An Odd Time While You've Been Gone....

This was probably going to be a crowning event to cap off all the oddities that had been happening whilst Jarlath's group was away. Things like the Time Lord Doctor nicknamed "Dr. What" being adopted by Trilling Blackfeather and his wives for a brave act (probably topping the odd looks of long ago when the Elder D'Honaire had adopted Li'reth as their daughter upon meeting her when her heart chose them). Things like how people reacted to that and learning how people are coping with all the strangeness about.....which we will go into at a later date.

All the while the one known as Diane Walker had a small smile, as if she knew something. Point in fact she had a feeling of something coming that was going to happen. She had this one odd....half remembered waking dream that she'd become familiar with her induction into the state of "avatordom". It was half murky, but she remembered enough to know (and be honored by) the Forge (the dwarven deity she'd been abruptly introduced to soon upon coming to Terra Prime) had allowed her to be a witness of sorts)....

If anything, she'd been "present" enough that when the Forge had spoken through her in that waking dream her rather distinctive accent had shown through.....

Near then end, when Jenny Elf finally got rushed to the Voyager clinic by her worried analog sisters and such, she would have volunteered her expertise as a counselor. As unlikely as that sounds, she was more immanently qualified in aiding the emotionally distraught elfin girl than the Doctor (the bald one). The Voyager's Doctor was very good at healing the body but he still needed much work on his bedside manner, you see. Diane, on the other hand (surprising as it seemed), held a doctorate in several psychological disciplines.

That way so the better to be able to train and prepare the recruit for Military life (so they don't get themselves and their platoon mates fragged, dearie). More on that later, in another story thread.

However, it soon became agreed by all (herself included) that the best one for getting Jenny through this emotionally trying time would be Ti'mma.

Here is the problem. The elfin girl known as Jenny Elf is the last of her kind (her and the few analogs who've set down roots in Xanth), to be blunt. All of her tribe and her race, with one exception, had been reborn upon Terra Prime as that particular world's brand of elfkind. The only other elf of her species, a male named Rayek, was not in great shape (the magic that raised him from the dead hadn't raised him to a level of a miserable and relatively short reprieve). No continuation of her species were going to be coming from that corner because besides it not really being a very realistic means of species continuation (too small of gene pool base with only two), the....er..... Let us just say that even if Rayek felt like it....he cannot.....

......

No, at some level something within her new all this. Her analog sisters back in Xanth had chosen to homestead there and due to a special condition within that odd, pun filled land, this wasn't really a problem (long story I won't go into here right now). The thing here is that the one known as Jenny Elf who'd come to Terra Prime was setting down roots there! This meant that something within her makeup was....well...in panic mode.

Wendy and Richard Pine, the creators of Elfquest, had made their elves have a genetic compulsion built within them that guaranteed the continuation of the species by producing special children when potential partners met at certain times. Richard Pini laughingly called it "How loud is your lizard?' when he talked of it in one article. Basically, somewhere in the "lizard" part of their brains was a compulsion to mate that lay dormant until that special someone came. When the time was right, the unsuspecting elves would look into the others eyes and the trap is sprung. The event is called "Eye meets Eye " (marking a somewhat similar happening within Dragon society with similar results), but instead of instant love with the other....it was more like a need that soon becomes VERY distracting....as it were. If denied, it could even kill!

Well, that compulsion isn't quiet here with Jenny Elf, but it just shows you that a survival mechanism comes into play with Elfquest elves (which Jenny Elf is). Originally the High Ones (Jenny Elf's ancestor's) had a different look than what Jenny wears now. They were a different....species. The High Ones had the means within themselves to remake their own bodies into other living creatures which was soon lost but for a few like Timmain (the Wolfriders tribe's ancestor/founder). Well, let's just say that that ability is no longer somewhat dormant within Jenny....but it is not under her control. It sensed the re- incarnated elfin folks around it and, in a bid for species survival (as it were), had been slowly re-working Jenny's body into something genetically compatible with Terra Prime elves. Oh, she still looked as she had upon coming to Terra Prime, but genetically it was.....a different story. She still had the four handed fingers and such. Still had those sharply pointed ears and all that, but within her things had changed. She now was unaging. It was all to do with her "wolf blood".

What was really upsetting here for her was that her "wolf blood" within her was fading by the minute! See, what Wolfrider elves have within them are elements of the wolf in their makeup (long story....don't ask) that allows them a heightened set of senses (on par with Terra Prime elves) and such to better survive the harsh world they found themselves upon. The world of Two Moons (never to be called Abode now) had seemed to ask for mortality within the elves in order for her bounties to be shared with them (i.e. the elves must give back their dust upon their deaths in exchanges for what they got from this world in life). However, such wasn't necessarily the case of Terra Prime, and this "survival element" within Jenny was sensing that amongst other things. The best way to say how things were on Terra Prime could be summed up by the old U.S. Marine motto "Adapt and overcome." So in order for that to happen, this element within Jenny seemed to feel that the way Jenny had been wasn't good enough...so some changes were needed. Changes like what I've already mentioned and hinted at. Changes that would soon lay open the road for Jenny to be able to become a mage (which makes for an interesting thing, being that her Xanthian talent of singing to share daydreams still was working).

But being that, aside, she was rather upset about a link to her old life being lost alike that and such, you can imagine Wolfrider (which Jenny was) took some pride in that element within themselves, the "wolf blood"..... Well, Ti'mma was softly talking with her, calming her down. Being a High One (reincarnated or not) meant that she had a lot of manna with Jenny....and had a background that gave her the tools to help Jenny adjust to her changing self (as it were).

Somewhat calmer, Jenny soon was talking with Ti'mma about the troubles her Xanthian sisters seemed to be having with something called "math". Jenny had never heard of the term before so was going to ask what Ti'mma meant when she was laughing about how it might be due to the Xanthians using a base ten numbering system (due to the ten fingers humans have) when Jenny's kind had naturally used the more natural and accurate base eight system. She would have asked, but all questions and answers like that fled her and Ti'mma's heads when Tarin Gazin and Grailing made the scene.

Hearts were sealed and wedding plans set for a few years down the road set (upon the brides reaching the marrying age of 18). Thus ended (and began) a circle in time....

Later, by a few weeks.....

After a long but successful diplomatic trip in the Babylon 5 universe (on that monster space station), Astra and her friends were really looking forward to going home! The relatively sane pace on the station had been nice, but....they were rather looking towards a home coming. That was especially true for the magical based folks of the group (i.e. the demifoxes).

"I would love to see how Grailing is getting along right now," Jarlath agreed, remembering the elves they'd left back home (to adjust).

That is when it happens...

A young Star Fleet buckaroo with more guts than brains had made unauthorized "improvements" on the warp/skip drive of the shuttlecraft he was piloting. Something that would have gotten him a hard swat from a Military mechanic and /or a court marshal OUT of Star Fleet. Oh, "on paper" it IMPROVED warp efficiency by some small margin. Something that a rival said couldn't be done or some such, this junk. It is an unauthorized component in the mix and a prime example at just why you never saw the folks in Star Trek just slap in any old new technological toy in their ships even if it looked good. Sometimes what might work once or twice might totally fail under other circumstances. That's why you let engineers and mechanics handle it because THEY know their ships forwards and backwards. They know how something might impact their ship.... Heck even a little thing like a logic element for a galley stove can fritz up systems elsewhere all over the ship.... Happened once even on the TV show, Star Trek: Voyager....

Never mind...

He should know better and his stupidity should have been caught earlier before he could cause any harm, but.... Well, no system is perfect and idiots can sometimes go by undetected....

Even after ten years there are still spaceships out in Star Fleet that haven't been upgraded to newer consoles, replacing the old control consoles that can (as seen on TV) explode in one's face. The others hear the pilot's (the young idiot's) scream as the console pops....burning him horribly with an arc of electricity and knocking him into the bulkhead (knocking him into a coma).

They feel a sick, wrenching sensation as they rush from the compartment they were having lunch in to see what was the matter....

The skipdrive fails spectacularly, ripping the "runabout" warp shuttle (a spacecraft seen on many of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine shows) from a Babylon 5 universe....into an odd Star Trek: TOS universe where a crossover is already in progress. A mystical connection is made between the multiverse and a link between a Champion and another like them....reels the shuttlecraft here....

See, the magic present in this universe. Reasons unknown and need not be explored right now.

The crossover here involves a mutiny of the womenfolk of this reality's Enterprise (NCC-1701) due to an alien influence through some unborn children within. The crossover involves an olden, 20th century tale of horror or such....

So while a woman who calls herself Uhura (but really isn't) is getting mind probed, the now tumbling runabout is having the Champions scrambling all over fixing what they can and helping the downed pilot best they can. Why here? Well, there is a little credited law of magic covering it. See, the young yahoo had installed a component who's functions causes the ship's engines to function in a similar manner as the Defiant back when she'd been accidentally teleported to the Robot Universe by a glitch induced by the Orb of Time in the skipdrive/warp engines. Oh, it had been an accident, but later on the engineering review teams would be amazed at the power output of the engines during the few seconds the glitch was occurring. Somehow this yahoo had gotten a hold of the review teams data, figured out how to get his shuttlecraft's engines to act in a similar manner (albeit in a controlled manner....so he thought). Should have asked a few engineering friends about this before tinkering.

Well, as before, like called to like. In this case the thing that drew this shuttlecraft to this universe by the Magical Law of Similarity happens to lay within a dark skinned woman named Joan AND a dark skinned woman who calls herself Uhura....

Later, when asked by aggrieved Champions, Agent 4 will deny having any special hand in recent events. Sometimes weird things happen to good people....

Anyway, with fires out and life support finally stabilized, they find themselves adrift (with a Herculean task of getting the impulse engines back online even if they had team of technicians with them). Much too long a fix time for the fading pilot.

Just as an insurance policy, coordinates of this universe are massaged from the fritzing shuttle computers and memorized by Champions and stored in PDAs (belt and suspender approach to the problem, folks). Then, not having much choice in the matter, they send out an SOS, hoping for help....

If not, it's going to be a LONG wait.....

1. The one who gives off the distress call is Andrea....and is picked up by a mutineer woman covering for Uhura up on the bridge....
2. The one who gives off the distress call is Astra.... and it is picked up by a mutineer woman covering for Uhura up on the bridge....

Add New Option

Go Back

View Forward Story Tree
View Back Story Tree

Display All 2 Links to this Episode