Danny Amor's Online Library/Danny Amor's Online Library - Volume 1.iso/html/startrek/incomplete/contact.p1-3

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From: [e-mail] (Mike Jackson)
Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative
Subject: Trek Wars Story: Contact part 1
Date: 8 Dec 1994 03:22:22 GMT
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Given all the Star Trek vs. Star Wars controversy, I just thought I'd try
my hand at a combination Star Trek/Star Wars story. So, here it is:


                              Contact, part 1

   Captain Jean-Luc Picard sat in his ready room and sipped a cup of tea,
scanning the list of names on the screen in front of him. "There are
times," he thought, "when a crew of 1050 will give a man a headache. Going
from a three shift to a four shift rotation is one of them." He set his
cup down and absently massaged his temples. Then Worf's gruff voice came
over the comm. "Captain, we are being hailed."
   Picard came out of his ready room and stood in front of the
Enterprise's main viewer. "On screen," he ordered. The void of space was
replaced with the face of a rather excited looking Bajoran. "Enterprise,
this is the science station Requlion VII. We've discovered a rather...
fascinating phenomonon that I think you should look at." Picard glanced at
Commander Riker. Riker's only response was a raised eyebrow. Jean-Luc
faced the viewscreen again. "What sort of phenomonon?" The Bajoran paused,
and then replied "I think you better see for yourself."

%%%%%%%%%%

   "Sir, we have arrived at the Requlion VII science station." Picard rose
from his seat. "All stop. Mr. Worf, hail the station." The Bajoran
appeared on the screen. "All right. Now, what's this phenomonon you want
to show us?" The Bajoran smiled and said "You'll have to see it to believe
it. Look out there."
The communication terminated, and the viewscreen showed the station, set
against a starry back drop. After a pause, Picard muttered "I don't see
anything." Data started to pan the view downward, when he caught a glimmer
of light. "Sir, I believe I see what we are looking for. It is appromatly
seven hundred kilometers from the staton. I am magnifying the view. The
station dissappeared, and in its place was a large, yet strangly familiar
energy fluctuation.
   "Data, what are we looking at here?" The android's fingers darted over
his console. Then he stopped and turned his chair around, facing Picard.
His voice tinged with awe, he said "Sir, we are looking at a wormhole.
However, there are no recorded wormholes in this sector. Also, based on
its energy readings, it would appear to be...artificially created!" Riker
took a step forward. "What? How is that possible? Who created it?" Picard
turned to Worf and said "Hail the station. I think it's time we got some
answers."

%%%%%%%%%%

   "Quite frankly, Captain, I'm not quite sure how we did it. We were
trying to devise a new method of subspace communications using an
anaphasic energy wave to start the pulse. We were modulating the frequency
of the wave when it seemed to just...rip a hole in space. Our sensors
arn't giving us very much data. There's a lot of interference. We thought
that maybe your ship could scan the wormhole with more success." Picard
thought for a moment. "Anaphasic energy is highly unstable. How long do
you think this wormhole is going to last?" The Bajoran answered simply
"Quite frankly, Captain, I have no idea."

%%%%%%%%%%

   The Enterprise moved closer to the wormhole and began scanning it.
Geordi looked up from his console. "Captain, the interference is strange.
We've never encountered anything like it." Geordi turned to Data. "Data,
see if you can isolate the interference. Try modulating the lateral sensor
array to screen for all know know types of interference." Data's fingers
flew over his controlls. "I've got it. It appears to be some sort of
temporal feedback. It is af...Captain! The energy readings are becoming
unstable! The wormhole is breaking apart!"
   Captain Picard sprang out of his chair. "Raise shields! Helm, set a
course bearing six five eight mark three and engage at warp five now!" The
Enterprise swung around and was just about to go to warp when the wormhole
exploded violently outward and then collasped. All that was left was the
science station, watching from several thousand kilometers away.

%%%%%%%%%%

   The Enterprise lurched violently, throwing Picard back into his chair.
The ship shook and bounced while the viewscreen flashed a kalidascope of
colors. Picard caught his breath and shouted "Where are we? Is this the
wormhole?" Then another jolt came and threw him from his seat, leaving him
sprawled on the floor. The scream of straining metal filled the bridge.
Picard tried to get up as another jolt came and rolled him sideways into
Commander Riker. Suddenly the jolting stopped.
   The view hadn't changed. The screen still showed a meaningless blur of
colors. Picard sat down again and turned to Data. "Data scanned his
console as his fingers danced over the controls. "We would appear to be in
some sort of temporal gale within the wormhole. It is analagous to a
hurricane. We are currently in the eye of the storm."
   How long until the far edge of the storm hits us?" Riker was up and
pacing. Data glanced at him and replied "Four minutes, twenty three
seconds." Then Worf spoke. "Sir, I am reading stress fractures in the hull
on decks 21, 22, and 23. If we re-enter the storm, we may have a hull
breach there." Geordi glanced at his readout and added "We're having
fluctuations in the main IPS conduits. I can't give you impulse power."
Picard took a deep breath, and began to give orders. "Mr. Worf, see if you
can find a way to stabalize those stress fractures. Helm, see if you can
use maneuvering thrusters to keep us in the eye of this storm. Mr. Data,
try to find any way to determine which direction we came from and try to
find a way back."
   Thirty seconds passed. Then the helmsman spoke. "Sir, I can't keep
ahead of the storm with maneuvering thrusters. It's moving too quickly.
Unless we get impulse, the storm will catch up with us in five minutes."
Riker walked over and began to discuss the posibility of using short warp
jumps to keep ahead of the back of the storm.
   Data turned to face Picard. "Captain, I can find nothing that matches
any known wormhole exit gateways. However, I believe that by riding the
storm though, we will exit the wormhole on the other side. However, I
cannot say either where or when we will exit." Picard turned to him.
"When?" Data nodded. "This wormhole is both spatial and temporal. It could
take us right back to where we started, or we could end up in another
galaxy billions of years in the future. Or the past."
  The seconds ticked by. Worf turned to Picard and said "I have
established force fields at all the locations where there are or might be
fractures. However, they will fail if we lose more than 50% of our
available power." Geordi opened his mouth to speak when Data interjected.
"Sir, the storm has changed direction and velocity. It will hit us in
fiveteen seconds." Riker and Picard quickly moved to their seats. The ship
began vibrating as the temporal storm approached. Riker shouted "All hands
brace for impact!" Then the storm hit the ship.
   The lights flickered and Riker was flung from his chair toward the
screen when another jolt knocked the ship's nose up. Will hit the floor
hard. He watched the ceiling, wondering why it kept going in circles even
though the ship wasn't. The cries of startled people filled the air.
   Worf, getting up off the floor, was thrown backward and slammed into
Geordi. Both would have fallen had the ship not lurched again and thrown
them pack into the command console. Then, just as the screaching of
straining metal became painfully obvious, all the bouncing stopped. The
viewscreen showed deep space again.

%%%%%%%%%%

   "Mr. Worf, damage report. Mr. Data, see if you can determine our
position. Are we still within Federation space? Scan for Federation time
base or sub-space relay beacons." Worf glanced at his console, and said
"We have a hull breach on decks 21, 22, and 23, sections 3 through 6. The
forcefields are holding." Picard turned to Geordi. "Mr. LaForge, try to
repair the hull damage." Mr. Data, any progress?" Data shook his head. "No
sir. Stellar cartography is unable to get a fix on any known stars. They
are currently looking for any other recognizable galaxies. However, given
that we know neither where nor when we are, it will take some time to
complete the survay. I estimate seven hours, twenty three minutes. There
is also no sign of the wormhole. It would appear to have collasped
completly."
   Picard stood up, let his breath out, and finially said "Well, it would
appear that until we can figure out where we are, all we can do is wait.
Mr. Data, I want you to analyze all our sensor logs of that wormhole. See
if you can figure out how it was formed. It may be our only ticket back to
Federation space."

%%%%%%%%%%

   An hour passed, then two. Geordi signaled the bridge. "LaForge to
Captain. I've managed to jury rig some repairs, but they won't last very
long if we get under heavy stress." Picard nodded, and replied
"Understood. Picard out." He stood up to address Commander Data when a
warning buzz went off on Worf's console.
   "Sir! A vessle has just appeared in this secter, coming toward us."
Picard turned to face him. "Appeared? Did they decloak?" Worf shook his
head. "I do not believe so. It is as if they dropped out of nowhere."
Picard turned to face the viewer. "Scan their ship. Let's see it on
screen." The ship before them was like nothing they had ever seen. It had
no aesthetic lines or curves. It was roughly triangular, with a large
tower near the back. It also dwarfed the Enterprise.
   Worf checked his console and said "The vessle is roughly 1,600 meters
long. They have raised some sort of energy shielding around the ship. They
are hailing us." Picard let his breath out and told Worf to answer the
hail.
   The ship was replaced by a man in a grey uniform, who looked like an
important officer of some time. The man seemed taken aback by their
appearence, but quickly covered his suprise and addressed Picard. "This is
Captain Pelleion of the Imperial Star Destroyer Chimaera. What ship is
that and what are you doing in this sector?" Picard was about to reply
when the view shifted. The Captain's face was replaced by that of a
blue-skinned humanoid with glowing red eyes.
   He wore a white uniform and was obviously very sure of himself. He said
"Forgive the Captian's bruskeness. I am Grand Admiral Thrawn, of the
Chimaera. And you are...?" Picard quickly responded "I am Captain Picard
of the Federation starship Enterprise." Thrawn leaned forward in his chair
slightly. "Federation? Is that what the rebels are calling themselves
now?"
   Picard shook his head and said "I've never heard of your rebels. Our
ship got caught in some sort of temporal vortex which has thrown us here.
Unfortunatly, we have no idea where or when here is. We are currently
scanning all known stellar bodies to see if we can determine where we
are." Thrawn stood up and said simply "I see. Well, perhaps we can aid
you. Unfortunatly, we have... plans which cannot be delayed much further.
If you wish to wait here, I will return when we are finished. It shouldn't
take more than a few days. Then we will see what we can do to assist you.
Why don't you transmit us a list of all the supplies you will need."
Picard smiled and said "That's very generous of you. We have some minor
repairs to finish. We'll be here." Thrawn's eyes glittered, and the
communication was cut.
   Picard turned to Data. "Generate a list of all raw material that we
might need, and send it to the Chimaera." Data nodded, taped a few
controls, and said "Transmitting now." After a moment the Chimaera moved
off, speeded up, and jumped to hyperspace.
   Picard started. "Where did they go?" Data glanced at his console and
replied "They appear to employ some sort of super-space channels to move
at faster than light speeds. I estimate that such a channel could move
them at speeds in excess of warp 15." Riker said "Is there any way we can
use those channels?" Data shook his head and said "No. They appear to be
generated by the ship, just as our warp fields are generated by the
Enterprise. Their ships are also indetectible while they are in these
channels."
   Riker turned to Worf and said "What information did we get from
scanning them?" Worf glanced at his console as he spoke. "They have
roughly ten thousand crewman. They have 60 laser banks, coupled with some
other weapon I've never seen. It looks as though it fires ionized plasma
of some sort. They also have torpedo bays of some sort. Their shields are
somewhat similar to ours, but seem to be designed to deflect attacks.
Their engines have massive power output, most of which seems to go to the
weapons and shields. I can see no evidence of transporter technology."

%%%%%%%%%%

   Pelleion turned to Thrawn. "Why did you offer to help them. What it
that ship is some sort of new rebel ship? They could be waiting for an
opportunity to hit us when we don't expect it." Thrawn slowly turned
around. "Because, Captain, they are not part of the Rebellion. Their
Captain's story is consistant with the energy readings we observed that
attracted our attention. Their ship is like no other in this galaxy. If
they come from another time, who knows what technologies they have. We can
use that to our advantage. We now have, or will soon have, an ally. They
may prove to be nothing of consequence, but prehaps they can be of use to
us."



            End part one.

Questions? Comments? Gripes? E-mail me at [e-mail]

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From: [e-mail] (Mike Jackson)
Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative
Subject: Contact part 2
Date: Tue, 13 Dec 1994 23:44:40 -0500
Organization: Cornell University
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Since I got a response to the first one, I decided to write the second.
Note to anyone who doesn't have a TNG Tech Manual: the Calypso is the
Enterprise's Captains yacht, which to my knowledge was never used in any
shows. So, here's the story:

                                 Contact part 2

   Picard sat in his ready room and sipped a cup of tea. He found himself
contemplating the events of the past week. Geordi had the hull patched up
and was ready to completly repair it when the Chimaera returned. Other
than the hull breach, the Enterprise had no problems. Except for the fact
that she was an unknown distance from the Federation. Stellar Cartography
had not been able to get a fix on any known solar bodies. If Data and
Geordi couldn't figure out how to create and use another wormhole, the
Enterprise would be stuck here. He sighed, and wondered how Troi was
handeling the load of crewmen and women that all wanted counseling on how
to deal with the fact that they were an unimagionable distance from home.
   Worf's voice interrupted his musings. "Bridge to Captain Picard. The
Chimaera has just appeared in this sector. They are hailing us." Picard
acknowledged Worf and stepped out onto the bridge. The viewscreen showed
the Chimaera, floating majestically in space. "Answer the hail,
Leutenant."
   Thrawn's image re-appeared on the screen. "Greetings, Captain. I hope
the wait has not been too tedious." Picard replied "On the contrary, we
have nearly completed our repairs and need only the materials we requested
of you." Thrawn nodded and said "We'll have them ready in less than a
week." Picard smiled and said "Thank you for your assistance." He paused,
and then continued. "I would like to meet with you a bit more personally.
Could you find the time to eat with us?" Thrawn smiled and said "We would
be happy to." Picard nodded and replied "Good. We can meet on our yacht. I
will arrange for us to dock with your ship in, say, four hours." Thrawn
leaned forward and said "We will be there." The communication ended.
   Picard turned to Riker. "I see we have a use for the Captain's yacht
after all. Have Engineering make sure all the Calypso's systems are
functioning perfectly. Meet me with a small securtiy detail and the
yacht's crew in the Calypso in three hours." Riker nodded and strode off
the bridge.

%%%%%%%%%%

   Four hours later, the Calypso detached herself from the Enterprise and
glided smoothly toward the Chimaera. As they approched the landing bay,
Riker whistled and said "I still can't believe the size of their ship!"
The Calypso gently flew into the Chimeara's massive docking bay and
settled to a stop. The gangplank lowered and Picard steped out onto the
landing pad, followed by Riker and a pair of security guards. Thrawn was
standing there with Captain Pelleion, a small, wiry catlike humanoid and
four guards dressed in full white body armor. Picard spoke first. "Grand
Admiral, I would like you to meet my second in command, William Riker."
Thrawn nodded in Riker's direction. He then indicated the small alien  and
said " You've met Captain Pelleion." Pelleion gave a stiff, military bow
in Picard's direction. Thrawn continued "This is Rukh, my personal body
guard." Picard stepped aside, gestured up the gangplank, and said "If you
would step into the Calypso, we can begin." Rukh entered the Yacht,
followed by Thrawn, Pelleion, Picard, Riker, the security guards, and the
four Imperials. The Calypse left the Chimaera and assumed a position
between the Enterprise and the Star Destroyer.

%%%%%%%%%%

   After the Calypso had returned Thrawn and his companions to the
Chimaera and returned to the Enterprise, Picard gathered the Senior
Officers together for a meeting. "It would appear that this Empire which
Thrawn commands is more than willing to help us return to Federation
space. Unfortunatly, they are in the middle of a long war to recapture
parts of their galaxy from a group of Rebels. It may be some time before
we can expect any further help from them. So, we have several options. We
can continue to work on a solution and wait for the Empire to win its war.
However, Thrawn seems to think that it may take quite some time, and
nearly all their efforts are directed toward the war. They don't have much
to spare to help us. We could scout around and see if there are any
neutral groups here that could help us. Or prehaps these Rebels. Any other
suggestions?"
   Troi leaned forward and said "I think we have to consider using other
alternatives that might go outside the normal bounds of what we are
allowed to do. We could, for example, help the Empire win their war. Then
they might be able to give us more assistance." Picard shook his head and
said "I don't think we can take such measures until we have exhausted all
other possibilites. For now, let's continue our research. Data, what have
you found?" Data walked over to the nearby computer console and brought up
several statistics. "I believe that we have found a way to generate a
temporal wormhole, but there are several complications. We have no way of
knowing where the wormhole would take us. We could jump around through
space and time for decades and never return to our galaxy, even if the
Enterprise could survive the beating."
   Picard nodded and said "Any progress on analyzing our sensor logs of
the wormhole itself?" Data shook his head. Then he paused and stated
"Prehaps we could use the ship's computer to isolate any particular
temporal fluxes in the wormhole. It would take quite some time, however."
Picard stood up and said "Make it so." The Senior officers all left the
room.
   Picard walked back on to the bridge and sat down in the Captain's
chair. Data turned to him and said "The computer has begun an analysis of
the sensor logs, looking for the particular temporal flux which brought us
here. It will take two days, twenty hours, and fourty three minutes."
Picard turned to him "Two days?" Data nodded. "Yes, sir. The amount of
information in itself is not overly large. However, it is like trying to
find a particular raindrop in the middle of a thunderstorm after the storm
has ended." Picard gave the bridge to Riker and walked into his ready
room.
   ...And was immediatly called back as the Chimaera hailed the
Enterprise. Picard returned to the bridge and ordered Worf to answer the
hail. He turned to address Thrawn. Thrawn spoke first. "Captain, there is
a large Rebel force headed towards a nearby star system. We are moving to
engage them. You are welcome to accompany us and see just how the Rebels
act, although I suspect a ship of your size may get cut to ribbons by the
Rebel frigates, especially in your damaged condition." Picard could feel
Worf bristling behind him at the suggestion that the Enterprise was
horribly outmatched. Picard addressed Thrawn. "I would like to accompany
you and see what happens first hand, but from a safe distance. We'l
leaveat the first sign of trouble." Thrawn nodded, and replied "I will
transmit the co-ordinates for the hyperspace jump." The connection ended.
Data said "We have the co-ordinates." The Chimaera swung around and jumped
to hyperspace. A moment later, the Enterprise followed the same course,
traveling at warp 8.

%%%%%%%%%%

   The Enterprise came out of warp to find the Chimaera and another ship
orbiting a nearby planet. Picard addressed the helmsman. "Put us in
standard orbit around that planet." He then turned to Worf and was about
to order him to hail the Chimaera when Worf spoke. "Sir, thirty five
vessels have just appeared in this system, bearing two six three mark
four. They appear to be Rebel ships. There are ten large ships, between
800 and 1000 meters long, and twenty five smaller, one person craft. They
are moving to engage the Imperial ships." Picard responded "Raise shields.
Put the Rebels on screen. Full scan, Mr.Data. Try to see what technologies
they have." The viewer showed the ships diving and twisting, firing
lasers.
   Worf turned to Picard. "Fourty small, one man ships have been launched
from the Chimaera. They are attacking the others. And th.... sir! Ten of
the Rebel small craft and one of the larger ones are headed this way."
   "Helm, evasive maneuvers! Mr. Data, what are we up against?" Data
scanned his console. "The ships appear to have deflector shields similar
to ours and laser weapons, but the lasers are too powerful to be generated
by a ship that size, assuming they have matter/antimatter reactors." The
Enterprise rocked as several laser bolts slammed into the shields. Picard
turned to the helmsman. "Helm, take us out of here! Any heading, warp 1."
The helmsman replied "I can't sir, those little craft are surrounding us.
We can't get past them." Picard paused, and then said "Very well. Mr.
Worf, clear us a path, using phasers only." The larger ship got into
position and began hammering the Enterprise with laser fire. "Shields down
to 91%," Worf announced. "Returning fire." The Enterprise fired a quich
phaser burst, smashing into a few of the X-wings and destroying them. The
Rebels reteliated by fireing with a new vigor. The cruiser began launching
proton torpedoes at the Enterprise. The Enterprise shook with the impact,
then swung through the cloud of X-wings around it, fired one more phaser
burst to clear its path, broke free, and jumped to warp speed, leaving the
pursuing Rebel ships far behind.
   Aboard the Chimaera, Pelleion was sweating. This was going to be a
rough battle. Then Thrawn began giving orders. "Gunners: leave the X-wings
to the Tie fighters. Concentrate your fire on the cruisers. Ion cannons:
fire together on the nearest cruiser to cripple it. Then target the next
one." the Ion cannon batteries flashed and pummled the closest Rebel ship.
The ship lost electronic control. Before the systems could be brought back
on line, the turbo laser batteries blew it out of the stars. The other
Star Destroyer moved out and joined the battle. The Rebel ships responded
with a withering blast of laser fire that had little effect on the Star
Destroyers' powerful shields. The Chimaera grabbed one ship in its tractor
beams, then dissected it with laser fire. The Rebels, seeing that they
were out matched, broke off the attack and jumped to hyperspace.
   Thrawn turned to Pelleion. "Replay the battle. I want to see the
Enterprise's weapons again." The battle replayed, with the Enterprise
going to warp, followed soon by the retreat of the Rebels. "Intreaguing.
They seem to have energy weapons of incredible efficiency. I think we
should try to acquire them."
   On the bridge of the Enterprise, Worf turned to Picard. "Sir, why did
we run? We could have defeated those ships." Picard faced him. "Yes, but
we are still Starfleet, and we still have the Prime Directive. We cannot
interfere with these cultures any more than is possible. We may have
already done so just by using our warp drive or phasers. I should not have
followed the Chimaera towards a battle."

%%%%%%%%%%

   The Chimaera and the Enterprise faced each other, while Thrawn talked
with Picard. "We have the materials you requested. I'll have some of our
engineers bring it over to you. They should be able to help you finish
your repairs." Picard smiled and thanked him, and the communication was
cut. Worf spoke. "Sir, two shuttles have disembarked from the Chimaera and
are heading this way." Picard acknoweledged him. "Worf, you have the conn.
Riker, Data, you're with me. Picard to LaForge: meet me in the main
shuttle bay."

%%%%%%%%%%

   The engineers from the Chimaera began to work alongside the
Enterprise's crew, fixing up the gaping holes in the Enterprise's hull.
One of them detached himself from the rest and wandered to an empty,
secluded computer terminal, where he began to work...
   The repairs finished, the Imperials boarded their shuttles and returned
to the Chimaera. One of them presented Captain Pelleion with a data card
with information dumped from the Enterprise's computer. The Captain asked
him "Did you have any trouble with the dump?" "No, sir. The computer was
easy to operate, and I covered my trail so no-one noticed my snooping.
Unfortunatly, time was short, and I don't know how much information I got,
sir." Pelleion congratulated him on his work and gave the data card to
Thrawn personally.
   Two hours later, Thrawn returned to the bridge. He turned to Pelleion.
"The data dump contained, among other things, the workings of their
'phaser'weapons. Signal the Wraith. Send them this information, and have
them convert all their lasers to phasers. I'll arrange for a trial run as
soon as they are finished. The conversion should be fairly easy. If it
works as planned, we will have a weapon greater than the Rebellion can
possibly imagine."
   Pelleion asked him "What else did we get from the dump?" Thrawn's eyes
gleamed. "Oh, nothing much. Just a small, almost insignificant bit of
technology."

                           End part 2



Questions? Comments? Gripes? E-mail me at [e-mail]

Dr. Crusher: "Troi thinks she has a way of getting you to remember the
events from your memory lapse."
Worf: "I still do not remember having one."

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From: [e-mail] (Shadow)
Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative
Subject: Contact, part 3
Date: Wed, 01 Feb 1995 12:44:32 -0500
Organization: Imperial Star Destroyer Chimaera
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I inadvertantly posted this instead of saving it a little while back. I
apologize for any confusion that may have caused. I also discovered I had
been misspelling Pellaeon's name. Being a die-hard SW fan, I hang my head
in shame.

                             Contact, part 3

   Captain Pellaeon shifted uncomfortably in his seat. The viewscreen
showed the Wraith, preparing for her next attack run. The target: a group
of Rebel assault frigates, which were orbiting the planet Kismahn, three
thousandths of a light year distant. There were five of them, and they
were ready for any suprise attack. A single Star Destroyer would be hard
pressed to survive a fight with them, much less win.
   Yet Thrawn was sending in the Wraith alone, with no back up on the way.
Thrawn could be as confidant as he liked about this new weapons technology
they had stolen from the Enterprise. For his part, Pellaeon wished the
newly upgraded Wraith's test run was a little less dangerous. The
Communications officer spoke. "Sir! Message from the Wraith. They report
all systems ready." Thrawn, seated behind Pellaeon, nodded and replied
"Then give the command to attack." Thrawn shifted his gase to the viewer.
   The Wraith flickered with pseudomotion as it jumped to hyperspace. A
fraction of a second later, it dropped back into normal space, facing the
assault frigates. The Rebels reacted instantly, swinging around to
surround the Star Destroyer. They began to pound the ship with laser
blasts. The Wraith lurched slightly, then righted and returned fire.
Piercing beams of amber energy lanced from the ship's phaser banks. The
blasts punched through the Rebel shields and shredded the ships. The first
volley crippled two ships and badly damaged a third. The remaining Rebels,
thrown into confusion by this new weapon, were easy targets. The battle
was over in seconds. On the bridge of the Chimaera, a smile tugged at the
corners of Thrawn's mouth. "Excellent," he said. He turned to Pellaeon.
"Make arraingements for all our ships to convert their turbo-lasers into
turbo-phasers. As soon as  the Chimaera's weaponry is ready we'll return
to the Enterprise for another meeting."

%%%%%%%%%%

   Captain Picard sat in his ready room, ignoring the cup of tea next to
him. The Enterprise had been stranded for almost three weeks now, and
little progress had been made toward getting them home. The computer had
managed to isolate all the temporal pockets of the wormhole that had
brought them here. However, they still had no idea how to generate another
similar wormhole. And, as if that wasn't trouble enough, Data theorized
that to successfully navigate through the temporal storm, they would need
to know where they currently were in relation to the Milky Way Galaxy.
Steller cartography had been working overtime, trying again and again to
identify any familiar galaxies or stars, but with possibly billions of
years of drift to compensate for, the task looked endless. He sighed, then
stood up. Wallowing in despair was not going to get them home. Tugging his
uniform, he strode out of the ready room and into the turbolift. He
decided to go back to his room and unwind, something he hadn't done in a
long time. And, he suspected, something he wouldn't get a chance to do for
some time to come.

%%%%%%%%%%

   Han Solo listened to Threepio prattle on, trying to concentrate on the
repairs he was working on. The secondary quad laser coolent regulator had
been damaged when the Millennium Falcon had blasted out of Bishporsr'y.
Han sighed. With the Imperials acting up again, they'd been fighting their way
out of a lot of space ports. First Hirsthd, then Asslang, and now
Bishporsr'y. If the Imperials began to extend their activities beyond
simple raids on cargo carriers and harrassing Rebel ships, the New
Republic would have their work cut out for them. He finished repairing the
regulator and walked back to the cockpit.
   Chewbacca greeted him with a low moan. Han cut him off. "Hey! The
regulator is repaired. Things arn't as bad as they could be!" Chewie
rumbled in agreement. In fact, Han thought, they could have been a lot
worse. He looked out the cockpit at the mottled star-scape. Just then
Threepio entered the cockpit. "Sir, Princess Leia would like to speak with
you." Han left the cockpit and headed for the rec room. Before he could
get there, a loud hissing noise echoed through the ship and the Falcon
lurched wildly, throwing Han into a bulkhead. He turned around and ran for
the cockpit "Chewie!" he bellowed. "We blew a gas line! Which one?"
Chewbacca moaned a responce. As Han leaped into the cockpit, he realized
the wookie was right. The hyperdrive shunt line had burst. Looking out the
cockpit, he saw that the mottled star-scape had faded into normal space.
   Leia entered the cockpit an instant later. "What's the problem?" she
asked. Han answered while quickly throwing switches. "We blew the
hyperdrive shunt line. The hyperdrive's out. I can repair it easily, but
the ship's full of Strayu gas. I've just sealed the cockpit, but we'll
have to wait until the gas is pumped into space. Chewie, scan around for
any planets we can reach using the sub-light drive." Leia sighed and said
"How long will it take to clear the gas?" Han shook his head. "Four, maybe
five hours. Remember, we have to keep the breathable air in." Leia began
to speak when Chewie interrupted. Han jumped to his feet. "A ship? Where?
Is it an Imperial vessle?" Chewie growled a negation.
   Han looked at the ship. It was like nothing he had ever seen before. A
huge disk, mounted above a sweeping rear section, which had two pylons
with long cylinders on them.

%%%%%%%%%%

   Worf's voice broke into Picard's musings. "Sir, a vessle has just come
out of hyperspace in this sector!" Picard left his ready room and walked
onto the bridge. "On screen," he ordered. A small, disk-shaped craft with
a very uneven hull, an obvious sensor dish, and several laser banks
appeared on the viewer. Data spoke. "The craft does not match any known
ship configurations. It appears to be a cargo craft. There are three life
forms aboard." Picard nodded and turned to Worf. "Open hailing
frequencies." He paused, then continued. "This is Captain Jean-Luc Picard
of the Federation starship Enterprise..."

   On board the Millennium Falcon, Picard's message was received with
great consternation. Leia shook her head and said "Federation? Federation
of what?" Han shrugged helplessly. Leia nudged him. "I think we should
respond." Chewbacca moaned. Leia shook her head and said "If they were
Imperials, they would have captured us with a tractor beam or blown us
into space dust. I think we had better respond." Han shook his head and
said "You're the diplomat..." Pressing the communicator he said "Uh...This
is Captain Solo of the Millennium Falcon. What can I do for you? And
what's this Federation?"

   Picard answered "We come from the United Federation of Planets, in a
galaxy far from here. Our ship got cought in some sort of temporal anomoly
and was thrown to this galaxy. We are trying to determine how to get home.
Are you an Imperial ship?"

   "No, Captain Picard, we're from the New Republic." At Leia's prompting,
Han continued. "We would love to help you, but we have problems of our own
currently and we arn't very experienced with your...temporal anomolies."

   "New Republic? I'm afraid we havn't heard of you. The only two groups
we have heard of are the Empire and the rebels."

   Leia took over. "Captain, I am Leia Organa Solo, a diplomat for the New
Republic. We're what used to be the Rebels. We already won our war."

   Picard glanced at Riker, who shrugged. "Did the war just end, Solo?"

   Leia shot Han a quizzical glance and responded "Not...quite. It's been
over for five years. Who called us the Rebels?"

   "The leader of the Empire, Grand Admiral Thrawn."

   Leia's response was tinged with alarm. "You've talked to the Grand Admiral?"

   Picard, somewhat puzzled, answered "Yes. The Imperials helped us make
repairs to our ship. They wer..." Picard's message was interrupted by an
strange howl from the other ship. Before he could wonder what was
happening, Worf spoke. "Sir! The Millennium Falcon is powering up its
lasers! They are coming about to fire!"


                            End part 3

Questions? Comments? Gripes? E-mail me.

Data: Some time ago I received a transmission from the planet. I answered it.
Picard: Oops