Chapter 4

As Riker positioned his shuttlecraft, Picard contemplated the new twist on their current situation. Friend or foe? Assistance, or assailant? Perhaps the ship recognized that the Enterprise was damaged, and wanted to offer assistance. Or, perhaps they simply saw easy pickings.

"Battle status, Mr. Worf?" Picard asked.

"Captain, currently we are still on emergency impulse power. Shields are at 10%, phasers are online but only at 25%, and only the aft torpedo tube is online. Engineering is reporting main engines will be online within the next hour, and will work on inertial dampeners and weapon systems next. Currently, inertial dampeners are at 25%, so we have limited maneuvering capability."

"Thank you, Mr. Worf." Picard tapped his console. "Picard to Engineering."

"La Forge here, Captain."

"Geordi, we have an unidentified vessel on an intercept course with us right now. How soon can you get main engines and inertial dampeners online?"

"Captain, I can get main engines online in 30 minutes, and inertial dampeners will take another 15 minutes after that." La Forge replied.

"You have 15 minutes Commander."

Geordi sighed. "Yes, Captain."

Lieutenant Worf's console beeped. "Captain, incoming message from unidentified vessel, audio only."

"Let's hear it, Mr. Worf," Picard ordered.

Over the bridge speakers, the voice of Colonel Caldwell's voice rang. "Unknown vessel, this is the Earth ship U.S.S. Daedalus. May we render assistance?"

Wesley Crusher, freshly minted Ensign from Starfleet academy, turned towards the Captain and blurted out, "Earth vessel?"

Captain Picard turned towards Worf. "Mr. Worf, can we tie the main viewscreen to the shuttle sensors, and give us an image of the ship headed this way?"

Worf worked on his console for a moment, before an image appeared on screen, albeit slightly blurry. "Captain, at the range they're at, with shuttle sensors this is the best I could do."

"That's good enough, Worf. Please open a channel, and route the audio to the shuttlecraft as well." Worf's console beeped as he hit a few buttons. "Done," was his response.

"U.S.S. Daedalus, this is Captain Picard of the U.S.S. Enterprise. I'm afraid I'm not familiar with your vessel. To whom am I speaking with?"

"This is Colonel Stephen Caldwell of the United States Air Force, Captain. Our sensors showed many of your main systems offline, and wished to know if you required assistance." Caldwell responded.

"One second, please, Colonel." Picard asked, before turning to Worf and drawing a line across his throat, signaling him to mute the connection.

"Channel closed, Captain."

"Number One, are you there?" Picard asked.

"Here, Captain. Earth vessel? I've never heard of that ship, present or past, and Commander Data has nothing either," Riker replied.

"Can you scan for temporal anomalies, and tachyon particles?" Picard asked.