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current_story:threading_the_needle_part_1 [2021/01/18 19:27] – site_admin | current_story:threading_the_needle_part_1 [2021/03/17 04:03] – cromwell | ||
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**ON**\\ \\ | **ON**\\ \\ | ||
- | **Location: Galorndon Core, Reman Neutral Zone\\ | + | **Location: |
- | Timeframe: Present Day** | + | Timeframe: Present Day, HMS Republic Universe** |
- | In slow-moving fashion, a pair of diametrically constructed spacecraft calmly orbited a roiling, gray-clouded planet. | ||
- | Buzzing among the dark granite stalagmites and stalactites of the honeycomb-like network of caves, Starfleet personnel and uniformed Romulan military alike went about their business of operating numerous computer consoles and tending to complex engineering constructs replete with luminescent instrumentation of mechanistic design. | + | Although |
- | + | ||
- | The activity in this complex was collaborative in nature, as if their cooperation was vital to their continued survival. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | Elsewhere, in one of the more quiet caverns, a moderately-furnished study had been established. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | Situated in the center of the booth, John Carter sat in a lotus position, his legs crossed, neck and back erect, and eyes closed in deep mediation. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | With a quiet, observational demeanor, the man formerly known as Doug Forrest surveilled the pair, seemingly expectant that the meld would break at any moment despite the current length of its duration. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | Theo regarded him as he approached. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | " | + | |
- | + | ||
- | Theo turned his head to face Saal with a quizzical and confused expression. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "Well, apparently, France and the religious nation state of Israel joined the British Commonwealth in 1956 circa the old-world calendar," | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "That sounds a little more familiar," | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "It does if you think about how wealth was acquired in those days," Saal suggested. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | " | + | |
- | + | ||
- | " | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "By the time the Soviet Union collapsed in the 1990s, the planet' | + | |
- | + | ||
- | " | + | |
- | + | ||
- | The question had Saal to fingering through a few more pages on the PADD before answering. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "Yes, I remember that," Theo recalled. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "Not according to this," Saal explained, thumbing through the PADD. " | + | |
- | + | ||
- | " | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "The history since then has unfolded in a very similar manner as our own reality," | + | |
- | + | ||
- | " | + | |
- | + | ||
- | The commander, after having had time to tend to his ship and crew, as well as review the Aerosprite' | + | |
- | + | ||
- | " | + | |
- | + | ||
- | " | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "No, they did not," Vic shook his head. "The fact that they didn't tells me roughly where our two realities diverged, and why your arrival here is so important to us." | + | |
- | + | ||
- | " | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "On stardate 57442.6," | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "That didn't happen in our reality," | + | |
- | + | ||
- | " | + | |
- | + | ||
- | The perplexity in both Saal and Theo's face betrayed their bewilderment. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | " | + | |
- | + | ||
- | " | + | |
- | + | ||
- | Theo "Doug Forrest" | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "If I may continue, I'll explain," | + | |
- | + | ||
- | Both Theo and Saal raised their eyebrows in surprise at the revelation. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "In our universe, no subsequent ' | + | |
- | + | ||
- | Vic fell silent as he gave the newcomers time to let the reality of his words sink in. After a moment, he asked, " | + | |
- | + | ||
- | Theo was still dealing with the emotional rush of such a divergent set of events. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "I... I wasn't the hero of Cestus Three," | + | |
- | + | ||
- | " | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "Um... we went on a mission near Tholian space, and then we were reassigned," | + | |
- | + | ||
- | " | + | |
- | + | ||
- | " | + | |
- | + | ||
- | The quizzical look from Victor Virtus of the HMS Republic caused Theo to frown and look back towards Saal for an answer. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | " | + | |
- | + | ||
- | " | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "He was the bane of our existence!" | + | |
- | + | ||
- | " | + | |
- | + | ||
- | Taking a deep breath, the man formerly known as Doug Forrest explained about how John Carter and Kim Roth assigned him and Sean McTaggart to track down a renegade member of the USS Republic crew, the operations chief, Ensign Kuga. He also explained about the nefarious Gorn Poison that nearly killed Lieutenant Nathan Hawk, and described how both Saal and himself had stumbled upon Prince Shavis and his mutant Kafarians at Farius Prime, as well as how he tried to warn Starfleet Intelligence about the pending Remnant attacks on the Federation. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | Upon these explanations, | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "You have provided me with the final piece of information," | + | |
- | + | ||
- | " | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "That doesn' | + | |
- | + | ||
- | At this point, the former Doug Forrest of the USS Republic universe became physically shocked and emotionally livid. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | As Theo worked to collect his demeanor, Saal spoke up in his place. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "The former informs the latter," | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "Care to elaborate?" | + | |
- | + | ||
- | The HMS Republic commander did indeed elaborate, making light of their current dire predicament. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "You see," Vic calmly explained to the distraught Theo Carter, whose fuming rage was subsiding at the new revelations. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | Theo and Saal sat with shellshocked faces as the HMS Republic Victor silently allowed them to absorb the news. After a minute, Saal exclaimed, "I could use a drink." | + | |
- | + | ||
- | Vic looked back across the room at John Carter and the Vulcan, both of whom remained locked together in their protracted mind meld. Turning back to his guests, Vic paused in thought before standing up. "I think they' | + | |
- | + | ||
- | ---- | + | |
- | + | ||
- | The commissary of the joint Starfleet/ | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "Every time you time-travel," | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "But that would mean anyone who has time-travelled is living in an alternate reality," | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "Not necessarily," | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "Is that what happened here?" Theo asked. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | Vic nodded while swallowing his own sip of ale. "From the information we gathered on your computer, we can conclude that the timeline of the HMS Republic and the USS Republic were very similar up until the events of three years ago. What has yet to be understood is why John's body here in this reality was taken over by the consciousness of the John Carter from your reality. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "Well, let's see," Saal recalled, casually tapping the rim of his glass with his index finger. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "That sounds about right," | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "And Captain Marshall got himself relieved of command while we were all on shore leave, only to have a change of heart a few days later, and tried to get his command back," Saal recalled with slight emphasis and disdain at the latter part of the sentence. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "Very similar events here," Victor Virtus confirmed. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "' | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "If events were similar here, I think I can answer that," Vic replied. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "I had Lieutenant Hawk coat the inside walls of the surgical suite with Y-T-T alloy," | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "So, it worked?" | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "Not quite," | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "How could you be so sure that THAT John was not YOUR John?" Theo asked, still nursing his glass without drinking. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "John had been to sickbay before, prior to that episode," | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "Why did he go to the Guardian of Forever?" | + | |
- | + | ||
- | " | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "But isn't the Guardian just a time portal?" | + | |
- | + | ||
- | " | + | |
- | + | ||
- | " | + | |
- | + | ||
- | Vic's drink neared empty as he continued. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "The ocean?" | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "You might say that," Vic replied. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "The mirror universe," | + | |
- | + | ||
- | " | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "Like a riverboat navigator knowing which turn to take in a river basin," | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "Good comparison," | + | |
- | + | ||
- | " | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "Good point," | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "We brought you here using a nearby micro-signularity that was traversing through this sector of the Neutral Zone," Vic replied. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "So John hasn't been the only one breaching quantum-temporal barriers lately?" | + | |
- | + | ||
- | " | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "Well, it wasn't of my own accord," | + | |
- | + | ||
- | Regretting that he had dug deeper, Theo confusedly shook his head over the complexity of Vic's dialog while Saal attempted to comprehend. "Are you saying there' | + | |
- | + | ||
- | " | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "Maybe Daniels' | + | |
- | + | ||
- | " | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "About that," Saal asked. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "Had the Xenoborg attack not happened," | + | |
- | + | ||
- | " | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "In my experience, there' | + | |
- | + | ||
- | Theo "Doug Forrest" | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "By the way," | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "That was easy. We generated a minor resonant graviton beam using the main navigational deflector dish. It widened the aperture of the micro-signularity just enough to pull your small craft through with a tractor beam. It was like pulling a berry out of a gelatin dish." | + | |
- | + | ||
- | "So you can use it to send us back?" the doctor asked in return, a touch of eagerness rising in his voice. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | " | + | |
- | + | ||
- | Saal and Theo's heads sunk in defeat, looking down at their ale glasses in dismay. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | At that point, | + | |
- | + | ||
- | The three stood up, and in single file, walked out of the commissary, passing the Tellarite food service attendant who was cleaning tables near the door. Theo was the last to leave the room, placing his glass full of Romulan Ale on the table, without even a drop consumed throughout the entire conversation. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | ---- | + | |
- | + | ||
- | Although the conversation in the commissary had lasted a good half-hour, when the three returned to the library, John Carter and his Vulcan companion had yet to complete their mind meld. In fact, it took almost another hour before the two roused from their joint trance. | + | |
" | " | ||
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