Tomorrow's Promise (Part 1 of 4)

Posted on 29 Nov 2023 @ 12:50pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Commander Morgan Tarin & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Lamar Darius & Commander Scarlet Blake & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Commander Marisa Wyatt & Lieutenant Commander Ryan Alexander & Lieutenant Aria Rice & Lieutenant JG Rafe Caradec & Lieutenant JG Zara Ghemora & Lieutenant JG Sofie Ullswater & Lieutenant JG Montgomery Vala & Ensign Mimi & Ensign S'Ers-a M'Lyr'Zor & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Alexion Wylde & Chief Warrant Officer 2 Oliver Sylver & Petty Officer 3rd Class Jeysa Zeror & Master Chief Petty Officer Toren Vral & Petty Officer 3rd Class Reexio Ubax
Edited on on 29 Nov 2023 @ 1:44pm

4,841 words; about a 24 minute read

Mission: Episode 19 - Tomorrow's Galileo
Location: USS Galileo-A - Various
Timeline: MD 01, 1329 hrs

Previously, on Through the Paces (Part 5)...

In space, the unknown starship's backup generators came online and the external windows flickered then illuminated. The same occurred within the bridge as the overhead lights powered up and back to life. A new red-uniformed woman suddenly revealed her presence after crawling out from beneath one of the consoles at the aft engineering station. A head of jet-black hair with light skunking contrasted sharply against her emerald skin and light green eyes. Her curvy body filled out its fabrical confines, and as she quickly walked down into the command well in front of the viewscreen, her identity finally revealed itself.

Lirha Saalm came to a stop then clasped her green hands professionally behind her back. Dark patches of electrical soot were smeared across the side of her cheek and neck, and the dark shadows beneath her lower eyelids revealed a healthy dose of sleep deprivation...but it was her. "Commander Tarin," she acknowledged before shifting her irises to the first officer and nodding to her. "Scarlet. ...It's been a long time. Welcome to the 25th century."

And Now, the Continuation...

[BEGIN EPISODE 19]

"Captain." Jeysa said quietly but not to herself. Having been around the woman for over 6 months it was easy to pick out the Orion woman's features even through the now older complexion and rugged appearance, it was unmistakably Lirha.

Taking note of the recognition on some of the other bridge officers' faces, the only relief Ghemora received was the confirmation that they were indeed in the 25th century, meaning the sensors were still working to some degree. It meant the sensors' lock they had on the other Galileo could be trusted, though she would have to wait to see if there was reason to need it.

"Lirha..." Scarlet straightened up as she watched her friend, but with the uncertainty of someone looking at a picture that wouldn't quite come into focus. She was different, out of place, and there were signs of aging visible from the woman who had left not long ago. But despite that, it was still Lirha, she was sure of it. The way she had greeted them however, and the lack of surprise...it made it sound like they had been expected. "Do you know what just happened?"

"Yes," answered the Orion with uncanny certainty layered behind a fatigued cadence. "I brought you and Galileo here, to our time - your future," she revealed. "Well, not just me. The Commanders Wyatt were responsible for the temporal calculations and reconfiguration of our primary deflector array. We generated the anomaly you encountered but experienced unexpected feedback which has," she shook her head with exasperation, "severely damaged the array and took out most of our primary systems. It will take us days to fully restore primary power, but we don't have that long. I must brief you...all of you, at once. This is urgent and time is short. Our transporters are offline, if you don't mind giving us a hand?"

Turning away from her console, Ghemora sighed at confirmation of her original hypothesis. There was no coincidence involved. The crew had been purposely brought to that point in space and time for a reason. With the admission from the other captain, it seemed, for the moment, that the Gal had the tactical advantage, though the need was unnecessary.

Commander Tarin glanced to her first officer then back to the Orion captain on the screen. She appeared similar to the Saalm she'd once known, if only briefly, yet her visible signs of aging and the rank pips which usually adorned a Starfleet crew member's collar were situated just above a prominent seam on the woman's chest below her collarbone. Instead of four solid-gold captain's pips, there were now two solid ones contained within a flag-level rank insignia. The revelation that Galileo had forcefully been brought into...the future, caused her to momentarily clench her fists behind her back. The audacity.... She still didn't quite believe the story despite the reports from Vala and Ullswater, but there were no options available other than to pursue this investigation.

"We'll prepare for your arrival," conceded Tarin who then looked over shoulder. "Ensign Mimi, send Petty Officer Vansen to the transporter room along with Lieutenant Rice." She turned her attention back to the viewscreen after making her trepidation audibly clear. "Prepare for transport in five minutes." The questions flooding her mind her so numerous that she couldn't begin to form any immediate queries.

From the other side of the viewscreen, the Orion rear admiral gave a simple reply, "Five minutes." The screen blinked as the transmission ceased, now reverting to its display of the other vessel's hull within the backdrop of the Pleiades Cluster.

Tarin huffed through her nose then turned to the rest of the bridge crew. "Thoughts? Is her story true?" she asked of them with obvious skepticism. "Can a Starfleet vessel initiate a temporal anomaly?"

"We shouldn't trust her." Ullswater's suspicion was instant and obvious. "It's true, we have moved forwards in time, it is true that this ship is here and I doubt that is merely a coincidence, and it is also true that starships and warp drives have been recorded initiating temporal changes. The story seems plausible, maybe even likely..." she gave a little shrug, all that was fact, what came next was opinion "But messing with causality in this way is irresponsible and pulling us out of our own time with possibly no route back, that is unethical. Whatever she tells us in this briefing we do not have sufficient context of this time to make any informed decisions, we're being used."

Vala nodded, "I can only concur," he said as he gathered his perspective, "While far from routine it is certainly possible to create a tunnel through the fourth dimension using energy and technology that is available to a starship. With the correct calculations you could, of course, ascertain how to draw an object from one specific point to another. The margin of error though... It would..." He paused, resisting the urge to go off on a tangent, "The manipulation of temporal fields is something I have quite some experience of in my... previous career. Suffice to say we are here and they are most likely responsible."

He glanced over to Sofie, "As Lieutenant Ullswater said, this is a tremendously irresponsible action with consequences which far exceed anything that could be remotely considered predictable. If they have brought us here in the hope of altering the timeline in a particular way then they are taking a huge gamble. To use a human adage, 'post hoc ergo propter hoc' - for them to assume that any action we took or would take in our time led directly to something happening in their's is a fallacy. It is unprovable." It is the principal that had prevented him from trying to go back to fix the shattered pieces of his own past. You could never know what part of the web to alter. He looked directly to Tarin, "We should use extreme caution around those who are willing to meddle with the fabric of time. We have a responsibility to maintain the timeline as it would have happened or innumerable lives will be impacted."

The New York City-born captain listened while the two science officers relayed their caution and qualified their remarks. Both Ullswater and Vala were the subject matter experts as far as she was concerned, and so their opinions carried a great deal of weight as she compared them to her own. Tarin wasn't well-versed in the discipline of temporal mechanics but privately did concede that by all accounts, they were now in the future, and it was theoretically possible for their situation to have been the direct result of Captain...Rear Admiral Saalm's actions. And from what she recalled of the Orion's personality profile and Starfleet psychological evaluations, Saalm had a habit of employing unorthodox tactics to solve unique problems.

"I concur," succinctly agreed Tarin. "We're here, now, wherever and whenever we are. But if Saalm brought us here, she must have a reason. We need to allow her to explain, then we can evaluate her motives with more scrutiny." She bit her bottom lip in thought before glancing to Blake then the Cardassian security officer along the side alcove. "Number One, get to the transporter room and take Ghemora with you. Just in case. And I also want Commander Warraquim there to perform a medical scan to verify her identity. Just in case."

Frowning momentarily before giving the captain a nod in acknowledgment, Ghemora logged her clearances out of the auxiliary station, hoping there wouldn't be a need for such access any time soon. Standing, the Security deputy smoothed her uniform as her gaze moved to Blake, waiting for the commander to take the lead.

"Ghemora, with me," Blake motioned to the security officer with her hand on the way past her, already half way into the turbolift as she called through for the doctor to join them. She understood the suspicion from others. If she were in their shoes, she would likely feel the same. But having worked with Lihra for as long as she had...for being her friend...her instinct was telling her to trust her. No matter how rare that was for the ex-marine.

Once the doors to the turbolift closed on the pair, Ghemora muttered without looking over to the commander, "Doesn't this encounter ultimately create a deviation in the timeline, anyway?" The answer seemed simple enough to her, even if it was based entirely on what little temporal physics she'd learned attending the Academy.

"I guess we'll find out when Temporal Investigations officers come and slap handcuffs on all of us," Blake replied dryly, shaking her head with a soft tut.


Deck 2, Transporter Room 1

Allyndra hurried toward the transporter room as was requested. The problem was other than to do a medical scan she was uncertain what was going on.

Blake quickened her step to catch up with Allyndra, touching her sleeve lightly as she leant in close to lower her voice. "It's Lirha," she said softly.

"Really? Oh my! I would love to see her once more." The hum from the transporter took Allyndra's attention away.

Ubax was already at her station in the transporter room, looking with some curiosity at the officers entering. She wasn't sure what was going on, but she supposed someone would let her know. There were a lot of emotions going on though.

Another person who wasn't sure what was going on was Aria Rice, as she stood in the transporter room. She looked at Blake, Ghemora and Warraquim when they entered, the question clear on her face as she raised an elegant eyebrow. "What's going on?" she asked, her voice having a slightly harsher tone than usual. Still trying to shake the Klingon ship off her.

"We were yanked to 2417 by the Galileo-B which is being captained by an Orion Starfleet Rear Admiral named Lirha, chief," Ghemora replied dryly, clearly finding no amusement or curiosity in what the crew was about to take on. Unconsciously resting a hand on the Type-2 holstered on her hip, the Security Deputy added, "They've taken on a great deal of damage, so will be beamed over to us to brief us on why they brought us here and how they expect us to help them."

Unable to help the roll of her eyes, the Cardassian took a place standing guard near the door to the Transporter Room and muttered to herself, "This is all in violation of long-standing general orders, in my opinion…" With Chief Rice in attendance, Ghemora seemed ready to serve as a silent Security escort; a role she'd done numerous times before.

"Let's hear the Admiral out before we draw any conclusions," Blake said firmly, meeting Rice's eyes with meaning. Aria also knew Lirha well...well enough to know that there was usually method to the seeming madness. "Ubax," she nodded to the operator behind the transporter console.

Ubax nodded, watching them with some confusion as well. "Three coming in," she said as she moved her fingers over the console, sliding them to beam them over.

The small transporter platform's primary energizing matrix activated and the phase transition coils above three of the pads increased their brightness with white luminosity. Sparkling shimmers of molecular particles quickly began to manifest in the form of humanoid figures, and within several seconds, the cycle was complete. An Orion, Vulcan and Human - all clad in unorthodox Starfleet uniforms - now stood within Galileo's transporter bay.

Rear Admiral Saalm squinted as her vision returned to normal. She was a full-blooded Orion possessing many of her species' distinctive traits but was not outwardly remarkable aside from her attractive facial features and curvy physique. She was, however, a spitting image of Nesh Saalm, and the family resemblance was quite obvious to any who'd met the young sous chef. Saalm observed the cadre of personnel assembled before her at the base of the transporter pad's steps. Her breathing slowed and she swallowed when her light green eyes trained themselves on Blake, Rice, then Warraquim. She didn't move from her position or speak for a long moment, and instead stood with the body language of someone who had just witnessed a metaphysical manifestation. It had been so long...

Marisa Sandoval Wyatt looked much like she did twenty-five years earlier when she left this Galileo to take care of Luke. There were a few more lines on her face and her eyes held a weariness caused by the emotional toll of the prolonged war, but apart from that she looked much the same.

She looked around the transporter room as memories of the years she spent here came rushing back. She wanted to go to the science department and look around, but their mission now was too important, and time was fickle. So she waited sedately beside Lirha to see how they would be received.

Ryan Alexander couldn't help but smile as he looked around the transporter room, his smile widening as he recognized familiar faces. So much had changed for him over the years, more wrinkles around his eyes and lines on his forehead, but the eyes still showed the youthful spirit he had when he first stepped foot on the Galileo. The Galileo was his first ship and it would always be home and, the people assembled for them, his family.

Allyndra took only a brief glance at the medical tricorder. She flashed it toward Blake with a nod before raising her voice. Her years of singing carrying clear. "Attention on deck. Admiral on deck." She drew herself up to full attention. She would let Blake do the actual greeting as senior officer in charge.

Relief flooded Scarlet at seeing the scan results. This was a surreal situation to deal with, but at least there was nothing hidden under a façade. "Welcome...back aboard the Galileo, Admiral," she used her rank in front of the others, even if their friendship surpassed that. A smile came to her often stoic features and she motioned to those around her. "Of course you'll remember Commander Warraquim, Lieutenant Rice and Petty Officer Ubax. This is Lieutenant Ghemora, the Security Deputy..."

Scarlet took a moment to just watch them, warmth clear in her eyes before her gaze settled back on Lirha. "It's wonderful to see you all again, but...you understand my need to ask what this is all about?"

When the first officer spoke, it pulled Saalm from her trance-like state of reminiscence. The past viscerally snapped away then returned to the present, and she inhaled a sharp breath before walking forward and stepping down from the transporter pad. "It's good to see you too, Blake. All of you." She glanced across all of the familiar faces before nodding to the unfamiliar Cardassian security officer. Her head craned to the side at her own officers for a brief introduction. "I hope you remember Misters Wyatt and Alexander."

Seeing her former crewmates after so much time was not what Marisa expected. Time seemed to compress with many of her old feelings and uncertainties returning. She wished Luke was beside her. She followed a step behind Lirha and smiled. "It is good to see you again, although I would prefer the circumstances to be less dire." Explanations were not best given in the transporter room--and she was fairly certain it would not be easy convincing them of the truth.

The Orion flag officer tugged at the bottom of her futuristic-designed Starfleet uniform to smooth the fabric across her curvy torso. "We'll hopefully have a chance for more pleasantries soon, but right now I must speak with you, Captain Tarin, and all of your officers immediately," requested Saalm with urgency in her distinctive vocal tonality. "Time - ours together here - is short."

The smile faded naturally from Blake's features as the conversation turned back to business. "Then let's head straight for the Conference Room," she nodded briskly in agreement before turning and motioning with a hand for the group to follow. Her other hand tapped her badge to put out the call for the rest of the officers to join them asap.

Ryan nodded and followed Lirha out of the transporter room. While he kept his expression neutral, he couldn't help but let his eyes wander, taking in more of the ship as they made there way to the conference room.


Deck 1, Conference Room

The conference room's door swished open and the small cadre of Saalm, Wyatt and Alexander briskly walked into the compact conference room. Their distinct uniforms marked their future selves for any who would have doubts about their origins, and with long and purposeful strides, they took their place in front of the idle wall-mounted LCARS screen displaying an antiquated Federation emblem.

The entrance hissed halfway shut behind the trio then reversed its course and swished open again as Chief Warrant Officer 3 Lamar Darius entered the room following the first officer's summons. His acknowledgement of the new situation was unexpected, and he slowed his steps when he witnessed Saalm in the flesh once more. This can't be real... he thought to himself after hearing the rumors of a temporal event.

Alexion Wylde's thoughts were far more pragmatic as he made his way in to take a seat, even if rumours had filtered down to Sickbay. Perhaps it was because 20 years wasn't a particularly long period of time to his people. Or maybe it was just that his temperament had always been made up of nonchalance, surliness and a healthy dash of cynicism. He pulled his sleeves down from where they'd been pulled up to his elbows, taking a seat.

Entering behind the blue-collared medical officer, Commander Tarin stepped through the door and slowed when she observed Saalm, Sandoval and Alexander present in the room - at least, their future forms of themselves. She remembered all of them from the short Latari Incident debriefing less than a year ago, but now they all visually appeared...rugged. Older. Almost as if they had endured two decades of hard labor cutting dilithium on Rura Penthe. Morgan still struggled to come to terms with whatever temporal shift has occurred and why, but at present, she had no other choice than to gain as much information as possible from them before deciding on a next course of action.

The ship was at full stop when Rafe left the Conn in auto pilot mode. He walked in, trying to assimilate all the information that was currently available. There has got to be some explanation, he thought to himself. This violated just about every top prime directive Starfleet had. I mean seriously, hadn't they learned enough from Kirk?!? All he knew was something was about to go down and he needed all of his conn personnel at the top of their game. Thus, he had called them to join him immediately in the conference room.

Chief Warrant Officer Sylver had heard the rumours. Who hadn't? But as usual, scuttlebutt was worse than fact. He had heard that they had been sucked into the mirror verse, or that they had jumped to the 33rd Century, that they had gone back in time...all whispers from the enlisted. Truthfully, he hadn't paid much attention except feeling relief that Verity was okay. He had spotted Tarin but kept his step slow, keeping a respectful distance as not to crowd her. He did however see Rice and made a point of letting her catch up. "Lieutenant, all good?"

Aria looked at him as she walked, letting out a breath. There was a lot to unpack. A jump to the future, Lirha and Alexander and Sandoval...sorry, Wyatt, looking that bit older and more worn. A lot to unpack. And she would usually have reacted differently, maybe with a quick line of shut the airlock when she had first heard they were in the future. But. And a big but. She was achy. Her body was tired, her mind was worn. She felt a lot older than her years. So. She shrugged at his question, meeting those calm blue eyes for a moment and let herself relax with it. "Still breathing," she said and nudged him, lightly. "Let's wait and see what happens," she added in a whisper as they entered the conference room and took their seats.

Vala walked in, pausing to eye the ‘future’ officers led by the Orion admiral with suspicion. Before leaving the bridge he had taken a moment to retrieve as much data as possible about the transition and the anomaly they had been drawn through. He clutched a PADD with the most up to date evaluations. After a moment he walked around the conference table and took a seat by the window, glancing over the ongoing analysis as he awaited the presentation. It would take an unparalleled justification for him to accept meddling with time. He had spent decades studying temporal mechanics and even for him the permutations of permutations were a headache.

Soon after Vala came Toren, stepping into the Conference room with a measured tread, his eyes sweeping across the faces gathered there. The room was charged with an undercurrent of tension, palpable even to the uninitiated. Without a word, he found a spot at the table, conspicuously away from the center yet strategically positioned to observe everyone. The presence of the Orion admiral and the accompanying officers lent an unusual gravity to the atmosphere. Toren's hand moved deftly over his PADD, preparing to take detailed notes. Every line on his face seemed to draw tighter, a subtle shift from the seasoned, easy-going demeanor he often portrayed. His sharp eyes fixed on the standing officers, preparing to capture not just their words but the nuance behind them – essential fodder for the briefing he'd have to give later. His role here was clear: listen, understand, and prepare. The burden of conveying this extraordinary situation to his fellow non-commissioned officers weighed on him, therefore every detail would count.

The moment Mimi entered the observation lounge she immediately took in the scents of Lirha, Marisa and her former boss Ryan, they were slightly different but oh so familiar, no doubt they were who they said they were. She took her usual seat and waited ears twitching with interest to learn what had happened to bring them into the future.

Though she had already seen her over the viewscreen Jeysa let out the lightest gasp when she saw Lirha again, there was no mistake it was her. Collecting a batch of blank Padd's from the side she put them on the desk before moving to stand beside Tarin though she itched to be beside Lirha instead.

As Ullswater entered the room the thought that this was her first such meeting as head of department entered her head. It was hardly the most pressing issue to be thinking of right now but it was there all the same. She'd liked to have felt some pride in this moment but the whole situation left her feeling to angry. She made a beeline for the seat next to Lamar, and as she sat she remarked under her breath to him "This is all so insufferably messed up."

As opposed to stepping into the Conference Room, Ghemora took up a position just to the side outside of the doors, seemingly returning to a position of guard to ensure that the large collection of officers would not be interrupted as they convened. Giving any officer that passed by her little more than a nod if they sought recognition, the Security deputy was well-versed in protocol when it came to such secure meetings.

Sera strode in purposefully, her thoughts going in a far different direction than a feeling of pragmatism. The three officers from the future Galileo stood at the head of the conference room. She knew none of them on any level; perhaps that was preferable. It made what she was about to say easier, because there was no friendly entanglement involved to temper her words.

“With respect, this is a violation to the Temporal Prime directive.” Sera began calmly, although inside…well…She raised a brow as if to emphasize her point. “ALL Starfleet personnel are strictly forbidden from directly interfering with historical events—in this case bringing us from our time to here—and are required to maintain the timeline and prevent any alterations. Your actions are the exact opposite of non-interference. You had no right to remove us from our reality, regardless of the current…difficulties.”

Sera’s stance shifted during her protest, and she had pulled her arms behind her, hands grabbing at opposite elbows in a position that was quintessentially Vulcan. However, she was not quite done yet.

“Also, this ship, if it has not done so already, automatically seeks out the sub-space buoys – this keeps ships in near constant communications range – however it also does something else…Our databanks are updated with such ‘touches,’ and it will begin updating our now approximately 25 years out of date computer database. If we are even able to return to our timeline, our ship will hold information that could rather easily be used by…less scrupulous factions within Starfleet…present company included.” Sera looked pointedly at the three interlopers.

Commander Tarin, standing just to the side of the future officers, narrowed her authoritative eyes at the junior Vulcan engineer then began to walk toward her to administer a healthy dose of verbal discipline. "Ensign, there's a time and place for--" The Orion captain suddenly reached out and clasped the taller captain's arm by the elbow to keep her from fulfilling her obvious intentions.

Saalm subtly shook her head to Tarin with respectful disapproval before speaking quietly. "It is fine, captain. She is not wrong and she has a right to hear our explanation." Her light green irises scanned the entire room and everyone present. "All of you do," she addressed the room. "But make no mistake, this is not what it appears to be. A temporal incursion is least of our concerns at present, and within a year, Starfleet - and the Federation - will cease to exist. And there will be no directive to violate."

“Well, then I certainly…’look forward’ to your explanation that will, no doubt, justify the removal of this ship and their crew from our timeline and any of the subsequent paradoxical repercussions of this act.”

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

RADM Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo-B
[PNPC Tarin]

CMDR Morgan Tarin
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo-A

Lt. JG Rafe Caradec
Senior Conn Officer
USS Galileo-A

CWO3 Lamar Darius
Conn Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Tarin]

LTJG Zara Ghemora
Deputy Security Officer
USS Galileo-A

Lieutenant Aria Rice
Chief Security Officer
USS Galileo-A

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Oliver Sylver
Conn Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Rice]

Cmdr Allynda illm Warraquim
CMO and Second Officer
USS Galileo - A

CMDR Scarlet Blake
First Officer
USS Galileo-A

Dr. Alexion Wylde
Medical
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Blake]

LTJG Sofie Ullswater
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo-A

LTJG Montgomery Vala
Deputy Science Officer
USS Galileo-A

MCPO Toren Vral
Chief of the Boat
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Vala]

LCMDR Ryan Alexander
Operations Manager
USS Galileo-B

CMDR Marisa Wyatt
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo-B

ENS Mimi
Deputy Operations Manager
USS Galileo-A

PO3 Jeysa Zeror
Yeoman
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC] Mimi

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