Captain's Log, Supplemental:
With Hoshi returned to us we're finally ready to leave the parallel universe. And not a moment too soon. According to Trip's calculations we have less then an hour before we reach quantum overload and blow a hole in this universe a parsec wide.
The dimensional hopper device seems unaffected by the effects of our heightened energy signature and Trip assures me that it will get us back home. I--
Power levels all over the ship suddenly dimmed and the klaxon of the Reed alert blared out like a shrieking banshee. Archer shot up from his chair in his ready room and ran to the bridge. "REPORT!" he ordered. Malcolm looked up from his console completely dumbfounded. "Weapons systems have just gone off-line and the hull plating is de-polarizing!" he exclaimed. Mayweather swiveled around to look at Archer, his faced just as confused as Malcolm's was. "The helm has gone dead, sir!"
Archer slammed his fist down on the comm console of his command chair. "Trip! What the hell's going on?! We're losing command and tactical systems up here, is this a side-effect of the dimensional hopper?"
"No way, Captain," Trip's voice came over the comm. "We're in the process of charging it up, but it hasn't been activated yet. My boys are running a check right now on those systems, maybe something--" Trip suddenly cut himself off and then a second later he hollered, "Malcolm, check your command sub-routines. Executive level over-ride controls!"
Malcolm's fingers flew over his console, his eyes streaking across the displays and readouts. And then his head jerked up and with a shocked voice he said, "We're under attack Captain! We've been hacked and someone is taking control of the Enterprise."
"Well stop them and take back control!" Archer ordered as he swung around to look at the main bridge display. Hanging in space in the center of the screen was the Enterprise. Not Archer's Enterprise, but a nearly duplicate ship with a nearly duplicate crew and with an almost identical captain sitting in that other-Enterprise's command chair. What were the odds that the command and control codes were almost identical too? Archer thought. "Hail that Enterprise!" he growled at Ensign Suwelu, who was sitting in for the temporarily relieved Hoshi.
"No response Captain," Suwelu said after a moment. "Shall I try--" but the communications officer never finished that sentence because suddenly she was engulfed in a shimmering blue-white light and then she was gone. Archer stared at her empty chair for a split second and then at all of the other empty posts where just a moment before his female crewmen had been working. "Those sick BASTARDS! THEY'RE STEALING OUR WOMEN!!" Archer raged.
And then the ship lurched and Archer nearly fell to his knees. "The helm's been remotely activated, Captain!" Mayweather reported. "And so have the engines," Malcolm added. And then, over the ship's comm, Trip's voice boomed out, "John! They hacked into the dimensional hopper and activated it. Those sneaky SOBs are sending us back home and there's not a thing we can do to stop it!"
And then the U.S.S. Enterprise was engulfed in a now familiar orange glow...
Thu Aug 28 14:31:59 2003