The Dilemma (Part 2)

Posted on Wed Dec 15th, 2021 @ 8:27am by Commander Grace Vetur & Captain Elijah Michaels & Lieutenant Commander Yivliph Ra-Gruvloveii & Lieutenant Zero & Lieutenant Amanda Rose & Lieutenant JG Elizabeth Stone
Edited on on Thu Jan 6th, 2022 @ 8:01am

1,264 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Out of Time

[PREVIOUSLY]

Frustrated at having been mentioned in the same sentence with Percy again, Amanda's face flushed. "I presume that the other concerns are whether to confiscate the weapon from the Romulans or send them to the Romulans as is. As to the Resolute, I presume the concerns are acclimating their crew to our time. I can certainly assist some of them but I can't counsel a second entire crew. We would have to send them to Starbase 1, I think and let the Federation sort out their future and whether they can be permitted to contact their relatives. It could be a very confusing time for all concerned."

[CONTINUED]

Zero felt his question was in error, but the progression of the conversation had voided any attempt to correct it. With a nod, satisfied with the XO's reply, he focused his attention on the Counselor. "It is my understanding this is not Starfleet's first encounter with an event like this. There have been several occasions where a ship, or person, from the past was brought to the present time and so acclimation has been required. To my knowledge, I am unaware of the Romulan Star Empire has such a program, I feel the need to point out something as it pertains to the weapon in question." He paused for a moment, looking around the room, unsure if his desire to bring up his query was permitted by the others or even warranted. "May I continue?"

Yiv looked to the Operations Officer and nodded with a smile. 'Point out what you want, Lieutenant. I'd expect us all to be able to voice our concerns or hypotheses around this table.'

Grace nodded, curious to hear what Zero had to say.

Elijah had been mostly silent for this briefing, allowing the XO to take the lead. He liked the fact his crew had ideas and suggestions.

"Ma'am?" Siren spoke up. Waiting to be acknowledged before speaking further.

After receiving permission to proceed, Zero showed a bit of apprehension. He was often told his explanations were very verbose and some officers did not like that. However, for someone like Zero, it was difficult to shorten his explanations and suggestions verbally because, as a Borg, he was used to being on the same wavelength with all the others and there would be no need to verbally explain because the rest of the Collective would immediately know what to do. Zero has been an individual for a long time now and still had not grown accustomed to this type of interaction.

Before speaking, he allowed himself a brief moment to consider his words, until finally bringing them to words. "Due to the time passed from the development of this Romulan weapon, which initiated the jump through time between the two ships, we can theorize that the weapon would not be a threat in this time period. Lieutenant Commander Chernova tactical analysis is accurate that, the weapon, would pose a potential threat to the technology of their original era and keeping them here would be a valid option. Starfleet has had several encounters with ships and/or individuals brought to a present era, which we can safely conclude, their integration into this time period would be easier. Their mental status would require adjustment but they will, as others before them, eventually adapt."

Zero slowly focused his attention to the Executive Officer as he continued. "The greater concern is their method of travel could be utilized again if, and when, the Romulans determine that it was their weapon that began the series of events. Should they establish a method to repeat the process they can then experiment with time travel and, eventually, figure out a system of control that they may use to alter events which will shift the balance in their favor." He paused for a moment, as if unsure if he should divulge what he was about to say, but felt it necessary to do so to better explain. "The Borg are familiar with a few methods of time travel. I have been ordered by Starfleet Intelligence to not go into details unless ordered to by a Superior Officer with proper clearance, but I am allowed to say that the method used required precise calculations and a large amount of energy. While I am sure, the Romulans will take a great deal of time to improve their own method using the knowledge they have obtained from this event. Therefore, it is my opinion, we attempt to prevent any attempt by determining what element in this nebula assisted in this time travel event and neutralize it. This should discourage any attempts to repeat the event and prevent them from using this method as a means to alter the past and shift the present, as well as, the future."

"Yes," Grace replied. "Lieutenant Bálor is looking into the factor the nebula played in this event. We need to know what it is so we can prevent it from happening again." She nodded to Yiv. "We can also utilize our own intel to alter both computers in such a way as to make it appear that the Romulan weapon was only marginally more effective than the weapons of the time. Or perhaps we could make it look like factors that were only available at the time initialized the temporal anomaly. We do not as yet know all the details, so how we proceed is yet to be determined. Your help, Lieutenant Zero, would be appreciated." She looked around the room. "As is the that of any of you who can assist us in this endeavor."

Zero seemed hesitant. While he was familiar with the tactic of altering information to mislead the Romulans, the idea of doing it to both ships computers seemed odd and slightly excessive. "My accumulated knowledge is at Lieutenant Balor's disposal, as well as, my capability to interface with technology can be utilized in altering the Romulan's information. However, I must bring up an observation. Would altering the weapons data be efficient considering they would already be aware of its effect on the anomaly? Its design may be placed in a Romulan archive outside of the vessel. The ship could have just been used as a test on its capabilities. Altering or destroying the data onboard would not keep them from replicating the design itself."

"Valid point," Grace said. "That would depend on the data. We could clearly tell that the weapon was more powerful than others of its ear. If they can pull the same data, it might be prudent to slightly alter the output. However, it would also depend on what intel and Starfleet Command think most efficacious. Right now, I want to discuss options and then look into the most viable ones." She knew what she thought might work best, but the others here had a better understanding of what could be done than she did.

"I'm not certain how I can really assist with this discussion further," Amanda replied uncomfortably. "My area of expertise is people, not science."

"Then tell us your opinion on how both crews will react to being told they're stuck in the future," Grace said to Amanda. "And how you think we should approach both captains."

(To be continued...)

Lieutenant Amanda Rose
Chief Counselor
USS Ontario

Lieutenant Zero
Chief Operations Officer
USS Ontario

Commander Grace Vetur
Executive Officer
USS Ontario

Lieutenant Commander Yivliph Ra-Gruvloveii
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Ontario

Captain Elijah Michaels
Commanding Officer
USS Ontario

Lieutenant (JG) Elizabeth Stone
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Ontario

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