FicWad

- Worlds Unite -

4

A counsellor, who explained to them that they were, indeed, in space - on a ship - had greeted them at the balcony. She also told them they would be feeling very disorientated and that she was there to help them adjust.

Seeing their injuries, the counsellor had then tapped a badge on her chest and told her leader to meet them at 'sickbay'. She escorted them, with a pair of guards, back to the room they had tried so hard to get away from. Typical.

There they were greeted by a man with a very commanding presence who appeared to them to be in his early sixties. With an extremely bald head.

He had tried to speak to them, but was interrupted by a woman with light ginger hair feathered around her mature yet attractive face. She wanted to be sure they were fit and well before anything else was to happen. She had been concerned for them.

Buffy squirmed under the doctor's instruments. She wasn't one for hospitals or medical treatment, but the Doc - 'Crusher' - had promised she'd be good as new in no time at all.

She had begun to notice a pattern in the uniforms these guys wore. Under the basic black body suit with grey shoulders, the guards had yellow ochre polo necks, medics wore blue and the leader had red.

'Kinda like military teletubbies'

Beverly scanned the girl who called herself 'Buffy Summers' with the medical tricorder probe. "Well, Miss Summers, you'll be glad to know they're not broken. Your nose is very badly bruised and you have a sprained ankle." She picked up a dermal regenerator. "I can fix up your nose now, but your foot will probably be a little sore for the next couple of days."

'More like hours' Buffy corrected to herself.

"Can I ask how you managed to get so badly injured in such a short time?"

"We ran into a couple of demons down the corridor there. You might wanna check that out."

The bald guy motioned to a guard who quickly left with a nurse.

Over Buffy's shoulder, Xander lay on his stomach having the burn on his ass treated.

"You know," he said, "anyone else would find this degrading. But not me. No. I rise above my humiliation because I happen to know I have a great ass." He didn't sound all that convincing, though the nurse smiled. "Or I could just be saying that to make myself feel better, in which case it isn't working and I'm a /fool/."

"Oh!" said Willow. "What about the other nurse? We left her here...on the floor. Was she okay?"

Doctor Crusher nodded at her. "Nurse Ogawa. She's fine. A little shaken up, but fine. I sent her home for the day."

Buffy lowered her gaze. "Sorry...about that. We thought we were... well, it's kind of hard to explain."

"Actually it's quite understandable," Counsellor Troi pointed out. "They were extremely confused. They had no idea where they were or why they were being kept here. When I met them they were very disorientated."

The doctor finished her treatment and put her strange tools away.

Buffy touched her nose. 'Wow' it was all better! "Is that it?"

The doctor smiled. "You're done. Just watch that ankle."

The bald man stepped forward. "I am Captain Picard; commanding officer of the Federation starship Enterprise. Welcome aboard."

Xander put up his hand. "I think I speak for all of us when I say... you're the who?"

Troi smiled at their naivety. "You are on a starship called the Enterprise and this is our captain. He'd like to ask you a few questions about where you came from and how you came to be here with us. If you feel ready, of course."

Buffy got off the bed and went over to the captain. "Fire away."

"Firstly...Miss Summers, we believe you arrived here through a tear in the space-time continu-" He realised this time that he was speaking as though they understood temporal mechanics. "That is, from the style of your clothes, it would appear that this is not your time. May I ask what year you are from?"

Buffy looked at him for a long instant. "The year two thousand. Why?/ /...What year is this?"

Picard looked at Counsellor Troi who put her arm round a worried looking Willow.

"This is the year twenty-three, seventy-six."

Willow took in a deep breath. "Buffy!"

"It'll be alright, Will. We'll find a way out of this." But her voice betrayed her fear.

"That's right, Willow," said the counsellor. "We'll do what we can to get you home." Troi looked to the captain for back-up.

"Absolutely. We have a brilliant science team. But... first we need to ascertain the means by which you arrived and what-"

"Doctor." An auxiliary popped out from behind a partition. "We have two patients here that would like to see their friends."

The Scoobs' gazes shot to where the young nurse stood. From behind her, a dishevelled girl in a patient's gown shuffled into main sickbay.

Xander almost slipped off the bed. "Anya!"

She ran, as best she could, to cuddle her beloved. "Xander! I was so worried about you! My poor, sweet puppy-face." She saw his wound. "Xander, what did you do to your ass?"

He cringed. "It's a long story and when I come up with a less embarrassing version, I'll let ya know."

Anya gave the nurse treating him a cold stare. "And what do you think you're doing?"

The female nurse came over all uncertain. "I gave him three cc's of Kelotane for the pain. ...And now I'm applying a dermal regenerator to heal the wound." She looked at the doctor for approval.

"Well you can just stop that!" demanded Anya. "This is my Xander and no-one goes near his ass but me." She took the medical tool from the nurse's hand and shoved her out of the way. "Hussy."

"Doctor!" the nurse said in disbelief.

Anya fiddled with the instrument and Xander turned to her as much as he could. "Anya, quit messin' with that and give it back to the nurse who knows how to work it."

"Got it!" she said, finding the 'on' button.

"Please, Anya..."

She held it over his butt and flicked the switch.

"Yikes! Anya, that's too close! You're frying my ring!"

"Sorry, Honey," she said, lifting it higher.

Buffy turned to Doctor Crusher. "She said there were two patients."

"This way," said Crusher as she led them into a small side room.

This area was much smaller than main sickbay, with more specialised equipment. Against the farthest wall stood two beds larger and more comfortable than the others. The one closest to them was empty but in the other lay...

"Giles!" Willow and Buffy practically attacked him with hugs.

"I heard you three were on the rampage," he said as they took a space up on either side of his bed.

Buffy shrugged. "You know us, Giles. When we're bored, we like to make our own fun."

"Where's Xander?" Giles asked.

"He's next door," answered Willow. "Having his ass re-generated."

"Oh." It gave Giles a disturbing mental image. "Rather wish I hadn't bothered asking."

Buffy noticed that the wall panel behind Giles' head was showing his medical stats. Turning to the doctor, she asked: "Is he going to be alright?"

Beverly checked the monitor and ran a tricorder scan. "It was touch-and-go for a while but he seems to be perking up. His body didn't handle the stress of your journey as well as yours."

"I think Doctor Crusher is trying to say I'm getting old," said Giles.

Willow sniggered. "We've been saying that behind your back for years." Her smile quickly faded. "Which was, of course, a joke. ...Right, Buffy?"

She smiled and raised her hands. "Hey, what you and Xander talk about when I'm not around..."

Doctor Crusher closed the medical tricorder with a click. "Alright, I'm willing to discharge you, Mr. Giles, if you promise to take it easy for a few days." She went to a cabinet built into a wall. "All the clothes you arrived with are here."

"If you feel the need, we have industrial replicators that can supply you with alternative clothing," Picard added.

"Would you be the captain of the ship?" asked Giles.

Picard joined Beverly by his bed and held out a hand. "Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Welcome to the Enterprise."

He shook the captain's hand. "Giles. Rupert Giles."

"I take it you are aware of the situation," enquired the captain.

"The doctor here filled me in on some of the details of...what happened."

"The problem, Mr. Giles, is that we have...something...contained in one of our science labs..."

Rupert tried to sit up. "Something?"

"It was an artefact of unknown origin that we-"

"Good God! I sincerely hope it wasn't translated."

"As a matter of fact-"

"You said it was contained?"

"Yes. In an isolation field. A forcefield."

"Captain Picard, we have to talk urgently."

"I'll organise a meeting in the observation lounge as soon as you are ready."

Buffy interrupted: "There were two more of us. My sister and another man. ...My boyfriend."

Crusher shook her head sombrely. "There was only one other person with you. ...I'm afraid he was already dead by the time we got to him. I'm sorry."

Willow covered her mouth in shock.

Buffy could barely speak. "Riley..."

Giles put a hand on her shoulder.

She shook her head, a tear in her eye. "No. Riley's strong, he wouldn't..." She met the doctor with an intense glare. "What did he look like?"

Beverly seemed uncomfortable with answering the question. "Well... He was wearing dark clothes. A black coat. And his hair was coloured-"

"/Spike/!" she spat. "Bleached hair? Long leather jacket? No tan?"

Crusher nodded to them all. "Yes, I'm sorry, we needed the beds so we moved the...body."

Picard stepped in. "We have a custom similar to that of the naval forces in your time. We place our fallen crewmen into a torpedo shell...and we release them into space."

Buffy fought down a laugh. "You shot Spike into space?"

"No, no. We wouldn't make that decision on your behalf. If you'd like to make other arrangements..."

"Can we see him first?"

Both Picard and Crusher were surprised by the girl's coldness.

"Uh..." Picard faltered, "certainly. Doctor?"

With that, the doctor and the captain went into main sickbay while Buffy changed.

Buffy looked at Willow, who said: "I'm gonna stay with Giles."

"Okay. You don't mind?"

They shook their heads.

"Good. 'Cos I totally have to see this!"

Xander felt his rear tenderly and was amazed to find that Anya had done a pretty good job. He covered himself and got up to give her a warm embrace.

Anya hugged him tightly. "You probably don't want me to spank you for a couple of days."

Xander chuckled in ignorance of his embarrassment.

Buffy came in from the side room dressed in her black sleeveless top and trousers.

"And where does the Buffster think she's going at this time of night - all dressed up like she's lookin' for a party?" quizzed Xander.

"I'm going to see Spike before they shoot him into outer-space," she said in a chirpy manner.

A malevolent smile formed on Xander's face. "Can I come?"

Picard and Crusher shared a disturbed glance before making their way to the door.

They were almost out of sickbay when the doors slid apart. The security officer and nurse that had left earlier came in. Behind them, Ambassador Worf stood supporting Chancellor Martok's unconscious frame.

Buffy saw the demon.

Worf saw the girl.

And all hell broke loose.

The Klingon off-loaded Martok onto a guard and lunged at Buffy.

"RUN!" she yelled at the people around her.

"I WILL KILL YOU WHERE YOU STAND!" cried Worf.

The guards jumped in and held them back. Picard was fuming. "STOP THIS!"

Worf broke free from the grip of the security crew and stood down.

The Slayer did the same, noticing the demon had spoken in English.

"Ambassador Worf!" Picard said firmly. "I'm surprised at you!" He turned to Buffy. "And if I could ask you to kindly not attack my distinguished guests!"

Worf growled at the Slayer as he addressed the captain. "This Human has been genetically enhanced. She tried to attack us, Captain!"

Picard looked him up and down. "I'd say she succeeded, Ambassador."

Again he growled. "They have particle weapons, sir. The one with red hair-"

"Worf," Picard cut in, "they are guests on my ship. You will get medical attention and we will discuss this later."

Ambassador or no ambassador, Worf was clear that this was an order to be obeyed.

As she left with Picard, Crusher, Xander and a pair of guards, Buffy gave Worf a crafty wink.

He was not impressed.

*

Crusher entered a turbolift and asked for 'Deck 13'. When everyone was onboard the elevator, Buffy asked a question she had been puzzling over since leaving sickbay: "Err...Captain...Picard?" She felt uncomfortable speaking so formally. "Back there. That thing you called 'Worf'. What is he?"

Picard sighed softly. "He is a Klingon."

Xander burst into laughter. "Ugh...'scuse me," he said, coughing into his hand.

Picard shook his head at the immaturity. "Ambassador Worf is an alien. He represents the planet Kronos on behalf of our Federation. You really should be careful, Miss Summers. Klingons are a proud warrior race. They don't take too kindly to being mocked. Or beaten."

There and then, Xander decided he would avoid the 'Kling-ons' at all cost.

The entrance to the Torpedo Launcher room was nothing more than a narrow aisle with a channel running along the centre and tight gangways on either side. In the centre of the channel lay a long, gleaming, black pod.

Beverly said quietly to Buffy: "Would you like us to open the casing?"

Buffy nodded and Xander whispered in her ear: "This could be our last chance. You sure you don't wanna blast him into the void?" He almost sounded desperate for it.

She looked at him. "He's just as lost here as we are, Xander. But it would be funny. We just...can't."

A security officer reached into the pit and undid the locking mechanism on the torpedo.

"Why not?" pleaded Xander. "He's nothing but a-"

WHACK - The torpedo lid hit the guard square on the jaw.

"OW!" came a voice, familiar to the two Scoobs, from inside the torpedo.

The lid flew open and a dazzled Spike pounced from it. The other guard drew his weapon but Spike dived at the guy and popped him one on the chin. "AAH! For Christ's sake!" He bent cradling his head.

The security officer got up, pointed his phaser and ordered clearly: "Don't move, or I will fire."

The shook-up vamp stood and raised his hands. "I bloody-well knew it! You're one of those Initiative boys. Thought you'd come back and teach old 'ostile seventeen a lesson, eh? Well this time your not takin' me ali-" He caught sight of Buffy and Xander. "Slayer? What are you...?" He eyed Xander. "What's with the girly jammies? Decided to follow in Red's footsteps 'n' turn poof?"

"Ya know what?" Xander replied, pointing to the guard. "Why don't you just zap him?"

Xander turned to leave. "You had your chance, Buffy, and you blew it. I'm going to see how Giles is." With that, he left.

"I could have suffocated in there, Slayer!"

"God, if only that were true, Spike."

Picard and Beverly were stood open-mouthed.

"He's dead!" she stated uncertainly.

The captain gave her a stern look.

"I'm telling you, Jean-Luc, he was dead!" she insisted.

Buffy pivoted round to face them both. "He is dead. He's a vampire."

The captain and doctor's faces dropped.

"We have a lot to talk about," she said to them, before making her way out.

The commander of the Enterprise and its chief medical officer stood there in bewilderment.

The guard was left wondering what to do with the prisoner.

Spike sniffed defiantly and looked at them. "Anyone got any smokes?"

*

The U.S.S. Enterprise hung motionless in space not more than a few million klicks from the Dégori Solar System. The Dégori System was renowned for having one of the largest stars in the known galaxy, which explained why none of the three planets within its gravity were inhabitable.

As they entered the observation lounge, they were struck by the soothing rays from the nearby Dégori sun as it cast soft orange beams of light across sections of the room. It was a wondrous site.

Spike followed them in, saw the glowing orb of the star and cursed as his legs went up in flames. "Oh, Bloody hell!" he cried, jumping into a shaded corner and beating at his lower half with his jacket.

The automatic fire suppression system activated, surrounding Spike with a forcefield and starving the fire of oxygen. Getting back to his feet, Spike swore and cursed a few times then mumbled: "Million miles from Earth and I still gotta worry about gettin' sunburnt." He realised he was the centre of attention. "What are you all starin' at? You people never seen a man spontaneously combust before?"

"Not on this ship," stated Picard. "Don't do it again."

The vampire huffed. Buffy, Willow and Xander were clearly amused.

"Think that was funny, do ya?" asked Spike as he slipped his smouldering coat back on.

There were eight chairs around a long, lit-up table.

Captain Picard took the head seat at the table end. His crew sat to his left; Riker, Geordi and Crusher with Data at the wall terminal, having been declared fit for duty again.

As the Scoobs filled the remaining seats, they noticed how comfortable they were. Anya saw no other places, so she perched herself on Xander's lap. Spike stood confined to his darkened corner.

Picard settled himself and began the conference. "How are our guests now, Doctor?"

"Surprisingly good considering the state they were in just a few hours ago. In all my years, I've never seen anything like it. It was as though the life had been sucked out of them."

Buffy put her hand up. "But we're fine now. Really. We're full of the stuff of life. We require no more prodding at with cold, steely implements."

There was a moment of awkward silence as the Enterprise crew tried to get their heads around Buffy's strangeness.

"Firstly," Picard said, mainly to Giles who sat at his right hand. "We know very little about you and I somehow get the impression you know more about this...'situation' than we do."

"If I'm honest, Captain, I...I'm not really sure about any of this. What I do know is based on legends...and fables. Which bore little credence until now."

"I'm sure anything you can tell us will be helpful."

"Well... legend has it: a timeless entity of pure evil with the power to command legions of Hellbeasts and... monsters, was trapped in the inscription on a box. Its power source - or 'Mastery' - was removed from it and bound separately."

Riker noticed the girl sat on the boy's lap was staring at him. He gave her a boyish smile.

"Its power was then banished to Hell and...and somehow it came to be here."

Picard nodded. "Yes, it came through a wormhole - well, a 'hole' in space. A wormhole was never confirmed. It wasn't translated until we brought it onboard the Enterprise."

Giles was suddenly puzzled. "How did you translate the inscription?"

"Mr. Data here was the only member of my crew able to decode the markings."

"I don't understand," pondered the former Watcher. "No foreign breed could read the text."

"Foreign breed?" asked the captain.

"Other-worldly thing. Alien."

"Data is not an alien, Mr. Giles. He is an android."

Giles understood. "I see. The spell-caster certainly didn't foresee that one. Neither did I, for that matter."

Geordi leant forward to address his captain. "I've checked our sensor records and neither the anomaly or whatever it is we're holding in the science lab have registered. I'm not one to admit defeat, sir, but I'm at a loss."

Xander noticed Anya noticing Riker.

Geordi continued: "And the vortex somehow managed to completely drain our deuterium supply. Don't ask me how, Captain, it's a physical impossibility but all our deuterium tanks have run dry."

"This...deuterium...what is it?" Rupert asked.

"It's the fuel supply for our engines," answered La Forge. "What we had onboard would have lasted us another two years."

Giles began to join the dots. "It must create an inordinate amount of energy to power a ship of this magnitude."

"Yes. More than you can imagine." Geordi and the others saw that Giles was coming to an answer.

"I believe I know why we're here," he said. "And I know why we almost died in the process. It would seem that the two devices were trying to come together. To join Spirit and Mastery as one. You contained the Mastery in this time, so the Spirit had to make the trip from our time to yours. And...and it needed energy to power that trip. That's where we came in, you see. And that's why the doctor found us 'drained' of life - our energy."

"So, what are you saying, Giles?" Buffy asked. "We were used as Human batteries so this thing could take a joyride?"

"Essentially, yes." He turned back to Picard. "If you hadn't trapped one here, then missing deutanium-"

"Deuterium," corrected Data.

"Yes, well, that would have been the least of your worries. Who's to say where we all would have ended up or what state we would have been in. The only reason we are alive today is due to the advances in medical treatment here."

"How do you know all this?" Riker questioned suspiciously.

"That's his job," said Buffy from her seat at the far end of the table. "Or it used to be. He knows all the bad, and I fight it."

Xander stepped in: "She's a Vampire Slayer. The chosen one, I might add."

"And I'm a vampire," said Spike.

"But we don't kill him," added Xander. "Though I'm still not sure of the /why/."

If everyone else was having their piece, then so was Willow. "I'm a witch."

The room seemed to suddenly fall silent; all eyes fixed on her. "A...a good witch."

Riker was having non of this. "Captain, you can't seriously be entertaining this nonsense? Vampires and goblins? Monsters and witchcraft? Its myth. They don't exist." He made his final point while giving the Scooby Gang an unyielding glare.

Spike's face came from the shadows just enough to see. "I wouldn't bet on that, mate."

They watched as his brow furrowed and his face deformed into a mask of evil. "You people might wanna be more open-minded. Before it gets you killed."

Riker rolled his eyes. "Shapeshifters, Captain-"

Buffy cut the commander off: "You guys saw Spike on fire, right? Anyone else here miss that? He's a vampire - the undead. Sunlight, crosses, wooden stake through the heart... all pretty much no-no's for him."

"Hey!" Spike yelled out. "Do you mind, Slayer? Don't want all these space-cadets knowin' how to finish me off."

Dr. Crusher joined the debate: "None of these people are shapeshifters, Commander. They're all Human. And normal. Apart from him." She motioned at Spike. "But I would like to examine them in respect to their abilities if they don't mind."

Buffy made a noise like she didn't much fancy being probed again. "If it's not too much to ask," she said, "how are we going to get home? I have a sister who needs looking after and my mom isn't well. I really have to get back to them."

Willow nodded. "And I have...someone."

Giles put down his reading glasses. "I'm supposed to open my shop in the morning."

Anya lifted a hand in the air. "And I work there. If I don't show up, Giles won't give me money. And I like my money."

Spike stirred in the shadows. "Passions starts at ten."

Xander felt the need to add his own reason. "I'm just not really all that cool with this whole 'being in space' gig. I like science fiction and all, ...but science fact is a lot less entertaining. I think I'd prefer to go home."

Picard sympathised with them. However odd these people were, they deserved to go home.

He directed his next question to La Forge. "Suggestions?"

"I have an idea. The Borg temporal vortex we used to travel back from twenty sixty-three. If we reconfigure the chronometric emissions to take us back to the year two thousand... we could get them back the instant they left. It'll take some work; I'll need Data on this with me, but I think it can be done."

Picard gave it thought. "I will have to speak with Starfleet Command before we attempt time travel. We have certain rules about interfering with the past. Though, technically, you don't belong here, so I can't imagine there'll be any problems in returning you home. In the meantime, what are we to do with this 'Mastery'?"

Willow piped up: "We could try to bind it - for keeps this time. Or destroy it. Magic's come a long way since the Dark Ages. I could maybe do a spell or something."

"You have a suitable spell in mind?" Giles asked her.

"Well...no. But I can...oh. I...I don't have my spell books." 'Stupid'

"She's right, though," said Giles. "If only I had my books. I'm sure we could have found some way to stop this evil before it does any harm."

"Can it do harm?" asked the captain.

"The Spirit is free, but without its power source. I don't believe it can do much alone."

Picard let that reassure him for the time being. "When I contact Starfleet, I shall also request to download those book files for you, Mr. Giles, if you could give me the details. I suppose I should inform them that Ambassador Worf will be arriving a little late for the strategy conference."

Picard waited a moment for any questions.

"Before we can go anywhere, how do we solve our deuterium problem?" he enquired.

Data replied: "There is an option." He worked the screen on the wall. "A decommissioned Federation planetary observatory at Tri Ro'ku Six." An image of the observatory appeared on the monitor. "It is due to be disassembled within the next few days." He punched up another image. "It has a small supply of deuterium in storage that will be sufficient for our requirements."

Geordi picked up from there. "In the meantime, we can use the ramscoops to filter a deuterium substitute from natural space gases. It'll give us enough to get to the observatory."

"How soon can we get there, Data?" said Picard.

"At full impulse, we can be there in thirteen hours and twenty seven minutes, Captain."

'Jeez' Buffy thought to herself. "Couldn't we get an exact time on that?"

Data raised an eyebrow.

"Can we at least manage warp one?" asked Picard.

"That would be inadvisable," Data responded.

"Very well; full impulse. Make it so."

As they all made their way out, Picard asked to see Giles in his readyroom. Buffy joined them. The others were shown to their quarters, with security officers never far behind.