"Course laid in, Captain." Announced Lt. Tom Paris.
"Excellent." Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Starship Voyager allowed herself a rare smile. "Ensign, what was the ETA again?"
"A hour and a half," replied Ensign Harry Kim. "That is, if Paris keeps his foot off the accelerator." he continued with a sly grin.
"Hey! I object to that remark!" Paris turned to glare at Harry, but he was grinning too. In fact, the only person on the bridge who WASN'T smiling was Lt. Tuvok. But then, being a Vulcan, he didn't really see any need to.
"Actually," said Janeway, to break the silence in which everyone was grinning, "I am very excited about this new reading. A wormhole is just what we need." She looked at each bridge member in turn. "Who knows? Maybe this time tomorrow we'll be home."
"You know," Paris said innocently, "If I increase our speed to warp 5, we'll be there in only forty-five minutes."
Janeway smiled. "I think that can be arranged."
"Warp 5 it is," replied Paris, still looking as innocent as was possible. He keyed a few buttons, and instantly the starfield started flying by faster.
"Hey, hey, hey!" exploded a voice out of the aether. "The engines aren't up to par yet! What do you think you're doing?!" Janeway recognized the voice of her Chief Engineer, B'Elanna Torres.
"I'm following orders, that's what I'm doing." responded Paris irritably.
"Yeah, well, keep it up, and you won't have any engines to order! Captain, the fastest we can go is Warp 3."
Janeway sighed. That meant back to the ETA of a hour and a half. She supposed though, if the crew had managed to wait two years to get home, they could wait ninety minutes.
"Alright, B'Elanna, we'll keep it at that. How are the engines coming?"
"They should be done in a few hours, PROVIDED a certain SOMEBODY who shall remain NAMELESS, keeps his FOOT off the metaphorical GAS PEDAL."
"Hey! I STILL resent that remark!!"
"We are approaching the anomaly now, Captain," Tuvok enunciated.
"Excellent, Mr Tuvok. Are you getting readings, Ensign?" She asked Harry.
"Yes ma'am. But," he said, his forehead creasing, "They are not like any readings I've seen before."
"Doubtless, Ensign. May I remind you we are on the other side of the galaxy to `everything you've seen before'?" Tuvok said with an eyebrow raised. Janeway noted out of the corner of her eye that Paris had been mouthing the words along with Tuvok. She suppressed a grin, and instead asked "Can you get any readings at all?"
Harry nodded. "Few, but not many, and they're very vague. I'm going to need a bit of time to sort them out."
"Then we will have a meeting tomorrow at 1100 hours. Computer, please log that in the schedule."
"Meeting confirmed and logged," chimed the computer.
"Well, with that done, I think I'm going to go talk to Neelix about making something to eat while we're meeting."
As soon as Janeway opened the door to the Mess Hall, she instantly regretted it. It, to put it bluntly, stank. The smell was undescribable, although to Janeway, it brought back not-so-fond memories of her high school basketball locker room.
"Captain!" called out Neelix. The little orange alien ran out of the kitchen to greet her, beaming all the while. "You must try some of the eehc'mik with accubmok that I'm preparing." He disappeared into the kitchen, and then reappeared bearing a plate of food. Janeway nearly gagged. The food looked even more disgusting than it smelled.
"Umm, Neelix," she said, trying to talk and breathe through her mouth at the same time, "I was, ahh, wondering if you could make a, uhhhhh, brunch for the meeting tomorrow morning."
"Of course Captain! What would you prefer? I could make some eehc--"
"No!" burst out Janeway, a little too quickly. "Uhh, not for brunch. Maybe the usual, pastries and coffee--?"
"If that's what you would prefer. I am here to please, after all." He shrugged. Janeway nodded, nodded again for good measure, and backed her way out the doors.
She leaned against the bulkhead in the hall, gasping. Even the stale, recycled air smelled sweet after that...odour. Suddenly she heard footsteps. She straightened immediately. It wouldn't do to have one of the crew see her like this.
It was Lt. Tuvok. "Captain," he said, by way of greeting. "I am just on my way to get Mr. Kim a cup of `java' as he put it. He said that it would help him work. But he refused the replicator, saying it wasn't good enough. Technically, it has the same molecular composition, so I fail to see the difference."
"Well, Mr. Tuvok, maybe Harry just wants a good cup of fresh brewed coffee. But I wouldn't go in there just yet."
"Is Neelix busy?"
"Not exactly...."
"Then I do not see why I must not go in. Is it an order, Captain?"
"No......"
"Then I will get Mr. Kim his psychological crutch. If you excuse me..." He nodded, opened the doors, and walked in.
And immediately walked out.
"I understand your previous concern, Captain." He said, his face a dark shade of green. "If you will excuse me, I must go use the replicator, and Mr. Kim must grin and bear it." He walked down the hall. Janeway grinned, and went her separate way.
B'Elanna prided herself on her glare. It was a very potent weapon. Very few people managed to look in her eyes for more than a moment, when she turn on her highbeams. She had once used them on a Ferengi trader when she was a Maquis, and the trader had obligingly let her go. But for some strange reason, it was having absolutely no affect on Tom Paris.
"Paris," B'Elanna snarled, "Get out of my face before I rip yours out. I do not, repeat, do NOT, want to go to the holodeck for a picnic with you. I have three days worth of backlogged repairs, plus this dammed warp-core. So please. Leave me alone."
"Okay," Paris said. He nodded, shrugged and looked around. "No problem at all." B'Elanna noticed that he was avoiding looking in her eyes. Part of her was glad: she hadn't lost her power. However, part of her was every-so-slightly guilty at hurting Paris like that. But she recovered quickly. He deserved it after all. She turned her back on him, and was glad to hear him walk away. She needed her time, and all Paris ever seemed to do was waste it.
"Tom, if you want to keep chasing B'Elanna like that, you're bound to get hurt like this," Harry said, still studying his padd.
"Thanks ever so much for the sympathy, Harry old pal. I knew I could trust you to make me feel better." Paris flopped on Harry's couch, his sarcasm dripping on to the floor below. Harry didn't seem to notice the pooling sarcasm, and instead shrugged. "It's your life, Tom. Do with it what you will." He studied the padd. "That's odd... This configuration looks almost... familiar."
"That's nice." The sarcasm by now had formed quite a large pool, and was beginning to develop tides. Apparently it was enough for Kim to notice. He turned angrily. "Look, Tom," he started, "I have tried to be patient, but I have got a lot of work here, and you are NOT HELPING. Go tell all your problems to somebody else!"
"So then she said to me--"
"Lieutenant," The Doctor replied, "Surely there is someone else you can amuse with your `problems'. I am a very busy hologram."
"Fine!" exploded Paris. "Since NOBODY seems to care about my MENTAL HEALTH, I will just lock everything up inside and FESTER and ROT."
"That's nice, but could you please do it somewhere else other than sickbay?"
"So then I said to him--"
"Uh huh," mumbled Chakotay, staring at his cards. He was just two away from putting his entire hand down as a rummy run. Paris said something else, so Chakotay mumbled " Uh huh." He really didn't want to listen to Paris' complaints, but he did enjoying playing rummy.
"You're not listening to me!" exploded Paris.
"Of course I am," said Chakotay, feigning innocence.
"No you aren't! I said that a cardassian was right behind you with a phaser, and you said `uh huh'! If you don't want to listen to me, then why accept in the first place?!" Chakotay could see that Paris was really upset, so he decided not to go with the truth (that he just wanted to play cards).
"It's not that I wasn't listening, it's just that I was distracted for a moment, that's all."
"Oh." Paris was extremely sarcastic, and still annoyed. "If you're so interested, Commander," he said coldly, "Where exactly did I leave off?"
Chakotay's mind went blank. O spirit guide, he thought, help me with this one, please!
"I'm waiting," said Paris.
"Ummmmmmm--" Luckily for Chakotay, his spirit guide kicked in. Or more precisely, beeped.
"Janeway to Chakotay and Paris, report to the briefing room immediately."
"On our way." the officers replied in unison.
Paris and Chakotay entered the briefing room simultaneously. Paris looked extremely annoyed. He gave a glare to Harry, another one to Neelix, The Doctor, Kes, Tuvok and a final parting one to Chakotay. It seemed to Janeway that he was angry at almost everybody. Since B'Elanna hadn't arrived from Engineering yet, Janeway decided to help Paris out. She sat next to him.
"Excuse me, Lieutenant, but are you having some sort of problem?" she said softly.
"No," he said squirming. He was obviously expecting a reprimand.
"Well," she continued, choosing her words carefully, "If you are, maybe you should consider talking to someone."
Suddenly Harry stood up in alarm. "Oh no!" he cried.
"What?!" cried everyone else in unison.
"Captain! I recognize these readings! We have to get out of here immediately!" Harry had nearly started hyperventilating.
"Calm down Ensign. Where do you recognise these readings from?"
Harry took a deep breath. "From when I was in San Fransico, the parallel dimension. Captain, if we don't get out of here, any number of us may get sucked in!" Janeway took all the information in. She nodded to Harry once, and stood up. Looking at Paris, she said "Lieutenant, set a course away from the anomaly. Fastest possible speed."
"Yes ma'am," replied the conn officer. He left to the bridge. Janeway and the rest of her bridge officers followed. Tuvok and Harry took up their customary positions. They both began to monitor the anomaly.
"Captain!" Tuvok exclaimed. "The anomaly is expanding. Readings are fluctuating across the board." On screen, the fist sized tear in reality grew suddenly to fill half the window.
"Paris! Take us out of here!"
Paris keyed in the command he wanted, but nothing happened. "The engines are off line!" he cried. "We're stuck dead in the water."
"Do we have impulse?" Paris shook his head negative. Janeway tapped her commbadge. "B'Elanna! We need engines now!" The voice in return was not the Chief Engineer, but her deputy, Carey. "B'Elanna's gone, Captain," he said in a confused tone. "She just disappeared."
"Damn." It had to be the anomaly. It had to be. The not-so-innocent-looking tear shrank suddenly. "Tuvok, what are the readings now?" she called over her shoulder. No answer.
"Tuvok?" she repeated, whirling around. But Tuvok wasn't there. Neither was Harry. In their place were three frightened-looking teenage girls.
Harry blinked. One minute, he had been on Voyager, on the bridge, and now, he was....well, he didn't know exactly where he was. He was standing on a street, in some city. The place was deserted. He looked around, and was surprised to find B'Elanna and Tuvok. At least he wasn't alone this time.
"Starfleet," said B'Elanna with a snarl, "You had better know a way out of this place."
"Actually, ha ha," Harry said nervously, "I kind of forget how I got back the last time. Ha ha," He flinched when B'Elanna glared at him.
"I fail to see how this situation is amusing, Ensign. However, since I remember the mode of escape, there is no reason to be so upset, Lieutenant."
Harry felt instantly relieved. It was a good thing that Tuvok was against gratuitous violence, otherwise Harry would have been strewn over the street by now. He wasn't sure what caused B'Elanna to be in such a bad mood, but being stuck in a parallel dimension didn't seem to be helping.
Suddenly he noticed a movement on the opposite side of the street. He started to walk over.
"Stop right there, Nega-Trash!!"
All three StarFleet officers whirled around. Standing right behind them were two teenage girls in Sailor uniforms.
"In the name of the planet Jupiter, I will right wrongs and triumph over evil!" cried the first one, a leggy brunette in a green uniform.
"And in the name of the planet Venus, we will punish you!!" yelled the second one, an equally tall and skimpily dressed blonde. Harry couldn't help thinking of Paris: he would be in heaven. Tuvok walked towards the two girls.
"Greetings," he said. "I am Lieutenant--" He was interrupted by the one claiming to be from Jupiter. She crossed her arms over her chest and yelled "Jupiter...Thunder..CRASH!!!" Suddenly, Tuvok was engulfed in waves of electricity. He collapsed almost instantly, having time to utter only one "fascinating."
"Alright," growled B'Elanna, "You rejects from Risa are dead." With a blood-curdling scream, she charged at the nearest sailor girl: the blonde one. The girl didn't just stand there however, she pointed to B'Elanna and yelled "Venus Crescent Beam SMASH!!" A beam of energy leapt from the girl's finger. It stuck B'Elanna right in the chest, and she hit the ground with a thud.
Harry gulped. Now it was his turn. But he wasn't going to get caught like his comrades. He drew his phaser and took aim. Zap! The brown-haired one went down. Harry whirled, and got the other one. She went down almost as fast as her friend.
Harry was feeling pretty good about his marksmanship, when suddenly he heard what sounded like a cat screaming. Then something jumped from the trees over his head. It was a cat, and it landed on him clawing and hissing. Then another one jumped on to him. He struggled to get them off, and keep his balance at the same time, but he tripped, and hit his head on the side walk. The last thing he saw before blacking out was the cat, and he could swear it had a gold crescent moon on its forehead.
Janeway approached the girls warily. Tuvok, Kim and Torres had obviously gotten pulled to another dimension. So therefore these girls were from another dimension. But it didn't answer any of the questions Janeway really wanted to know: who are you? How did you get here? Why are you wearing those really short sailor uniforms?
One girl stepped forward. She was wearing a dark blue uniform, (the skirt of which barely--just barely--covered the tops of her thighs) and she had dark blue hair. But other than that fact (and the fact that the girls had enormous eyes) they looked pretty human.
The girl stood straighter and announced: "I am Sailor Mercury. This is Sailor Moon (pointing to a blonde dressed in red and blue with what appeared to be six foot long hair) and this is Sailor Mars (she was very oriental looking, with long dark hair, and a red sailor suit). Now, send us home, Nega-trash, before we have to hurt you!"
Janeway laughed out loud. She couldn't stop it; the thought of these girls doing anything to--
"Mars..Fire...IGNITE!!"
Fire blasted out of the girl's out stretched fingertips. It nearly caught Janeway, but she ducked at the last moment. The plume sailed on, over Paris, and hit the screen. It then scattered, but a handy ensign grabbed a extinguisher and snuffed them out.
Janeway gaped in astonishment for half a second. But she allowed herself to only gape that long; when her time ran out, she pulled a phaser and aimed it straight in the face of the blonde one. "Who are you, where do you come from and what did you do to my crew?"
The blonde took one look at the obviously dangerous weapon pointed at her and started to cry. Not just sniffle either: she was bawling her eyes out. "Serena!" yelled Sailor Mars. "Shut up already! Why do you have to be such a big baby all the time??"
"I can't help it!" wailed Sailor Moon.
"Just try to put a lid on it!!" screamed Mars. Janeway, watching this display, decided to take a chance. She holstered her weapon, and took a step towards the crying Sailor Moon.
"Don't worry," she said. "If you don't hurt us, we won't hurt you, deal?"
Sailor Moon nodded, sniffled, and looked to Mercury for the next step. Mercury peered at Janeway for a moment. "Then you are not from the Negaverse?" she asked cautiously.
"Negaverse?" Janeway repeated. Mercury, Mars and Moon nodded. "I don't think so," Janeway said slowly. Then: "Are you at war with this `Negaverse'?" More vigourous nods.
"That's why I attacked you." said Mars, looking sheepish. "I thought with your uniforms that you were Negaverse flunkies."
"See, Mars? We're in all this trouble because of you and your stupid temper. You nearly blew them up, just because you thought that they might be from the Negaverse!" yelled Sailor Moon.
"Well, at least I did something! You just stood there and cried like the big baby you are--" The argument quickly degenerated into insults and name-calling. Mercury stood to the side, her face in her hands.
"I have to apologise for them," she said, shaking her head. "They fight like this constantly." Janeway nodded. She had seen this sort of behaviour among the Starfleet and Maquis crews when they first combined forces.
"Is there anything that can stop them?" she asked with a smile.
"Actually, there is one thing......"
"Oh boy!!!!!! Hot fudge sundaes!!!!!" squealed Sailor Moon. She dug in eagerly. Neelix was nearly as thrilled as she was.
"I didn't think my liola root ice cream was going to be so popular!" he said, with a huge grin. Janeway and Mercury grinned as well.
When Sailor Moon had heard the words "fudge sundae" she had stopped the argument so suddenly that Mars didn't realise it had stopped until several moments after. But now she was just as happily chowing down, so it looked to the Captain of Voyager that a major crisis had been averted. Now, if only the other major crises she had to deal with could be averted so easily.
Kim groaned. His head felt like some one had been hitting it with a sledgehammer. Then he realised, no, nobody had done that, he had simply bashed it on some low lying concrete. He groaned as he sat up, but in the end he managed to get vertical.
"Tuvok?" he groaned into the silence.
"Yes Ensign?"
"Where are you?" asked Kim, groggily.
"Right in front of you, StarFleet," groaned B'Elanna. She sounded as in pain as he was.
"How come it's so dark?" he asked. The silence that accompanied it told him that that was not an innocent question. In fact, B'Elanna chuckled.
"Open your eyes, silly."
Kim tried to, but the moment they opened a crack, he was assaulted by the brightest light he could ever remember seeing in his life. "I wish there was a way to turn them out," he said absent-mindedly. There was a click, and the lights went out. Kim opened them up fully. Now there was only the soft light coming from a small window. "How did you do that?" he asked, amazed.
"I simply located the electrical switch that turned the lights on in the first place, and returned the switch to its previous location." Tuvok said simply (so to speak).
B'Elanna chuckled again. "You mean you turned them off," she said with a grin.
Tuvok nodded once. "But my interpretation was more specific."
Harry looked around him, deciding to turn a deaf ear to Tuvok's `specifics'. He tried to figure out where they were. Judging by the small window, that looked out on the level with a lawn, they were underground. Probably a basement or cellar, to tell from the shelves. He strained his ears, and could make out, in the distance, cars, and the sound of birds squawking. Or more accurately, cawing.
He looked in the other direction. There were stairs, five to be exact, leading to a ordinary wooden door. Ordinary for the twentieth century. He had assumed that was when they were. Everything around Kim looked almost identical to the furniture, landscapes, buildings etc. of that era. (Again, Paris would be in heaven.) "Has anybody tried the door?" he asked.
B'Elanna and Tuvok both nodded. "It is securely locked and bolted."
"Have you tried to take it off its hinges?" Kim asked.
"You mean, break it down?" inquired B'Elanna, who appeared to be out of her bad mood. "No. We've been waiting for you to wake up. Now that you're awake though...." she looked at Tuvok. Tuvok nodded. B'Elanna got up, and walked up the steps.
No sooner than she touched the last step, but the sounds of the bolts being undone and the door handle started turning. Torres jumped away at the last minute.
The door opened, to reveal the cat with the crescent on its forehead. "It's all clear, you lot. They are awake." it said. The door opened wider to reveal the two girls from the fight yesterday. "Are you alright?" asked the blonde one. None of the hostages responded, they were to busy staring at the talking cat. "That cat is talking," said Torres with her mouth open.
"Fascinating," was all Tuvok said.
"Are you alright?" asked the blonde one, again.
"I guess so," Harry mumbled.
"We're sorry about attacking you, yesterday, but we thought you were from the Negaverse. But Luna doesn't feel any negative energy from you, so we realised you weren't after all," said the brunette. "By the way, my name is Lita," she added, in way of introduction.
"I'm Mina." said the blonde with a grin. "Pleased to meet you."
"I'm Luna." said the cat.
"I'm Harry," said Harry. "This is Tuvok, and B'Elanna Torres." They both nodded.
"One question though," said Lita. "If you aren't from the negaverse, where are you from?"
"Hey!" burst out B'Elanna. "If you're so interested in being friends, why are we still locked up?"
Mina looked shocked. "You're not locked up! Not any more, at least. But you're right, we're being rude. Here," she said, helping Kim up, "We'll go upstairs for tea."
The tea and muffins that Kim ate were the best he had had in a LONG time. He could hardly believe that they were real chocolate, and not some fake liola-root-type forgery. Try as Neelix did, he just couldn't get the recipes right.
Lita laughed. "You eat almost as much as one of our friends," she said.
"Now Lita," admonished Luna, "That's no way to treat a guest, insulting him like that."
"Sorry Luna," Lita said, but a quick wink to Mina said everything but. The cat harumphed. It jumped on the table, and Harry had to fight the urge to pick it up and put it on the floor, off the furniture.
"Now, to get to business." it said in a brisk tone. "Who are you? And if you aren't from the Negaverse, where are you from?"
"We," began Tuvok," are from a parallel dimension. Which, from appearances, runs along a different timeline as well. We--The crew of the USS Voyager--are Starfleet officers. Our vessel was located on the far side of the galaxy, in the Delta Quadrant. We were exploring a mysterious anomaly of unknown origin when we were pulled in, and transported to your dimension."
Luna stared for a moment at the Vulcan. She turned to Harry and said: "Who are you? Where do you come from?" Harry tried to make it as simple as possible.
"We're from another dimension. But not the Negaverse. At least, I've never heard it called that," he added.
Luna harrumphed again. "Have you seen our missing scouts?" she said, addressing Harry yet again.
"No, but it's possible that they got pulled to our dimension."
Luna turned to B'Elanna. "You are from another planet?" she asked. B'Elanna nodded. "As am I," offered Tuvok.
"Could they be--?" asked Mina, hopefully.
"I think so," replied Luna. "And anyway, we'll need some one to take over for Amy, Raye and Serena until they return."
She jumped off the table. Suddenly, she jumped in the air, and did a loop-the-loop. Sparkles exploded everywhere, and a small wand materialized out of nowhere. Luna picked the wand up in her teeth, and dropped it at B'Elanna's feet.
"Take this, yell the name of your planet, and then power!" she instructed.
"Like `Jupiter Power'" offered Lita.
Torres was still confused. Planet? She didn't have a planet, unless they meant--?
She stood up, took a deep breath and yelled "Qo'nos POWER!"
Mercury tried not to stare at her surroundings, but this "Voyager" was so advanced, it made her VR Visor and Computer look like sun glasses and an abacus. She would have loved to get her hands on it, and seen what made it tick, but doubted that the crew of Voyager would be very amicable if she dismantled their computer.
She, Mars and Sailor Moon entered the "conference room" and got to their seats. They got to sit right next to the Captain, seeing as they were guests.
"Why are we here?" whispered Sailor Moon, eating some of Neelix's liola-root cupcakes.
"I believe this is a meeting to try and discover the cause for our dimension jumping." replied Mercury.
"Why are we bothering to do that? We know what caused it. That portal. All we have to do is go back through it." snorted Mars. Suddenly she jumped up. "Serena!" she yelled. "You're getting crumbs all over me!"
In response, Sailor Moon blew a raspberry, scattering even more crumbs. "You're getting my uniform all dirty!" cried Mars, outraged.
Mercury stood up quickly. She knew the crew seated around the table were watching the whole display with amusement, but she didn't want them thinking that the Scouts were just kids. "Why don't we just change back? Then our uniforms won't get dirty," she suggested. She also thought that maybe the crew would be impressed by them changing back. It wouldn't hurt for the crew to be a little awed.
"That's a good idea, Mercury," Sailor Moon said. Mars nodded in agreement.
"Can you wait until after the meeting?" said Janeway. "We can provide you with quarters--"
"Oh, no need. It'll only take a second." assured Mars.
Paris raised his eyebrows to Chakotay. This was going to get a bit more interesting...
Sailor Moon and her Scouts raised their wands and cried:
"Moon power!"
"Mars power!"
"Mercury power!"
At once, their clothes began to change, becoming ribbons of colour and light, eventually forming into ordinary clothes.
"I suppose we should tell you our names," the Scout formerly known as Mercury said. "I'm Amy Anderson." she was now wearing a light blue sun dress.
"I'm Raye," said the former Mars, cautiously, as if she felt she was giving more information than they needed. She was dressed in overalls with a pink t-shirt underneath.
"I'm Serena," said the girl with pigtails. She was dressed in green shorts, and an orange top. She didn't offer her last name, but Janeway felt it was more from wanting to be friendly than from suspicion.
"Interesting transformation," noted Chakotay.
Janeway cleared her throat. They were having a meeting for a reason. "We're here to discuss the anomaly. Unfortunately, since Tuvok was...unable to man his station, we were unable to get any readings."
"Readings? As in sensors?" said Amy, suddenly. "I have sensor readings."
All of the crew members sat up straighter. They looked at her with a sudden fixation. Amy blushed. "I have a computer that is capable of taking readings. I took some just before we entered the negaverse portal--the anomaly. I have a VR visor that is stronger, but it's only accessible in my uniform."
"Could your computer and ours be compatible?" asked Chakotay.
"I don't know. Your system seems far more advanced than mine." Amy admitted.
"It's still pretty advanced!" said Serena, standing up for her. Amy smiled, appreciating the gesture.
"I'm sure it is," soothed Chakotay, " at any rate, our computer has programming that will allow it to integrate your information."
Janeway nodded. "Commander, I want you to help Ms. Anderson here with the conversion. I guess that's all we can do for now, wait, and take more readings of our own. We'll get them home, even if we have to wait for the anomaly to stand up and yell the answer."
With that, the meeting was dismissed. The various crew--Paris, Neelix, Kes, Carey (taking over for Torres), Rollins (taking over for Tuvok) and Ensign Bateheart (filling in for Kim)--headed towards their stations. Chakotay stayed behind to help Amy. Janeway suddenly remembered the other girls.
"Lt. Paris!" she called. The helmsman turned around, eyebrows raised in a silent yes?. "Can you show these girls to their quarters? We can put them in the guest rooms for now," she asked. Paris grinned.
"It'll be my pleasure," he said with a smile. " This way, ladies."
For a second, nothing happened. But then, suddenly, B'Elanna was enveloped in a sparkling light. It reminded her somewhat of the reflections in the warpcore...She felt herself changing, but before she could fully comprehend what had happened, it was over.
And now she was a very different person.
Her starfleet uniform was gone. Instead, she wore a sailor uniform like the other Scouts. It was black and yellow, like her uniform was. But unlike the other uniforms, this one had armour. Klingon armour. It also had two knife sheaths.
"Cool," she said slowly. She looked up to see Harry and Tuvok looking at her with horror. She did a little pirouette, so show off her new clothes, and then laughed out loud.
Luna, Mina and Lita beamed. "She's one of us," Mina said proudly.
"No," said Tuvok rising. "She is not one of you. She is one of us." Harry nodded vigorously.
"Oh you guys." B'Elanna snorted. "Calm down."
"Don't worry, we haven't forgotten you," Luna assured Tuvok. She did another flying loop, this time landing with a yellow rose. She dropped it at Tuvok's feet. " Take it," she said, nudging it.
"This is ridiculous," said Tuvok, not evening looking at the rose. Harry picked up the rose.
"Tuvok," he said, "We've got to get back somehow. We have no money, no knowledge of anything that's going around here. These girls could help us. They've already said they would." He offered the rose, careful not to get pricked by the thorns. Tuvok took it disdainfully between two fingers. The second he did, his clothes started changing, Harry leapt back, but Tuvok's transformation lasted only a few seconds. He stared at his new attire, which consisted of a black suit, a white shirt, a black bowtie, a flowing cape, and a top hat.
"Fascinating." he said.
"Now, you can only change when one of us does," said Lita. "At least, that's how it works with Tuxedo Mask. You might be different. But if it is the same, then you'll change automatically when we do."
"That might cause problems if I were in a public place," Tuvok said with a raised eyebrow. Harry could hardly see his eyebrows, as they were hidden by a pair of really ugly glasses.
"Yes, um, well, that's never come up before," admitted Lita.
Suddenly there was a furious beeping. "The communicators! It must be Artemis." cried Luna. Mina dug hers out of a pocket. The little window lit up. "Hurry guys!" a white cat yelled. It had a crescent moon like Luna's. "The Negaverse is attempting to raid a store down on Fifth. Get here, quickly."
"Aright!" cheered Lita. "Action!"
"Good," said B'Elanna/Sailor Qo'nos. "I could use a little action."
"And over here is the mess hall." Paris said, gesturing. Beside him, Serena and Raye hung on to his every word. "We've been in there," Serena said, with a little sigh.
"Yes, well, that's good." Paris replied. Their undivided attention was just a little unnerving, especially since he was so used to being ignored. He cleared his throat and continued. "You can wonder the ship to where ever you want to go, but you have to stay out of areas like the Bridge, Engineering, and Sick Bay."
"Where are you, mostly?" said Raye, fixing him with a stare that made his face go all red.
"Bridge, mostly." he said. He cleared his throat yet again--it was beginning to hurt, so he would have to think of another diversion--and started down the corridor. Serena and Raye followed on his heels, and he was beginning to get that hunted feeling. This also made him extremely confused. It was not a common occurrence for him to feel nervous around women, but these girls were definitely not ordinary.
He opened the door to their quarters. "Here you go," he said quickly. He gave them a short tour, showing them how to use the replicators, and how to make sure they didn't use up too many rations. "If you have any problems, just call someone using the communicators." he finally said. For some reason he couldn't quite put a finger on, he was starting to feel like a caged animal. He felt sudden sympathy for B'Elanna, although he was positive he never made her feel like this.
"Who do we call?" said Raye, breathlessly. "You?"
"Um, yeah, I guess." Paris squeaked. "Well, ladies, enjoy your stay, I've got to get back to work." He practically fled the room.
The girls simultaneously sighed. "Isn't he dreamy?" said Serena.
"He's really hunky. And he's so dedicated." Raye agreed. They both sighed again. "I get first chance," Raye added.
"What?!?!"
"Oh come on! Like you don't get first dibs with Tuxedo Mask!"
"That's different! That's DESTINY!"
"Destiny schestiny. I get to try first."
"Oh, you're such a pig, Raye!"
"Look who's talking, guy hog!"
"Brat!"
Their conversation was cut short by the doors opening and Amy walking in. "Hey guys!" she said. "Did you have a nice tour?"
"The best, Ams," said Serena. "How did your conversion go?"
"We got cut short because Commander Chakotay got called away for some important Bridge Duty. I think it was something to do with tactical, but I'm not sure. Anyway, I've been assigned another liaison."
"Cool," said Raye, a bit absentmindedly. She wasn't really listening, instead staring off into space with a dreamy look.
"Uh huh. I get to have lunch with him while we sort out some problems we ran into."
"Did you catch his name?" asked Serena.
"Not really....I think it was something like...Marseilles? No that wasn't it. It was a french city, I think."
Raye and Serena jumped up. "Not...Paris?" whispered Raye.
"That's it!" Amy said brightly.
"No!!!!!" cried Raye and Serena together. "This is so not fair!!"
"What's the matter, guys?" said Amy concerned. Serena dropped to her knees and was holding onto Amy's skirt. "Please let me come to lunch, please Amy, please. Please please please please?"
"I don't know, Serena, it's supposed to be a business meeting."
"Yeah, Serena, stop being such a pig. Let Amy have him."
"Have who?" said Amy, puzzled.
"Raye!" whined Serena. "C'mon! Let me have a bit of fun!"
"Serena!" yelled Raye. Serena burst into tears. "Quit being such a baby!!!" Raye screamed.
Amy held her head in her hands.
"In the Name of Venus," started Sailor Venus.
"And the planet Jupiter," continued Sailor Jupiter.
"And Qo'nos!" Sailor Qo'nos added her two cents.
"WE WILL PUNISH YOU!!!" they all yelled. Harry and Tuvok were off to the side, observing everything from a distance.
"This is incredibly ridiculous," Tuvok said. Harry hushed him up. He wanted to see what would happen.
The Negaverse Monster looked up and snarled. Its fangs gleamed yellow, and it sprayed saliva everywhere. It somewhat resembled a giant rat, a rat crossed with a human, and tampered with until it was the biggest, ugliest rat-thing that Qo'nos had ever seen. It roared again, and shook its shaggy fur.
"Boy, you're an ugly son of a targ, aren't ya, big boy?" Qo'nos grinned. With a blood curdling scream, she charged. She so surprised the Negaverse monster by a direct attack that she caught it off guard. She swung a punch, and heard a satisfying crunch! as the cartilage broke. The monster roared, and staggered back, but she wasn't going to let it off that easy. She grabbed the rat-thing by the throat, and threw it to the ground. It wheezed as the wind was knocked out of it. It tried to get up, but Qo'nos persuaded it not to with a kick in the ribs. It suddenly faded, and disappeared.
"Good going, Sailor Qo'nos!" Venus chirped.
"Yeah, you're really good. But why didn't you use your powers?" Jupiter asked.
"I have powers?" she was incredulous. Jupiter nodded.
"Just shout what ever comes to mind, next time. That's how I first got my powers." she said. Venus nodded in agreement. Artemis and Luna walked up.
"You were great, Sailor Qo'nos." Artemis said. Qo'nos shrugged, and dusted off her uniform. Then the monster reappeared, whole and healthy. Qo'nos screamed as she was slashed by the giant claws, and she was thrown aside. She hit the wall and groaned.
"Venus Crescent Beam!" The gold beam struck the monster dead on, but did no damage. Jupiter's Thunder Crash had the same effect.
"Oh no!" cried Harry. "We've got to do something!" Tuvok nodded. He walked away from the store they were beside, and stood directly in front of the monster.
B'Elanna groaned. Her head pounded, and she could barely see. Some big monster was in front of her...which planet was she on again? She couldn't remember. She tried to get up, and then realised she was not in her StarFleet uniform, but some bizarre looking sailor outfit. The Monster turned to face her. She stifled a scream. She tried to get up, but her head swam so much.....
Out of nowhere, a phaser beam sliced through the air. It struck the creature, causing it to roar in pain. B'Elanna looked up to see Tuvok, dressed in a top hat and a cape.
"Sailor Qo'nos," He said. Was that her? She had a strange feeling it was. "I believe that you possess the necessary armaments to defeat this biologically incorrect creature. You must use all of your mental faculties in order to manifest the unlikely mystical powers which you are believed to have acquired."
Suddenly, like a curtain being raised, Sailor Qo'nos--that was most definitely who she was--stood up straight. Her dizziness was gone, and she felt like a new woman.
"Alright Negatrash," she said. "In the name of the planet Qo'nos, I stand for love, justice, and logic!"
"Interesting touch," said Jupiter, looking at Tuvok.
The Monster was unimpressed with Qo'nos's speech. It charged.
Qo'nos smiled. It was all so clear now. She raised her arms above her head, in slight imitation of her mother's training exercises, and yelled "Warp Plasma Ventilation!"
Streams of superheated warp plasma shot out. They caught the monster full in the chest, and it vanished, leaving behind only a pile of dust.
"Way to go!!!" yelled Jupiter. She and Venus ran up to Qo'nos. "I knew you had powers."
"Wow, B'Elanna, that was incredible!" said Harry. Qo'nos merely shrugged.
"It's not that great. Just what I was born to do. Now, is anybody else hungry? What do you say we go for burgers?"
"I'm in!" yelled Venus cheerfully.
"Me too!" Jupiter added. As the trio of Scouts left to change their costumes, Harry shot a concerned look to Tuvok.
"I'm really worried about B'Elanna," he said.
"Were I able to worry, Ensign," Tuvok replied, "so would I."
Serena ducked behind the counter. Amy and Lieutenant Paris were having their business lunch, and Serena really wanted to know what was going on. It was so unfair, Amy and Raye ganging up on her like that. She crawled past the shelves of pots and pans Neelix had, and poked her head out the door the slightest. There. She could just see them, and better yet, hear what they were talking about, but they couldn't see her unless they looked directly at her. She quieted a giggle, and settled down to watch the fun.
"Perhaps we are going about this the wrong way," offered Amy.
"How so?" asked Paris. He had been genuinely surprised by the intellect of this girl. She was extremely bright, and he was interested in her thoughts.
"Well, we've been assuming that this was a space-time rift."
"Go on..."
"But what if it isn't? What if it's simply a dimensional opening? After all, our universe could simply be running at a different speed than yours." She said cautiously. This wasn't really her field of expertise after all. In fact, this was the only quantum singularity she had experienced that wasn't created by the Negaverse, and her advanced astral physics textbook simply didn't cover things like this.
"That's an intriguing idea. If it's true, it means we don't have to worry about beaming all of you into the middle ages or something." Paris considered, rubbing his chin. The data received from the girl's--Amy's--computer was far from sophisticated--it didn't even have tachyon readings for crying out loud--but there was a lot of data, and it was the best they had. Even with the data, Paris had reservations: this wasn't his field of expertise, and the StarFleet course on Unexplained Anomalies didn't cover anything like this. He sighed, and rubbed his temples.
Suddenly Amy looked over his shoulder. "What's the matter?" he asked.
"I just have to see about something," Amy said, looking puzzled.
"Sure. Go ahead. We need a break anyway." he replied, stretching.
Serena saw Amy approach with growing apprehension. Uh oh. she thought. Amy's going to kill me if she finds I was spying on her. Raye too. I better not let her see me. She started to back up, not looking behind her.
This should be good! thought Neelix as he carried the cake out. Ensign Bateheart would love the surprise, and the cake was his favourite...lemon with vanilla icing. Well, okay, it wasn't lemon, or for that matter, vanilla, but it was still delicious. He lifted up the platter over his head and started to march out.
Paris watched Amy go off toward the galley. It was too bad she was so young. She was interesting to talk to, plus that blue hair was really neat looking. Then he saw Neelix holding up what seemed to be a cake. He was walking toward Bateheart, it seemed.
Suddenly there was a loud yell of pain, and Neelix tripped over something. The cake went flying and landed with a sploosh! on the carpet. Neelix lay, sprawled on the floor, while Amy yelled: "Serena!"
Serena jumped up, rubbing her head. "It's not what it looks like, Ams, really." Amy merely glared. "It's not," repeated Serena. She was walking backwards from Amy, waving her hands.
She had forgotten completely about the cake. She stepped and screamed as her foot slipped out from under her. At this point, Rollins and his Security team barged in, having been alerted by the screams. Rollins rushed forward, and accidentally stepped on Serena's hair while she was getting up. She shrieked, and Rollins fell. His whole team, which had been right on his heels, floored as well.
Paris couldn't stop laughing.
He was still laughing in the inquiry that Janeway called.
"Please, Mr. Paris. Try to regain some composure. Now, who can tell me what happened?" Janeway asked.
At that moment, everyone talking at once.
"I wasn't doing anything! I swear!"
"Someone said there were screams--"
"Now his birthday is ruined!"
"Serena!!!"
"It's not my fault! He stepped on my hair!"
"Serena!!!"
Janeway sighed. They had to find a way to get her people back, and quickly.
"These fries are great! What's this stuff on them? Ketchup? Who come Neelix doesn't make stuff like this?" asked B'Elanna, her mouth full.
"Because Neelix wouldn't know a potato if it fell on his head?" Kim said with a grin. Tuvok merely gave a delicate Vulcan snort.
"Say, you guys," started Mina--they were all out of their uniforms now--"What's Harry's role in all of this?"
All eyes turned to Ensign Kim. He could feel a blush coming on.
"Well," said Luna, "He isn't the Scout of Earth--We've already got Darien for that--"
"Say," interrupted Lita, "Has anyone seen Darien lately?"
"He's away for the weekend, remember? Serena cried for half-an-hour when she heard." reminded Mina.
"Oh yeah," said Lita, chuckling. "I was sure she was going to dehydrate herself."
Luna cleared her throat. "Back to Harry please," she chided, "We still have to figure out his role."
"Perhaps he's a guardian, or a leader?" suggested Mina.
"Maybe he's a guide for the others, like you, Luna." said Lita. Tuvok made another small Vulcan snort.
"Perhaps. Yes, I suppose that'll have to go, for now." said Luna. "The next question is: how do we get the other girls back?"
"I have given some thought to that myself. Since it is logical to assume that the other `Scouts' are on Voyager, we only have to work on a way to open the precise rift."
"Only," said Harry, rolling his eyes.
"Tuvok's right. If we had some sensor readings, we might be able to recreate the distortion," said B'Elanna, looking for a moment like her old self. Harry felt hopeful..but then the look--that particular B'Elanna look--went out of her eyes. Harry sighed.
"Mercury managed to get a lot of readings, but they're with her on Voyager..if that's where she ended up. I guess that's not really helpful," apologised Lita.
"Not really, but..." Harry started fiddling with his tricorder. "You've given me an idea--"
"Perhaps the tricorder recorded on the way through?" suggested Tuvok. Harry blushed.
"Yeah, maybe."
"Unlikely, Ensign." Tuvok said, taking a sip of his herbal tea. "The tricorder would have to be on for it to record."
"It was on," said Harry sheepishly. "I forgot to turn it off last night."
Tuvok raised an eyebrow. "Indeed. Perhaps your lack of organisation will prove valuable." He took another sip.
"Hey!" exclaimed Harry. "I did record some readings!" He showed Tuvok, who looked and then passed it to B'Elanna. Tuvok finished off his tea.
"This is excellent. Using the tricorder as an emission source, we will be able to re-create the distortion. However, we will require an amplification device." Tuvok said.
"Amplification, huh?" said Luna thoughtfully.
"Well, while you're setting it up, what do you say we go shopping, huh?" suggested Mina.
"I'm game!" said Lita.
"Count me in!" cried B'Elanna.
Harry and Tuvok turned their heads simultaneously. The three girls left some money for the check, and then rushed off.
"Why don't we go back to the Temple?" recommended Artemis. "It'll be quieter there, and we can call the girls on the communicator if we need them."
"That's a good idea," said Luna. The two cats bounded away. Harry and Tuvok got up.
"I fear that this dimension is having a detrimental effect on Lieutenant Torres." remarked Tuvok.
"She's not the only one," replied Harry. "I mean, look at us."
Tuvok did so. "We look as we normally look," he said, slightly puzzled. Harry sighed, and ran his hands through his hair.
"It's hard to explain, Tuvok, but we don't look as we normally look. If I had to put a label on it...well I can't. We just look funny."
Tuvok raised an eyebrow. "Indeed Ensign. Tell, me, when was the last time you had a registered shore leave?"
Harry just sighed for an answer.
Captain Janeway sighed, and took a sip of her tea. It was too hot, so she burned her lips. She didn't really notice though, she was thinking too hard. The door beeped.
"Come in," she called.
Tom Paris sauntered in. "Here are the reports," he said, laying the PADD on the table.
"Thank you," Janeway said. She picked them up, and started reading. She looked up in surprise. "You've figured out how to open a rift?"
Paris grinned. He didn't know what surprised her more: that they had figured it out in the first place, or the Paris had had a hand in it. "Actually, it was Amy. For a kid, she's very knowledgeable about this stuff."
"Really." Janeway's eyebrows remained arched. "I'd like to talk to her..."
"That can be arranged," said Paris, with a grin. Janeway looked at him oddly. He turned toward the door. "Amy!" he called. The door opened, and Sailor Mercury walked in. Janeway was a little taken back. "She had to change to use her VR Visor," Paris explained. Amy/Sailor Mercury nodded.
"Ah." Janeway nodded. She gestured toward the couch. Paris and Mercury sat down. "Tell me your plan," she said simply.
"We need an amplifier though," said Harry, looking at the modified tricorder.
"I think we might be able to help with that," said Luna. She dropped a strange looking object on the table.
"What is this?" inquired Tuvok, picking it up.
"It's Serena's Moon Wand. The Imperium silver Crystal is what amplifies things: at least, it does Serena's energy." replied Artemis.
"I think I might be able to fix the tricorder to hook up to this," said Harry excitedly.
"One thing: we have no way of warning them that we are going to pull them through a rift." Tuvok stated. Harry thought for a moment. Then he gasped.
"That's not the half of it, Tuvok--how are we supposed to go through the rift? It's in deep space!"
Tuvok blinked and raised an eyebrow. "I had not though of that," he conceded. Harry groaned and held his head in his hands.
"Hey," said Artemis. "I think I have an idea."
"So we make our own rift, and send a shuttlecraft through? I don't know. It seems rather risky. Too much mass, these anomalies are notoriously unstable the more mass in them." Chakotay noted.
"The transporter wouldn't work, though. Too much energy interference," argued Paris.
Serena sighed. Raye looked over at her, and yawned. Amy poked them both in the ribs. "C'mon guys," she said. "They're helping us get home."
"Why don't we--" Serena started, but was interrupted by a beep.
"That was our communicator!" cried Raye excitedly. Serena whipped it out of her pocket and turned it on. "Lita? Mina? Luna? Artemis? Is that you?" she said.
"It's me, Serena," cried a girl's voice. "Guys! I got them!"
"Lita!" cried Raye and Amy.
"Yeah. Guys, we [crackle crackle] have [hiss, crackle]--"
"What? I can't hear you, you're breaking up," said Serena, on the brink of tears.
"I think I can fix that," said Rollins suddenly. "Can I have the communicator?" Serena handed it to him. He studied it for a moment with the tricorder, then tapped a few keys on the conference room viewscreen.
Suddenly, the head of a grinning, brown-haired girl appeared. "Guys!" she cried. "You fixed the communicator. Wicked. Anyway, here's the plan--"
"Plan?" interrupted Janeway. "First, where are my people?"
"Oh, we're right here," replied Harry, popping his head in the frame.
"You're all accounted for? Alright?" Janeway asked.
"Oh, yes, captain..." Harry said worriedly. He looked off beyond the frame and Lita moved to give him more room. Suddenly, in the background came the yell "Venus Power!"
Harry looked even more upset at this. "It's B'Elanna," he said hurriedly. "I can't explain it, but she's changing."
"Jupiter Power!" they heard yelled in Lita's voice.
"Changing?" said Chakotay. Harry nodded. He started to open his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a loud shout of "Qo'nos POWER!!!!"
Silence.
Finally Janeway managed to get over her shock first and say "`Qo'nos Power', Ensign?" Harry bowed his head shamefully. Janeway leaned back in her chair, rubbing her temples. Raye looked confused, Serena even more so, but Amy had the look of dawning on her face. "Of course.." she whispered.
"What, Ams?" asked Serena.
"She's a replacement Scout..."
"Of course!" cried Raye, smacking her forehead. Then a pause. "Actually, no, I haven't got it."
Amy was deep in thought. "I--but maybe--" she mumbled.
"What is it, Amy?" asked Paris.
Suddenly, she stood up, smiling. "I've got it!" she cried. "Scouts, transform!"
Serena and Raye looked at her as if she was insane. But Harry looked pleased, as did the two Scouts (which Janeway assumed they were, their costumes were the same, but different colours) who had stuck their heads in the frame. Amy stamped her foot impatiently. She took out her wand and held it up. The other two did the same.
"Mercury power!" Amy yelled.
"Moon..Prism..Power!" Serena yelled.
"Mars POWER!!" cried Raye.
Then, all together: "Scout Power!"
They changed, illuminating the conference room in bright light and colours.
When they were done, Janeway smiled slightly and said "I hope now we can have an explanation."
Sailor Mercury looked toward Sailor Jupiter. "You are thinking what I think you're thinking of?" she asked.
Jupiter grinned. "This time, for once."
Mercury turned to Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars, but when she talked, she had her voice raised so that everyone could hear.
"The distance between the rift and here is a vast expanse of space. We can't just walk through. We can't use one of their little space ships, either. The mass might collapse the rift."
"We can't even make a rift," Chakotay reminded them.
"Well, actually," interrupted Harry, "We can."
"How...?" said Janeway.
"We used Ensign Kim's tricorder to recreate the rift." explained Tuvok, who had stepped into the window. It was getting pretty crowded.
"I left it on," said Harry sheepishly. Paris laughed.
"Anyway, we used the Moon Wand to amplify the signal so that it was large enough." added a Scout in yellow and orange.
"The Moon Wand!" cried Sailor Moon. "But I brought that with--" She stopped to searched her uniform. "Or maybe I didn't," she conceded.
"Oh Serena," said someone with a faint british accent. A large black cat popped into the window. It had a crescent moon on its forehead.
"Did that cat just talk?" said Paris, surprised.
"Don't ask, Tom, just don't." cautioned Harry.
"Anyway," continued Sailor Jupiter, "We used the Moon wand to `piggy-back' a signal to you." The Starfleet officers all nodded. Standard procedure.
"The only problem is the gap--" started Harry.
"Not any more," interrupted Mercury. She took Sailors Moon and Mars aside and whispered to them. Mars giggled. Mercury walked back up the window. "We'll wait for your signal, Jupiter, you've got more people to work with." Jupiter nodded. She turned to everyone else. "Okay guys, time to go!"
They all disappeared from the screen. Sailor Mercury, Sailor Moon, and Sailor Mars all linked hands. And waited.
Jupiter linked hands with Venus and Qo'nos. "Make a circle," she ordered. "Luna, when I give the word, activate the tricorder." she said. Tuvok looked at her quizzically. "You can't be in the circle and activate it, you know," she said. He nodded an understanding and took his place in the circle.
"Sailor Moon!" yelled Sailor Venus. "You've got to give Luna time to open the rift."
"Gotcha!" she yelled back. She, Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars joined hands in a circle. Sailor Moon took a deep breath.
"Moon Prism...POWER!!"
Mercury took her cue: "Mercury Planet POWER!"
"Mars Planet POWER!"
And on the other side:
"Jupiter Planet POWER!"
"Venus Planet POWER!"
"Now, Luna!" yelled Jupiter. Luna activated the tricorder. it beeped, emitting the precise radiation needed to form a rift. Then, it was channelled through the Imperium Silver Crystal. The air rippled, and a rip in the space-time continuum opened with the sound of tearing cloth. It created a vacuum, creating a gust of wind as Nature tried to fill the offending hole.
"Now!" yelled Sailor Moon.
All the Sailor Scouts yelled "Sailor Planet POWER!"
But nothing happened.
"There's too many people!" yelled Mercury. "We don't have enough power!"
"Yes we do!" yelled back Sailor Qo'nos/B'Elanna Torres. She took a deep breath. "Qo'nos planet POWER!"
It was enough energy to teleport them all through the rift to Voyager. "We did it!" cried Kim. " We're back!"
The Scouts all grinned, and hugged each other as they were reunited. There was a lot of reuniting on the Starfleet side too; but they were all too dignified for hugs. They had to settle for hearty handshakes.
"Hey, B'Elanna," said Paris. "Cute clothes." She laughed and hugged him. He was a little taken back, but seemed to recover.
Suddenly Qo'nos gave a small cry and collapsed. Paris managed to catch her before she hit the floor. Her sailor uniform vanished, and was replaced by her Starfleet uniform. Kes ran up immediately, and took her life-signs.
"She's okay," she announced. "Just exhausted." Janeway sighed with relief.
The union was joyously continued in the mess hall, along with tons of liola root ice cream for Serena as a going away present from Neelix. "Nobody else eats it," he explained. " So you might as well enjoy it."
"Thanks!" Serena cried throwing her arms around him. "That's sooooooo sweet!" She began to sniffle.
Paris laughed. He was going to miss her. Then he noticed Amy in the corner. He went up to say his goodbyes.
"Hey, Ams," he said as he walked up. She looked startled at him calling her that, but grinned. "Just want to say goodbye," he said. She nodded and extended her hand. "Oh what the heck," he said, as he hugged her instead. Amy seemed to take it well enough.
Raye however, didn't.
"Argh. I can't believe her!" she seethed.
"Oh Raye," Lita giggled. As she looked Paris over, she grinned. "You know, he looks a little like my old boyfriend Freddy," she said. Mina and Raye just groaned.
At last time came for them to be heading back to their own dimension. The last goodbyes were said all around, but the most tearful were for B'Elanna.
"Here," she said to Sailor Jupiter. She gave Jupiter her Star Wand.
"No," Jupiter replied, "You keep it. After all, it might come in handy."
B'Elanna shook her head. "I can't be Sailor Qo'nos in this dimension. That's why I collapsed before."
"Then just keep it as a memento," suggested Venus. B'Elanna smiled weakly and nodded. There were a few last hugs, and then the Scouts teleported. B'Elanna looked like she was about to cry. The crew of Voyager watched as the rift shrank, and closed, and disappeared forever. Janeway sighed. Finally it was over.
"B'Elanna?" asked Harry. "You okay?" She nodded, and then smiled.
"Wanna go get a burger?" she asked. Harry and Tuvok just looked at each other.
"And remember, stay away from any weird anomalies if you come across any," said Sailor Jupiter.
"Anomalies, although they can appear fun, are not good places to play near." said Sailor Mercury.
"That's right: anomalies can be very dangerous. Always tell a parent or other adult about the anomaly." added Sailor Venus.
"So be careful, and don't forget to look both ways before crossing an anomaly!" remarked Mars.
"See ya later! Sailor Moon says! Teeheehee!" giggled Sailor Moon.
The End [at last!]