By Erin_Cale
Disclaimer: See first part.
***
Dylan Hunt was in the middle of an amazing dream. He was standing in a ceremony, the stuffy, boring kind that he usually hated, but this time the whole crew was there cheering him on. He was to accept some award for his efforts to keep the peace in the systems that had once made up the Commonwealth.
�Go on, Dylan, you have to go up there,� Beka said, giving him a slight push towards the podium at the front of the room.
�Yeah, Dylan, go on. Don�t be a chicken,� Trance added.
�Okay, okay. Fine.� Dylan ascended the stairs to the podium. He took a deep breath, preparing to launch into his acceptance speech when all of a sudden, a piece of the ceiling came crashing down on top of him. For a moment, he couldn�t breathe. Then he woke up.
Coming awake almost immediately, he saw that the reason his dream had ended with him under a piece of ceiling was because something had truly fallen on top of him. Or someone, to be more specific. He couldn�t see much of the woman in the dark but could tell that she was just as surprised as he was that she was there.
�Who are you and what are you doing here?�
Instead of giving an answer, the woman yelled, �Q!� She looked around, as if waiting for somebody to appear. When nobody did, she turned back to him. �I�m sorry. I didn�t know that this was going to happen.�
�Why are you here?�
�Okay, let me get off of the bed first. I doubt that this could be a comfortable position for you.� She rolled off of him and put her feet on the floor. Standing up, she seemed to take her first real look at her surroundings. She straightened what looked to be a uniform, then directed her gaze back to Dylan. �All right. A very powerful being called a Q told me that he would send me somewhere to help out some person named Dylan Hunt with a �worthy cause�.�
�Well, you�re in the right place.� Dylan stood up, still keeping his weapon trained on her. �I�m Dylan Hunt.�
The woman, to her credit, didn�t react. She just looked at him and nodded. �Okay. So a Q lived up to his word for once.� She stuck out a hand in greeting. �My name is Kathryn Janeway. I�m pleased to meet you.�
Dylan shook the outstretched hand warily. �Yes. It�s nice to meet you too. Would you mind coming with me? It�s for security reasons.�
�Of course. After all, I used to command a ship of my own.�
Dylan looked at his bedroom. There wasn�t a single window in the room, so how could this stranger have known that she was on a ship if she had just appeared her with almost no prior knowledge as to her destination. �How did you know that?�
�Know what?� she asked, her face appearing totally innocent.
�That we are on a ship.�
�I was on a seven year mission in deep space. That mission may have ended two months ago, but I hope I can still remember what being on a ship feels like.�
Dylan nodded, then grabbed a pair of pants. Kathryn politely turned her back as he got dressed. When he was finished, he said, �Lights at 75% illumination.�
Andromeda obeyed, immediately shutting off the privacy mode that she engaged at night while the crew slept. Her hologram appeared in the room, slightly to Kathryn�s left.
�Sir...?� she asked, her normally indifferent voice sounding just the slightest bit unnerved by the discovery of an intruder in her captain�s bedroom.
�It�s all right, Andromeda. I�m bringing her to the brig. Have the crew meet me there.�
�Yes sir.�
As Kathryn allowed herself to be led out of Dylan�s quarters, she asked, �Who was that?�
�That was my ship, Andromeda.�
�Your ship? You mean, your ship is sentient?�
�Yes.�
�Amazing. In my universe, we haven�t quite mastered the art of creating Artificial Intelligence yet.� Kathryn looked around the hallway in renewed awe. �You know, I think Q was right. I think I�m going to like it here.�
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