We're Not In Kansas Anymore

Tharsis has his scanners re-focused on the rift. "That thing's starting to give me the creeps..." he says. "I swear it's starting to change somehow, but I haven't put a scanner probe on it yet. How's the Commander doing?"

Alexandra looks up from her terminal, biting her lip a bit. "He's alright. Asleep, the last time I checked. The damage wasn't too severe, at least. He'll have a nasty burn for a while, though." She looks out the front screen. "I don't like it, myself," she admits. "But then, it's hard to like a natural disaster of epic proportions, I think." A frown. "If it's natural, that is."

"I don't think it's natural. That voice that said 'I think I've got it' just when the damn thing started making all hell break loose tells me it's not." Tharsis says. "Someone's behind it... and someone with power given the fact that it's so huge and everyone in the friggin' galaxy heard the voice at the same time."

"Kamir, perhaps?" Lex asks, one brow raising. "Powerful psionists, sure, but -this-? This is beyond even them, I would think." She shakes her head. "Mmm. Maybe something we've never seen before." She frowns. "I don't like that thought much at all."

"Kamir..? Not entirely familiar with that term.." Tharsis says. "I think dad mentioned it in his records but it's rather vague."

Alexandra tilts her head a bit. "Vollistans and Mystics and Timonae are Kamiroids," she offers. "They've got psionic powers naturally, though Timonae less so than the other two. I don't know the specifics of their relation to the Kamir, but that's another race with psionic abilities -- powerful ones, according to record." She shakes her head. "Still, I don't think even they could do this." A chuckle, then. "Pardon. I read a lot. And I remember a lot." She taps at her temple for emphasis. "Probably more computer than brain up here these days."

"Hmm.. if I recall from the record they were also trans-dimensional, were they not?" Tharsis says.

"I think they retreated into the Nexus at some point or other," Lex replies, frowning. "I'm not sure. I know what they are, but haven't read up extensively on their history." A slight shrug, and a dry chuckle. "I'm interested in far too many things, I think."

"Curiousity has always been one of my weaknesses." Tharsis admits. "Well, whoever was behind the creation of this thing, they wield power greater than anything I have ever experienced. Perhaps even greater than dad ever experienced....." he says. "Something like this would have warranted great mention in his records, but there's nothing."

Alexandra frowns. "It's... fascinating. And frightening all at the same time. So much -power-. Imagine what it took to simply take space-time and tear it like so much cloth." She shakes her head. "And it's -not- just here. We know that much. Your Vikings, the tank... everything. All sorts of things from all over."

"A copy of the New York post from 1963?" Tharsis says. "This rift seems to be everywhere at once. Our adventures through the time streams its giving off have proved that. From what the voice said, it makes me think it was some sort of grand experiment gone wrong. If that's the case, then I think whoever did it should damn well fix it."

Sirias moves quietly onto the bridge, towards the weapons console. "Having fun kiddies? We still time-tripping, yeah?"

"Maybe... maybe they can't," Lex offers to Tharsis, biting her lip. "Maybe it got out of control. Sort of like when that feedback loop of yours made a field on the bridge. The law of unintended consequences, indeed. Or Murphy's Law. Take your pick." she shakes her head a bit, then nods over at Sirias. "You're lucky you missed yesterday's... excitement."

"It's unstable and unpredictable, that's for sure. I think we can count our lucky stars we managed to find the Commander in all that mess." Tharsis says. "I just wonder how much longer we're going to sit out here. I feel like a house in the path of an erupting volcano and hot, fiery death will flow over me at any minute."

Loken makes his way onto the bridge, "How's the Commander, Lex?" he asks as he makes his way towards the pilot's seat.

"Yeah, I always miss the fun stuff. If I didn't have bad luck, I'd have none at all." Sirias muses softly. She looks at the viewscreen for a moment, pondering. "Well, with something that looks like that, I'd say something is bound to happen sooner or later."

Alexandra nods at Tharsis, and frowns. "Needle in a haystack," she offers. "A magnet helps, though -- and we just happened to have the right one. Have you got any idea why we had spacesuits and guns, by the way?" She looks over at Loken then. "He's sleeping, the last I saw of him. No bullet to remove, but pulse burns are fairly nasty, nonetheless." A blink at Sirias. "I wouldn't call it fun, myself."

"Best guess is we encountered the same effect that put the Commander into one. I think we 'lept' into other soldiers at the time, and in essence became them." Tharsis says. "Could be barking up the wrong tree as it were, but it's the only theory that makes sense thus far."

Loken nods to Lex, "Well at least we've got him," he replies as he straps himself into the seat, "How're we doing Tharsis, anything more out of the ordinary than normal?" he asks, a nod to Sirias, "Let's just hope we get out of here before something else happens,"

Sirias leans back in her chair. "Wherever 'here' happens to be at the current moment. Which it always seems to be changing, its doubtful we'll anything recongnizing a door, gateway, whatever, to get out." She blinks at Tharsis. Yeah, that might've gone over her head.

"Thus far we're succeeding at maintaining position, but the emissions from that thing are starting to fluctuate." Tharsis says. "No idea if that means we're about to have another encounter with insanity or if it's just expanding again..."

"...Interesting," Lex replies, nodding a bit. "I wonder if they were still in there?" she ponders then, lips pursing. "As... I don't know, passengers in their own heads, perhaps. It's quite a fascinating possibility when you think about it..." She trails off there, frowning. "Can you compare the readings with the last time it expanded, and the last time jump we had?"

Loken nods a bit to Tharsis, "Alright, we're sure that that malfunction with the shields isn't going to happen? Don't doubt you Tharsis, I'd just prefer not to go chasing after someone again if we don't have to,"

"Trust me, that's the last thing I want. That one trip nearly resulted in me being blasted into space splinters." Tharsis says. "Shields are up at maximum, and I've got the modulation algorithm operating. So far I'm matching it emission for emission but as unpredictable as that thing is, it's starting to get hard to maintain it. I wish those damn bastards at command would get their heads on straight and realize we're sitting in the middle of a maelstrom out here."

"Would you like me to do a sheild and defense systems diagnostic?" Sirias offers. "Figure you don't need one, but I suppose I'd ask, if only to feel useful. I'm no damn scientist. I'll leave the brainy stuff you people."

Alexandra smiles, a touch thinly. "And I'll leave the shooting to you sorts, if it's all the same to you." She frowns over at Tharsis. "While there's something to be said for honor over death, I'm hoping it's not Plan A."

Erik nods a bit, "Sirias does have a good idea, want to give us control of some systems so we can free you up to concentrate on that? Can easily take over flying for you," he offers.

"Works for me. I can divert to manual for a while." Tharsis says. "The longer we can keep going without overloading my systems, the better."

Sirias nods, bringing up Tharsis's defense readouts, and a few keystrokes later, begins a diagonstic of his security and defense systems. "Yeah I'll let the XO here handle the flying."

"Whatever you think I can help with, hand it over to me," Lex replies, with a slight shrug. "As long as it doesn't involve shooting at anything, that is." A quiet, dry chuckle's given at that.

Another rift opens, pulsating as it crosses the other. A shockwave of energy ripples outward in the direction of Tharsis.

Loken nods a bit as he takes control of the piloting controls, "Give us updates when you can Tharsis. And let's hope we don't have anything hostile come out of there again,"

"What the... oh shit!" Tharsis yells as the new rift opens. "We've got to MOVE! Emergency power to engines, get us the hell out of here! That thing's coming fast!"

"Oh yeah! Here we go!" Sirias calls out, haling in her diagnostic and moving to put the defense systems into full activity. "Raise sheilds, or will bad stuff happen again like last time if I do?" She seems unsure of igniting another incident the last time sheilds were fiddled with.

Alexandra pales a bit, connects her datajack to the nearest access panel, and pulls up a schematic of the power systems. "I'll try to find you some more power," she offers, "But we've done a lot of this already. I'm not entirely sure how much wiggle room is left."

"Right," Erik says simply, yanking on the controls to try and bring the ship out of the shockwave's path as fast as possible.

"Shields are better than nothing!" Tharsis replies. "My systems are already at maximum, even with auxilliary power. I don't have anything left!"

"Aye!" Sirias calls out, doing just that. "Shit, got'im online at only fifty percent power. Powering down the weapon systems for the time being. Give you a bit more extra to play around with."

Through the rift emerges a ship that should be easily recognizable as the Versailles. "Alien vessel, stand down and prepare to be boarded, on orders of Commander Thomas Conroy of the Union Fleet starship Versailles." The carrier locks weapons on Tharsis.

"Damn it all," Lex mutters, though she pores over the schematic nonetheless. "I can't do -anything- with this. Not without blowing circuits, or creating more feedba... oh, bugger." She blinks at the viewscreen, eyes wide.

"Tharsis, give me comms!" Erik states, although he does slow the ship down dramatically, assuming that there's no more nasty shockwaves coming their way.

"Comms coming up now.." Tharsis says. "Those are some heavy duty pea shooters they're locking on me... whatever you do, don't piss them off!"

"The goddamn Versailles?!" Sirias looks almost shocked. "Ain't that something. Somebody better get on the horn and if they've scanned us, our weapon systems ain't even online. We ain't no damn threat."

Alexandra just -stares-. "...I don't think they care," she observes, voice shaky.

"This is Lieutenant Junior Grade Erik Loken of the UF, onboard the Tharsis." Erik says into the comms, "We're on an observation mission from UF command and willing to comply. Please be advised that the rift is a dangerous place," he slows the ship down even more.

"Why don't the remember me?" Tharsis wonders. "I nearly freakin' collided with the ship when I first arrived, I'd think that's something you don't easily forget."

"We have no records of an alien ship assigned to work for the Union Fleet," Conroy replies. A warning shot is fired across the bow of Tharsis. Another rift pops open, as if the universe is unzipping, ahead of the sentient starship.

"The flying fuck!?" Sirias exclaims from her console. "How are we a fucking threat to something that heavily armed and that big?" she says, at something of a loss. "Unless, are in a time -before- Tharsis came to the Versailles?"

"They could be from -before- the crew of that ship met you," Lex replies. "Or even -after-." She grips the console tightly as the warning shot is fired.

"Cease fire! Cease fire!" Erik calls into the comms, "There are UF personell onboard, repeat there are UF personell on board!" he states, "Our weapons are powered down, we pose no threat to you. Board us if you don't believe us," he replies, fully stopping the ship now.

"AHHHH! I'm too young to die, damn it!" Tharsis shouts. "They're out of their minds... oh no... another rift!? We've got to get the hell out of here before the whole place comes apart!"

"Bored us?! At a time like this? Your kidding me!" Sirias gapes, hoping that was a joke. "Shits falling all around us. Like Tharsis said, we need to get the fuck outta Dodge, man! Anywhere other than here!" Tendrils of white-blue energy dance out from the rift ahead of Tharsis, tangling around the sentient vessel, pulling it through to...somewhere without a link to the Infomatrix. Somewhere with absolutely no resemblance to the data in the most up-to-date Orion Arm star charts. Somewhere with another sentient vessel that transmits to Tharsis: "Alien vessel, your configuration is unfamiliar. Full scans and disease sterilization safeguards will be required before docking is permitted."

"What... in.. the.. hell?" Tharsis says as all of his datalinks go dead. "Where.. are we?" he ponders as he receives a new transmission. "Um.. acknowledged... may I ask who you are.. and where we are?" he inquires.

Alexandra winces. "We -can't-," she retorts to Sirias. "We've got -no power to spare- and that ship is going to..." She trails off, paling further as the ship is pulled through the rift. "Brilliant. Heavens only know where we're at now..."

"Um..." Erik manages to get out as Tharsis is pulled into the rift, "Well, the Versailles is gone at least," he states. He glances to Tharsis's hologram, nodding a touch.

"I am Comorro, of the Yaralu," the other vessel replies. "This is not, I take it, your intended destination."

"Hold on." Sirias spares a look to Tharsis, still tense and unsure if danger levels have lowered. "This isn't one of your siblings, is it? Because one of them got -really- big in the time you've been gone from you home."

"It's not one of my relatives..." Tharsis replies. "I have no idea who.. or what... it is. It seems friendly enough though..." he says, before keying up his comms again. "You would be correct. One minute we were near a spatial rift near Sol, then.. we're here."

"...I... don't know these stars. Any of them," Lex says quietly, frowning. She simply goes quiet there, staring off into space for a moment, head slightly tilted. "No. None of them."

"We ain't in Kansas no more, Toto." Sirias notes, her muscles seeming to loosen a bit, now that danger really has passed for the time being. "So, how about we ask this friendly ship-thingy just exactly where we are then? Because if we ain't in Sol or anywhere else known on star charts...a different time maybe?"

Loken gets the ship flying steady, but keeping at a safe distance from Comorro, letting Tharsis do the talking for now.

"I am unfamiliar with a star called Sol," the station replies.

"We're lost, and obviously no where near home." Tharsis says. "She's offered to let us dock, so I say we get aboard and find out just what mess we've landed in this time... and if we can even get back."

Alexandra nods dumbly, biting her lip. "Never... heard of Sol. Who hasn't heard of -Sol-?" she asks nobody in particular.

"Its possible we're in a different galaxy. Or a different time. Maybe one where Sol wasn't even a star yet. Or after it had already went supernova." Sirias guesses at. "I got no damn clue, really. I think we're all flying blind at this point, but we might as well take up this 'Commoro's' offer to dock."

"Docking will be permitted after a complete scan and decontamination process," the Yaralu replies. "A clearance team will be dispatched to your location within the hour."

"Wait," Erik says, before looking to Tharsis, "Ask them who they represent or if they're independant. Lex, if you can scan them, do so and tell me what you find," he's still flying steady for the time being.

Tharsis keys up his comm. "It's been requested for me to ask if you represent any particular group or organization. In either case, we appreciate your docking offer and will await the arrival of the clearance team." Internally, he says, "I don't think suspicion is going to help us much now... I'm not sensing any temporal distortions like those in the rift... it's like we've been put into a completely different area of space. My supplies aren't going to last forever, we need to find a port, and there's one there offering us a place."

"Take it." Sirias advises. "Just my opinion. If anything, we might be able to learn more about where and when we are when we dock. But this is totally out of my depth, so we're going to be as careful as humanly, no pun intended, as possible. If we have armor or weapons, everyone gets at least a stun pistol."

"Right," Lex says, shaking herself free of inaction and starting to bring up the sensors. "I'll try to be unobtrusive, but I can't make..." She trails off without actually activating anything, giving a nod at Tharsis' words. "It's an improvement from the Versailles shooting at us, in any case."

"I never said we're not going to take it," Erik replies to both Tharsis and Sirias, "But I agree, we need to be cautious. For all we know this a far off outpost affiliated with the Nall,"

"Caution I can live with." Tharsis says. "All those maneuvers put stress on my systems, I'm going to need time to rest and heal up. I also agree that there might be locals in there who can give us some clue as to just where we are. I figure if there were Nalls in there, they'd be opening fire with everything they have based on what I've heard about that war of yours."

"No questions about that. It sure as hell ain't Nall. Like Tharsis says, we'd be space-dust ten minutes ago if they were." Sirias nods. "We just need to take it easy for now. Just keep your eyes and ears sharp. Tharsis is our only bastion of safety for all we know right now, keeping him safe, along with our own survival should take top priority."

"The Yaralu are independent, although we do employ the services of the Hekayti from time to time," Comorro replies. Scans will show the station is mostly unarmed. The only weapons appear to be defensive in nature.

Alexandra blinks, and glances over at Loken. "...I think they're right, for what it's worth," she offers. "We need to figure out where... or rather -when- we are, and then we can work from there." A frown, and her gaze goes unfocused again for a few moments. "I've never heard of the Hekayti."

"Hekayti...?" Tharsis wonders aloud into his bridge. "I think we are, as you said, no longer in Kansas... I've never heard of them at all, and that's even from dad's records."

Loken nods a bit, "We're going in then." he says, powering down the engines to let the clearance crew board them, eventually. He nods a bit to Lex, "I never said they were wrong. Please, I'm just being cautious. We're somewhere...nowhere near anything we know, I'm not going to go diving in headfirst without testing the water first," he says. Another nod, "Sirias, you handle all matters of security unless the Commander says otherwise. Instigate whatever protocals you feel nessecary,"

"We're in new and strange waters, so we best keep our wits about us." Sirias says. "This Commoro seems just as preplexed about us as we are of it, so we might be the first humans its encountered. ...I'm sure wether thats a good or bad thing." She seems to ponder the word Hekayti, but refrains from comment on it. A nod at Loken. "It'll be taken care of."

"Do you mind if I resume control? In times like this, it would just make me feel more secure." Tharsis says.

"Right," Lex replies, nodding a bit. "I can't blame you. Still, there's an old saying about gift horses that seems to apply right now." A slight shrug. "At least, that's how I see it."

"By all means Tharsis, go right ahead. Just make sure you don't over exert yourself," Erik replies with a nod, leaning back a bit in his seat, "Well, I wanted to make sure it was a horse to begin with," he replies to Lex. Sirias gets a nod.

Tharsis' controls revert to automatic, and he adjusts himself to bring Comorro into full view on the viewscreen. "Definitely odd looking.." he says. "Better than being dumped out in deep space though."

"Thats....a big ship." Sirias says slowly, watching Comorro come into view. "More like a station than a ship. Almost reminds me of those ship that the...oh hell, what we're they called again? The representive gave the old Captain a sword."

Alexandra gives a nervous laugh at Loken's comment. "Touche," she agrees, nodding a bit. Then, she just watches on the viewscreen.

"Almedae," Erik replies with a nod to Sirias, "Well, looks like we're in for a bit of a wait. Anyone want tea or coffee or something?"

"Anyone up for a game of poker?" Tharsis says in addition to Erik's offer. "I haven't had a good game in.. hey... wait a second..." he says with a pause. "Something just hit me... I remember reading in the INN archives from several months ago about a Yaralu sighting near Sivad... and didn't this Comorro say 'of the Yaralu?'"

"I think so." Sirias nods. "But I don't remember reading that particular article. What did it say?"

"...I do remember that," Lex replies after a brief pause, nodding a bit. "And it did." She pauses, thoughtful. A blink, then. "Sentient starships. Most people think they're just a rumor. Say, Tharsis..." She trails off there, one brow raising. "Sentient starships? That sounds awfully familiar." There's a touch of irony there, to be sure.

"Huh," Erik replies as he looks at the station, "Well, we found some long lost cousins of yours or something, Tharsis," he states, unstrapping himself from his seat, "Last call for anything to drink," he states, heading aft.

"They're organic based though..." Tharsis replies. "Like you all. Could it mean we're still in our own galaxy, just in a different part of it?" he wonders.

"I would say whiskey, considering all thats happens, but I figure you want me clear headed for the time being." Sirias grins over her sholder at Loken.

Alexandra looks after Erik, calling, "Coffee, please," over her shoulder. "Black." A nod then, at Tharsis' words. "I don't know. If we are, we're far enough away that none of the star charts -I've- ever seen bear even a remote resemblance to what's out there." She shrugs. "I'm sure you could do a more thorough search on it than I can, though, so that might be something to pass the time with."

"Let's hope so, Tharsis," Erik replies with a nod. He smirks at Sirias, "I'd prefer that, yes," he nods to Lex and heads out of the hatchway.

Tharsis brings up a database scan of his own star charts that span much of the known galaxy and begins running through them. "I have charts from areas dad explored and I explored myself on the way to Sol." he says. "Let's see if any match up." The charts run through tens of thousands of systems, constellations, clusters... nothing. "Not a single match... nowhere. And that's nearly 80 percent of the galaxy...." he says with a twinge of worry.

Sirias ponders all this with furrowed brow. "Maybe we're thinking a bit too one-dimensional about this. If we're not in Sol, past, present, or future, then what other options are there left?" she ponders. "And we don't have any whiskey, I'll be taking black coffee as well."

"...Well, either we ended up in the twenty percent that you -don't- have," Lex muses, tapping fingers on the console. "Or we're somewhere else completely. Another galaxy. Another -universe." She bites her lip, and shakes her head. "There's no way to know until we've docked, I don't think."

Loken is still getting drinks it seems, he'll be back next pose. Hopefully.

"I guess you're right.. we'll find out soon enough." Tharsis says. "I hope they get here soon, I want to get landed. Sitting out here in an unknown place is giving me the creeps..."