[email protected] (Soton)
Sailor Trek DS9 - Part 1
Standard Questionably Useful Disclaimer:
Sailor Moon and all related characters were created by Naoko Takeuchi;
and are copyright to Naoko Takeuchi, Kodansha, Toei, DIC and whoever else.
Star Trek Deep Space Nine was created by Rick Berman and Michael Pillar;
and is owned and copyrighted by Paramount Pictures.
Based upon Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry.
This story (such as it is) is MINE!!!
This fanfic is intended solely for entertainment purposes and no
violation of said copyrights is intended or implied. Permission granted
to copy this to other web pages as long as this disclaimer is attached,
and the text of the story is unmodified.
Timeline note: Takes place in the middle part of season four of "Star
Trek: Deep Space Nine" (shortly after the episode "Paradise Lost"), and
during season one of "Sailor Moon".
Prologue:
Komentac'lan, the Jem'Hadar First for this attack ship, watched
calmly as the Vorta, Fiden, glanced over the bridge, examining each
station carefully. He was confident that all was as it should be, but
it was the role of the Vorta to command the Jem'Hadar. This was as it
should be, as it was ordained by the Founders.
It was, after all, the order of things.
And Fiden's excessive caution was warranted on this trip...
considering who their passenger was. The life of a Founder was not one
to be trifled with.
"What is our ETA to the nebula?" he asked of his Second,
Boretkat'lyn. As he understood it, they were to rendezvous with a
freighter in the nebula and the Founder would transfer to it. Where it
would go after that he had no idea, nor was it his place to ask, but he
supposed that it would be bound for the Alpha Quadrant.
"We should get there within eighteen hours," Boretkat'lyn replied
promptly. Fiden nodded, apparently satisfied, but before he could add
anything the ship trembled under them and the lights flickered
momentarily.
"Report!" snapped the First.
"We seem to have encountered an unknown spatial phenomena," came
the answer. "One that affected all three ships of our group."
"What kind of phenomena?" the Vorta asked. "A wormhole?"
"Possibly," the Second said, but his voice was doubtful. "We seem
to have shifted through space."
The First concentrated on his viewer and looked around the ship.
Outside he could see a blue-green world nearby, apparently inhabited.
It's one visible moon could be seen in the distance. As the nearest
inhabited planet had been several light years from their location, there
was no doubt they had moved a great distance through space. It only
remained a question of how far. "What is our current location?"
The navigator looked up from his console. "The Terran system, sir."
"We moved right into the heart of the Federation," Fiden commented,
blatantly stating the obvious. "If it's a stable wormhole, it could
prove to be of immense use to us."
The Second interrupted his musings. "I'm not sure it was a
wormhole."
"Explain," the First ordered.
"While we are in the Terran system, I can detect no signs of
Federation installations. No orbital stations, no lunar colonies, no
shipyards of any type... no signs of inhabitation at all... except on
Earth itself."
The First digested this news silently, while Fiden closely examined
the world below them in his own viewer. "Then... where *are* we?"
"Where *are* they?" the Klingon growled.
Worf stood on the bridge of the Defiant, scowling as he peered over
O'Brien's shoulder. They had been monitoring the three Dominion ships
for several hours when they had mysteriously vanished from their sensors.
As there hadn't been any previous indication that the Dominion possessed
cloaking technology, this was a cause for concern for the Klingon officer.
If the Dominion had managed to salvage a cloaking device or two from the
Cardassian/Romulan fleet they destroyed, then their one true advantage
(however slim) they had over the Gamma Quadrant power could be gone.
Eventually the Chief shook his head. "It's no good, sir. They've
vanished into thin air."
"Did they cloak?" Worf asked.
"No sir," O'Brien replied emphatically. "If they had, I would've
seen a phase shift in their warp fields." He paused and stared at the
monitor. "It's as if they just up and left the universe entirely."
"Very well," the Klingon rumbled, obviously dissatisfied. "Log all
pertinent data and transmit it to the station for Commander Dax to
analyze later." He turned to the helmsman. "Lay in a course for the
wormhole."
Fiden paced impatiently across the bridge. For two hours now they,
and the other two attack ships, had been trying to determine what had
happened. Unfortunately, while Jem'Hadar made excellent soldiers, they
were not very good at scientific analysis. That being the case, it came
down to the Vorta to arrive at an answer.
But the answers were not being very forthcoming. This seemed to be
Earth, but much more primitive than it should be. It was possible that
they had traveled through time as well, but there were several historical
inconsistencies with their observations of Earth.
It was as if they had moved to another reality altogether. But
that was impossible.
Wasn't it?
Komentac'lan stepped in front of him, forcing him to stop. "It is
time for the White," he insisted.
Fiden frowned, quickly going over his options in his mind. If they
were stranded without any avenue of returning to the Dominion (and
therefore of resupplying themselves with Ketracel White), then it was
only a matter of time before their current supply ran out and his hold
over the Jem'Hadar vanished. But if he withheld what they needed, their
performance would be impaired by withdrawal... After a moment, he
decided that it might be prudent to give them what they required now.
He would decide on what course of action to take later. "Of course."
Opening the case that contained the White, he asked the ritual question:
"First Komentac'lan, can you vouch for the loyalty of your men?"
As always, Komentac'lan responded, "We pledge ourselves to the
Founders. From now and until death."
Fiden removed the required vials and handed them to Komentac'lan.
"Then receive this gift of the Founders. May it keep you strong."
The First was still distributing the White to his unit when the
Founder, having assumed a humanoid form, entered the room. This was not
too shocking to Fiden and the Jem'Hadar as the Founder could go where
it willed, but the sight of another humanoid with him, one with long,
reddish brown hair and dressed in an unfamiliar gray uniform, was not
something they would expect. Automatically, the Jem'Hadar readied their
weapons, but any further action on their part was forestalled when the
Founder raised a hand. "There's no need for concern. This one here is
a friend." The Changeling turned to the unknown alien. "Isn't that
right, Neflyte?"
"Of course," the alien responded silkily. The Changeling turned
back to the Jem'Hadar soldiers and smiled benevolently at them.
Komentac'lan had been alive for nearly seven years, two of them
serving as First for his unit. He was a veteran of countless campaigns
in the service of the Founders and had battled on dozens of different
worlds. But seeing the Founders's eyes gleam red made him, for the first
time in his life, know fear.
Jeddite grimaced as he stood before Queen Beryl. Yes, the monarch
of the Negaverse was smiling, and yes, she was complimenting someone on
a job well done. But she wasn't addressing him. Instead she was
congratulating Neflyte on his capture of the Changeling and the Jem'Hadar
soldiers. He glared once more at his rival General. It was only a
matter of time before Queen Beryl turned her attention to his latest
encounter with the Sailor Scouts. And given the way things went at that
amusement park, she wasn't going to be pleased with the results.
"...and now, Jeddite..."
He shuddered inwardly at the false pleasantry in her tone. It was
going to be worse than he feared.
"Once again you've encountered the Sailor Scouts..." Her tone
became icy. "... and failed miserably! Can you give me a reason I
shouldn't destroy you at once?"
Jeddite bowed low, striving to give the appearance of calm. "I
apologize for my failings, Queen Beryl," he said, "But I do have a
plan..." His mind raced as he strove to come up with a plan, ANY plan,
that would appease the Negaverse monarch. "Which should result in the
destruction of the Sailor Scouts."
"Indeed," Beryl all but purred. "You have made such claims in the
past. Why should this time be any different?"
Jeddite saw a gloating look on Neflyte's face as Beryl spoke.
Evidently the other General thought that whatever plan Jeddite came up
with would be doomed to fail. How he wished he could just wipe the
smile of his rival's face...
Inspiration struck him like a thunderbolt. As calmly as he could
he addressed Beryl, "Because this time we have the shapeshifter as an
asset." Jeddite's statement drew a sharp look from Neflyte, pleasing him
to no end. Evidently the other General had his own plans for the
shapeshifter... plans which Jeddite had no qualms about upsetting.
"I see." Queen Beryl regarded him coolly for several moments.
"Tell me more Jeddite. If this plan has potential, you may yet redeem
yourself."
Pluto knew the instant she returned to the Gateway of Time that
the situation had deteriorated. Things were far worse than when she
had first feared. Of course there was no telling how long she had been
gone. Time had little meaning here, and even less so where she had
been.
There was a burst of light accompanied by a ripple of sound, and a
slightly balding man in a Starfleet captain's uniform appeared next to
her. "I thought you weren't supposed to leave here."
"That's not entirely true. I can leave it unguarded for short
periods. Besides Q, the situation demanded it," she replied. She
returned her gaze to the area surrounding the Gateway. "But I see that
things have changed for the worse."
"Yes, that's certainly true," the entity agreed, glancing around
himself. Sighing he added, "Well, I tried to warn them. But trust
Picard to be too stubborn to listen."
"You've garnered a bad reputation among them, Q," said Pluto. "If
you would be more civil with them, they might heed your warnings more
often."
"Moi? Civil?" Q looked shocked. "That's no fun." He shrugged
after Pluto gave him a sardonic look. "Well, enough frivolity. You've
a temporal tangle to unravel. I suppose you have a plan to fix your
precious timestream."
"You know I have," she replied. "And I've already spoken to others
about putting it into motion. Besides... if I didn't you wouldn't be
able to have anymore fun with Picard."
"Hmmm..." Q considered this, then nodded. "You've got a point.
What good is a universe without Jean-Luc to pester? Or Worf, for that
matter." Then what Pluto had said sunk in, and the looked puzzled.
"Wait a minute... others? Which others?"
"The Bajorans call them the Prophets," she replied knowingly.
Realization dawned on Q's face. "Oh, the wormhole dwellers. A
rather boring bunch, if you ask me. All they do is hide out in that
space-time conduit, not even bothering to understand linear time."
"Q..." Pluto took a deep breath. While Q's nature was by very
definition irritating, there were times when he could be most
exasperating. "If you're not going to help, then I would appreciate it
if you would keep your comments to yourself. The rift in time is
threatening two universes right now, and I'm going to need all the help
I can get to correct it."
A hurt expression briefly flickered over the entity's face. "I'd
help if I could. But you are well aware of the... restrictions my
fellow Q have placed on me. Especially since they were placed on me
after my thankfully brief stint as a human... which you played some
part in."
"I didn't have much choice in that, Q. You were becoming too wild,
too out of control." Q snorted in response. "Q was right. You needed
to learn restraint."
"Well, I hope your pleased with the results," Q replied sullenly.
"Before I could have helped rectify this situation with a wave of my
hand. Now I'm forced to go along with the will of the Continuum: 'Those
corporeal beings caused it, and they'll have to be the ones to repair
it.'" He shot a scornful look skyward.
Pluto stood contemplatively for a moment. "I'm afraid the end of
this conversation will have to wait until later. Time," her lips curled
upward slightly at the irony of her statement, "grows short. In the
meantime, could you do me a favor and keep on eye on things here while
I'm away?" Q nodded silently and with that, she vanished.
Q watched the space where she had stood, his expression unreadable,
then turned his attention to the temporal turmoil surrounding the
Gateway. "Good luck, Pluto.
"You're going to need it."
Sailor Trek: Deep Space Nine
A Sailor Paradox
by Bill Harris
([email protected])
"I hate temporal mechanics..."
-Chief Miles Edward O'Brien
Chapter 1 - The Call of the Prophets...
Kira looked up from her station in Ops to the captain's office,
concern evident on her face. He had been in conference longer than she
thought he would be. Perhaps...
She shook her head and tried to focus on her duties. Sisko had
shown many times that he was quite adept at handling... Her train of
thought was broken by the door opening.
"...the answer is still no!" Sisko was saying loudly as he left
his office. Stormed out would be more like it.
Quark followed him out. "Why not? Advertising is a perfectly
legitimate business practice."
"What would you know about legitimate business?" Kira remarked. A
part of her absently noted Dax entering the room and making her way over
to the station's Strategic Operations Officer, Worf.
Sisko broke in before Quark could retort. "Those monitors are
for official station use."
The Ferengi raced around Sisko and stood in his path, forcing him
to stop. "They won't interfere with the official functions. I'll only
use the monitors in public places, such as the replimat, and then only
during normal business hours." When Sisko shook his head and tried to
move past him he added, "If they're needed, the advertisements can be
overridden so the monitors can be used for 'official' functions."
Behind her, Kira could hear Dax talking to Worf about the three
Dominion ships that had mysteriously vanished from the Defiant's sensors
during it's last patrol in the Gamma Quadrant, noting that it bore a
resemblance to a phenomena witnessed by the Enterprise D, Worf's
previous posting, some four years previous. Kira felt her indignation
rising at the bartender for keeping her from hearing this information as
soon as possible. Anything new that the Dominion could do would be a
serious threat to the security of Bajor. And anything that threatened
that was something she wanted to know about right away, not listen to
some Ferengi toad ramble on about how he could increase his profits.
Not that Quark needed to do much of anything to get her riled at
him. The Ferengi bartender really knew how to be a royal pain in the...
She skewered the bartender with an intense glare and snapped, "Which
part of 'no' don't you understand?"
"The part that says I can't do this!" Quark replied indignantly.
Kira was forming a sharp retort but it died aborning when a sensor
alert sounded behind her. Turning, she saw Dax looking up from her
console with a worried expression. "Benjamin, I'm reading massive
emissions of neutrinos, tetryons and chronotons from the wormhole. It
looks like a subspace rift might be forming inside it." She bent back
to the science station, intent on analyzing the readings it was giving
her.
"Let's see it, Chief. On screen," Sisko ordered. The viewer
flickered to show the wormhole wide open and apparently staying that way.
But in this instance it had a shimmering look to it, as if they were
viewing it through a heat distortion. It's color was also different,
for along with the normal blues and whites it was tinged with red, giving
the wormhole a slightly demonic appearance.
"It looks like it's... on fire," Kira remarked.
"I'm reading gravimetric distortions from it as well," O'Brien
reported.
"Confirmed," Dax added. "It looks as if it's entering the first
stages of a structural collapse. But I don't know what could be causing
it."
A look of concern came over Quark's face, "Collapse? That could
really be bad for profits." At Sisko's glare he added, "I can see you're
busy. We'll talk later." He headed rapidly to the lift, muttering to
himself as he went.
Sisko put the bartender from his mind and returned his attention to
Dax. "Could this be caused artificially, Dax?"
"You mean by something like the Dominion?" the Trill asked. "It's
possible. But there's nothing on this side that could account for it,
and the readings I'm getting from the Gamma Quadrant listening posts
aren't indicating anything there either. Ultimately, I can't be sure
what *is* the cause without doing a detailed scan of the inside. We'll
have to launch a probe."
"I wouldn't try it," O'Brien responded. "Those gravimetric
distortions inside the wormhole that are strong enough to tear apart any
probe we send in. A runabout might survive passage through it to the
Gamma Quadrant... but I doubt it would make it back in one piece."
Sisko eyed the ailing anomaly. If a probe or a runabout couldn't
survive passage through the wormhole, that left only one option for them.
"What about the Defiant, Chief?"
O'Brien glanced at the sensor readouts again, mentally comparing
them to his knowledge of the Defiant's structure. "I think so. But
we'll probably have to run the structural integrity field at maximum,
and we may have to supplement it with power from the warp engines. In
any event, it's going to be a bumpy ride."
"Then let's get moving people." Sisko walked over to the lift, and
the other members of the command staff followed him. "Sisko to Odo.
Meet us on the Defiant, Constable."
Sisko glanced up as Odo made his way onto the bridge. "Welcome
aboard, Constable. I hope we don't need your help, but if there's even
the slightest possibility of Dominion involvement..."
"...then you might need a Changeling along," Odo finished, making
his way to the rear of the bridge. "I understand. I'm not sure how
much help I can be, but I'll do whatever I can."
"Thank you, Odo," Sisko said, taking a quick glance around the
bridge. "Status, Chief?"
"All systems ready," reported O'Brien.
"Ops has given us clearance for departure, Captain," Kira added.
"Release docking latches," ordered Sisko. "Take us out, old man."
"Docking latches released," Dax confirmed. "Thrusters back one
quarter." The station receded on the viewscreen as the Defiant backed
slowly away from the station, slowing when it was one hundred meters
off. "We're clear of the station, sir."
"Set course for the wormhole, maximum impulse," the captain ordered.
"Engage!"
Dax's hands played quickly over the helm console and the small
starship responded, spinning on it's axis and moving for the wormhole,
accelerating rapidly as it entered the spatial anomaly. The ship
buffeted as it moved through it, as the gravimetric distortions made for
a much bumpier ride than usual. Sisko kept his attention on the
viewscreen and tried to focus on the incoming reports from his crew,
when suddenly...
...it all vanished.
"He is here."
Sisko turned towards the source of the voice. He appeared to be in
Ops on the station, and the person speaking seemed to be Kira. But he
knew better from previous experience.
He was speaking with the wormhole aliens. With the prophets.
But why?
Quark was standing in front of him also, nodding. "It is the Sisko."
Sisko blinked as the scene suddenly shifted to the infirmary with
Dr.Bashir. "She said he would come."
"She?" he asked, puzzled. "Who is she? And why am I here?"
Again he shifted locations, this time to the security office.
"Time has shifted," Odo replied, apparently ignoring his first question
for the moment. "What you call the past is now fluid. It threatens us."
"I'm not sure I follow," Sisko said. "Are you saying that the
wormhole is being destabilized in the past?"
Suddenly he found himself standing on the Defiant. "He does not
understand," Worf said.
"He is linear," reminded Dax. "The anomaly does not appear to them
as it does to us."
"Anomaly?" Sisko echoed.
Now he was standing in his quarters. "It is of your own creation,"
Jake told him. "She needs your help to correct it."
"Who is this person you keep referring to? And why?" Sisko
suddenly found himself back in Ops.
"That would be me," came a voice from behind him. "And they
brought you here because I asked them to."
Sisko turned to face the unfamiliar voice and stopped short. The
wormhole aliens usually appear to be people he was familiar with, his
co-workers on the station: Kira, Dax, Worf, Odo, Jake... even Quark.
But he was completely unfamiliar with the person he was facing now,
though there was something oddly familiar with her outfit. She was
dressed in a odd version of a sailor outfit: white leotard, dark
miniskirt, bows on the front and back... also dark colored. She was
carrying a staff that faintly resembled a key of some sort.
And her hair... long, dark colored as well, but tinged with green.
Sisko didn't think he would easily forget someone with hair matching
that description. "Who are you?"
"I am Sailor Pluto," she answered. "We will meet again, Captain
Sisko. Very soon."
Sisko blinked, disoriented at suddenly finding himself back in his
command chair, and tried to listen to the barrage of reports coming his
way.
Bashir was scanning the crew with his medical tricorder. "Is
everyone alright? I felt dizzy for a second there."
O'Brien chimed in, "There was a massive surge of chronoton radiation
when we exited the wormhole."
"We've lost communications with the station," reported Kira.
Dax was doing a quick analysis of the navigational readouts.
"According to the navigational sensors, we're nowhere near the Gamma
Quadrant."
"Where are we, Dax?" Sisko asked.
"Earth," she answered, "We're in orbit. But..." She looked again
at the sensor readout and shook her head. "Wait a minute... According
to the astrometric sensors, the year... is 1992."
Her sudden announcement stilled all activity on the bridge. After
a moment, Sisko was able to find his voice. "1992? You mean to say
we've traveled back in time, old man?"
Dax swiveled her seat to face him, a sad smile on her face. "It
certainly appears that way."
"It... would explain the chronoton emissions," O'Brien hesitantly
added.
"Reverse course," Sisko ordered, without much hope. "See if you
can take us back through the wormhole."
"It wouldn't matter, Benjamin," said Dax, shaking her head. "It's
vanished. It's as if it was never there."
Sisko grimaced, but decided to confront that later. First he had
to make sure that Earth of the past wouldn't be able to detect his ship.
"Activate the cloak. I don't want anyone down there picking us up."
The bridge lights dimmed as the cloaking field activated.
Beryl stared in her crystal ball as the unknown starship faded from
view, then cursed loudly. "Malachite!"
The white haired general materialized nearby, "Yes, My Queen?"
"A starship has been spotted near the anomaly. I want you to prepare
the alien warriors and their space craft. If it reappears, or any other
appears in the area, they are attack at once... and destroy them! We
can't afford to have anything go wrong now. Not when we're so close!"
Malachite bowed low. "As you wish, Your Majesty."
"What the hell is going on?" asked a frustrated Kira.
Sisko could certainly understand the Major's feelings. But unlike
her, he did have some insight into who was behind the detour the wormhole
had sent them on... though he was still in the dark as to the why.
"Whatever it is Major, I think the Prophets wanted us to be here," he
answered her. In short order, he told the crew of his experience during
the wormhole passage. Worf and O'Brien exchanged uncertain looks as he
described the meeting he had with 'Sailor Pluto'.
"Sailor Pluto?" Worf asked after he finished. "Are you certain that
is what she said, Captain?"
Sisko spun his chair to face the Klingon. "You have an idea who she
was, Commander?"
"The description of her outfit sounds familiar, and the name
certainly fits," O'Brien answered before Worf could. "But it doesn't
match any of the Sailor Scouts we met on the Enterprise."
"Sailor Scouts?" said Kira, her voice slightly disbelieving.
"Sounds like some sort of kid's group."
Worf scowled at her, clearly irritated. "You would not say that if
you had seen them fight the Borg."
This jogged Sisko's memory, as he noted the look of respect that
was now on Kira's face. He recalled reading Picard's reports about the
encounter the crew of the Enterprise D had with the Sailor Scouts, and
the subsequent battle they had fought together against a Borg ship.
However, he had been deeply immersed in the Defiant project at the time
and had given the report only a cursory reading. "Dax, gather all the
sensor information you can about the area. See if you can find any
information about this anomaly the wormhole aliens referred to." Sisko
spun his command chair around to face the two officers that had once
served on the now destroyed Enterprise D. "Mr. Worf, Chief... I want
you both to tell me all you can about these Sailor Scouts."
Artemis paused before leaping onto Mina's bed. He hated to wake
her, given the series of tough battles they had fought over the last two
weeks since joining up with the others, but what choice had he? He
placed a paw on her shoulder and shook the blonde. "Mina!"
The result wasn't exactly what he had in mind. Instead of waking up
and being instantly alert, she mumbled something incoherent and rolled
over. Artemis was hardpressed to avoid being pinned under her arm. He
took a moment to consider his options, then...
"OW!!" Mina bolted upright, instinctively throwing away what had
pained her. There was a muffled thud as Artemis hit the wall. "Artemis!
What are you doing?!"
The white feline slid to the floor and shook his head in an effort
to clear it. "Waking you up. And without causing myself a mortal wound
in the process." He took a moment to assess his own condition. "And it
seems I was successful."
"Don't bet on it," she growled, examining the finger that Artemis
had bit. It was red, but the skin wasn't broken and the pain was already
diminishing. "A bucket of cold water would've worked just as well, Artemis...
And it would've been less painful."
Despite the limitations of his feline form, Artemis did a fairly
convincing imitation of raising one eyebrow. "And just how am I
supposed to handle a bucket of water?"
"Oh, right." After a moment she asked, "So what's so important?"
"I just got word from Luna. She and Amy have located a portal to
the Negaverse."
"I see," she said. After mulling this over she added, "What do you
think our chances are, Artemis?"
"Are you kidding? You four will kick Beryl's butt," he answered
more confidently than he felt.
"That's a nice thought," Mina said with a smile. "Now, what do you
think our chances really are?"
Artemis sighed. He should've known by now that he couldn't fool
her... at least not when it came to matters such as this. They'd been
working together for too long. "I know it doesn't look good, Mina.
After all, you'll probably be going up against both Malachite and Zoisite
at the same time. But what choice do we have? We can't just sit here
while Beryl unleashes the Negaforce."
"Don't worry, Artemis. We'll find a way. We always do, right?" she
answered, some optimism returning to her voice. Artemis nodded to
himself, heartened by this. This was more like the Mina he knew.
"Anyway, it's time to contact Raye and Lita."
"JUPITER POWER!"
The magic enveloped Lita, giving that feeling of power as it
transformed her into Sailor Jupiter. She paused for a moment, savoring
the sensation, then raced off to meet the others.
A lot had happened since that fateful day she had become a Sailor
Scout. Or realized that she was one, depending on how you looked at it.
Either way, she had been following that boy (What was his name? So much
had happened in the interim, she had forgotten it.) when Zoisite had
attacked him, pulling the Rainbow crystal from him and transforming him
that youma. Mars and Mercury had happened upon them at that point, but
the battle had been evenly matched until Luna had given her the
transformation pen, and she was able to become Sailor Jupiter.
They still hadn't been able to save him, though... or any of the
other carriers of the Rainbow Crystals, for that matter. Even with
Neflyte's help, and with Tuxedo Mask cropping up again, they were only
able to defeat the transformed humans by killing them. Jupiter vowed
silently to make Zoisite pay for each and every one of them.
And Malachite as well. He had set a trap for them a couple of
weeks ago, one that had very nearly worked. Thank's to Venus' timely
arrival, they had gotten away, but not before Darien had been captured...
and Neflyte was killed.
Jupiter pushed aside her thoughts, trying instead to focus on the
task at hand as she raced on into the night.
Raye calmly returned the communicator to it's usual hiding place
and regarded the sacred flame. Given her abilities, she had felt that
the pivotal battle with the Negaverse was fast approaching, but it had
come much sooner than she had expected. She wasn't far from the
rendezvous point, so she decided to take a chance she could glean
something useful from it. Concentrating her attention on the flame, she
tried to make it give her the information they would need to triumph,
once and for all, over Beryl and her minions.
At first the flame held steady, reluctant to give her what she
needed. Then it yielded to her persistence, revealing what it could in
a flurry of images. A spacecraft, compact yet seeming to radiate power.
A black man, whose demeanor demanded respect. A woman in a red uniform
and a seemingly crinkled nose, who seemed as confident as the man. A rush
of other images in people in similar uniforms to the man, each seeming to
be more or less human. It ended in a glimpse of a man, who's face seemed
to be unfinished in some way and in a uniform that seemed similar to the
woman's. She watched him for what seemed to be several seconds before
his features blurred, shifting to some gelatinous state.
Raye felt her hackles rise at this sight and a surge of adrenalin
as well, causing the fire reading to be disrupted. But she allowed
herself no regret at this, for the information that one of these
creatures would be seen again was very valuable to her.
'So, Beryl was going to use another one of those... things against
us,' she thought while transforming. 'Well, it won't work. We'll handle
whatever she throws at us.' She rushed out of the temple, making for
the restaurant where she would meet the others. 'This time we'll be
ready for that creature, Beryl. And we'll deal with that thing... and
then you.'
Amy stood just outside the darkened restaurant, waiting for the
others. It shouldn't be much longer before they arrived. Once more she
glanced at her computer, scanning for any sign of Negaverse activity. So
far it appeared they had managed to go undetected, but that wouldn't last
for long.
She grimaced. They way things had gone lately, it wouldn't surprise
her if Malachite appeared right in front of them the moment they entered
the tunnel.
"Amy?"
Jumping slightly, the blue haired Scout looked down. "Yes, Luna?"
"Are you OK?" the feline asked, concern evident in her voice.
"I'm fine. I was just scanning to be sure we haven't been detected."
"I don't think that was all. You seemed very concerned about
something." Luna paused, trying to marshall her thought. "I know the
situation looks grim, but..."
"Thirty two point seven percent."
Luna blinked, surprised. "What?"
"Thirty two point seven percent," Amy repeated. "Those are our
chances of winning. I've computed the odds."
"Thirty two point..." Luna's voice trailed off. "Is that *all*?"
"Do you want me to take you the whole series of calculations?" Amy
asked.
"No thank you," Luna replied. They were silent again, waiting for
the others. Then, "Well, if it's that bad, then before we go, I should
thank you."
Amy looked down at her, mystified. "Thank me? For what?"
"For taking me in. I know I could have stayed at Serena's, but I
just could bear to go back there. Not after..." Luna's voice trailed
of again, this time choked with emotion.
"I know," Amy said gently. "I miss her too."
Further discussion was interrupted by Jupiter's arrival, followed
shortly by Venus. "Sorry I took so long," Jupiter said.
"Actually, you got here sooner than I expected," Amy replied,
pulling out her transformation pen. "MERCURY POWER!"
"Well, as soon as Raye gets here, we can get going," Venus said
after Amy had finished transforming into Sailor Mercury. She looked
around, puzzled. "I wonder what's taking her so long? She lives closer
to here than me, so I'd thought she'd be here already."
"I'm not that late," Mars answered rather testily, coming up behind
the blonde. "I just took a moment for a last minute fire reading."
"Did you get anything useful out of it?" asked Artemis.
"I'm not sure. I got a series of images, but I'm not sure how to
interpret them. The only thing I really recognized a shapeshifter."
"You mean...?" Mercury breathed.
Mars nodded. "Yep. I think we'll be facing another one of those,
Mercury."
Jupiter and Venus shared a look. Neither had been around when the
other two had faced the creature Mars had described, but they had heard
enough about it from them to know just how dangerous it could be. "We'll
just have to keep our eyes open," Venus said. "Let's get going, people.
Next stop: the Negaverse!"
"You're right, Chief," Sisko said, examining again the visual record
of the Sailor Scouts taken from logs of the Enterprise D. The faces were
blurred in some fashion, but their outfits on the other hand were clearly
distinguishable. Another visual record was shown beside it, this one of
the Scouts in untransformed state in Ten Forward, giving a clear look at
their faces. "Whoever I saw during the wormhole passage, she wasn't one
of these Scouts. But from her name and style of dress, she must have some
association with them."
"As I remember, they did mention meeting a Sailor Pluto," said Worf.
"Though I never did see a visual record of her. Had she not given you
her name, my best guess would have been that she was a Sailor Scout
representing one of the outer planets of the solar system... Saturn,
Uranus, Neptune... or Pluto."
"Why not one for Earth?" asked Sisko. "There's no mention of a
Sailor Scout for that planet."
"I asked Luna about that during her stay on the Enterprise,"
replied the Klingon.
"That's the black feline?" Sisko asked, indicating the display.
"Yes, sir. For whatever reason, there was no Sailor Scout for
Earth, though Darien, also known as Tuxedo Mask, could be considered the
representative of Earth."
Sisko nodded, and moved back towards the center of the bridge.
"Anything new, Dax?"
"Plenty," she replied. "Though, I'm not sure if it's related to
our situation... or what any of it means. We're reading the buildup of
a large negative energy field centered in the arctic regions." The Trill
touched a control and a graphic appeared on the main viewscreen,
detailing the energy field she had mentioned. "It's causing massive
disruption throughout the system; earthquakes, unusual weather, even
accelerated sunspot activity."
O'Brien had been watching from his engineering station while Dax
was gave her report. He took a moment to access the computer then said,
"It sounds like the conditions just before the Sailor Scouts had their
final confrontation with Queen Beryl."
"If that's the case, then it's probably not the anomaly the
Prophets were referring to," Dax said.
"How do you know that, Chief?" Sisko asked.
"When they were on the Enterprise, Mercury downloaded a record of
their activities into the Enterprise main computer. As a precaution
against accidental interference with their timeline from other starships."
The Chief touch a control, bringing up another graphic on the main
viewscreen beside the one Dax had displayed. Sisko noted that it was
similar, though not identical to the one already displayed. "I've
extrapolated this from those records. The energy field Dax has scanned
is almost exactly like these conditions observed just before Beryl tried
to release the Negaforce. Except..."
"Except what?"
A look of frustration came across O'Brien's face. "It's too bloody
soon! It's nearly a month till the Scouts go to the North Pole. That
energy field shouldn't be anywhere near as powerful as it is."
"Could this be some sort of alternate universe, Chief?" Dax asked.
O'Brien shook his head. "No, I already checked that. The quantum
signature of this universe matches the one visited by the Enterprise...
Both of them, in fact. It's the same universe alright."
"Could our presence have caused a disruption on the timeline?"
Sisko asked.
"I don't see how, " Dax answered. "We were only visible for a few
moments." A sensor alert sounded, prompting her to forgo any further
speculation. "Hold on a minute, Benjamin. Sensors are picking up life
forms in the arctic regions, near the source of the energy field." She
paused to check the readout on the type of lifeform detected. When she
spoke next, her voice sounded stunned, "They're Jem'Hadar."
"Jem'Hadar?" Bashir exclaimed. "What are they doing on Earth?
Especially on an alternate version of it."
"That's a good question, Doctor," Sisko answered. "One that I'd
like an answer to."
"It's an answer that might have to wait, Captain," Odo said. The
Constable had occupied a station on the far side of the bridge and was
monitoring communications. "We're picking up a subspace signal... and
it sounds like a distress call." Odo touched a control and the signal
came over the bridge speakers, heavily laced with static.
"...Mayday... under attack.... This is the USS... immediate
assistance..." the signal terminated abruptly.
"The signal source is just on the other side of Earth, sir. Not
far from the Moon," O'Brien reported.
Sisko quickly considered his options. The appearance of the
Jem'Hadar on Earth still needed to be checked out, but he also had a
responsibility to answer that distress call. As much as he hated to do
it, he saw no other option but to split his forces. "Major, take an away
team down there. Be ready to handle a Jem'Hadar strike force. I'll be
taking the Defiant to check out this distress call, so you'll be on your
own for a while."
Kira nodded. "We'll be ready."
"There's an exit up ahead!" Luna exclaimed.
"About time," Venus grumbled. "I was beginning to think they would
never end." The others nodded in agreement. They had been following
the tunnels for what seemed like hours, but it looked like they had
finally managed to find the exit. The four girls and two cats stood
breathlessly at the mouth of the tunnel and looked out over the arctic
expanse.
"Hey, what gives? I though this was supposed to go right to the
Negaverse," asked Jupiter. Mercury frowned and activated her visor.
"Maybe we took a wrong turn?"
Venus scowled at her feline companion. "There's nothing wrong with my
sense of direction!"
"I didn't say there was," Artemis replied defensively.
"Never mind that you two," Luna said. "We have to hurry. If we
can get the Rainbow crystals before the Negaverse can use them to form the
Silver Crystal, we may still have a chance."
Artemis snorted. "If they haven't figured out how to form it by
now, I don't think they ever will."
"Can we afford to take that chance?"
The white cat grimaced. "Not really. Especially when they're about
to set the Negaforce loose."
"I'm getting a signal," Mercury said. "There's another portal,
much bigger than the one we found in Tokyo. It's that way!" She
pointed across the ice field.
"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" With that Venus charged
forward, followed shortly by her companions.
Next time: The Defiant checks out the distress call, the Scouts battle
the Jem'Hadar and Kira meets up with the Scouts. Plus the Great Zoisite
Gender Debate in Chapter 2, "D Point Revisited".
Notes: Quark's advertising scheme is a lead in to the trick he pulled in
the beginning of a late fourth season episode, "The Quickening".
Bill Harris
Go Orioles!!! Umm... maybe next year?
Sci-Fi quote of the month:
"And then we'll make the Dominion sorry they ever set foot in the Alpha
Quadrant!"
"Cadet, you took the words right out of my mouth." - Nog & Sisko in DS9's "Call
to Arms"
Sailor Trek DS9 - Part 1
Standard Questionably Useful Disclaimer:
Sailor Moon and all related characters were created by Naoko Takeuchi;
and are copyright to Naoko Takeuchi, Kodansha, Toei, DIC and whoever else.
Star Trek Deep Space Nine was created by Rick Berman and Michael Pillar;
and is owned and copyrighted by Paramount Pictures.
Based upon Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry.
This story (such as it is) is MINE!!!
This fanfic is intended solely for entertainment purposes and no
violation of said copyrights is intended or implied. Permission granted
to copy this to other web pages as long as this disclaimer is attached,
and the text of the story is unmodified.
Timeline note: Takes place in the middle part of season four of "Star
Trek: Deep Space Nine" (shortly after the episode "Paradise Lost"), and
during season one of "Sailor Moon".
Prologue:
Komentac'lan, the Jem'Hadar First for this attack ship, watched
calmly as the Vorta, Fiden, glanced over the bridge, examining each
station carefully. He was confident that all was as it should be, but
it was the role of the Vorta to command the Jem'Hadar. This was as it
should be, as it was ordained by the Founders.
It was, after all, the order of things.
And Fiden's excessive caution was warranted on this trip...
considering who their passenger was. The life of a Founder was not one
to be trifled with.
"What is our ETA to the nebula?" he asked of his Second,
Boretkat'lyn. As he understood it, they were to rendezvous with a
freighter in the nebula and the Founder would transfer to it. Where it
would go after that he had no idea, nor was it his place to ask, but he
supposed that it would be bound for the Alpha Quadrant.
"We should get there within eighteen hours," Boretkat'lyn replied
promptly. Fiden nodded, apparently satisfied, but before he could add
anything the ship trembled under them and the lights flickered
momentarily.
"Report!" snapped the First.
"We seem to have encountered an unknown spatial phenomena," came
the answer. "One that affected all three ships of our group."
"What kind of phenomena?" the Vorta asked. "A wormhole?"
"Possibly," the Second said, but his voice was doubtful. "We seem
to have shifted through space."
The First concentrated on his viewer and looked around the ship.
Outside he could see a blue-green world nearby, apparently inhabited.
It's one visible moon could be seen in the distance. As the nearest
inhabited planet had been several light years from their location, there
was no doubt they had moved a great distance through space. It only
remained a question of how far. "What is our current location?"
The navigator looked up from his console. "The Terran system, sir."
"We moved right into the heart of the Federation," Fiden commented,
blatantly stating the obvious. "If it's a stable wormhole, it could
prove to be of immense use to us."
The Second interrupted his musings. "I'm not sure it was a
wormhole."
"Explain," the First ordered.
"While we are in the Terran system, I can detect no signs of
Federation installations. No orbital stations, no lunar colonies, no
shipyards of any type... no signs of inhabitation at all... except on
Earth itself."
The First digested this news silently, while Fiden closely examined
the world below them in his own viewer. "Then... where *are* we?"
"Where *are* they?" the Klingon growled.
Worf stood on the bridge of the Defiant, scowling as he peered over
O'Brien's shoulder. They had been monitoring the three Dominion ships
for several hours when they had mysteriously vanished from their sensors.
As there hadn't been any previous indication that the Dominion possessed
cloaking technology, this was a cause for concern for the Klingon officer.
If the Dominion had managed to salvage a cloaking device or two from the
Cardassian/Romulan fleet they destroyed, then their one true advantage
(however slim) they had over the Gamma Quadrant power could be gone.
Eventually the Chief shook his head. "It's no good, sir. They've
vanished into thin air."
"Did they cloak?" Worf asked.
"No sir," O'Brien replied emphatically. "If they had, I would've
seen a phase shift in their warp fields." He paused and stared at the
monitor. "It's as if they just up and left the universe entirely."
"Very well," the Klingon rumbled, obviously dissatisfied. "Log all
pertinent data and transmit it to the station for Commander Dax to
analyze later." He turned to the helmsman. "Lay in a course for the
wormhole."
Fiden paced impatiently across the bridge. For two hours now they,
and the other two attack ships, had been trying to determine what had
happened. Unfortunately, while Jem'Hadar made excellent soldiers, they
were not very good at scientific analysis. That being the case, it came
down to the Vorta to arrive at an answer.
But the answers were not being very forthcoming. This seemed to be
Earth, but much more primitive than it should be. It was possible that
they had traveled through time as well, but there were several historical
inconsistencies with their observations of Earth.
It was as if they had moved to another reality altogether. But
that was impossible.
Wasn't it?
Komentac'lan stepped in front of him, forcing him to stop. "It is
time for the White," he insisted.
Fiden frowned, quickly going over his options in his mind. If they
were stranded without any avenue of returning to the Dominion (and
therefore of resupplying themselves with Ketracel White), then it was
only a matter of time before their current supply ran out and his hold
over the Jem'Hadar vanished. But if he withheld what they needed, their
performance would be impaired by withdrawal... After a moment, he
decided that it might be prudent to give them what they required now.
He would decide on what course of action to take later. "Of course."
Opening the case that contained the White, he asked the ritual question:
"First Komentac'lan, can you vouch for the loyalty of your men?"
As always, Komentac'lan responded, "We pledge ourselves to the
Founders. From now and until death."
Fiden removed the required vials and handed them to Komentac'lan.
"Then receive this gift of the Founders. May it keep you strong."
The First was still distributing the White to his unit when the
Founder, having assumed a humanoid form, entered the room. This was not
too shocking to Fiden and the Jem'Hadar as the Founder could go where
it willed, but the sight of another humanoid with him, one with long,
reddish brown hair and dressed in an unfamiliar gray uniform, was not
something they would expect. Automatically, the Jem'Hadar readied their
weapons, but any further action on their part was forestalled when the
Founder raised a hand. "There's no need for concern. This one here is
a friend." The Changeling turned to the unknown alien. "Isn't that
right, Neflyte?"
"Of course," the alien responded silkily. The Changeling turned
back to the Jem'Hadar soldiers and smiled benevolently at them.
Komentac'lan had been alive for nearly seven years, two of them
serving as First for his unit. He was a veteran of countless campaigns
in the service of the Founders and had battled on dozens of different
worlds. But seeing the Founders's eyes gleam red made him, for the first
time in his life, know fear.
Jeddite grimaced as he stood before Queen Beryl. Yes, the monarch
of the Negaverse was smiling, and yes, she was complimenting someone on
a job well done. But she wasn't addressing him. Instead she was
congratulating Neflyte on his capture of the Changeling and the Jem'Hadar
soldiers. He glared once more at his rival General. It was only a
matter of time before Queen Beryl turned her attention to his latest
encounter with the Sailor Scouts. And given the way things went at that
amusement park, she wasn't going to be pleased with the results.
"...and now, Jeddite..."
He shuddered inwardly at the false pleasantry in her tone. It was
going to be worse than he feared.
"Once again you've encountered the Sailor Scouts..." Her tone
became icy. "... and failed miserably! Can you give me a reason I
shouldn't destroy you at once?"
Jeddite bowed low, striving to give the appearance of calm. "I
apologize for my failings, Queen Beryl," he said, "But I do have a
plan..." His mind raced as he strove to come up with a plan, ANY plan,
that would appease the Negaverse monarch. "Which should result in the
destruction of the Sailor Scouts."
"Indeed," Beryl all but purred. "You have made such claims in the
past. Why should this time be any different?"
Jeddite saw a gloating look on Neflyte's face as Beryl spoke.
Evidently the other General thought that whatever plan Jeddite came up
with would be doomed to fail. How he wished he could just wipe the
smile of his rival's face...
Inspiration struck him like a thunderbolt. As calmly as he could
he addressed Beryl, "Because this time we have the shapeshifter as an
asset." Jeddite's statement drew a sharp look from Neflyte, pleasing him
to no end. Evidently the other General had his own plans for the
shapeshifter... plans which Jeddite had no qualms about upsetting.
"I see." Queen Beryl regarded him coolly for several moments.
"Tell me more Jeddite. If this plan has potential, you may yet redeem
yourself."
Pluto knew the instant she returned to the Gateway of Time that
the situation had deteriorated. Things were far worse than when she
had first feared. Of course there was no telling how long she had been
gone. Time had little meaning here, and even less so where she had
been.
There was a burst of light accompanied by a ripple of sound, and a
slightly balding man in a Starfleet captain's uniform appeared next to
her. "I thought you weren't supposed to leave here."
"That's not entirely true. I can leave it unguarded for short
periods. Besides Q, the situation demanded it," she replied. She
returned her gaze to the area surrounding the Gateway. "But I see that
things have changed for the worse."
"Yes, that's certainly true," the entity agreed, glancing around
himself. Sighing he added, "Well, I tried to warn them. But trust
Picard to be too stubborn to listen."
"You've garnered a bad reputation among them, Q," said Pluto. "If
you would be more civil with them, they might heed your warnings more
often."
"Moi? Civil?" Q looked shocked. "That's no fun." He shrugged
after Pluto gave him a sardonic look. "Well, enough frivolity. You've
a temporal tangle to unravel. I suppose you have a plan to fix your
precious timestream."
"You know I have," she replied. "And I've already spoken to others
about putting it into motion. Besides... if I didn't you wouldn't be
able to have anymore fun with Picard."
"Hmmm..." Q considered this, then nodded. "You've got a point.
What good is a universe without Jean-Luc to pester? Or Worf, for that
matter." Then what Pluto had said sunk in, and the looked puzzled.
"Wait a minute... others? Which others?"
"The Bajorans call them the Prophets," she replied knowingly.
Realization dawned on Q's face. "Oh, the wormhole dwellers. A
rather boring bunch, if you ask me. All they do is hide out in that
space-time conduit, not even bothering to understand linear time."
"Q..." Pluto took a deep breath. While Q's nature was by very
definition irritating, there were times when he could be most
exasperating. "If you're not going to help, then I would appreciate it
if you would keep your comments to yourself. The rift in time is
threatening two universes right now, and I'm going to need all the help
I can get to correct it."
A hurt expression briefly flickered over the entity's face. "I'd
help if I could. But you are well aware of the... restrictions my
fellow Q have placed on me. Especially since they were placed on me
after my thankfully brief stint as a human... which you played some
part in."
"I didn't have much choice in that, Q. You were becoming too wild,
too out of control." Q snorted in response. "Q was right. You needed
to learn restraint."
"Well, I hope your pleased with the results," Q replied sullenly.
"Before I could have helped rectify this situation with a wave of my
hand. Now I'm forced to go along with the will of the Continuum: 'Those
corporeal beings caused it, and they'll have to be the ones to repair
it.'" He shot a scornful look skyward.
Pluto stood contemplatively for a moment. "I'm afraid the end of
this conversation will have to wait until later. Time," her lips curled
upward slightly at the irony of her statement, "grows short. In the
meantime, could you do me a favor and keep on eye on things here while
I'm away?" Q nodded silently and with that, she vanished.
Q watched the space where she had stood, his expression unreadable,
then turned his attention to the temporal turmoil surrounding the
Gateway. "Good luck, Pluto.
"You're going to need it."
Sailor Trek: Deep Space Nine
A Sailor Paradox
by Bill Harris
([email protected])
"I hate temporal mechanics..."
-Chief Miles Edward O'Brien
Chapter 1 - The Call of the Prophets...
Kira looked up from her station in Ops to the captain's office,
concern evident on her face. He had been in conference longer than she
thought he would be. Perhaps...
She shook her head and tried to focus on her duties. Sisko had
shown many times that he was quite adept at handling... Her train of
thought was broken by the door opening.
"...the answer is still no!" Sisko was saying loudly as he left
his office. Stormed out would be more like it.
Quark followed him out. "Why not? Advertising is a perfectly
legitimate business practice."
"What would you know about legitimate business?" Kira remarked. A
part of her absently noted Dax entering the room and making her way over
to the station's Strategic Operations Officer, Worf.
Sisko broke in before Quark could retort. "Those monitors are
for official station use."
The Ferengi raced around Sisko and stood in his path, forcing him
to stop. "They won't interfere with the official functions. I'll only
use the monitors in public places, such as the replimat, and then only
during normal business hours." When Sisko shook his head and tried to
move past him he added, "If they're needed, the advertisements can be
overridden so the monitors can be used for 'official' functions."
Behind her, Kira could hear Dax talking to Worf about the three
Dominion ships that had mysteriously vanished from the Defiant's sensors
during it's last patrol in the Gamma Quadrant, noting that it bore a
resemblance to a phenomena witnessed by the Enterprise D, Worf's
previous posting, some four years previous. Kira felt her indignation
rising at the bartender for keeping her from hearing this information as
soon as possible. Anything new that the Dominion could do would be a
serious threat to the security of Bajor. And anything that threatened
that was something she wanted to know about right away, not listen to
some Ferengi toad ramble on about how he could increase his profits.
Not that Quark needed to do much of anything to get her riled at
him. The Ferengi bartender really knew how to be a royal pain in the...
She skewered the bartender with an intense glare and snapped, "Which
part of 'no' don't you understand?"
"The part that says I can't do this!" Quark replied indignantly.
Kira was forming a sharp retort but it died aborning when a sensor
alert sounded behind her. Turning, she saw Dax looking up from her
console with a worried expression. "Benjamin, I'm reading massive
emissions of neutrinos, tetryons and chronotons from the wormhole. It
looks like a subspace rift might be forming inside it." She bent back
to the science station, intent on analyzing the readings it was giving
her.
"Let's see it, Chief. On screen," Sisko ordered. The viewer
flickered to show the wormhole wide open and apparently staying that way.
But in this instance it had a shimmering look to it, as if they were
viewing it through a heat distortion. It's color was also different,
for along with the normal blues and whites it was tinged with red, giving
the wormhole a slightly demonic appearance.
"It looks like it's... on fire," Kira remarked.
"I'm reading gravimetric distortions from it as well," O'Brien
reported.
"Confirmed," Dax added. "It looks as if it's entering the first
stages of a structural collapse. But I don't know what could be causing
it."
A look of concern came over Quark's face, "Collapse? That could
really be bad for profits." At Sisko's glare he added, "I can see you're
busy. We'll talk later." He headed rapidly to the lift, muttering to
himself as he went.
Sisko put the bartender from his mind and returned his attention to
Dax. "Could this be caused artificially, Dax?"
"You mean by something like the Dominion?" the Trill asked. "It's
possible. But there's nothing on this side that could account for it,
and the readings I'm getting from the Gamma Quadrant listening posts
aren't indicating anything there either. Ultimately, I can't be sure
what *is* the cause without doing a detailed scan of the inside. We'll
have to launch a probe."
"I wouldn't try it," O'Brien responded. "Those gravimetric
distortions inside the wormhole that are strong enough to tear apart any
probe we send in. A runabout might survive passage through it to the
Gamma Quadrant... but I doubt it would make it back in one piece."
Sisko eyed the ailing anomaly. If a probe or a runabout couldn't
survive passage through the wormhole, that left only one option for them.
"What about the Defiant, Chief?"
O'Brien glanced at the sensor readouts again, mentally comparing
them to his knowledge of the Defiant's structure. "I think so. But
we'll probably have to run the structural integrity field at maximum,
and we may have to supplement it with power from the warp engines. In
any event, it's going to be a bumpy ride."
"Then let's get moving people." Sisko walked over to the lift, and
the other members of the command staff followed him. "Sisko to Odo.
Meet us on the Defiant, Constable."
Sisko glanced up as Odo made his way onto the bridge. "Welcome
aboard, Constable. I hope we don't need your help, but if there's even
the slightest possibility of Dominion involvement..."
"...then you might need a Changeling along," Odo finished, making
his way to the rear of the bridge. "I understand. I'm not sure how
much help I can be, but I'll do whatever I can."
"Thank you, Odo," Sisko said, taking a quick glance around the
bridge. "Status, Chief?"
"All systems ready," reported O'Brien.
"Ops has given us clearance for departure, Captain," Kira added.
"Release docking latches," ordered Sisko. "Take us out, old man."
"Docking latches released," Dax confirmed. "Thrusters back one
quarter." The station receded on the viewscreen as the Defiant backed
slowly away from the station, slowing when it was one hundred meters
off. "We're clear of the station, sir."
"Set course for the wormhole, maximum impulse," the captain ordered.
"Engage!"
Dax's hands played quickly over the helm console and the small
starship responded, spinning on it's axis and moving for the wormhole,
accelerating rapidly as it entered the spatial anomaly. The ship
buffeted as it moved through it, as the gravimetric distortions made for
a much bumpier ride than usual. Sisko kept his attention on the
viewscreen and tried to focus on the incoming reports from his crew,
when suddenly...
...it all vanished.
"He is here."
Sisko turned towards the source of the voice. He appeared to be in
Ops on the station, and the person speaking seemed to be Kira. But he
knew better from previous experience.
He was speaking with the wormhole aliens. With the prophets.
But why?
Quark was standing in front of him also, nodding. "It is the Sisko."
Sisko blinked as the scene suddenly shifted to the infirmary with
Dr.Bashir. "She said he would come."
"She?" he asked, puzzled. "Who is she? And why am I here?"
Again he shifted locations, this time to the security office.
"Time has shifted," Odo replied, apparently ignoring his first question
for the moment. "What you call the past is now fluid. It threatens us."
"I'm not sure I follow," Sisko said. "Are you saying that the
wormhole is being destabilized in the past?"
Suddenly he found himself standing on the Defiant. "He does not
understand," Worf said.
"He is linear," reminded Dax. "The anomaly does not appear to them
as it does to us."
"Anomaly?" Sisko echoed.
Now he was standing in his quarters. "It is of your own creation,"
Jake told him. "She needs your help to correct it."
"Who is this person you keep referring to? And why?" Sisko
suddenly found himself back in Ops.
"That would be me," came a voice from behind him. "And they
brought you here because I asked them to."
Sisko turned to face the unfamiliar voice and stopped short. The
wormhole aliens usually appear to be people he was familiar with, his
co-workers on the station: Kira, Dax, Worf, Odo, Jake... even Quark.
But he was completely unfamiliar with the person he was facing now,
though there was something oddly familiar with her outfit. She was
dressed in a odd version of a sailor outfit: white leotard, dark
miniskirt, bows on the front and back... also dark colored. She was
carrying a staff that faintly resembled a key of some sort.
And her hair... long, dark colored as well, but tinged with green.
Sisko didn't think he would easily forget someone with hair matching
that description. "Who are you?"
"I am Sailor Pluto," she answered. "We will meet again, Captain
Sisko. Very soon."
Sisko blinked, disoriented at suddenly finding himself back in his
command chair, and tried to listen to the barrage of reports coming his
way.
Bashir was scanning the crew with his medical tricorder. "Is
everyone alright? I felt dizzy for a second there."
O'Brien chimed in, "There was a massive surge of chronoton radiation
when we exited the wormhole."
"We've lost communications with the station," reported Kira.
Dax was doing a quick analysis of the navigational readouts.
"According to the navigational sensors, we're nowhere near the Gamma
Quadrant."
"Where are we, Dax?" Sisko asked.
"Earth," she answered, "We're in orbit. But..." She looked again
at the sensor readout and shook her head. "Wait a minute... According
to the astrometric sensors, the year... is 1992."
Her sudden announcement stilled all activity on the bridge. After
a moment, Sisko was able to find his voice. "1992? You mean to say
we've traveled back in time, old man?"
Dax swiveled her seat to face him, a sad smile on her face. "It
certainly appears that way."
"It... would explain the chronoton emissions," O'Brien hesitantly
added.
"Reverse course," Sisko ordered, without much hope. "See if you
can take us back through the wormhole."
"It wouldn't matter, Benjamin," said Dax, shaking her head. "It's
vanished. It's as if it was never there."
Sisko grimaced, but decided to confront that later. First he had
to make sure that Earth of the past wouldn't be able to detect his ship.
"Activate the cloak. I don't want anyone down there picking us up."
The bridge lights dimmed as the cloaking field activated.
Beryl stared in her crystal ball as the unknown starship faded from
view, then cursed loudly. "Malachite!"
The white haired general materialized nearby, "Yes, My Queen?"
"A starship has been spotted near the anomaly. I want you to prepare
the alien warriors and their space craft. If it reappears, or any other
appears in the area, they are attack at once... and destroy them! We
can't afford to have anything go wrong now. Not when we're so close!"
Malachite bowed low. "As you wish, Your Majesty."
"What the hell is going on?" asked a frustrated Kira.
Sisko could certainly understand the Major's feelings. But unlike
her, he did have some insight into who was behind the detour the wormhole
had sent them on... though he was still in the dark as to the why.
"Whatever it is Major, I think the Prophets wanted us to be here," he
answered her. In short order, he told the crew of his experience during
the wormhole passage. Worf and O'Brien exchanged uncertain looks as he
described the meeting he had with 'Sailor Pluto'.
"Sailor Pluto?" Worf asked after he finished. "Are you certain that
is what she said, Captain?"
Sisko spun his chair to face the Klingon. "You have an idea who she
was, Commander?"
"The description of her outfit sounds familiar, and the name
certainly fits," O'Brien answered before Worf could. "But it doesn't
match any of the Sailor Scouts we met on the Enterprise."
"Sailor Scouts?" said Kira, her voice slightly disbelieving.
"Sounds like some sort of kid's group."
Worf scowled at her, clearly irritated. "You would not say that if
you had seen them fight the Borg."
This jogged Sisko's memory, as he noted the look of respect that
was now on Kira's face. He recalled reading Picard's reports about the
encounter the crew of the Enterprise D had with the Sailor Scouts, and
the subsequent battle they had fought together against a Borg ship.
However, he had been deeply immersed in the Defiant project at the time
and had given the report only a cursory reading. "Dax, gather all the
sensor information you can about the area. See if you can find any
information about this anomaly the wormhole aliens referred to." Sisko
spun his command chair around to face the two officers that had once
served on the now destroyed Enterprise D. "Mr. Worf, Chief... I want
you both to tell me all you can about these Sailor Scouts."
Artemis paused before leaping onto Mina's bed. He hated to wake
her, given the series of tough battles they had fought over the last two
weeks since joining up with the others, but what choice had he? He
placed a paw on her shoulder and shook the blonde. "Mina!"
The result wasn't exactly what he had in mind. Instead of waking up
and being instantly alert, she mumbled something incoherent and rolled
over. Artemis was hardpressed to avoid being pinned under her arm. He
took a moment to consider his options, then...
"OW!!" Mina bolted upright, instinctively throwing away what had
pained her. There was a muffled thud as Artemis hit the wall. "Artemis!
What are you doing?!"
The white feline slid to the floor and shook his head in an effort
to clear it. "Waking you up. And without causing myself a mortal wound
in the process." He took a moment to assess his own condition. "And it
seems I was successful."
"Don't bet on it," she growled, examining the finger that Artemis
had bit. It was red, but the skin wasn't broken and the pain was already
diminishing. "A bucket of cold water would've worked just as well, Artemis...
And it would've been less painful."
Despite the limitations of his feline form, Artemis did a fairly
convincing imitation of raising one eyebrow. "And just how am I
supposed to handle a bucket of water?"
"Oh, right." After a moment she asked, "So what's so important?"
"I just got word from Luna. She and Amy have located a portal to
the Negaverse."
"I see," she said. After mulling this over she added, "What do you
think our chances are, Artemis?"
"Are you kidding? You four will kick Beryl's butt," he answered
more confidently than he felt.
"That's a nice thought," Mina said with a smile. "Now, what do you
think our chances really are?"
Artemis sighed. He should've known by now that he couldn't fool
her... at least not when it came to matters such as this. They'd been
working together for too long. "I know it doesn't look good, Mina.
After all, you'll probably be going up against both Malachite and Zoisite
at the same time. But what choice do we have? We can't just sit here
while Beryl unleashes the Negaforce."
"Don't worry, Artemis. We'll find a way. We always do, right?" she
answered, some optimism returning to her voice. Artemis nodded to
himself, heartened by this. This was more like the Mina he knew.
"Anyway, it's time to contact Raye and Lita."
"JUPITER POWER!"
The magic enveloped Lita, giving that feeling of power as it
transformed her into Sailor Jupiter. She paused for a moment, savoring
the sensation, then raced off to meet the others.
A lot had happened since that fateful day she had become a Sailor
Scout. Or realized that she was one, depending on how you looked at it.
Either way, she had been following that boy (What was his name? So much
had happened in the interim, she had forgotten it.) when Zoisite had
attacked him, pulling the Rainbow crystal from him and transforming him
that youma. Mars and Mercury had happened upon them at that point, but
the battle had been evenly matched until Luna had given her the
transformation pen, and she was able to become Sailor Jupiter.
They still hadn't been able to save him, though... or any of the
other carriers of the Rainbow Crystals, for that matter. Even with
Neflyte's help, and with Tuxedo Mask cropping up again, they were only
able to defeat the transformed humans by killing them. Jupiter vowed
silently to make Zoisite pay for each and every one of them.
And Malachite as well. He had set a trap for them a couple of
weeks ago, one that had very nearly worked. Thank's to Venus' timely
arrival, they had gotten away, but not before Darien had been captured...
and Neflyte was killed.
Jupiter pushed aside her thoughts, trying instead to focus on the
task at hand as she raced on into the night.
Raye calmly returned the communicator to it's usual hiding place
and regarded the sacred flame. Given her abilities, she had felt that
the pivotal battle with the Negaverse was fast approaching, but it had
come much sooner than she had expected. She wasn't far from the
rendezvous point, so she decided to take a chance she could glean
something useful from it. Concentrating her attention on the flame, she
tried to make it give her the information they would need to triumph,
once and for all, over Beryl and her minions.
At first the flame held steady, reluctant to give her what she
needed. Then it yielded to her persistence, revealing what it could in
a flurry of images. A spacecraft, compact yet seeming to radiate power.
A black man, whose demeanor demanded respect. A woman in a red uniform
and a seemingly crinkled nose, who seemed as confident as the man. A rush
of other images in people in similar uniforms to the man, each seeming to
be more or less human. It ended in a glimpse of a man, who's face seemed
to be unfinished in some way and in a uniform that seemed similar to the
woman's. She watched him for what seemed to be several seconds before
his features blurred, shifting to some gelatinous state.
Raye felt her hackles rise at this sight and a surge of adrenalin
as well, causing the fire reading to be disrupted. But she allowed
herself no regret at this, for the information that one of these
creatures would be seen again was very valuable to her.
'So, Beryl was going to use another one of those... things against
us,' she thought while transforming. 'Well, it won't work. We'll handle
whatever she throws at us.' She rushed out of the temple, making for
the restaurant where she would meet the others. 'This time we'll be
ready for that creature, Beryl. And we'll deal with that thing... and
then you.'
Amy stood just outside the darkened restaurant, waiting for the
others. It shouldn't be much longer before they arrived. Once more she
glanced at her computer, scanning for any sign of Negaverse activity. So
far it appeared they had managed to go undetected, but that wouldn't last
for long.
She grimaced. They way things had gone lately, it wouldn't surprise
her if Malachite appeared right in front of them the moment they entered
the tunnel.
"Amy?"
Jumping slightly, the blue haired Scout looked down. "Yes, Luna?"
"Are you OK?" the feline asked, concern evident in her voice.
"I'm fine. I was just scanning to be sure we haven't been detected."
"I don't think that was all. You seemed very concerned about
something." Luna paused, trying to marshall her thought. "I know the
situation looks grim, but..."
"Thirty two point seven percent."
Luna blinked, surprised. "What?"
"Thirty two point seven percent," Amy repeated. "Those are our
chances of winning. I've computed the odds."
"Thirty two point..." Luna's voice trailed off. "Is that *all*?"
"Do you want me to take you the whole series of calculations?" Amy
asked.
"No thank you," Luna replied. They were silent again, waiting for
the others. Then, "Well, if it's that bad, then before we go, I should
thank you."
Amy looked down at her, mystified. "Thank me? For what?"
"For taking me in. I know I could have stayed at Serena's, but I
just could bear to go back there. Not after..." Luna's voice trailed
of again, this time choked with emotion.
"I know," Amy said gently. "I miss her too."
Further discussion was interrupted by Jupiter's arrival, followed
shortly by Venus. "Sorry I took so long," Jupiter said.
"Actually, you got here sooner than I expected," Amy replied,
pulling out her transformation pen. "MERCURY POWER!"
"Well, as soon as Raye gets here, we can get going," Venus said
after Amy had finished transforming into Sailor Mercury. She looked
around, puzzled. "I wonder what's taking her so long? She lives closer
to here than me, so I'd thought she'd be here already."
"I'm not that late," Mars answered rather testily, coming up behind
the blonde. "I just took a moment for a last minute fire reading."
"Did you get anything useful out of it?" asked Artemis.
"I'm not sure. I got a series of images, but I'm not sure how to
interpret them. The only thing I really recognized a shapeshifter."
"You mean...?" Mercury breathed.
Mars nodded. "Yep. I think we'll be facing another one of those,
Mercury."
Jupiter and Venus shared a look. Neither had been around when the
other two had faced the creature Mars had described, but they had heard
enough about it from them to know just how dangerous it could be. "We'll
just have to keep our eyes open," Venus said. "Let's get going, people.
Next stop: the Negaverse!"
"You're right, Chief," Sisko said, examining again the visual record
of the Sailor Scouts taken from logs of the Enterprise D. The faces were
blurred in some fashion, but their outfits on the other hand were clearly
distinguishable. Another visual record was shown beside it, this one of
the Scouts in untransformed state in Ten Forward, giving a clear look at
their faces. "Whoever I saw during the wormhole passage, she wasn't one
of these Scouts. But from her name and style of dress, she must have some
association with them."
"As I remember, they did mention meeting a Sailor Pluto," said Worf.
"Though I never did see a visual record of her. Had she not given you
her name, my best guess would have been that she was a Sailor Scout
representing one of the outer planets of the solar system... Saturn,
Uranus, Neptune... or Pluto."
"Why not one for Earth?" asked Sisko. "There's no mention of a
Sailor Scout for that planet."
"I asked Luna about that during her stay on the Enterprise,"
replied the Klingon.
"That's the black feline?" Sisko asked, indicating the display.
"Yes, sir. For whatever reason, there was no Sailor Scout for
Earth, though Darien, also known as Tuxedo Mask, could be considered the
representative of Earth."
Sisko nodded, and moved back towards the center of the bridge.
"Anything new, Dax?"
"Plenty," she replied. "Though, I'm not sure if it's related to
our situation... or what any of it means. We're reading the buildup of
a large negative energy field centered in the arctic regions." The Trill
touched a control and a graphic appeared on the main viewscreen,
detailing the energy field she had mentioned. "It's causing massive
disruption throughout the system; earthquakes, unusual weather, even
accelerated sunspot activity."
O'Brien had been watching from his engineering station while Dax
was gave her report. He took a moment to access the computer then said,
"It sounds like the conditions just before the Sailor Scouts had their
final confrontation with Queen Beryl."
"If that's the case, then it's probably not the anomaly the
Prophets were referring to," Dax said.
"How do you know that, Chief?" Sisko asked.
"When they were on the Enterprise, Mercury downloaded a record of
their activities into the Enterprise main computer. As a precaution
against accidental interference with their timeline from other starships."
The Chief touch a control, bringing up another graphic on the main
viewscreen beside the one Dax had displayed. Sisko noted that it was
similar, though not identical to the one already displayed. "I've
extrapolated this from those records. The energy field Dax has scanned
is almost exactly like these conditions observed just before Beryl tried
to release the Negaforce. Except..."
"Except what?"
A look of frustration came across O'Brien's face. "It's too bloody
soon! It's nearly a month till the Scouts go to the North Pole. That
energy field shouldn't be anywhere near as powerful as it is."
"Could this be some sort of alternate universe, Chief?" Dax asked.
O'Brien shook his head. "No, I already checked that. The quantum
signature of this universe matches the one visited by the Enterprise...
Both of them, in fact. It's the same universe alright."
"Could our presence have caused a disruption on the timeline?"
Sisko asked.
"I don't see how, " Dax answered. "We were only visible for a few
moments." A sensor alert sounded, prompting her to forgo any further
speculation. "Hold on a minute, Benjamin. Sensors are picking up life
forms in the arctic regions, near the source of the energy field." She
paused to check the readout on the type of lifeform detected. When she
spoke next, her voice sounded stunned, "They're Jem'Hadar."
"Jem'Hadar?" Bashir exclaimed. "What are they doing on Earth?
Especially on an alternate version of it."
"That's a good question, Doctor," Sisko answered. "One that I'd
like an answer to."
"It's an answer that might have to wait, Captain," Odo said. The
Constable had occupied a station on the far side of the bridge and was
monitoring communications. "We're picking up a subspace signal... and
it sounds like a distress call." Odo touched a control and the signal
came over the bridge speakers, heavily laced with static.
"...Mayday... under attack.... This is the USS... immediate
assistance..." the signal terminated abruptly.
"The signal source is just on the other side of Earth, sir. Not
far from the Moon," O'Brien reported.
Sisko quickly considered his options. The appearance of the
Jem'Hadar on Earth still needed to be checked out, but he also had a
responsibility to answer that distress call. As much as he hated to do
it, he saw no other option but to split his forces. "Major, take an away
team down there. Be ready to handle a Jem'Hadar strike force. I'll be
taking the Defiant to check out this distress call, so you'll be on your
own for a while."
Kira nodded. "We'll be ready."
"There's an exit up ahead!" Luna exclaimed.
"About time," Venus grumbled. "I was beginning to think they would
never end." The others nodded in agreement. They had been following
the tunnels for what seemed like hours, but it looked like they had
finally managed to find the exit. The four girls and two cats stood
breathlessly at the mouth of the tunnel and looked out over the arctic
expanse.
"Hey, what gives? I though this was supposed to go right to the
Negaverse," asked Jupiter. Mercury frowned and activated her visor.
"Maybe we took a wrong turn?"
Venus scowled at her feline companion. "There's nothing wrong with my
sense of direction!"
"I didn't say there was," Artemis replied defensively.
"Never mind that you two," Luna said. "We have to hurry. If we
can get the Rainbow crystals before the Negaverse can use them to form the
Silver Crystal, we may still have a chance."
Artemis snorted. "If they haven't figured out how to form it by
now, I don't think they ever will."
"Can we afford to take that chance?"
The white cat grimaced. "Not really. Especially when they're about
to set the Negaforce loose."
"I'm getting a signal," Mercury said. "There's another portal,
much bigger than the one we found in Tokyo. It's that way!" She
pointed across the ice field.
"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" With that Venus charged
forward, followed shortly by her companions.
Next time: The Defiant checks out the distress call, the Scouts battle
the Jem'Hadar and Kira meets up with the Scouts. Plus the Great Zoisite
Gender Debate in Chapter 2, "D Point Revisited".
Notes: Quark's advertising scheme is a lead in to the trick he pulled in
the beginning of a late fourth season episode, "The Quickening".
Bill Harris
Go Orioles!!! Umm... maybe next year?
Sci-Fi quote of the month:
"And then we'll make the Dominion sorry they ever set foot in the Alpha
Quadrant!"
"Cadet, you took the words right out of my mouth." - Nog & Sisko in DS9's "Call
to Arms"