Dr. Mira Montgomery and Lt. Cmdr. Rebecca Sinclair were spending the day together in Atlantis City. They were becoming quite close lately, ever since they both discovered they loved the game of tri-dimensional chess, which they played on a regular basis.

"What do we try now?" asked Rebecca as she and Mira exited a shop where Mira had just purchased a very unique chess set. The set was composed of a crystal like metal with the pieces being sea creatures. The King was Poseidon,(God of the Seas), the Queen, a mermaid and the other pieces being dolphins, manatees, whales etc. The most unusual feature of the set was the inside of the pieces which were filled with a blue liquid that was constantly swirling. The shop owner explained that each piece was filled with a tiny energy particle which would last for at least one hundred years! A truly unique find!

"I can hardly wait to try this set out!" exclaimed Mira, excited by her find.

"Yes. It should be a wonderful experience. Now, I repeat, what do we do now? We've been to over two dozen shops, had lunch, experienced the underwater rides, and frankly, I'm a bit worn out. I could use an experience where we just sit for awhile. How about you?"

"Sounds good to me," began Mira, "I saw a sign a while back about exploring ancient ruins in an aqua-sub. Let's check that out."

"Fine with me."

"First I need to get all these packages beamed up to the Endeavour," said Mira as she shifted the weight of her many packages from one arm to the other.

"I don't see how you're going to find room for all that stuff in your quarters, Mira."

"Oh, I'm sure I will. And if not, I 'll just have the Engineering staff enlarge my quarters!" Mira answered with a smile.

"I' know Maxine Taggert would just love that, assigning her staff to satisfy your personal whim!"

"Yes, she would, wouldn't she!" They both laughed at the thought.

After Mira deposited her packages, they found the ancient ruin tours and rented an aqua-sub. Before they took off, the manager warned them not to go out past the yellow beacons, as the currents were strong in those areas and the aqua-sub had very limited power. They assured him they would stay within the boundaries and headed off toward the ancient ruins of Atlantis City.

"I didn't know that at one time Oceanna IV had been like Earth, did you, Mira?" asked Rebecca as she gazed out the windows of the small sub.

"No, I didn't. I knew of it's existence and how much fun people had when they visited here, but I know virtually nothing of it's history," Mira said as she skillfully piloted the underwater craft.

"The rental manager explained to me, while you were checking out the craft, that several hundred years ago, Oceanna IV had land masses and oceans until their polar ice caps melted, causing all land to be submerged. That's what the ancient ruins are, some of their preserved cities."

"Someone told me that at one time, all their cities were crystal like. I assumed that meant the ones underwater, not on land," said Mira.

"How much further do you think the ruins are?" asked Sinclair. "I feel like we are getting pretty far out, but I don't see any yellow beacons yet, do you?"

"No, I don't. But I'm sure we can't be too far away from the ruins, as we have been traveling for almost 45 minutes. But then, this sub is not as fast as a shuttlecraft!"

"Or as efficient. There are no long range scanners on board and only minimal short range ones," commented a concerned Sinclair.

"I know," began Mira, "but then these subs were only meant to traverse short distances, and only for sight seeing. As long as they don't leak, I'm fine with it. How about you?"

Before Sinclair could answer, the little sub was slammed into what appeared to be a wall of fast traveling water. "What the...?" exclaimed Mira, as she tried to control the sub. The sub was spinning around and around as if caught in a whirlpool. Not only that, but they were traveling at a speed four times faster than the sub was capable of.

"What's going on?! cried Sinclair, as she grabbed the wheel and tried to help Mira get the tiny sub back on course. She was having little success.

"I don't know! It looks like we are caught in some kind of current or whirlpool! The sub shouldn't be traveling this fast! Look!" Mira exclaimed, nodding her head to the right, as she didn't want to let go of the wheel.

"Rebecca looked in the direction indicated and noticed a blurry yellow light streaking by. "I think we are beyond the beacon, Mira, she said, trying to remain calm.

The craft continued to buck and spin. Sinclair tried to get a fix on their location but it was impossible. They tried to steady the craft by redistributing the ballast, but it was no use. And, using their starboard thruster to slow their spin had little effect either. Whatever the outside power was that had them in its clutches, it was not giving a centimeter. All they could do for several minutes was hang on and hope for the best. Then, finally, the turbulence began to subside and eventually the aqua-sub came to a stop on the ocean floor. They checked their bearings and found that they were considerably off course.

"Is there any damage?" asked Mira.

"Checking," answered Sinclair. "No, I don't see any, but I suggest we forgo our little excursion and head back to the city. I think I've had enough sight seeing for the afternoon. Besides, you need to get ready for your dinner with Simon, and I would really like to see the Water Ballet and the Aquatic Theater tonight."

"Fine with me," said an exhausted Mira. Her arms and shoulders were aching from the strain of trying to get the little craft under control, and she knew that Rebecca must be hurting too, so they set a course back to Atlantis City.

The two senior officers arrived back at the docking portal of the building where they had rented their aqua-sub and disembarked. While Sinclair settled their debit, Mira looked around the building and frowned. Sinclair turned to leave, saw the puzzled expression on Mira's face and smiled. "What's wrong, Doctor?" she asked. "You look a little bewildered."

Mira shook her head. "I could have sworn the walls in this lobby area were painted BLUE. In fact, I remember thinking that they were painted almost identical to the walls in my office. How could I have been so wrong?" she said gesturing to the obviously bright yellow walls.

"I'm not sure. Maybe we came in through a different lobby," Rebecca offered.

"I don't think so," Mira shrugged, "but I guess it isn't important. I just must be mistaken." She looked at the walls again, feeling more than a little uneasy.

Together they exited the building and hailed a car. It slowed to a stop and they both climbed in.

"What's your destination?" queried the driver.

"The Civic Building," Mira answered.

"The what?" asked the driver.

"The Civic Building. You know, where the main debarkation center is located," Mira explained a bit impatiently.

"Oh, you must mean the Populace Building," the driver chuckled. "I can see by your uniforms that you two are tourists. I suppose it's easy to make a mistake like that."

Mira turned to Rebecca. "Something very strange is going on here, Commander," she said solemnly.

"How long have you been driving a cab here in Atlantis City?" she queried.

The driver laughed heartily. "You mean ATLANTA City!" he snickered. "You two sure have trouble remembering names, don't you? Well, let's see, I've been driving here for almost ten years now.

Mira opened her mouth to dispute the driver's remarks, but Rebecca shook her head silently and stopped her. They rode in silence to the debarkation center, paid the driver his fee and stepped out onto the platform.

"LOOK!" Mira shouted in alarm as she pointed to a sign high above their heads. It clearly identified the building they were about to enter as the "Atlanta Populace Building!

"There's got to be an explanation for this," Rebecca said as much to reassure herself as her companion. "Maybe there are two debarkation centers and he just took us to the closest one."

"But this building looks so much like the one we arrived at. Do you really think they'd build two of these huge complexes exactly alike?"

"I don't know what to think, Mira," Sinclair said a bit wearily. "Why don't we just go in and access the main computer terminal and call the ship? We can return to the Endeavour for a few hours and try and sort some of this out over a cup of java at Jake's. I wouldn't mind seeing a few more familiar faces for a while either. Have you noticed that we haven't seen any other Starfleet uniforms around since we returned from our trip to find the ruins?"

"Now that you mention it, I guess I haven't. That's odd. We saw several crewmembers before we went. You don't think there was an emergency and all hands were called back to the Endeavour, do you?", Mira asked with genuine concern.

"No, I think someone would have come looking for the ship's doctor and first officer if there was an emergency. Let's go contact the ship and save all this speculation, shall we?"

Mira nodded and the two women entered the building, found a free communications terminal and began hailing the ship. "Commander Sinclair to the USS Endeavour." Sinclair paused and waited for a response. There was none and so she tried again. "USS Endeavour, this is Commander Rebecca Sinclair." Again, no response. Rebecca turned worried eyes on the doctor. "I don't like this," she declared.

"Do you think they've left us behind?" Mira asked with wide eyes.

Sinclair looked back mirroring Mira's expression. "Doctor, I believe we have a problem," she responded, her voice sounding low and lifeless.

"Do you think we could have gone so far off course that we are now on the other side of Oceanna IV?" asked Mira, desperately trying to come up with a plausible explanation for what they were experiencing.

"That would be highly unlikely, I would think, " began Sinclair, "but let's check anyway, shall we?" The two officers found an information desk and inquired about other cities on the planet. "Sir, excuse me, " said Sinclair, "but could you tell me how many cities there are on this planet?"

"There are approximately 700 cities on Oceanna IV."

"What is the name of the capital city?" she asked.

"Why, you're in the capital city!" He responded, rather surprised that these two visitors didn't know where they were. "You're in Atlanta City."

Dr. Montgomery spoke up, "Sir, are there any other cities which have the name of Atlanta City or Atlantis City?"

"I'm quite sure there are, but this is the largest city on the planet. The other cities are not real big tourist attractions either. I'm sure you can find something in Atlanta City to entertain you. Here, let me give you a brochure of our city."

"No, thank you," said Sinclair, "we'll find something with which to occupy our time. Thank you for your help."

"Sir," began Mira, "are there presently any ships in orbit?"

Sinclair looked at Mira, wondering what she had in mind.

"Well, let's see here. No, none at the present, but the USS Endeavour is expected to arrive in about two hours. Does that help you any?"

Montgomery smiled, "Yes, very much, thank you."

The two Endeavour officers walked outside of the building, trying to figure out what to do next. "What was that all about, Mira?" asked Sinclair.

"Did you notice the time, Rebecca?" asked Mira.

Sinclair glanced at her chronometer."My chronometer must be malfunctioning. It says it's two hours before we left!"

"It's not malfunctioning. Mine says the same thing. And the one in the building says the same thing as well."

"This is strange, indeed! exclaimed, Sinclair, "but where do we go from here?"

"I suggest we get something to drink and think about this. We have two hours until the Endeavour docks."

"That can't be our Endeavour, can it? I wonder," voiced Sinclair.

The two officers made their way to a local restaurant, sat down and ordered drinks for themselves. As she sipped at her tea, Mira said, "I have been thinking that this world we're in must be some kind of parallel universe. I know we aren't time traveling because everything is too different to be the same world we left. "

"But we must be time traveling too, or else it would be the same time as when we left," began Sinclair, "and I noticed the date. It's the same date as when we rented those subs."

"So the question is, how do we get back to where we came from?" asked Montgomery. They both fell into a contemplative silence. After a few moments Mira suggested, "Well, we could try and get back into that whirlpool and hope that takes up back to where we started, I suppose."

"Yes. That is an option. But who knows if we can find it again and where we might end up the next time. Rather than hurry and make the wrong decision, I think we should wait for the Endeavour and see if maybe someone on board has any suggestions."

"What happens if they have a Montgomery and Sinclair on board already?" asked Mira.

Sinclair smiled at the thought of there being two of her. "Maybe we should stay out of sight and discover who the crew is first, then we can proceed from there."

"That sounds good. I think we should eat something too. You never know what we might be in for when the Endeavour arrives!"

"You're right. Waiter!" Sinclair motioned, "A menu please."

The time passed slowly. Montgomery and Sinclair did little more than pick at their meals and their conversation was sporadic and purposely shallow. All the while their minds were locked on one question...what would they find when the USS Endeavour arrived?

When the Endeavour's appointed docking time finally registered on their chronometers, Mira and Rebecca settled their bills and returned to a communications terminal to again try contacting the Endeavour. Sinclair initiated the hail. "USS Endeavour, this is Commander. Rebecca Sinclair, please respond."

There was a momentary pause and then a familiar voice answered. "USS Endeavour, Lieutenant Nor here. Please say again."

Rebecca turned to Mira and exchanged wide-eyed looks before repeating. "This is Commander Rebecca Sinclair requesting immediate beam up for two officers. And just why are you handling bridge communications, Lt. Nor?" she added.

There was a long pause in the communications. "Because...it's my job sir," came the wary reply. "And I'm sorry, Commander, I wasn't aware of your promotion."

"Promotion?! I have been a Commander and your first officer since we began this mission!"

"First officer, sir?"

"Yes, of course."

"One moment, sir," Nor broke communications. Sinclair and Montgomery waited nervously for several moments and then contact was reestablished.

"This is Lt. Commander Kate O'Sullivan, Security Chief of the USS Endeavour. I understand that I am speaking to Lt. Rebecca Sinclair, our transporter chief, but that you are claiming to be a commander and our first officer? Is that correct?"

"What?" squawked Mira.

Rebecca held a finger briefly to her lips to silence her companion. "Yes, I'm sorry Commander. It was meant to be a little joke for Lt. Nor's benefit. I'm sorry, sir."

"Lieutenant, this is a serious breach of protocol. I'm afraid that I must report this to your C.O., Commander Wendy Lynn."

"Yes, sir, I understand," Rebecca responded.

"And what other officer is with you on the surface, Lieutenant?" O'Sullivan asked.

"Uh..Mira Montgomery, sir."

"Ensign Montgomery, our crewmaster?" Mira's eyes grew even larger as she listened to O'Sullivan's question.

"That would be correct, sir."

"Prepare for transport, Lieutenant. I can't wait to hear your explanations as to how you were able to get to the surface so quickly. O'Sullivan out."

Rebecca, knowing there was no time to spare, leapt into action. "Mira! Quick! Get rid of two of those pips. You're an ensign for the time being and you've got to play the part!" Sinclair swiftly took a pip off her own collar making herself an instant lieutenant.

Montgomery quickly removed two pips and shouted back, "That makes the rank correct! But what about the uniforms?!!"

"Ooops!" Sinclair replied, wishing she could magically turn the shoulders of her uniform jumpsuit from red to gold. Then suddenly both officers disappeared in a swirl of sparkles.

As Commander, now Lieutenant Sinclair and Dr./Commander, now, Ensign, Crewmaster, Montgomery materialized in the transporter room of the Endeavour, they were met with a glare by Security Chief, Lt. Cmdr. Kate O'Sullivan. "Who gave you two permission to disembark this ship? And what are you doing out of your proper uniforms?"

Mira and Sinclair looked at each other and Sinclair started to try and explain. "You see, er, Sir, Ensign Montgomery and I were checking out the facilities and we were accidently dropped into a pool of water and we..."

O"Sullivan interrupted her, "Enough! I repeat, who gave you permission to beam down to the planet?"

Mira spoke up, "The Captain, sir." She hoped Captain Forrester was as understanding on this Endeavour as he was on their own.

"Captain McRaney gave you permission?" asked Kate suspiciously.

Mira gasped, then regained her composure, "Yes, sir, Captain--she hoped she guessed right about this next part--Simon McRaney gave us both permission to beam down before anyone else had a chance to do so. For a quick inspection." She waited for Kate's reaction.

"Hmmm...I see. Well, if Captain McRaney gave you permission then I guess..."

Just then the computer barked out a command,"Lt. Cmdr. O'Sullivan, please report to Engineering immediately."

Mira and Sinclair recognized the voice as that of Lt. Ren Carstairs, their own crewmaster. But she obviously wasn't the crewmaster on this ship ordering Lt. Cmdrs. around. And besides, Mira now held that position.

"O'Sullivan here. I'm on my way, sir. You two, get changed into your proper uniforms immediately!"

"Yes, sir," they both replied in unison. After Kate left, they both decided to find their own rooms, change and then decide what to do next.

Mira found her room on deck 4 while Sinclair found hers on deck 7. After they had changed into the proper uniforms, they met in Sinclair's room. "Well," asked Mira, "what do we do next?"

"I had a chance to check out the personnel on this ship while I was changing. Simon McRaney is the Captain, while Ren Carstairs is the First Officer. I think they would be willing to help us out if we explain our situation to them. What do you think?"

"I agree. I feel this is not an evil alternate universe, just a mixed up one from our own perspective that is!" said Mira. "I feel that if this Simon McRaney is anything like my Simon McRaney, he should be willing to help us out."

"Agreed. I think we shouldn't waste any more time. We need to see Captain McRaney immediately. I just hope he and the Chief Engineer, Wendy Lynn, will be able to help us find our way back to our own universe!"

"I'm ready when you are, Commander, er...,I mean Lieutenant!"Said Mira with a smile.

"The only thing is, a Lieutenant and an Ensign just can't walk into the Captain's ready room and start explaining things. We must go through the proper channels. That means..."

Mira finished the sentence for her, " our Commanding Officers."

"Right. Let's go to Lynn first, then we can check out your CO, Commander Carstairs."

"Sounds good to me." As the two officers entered a turbolift en route to the Chief Engineer's office, they found Maxine Taggert standing with a small dog in her arms. She was in civilian clothes.

"Maxine?" asked Mira.

"Oh, hi Mira. I was just taking Pooky to the vets for his monthly check up." Taggert held the little animal up to her face and said to it, "Wittle Pooky feels a wittle bad today. Don't you precious? That's ok. Mommie'll make it better for you."

Mira and Sinclair looked at each other and frowned. This was one scene they would never forget!" "Can't this lift go any faster!" complained Mira as Taggert continued her baby talk.

----------------------

"and so Commander Lynn, we found ourselves back on the Endeavour, but unfortunately, this is not OUR Endeavour," Sinclair finished strongly and waited for Lynn's response. It had been a gamble for Rebecca and Mira to come forward with their stories, but there was no where else to turn.

Lynn leaned back in her chair and looked at the two officers standing rigidly before her desk. "I see," she said slowly," and you really expect me to believe this, Sinclair?"

"Yes Commander, because it's true. Why would I make up a story like this?"

Lynn's face clouded. You could tell she was wrestling with the credibility of the problem.

"Well, theoretically, it's not impossible," she thought aloud. "Tell me Sinclair, what is your position on the 'other' Endeavour?"

Sinclair sucked in her breath before admitting, "I'm the First Officer, sir."

Lynn's right eyebrow arched in surprise. "Hmmm, quite a step up from transporter chief." She looked at Mira then. "And you Montgomery, what is your position?"

"I am the Chief Medical Officer, Commander."

Lynn fell into a thoughtful silence before continuing. "I am going to have both of you escorted down to sickbay and have some scans run," she said finally. "I'm sure you'll feel right at home there, Ensign."

"Yes, sir, I am, of course, eminently familiar with the Endeavour's sickbay. And, if you're looking for verification of our stories, that's an excellent idea. I would think that intensive scans would have to show a variance between our neural make-up and that of the rest of the crew."

Lynn looked a little surprised by Montgomery's remarks. "Very well, then. I will inform Commander Carstairs about what has transpired here. Please be seated, while I call for your Security escort."

Sinclair and Montgomery seated themselves in chairs opposite Lynn's desk and began their wait. About five minutes later, an ensign and crewman stepped into Lynn's office. The ensign was Antos Bek, their Endeavour's counselor, and the crewman was Darian Blake, an engineering lieutenant, in their universe.

The trip to sickbay was accomplished quickly and it was only when they got to the doors of the medical facility that a question popped into Mira's mind. It amazed her that she hadn't thought of it earlier. "I wonder who the CMO is?" she asked no one in particular.

The doors slid open and the group entered. They were met by an Andorian nurse, Lt. Toras Karrik, and ushered into an examination cubicle. "The doctor is being briefed on your situation and will be here momentarily," Karrik informed them.

Mira opened her mouth to ask Karrik, an engineer in her world, about the CMO, but she disappeared quickly. "I wish someone would tell us who the..." Mira's voice trailed off as the Endeavour's Chief Medical Officer breezed into the room. "BY THE PROPHETS!" she cried. "IT'S TAGGERT!!!"

Dr. Maxine Taggert walked into the room and froze. "TAGGERT, Ensign? You address the Chief Medical Officer of this ship as TAGGERT?" Taggert's eyes narrowed and Mira's blood ran cold as she saw the old Taggert temper flare. "I certainly hope for your sake that there is something wrong with your mental processes, otherwise Ensign, I will put you on report for disrespect!" Mira was shocked and speechless. Evidently Dr. Taggert's sweet disposition was only reserved for her dog in her universe.

As Mira continued to contemplate the horrendous turn of events, Rebecca stepped in. "Please forgive her, Doctor. We're both quite shaken up about this whole situation. And, please remember sir, we saw you earlier in civilian clothes and didn't even realize then that you were a Starfleet officer, much less the CMO.

Dr. Taggert looked at Sinclair as if she were insane. "You didn't know who I was?" she asked, her curiosity calming her temper a bit.

"No, sir," Mira answered, straining to give Taggert that title of respect. "In our universe you are the Chief of Engineering."

Taggert paused in amazement. "I intend to find out more about YOUR universe, Ensign," she said finally. "And I warn you, these tests had better verify your story!"

Mira looked at Rebecca and signed. Things were certainly not improving.

As Montgomery and Sinclair were preparing to undergo scans, Mira spoke up, "Dr. ...Taggert," she began--Mira found it hard to refer to Maxine as "Doctor"--"You might want to try a cellular RNA scan."

Dr. Taggert looked skeptically at Ensign Montgomery. "And why would you suggest that, Ensign?" Although she knew the answer, she couldn't believe that this Ensign in the Recreation Department knew what she was talking about.

"You need to check the quantum flux in our cellular RNA for different resonance levels. If what we have been saying is the truth, then our quantum flux resonance patterns will be different than the normal ones in this universe," Mira said with a satisfied smile.

"Hummm....That is highly unlikely, Ensign!" snarled Taggert.

"Nevertheless..." smiled Mira again.

After the scans were run, Dr. Taggert looked over the results. "Dr. Taggert to Captain McRaney."

"Captain here. Go ahead Doctor."

"Captain, I need to see you immediately!"

"I was just on my way to your office, doctor. I'll see you there. Captain out."

Taggert looked at the two displaced officers and ordered them into her office. As soon as they were in the office, the other Mira Montgomery came into sickbay holding her left shoulder. "Stay here!" she ordered Montgomery and Sinclair. "The fewer people who know of this, the better."

"I've got to see this!" said Mira, as she stood to the side of the office, peeking out at this universe's Mira Montgomery. This Montgomery had much longer hair than Mira had, which she had pulled back and tied up in a sort of ponytail. She appeared to be the same size as Mira, but was thinner. Other than that, they looked exactly the same.

While Mira was observing Mira, Captain Simon McRaney walked into sickbay, acknowledged the doctor, barely noticing the hurt Mira and walked into the Chief Medical Officer's Office and stopped dead in his tracks. He looked at Mira, then at the injured Mira who Dr. Taggert was attending to, then back to Mira again.

"Well, I see what Commander Lynn told me is apparently true. This is incredible!"

Mira noticed that Captain McRaney appeared much older than her Simon. His hair was greying at the temples and he had many more lines on his face. The hardships of command, she imagined. He was just as tall as her Simon, but thinner and more muscular. There was also a harshness which was missing from her Simon.

Dr. Taggert returned to her office and presented Captain McRaney with the information on her PADD. "So, Doctor, then this is confirmed? These officers are from another universe?"

"It would appear so, Captain. I've never seen anything like this, but as far as I can tell, these results cannot be faked."

"Of course, they're not faked!" exclaimed Mira, "Why would we want to fake the results?"

"Ensign Montgomery! We do not address our superior officers in that manner here!" Captain McRaney said in a stern voice.

Mira was taken aback. She had never been addressed by Simon in that way before. "I'm sorry, Captain, but from where I come from, I am a Commander and Taggert, er, the Doctor is a Lt. Cmdr. I'm sorry, but I'm not used to being addressed as a liar."

Mira and Taggert glared at each other. It seems that even in this universe, they couldn't get along very well!

"Stand down, Ensign." ordered McRaney. "What we need to do now is find a way to get you two back into your own universe."

"Agreed," spoke Sinclair.

"We need to get to main engineering and see if our chief engineer has any ideas on how to get you two back. But I think it best if you are seen by the least amount of people as possible. Captain McRaney to Transporter Room 1."

"Ensign Remington here, Sir."

Mira and Sinclair looked at each other. They both recognized Vanessa Remington's voice.

"Ensign, three to beam directly to Main Engineering."

"Aye sir," came the reply.

Immediately the three were in Main Engineering where the Chief of Engineering, Wendy Lynn was awaiting them.

"As I see it, we need to recreate the conditions that brought you into this dimension in the first place," Lynn said thoughtfully. "There must be come kind of rift in the space time continuum on the floor of Oceanna IV that was opened due to seismic activity. Unfortunately, you were present at the very moment it opened up and tumbled through it into our dimension."

McRaney furrowed his brow. "So, are you telling me that you think that you could simulate the exact conditions that brought these people to us and return them to their proper time and place, Commander?"

"That's what I'm hoping to do, sir," Lynn answered. "If that doesn't work, I'm not sure what else I can do for them."

Mira shot Rebecca a look of grave concern before turning back to McRaney. "Captain, we're willing to try anything. We don't belong here."

"Very well, Lynn," McRaney decided. "Give it your best."

"Aye sir," Lynn answered. Then she turned to her console and began to put her plan into action.

Three hours later, Sinclair and Montgomery found themselves back inside the same little aqua-sub they had piloted earlier. They headed back out to the exact coordinates where they had been when they had been pummeled by the violent undersea currents and held position on the spot, waiting.

"I hate to mention this," Mira began, "but what if this doesn't work? What will become of us?"

"Well, ENSIGN," Rebecca said with a smile, "I suppose we'll have to establish a new life here. I'm sure you could prove that you've had the training needed to be a physician and I...well, I hope I could prove my worth too. But, hopefully, we won't have to worry about all that." She paused momentarily. "How long until Lynn detonates those charges?"

Mira checked her chronometer. "One minute, 38 seconds."

Both officers tensed as they waited for the sub oceanic charges planted by the Endeavour's crew to detonate and hopefully open the rift. The planting of the charges had been a simple task, but persuading the governing body on Oceanna IV to allow them to proceed with their plans had been a bit tricky. Captain McRaney and Diplomat, Marcus Forrester, had had their hands full with those negotiations.

Suddenly, the read outs on the aqua-sub started to rapidly fluctuate. "This is it, Mira!" Sinclair shouted. "Hold on."

Seconds later the blast's concussion hit them and the tiny vessel was caught up in a tremendous current. It tumbled the craft and sent it out of control once more. Mira and Rebecca did little but hold on for the ride. They hoped that they would be pushed through the rift by the blast and feared that trying to stabilize the vessel might actually keep them from achieving their goal.

After a few minutes that seemed like hours the buffeting suddenly stopped and the officers checked their position. "I believe we're at the same coordinates we were at when we were hit by that current the first time," Mira reported. "Now, how do we know if we're back in our own dimension?"

"I guess we'd better return this aqua-sub and then head for the Civic Building to contact the Endeavour," Sinclair said quickly.

Mira nodded.

Thirty minutes later they had docked the little sub and stepped out of the docking portal. Mira hurried along the corridor and turned into the lobby area. Her face lit up immediately. "Blue!" she shouted happily. "The lobby area is BLUE, just as it was originally."

"Looks like we're on the right track," Sinclair said, grinning widely.

They hurriedly left the building and boarded a cab. Both were pleased when the driver gave them no arguments about transporting them to the Civic Building. Upon their arrival at the Civic Building, they rushed to the communications center and waited impatiently for their turn at a communications terminal. When they finally were given access to one, they both froze.

"What if this is yet another dimension, Rebecca?" Mira speculated uneasily.

Sinclair drew in a sharp breath. "I guess, we're about to find out," she answered weakly. Then she turned to the terminal. "USS Endeavour, this is Commander Rebecca Sinclair," she said, initiating a hail to their ship.

The response was almost immediate. "Commander Sinclair, this is Ensign Denver Colton. Please hold, sir."

There was a long pause and Mira fidgeted nervously. "What kind of reception is this?" she asked uneasily.

The channel reopened. "Commander Sinclair," Captain Forrester's rich tones filled the air, "I trust you are accompanied by Dr. Montgomery."

"Yes, Captain, I'm here," Mira answered happily.

"We've been searching for you both for hours. Where the devil have you been?"

"It's a long story, sir," Rebecca offered, "and we'll be happy to tell you all about it as soon as we return to the ship."

"Very well, please report back on board immediately," Forrester ordered. Then his voice mellowed, "It will be good to see you both. You had us very worried."

"Thank you, Captain," Mira responded. "We've done a little worrying ourselves today. It will be good to come home. Montgomery out."

Mira and Rebecca paused a moment to share smiles of relief, then turned simultaneously to head for the transporter station to return to their ship and their treasured conventional lives.