Through the Folds

Posted on 11 Dec 2023 @ 5:25pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Commander Morgan Tarin & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim

1,920 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Episode 19 - Tomorrow's Galileo
Location: USS Galileo-A - Deck 1, Conference Room
Timeline: MD 01, 1503 hrs

[ON]

Within Galileo-A's small conference room, Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm remained stationary while both her and Captain Tarin's officers filed out of the compact chamber following a contended briefing which had certainly not gone as well as she'd hoped. This old Galileo crew...they seemed much different than she'd remembered. More uptight, dubious and wary compared to her distant memories. Perhaps it was simply a matter of perspective - a matter of time which had distorted her remembrance of them, and this was who they'd been all along. Regardless, it pained her already-broken heart to know that in these last weeks of her life, her old crew could so easily forget their years together as a surrogate family traversing the cosmos and exploring the unknown.

Allyndra veered away from the rest. "A moment Captain Tarin," she made a small nod toward the current commander of this ship. "If I may, Admiral Saalm, might I entice you for a little bit of fermented Blood Juice and some Haute Cusine? It has been such a long time, it seems since I last saw you. I thought maybe a reminisce about old times might be in order to relax from all of this."

Galileo-A's captain respectfully nodded to her head doctor and second officer then departed the room to give both of them some privacy. It hadn't been lost on Tarin that many of her crew hadn't seen their former captain in many months, and Saalm, in turn - if they were all truly deceased in this future - hadn't seen them for much longer. The conference room's door swished open then shut as she departed to prepare for her team's intelligence review, leaving only the Akkadian and the Orion together.

"Doctor," smiled Saalm to her old friend and colleague. "I...never expected to see you again. Any of you. I think I would like that," she gestured to the woman in acceptance of her invitation.

"Good, there are things that I want to say in privacy that are more than old times. Something that potentially if things do not go well may help the Federation. Shall we say 2000?"

Curiosity temporarily got the better of the Orion who raised her brows in an attempt to discern what exactly the doctor was referring to. Then she remembered she'd been through this cycle before, over the course of many years. The search for a way, any way, to end the war with the Klingons and Romulans, even becoming so desperate as to look for solutions in the past when it turned clear that the present was lost. "Allyndra, there is nothing that can help us now. Not in this time. Not without a miracle."

"I understand. Tell me Admiral what about my home planet?"

Saalm softly sighed through her nose and let her eyes drift to the conference room's wall-mounted LCARS display still scrolling through the recent historical timeline. She'd predicted she would receive several questions from various members of the -A crew surrounding the fates of their homeworlds and loved ones, but that didn't make it any easier to relay macabre news. Fortunately, or unfortunately, Lirha had little to report to the second officer. "We have not had any contact with Akkadia for over a two decades. Because it is not a Federation world, it did not command the limited resources of Starfleet's strategic and intelligence divisions. I...don't know what's happened to your world, Allyndra. But if your people didn't have sufficient fleet strength to defend themselves, it's possible the Klingons have conquered the planet by now."

"Tell me admiral, what if you could take a ship from say here and be at the Klingon home world and away again as fast as you could blink an eye?"

The hypothetical scenario elicited a surprised reaction from Saalm who raised her eyebrows then frowned with confusion. "Well, assuming such a technology even existed, I cannot think of anything Starfleet's presence at Qo'noS could accomplish. Negotiations between the Federation and Empire were terminated many years ago despite our attempts to formally surrender." The Orion then fiddled with one of her sharp fingernails before tilting her head slightly to the side. "Why do you ask me this?"

"You don't think a ship that could deliver a message as easy as it could be to insert a weapon in such a way that there was no way to counter such wouldn't get attention? And yes, such technology exists." Allyndra picked up a PaDD and fiddled with it for a moment before showing it to the Orion admiral. It had a crude ship representation and two points marked A and B. "In the old days, to get from A to B, you had to travel the full distance." She then pressed a button that wrinkled the distance. "Now, using warp, we wrinkle space-time such that it appears the distance from A to B is now less." She then pressed a second time and the two points lay on top of each other. "However if we fold space-time such that A and B are seemingly together then it is nothing more than taking a step to be from one place to the other. It is not unlike the old Iconian gates, but they were fixed." She looked up and stared into the Orion's green eyes with her sapphire blue faceted ones. "A long time ago my people developed what we call Fold Ships. A vessel that can do exactly that. Mimi and I took a trip from my world to the gamma quadrant in one, and it took no longer than as fast as you can blink. We have used them when needed. The ship can enfold other vessels up to an extent and then go, oh, say to the large Magellanic cloud, and leave them there. What I am proposing is I will write a letter that you could present. It will state that I as Head of my House and head of the Council allow the Federation to study and examine the technology just in case what you have planned is not successful."

Suspiciously looking at the PADD, Saalm observed the rudimentary explanation of space-time folding. "I'm familiar with this form of propulsion technology. Starfleet experimented with it in the past, under a secret program codenamed called 'Project Sienna'. In fact, when I took command of Galileo in 2389, our first mission was to safely retrieve this experiment and its accompanying researchers and relocate them away from Klingon intelligence assets. Galileo became the first Federation vessel to ever successfully deploy this form of faster-than-light travel...though with mixed results." She looked up into the taller doctor's sapphire compound eyes. "You're revealing your people have possessed this technology all along?"

"For the past three thousand Earth years, yes. While we never wanted to conquer like the Iconians, the mere existence might have caused the rest to rise up against us. Later, we decided that such a technology would destabilize the power structure and result in a wide-scale war with the loss of many lives. Since that has already happened and over kept secrets, perhaps offering this one might be a way for the Federation to salvage its reputation if we are not successful in what you wish us to accomplish."

Saalm turned away from Warraquim then slowly walked to one of the conference room's windows where she quietly started out into the cosmic abyss, her dulled eyes looking from distant star to distant star in a repeating pattern. For some reason, she lamented, this crew was incapable of grasping the severity of their future and the horrific events which had occurred. "There is nothing left of the Federation to salvage anymore," she quietly said after a moment of reflection before turning her torso back to the doctor. "I have tried to explain this to all of you - to this crew. I know it is difficult to accept, but this...is the end for us. Not even an entire fleet of starships with these advanced 'fold drives' you describe can help us. Hundreds of billions of our people have died already, Allyndra. Do you understand that number? Truly?"

"I do. Very well. Then take what is left and go to Akkadia. You will be safe there. Eventually, the Klingons and the Romulans will have a falling out. Preserve a little of what was once a hope. That letter, if I understand what has been happening, will have my home planet send a few Fold Ships and take you there."

Exasperated, fatigued and despondent, the green-skinned rear admiral slowly shook her head. Warraquim meant well, she was sure, but what the doctor was proposing was merely an illusion of a solution where none existed. "Allyndra, I thank you for telling me this and volunteering to assist us. However, we cannot simply...leave Tellar and go to Akkadia. We don't possess the logistics for a planetary evacuation and even if we did, there is no way we could break through Klingon and Romulan lines without incurring catastrophic casualties. What remains of the Federation is surrounded and out of time. We are preparing to make our last and final stand."

The Galileo-B captain looked down with defeat. "But," she finally conceded, "if we fail in our mission to send Galileo-A back in time to prevent this - and our two ships are not miraculously destroyed in the aftermath - then I will take your offer of Akkadian assistance to the president."

"Thank you Admiral." She chuckled in her musical way. "When in our long time together have we ever failed though? Tonight and to happier times."

Saalm wished she still possessed the same optimism as the doctor. She wished she was still young and yearning to explore the stars during the short moment of Starfleet's golden age in the late 2300s. Forcing a small and cordial smile across her gold lips, she tried to reciprocate the enthusiasm which she unfortunately knew was futile. "I will see you later this evening," she agreed before her musings shifted to focus on a private matter. "Have you...seen Nesh recently? Do you know where I might find her?"

"Yes. She is working the galley." Allyndra paused. "The sky is darkest just before the Twins rise. I will host you tonight." She turned and left knowing this future Saalm had much to worry about.

The conference room's door hissed shut behind the winged doctor following her departure which now left the Orion alone in the once-familiar briefing chamber she used to call home. Reminiscent thoughts of the past permeated her consciousness while she struggled to compartmentalize their collective realities with the temporary nature of this evocative starship. Then, her musings returned to Nesh, her once-baby sister who she'd lost long ago in the early stages of the war yet was now alive and present again. How could she find the words to express her sorrow and regret to the younger Saalm? Would - could - a connection between the two even still remain? However painful their reunion would be, this was her last opportunity and gift. To atone for her past sins.

[OFF]

--

CMDR Allyndra illm Warraquim
Chief Medical and Second Officer
USS Galileo-A

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

CMDR Morgan Tarin
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo-A

RSS Feed