[sb118-khitomer] Lieutenant Charles Matthews - "Kid, I Will Slap You Back To The Future Myself"
Shakeel Hussein
((Conference Room, Deck One, USS Khitomer))
Banks: To clarify: you’re saying that your ability to travel back in time is constrained, and there are only certain places or times you can successfully travel to?
Tori: Yes.
Admiral: The singularity we created in the nebula. It’s the only way any of this works. It limits where and when we can go. ::beat:: It also pins the timeline together. Any changes made before the singularity collapses in the next fifty-two years will stick. ::a glance to Tori:: Or so I'm told.
Dewitt: So what is the exact plan, then, Ginny?
Admiral: You misunderstand. It's not just the one I want to kill. The entire facility needs to go. It's the only way to stop the raid for sure.
Richard: :: Head tilting to the side in confusion :: I really hope you mean ‘evacuate the facility’ and not ‘destroy it all’ because the later is such a stupid plan.
Zerva: I have some security concerns regarding that. What you’re proposing is like using an entire can of bug spray just for one fly.
Lieutenant Matthews felt his eyes widen; then looked in turn at Alix, then Ezra, then to Commander Hobart and finally to Captain Shayne before looking back at the Admiral. Did she really suggest what it sounded like she’d suggested? Despite whatever may have happened in her history, he just couldn’t quite believe it, and as he was about to open his mouth to speak, he felt the distinct grip of fingers tightening on his forearm. Turning his head, he looked at the hand, then up from the delicate fingers to the pale face of Alix staring at him.
Charles: ::whispers:: Did she just suggest pre-meditated genocide?
Harford: Response
Charles: ::shakes head, continues to whisper:: Captain Shayne can’t be considering this. We’re Starfleet Officers. There has to be an alternative.
Any: Response
Ayemet: Admiral, I’ve had my taste of the Lattice Alliance hospitality :pause and then speaking slowly: But you can’t seriously think that by killing this individual it will somehow change everything for the better? You’ve no idea the effects their death might have.
Charles looked to Ayemet once more, concern tugging away within him, gnawing at him. This was escalating quickly, and dangerously.
Ayemet: You expect us to help you? Why would we do that?
Tori: Because if you don’t, you die. :: beat :: Not all of you, not all at once, but most of you soon enough. :: The silence in the room was deafening. :: Mostly pointless deaths fighting pointless battles. If you don’t like the sound of that, then open your ears.
Zerva: My hearing is just fine thank you. ::beat:: So we either help you or die? That’s not a lot of options. I have a job to do as we all do. oO It’s the safety and security of the Federation, right mom? Oo If I am meant to die then that is because I’ve done my duty as a Starfleet Officer. Do you realize how many temporal violations just sitting here having this conversation we are all breaking?
Any: Response
Michaels: ::To Tori:: Miss, unless you desire to become a Cassandra... and if you do not know what that means, I am certain that Admiral Lacy can explain it... you may wish to consider the need for trust. Your male companion's... Kael is it not? I assume you were not named after Superman... Your companion's "answer" to my question has convinced me that there is a great deal you are not telling us. Whatever your reasons, it does give the impression that you do not trust us. That leaves us :: beat :: that leaves me little reason to trust you.
Ohnari: ::stern:: Lieutenant Michaels that was entirely unnecessary. Do not insult them. While this is a lot to take into account..I am sure there is a sense of urgency on their part, considering what was the timeline Admiral? A week's time? A little desperation is understandable.
Matthews frowned.
oO This is becoming farcical. I don’t even think this briefing should have taken place. Not with Kael and… what’s her name? Baby Amelia. Not with them two present. People are emotional, this Admiral, and I’m wondering if she is really a Starfleet Admiral, are messing with history on a grand scale, and want us to become war criminals so their lives are better. Oo
Zerva: Insult them? ::beet:: We have shown them nothing but hospitality. They have been hostile since they arrived. Especially your s… ::bitting his tongue as hard as he could, causing it to it bleed::
WIth the frown now etched into his face, Charlie turned to Ezra. It was getting to the point where he thought it would be easier to just keep a constant frown on his face. He shook his head gently.
Charles: With respect, Lieutenant Zerva has a point. We’ve brought them on board, assigned them quarters and included them at this briefing instead of interrogating them in the Brig. We could all face consequences for breaking the Temporal Prime Directive, and they aren’t exactly being forthcoming.
Shayne / Ohnari / Kael / Tori / Admiral / Any: Response
Zerva: ::stumbling on his words:: Y-yes sir. Apolo- ::clearing his throat:: I’m sorry everyone for my outburst.
He crossed his arms across his chest. Charles knew that he was stubborn, hot-headed, and probably even worse than that, but as the ranking Security Officer, Ezra would have to pick times to hold firm; to choose to be stubborn himself, and not back down if he believed in what he was saying.
Admiral: Lera has a point. We haven't told you everything, because we—I didn't want it to cloud your judgment. Starfleet principles aren't worth much anymore, to us, any more than Napoleonic principles are worth to you. ::to Tori:: Another European conqueror, with a much better reputation.
Hobart: Might as well tell us.
Admiral: Might as well. After the raid, Khitomer and newly-promoted Commodore Shayne were tasked with organizing the search for the Alliance launching point. Khitomer, Ronin, Renown, Lowell, and Cadence were all deployed, but it was Khitomer that got lucky. Or unlucky, as it turned out.
Shayne / Any: Response
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.
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.
With the Admiral finally telling them something, whether it was the truth; partly the truth or not the truth at all, Charles settled into his seat with his arms still crossed across his chest. His brown eyes focused on the older woman, staring intently, and he tried to take in everything she was revealing, not that it was what could be called a lot to work with. For the most part, the Tactical Officer had been a bystander during the briefing, as useful as a painting hanging on the wall or a plant pot in the corner, but that was just how he worked. He collected what he could before he made a decision. Today, though, that was harder to do. This situation was not black and white. Morality, regulations; they all came into play. The Temporal Prime Directive had been, and was being, broken; that cat was out of the bag. The briefing hadn’t been shut down, when he felt it probably should have been, and it was all starting to unravel a little. Emotions were heightened, strained, and the idea of playing God came to the forefront. What gave the Admiral and Tweedle-Dum and Tweedle-Di the right to change history? What made the war against the Lattice Alliance the war they needed to prevent? There were countless catastrophes throughout history that one could argue should be prevented; the sinking of the Titanic, the World Wars of Earth, the massacre on Tarsus IV, Mars - especially Mars. That gave Charles pause. It made him think as he looked to Kael and Tori. Would he risk anything to save his mother and sister? Sometimes he thought he might, so were the time travelers in front of him here for unselfish motives or simply to save their loved ones? Again, these questions didn’t benefit the present discussion, but he couldn’t help but maintain a certain level of suspicion. His colleagues, on the other hand, seemed content to buy into the Admiral’s narrative and run with it.
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.
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.
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.
Any: Response
Zerva: I would rather not know my own fate in your timeline, thank you.
Any: Response
Charles sighed, turning his chair and looking towards Captain Shayne. His interaction with the Captain hadn’t been too extensive during his time on the Khitomer so far, he had no idea how he’d reply to what he was about to say but Matthews felt as if he had to say it anyway.
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.
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.
Harford / Shayne / Kael / Any: Response
Lieutenant Matthews glared, and not for the first time, at the supposed love-child of Doctor Ohnari and Chief Dewitt. If that’s what he was. Finally, the man who had been irritating all through the briefing had gotten under Charlie’s skin one time too many. Or maybe it was the entire situation and all the implications that spouted from it. Whatever the cause, he lost his hard-won control for a moment and practically snarled at the man from the future.
Charles: Are you hiding four pips on those clothes of yours? I said Captain, not Kael.
The Tactical Officer bit off his next comment and forced himself to look again at Captain Shayne. His raised eyebrows and pursed lips created an expression that said clearly, you see what I mean? They couldn’t have a clear headed conversation with the Admiral and her cohorts present. Not really. But if they were present, Charles would speak freely. They weren't anyone to him that he should be concerned with treading on their feelings.
Charles: You can’t be considering this so-called… plan, Sir? It’s embarrassing that this is the best they could come up with.
Kael: Response
Charles: Kid, I will slap you back to the future myself.
Shayne / Kael / Any: Response
TAGS/TBC
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Tactical Officer
USS Khitomer NCC-62400
A240012CM1