Blackout

Posted on Wed Jul 2nd, 2025 @ 1:56am by Commodore Wilkan Targaryen & Director Aamis & Commander Zhora zh'Roothi & Lieutenant Commander Ash Randall & Lieutenant Commander Kuzos & Lieutenant Commander Sevek & Lieutenant Urvasi Elandorn & Lieutenant Rio Kholin MD & Lieutenant Amber Laurell

4,881 words; about a 24 minute read

Mission: Gaia
Location: Briefing Room, U.S.S. Enterprise
Timeline: 2439-06-14, 09:00

"Executive Conference Room," Director Aamis announced as she turned toward the doors of the turbolift.

"Confirmed."

As the lift ascended upward, the middle-aged Vulcan woman thought about how she had ended up back in the Gamma Quadrant. When she had graduated from Starfleet Academy her career led her to Deep Space Nine, where she had served for over a decade before being named Chief Science Officer of the Starship Dauntless. In her time on Deep Space Nine she'd been out to the Gamma Quadrant on many assignments, but she had often found herself more on a reconnaissance mission than actual exploration. Even though she had worked steadfastly to purge emotions, she could still feel pangs of envy that Starfleet was truly exploring the Gamma Quadrant now rather than preparing for war within it.

It was almost enough to make her consider returning to Starfleet. Almost.

Her career had been rewarding, and she had accomplished a lot in Starfleet, but her career had been painful toward the end. After the Dominion War her appointment as Chief Science Officer aboard the Dauntless had made her feel as if Starfleet were going back into the right direction, only for it to be ripped out from underneath her when the Diviner's Living Construct was let loose upon the galaxy, only to be followed by the Attack on Mars. She had been transferred to the Starship Cochrane, a more military oriented Inquiry Class vessel, and the Zheng He not long after. When the Borg invaded for the final time, she survived the attack on the Zheng He and was later made Captain.

With the Klingon War she realized that Starfleet had lost its luster amidst the bloodshed, and she opted to pursue a career in the Federation's Department of Temporal Investigations. She and her husband, a Ferengi named Lek, moved to Earth where she rose through the ranks of DTI. She had missed the active role of being an Agent since being promoted to Director, so it was fitting this was her return to the field. One of the benefits of her position was she could assign missions, and she could think of no one better than herself to return to Gaia.

Exiting the turbolift, she walked the short distance to the Executive Conference Room to find the Commodore already sitting in his chair. "Commodore," she greeted politely before she walked to the replicator to order a Vulcan Spice Tea.

"Director," Wilkan Targaryen answered from his chair as they awaited the rest of the Senior Staff. Reaching forward to pick up his cup of Red Leaf Tea. A group of stewards came in carrying bowls. The Commodore motioned toward them, but addressed the Director, "I hope you don't mind, but I always schedule a meal with my briefings. In your honor I ordered Plomeek Broth from the galley."

Director Aamis watched the stewards deliver the food bowls to the place settings. While she had taken an injection to help her compensate the to smell of Humans, the plomeek had an appropriate scent to it. She asked, before thinking, "Replicated?"

"Not today. We have a chef aboard," Wilkan explained, "and she would be very upset to know you questioned if it was replicated."

"I meant no disrespect," the Vulcan answered defensively. "I am unaccustomed to unreplicated foods on a starship. During my service I was not permitted to have a chef aboard."

Targaryen nodded, "I remember those days. One of the only advantages I have as a Commodore. Please," he motioned to the chair on the parallel side of the table, "have a seat. My crew shall arrive shortly."

With a crisp nod, the Vulcan woman took the seat at the far side of the table as the doors opened to let in a member of the Enterprise's Senior Staff.

Sevek had left the science lab after spending the last 4 hours studying a distant nebula. It was quite intriguing and he would continue the research after this briefing. He was continuing his reading of the sensor analysis on the PADD when he entered the briefing room. Seeing the Commodore and a Vulcan woman already there, he shut the screen off the PADD and respectfully clasped his hands, PADD in hand, behind his back. "Commodore." He said in a neutral tone as he proceeded to take a seat a few seats away from the captain's left.

"Commander," the Commodore greeted the Chief Science Officer.

Nodding to the Vulcan woman, he refreshed his memory of the woman's name. She was a well known scientist in the Federation. He had read several of her papers. "Director Aamis. It is agreeable to meet you. I am Commander Sevek. Chief Science Officer."

"It is agreeable to meet you as well, Commander Sevek. As the Chief Science Officer, I am certain that we will be collaborating often during this mission due to the nature of our assignment." Aamis answered in an even tone. She would have preferred to meet with the Enterprise's Science Officer sooner than now, but the schedule of the previous night had precluded such a meeting. She would have preferred it to running into Lieutenant Jardok.

Nodding, "That is an accurate assessment, Director." Sevek said to his fellow Vulcan. "Notify me after this meeting when your schedule permits a meeting. I will also consult mine." The Vulcan's dry tone filled the quiet briefing room. He would never admit it, but he was looking forward to collaborating with this intelligence Vulcan.

"I will be spending much time on your vessel's Bridge; however, I am certain that arrangements can be made to allow for our meeting," Aamis answered. "Many of the details will be discussed in this meeting, but there are other aspects that we can better discuss privately."

Nodding. Sevek new he would be on the bridge as well during the mission, unless he was needed for an away mission.

Kuzos had received his summons and was on his way to the briefing room. As he made his way he silently mused that the Federation had more meetings than any other race he had encountered. It was amazing that they not only got things done but were also quite successful at it. After a few anxious moments he finally arrived at the briefing room and entered to see the Commodore already there and two Vulcans one more the teal of science or medical and one was in a flowing dress and was unfamiliar to him. "Commodore." He greeted politely before turning to the Vulcans. "Commander, Madam." He greeted as he looked back at Targaryen. "Do I have an assigned seat?"

"You may sit where you like, Commander," Wilkan answered, curious where he would select. While Sevek had been in the role of Chief Tactical Officer for some period of time down, there hadn't been much in the way of meetings that required the full senior staff. Mainly their efforts had been scientific during their surveys and consisted of him, the XO, and the Science teams. He was curious how this meeting would go.

"Quite the luxury." Kuzos quipped as he looked over the open seats and after a moment of indecision he went and sat down in a chair that was approximately in the middle. Which represented where he felt, owing allegiance to the Dominion and now the Federation.

Beyond, more members of the senior staff arrived ahead of the briefing. Commander zh'Roothi arrived next and greeted the attendees before taking her own seat.

At some point, whether it was when Kuzos arrived or zh' Roothi, Ash had slipped into the conference room and was making use of the replicator to order some peppermint tea. The Chief Engineer had a, quiet stealthiness, about her and, being somewhat smaller than most others, tended to 'hide' herself in behind others. Whether this was intentional, instinctual or a little of both, it had the effect of her seeming to appear out of nowhere, at times. Peppermint tea in hand, Ash made her way to her customary seat two down from the head of the table to the right of the commodore.

Urvasi came into the briefing room efficiently. She nodded to those there, saying a quick, 'Commodore, Commanders, Director' with a head nod before going to the Replicator to get her Honey/Dark Mocha/Cinnamon Latte and proceed to a seat near the XO. This was her first senior staff briefing and so she tried to not misplace anyone who had their 'usual' seating arrangement expected. She smiled at seeing the bowl of broth before her. Her nostrils flared at taking in the scents, then her ears laid out at 45 degrees as her whiskers moved back along her muzzle. Her tail shifted out and swung as she murred out with a, "Hrmmm, smells good."

The "new" CMO arrived at the meeting with a mix of excitement and anticipation at this first step into the "sharp end" of the Enterprise's day to day "business" as it were. She knew that she was the "New" CMO to 99% of them - other than the Visitor who she didn't recognise from file photos but then assumed by elimination. Rio didn't feel "new", quite the contrary, she felt "old" as this reminded her of facing the eminent panel who did her pass-out interview at the Academy, all those years ago but she was very much "older" now and this wasn't so scary as the former occasion.

Respectfully acknowledging those present with a smart posture of 'attention' and a polite nod toward each, she spoke with an appropriate tone. "Commodore, Director, Sir, Ma'am" she named or gave the appropriate greeting, ending with generic Sir and Ma'am to cover those whose names she knew from perusing her Assignment Notes, but hadn't formally met yet.

Once she'd politely made her 'introductions' Rio waited for responses and then made the mandatory trip to the replicator for her Terran "Lady Grey" black tea with a hint of orange infused instead of the Bergamot that was traditionally infused into the corresponding 'Earl Grey' version that was also available.

Taking a seat to the right of the Commodore, just beyond Lieutenant Elandorn whose face she recognised from the files she had been given to accustomise herself with the Senior Officers prior to her arrival. Rio smiled slightly and politely as she sat down but waited for a more informal moment later to introduce herself personally.

Amber offered a warm smile as the newest arrival to the room took a seat, she would make a point of getting to know people later on.

Seated in his chair at the head of the table, Wilkan leaned in toward the table and looked around at his Senior Staff, "Crew, thank you for joining us for this briefing this morning. I know that many of you have questions about our mission, so please allow me to introduce to you Director Aamis of the Federation's Department of Temporal Investigations. Director Aamis, the floor is yours."

"Thank you for having me, Commodore," the Vulcan woman answered from her seat on the opposite side of the table. "I understand that you are postponing a mission that many of you were looking forward to in order to assist with this mission. I do not anticipate this mission delaying you for long; however, the Enterprise is the only vessel currently able to perform this assignment."

She typed on the small keypad built into her corner of the table. A holographic replica of an Earth-like planet appeared in the center of the table. Comprised of several major land masses and a variety of climatic and surface conditions, ranging from tundra to desert. The planet looked relatively tame, except for it was encased in a quantum energy barrier.

"First discovered by the USS Defiant in 2373, the planet Gaia is a Class M planet that is surrounded by an energy barrier that has been known to cause severe temporal displacement for those encountering it. The crew of the Defiant decided to survey the world; their study revealing a previously undetected civilization that originated in the 22nd century after the crew of the USS Defiant had been transported through time and crashed on the surface of the world. After making contact, the Defiant crew learned that 8,000 people lived in scattered settlements on the world's southern peninsula," the location highlighted on the holographic globe.

Shifting slightly, Aamis continued, "After careful consideration, Captain Sisko and the crew of the Defiant chose to safeguard their descendants by recreating the accident. This timeline was summarily erased when the future version of Odo that existed in this time reprogrammed the ship's flight plan to avoid the accident due to his love for Kira Nerys. Starfleet and the Department of Temporal Investigations have wanted to complete follow up studies of the planet; however, the energy barrier surrounding the planet became impossible to travel through several weeks after this planet's discovery, making this planet inaccessible and sealed off from the rest of the universe."

"That was until Starfleet commissioned the Enterprise." Entering a new sequence on the keypad, a holographic replica of the Enterprise appeared that was quickly replaced by an internal schematic that zoomed in on the Enterprise's Coaxial Drive. "DTI believes that the Enterprise has the power, due to the Coaxial Drive, to cross through the barrier and investigate the planet for the first time since it was discovered in 2373. Because of this, we have requested and been offered your help."

She tapped the control again, closing out the floating holographic replicas, "Are there any questions?"

Urvasi frowned as thoughts about how this energy barrier would interact with the Coaxial Drive, the hyperspacial shifts, besides the temporal energies produced. She looked towards Aamis, concern seen easily upon her muzzle and face. "The Barrier stops scans, ships, warp, other energies. The Coaxial Drive is special, but, I fear about the temporal and hyperspacial energies that can and would be produced... those energies.. are there any contingencies for the piercing of the barrier with the interstitial energies glimpsing into subspace, hyperspace, and temporal higher order dimensions?"

Lt. Cmdr. Randall, quietly and calmly, sipped her peppermint tea and eschewed comment on the concerns voiced by Urvasi, content to have The Director field the Q&A from the assembled senior staff. Did she think it was going to work? Sure. Would there be some risk involved? Yes. Was she going to steal the Director's Thunder by laying things out from own, unique, perspective? Nope. Ash was going to be seen and not heard until such point as her thoughts on the subject were requested.

Rio was also thinking this through silently to herself. Her main concern but not yet something in a solid enough format to represent a question at the present time, was that when she had been told about this, her first thought had been how had those who had crossed the time-barrier been affected physically and mentally by any distortion they encountered and what sort of symptoms might they have present with in the aftercare? Both listening and simultaneously thinking this out, the CMO had nothing to venture as a complete, specific query yet so she too remained attentive but without commenting.

"An excellent question, Lieutenant," Director Aamis answered in measured words. "Starfleet Command and DTI have authorized the Enterprise to be upgraded to employ Temporal Shielding, the process of which was relayed to Commanders zh'Roothi and Randall last evening. While these Temporal Shields produce a level-9 temporal disruption, projections indicate that this will not be a danger to the timestream," the Vulcan woman explained. "If there are questions related to the Temporal Shielding, I would defer to Commander Randall," she looked at the Enterprise's Chief Engineer.

Some of the concern upon Urvasi's face and muzzle went away as she politely nodded while replying, "Thank you, Director, for that information." There still would be concern, there always was, but such shielding would definitely be needed. She took a sip of her latte to wait for other questions.

Sevek took all the information in. Letting his science brain process the information. Sifting it through logic. It wasn't long ago that the Vulcan High Command had dismissed the logic behind time travel and temporal items. "Director. Will the sensors and tricorders need to be calibrated to adjust for any distortions or temporal disturbances?"

"Tricorders may need to have some modification; however, your primary sensors should be sufficient to handle the mission due to the presence of a Chroniton Integrator within their assembly," Aamis reported. The Chroniton Integrator was a key piece of technology for maintaining the Enterprise's propulsion as it could take sensor readings several seconds into the future. While restricted when operating under normal protocols, Aamis could authorize an override to allow it to be brought online for routine operations.

The Vulcan guest looked at the Commodore, "Your crew are quite sufficient, Commodore. I am certain that you would agree?"

"They're the best that Starfleet has to offer, Director," Wilkan answered quickly. "Did anyone else have any questions for the Director?"

Satisfied with her answer, Sevek leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers in contentment. Looking around the room at the others from the senior staff to see if any of them had anything to bring up.

Amber sat quiet for a moment before looking towards the Director. "From a purely psychological point of view, has crossing this temporal barrier had any lasting side effects?"

From his seat, Kuzos just sat and listened as the others asked various questions to the Vulcan director. He let others ask, while he sat silently observing and taking in any and all information.

"The level temporal shielding we will have in place effectively eliminates any physiological effects." Ash stated, quietly. "As for psychological effects I could not speak to whether anyone has suffered any effects of that kind behind the shielding we will have in place." She added, with a glance the direction of the Director.

The Vulcan Director answered directly, "Not to my knowledge."

Urvasi steeled herself, then asked, "What about affects against those individuals with psionic abilities? We have Vulcans, Betazoids, Humans, Vulienreys, who all can or have psionics. Normally the core self in dealing with psi telepathy and attacks means a tenacity against temporal affects and a core self to resolve against shifts.. but has any of this been looked at in temporal field shift effects? It would be better to know if extra care is needed, or less care as those such individuals can help those not of psi who are more susceptible to the temporal effects." The deep meaning question asked, Urvasi waited for any information from the Director, or those of long standing with the Enterprise.

"In previous exposures the Temporal Shielding has protected the passengers of a starship from these effects, Lieutenant," Aamis explained.

Rio listened to this explanation and then asked "...and could this be applied to physical effects and symptoms as well, Director?"

The Vulcan Director turned, "The Temporal Shielding will protect from those effects as well, provided that no one chooses to leave the shielding and directly interface with the barrier." It was hard to tell if that was a joke, sarcasm, or some blending of the two.

She looked at the Commodore, "When can we anticipate arrival at the planet, Commodore?"

Wilkan pecked at the keypad and the information appeared on the small display, "A little under three hours."

"I would recommend that you and your crews begin researching the barrier and beginning final preparations," the DTI Director said evenly, almost making it not sound like she was trying to give orders on the Enterprise.

"We'll be making those preparations, Director," Wilkan answered. "If you will excuse us, however, my crew and I need to discuss other matters related to shipboard operations now. Thank you, kindly, for the thorough briefing and for answering our questions. I'm sure that we will have many, many more before this is over."

The Vulcan nodded crisply, "Indeed. I shall be waiting on your Bridge." She turned and exited, leaving the Senior Staff behind.

Commodore Targaryen looked around his Senior Officers, "Thoughts?"

"I get the sense that the director is holding out on us. I don't know what it is, but there is more to this than meets the eye." Ash voiced.

Urvasi added to what Ash said, "Definitely more... that Barrier, it became completely impossible to travel through, even with the DTI's resources at their disposal. Yet, supposedly, their goal is to 'finish exploration' of the planet... why use such important resources such as the Enterprise and her crew 'just' to finish exploration? Something more must be going on... something of very high import that is being left off the table, for as it is, nothing adds up."

"I concur," zh'Roothi added. "At our briefing last night I found the Director to be elusive when I pressed on her regarding the time frame."

*Ahem* Kuzos said from his seat. "Forgive me if this out of line but the director is being deceptive in her explanation. She is has others have pointed out being .... evasive and that cannot bode well."

Ash shrugged and looked to the Commodore. "I..." Ash started to say, and then stopped for a few seconds, apparently reconsidering her words, before forging ahead. "...feel..." the engineer said, slowly, two words, strung together that the Tuansee may never have uttered together in the same sentence he entire life, and sighed, before continuing. "I guess that's the best way of phrasing this, that the director, the Captain of the Nostradamus, and maybe others aboard that ship, have personal reasons for this mission and, our window of time to accomplish it may be because it is NOT authorized or, whatever the real objective might be, does have a finite time frame before all is lost." She expressed, the words not coming easily to her, for some reason. "I am not prone to emotional responses to difficult situations, sir, but something about this is deeply troubling for reasons I can't put a finger on." She added.

Amber looked around those gathered before her gaze rested on the Commodore. “From my point of view I agree that it feels as though the Director is holding back, but given the nature of the work that she does there’s probably a lot of things that she’s not permitted to say. Whether she’s been deceptive or not is hard to discern right now, I will be keeping an empathic eye open, so-to-speak, when I’m around her.”

"Counselor." Kuzos said gently, "Take it from me. I know the many faces of deception and the Director is being deceptive whether willing or not."

“Thank you Commander” Amber nodded offering a polite and friendly smile.

"Of course Counselor, you are most welcome." Kuzos replied with a bright smile.

"If the Director isn't being open about whatever agenda she has underneath all of this, do we have any means of protecting ourselves in case of any treachery?" Rio asked, her tone steady and calm despite the strong words she was uttering. "I mean if nothing bad happens then fine, but what if, and how could we assess whatever it is if we don't have any information to go on. Is there any research we could do? Any data we could look up? Anything in her past that we need to know about and if so, how do we get it?".

The Commodore had listened to his gathered crew and their insights on what had been said so far, taking in everything that they had said both openly and using his own El-Aurian senses where necessary. He was just as concerned as most of the others were. Leaning forward in his seat and resting his hands together on the table, he was ready to pass a bit of judgment on the entire situation.

"I tend to agree that there's more than meets the eye with this mission, and the first stages are with Director Aamis and the crew of the Nostradamus not accompanying us. I suppose the first place to look is her personnel file. Computer, release biographical records to Enterprise Senior Staff on Director Aamis of the Department of Temporal Investigations."

The computer released an error tone, "Unable to comply. Biographical records of Department of Temporal Investigations personnel are restricted."

"Override on my authorization and release documents," the Commodore directed.

The computer released an error tone, "Unable to comply. Insufficient clearance."

Wilkan was surprised by these announcements and collapsed back into his chair, sighing, "So much for having one of the highest clearance levels in the fleet."

Urvasi was thinking about the parameters of the mission while everyone was voicing their opinion. Then, upon Wilkan's clearance not being high enough, probably due to him not being a part of the DTI as they seem to hold special clearance above all else, at least to what Urvasi was privileged to, which was only this meeting. Then, a niggly came blasting into her foremind. Her psi testing on the USS Avalon, coupled with that she, only a Lt with one tour, yet she was assigned to the prestigious ship, the Enterprise, just before this mission.. she said an out loud, "Oh!".

She swallowed, then looked over at Wilkan. "Sir, there might be a reason I was assigned to the Enterprise." She steeled herself, then continued. "With all of the unknowns with the Barrier and Coaxial Warp Drive, one of the big causes for alarm would be creating another temporal nexus point from the ship's entry that the Enterprise would slip into, causing all sorts of issues. Umm, in my psi testing on the USS Avalon, they found that my empathic senses can detect warp/hyperspace/gravity changes and anomalies out to 1 AU. I might have been assigned to the Enterprise to help steer the ship away from such being created nearby when we pierce the quantum barrier? Just... a niggly that came to the fore now. Umm, is there any nearby quantum affect nebulae nearby the Enterprise could practice with after the equipment is installed and running so we don't go so blindly into this mission?"

"Anything is possible, Lieutenant. I've long been a proponent that the universe puts you where you're meant to be precisely when you're meant to be there," the Commodore answered. "The drawback of looking for such a location is that it delays the timetable that DTI has placed, which could tip our hand. That doesn't mean that we're going to go into this unprepared."

"Ash," he looked at the Chief Engineer, "you're one of the best, if not the best, Chief Engineers in Starfleet. Go over the modifications made with a fine-tooth comb and ensure that they'll keep the Enterprise safe during this mission."

"Aye, sir." Ash replied, quietly. "I will do so, again."

Continuing on, "I want continuous scans as we're on our travels. Whatever you feel is necessary, Commander Sevek, but I would also like routine Tactical Scans completed as well, Mister Kuzos."

Kuzos nodded his head respectfully, "Of course Commodore, it will be done."

Tasting his plomeek broth, "Lieutenant, go run a simulation in the holodeck of navigating through these barriers. Commander zh'Roothi will go with you and monitor, as will Lieutenant Blake."

Urvasi nodded, her whiskers going to 45 degrees out from her face as her ears cupped fully towards Wilkan, "Understood, Sir, I will get immediately on it after this meeting adjourns."

The Exec nodded mutely at the request and would collect Blake shortly to begin the simulations.

"I know we're limited in knowledge of this barrier, but I want you two to work on preparations for protecting the crew both mentally and physically," the Commodore ordered as he pushed aside the plomeek broth.

"Aye Sir" Kholin replied sharply.

“Yes Sir” Amber nodded in response.

"Is there anything else before we adjourn?"

Urvasi thought for a moment before giving her head a small, negative shake. She would ping sciences after this in helping her setup the scenario with the energies in that should be in play, then after that she could start running the simulations with the XO and the Ops Officer monitoring and helping out.

Amber shook her head as she looked towards Wilkan. There was a similar shake of the head from Rio almost simultaneously which made her smile a little. Hopefully it boded well for the team work she was hoping to develop with the Chief Counsellor. Rio had only just sipped a small amount of her Plomeek broth and now it had cooled quite a bit but she was very hungry, after a busy morning, so she finished it off now, hoping the meeting wouldn't break up for another couple of minutes whilst she was trying to eat it quickly but with some modicum of perceived decorum at least. It would make a bad first impression if she were to slurp or gulp the delicious meal but time was running out. If she hadn't been so busy eating she might have chided herself mentally for not having thought of this earlier but she'd had a lot to be concentrating on throughout the meeting so here she was.

"Alright then," the Enterprise's Captain answered. "Since there's nothing else, this meeting is adjourned. Let's get to it people."

 

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