Prologue In a place outside of time, about a few gigazillion miles from Earth, two people were sitting across from each other, arguing. One was a woman of about a apparent 22 years and the other was a slighty balding man of 40-ish years. The man was wearing a black, grey and red uniform with a delta set on a angled rectangle on his left breast and four gold pips on his right collar with red slashes on the cuffs. The girl was wearing an abbriviated sailor suit, dark bows on the front and back, a dark miniskirt and the standard white bodysuit. She had a golden tiara and a dark gem imbedded in it. In her right hand, she held a key-shaped staff with a red orb in the top circle and her hair was black with green tinges. At this point, she was glaring daggers into her fellow immortal (when they wanted to be one). The man was complaining. “Come on, Pluto! The continum has granted me this reprieve from going with its will and I want to make it a good vacation! Is that so much to ask?” Pluto glared at Q. “Q, you know as well as I do, that the time stream could be adversely affected if you decide to mess with other lives.” He snorted and waved it off. “Cool off Pluto. I figure I’ll go and bring four people from you’re precious time stream and send them to Starfleet Academy. Let Picard and whoever else encounters them to deal with the problem.” Pluto glared at him again. This was the most hairbrained scheme that the michevious entity decided to whip up out of the space he called a brain. “I still don’t like it. But...I’ll let you take four, and no more, people from four places. That’s it. If the Kami-sama ever found out what I’ve let you do, then he’ll never let me live it down.” she said grudgingly. “Don’t worry about it,” Q said with a dismissive wave, “he already approved it.” Pluto raised an eyebrow. “That’s surprising. Last time you asked him, he took the liberty to personally chuck you out of Asgard.” Q shook his head dismissively. “Anyways, I’ll choose four people and ONLY four. See you later.” With a snap of his fingers, he dissapeared from the table. Pluto watched the air in front of her as it waved for a second. She groaned and laid her head on the table. “I have a bad feeling about this.” she muttered. *** Space...the Final Frontier These are the voyages of the Starship Jurai It’s continuing mission, to explore strange new worlds and dimentions, to seek out new life and new civilizations... To Boldly Go Where No One Has Gone Before *** Star Trek : Universes written by Shaun Garin *** Chapter 1 Saotome Ranma sat in his desk, asleep. Snoring slightly, he dreamt about a place beyond his knowlage. Ranma yawned as he rose out from his bed in the dorm. Brushing off a bit of lint on his shoulder, he lifted his muscular body out of the bed and headed towards the Sonic Shower. After a brief shower, he walked out and opened the closet for his Starfleet Academy Cadet uniform. Specializing in Security and minoring in Engineering, something he never knew he would ever take up but found an hidden talent for, he dressed in his academy uniform and walked out the door, headed towards the cafeteria. As he stood in the line, he thought he heard a voice calling to him. He spun around, checking the area. Nothing. but then it called again, more instant this time. Then...he woke up. “Ranma! Get up! School’s over!” Akane slapped him across the back of his head, waking the Martial Artist in an instant. “Wh-wh-what? I-I’m up.” Akane sighed, exasperated from his attitude. “Come on, school’s out and I want to get going before Kuno-sempai attacks you again.” “Feeling a bit protective of me, ne, Akane?” A mallet was her only response. Stars exploded as she dragged the 18 year old BOY behind her by the pigtail. “Yes. Ranma. He’ll do nicely. Can I take him Mommy?” Q did his impression of a little boy. Pluto was not amused and she said so by whapping him up the head with her staff. “Yes Q, you can take him.” Kou Yaten walked the halls of Juuban College, trying to get back to his locker without being approached by several hundred girls at a time. Mobs, he could handle. Love letters, he didn’t really enourage. This being reinforced by his actual form as a woman. But somewhere, a michevious entity, guided by a cautious Time Watcher, conversed with each other. “Does her Majesty want me to use Mrs. Kou? Or does she think that she shouls be left alone?” Q said sarcastically. “Shut up Q. You can take him.” Pluto grated out. Elsewhere, a heated battle was being raged between a cyborg kitty cat and two women in huge body mech suits, brimming with power. The girl was having fun while the others were getting increasingly frustrated. “Hmmm. I’ve always wondered how Data would react if another android was introduced to him. May I keep her mum?” he asked in an incredibly bad British accent. “Go ahead. Just remember she’s quite naiive at times.” In a shrine, a girl of an apparent age of 12 was typing at a floating keyboard, script flowing down the virtual screen. Ryoko walked by. “Hey mom, what’cha working on?” “Parrallel Dimention theories. No one has ever actually found a way to hop dimentions,” ‘without any nasty repercussions,’ she added silently. “so I’m trying my hand at it.” “Is that safe?” Washu stared at her daughter. “Right, forgot who I’m asking.” She took a swig of Sake and walked away. “A genius might liven things up. Besides, I’d hate to know what would happen if the all mighty Jurai Empire found it’s future Emperor had suddenly got up and walked away out of the universe.” “Do you have to be so active in other people’s lives?” she questioned. Q looked at her, a grin plastered on his face. “not particularly. But I enjoy it.” Pluto groaned. “Just focus Q.” Q flexed his wrists and wound up like a baseball pitcher. You could almost hear the fans roaring in appreciation and the organ music piped in the background. “Here’s the pitch,” Q reared back and threw a blast of energy towards the four chosen people. “And it’s gone!” “You haven’t changed, have you?” she chuckled. Q and Pluto watched the four disc’s of Q energy lance out towards the four recipients. In the Dojo where Ranma was the center of a savage beating, he flared upand dissapeared with a bright flash of green energy. This caused widespread chaos. In Juuban, Yaten felt a energy pulse and ducked to no avail as the ball consumed his person and he dissapeared in a flash of green light, much to the horor of the senshi around him. “Green?” “Don’t ask. The continum thought it might be funny.” “I don’t see the point.” “Neither do I.” Nuku Nuku felt the heat from the missle bearing down on her. Suddenly, the all too familiar sensation, (well to the previous two) of green energy engulphed her and she disspeared before the missle imbedded in the cement. “Nice timing.” “Thanks.” Washu’s sensors around the area were not operational since she never bothered to tune them to Q energy patterns. Though if she knew what a Q WAS, she would have done so. but the ball shot into the living room and removed the genius from the face of the planet. Ryoko saw everything but didn’t bother since she was totally plastered with Sake. “That’s all of them. Now, to set them up with one of my favorite targets.” Three pictures appeared in front of him in live action. One showed a balding man with a somewhat stern demenior and the darker background of the Enterprise-E. Another showed a dark skinned man with a muscular build and a war etched on his face. His commanding post? Deep Space Nine. Another was a shorter woman, a pain of loss written on her face and fatigue. Her command? The Starship Voyager. These three people were a likely candidate for the fun Q was about to inflict on Earth in the 24 century. “Lets see. Eini-mini-miney-moe. Lets see. Um... lets have Picard have a little fun with the new guests. Becides, I want to see if Data will react with Nuku Nuku around the ship. “Have your fun. But they are not to be harmed, assimilated, beaten or mauled.” “That, my dear, is totally out of my own hands. Once the 10 years are up, I have to bring them home.” “All right,” but suddenly, the words hit home. “What the... Q! You never told me you had 10 years!” “Ciao.” He snapped his fingers and dissapeared in a flash of white light. “Dammit!” she pounded the floor with the end of the staff. Four years later...or in Kou’s case, eight years later.... “Spacedock has granted docking on pylon 2 Captian.” Data reported from the Helm. “Then proceed Mr. Data.” Data swivelled in his chair and took manual control of the manuvering thrusters. Giving a slight nudge to the starboard thrusters, the mighty ship banked and turned around so that the umbilical was at the appropriate side. With another nudge of the back and forward thrusters, it slowed to a full stop. Then with the tap of a pad, the port thrusters fired and the umibilical locked into place with the pylon. “Docking complete Captian.” “Good Mr. Data. Shore leave for everyone while the ship undergoes a bit of upgrading.” Commander William T. Riker stode the halls of Deep Space 4, headed towards the holodeck, a new program in his hand. He passed Holodeck 1 when suddenly he heard a massive explosion rock the room behind him. “What the hell was that?” He turned around and punched the padd. “Computer, what program is running in the holodeck?” “Program Ranma1.” “Ranma1? Who are the users?” “Ensign Ranma Saotome, Ensign Yaten Kou, Ensign Atsuko Natsume and Ensign Washu Habuki.” Another explosion rocked the room. Pushing all thoughts away of his self being, he pressed the open pad. Inside, he found a city skyline which bore a resemblance to Tokyo in the 20th century. “Seems peaceful enough.” WHABOOM! An exploision rocked the cityline as two figures were flung out of a building and smashed through a wall. Riker jogged up to them. “You two okay?” “Yes sir. We’re okay.” the one with a chinese battle outfit said. His companion was a girl with a abbriviated leather suit. “Hello sir, I’m Ensign Saotome. This is Ensign Kou, my companion.” “Good day sir.” She said in a soprano voice. “Ensign. May I ask what you are wearing?” Yaten blushed. “Um...It’s a long story sir.” A loud roar came from the street as a monster appeared in the hole in the wall. Yaten and Ranma turned around. “I thought you killed it Yaten-chan.” “Aw, it must of survived. Lemme try again. Star Sensitive Inferno!” The hard beams of energy blasted out from her hand and drove it into the wall, taking down the building with it. Riker blinked. “How did you do that?” “Another long story sir.” “RANMA! PREPARE TO DIE!” A loud voice yelled from the doorway. Ranma looked up. “Oh, hey Pig-Boy!” “Shut up! Now die!!!” Ryoga launched a flurry of attacks. Ranma quickly rejoined the battle, making their way towards the center of the town. “Um, pardon my asking but what kind of excersise program is this?” Riker was totally confused. “Its how we lived in Tokyo in the 20th century.” “20th century?” “Another long story. Uh, sir, duck!” She and the Commander dropped down as a misssile blasted across the space formerly occupied by their heads, followed by a purple-reddish haired girl dressed in a old school uniform and lastly a couple of ladies in a mech suit. “Hey Nuku Nuku!” “Hihi Yaten-chan!” Riker raised an eyebrow. “I’m not even going to ask.” “STONE TOUCH!” A whole building turned to stone as a young girl with spikey red hair ran from a mecha. The building collapsed as she then applied the Baksui-ten-ketsu to the wall. The wall crumbled and landed on the mecha, crushing its metal body with a thud. She wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead as she walked up to them, a towel in her hand. “Commander.” she greeted. “I’m Ensign Washu Habuki. I see you met my companions.” A cry of Mouko Takabisha resounded around the area as a ball of crackling blue chi lanced out and blasted the mecha behind Yaten. “Commander Will Riker. Who are your friends exactly?” “The one duking out with the mecha over there is Ensign Ranma Saotome, the leather clad girl over there fighting with the demon is Ensign Yaten Kou, and the one with the missile is Ensign Atsuko Natsume. Computer, freeze program.” Everything stopped in mid attack. Ranma, Yaten and Atsuko stopped short. “You guys done?” Washu asked. “Yeah. Computer, end program.” The Tokyo skyline dissapeared to be replaced by the new diamond pattern of grey and black. Yaten wiped sweat from her forehead as her body reformed and was replaced by a silver haired man in a Starfleet grey, black and blue uniform. Riker’s jaw dropped. “How did that...who..what...Ensign Kou? Mind telling me what or who you are?” “Yes sir. I. like myself, are four people from another universe. We were drawn here four years ago, with the exception of myself since I attended Starfleet Medical, by a green disc of energy. So far, we’ve stuck together for the time we were here. Only Starfleet Command knows our true natures and native place and time. So they have assigned us together everytime. Ranma is from the Nerima District, and has a somewhat...” Yaten trailed off. “Go ahead.” Ranma encouraged. “Computer, give a glass of cold water.” The glass materized in his hand and she innediately splashed Ranma who instantly changed into a female. Riker facefaulted, which was uncommon in Starfleet. “As you can ee, he is cursed to change into a woman with cold water. Hot water will change him back. I am a princess of a planet which was destroyed in a attack. When I came to earth with Seiya and Taiki, we took on the ability to change into a male. Atsuko is a...well, lets just say sir that Mr. Data is not alone anymore.” “You mean she’s a...” “Android sir.” Yaten affirmed. “This is getting difficult.” he complained. “And Ensign Washu Habuki is a alien who is an incredible genius.” “Hello Commander Riker.” “Good day Ensign. I must say that you four are the most...interesting group. I’ll see you on the Starbase.” “Thank you sir.” The four chorused. Chapter 2 Deanna sat in Ten Foward, working on a chocolate fudge sundae, mulling over the new transfers that just came aboard the Enterprise-E. They were to be transfered to DS9 to help in the reinforcements and defence reworking. They were..an odd bunch. She hadn’t felt anything like their personality’s for a long time. Not ever since she was down on Earth in the 22th century or when the Enterprise had jumped universes and met up with the X-Men. Then there was the later encounter with the mutants. Ensign Saotome was holding a deep sorrow, obviously linked to something in his past. Ensign Kou was an enigma to a woman who loved puzzles. He was somewhat distant but warm and giving, though not really open sometimes. Then Ensign Washu Habuki. She was an intelligent sort with an intelligence of several thousand years of experience. If it wasn’t for her small 12 year old body and her insisting she was a very brilliant 12 year old, she would swear she was about 100,000 years old. The last one she talked with was Atsuko. The girl was very naiive but a memory and reflexes on par with Data. now THAT was wierd. She was a natural with Astronav, piloting the ship with expertiese. Sometimes she felt a craving for tuna and horsemeat coming from Atsuko’s person. “Something’s wrong with this picture. But what is it?” Captian Jean-Luc Picard entered the bridge through his ready room door. Scanning the room, he noticed that a new face was at the Helm. A young girl, about 17 years old was sitting at the Helm. That would have unnerved him if it wern’t for the Ensign uniform. What unnerved him was the speed that her hands moved. They were moving at a speed matched, probably even unmatched at Data’s speed. This scared him more than he would have admitted. He walked up to her, peering over her shoulder. He noted idely over his mind, that she was operating it on manual. “Ensign?” A brief resetting to automatic and she swivelled in her chair. “Yes Captian?” she asked in a young accented voice. “Are you a new transfer?” “Yes sir I am. I am with three other Ensigns, headed towards Deep Space 9.” “Hmm, I see. I do believe we haven’t been introduced. Captian Jean-Luc Picard.” “Ensign Nuku Nuku Natsume sir. But my real name is Atsuko.” “Nuku Nuku will do fine. I am curious Ensign of the way you can handle the Enterprise in Manual control. How do you do it?” “Well sir, it is a talent of mine. I am an android.” Picard was astonished. “Android? We’re you created by Dr. Sing?” “No sir I am not. Permission to speak freely sir?” Nuku Nuku asked. “Granted.” “I was created in a alternate universe to this own by my father Kyusaku Natsume. When I was created, my brain was transfered into a android body.” “Brain?” Picard asked. “Yes sir. My brain is a cat’s brain which ingrained skills into my subconcious and body motions.” “Interesting. Ensign, I would recommend for you to speak with Commander Data. He is wanting to create another like himself and could use the template for your design.” “Thank you sir.” “Dr. Crusher? I’m Ensign Yaten Kou, I’ve transfered aboard for a while.” Dr. Beverly Crusher shook the young man’s hand with a relitively strong grip. “How long have you been in Starfleet Ensign?” “Two years after graduating from the Academy Medical.” Yaten replied. “I was told to come here for a medical checkup.” “Good. Ensign Saotome is in the examination area waiting for you as well. Seems a bit nervous.” Yaten grinned. “He would be too with his condition.” “Condition?” Beverly asked. Yaten grinned wider as he followed the doctor into the room. “Okay, we need to recalibrate the warp shielding for your experiments Ensign.” Geordi La Forge was working at the side panels near the warp engines. To his left, Washu was rapidly reconfiguring the warp power output. “Done. The shielding is at frequency 2431, with the power output at 25% over the usual maximum.” Washu then turned around and tapped her watch, and a holographic screen appearing in front of her, a holographic keyboard at her arm level. “I’m starting a linkup with the ships computer to accept the Juraian technology protocals. They should be up in a few microseconds.” At once, the warp power jumped through the roof. “There,” she affirmed, “the warp engines are now at 200% maximum efficientcy with the ability to travel at speeds up to warp 13 and level one slipstream.” “Amazing. It took the greatest scientific minds in the Federation just to develop theories that you just installed in less than twenty minutes.” “Childsplay. When you work with machines, you can get them running in no time.” The colored man stared at Washu strangely. “Have you ever played poker Ensign?” Washu nodded while not looking up from her holographic screens, “I’ve been known in the Academy to clean out many wallets in a sense. I was known as the “Spikey Devil.” Geordi laughed, ‘good choice,’ he thought. “Anyways, if you want, come and play a game with the senior staff in Commander Riker’s room. Tonight at 19:00.” “I’ll be there Commander.” “See? Everything is proceeding smoothly! And you said it wouldn’t work,” to this, he grinned knowingly at the slightly upset Guardian of the Time Gate. “Very funny Q. But take a look at the people they left behind. Nearly a month has passed in my universe, creating havok where they go.” To this, scenes shown in time bubbles were shown. Akane and the fiancee’s were tearing apart Nerima to find Ranma, Tenchi was worrying out his mind, the senshi and Yaten’s brothers were getting very upset and Kyasaku and Ryunosuke were getting worried. Two years later.... “Congratulations Commander Habuki, Captian Saotome, CMO Doctor Kou and Luitenant Commander Natsume, you four are the commanding officers of the new USS Jurai.” Admerial Ross sauluted them and the four returned the gesture. Ross grinned and turned around, leading them towards the lined up officers. “Let me introduce you four to your crew. This is Luitenant Nog, one of the first Ferangi in Starfleet.” Ross moved on. “Luitenant Ja’eel, the top engineer from his class.” The blue skinned bolian nodded. Ross continued along until they were finished. “So Ranma, how’d you like the Captian’s Chair?” Yaten asked. Ranma wiggled slightly and sat back, relaxed. “Actually pretty comfortable,” he said with a smile. “I can’t believe they actually made me captian of the Jurai.” “Hey, you deserved it,” Nuku said from the helm. “After that raid on the Jem’Hadar base on Betazed, you deserved Captianacy.” “I guess,” Ranma said. Washu came up behind him and slapped his shoulder. “Come on Ranma! You’re in command of the second Soverign-class starships in the fleet! And with the greatest scientific mind in the two universes, we can test the new dimentional rifter!” Washu laughed high and loud, bringing quirky looks from the other bridge crew that didn’t know her. Yaten laughed. “Come on, lets try out this baby.” Ranma nodded. “Nuku? Take us out.” The huge starship glided out of the starbase, its thrusters moving the ship carefully. Once cleared, it pulled away towards the edge of the solar system. “Helm, take us into two parsects of Pluto and hold position.” “Aye sir.” “Washu? Energize the dimentional shifter.” “Power readings are ready.” “All hands prepare for dimentional jump on my mark. Mark!!!” The ship phased into nothingness and ended up orbiting Pluto in another universe. Ranma peered out the viewscreen. “Status report.” “We’ve shifted two universes Captian,” Washu reported, “we’re back home.” Yaten nodded from his chair. “Match confirmed. We are back in our own universe.” Ranma grinned and stood up. “Nuku? Set a course for earth, maximum impulse. Lets give our friends a scare shall we?” Ami’s computer practically blared when the Jurai slipped into orbit. She jumped up and scanned the sky. “Guys! A ship is in orbit! Emmitting powerful energy signitures! In fact...” she never finished her sentance as everyone was transported up into the sky. Everyone megablinked as their vision cleared. In front of them stood a man in a yellow, grey and black uniform with a delta on his left breast. Rei was furious. “Where the hell are we?!” she demanded. To answer the question, the doors slid open and a familiar young man strode into the room. He grinned and sweapt the bangs from his eyes. “Welcome on the USS Jurai. I am Chief Medical Officer Yaten Kou.” Yaten was immdeiately barreled by a massive group hug. After the inicial barrage of tears, Seiya and Taiki confronted him. “Where have you been for the last two years?!” Seiya demanded. “In another universe. You’re looking at Chief Medical Officer Yaten Kou.” “...” everyone were stunned into silence. Yaten laughed while motioning them to follow him for a small tour until they got to the bridge. “Captian? The first group is aboard. Shall I lock onto the second group?” “Not yet Luitenant, lets find Commander Habuki’s family and beam them aboard.” “Not a problem,” Washu said while coming up behind him to sit at her Command Chair. Washu tapped a control at her side and instantly, the harmonic chiming from the trasporter beams hung in the air as several figures appeared in the space in front of them. Tenchi blinked. “Hey, were are we?” “Greetings. I’m Captian Ranma Saotome of the Federation Starship Jurai. You all know my Second in command, Washu Habuki.” “Washu-chan?” “Miss Washu?” “Mom?!” “My my,” this came from Yoshu who was checking the regestry number and ID on the wall. “USS Jurai NCC-1254 United Federation of Planets. Very nice ship you have here Captian.” Ryo-ohki “miyaa”ed in appreciation. Ranma shivered slightly, though months of psychological work with Councilor Troi when they served on the Enterprise D had dimmed his hystaric reaction to cats, he still shivered out of reflex. “And who’s this little animal?” he asked, picking up the cabbit. “That’s Ryo-ohki, our ship!” Sasami said. “Ship eh? Washu, you never told Geordi how to make something like this, did you?” Washu only gave a “who? cute l’ill ol me?” look. Ranma sighed and said, “Luitenant Nog? Can you escort them to Ten Foward?” The Ferangi nodded and led the group out into the turbolift and decended with a whirr. Ranma sighed and leaned back in his chair again. “Nuku? Lock on to your family and beam them aboard into ten foward. Meet them on your way out. I’d like to deal with beaming my family up personally.” Nuku and Washu turned a knowing look to each other. He wanted to confront Miss Tendo about their relationship. If they still had one by the time he beamed them aboard. Ranma stared at his reflection, hating every etch on his face. He had grown in the past eight years in Federation Space. A small, nearly invisible scar ran down his neck from a Jem’Hadar hand knife. He had grown taller, more muscular, and older. His hair was cut short, but just enough for a small ponytail. He sported a small mustache and beard. In all, he looked dignified. He steeled himself and headed into the transporter room. “Computer, erect a level six containment forcefield on all sides, top and bottom of the transporter chamber. Reinforce to level 10 if people get angry.” The blue forcefield winked into existance, and made it so that it was totally invisible. Ranma took a deep breath and locked onto the people. The harmonics filled the room as several pilliars of light appeared in the chamber. They resolved into Akane, Ryoga, Genma, Nadoka, Nabiki, Kasumi and Soun. Ryoga looked around, saw Ranma and immediately went into a berzerker rage. “RANMA PREPARE TO DIE!!!!” His death chant was cut short when he slammed into the forcefield, shooting him back into the arms of Genma. Akane was furious. “Who’s there?!” Ranma hesitated for a second but said, “Computer, lights.” Akane took in the scene before her. There was Ranma standing before her. Ranma. The man she thought had died with that wierd green ball hit him. She went from sad to upset to furious in a blink of an eye. “RANMA! RANMA YOU JERK!” “Akane...stop.” To his surprise, Akane did stop. She backed away, trembling. Genma then went into his manly mode. “What’s wrong with you boy?! You have no sence of honor or duty!!!” Ranma only folded his arms. “If I was honorless dad, then what would you want me to do? Commit Seppuku? I’m telling you right here and now, I have done things that you would be too scared of to do.” Genma scowled. “Like what?” “I have fought Jem’Hadar. I have defended the Federation from the Dominion Threat. I have travelled from planet to planet, helping the Federation become more stable. I have met and fought alongside the famous Captian James T. Kirk. I have become Captian of this ship. Now, tell me what is so honorless about that?” Nadoka recovered from her shock first. “Ranma, where have you been all these past two years?” “In another universe. I’m Captian Ranma Saotome of the Federation Starship Jurai, Soverign Class, NCC-1254.” “A starship huh?” Nabiki said, lifting an eyebrow. “How much are you willing to pay for it Ranma?” “The Federation won’t be happy if a coniving little girl conned a Starship Captian out of his state of the art starship.” Nabiki narrowed her eyes, “Watch it Saotome, or else I’ll...” “You’ll what? I could just beam you back down to the planet right now.” Ranma touched his finger to the padd and energized Nabiki’s padd. The sparkling white lights engulphed the Con Woman and she was trasported back down into the Tendo Dojo. In another light show, she was brought back up into the ship. Ranma stared at everyone. “If you all promice to behave, I’ll lower the forcefield. Do we have a deal?” Everyone nodded. Ranma touched a control and the forcefield winked out. He smirked. “Welcome to the Jurai.” “How big is this ship?” “15 decks, spanning over 700 meters in length. Its sturdy and the second in its series.” Akane whistled. “Wow, you must not get home much.” A brief flicker of pain washed over his eyes. “I tend to call this ship home. Without it I’d feel pretty bad. Here we are, Ten Foward.” The doors hissed open obediently as he entered. Akane, Ryoga and Nadoka were with him. Inside, Nuku waved a hello to her Captian. Ranma smiled and waved back. Akane started to flicker with a raging battle aura. “Ranma...who is that?” she asked through clenched teeth. “That’s Luitenant Commander Nuku. She’s my helmsman.” Akane deflated as she came over with her family. “Captian,” Nuku inclined with her head. “I’d like you meet my family. This is my Papa-san, Kyasaku Natsume, Mama-san, Akiko Mishima, and Ryonusuke.” Ranma shook hands with the family. “Hello everyone. I’d like you to meet some of my family. This is Akane Tendo,” Akane bowed. “Ryoga Hibiki,” Ryoga nodded. “And my mother, Nadoka Saotome. The rest have been beamed down since they’ve said they wanted to think of some things.” “Konichiwa. Captian.” Nuku smiled and walked over to Washu and her family. Ranma was grinning. “Nuku’s the best helmsman a captian could ever have. She’s very reliable. Her inteligance upgrade Commander Data had created for her helps her piloting immencely.” “I see,” Akane mummured. “I guess you have a really good lifestyle here as Captian.” “It’s all right. I have to consider every life on my ship to be safe as possible.” Suddenly, Ranma just realized, “Hey, where’s Ryoga?” “Excuse me, can you tell me where the Jurai is?” The green haired transvestite in the red dress looked up, confused. “Up there, head about 1 million kilometers.” Ryoga left Graviton City, even more confused. Chapter 3 Yaten turned over in his bed, grumbling softly as the chime rang again and again. With a snort of disgust, he stood up and grumbled out, “Come.” The door whooshed open and through it came Washu, dressed for work. She had shed her youthful age apparently, being taller and obviously more bustier. Yaten blocked the perverse thoughts and asked, “Washu-chan. What’s going on?” Washu handed him a padd. “We just got a message from Jurai : they want us to report to them.” Yaten scanned it. “Why didn’t you tell Ranma?” Washu stared at him. “It’s 03:00 hours! You think that Sleep-Like-A-Log-Saotome will wake up to this door chime?” To prove her point, she pressed the chime to Ranma’s adjoining door. An answering blasting snore came from behind it. Washu smirked. “I rest my case.” “How’d they find out about the Jurai?” Yaten asked again, “we’re not part of the Juraian Empire.” “Lord Kashuhito called the Emperor. He said that he wanted to see the ship that carried the namesake of the Juraian Empire.” Just then, Ranma stepped into the room, his black hair tostled more than usual. “Ya called?” he asked drowsily. Washu supressed a grin. “About five minutes ago.” “Don’t start, Commander, I’m in a grumpy mood,” he said, scratching the top of his head. “What’s going on?” “Jurai just called. They want to meet the commander of the Jurai.” “Pefect,” he grumbled, “I hate diplomatic missions.” “It is fate,” Yaten deadpanned. “Fate protects small children, fools and ships named Enterprise,” Ranma snapped back. “Well, we’re not fools or small children. And the last time we were on the Enterprise, we rescued Captian Scott on the Dryson Sphere. So there,” Yaten stuck his tongue out at his Captian. He responded in kind. “As much as this is amusing, we need to go.” Ranma tapped his commbadge. “Computer, what is the time?” *The time is 0300 Hours.* “Saotome to Transporter Room 1. Beam up the residents from the Masaki Shrine and deposit them in prepared rooms.” *Aye sir.* “Time of arrival at Juraian Space, seven minutes, fifteen seconds.” Ranma sipped his Hot Chocolate and took a deep drag of the flavored liquid. “You know, nothing beats Swiss Chocolate.” At his side, Washu quickly snatched a doughnut and munched while she tapped at the controls at her side. Yaten was down in the medical bay, going over some scans of his latest pacient and Nuku Nuku was already at the helm, piloting the ship on Manual as usual. Soon, they reached the border patrol ships and recieved the standard hail. *Unidentified vessel, you are entering Juraian space. Please identify yourself.* Ranma stood up and tugged at his jacket. “I am Captian Ranma Saotome of the Federation Starship Jurai. We were contacted by your government through the Royal Family on Earth.” A moment of silence. “You are cleared for entry into Juraian Space. Have a good trip Jurai.” Ranma grinned and had the comm officer cut the transmission. “Well, that was easy enough,” he said, sitting back down. Just then the doors whooshed open and a familiar voice asked, “Where’s the Tendo Dojo?” Ranma turned around in his chair and asked, “Ryoga? When did you get back to the ship?” Ryoga scratched his head, confused. “I don’t know. Last time I checked, I was in this thing called a Vertitech.” Ranma sweatdropped. “Well, in all retrospect, Akane and my Mother are still on board. We’re heading into Juraian territory right now. Have a seat and grab a bite.” He gestured towards the empty seat where a councilor would have sat. Ryoga greatfully dropped his pack carefully and sat down, taking up some food. After a moments silent eating, he said, “Ranma, you’ve changed.” Ranma looked up, a nutural look on his face. “I guess I have. We all have.” Ryoga shook his head. “Ranma, by our time, you’ve been gone for only two months. That’s not nearly enough time to even change one person.” He sighed deeply. “Akane was worried sick. Do you know how many times she cried herself to sleep, just worrying about you?!” Ryoga by now was angry. Ranma held his hands up in a warding position. “Ryoga,” he said slowly, “We were brought to the other universe by a being known as Q. He loved to meddle in the lives of people there, and struck a deal with Sailor Pluto to take four people to his universe.” He stroked his beard and leaned back in his chair, a wise and distinguished look on his face. “It is not our fault that we have aged more than ten or eleven years. I myself am twenty seven years old.” Ryoga wiped his eyes with a bandanna. “I know. But seeing Akane suffer because of you.... Damn it Ranma, you made HER LIFE HELL!!!” “THAT’S QUITE ENOUGH RYOGA! NOW STAND DOWN OR I WILL BE FORCED TO TOSS YOU IN THE BRIG!!” Ranma shouted the words, spitting out the sylables like it was some hateful curse. The frustration bubbled out like a overflowing pot, spewing forth anger. Ranma calmed slightly. “I am very sorry about shouting at you Ryoga.” Ryoga reeled. Ranma? Appologizing? Well he thought he’d never see the day. “As a Starship Captian, I had to learn restraint. It took nearly three years working with Counscilor Troi to learn not to stick my foot in my mouth. Three YEARS and this is what came out. A Captian which many love to work under. It has not been very easy living day out of day, not waking up to Mallet-sama or anything like that. The normal chaos never resumed, save during holographic sessions.” He sighed deeply. “I never learned to love again. But now, I may be too old. That’s why I want you Ryoga to court Akane if I never return from the Universe I now call home. Please, make her happy.” The bridge crew had prudantly retreated from the deck, cramming in the Turbolifts and Ranma’s Ready Room until this personal talk with his once nemisis. Nuku Nuku peeked out. Satisfied that the talk was over, she stepped in and checked her instruments. “Captian, we’re approaching Jurai Center. ETA, five minutes.” Ranma nodded and quickly swept the food and signs of arguements away. He turned to Ryoga and said, “Go. It’s not good if a civilian is on deck when we make contact. Luietanant Nog? Can you escort him off the bridge so that he doesn’t get lost?” “Aye sir.” Ranma turned to his chair controls and punched a padd. “Lord Yoshu? Can you come to the bridge? We are approaching Jurai. ETA, four minutes.” *On my way*, came the reply. “Now what’s this? A new toy to play with?” Veck, a Juraian ‘Mad Scientest’, watched the massive Soverign class ship bank and assume orbit around the planet. His instruments showed signs of matter transportation a few minutes after assuming orbit. To him, any new ship coming into Juraian territory was more than game for his anylizing and eventual dissasembly. He was known notoriously as being ruthless in any means to find scientific machinery for his own benifit. And the massive power readings from this definately not Juraian ship. Metallic, streamlined with a huge bow, and propultion systems on the sides. Cool. Veck started up his scanning equiptment and started to probe the ship. “Commander, we’re being scanned.” There was a edge of nervousness in the Cat-girl’s voice. She frowned. “This is not good. Attempting to reroute frequency modulation.” “Yellow alert,” Yaten barked, “Jurai to away team.” *Go ahead.* “Captian, we’re being scanned. Full schematics, system drives, everything.” A muttered curse came over the commlink. *We’ll be right up. Pinpoint that location.* “Right. Jurai out.” Yaten turned to Nuku Nuku. “Anything?” “Not yet,” came the reply, “the signal is being transmitted through the network of satelites around the planet. Estimated time, two minutes.” “Bridge to Engineering.” *Washu here.* “Washu, we got some problems. Can you reflect the scanning beams?” *Nothing doing Commander*, came the reply. *The scanner is unfamiliar. It’ll take me a few minutes to reflect the beams. They have learned nearly twenty percent of the Jurai. Be damned if they learn any more.* “Good. Bridge out.” The doors hissed open and Ranma stalked in, Yoshu and Ayeka coming a close second. “Report,” he barked. “They have learned nearly thirty percent of the schematics of the Jurai. A few more minutes should give them more than fifty percent.” “How long until full download?” “Estimated time, twenty minutes.” “Kuso,” he muttered, his temper rising. He whirled on Yoshu. “Lord Yoshu, is there any way to identify the person?” He thought for a second. “Veck,” he said finally. “Veck is a ruthless scientest which will try and stop the sun from shining, if it meant peace for Jurai. He is no doubt trying to find out what about this ship is, and its capabilities.” Ranma frowned darkly. “Open a channel to the Juraian Embassy.” “Channel open.” “This is Captian Ranma Saotome of the Jurai. We need some permission to blow up your satalite capabilities. We will gladly replace them if nessasary. Someone is downloading information from our ship and we need to protect the ship at all costs.” A long tence pause. “Five minutes, seventy percent.” *This is the Juraian Embassy. You have go ahead Captian.* Ranma whirled on his weapons officer. “Target the satalites, phasers.” “Locked,” came the report. “FIRE!” The crimson blasts of the phasers erupted from the mighty ship, destroying the floating satalites in a single shot. “Target destroyed,” Nuku reported, her voice in a flat monotone. “Download halted at seventy five percent. No transmission beam from Veck.” she sighed. “He did get the Warp Core schematics, as well as the building supplies, the hull structure, the phasers and the Transporters.” Ranma clenched his hand in anger. “Damn it,” he spat, “I can’t let information about the Jurai be floating around the universe. We need to find out where that man downloaded from. Meeting in the Observation Lounge, one hour.” With that, he stalked out of the room, his shoulders shaking in anger. Guinian took a swipe at the bar. It wasn’t the Enterprise, but it was her second home as well as the Enterprise-D. The Enterprise-D, however, suffered a tragic end on Veridian IV after fighting Klingons over Veridian III. She smiled at her reflection and stared at the newcomer. “Ranma, what can I get you?” “Synthole,” he said, in a blah tone. “Or better yet, make it a whiskey. Haven’t had any since drinking with Bones and Jim.” She set down a Synthole. He stared at her, a mock angry look on his face. “Traitor.” She smiled in her own way. “Can’t let you get drunk this time, Captian.” He nodded and downed the slug with a toss of his head. “Ah, there it goes.” “Bad day, Ranma?” she asked curiously. He nodded through another drink. “Some Scientest started to download scematics of the Jurai. We’re trying to find out where he did it from.” “And this upsets you?” she asked in her teacher way. He nodded again, his fists curled around another Synthole. “I am the Captian of this ship. I should keep this place as safe as possible. But so far, I am only encouraging anger and distrust over the people we beamed up two days ago.” “Ah, the Tendo girl. She is a spirited one no doubt. Much like Ensign Ro.” He snorted derisively. “Ro. Now there was a girl who deserved her Bajorian heritage. I need to review some reports,” he said, standing up, and shaking his head of the after effects of the liquid. “Have a good time Ranma,” she said, “you will need it.” He turned and grinned at the woman he called his friend. Guinian watched him leave and then removed his empty glass from the counter. It wasn’t the Enterprise-D, but it was home nonethertheless. “The relays moved through these orbital satilites before returning to this point of origin, here,” Nuku’s finger traced the pathway to a small island on the Juraian homeworld. “Lord Yoshu and I have determined that the trace is close to twenty feet underground.” “Twenty feet? That seems like an open invitation,” Ranma said, cupping his chin in his hand thoughtfully. “Not nessasarily,” she said, pointing to several areas of removed forest, “these are forceshield generators. The shields prevent any beaming down, and the Generators are protected as well by their own shields. This,” she said, pointing to a small bunker, “is the main computer control system. The scanning beam traced it to this area.” “No beaming down. Can a Shuttlecraft penetrate it?” “No. The defence systems generate stable Light-Hawk Wings, much similar to Lord Yoshu and Lord Tenchi. It could be blown out of the sky like a sitting duck.” Ranma grinned at that referance. “Would a phased tachyon pulse disrupt the shielding enough to send down a away team?” “Perhaps. I have adjusted the frequency emmiters of the shields as well, to adapt to the new weapontry of this world. You know, the ones designed to fight the Borg.” A collective shudder went up the bridge crew’s spines, save for Yoshu and Tenchi. “Excuse me, but can you tell us what or who the Borg are?” Washu pressed a button and the holographic forward screens shimmered into existance. WE ARE THE BORG. LOWER YOUR SHIELDS, AND SURRENDER YOUR SHIP. WE WILL ADD YOUR BIOLOGICAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL DISTINTIVENESS TO OUR OWN. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE. She tapped the padd again and Tenchi shuddered. “That voice is inhuman.” “The Borg are a group mind, that assimilates other species and cultures,” Yaten said, arriving at the discussion long enough to hear the end of the last one. “we encountered them in sector seven G alpha when conducting a survey of Transwarp capabilities.” He shuddered. “I will never forget the sounds of the group mind.” Nuku snapped out of her revire, long enough to say, “Well, I think that the phased tachyon pulse might do it.” “How long?” Ranma asked. “Thirty minutes.” “Do it.” Washu and Nuku headed down to Engineering and Yaten sidled up to his Captian. “I suppose you want to go down there sir,” he said, careful to keep the dissaproving tone in his voice. “Yes. This is my ship, and I won’t let the plans fall into any threat in this universe.” Yaten frowned. “As Chief Medical Officer, I could have you placed in your room to keep you from injuring yourself again.” “Opinion noted in the log,” he said briskly. Yaten grasped his arm. “Ran,” he said, placing the age old nickname into use, “remember what happened the last time you beamed down? You barely survived the Dominion attack. Seventeen crewmen lost, five injured. You came out with half a dozen phaser burns on your chest.” Ranma nodded solomly. “I knew many from the academy. Great friends. Boothby introduced me to many of them. Tra’eel, James, Carpenter. All of them. That’s why I go down myself.” “A Captian’s place is on the bridge. Send me and Washu down instead. She’s the Chief Engineer and First Officer,” he pleaded. “Look, I can tend to wounds and become Sailor Star Healer if needed. But after so long you have got to slow down.” Pain reflected in Ranma’s eyes as he turned around nodded. “Alright. Washu and you will accompany the away team down there.” “Sir?” Tenchi hazarded, “I’d like to go down there as well. Those are my people.” Ryoko phased into view. “Where Tenchi goes, I go too.” “Thank you,” Ranma said. The comm channel sounded. *Captian, the deflector dish is ready to fire.* “Well then, you two should get some Phasers from the armory. Mr. Jared, escort them to the armory.” Jared nodded and lead the duo out of the room. “And there came a beast, with twelve heads, and twelve crowns on its heads. And it spoke blasphimies against the Woman and the child,” Yaten said softly. “Revelation?” Ranma said, not turning around. “Yes sir.” “And I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. The hero did not win, the hero did not defeat his opponent. But nor will he surrender.” Ranma grinned, “Tome of Primus.” “No fair,” Yaten said with a grin. Then he got up and said, “Wish us good luck down there.” Then, he was gone, the doors hissing closed. Ranma turned to stare at the jewel hanging in space. “God speed those who go into battle today.” End Chapter 3. Chapter 4 “Deflector powered up and ready.” “Target locked on.” “FIRE!” The deflector dish started to hum with power as the warp core started to churn with an output it wasn’t meant for..in normal Soverign class Starships, much less Galaxy class starships. But then again, the Jurai wasn’t any NORMAL Soverign class starship. With the new modifications and specifications, the Jurai’s deflector dish fired a blue/white energy pulse at the force shield generators. *Power levels at 22 percent. Shields down. Light Hawk Wings deploying now.* Veck grimaced as he monitored the outputs of the massive ship that nearly dwarfed the Flagship. Suddenly, the intruder alert sounded. A streamlined craft soared down and landed within the shield perimiters. “Deploy the defences.” Akane awoke to the sound of a siren blaring with a soft yet urgent sound. She bolted up and screamed, “RANMA THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!” Then she noticed her location. She slept in a plush bed in a distinctly modern and western style. Auntie Nadoka sat across from herself in a couch, an amused look on her face. “Auntie? Where are we?” “We’re still on the Jurai. The ship just went to Red Alert and Ranma has gone down to the island over there.” “Auntie? Um, are you still opting for marrage with Ranma?” Akane had to know. After all, who was she to marry a twenty five year old man? Nadoka stared out of the port at the green gem of Jurai. “I honestly do not know. My son is definately manly, but I do not think that the tradition of arranging a marriage within families is right. Even though Genma and Soun decreed this, they were dead drunk.” “I thought so. Genma, even in his foolish mind would never do something like this.” Nadoka and Akane spun around to find a cyan haired woman phasing through the duranium bulkhead. She floated down to lightly land on her feet and bowed deeply. “Hello. I’m Ryoko. Tenchi’s friend.” “Saotome Nadoka. And this is Tendo Akane. Tell me Ryoko-san, when did you hear about Genma?” Ryoko made a half shrug and said, “He scammed Nobiyuki when they were young and made him promise that if you had a girl then she would marry Tenchi.” she scowled darkly and muttered in a barely audible voice, “As if I would let that happen.” Akane stood up and quickly retreated into the showers. Soon, she came out, a questioning look on her face. “Auntie, do you know how to activate the shower?” “Say, Computer, Activate shower, twenty degrees Celcius.” A answering chime rang out and the shower started with a burst of jets. Akane retreated back into the room. Then Nadoka turned on Ryoko and asked, “Do you know how much damage my husband has done?” Ryoko nodded and then started to tell a long tale that stretched from the early childhood until the present day. Suddenly, the ship shuddered and they grasped the stationary furniture to keep from falling over. It shuddered again and again, and Ryoko said, “Enemy Fire. I gotta get to the Bridge. If anything, they’ll need my help.” With that, she phased out of existance and winked back onto the Bridge, spooking Nog. “Mom, what’s going on?” she called. Washu looked up from her command chair and frowned. “Veck happened. He grabbed the schematics and such for the Jurai. Yaten is down there now, searching for the plans.” To her right, Ranma stood, straightened his jacket and walked into the ready room. “Number one, you have the bridge.” “Lifesigns are twenty meters along that corridor,” Yaten said, indicating the carved out hallway in the rock surface. “Draw weapons, Phasers on stun.” Yaten unholstered his hand held Phaser and said, “Michelson, you got point.” The ensign nodded and took the lead, hefting the light weight Pulse Phaser Rifle. Within minutes, the reached the interior of the base, equiptment strewn around the vast cavern. Yaten headed to the only active terminal and opened his tricorder. A slow grin moved over his face. Got them. He tapped the controls and placed the Tricorder onto the panels. Immediately, the plans for the Jurai started to download. Suddenly, a cry of warning echoed in the room and Phaser fire filled the air. Out of the stone wall came a huge bug like thing, pincers and all, and several technological protrutions on its body. Yaten leapt out of the way of a lazer blast and returned fire. Nothing. “Set to full power!” He shouted as he adjusted the beam to full. A salvo of crimson fire filled the air as phaser beams lanced out and struck the bug creature. It winced under the fire but returned it with a burst of flame from a flamethrower it had attatched to the front of its left appendage, then countered with a lazer blast from the other. Ensign Vork went down, a bad lazer burn to his chest. Yaten jumped up from his hiding place and fired several shots from his phaser before the clicking sound of an empty phaser rang fresh in his ears. “Shit,” he muttered. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his headmike and slapped it on. “HEALER STAR POWER, MAKE UP!” With a flurry of lights, Yaten became Sailor Star Maker. Forgoing the introductory speech, she let loose a bolt of light with a cry of “Star Sensitive Inferno!” That did it, coupled by the dozen phaser beams, and the monster exploded with a megaton force, sending a harmless shockwave across the room. After the din died down, Yaten sighed in relif and headed towards the fallen ensign. Ensign Jared peeked over her shoulder. “How is he doc?” She shook her head. “Long since gone.” Mechanically, she checked the Tricorder. Download complete. Slapping the commbadge on her chest which always seemed to stay on her, transformed or not, she said in a dead voice, “Yaten to Jurai. Ten to beam up.” They were caught in a flurry of energy and the away team disapeared in a heartbeat. Ranma sulked. Normally, this would be often, but after several years of being in Starfleet, he wouldn’t have done so. He stood up from behind his desk and walked over to the Replicator. “Tea, Tarkalian. Hot.” Within moments of the order, the tea shimmered into existance. He took the tea over to his desk and started to sip it, while looking over the reports. One dead. Not very good for the maiden voyage of the USS Jurai. Then again, who was he to compare maiden voyages? The USS Enterprise-B lost Jim, The D was enountered by Q, Voyager was lost in the Delta Quadrant during its madien voyage. Ranma briefly wondered if fate was playing its jokes. Or Q. Whichever came first. A welcome chime came at the door. “Come,” He said, in a deep baritone, much different from the old rough tenor of his old voice. The door opened to reveal... “Akane. Please have a seat.” Akane stepped inside, a nervous look, a look that he had never seen on her face before, and sat down in front of him. “Ranma. Or is it Captian now?” “Ranma will do. Or Ran.” “Ran.” She seemed to stare off into space before saying, “Ranma, how is it that you wanted RYOGA of all people to court me?” she asked quickly. Ranma arched an eyebrow. “He told you?” She nodded. Ranma heaved a deep sigh and said, “I’m probably too old for you now. You’re a lovely eighteen year old,” he smirked slightly at her reddened face, “and I’m twenty seven years old. Are you willing for a relationship with an older man?” Akane came out of her blush long enough to say, “I don’t know. What would YOU do?” “Me? Well, in all respect, I would marry you, but people frown upon marriages that are so wide apart. Not to mention, I have duties in Starfleet.” “That’s what I’d like to talk to you about Ran,” she said, shifting uncomfortably, “I’d like to come back with you.” Ranma started. “I beg your pardon?” She nodded. “Starfleet sounds wonderful. I could really learn how to do things and see places I had never seen before.” “But not all of Starfleet are fun and games,” Ranma said seriously. “There are constant threats of invasion, right now we’re fighting a war. There was the Borg invasion of earth a few months ago, Cardassia is in political turmoil, the Dominion, every possible thing could go wrong in the world I live in now. I ask you this : are you willing to take that risk? Become Starfleet?” A long pause. “I don’t know.” She looked up, the hints of tears forming in her eyes. “I want you to know this if you never return. I love you.” He smiled. “I know.” Just then, the door chimed again. “Ranma?” It was Nuku. “We’re called back by Stafleet Command. Our time is up here.” “Alright.” He stood and straightened his jacket. “Lady Akane, will you let me escort you back home?” He offered his arm in a galant gesture and she nodded. As the turbolift doors hissed closed, Washu gave them a small grin. “There’s hope yet.” “On my mark...Wait for it...MARK!” The mighty ship phased out of reality and appeared in the midst of DEEP SPACE NINE. Soon, a transmission came from the station. “Welcome home Jurai. Captian Kira is waiting for you.” “It’s good to be back. Tell Worf I intend to collect on the fight we were so rudely interupted last time I was here. He IS here, right?” Ezerei Dax grinned. “I’ll tell him. You’re cleared for docking on pylon two. Dax out.” As the image winked out, Ranma shook his head. “It’s still disconcerning to see Dax that young.” “Really commander? I would think that you have something for her?” Nuku teased from her station as she brought the mighty ship to a halt at the pylon. Ranma reddened and the bridge crew laughed. “See Pluto? They’re getting along fine. Nothing life threatening at all!” “Shut up Q.” Pluto hated to admit to the childish entity that he WAS right after all. “But I WAS right? They are having great relationships after all,” Q goaded. “It’s not every day that you find them like this.” Pluto nodded. Suddenly, she frowned. “Something is happening.” She swept the time frames with her mind. “A disturbance in the stream of time in another universe is affecting this era.” She whirled on Q who tried to look innocent. “You didn’t.” she accused. “Moi? That’s rich. No, this is one of HIS schemes.” At Pluto’s pale face, he continued. “HE decided that HE needed entertainment, and two of the universes need some guidence during the upcoming events. Who am I to mess with HIM?” Pluto sighed. “Well, better best prepare. Come Q.” “What am I, a Lap Dog?” he groused. “No, comic relief.” she countered. The two immortals argued into the night. One year and three Federation months later... “Energize.” Three colums of light flickered in the well lit transporter room and within moments, solidified into three forms, all wearing Cadet Uniforms. Captian Ranma Saotome strode forward, and in a form of diplomatic finery, he said, “Welcome back Cadets.” The first was a woman, tall, with emerald eyes, chestnut brown hair tied back with beads, and a grey over red uniform. The second was a young woman, of twenty years as with the previous woman, her dark hair tied back in a small ponytail, expressive brown eyes flashing with good humor. The third was a girl of twenty as well, sporting long blue hair, deep expressive eyes, and a slender figure. “Permission to come aboard?” the first asked. “Granted.” They stepped down from the platform. One by one, the best and brightest students in Starfleet Academy greeted their friends. Cadet Makoto Kino gave Dr. Kou a great hug. Cadet Akane Tendo was pulled into a friendly embrace. Cadet Miyuka Masaki hugged her grandmother, Commander Washu. *** The bridge turbolift doors of the USS Jurai snapped open with a hiss and the Cadets followed the Commander and the Senior Staff onto the delicately curved bridge. Ranma took his seat in the middle chair, Washu to the left, Yaten stood at Washu’s right side, and the Cadets behind them. Nuku Nuku spun about in her Helm Chair. “Helm, set a course for Starbase 274, Warp 3.” Ranma reached out and squeezed Akane’s hand, and gave her a wide grin. “Prepare because your world is about to be rocked.” He looked up at the spinning globe of Earth and spoke the word that burned its way into the hearts of the people of this Galactic Federation forever. “Engage.” With a rumble of its powerful Matter/Anitmatter engines, the Warp Nacelles Shone with a bright blue light before launching itself out of system. *** Closing the book, I smiled in relief. After several months of work, and sleepless nights, I finally had finished documenting the adventures of Captian Ranma Saotome and the Crew of the USS Jurai. My attatchment to this Ship is purely sentimental. Its crew, all bustling with life and happiness under its Captian and the Senior Officers. The headstrong, yet passionate Captian, Saotome Ranma. The Wise Trickster, First Officer and Chief Engineer, Habuki Washu. The childlike wonder of the android, Natsume Nuku Nuku. The calm and effeminate demeanior of the Chief Medical Officer, who spout classic lines such as, “Damnit Ranma, I’m a Doctor, not a Front Line Demolitionist!”, all attest to Dr. Yaten Kou, and his exceptional Medical Staff. The Ensigns, Makoto Kino, Akane Tendo, and Miyuka Masaki. Their wonder at this new and exciting world. New ideals and things to explore. I wondered why this world was so special. God had played a hand, and placed down a Royal Straight Flush against the forces that willed the Federation’s Destruction. Now, a new Generation of Starfleet Officers will be born. One of legend, worthy to be placed among the names, Kirk, Picard, Sisko. Janeway, Sulu, Spock. Bones, Scotty, Riker. Data, Bashir and many many others. This world has triumphed and became the driving force in a Galaxy. Not to Conqour, not to rule, simply to exist, and create a system, on which many can live in harmony, without fear of the forces of darkness. And the forces of Darkness, drawn to the Zero Star and the Great Barrier, are without a doubt, less than powerful now. For a new Crew, a new ship, and a new joy in the Intergalactic Federation of Planets will be part of their own happiness. As I run my fingers over the hard leather cover of the novel I had written, I briefly wondered why I had written this? All by hand, in front of a pair of candles, with a quill feather as a pen and a ink well, fully knowing that many would oppose the publishing of this story, simply becasue it is not commissioned by the owners of the people in this story. But if you look deeper, you can see a human soul in what the populace call Anime. Manga. Anything you wish to call it, everything has a depth and worth to it. This book, documents the life of something people take for granted : the right to seek out new ideals and adventures. I believe, it was the man who wrote the introduction to the Second series, Gene Roddenberry who said it best. Space. The Final Frontier. These are the Voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Its Continuing Mission, to Explore strange new worlds. To Seek Out new Life and new Civilizations. To Boldly Go Where No One Has Gone Before. Seeking out new life and new civilizations. A thing of beauty. And as I close the hard leather bound story, I look up from the candles that shone in my eyes, illuminating the polished cover with the single golden delta of Starfleet, and watch as the girl of my dreams hands me a single cup of Gingerale. Taking it, I nodded and toasted her as I took a sip of the fizzing drink. The story can wait. The Adventure WILL continue. But for now, a single chapter in a whole long journey of life, love, and exploration will be finished, as the pen is set aside for the night. Finishing my drink, I stood, and shelved the leather bound book within the multitude of stories written in a long epic tale. Some were documented from many other places, many other times, but the whole story will be written. I extinguished the candles with a puff of breath, and snapped off the lights. Thought can wait. The history of man WILL be continued, in any shape, form or future. But now, my Fortune awaits. And I don’t intend to dissapoint her. As I leave the room, the quill that sat in the ink well, rose from its nest and set to work upon a new page in history. A virgin white page that belonged to a new book that smelled like new leather. And upon it, it wrote these words... A Wish can turn your life about in a full three hundred and sixty turntable. I never knew how this would end, or perhaps, I would never know. But for all that would happen, I’m happy. Not for myself, but for the people and lives I had touched. It all started on a Friday morning, November twenty, Ninteen Hundred and Ninty Eight.... Fins. Ranma 1/2 owned by Rumiko Takahashi All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku owned by Yuuzou Takada Sailor Moon Sailorstars owned by Naoko Takeuchi Tenchi Muyo! owned by Masaki Kajishima Star Trek, TNG and DS9 created by Gene Roddenberry