Cam pulled out his tricorder with his left hand. He was a horrible shot, so it didn't matter north or south with which hand he shot, but habit was habit.

They where all around. His body went cold. His arms where weak. He couldn't take this.

Cam took a deep breath, and looked around. He was looking for something that would really slow the borg down. Then he rembered something, the plasma conduit back on the scout. It had to supply power to something, and alot of it. Blowing one of those babies could put a small dent in any ship, not to mention what the loss of power would do.

It couldn't work. The Borg are unstopable. He was dead. Worse, he wouldn't be dead. They would capture him. They would assimilate him. He would be them. Not even one of them. He would be them.

The rest of the team was creeping around too. They didn't want to start anything untill they had a plan. He walked over to a conduit, and scanned it. A phaser on overload would blast through the conduit walls. He walked over to the major.

"Sir, I think I know of something we can do..."

Jeppo looked over at him "Well?"

"The plasma conduits, if we use a plasma gernade or a phaser overloading, we could knock at least one out. And with several, we could knock out several. I think it might hurt the borg." The uncertainy was practically flowing off his words

"I thought the borg did have plasma conduits large enough to matter"

"These will, I hope"

The Major turned away, and issued some orders. In a few minutes most of the non-security members of the team where searching for possible sites to lay the detonations. Everyone was split into two's and three's. Soon everyone had checking in as ready.

Fear was gripping Cam like a Ferengi to profit. He couldn't stand it, he wished he had never come. He needed to go to the restroom. He wanted to give all that he had and was to be anywhere else.

Everyone was at the beamout point. The detonators where set. They had 30 to beamout.

The transporter hummed into existance, hug forever, wasting presious seconds, then it faded out.

[I can't get a good lock on ya'll]

T minus 23

He was going to die. It was better than assimilation. But he was going to die.

[The plasma venting is getting in the way, I'm trying to get a lock...]

T minus 18

Again the transporter tried, again it failed

T minus 11

Cam prayed, he could feel the rest of the team dieing with him.

[I'm moving to get outta this field]

T minus 4

[Ok, I've..] T minus 0 [..got a lock]

The explostions ripped through the Borg ship.

The Transporter took hold.

Cam watched as death came into view, its green fire expanding ever so rapidly, engulfing everything it touched.

The world started to fade to blue.

The world was turning green.

The world became blue, and then faded to the view of the runabout.

Cam lost control of his knees, and fell. He was alive. He was so relieved that he couldn't move, but the huge grin and slight nervous laugh showed he was thankfull to be alive.

--Cam

"This is Ensign Deiran Casey of the Federation Starship Galaxy. We have received your transmission Chief Jensen, but we cannot get a clear transmission. I have encoded this message, accompanying it are the Galaxy's coordinates and what you should do to improve your subspace signal. When you send another message, the Mission Ops console is programmed to look for your transmission and will filter it. Once we've done that I should receive a confirmed lock on the your signal."

"OH My" Jensen thought, and with that he went to access the program. two hours later or what seemed like two hours, Chief Jensen recorded and sent this message:

"Ensign Casey, This is Chief Petty Officer Thomas Jensen of the USS GALAXY. I have got your messag and I have accessed your computer program. It is urgent that you I get into communication with the Captain........There is great danger. I repeat there is great danger. The USS GALAXY and the USS ENTERPRIZE-E are in great trouble......the Borg are going to destroy Earth. You must defeat the borg. Don't worry about me....I'm safe here.....I am able to access the Borg's transmissions from my point in time. please respond to my message if you get it. Again.....Don't worry about me....Please deal with the borg accordingly.....I am able to be a greater asset here then over there. Once again.....I am able to access the Borg's communication messages from this frame of time...That shoul dbe able to help you in the battle.....Chief Jensen...Out.:

Jensen then sat down and waited fo a reply while listening to all the subspace transmissions.

Chief Jensen

Ensign Chen had just finished her report when Ensign Mitchell called her.

[Mitchell to Chen.]

"Chen here."

[Report to Beta Lab. I need help in building my module to go after Jensen. I'm sending an away team after him.]

"On my way. Chen out."

********Beta Lab**********

Chen was working at one of the science stations with Lt. Kelea and Specialist Langman on the warp shell. They needed to create a localized warp shell in order to find Chief Jensen. This warp shell would allow the away team to travel through alternate timelines and hopefully find Jensen's timeline. But the Chief would have to be looking for them or at least alerted to their plan. But Casey had some ideas about that.

Ens. Chen, Operations Officer
USS Galaxy

The Galaxy's shields were down to 37% now. Chaos ruled the atmosphere on the Bridge, smoke, the klaxon, the crew doing their duty, lives hanging in the balance. Casey was right about this crew, they were good, and getting better. At this point he wished he was at tactical, or doing something besides wait for the comm-link.

Casey waited patiently for Jensen's transmission, hoping that his plan worked. If it didn't Jensen would be stuck in the transwarp conduit forever.

As Casey was monitoring his station the computer notified him of an incoming message from Ensign Mitchell. Casey put the message on his display. After reading it, he tapped his comm badge,"Casey to Mitchell."

[Mitchell here.]

"James I'll be in Beta lab ASAP! With condensed notes and several idea's." Casey laughed at his own joke.

[I'll be expecting you, thank you Casey.]

"Casey out."

Deiran motioned for Ensign Freeman. Casey explained the transmission process and then said,"When the transmission from Chief Jensen comes in, relay this console to Beta lab immediately," when he finished explaining the details to Freeman he left for Beta lab.

Ensign Thomas Enquist was elated to be aboard the USS Galaxy. Serving aboard the leading ship in the Galaxy series is a prestigious job. Security is always important, and this time he was being sent for to the bridge, it got to be important. Smoothing out the wrinkles in the uniform, he checked his mark II phaser, and hurried away to the bridge. On the way, the Comm. system crackled" Ensign Enquist, report to the Beta lab, immediately, I repeat Ensign Enquist, report to the Beta lab, immediately, bridge out." He countermanded the order to the turbolift, requesting the deck where the lab was situated instead. "Damn, this must be an emergency, I got to hurry!." The turbolift was unusually slow, it took forever to get to the right deck. "Ahh finally!" the turbolift opened, and Ensign Enquist was prepared to get into action for the first time. He quickly strode towards the Beta lab, found the officer-in-charge, snapped to attention, and said "Ensign Enquist reporting for duty, Sir!"

Scandinavia, the land of milk and honey

She thought about the almost impossible coincidence of the Borg's "identity". 3of5 was the name of the Borg, who became Hugh in the end on the Enterprise. But it was not his name, that made also Shivok think twice, but the "person" he met and was during his mind meld.

He had carefully read all log entries and other data about that Borg Hugh. His interest was focused on the concept of individuality, one of the most driving motivations in humans actions. Hugh was an ideal play ground to study the development process, beginning from nothing.

And therefore he got to "know" Hugh very well, he was familiar with his cognitive patterns, his logic, his behavior, his personality.

And what he had met and been was Hughs' raw material, 3of5 before he became Hugh. Jacqueline must have made a similar experience, because she was constantly thinking of Hugh.

Only once she looked up and met Shivoks look. And it was rather his Betazoid part, who understood and shared the grieve and sorrows.

Back in his quarter Shivok was drawn back to the recent event. He had told Price anything 3of5 knew, only one thing he didn't mention. The feeling being Borg! He felt the mighty, eternal, final and always present pwoer of the Collective, being an atomar particle in a borderless flux of a gigantic system.

He shuddered. He felt cold, but it wasn't the room temperature. He felt the same coldness as when he was 3of5: uncomfortable for the Vulcan, frightening to the Betazoid. He knew he was lucky, he was a heart beat away from being assimilated.

This the time the Borg ship would not fall apart in total confusion, when the concept of individuality would be brought back to them. This time they knew.

They have assimilated enough humans, vulcans, betazoids, klingons, romulans, ferengis, trills, bajorans, cardassians, even breen and tholians to know all variations of individuality. And to know how to assimilate and still be the Borg.

He was teared out of his memories when the Red Alert went off. He was half way through the quarter, when a massive shock hit the ship, and Shivok almost stumbled. He knew, they were back and ready to assimilate the last piece of the once blooming culture, known as the United Federation of Planets.

Stephane, aka Counselor Shivok

Jacqueline looked around. Who would she trust to go with them.

'Myself,' she answered silently.

This was a dangerous mission. God only knew if they would ever get over there, much less make it back.

She would not order, she would ask. And if no one wanted to go, then she would.

D'Tarna walked up to her.

"I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with Ensign Mitchell."

Jacqueline wondered what D'Tarna had up her sleeve...

"I know you would never order someone on this mission, so I'm volunteering."

"D'Tarna, this would be EXTREMELY dangerous. Are you sure?"

She nodded. "Yes, sir."

Jacqueline took a breath, then slowly nodded her head. "Okay. When they go after Chief Jensen, you'll be on the away team."

The Galaxy's shields were down to 37%,Ensign Blair recieved damage reportes on decks 15,16 and 20. The Borg were blind and they used some sort of tracing beams that were searching for the Galaxy.

"Put more distance between us and the Borg Ensign." Captain Price ordered.

Jamson was sitting in his seat,closing his eyes and trying to forget the pain in his neck that was caused by the Hypospray.

"Speculation Commander?" The Captain suddenly asked Jamson.

"Looks like they are having technical problems Sir." Jamson guessed and stopped listening for a few seconds,he heard T'Nevin "That is incorrect assumption" and that's it,Jamson couldn't focus,there was a sharp pain in his head then he opened his eyes...he was seating in an empty Bridge for a second but he could hear the crew speaking...and then he saw them again...but they were like ghosts...and then they were gone again but he could still hear their voices...he got up closing his eyes and opening them again,he was back on the Bridge with the rest of the crew.

"Then there must be some other explanation for the Borg problems." he heard the Captain saying.

"Is there something wrong Commander?" Price looked at Jamson.

"Sir...for a few seconds I was somewhere else...I was in an empty Bridge but I could still hear your voices..."

"Fascinating" T'Nevin said and added "Your case is just like Chief Jensen...but somehow you can still travel between several times..."

Jamson turned to T'Nevin "But what will happend to me next time it will happen? I can't control it..."

"Then...you will be trapped in the some other time." T'Nevin raised an eyebrow.

Jamson looked at the main view screen and then at the Captain "Sir,we need to get out here as sson as we can.if this phenomenon happened to me it can happen to anyone on the ship."

The Catptain turned his look to T'Nevin "Lt.?"

"He is correct Captain" T'Nevin said.

Captain Price was thinking what to do but he was interupted by Jamson "Sir I want to help Casey with his experiment,as you already know I was an OPS officer and I have the knowledge to help him."

"Very well number one" Captain Price said and continued to think on the current events.

Jamson entered the turbolift and was on his way to Casey.on his way he tapped his comm badge "Jamson to Rousseau"

["Rousseau here"]

"Did you get any reports about strange events?"

[Well...no,why?]

"Never mind...just keep an eye and let me know if you get anything strange,Jamson out" Jamson said and tapped his comm badge again "Jamson to Casey"

[Casey here Sir]

"I'm on my way to the Beta lab to help you with your experiment. As soon as I get there I want you to brief me with anything you found,ok?"

[Yes Sir,Casey out]

Commander Michael Jamson
FO/XO
USS Galaxy

"It's your gig Major, what now?"

One of the engineer, shaking with fear, made a suggestion to the Major on what the party should do in order to gain something of worth from this 'trip'

Ensign Hutchcraft took the time to look around. It was a scary sight. Hundreds upon thousands of beings, all in that one ship, under one mind. A mind that sought more minds to add to it's own. He considered what the Borg would be like with his thoughts in it.

"What a twisted place it would be" he accidentally said out loud. The Klingon officer looked at him strangely.

The Major turned to the team of Security officers, engineers and Breen soldiers.

"Okay, I want the lot of you to seperate into groups of three, preferably two security officers or breen soldiers with one engineer. I want you to find a plasma conduit each, and detonate it with either a plasma grenade, or with an overloaded phasar."

Hutchcraft looked at his armanent... "well, looks like that second phasar will come in handy"

The team scrambled across the area. The Ensign joined the Major and the shivering engineer, figuring the extra phasar would come in handy.

It wasnt long before the group found a conduit. Hutchcraft handed the engineer his second phasar, and then kept an eye out for moving Borg units. His sweat began to pour down his skin. He felt a slight urge to return back to the runabout, but it was overcome by the Ensign's anger towards what the Borg were doing, or at least what they were about to do.

The Engineer looked up at Ensign Hutchcraft and the Major.

"All done, can we please go now. Please?" quivered the Engineer.

Borgs began to move from the lifelessness. The Major gave a nod, and the three of them began running for the beamout point.

Major Jeppo's voice beamed towards the Engineers already assembled;"Set the detonators for 30 seconds"

Various noises could be heard. The moving of Borg implants, the ticking of detonators. Hutchcraft's heart began to pound violently. The Borg were all around him. He had had enough of the waiting around and running away. He clutched at the phasar in both hands and fired directly into the nearest Borg. The Borg fell to his knees. Hutchcraft knew that would be his last shot, and so made his getaway to the beamout area a swift one.

He tapped his communicator.

"Coe get me the hell out of here"

[Got a lock ....]

Hutchcraft's eyes were still trying to recover. The blackness of the Borg Cube had returned to that of the runabout. He was sweating all over. The Large, Male Ensign looked towards him...

"Are you okay friend?" he questioned.

Hutchcraft grew back his grin. They waited for what reaction to the Borg Ship their mission created .....

***Beta Lab***

"Welcome, everyone and thank you for coming on such short notice. We are in a crisis as you all know and we have to find our way home. I have some ideas on that. What I have come up with is a theory on how to do just that. If you will look at the viewscreen, it details the blueprints on what Specialist Langman and myself have come up with. The screen is split so that you can see both the blueprints and simulations.

What I have gathered you all here for is your various skills in developing this theory. I have proposed to Captain Price that we build several warp shell modules that an away team will carry on their persons in an attempt to retrieve Chief Jensen. These modules will create a "shell"--that is, a stable environment, as opposed to a bubble, which is unstable--that will envelop the person in a type of "no-time" shield. This shield will contain our quantum signatures, thereby protecting us from any timeline changes that may occur in this timeline. if this experiment works, then we will be able to apply it to the Galaxy on a large scale. The problem we have with this is that it must be applied in the warp conduit. The conduit, from what I can gather from Ensign Casey's notes, is limited in the number of timelines, since it was man-made. But I'll leave that part of the briefing to Ensign Casey.

I need Engineering specialists to design and maintain the shells throughout their use on the AT. Security personnel are for whatever we may encounter on the other side. The OPS volunteer will be to coordinate all our efforts. Ensign Casey has already expressed an interest in maintaining contact with us from his side and coordinating from this timeline. The medical officer will keep an eye on our vitals throughout the mission. I will hopefully have another Science officer to assist me and/or Ensign Casey.

The main problem we have will be in getting us back to the Galaxy. Hopefully, when we reach Chief Jensen and fit him with his module, everything will return to the way it was before we lost him in the conduit. But to be honest, we could end up getting lost as well. Unfortunately, we don't have time to wonder. We're running out of it, if anything. If anyone wishes to back out, I'll understand. Thats why its a volunteer mission and you officers are the best this ship has to offer. If any of you back out, it could go worse for us in the long run.

As I said before, I want to take a small party with me. Myself, an ops officer, an engineering officer, a security officer, and a medic. There will be one of each of these departments on this side monitoring this mission. If any of you have any questions or concerns, feel free to pull me aside and express them.I would also appreciate any suggestions any of you might have. But for now, I'll turn over the briefing to Ensign Casey and his ideas on the conduit. Ensign Casey? Its all yours."

Ensign James Mitchell
USSGALAXY

When Casey arrived at Beta lab he ran into Ensign Chen. "Hi Stephanie, how are ya? You holding up?"

"I’m a rock Deiran," Stephanie replied as resolutely as she could. She smiled.

[Freeman to Ensign Casey]

Casey tapped his comm badge and replied, "Casey here Norm, what’s up?" [A transmission has come in with the frequency you said to look for. Should I transfer it to your location in Beta lab?]

"Please Norm," Casey replied to Freeman and turned to Stephanie, "Excuse me Stephanie this is important."

"Sure Deiran, I’ll talk to you later," Stephanie walked away and found a seat for the meeting.

Deiran went to the nearest computer display in Beta lab, punched in his access code and began clearing up the message. Casey used the Ops program to filter the spatial distortion and get the message as clean as possible.

"Ensign Casey, this is Chief Petty Officer Thomas Jensen of the USS GALAXY. I got your message and I have accessed your computer program. It is urgent that you get into communication with the Captain... There is great danger. I repeat there is great danger. The USS GALAXY and the USS ENTERPRISE-E is in great trouble... the Borg are going to destroy Earth. You must defeat the Borg. Don’t worry about me, I’m safe here, am able to access the Borg’s transmissions from my point in time. Please respond to my message if you get it. Again, Don’t worry about me! Please deal with the Borg accordingly. I am able to be a greater asset here than over there. Once again. I am able to access the Borg’s communication messages from this time frame. That should be able to help you in the battle...Chief Jensen Out." Casey smiled. The last thing Casey wanted was to lose anyone on this little timeline excursion and because of his concern for Jensen he was glad his idea worked.

He recorded a message for the Chief, "Chief, this is Ensign Casey, your transmission was received. The next transmission you’ll receive will be from Captain Price or Commander Jamson giving you orders on what to do next. We’re working on a way of getting you out, we will need you to communicate with us on the Borg situation before that happens. Chief I’m glad you’re okay, the crew is relieved, sit tight, we won’t leave you behind. Ensign Casey out."

Casey encoded his message and sent it to Jensen. "Casey to Lt. T’Lein." [T’Lein here Ensign] the Lieutenant was extremely busy with his Bridge duties but the last thing Casey wanted to do was disturb the Captain. "Sir, if you could let the Captain know that I’ve established contact with Jensen I’d appreciate it. I’m transferring his most recent communiqué to your station, sir. There’s some important information that the Captain should know about immediately."

[Good work Ensign, I’ll inform the Captain right away, Lt. T’Lein out]

Casey then tapped his comm badge for the Commander, "Ensign Casey to Commander Jamson."

[Yes, Casey.]

"Sir I’ve established contact with Chief Jensen, I thought you’d want to know before you arrived here, sir."

[Acknowledged Ensign, I’ll be there in a minute, Jamson out.] The Commander was on the turbolift just two decks away.

Casey turned around and saw that Ensign Mitchell was ready to begin. Casey walked over to the table and took a seat next to Stephanie.

Ensign Mitchell began the meeting. He laid out the idea and what he expected to accomplish, it sounded good to Casey. He’d leave all the specifics to Mitchell and help out all he could. Then Casey heard Mitchell say, "Ensign Casey? It’s all yours."

Casey stood up to address everyone, "First of all," the meeting stopped when Commander Jamson entered the room.

"As you were, Mr. Casey, please continue," Jamson seemed a little distant, something wasn’t right, he could sense that the Commander had something important on his mind.

"Aye sir. First of all I must tell you that the transwarp conduit is highly unstable. The Away team should emit Ion Radiation (at 55% levels) continually to keep the conduit from collapsing while the Away Team is inside. Use 3 temporal shields at max. levels, if two go down, that’s it, it’s all over! Someone should monitor the temporal shields at all times. The conduit has a variety of micro-particles that could eat through one temporal shield." That went over real well. He had to admit the fact they even wanted to go in this thing was brave, he lamented that he wouldn’t be going with them.

"I can’t give you exact specifics on the conduit, there’s too much interference to penetrate with our sensors, most of the information I have was when the Galaxy entered the conduit the first time, but even then our sensors weren’t prepared for the interference and distortion. As long as the 3 temporal shields/ per person holds up, the away team should be fine. (2 shields will be okay, if the primary one fails, do not let it’s back-up go down, or you’ll become unconscious and delirium will set in, believe me, you don’t want this kind of temporal narcosis in this conduit, it will kill!) One temporal shield is not enough to survive. I’ll put extra portable temporal shields in a tritanium case as it appears that duranium, tritanium and alloys are the only substances that can withstand the micro-particles strength, and you’ll need the extra’s protection.

"I’m not sure what you’ll be using to enter the conduit but I can tell you that the Galaxy’s shields are sufficient to hold the ship together inside the conduit. The warp shell modules should be set to the power and frequency of the Galaxy’s shields. (A 12 MW graviton polarity source, feeding a pair of 250 millocochrane subspace field distortion amplifiers, backed up by a secondary feed. You’ll need two generators for the shielding mechanism in case one loses it’s power or breaks down in the conduit.) And if you take a runabout you’ll want to reinforce the shields in this way." Casey was trying to be as thorough as possible, he knew that people’s lives would be at stake here if he messed up or left anything out.

"I have good news for everyone, just before the meeting began we received a reply from Chief Jensen he’s safe for now. So since we know our comm system can work with encoding and filtering the subspace signal we’ll use it for communicating with the Away Team, I’ll use the same procedure as I used with establishing a comm-link with Chief Jensen, it will work similar to the way the transporting system will work, which I’ll explain in just a minute. Keep in mind there will be a comm delay.

"I’ll also place an inter-dimensional emitting beacon, strong enough to penetrate the conduit interference, on each member of the away team, and 2 extra for the Chief( the extra is in case of malfunction or damage.) It’s imperative you place a beacon on the Chief once you’ve found him. The beacon’s signal will help the transporter and subspace relay systems establish contact with your quantum signatures.

"For safety, I’ve figured out a way to use the transporters to and from the transwarp conduit. The transporters will be set to your quantum signatures ( I’ll do this by reconfiguring the transporters ) If I need to beam you out in an emergency situation, I’ll do so by holding onto your quantum signatures, sending them to the Galaxy, it will take several minutes for the program I’ve written to rematerialize your molecular structure, they’ll be a lot of interference with the transporter beam and I want to make sure I have a secure lock. So, remember if you beam out you’ll be in the beam and pattern buffer for at least 2 minutes. (As you all know a person’s pattern can be in the beam for 7 minutes 40 seconds.) I’ll have a transporter operator monitor you the entire mission, with specific details of a procedural beam-out under these circumstances. But for the Transporter to work the transwarp conduit must be opened by an Ion radiation pulse or the Galaxy must be inside the conduit.

"I also want a science tricorder scanning the conduit once your inside, I want to create a comm-link with it so I know the readings of the conduit, and can monitor it’s integrity.

"When you’re inside the conduit, scan for our own quantum signature, that’s how you will find Jensen’s exact location. Also, as a precaution, I’ve downloaded this info to a science PADD to remind you of what you’ll need to do once inside. I want you to have access to this information while you’re inside the conduit.

"I’ll be at Mission Ops scanning, monitoring the entire mission. This is as safe as I can make this mission, it’s dangerous and risky, and sounds like a whole lot of fun," Casey smiled at everyone in the room after he said that, "I wish I could go with you. I want to say to all who volunteer, good luck and come back to us safely."

Casey turned to Ensign Mitchell, "That’s all I have James, I turn the meeting back over to you."

Ensign Mitchell was listening intently to Ensign Casey's report. It didn't sound too promising for the way home, but if you can't live up to the Starfleet uniform, don't bother trying. Mitchell wasn't a quitter. So when Casey finished his report and called James back to the table, he didn't hesitate.

Mitchell stood up, rearranged his uniform, put on a grim face and walked to the head of the table. He gazed into the faces of his crew. They were his crew after all. He had been given command for the first time and it was a life or death situation. Thats a tough handle to start with. Most first commands are given to geographical missions, usually with virtually no chance of a threatening situation. But he would prove to himself and everyone around him that he could handle the pressure.

"Well, you've all heard what Ensign Casey said. This is a tough mission, and some of you are first-timers. This a very dangerous mission. We might, might not make it. But if we do, we'll get out of this alive, with the Chief-our friend and comrade-and maybe use this technology to save the ship and get back to our own timeline. You all know the risks involved with this mission, and thats why i will reiterate that this is a volunteer mission. You all have time to think about it. At least until this project is finished. When comes time to put an away team together, I'll want to know by then. I trust that I will have an established team that I can trust and depend on. I will also put out a bulletin for any other volunteers in case I feel that I need any. Now, if any of you have any ideas or suggestions, I suggest we start now. Where do we begin? I think we should look to Commander Geordi LAforge's notes on the Enterprise. I believe I read something about a time inhibitor he put together once. This module we're to create should be portable and stable. Like on our waist, for example. It should be emitting the required bands that Casey suggested. Maybe we can install the homing beacon in them. Also, we will be entering the conduit stream via Transporter Room 2. If we enter through a run-about, we could get lost at another point in time-one which Jensen might not be in. We have to follow Jensens Footsteps. This way it narrows the field of search for us and we get to him faster. So lets get to it, people! Lets hear some ideas!

Ensign James Mitchell
USSGALAXY

[Good work ensign, I'll inform the captain right away, T'Lein out.]

A few seconds after Ensign Casey ended his comm link with Lt. T'Lein, the communique from Chief Jensen popped up on the Ops console display. T'Lein quickly read through part of the communique, but didn't finish because of the urgency of the message...he had to inform the captain immediately. T'Lein pressed a button on his console that linked him to the Captain's ready-room...

[Captain Price, Ensign Casey just sent me Chief Jensen's most recent communique and I think you should read over it immediately, sir.]

[Send it to me, Lt.]

[Aye, sir.]

T'Lein pressed a few buttons and the message was sent to the monitor on the Captain's desk.

T'Lein knew that Ensign Casey was in Beta Lab informing the members who would be a part of the away team about the warp shell modules, precautions, and other procedures that should be followed right down to the T in order for the rescue mission of Chief Jensen to be a success. T'Lein thought about whether or not the plan would work and briefly concluded that it was the best one so far that had the highest precalculated success rate. He only hoped that the calculations proved to be correct.

Lt. Stovok T'Lein
Chief Ops Manager
USS Galaxy NCC-70637

"Its like a totally diffrent fear when you can't do anything, ya know? I mean, once the Borg woke up there was nothing we could do but run, and the Borg could follow. Was it Plato or Archillies that said 'War is glorious to all but those who have seen its glory'?"

Kelea smiled, "Actually, Archillies was a famous warrior in the Trojian war." She looked like she was about to add something on, when Ens Mitchell started the meeting.

Ens Mitchell talked for a couple of minuites, then Ens Casey (shame he was in Ops, he really had the abilities to be in science, and he obviously loved it. Cam wondered why he did take Ops) droned on for a while. The Ens Mitchell came back on and started an answer question session.

Cam spoke up "As I understand it, via the grapevine," Cam almost says "Rumors from the Grapevine make poor wine" bue he resists. "The reason we are in this timeline is that we were in the conduit when it changed by the Borg several hundered years ago. So if the Galaxy stays in the conduit, won't it be protected IF the timeline works back"

Cam had really gone out onna limb on that one. All his information was supposedly 2nd hand, but was prob'ly 3rd or 4th hand. "And, assuming I'm wrong, what happens to the Away Team?"

He wasn't sure if he would go. He knew he should, esp'ly after that last one. If he didn't go on this one, he would just be that much more scared on the next one. He remebered at time as a kid visiting his gradfather across the Pond. His grandfathers dog had attacked him, and the next dog he came across he shyied away from. Not because he was afraid, he was, but just a little, but because he didn't want to get bit. (Which in a way, was fear) Soon, his slight fear of dogs had turned to a major one, till he had to leave for three months with dogs. They still weren't his favorite, but he wasn't scared of them. He had to go, if he wimped out now, but he didn't want to, he new he had to, so he decided he would. And he kept telling himself every 5 min after that.

--Cam
Sci Officer aboard the Galaxy

Troy was puzzled over the length of time the cube has been silent. The plasma couldn't effect them that much, and his communication plan would confuse the Borg for a few seconds. Troy looked as his monitor while damage reports continued to pour in, nothing too severe, the worse damage was the first to be reported. He returned his attention to the cube, guessing as to what happened. Several ideas crossed Troy's mind, but any of them was as good as a guess. There was simply no explanation why the cube suddenly went silent.

By now, everyone's focus shifted from the cube to how to get back to the regular timeline. So did Troy's, he decided when they get back he would certainly spend some time in Ten Forward, and the holodecks. His first mission was not dull at all, he'd gone through combat with a cube, thrown into an alternate timeline, plus many other things, so it would be a good time to relax a little. But first thing Troy decided to do was send a sub space transmission to his grandfather at Star Fleet Command, telling him of the mission. Of course the Galaxy would have to get back first.

Ensign Troy Blair
Tactical Officer, USS Galaxy

Once we got inside, though, it was a different matter. I could feel my hands start to get cold and clammy with the sweat of fear. The rows and floor of Borg attached to niches in wall-like frameworks were endless. This was like a large army in suspended animation. If they came after us, we wouldn't stand a chance. A few of the others also were overwhelmed by the sight. It was terrifying, yet fascinating in a bizarre sort of way.

Quickly we split up into teams of two or three, locating power conduits. Surprisingly, the Borg ignored us, even one that came walking down a narrow walkway we were on. The Borg and us turned sideways to pass; the Thing kept right on going. I fought the urge to smash its head in with the butt of my phaser; but it wouldn't do us any good drawing attention right now.

Once the explosives were placed, everyone, even the attractive Klingon woman, were more than anxious to depart. The grenades and spare phasers were set; we prepared for beaming. One small hitch: the plasma laid by the Galaxy was interfering with the transporter lock. Wonderful. Hutchcraft looked at me with a look that screamed "Oh oh", I certainly echoed that feeling. Miran tried again, still no lock. Mentally I counted down the time we had left before everything went off. This was going to be close.

Then again, between dying doing this and getting assimilated by the Borg, no contest. One of the explosives farther off exploded, they started chaining toward us. At the same time, Borg started moving from their cubicles toward us. This was not looking good.

A sudden noise got our attention; the Breen disappeared in their distinctive transporter sheen. Moments later, as a bright green blast cloud raced toward us, we too, disappeared into a moment of nothingness.

The runabout reappeared. Most of the people sat down hard or slumped in relief. Quall clapped a hand on my shoulder, I returned the gesture, then turned toward Ti Maran.

She looked over her shoulder. She was rather striking I thought, once I looked briefly into her eyes. "Major, the Borg have stopped firing at the Galaxy. They're just sitting there."

"Excellent. Maybe that'll give Galaxy some breathing room. And thanks, Miran".

"No problem.", she answered cheerfully. She turned back to the scans of the Borg ship.

Heading back to the rear, everyone was in a euphoric state, having actually entered a Borg ship, attacked, and come out alive.

"Are you sure you don't have a LITTLE Klingon blood?" I turn to the speaker. K'arta was sitting beside me with a grimace that passes for a smile. After clearing my throat, I address everyone.

"Thanks, everyone. It may have been a small, dangerous poke in the ribs we gave them, but it may have been enough to help us get home."

" Watch it Ensign!!! As a major in the marines on a federation vessel, you hold no juristicion. Im in charge here!" Ensign Jeppo stood passivly,understanding Coe's thoughts.Coe sat down with a sigh, he was angery, but angered even more by the fact that he knew Jeppo was right. The away team could'nt just wait and watch while their crewmates, their friends, their families, was attacked by the borg. Coe stood up again to face the patiently waiting Jeppo.

" Okay Ensign, lets do it." He looked over his shoulder and began screaming orders. "Ensign Ti, inform the Breen of our situation, Jeppo you and the rest of the away team are going to beam over to the borg ship and do as much damage as you can. Your in charge!. Myself and Ensign Ti will stay on the Yosimite and attack the borg using this shuttlecraft, lets give them two targets to shoot at. Good luck." Coe check the position of the Borg cube and the Galaxy, three minutes to intercept.

" Right, you beam over in 2 minutes, so hurry up, assemble your team."

Jeppo smiled.

" Yes Sir." And began to head to the back of the shuttle. Coe had just finished when he heard ensign Ti.

" Sir, The Breen commander Grevek informed us that he is sending a team over to the Borg cube, he is placing the team under the command of you."

" Ensign Jeppo! You will also have a Breen team over there, I am placing them under your command. "

He turned and checked his watch.

" Okay, Ensign Jeppo, are you ready?"

" Yes Sir."

" Okay, everyone, the transporter only takes two at a time, the first to beam over will be Jeppo and Hutchcraft. The rest will beam over accordingly. Everyone understands who is giving the orders over there?" A murmer of approval came from the group. "Okay lets go. Good Luck." Ensign Jeppo stepped onto the transporter pad along with Hutchcraft, a solemn look on his face. Before activating the transporter Coe gave the Ensign one last look "Oh and Ensign, after this,you and I are going to have a drink." Coe then pushed the needed buttons, Jeppo disappearing soon afterwards. The rest of the away team soon beamed over and Coe quickly took his seat at the helm briefly praying for the away team.

" Ensign Ti, time until the Galaxy's intercept with the borg vessel?"

" One minute."

" Okay Ensign, maintain formation with the Breen ships, heading 423:115, 2/3 impulse. Im taking the shuttle to red alert, raising shields and activating the weapons systems.....Ensign, Hail the Galaxy..."

Ti presses a few controlls on the run-a-bouts control panel. "No good Sir. the USS Galaxy is transmitting on all frequencies."

"Darn! Well, keep trying Ensign, we will have to go in anyways." Coe quickly put an auto shield change modulation on, he did the same for the phasers and ten seconds later, he was ready for battle.

" Ensign, report on the position of the Borg ship?"

" The Borg cube will be in weapons range within 5 seconds......4.......3......2......Now Sir."

A long moment passed before Coe realized that the Borg had not detected their presence. "So far so good. Begin transporting the away team into the Borg cube." Coe's gaze caught Major Jeppo as he stood on the transporter pad. "Good luck Major."

"Energize." said the Steely eyed Major as he and HutchCraft dematerialized. The rest of the landing party soon followed.

Chris N
AKA: LT Coe.

~~~At the Beta Lab Meeting~~~

Chiron listened intently to what Jensen and Casey had to say. It sounded like some slim chances, but he was always one to take the risk. Despite his fear, Chiron looked up, put on his best poker face, and said quietly "I volunteer."

All heads turned to welcome Chiron back to duty, but also to question him. "Mr. Jamson, I realize that it is a dangerous mission, but I also have some experience in science. I believe I may be a great asset to the away team."

Eric Hanson (Lt. JG Chiron, Engineer, USS Galaxy [E-Mail]
Lt. JG Jarod Reix, Station Beta 2 [E-Mail]
Ens. Tal Breno, USS Horizon [E-Mail, IRC]
RAdm Rantoth Parr, Starfleet Command [IRC])

Ens. Chen was reviewing the warp shell simulations at one of the science stations. She had already volunteered for the away team. She was excited and nervous about it because it was her first one. She wondered if traveling through the warp conduit would be like being in a wormhole. Maybe it would be something like what Captain Sisko experienced when he met the Prophets of Bajor. Well she would find out soon enough.

Stephanie was a little concerned that there weren’t any senior officers around. Mostly Ensigns like herself except for Lts. Kelea and Bellen. She was relieved when she saw the Cmdr. walk in. At least there would be someone with experience around.

Stephanie turned back to her computer and continued working.

Ens. Chen, Operations Officer
USS Galaxy

She walked over to the bar.

"Hello Liam." She smiled.

"Hello Bellen. What'll it be?"

"Guess." He, of course, guessed correctly and returned with a coke. "Oh, next week during beta shift will be fine for Deiran and I. He said he'll play bass." Liam nodded in acceptance. She smiled and left for a seat near the window.

She allowed her thoughts to drift around Shtik. He had been keeping his distance recently. Not like him. She decided to not press the issue. He had some good reason for staying away. It was probably nothing bad or she would have sensed it. When she connected to his mind through meditation his thoughts were of her very much of the time. He was seriously contemplating something...

Next flowed memories of the mind-meld with Deiran. People really did have the wrong idea of him. Cocky, yes, but what could you expect when your entire family was pressuring you to become an ADMIRAL! It was his way of compensating for the pressure...put up his guard. Traditional terran behavior, she thought. He was quite honorable as shown during his exam at the academy. Where he could have easily cheated with kids handing him crib notes left and right looking to earn the favor of the future admiral, but he didn't give in.

The away mission unnerved her beyond belief. She wasn't having second thoughts, though nerves she never knew she had were popping up everywhere...just in time. She didn't fear death but what it would do to Shtik. He would live, yes but the result of their joined minds would leave him...virtually missing something. But it was something she needed to do...to sooth the symbiot within her who was itching for the adrenaline surge of uncertainty...thanks to Keron, one of her symbiot's more agressive past hosts. Bellen decided to write a goodbye and hopefully not forever note.

To: Ensign Shtik
Fr: Lt.jg Bellen

Sie,

I know that this will take you time to understand but I have volunteered to go on the away mission to rescue Chief Jensen. It is something that perhaps D'tarna would never do but Bellen needs to. Yes, it is illogical. Sometimes I nearly curse the symbiot's illogical feelings and their hindrance but nonetheless it is part of me and I must go...I want to go. If I do not make it back please tell Nota and Urtak yourself. I would hate it for an impersonal starfleet death notice to arrive with their messages. My love, I could go on forever. But you know what I would say. I will always love you whether in this world or beyond.

Your other,
D'tarna

She sent the message with a sigh, sat back and closed her eyes, preparing herself mentally for what was to come.

Lt.jg Bellen
USS Galaxy

Casey's mouth dropped to the floor when he heard D'tarna was going with the away team into the Conduit. He didn't know how to react. It was like someone just ripped his heart out. Mind-melds can do funny things to people. The two people he cared about the most on the ship were both already on or about to be on an away team mission.

He thought about Miran flying the Yosemite, and then D'tarna going into the Conduit, he couldn't get rid of the premonitions, the deep, abyssful foreboding that had clamped onto his mind and heart and wouldn't let go.

Then he even thought about what Jensen might be going through, all alone. But, it just made him want to do his duty that much more. If it were possible to save the whole ship he would do so, if it were possible to save one person friend or foe, Casey would do it without a second thought. Not, because of his drive, not because he wanted a promotion or any other reason ,but his dread of having just one life snatched away from existence. He truly cared for people. He didn't always show it, everyone saw him as cocky, arrogant, obnoxious. Casey was human, he covered his real emotions with the brash pride everyone saw when he was on duty, faced with danger and mortality.

His father taught him to never show fear. He also taught him that a Starfleet officer's duty was to always think of other's, if you must sacrifice yourself do it, if you must do the impossible to save just one do it. Honor, duty were things that counted in a Starfleet officer. It was what the Casey Admirals believed in, a family tradition that would not stop with Deiran.

Ensign Mitchell ended the meeting. Casey went to him, shook his hand and said, "James, if you need me for anything else, let me know. Good luck, I'll do everything in my power to make sure you and your team return."

He found the Commander talking with Stephanie, "Sir, I'll be at Mission Ops, I appreciate any help you can give sir anything I can do or you want me to do let me know." The Commander looked at him and replied, "Count on it Ensign, I'll see you later."

Casey left Beta lab. Walking down the corridor to the turbolift he reminded himself to talk with D'tarna before she left or before he became busy on the Bridge. "Computer, locate Lieutenant JG D'tarna Bellen." [Lt. Bellen is currently in Ten Forward] As the computer told Casey D'tarna's location he reached the turbolift. "Deck 10."

Casey entered Ten Forward and found Bellen sitting next to the window, looking out into the stars. "May I sit down?" Casey asked, almost startling her from her thoughts. D'tarna looked up in surprise and smiled at her friend, "Deiran, of course, please." She motioned to the chair, telling him to sit down with her motions.

Casey sat in a seat that faced the stars, "I hear you are going with Mitchell and the others?"

"Yes, I am, I volunteered."

"I'm concerned for you D'tarna. I'd be terrified if I wasn't the one at Mission Ops monitoring the mission," Casey smiled at her, she understood the light-hearted joke.

"Come back to me safe, okay? Good luck," Casey hugged his substitute sister and made a point of not saying goodbye, he did not look back. He would see her again, in just a few short hours.

Explosions rocked the ship and sent everyone scrambling. Objects fell off desks, people fell off chairs.

"Alright, everyone!" Mitchell barked from under the table. He got up, brushed himself off with one hand while steadying himself on the table with the other. "Are we alright?" glancing around, he saw people picking themselves up off the floor. They each murmured a reply stating that their various injuries were only things bruised. The ship kept rocking but the inertial dampeners appeared to be kicking in. Mitchell walked over to Ensign Casey, who was looking a little shaken. "You alright?" Mitchell whispered. "You look a little more shaken up then the others."

Casey shook his head. "I think the only bruised about me is my ego. Thank god Ti Miran's not here to see me like this."

Mitchell smiled and winked, "I won't tell if you won't."

"You got a deal, James." Casey smiled back.

"Call me Mitch. Only my mother calls me James. Now, if you'll excuse me, I got to get this show on the road." Mitchell started to release Ensign Casey, who promptly swaggered on his feet and almost fell down, until Mitchell caught him.

"I think you've been working to hard, Deiran. Putting overtime coordinating ships resources again? You're putting too much responsibility on your shoulders. Take a break. There's a cot in the back room. Don't look at me like that!" Casey had looked up a Mitch with a curious, sly look in his eye." It was there when I got here! Honest! But it does come in handy for those times when you wish you had one."

"No, I can't sleep." Casey replied huskily. His eyes were drifting closed."Too...much...work..." and his eyes closed. Mitchell carried him off to the back without so much as a whisper from the other officers. They were too busy cleaning up or talking about what's happening.

Mitchell lay Casey down, pulled up a blanket, and spoke. "Computer, dim lights to 10% of normal."

"No...can't sleep..."

"Deiran, I promise to wake you up in an hour. I need you at your optimal level and you've done all you can for now." As he finished, Mitchell pivoted on his heels and left the room.

When he walked back in, he was stopped by a crewman he'd never met before. He was a Tamarian, I believe, if I know my species right. There are so many!

"Hello, Ensign Mitchell. I'm Lt. Chiron."

"Hello, Lt. I haven't seen you around before."

"I was in meditation. But I am here to volunteer for the Away mission."

"Great! My first volunteer. Now lets get to the conference table. I have duties to hand out."

Mitchell walked up to the now clean conference table. The blasts had calmed down now and it was time to get started.

"Okay, now people. These are your duty assignments." Mitchell picked up his PADD. Lt. Chiron and Kelea, you two are in charge of reconfiguring a runabout utilizing the figures that Ensign Casey supplied. Your PADDS contain all the information needed to modulate the frequencies of the shielding. They also contain instructions on manufacturing an emitter array to detect the metals that Casey discovered and home in on Jensen's signal. I'll send him down to Engineering when he is done with the personal project I've assigned him. If you see any modifications, send them through Casey and/or myself. Take whatever help you need, but I need it fast!"

"Yes , sir!" They spoke simultaneously. "We're on it!" Kelea piped up. They got up from the table and left, discussing the assignment with each other.

"Lt. Chen."

Stephanie Chen looked up. "Yes, sir?" She had so hoped he wouldn't ask her to talk.

"You will coordinate your activities with Ensign Casey. I'm sure he will assign you a task. His function will be to monitor us from the Galaxy and keep in contact with us. You are to know what he knows. He is your direct contact and you will be coordinating resources on the Away Team with him throughout the mission. For now, you will help me put together the warp modules for each of us."

"Yes, sir." Stephanie got up and walked over to a work desk with Specialist Langman.

My, she's a shy one, thought Mitchell. I think she'll get over it by the time she realizes how dangerous this mission really is.

"Sanchez and Enquist."

The two security guards looked up at the sound of their names. "I need you two to go down to the armory, grab 5 phasars and 2 phasar rifles and modify them to be modulating frequencies. Who knows what we could end up meeting over there. When you're done, meet us in the shuttlebay."

"Aye, sir! Right away, sir!" The two guards walked away, but not without Sanchez turning around and winking at Mitchell. He blushed...AGAIN.

[Mitchell to Rousseau]

[Rousseau here, Ensign]

[Have you found me a medic, yet?]

[Lt. Bellen should already be on her way]

[Thank you, Doctor. Mitchell out]

Mitchell tapped his badge again.

[Mitchell to Bellen]

[Bellen here. I'm on my way to Beta Lab]

[Good, I have an overworked officer here who needs a jumpstart]

[See you soon, then. Bellen out]

Mitchell walked over to the work desk that Stephanie Chen and Langman were working.

"How's it going, Stephanie?"

Ensign James Mitchell
USSGALAXY

While the Galaxy was twisting and turning with the Borg ship, something else was happening. Deep inside the bowels of the computer core, a tiny program was counting away the nanoseconds. When the preset time was reached, the program unscrambled a coded message and integrated it with the comms system's regular ship traffic. All records of the message and its originating program were self-deleted. The message twisted and turned within the infinite circuits of the great ship, finally breaking off and heading for a specific terminal. The MESSAGE WAITING light lit, blinking urgently for the occupant of the quarters, the Captain of the Galaxy.

---STARFLEET DIRECTIVE BEGIN---
---CODE 52---
---FOR COMMANDING OFFICER'S EYES ONLY---

TO: CAPTAIN PRICE, OFFICER COMMANDING U.S.S. GALAXY, N.C.C. 70637
FROM: REAR ADMIRAL HAYWOOD, STARFLEET COMMAND

SUBJECT: ANY OFFICIAL INQUIRIES, ORDERS, OR DIRECTIVES FROM ADMIRAL BLAKE, STARFLEET COMMAND, RE MAJOR TINIAN JEPPO, STARFLEET MARINE CORPS

BODY: Captain, you are hereby ordered to contact me through any means possible, as soon as reasonably possible, should you receive any contact or communication whatsoever from one Admiral Blake of Starfleet Command. Please inform me as to the content of the contact or communication.

You will inform no one, either directly or indirectly, of your contact with myself. You will not take any action, or fail to take any action you would not normally prudently carry out, as a result of any contact or communication with Admiral Blake. I will provide you with further instructions if they become warranted regarding any action, or lack of action on your part.

I realize this puts you in a difficult position. This directive is a result of possible questionable transactions at one of the highest levels of Starfleet R&D. You are permitted to pass this communique to only one of your senior officers, one that you implicitly trust and know well. Under no circumstances are you to pass this information to Major Jeppo.

---STARFLEET DIRECTIVE END---

Chiron flew down the hallways and turbolifts until he reached engineering. Once there, he checked for the Modified Phaser rifles he and Skye had been working on.

Chiron touched his comm pin.

"Chiron to Enquist and Sanchez,"

[Yes, Lt.?]

"Have you armed for the away mission yet?"

[Yes. We have 5 Type II Phasers, and 2 Phaser Rifles.]

"Come to Engineering, I have a treat for you."

[Aye sir. On our way.]

Chiron looked at the PADD containing the shuttle's mission specs. He closed his eyes and thought of the modifications that would have to be done. 'This will be fun,' he thought.

"Sir? You asked for us?"

The two ensigns from security stood there, waiting. How strange that Security and Engineering wore the same colors, Engineering was more of a science than anything, but the Science uniforms are blue...

"Sir?"

"Please, call me Chiron, I dislike titles greatly."

Chiron could see them relax at the statement.

"OK, Chiron," The one on the left said, I believe this one is Enquist... "What is this 'treat' of yours?"

"Skye and I have been modifying these Phaser rifles to be more effective against the Borg. They are configured so that instead of using many frequencies at different times, they fire at multiple frequencies at the same time. So far, our best estimates are that you'd have around 30 shots instead of only 3 or 4."

They both listened in awe. Sanchez broke the silence. "Have these babies actually been tried yet?"

"No, but in theory, they should work."

Enquist groaned. "Famous last words of the engineer... 'In Theory'"

"Well, I hope you enjoy the new rifles..."

"Don't worry, Chiron," Sanchez said, grinning "I'll try one of these things even if I have to fire a hole in the shuttle's hull."

Chiron laughed. "No, don't do that, I'LL have to patch it up... Dismissed."

They left, and Chiron turned his attention back to the PADD. Now for the real fun to begin...

Eric Hanson (Lt. JG Chiron, Engineer, USS Galaxy [E-Mail]
Lt. JG Jarod Reix, Station Beta 2 [E-Mail]
Ens. Tal Breno, USS Horizon [E-Mail, IRC]
RAdm Rantoth Parr, Starfleet Command [IRC])

Once things settled down after our attack, we continued sitting inside the Breen cloak. It's been quiet since our explosives went off; the Borg's been sitting there.

"Lt Coe, wouldn't this be a good time to head back to the Galaxy? The Borg's still blinded, and the sooner we get back the sooner we can make our way back to the ship and the wormhole thingy".

Bellen entered Beta Lab, medkit in hand. A bajoran man approached her.

"Lt. Bellen?" He asked.

"Yes." They shook hands.

"I'm Ensign Mitchell. He's right through there." Mitchell motioned to a back room. As Bellen entered, she noticed Casey lying on a cot so deep in sleep that not even the wild scream of a banshee could rouse him. Of course, this was the 24th century...anything was possible. She opened a medkit and took out a hypospray.

"I can only give him a few of these." She said to Mitchell while administering the stimulant, "After that there will be no effect and possible some very nasty reactions." Casey awoke at once, foggy but alert. Bellen smiled.

"Always like you, isn't it Deiran? Work if it kills you." She had the soothing tone of a mother. Bellen knew he had enough to think about. She was never too good at nagging, anyway. Casey smiled back at her and within seconds was on his feet again, running back and forth.

Bellen made her way back to Beta Lab. Suddenly someone threw her a phaser.

"Nothing like this to help reality sink in..." She said quietly.

Lt.jg Bellen
USS Galaxy

On a moon orbiting Antillies two, there is a region known as the Valarii Monumento Geysers. A breath taking display of volcanic activity that erupts at regular intervals, shooting streams of red-orange lava thousands of kilometers into the sky.

Captain Price watched the main view screen as the Borg cube began erupting in a fashion similar to that famous monument. Giant plumes of Green and white plasm streaks out of the gigantic ship in horizontal and vertical streams.

"Captain, I am registering massive internal explosions in the Borg vessel." T'Nevin explains.

"What the blazes could have caused that?" Captain Price asks out loud in a questioning voice.

"Unknown Captain." T'Lein answers from the Ops station near the front of the bridge. "However this might be a good time to make our way back to the rendezvous point near the warp conduit."

The Captain watches as the explosions and eruptions continue on the Borg ship. He then nods. "Do it Helmsman. Make way to the rendezvous coordinates, three quarter impulse."

"Aye Captain." Ensign Kopitz replies.

"Captain, might I suggest we discontinue running Ensign Casey's communications program? We will need to reestablish communications with the away team which will be impossible while the program is running Sir." T'Nevin waited for the Captain's reply.

The Captain was about to respond when Ensign Blair interrupted from his Tactical station.

"Captain, multiple ships decloaking off our stern!"

Price swung around, "Can you identify them Mr. Blair?"

Ensign Blair's expression changed from a look of concern to one of relief. "Yes Sir! It's the USS Yosemite and the Breen Crusaders Captain."

The Captain smiled. He too was relieved these turned out to be friendly ships. "Lieutenant T'Nevin, please deactivate Casey's communication program. Lieutenant T'Lein, open a channel."

"Hailing frequencies open Sir."

Ensign Ti Miran's face appeared on the view screen. Well behind her image, Major Jeppo and Lieutenant Coe were celebrating with the rest of the away team. Ti turned around and yelled back over her shoulder, "Lieutenant Coe, I have the Captain."

The away team quieted down slightly as Lieutenant Coe walked forward to the front of the Run-a-bout. Major Jeppo leaned forward slightly so he could hear what was said.

"Lieutenant Coe here Captain."

"Lieutenant. I thought I gave you orders to remain at the entrance to the warp conduit?" Captain Price's expression and tone were steely serious. You could tell it was making Lieutenant Coe uncomfortable.

"Well, Yes,... Yes Sir you did."

A long moment of silence past as Captain Price just stared at the Lieutenant.

Finally, Captain Price smiled widely. "Have Ensign Ti dock the run-a-bout in the main shuttle bay. I'll expect a full report on the away team mission Lieutenant."

"Understood Captain." Relieved, Coe added, "And Thanks."

"Thank you Lieutenant." Craning his neck as if to be looking over Lieutenant Coe's shoulder the Captain added, "And, I suspect you too Major. Price out."

The channel closed and soon the USS Yosemite was docked back safely on the Galaxy.

Again Commander Jamson became disoriented. The whole bridge began to spin and for a second, it was like the entire ship had vanished, then reappeared. He flops back into his chair, drawing attention to himself.

"Commander?" Counselor Pointier asks as she helps to steady Jamson.

"I'm fine. Just got dizzy again."

While Captain Price and Counselor Pointier are aiding the Commander, Chief Science Officer T'Nevin offers a possible explanation. "Captain. Commander Jamson's condition could possibly mean that this timeline is collapsing."

Price looks at T'Nevin. "You mean he may be more sensitive to changes in the timeline than the rest of us?"

"Correct Captain. And if that does prove to be the case, we are in grave danger."

"All right. Contact Casey and Mitchell and let them know we are entering the warp conduit. We have to go now."

"Aye Sir." T'Nevin replies.

"Ensign Blair, contact the Breen and have them fall into formation with the Galaxy." Captain Price sits back in his command chair as he peers out the main view screen. "We will all get home together."

"Aye, sir! Right away, sir!" Having gotten his orders Ensign Enquist was cold, but at the same time giddy with exitement. This could be a one-way trip. Maybe this is what being a StarFleet Security Officer was all about: Going all-out in the effort to maintain the safety of the ship and its crew. He did not hesitate, he new that he could not back down, and live with that knowledge. He had to do it. A thought struck him. "Sir, can we take some melee weapons with us? We may need some special stuff, a nice sabre perhaps?" He saw the look of disdain from the rest of the officers, but he knew that they had to get any edge possible (no pun intended) to beat these man-machines.

He got a reply. "Hurry up, will you, if you can find one, bring one, but step on it!" He got the answer he wanted, and ran off to get those weapons, regardless of the others remarks, knowing that he had a point (yet no pun intended) in the discussion. He ran up to Sanchez and said."If we can find a melee weapon, we should bring it too." "Your'e mad!" She looked worriedly on the big Swede with the delighted smile on his face.

Enquist and Sanchez bounded away to the armory. They quickly grabed 5 mk-II Phasers, and 2 Phaser Rifles, starting to modify them for modulating frequencies. Enquist took a quick look around, trying to find a suitable melee weapon. Once again, he cursed that he did not bring his own collection with him to the ship! Finally, he found a sabre and a stilletto with scabbards. He helped Sanchez finish modifying the Phasers and they quickly made their way to the shuttle bay.

Ensign Thomas Enquist, Security: Beta shift, USS Galaxy

"Ensign Blair, contact the Breen and have them fall into formation with the Galaxy." Captain Price sits back in his command chair as he peers out the main view screen. "We will all get home together."

"Aye sir" Troy replied

Troy pushed the necessary buttons on his monitor as one of the Breen appeared. It wasn't the commander but it was an officer, as near as Troy could tell.

"We're heading toward the conduit, Captain Price wants your ships to fall into formation behind us. We'll all go in together."

The Breen nodded with out saying a word, then ended the hail. "I hope he understood me" Troy said to himself.

Ensign Troy Blair
Tactical Officer, USS Galaxy

The Captain hadn't appeared too pleased with their disregard for his orders... Quall was nervous because of that. He could just imagine what would happen. They would all have to line up, and explain what and why they did what they did... hopefully the Captain would approve. Ryan didn't want anything bad on his perminant service record.

No! That would never happen! We just practically saved the USS Galaxy and its crew from being destroyed. You might say we were heroes. 'Heroes'? What are you thinking Quall?! Hello!

Quall looked up from his seat, and watched as the pilot steered the Yosemite towards the opening shuttle bay of the Galaxy.

Ensign Quall
Security Officer

When Casey came onto the Bridge, Ensign Blair had just told the Breen ships to fall into formation behind the Galaxy. The Galaxy would be entering the Transwarp Conduit soon.

Casey was surprised to see Commander Jamson standing next to the Mission Ops station.

"Hello, sir," Casey didn’t know what to make of this.

"Ensign, fill me in on how you’ve established contact with Chief Jensen. I’d also like to know how we will stay in contact with the away team when they go into the Conduit to retrieve Jensen. Can you do that Ensign?"

"Aye, sir. With pleasure sir, I need to ready the dechyon/neutrino beam and then I’ll be right with you." Casey used his comm badge to communicate with the Science department, they were in the process of testing the volatility of the dechyon/neutrino beam, and Casey needed to find out how the tests were coming. "It checks out Deiran, I don’t think there will be a problem, you can use the beam at any time."

"Thank you Cam, I owe you a drink in Ten Forward when this is all over."

"Aye, you do!" Chalmers laughed.

Casey then loaded the specifications into his Mission Ops console and made sure that the emitter array was ready and compatible with the d/n beam.

Casey turned back around and faced Commander Jamson, "Okay, sir, I know your familiar with this station," Casey laughed, Jamson followed with a smile.

"Yes, Casey, it’s been awhile, but it’ll all come back to me."

"Your Ops record is legendary sir, it’s an honor to be working with you, sir." Casey then proceeded to explain all the details on his work the last twenty hours.

"Worried about us disobeying the Captain's order?" I ask him.

He nods quickly. "Look, Starfleet doesn't want people that blindly obey every order, they want people that can follow direction, and use their initiative where appropriate. Think of it this way: the Captain will certainly agree that what we did was a good idea. He didn't give us orders to enter the Borg ship because he wasn't here, he didn't know what we could see, that we had the opportunity. That's what meant by using your initiative, taking a chance. It's better to have tried and failed than not to have tried at all, right? You won't believe how much you can use that, including when chasing the opposite sex." He looks at me, and I waggle my eyebrows. "When you know when to take the initiative, and when to chill, you're on your way to your next promotion."

He sits back, thinking, I guess. Frankly, I doubt the Captain will find a problem with what we've done; he seems like a reasonable man. On the other hand, it's not like I haven't been in ca-ca before. We near the shuttle bay, the shining slit in the darkness opening wide. For a moment, I feel jubilant, like I can hardly wait to tell Karen what we've done. Then my heart sinks with a hard crash. Karen's not here. She's always on my mind; that makes it so much tougher. I recall the smell of her hair, the shine of her hazel eyes, the touch of her smooth hands. A sharp pain enters my throat, it becomes hard to swallow. I sit back hard, all the exuberance of our success gone.

Jamson entered the Bridge and stood next to the Mission Ops Station. He was trying to understand Casey's plan,but there were things that he couldn't.

"Hello, sir," Casey looked at Jamson.

"Ensign, fill me in on how you've established contact with Chief Jensen. I'd also like to know how we will stay in contact with the away team when they go into the Conduit to retrieve Jensen. Can you do that Ensign?"

"Aye, sir. With pleasure sir, I need to ready the dechyon/neutrino beam and then I'll be right with you." Casey used his comm badge to communicate with the Science department.

"I wonder why Casey is in Ops...Science is in his blood" Jamson thought to himself while looking at Ensign Casey.

After a few seconds Casey turned back around and faced Commander Jamson, "Okay, sir, I know your familiar with this station," Casey laughed.

Jamson followed with a smiled and replied "Yes, Casey, it's been awhile, but it'll all come back to me."

"Your Ops record is legendary sir, it's an honor to be working with you, sir."

Jamson was a little suprised,he never expected to hear things like that from anyone."legendary? I'm not that old,Ensign" Jamson said to Casey with a smile.

Casey laughed and continued explaining is plan.

Commander Jamson
FO/XO
USS Galaxy

First thing he was going to do when they got back, was hit the sack. He hadn't been up to long, mabey 8 hours, but those had been the scariest, most demanding hours of his life. Well, except for his first date, but that was totally diffrent.

A lab tech walked up and reported that her team felt the dechyon/neutrino beam was stable. Good, that left his group to finish up. He had about 3 or 4 groups in 2 Labs working on testing the beam. So far the general conclustion was that as long as nothing to wild happened, then they where safe. Course, if they were wrong, the beam would ignite, the conduit would catastrophically collapse, and the Galaxy would become a nice film across spacetime. Course, the explosion of the beam would prob'ly cause enough damage to the Galaxy to destroy it before the conduit collapsed, so things weren't that bad.

But that wasn't going to happen.

[Casey to Science]

Cam slapped his com-badge "Cam here"

[Hows the dechyon/neutrino beam?]

"It checks out Deiran, I don’t think there will be a problem, you can use the beam at any time." Cam and Casey had chatted a bit on the Turbolift from the meeting. Not much, Cam was still slightly shocked from the Borg, but at least he had a bit more knowlage about Casey that he did before.

[Thank you Cam, I owe you a drink in Ten Forward when this is all over.]

Cam slipped into his Scottish accent. He was scottish, so he already had a slight accent, but what many people considered a Scottish accent, was an accent to even the Scots. (Keep in mind several 'undered years 'ave passed, lad, languages and accents are bound to change, 'even in Bonnie ol' Scotland;)

"Eye, ya do lad"

He laughed, mabey the stress was getting to him. He had just accidently blown up a ship, and now they were fighting for there existance, and someone had offered him a drink. Oh man, he really could use that drink though.

"Chief of Security's Log: Stardate 49612.20

After the encounter with a Borg scout ship and it's crash on Rigel 7, the Captain sent an away team to the surface. We found a surviving Borg and brought him back to our ship. Counselor Shivok was able to mind melt with the Borg and found out, that we are currently in another timeline.

While another away team should investigate the crash site more closely, the remaining scientists and engineers found a possible way to return to the normal timeline. But at the moment a Borg cube is attacking the Galaxy and time is running out.

I can only hope, that the everyone of the away team was brought to safety."

After speaking the last words, Joerg ordered the computer to close the log. The appearance of the Borg cube has again put the whole ship on alert situation. Joerg had to rearrange the guard posts for the vital areas of the ship.

After another genius idea, the Galaxy was able to distract the Borg and the shuttle was able to land on the Galaxy safely. Joerg was pleased to hear that everyone was fine.

It was just about time to start getting back to the right timeline.

Lieutenant junior grade Joerg Sterner
Chief of Security - USS Galaxy NCC-70637

"Red Alert!" The Captain ordered over the commsystem. "We're going for the conduit!"

Mitchell was over at the workdesk going over the finished warp modules. "Ensigns, lets get down to main engineering and adapt these to these Lt. Chiron's designs." Mitchell picked up a couple of modules and the others took theirs and they made their way to engineering.

"Captain Price to Mitchell"

"Mitchell here Captain"

"We don't have time for the Away team, prepare to adapt the technology to our shields!"

"Yes, sir, on my way to the bridge. Mitchell out."

Mitchell looked at the other crewmembers. Continue down to engineering and assist Chiron, I'm going to the bridge. Transfer all data up to Ensign Casey's screen and hurry!"

"Aye, sir!" They spoke in unison. The crewmen ran for the nearest turbolift.

"Mitchell to Enquist and Sanchez"

"Here, sir"

"The Away mission is off, stand down and await the Yosemite and apprise them of the situation. Mitchell out."

Mitchell made his way to the turbolift. "Bridge" he spoke to the air.

***Bridge***

Mitchell strode onto the bridge. it was in controlled chaos. Looking at the viewscreen, he saw the Breen fall into formation behind the Galaxy and make their way towards the conduit's location. Mitchell walked towards Science Station 1, where Ensign Casey was seated.

"Hey Deiran" Mitchell said

Casey spun around. "Whoa! You scared me, I was just about to go down to the Lab to meet you."

"The AT mission is off, we are going to apply the technology to our shields inside the conduit."

Commander Jamson was sitting at Science Station 2. He turned around. "Have you got everything in order?'

"Yes, sir, I've sent my team down to Main Engineering to assist Lt. Chiron in making the modifications to our shields. They will be sending their information momentarily to our screens."

Ensign Kopitz looked up at her as she relieved the ensign. Kopitz filled her in on what happened since last Ti was on the bridge.

Soon, they would be home in their own timeline. Ti decided she would get herself a ferret and send a message to Robert's parents. She wanted to see them. They were her only family.

Captain Price's voice brought her out of her thoughts.

Casey finished explaining the details of his experiments, theories and plans to Commander Jamson. It had taken the Commander awhile to grasp, but Casey took advantage of the time to get to know the XO. Jamson picked the plans up as quickly as could be expected, Casey now had an ally in preparing to get the ship home.

Casey just found out that the away team would not be going to get Jensen, that the Galaxy was going inside instead. He was reconfiguring his station so that he could assist Mr. T’Lein and Ensign Mitchell, plus he had to ready the ion radiation pulse and the d/n beams.

It took about ten minutes, during this time Commander Jamson coordinated the Science and Engineering departments, while Lt. T’Lein coordinated the ship’s power and system allocation. Ensign Chen and Ensign Trinker were working with Science and Engineering.

"Captain, I’m ready to commence the ion radiation pulse and dechyon/neutrino beam. It’s ready to be initiated at your command, sir."

"Noted Ensign, standby," the Captain turned to Ensign Ti who’d just reported back to the Bridge from her away mission, "Ensign Ti, what’s our ETA to the Transwarp Conduit?"

Ti calculated the distance and how long it would take to traverse, "ETA is one minute, 50 seconds, Captain."

"You heard the Ensign Mr. Casey, have the beam and pulse ready in one minute fifty seconds." Casey smiled, "Aye sir!"

To the Bridge crew that one minute fifty seconds seemed like an eternity. They had wanted to go home desperately, their impatience caused the time to seem like an eternity. It was felt by everyone, the Captain, Mr. Jamson, and Casey and the feeling went down to the lowest decks it was called home-sickness. Not necessarily for Earth or their respective homes, but for their own timeline.

Ensign Ti counted down the time after the ETA reached one minute. "Ten- nine- eight- seven- six- five- four- three- two- one.," Ti counted down to the last. When Casey heard the number one, his fingers activated the display console power initiation sequence and the ion radiation pulse, which was configured on all frequencies, spread out from the Galaxy. The invisible beam activated the spatial anomaly, the Conduit began to open.

The Conduit started as white light, then purple, blue and red began to illuminate space in the last opening stage the colors turned to a bright blue, the entrance to the Conduit was ringed with white light. It was beautiful in an odd way. Then Casey asked Mitch to turn on the sensor arrays, they had to be turned on at the exact, appropriate time to get the best readings.

"Take us in Ensign Ti," the Captain commanded, using his index finger and middle finger to point to the Conduit as he gave the command.

"Aye sir," Ti responded.

Casey loved her voice, he could listen to it all day. He shook his thoughts back to what he was doing and activated the dechyon/neutrino beam. Ensign Ti took the Galaxy in carefully, she did it like a pro.

"Mitch, what are your readings on the quantum signature of the Galaxy?"

"At this time, Deiran, it matches the Conduit’s."

Casey was silent for a moment then asked, "wouldn’t that mean it is adapting itself to every quantum signature it encounters?" Casey asked Ensign Mitchell with curiosity.

"It would seem to indicate that Casey," Mitchell replied. "So, Mitch it should be easy to reconfigure the transporters, once we find Jensen’s signature. All you need to do is filter out everyone on the Galaxy and look for another matching quantum signature, it should be simple, right?"

"Oh, yeah, Casey, my department can do it," Mitch returned.

Just as Casey was going to reply, the Galaxy experienced turbulence in the Conduit. "Increasing power to shields," Lt. T’Lein said.

Capizzi was on the Bridge and rerouted power to the ships shields.

The inside of the Conduit was exquisitely beautiful, it was like looking into the most colorful of nebulas.

"Good work ‘mate," the Captain said as he turned around to acknowledge Casey. He turned back to face the main viewer to give the command to set the next phase of his plan into motion.

Ensign Chen was in Transporter Room 2 reconfiguring the transporters to look for Chief Jensen's quantum signature. Could it be as easy as just beaming him back? They needed to properly recreate the situation that caused Jensen to get trapped in another timeline. Lt. Chiron had reminded Chen of a similar incident on the Enterprise D when they had to return Lt. Worf to his correct timeline. Since the Galaxy was going back through the warp conduit and if the Chief was doing a point-to-point transport, then this should work. Hopefully, this was how the Chief got trapped in the first place, otherwise someone would have to go find him. The idea of beaming into the warp conduit was not all that appealing even though Chen had volunteered for it earlier. Who knows what timeline she could get trapped in?

Chen sent a transmission to the Chief using Casey's program, hoping that Jensen would get it in time.

"Chief, please go to Transporter Room 2 and activate the last transporter sequence that you used."

Ensign Chen, Operations Officer
USS Galaxy

*** Main Engineering ***

Lieutenant JG Kane stood up from his chair at an engineering console, and breathed a sigh of relief. The ship's powerplant was ready for the exausting process of locating Chief Jensen.

After all the damage they had taken with the encounter with the Borg cube, Kane was surprised that the ship still worked. "But then again," he thought, "We're talking about a Galaxy-class starship."

Kane looked back into the warp core as it started to power up. All of the sudden, the warp core was giving of rattling noises he didn't particularly like. Even frieghter warp cores sounded thousands of times better. He checked on console, and breathed a second sigh of relief. An ensign came up to him (he wasn't sure who - Kane hadn't had time to memorise everyone's faces)..

"Sir... I don't particularly like the sound of that..."

"Don't worry, ensign. I checked, and the damage is all superficial, and VERY noisy. Once we stop again, I'll fix it. But then again, fighting a Borg cube does accelerate wear and tear on the ship."

** Minutes later.... **

The warp core went silent again, except for it's usual humming. Kane got to work on repairing the damage.

Julian King
a.k.a. Lt. JG Nathan Kane
Assistant Engineer, USS Galaxy.
king@fl.net.au