"Ebon Huntress, so good to see you this morning," greeted Senator Herb Oldie from the conference room viewscreen. Ebon briefly reflected on how she had received an urgent request during the night for a secure video conference with the senator. She had had many conversations with the senator since Team Rainbow had rescued him and his wife, but never one that held an air of secrecy about it. This had piqued Ebon's natural curiosity.

"It is always a pleasure to speak with you, Senator," Ebon Huntress replied. "I hope things are going well?"

"Everything is going well in the capitol. Team Rainbow has nothing to worry about in that respect. No, the reason I called was for a more private matter.

“Ebon Huntress,” began Senator Oldie, “I am certain you of all people are aware of Accession Station.”

“Of course, Senator,” replied Ebon. “Accession Station is the alien immigration center located at the Sacsenoci Military Base in Strangetown. Any aliens wishing to relocate to this world go through the facility and be processed which allows your government to maintain a record of who is residing on the planet. When I first came to this world, even I had to register there.”

“Quite correct. Ever since the first wave of alien immigrants crash landed over 40 years ago just outside of Strangetown, Sacsenoci has been the primary facility for all alien contact. As head of the Alien Oversight Committee, I travel there once a month to make sure operations are proceeding smoothly, as well as communicating with representatives of the Galactic Council. Although our world is not officially a member of the Galactic Council yet, we do fall under its protectorate and as such try to abide by the established guidelines whenever possible.”

“So far all of this is relatively common knowledge, Senator. What has happened that we must maintain secrecy?”

“It is safe to say we’ve had our fair share of strange visitors to our world,” Senator Oldie started. “But last night I think we ended up with the strangest group of all.”

“What kind of group, Senator?” Ebon inquired.

“Apparently three humans and one alien even the Galactic Council doesn’t even seem to have a record about. Looks a bit like the walking dead if you ask me, except for the hair. But everyone in the group appears to be wearing the same type of clothing. Almost like a uniform or costume of some kind. But that’s not the weirdest part of the whole thing. They appeared out of thin air.”

“They appeared out of thin air?”

“This is according to the reports of the soldiers that found them. One moment they were standing at their posts, and then these visitors appeared right before them. The soldiers apprehended them immediately and brought them in for questioning. So far, what they have been telling us doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

“I presume you are bringing this to me because you need my help. What is it you require of us, Senator?”

“Your insight is as accurate as ever, Ebon. And quite frankly I am concerned that this may be some elaborate hoax. Therefore I am requesting that you go to Sacsenoci and ascertain if they are telling the truth, and if so, what we should do about it.”

“Senator, you know I’ll be happy to assist in any way possible."

“Thank you, Ebon. I should warn you however that General Londberne, the base commander, is not pleased with my decision to involve you. He might be a tad unsupportive of any decision you might make. Nonetheless, you have been given full autonomy in this matter directly from me.”

“I appreciate the delicacy of the situation, Senator. I will bring a small team with me to the base. I am certain we’ll be able to handle the general and our new visitors without any incidents.”

Hours later, Ebon Huntress, along with her teammates, Tawny Bimbo, Tangerine Mistress and Chromed Avenger, arrived at the Secsenoci Military base. After a short but thorough security check, the members of Team Rainbow entered General Londberne’s office.

“The illustrious Team Rainbow,” General Londberne greeted unenthusiastically. “I take it you are Ebon Huntress?”

“Yes, General,” Ebon replied. “Senator Oldie said we shouldn’t expect a warm welcome.”

“Ebon Huntress, I have nothing personally against you or your team. What I have a problem with is politicians interfering with purely military operations. By all rights, you shouldn’t be here. This is a military base. And quite frankly, you aren't even a native citizen of this world. And there are plenty of times I think the whole involvement with the Galactic Council is a bad idea. We have enough problems on our own without having to worry about what aliens from other worlds might be doing on ours.”

“General, I appreciate your concern, and I even respect it. Part of the reason why this planet isn’t a full member of the Galactic Council is because you and your citizens need to learn to set aside your differences and work towards a unified government. And until such time the most the Galactic Council can do is to make sure your world is allowed to grow on its own and not fall prey to those aliens who would take advantage of your situation.”

“I agree with you on principle, Ebon Huntress. However, this is not the time for an in-depth discussion of such practices. I have my orders to show you to our visitors. So if you and your team would follow me, I’ll introduce you to them.”

General Londberne escorted the members of Team Rainbow down the halls of the base until they finally reached their destination. Ebon Huntress stared through the window at the four individuals in the room behind the glass. She studied momentarily before asking Tawny Bimbo to telepathically scan them.

“On the surface I can detect nothing malevolent about them,” Tawny reported. “The young Asian man seems to have an incredibly clear mind. He is alert yet relaxed at the same time. The man sitting next to him is very unfocused. He seems to be thinking about a lot of things, not all of which are necessarily becoming of a gentleman. The man on the left seems to be preoccupied with thoughts about the female soldiers he has seen on the base so far. I never realized you could do... that with an eggbeater? And finally the alien is partially concerned, mostly about where he is. What is strange is I think he knows we are here. I think he can sense us behind the glass.”

“Why that’s absurd,” responded General Londberne. “There’s no way they can see us through this glass.”

“There’s only one way to be certain, General,” Ebon instructed. “Please allow us to enter the room.” As Team Rainbow entered, the pale alien looked over and started to rise out of his chair, then just as quickly shook his head and sat back down. Ebon took notice of this as she made introductions.

“Hello. My name is Ebon Huntress. With me is Tawny Bimbo, Tangerine Mistress and…”

“Hey, look, it's Max's brother!” interrupted the man who had previously been preoccupied with thoughts of females and kitchen tools.

“We had been conducting a survey mission on Wilson’s Planet,” Xym began. “It is what you humans might call a 'nice place to visit'. Abundant vegetation, virtually uninhabited...in no way dangerous to anyone. After...arriving there, Mr. Dundee detected strange energy readings nearby. We had walked just over one kilometer when we discovered the source of those readings."

“And before I could stop him,” concluded Xym, “there was a bright flash of light and we all ended up on this world. A few seconds later, some of your guards showed up and escorted us here. I have no idea just how much time has passed. It feels like we have been in here for hours.” Xym paused a moment and then turned to face Dr. Kaine. “You just had to touch it, didn’t you?”

Ebon and her teammates exited the holding room to rejoin the general in the hallway.

“Tawny,” Ebon asked, “you have been monitoring them as instructed. What can you tell us?”

“They aren’t lying,” Tawny replied. “They believe everything they have told us.”

“Of course they do,” interjected General Londberne. “They would have to for this elaborate a hoax.”

“Actually, General, they think we are playing some elaborate hoax on them.”

“That doesn’t surprise me,” confirmed Ebon. “I’ve watched their reactions, and they seem genuine. Chromed, what is your analysis?”

“If they are telling the truth, there is only one possible conclusion,” stated Chromed. “They are from another universe.”

“How would we tell for certain?” Ebon asked.

“Emerald Guardian and I have been theorizing about this for some time. I believe with his help we should be able to ascertain if that is the truth or not. We should bring them back to our base where we could test our theory.”

“No way,” blurted General Londberne. “These men are prisoners as far as I am concerned. And they are under my jurisdiction. I will not let them leave here.”

“General, may I remind you Senator Oldie has given me complete authority over this matter,” asserted Ebon. “Furthermore, they would be under our constant supervision. If anything, we are the ones who should be concerned as we will be bringing them into our base, where they could learn untold secrets.”

“Very well,” General Londberne huffed. “But I am washing my hands clean of anything that goes wrong.”

Ebon returned to the room where Xym and his companions where held captive.

“Commander Xym, we believe we have an explanation as to what is going on,” Ebon informed the alien. “I would like for you to accompany me back to the Team Rainbow base. With the help of our other scientist, we should be able to come up with an explanation and possible solution to this problem.” Xym was about to speak when the young Asian man leapt to his feet and was quickly at Xym’s side before anyone could react. Ebon backed up slightly to prepare for an attack, but eased up once she noticed the Asian’s stance. It was practical, and purely defensive.

“I apologize for Lieutenant Kino’s enthusiasm,” Xym sighed. “He’s somewhat protective. If you don’t mind, it would be best if he were to join us.”

“That won’t be a problem,” Ebon agreed. “We have a full training facility. I suspect he would get along quite well with our instructor, Violet Haze.”

“What about us?” Kaine asked. “I could do with something to eat right about now.”

“Dr, Kaine,” Ebon replied cautiously, “I am going to ask Tawny Bimbo and Tangerine Mistress to take you over to our East Side Center facility. There you will be able to relax and dine until we return to collect you. I believe they should be able to supervise your activities without any problems.”

Back at the Bunker, Chromed Avenger and Emerald Guardian examined the readouts on their computer screens of the scans they had performed on Xym.

“There’s no doubt about it,” Chromed informed. “Xym is from another universe.”

“It is really quite extraordinary,” Emerald agreed. “The Galactic Science Council has believed in the existence of other universes for some time. But we’ve never had any real proof until now.”

“You don’t seem surprised, Commander,” Ebon noted.

"There have been documented incidents of our people crossing over into parallel dimensions," Xym replied. "This would certainly explain the differences between what we each know about the galaxy."

“There’s still a slight variation in the readings I can’t account for,” Emerald commented. “The quantum signature appears to be out of phase in more than one dimension. Chromed, can you hypothesize on this offset?”

“Based on the information I have stored from the Galactic Science Archives, I believe this is a temporal anomaly.”

“Temporal?” Xym queried. “You're suggesting we've also gone through time?"

“I think so,” Emerald responded enthusiastically. Emerald proceeded to enter a number of commands into the computer and then turned to face Chromed.

“It appears you are not just from another universe, but from the future as well,” Chromed updated.

“Incredible,” responded Xym.

“You’re telling me!” replied Emerald. “The most brilliant minds in the galaxy believe time travel is impossible.”

“We used to believe the same thing in our universe. I know from firsthand experience that it is quite feasible. In fact, a division of our Starfleet was formed to specifically investigate temporal incursions."

“Can you be one hundred percent certain that you stayed in the same universe when you traveled through time? Because I do not believe this would be possible," informed Chromed. “However, this is not the time or place to go into such a discussion. What we need to concentrate on is how to get Commander Xym and his companions back to their proper time and universe.”

“Do you have an idea?” Ebon inquired.

“It would not be hard to come up with the equations necessary to send them back correctly, if I had a device capable of doing that.”

“What kind of device could possibly exist that would do something we have only theorized about?” Emerald retorted.

“Obviously, nothing that we know about. However, I believe Sacsenoci Base has a special warehouse where devices of unknown origin are stored for future analysis.”

“I have never heard of this warehouse,” Ebon commented. “How do you know it exists?”

“I know it exists because I helped build it.”

Xym and his shipmates waited patiently in the hall outside General Londberne’s office at Sacsenoci Base.

“Talk about getting the cold shoulder,” commented Kaine. “Who was that blue chick anyway?”

“Another one of Ebon’s teammates,” replied Xym. “Ebon Huntress has quite a diverse crew.” Xym paused as the door to the office opened and Ebon, Chromed and Londberne walked out into the hall.

“I do not approve of this,” Londberne ruffed. “I don’t care if Chromed Avenger built the facility; no one is supposed to even know about it. And I do mean no one.”

“File the complaint with whomever you like, General,” instructed Ebon. “Nonetheless, you are the only one with the access codes. So please escort us and our guests to the warehouse.”

Entering the warehouse was like walking through the back room of a museum. A musky odor filled the air as if no one living had been there in centuries. Objects of unknown origin lined the floors, the walls, and even on a few display tables throughout the room. Ebon was impressed by the collection as there were objects that were clearly identifiable by their type, but what purpose they had been created were beyond her comprehension. Chromed started walking everyone by each object, giving a brief summary of his discoveries to date while Ebon watched for a reaction from the visitors to see if anyone was hiding any signs of recognition. It wasn’t until they had reached a back corner of the warehouse when Lt. Dundee made a startling revelation.

With the assistance of Chromed Avenger, Lt. Dundee set out to work on rebuilding the transportation device. Chromed spent his time working on gathering materials and integrating a control mechanism into the command chair. Lt. Dundee slaved away at building an imaging chamber and checking to make sure all the circuits were in working order.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Kaine asked entering the work area. “I'm pretty good with my hands.”

“Could you get me a screwdriver?” Dundee asked not looking up from his work. Kaine exited the room and returned a few minutes later with a drink in his hand.

“Here you go,” Kaine informed.

“You idiot,” replied Dundee looking up and seeing the drink.

“You don’t want it?”

“What the heck,” Dundee replied taking the drink. “You know what I find odd?”

“What’s that?”

“All the circuits in the transporter pad have power. But I have no idea where the power is coming from. There are no electrical conduits or plasma relays hooked up to it.”

“That is strange.”

“Also, have you noticed how the lights automatically come on when you enter a room, and turn off when you leave, all on their own?”

“Yeah, I figured just some kind of sensor was triggering them.”

“I can find no traces of any sensors anywhere. And there doesn’t appear to be any wiring in the walls either. I wish I had my tricorder with me. I would love to see where the energy is coming from.”

Several hours later, Lt. Dundee and Chromed Avenger finished their work on the transporter pad. The crew of the starship Atlantic gathered on the platform for a final farewell.

“You do realize we have no idea if this will work,” Chromed informed. “There is no way for us to test this device. It could very well kill you.”

“I have that thought every time I get on one of these things,” remarked Kaine.

“Are you sure you want to try this?” Ebon asked uneasily.

“I don’t see what choice we have,” Xym replied. “There’s a time and a place for everything and everyone. For us, this is neither. In our universe, there is still much for us to do. That is where we belong.”

“Very well. I wish you the best of luck.”

“According to Lt. Dundee, all I have to do is press a single button on the control panel of the chair,” Chromed instructed. “If you are ready, I will push it now.”

“We are ready,” replied Xym. Chromed proceeded to the chair and pushed the button. A second later, a sound similar to one thousand buzzers filled the room. Ebon watched as a series of bright lights appeared to engulf Xym and his companions, until finally, one by one the lights and their passengers faded from sight.

Back in the conference room of the East Side Center, Ebon spoke over the viewscreen with Senator Oldie.

“So there’s no way to know if it worked?” Oldie asked. “That is a shame. Sounds like it could be very useful technology.”

“Chromed Avenger is shipping it to the Galactic Science Council for further research and testing,” Ebon assured. “Remember, Senator, this is technology from another universe. But it will take the top scientific minds in the galaxy to determine if it can be used safely.”

“I hope the Galactic Council realizes where such a discovery came from.”

“You need not worry about your world getting the credit it deserves. Just remember, the people of this world still need to unify. That is what the Galactic Council wants to see.”

“With you and your team, I am certain that day will be sooner rather than later. So what do you think happened to our visitors?”

“I believe that they have returned safely where they belong. But only time will tell.”

Meanwhile in another galaxy and another time, Transporter Chief Romanova was startled to find her transporter system seemingly coming to life all on its own. By the time she could figure out what was going on, Xym, Kaine, Dundee and Kino appeared before her on the transporter platform.

“Chief Romanova,” commanded Xym, “why where we beamed back to the ship?”

“Commander,” replied Romanova. “I have no idea. The controls activated themselves. I was certainly not expecting you back so soon.”

“Soon? How long were we gone?”

“Sir, you only left five minutes ago.”

“Five minutes? I remember it taking nearly half an hour trudging through that forest,” remarked Kaine.

“As do I, Doctor,” confirmed Xym. “It took us nearly that long to locate the source of the energy reading. Chief, do you still see the energy signature on your scanners?”

“Checking,” replied Romanova. “No, sir. I am not reading anything unusual. Were you able to disable it?”

“I don’t remember.”

The next day on the bridge, Xym found himself being questioned further by his commanding officer, Captain Cherlene D. Weatherly.

“So, Commander,” Weatherly started, “you found a glowing plant, Dr. Kaine touched it, there was a flash of light, and then you ended up back in the transporter room.”

“Yes, Captain,” Xym confirmed, “As far as I can recall.”

“And you don’t remember anything else?”

“Very little except for...a rainbow? I don’t know what to make of that. It seems most likely that is from a dream.”

Just then, the comm whistle sounded, which Weatherly answered. "Bridge here."

"I need some assistance subduing Lt. Dundee," squawked Dr. Kaine's voice over the comm.

"And why does he need to be subdued?" she asked with caution.

"I'm not really sure subdued is the right word. I mean, it's not a bad idea he's got. He's just overly enthusiastic about it."

"Get to the point, Doctor."

"Well, he came in here demanding that sickbay needed a hot tub."

So concludes the fifteenth chapter of Team Rainbow Super Force. Stay tuned for Chapter 16: Minding One's Own Business