[sb118-khitomer] Lieutenant (JG) Ezra Zerva - The Temporal Violations Headache (Part 1)
BC Cooper
((Conference Room, Deck 1, en route to Deep Space 33))
Ezra had spent most of his time since being in the shuttlebay when the runabout first arrived, watching over their new arrivals from the future. Gama Shift had been assigned to watch over their new arrivals in the guest quarters they had been escorted to stay in. Gamma Shift was stationed just outside the doors, giving them some privacy. This gave the new arrivals a chance to shower, eat and get a change of clothes. Something he knew was the right course of action. It was the least they could do to give them some hospitality. Even if they were told to be under lock and key while aboard the Khitomer.
When the Captain called for them, he and Gamma Shift had escorted them to the bridge so that they could speak with the Captain in private. Ezra had his reservations on the matter. The one named Kael had made his intentions known that he was not about to let anyone come between him and the one called Tori. He tried to sympathize with him, but it was hard given the young man's direct approach. The option for the brig was still on the table as far as Ezra was concerned. He just hoped it wouldn't come to that. Ezra wanted to have a private meeting with the Captain and Commander Hobart to address his additional security concerns, but it would have to wait, for now at least.
Ezra had Wynters and Bechtel placed just outside the Captain’s ready room where the four of them talked. Kelana was with him. They briefly used the security station on the bridge to check in with the other two shifts, Alpha and Beta to insure there were no other potential security risks to the crew. He made sure not to give out any additional information, choosing to keep the matter of time travel to a minimum among the crew. The last thing the Captain needed was everyone submitting to chaos over the matter. He didn’t like doing this though. Keeping things close to his chest as had been ordered by the acting Captain during their last mission, had hampered the security team from being able to do their jobs effectively with the SCE running about the ship. Thankfully things turned out for the best in the end. Or so they thought. The Khitomer stood inside the very same nebula they now inhabited once again.
He joined the others in the conference room. He made a point to get there as soon as he could to insure there was no security risk in the conference room. Ezra left Kelana at the security station on the bridge to oversee things until such time Gamma Shift was excused by the Captain. Was he over doing it? Probably, but he wasn’t taking any chances. He didn’t want a repeat of the problems that resulted in the Arrow being stolen last year.
Hobart: How long until we reach Deep Space 33, Lieutenant Korras?
Korras: Response
Thank goodness they were on their way back to DS33. Ezra was happy to be out of the nebula. If he never saw that again, it would be too soon. He crossed his fingers hoping the Khiotmer would not have to ever return.
Hobart: No lingering effects on the ship?
Ezra hoped the answer would be a no.
Connor: Aside from the collective existential crisis? Nothing on sensors. The SDA’s prepared, Ensign Banks and I are going to operate it, if it becomes necessary.
Michaels: Between the efforts of Science :: Nodding toward both El’Heem and Semara :: and Engineering, the ship is ready.
Ezra knew the crew could count on Ras and Semara and the rest of the science department to get things done. He also knew just how good the engineering team on the Khitomer were and was thankful for all their efforts.
Banks: The anti-cascade measures installed by the Science department are up and running, and fully integrated with existing systems. The Operations department recommendation is that pending a review after this mission we should consider making them a permanent installation.
Hobart: Any insight as to where the runabout came from, yet?
oO You mean besides the Hobart Hole? Oo
El’Heem: Well ::Pausing:: Yeah. Yeah…forty years into ::Lifting his hands palms up and dropping them onto the table:: the future.
Michaels: Perhaps not necessarily our future.
Ezra was starting to feel a headache coming on. Hopefully that butt jab chip Othin gave him was working.
Richard: To jump off what Michaels is saying. We theorize that time travel involves both predestined timelines and the creation of multiple alternate futures. Logs from Deep Space 9 surrounding the prophets points to future events that are fixed and unavoidable. The distinction between if our visitors are from our future or another. Is if these travelers alters their own past, creating a paradox, or a new, parallel timeline to our own that they would be going back to.
Yep there was definitely a headache coming on and it was only going to get worse. Ugh why did it have to be time travel.
Semara: We got a coupl’a clues from their shuttle, whatever the semantics are. It’s got heavy damage from Lattice weapons, and underwent several refits since we saw it last. There’s evidence it’s been hit with Sencha a lotta times. We still oughta search it proper.
Ezra nodded in agreement. He would be happy to send a secuity shift down there as preparation.
Hobart: And, how's everybody feeling?
How do you think we're feeling, sir. Confused? Scared? All the feelings coming at them all at once. He would definitely need a counseling session on his next shore leave. Probably the whole ship for that matter.
Zerva: You mean besides the headache I’ve got?
Ayemet: : looking at Michaels: They are from the future. They’re here to disrupt the timeline. That presence I felt in the bridge. It wasn’t Commander
Dewitt :unable to make eye contact with him: It was his child, Oh and I’m feeling great, never better. Why else would they be here?
Lieutant Dewitt was saying out loud what they were all feeling. He couldn’t blame her for that. He was feeling it too. The headache was here and it wasn’t leaving any time soon.
Ohnari: ::slightly strained:: Not well. Hoping getting some answers will help.
Charles / Korras / Harford / Any: Response
Hobart: Any… threats?
You mean besides three people from the future who just showed up?
Zerva: I have submitted our report to the Captain ::looks over at Charles:: on the results of security and tactical’s time on the holodeck training. I must say, unfortunately the odds are against us if we were boarded or attacked by the Alliance ships. It’s just enough to tip the results in the Lattice Alliance’s favor. If anyone would like a copy of that report, I will forward the results along. I highly recommend for those of you who were not with us last year during the invasion of Starbase 33, to read up on those reports. The results of that day nearly cost us the Khitomer and ::pausing lost in sadness:: there were those we lost. ::shaking his head as he tried to forget that day:: As for our visitors from out of time, the one named Kael is rather direct in his approach. He had made it known his intentions to us in the shuttlebay if we tried to harm them. I recommend exercising caution. We do not yet know what their future is like or the full reason for their arrival.
Charles / Korras / Harford / Any: Response
Captain Shane and their new visitors arrived through the conference room doors. He could see that Kael and Tori were closer than he initially thought, as they held hands on their way to their seats. What were they thinking? What had they said to the Captain in their meeting?
Hobart: Oh, thank goodness. All present and accounted for, sir.
Kael: I hope you’ll hear us out Captain Shayne.
Admiral: He wouldn't have brought us here otherwise, Kael.
Shayne / Charles / Korras / Harford / Any: Response
Kael: :indicating Ayemet: What’s her problem?
Admiral: She's not your mother. Let's focus.
oO What the heck? Did he just disrespect Lieutenant Dewitt? Oh there is sooo a brig in your future. Maybe spanking from your mom. She should have taught you better manners than that. I’ll get the soap. Oo
Did it matter if she was her mother Lacy? What then? That didn’t give him the right to talk like that. Ezra shifted in his seat. This Kael was itching for a fight. That option for the brig was feeling a lot better than guest quarters. At least for Kael.
Ayemet: Looking at the Admiral: Why are you here? Why the hostility?
Tori: Not hostile. Just tired still, right my love?
Zerva: ::muttering under his breath:: Let’s hope that’s all it is.
Why did he have to have such an attitude? He hoped it was just them being tired and nothing more. They could all use a good night's rest after this.
Shayne / Charles / Korras: / Harford / Any: Response
Kael: My apologies :pause: We’ve been through alot, and it’s important that you listen to us. That you give us a fair hearing.
That was much better. Ezra turned his chair so that he could see the three of them more clearly. He was ready to listen.
Admiral: We are your legacy. I'm Imogen Lacy, who you all call “Ginny.” Forty years from now, give or take, nobody does that anymore. This is Tori Semara, my best science expert, carrying on the work of her mother, Amelia. This is Kael Ohnari-Dewitt, our… technical specialist. ::clears throat:: We've come to hold back the tide in the war against the Alliance.
oO Whoa. That’s a lot all at once. Oo
Nobody does what anymore? Keep track of time and the calendar date? Then how did they know when to get back here?
Ezra couldn’t imagine what Commander Dewitt and Commander Ohnair must be feeling right now. Not to mention, Lieutenant Dewitt. He could see things escalating between Kael and the Counselor. She was married to Connor after all and that must have put a strain on things between them. He cast a glance at the XO next. How was he so calm? Especially since his BFF had a child with his significant other. To say things were awkward was an understatement.
And then there was Semara. Who was the father? Why didn’t Lacy say otherwise? Surely if he was a member of this crew, she would have said something to everyone present.
There was that headache again. Only it was getting worse. It started to throb as if time was ticking like a clock with each beat of the seconds going by.
Ayemet: Not your responsibility. You can’t just go around changing history to a version that suits you. :: beat :: More sympathetically: I know something of the Sheliak, but what will happen will happen. WE can’t change history to our liking. How many misguided people have tried to do that?
Zerva: ::raising a brow:: I concur with the Counselor.
He couldn’t help but agree. There were so many temporal violations just having them here talking to them at the table. He was going to need more than an aspirin after this.
Hobart: A lot of folks want to make history. We only call them misguided when they fail.
Fail? Like what, changing the past? Was the Commander defending the Admiral? Or did Ezra misread what he was saying?
Shayne / Charles / Korras / Harford / Any: Response
Tori: This isn’t about likes and dislikes. This is about lives. More than you can imagine.
Oh sure there was that. There was always that when time travel was involved. Isn't it always?
Dewitt: ::at Tori:: Have we lost the Isles?
Tori: Venthis, Emisa III, Theta 122… I’ve lost track. Planets they can’t even use. Simply, they hate carbon life. :: Beat :: We lost all contact with Starfleet over a year ago, and with Alliance ships crawling over the Isles, we have no reason to believe they haven’t kept pushing further.
Ezra’s left hand began to twitch as Tori read off a list of planet names. The Emisans? The very same people that he first met on his very first mission with this crew? The ones who communicated silently to each other with the use of their tails? He designed a holodeck program using their history with Commander Dewitt’s help. The thought of them and so many others being lost was more than his head could bare. He was sure it was no longer a headache but slowly becoming a migraine.
Kael: Captain It’s not just the Isles. That’s just the starting point of what happens. The Admiral and Tori :pause: They have a plan that could change all of that.
What sort of plan, he wondered.
Shayne / Charles / Korras / Harford / Any: Response
Admiral: The Lattice Alliance was, at this moment, losing. It may not feel like it to you, but they are. They were spread too thin, and cracks were forming. I saw classified reports that units were beginning to turn on each other. That's why, a week from now, they're going to raid a POW camp on Alpha Trionus II.
Zerva: ::beet:: What?!
Richard: :: Pulling out his tricorder and opening a notes app :: POW camp, Alpha Trionus two.
Right, might be a good idea to follow Richard's idea and write it down.
Ayemet: To what purpose?
Ohnari: A week?! That is all the time we have before...what, all out invasion?
Zerva: A week is barely enough time to prepare.
Was this true? They would of course need to investigate further and of course beef up security there, just encase she was right.
Shayne / Charles / Korras / Harford / Any: Response
Admiral: They used overwhelming force, and it took six months before Starfleet figured out where they launched from. No survivors, orbital defenses completely destroyed. High ranking military official was the target, but that wasn't what mattered.
Dam those holodeck reports of their tactical training results! Why did they have to lose that closely? 45% to 55% in the Lattice Alliance's favor. More drills he said to himself as he looked over at Charles. Definitely more would be needed. Many more drills.
oO Ugh! Was it time for that drink yet Charles? Oo
His migraine was only getting worse.
Ayemet: You can’t be serious.
Hobart: Lieutenant.
No she was right. She spoke her mind. She said what many were afraid to say out loud. Was she out of line? Maybe, maybe not. Despite the results of their simulation, Ezra was with the Counselor on this one.
TAGS/TBC
——————
Lieutenant (JG) Ezra Zerva
Security Officer
USS Khitomer (NCC-62400)
A240101EZ2