Hey, guys, I know I've been away for awhile, but I do like feedback.
I hope I haven't lost all my readers because A New Hero is still not finished. I promise it's not forgotten, and I am working on it.
I didn’t get this beta’ed so I hope I didn’t make any silly mistakes. But please, if you see them, please point them out so I can feel foolish.
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Although I’m not really making major changes to what we saw on the show, I am changing certain events of the first season and setting them after Lois and Clark are married. Rachel Harris also makes an appearance. And I’m going with what the show did. Forget all those silly scientists who say it shouldn’t be done. =)
My crossover is with Star Trek: Voyager. I’m going to make assumptions that most of you have a little knowledge of the Star Trek world (such as what a transporter is and what a Vulcan is). I’m going to try to keep from making assumptions that you may know about the characters from Voyager, and I’m going to try to keep them somewhat ‘superficial’ so that you don’t need to know the show Voyager to understand the story. I have also not used all of the characters from Voyager.
But there is a bit that you’ll need to know about Star Trek Voyager to understand their background. Some of this information doesn’t really pertain to this story, but it is mentioned and since you might wonder, I’ve put the information here. Star Trek: Voyager is set in the future. They are stuck on the far side of the galaxy and are trying to get home (a journey that they expect will take 75 years), but I won’t go into how they got there. The human doctor and his staff were killed and the only doctor that Voyager has now is holographic. He is now sentient but he can’t decide on a name. Seven of Nine, although human, is a former Borg that was rescued by Voyager’s crew. The Borg are a ‘race’ of cyborgs whose mission it is to add YOU to their collective. Resistance is futile. =)
Disclaimer: The characters in this story are from the TV shows Star Trek: Voyager and Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. The characters are not real and should not be confused with any real person either living or dead. I’m not making any money from this story. Although the characters are not mine, the story is.
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For The Fall Of Night Unbidden Came And I Fell From The Sky
Part One of Two
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Captain Kathryn Janeway sat in her chair on the bridge of Voyager going over routine reports. She paused for a moment to gaze upon some of her crew. She smiled as she listened to Lieutenant Tom Paris at navigation regale Ensign Harry Kim with tales from the 20th century. Tom Paris was a history buff with a particular love of the 20th century. His knowledge had come in handy on at least a couple of missions.
Lieutenant Commander Tuvok, a tall, dark-skinned Vulcan nodded to First Officer Chakotay as he entered the bridge from the turbo-lift. Chakotay, a handsome Native American, nodded back and in his soft voice spoke in greeting, “Tuvok.” He strode over to Captain Janeway and leaned over to her. “Captain, Seven is requesting your presence in sickbay. She and the Doctor have a new theory on how we might be able to get home sooner.” At Kathryn’s questioning look, he shrugged. “They would not be more forthcoming.”
Kathryn’s eyes twinkled. She supposed she would indulge the holographic Doctor and Seven of Nine, the former Borg who was now a member of her crew. She stood up and headed towards the turbo-lift. She’d taken two steps when Voyager was shaken by... something. As she was thrown half way across the bridge, she wondered, ‘Weapons fire? Hmm... No. Something else.’ As Chakotay rushed to her side, the sexual tension between them ever present, she looked at him gratefully as he helped her to her feet. He motioned to Tom Paris, who also served as the medic on board, when Kathryn smiled slightly. “I’m fine, Chakotay. Thanks.” She looked around the bridge noting a couple of small fires that were already being put out by the automatic systems. Harry was holding an obviously broken arm. She motioned to him. “Sick bay. Now.”
The obedient Harry started to protest but only briefly. Cradling his arm, he headed towards sickbay.
Captain Janeway turned to Commander Tuvok. “Report!
In his no-nonsense way, Tuvok responded, “Captain. We impacted with what is apparently an asteroid...”
Janeway interrupted, “An asteroid? Here? How is that possible? We aren’t in a planetary system.” The last sentence was almost, but not quite, a question.
“Yes, Captain. That is correct. Nonetheless, this appears to be an asteroid, and sensors did not detect it prior to impact. It apparently came-” Tuvok swallowed, finding this hard to say. “-out of nowhere.” He paused. “It wasn’t there. And then it was.”
Lieutenant Paris interrupted. “And Captain, that’s not all. It’s pulling us along with it. And its course is... is... Well, it’s like its course is *purposeful*.”
“Purposeful?” Kathryn questioned.
Chakotay looked up from some computer readings he had been checking. “Not only does the asteroid apparently have a guidance system, and not only is it taking us along with it, it’s also pulling us through time.”
~~~~~~~
Lois and Clark were staring out of the huge windows of the newsroom floor of The Daily Planet. It had been a slow news day and they were both bored. There hadn’t even been anything to keep Superman busy. Lois smiled seductively at her husband and she sidled up to him. “Whaddya say we knock off early and go home? Hmmm?” She stroked the side of his cheek.
Clark grinned. “Perry might not take kindly to...”
Swiftly and without warning, the sun went dark.
Or mostly so, Clark noted as others in the newsroom gasped. Some even panicked.
Ralph, ever the hysterical one, cried, “It’s the end of the world!”
Clark stood quietly and watched the eclipse. The eclipse that no one knew was coming. He was turned slightly away so as not to alert anyone that he could actually look directly at an eclipse - unlike humans. He noted that the object blocking the sun was obviously not the moon, as would have been the case in with the usual eclipse. A bit of the ‘top’ and the ‘bottom’ of the sun was visible. The object was jagged and uneven. Clark continued to watch as the object moved away from the sun and the daylight returned.
The object was an asteroid. A huge asteroid. An asteroid that could cause an extinction event if it hit the Earth.
~~~~~~~
The asteroid had stopped its trek through time and space. It had set up a somewhat quickly decaying orbit around the Earth.
The crew of Voyager watched the eclipse come and go. They watched the planet where many of them were born. A planet they thought they may never see again.
The watched events that they knew had not happened before. History had been changed. Someone - or something - was messing with time.
Captain Janeway called out to anyone who was listening. “Report! Where... *When* are we?”
The tall, handsome Vulcan who was her second officer answered, “From the satellite information we have tapped into the year is 1997. Pre-warp. Pre-first contact.” He sighed. “And Captain, the asteroid will impact the Earth in 101.59.02 hours.”
Kathryn sighed. “It’s obvious they see the asteroid. Do they see us? We don’t need to make... ‘time’ any more problematic. And we certainly don’t want them to find out that aliens really exist - not at this point in history.”
“From the chatter, Captain, we are hidden by the asteroid. If anyone has seen us, they haven’t mentioned it yet.”
Chakotay interjected, “Well, at least there’s that.” He fingered the tribal tattoo on the side of his face. “I hope we can do something to help fix this situation.”
Tuvok spoke up. “Captain, now I’m hearing something most curious. They are calling for Superman’s help. I’m somewhat familiar with most of Earth’s history, but who is Superman?”
Tom Paris’ eyes lighted up. “Superman?! Did they really mention Superman? As in... he’s real?” Maybe his knowledge of 20th century history would help save the day. Tom Paris loved to be a hero.
The Captain narrowed her eyes. “What do you know about this Superman, Tom? I’ve never heard of Superman.”
“Well, Captain, most people think he’s merely a myth. But the people from Utopia in the old state of New Troy swear that he really existed.” He shrugged. “I, like many other aficionados of 20th century history, think of him solely as a comic book character.” He quirked a smile. “From what Tuvok says about the chatter, it seems I was wrong. It seems that Superman is quite real.”
~~~~~~~
Clark and Lois stood outside of EPRAD as they listened to the press conference that was being given. They were calling the asteroid Nightfall. Nightfall indeed. It had caused the fall of night to come unbidden. They were calling for Superman’s help. If Superman didn’t help, Nightfall was going to cause the night to come permanently. Lois looked at Clark solemnly. Then she turned and ran towards the phone to call the story in.
Clark closed his eyes tightly. What could he do against a monster? A monster that was prepared to leave desolation and destruction in its wake. A monster that was coming to kill the Earth. But he knew what he had to do. He had to do whatever he could.
He strode towards Lois with purpose. As she hung up the phone, he kissed her cheek. “I’m going to go talk to the scientists.”
She nodded and patted his arm. She feared for her husband, but she also knew that he had to do this.
She watched as Clark stepped to the side - away from the crowd - and Superman alighted at the feet of the EPRAD scientists.
~~~~~~~
The crew of Voyager had been considering their options of what to do about the asteroid that the people of Earth had dubbed Nightfall. Right now, they needed to worry more about keeping the Earth safe from destruction rather than worrying about the corruption of time. They knew that they were the best hope that Earth had.
Or at least they thought so.
They had made a plan to give the asteroid a mighty nudge to keep it from colliding with Earth. Since the asteroid’s guidance system was now silent, they hoped to be successful.
Chakotay had been monitoring the communications from EPRAD. He suddenly looked up. “Captain! EPRAD is sending this ‘Superman’ to the asteroid to... hit it.” He was confused. “It sounded like they actually wanted him to hit the asteroid. I think I must have misunderstood. I believe they mean to hit the asteroid with a nuclear weapon.”
Captain Janeway jumped up from her seat. “Breaking up the asteroid is one of the worst things they could do.” She rubbed her chin and raised an eyebrow. “Uh... How is this Superman supposed to get there?” she asked incredulously.
Even though they had all been very busy, Tom Paris had managed to do a little research using Voyager’s computers and information he had acquired from the news agencies. He was now a believer. Superman was not *merely* a character in a comic. The Utopians were right. He was real. And he was amazing. He rolled his eyes and humdrumly answered, “He flew.”
Tuvok stated, “The Earth of this time has no craft that can make that flight.”
Tom grinned. “No. I mean *he* flew. Under his own powers.”
~~~~~~~
Superman was near Nightfall. He was ready to hit Nightfall with all his might. And Voyager was not close to ready to nudge the asteroid.
As the people of Earth listened to what Superman said, the crew of Voyager was awed as they watched a man fly.
They watched as he hit the asteroid. They watched as the asteroid shattered. And they were surprised as most of it not only shattered, it actually disintegrated. At least most of it did.
Captain Janeway was stunned. “That should *not* have worked.”
Tuvok replied. “Not all of it has been destroyed, Captain.”
Tom jumped up and pointed at their viewing screen. “Look! Superman is apparently in trouble. He’s lost his oxygen supply and appears to be struggling. We’ve got to help him!”
Kathryn turned to Chakotay. “Beam him aboard!”
~~~~~~~
Lois’ face fell as she heard the news that contact with Superman had been lost.
But everyone at The Daily Planet was tense and sad. They looked to Lois for an answer.
She swallowed hard and held back her tears. The people in the newsroom had no way of knowing that he was her husband. “His microphone went out. He’s fine. He’s got to be.” And then she said a silent prayer that what she’d said aloud would be true. *Please* let him be okay.
~~~~~~~
In the process of destroying the asteroid, Clark’s oxygen tank and communication equipment had been destroyed. The air had also been knocked out of his lungs. He tried to breathe against the vacuum of space. And came up empty. He was drowning. He was dying. All he could think of was Lois - and their unborn child. She didn’t even know he knew yet. Lois!
Suddenly he felt a familiar feeling. A feeling he remembered with great disdain. A feeling of having his molecules disassembled. He tried to scream but couldn’t.
His view switched from space to the sight of four walls, a ceiling and beings. Kryptonians! They were back. And trying to kill him - and seemingly the Earth, too. He was on all fours as he took a ragged breath. “You. You tried to kill me. You... you... disassembled...” He tried to rise but promptly passed out.
Captain Janeway snapped, “Get him to sickbay!”
~~~~~~~~
Lois paced in the bathroom of The Daily Planet. She was pregnant and her beloved husband didn’t even know.
The tears unbidden came. “Oh, Clark.”
~~~~~~~
The Doctor had stabilized ‘Superman’. All he’d really needed was some oxygen. But he wasn’t finished with his work.
As Superman lay quietly on the bio-bed, crew members of Voyager stood near him and discussed the situation.
The Doctor spoke, “Well, he obviously isn’t human. And we have no being like him in our database.” Then he looked up at Captain Janeway. “Captain, are you sure about this? The procedure can be dangerous since we know nothing about him. I’ve already broken two hypo-sprays on him. Medication is not being absorbed by his gastrointestinal tract. The only way I’ve been able to introduce any drugs is through his respiratory system and only then because his lungs were somewhat weakened by the lack of oxygen.”
Kathryn sighed. “Yes, Doctor. I’m sure. He must have no memory of this ship.” As the Doctor continued working on the memory wipe, Kathryn continued, “I don’t understand. How was there an alien living on Earth in the 20th century but yet official first contact didn’t occur until the Vulcans came to Earth?”
Clark awakened as the lady with the upswept hair was speaking. He soon realized that she was obviously in command. The man - no hologram - leaning over him was reaching for something so he quickly closed his eyes. What did these beings want? The lady in charge had said something about first contact and Vulcans. What did she mean? He knew Vulcan was the ancient Roman god of fire, but what did that have to do with this? In addition to the hologram and the lady in charge, he’d seen a tall, buxom, beautiful woman, a brown-skinned man with pointed ears, and a man with a tattoo on his face that Clark recognized as Native American.
They had tried to disassemble him! But they were speaking English - not Kryptonian. Could it be a ruse? Many of the New Kryptonians knew English and could speak it well enough to fool any native English speaker. They had even learned different accents spoken by various English speakers. Then he immediately realized that this couldn’t be true. What would they know of the Native American tattoo? And none of the Kryptonians had pointed ears.
The doctor announced, “The procedure is under way.”
He felt an odd warmth come over his body and heard the hologram turn away, so he chanced opening his eyes. The tall lady with the odd eyebrow - it seemed to be some kind of electronics - began speaking, obviously in answer to a question. “The early to mid part of the 21st century was a time of confusion. Much historical information was lost and other information is suspected to be incorrect.” She paused then continued in her scientific manner as she glanced at the Doctor. “His race may not be in Voyager’s database, but as a Borg, I am quite aware of what he is.”
Clark continued to ponder the situation as he heard the lady in command say, “And...”
The woman with the odd eyebrow spoke again. “He is Kryptonian. They were a very old and powerful race. The Borg believed them to all be dead even in the 20th century. They were the only race that was ever able to completely resist the Borg. We were never able to add even one of them to the Collective.”
Clark thought to himself, ‘Collective?’
Captain Janeway stood with her arms crossed. “I’d like to hear more about these Kryptonians, but first, we need to get him back to Earth before he awakens.” She nodded towards ‘Superman’. “Doctor, have you made sure he won’t remember anything about this ship?”
The Doctor nodded. “The best I can tell, yes, Captain.”
Kathryn sighed. “Let’s get him back to the transporter then.”
‘Transporter,’ thought Clark. *Transporter*!? That didn’t sound good. They are going to kill me! He arose quickly and stood fiercely before them. “You are *not* going to disassemble my molecules!” He quickly scanned the ship with his x-ray vision and ran towards a deck that was open to space.
They were all surprised, but Janeway quickly recovered. “Stop him!”
Clark moved more quickly than the sensors could read him and so he ran through - literally - the closed doors. He began moving faster - so fast that he hoped none of these people could see him. But he ran past one eerily familiar crew member that watched his movements with interest. He soon arrived on the hangar deck and flew towards Earth. But with his fear and anxiety and in his hurry to get home, he forgot to take a deep breath.
His last jumbled thought as he plummeted towards Earth was ‘home’.
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To be continued...
