Meeting of the Minds Pt 2

Posted on Sat Mar 22, 2025 @ 4:34pm by Lieutenant Annora Tessaro

633 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: Tergum In Tempus
Location: Arboretum
Timeline: 1.5 days before the attack

On:

As Tessaro neared the gazebo, she scanned the area. If her other self was here, she was well hidden. There were still nine minutes until the scheduled meeting, so she took a seat and waited.

Five minutes later, footsteps crunched on the gravel path. What stood out wasn’t the approaching figure, it was the tune they were whistling. At first, it was unfamiliar, a melody she hadn’t heard in years. Then it clicked. "Boots on the ground, eyes on the stars."

She wasn’t surprised when her mysterious contact emerged, a wearier, more battle-worn version of herself. In response, Tessaro began whistling the tune as well.

Annora gave a small nod, relieved that her younger self still remembered the 200-year-old song. She sat on the opposite bench, and for a moment, neither spoke.

Tessaro broke the silence first. “This is unexpected. How long?”

Annora exhaled. “I’m from about two months in your future. As for urgency, the hourglass runs out tomorrow afternoon.”

Tessaro ran through possible scenarios before settling on the most likely cause. “Let me guess, the Cardassians.”

She crossed her arms, recalling the Colonel’s warning. He had mentioned a message from Lieutenant Wells about an impending attack, but also concerns that someone in Ops might be compromised. Given the situation, it was clear things hadn’t gone well.

Annora confirmed her suspicions with a grim nod. “You’re right on both counts. We believe someone planted a virus in the mainframe, blocking security systems from fully operating. From my perspective, we tried to retake the station two days ago. Less than five minutes after boarding,” she paused, jaw tightening, “the station blew up. My team barely had time to beam down to Pangea. And somehow, in all of this, the portals destabilized. With the Cardassians knocking on our doorstep, we decided to correct the timeline.”

Tessaro absorbed the condensed account, her fingers absently twirling a strand of her ponytail. “Between the Cardassians and the portals, I’m surprised it took this long for something catastrophic to happen.” She met Annora’s gaze. “I’m guessing you have a plan?”

Annora was glad her younger self was tracking the pending chaos, not that she expected anything less. “The goal is to fend off the attack. If we hit the Cardassians hard enough, they’ll think twice before coming back. It might even push Starfleet to assign more ships to the region as a deterrent. But that’s a concern for later. Right now, others are already working on fixing the sabotage, and you know people are quietly rallying the cavalry. We can’t tip our hand too soon.” She hesitated. “And before you ask, this is an unsanctioned mission.”

That explained the secrecy in Wells’ message to the Colonel. Tessaro considered her options.

“I can have security teams in place on short notice, and the Marines are sending reinforcements from planetside,” she said. “I’ll also slip a general note into tomorrow’s briefing, something about increased chatter of a potential threat to justify the extra security measures. If the sabotage is fixed, we should be able to hold the station long enough for reinforcements to arrive. And the longer we keep the Cardassians at bay, the less chance they have to board.”

Annora gave an approving nod. “Sounds like a plan. I’ll be listening in on comms. If we do get boarders, I can help deal with them.”

She hesitated, then added, “No guarantee what happens once the timeline changes, or who will remember what.”

Tessaro held her gaze. “Understood. Thanks for the assist. If you need extra gear, take what you need from auxiliary locker Delta-7. Who knows, maybe fate will bring us together again.”

They stood, shook hands, and went their separate ways.

 

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