Disclaimer: I do not own Voyager or the Enterprise-D. I have my own ship thank you very much, which I unfortunately have yet to sail because the wind is being wonkyfully non-existent. Hey, I just invented a new word!

If you like this story then you should bow down to the amazing Mehegan who convinced me to post it. Also, who agreed to be my first mate on the good dinghy Amazon and didn't complain when we wasted away four hours on a boat singing Star Trekkin' and yelling at the non-existent Wesley to shut up.

ANYWAY, here's the rundown: On the left, we have a Voyager AU from New Earth with a few other twiddles which if I gave away would give away a bit of the story. On the right, we have a Next Generation AU from that one early episode with the propulsion test and the end of the universe and the hallucinations. Basically they don't get quite all the way home if you haven't figured that out yet. I haven't even finished Season 1 and already they could have potentially ended up in the Delta Quadrant twice. Figures. Oh, and Wesley wears a normal uniform just to make things simple, instead of the dorky sweaters.

Captain's Log

Any time entry is meaningless

We have no choice but to repeat the same warp experiment, but with one variation. A principle part of this warp formula will be the thoughts of everyone aboard the Enterprise. We have no idea how this works, but we understand that the Traveler makes use of this somehow. It will be most important that those aboard avoid random thoughts that might change the reality of what we're attempting to do.

The entire Bridge crew held their breath as the Enterprise came out next to a planet they had never seen before. There was complete silence, until Riker's voice came from Engineering. "The Traveler has faded out… he's gone. Are we back?"

Picard slowly spoke purposefully. "Number 1… I'm going to need you up here."

"… I'll be right there Captain."

Picard rubbed his forehead. "I'll cut to the chase Mr. La Forge, where the hell are we?"

"We're 60,000 light years away from Earth… going at our top speed, it would take us about 60 years to get home."

The sound of someone gulping was like cricket chirps to the silent room. The sound of the turbolift doors opening signified the arrival of Riker. Picard spoke without even looking. "Number 1, my ready room, now."

"Aye aye sir."

The two of them moved to the ready room and Picard sat behind his desk. Riker spoke. "I saw the view screen. Where are we?"

"60,000 light years from Earth… And the Traveler is definitely gone?"

Riker nodded. "Yes."

Picard rubbed his forehead. "Well, I guess we just need to make the best of a bad situation. We'll need to conserve energy. Any ideas?"

"Replications take up a good chunk of the energy in any ship. Perhaps a limit on them?"

"Yes, but we don't want people starving to death."

"We could turn Ten-Forward into a sort of mess hall and gather edible plants and such on planets we come across."

Picard looked thoughtful. "Yes, and perhaps we could rig up a part of the ship to grow seedlings… we're leaving everybody out of this discussion." He tapped his combadge. "All senior staff report to the Captain's ready room please."

He and Riker waited while the rest of the senior staff slowly filed in.

Picard spoke. "We are now 60,000 light years away from home, next to an unidentified planet in the Delta Quadrant. Going at our top speed, it would take 60 years to get home. A daunting task surely, but one I will see through to the end if I can. Are you all with me?"

A chorus of ayes rang up.

"Good. Now, the first order of business: power conservation through replicator rations, and how we can avoid starving people if we do this. Mr. La Forge, would it be possible to grow seedlings anywhere in the ship?"

"Yes sir. It would take time to build what we need, but it would work."

"Good. In that case we'll need someone who can cook. Troi, you look into that. Are there any other suggestions?" No one spoke. "I guess it's time to make the announcement to the ship. Everybody back to your stations."

As soon as everybody left Picard tapped his combadge. "Everyone, this is the captain speaking. The Traveler did his best to get us home, and his continued existence on this ship is no longer. However we are still 60,000 light years away from home, a journey that at top speed would take us 60 years. But do not despair. Our mission was to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before. We have done that, and we will continue to do it, and we will get home. Captain out."

Picard went back to the Bridge. "Rousing speech Captain," Data commented.

Riker nodded. "Hear hear."

Data continued to talk. "I've done a scan of the planet sir, and it appears mostly devoid of intelligent life forms."

"Mostly?"

"Exactly, mostly. Unless there is a scanner malfunction, there are exactly four intelligent life forms on the planet, all in the more or less the same spot."

"There must have been some sort of disaster for there to be only four left. Are they pre-warp?"

"Unknown sir. If there was some sort of disaster than it is highly possible that they are not pre-warp but currently lack any sort of ship."

"Interesting. Riker, I want you to lead a small away team. Beam down away from the lifeforms and proceed carefully. Scout the area out before making contact."

"Yes sir. Troi?"

Riker and Troi both entered the turbolift. "Commander, who else are you going to take?"

"Well, the Captain asked for a small away team, so I think I'll grab Wesley and go."

"And me of course."

"And you. That makes three." Riker tapped his combadge. "Riker to Wesley."

"What do you need me for?"

"Meet me in the transporter room. You're coming with me and Troi on the away mission."

"Gotcha. I'll meet you there."

The turbolift doors opened a few minutes later and Riker and Troi stepped out to find Wesley already there. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yep."

Riker grinned at his young enthusiasm. "Okay, here's the deal. According to scanners there's only four of them in total. We're going to beam a little bit away from them and do some reconnaissance without making contact. If they seem hostile, contact the others. Got it?"

Wesley nodded. "Understood."

The three of them stepped on to the transporter pad. It energized and they disappeared from the ship.

They reappeared in the middle of some sort of forest. Riker pulled out his tricorder. "According to the scans, there are two of them over there. I'll go this way, Troi you go that way, and Wesley go straight on ahead. Be careful though Wesley, don't go too far. Just observe them."

"Yes sir." They went their separate ways.

Wesley moved silently forward. He appeared to be on some sort of trail. He came to the edge of the woods and saw a clearing. He climbed a tree to get a better look. However it had been a while since he had last climbed trees, and he forgot to look out for dead branches. He caught himself, and continued to haul himself upward.

The seven-year-old kneeled in the dirt, pulling weeds out of the garden. "You're no fun anymore!"

She looked up at her younger brother. "No, I'm just helping Mommy, instead of playing with toys all day."

The four-year-old stuck out his tongue. "Retchin' Gretchen."

Gretchen stuck out her own tongue. "Ignorant Ian. Want to help me?"

Ian dropped his carved wooden toy and ran to her. "Okay!"

Gretchen pointed out a weed. "See this type of plant? This doesn't belong here. You pull it out like this and put it in the basket. That way Mommy can put it in the river and they won't bug us anymore."

Ian nodded. "Okay." He started pulling at plants.

Suddenly a loud cracking noise was heard. Both Gretchen and Ian jumped up, Ian hiding behind his older sister. "What was that?"

Gretchen moved closer to the woods, Ian close behind her. Her eyes were defiant. "Who's there?" She thought she saw a flash of red. She squinted, trying to look closer. "I said, who's there? Show yourself!"

As if on cue, an ominous wind picked up. "Gretchen, a storm's coming."

"Who's there!"

Suddenly the ground shook. "It is a storm!" Ian wailed.

A woman in a simple green dress with auburn hair piled on her head ran into the clearing. "Gretchen! Ian! Inside, now!"

Both looked at her. "But Mommy, there's something out there!" Gretchen yelled.

"It's probably a monkey, now come on!"

The ground shook again, and both children ran screaming to the woman. She ushered them inside their home, a mixture of logs and emergency shelter materials. She stood at the doorway, shouting. "Chakotay! Chakotay!"

Both children immediately ran back out and clung to her skirt. "Mommy, something's making noise!"

"Of course something's making noise, it's a storm! Now get back inside. Chakotay!"

"But Mommy, it was a weird buzzing noise and it sounded like people were talking!"

The woman looked down at her children. "You're sure about this?" Both children nodded silently. The woman rushed inside, shutting the door behind her. She went to a small cupboard in a corner and pulled out something made out of red and black. She unfolded it on the table and tapped at the pin on it. "This is Kathryn Janeway, is anybody there? Hello? I repeat, this is Kathryn Janeway, are any Starfleet ships receiving me?" There was no answer. She sighed. "The storm messes with communications. Even if there was somebody they'll be long gone when it's over." There was an insistent tugging at Kathryn's skirt. She looked down. "What sweetie?"

Gretchen's eyes were truthful. "Mommy, it wasn't a monkey. Monkeys are too small to break branches. And I saw a flash of red. It was exactly like this red," she added, pointing at the Starfleet uniform.

As if on cue, the door burst open. Kathryn looked up, relieved. "Chakotay!" She stopped short though as she saw what he carried. He carried an unconscious boy in a Starfleet uniform.

Chakotay set his load down on the couch. "The tree he was hiding in fell down just as I was arriving. He's got a head wound, where's the dermal regenerator?"

Kathryn started rifling through cupboards. "Children, under your beds." Gretchen and Ian hurried to their room. Kathryn found the dermal regenerator and handed it to Chakotay, who started running it over the boy's head wound. Kathryn pulled out a tricorder and scanned him. "He's got a broken leg but other than that he seems fine. He has no combadge."

"It must have fallen off. Do you recognize him?"

Kathryn shook her head. "No. He doesn't look familiar in the least."

The ground shook again and several items on the shelves rattled ominously. "This isn't safe. Help me get him under the table." Kathryn nodded and helped Chakotay pull the boy under the table. It was like that that they waited out the storm.

"Beam… out… hurry!"

"You're breaking up!" Picard nearly shouted into his combadge, but there was no reply. He turned to the transporter room ensign. "You heard him! Beam them out!"

The ensign jumped and started pushing buttons. Three transporter beams appeared, but only two people materialized. Riker cradled his broken arm. "Just in time. If you had waited any longer than the plasma storm would have blocked the transporters too."

"Riker, where's Mr. Crusher?"

Troi knelt next to where the third beam had appeared and picked something up. "This is his combadge. It must have fallen off somehow."

"Or else it was ripped off," Riker added cynically.

Picard turned to Deanna. "Troi, what do you sense down on the planet?"

"Fear… and a little anxiety."

Picard threw up his hands. "Lovely! You should never have taken the boy down. Now go report to Sickbay and have that arm taken care of then meet me in my ready room. And don't forget to tell Dr. Crusher about her son."

Riker nodded. "Aye aye Captain."

Riker left the transporter room and headed for sickbay. As he walked his head started to throb painfully. He stopped and leaned against a wall as his vision also started to blur. He started going again when it didn't get better, realizing that he had to make it to sickbay if this was something he had picked up on the planet.

Dr. Beverly Crusher looked up from her desk when the door opened. She smiled. "Hello Commander…" She broke off as she noticed that Riker looked pale and he was swaying somewhat. "Do you feel okay?"

Riker managed to get nothing out before he collapsed on the spot. Dr. Crusher rushed to him and dragged him to a biobed. She pulled out a scanner and scanned him, noticing a broken arm and a strange bug bite. "Dr. Crusher to the Captain."

"Captain Picard here. I suppose you're going to ask me why I let Wesley go on the away team?"

"That's not it; I didn't even know he went on the away team. Commander Riker just collapsed in my doorway. The only things I can find wrong with him is a broken arm and a strange bug bite."

"That's a rather disturbing development. I'll send Counselor Troi down immediately. You'll need to check her for this bug bite as well."

"What about Wesley? You just mentioned that he went on the away team."

"About that… a plasma storm was brewing and we had to beam them out in a hurry. Wesley was separated from his combadge somehow and that's all we got. He's still down on the planet somewhere."

Dr. Crusher spoke slowly and deliberately. "Jean-Luc Picard, if my son is not 100 all right by the time this is all over, I will personally see to your doom."

"I can't say I'll be looking forward to it. Picard out."

Dr. Crusher busied herself with healing Riker's broken arm and getting a sample of the toxin from the bug bite for analysis, as well as doing the best she could for his symptoms. She was just finishing up when Deanna Troi walked in. "I'm to report to you for you to search me for some bug bite."

Dr. Crusher nodded. "If you'll sit?"

Troi sat down and Dr. Crusher examined her. "No bug bites here. When you go back to the Bridge tell Captain Picard that no one under any circumstances is to go back down to the planet." Troi nodded and left.

Dr. Crusher checked on Riker again and noticed that his symptoms were getting worse. She summoned one of the nurses over. "Watch him constantly and do anything you can for him. I'll be busy analyzing the toxin."

Captain's Log

Stardate 41263.2

We have been only a day in the Delta Quadrant and already I find myself with a dilemma to which I fervently wish there was another solution. Ensign Crusher is still stuck down on the planet's surface with no means of identifying him from the aliens on our scanners. I would send someone down to locate him, but even Dr. Crusher agrees that the planet is off-limits until a cure for the mysterious bug bite can be found, something we are having extreme difficulty with. Commander Riker's condition is getting worse by the hour; a few more days and it will most likely prove fatal. Right now my greatest fear is that of scanning the planet and finding that between scans Wesley Crusher had perished.

Wesley Crusher half opened his eyes, then shut them tight again as bright light assaulted him. Squinting, he opened one and then the other slowly, then tried not to back away suddenly when he saw the face of one of the aliens he had seen earlier looming over him. Up close, she certainly looked human enough. Her face broke out into a big grin. "You're awake!" She looked away towards the open door. "Mommy, he's awake!"

The older female alien came in through the door. "Gretchen, don't shout in the house." Gretchen was also a human enough name. "How are you feeling?" This was directed at Wesley.

"I've been better. Where am I?"

The woman looked to her daughter. "Gretchen, go play outside."

The girl immediately began to show signs of a potential temper tantrum. "But Mommy, I want to know who he is! I want to know where he's-"

"Gretchen!"

Gretchen looked downtrodden. "Yes Mommy." She left the room.

"And don't alter the house in any way little missy," the woman called after her. The woman then turned her attention back to Wesley. "As for your question, you are currently on New Earth."

Wesley frowned. "Why didn't you want your daughter to hear that?"

"To her, this is merely 'home'. If she knew that this was called New Earth, she would demand to know all that she could about the original one, which would probably lead her to doing something stupid, such as try to get there."

Wesley was confused. "So… you're human?"

The woman threw up her hands. "Why else did you think you could communicate with us? Your combadge fell off when the tree blew over in the storm. We've been looking for it but we can't find it. We can only assume that your ship tried to beam you out and only got the combadge."

"But if this place is called New Earth, and you're all human… then does that mean it was all a bad dream?"

"Was what all a bad dream?"

"Getting lost in the Delta Quadrant."

The woman shook her head. "Unfortunately not."

Suddenly they were interrupted by a man with a tattoo over his left eye. "Oh, so you're awake now? I thought I heard you talking with someone Kathryn. I'm Chakotay, nice to meet you. What's yours?"

The woman laughed. "I can't believe I forgot to introduce myself! That's what living like this for so long will do to you! I'm Kathryn Janeway, that girl earlier was my daughter Gretchen. So what is your name?"

"Wesley Crusher."

Chakotay and Kathryn both froze. "But… that's impossible!" Kathryn stated.

Wesley looked from one to the other. "Why?"

Chakotay answered his query. "Wesley Crusher died twelve years ago."

Kathryn slowly started shaking her head, a look of dawning comprehension showing on her face. "No… Wesley Crusher disappeared twelve years ago, presumed dead along with the rest of the Enterprise-D! Chakotay, don't you see? Voyager wasn't the first ship to get stuck in the Delta Quadrant!"

Now Wesley was shaking his head. "But that can't be. We've only been missing a day plus however long I've been unconscious."

Chakotay looked at Kathryn. "Accidental time travelling?"

Kathryn nodded. "Must be. I'd better go make contact through the combadge." She left.

"So how long have I been unconscious?"

"Only all night and half of the morning. You still look half dead though, get some rest."

Wesley yawned. "I do still feel a little sleepy."

"Get all the rest you need."

"Scanners still show five life forms on the planet Captain."

Picard glanced at Data. "Good."

"Captain, if I may suggest, I am not living, I am merely an android. If I were to go down to the planet there would be a possibility that the bug's toxin would not affect me."

"We can't risk it. This-"

"This is Kathryn Janeway to the Enterprise-D. Can anyone up there hear me? I repeat, this is Kathryn Janeway to the Enterprise-D."

Coming up:

"So we have to leave Riker here?"

"Yes."

"What about Wesley?"

Review please! The author needs love!