[P-AU] Lt. Alora DeVeau - "Out of Time" (Core's Team)

[Amanda Nordstrom]

(( Scion's Conference Room, Armittin University ))


Kiren-El: Are there any initial questions I may answer?


Rahman: You mentioned this was a prototype for a shield array. May I ask
why you chose chroniton-based technology?


Kiren-El:
Succinctly, the Alliance has been at war with an invading race for
several generations. We’ve been successfully using chroniton weapons to
gain an advantage in the war since I invented the technology early in my
career. I hoped the shield would be a less destructive means of
bringing the war to an end, or at least that it would provide us with
the means to regain the upper hand following recent losses. A planet
protected by a sufficiently dense chroniton field would prevent the
aliens from even entering orbit, let alone landing any significant
assault force on the surface.


DeVeau: War with an invading race? Who are they?


Kiren-El:
They have many names among the Alliance races, but we don’t know what
they call themselves. We’ve never been able to establish meaningful
communication with them. Consider it good fortune that you have not
encountered them.


::Noticing one of the aliens was engrossed in some kind of scanning
device, the scientist clicked his tongue a few times in hopes of
politely getting her attention. When that didn’t work, he tried
speaking. ::


Kiren-El: May I ask what you’re scanning for?


:: She didn’t seem to hear him, which led to an awkward pause. ::


Rahman: Ahem. Alora, our host asked you a question.


DeVeau: Huh?


::Kiren shifted in a manner that suggested he was uncomfortable, the
bioluminescent specks of color along the crest of his head and the sides
of his neck changed from a dull red to a violet hue. Alora noted the
change even as her own cheeks brightened in colour and a gentle pink
spread over the rest of her normally fair skin.::


RESPONSES?


Kiren-El: Apologies. You seemed very focused. I thought it might be
something… important.


DeVeau: Oh! Yeah, sorry...um...I’m detecting some levels of temporal
radiation.


RESPONSES?


Kiren-El: Yes, we’ve had some issues over the last few days. Do you
think it may be related to whatever caused this?


DeVeau: No, I don’t think it’s the cause of this. More likely, the
chronitons
caused the radiation and it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s still affecting
areas in various ways.


RESPONSES?


Kiren-El: That was my conclusion as well. We’ve had occasional
contamination
issues with our orbital defense platforms, but never on the planet’s
surface, and never in sufficient quantities to pose a threat. Is there
any reason we should be concerned?


::The pink slowly began to fade from Alora’s face as they entered into
conversation that distracted from the earlier awkwardness.::


DeVeau:
Well, often it can grow in little bubbles and if you happen to be
caught in one of those bubbles, you relive a period of time over and
over again. Usually it’s just a few seconds or a few minutes, but you
repeat it over and over again until the bubble dissipates.


RESPONSES?


Kiren-El: I’ll issue an alert to the provincial councils so they can
prepare for any incidents.


DeVeau:Probably wise. There might be other ways they can affect us, but
there’s not much documentation as they aren’t necessarily that common.


RESPONSES?

::It was then that someone else broke the silence and a familiar voice
echoed from Core’s commbadge.::::


Kells: =/\= Kells to Core. =/\=


::Aron? Had something happened?::


Core: =/\= ?


Kells: =/\= I'm up on the Garuda and I've just received a very interesting
report about some potential causes of the world through time. =/\=


::Ah, that would explain why he was contacting the team.::


Core: =/\= ?


Kells: =/\= I'll bring the data down myself, Commander. Which
transporter room has your coordinates? =/\=


Core: =/\= ?


::
Kiren tapped on a portable terminal, perhaps to allow the transporter to
lock on to their location.::


Rahman: Kiren-El, what kind of experiments had you performed prior to
activating this prototype?


:: The Peppalexan scientist’s neck flaps flared a few times in
succession and Alora couldn’t help but sense that he was a bit
flustered. Concerned? Worried? She found it difficult to interpret the
motions of these people, their physical traits and quirks so different
from her own kind and any of those with which she was familiar.::


Kiren-El: I assume you mean for the shielding, specifically?


::Alora nodded and Kiren-El continued.::


Kiren-El: Early testing led to a localized array on board one of our
starbases. Later, we established an orbital shield over a small moon in
the outer portion
of the system.


:: There was a pause and then Roshanara asked another question.::


Rahman: So do your people have extensive experience with time travel?


Kiren-El: No. There have been occasional accidents, but… nothing like this.
Admittedly, the chroniton-based systems in our ships have made them
vulnerable to certain spatial irregularities, but we’ve developed some
countermeasures. In fact, the shielding system was derived from those.
If anything, the field should have stabilized our planet, not pushed it
out of time.


:: As he was speaking, the expected column of shimmering blue light
appeared as another of the aliens materialized. Alora smiled over to
Aron, turning toward him, while her mind began to process what Kiren-El
had stated. It _should_ have stabilized. So why didn’t it?::


Shandres: I have a question. Are you sure it was an accident?


:: That was exactly Alora’s next question, but Shandres beat her to it.::


Kiren-El: No. You may be aware that a small group of dissidents is in
fact claiming responsibility.


RESPONSES?


Kells: Excuse me, excuse me -- I might have an answer for that.


RESPONSES?


:: Everyone seemed shocked that he was there - everyone, that was,
except for Alora who merely smiled as he arrived and turned toward him.::


Kiren-El: Forgive my ignorance but… who are you?


Kells: Captain Kells, of Garuda science. I received a report a few
minutes ago
that seemed, frankly, too important for you all not to see immediately.

RESPONSES?


DeVeau: What did you find?


Kiren-El: Indeed, Captain Kells, you've piqued my interest. Please share.


Kells: I can download the specifics off this PADD for anyone who wants
them,
but, essentially: It looks like that phenomenon that existed here before
the planet's appearance -- the "bookmark" -- didn't entirely disappear
when the planet appeared. Rather, it fractured -- into miniature
ruptures in time. ::beat:: Or so the physicists' theories go. ::beat::
If they're right, and we can find some of these little ruptures, we
might be able to figure out what exactly happened here.


::Alora rose and approached Aron so she could peer at the information
displayed on his laptop.::


Kiren-El: I’m not familiar with this “bookmark,” you describe.


DeVeau:A bookmark. A place marker of sorts. In this case, there was a
phenomenon that occurred right at the same place as your planet and had
the same mass, so that phenomenon has been termed a ‘bookmark’ for that
reason. Supposedly, the phenomenon had vanished when your planet
appeared, but now it seems that is not the case.


Kiren-El: And you say pieces of this phenomenon are somehow still here?
Why haven’t we detected them?


Kells: ?


Kiren-El: Fascinating. I’d like to review this data, if possible. Where
is the nearest of these fractures?


DeVeau: A moment, if you please, and we can get you this information.
::She turned her attention back to her friend and fellow crewmember.::
Captain, would you mind transferring that information to my triPADD?


RESPONSES?


Kiren-El: The university’s transporters are at our disposal. I've also
ordered several laboratories to be cleared for our use, should they be
needed. How do you wish to proceed?


DeVeau: Let’s find it first.


::Once the information had been copied to her own triPADD, Alora ran a
scan with the new parameters set by the new information. Her head jerked
slightly as she read the results.::


DeVeau: Aron!


::It was the last thing she stated before she and Kells both disappeared.::


RESPONSES?


*********

Lt. Alora DeVeau

Chief of Science

USS Garuda