" is an alternate dimension in which height, width and depth are distorted to the point that distances has little to no meaning. Theory states that after the Big Bang, all stellar matter was thrown out from the "Hydrogen inrush" when a micro particle a millionth of the size of the atom exploded, thus creating all matter in the universe.All the stellar matter that was created by the Big Bang was thrown out by the explosion, the titanic mass of the Big Bang unable to hold in the compressed stellar matter that was released with the Hydrogen inrush  Stellar matter moved (and still moves), out from the center of the Big Bang, the resulting empty space equaling Hyperspace.

The deeper you go into Hyperspace, the relative distance that needs to be traversed to reach your destination becomes smaller, thus getting you to where you would like to be, faster.  There is a problem however, and that is the Big Bang.  The mass and gravity of the Big Bang still exist and objects in real space also cast a gravity echo into Hyperspace, which can be significantly amplified given that the area a star's gravity will effect in Hyperspace will be significantly larger in the smaller dimensional plane of Hyperspace. Thus, while in Hyperspace, a ship must maintain constant thrust, or it will be lost in the massive gravity spikes and eddies. Travelling too deep into Hyperspace COULD result in a vessel not being able to get back out of Hyperspace, trapping a ship there forever.

Scale in Hyperspace varies dramatically, depending upon the destination and rout taken, due to gravitational spikes, eddies and the fact that Real Space does not have a one-to-one ratio in Hyperspace. Babylon 5, for example, is 10.67 light-years from Earth (100.9 billion kilometers), and the direct travel time is about three days. This means, relatively speaking, a ship would be travelling 389,455,000 kilometers a second relative to Real Space.

By way of comparison Centauri Prime is 75 light-years (709.6 billion kilometers) from Babylon 5 and it takes about six days to get there. That means the same ship would be travelling 1,368,750,000 kilometers a second.

This means that ships capable of accelerating at between 1 and 12 G-forces, via the use of Hyperspace, can travel between 1299 and 4565 times the speed of light, and faster. Advanced ships, like the Whitestars, can travel between SOL and Babylon 5 is just a few hours, suggesting that advanced ships using gravimetric drives can travel at 30,000 and 220,000 times the speed of light, via Hyperspace.

If you are looking for a ratio however, a journey from Babylon 5 to SOL would be a ratio of 259,200 kilometers to every one kilometer in real space. A journey from Babylon 5 to Centauri Prime would be 518,400 kilometers for every one kilometer in real space. So your average, is probably anywhere between 100,000 to one, and 600,000 to one.

----

As O’Brien finished reading the PADD he put it down on the table that stood in front of him. As he reached out to lay down the PADD he noticed a picture standing in the middle of the table. It was a picture of Molly and the children. O’Brien picked up the photo and looked at it in silence. As he stared at the photo he realized what he lost when they entered this universe. With that thought in mind a tear rolled down his cheek…
Babylon 5, docking bay

As the green Vorlon ship with black spots entered the docking bay, Susan Ivanova was awaiting it. The Vorlon vessel quickly descended and shut down. Susan didn’t see a door of any kind so she didn’t know where anyone would come out. All of a sudden the green texture on the ship moved and a hole appeared. It seemed like the ship was alive and purposely opened itself. From the opening a woman came. It was Lyta Alexander, a former Psi Corp agent who was searching for the Vorlons. Obviously she found them, but it was the first time anyone had gone there and returned alive.

“Lyta?” Susan asked confused. “Susan, it is good to see you.” She replied. But her face was void of any emotions. “I need to speak to captain Sheridan.” She continued. Susan was quite confused, “Eh… Yes, ofcourse. Follow me.”

Later, in Sheridan's office, Lyta explains how she had felt drawn to Kosh since she touched his mind years before. In a final desperate attempt to find the Vorlons, she had herself abandoned in a life pod at the edge of Vorlon space. With Sheridan, Garibaldi, Ivanova, Delenn and Lennier listening they all couldn’t help but wondering what it was like on the Vorlon homeworld. Nobody spoke until Lyta had left the room. And even then only Garibaldi spoke, “Nobody's ever been to the Vorlon homeworld, and back again; and yet she goes and comes back like she just took a trip to the corner store. And now she's working for Kosh. Is anyone else as creeped out about this as I am?" The only reaction he got was Sheridan nodding, the rest remained quiet.

(*** Info on jump engines from B5TECH.COM)

[Tian Guan]

Necheyev wouldn't be out on the Cardassian border.

Ross is in command of that area of space and, if I recall correctly, Necheyev is a 3-star Admiral who would be as far away from any danger as possible. Probably back on Earth flying a desk through the harsh world of Federation beurocracy.

[TheCelestialOne]

Chapter 7: Discovery by Trial

2 weeks later

By now the Defiant and Valiant had scouted large parts of space. Each time they went on such a scouting mission the two vessels cloaked when out of range of the station to avoid detection by other races. Sisko himself led some of the missions but almost all of them were quite uneventful. Sisko now sat in the middle of the large bridge of the Phalanx looking over several scouting reports as he was interrupted by the Klingon who stood behind him. “Captain, Babylon 5 just launched a shuttle. It is heading for the planet. One Human life sign detected.” Worf reported. “I’m tired of waiting.” Sisko said as he stood up from his chair. “Commander Data, take a shuttle and follow them. I want to know what is going on here for a change.” He continued. “Aye, sir.” Sisko now turned around and faced Worf. “Mr. Worf, you’re with Data.” Worf nodded and followed the android into the turbolift.

Phalanx shuttlebay

Data and Worf walked towards a small shuttle that only was equipped with two Type IV point defence phasers. As the door of the shuttle opened the two officers entered it. Once the sat in their chairs they prepared the shuttle for launch. With the quick work by Data the shuttle was ready to leave the huge shuttlebay within seconds. The shuttle softly lifted itself from the floor and flew through the forcefield at the hangar door into space.

“Entering planetary atmosphere.” Data reported. Worf, not being a good shuttle pilot left the piloting to data and concentrated on the shield output and weapon status. All of a sudden a loud noise could be heard. “We have four incoming missiles! Calibrating phasers for broad spectrum. Targeting… Firing at missiles!”  Worf said.

Two widespread orange beams came out of the two small phaser banks on top of the shuttle destroying the incoming missiles. But by now eight more were flying towards them at high speeds. These eight new missiles were far more agile and seemingly more intelligent then the first wave and dodged the phaser fire. Data was forced to perform some dangerous manoeuvres to evade the missiles. The missiles were closing in on the shuttle from behind. Data kept a straight face even now, in the face of danger as he pulled off a full turn by using the emergency atmospheric brakes. Worf anticipated the move and immediately fired at the eight missiles that now were in front of them destroying them all. Even more missiles were picked up on sensors, but by then Data had followed the shuttle from the station into a large fissure in the ground. The missiles didn’t persue but instead flew over the fissure.

“The shuttle is over there.” Data remarked as the lights on the shuttle were turned on to light up the dark fissure. “The air is toxic here, I should best go alone, mr. Worf. I am not affected by it.” Worf nodded in agreement but wasn’t happy that he had to stay behind.

A few moments after Worf transported Data outside the shuttle and after he materialized, the android walked into a large cavern. It seemed to be the only entrance. Data, holding up his tricorder, saw machinery integrated into the walls. The large cavern seemed to be part of a larger facility. As he moved on through the cave he encountered more and more machinery. Until he reached a large bridge. The large bridge was surrounded by a truly huge machine that was operational. Data scanned the machine with his tricorder and noticed that the machine was some sort of powerplant. A very sophisticated one. It produced enough power to supply an entire fleet. Not having the time to admire the machine, Data moved on into a second cave. He saw a person walking up ahead and going around a corner. Data quickly followed.

As Data reached the corner he heard voices. One of the voices he recognized, it was commander Susan Ivanova from Babylon 5. The second voice was a deep male voice. He cautiously looked around the corner to see what was going on. He saw an old man talking to Ivanova. They seemed to know each other. Data decided to confront them openly. As both of them didn’t expect anyone else to follow them they were quite surprised.

“What is he doing here? First you come instead of Sheridan and now another!?” the man said. Data didn’t allow Ivanova to respond. “I am Lieutenant Commander Data from the USS Phalanx.” the old man walked up to the android and inspected him. “Well, since you are already here I guess it can’t be helped anymore. I am Draal.” Data looked at the man, “Nice to meet you, Draal.” Draal now stepped closer to Data as if he was trying to see into his mind. “But… you are not alive!” Draal was now quiet. But Data shook his head, “On the contrary, I am alive. You might be reffering to me being an artificial life form. I am an android.” He calmly said. Draal looked surprised. “A conscious machine? You shouldn’t have evolved enough to create life yet. How can this be?” Ivanova seemingly annoyed by all this, “Draal are we going to do this or not?” Draal turned around and walked to the machine. The machine had a part cut out in the shape of a humanoid. Obviously a person was supposed to interface with the machine. Ivanova stepped up the ramp and walked towards the machine. After a short hesitation she stepped into the machine and closed her eyes.

Ivanova suddenly finds herself travelling through the depths of space. "I can't breathe." She said. "It's all right," Draal tells her. "Try to calm your mind. Focus. All life forms are connected. Look for the Path. Look for the Path." He continues. "It is the power that binds us, one to another, across the darkness of space. Focus on the First Ones, on the most ancient of ancients. Let the Path take you to them."

As Draal speaks, the Path becomes more and more solid and visible, and Ivanova begins her journey upon it. After a few moments, she arrives at a familiar planet. "I know this place... I've seen it on the star charts. Sigma 957. They were here. I can feel their footprints in the sand. Hear their words... whispered on the wind." She travels around the planet, seeing it from all sides, and it seems to change, some of it nearly vanishing into surrounding space, while other, more mysterious forms come to its surface. "It's beautiful. They're coming back again... soon. I can... Draal? Draal!? Something's wrong. Draal, I'm not alone." She looks away from the planet. “It sees me. It knows I'm here. It... It's pulling me in. Can't stop it." Ivanova yelled In the fabric of space, four points of light, which look very much like eyes, begin to form and approach her.

"It is the enemy," Draal warns. Pull away! Go back to the Path!" Ivanova was panicing, "I can't. It... It knows I'm here. It knows my name!" Draal was very nervous as he spoke, "Break off! I can't pull you off without killing you. Pull away! Don't look at it!" Ivanova succeeds in looking away just as the fingers of light are about to reach her, while still others appear, as if they were reinforcements. "That's it," Draal tells her as the image ends. "Come back now..."

"Wait... there's something else," Ivanova says as she finds herself in a new new place, orbiting Jupiter, over a year ago. "That's EarthForce 1 before it exploded! I can warn them! I can save the President!" Draal looked up with a surprised look on his face, "No, it's too late. You're seeing the shadow of things long gone."

Another voice, a deep male voice, that of Morden, responds. "EarthForce 1 will never return from Io. The power is now yours, Clark. Mr.... President." This image vanishes in a sea of static, and Ivanova once again sees herself above Jupiter watching EarthForce 1 explode. She turns her head away, and the image ends. Draal and Data help her out of the machine. Data had no idea what happened but knew it was a very special occasion.

"I do not understand! A normal human mind should not have been able to do that!" Draal told Susan. "I saw it... I saw it all," she tells him. "The image I saw... the message. Can you record it?" she asked Draal. "Yes, but how..." But Draal was cut short by the exhausted woman. "Do it, please. It's the proof we've needed that President Santiago was assassinated, that Clark was behind everything. We've got it. We've got it."

[Nico]

mmh... reminded me a lot of Lord of the Rings, when  Frodo puts the ring.

[TheCelestialOne]

Did you just compare my story with that of LotR in a positive way!? *gloat* *is happy*

[Hunter]

great! Though maybe a bit too many novelisations?

[TheCelestialOne]

Originally posted by Hunt Smacker
Though maybe a bit too many novelisations?

Explain please.

[Setekh]

I like your style. Apart from that, I know little/nothing about the universe you're actually writing in, since neither B5 nor ST has screened in Australia.

[Turnsky]

actually, both have... just that TV execs put them on insane hours that are just out of our reach..


for B5?.. well they did show it.. but only sporadically..

[Setekh]

Well, I've seen cuts of episodes at like 3am and when I go interstate, but that's it. At least they're showing double episodes of Stargate recently, at this rate we'll actually get up to speed with Scifi before long.