Fifteen minutes had passed. Marcus had explained to Jayce with painstaking detail the events the past few months back in his universe, the conflict with the Zeta in the Omicron Alpha system, the reactivation of the hypergate and simultaneous destabilization of the Zeta flagship's warp core, Marcus' mysterious teleportation to planet Kabul in the Tau-31 system. His long period of being stranded on that desert world and finally his episode in Bretonia piecing together what had happened and building the rift manipulator along with Doctor Wilcox.
Marcus had left out the parts he deemed irrelevant, for instance, his scrape with the rogue AI programmed to kill him by Sayne Jadyn. Wilder didn't have to know that, it was mess hall material. Instead, he described as best he could how the rift manipulator operated and how it had gone wrong as they had tried to re-open the rift in Omicron Alpha. Three ships and a station; the Avalanche, the DWB medical ship Pasteur and the Bretonian science vessel Sygnus had all be dragged into the void. And parallel versions of them, it seemed, had been plucked from their own universes.
Wilder had listened with great intent, thoroughly intrigued by Marcus' story and had in turn told Scarecrow of his battle in the Omicron Alpha system in an attempt to demolish the Alpha star with a Zeta device. Wilder's universe definitely sounded dire to Marcus. In fact he thought everything he had told Wilder must have sounded trivial to what the battle hardened Admiral had experienced in his own realm.
Now however, the members of Marcus' science group had gathered in the seminar room and were ready to begin the conference. It was paramount that they worked out what was going on and how to reverse it, and it appeared that everyone had their own theories. Marcus started by introducing everyone to Admiral Wilder, beginning with Doctor James, the man who had helped him thus far throughout what had taken place on board the Avalanche.
Next in line were Doctors Benjamin and Margaret Colicos, two astro-physicists from Denver who had opted to come on the journey to observe the experiment. Finally there was Professor Donald McCarthage, Doctor Wilcox's second in the experiment. Professor McCarthage had opted to fly on board the Avalanche and record as much data as he could with the ship's sensors. Doctor Wilcox himself had been aboard the Pasteur when the accident had happened, and that many ships had materialized now there was no telling which version of the Pasteur was the version from his own universe.
Also sat around the table were three members of the engineering staff, as the chief engineer had not yet materialized and Doctor Louise Mullins, the Avalanche's Chief of Medicine.
"But the rift manipulator was flawless!" Professor McCarthage was protesting, "There couldn't have been an issue with the main reactor, I checked it all personally."
"Well something obviously went wrong," Margaret Colicos was beginning to get annoyed at the old Professor. "Won't you just accept failure you cranky old fool,"
"Enough," Marcus raised his hands and all gathered at the table fell silent. "We have to work together to work this one out. Not bicker amongst each other. We know that something went wrong in the rift manipulator and more and more parallel versions of ourselves are been drawn out of their own dimensions. Admiral Wilder here is a prime example. What we need to do is work on thinking of a solution to this."
"Perhaps we ought to start where the problem began," Doctor Mullins said, leaning back in her chair. She was a young attractive Doctor who hadn't been on the Avalanche for too long before the accident. Her startling blue eyes were her most attractive feature, seconded only by her shoulder length golden blonde hair and perfect cheekbones. There was definitely a level of geneering in her family line, for looks like that.
"The station," She continued, "That housed the rift manipulator. If we find it and investigate the device, we might be able to see what went wrong."
"Yes my dear!" Professor McCarthage blurted instantly, "Such a young genius! How did I not think of that myself, we need to examine the device if we have any hope of understanding the problem."
"The only problem with that Doctor," Doctor James looked across at the Chief of Medicine. "Is how do we tell which station is the same station from our own universe. By now a countless number of stations will have materialized, each from a different dimension."
"A good idea Doctor," Marcus smiled at Louise, "Thank you, however Harry is right, we won't be able to find out which station is the right one."
"That might not necessarily be true," Benjamin Colicos spoke out. His voice was quiet and somewhat timid, but Marcus had no doubts about the mind that rested inside the man's skull.
"Go on Doctor," Marcus urged him.
"Well, I have observed that different universes have telltale signatures. I on the scientific analysis team that went to Omicron Alpha after the disaster that took the majority of the First Fleet out of our home dimension. There was a residual matter in the area with slightly different properties to the regular matter of our own universe."
"An interesting theory Doctor," Marcus turned to Doctor James. "Do you think you could work with Doctor Colicos to try and detect the correct matter?"
"Theoretically Admiral, all we need to do is look for the same matter type as the one we have here on board the Avalanche." Benjamin Colicos' voice was beginning to sound more excited, even for its low volume. "If we were to observe this room with the device I used at the disaster site we would notice that the matter type of Admiral Wilder here is ever so slightly different from that of our own."
"Its plausible," Doctor James said, "I have seen the schematics for this device, all it is is a modified particle scanner. We ought to be able to modify the ship's deflector field to emit a wide range particle scan, adjusted to the parameters needed to identify matter types."
"Then get too it, I want everyone working on this, we have to find that station!" Marcus stood up and looked around the room. "You have all been a big help, I am surprised we found a possible solution so fast, now get to work."
There was a general racket as people began to chatter and stand up. Marcus walked around the table to where Doctor Mullins was just standing up.
"A quick word Doctor," He smiled at her, "Please."
She smiled back and nodded her head, standing up and turning to follow him from the room. Marcus beckoned Wilder over and the three of them left the room together.
"Louise its good to see you again, I understand you hadn't been fully materialized for long before I asked you to the conference."
"No Admiral, I appreciate you're swift explanation, this whole thing sure is confusing." They stopped down the corridor, stepping back as Benjamin Colicos and Harry James hurried by, heading for engineering.
"Listen Doctor, I know things seem overwhelming, but I'd like you to do me a personal favor. Admiral Wilder here has been stranded alone here now that his ship has been destroyed. I'd like you to utilize this idea of Doctor Colicos' observe Admiral Wilder's matter type. If our theories are right, there should be versions of the Sygnus and the Pasteur here. If you can find them, Admiral Wilder might have a chance of getting out of here back to his home universe."
"I'll get right on it Admiral," Louise nodded and turned to Admiral Wilder. "Admiral?"
"Go with the Doctor Jayce, if we can get you back on one of those ships, we can get you home." Marcus nodded appreciatively at the other Admiral, I'll be on the bridge if you need me."
Sat in his command chair, Marcus stared out of the main viewscreen at all of the ships scattered about before the Avalanche. He had received what must have been over a thousand hails and had not responded to any of them. The ships sensors were registering a hub of communications activity coming from each and every other vessel. A brief look into the comm traffic had sent a shiver down Marcus' spine, as he had heard his own voice more than several times.
"How are the scans coming Ensign," Marcus asked Jessica Powell, who had now recovered enough to return to duty. She looked a bit pale, but otherwise alright.
"I've located seventeen versions of the station within range and have completed preliminary scans. There is nothing out of the ordinary sir, in fact they are all identical. We can't really work until the deflectors have been modified by Doctor Colicos."
"Well keep scanning; you might come across something interest..." Marcus was cut off as the air began to thicken.
He turned around sharply just in time to catch the distortion of the air. A wraith? How had it bypassed the shields? No, it wasn't a wraith; it was another member of the crew.
"Stand down," Marcus raised his hand. Everyone on the bridge had reached instantly for their blasters, poised at their stations. Marcus could see the fear fade from Ensign Powell's face as she realized that there was no threat.
Marcus stood up and walked around his chair, patiently waiting for the crew member to completely drop out of the void. As the figure took shape, Marcus' heart began to beat faster. He recognized the slender figure and the short crop of strawberry red hair instantly. The figure finally materialized fully and the air cleared.
"Victoria,"
Captain Victoria 'Edge' Wade stood looking dazed and confused in front of the bridge crew. Her eyes focused on Marcus and the look of confusion softened for a brief second. She then stumbled forwards and fell into Marcus' open arms, unconscious.
"Call the sick bay, get Doctor Mullins now!"
"Victoria," Marcus stood over the prone form of the boarding marine Captain as she lay on the sickbay bunk. Doctor Mullins stood next to him, monitoring Edge's vitals.
"Victoria," Marcus repeated, gently taking her hand.
Her eyelids flickered for a fraction of a second before she let out a deep breath and stirred. She opened her eyes and gazed up at Marcus, still shocked from falling out of the void.
"Take it easy," Marcus soothed her, wiping a strand of hair from across her face.
"What happened to me," She croaked, looking about her, "Why am I in sickbay?"
"It's a long story," Marcus said reassuringly, "I'll explain everything, but right now I want you to rest."
Edge tried to sit up, but fell back down as white hot pain lanced across her forehead. She gasped in shock and reached up to place the back of her hand on her forehead. Marcus took her arm and felt her cheek with his free hand.
"She's burning up," Marcus turned to Doctor Mullins, "She must have had a rough time falling through the void, make sure she's comfortable and gets back to full health soon."
The Doctor nodded and smiled, moving next to Victoria and checking her temperature. She then removed a tranquilizer patch from the table beside the bed and placed it on Edge's neck, just over her pulse. A look of peace fell across Victoria's face as she fell into unconsciousness.
"Call me when she wakes,"
Marcus turned to leave, but Louise halted him. "She might still be unstable from the void, I'm no warp physicist, but it looks to me like theres something strange happening to her."
Marcus turned around, a look of concern on his face. "Explain,"
"Well, she seems to be slightly out of phase," Louise looked apologetic, "I know it sounds bizarre, but I was getting mixed readings with my own instruments and then I got a call from science informing me I had a source of displacement in the sickbay. After several scans, it turned out to be Captain Wade. I don't think she's fully materialized yet Admiral."
"But she's there," Marcus said, gesturing to Victoria. "She's whole,"
"I've been watching her, she seems to fade every now and again, I swear its like something from a classic Earth 20th century science fiction film."
"Can you take care of her," The concern was evident in Marcus' voice.
"All I can do is wait for her to fully 'synchronize' herself with our timeline and fully fall into this dimension,"
"Timeline?" Marcus looked confused.
"Yes," Louise looked apologetic again, "She is also in a state of temporal flux, sometimes she speeds up, as if in fast-forward and sometimes she slows down,"
"How?"
"Just bodily functions," She explained, "The rate of her heartbeats, breathing, metabolism, that sort of stuff."
Marcus took a moment to try and comprehend, failed and sighed in rejection. He walked back across to Victoria and placed a hand on her cheek.
"Will she be alright,"
"Doctor Colicos said she should be fine, she is just taking longer to materialize than the rest of us, I had a similar case a few hours ago, but it wasn't as prolonged as this."
"Monitor Doctor, I will be in touch." With that, Marcus turned and exited the sickbay, leaving Doctor Mullins and Captain Wade alone.
"Admiral, I think we've found something," Ensign Powell turned to Marcus the moment he stepped on the bridge.
"Explain yourself Ensign," Marcus took the datapad from her as he sat down in his command chair.
"Doctor Colicos and Doctor James managed to modify the deflectors and after a brief scan they believe they have found the version of the Pasteur that originated in our universe, along with us."
Marcus hiked an eyebrow as he read the contents of the dataslate, "The protomatter types are a match then, hail the ship, lets see how our good friend Doctor Maxthor is hailing."
"Understood sir," Powell returned to her station and began tapping her console. After a few seconds, the viewscreen flickered to life and a symbol of the DWB replaced the now regularly view of masses of parallel-universe starships.
"On screen," Marcus said, straightening himself before the viewscreen. The screen blinked for a moment before it switched to an image of a very welcome and friendly face, "Doctor Maxthor,"
"Marcus," Michael Maxthor looked suspicious,
"Don't worry Michael, it's me. My science officers have managed to develop a way of identifying who else is from our past universe, however I will explain all of this later, and right now we have a task to complete."
"You leave me no choice but to go along with you, for the moment, I will assume that you are the same Marcus Scarman I know, as I cannot be proven otherwise. What would you have me do?"
"Doctor Wilcox's station must be found, the original version that came from our dimension."
"But how do you propose we find it through all of these parallel versions of ourselves," Doctor Maxthor sounded incredulous, "Marcus I have been attacked by ships occupied by Nomads, ships occupied by semi-feral humans and one even by a species I have never encountered before."
"I will explain everything, but for the moment, you are searching for a version of the station with a protomatter type that matches your own." Marcus reassured the good Doctor as best he could. "You'll be able to identify your own by observing the protomatter from your drive outlets and comparing it with that of one of the parallels."
Michael waited for a moment, sizing up the situation. "Alright, I'll get engineering right on it, once we've found it, what do we do?"
"Just search for it for now, I will keep you posted."
"Understood Admiral," Michael smiled briefly and reached out his arm as if to turn off the viewscreen, he paused however and looked directly into the camera, "It is good to finally see you again Marcus,"
"You too Doc," Marcus grinned at his old friend.
With that, the camera flickered and the screen returned to an external image.
Marcus turned to the helm. "Continue scanning for that station, I want it found."
"The protomatter type matches our own," Kaye confirmed as he tapped away at his console.
"Excellent, lay in a direct course, shields at maximum." Marcus turned around and sat back down in his seat. "Tactical report,"
"All combat systems online, slight damage to port turret systems." Ensign Powell reported, "The enemy vessel is coming about for another attack,"
"All hands brace," Marcus gripped the arms of his chair and kept his eyes on the monitor.
In their search for Doctor Wilcox's station, they had come across another hostile version of the LNS Avalanche, accompanied by alternate versions of the Pasteur and the Sygnus. These alternate versions had been drastically altered with unknown alien technologies and thus far appeared to be A.I. controlled. The alternate version of the Avalanche had been heavily modified by whoever had adapted it in the first place, although the base design of the dreadnought was still clear. Technological protrusions and complex looking arrays sat installed on the sensor nodes and deflection grids whilst the general hull appeared to be made of a thicker, denser alloy. The weapons systems had definitely been upgraded, as well as the shielding. The story of the alternate Pasteur and Sygnus was the same. Whatever had taken control of them in their home dimension had a technological level that surpassed that of Scarecrow's Avalanche by a long way. The three alternate ships had coordinated their attacks ruthlessly and severely crippled the Pasteur. The Avalanche had been luckier however and had retaliated faster, dealing damage to the alternate version of the Sygnus.
The ship bucked with the impact of the enemys torpedoes, rocking all those on board the bridge. Rear Admiral Anderson gasped as the console next to the one he was operating sparked and sent a shower of fragments skittering across the decking.
"Damage report," Marcus said, leaning forward in his chair.
"Hull breeches on deck four, their warheads have matched our shield modulation."
"Change the modulation!" Marcus began operating the controls on his keypad, trying to plot a higher modulation for the shields. She ship bucked with a second impact. The lighting flickered for a moment before cutting out completely. For a second, the bridge was bathed in the dark red light from the alarm klaxons. Emergency lighting cut in fast however, illuminating the bridge once more.
"Main power core's been hit," Powell said urgently
"We're bleeding energy, the core is venting into space," Kaye added.
"How is that possible? The power core is at the centre of deck six," Lucas spun his chair around to look at both the helm operators.
"Systems analysis reports a severance of one of the main power conduits," Wilder reported from his station. The Admiral had opted to work on the bridge, and since Ensign Cunningham had been injured in the previous attack, he had taken a place at the con.
"Return fire!" Marcus ordered, switching the view on the main monitor to show the hostile version of the Avalanche.
Two spherical torpedoes fired from the Avalanche's forward torpedo tubes and tore away from the ship. They advanced across space as two flickers of light before impacting on the shields of the enemy vessel. They both impacted on the alien shield technology, flaring in bright blue flashes but otherwise causing no damage.
"Damn it," Marcus cursed as enemy fire from the hostile Pasteur struck the ship. "We need to find a way to penetrate those shields!"
"We have teams working on torpedo configuration, but its taking too much time," Kaye reported from the helm.
"Admiral, I have an idea," Wilder said, turning from his station, "Its a standard configuration we used to use on my ship, but its effectiveness is significantly greater than that of the configuration you currently employ."
"Do it," Marcus said, "And be quick about it, we dont have too much time,"
Wilder turned around and began tapping away at his console. Another torpedo impact rocked the ship violently, bursting another set of consoles and throwing a young Ensign across the deck.
"Medical team to the bridge," Marcus demanded of his communicator, quickly stepping out of his chair and moving over to the wounded.
"There, I have reconfigured the torpedoes," Wilder said, keeping his eyes on his console.
"Fire at will Admiral," Marcus said, checking the downed Ensign's pulse.
Wilder ran his fingers expertly across the keypad before him, laying in the tactical instructions of the torpedo. "Torp away,"
The familiar sound of a torpedo launch resounded throughout the ship as Avalanche emptied her port tube. The projectile soared across space, heading for the alternate Avalanche. The torpedo passed directly through the ship's shields and punched into the hull. A mushroom explosion burst out into space as the warhead sank into the ship and detonated. The fire spread across three decks, splitting the metal hull as if it were made of paper.
The bridge crew began to applaud as the image of the alternate Avalanche showed the damage. The ship began to drift to one side, a column of fire roaring out of her starboard midsection.
"She's backing off, so are the others," Kaye reported, observing the readout of his console.
"Good work Admiral," Marcus thanked Wilder, standing up as the Ensign on the deck in front of him moaned in pain, "But we're not out of the woods yet. Somebody get this man to sickbay."