A Blast from the Past

Posted on Tue Jul 20th, 2021 @ 3:29am by Captain Elijah Michaels & Commander Grace Vetur & Lieutenant Commander Anahera Chernova & Lieutenant Commander Yivliph Ra-Gruvloveii & Lieutenant Haruna Mizuhara & Lieutenant Amanda Rose & Lieutenant Percival Bálor Ph.D & Lieutenant JG Elizabeth Stone & Ensign Allen Ricky & Warrant Officer Arin Merkara

3,905 words; about a 20 minute read

Mission: Out of Time
Location: Various

ON

The call went ship wide for department heads to report to the Bridge. Secondary calls then went out for others to report to their duty stations.

Grace Vetur walked onto the Bridge and paused just long enough to look at the viewscreen before heading to her seat next to the Captain. "A Constitution Class?" She pulled up the data on her console for the details.

“USS Resolute to be precise, circa 2355.” Elijah commented to her as he saw his XO approach..

She nodded. She had more questions, but she wanted to wait for others to arrive first.

Lieutenant Percival Bálor had exited the turbolift just in time to catch the brief exchange between the First Officer and the Captain. He immediately made his way over to the science station and manned the station with skepticism and curiosity. "Just when I decided not to wear a skirt on the bridge today," quipped Percy. "I recommend scanning the damn thing. Won't take much for us to penetrate it if it really is a Constitution class, but if it truly is, that! should not be here" added Percy.

"Check for elevated levels chronoton radiation," Grace asked Percy. "And analyze the nebula." She couldn't resist adding. "Glad you didn't wear a skirt, too. I'm not sure you have the knees for it."

"Yeah, I think I'll let the Captain be the judge of that" Percy muttered under his breath. He began looking for any indication of elevated chronoton radiation. He awaited the results of those scans as he turned his chair slightly to have a lookie-loo at the nebula itself.

Siren gawked at the viewscreen. It was like looking at a 3d history book. She kept a smirk off her face at Percy's comment, but barely. For now she simply got the LCARS ready in case they needed to do any fancy manuevering.

Slipping in to the rear of the Bridge section, Yiv gawped at what had come up on the viewer. He leaned over to Percy at the Science console in front of him, 'is that ... real?'

Percy looked up and smiled at Yiv. "Tickles your whiskers, doesn't it?" replied the half- Tellarite. "If seeing is believing then, yes, but the eyes can lie and technology can be deceived. I'm just a scientist, not an intelligence officer. At the moment it looks real, but help me out and we can see just how real that thing is."

The doors of the turbolift swished open and Haruna half ran-half skipped out onto the bridge. She didn't stop until she was more or less right in front of the viewscreen. She pointed at the old ship on the screen. "Thats... thats... can I go play with that... Please? Please? I want one of those snazzy 2260's uniforms! And its got a duotronic computer system... What I could do with that now... Please?" she asked her eyes sparkling like a child on christmas morning as she locked them onto the captain.

"Secure your enthusiasm, Lieutenant," Grace said. "That is not a toy for you to play with, but you might be allowed to help with repairs."

“Alright focus people.” Elijah said to them all. “Yes that is a Constitution Class, yes it is ion front of us.” He commented as he examined the read outs. “It is very much real.”

Percy, seated at his station listened to the enthusiasm and bewilderment of the Chief Engineer. "Ah, I see that daycare let out early today," he said in a hushed tone that Yiv could definitely hear. Note to self: stop by Sickbay for a hypospray of triptan the lieutenant thought to himself.

Stifling a smile, Yiv took up station next to Percy. It would do him no good to alienate a member of senior staff, so he tried to keep himself under control. He leaned in, noting he smelt very nice today. Was dressed exceptionally well. And a bit of a bad boy. Should stop the brainbox wandering he thought to himself. 'How, uh, can I help Percy?' He asked quietly.

The Chief Science Officer looked over at Yiv. "Get into the Federation historical database," he said softly. "Run this through...NCC-1787. See what you can find, consult the Ship's Historian if necessary."

His fingers tracked across the console surface confidently. As a senior officer within Starfleet he had ample access to the historical database and keyed in the registry and waited for the information to churn.

Yiv turned to Percy as he waited. 'I was unaware Constitution vessels reached this far out.'

"They didn't." Anahera said as she walked onto the Bridge and took her station. "This was Romulan space after all." She added taking her own scans of the vessel.

Amanda wandered on the bridge just in time to hear Yiv mention a Constitution vessel. Curious she asked, "I am not a historian or a ship expert, but I thought that Constitution class vessels were retired long, long ago." She then turned to the Captain and said, "Sorry, I should have said, Lieutenant Rose reporting to the bridge as ordered first."

“Assume your Station Counselor.” The Captain said with a nod. “Constitutions are technically obsolete and sitting in a yard somewhere however it has been known to see them in the hands of private collections and surplus in the event of an emergency.”

Looking up to see Amanda, Yiv beamed, 'no, you're right. Very few of them left outside of museums now. The old Excelsior class overtook them in the 2280s, so this little lady is ... out of place, to say the least.' He casually neglected the fact he was pretty much reading the entry he'd gotten from the historical database.

Amanda assumed her station obediently but asked Yiv, "Why do you assume the ship is a lady?" She gave him a secret smile and then continued, "I wonder if anyone is aboard. Do you think that this ship is from another time or place?"

'It's tradition, isn't it, that sea- and space-going vessels are feminine? At least in most cultures. In Klingon tradition a ship is masculine, obviously.' Yiv shrugged and glanced at Percy, 'out of time, sure. Out of place? Who knows yet?'

"I still think that it is problematic, ascribing a sex to a ship. I mean, what does that say about the species or person that does so?" Amanda answered.

'Mostly that we like labelling things. Perhaps as well, giving them a name, a gender, makes the ship seems more alive than it is. They develop quirks and personalities, and people fit the lanes to it?' Yiv was sure he made little sense, but stubbornly wanted to defend his point.

Amanda countered, "Yes, but labels can be problematic, because the moment something is labelled, you have a certain expectation and that can both be a benefit for simplicity but very dangerous because if something does not go as expected, then trying to reconcile it leaves you without ready solutions."

Yiv quirked his eyebrows, smiled, and said, 'perhaps. But we're just talking about ships ...'

TAG AMANDA?

Peri walked onto the Bridge and stopped, grinning at what she saw on the viewscreen. "Wow." She was curious to know more, but figured she should get to her station first and wait for the Captain to give orders. Still, both ships looked...incredible.

'NCC-1787 would have been, what, the 87th of her class? I can't remember how those old registries worked,' Yiv said, catching Percy's eye.

Percy shrugged. "I don't know. Sometimes, I think they just picked something randomly and made sure it wasn't in use."

Looking at the Constitution Class ship on the viewscreen reminded Anahera of the time she managed to out manoeuvre the Constitution Class USS Krieger. A smile crossed her lips. "Shouldn't we try hailing them?" She asked.

Grace glanced at Elijah, then turned to Peri. "Hail the Starship first. We'll talk to the Romulans after."

"Aye, ma'am," the Ops officer said. A minute later, she turned to the Captain. "On screen, sir."

The viewer highlighted a Constitution Class Bridge, circa mid 23rd century. The lights flickered and it wasn’t a stable connection.

“USS Resolute we are a Federation Starship here to lend assistance and aid, we will be beaming over medical teams and engineers to assist you.” Elijah said and then looked around I signal muting of the channel. “We don’t want to scare them with the fact we are 100 years in the future from when they left.”

The channel reestablished. “Thank you Captain, we shall see you momentarily for assistance.”

Once the link closed the lift doors opened and a Bolian appeared out of Breath. “Resolute….Lost with all hands…..2255…” He said trying to catch his breath. “NCC 1787…..Missing in the Beta Quadrant….”

Percy cleared his throat, and spun his chair around slightly. "Well, you can say that until you are blue in the face," Percy said with a bit of a tease. "The results, however, are in and that ship is no longer missing" the Chief Science Officer added. He lifted an arm and gestured towards the view screen. "Because there the hell it is."

All the Bridge Crew then stared at the Officer who just arrived.

Amanda told the Captain, "If this ship is from 2255, I am going to have a lot of work to do to acclimate these individuals to a world 100 years gone by, not to mention help them get through their losses from 100 years ago."

"We'll need to talk to the Captain and his First Officer," Grace said quietly to Elijah. "The councilor will be needed, yes, but you and I also need to bring their command team up to speed, and see if there's any way to get them back to their own time."

Elijah stood in silence and pondered this for a moment because there were lots to consider. “There is a lot to consider.”

Grace just nodded in agreement.

Ricky entered engineering and took his place at the duty engineers station. "Any word on what this call to duty stations is all about?" he asked the room in general as he ran a quick check of the ship's systems.

"Not yet Sir." an Andorian Crew man replied with out taking his eyes off his own station."

Arin walked by, keying a few commands she said, "Everything sent to the bridge comes through here to.....if you know where to look." Information came flooding across the console. "Knowing is one thing. Blathering about it....quite another." Getting ready to walk away she added, "I'd start gather tools. We're going to be very busy very soon."

Meanwhile Haruna had moved over to the engineering station on the bridge conducting her own scans. She turned to look at the Captain. "The ship is rather knocked around. I'm reading multiple damaged systems and the shielding around their antimatter containment pods are not looking good. If we don't help them fast... BOOM!" Haruna explained. "And boom in a big way too. Those old warp cores packed a lot of punch for such a cute little thing"

“There is one more thing we must talk about. Elijah said to them all. “History considers the Resolute to be missing in action with all hands in her timeline and it’s written as such. But what is to say that we send them back and it alters the timeline in the present.”

At that comment, Siren piped in. It was actually a subject she found interesting. "It may have already changed, and we're none the wiser. Depending on what time travel theory you go with. The damage is already done." She pointed at the screen. "And their Captain is asking for help, his timeline is fu..messed up too." Siren caught the curse before it could be fully uttered.

Percy had listened to the back and forth. Being Half-Tellarite, holding his tongue was not an option he considered for long. "Ethically, we have a duty to respond to distress signals and any pleas for assistance barring it doesn't interfere with the prime directive." He grunted. "There are multiple theories on time travel and temporal mechanics as Siren noted. This ship is clearly from a past but I cannot guarantee it is from ours, and even if it is from ours, what was supposes to happen to it? Was it supposed to stay missing or was the natural progression of time that we find it?"

The Chief Science Officer scoffed. "Whatever decision is going to be made cannot be done slowly. Time is running out for them" Percy reminded.

"I agree," Grace said. "We need to help them now. I for one can't sit back and watch them die. Besides, just because they are missing now in our timeline does not mean it has to stay that way. That's something to consider after we help them."

"I'll form an Away Team." Anahera said. "With your permission of course, Captain."

Grace turned to Elijah. "I'll go, too."

"Alright then XO, Commander Chernova will head the Away Team to the Resolute." He nodded. "What do we do about the Romulan Warbird? Enemies they may have been in 2255 but right now they need help."

"We offer them help, too," Grace replied. "Hopefully, once they realize when they are, they'll be willing to work with us."

"Wait a second" Haruna said. "Are we going in our current uniforms? Or should we switch to something they know?" she asked curiously. "Oh and can I go too? They're going to need a girl genius engineer over there"

"We'll stay in our current uniforms," Grace said. "They'll learn soon enough that they're in a different time, if they don't know already." It wouldn't be hard for either ship to find out, if their sensors were working.

"I'll lead the Away Team to the Romulan Warbird." Elijah said to the Bridge Crew. "Yiv will join me while we poke around and go take a look."

"This situation is too uncertain for you to go," Grace said. "The Romulans were enemies in that time. Sorry, sir, but you're too valuable to the ship. We need to try talking to them first." It was her responsibility as first officer to make sure the Captain didn't put himself in danger and this was definitely a dangerous situation. "Sending Yiv is a good idea. I'd send security, too. I still maintain we should send a repair team and bring the Command team here."

"I understand your concerns Commander but the reality is we need to use all our resources as best as we can, that Warbird is just as beat up as the Resolute and if we are going to help then its only right that I help as well, I can do it better than on the Bridge for now." He said to her and the others.

"Agreed. Send a second repair team with Yiv. Send the diplomat. You stay here, sir. We don't know how they'll react to the situation. You could end up a hostage and as your first officer, I cannot let you do this." Grace knew she was dancing on thin ice, but she was not going to let him go until she was satisfied it was safe.

"I'm afraid I have to agree with the XO, Captain, your place is on the Ontario." Anahera said. "At least until we have a better idea of how the Romulans will react."

Percy cleared his throat. "I'll settle this," he said crisply. "If the Captain, First Officer, Security Chief, Chief Intelligence Officer and everyone and their third cousin goes on these away teams, do you know who gets command of the bridge of the Ontario? At this rate...probably me. If that isn't enough to keep one of your assess here, nothing will."

Grace couldn't fault his logic. "He has a point. The Resolute asked for help. I still maintain that we need to talk to the Captain and First Officer. We also need to contact the Romulan ship before doing anything else."

"I have to agree with the First Officer," Amanda responded. "We really should not be going over to the Romulan ship without first talking to them, at the very least. They will likely see us as enemies and simply beaming over could be very dangerous for the away team."

Thank you Percy thought but said nothing. This way arguably a rare moment, but he was grateful that Amanda was present. He was in agreement with Grace and Amanda. It was too risky to just send people over to the Romulan vessel without at least trying to contact them for permission to render assistance. Above all else, Percy did not want Yiv going there, not if it was this risky.

Grace wondered if she should remind Elijah that she'd been a diplomat before joining the Ontario. And the counselor was well-qualified to act as emissary. He, on the other hand, needed to stay here in case the situation went badly.

'Yes, the Captain is too precious to risk on an Away Mission,' said.Yiv quietly. 'Contact them first, if possible, via the comm channel and avoid causing offence, rather than just sending a lower ranked officer over to 'interfere' as they'd perceive it. They've always been a proud people.'

Elijah sighed. “Some would classify this as mutiny in a time of unique and unpredictable peril.” He shook his head. “Alright since it seems to be a committee shall we take a vote?” He was the Captain and regulations did decide his place was on the abridge. “I will stay here and monitor the situation but let me make this clear we are still dealing with two displaced starships 140 years out of time, history considers one of them lost so use discretion.”

"Some would remind the Captain of Section 12, Paragraph 4," Grace said, not at all bothered by his comment about mutiny. "Discretion will be maintained. However, as Captain, who do you want to go on the two away teams--after talking to the Romulans, that is." She didn't want the help to get shot before they could explain why they were there.

“Alright then Yiv will lead the team to the Romulan Ship.” Elijah said to them all.

Yiv looked up from the Federation database he was trawling through, then looked to Percy, then Amanda, and finally the Captain once more. 'Me?'

"I know your vision is shite, but I didn't know your hearing was too," Percy said. He gave Yiv a firm pat. "Yes, you, Mister Intelligence man" added the Chief Science Officer.

Amanda glanced at Yiv, worried. She did not think it was a good idea to send anyone to the Romulan ship. However, sending Yiv was doubly troublesome for her. Grace had pointed it out, she had feelings developing for him. But, orders were orders and Amanda didn't have command, nor did she have anything that she could do to remove the Captain from command.

"Captain, incoming message from the Romulan ship," Peri announced, loud enough to get everyone's attention.

"Open a channel." Elijah said in response.

"This is Commander Romana of the Warbird Relentless. Identify yourself, Federation ship," the female commander demanded.

"I am Captain Michaels of the Federation Starship, USS Ontario we are here to render assistance and provide what aid we can to you." Elijah said to them. He understood that the Romulans from this time we seen as cunning and merciless but he also wanted to show them compassion.

As Elijah talked with the Romulan commander, Anahera kept one eye on her tactical panel and the other on the Commander herself. The Security Chief had encountered Romulans on several occasions. Although as a people they were secretive and crafty, some lived by a strict code of honour. The trick was working out which kind you were dealing with.

"We know that you were pursuing the USS Resolute and that there was an intense fight but i assure you on my word as an Officer that we will not harm you or your crew in anyway." Elijah commented to his opposite number.

"Forgive me if I do not take your word for it, Starfleet." She knew her ship was in need of repairs, but she didn't trust them. "Send for a Romulan vessel to aid us."

"Well that would be problematic Commander......Romulan aid may not get here for some time." He lied, not seeing this as the right moment to bring it up. "And the nature of the damage to your ship means that time is of the essence."

The Romulan frowned. She turned to listen to someone, then nodded. "Very well. We will accept your assistance. No security and no weapons."

"As you wish......." He said nodding.

She inclined her head and closed the communication. A moment later, she sent the transporter coordinates.

"I don't know about anybody else, but I like her." Anahera said referring to Commander Romana.

"Romulan Officers are not to be underestimated even ones out of their own time." Elijah responded. "Alright everyone you have your assignments and your orders so lets get to it."

"Aye, sir." Anahera said.

"Alright everyone lets snap to it." He said directing the crew. "Brush up on your 23rd century Ship designs." A glance towards them. "Dismissed."

"You mean you guys don't know this stuff... oh wait... I forgot that I supposed to be the 'weird one' here.." Haruna said in response before turning to leave.

Leaving the Bridge, Anahera headed down to Security to get her gear together.

Siren kept to her place at the helm, but pulled up information on the Constitution Class.

Amanda walked up to Yiv and told him, "Be careful. Both you and your team. We want you back in one piece."

Grinning widely at the Counsellor, Yiv nodded his head, 'of course. This one,' he pointed at himself, 'would also quite like to come back in one piece too. We need another breakfast.' Burying his fear under bravado made him feel much better.

"I would like that very much," she told Yiv, while trying to hide a blush. "So, make sure that you stay smart out there."

'Smarts are all I have,' Yiv said with a small laugh, 'make sure the Ontario's in one piece so we can book it if things go awry.'

"Don't sell yourself short, Yiv. You have more than just smarts." She smiled mysteriously at Yiv until the current situation intruded on her thoughts. "Oh, my God!" Amanda realized with slight horror. "I'm going to be the XO while everyone's away!

"Utterly terrifying," quipped Percy. Though he agreed with her statement about Yiv. "You are smarter than most everyone on this starship. You also have good intuition, an an abundance of qualities. Now, remember to come back in one piece yourself."

"I think that goes for everyone on both away teams," Grace added.

-----------------------

Lieutenant Commander Anahera Chernova
Security Chief
USS Ontario

Captain Elijah Michaels
CO
USS Ontario

Lieutenant Amanda Rose
Chief Counselor
USS Ontario

LtJg Elizabeth 'Siren' Stone
Helm
USS Ontario

Lieutenant Commander Yivliph Ra-Gruvloveii
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Ontario

Lieutenant Percival Balor
Chief Science Officer
USS Ontario

Lieutenant Amanda Rose
Counsellor
USS Ontario

Lieutenant Haruna Mizuhara
Chief Engineer
USS Ontario

Lieutenant Commander Grace Vetur
Executive Officer
USS Ontario

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