Lieutenant Ras El'Heem - Paradox Pt 3

[Ras El'Heem]

((Conference Room, Deck One, USS Khitomer))

Admiral: We followed a lead to an uncharted system, just a series of letters and numbers on a star chart. They saw us before we saw them. The battle was brief. We crashed onto an L-class planet. Survivable—for a while.

 

Richard: :: Taking notes again :: I kind of would like more info about that. Maybe we could focus on preventing loss with this foreknowledge of how things will go. Before we jump the gun and start assassinating innocent people. :: He looked up from what he was writing down :: Because, again, just to confirm with everyone. ‘The entire facility needs to go.’ sounds an awful lot like kill them all.

 

Harford: It is, Richard. That’s exactly what they are suggesting.

 

Banks: ::softly:: Which is a war crime.

 

El’Heem: And not something we should be willing to entertain.

 

Korras: Indeed. Now we know where they are, and what they do, the outcome will be different. A trap is not a trap if the other party knows about it.

 

That was a highly edited response by the man, but he’d be remiss if he didn’t express his reluctance to participate in a farse and one as egregious as this one, no less.
 

Any: Response

 

Admiral: Between the battle, the impact, and the nearly three weeks it took for Starfleet to find us, less than half the crew survived. Those that did were pulled off the line.

 

Richard: :: Looking down again :: So let's avoid what we can. Who can go over the crash, the events leading up to and after. So we can work out contingency plans? I’d be happy to drop by your holding cells to talk later if that is easier. It sounds like we will be going to the place where we crash anyway, if it’s an Alliance strong hold.

 

Zerva: Good suggestion, Ensign. We should cover every possibility.

 

Ras could feel himself straining to hold back his tongue but a quick glance over at Hobart helped it stay in.

 

Korras: We might be able to turn their trap around on them. But.. I do not agree with wantonly killing everyone. 

 

A glance at the new Klingon and an agreeing nod to the man. Korras, not compromised.

 

Any: Response 

 

Admiral: That was the beginning of the end. They knew what they'd taken off the board, and hit DS33 hard and fast. Within a few months, the Federation gave up all claim to the Isles. But the Alliance was never going to stop there.

 

Zerva: ::whispering:: Holy crap.

 

Banks: ::addressing Lacy:: Admiral, you’ve alluded several times to no longer being in touch with Starfleet or the Federation, and just now you disavowed Starfleet principles. Of which force, then, are you an Admiral?

 

It was now Ras wished these briefings came with glasses of water that dripped with condensation in front of every officer and many pitchers in the center for quick refilling. The bitterness in his mouth wasn’t washing away with saliva alone. His vision followed Juliets question as it arrived at the Admiral.

 

Any: Response

 

Zerva: I don’t mean to beat upon a dead horse here ::to the three:: You took a lot of risks coming here to tell us all of that to us. As was pointed out before, what if this leads us to a time paradox? One we are forced to repeat. One where the very actions of being here started this whole thing? There are many examples among the dozens of logs from other starships that this very thing has happened before.

 

Charles: The Temporal Prime Directive has already been violated six ways to Sunday. ::glares at the interlopers:: Whether or not we believe them, or trust their motives, the cat is out of the bag now. 

 

He cleared his throat.

 

El’Heem: The Lieutenant is right. Whatever they think the Hobart Hole can do with temporal anomalies, I am skeptical. There is no scenario where I believe the intent of these…butterflies who wish to flap their wings and change the course of history, will matter. Lieutenant Zerva is doubly right, in that their arrival assures the future they intend to prevent. We can still fix this by sending them back to the future.

 

Any: Response

 

Zerva: I would rather not know my own fate in your timeline, thank you.

 

Ezra. Not compromised.

 

Korras: Nor would I. It is not relevant, either way. However, I believe we need as much tactical information as we can get.

 

Any: Response

The line of escalation here was clear and at some point, a superior needed to step in to take control of the situation. The facts of the matter seemed obvious, and he felt this had to be shut down sooner than later, right? Charles addressed the very man with that capability, directly.

 

Charles: Captain? With respect, I think this briefing should end, Sir. We need time to evaluate the information we have been given and discuss the ramifications for our own, present timeline, crew members.

 

Charles. Not compromised.

 

Shayne / Any: Response

 

Charles: We need to discuss it, for us, for Starfleet now. Not for them, Captain, and I feel having all three of them here is an unstable element in a risky and unpredictable situation. I hate to have to point it out but several of your higher ranking staff are… coming across as emotionally compromised.

 

Ras nodded repeatedly as he tapped the table in agreement.

 

Harford: To that end, Sir, I would like to review and possibly redo some of the scans taken upon their arrival. ::looks at Ohnari almost apologetically:: I don’t want to call anyone’s professionalism into question, Sir, but I do think a member of the Medical team who has not just met their son should be given the chance to confirm Doctor Ohnari’s assessment. 

 

El’Heem: I concur with Doctor Harford’s assement. There is emotional entanglement that cannot be overlooked, and have suspicions of it being a result of temporal interaction between linked individuals, rather than genuine emotional attachment.

 

He sheepishly looked Talia’s way and crooked the corner of his mouth before mouthing “sorry.”

 

Shayne / Kael / Ohanri / Any: Response

TAGS/TBC

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Lieutenant Ras El’Heem

Science Officer

USS Khitomer (NCC-62400)

K240106RE3