8Chapter 3
Sisko arrived to find all his officers in Ops. slumped over and motionless against their stations. He quickly checked the closest one for a pulse. When Sisko found it, he let out a sigh of relief. Then, he heard the doors to his office open.
"Please, Commander, come on in." An unfamiliar voice said.
Sisko turned around, moving cautiously towards his office. The individual who spoke looked like a gangster from the 1920s. He wore a bowler cap, a gray suit, gray pants, and a blue tie. There was a ring on every one of his fingers and each of them had a different colored gem on them. His skin had a very dark tone. His pupils were so pale that his almost appeared pure white. This individual was leaning back in Sisko's chair with his feet on top of Sisko's desk. As Sisko approached him, he was humming an unfamiliar song and watching him with great amusement.
"Well, you're early by three minutes and fourteen seconds." The individual said.
His voice sounded familiar. After a moment, Sisko realized he sounded exactly like the actor who played Al Capone in from the very old Earth movie, "Scarface," one of the ancient films his uncle had made him watch as a child. Sisko thought for a brief moment that this could be a coincidence, but given this person's appearance, it was more likely he wanted his voice to sound that way, just like he wanted to be dressed like someone from the 1920s. This reminded Sisko of the entity known as Q, who could warp reality. Perhaps this individual was another of his kind.
"Good guess, but I'm afraid you are not quite right." This individual said. "I am a being that exists on a higher plain of existence than Q, making me far more powerful than him."
"So, I am to understand you are reading my mind?" Sisko inquired, maintaining a polite tone.
"Don't worry, I can see it makes you uncomfortable, so I'll stop." He replied. "Oh, I have yet to introduce myself. You can call me Jay. J-a-y. If you are going to send a report to Starfleet, I would like you spell it correctly."
"Do I have you to thank for the new wormhole and the three teenagers in the Med Bay?" Sisko asked.
"Yes, and, before you ask, I will provide you with answers to questions you have yet to ask." Jay said. "First, that wormhole leads not to another corner of your universe, but another universe entirely. One that I, myself, created."
This was quite a shock to Sisko. He was doubtful, of course. However, the new wormhole was proof of this being's power, so he could not dismiss the possibility that this being was telling the truth. If Jay was telling the truth, Sisko needed to tread carefully. Jay seemed to take notice of Sisko's increased tension and let out an annoyed sigh.
"Please, loosen up! There will be plenty of time for stress later." Jay said. "Now, to continue my explanation, those three teenagers are from a parallel universe. I, unknown to them, watched as they prevented an alien invasion of a twenty-first century Earth. I developed a fascination with them after that, so I decided to relocate them somewhere they would be forced into many more dangerously-exciting situations. Such as this space station."
"So, all this chaos is simply for your amusement?" Sisko inquired.
"Exactly! I knew you were a clever fellow! Now, just to get this party started, I have created a rather dangerous scenario for you and them." Jay said, then pulled a blue cube out of his pocket and placed it on Sisko's desk. "This here is a bomb, set to go off in exactly seventy-two hours. When it blows, not only will your space station be destroy, but a good chunk of the surrounding solar system."
Sisko did not show any visible signs of concern, but needless to say he was quite worried and angry. This cosmic being was toying not just with him, his crew, the residents of his station, but the billions of lives in this corner of the galaxy. He wanted to give this god-complex lunatic a piece of his mind, but the commander controlled himself. Barely.
"So, what needs to be done to avoid this senseless destruction?" Sisko asked.
"Well, that's the thing. The only way to disarm this bomb is with a key located on the planet closest to my wormhole on the other side. This key can only be used by one of those teenagers in your Med Bay." Jay replied. "Now, I realize that a planet is a lot of space to cover, so I will give you this as well."
Jay reached into his pocket once again and took out a white sphere. "Once you pass through my wormhole, this will help you find the key. Also, only one of them is allowed to leave Deep Space Nine. If more than one leaves, the bomb will go off. If you try to move the bomb, it will explode immediately. Plus, I will give you a clue, because I just love clues. Would you like to hear it?"
Sisko said nothing. He did nothing. He did not even blink.
Jay sighed. "No need to give me the cold shoulder. Anyway, the clue is, "The key hides in the third eye of evil's father." Puzzled, aren't you?"
Honestly, Sisko was puzzled. What Jay had said sounded like complete nonsense to him. Hopefully, it would make sense later. Given this cosmic gamemaster, he was certain it would. If it did not, Jay would not have as much fun.
"I look forward to seeing how this turns out. Good luck." After saying this, Jay vanished in a burst of white light.
Well, this is going to be a long couple of days, Sisko thought.
As Bashir talked more with his three patients, the more confused he became. They said they were from the early twenty-first century, but their historical knowledge did not match his. The three of them swore the Soviet Union collapsed before the start of the twenty-first century and that World War III never happened. Though the matter was cleared up when Commander Sisko returned and told them about his meeting with the cosmic entity known as Jay.
"So, this higher dimensional being likes to play with people's lives and we just happened to peak his interest when stopped an alien invasion during our prom. Due to this, there is now a time bomb on your station which we have to disarm by finding a key on an alien planet?" Tanya summarized. "Given everything that has happened, I liable to believe it."
"Wait, you fought aliens at your prom?" Bashir chuckled. "Really?"
"That is how I lost my leg." Ram responded.
Bashir immediately stopped laughing. "My sincerest apologies. I did not know."
Ram said nothing, but he did nod.
"Now, we have an urgent matter to deal with. We need to neutralize the bomb in my office and we have less than seventy-two hours to do that." Sisko said. "Fortunately, we have some instructions. I will accompany some of my officers to this planet on the other side of the new wormhole, along with one of you three. But, I must warn you, we have no idea what will encountered there, so whoever comes must be prepared for excessive danger. I will let you decide amongst yourselves who goes. Excuse us."
With that, Sisko and Bashir stepped out of the Med Bay.
"I'll go." April volunteered. "I can handle danger."
"Now way. You have that heart condition." Ram argued. "Let me go."
"Hey, I would like to go." Tanya said. "It sounds very interesting."
"Interesting?!" Ram exclaimed. "You know, I seriously do not understand how you have remained so calm. Has the reality of what is going on not sunk in yet?"
"Actually, quite the opposite. I realize we are on a space station in a parallel universe. This is right out of a sci-fi novel. We can't change what has happened, so we might as well make the most of it." Tanya replied. "Also, panicking at a time like this will not help anybody."
"I agree with Tanya here. Everything she just said makes perfect sense." April said. "I should be the one to go on this space adventure. Ram, you have been through a lot and you are not yet used to your artificial leg. Tanya, you are clever but not much of a fighter. After how I put Dr. Bashir in a stranglehold, I believe I can hold my own in a fight. That is why I will go."
April's argument was sound. The truth was Ram still found his new leg quite awkward and difficult to move. Tanya has never been in a fight before, except for when she had to fend-off an alien called a Shadowkin in her room. However, April somehow had pretty good fighting instincts.
"Alright, you can be the one to go." Ram said after a moment of silence. "But careful."
Tanya walked over to April and gave her a hug. "Come back safe."
"I'll do my best." April replied, then left to face unknown danger.
