"Captain's Log: Earth Date, March 15, 2001. Due to an unforeseen event, we have been sent back in time to the early 21st century, where we have encountered a group traveling in a wooden sailing vessel. Surprisingly, these individuals seem know the members of my crew. Not only are they familiar with us, but with many undocumented factors of our previous trips in time. Information that we have been able to obtain seems to point to a discrepancy in our knowledge of historical events, as the information given both conforms, as well as deviates, from the known events."

"Their technology is far in advance of our own, and we have learned that Earth is far more advanced than we gave credit to in our history books. A chance comment to Mr. Scott has given us a lead that seems to bear out this theory. Before we can consider going back to our point in time, we need to investigate this matter further."

"This thing on the screen is the Stargate?" McCoy asked as he looked at the half complete scan of the paper.

"Yes, doctor. According to this, the sheet of paper was among those records that were recovered from the remains of a book store in New York City. Given the store was one from which we regained many of the classics, it was dismissed as a document from a fictional series. Why it was picked up as a possible truth is something that many have wondered about." Spock replied.

"Why weren't more copies of this found, if it was available in a bookstore?" Kirk asked in confusion.

Spock replied, "According to our records, Earth was in the process of converting all of the information at the end of the 20th century to electronic records in order to save what was left of it's environment. The store that this sheet was recovered from happens to be an antique store, which was fortunate considering all of the EMP occurrences which destroyed most of the electronic infrastructure."

"Very well. Have the historical division start investigating all of the known information, as well as any references to Mr. Black, his people, and this International Statute of Secrecy. I want reports on all of the technology that you observed, and complete examinations of all the gifts we received from our visit. We have twelve hours before our next meeting. Make them count." Kirk ordered to the people there. "Bones, Spock, if I can have a word with you."

After the others left the conference room, Kirk asked a question that was on his mind. "Spock, the Syrranites do not appear for almost a century more. How many people know the language right now?"

"Less than 2000 at this point in history. While Vulcan ships in this time are exploring and making contact with many species, Earth was considered to have just entered the early part of space exploration, and also considered too violent because of their use of atomics. Understandably, this discrepancy is of some concern." Spock paused for a moment, "Although it is possible he has met Vulcan's in the past, it is highly improbable for him to have learned this particular dialect."

"So, he knows more about Vulcan than expected. Somehow, this does not seem surprising given what we already know." McCoy stated.

"Bones?"

McCoy rubbed his eyebrows, feeling a headache coming on. "Jim, if you want my opinion, I need to ask, how accurate is our history? Everything that we know both coincides with the information we received, and also is very contradictory. Earth should be in the middle of reforming society, yet the information and technology are more advanced than can be expected. Either Earth's governments are hiding a hell of a lot, which I wouldn't put past them, or we're not in our own universe."

Spock nodded as this possibility had already occurred to him. "Doctor McCoy, it is best not to assume too much as to our situation. As far as we are able to determine, there has not been a variance in the quantum flux of the materials we have been able to detect with our sensors."

"Would it be detectable this far back in time?" McCoy replied. "I don't know Jim. It's just too many things occurring in a short amount of time, all of it destroying, or confirming, our view of history as we know it."

He held the Hex-quarter up. "This has more computer memory than the entire ship, something that should be impossible. Hell, every advanced civilization, except for Sargon's..."

Kirk straightened, McCoy had just made a connection that was missed. "Spock?"

"Entirely possible, Captain. Sargon's people are the oldest recorded civilization known to us. Given what Sargon and the others were able to do, and the technology and information lost when they decided to venture to 'Oblivion', I was say that it is highly probable. If you remember, their people spread throughout the galaxy. It would not be too hard to conjecture that they were the race known as the 'Preservers', nor would it be hard to conjecture that Mr. Black and his people are the decedents of that race." Spock frowned, an uncomfortable idea forming.

McCoy saw this and said, "What is it?"

Composing his features, he walked out of the room, leading the others towards his cabin, "Doctor, I am remembering something that a professor of human history in the Academy once told me. He stated, 'While many people think that everything revolves around themselves, or their home world, this is not true. What happens is directly connected to what is completed by that civilization.' I was using that supposition, but this, and other incidents changes this idea."

Kirk said, "Earth. Earth seems to be the centre of too many incidents, too much interference. Why, Bones. Why does Earth seem to have been visited by, or birthed, so many immortals. What if Earth has something that is special, important, to the rest of the universe? What if there were two, or more factions, and Earth was a centrepiece of this, like a prize for winning? Black's statement that 'Earth is coming to a crisis point, one in which I, and others, may not interfere in, no matter what we want to do.' may be an indicator of this."

McCoy rolled his eyes as they entered Spock's cabin. As the door closed behind them, he commented, "And I thought I had a big imagination!"

---

Harry sat back on the deck chair, letting himself catch some sun. Both Henchgirl and the Doctor were going crazy with the new equipment and information that they had exchanged with the crew from the Enterprise. Mr. Scott's tricorder had already been taken apart after they transfered the data it contained, and both of them were already contemplating what they could do if they intergrated the information and the technology contained within the tricorder to their own efforts. Harry had no doubt that by the end of the week, at most another month, they would create something that would drastically change the world.

"The data is coming in fine," The Doctor stated as she lay down on her own deck chair, "This will definately be a trip to remember."

"True," Harry replied, "But you realise that they are out of time, as well as out of their own dimension."

The Doctor chuckled at that, sipping a drink, "Not much of a problem. The Professor is building a new long range port trans. It will be able to transport us, and anything we are physically connected to, to any universe. I managed to get the vibrational signature from scanning 'Bones'."

Harry laughed out loud. "When we go there, want to make a full run of it? Start in their 20th century, and then go right up to the 25th, covering all the series, including the one that's suposed to start this fall?"

The Doctor laughed as well and nodded her agreement. If they did this right, they would end up with several centuries worth of video, and be lauded as the Ultimate Trekers at both the magical and muggle parts of the conventions.

---

Henchgirl was engrossed with the new Port Trans, although the Professor was not so keen on it. At least not at first. All she had to do was remind him that a Stargate required that there be another one on the other side. "You know, they may not be much on implementation, but the ideas they have are great!"

The Professor shugged, "It's going to take several years for us to go through this, if not more to even begin to understand the concepts. I do admit that having a technological way to use a port key or apparate is intreguing, and what they are doing resembles what we did for the Zeppelin, but it needs to be done a lot more carefully."

Henchgirl looked up from the diagrams and MAD equipment she was working on. "What do you mean?"

"Here, look at this," the Professor replied as he brought up the appropriate sections on the floating screens that were surounding his station. "It seems that the system they use doesn't include dimensional transference, such as our system uses. According to these notes, dimensional transference creates errors in the DNA which kills a person. What's more, it seems their prefered way of transporting an object literally includes disassembling and reassembling themselves at a distance."

"Well, that makes some sense."

"No, it doesn't. What they do is scan a person, right down to the subatomic layer, send the information, and recreate the matter remotely." The Professor stated, almost sick at what he was reading. "To prevent errors, they use what's called a Heisenberg compensator to record the position of everything on the quantum level, I have never seen such a self destructive technique."

Henchgirl didn't seem so worried, "Well, they have to send people somehow, that seems as good a way as any."

"You don't understand," The Professor said, becoming even more sick as he noted something that he hadn't seen previously. "They are using the Heisenberg theory of transported matter. All this does is copy the position of an object using a form of local transmutation of matter to the proper form, recreating the object stored in a data stream. It isn't the original matter being recreated."

"What? Sorry Professor, I'm not as familiar with that particular area of science." Henchgirl said, chilled at the face and voice the Professor had.

"They scan the matter into a data stream, and destroy the original matter before transmitting the data. They are literally killing themselves before they create a copy. If they didn't destroy the original matter, then they would have a copy of a person running around, with all of the same memories. If someone kept a permanent recording, they could recreate the person as they were when originally recorded."

Henchgirl paled, "We can't go through their transport system, I'm not doing that to myself."

"Agreed. What we'd be doing is committing suicide. How the hell did they think this was a good idea?"

"I'm not sure, but we can use it as a basis for some ideas, if not the actual transport." Henchgirl replied, her face as grim as the Professor's.

---

Luna was day dreaming.

A common enough occurence, but she was also seeing something in her minds eye that defied description, or at least the description of those considered sane. Her gift, which allowed her to see other planes of existence, was working overtime, and in her vision, she saw a being she knew she had to be prepared for. This being could well become the bane, not only of her existance, but others, given he had access to the universal magic as well.

Of course, forwarned is forgetable, or something like that, at least usually.

The good thing was, she was seeing a way to keep him, and others like him, at bay by stopping how their particular access to the universal all was accessed. All it would require is a short sentence in her, or anyone elses mind. She would tell Mr. Black and the others when the time came.

Actually, she would tell the twins first. They would be perfect partners in playing with this new being.

---

Harry was still chuckling at the thought of all the fun they could have. "So, we order all the available books, movies, and other paraphanelia? For research, of course. I never did get around to showing the Professor and Henchgirl Star Trek."

The Doctor reached over and gave him a slight slap on the shoulder while laughing. "Naughty boy! You should always show your local Mad Scientist Star Trek. Why, it might make him a Raving Madboy!"

Harry started gigling hard, "We have to get the others and come back for the Enterprise. Do you realize what the twins would do to them, all by themselves?"

"Oh god! Just imagine if they learn the Ferengi 'Rules of Aquisition!' They'll end up owning the Ferengi within five to ten years!" the Doctor shot back.

"How about giving the Architect a tour of most of the known planets, and then letting him have an entire PLANET to build on."

The Doctor suddenly fell off the chair, laughing too hard to stay on. "Five or six centuries should be enough to satisfy everyone before we come back. Just imagine if we bring Percy and he gets his hands on creating the bureaucracy!"

Harry stopped laughing and shuddered. "We want the Federation to exist, not get destroyed under dead trees!"

The Doctor started lauging even harder.

---

Kirk and McCoy sat in silence, looking at the information that Spock had collected over the years, not only as a member of the Enterprise crew, but also numerous files from Vulcan, Earth, Andoria, and other sources. The conclusions being reached were disturbing. Individually, none of the incidents showed more than luck, or people having an open mind to come up with solutions. It was only when all of these incidents were it was put together that it became obvious that someone had a guiding hand in creating the Federation.

Many incidents didn't havea connection, officially. They occurred years, sometimes decades apart and could be dismissed in terms of planetary history. A number of 'coincidences' which led to a solution were from things which had occured many lightyears or civilizations apart. A medical cure that had no use on the planet it was developed on, a planet that had some crystals that had grown circuitry in them and detected by a starship just when it was needed, energy control systems being on a planet that were still viable despite the fact that the civilization that had been on it were long dead, and more.

The ones from old civilizations could usually be dismissed as there was not a connection, others were noticable in that they did not have traceable creators or pictures to accompany the discoveries that were made.

A number of items Kirk hadn't known about even with his expertise in history. He decided to do something that he rarely did. "Computer, display history of ships, Enterprise, NX-01."

"Working."

McCoy said, "What are you looking for?"

"Something that bothered me when I was in the Academy." Kirk replied tensely.

"Stop. Computer, Display classified logs of events."

"Working. Classified logs of events on Enterprise NX-01 cannot be accessed. Events are viewable only at Star Fleet headquarters."

"Computer, what level of classification are those logs under?" Kirk said, a suspicion coming to him.

"Logs are classified as Black Level 12. Admiralities eyes only."

"Computer, who in the Admirality has access to those files?" Kirk stated, as things were coming together for him.

"Working. Logs access is available to only one Admiral. Admiral's name is classified under Black Protocol 15."

Spocks left eyebrow rose. "Interesting."

McCoy stared at the machine. "Jim, did that thing just say what I think it said?"

"Just a second, Bones." Kirk replied, "Computer, what are the Black Protocols?"

"Working. The Black Protocols originate from operational protocols developed by Zephram Cochrane and Lily Sloane. Protocols are classified to the Admirality. Only Black Protocol 1 is available under this request."

"Computer, what is Black Protocol 1?" Kirk continued.

"Working. Black protocol one is as follows: 'You should not be looking at this file.' Access to Black Protocol 1 is punishable by a Banana Cream Pie to the face in front of Star Fleet Academy."

Bones McCoy laughed out loud. "Well, Jim, I guess I know what will happen when you get to the Academy for the ceremony."

Kirk groaned and let his head fall down. A hacker trap. A harmless one, but put there to show that hacking was not something that was wanted by the Admirality, even by Starship personnel. "Laugh it up, Bones. You were here with me."

Spock was fighting a laugh of his own, the only visible reaction was a slight upward twitch of his lips. "Captain, perhaps if you want to investigate those files, you should provide your access code."

---

"I called you here to inform all of you of something." the Professor began, "Whatever you do, do not use their form of transportation."

Except for Henchgirl, everyone else looked confused, or rather Harry and the Doctor looked confused, Luna was looking at a spot on the table.

"Why?"

Henchgirl looked grim. "Because going through it means death. The thing will kill the person and replace you with a copy."

Harry and the Doctor looked at each other. Wanting the joke to go on, but not willing to risk the lives of his friends, Harry stated, "We better tell you who they are then."

The Doctor continued, "And why we need to go with them."

"These people are from another universe, one in which science rules. They are not only out of their place in the multiverse, but in time as well. The two of us know them because we are familiar with their adventures, and we will get you all the information that we have." Mr. Black stated.

The Doctor took up the discussion, "The problem is, for them to exist, we need to go with them, with several of our people, and ensure that their civilization will survive to the point where these people can come here and further into their future. It will mean that we will have to be in that universe for several centuries to make sure that certain threats do not interfere with the formation of their society, or come to this universe."

Sighing, the Doctor went on, "We have already made a list of the personnel that we will need. Start making list of what you need to take with you, and how we will be able to tug them to their universe. We also need to make sure our ship can go through time in order to accomplish what we must. We cannot let them come to our Earth, so, although we will be gone for about a month, getting everything ready, we need to arrive back no later than fifteen minutes after we leave."

Mr. Black said, "You can't let them know what we know, and we need to pack enough magical material, and means to recreate more as necessary."

The Professor nodded, "Agreed. Their replication system may be able to help us with that, as well as the transporter technology. If it can create copies, all we need is a complete scan of the materials necessary."

"Before we do that, can we do something else?" Luna spoke up for the first time.

Harry blinked, "Errr...Sure Luna, what do you want to do?"

"Why go over to their ship for visit first. It's only polite to be good neighbours after all."

Henchgirl shook her head, the Professor coughed into his hand and the Doctor let her head fall towards her chest while Harry replied, "We'll do that."

Luna beamed, and then skipped out of the room to her appartment aboard the Resource. She had to find a change of clothes that reflected what happened.

"She does know that we are going to go over anyway, right?"

"Professor," Harry said as he shook his head, "I tend to just let Luna have her way instead of trying to understand. It's better for my sanity that way.

---

Omake...

Q groaned as he saw how it began. "OK, what's in store for me, and how does this mean mischief?"

Toltier laughed. "I'll show you, but you can't interfere with what happens."

"OK, you damned cat. I won't interfere as long as it's funny."

Grinning, Toltier focused the well on a new place, Space Station DS9
---

The Professor was trilled to meet Dax and had to ask, "Are you a member of the Tokra? Or are you a subvarient species of the Guaold?"
---

Luna looked at Odo, stars in her eyes! A new, inteligent species that could transform!

Odo was uncomfortable at the looks that the human girl was giving him. In the days that followed, it was common to see Odo running, changing form, and doing anything to get away from the obviously infatuated human girl, who kept mumbling something about 'guinea pigs'.
---

Doctor Bashir was amazed. This person, known as the Doctor was surprising as she was interesting. If it wasn't for the fact that she had helped him stop Section 31 from trying to recruit him, yet again, he would have suspected she was part of that group.
---

Henchgirl spent her time with the O'brians, not only facinating little Molly with what she could do, but spending several hours a day discussing engineering plans and how to improve them. Already, one of the cargo bays had been converted into an impromptu laboratory which had a sign saying that those who entered would find out about things no being was supposed to know. The mad cackling that was heard coming from the door, even with no one in it, spooked station personel.
---

Quark was crying out loud. For a person who never heard of Dabo before, Mr. Black had managed to win big. Extremely big. The strangest thing was that Black was bored with winning and was trying his best to lose all of the gold pressed latinum that he had won. Humans were going to be the death of him. They kept surprising him, making no sense, and fosting addicting drinks, such as Root Beer and Cream Soda on the rest of the unsuspecting universe.
---

Garak was commiserating with Mr. Black. The two of them tried to stay out of the limelight, but somehow, their luck seemed to keep pulling them back in. It was hell, it was interesting, it was a living. As they were getting more into their drinking, they started to discuss a practical joke which, a few days later, would become famous and make the rounds throughout the known governments. For more than a year, visitors to the station would tend to avoid getting into violence as no one knew how the Boston Cream Pies kept targeting people, or how they were teleported without a signature.
---

Captain Sisko was holed up in his office. He didn't dare go out too often because things were happening, and none of it was illegal. Topping that, he had tried to contact Starfleet for some help, or an idea how a wooden sailing vessel was docked to his station. All he was told that Mr. Black and his crew were to be given full support, not questioned, and most of all, not annoyed. Bloody politicians stated it was part of General Order number 306. As far as he knew, the General Orders only went to 300, what the hell were numbers 301 to 306?
---

"OK. It's a bit funny." Q was forced to admit. Not that he liked admitting it, but at least it was better than Oblivion.

"Knew you'd see it my way" the smug cat stated.

Chris

Note 1: MAD is Magically Assisted Design, a system that the Professor and Henchgirl came up with after seeing a similar system described in a muggle magazine.

Note 2: Cal Tech teleportation expert Jeff Kimball gets past problems of "quantum entanglement" necessary to achieve true teleportation in 2002. He successfully teleports beams of light (in theory, he could do the same with particles of matter - sadly, there's too much information to transmit for a whole human). Partial information available at: http/qist.lanl.gov/pdfs/optical.pdf Simplified diagram available at: http/www.its. 3: Madboy is a term from old Science Fiction novels known as 'Pulps'. They refer to a 'Mad Scientist' who raves about someone else coming up with an idea or a device before him, and his attempting to recreate the device with better technology or ideas. Usually this ended up making trouble.