A "Timely" Conversation

Posted on Sun May 12, 2019 @ 2:54am by Lieutenant Jason Haines & Civilian T'gan

2,746 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Doors of Perception
Location: DS5 - Science Labs
Timeline: MD11 1100 hours

ON

T'gan was alone in the lab, grateful that Alanna was away. It wasn't that she mided working with Alanna. The woman was intelligent and had a good understanding of temporal physics. It was more that when Alanna was around people were frequently going in and out to talk to her. It was...distracting.

She planned on spending the entire day updating her own files with data from the planet and work on her autoprobe. The probe would help her monitor chroniton and tachyon levels and their variations and eventually find a pattern to determine which portals went where.

So far she'd failed to explain her reasons for the probe to the Marines on site. They knew little of physics and less of temporal science. Their understanding of how the portals worked was confined to the map on the wall in the main complex.

At least Alanna understood. Or as much as anyone who hadn't studied temporal physics could understand. What puzzled her was that the new Chief Intelligence Officer seemed to understand a great deal. Far more than he should. But that was something for another day. Right now, she wanted to take advantage of this rare opportunity.

Jason walked in to the Science lab, hoping that she wasn't there. He was not in the mood to speak with her after their fight yesterday. He looked about and didn't see her, but did see the person he was looking for, T'gan.

Waiting until she paused in her work on the computer terminal he said, "Good morning T'gan. Do you have a few moments for me to ask questions or should I schedule a better time?"

T'gan turned, surprised that anyone would wish to speak with her. "Lieutenant Haines, how may I assist you?"

"I reviewed some of the station's logs after the dimensional travel some of us experienced the night before last", Jason answered. "I wondered if you have too and if you have, I would like to compare notes."

"I have looked at them, yes. What is your interest in what happened?"

"My interest is analyzing events such as these and determining if they will possibly pose any long term threat to the station, planet, and people around", Jason said. "and if they might, letting the Commander know so she can decide what to do. That's all."

T'gan nodded. "Very well. What have you determined so far?" She preferred waiting for him to tell he what he knew to giving out information that may or may not be pertinent. She also wanted to know what he was looking for before she said too much.

"Well", Jason said. "In looking back over the logs, there was a surge of energy. The odd thing is, there isn't a sole source. I am about 99% certain that a portion of it is a residual effect from the explosion at the Raddon facility. You can see the upper air-flow in the area above the explosion site. Then there is another energy source that came from about 500,000 kilometers off the station's 270 quadrant in empty space. When the two energies merge, then there was the surge. I am just uncertain of the energy that came from out of the empty area. I've not seen this kind of pattern before, so how the two masses of energy came together and caused a temporal surge is eluding me."

"Have you checked to see if Raddon has any ships in that area?" Tgan asked. "I would not be surprised if Mr. Raddon tried to draw power from an external source to duplicate what the portals do."

"There were not any detectable ships at the time", Jason replied. "I cross checked with flight control and there were no scheduled arrivals until 0400 the following morning."

"That does not mean there were no ships," T'gan countered. "It simply means they were not detected. I agree there is likely a correlation between the two, and to get a full understanding of what happened, we need to find out how Raddon tried to create a portal."

"I don't think we will be getting much of that information seeming how the explosion the other day took out the data on their work", Jason replied. "My team has been trying to find a backup system, but no luck so far. None of the scientists are speaking either."

T'gan raised an eyebrow. She knew that Alanna had something from the Raddon facility's computer, but not as much as she wanted--only because she took what she could right after the explosion. She'd have to ask her about it when she returned from the planet. "Most of them know very little," T'gan admitted. "Alanna is not letting many work with her." She paused to look at him. "I thought Starfleet Intelligence had the ability to retrieve most data. What did Raddon do to cause so much damage to his computer?"

"Computers and explosions aren't the greatest combinations", Jason said. "As far as retrieving data, Intelligence still has to follow protocols and it is not an immediate process. Regardless, I am concerned more about the event two nights ago, which did not happen the same day."

"Nor did they happen on Pangaea, which may indicate that something apart from the Portal Complex is the cause," she said. "While it is possible whatever is out in space is responsible for both accidents, we have insufficient data to make such a hypothesis."

"What if what was in space mingled with the residual energy left from the explosion on the planet?" Jason asked.

"Residual energy dissipates unless it is continually generated, so I do not think it relevant to the current discussion."

"You are going on the assumption that it isn't", Jason said. "I know it is unlikely, but this planet by its very nature and appearance should make it that we question a lot of the assumptions we would normally make scientifically and even logically."

"Indeed, but the power required to maintain that level of energy is counter-productive," she countered. "And so it is logical to assume that the energy dissipates."

"Perhaps", Jason replied. "at least in a traditional model of physics."

"I agree that we are not looking at normal physics, but where is your evidence to support your theory?"

"Well, if we go on the premise of that neither energy or matter can be created or destroyed", Jason said, "There are only those two obvious sources of stray energy, as there were no reports of issues on the station until after the energy surge. Solar activity was nominal. There had been no ships departing or arriving in over a day. So, that leaves the areas of those areas of energy or a combination thereof."

T'gan nodded. "It does. I assume you have looked into the matter. What have you found so far?"

Jason was about to reply, when he paused a moment, an idea had hit him, a scary idea, but still.

"Ok, first in regards to your statement about residual energy being regenerated, it is being regenerated", Jason said. "By the planet and/or the space around the planet. By its very nature, it has a unique energy signature. That energy must be what allows for the other energies to linger. As far as the event itself, it what humans call the perfect storm, a bunch of semi-improbable events occurring, coming together to wreak a bit of havoc. You had the explosion on the planet, with a slight push from the energy of the planet, combined with the portal having been recently activated, then intersecting with some of the energy from the remains of the other temporal event. It was almost as if there were two marbles colliding, which caused one of those marbles to be shot right at the station."

"And what interest does an officer who focuses on intelligence have in temporal matters?" she asked. He knew a great deal for someone not in her field of study.

"With respect", Jason said. "That is a rather short-sighted question. Pangae is a geo-political hotbed given its properties. It would be very illogical for Intelligence to send someone here who doesn't have at least a basic understanding of temporal and dimensional mechanics. I've written a few papers on trans-dimensional forensics, so I am not just another pretty face."

"A basic understanding, yes." She raised an eyebrow. "But you have much more than that." She would definitely look up those papers of his. Temporal and mechanics was not something she would expect from someone in intelligence. She wondered who else he worked for.

"Yes, I do have more than a basic understanding", Jason replied. "Is this an issue? Intelligence is filled with subject matter experts across all disciplines. We do have to be able to analyze information front-line assignments sent back to the central databases. After all, not all intelligence officers are Tom Hansen, secret agent, from the holo-vids."

"An issue?" She shook her head. "No. An oddity, yes. A curiosity. I am quite aware that the majority of intelligence is information gathering. So, Lieutenant Haines, what information are you gathering here? What do you make of the confluence of energies?"

"Well, I am glad that I am a curiosity", Jason said. "Here I thought I was rather boring. Anyways, I am mapping occurrences that happen to try and minimize little incidents like what happened the other night. If you think about it, if we got enough of those temporal marbles bouncing around, it could cause real havoc for this and possibly other universes."

"Intel officers only pretend to be boring," T'gan stated. "Agreed. I would like to see what you have mapped so far."

Jason nodded and said, "I have three going actually. One is our prime universe."

He brought it up.

"Red marked locations are confirmed locations of temporal and/or dimensional activity", Jason said. "Yellow is possible activity, and purple are hunches that bear some investigating but are not high priority."

He paused to let her take it all in and then continued, "On the prime map in red we have Pangae of course, then here we have the Guardian gateway that the crew of the Enterprise NCC-1701 encountered, and there is another one of these gateways in the Gamma Quadrant that Captain Sisko and some Jem'hadar soldiers sealed off, of course there is also the Bajoran Wormhole itself, the planet Meridian that was encountered by the crew of Deep Space nine. In yellow, based on recent events I have Risa, where our guests came from. I also have it marked in red on the map I made for their universe. In green, I have earth, based on mythology that is in-line with the Fae population here. If I ever go back to earth on vacation, I might check into it. I have made a map for the events of the other evening, that I have only made some vague notes on as I didn't recognize the various star layouts, so I am not one hundred percent of the location. What is scary to me, is that a borg was once again using its own knowledge to make a device for dimensional travel. It is not the first time they have done it. It makes me wonder why they don't do it more. It could be resources or perhaps it affects the collective negatively in some fashion."

He shrugged his shoulders. "So, do you have anything similar. I am more than willing to share this with you, if you would like."

"Yes, I would like to share. You are aware that Pangaea is not from here? We do not as yet know where it came from. There are temporal eddies across the planet. The portal site is still an enigma. I do not quite agree with the Marines' method of exploration. They simply try different portals and note the results. What you may be missing in your equations is that Pangaea was pulled here through time and space by the Fae. That is also affecting temporal activity in the area."

"Yes, I am aware about the details and lack of detail of Pangaea", Jason replied. "Given that the Fae aren't up for providing us with more information, if you were in charge, what would you recommend be the manner of exploration of the portals?"

"I recommend that you speak to Alanna as she is in charge of the portal complex. Any suggestion I may have will be given to her."

"That was rather evasive T'gan", Jason said. "And really doesn't fit the parameters of my question as you will be telling the Lieutenant your suggestions based on the current restrictions on the situation. I am asking you what you would do if you were in charge. There is a difference, subtle, but a difference."

"While I am not Starfleet, I am under the strictures of Federation Science. I would use drones to test the various portals, but that is not always efficacious as some react to humanoids only. Once someone ends up in the wrong time, there is currently no way to instantly bring them back. Therefore, we are limited in how we can check the portals. We currently must rely on volunteers and that is problematic."

A 'hrmm' escaped Jason.

"Drones are a good idea", Jason said. "Because it isn't just time we have to worry about, but also the physical environment. Think about it, if someone went through a portal that we thought was back in Earth's formative years, one mistake and one drops into a pool of molten slag opposed to say the beach of a newly formed ocean. We would just need a way to determine if our drone went where we wanted it to."

A half smile appeared briefly on the Vulcan's face. "Only some of the portals work that way. Most do not. Some are static and go to one place and time. Some change each time you pass through them, so even if we sent a drone, the next time it would go to another location. Some work by will and go where you wish. Alanna and I have discussed this at length. Only a small number of portals have been mapped. Federation Science urges caution. They want us to research the sites first, learn as much as we can about what has been done before us. Only then will they allow us to try other methods." She shrugged. "Science often moves at a geological pace." She looked at him intently for a long moment. "And what does Intel want with these portals? Or perhaps a better question is, what is your interest in these portals?"

"Given that I am part of Intel", Jason said. "My interest in these portals is to make sure that they don't pose any extreme threat to the galaxy and that we keep track of all the parties who will, without a doubt, try to use them for their own personal gain."

T'gan gave a nod. "That is why they are now under the purview of Federation Sciences. They are out of the hands of Starfleet and any governments that wish to petition to use them."

"Well, let's face it", Jason said. "No matter who is responsible for it, there are plenty of people out there that will find the temptation to access the portals very alluring."

"That is the concern. The trouble with the Raddon Complex on Pangaea being just one attempt. The alien shuttle was another."

"Well, then I guess it will be up to people like you and I to keep things in order down there", he said with a smile. "Unless there is anything else you want to ask me, I am sure I have kept you from your duties long enough. I will share those maps out to you after I get back to my office."

T'gan bowed. "That would be greatly appreciated, lieutenant. And I will let you know if I come across anything of interest."

Jason smiled and said, "Thank you T'gan."

And with that, he left wondering what she suspected given the probing questions she had asked.

T'gan watched him go, still unconvinced about why he wanted so much information. She put it out of her mind for now. There would be time later to mentally review the conversation. Now, she wanted to take advantage of the solitude. Without another thought, she went back to work.

[OFF]
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LT(jg) Jason Haines
Chief Intelligence Officer
DS 5

T'gan
Temporal Scientist
Deep Space Five

 

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