Chapter Text
Captain Ryder Moroney was in her ready room gazing thoughtfully at the Artifact. In truth, her crew had no idea why Starfleet was so anxious to keep it from the Minotauri. Little was known about the Minotauri. Their armies had just appeared one day, attacking world after world. The only good thing that had come from it, was some semblance of peace between the governments of the Milky Way Galaxy. The Federation, Klingon Empire, Romulan Star Empire, and the Cardassian Union had taken to forming a temporary coalition to fight the relentless invaders.
The door opened behind her, and Ryder’s first officer appeared. The Captain turned to face her friend, setting the Artifact on the table.
“We seem to have lost them.” Her First Officer spoke, tone dutiful and serious. “I suggest we continue for Federation, at Starfleet’s request.”
Ryder shook her head, “I understand Starfleet’s concerns. But we have to consider the other parties of this alliance. Is the Artifact safe on a Federation planet? Or would it be safer in Klingon Space? Who is best suited to protect it?”
Her first officer stared at her incredulously. That was the difference between the pair of them. The First Officer obeyed all her orders. But the Captain questioned each one of them. Still, they were not only the best of friends, but good colleagues as well. Ultimately she trusted her Captain, even when her decisions seemed odd.
“I think, for now, it’s safer with us. The Minotauri don’t know that we have it. They just know that a Starfleet ship does. I suspect they’ll be expecting us to return to the Federation.” Ryder explained, picking up the Artifact and handing it to her.
But as if fate deigned to prove Ryder wrong, the announcement of a red alert came in the form of startling klaxons. Ryder and her First Officer came running out of her ready room, each assuming their stations dutifully.
“Have they caught up with us?” Ryder demanded, watching her tactical officer frenzied at his console.
“Yes!” He called back. “And there’s too many of them!”
“Take us out of here.” She ordered, with a glance at the Artifact still in her First Officer’s hands, “maximum warp!”
But it was too late. They closed in on the U.S.S. Centaurian, firing torpedoes. Their ship jumped to warp, but the Minotauri were all too quick to follow them. The deck plating shuttered violently beneath their feet as they were attacked, officers falling from their stations left and right.
“Return fire!” Ryder yelled, gripping onto the armrests of her chair for dear life. Out of the corner of her eye, something had begun to glow. At the moment, Ryder had thought it to be fire and smoke. But when she turned her head to look, she found her First Officer fumbling with the Artifact, which was the source of the light.
“Helen?” She called to her, “what’s happening?”
“I-!” The First Officer called back, violently interrupted by another barrage of assaults. “I don’t know!”
A swirling vortex began to envelope her, much to Ryder’s concern. The Captain launched herself from her chair, an arm outstretched to grab her First Officer. But by the time she had reached her, it was already too late. She had disappeared.
“No!” Ryder cried, falling to her knees. “Helen!”
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A Human had been born from a great flash of light, appearing in their world as though fate had meant for her to be there. She wore an odd uniform, its colors dull in contrast to the rest of the environment. Unlike the Humans of their world, her canine teeth were not long and sharp. Her forearms and biceps didn’t bulge with the promise of great strength.
“Why is she so pale?” Sulius, a rather short and skinny Andorian asked in a condescending manner. “Has she never seen the light of day?”
“She came from the light, Sulius.” A Talaxian named Dixitan explained, as if that was a sufficient answer to his question.
“Doesn’t look like any Human I’ve ever seen.” Sulius scoffed, folding his arms. “But I suppose we should take her back to T’pink. She’ll know what to do.”
“She always knows what to do.” Dixitan agreed, bending over to pick up the Human. But she awoke before he could reach her, startling both the Talaxian and the Andorian into taking a few steps back.
The Human groaned, her eyes reluctantly beginning to part, squinting at the light. Slowly she began to sit up, rubbing her head thoughtfully. Then she opened her eyes fully, staring in confusion at the two people in front of her.
“Do you think she hit her head? Speaking of which, she does have nice hair. Such a pretty shade of brown, I could try a lot of styles with that.” Sulius whispered, watching her grow even more aware of her situation.
“Huh? Wh-...” The Human finally spoke, looking around wildly. “Where am I? What is this?”
Sulius and Dixitan put their hands up in defense when the Human got to her feet and was looking about wildly. Then she glared at the pair of them, pulling her phaser and pointing it at them.
“Why did you bring me here? Who are you? Are you working with the Minotauri?!”
They didn’t appear to understand that a potentially deadly weapon was pointed at them, instead staring blankly at it. Dixitan looked to his companion, orange eyes questioning. “She really must’ve hit her head.”
“Minotauri.” the Human repeated irately, “are you working with them?”
Sulius flinched, furrowing his brows. “We’re not supposed to talk about that."
She furrowed her own brows clenching her phaser, “what is with you two? Can you not see I’m pointing a weapon at you?”
"A weapon?” Sulius chuckled, “looks more like a plastic wand to me."
Seeing that her intimidation tactic hadn’t worked, she slowly dropped her arm to her side and holstered the phaser. Then she tapped two fingers to her combadge, which chirped functionally in reaction.
“U.S.S Centaurian? Come in. Captain Moroney, come in!"
“Now she’s talking to herself.” Dixitan whispered slowly, tone suggesting he was fascinated with her behavior. “Can we keep her?"
“That’s up to T’pink.” The Andorian shrugged.
She tapped her combadge again, growing more and more desperate. “U.S.S Centaurian. Ryder? H-...wait.”
She paused, looking quite panicked. The two aliens were silent as she began to break down, grabbing fistfulls of her shoulder-length hair.
“My name!” The Human exclaimed in disbelief. “I can’t believe it!”
“Okay, let’s take this down a notch–” Sulius began, but was interrupted when she began to run. “Wait!"
“I think…” Dixitan said, sounding somewhat sage. “We should call her ‘Human’. Get it? Because she’s a Human. But I doubt any other Human is named ‘Human’. And she doesn’t look like any Human from our world."
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Human’s mind was racing with thought after thought as she bounded through the vibrant green hills of this alien world. She hated the wide open space. It made her feel…unsafe. More so than she already did. She was in a strange world where, so far, she only knew two people. And they were space cadets!
Human paused when she came across what looked like a home. Really, it was more like a person-shaped hedge…with a door on its rump.
“Butt door.” Human said to herself, then suddenly she filled with panic again at the absurdity of it. “Butt door!”
She took off running again, hoping to come across something familiar. Maybe she had fallen asleep on the holodeck. Or worse, she had been captured by the Minotauri and they were using some unknown method of interrogation.
She came to a hill with a few trees on it. There stood another person, this time a wide-eyed Caitian. Human breathed a sigh of relief, coming to a halt.
“Hey! Where is my ship?” Human demanded, startling the feline. The Caitian shook her head rapidly, tail flicking in anxiety.
“Who are you?” The Caitian questioned, “what do you want with me?”
"Ugh, it’s a Human. A really ugly one.”
Human snapped her head in the other direction to see that an Aurelian with a brown and white plumage was sitting on a tree branch, wings outstretched. Then turned around when she heard the sound of footsteps running behind her. There were the two aliens from before, Sulius and Dixitan.
“Slow down!” Dixitan insisted, “if you have brain damage this can’t be good for you!”
“I do not have brain damage!” Human exclaimed, watching in horror as the Talaxian came right up to her and hugged her. “Hey! Let me go!”
“Oh, yeah, we have no concept of personal space here, especially Dixitan. So better get used to that. Weird that our leader is a Vulcan, right?” Sulius explained, examining his nail beds.
“A Vulcan?” Human repeated, eyes widening. That was her ticket! As a people of strict logic and philosophy, this Vulcan could explain everything to her! But before she could even request an audience with their leader, they all began talking at once. The Caitian seemed to be panicking about the presence of a stranger, the Aurelian began a tangent about the Human race and how ridiculous they were, Sulius seemed to be explaining their group dynamic, but Human couldn’t hear him over everyone else. Dixitan had her in a vice grip hug.
“Stop!” Commanded a new voice, quieting the rest of them. They all looked for the source and found a Vulcan female with long hair standing between two trees, brow raised.
“T’pink! Look what we found.” Dixitan exclaimed, releasing Human only to hold her by the shoulders in presentation.
“Is that…” T’pink began, peering at Human, “it could not be…and yet, here you are.”
“Please tell me you know what’s going on.” Human implored her, finally managing to break free from the Talaxian.
“I do. It appears we have found ourselves a new family member.” T’pink nodded, flashing them a small, approving smile. Human deadpanned.
“You are not serious with me right now!” Human cried, yanking her shoulders away from Dixitan’s hands.
“It has been so long…since we’ve had a new edition.” T’pink stated, ignoring Human’s indignance. The Vulcan began to monologue, which Human had not expected. But there was hardly any time for her to stand around and interact any further with these crazy people. She had a ship to get back to! People that needed her. She needed to be with her Captain—her Ryder.
Human snuck away while they were all distracted, breaking into a run again. She would follow the dirt path. Maybe even find a civilization! Perhaps she had just found herself on a multi-species colony planet, and was unlucky to have landed in the midst of a bunch of crazy folk from the hills.
She’d find a city. And tell the authorities her story. They would laugh, and tell her about how everyone avoided the hills because that’s where the feral people live. And then they’d bring her home.
A forest laid ahead of her. She made a mad dash for it. But before she could reach the treeline she slammed into some invisible barrier, falling back into the ground.
“You cannot go.” A voice said from behind her. Human flailed and scrambled to get to her feet, turning around to face T’pink. The Vulcan’s countenance was as even and well-composed as one would expect of an average Vulcan.
“What do you mean I can’t go? Did you know this was here?” Human questioned, growing more and more weary of her situation.
“Yes. I put it there.” T’pink exclaimed, much to Human’s chagrin. “I do not know where you come from. But if you knew anything about this world, you’d know that I do not advise leaving this place.”
“Why?” Human asked, her heart falling. Were there even crazier people beyond this place?
"I will keep you safe. You can join our family.” T’pink insisted, something soft reflecting in her hazel eyes.
“I don’t belong here. I need to get back to my home. To my Captain. To the war.” Human explained, pointing to the sky. “I belong in the stars.”
“I see. You are from the other side.” T’pink murmured cryptically. “Nevertheless, I cannot permit it. We…would love to have you."
“The other side?” Human asked, but T’pink just waved it off and began walking back in the other direction. Stubbornly, Human held her ground and turned to face what she could not see. There had to be some type of way to disengage the barrier in the way. Maybe it was the product of cloaking technology. She could dig her way under!
Or it was what they used in the brig. A force field. An energy barrier. Something!
Human, or whatever her name was, had served together with Ryder for a long time. They had been in Starfleet together since they were eighteen. She would figure out a way to disable it.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
T’pink stood in the kitchen of their shared home, putting together the meal for the evening. And her family eagerly waited in the dining room, each murmuring about how excited they were to have a new friend.
T’pink knew that Human, as they called her, would come around eventually. She would see that it was futile to try and get past T’pink’s bubble. And the woman would be hungry at some point. She would arrive and see that T’pink had prepared enough for her as well.
“She dropped this. Do you…think she’s come back for it?” The Caitian named Sh’lene commented, pulling out something that looked like an amulet. Dixitan looked at it with fascination, peering at the language inscribed on it.
“I’ve never seen anything like that!” Dixitan added excitedly, “did our new friend bring us a gift from her world?”
“I wouldn’t count on it. Humans are greedy creatures.” Cherien, the Aurelian, commented spitefully. Cherien had an unfortunate history with a particular Human man that had come to be his stepfather.
“Not typically.” T’pink reminded him from the kitchen, retrieving plates from their cupboard. “They are usually known to be quite altruistic. Please do not allow your history with one to cloud your judgment of the rest.”
“You better dish up enough for six.” Sulius suggested from where he sat at the table. T’pink could tell he was peering out the window of their family room, and did not need to question what he saw.
“She has returned.” T’pink nodded knowingly. The Vulcan hadn’t locked the door, and Human came through it without knocking.
“Human!” Sh’lene called excitedly, holding up the object she had collected earlier, “you dropped this! Can I keep it?”
“The Artifact! I can’t believe I forgot it!” Human exclaimed, striding into their dining room and retrieving it from the Caitian.
“Welcome.” T’pink said curtly, bringing food out to the table. “You made it on time. But you almost missed dinner.”
“Oh…uh, I’m not hungry.” Human insisted, watching as T’pink served the rest of them. “Please I came here because I need your help.”
“You want me to remove the bubble.” T’pink said knowingly. “This I cannot do.”
“Oh come on! I have a person–a life that I need to get back to.” Human begged, then paused and looked at T’pink in confusion. “Bubble?”
“Perhaps you thought that dome was some kind of sophisticated piece of technology, but it is not.” T’pink explained, finally taking her own seat at the head of the table. “Not in this world. Technology has very little place here when there’s magic.”
“What? Magic? What are you talking about?” The Human questioned, more and more stressed with each passing minute. The Vulcan sighed inwardly and raised her hand. A pink glow surrounded it, and the table set began to levitate in conjunction with it.
Dixitan’s limbs became rubbery and stretchy. Sh’lene opened a portal in her abdomen and began to pull an assortment of objects out. Cherien’s little wings grew in size until they amassed to be the length of the walls. Sulius became invisible and reappeared again.
“We’ve all got spells for days. T’pink taught us.” Dixitan explained. Human seemed to become even more stupefied.
“It’s pretty much all we do around here.” Sulius said dramatically, planting an elbow in the table and resting his cheek in his palm. “Every day. Over and over.”
“It’s fun. But it can get tedious.” Sh’lene admitted, putting everything back into her portal tummy.
Human’s expression suddenly went from puzzled to mischievously thoughtful, much to T’pink’s suspicion.
“So you mean to tell me…that you’re bored?” Human asked.
“Yes!” Sulius exclaimed, “we never do anything fun anymore!”
“Sulius. We do enriching things everyday.” T’pink countered. The Andorian shrugged, leaning back in his chair.
Cherien shrugged, “I mean…sure. But they are the same things. Everyday.”
“See! Your family is bored. Out of their minds.” Human argued. Begrudgingly, her family all seemed to nod. T’pink’s brows furrowed slightly. This outsider had no idea what there was beyond the bubble. And as head of the family…it was her obligation to protect them. Including this new, estranged member.
“You are trying to sway them. But you are not knowledgeable about this world. Even if they have forgotten, I have not.” T’pink’s said, her tone more firm.
“I get that you want to protect your family.” Human replied in acknowledgement, “but I have a family of my own I need to return to. And I can’t do that if I’m stuck here. Besides…how can this be good for your family?”
She gestured to the rest of them, who seemed to be silently admitting their lack of stimulation via their expressions.
“Just sitting here everyday? Doing the same thing over and over? Never pushing themselves to do more? To go out and see the world?”
“She has a point, T’pink.” Sulius nodded, “maybe it’s time we give the world a chance again.”
“There’s more for me to collect out there.” Sh’lene added, “all kinds of shinies.”
“I need to stretch my wings.” Cherien admitted begrudgingly.
“And she needs to reunite with her family.” Dixitan directed his attention to T’pink, his eyes concerned and wide. “It wouldn’t be very nice of us to try and force her to forget about them and join ours.”
T’pink knew her family was right. Perhaps it was time for change, much as the Vulcan secretly loathed the idea. She looked to Human, who was standing at the exit to the dining room, anxious to leave.
“I do not believe this is a good idea. But I will not ignore the wishes of my family. You will need help if you are going to navigate this world. Perhaps more help than I can offer.”
“I’ll do anything.” Human said quietly, her toughness temporarily melting into something more vulnerable. And T’pink, with her motherly instinct, caved.
“We will have to visit a Shaman. They are very powerful, very magical beings. The Shamans know more about both our worlds than you or I. It is fortunate that I happen to know a Shaman personally.”
“So you’ll help me?” She asked hopefully. Everyone rose from their seats, seemingly forming a new resolve to assist this stranger.
“It is what my family wants. And it is the right thing to do. We will take you to the Shaman, Human. And certainly the Shaman will know what to do.”