Fruit and Chronitons

Posted on 03 Oct 2024 @ 11:40pm by Lieutenant JG Sofie Ullswater & Commander Morgan Tarin & Lieutenant JG Montgomery Vala

3,757 words; about a 19 minute read

Mission: Episode 20 - Reconstruction
Location: USS Galileo-A - Geology Lab; Captain's Ready Room
Timeline: MD 01, 0812 hrs

[ON]

Galileo is a small ship. The set of routines that Sofie was settling into as leader of her department didn't take long. Last thing on her checklist was the basket of fruit she had harvested from the arboretum. They would be weighed, analysed and their data entered into the computer with the same diligence and care she afforded to her geological samples. But perhaps later on some of these could be shared with the other scientists? Earth's orange fruit are quite popular. More so that pieces of rock anyway.

With the pomological duties completed Sofie tapped her commbadge "Lieutenant Vala. Could you pop round to the geology lab at your convenience." Putting aside the fruit basket to one of the work benches she tapped on the wall display, pulling up the sensor readings they had taken in the test yesterday.

Vala had been feeling... strange since the systems test had concluded. He couldn't quite put his finger on it but a certain sort of ethereal feeling was lingering in the back of his mind. It almost reminded him of... No. That had been a long time ago and the circumstances then were... unique. Unlikely to be repeated on a starship.

One thing was certain. He had been preoccupied by Chronitons. He had spent the previous evening, long into the night, running tests and examining data. It had yet to add up.

Stifling a yawn he entered the CSO's makeshift office in the geology lab and gave a respectful nod. "Good morning Sofie," he said softly as he took a seat next to a lab bench, "Reporting as requested."

"Thanks, and morning to you too." Yesterday's sensor reading hung ominously on the wall but before the meat and potatoes of the day's work began Sofie thought best to gave a little gesture to the basket on the workbench "Would you like one? It's an Earth fruit, they call it orange which is also what they named the colour of it's skin in a handful of Earth languages." What a noble little fruit, coming to define a whole slice of the colour wheel.

The lab felt subtly different for a few moments. His words sounded more distant than before.

"I... would," not one to turn down such an offering, Vala accepted the orange and examined it, "I have never seen such a fruit before."

He blinked. He was standing before the basket holding an orange. Sofie had not... handed it to him? No. He had taken it himself.

A shiver of déjà vu ran down his spine and he inspected the orange.

Once more a subtle change.

He ran his fingers over the skin, "Soft yet tough skin..." he murmured, then brought it close to his face to cautiously sniff it, "Acidic. Lively..." he said softly, as if he was taking mental notes.

Again his voice had a slightly ethereal quality to it. Sofie suddenly looked a lot less cheerful, yet he felt like they were already past discussing the problem of the moment.

He shook his head and refocussed on Sofie, "My knowledge of Earth food is rather lacking," he said as he lightly squeezed the fruit, "I have eaten things with the Earth fruit 'tomato' in them. Is it at all similar?"

"Tomatoes are grown on vines, I think, as opposed to..." Her words were slow as if she was deep in thought about something else. There was a tugging in her heart with a very recognisable quality to it. She'd been feeling it ever since they'd left the Cold Station and now that feeling was at the most potent it had been since the incident in the brig.

Through all the layers of antipsychotic medication that she was taking that place still had a hold on her. She swallowed, remembering Warraquim's promise that at the first sign of further symptoms of psychosis she would be medically discharged and institutionalised. Sofie was not going to let that happen.

"Bushes, as opposed to bushes." She blurted out quickly. Sofie was trying her best to regain composure even as the tingling sensation in her hands was starting to reemerge. Focus on the oranges. Tell Vala about the oranges. "You aren't supposed to eat the skin, one should peel them first..." It wasn't working. Something about these oranges, something about this conversation, it was only making things worse.

Vala looked down and noticed he had already begun to clumsily peel the skin off of the fruit. An image of Sofie sitting in the lab peeling one herself echoed around his brain.

He blinked a couple of times.

"Something is..." He blinked again and shook his head, "I am getting an odd sensation. I believe humans call it... déjà vu?"

Sofie followed suit and began to peel an orange. She needed something to keep her hands busy and keep the memory of pain at bay. "I think I am feeling something similar." The mechanical certainty of peeling an orange, perfected over two years gave her some focused as her hands worked over the orange, picking out a point to make a first incision and then beginning the spiral pattern of the peel.

"They say that the sense of smell can be very potent in dragging us back into our memories. Citrus fruit have quite distinctive smells." The smell as she was peeling reminded her of a night a couple of years ago when she had first tried an orange. One of her friends had- The thought stopped, hadn't she told Vala this anecdote once before? "I must have given you an orange yesterday, I feel like we've already done this."

"As do I," Vala responded in a cautious tone, looking down at the segmented fruit, "Yet I believe I would recall eating such a... distinctive fruit and I do not." It was more like some version of him had lived it.

He picked up a segment and brought it to his mouth. He compulsively already knew what it would taste of. Refreshing. Pithy.

"It is like a Pirum, a fruit of my home world." The room felt like it was twisting a little but also... not at all.

"Something... has happened. This is not right, Sofie..."

Sofie glanced to her left, the screen on the wall displaying the chroniton patterns they had detected yesterday. "Lots of things aren't right." Could there be a connection? There could be but these kinds of leaps of logic were the the same that had led her to point a phaser at a dear friend. And it was indulging in leaps of logic, sharing those ideas, and letting them ferment in others that had led to Lamar following her into darkness.

"Follow the thought through. Don't hold back Sofie." The voice wasn't hers, it was hoarse and crackly. It was fire on the wind. A dry hot breeze began to blow through the lab but the familiarity with which the voice invoked her name still managed to sent a chill down her spine. "You're right, you always were."

"I don't want to speculate." The hesitance was audible in her voice. She stared down at her hands which were now quickly and precisely breaking the fruit into segments. "You are a temporal scientist. With the chroniton pattern we encountered yesterday: could these be memories from our future, or at least a possible future?"

Vala focussed on the CSO and gave her a thoughtful expression. "Temporal science is one of the least exact disciplines one can study. My own expertise comes from a chaotic blend of the fundamentals required for understanding cloaking devices, studying anomalies that were complete accidents, and a whole lot of mathematics..." He trailed off, looking down at the orange.

"The pattern yesterday... yes. I certainly believe it was a temporal event of some kind. Further than that it is difficult to say." He picked up a piece of rind and toyed with it as he looked back to Sofie. "This... déjà vu. It could indicate something that happened but as a result of causality... will never happen. Some fundamental change to the fabric of reality."

"If it does-" Sofie ate a segment of orange. It was delicious, but no vivid lost memory came to her, there was no great revelation hidden in the juices. Just the lingering fear, the hot wind and the inkling that Saalm somehow had to once again answer for uprooting her.

She grabbed a bundle of wipes from a cupboard in the workbench and dabbed away any lingering orange from her mouth before continuing. "Sorry, I was saying: if it does then you will probably find some answers in the captain's ready room. I want you to investigate what we saw yesterday. There should still be some lingering traces of the chroniton disturbance that we could work with."

Vala nodded. "A sensible place to begin. Though... I suspect little evidence is left now. It is a shame the Commander did not give more credance to a temporal anomaly when it happened. We might have been able to do more to isolate evidence."

He pulled his tricorder out from his small bag and began calibrating it. "I wonder what precipitated this event... if there was one. I suppose it is difficult for anyone but Tarin to know."

"Don't worry about what happened on the bridge. I'm going to talk to Tarin about it." She didn't want to gossip about the captain right now, how Tarin seemed to be making a habit of second guessing her advice. That would be a conversation later in the day.

"She didn't listen to your advice about Saalm either. You've got to get better at protecting her or she'll just keep falling into holes." Why was there a voice? There hadn't been a voice before. Sofie didn't like that there was a voice now. It was bringing her way too close to mad scientist, a cliché she simply despised.

The orange was gone, there was nothing to occupy her hands and keep the burning sensation at bay. She half wanted to rip the tricorder out of Vala's grip and calibrate it herself. "There should be residual decay traces, though I agree they would have been better fresh." She crossed her arms, mostly to try and get her hands out of mind. "We'll perform a full diagnostic of the sensors here while you're doing that. Make sure there's no room for doubt about what we saw."

Vala finished fiddling with his tricorder and looked up at the CSO. "Of course. I am familiar with these sorts of events, even if no two are the same." He stood and stretched a little before giving Sofie a smile, "My thanks for the orange. I will return as soon as I have more data."

"Good luck." She remembered it being cold. Something about the thought of Vala leaving the room, it made her think of the cold. Cold and dangerous.

"Don't worry, I'll keep you warm." She shuddered. It terrified her that the fire might be preferable to this half remembered cold.

"Let me know, even if you can't find much we need everything we can get." She gave Vala an affirmative nod and stood as well. There would be work to do, she needed to know what was happening before things got worse.

~~

Only a few minutes later Vala found himself in front of the Captain's Ready Room, tricorder in hand, already taking some initial readings.

Temporal particles were tricky to pin down. In the moment of their generation they were energetic little things that had incredible potential to interfere with the universe. But thereafter they tended to vanish into the ether.

The saving grace was their temporal nature, it meant that when they existed they technically left a footprint at all other moments in time simultaneously. So there was always a way to find traces.

Vala carefully swept his tricorder around the corridor in the vicinity of the Ready Room. The data would be sent up to the labs for his own analysis later on, but at a glance there did seem to be some useful residue of the previous days event.

After a few moments lowered his arms. "Computer, locate Commander Tarin." A fraction of a second passed, then the ubiquitous voice of the Computer responded, "Commander Tarin is on the Bridge."

With a nod he approached the ready room doors, entering the office as they slid open.

It was the first time he had been inside since he had arrived only days prior, but it was much like the other Ready Rooms' he had seen. More compact, but not massively smaller than the one aboard the Asgard, less stately than the one on the Antares.

He gave a little shrug and looked to his tricorder, slowly mapping out the room and allowing the stream of data to begin painting a picture.

Close to 60 seconds passed while the DSO performed his work in the captain's ready room. Surveying. Collecting data. Analyzing. Intruding. The office's door suddenly swished open to reveal Commander Morgan Tarin who stepped forward to stand in the doorway and observe the backside of the Romulan science officer's distinctive physique. She tilted her head slightly to the side before folding her arms firmly across her chest before her dry inflection pierced the air. "Mister Vala. I didn't realize you had a death wish." Her statement was completely devoid of any semblance of humor.

Vala took a moment to tap his tricorder a few times before turning around.

"Commander," he acknowledged with a small nod, "It is indeed not my custom to wish for death." He paused for a moment. "I believed you to be on the bridge."

"I was. And it's 'captain'," she corrected before slowly walking into her office. "Are you aware you're trespassing in an unauthorized area of the ship?" She certainly hoped so and that he had a damn good explanation, or else the next few days would be spent performing crew-wide SSI safety briefings.

"My apologies, Captain," he said, emphasising the final word to underline the correction. "I am here under the purview of examining the anomaly we encountered yesterday. We were ordered to investigate and to complete a thorough investigation a physical scan of the epicentre was required." He gestured with his tricorder.

She peered at him through skeptical and narrowed eyes before determining the science officer was correct in his recollection of her recent orders. Scientists. They'd be the bane of her existence eventually, and the more she capitulated to their demands, the more intrusive they'd eventually become. Before too long, the entire ship would probably become their own personal laboratory. But that was a conversation for another time. "And what have you found?" she acquiesced.

"A wide spectrum of tests are ongoing," he responded, keeping his eyes on the commanding presence before him. "We are fortunate to have well equipped labs and state of the art sensors. There are many routes we might pursue to the truth."

He placed his tricorder onto his belt before continuing, "There is some chroniton residue in the area, dissipating quite... erratically. I am not used to seeing such particles linger in the way that I have observed them doing here and I cannot say at this juncture why it is happening. Answers may reveal themselves with deeper examination."

"So aside from this 'residue', you've found nothing so far?" Her paraphrasing wasn't entirely accurate nor was it said with disapproval. Rather, the longer this went on without a concrete diagnosis, the more it supported her theory that this wild goose chase was a waste of time and resources. "I don't claim to be an expert in molecular science but I have to assume these trace emissions won't be around too much longer to investigate."

"It would be understandable for you to assume such a thing, Captain," Vala responded in a neutral tone, not wishing to provoke any negativity, "But this case seems to be an... unusual one. Many particles are indeed dissipating but some are lingering, or interacting with other particles and creating novel material that will brook further study."

He cocked his head slightly to the side, examining his superior officer for a moment. She did not seem overly engaged by the scientific side of things. Ironic for someone charged with leading a vessel so intensely dedicated to the faculty...

"Other experiments are ongoing and will take time. Hours. Days. But I am sure a satisfactory set of data will be acquired and thus," he gave a small nod of his head, "explanations will be forthcoming."

"What?" Tarin blinked several times while raising her eyebrows in a perturbed fashion. "These chronitons molecules are interacting and creating new material? Aboard this ship as we speak?" she repeated for confirmation. This was a new revelation that triggered a mental alert to a situation which might be spiraling out of control. "Let's lead with that next time," she quickly scolded before rubbing her chin in thought for a short moment while she began to pace around the room.

"If this is true," she continued, "then we don't have 'days' to conduct experiments and wait for results. I need more information and I need it yesterday. Galileo and its crew might be compromised and I'm sure a seasoned scientist with an acute mind like yours can figure out the ramifications if this all goes South."

Vala raised his hands in a disarming gesture, "Captain we cannot jump to conclusions." The 'we' was doing a lot of work in that sentence. "The mechanics of it all are exceptionally slight and are barely providing anything concrete." He matched her gaze and spoke with assurance.

"This cannot be something directly and imminently dangerous to us. It is not a cloaking device or a weapon." He gave a slight nod. "It is, in my mind, certainly the residue of an event, as I said, but divining what happened and what these strange readings mean will take time - no amount of resources or power or effort will alter that I am afraid."

Frustration started to boil within Tarin following his attempted mollification. "Your words juxtapose. You're certain the nature of this phenomenon isn't an immediate threat but also tell me not to make a hasty evaluation along with the need for more time...indefinite time, apparently. So which is it?" Her detest for ambiguous reports such as this was becoming outwardly obvious. "How can you rule out hazard without an understanding of what we're dealing with?" Was this Romulan pseudoscience she was encountering?

Vala's eyes narrowed a little. He resisted the deeply Rihannsu instinct to curl his lip incredulously at Tarin's comments.

He cleared his throat, composing himself before responding.

"Captain, there are few individuals in the quadrant who are as familiar with this niche field of temporal physics as I." He took a measured breath. "There is nothing indefinite about the experiments and examinations that the science team are currently conducting related to this event. There will be outcomes and a thesis developed during the course of the morning. I would hope to be able to provide a firmer explanation by tomorrow."

He kept his eyes fixed on the Commander - doubtless this timeline would not be considered acceptable. "I affirm my previous statement that a threat is not imminent, and if by some fractal probability one should manifest, there is little we can do to prepare in any case. Such is the current level of understanding of this corner of science - no two temporal anomalies are alike."

Her pacing resumed, accompanied by a returning fold of her arms across her chest while she turned her back to him and walked to stand in front of the large window which provided a visual gateway into the surrounding cosmos. "You're placing a lot of trust in your own capabilities and expertise, lieutenant." Too much, she privately disapproved. "What's Ullswater's opinion of your investigation so far?" Her torso swiveled back around to half-face him while her legs and hips remained in place. "I assume you consulted with her?"

"Of course," Vala responded in a slightly clipped tone, "Lieutenant Ullswater has complete confidence in my abilities and has encouraged the meticulous investigation of yesterday's event."

He watched Tarin, silhouetted against the stars. He could not tell whether, beneath all of her impatience and sternness, she took any interest at all in how it all worked. The universe. If she didn't then it was some irony that she was in charge of this small ship, with its disproportionately large science team.

"No stone will be left unturned. You will be the first to hear if anything concerning emerges."

"I expect nothing less. And expedite your investigation - time isn't infinite and despite your desires, we're on the clock." Scientists often needed a kick in the butt to expedite their findings, she'd learned over the years, because when left to their own devices, a sense of urgency could become non-existent. "There's an old Earth saying that nine women can't make a baby in one month. In my book, whoever said that is wrong."

Vala had to work exceptionally hard to resist an expression of incredulity at the Commander's statement. Human or Rihannsu, those with a modicum of power seemed to be content to banish cool rationality from their minds.

"As you say, Captain." He gave a delicate nod. "I will see to it that the analogous baby is delivered with the utmost efficiency." He rested his hand on his tricorder. "I believe I have all I need from the Ready Room in any case, if I might be permitted to attend to my... urgent experiments."

"Yes, see to it at once." She turned from the window and stepped back closer to him, almost shooing him out of the administrative chamber in the process. "I expect an updated report of your new finding in 24 hours. Dismissed. And Vala?" her irksome hazel eyes narrowed. "Don't ever enter my office again without my permission. Clear?"

Vala met her gaze, waiting a beat to respond. "Understood, Captain. Exceptionally clear." He graciously bowed his head and swept around, swiftly exiting the office.

[OFF]

--

LTJG Montgomery Vala
Deputy Science Officer
USS Galileo-A

&

CMDR Moran Tarin
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo-A

&

LTJG Sofie Ullswater
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo-A

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