Life Starts Now

Posted on Sun Aug 30th, 2026 @ 12:00am by Commodore Wilkan Targaryen & Enterprise Enlisted NPC & Enterprise Officer NPC & Commander Ash Randall & Commander Zhora zh'Roothi & Lieutenant Commander Kuzos & Lieutenant Commander Sora Bernadotte & Lieutenant Commander Aidan Datari & Lieutenant Urvasi Elandorn & Lieutenant Rio Kholin MD & Lieutenant Amber Laurell & Lieutenant (J.G.) Dylan Blake & Ensign Sayori Nakai & Ensign Mirakylin Yumerieva & Lieutenant (J.G.) Oakham Khen Ziren & Chief Petty Officer Kiera Targaryen

5,950 words; about a 30 minute read

Mission: 10. Rumble
Location: U.S.S. Enterprise
Timeline: 2439-10-20, 13:00

The heavy hum of the Transporter Room’s secondary relays felt wrong through Akaathaan’s scales. A native of Selay, her skin was far more sensitive to subtle electromagnetic variations than her mammalian crewmates, and right now, the entire primary grid was choking under the ship-wide power drain.

Overhead lighting flickered. Power had been brutally diverted to the main field emitters, leaving Transporter Room 2 riding on razor-thin auxiliary reserves. Down below, the temporal shear vectors were collapsing fast, threatening to tear the away team’s pattern signatures to shreds. Standard protocol dictated waiting for a clean, stabilized carrier signal.

Akaathaan didn't do standard protocols.

Her yellow eyes narrowed as she surveyed the six flickering sensor signatures on her board: Commander zh'Roothi falling through a volcanic abyss, alongside Aidan, Kuzos, Amber, Barbax, and B'ree trapped in the ancient city. While a standard operator would try to force more raw energy through the straining confinement beams, Akaathaan knew brute force against a temporal storm would only shatter the pattern buffers. Instead, she chose a completely unorthodox route: she deliberately inverted the bio-filter's harmonic dampeners, locking onto the local chroniton frequency to use the temporal drag itself as a carrier wave.

"Auxiliary field buffers at twelve percent," the console warned in a harsh, chime.

"Hold your tongue," Akaathaan hissed in low Selayan, her webbed fingers dancing across the LCARS interface with terrifying speed.

Standard safety protocols rejected incomplete phase locks, but Akaathaan manually overrode the fail-safes, weaving all six pattern buffers into a single, interconnected harmonic mesh. It was an absurd, highly dangerous gamble, but it risked dragging a massive feedback pulse straight through Deck 4's primary pad and burning out the primary phase-coils entirely.

The deck plates vibrated viciously under her boots as the Enterprise groaned under the drain. The annular confinement beams flickered, flared, and squealed with high-pitched feedback. With a final, ruthless slap to the main sliders, Akaathaan forced the coils into a forced quantum lock. Columns of blinding blue light erupted across all six pads, swirling violently against the ambient emergency glow. The light dissolved, leaving the away team collapsed on the pads; battered, sweating, but alive.

Akaathaan exhaled a low hiss, her crest relaxing just a fraction as she adjusted the bio-dampeners. "Transporter lock resolved, Chief," she called into the comm, her voice cool and steady. "The away team is aboard."

Aidan breathed hard at the sudden chance in scenery and temperature. His tricorder fell from nerveless fingers as he collapsed and felt the cool transporter pad against his bare skin. On first glance he looked as if he has a severe sunburn, the way his skin seemed flushed and red. Even Sherlock was slumped on the pad, his scales resembling an ashen blue. "I don't feel so good," he complained softly, making no effort to get up.

"Bridge to Transporter Room 2," Wilkan commanded, his voice full of a low heaviness. "Akaathaan, have the away team report to Sickbay, please, then route primary buffer telemetry directly to my chair." He closed the channel before an answer could be given.

Akaathaan’s webbed fingers flew across her terminal, routing the raw buffer telemetry straight to the Commodore’s chair. and dropping the room's temperature to soothe Datari’s scorched skin. She slapped the comm toggle, "Transporter Room 2 to Sickbay. Doctor Kholin, prepare trauma primary! Away team is aboard, but they're in rough shape: thermal burns and severe chroniton exposure. We need a medical detail to Transporter Room 2 immediately!"

Kuzos was on his hands and knees before rolling onto his back and just lying still a long-exhausted breath leaving his lungs. His chest slowly rising and falling. His eyes closed. He knew it was an undignified position, but it was the best he able to accomplish at the time. After a few seconds he sucked in a trembling breath, "Aidan, Amber, Barbax, B'ree and of course Sherlock, you all are alright?"

"No," the Trill answered in a bare whisper, "not at all. I hope we saved them...I hope it was enough..." There was no answer from the little dragon, who was too exhausted to respond.

Amber was down on the deck not feeling good at all, the skin on her arms and neck, and some of her face all had thermal burns. “All I’ll say…is ouch!!” She offered trying to lighten a bad moment.

Kuzos slowly opened his eyes. His violet eyes staring up at the ceiling. "I believe ouch suits this situation very well." He replied quietly. His arms, hands. face and neck all showing the marks of thermal burns and made even more pronounced and harsh looking due to his pale skin.

"I've certainly seen better days, Commander," Barbax rasped, his voice rough from inhaling particulate dust and superheated air. He reached out a trembling hand, lightly patting Kuzos's shoulder. "My skin feels like it's been baked in a plasma manifold, but my vitals are stable enough. We're back... that's what counts."

"If anyone asks," B'ree managed, her voice laced with a faint, tired chuckle despite the pain, "I'm staying in a stasis pod for the next forty-eight hours. My head is spinning faster than a warp core." She carefully rolled her head toward Amber and Kuzos, offering a weak, supportive smile. "We made it out. Save the deep thinking for when Dr. Kholin pumps us full of meds."

"I am putting you all in for commendations for the work you all put forth in this mission." Kuzos wheezed and grew silent.

Through fluttering eyelashes Zhora wearily observed the singed party thankfully they were alive (though she'd withhold expressing that relief in front of Kuzos) and relatively in one piece.

“Hang in there Kuzos” Amber added from where she lay in pain. “We’ll be in sickbay in no time.”

Kuzos nodded his head, the gesture tired and weary. "I shall endeavor to do that Amber. I implore you to do the same."

Akaathaan watched the groaning away team from her console, her webbed fingers hovering over the bio-filter controls. Walking them to Sickbay in this condition was out of the question; their vitals were dipping, and the thermal damage required immediate trauma intervention. Rather than waiting for Sickbay's orderlies to arrive, she made a swift decision. Re-engaging the secondary annular coils, she locked onto the signatures still resting on the transporter pads.

"Brace yourselves," Akaathaan hissed softly into the room. She tapped a site-to-site command sequence into LCARS, "Intra-ship beam-out initialized. Direct transfer to Sickbay. Energizing!"

The sharp, distinct tone of the mass transport chime echoed through Sickbay Ward 2 on Deck 8 just as brilliant columns of blue light appeared in the chamber.

Crewman 1st Class Tiazal Jiru acted before the dematerialization cycle had even cleared. As an unjoined Trill, she didn't possess centuries of joined memories to draw from, but her instincts in the Emergency Ward were absolute. Shifting into triage mode, her dark spots flared faintly under the harsh medical lighting as she swept her Medical Tricorder over the newcomers.

"Incoming trauma on Primary!" Tiazal called out, her voice crisp and authoritative over the hum of the biobed telemetry array. "Seven signatures total: six officers and one non-humanoid life-sign."

Her eyes cataloged the damage in seconds. Lieutenant Commander Datari’s skin was severely scorched, his vitals unstable under acute thermal and chroniton stress, while Kuzos, Laurell, Barbax, and Thairtu were covered in angry second-degree burns. Commander zh'Roothi was battered and exhausted from her fall but notably spared from the thermal searing.

Working with rapid precision, Tiazal guided the automated gurney tracks to divert Datari and the little dragon straight to the primary clamshell biobeds for immediate chemical stabilization and subcellular scans. With practiced efficiency, she prepped the medical replicators for high-potency dermal regenerators and burn salves, directing zh'Roothi and the rest of the away team to the secondary triage beds along the curved bulkhead.

"Doctor Kholin, we have severe thermal shock, physical trauma, and exotic radiation signatures across the board," Tiazal announced, handing off the vital telemetry. "Triage is complete. Primary bay is ready."

Aidan hissed in pain as he was transported from the cool transporter pad onto a bed, his fractured ribs painfully jarred in the process. As soon as the transport completed, the bed's diagnostic tools erupted in multiple alarms. Its occupant now blissfully unaware as he finally lost consciousness.

"Acknowledged" Rio responded, adding "Thank you" to express how relieved and ready she was to finally have the injured back where they could relieve their pain and repair their wounds at last.

Icarus felt the static in the air as the away team transported in, her fur seeming to stand on end for a moment, giving her a fluffed up appearance for just a few seconds. "Oh my!" She couldn't help but exclaim as she watched their appearance. "Doctor, ill take care of the secondary unit, unless you need me in primary," she called out once she recovered from her initial shock. She has already grabbed her tricorder and was already moving. "Galatea, initiate protective cover," she called out, knowing her fur could become an issue otherwise. Thankfully, current technology was such that she could work without shedding thanks to an unhindering static field.

Kuzos turned his thermal burned face towards her and looked at her through half closed eyes. "Icarus." He addressed her softly. "I apologize for my appearance. Please see to Aidan and Amber and Sherlock and the others as their injuries mandate it." He wheezed and grew quiet.

“Just give me some pain relief, and I’ll wait until the others are treated.” Amber added in response.

"No. No Amber. get yourself treated you and your abilities are needed." Kuzos replied quietly as if talking took great effort. "Do not make me order you."

The latest new arrival to Sickbay was quick to interject at that point. “No need for orders Commander” Kiera smiled as she set about checking the arrivals and their injuries. “Everyone will be treated as quickly as possible, in order of how serious injuries are. Right now your breathing makes me more concerned, it’s obvious you’re struggling so let’s get that sorted for you.” She paused to turn to Laurell she wasn’t going to leave anyone in pain. Reaching for a hypospray she gently pressed it to Amber’s neck. “That should help with the pain, you won’t be kept waiting long.”

Amber nodded her thanks, breathing easier as the pain relief started working its way into her system.

“Now Commander, let’s get you sorted” Kiera smiled warmly as she gave Kuzos pain relief before picking up a bio spray to coat Kuzos’ burns to stop infection before using the dermal regenerator to start healing. “Don’t worry about Lieutenant Laurell she’ll be fine.”

Kuzos nodded weakly and moved his hand to motion Kiera closer, "Pl...ease see to Aidan and Amber's needs. They are more than crewmates, they are friends." He explained is voice a ragged whisper.

“I understand Commander” Kiera offered a smile. “Your friend Aidan, I believe he’s being treated already. As for you I don’t think your friends would want to see you suffer, I promise you I’ll go straight to Amber afterwards.”

"Doctor Kholin is taking care of him," Icarus offered as she glanced over her shoulder towards the primary unit, "I'll take care of Amber." The feline moved over to the counselor and ran the scanning wand across her body before picking up a dermal regenerator. "Second degree burns to exposed skin," she reported in soft purring voice, "I'll get that healed in a second for you and then I'll apply some analgesic cream to relieve any burning and itching sensation." She coiled her agile rail lightly around a uniform covered part of the counselor's sleeve in comfort. "I recommend avoiding strong UV lighting for the next few days and perhaps enjoy a few cool showers or a dip in a pool."

“Thank you Icarus” Kiera smiled warmly as she began using the dermal regenerator on Kuzos’ burns. “I’m Kiera Targaryen by the way, it’s nice to meet you.”

Amber nodded at Icarus’ advice, the sooner she was done the better she’d feel. She wondered if their efforts had helped those on the planet below. “Did we do it? Did we save them?”

"I don't know ma'am," the feline answered, her ears twitching at the new arrival's name. "But as soon as I'm done treating your injuries, and you've had something decent to eat and drink i see no reason to release you dem sickbay. Provided you came back if you feel out of the ordinary even the slightest."

Icarus carefully applied the cream, then moved to treating her injured arm. When she was done, her ears flicked back and her tail looped in the air. "All done ma'am, a nurse will get you something to eat and then you're free to go if you feel well enough. Doctor Kholin will inform you of any duty restrictions if there are any but, I don't think there should be."

Amber nodded. “Thank you Icarus, food sounds wonderful right about now.”

Kuzos nodded, "A pleasure Doctor. Did you say Targaryen. A relative of the Commodore?"

Kiera nodded. “My uncle. It’s been a long time since I last saw him until today.” She finished up treating his burns. “There, all done. As Icarus already stated, food will be brought out you, then you’re free to go once you feel better. Please don’t overdoing it.”

"I see." Kuzos replied. "Thank you and Icarus for your professional care and treatment. When I leave here I am going to my quarters and just lie in bed and do nothing."

“Now that’s a good idea” Kiera smiled warmly.

“Actually…” Amber moved to get off her biobed. “Hold the food there’s something I need to do.” She gave Icarus and Kiera a smile before heading out of the door.

Leaving Kuzos in Keira's capable hands, Icarus turned towards the Andorian XO. She looked bruised but showed no signs of the burns the others were showing. "How are you feeling ma'am?" She asked softly, her ears twitching as she ran the wand over the Andorian woman. "It seems you got lucky there, what happened that you ended up separated from the others?"

"Cave in," the XO murmured wearily blinking open her eyes against the harsh lighting of the main sickbay, wincing is discomfort. "I was unconscious for a time but was fortunate to avoid serious injury. I have a raging headache and feel utterly exhausted."

"This should help," the feline soothed, pressing a hypospray against her throat. "Do you have any recollection of hitting your head at any given time? Just stay awake a little longer ma'am, until I can rule out a concussion. It's very important, do you remember?"

"That hypo would better served being administrated through muscle," Zhora offered up an exposed arm. "Andorian physiology is fickle," she smiled weakly.

"Good advice ma'am," Icarus answered, repositioning the hypo to her upper arm. "My query?" She then prompted.

"It was during the cave in," she sighed as the medicine hit her blood stream. "Everything happened quickly and was pitch black, it was disorientating," Zhora frowned with thought trying to replay the memory. "I remember waking up alone with my kit and comm-badge gone."

Icarus watched her, ears twitching in concern. "You can rest soon ma'am, I do suspect a concussion. But don't worry... you'll be alright. Can you keep talking while I continue treatment? Tell me what happened after the cave in."

"I stumbled upon our shuttle entombed in the basalt," Zhora continued, opting to bypass the interaction with youngsters not fully trusting her own memory as it felt sluggish and muddled. "And spoke to Enterprise."

Tiazal stepped smoothly into Icarus's field of view, her dark Trill spots catching the cool ambient light of the ward as she checked the biobed's secondary monitor. Her hands moved over the interface with practiced efficiency, adjusting the sensors to better align with the XO's specific metabolic profile.

"I've already calibrated the biobed's neural monitors to track your cranial pressure without requiring another localized scan, Commander," Tiazal said, her voice quiet, crisp, and steady. "Icarus is right—Andorian neural pathways react sharply to chroniton-adjacent shock, and resting now is your best option."

She reached for a small medical tray, preparing a tailored hydration saline.

"I'm queuing up a cold infusion with a high-electrolyte base designed for your baseline physiology," Tiazal added, offering Commander zh'Roothi a brief, reassuring nod before glancing toward Icarus. "I'll keep a direct link on her vitals from the central console so you can check on the primary bay if needed, Doctor. We've got the XO stabilized."

"I defer to your judgement," Zhora softly replied longing to close her eyes against the light and sleep.

Tiazal gently pressed a hypo with cold electrolyte infusion into Zhora's arm. "Don't fight the fatigue, Commander. Rest is your best therapy."

Lieutenant Barbax offered a wide, jovial Denobulan grin despite the lingering redness on his face. He stretched his arms, test-flexing his shoulders as the dermal regenerator’s soothing effect took full hold. "I must say, Doctor, your team works wonders," Barbax remarked cheerfully, his typical optimism completely unphased by their brush with temporal disintegration. "Though if our next away mission involves chroniton fields, I might request a permanent shift in Main Engineering."

"Don't give Ash any ideas, Barbax," Lieutenant B'ree Thairtu teased dryly from the parallel biobed, offering her fellow engineer a tired smirk before glancing toward Crewman Jiru and Icarus. She rolled her shoulders and ran a hand through her dark hair, letting out a long, weary sigh of relief as the acute pain faded into a manageable dull ache. "Thanks for patching us up so fast. Next time the timeline tries to cook us, we'll try to bring back better souvenirs."

Kiera couldn’t help but grin. “Souvenirs are good Lieutenant, but we’d much rather have everyone back in one healthy piece.”

Icarus moved towards the primary bay, her tail drooping at the sight of the Trill patient. He had come in without upper body clothing and his skin was blistering, to the point of literal scorching here and there according to the monitors. On top of that a threatening heat stroke, dehydration and two fractured ribs. The feline hissed involuntarily at the sight of him and quickly moved to assist the CMO. "I think we need more hands," she suggested as she started to set up a saline infusion. "I'll get his fluids up and medication on board," she continued, "then I'll help with the rest. Oh oh and that poor creature, someone should take care of the poor thing."

"His name is Sherlock. Bring him to me. I will watch him while Aidan recovers. I will also watch over his daughter." Kuzos replied.

“Ohh my goodness!” Kiera was quick to head over to the dragon like creature that was near his master. “I’m so sorry Sherlock!” She offered a caring gaze as she gently approached to help, her empathy for everyone she treated was there for all to see. “I need to see what I can do to help you, but I’ll admit I’ve never encountered a Dragon like you before.”

The ashen looking blue gave a sad whistle in response, opening a single eye that had turned a dull purple flecked with red and orange. His scales looked scorched here and there and he gave a general mental impression to those receptive of his feelings of being in great need of something to reduce an annoying itch. He tried to lift a wing but found himself unable to, he was just too exhausted and hungry.

Kiera was getting a good sense of what her small patient needed. “Let’s see what I can do here” she wasn’t an animal doctor but she’d seen a few things in her long life. “Let’s get you some relief for your poor scales, then we’ll find you some suitable food.” She walked over to the replicator ordering up some suitable oil for treatment of scales. “Here we go, now I need to spray this on so I hope you won’t mind being still while I do it.” With that she started gently spraying the relieving mixture onto Sherlock.

The little dragon gave a soft chirp, then crooned in relief as the soothing oils were applied.

“I’m glad that’s helping” Kiera smiled warmly. “I’ll let that do its job while I try and find you some suitable food.” She was hoping whatever Sherlock ate would be programmed into the ship’s replicator system. “Now let me see…” a few learned replicator system shortcuts later she walked over, with what she hoped would be appealing to Sherlock. “I hope this is right my friend.” She placed it down by Sherlock.

"Nice team work everyone" Rio told the medical staff. "Rapid and effective responses and skilled decisions and applications. I'm very proud of you all."

The command deck was a study in controlled panic, shrouded in the low glow of priority power-conservation warnings. The deck plates vibrated continuously underfoot, reflecting the immense, ship-wide power draw being funneled straight down through the Deflector and Warp Field Coils.

At the Science station, Lieutenant Anzai Sulu’s fingers moved across her LCARS console with practiced precision. Inheriting a turbulent Betazoid empathic sensitivity, she anchored her mind against the sensory noise of the Bridge by focusing entirely on the raw telemetry data scrolling past her display. The sensor array was registering a massive, unexpected cascade in the subterranean chroniton fields. Localized temporal shears, previously isolated to lower-density pockets near the outer basalt caverns, were suddenly expanding outward at an exponential rate. The localized temporal storm was no longer just washing over the planetary strata... it was swallowing the entire ancient Iocarran city. To the rest of the Bridge crew, the sudden, violent feedback loop appeared to be a catastrophic natural acceleration of the planet's collapsing temporal grace period.

Standing like an immovable monolith near his chair, Commodore Wilkan Targaryen watched the forward display with intensity. His posture was entirely rigid, his face an unreadable mask of absolute focus, locking every stray emotion away behind an iron wall of discipline. He maintained complete mental silence, well aware of the sensitive telepaths stationed on the deck and not wanting to contribute to a panic. He simply watched the telemetry shift, his focus fixed on the raw data stream as if he were merely an observer to the temporal anomaly folding inward upon itself.

Suddenly, the comm-line from Transporter Room 2 crackled over Commander Ash Randall’s station, cutting through the hum of warning chimes. Petty Officer Akaathaan Saarnosh’s low, sibilant voice echoed across the quiet deck, even as the secondary power conduits groaned and the Enterprise continued to shudder violently against the drag of the unraveling timeline:

"Transporter lock resolved, Chief," she called into the comm, her voice cool and steady. "The away team is aboard."

"Tremendous work, Akaathaan. Thank you." The Chief Engineer responded back in a distracted tone, her attention focused on what was happening planet side. "We're in for a long day when DTI gets here." Ash muttered to herself, the subtleties of what just transpired not lost on the Tuansee.

Wilkan didn't smile as the deep, shuddering vibration running through the Bridge floorplates did not ease with the successful transport. Instead, the Commodore kept his posture rigid and his gaze intense. Through his "Listening," he felt the subtle shifts in the hull's acoustic frequency. The deflector array was still screaming under an astronomical load, but the violent, localized shearing below had stabilized. The shift had occurred.

"Bridge to Transporter Room 2," Wilkan commanded, his voice full of a low heaviness. "Akaathaan, have the away team report to Sickbay, please, then route primary buffer telemetry directly to my chair." He closed the channel before an answer could be given, the Commodore instead continuing his dash of orders around the Bridge of the Enterprise.

"Helm, maintain position above the remains of our shuttle and begin efforts to bring the hulk aboard." As the vibration and strain began to subside, the Commodore turned toward the Science Station. "Lieutenant Sulu," Wilkan said, stepping forward with deliberate, measured pace, "give me an immediate scan of the planetary surface. What are we looking at down there?"

Urvasi called out, "Aye Aye, Sir, on it." She dipped the Enterprise into the upper atmosphere to allow the sensors for the Tractor Beams to get a read on the atmospheric energies so they could get a more clear lock onto the shuttle remains. It would take a few seconds.

"Commodore, the temporal cascade has cleared, but..." Anzai swallowed as her fingers flew over the Science console, focusing her attention on the telemetry streams to quiet her mind of the empathic static throughout the Bridge. She recalibrated the planetary sensor array as quickly as she could, still not believing what she had seen, "The ruins are gone! Sensors are reading a fully intact, densely populated urban metropolis where the caverns used to be. The entire ancient Iocarran city looks like it’s been pulled forward and replaced the ruins entirely!"

When the power drain had all but shut down astrometrics, Sayori headed to the bridge and looped the astrometrics feed into the secondary science console to continue her work. "I can confirm that report. In addition to that, it seems the planet itself has entirely stabilized. It's as if the apocalypse from three hundred years ago never happened."

Ash, eyes closed, took a deep breath and held it for a count of five before exhaling, slowly, in a calming manner. "Permission to make myself scarce, Commodore?" The Chief Engineer asked, quietly.

"Granted, Commander," Wilkan replied, his voice a low, level rumble that offered no room for speculation. He kept his posture immovable, staring dead ahead at the main viewscreen as the impossible cityscape hummed quietly on the sensors. "Go do what you feel must be done to stabilize the ship."

"Thank you, sir." The Chief Engineer responded and, without further comment, waved Ens Yumerieva over to take over for her. Ash offered a quick nod to the Commodore as she passed him and was off the bridge in short order. They had a lot to do before everyone involved in the events of the last, several hours, was turned inside out by the DTI.

Mira moved from the secondary Engineering Console to the Primary one. She immersed herself into the feeds and readouts of the many power sources that made up the Enterprises full power grid.

"Whatever happened here, the temporal flux has settled," Wilkan declared with absolute authority. "We have an entire living civilization down there now so let's make sure we're ready when they look up to say hello. Ensign Nakai, Lieutenant Sulu, hold your planetary scan parameters and cross-reference those temporal displacement signatures with our secondary historical archives," Wilkan ordered crisply. "Urvasi, maintain precise orbital lock over that shuttle wreckage and help Lieutenant Blake begin tractor retrieval. Tactical, begin scans of the planet for weapons emplacements and related threats."

Ziren gave no verbal acknowledgement of the order, her slender hands already flying over her console to acquire the necessary information. "No immediate threats," she reported, "no advanced weapons on initial scans. Recommend sending a probe to get more detailed information.""

"Available historical data is limited, sir," Sayori reported, before she was struck with an idea. Quickly, she made her way over to the Operations station, where Sora's datachip had been left behind, and picked it up. Rather than plugging it into her console, however, she first pulled out a small, PADD-like device, which she connected to the console before attaching the datachip. "Hey, you don't grow up with a legendary hacker for a mother without picking some things up about system security," she explained with a chuckle. "Give me a few moments."

Urvasi called out, "Aye Aye, Sir." She turned lightly to Dylan with a smile as she said in a low voice, "Tractor Sensors targeted and controls shifted to you, Lieutenant Blake. I will verify path and getting the debris into the enterprise while you handle the tractor power fluctuations due to atmospheric interference. Ready?"

"You make it sound so simple," Dylan replied sarcastically having been distracted by Sayori's appearance and removal of the Terran datachip from under this nose. The thing made him nervous. "There's approximately nine kilometres of basalt to penetrate to reach the wreckage. It will be a miracle if we can extract it without upsetting the locals. But sure, let's get started."

Urvasi blushed as she asked, "Umm, the cargo transporters have not brought the remains to the surface yet? No way we can be tractor the remains through the basalt unless there is an open path to the surface from where the remains are located. You are more in the know, what is our call?"

"What, wait?" Dylan shook his head with frustration. "Sorry Urvasi, my bad," he looked over the helms station apologetically "The cargo transporters can do the heavy lifting since the temporal flux and chroniton particles have dissipated..." he didn't finish his sentence as Sayori announced her findings.

"Well, this is remarkable," Sayori called out as she finished reviewing the historical data provided by the Dominion, cross-referenced with the information contained on the chip. "You'll need to see this." She entered a few commands, and three maps of the city under the surface were projected onto the main viewscreen. "First image you're seeing is what we saw when we arrived. Second, the one that's about forty per cent larger, is the biggest size of that city known in the historical record. And the third is what is down there right now. Larger than even that by about fifteen percent. It looks like they weren't just shifted into our time, it looks like the extinction event simply never happened."

Wilkan stood frozen, focused on the three-dimensional maps projecting across the main viewscreen. For a man who built his career on absolute emotional containment, the subtle widening of his brow betrayed a rare surge of genuine shock at what had happened. "Three hundred years..." Wilkan murmured, his low voice cutting through the hum of the Bridge consoles with quiet disbelief. "An entire civilization, erased from history, suddenly restored."

"Commodore, if I may interrupt," Lieutenant Anzai Sulu spoke up before the weight of the revelation could fully settle over the Bridge. "I'm analyzing the full planetary telemetry now and, while the historical footprint expanded by fifteen percent, our wide-range scans show no other life-signs across the rest of the planet. This single city is all that remains of the Iocarrans."

"A single surviving stronghold out of an entire dead world," Wilkan said as he stepped down from the command well, his posture rigid as he folded his hands behind his back. "That changes our tactical and diplomatic posture entirely. Monitor for any subspace transmissions originating from within their grid. Let's find out if they even realize they've been pulled three centuries into their future."

"Registering no change in armament readings," Ziren reported, "no evidence of warp technology." She studied her readings more closely. "I'm actually not quite sure what to make of this sir, I've not seen this kind of signature before." With a single swipe she sent the readings to the captain's own controls for him to see for himself.

Urvasi whispered to Dylan, "Please, get your teams to lock on and transport the shuttle remains to a mountain top, then we can tractor it to the ship without the native population being aware."

"Y- yes of course," Dylan drew himself back to the present and resumed to task.

The cold, calculating focus that had earned Wilkan the moniker of the "Ice Pilot" fully reasserted itself, instantly overriding any lingering awe at the restored metropolis below. He pulled the tactical telemetry Ziren had forwarded to his console, putting it into a hovering holo before him. "The signature is unmistakable... that's a pre-warp energy grid."

"Lieutenant Sulu, cancel the subspace scan," Wilkan commanded crisply. "If they lack Warp, they're completely unaware of our presence in orbit. The Prime Directive applies in full force. We have already altered the local timeline far beyond standard parameters, and any further presence, active scans, or accidental exposure risks further catastrophic cultural contamination to this species."

The doors to the bridge opened and a much improved Amber walked onto the bridge. “Am I sensing what I think I’m sensing? Did we save them?”

Wilkan glanced briefly toward Amber as she stepped onto the Bridge, giving her a single, firm nod of acknowledgement before addressing the entire deck. "We have retrieved our away team and stabilized the ship," Wilkan declared, his tone leaving zero room for debate. "Our mission here is concluded, and the Department of Temporal Investigations will be dissecting this anomaly soon enough. Helm, pull us out of atmospheric range and lay in a course out of the system, Warp 6. Engage the moment Lieutenant Blake confirms the shuttle wreckage is secured. We depart immediately."

Urvasi replied, "Understood, Sir. That should be in about 3 more minutes. The remains are almost finished being transported to a remote mountaintop, tractors at the ready. I will mark when the remains are fully tractored and the ship can leave the upper atmosphere."

Wordless Dylan nodded to signal he understood the instruction and need to urgency.

Amber smiled knowing that they’d saved the inhabitants below the surface she could now rest. “In that case I can rest happy.” With that she turned and headed off the bridge to go to her quarters to rest.

Standing motionless as the Bridge chimes gradually settled into the predictable rhythm of standard operations, Wilkan watched the impossibly vibrant, living subterranean metropolis on the main viewscreen. The raw, staggering scale of what had transpired - an entire civilization pulled back from the brink of absolute extinction deep within the planetary crust - was a reality that would take the Department of Temporal Investigations months to unravel, but for the Enterprise, the tactical directive was absolute.

Beneath the unyielding, monolithic posture that earned him his reputation, Wilkan’s thoughts turned inward, drifting briefly to the shift in local command. Captain Drayer taking over the Nostradamus following Captain Pohl’s departure had seamlessly kept their rendezvous on steady footing, allowing Wilkan to focus entirely on maintaining the iron discipline required to pull the Enterprise through a mid-crisis temporal anomaly. He glanced toward the tactical display as the final status indicators blinked green. Their posture was set, the timeline sealed, and the Prime Directive firmly re-established over the pre-warp civilization thriving below the surface.

"Hail the Nostradamus," Wilkan commanded, his deep voice carrying a low, resonant gravity across the deck. "Inform Captain Drayer that the temporal cascade has fully dissipated and the planetary grid is stable. The away team is safe aboard, the shuttle wreckage is secured, and the Enterprise is standing down from alert status."

He paused, letting the weight of the moment settle over the bridge crew before delivering his final directive.

"Helm, line us up on Captain Drayer's vectors and execute your course out of the system. All ahead Warp 6."

Hands held firmly behind his back, Commodore Wilkan Targaryen turned his back to the viewscreen, stepping back up to the command well. The crisis was ended, the ship was whole, and the future - whatever history made of this day - lay ahead.

RSS Feed