บท 53: Future's End, Part 1
"The distortion field's fluctuating. Something's coming out," Harry said.
"It appears to be a small ship, approximately six meters in length," Tuvok analyzed.
"Magnify," Janeway instructed.
The image of the tiny ship grew bigger on the view screen just as it had on the show. The ship had a V-shape design with red glows on the wings, which were no doubt the engines.
"Sensors are reading one occupant, human. He is holding position at the perimeter of the rift," Tuvok said.
"There's a subspace signature emanation from the ship. Captain... it's Federation!" Harry added with surprise.
Janeway gave me a look as she said, "Hail them."
"No response," Tuvok replied, and then added, "They appear to be charging weapons."
"Shields up! Rebecca?"
The buildup of Time mana had a strong affinity with Order, so it was causing me to form a headache quickly. I released a bit of my natural aura to reduce the effects of the mana while shaking my head. Before I could reply, the Federation ship opened fire on us which caused the lights to flicker and dim.
"Shields are down!" Tuvok reported.
"Get us out of here," Janeway ordered.
"Helm control is off-line," Tom answered.
"He's firing some kind of subatomic disruptor," Harry explained.
"Return fire!" Janeway ordered.
"No effect," I breathed, pulling the memory of the episode to the front of my mind.
"Full phasers. No effect," Tuvok said.
"Tuvok, divert all available power to the deflector. Send out a high energy polaron pulse. It should disrupt his weapon," I quoted what had been Chakotay's line.
"Emitting deflector pulse... now!" Tuvok replied.
The lights returned to normal, and Harry confirmed, "It's working."
"We are being hailed," Tuvok said.
"On screen," Janeway replied, standing up.
"Starship Voyager. I'm Captain Braxton of the Federation Timeship Aeon. I've come from 29th century Earth, five hundred years into your future. Please disengage your deflector pulse," the sandy blonde-haired man explained.
"Why are you firing at us?" Janeway asked.
"Your vessel is responsible for a disaster in my century... a temporal explosion that will destroy all of Earth's solar system. I've come back in time to prevent that occurrence. My mission is your destruction. You must not resist," he replied without sympathy.
"I'm going to need more information than that, before I allow..."
"Debris from your secondary hull was found in the explosion," he said, cutting off Janeway.
"Captain, I simply..."
"No time!" he snapped, shutting off communications with us and fired again.
"He's remodulating the subatomic disruptor. Our deflector is losing power. It won't hold much longer," Tuvok said as the ship shook with the impact of the weapon.
"No time, my ass! If he had just stopped long enough to think!" I growled. "Adjust our deflector to match the frequency of his weapon. Try to overload his emitter."
"It seems to be working. His weapon is off-line, and his ship has been damaged. The rift is destabilizing, and he's being pulled back inside," Tuvok replied, a moment later.
"Re-establish helm control," Janeway instructed.
"I'm trying to, Captain, but we seem to be caught in some kind of graviton distortion. We're being pulled in too," Tom responded.
"Brace for impact," I warned right before the ship was pulled in.
The ship crossed the threshold of the spatial rift and shook violently, but it was even worse for me. The rift was a wall of Time mana, and as my body passed through it, it felt like I was moving through a net of electricity that clung to me, pulling me through Space and Time. With one last heavy shake, that threw anyone standing off their feet, the sensation stopped, and we were on the other side of the rift.
"And I thought transporters were bad," I grumbled, regaining the usage of my body.
"Status," Janeway ordered as she stood back up.
"Primary systems are coming back on-line... the weapons grid and power array took heavy damage," Tuvok reported.
"The temporal rift is closed," Harry added.
"Where are we?" Janeway asked.
Tom pressed a few buttons and changed the viewscreen to the image of the planet below us. Dazzling blue oceans, white clouds scattered all around, and seven continents of greens, browns, and whites could be seen. It was none other than Earth, but there was just one problem for the crew of the Voyager.
"Home," he replied, turning around in his chair.
"The rift must have originated here. Hail Starfleet Command," Janeway instructed.
"No response on standard frequencies," Tuvok replied.
"Did you forget? The question shouldn't be 'where' are we, but 'when' are we," I retorted with a heavy sigh, rubbing my temples in hopes of ridding myself of the last traces of the headache that the time travel had given me. "Check the astrometric readings; I guarantee that this is not the year 2373."
"She's right! The year is 1996 by the astrometric charts," Harry said.
Janeway looked at me hard for a moment then said, "Tuvok, you have the Bridge; make sure that we won't be detected by anyone down below. When Chakotay gets here, send him to my Ready Room."
She did not need to tell me to follow her; it was understood. I stood up and walked with her into the other room. Janeway placed a ball that had been in her hand next to a racket on her desk, and then looked at me for an explanation.
"I don't have all the answers, but the moment that Captain Braxton appeared, we were already pulled into this time paradox," I said.
"A time paradox?" she asked.
"Yes... A leads to B, B leads to C, and C leads back to A," I said, quoting Captain Braxton's explanation from the show. "Captain Braxton detected a temporal explosion that wiped out Earth's solar system, and he found traces of the Voyager's hull, so he assumed that we are responsible. If the fool had stopped long enough to think about it, he would have realized that there was no way that we could have been brought to the twenty-ninth century without his intervention. As it is now, his time ship will have been taken by someone who is planning to launch it and go to the future to get more technology, but he doesn't know what he's doing so he will cause the temporal explosion, thus completing and starting the loop."
Janeway rubbed her forehead with annoyance and said, "Time travel. Since my first day on the job as a Starfleet captain I swore I'd never let myself get caught in one of these godforsaken paradoxes. The future is the past, the past is the future. It all gives me a headache."
I chuckled, "And imagine what I deal with... If I had told you of this possibility before it happened, you would have reacted differently, and the entire situation could have been completely different. At least, it's the twentieth century when Katye and I lived originally; I doubt anyone among your crew would know this Earth better than us."
"Unfortunately, I can't permit you to beam down. You don't exactly look human anymore," Janeway replied.
I smirked and tapped my ring from Raven, pulling out a second ring from the storage space. I slipped it on and felt a light tingle across my skin as the enchantment activated. What Janeway saw was exactly how I looked when I first joined the crew.
"We've discussed how to hide my appearance since the change, and the ring goes a bit further, disguising my aura as well. It won't help me with my instincts, but should we run across a ship full of Klingons, or some other race with Dragon-blood, they won't have the same problems as L'Naan. It's a new creation of Katye's and drains my energy constantly, but I can still last for days with it on, so I hope you can grant my request to go on the away team. After all, this Earth was my home long ago," I said.
Janeway looked at me with surprise for a moment before shaking her head with a wry smile and said, "Collect your group and prepare anything you think we'll need; we'll be dressed properly as I hope you will too. Chakotay, Tuvok, Tom, and I will meet you in the Shuttle Bay in half an hour."
"Yes, Captain," I replied, pulling off the ring just in time to undo the illusion before Chakotay chimed for entry.
I gave her a nod before heading for the door. Chakotay was on the other side when it opened, and I smiled as we passed each other. I headed for the turbo lift, and once the doors shut, I tapped my badge.
"Rebecca to Katye, Raven, and Echo. Please report to the Shuttle Bay for an away mission," I said.
I had told them about this episode long ago since I knew it would still have to happen because this was how the Doctor got his mobile emitter. It was essential for numerous episodes in the future, so it would have to happen, or a lot would be different in the future. What Katye and Raven had focused on was that we were going back in time to when there would be a little Rebecca and a teenaged Katye running around Texas that they wanted to see. I had rolled my eyes at the request, but thankfully, with Janeway joining us, there was little chance that we could get sidetracked with their side quest.
When I got to the Fae Dragon, I told Fae to start replicating the clothes that Katye and Raven had picked out for all of us then headed upstairs and changed into a casual black suit with a crimson shirt. As I left the bedroom, Echo was making her way towards me, or rather the room.
She stopped me and asked, "Which episode is this?"
"Time-travel back to the year 1996. Your outfit is laid out on the bed with Katye's and Raven's," I replied.
"You're tracking someone then, right?"
"Yeah, we will be; one group goes after Sterling, or whatever his name was, while the other tracks down the one who located the Voyager."
"Have me accompany your group," she said.
I smirked, "Are you so sure that the group that will be in trouble is my group?"
"If you are involved, I know you will take the more dangerous role," Echo retorted.
"In the episode, the second group took more fire than Janeway's group that were tracking the man responsible for this bullshit. Are you sure that you want to go with me because that means Katye and Raven will have to face them on their own?"
"And Janeway's group?"
I chuckled, "Are held hostage before getting rescued by an emergency beam out."
"My point exactly," she said as she walked past me.
I smirked, shaking my head, and headed back downstairs. Katye and Raven walked onto the ship together, so I told them what was going on and they went upstairs to change as well. While they got dressed, I replicated a driver's license for everyone, as well as FBI badges, which were things that they had not thought of in the show, but could be helpful. I also replicated some money for us; a few hundred dollars each would cover most possible needs for cash.
Katye, Raven, and Echo came down the stairs dressed in twentieth century clothing. Katye was wearing a pair of gray slacks and a violet button-down shirt with her hair pulled back in a braid. Raven was in a maroon tank top, military green cargo pants, and her hair pulled up in her trademark loose ponytail. Echo had on a leather biker jacket, a light blue tank top, and dark blue jeans.
"Don't you three look beautiful," I remarked with a smile.
Echo rolled her eyes, but Katye and Raven both smiled back at me. I slid on my illusion ring then passed out the wallets and badges.
"I've gotta say it; I miss your horns," Katye commented as she drew close.
I chuckled, "Well, they are still there, hiding under this annoying itch."
::Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, and Tom are approaching the ship.:: Fae chimed.
"Thanks; let them in and start the pre-flight procedure," I replied.
"We'll take our positions and let you explain your plan to them," Katye said.
The three of them headed for the Bridge as Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, and Tom walked onboard our little ship. Chakotay was surprised by my change in appearance, and Tom even stopped in his tracks.
"It's an illusion charm that Katye crafted for me, which also disguises my aura so that Dragon-blooded individuals won't be affected by it. It's not exactly comfortable for me, but I was not going to miss the chance to see my old home, and Katye and I know twentieth century Earth better than any of you," I explained.
"How do you know twentieth century Earth?" Tom asked.
"I was born in 1990, in Dallas, Texas and lived for thirty-seven years before Q abducted me a moment before my death. The original Vazukuru all have similar stories to my own, but scattered throughout all of Earth's history," I replied, telling him some of our background story.
"You're human?" Chakotay asked, since Tom was too stunned to speak.
"Once upon a time, I was, but no longer. My past may not be a happy one, but I am, with where I am now. So, let's focus on the matter at hand... I've created both driver's licenses and FBI badges for all of you as well as some money. The FBI badges can open doors that we might need, but don't use them lightly. Our cover story will be that we are FBI agents, but we're undercover, explaining our civilian clothing, so keep that hidden until someone tries to expose you, or you need access to somewhere; it should be enough to throw off the common American," I explained, handing out their wallets and badges.
"Do they not have ways of validating our credentials?" Tuvok asked.
"With time, they can, which is why I said to only use the badges if someone is trying to expose you, or you need to get in somewhere quickly," I replied.
"Thank you, Rebecca. We picked up some low-frequency subspace readings which we narrowed down to Los Angeles. What do you know about it?" Janeway asked.
"Home of Hollywood, Disneyland, the Santa Monica Pier, and a long list of other tourist traps. Fae, let Katye and Raven know where to go, and what to look for."
::Affirmative.:: Fae chimed.
"L.A. draws in all sorts of people, especially the rich and powerful, so it makes sense that whoever stole the time ship from Captain Braxton would be here," I said, finishing my explanation.
"How could someone steal the time ship already? We only just arrived here," Chakotay asked.
"We entered the subspace time rift a few seconds after Braxton's ship did, and it wasn't stable, so there is no telling how long the ship and Braxton have been here," I replied.
"That does make sense, and could explain how the temporal explosion occurred, as it is unlikely that Captain Braxton would risk traveling back to his time with the pending disaster," Tuvok agreed.
"Is there anything else that you know about this situation, Rebecca?" Janeway asked.
"While I have an idea of how this could play out, my gut is telling me that things won't be nearly as simple," I replied with a grim smile.
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