[I-AQ] Lt. DeVeau & Lt. Cmdr. Skyfire: Link To The Past (Backsim, No Tags)

[Amanda Nordstrom]

(( Quarters, USS Invicta ))


DeVeau: =/\=Alora to Chythar.=/\=


::Alora hadn’t slept. While nothing bad had happened, at least in
comparison to what she’d been through over the last few months, the
discovery of Chythar’s transfer had pushed her to focus on the data
she’d collected. Even if it wasn’t _required_ that she have the
information for him before he left, she wanted him to have it before
their communication was restricted via subspace communication.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t going to happen if he didn’t respond.::


DeVeau: =/\=Chythar, wake up. It’s me. I think I have something here.=/\=


:: The response was distant, like he was still half asleep. He blinked a
few times and tapped his badge, doing his best to sound closer to it
than he actually was. ::


Skyfire: =/\= It’s like...three in the morning, Alora...=/\=


DeVeau: =/\=Wait...really? Well, I guess it’s a bit early, but I thought
you might be interested in what I found.=/\=


:: His brain wasn’t processing the words as quickly as he had hoped. So
he came off as kind of confused. He’d just woken up. ::


Skyfire: =/\= Found wha?=/\=

DeVeau: =/\=The results, silly from the scans and bloodwork.=/\=


:: Oh, that. Well, now was as good a time to get dressed as any, he
supposed. Still, he’d be fine after a cup of coffee. ::


Skyfire: =/\= Be right there.=/\=


:: He got up and got dressed in a pair of black sweats and tank top
before replicating himself a raktajino. Devlin heard the beep of the
replicator and woke up oO Food? Oo CD shook his head and glanced at the
quadruped. ::


Skyfire: No, boy. Just going to see Lora.


Devlin: oO Lora! Oo :: and he got up to follow Chythar out the door. ::


(( Jump -- DeVeau’s Quarters ))


:: Skyfire pressed the button, hoping to be greeted by the answering
buzz. The puppy followed in close pursuit of his master and sat down
patiently while waiting for the door to open. Although there was a
slight pause, they didn’t have to wait long. The doors parted, giving
way for them to enter. Immediately, Alora bounced to her feet.::

DeVeau: There you are! Hey Devlin!


::Without hesitation, she crouched down to scritch the puppy behind his
ears.::


DeVeau: You know, Chythar, you are a curious creature.


::: Devlin jumped up into her arms as she scritched him and gave her
face a few dozen puppy-kisses. Meanwhile, his human blinked a few times
and attempted to puzzle together the sentences with a swig of coffee in
his mouth. Once he swallowed it, he asked ::


Skyfire: So call me a cat and tell me, already.


DeVeau: You’re a cat.


Skyfire: :: dryly :: Har har.

DeVeau: Well you _told_ me to!


:: CD nodded and sipped his coffee again, needing to wake up. ::


::Alora giggled and plopped down onto her sofa, then patted the seat
next to her.::


DeVeau: All right. So it wasn’t an obvious thing, at least not on the
blood work, and your scans weren’t the same from one to the other.


:: Chythar sat down on the sofa, the little bundle of beagle in her arms
still licking her face. Devlin loved the attention, and was an
unrepentant cuddle fiend. The doctor had another sip of coffee and
nodded for her to continue. ::

DeVeau: The ones I took right after you reappeared from a time jump were
different, but they were also insightful.

Skyfire: In what way?


DeVeau: I’m not sure how to describe it.


::With the one hand that wasn’t cradling the beagle, Alora managed to
balance her triPADD amidst the licking and pull up the scans.::

DeVeau: See, here’s one that was taken a while back after your return
from Peppalexa. Here’s the one I took immediately after your return
from a time jump.


::An overlay of Chythar’s body was surrounded by a strange, vibrant
glow. From the glow that surrounded him, a single line extended behind
and stretched to a second, smaller glow, then seemed to fade into
nonexistence.::


DeVeau: Keep in mind, this is coloured and lightened so that we can see
it, but what you’re seeing is a visual representation of temporal
radiation - but it’s not like the radiation I’ve seen before.


:: Temporally irradiated? With lasting effects? Or was he an unknown
that would need to be experimented on? He shook off the thought and had
another sip of coffee, visibly disturbed. Devlin squirmed out of Alora’s
arms and onto Chythar’s lap, trying to relax him and giving a gentle
whimper. ::


Skyfire: So what you’re telling me is I’m irradiated somehow and you
haven’t encountered this before?


DeVeau: Not quite.


::That did not sound good. He wasn’t looking forward to spending hours
or days being subjected to medical scans and other craziness that could
make for an excellent research paper on temporal radiation. It wasn’t
his style. He preferred writing the reports, not being the subject of
them. ::


Skyfire: Well, what can you tell me?


DeVeau: _You_ are not radiated, but there’s a link. See how this
extends from you, like a rope? You’ve got some sort of...well, strange
magnetic type attraction for this sliver of temporal radiation. My
theory is that, there’s a link between you and whatever time you’re
going to and that radiation is seeping through. As it builds, it gets
stronger and eventually pulls you back through time.


:: That still didn’t sound any better, though he supposed the silver
lining was that he was, in fact, not irradiated. Puzzlement streaked his
face, and he had another sip of coffee. He wasn’t sure his brain could
logic at this hour, what with his transfer going through and everything. ::


Skyfire: Why didn’t this show up on my last few medical exams?

DeVeau: I think it didn’t showed up for two reasons. First, it seems to
be only obvious right after you return and, if I were to hazard a guess,
right before you leave, when there’s a surge. Second, it’s temporal
radiation and it’s not.


:: So...a false positive? That made even less sense to him, and logicing
was something more for Saveron, not him. His brain hurt. ::


Skyfire: What’s with the calling it a pseudo-temporal-radiation?

DeVeau: I’m calling it that because, honestly, I have no idea what
_else_ to call it. There’s some sort of energy, some sort of current,
like an electrical wire has been attached to you and whatever this is
uses that to bounce you back and forth.


:: Chythar nodded faintly, and Devlin crawled into his master’s lap. The
doc examined the triPADD and blinked several times, as though willing
his brain to make sense of the notes that were staring him in the face. ::

DeVeau: I would hazard to guess this has some sort of connection with
the queen. You said you always go back to a time when she’s present, right?

:: A faint nod and swig of coffee came in reply. Followed by words once
he’d swallowed. ::


Skyfire: Every time.

DeVeau: Then it makes sense that somehow, a link was established through
time and space between you and her. As that energy or radiation or
whatever you want to call it travels through, it pulls and pushes you
back. Unfortunately, I don’t know how to stop it.


:: Chythar finished his coffee and blew a strand of hair out of his
face. Unfortunately, he couldn’t bring himself to ask what it would take
for her to find a way to stop it. He just had to endure. Somehow. For
several minutes, he didn’t say anything, as though he was mulling over
the problem. ::


DeVeau: I’ll keep working on it though.


::After she got some sleep. Now that she had communicated her findings
before Chythar was whisked away, fatigue began to settle heavily upon her.::

Skyfire: I’ll be taking my leave, then. Long day tomorrow. Rest well. ::
Devlin gave one last facelick to Alora before he let his master pick him
up and head for the door. ::


DeVeau: Chy.


:: He turned around slowly, though despite his being awake now the math
and radiation weighed heavily. Tomorrow was going to be a long day. ::

::She offered a smile and stood.::

DeVeau: I’m going to miss y'all.


:: He smiled back at her, the cute little beagle giving a soft whimper
as he began to understand he probably wouldn’t see her again. ::


Skyfire: We’ll miss you too.


END


********
Lieutenant Commander Chythar Skyfire
Medical Officer

USS Columbia, NCC-85279

History Team Co-Facilitator

Medical Duty Post Facilitator

Dear Doc Columnist

O239002CS0



&


Lt. Alora DeVeau

Chief of Science

USS Garuda