Scotty was about to make a suggestion, but before he could, Samson cut him off.  He ground his teeth for a moment, then looked at Uhura.  “Send all the data,” he said.  “And also hail the Bozeman.  If the ship that destroyed the cargo ship is from the future, the Bozeman should know what danger it’s really getting into…”

Kirk peaked into the bridge from the turbolift and checked around to see if anyone was awake yet.  Unfortunately no one was, but according to McCoy that could change fairly soon.

The bridge was quiet, with only some background noise; one particular beep constantly emitting from a console beside the turbolift doors.  He slowly walked out, followed by the other three, looking at the people in uniforms lying around.

The next thing he noticed as he approached the railing was that the command chair was not at the center of the bridge.  This disappointed him as the Captain was always supposed to be in the center…

Once he reached the railing, however, more surprise hit him.  Just in front of what he guessed was the command chair was…a Klingon.  On his back, in a Starfleet uniform…with four little discs on his neck, which Kirk now associated as rank pips.  Since no one else on the ship had four pips, that meant that the Klingon had to be the commanding officer.

“I’ll be damned,” McCoy said from next to Kirk.  “Looks like negotiations with the Klingons continue to proceed well.”

Kirk nodded.  “I suppose it was only a matter of time before our two species started to work together.”

Suddenly, the Klingon’s eyes shot open as he inhaled a harsh breath.  McCoy quickly circled around the railing and jogged down to the command area, tricorder already out.  He kneeled next to the Klingon and began scanning him.

Kirk stared for a moment as the Klingon tried to get his bearings while McCoy scanned him.  “Easy, there, looks like you’ve got a couple of injuries,” McCoy stated.  “Doesn’t appear to be anything serious.”

“What’s going on here?!” the Klingon asked in a gruff voice that Kirk had expected.  “Who are you?”

Kirk began to move around the railing himself, down to the command area.  “My name is…Captain James T. Kirk.”

The Klingon stared at him for a moment, then closed his eyes and ground his teeth.  “The anomaly,” he commented to himself.  “We didn’t escape it…”

Kirk nodded as he came to a stop next to McCoy and the Klingon.  Kirk extended his hand.  The Klingon stared at it for a moment, then took it and let Kirk help him stand up.  This surprised Kirk, for he half expected the Klingon to take insult from his gesture…

“I am Captain K’Taul,” the Klingon said, shaking Kirk’s hand before releasing it.  “It is an honor to meet you.”

Kirk nodded.  “Likewise…I’m sure.”

K’Taul smiled a toothy smile and started to fix his hair into a ponytail.  “What is the current Stardate?”

“9534.8,” Kirk stated.  “Not long after the Khitomer accords.”

It looked as if K’Taul was about to ask him a question, then seemed to think better of it and moved around Kirk to another officer, who was just standing up.  As the officer started to stand, K’Taul asked, “Are you injured, Commander?”

The commander shook his head a couple of times, swiveled his head enough to cause it to crack, then nodded.  “I think so.  Bit of a head ache from my landing earlier…but otherwise fine.”

As if a magic switch had been turned on, several other officers around the bridge began to groan and slowly stand up.  The commander stared at Kirk for a moment, then frowned.  “Is that who I think it is?”

K’Taul nodded, moving past Kirk again to his command chair.  He sat down and began to work on his console.  He then looked back towards the aft of the bridge, then looked back to his console.  “Commander Perkins, scan the ship for our intruder.”

Kirk frowned and moved next to the command chair.  “Intruder?”

K’Taul nodded.  “Yes, someone somehow got aboard our ship not long ago and is partially the reason we ended up here…”  K’Taul seemed to realize something and looked up at Kirk.  “Are these the only people from your ship that is aboard?”

He nodded his head.  “Yes, and I’ve already ordered them to keep quiet about what they see here.”

K’Taul nodded in satisfaction and began to work on his console once again.

“Captain, our internal sensors can’t identify bio signatures yet,” Commander Perkins stated.  “At current rate of decay, another minute before resolution is high enough.  However…I don’t think the intruder is on board.”

A worried look crossed K’Taul’s face.  He turned his head back to her again.  “How can you tell?”

Perkins looked very worried as she stared back at her Captain.  “The Meridian is missing…”

K’Taul stared dumbly at her.  “Before or after we entered the anomaly?”

Once again, she hesitated.  “Sensor records show that the intruder left…just after.  I don’t know how, but the person seemed capable of resisting the effects this anomaly had on us.”

After a moment of thought, K’Taul nodded.  “Start trying to figure out why this anomaly affected us like this and as soon as you can, start scanning for the Meridian.  We’ve got to catch it before it can do any damage to the timeline.”

K’Taul then turned to Kirk.  “Captain, under the circumstances, I recommend you return to your ship and send out a fleet wide message to be cautious of unidentified ship designs.  We’ll contact you as soon as we locate and take back our ship.”

Kirk nodded, but then stopped when an alarm sounded on Commander Perkins’s console.  “Captain, the USS Enterprise is sending a transmission in.  It’s not quite penetrating our hull, but I can patch it through our transceiver array.”

K’Taul nodded.  “Put it up on audio.”

There was a brief pause before the transmission was patched in.  “Enterprise to Captain Kirk.  Respond, please.”  It was Scotty’s voice.

“Kirk, here,” he replied.

“Sir, Starfleet has reported a distress call from close by,” he said, sounding very worried.  “We’ve lost a cargo ship in the area.”

“Captain!” Commander Perkins stated in alarm.  “I’ve got a fix on the Meridian!  It’s about to be intercepted by a Constitution class starship…the Bozeman!”

K’Taul stood up from his chair and walked forward, towards the view screen that now displayed the Enterprise.  He then looked at Kirk.  “Have them call off the Bozeman, hurry!”

“Scotty!” he quickly replied.  “Hail the Bozeman on an emergency channel, have them break off immediately!”

There was a long, long pause after Kirk’s transmission.  Everyone waited with a dead silence on the bridge…  If the Bozeman didn’t veer off, it sounded like it would probably be destroyed…

“The Bozeman is breaking off,” Commander Perkins replied, much to Kirk’s relief.  “But the Meridian is altering course to intercept!”

“This is the Captain of the USS Dragon to Commander Scott,” K’Taul began, not wanting to have to waste time.  “Have the Bozeman alter course to our location at once!”

He then looked at what Kirk assumed was the helm.  “Lieutenant, do we have warp drive?”

The lieutenant at the helm punched in a few sequences.  “Negative, sir, we’re still purging the warp coils of tachyon particles.”

“Then get us out there at impulse, now!”

He nodded.  “Aye, sir.”

K’Taul then moved back to his chair and started working at his console.  “Defensive status!”

“Shields are currently offline,” a female lieutenant at the back of the bridge responded.  “I think I can get them back online in a couple of minutes.  Weapons are all operational.”

“Time to intercept?”

The crew seemed to work so well, each person seeming to now anticipate their Captain’s orders.  It was just like it used to be on the Enterprise…

“Three minutes, but the Meridian will intercept in two!” Commander Perkins responded.

K’Taul shook his head and pressed a command on his console.  “Engineering, I need warp power now!”

After a slight pause, a man’s voice replied, “Not for another minute, Captain!”

K’Taul nodded.  “Good enough, just get it done!  Helm, jump to warp the moment engines are back online.  Vendar, inform the Bozeman that we’ll be making a warp jump of our own in fifty seconds.  Coordinate with helm and the Bozeman to set up a meeting point.”

“Aye, Captain,” Commander Perkins responded.

It was amazing how quickly everyone worked, like a well-oiled machine.  Kirk knew they were from the future…but they sure worked well together…

“New intercept point puts us in at fifteen seconds!” Commander Perkins said.

“Shields?!”

“Not yet,” the tactical officer replied.  “I don’t think they’ll be ready in time for battle!”

The Dragon suddenly leapt to warp, but Kirk felt nothing, not even a vibration of the deck plates.  He only knew they went to warp because of the streaking star field on the view screen.  That’s almost disappointing, not feeling that you’re at warp…

“Eight seconds!”

K’Taul looked up and around, then shook his head, like he had forgotten something.  “Dammit…battle stations, red alert!”

The bridge grew dark as many bulkheads turned red.  Instead of the normal alert klaxon Kirk had become accustomed to over the past thirty plus years, a new one sounded…and he found it less annoying.

“Three…two…one…”

The stars suddenly turned into infinite pinpricks with a Constitution class starship directly ahead.  A moment later, there was a flash behind it…then the shields on the Bozeman flared to life.

“The Bozeman’s shields are about to drop!”

“Full phasers, fire!  I don’t care if you destroy the damn thing!”

Crimson colored beams shot forward, seeming to center around what, at moment, looked like a moving star.  “Is that a support craft that is doing that kind of damage?” Kirk asked, astonished.

“Not a normal one,” K’Taul replied, “but yes.”

“The Meridian’s coming at us now!” tactical reported.  “I’m having trouble hitting them, who ever it is, they’re a good pilot!”

“Shields?”

“Still offline!”