Teddy stood in the study of Craigmillar Castle, awaiting the arrival of his master. He did not have much longer to wait. A few seconds later, a portal opened, and Magus stepped through.
"I take it you have been monitoring the situation," said Magus.
"Yes. I haven't seen a thing like it since the encounter with the Galactic Empire. Not since you..."
"Not since I was contacted by my future self."
Magus walked over to his computer to check the read-outs.
"The temporal energy reading is going off the scale. Maybe I am trying to..."
Suddenly, another portal opened, this one above Magus. He looked upward to see the image of his future self.
"You must go far away," his future self said.
"Why?"
"Because I am about to journey back to your time, to stop a threat that you have no experience of."
"Why must I leave? Two of us can combat this threat far more effectively than one."
"This time is different. As you have observed, the amount of temporal energy far exceeds that which is normal for the planet Earth. If there were to be two mes on Earth at the same time it could have disastrous consequences for the entire space/time continuum. You must go now. Go to the Time of Legends and wait there until I call you."
The portal then vanished. Magus knew what he had to do. Stepping over to his desk, he pulled a switch, and opened the portal. Seconds later, he was gone from the Earth.
Pegasus station, Time of Legends, 2372
Magus soon returned to the Pegasus station, and to Pendragon's office. There he found Watt and Pendragon deep in conversation, talking about old times.
"I told Captain Watt about Thrawn's plan," said Pendragon. "After all, if we can't trust him, who can we trust?"
"I understand," said Magus. "But I do not have much time. I need a ship to take me to the temporal wormhole."
"What about the Valkyrie?" asked Watt. "She's in good condition."
"Do not take this the wrong way, James, but I would rather take the Scotsman on this one. The Valkyrie has not yet been fitted with the cavourite drive. Captain Pendragon, I'd like you in command again."
"Are you sure the Scotsman will make it through the wormhole?" asked Pendragon.
"The Scotsman isn't going through the wormhole. I'm going in alone, because I have need of you in this century. As soon as I have left the ship, I want you to return here and collect Admiral Calevicchi. You will then go to the Kabreigny Object and wait."
"Wait for what?"
"I will leave that for Admiral Calevicchi to explain. I want the Scotsman ready to leave in ten minutes. The usual crew will do."
MacKinley Station, Earth, 2372
As the Imperial Star Destroyer Chimera went into warp ahead of him, Grand Admiral Thrawn watched from his Imperial Transport ship as they left MacKinley Station, headed towards the temporal wormhole. He looked around at those with him. Two Imperial pilots flew the ship, while the best Jem'Hadar warriors had been chosen for this mission.
As their journey began, Thrawn once again turned his attention to the Federation history files. He began to get very interested in the life of former Federation President James Watt the Elder. Even though he had been told otherwise, he had the idea of killing Watt in the year 2000. After all, if Watt had died then, instead of a year ago, the Imperial invasion of the Alpha Quadrant would have been far easier. They would have been able to install someone like Servalan as Federation President years ago. And if they got Magus as well, it would have been like a stroll in the park.
Pegasus station, Time of Legends, 2372
As Magus entered the Bridge of the U.S.S. Flying Scotsman, he found all systems to be quite normal. Pendragon was about to get clearance from Operations to leave. Magus walked over to the command chair and leaned over Pendragon.
"Is the cavourite drive working?" he asked.
"The power is dangerously low," Pendragon replied. "Enough to get us to the wormhole and back to the station. If we're to get Admiral Calevicchi to the Kabreigny Object we won't have enough time to re-energise the crystals, or install new ones."
"I understand. As soon as we are out of the system I want the drive activated. I want to get to the wormhole before Thrawn does."
Temporal wormhole, Cyries Sector, 2372
A jump-point was soon visible near the temporal wormhole, and seconds later, the Imperial transport appeared nearby.
"Take a stationary position half a million kilometers away from the wormhole," Thrawn ordered. "I want our trajectory and speed plotted perfectly within the next five minutes."
"Why waste the time?" said one of the warriors. "Why can't we just go through?"
"Because if we don't make exact calculations we could end up in Earth's 15th century or some other god-forsaken time! I want to come out the other end in the year 2000. That is why."
Having been put in his place by Thrawn, the Jem'Hadar warrior re-took his seat.
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