The Continuing Story of Deep Space 2: Page 112
Ernie decided that Sarah might be meditating too deeply since she did
not seem to be reacting the battlestation's alarm going off
throughout the shift so felt needed to take action. Having seen some
Woody Wood Pecker cartoons with the crew during entertainment night,
Ernie landed on top of Sarah's head and started pecking away in his
best "Woody" style. This seemed to cause some stirring in Sarah's
otherwise motionless posture so Ernie felt a foot in her ear would
speed up what he had already started.
Well Ernie got the reaction he wanted because Sarah started shaking
her head back & forth- swatting at her head as she started running
down the corridor to the nearest battlestation. Ernie somehow managed
to get some toes caught in Sarah's fur so was holding on for dear
life & flapping his wings trying to stay upright as Sarah dashed
along. As they whirled towards Maccs (the avatar)in a flutter of
wings & patches of fur, he wondered what in the world those two were
up to!
Maccs had just managed to step to the side to avoid colliding with
Sarah. He was happy to note at least part of the ship's crew had a
good response time for an all ship's battlestation alarm. Fastest he
had ever seen Sarah move before!
Aboard the USS Necrostella the Federation V.P. listened in his
private quarters to Captain d'Rabbitt's impromptu briefing, passing
onto his superior a communiqué arriving aboard ship just moments ago -- a hastily composed situation report from Starfleet command
concerning recent developments on both the planets Denorado and
Katsimar. However, expecting the Federation V.P. to fly into one of his private rages upon hearing all this, he was surprised (and relieved) when all the other man did was narrow his eyes -- his brow furled in silent contemplation, his right hand clutching through the fabric of his Starfleet uniform the pendant around his neck hidden beneath his tunic, safe from visual notice.
"Just like the Erogarndi", the Federation V.P./Fleet Admiral mused
aloud more to himself than Captain d'Rabbitt -- the good Captain
offering nevertheless a reply of his own.
"Yes Sir. So it would seem. the Federation bases on each planet
vanishing without a single trace at all. new inhabitants in
possession of each, each new group showing signs of long term
habitation as though there for a long time."
"Something else Captain.? Spit it out".
"Yes sir", d'Rabbitt did as told, hesitant all-the-same to do so. "It
seems that Denorado is now a long-standing Klingon colony for
centuries now while Katsimari seems to be in the possession of a
species as yet to be identified. All we know for sure there is that
all evidence points to the fact they seem to be engaged in some sort
of war with one-another -- a planet-wide conflict limited solely to
that planet's surface".
"Civil war", the Admiral reflected, his words not asking a question
but making instead a mere observation.
"Seems Chronosweep has a couple of flaws we never expected; Sir",
Captain d'Rabbitt suggested. a possible answer to this most recent
development.
"My assumption would be that time itself is trying to fill the
temporal vacuum Chronosweep created when directed against each of the
three planet's concerned, establishing an alternate timeline which
would have existed had all three worlds never been inhabited to begin
with".
"Nature abhors a vacuum", the Federation V.P. (unwittingly to be
sure) quoted a certain well-known Vulcan science-officer turned
ambassador -- a legend in his own time.
"Yes Sir. However, in light of this. the fact that Chronosweep seems
now unreliable. what now is your intent -- how shall we proceed from
here?"
"Yes", the V.P. in question. "Actually, I'm of the opinion that
Chronosweep might still prove useful if we could only manage some
sort of temporal buffer, or plug at the temporal coordinates".
"But how?"
"That's the thing", the V.P. confessed, knowing however what it was
they needed to find in order to consolidate his already considerable
powers -- powers no entity of mere flesh and blood should ever be
allowed.
"It's necessary even more-so now than back then to track down
that 'Find No. #452-C' that Professor Sybrek was bringing us
from "Planet HD02-3065-4729'. That's where the answer to all our
problems can be found".
And clutching still the pendant still hidden beneath his Admiral's
uniform, its warmth to the touch pressed up against his chest, the
V.P. then sent out his mind in search of the alien artifact stolen
from aboard the USS Alice Cooper-B -- its unique power signature like
nothing else in the universe being something as familiar to him. as
much now as much of his very person as was his own human flesh and
blood. he had no fear that it might remain hidden from his mental
awareness no matter how great the distance between them might be.
Yet even with all that in mind, the V.P.'s cerebral exploration of
deep space revealed something which came to him as a complete and
utter surprise -- picking up as well right then and there then on the
battle now underway in the former Erogarndi system -- the conflict
involving both the insectiod inhabitants thereof VS. the three
Starfleet vessels and their new ally from far beyond all that existed
in this particular universe.
"Order full speed ahead, Captain", the V.P. leaped quite literally
from his chair. his eyes snapping open. excited and even delighted
beyond all his original hopes to learn what awaited his arrival
aboard the Alice Cooper-B -- Captain d'Rabbitt having never seen the
man now standing before him in such a state of absolute. even manic.
joy.
"We must make haste least we arrive too late in order to save the
Alice Cooper-B", the V.P. demanded. already in an almost hysterical
state of absolute rapture. giving no thought to any of those other
ships fighting alongside her -- their fate being now of no concern to
the V.P. already making his way to the Necrostella's main bridge.
Aboard Deep Space 2 Chief of Intelligence Geert Van Nieuwenhove had
followed the situation around the USS Strike. There was nothing he
could do at this time to help, and his help would come to late
anyway. Geert realized that the USS Ajax was capable of destroying
almost everything crossing its road. As he was trying to gain more
information about this new emerged species, due to this time rift,
Geert could only come to the conclusion that this time rift had not
been caused by something on the planet itself. Something or someone
from maybe even far away caused this time disturbance. Geert knew
more than enough about time to realize that this could only be a trap
or a distraction from the real issue, a diversion so to speak. The
more data came in, the more Geert got convinced that this incident on
this particular planet had been created to mislead Starfleet. But he
could not find a reason why Starfleet should be misled. Why would
anyone distract Starfleet or the Federation from a real problem if
Starfleet or the Federation had no clue about what was happening?
The only logical conclusion was that this entire time rift had
nothing to do with the Federation at all. It had to be those people
coming from that alternate universe: That man with the funny weapon,
the tall ape like creature, maybe even that living ship itself...
Geert sent a message with his concerns to Admiral Arthur, but he
added that there was nothing more he could do at this time. Battle
seemed to be unavoidable.
Yet it wasn't long after sending the good Admiral his official
communiqué he finally received word from one of his juniors in DS-2's
Security Intelligence Dept. they'd made a positive (or at least a 95
percent definite) identification of that new alien threat occupying
Erogarnda (or at least what was Erogarnda during its habitation by
the Erogarndi).
"A species known by the Erogarndi themselves as the "Sssh-Kryl" -- an
insectiod species like Admiral Arthur had already discovered --
appearing in the Erogarndi's own history files as a nomad race who.
their own worlds destroyed beyond the galactic rim. tried to invade
Erogarnda some 758 standard years, or so ago.
"Seems that they almost proved themselves the winner, the Erogarndi
lucky enough to defeat them only at the cost of their own advanced
technology, much of what they once knew lost during that time",
Geert's subordinate continued his official report.
"Seems like they like to attack in a swarm not unlike Terran locusts,
the `Queen' Sssh-Kryl producing offspring every half-millennium, or
so in the billions. Seems that the only thing which saved the
Erogarndi was that the queen had some nearly 200 years to go before
able to reproduce, their numbers depleted by whatever it was which
destroyed them back wherever it was they came from in the first
place. a natural disaster by the sounds of it".
"However, since the Erogarndi never existed in this new timeline,
that means the Sssh-Kryl found no obstacle his time when it came to
the colonization of their planet, Geert added, thinking out loud more
than addressing his junior officer elsewhere aboard DS-2.
"Yes Sir! And since it wasn't until 200 years after their arrival
that the Sssh-Kryl queen was able to go into reproduction mode --
giving birth as well to countless `junior queens' (each capable in
her own right of producing billions once each 500 years) -- that
means that she DID give birth to her billions in this time line, she
and all her junior queens about to."
"No need", Geert cut him off, continuing as well on his subordinate's
behalf.
"Its almost time for all those Sssh-Kryl queens to begin producing
offspring in the billions, no doubt waiting for this `population
explosion' in order to move, invading other worlds with swarm after
swarm in countless numbers".
"Yes sir, that's just about it."
Far down below Geert Van Nieuwenhove feet, two droids had a
conversation with an old man. The man usually looked a bit older
every time he appeared, but this time he looked a lot younger.
"Droid 11, any news?"
"Nothing yet," said droid 11 with his mechanical voice. "But a time
rift has opened and closed again on these coordinates." Droid 11
handed over a small device. The old man looked at it in surprise.
"I don't understand. This region has no specific actual time
significance. Why would anyone create a time distortion there?" He
paused and looked again. He shook his head. "This won't change
anything. The geological stability of that planet will cause it to
explode within five to ten years. Whatever is on that planet will not
survive. Any changes on, in or even around that planet will not have
any effect on the space time continuum".
"Wait a minute..." Droid 11 interrupted.
"It is possible that this is only a local phenomena or a local
target. The planet used to be the Erogarndi planet, but they were
wiped from existence. It is possible that the planet was attacked a
second time. We are still working on that theory."
But the old man was not convinced.
"I don't think so. It seems to me that someone is trying to restore
the damage that was done during the first attack..."
"Not someone, but something", Droid 11 corrected his human companion.
"Further word has just reached us that the same sort of incident has
now occurred on both Denorado and Katsimari, both worlds now likewise
populated. or so it would seem. for centuries by entities nothing
like the original inhabitants. If I may, it would appear to me that
the natural laws of time and space are more likely at work here than
any particular individual any of us might care to name -- a clear-cut
case of the old axiom. `For every action there is an equal, but
opposite reaction'".
"Yes, yes", the old man sighed, giving way for at least the moment,
recognizing Droid 11's quote -- the 18th/19th century German
philosopher, Georg W.F. Hegel.
"But that leaves us with the even more perplexing question, why is it
that we are able to remember the original timeline for each world
involved even though they never for all intents and purposes ever
existed to begin with".
"Fair enough", Droid 11 was quick to grant, an answer soon
forthcoming.
"As it is it would also seem that certain forces as yet undefined are
holding back the influence of this newest timeline, this force
originating more likely with the same individuals responsible for the
initial disappearance of each planet's original populations.
"It would seem that whoever it is behind all this in timeline `B' is
likewise able to hold back the spread of timeline `C' as it were --
able to contain, or bottle up this newest timeline so it might spread
no further than each of the three systems in which Denorado,
Katsimari, and Erogarndi all exist in now `under new management' if
you will".
"But what of the USS Ajax, Strike, Starchild, and Alice Cooper-B?"
the old man finally got a word in, edgewise. "How is it they remain a
part of your timeline `B', able to remember `B' while in this
timeline `C' in which you say the rest of the Erogarndi system now
exists.
"And why it is you keep on talking about timelines `B' and `C'
instead of `A' and `B'? Shouldn't that be `A' and `B' -- not 'B'
and `C'?"
"To answer your first question first, I'm picking up an energy signal
of rather unique properties aboard the Alice Cooper-B almost
identical to the power trace picked up from within the alien artifact
stolen from likewise aboard the USS Alice Cooper-B -- its exact
position hard to determine at this distance", Droid 11 offered by way
of explanation, not yet finished.
"Therefore it would appear logical to assume it is the actual source
of this rather peculiar energy field which serves as their `temporal
tether' linking all four vessels and crews to timeline `B' while even
inside the narrow confines of the former Erogarndi system.
"And as for the answer to your second question yet, this is
timeline `A' -- the lower section of DS-2 into which those above can
not enter except at the risk of their very sanity. Only here does the
original timeline as we know it sill exists -- timeline `B' I'd
hazard to guess branching off from this one soon after the arrival of
the sentient `multidimensional' starship, Starchild, and its crew.
"If asked to try and better pinpoint the original temporal `fracture
point' creating timeline `B' my best guess would be soon after
Starchild arrived, somewhere between the time of its arrival in our
universe and that future shockwave which followed soon thereafter --
the one immediately following that distress call believed to have
originated from aboard the Alice Cooper-B several days in the future,
both S.O.S. and the energy burst assumed at that time to be evidence
of the future destruction of the USS Alice Cooper-B at the hands of
forces as yet still unknown.
"Likewise that would explain your inability to remember the
Federation Vice President ever visiting us aboard DS-2 at that
particular time, the Federation V.P. having never left Earth back
then during timeline `A' -- the arrival of Starchild and its crew
somehow changing all that -- believing as I do that the only reason
you, I, and the rest of us here in DS-2's lower levels still remember
timeline `A' being in fact the similar temporal phenomena that
prevents those above from coming as well down here".
Mention of the Federation V.P. already in route to the Erogarndi
system filling the old man with a certain loathing, a burning anger
at the very thought of that monster coming to DS-2, brought yet
another question to mind -- that psychotic megalomaniac responsible
for so much misery, destruction, and absolute madness both within the
Federation as well as throughout the rest of the civilized galaxy.
Yet before he could ask that question that came at once to mind,
Droid 11 presented the Old Man with yet another new development
involving the battle unfolding over the former plant Erogarnda.
"Word has just come through that one of the four ships presently
fending off the attacking Sssh-Kryl has just been taken out of the
fight -- destroyed!"
"Which?" the old man asked, wondering if he was about to likewise pop
out of existence.
"It's the A.I. starship -- `S.E.A.S.S. Starchild'!!"
Admiral Arthur looked at Colonel Theys. Theys, trigger happy as
always, had a grin on his face like he wanted to say something
like: "You see, I am not the only one who thinks that we should teach
these people a lesson. You just don't attack anyone just because you
feel like it. Let's retaliate."
But Admiral Arthur hesitated. He contacted the USS Strike for more
information. The timeline had changed; there was no doubt about that.
The Erogarndi weren't there and had been replaced, the Vice President
of the United Federation of Planets was on his way to this world, and
then came the official notification from USS Strike.
The USS Strike was in the correct time line. What once was the
Erogarndi world had been changed to something else, but this world
was still in Federation space and in principle under Federation law.
So the violent actions of the aliens could be explained as an attack
on the Federation leading to a possible small scale civil war.
Admiral Arthur ordered Colonel Theys to go back to his ship, USS Ajax
and returned to the USS Strike leaving specific orders for Captain
Kalee. Orders he did not share with anyone. The three Federation
ships took position close to the defense platforms around the planet.