Taking Flight From The Triangle

Posted on Sun Oct 2nd, 2022 @ 1:24am by Captain Devin Hadenbeer & Lieutenant Commander Dorian Sheppard & Lieutenant Commander R'elle & Lieutenant Commander Rayek trLhoell & Lieutenant Commander Klarth & Lieutenant JG Alia Fitzgerald

4,248 words; about a 21 minute read

Mission: Into The Void
Location: Lionheart conference room, Other Areas

"Sir?"

"Yes, ensign Jun?" Devin replied as she watched the tactical plot on the large screen.

"I...am not sure what the strategy is?"

"Ah," Devin turned and regarded him, "I would like to engage, but I have a ship full of wounded on board and I am reluctant to do so. Still I wish to see if they wish to engage us."

She turned back to the screen, "They know we spotted their cloak, so they are aware they lost that advantage. Then there is lieutenant Fitzgerald's little deception. By now they must be rather confused. Sometimes confused people react irrationally. If any ships show up on the plot kindly call,” As she strode towards conference room she said over her shoulder, "You have the bridge, Mister Jun. Hand over the center seat to lieutenant Mell'a when she arrives!"

Devin hated the conference room. The table was from the Lionheart A and every time she looked at it she could almost imagine ghosts, friends long gone sitting around it, smiling and joking, or their expressions grim and determined.

She sat down at the head and closed her eyes. God, she could almost heard Marta's voice, softly but firmly settling a dispute, or Jack's and Brec's friendly banter...


R'elle entered the room. "Captain." she said with a nod. Going to the replicator she ordered her usual "R'elle morning one." that produced a mixture of hot chocolate and coffee just to her liking. She was rather picky when it came to her morning drink. She had her Padd in one hand and her rather large cup in another. She sat down at the table.

"Counselor," Devin replied neutrally as she glanced at the doorway. Moments later Ull strode in with a nod and took a seat. Sheppard arrived a moment later and sat next to R’elle.

SICKBAY

Klarth had been in the Gabriel Station sickbay one second and was transported to the Lionheart's sickbay the next. In his line of work Klarth was used to this sort of thing so he just started checking on the most critical patients to make sure that after the transport they were still hooked up to the equipment keeping them alive and healing them.

After the Captain got on the comms and explained the situation and called the senior staff for a conference, Klarth had only one thought. He tapped his combadge and said "S'Lace are you there? Are you okay?"

S'Lace heard the Doctor's inquiry and replied, "Yes, we are fine. We are back on board Lionheart now and Rumpleteazer," she paused after saying the ridiculous name, "is intact. We-" "One moment, Doctor,"

Klarth remembered he had to get up to the bridge for the conference and started to make his way there.


RUMPLETEAZER

After the scoutship was tractored into the shuttlebay, the Romulan unbuckled from his seat and leaned over the pilot's chair to watch on the screen as the ship avoided the pincer by mere kilometers.. and then warped off. He smiled in appreciation of a unique maneuver. "Your Captain's tactics are interesting. I'd like to meet her... when she has a moment," he remarked. "But first... pants perhaps?"

"I'm sure we can arrange something, Mr. Romulan." She spoke into her communicator, "Computer, replicate and transport one set of," she paused and looked at him, "standard-plus male clothes to my location. Current fashion, semi-casual." A few seconds later, a shimmering glow appeared on the ship's transporter pad. "We'll get you something more to your taste later. Time is of the essence now."

The Romulan inclined his head in thanks, then gathered up the offered clothing and stepped into the shuttle's tiny head. In the cramped space, he quickly changed out of the medical gown and into the provided outfit. The clothes fit well enough though he was rather certain this style went out of fashion in the Federation back in the 80's. "Well, they do say fashion is cyclical."

S'Lace heard the Doctor's inquiry and replied, "Yes, we are fine. We are back on board Lionheart now and Rumpleteazer," she paused after saying the ridiculous name, "is intact. We-"

She accessed her com-badge again, "Captain, we're aboard safely with one rescuee. I'll provide a more thorough report later but the basics are we rescued this fellow. He has self-reported memory problems and... I'm inclined to believe him. The rescue pod was just one step up from a refrigerated cargo container, though well-built enough for something jury-rigged." She paused and then added, "He was also the one who provided us the sensor settings to detect those cloaked ships. Shall we come to where you are?"

"One moment, Doctor," S'Lace grimaced at Fitzgerald, "Captain, S'Lace here. Lieutenant Fitzgerald's assessment of the escape pod is in my opinion premature. It was an unfamiliar configuration."

"Oh," Hadenbeer replied mildly, "Well, you have piqued my interest. Please bring the individual to the conference room."

The Romulan stepped out fully dressed. He'd attempted at least to smooth down his disheveled hair, but the result was far from the Romulan norm. He suspected he'd been in the escape pod for a day or so given the state of his beard. Maybe he should have asked for a razor as well?

As he stepped out, he heard the Captain over the comm suggesting to bring 'the individual' - him - he suspected. Something about the woman's voice sounded vaguely familiar. He'd noted that earlier as well when she issued orders for the senior officers to meet for a briefing. He wondered where or how he might have possibly heard it before. He leaned over towards the Vulcan and whispered, so his question wouldn't be picked up by the comm's microphone and sent to the Captain herself. "Would you know if your Captain has ever been to Romulus? Before Hobus obviously..."

S'Lace held up a finger towards her patient as Klarth had-as always-more to say.

Klarth was very relieved to hear S'Lace was okay. It had felt ominous sending her on that mission and the second he decided to send her part of him had regretted not going himself. And also with all the craziness of the day he really wanted some small bit of normalcy. "S'Lace, if there is a break tonight from the battles, slaughters, conferences, and secret missions, can we grab some dinner and talk... like we used to?"

After he said it Klarth somewhat regretted it, but only because he realized he couldn't tell her anything about the ship's computer and would feel guilty keeping it from her. But frankly he still wished he didn't know about it either.

"Yes, Doctor," S'Lace said after a while, "I am willing to share a meal with you. S'Lace out."

Klarth had learned that with a Vulcan you had to see in-between the lines. He made his way to the turbolift with some new found pep in his step.

She turned and regarded the Romulan. What about Hobus? "I do not know," she spotted a security guard entering the shuttle bay, "Crewman Tchulka, I believe it would be prudent if you joined lieutenant Fitzgerald in escorting our new guest to the conference room.

Pure Samoan, Tchulka stood 183 centimeters and was 130 kilograms of pure menace. His large, calloused hands flexed open and closed more like mechanisms made to crush things than the appendages of a biological being, one could imagine the phaser on his hip appearing like a toy in one of them. Cold brown eyes regarded Rayek, some assessment was made.

"I would be happy to, lieutenant S'Lace," the security guard said in a low voice, his eyes never leaving Rayek's. His left arm waved towards the exit, "After you, sir."

The Romulan was disappointed at the unhelpful response by the Vulcan but had known even as he asked that the query had been a long shot. Given her suspicions regarding him, he suspected that even if she did know, her response would have been equally useless. When she called on what was obviously a security crewman, the Romulan took her caution as a compliment as to how much a threat she viewed him as. He met the muscular Polynesian's gaze and gave the man a once-over assessment as well. The two men were of equal height, but the crewman was nearly double in mass. While one might assume Tchulka was stronger, the Romulan body much like it's Vulcan cousins had denser muscles.

The Romulan thought if it came down to it, his speed might give him enough of an advantage to avoid the beefy grip, get in behind the man and with his 'inhuman' strength could choke the man out in a short amount of time. He hoped that wouldn't become necessary.

Smiling peaceably, the Romulan nodded and led the way to the exit that was indicated, and then along the corridor to the nearest turbolift. There he waited for 'Commander' Fitzgerald knowing that his voice wouldn't have the authorization to activate the turbolift to travel to the Lounge, much less the Conference Room - which if he recalled correctly, on this model of ship, was located on the same deck as the Bridge. How he knew so much about the Chariot Class of starship was a bit of a mystery to the Romulan, but just as he'd known the payload of the B'rel class Bird-of-Prey, he likewise knew the standard stats and deck layout of this class of starship.

"Conference room," Alia commanded and the turbolift smoothly moved though the motion could not be detected due to the localized inertial dampers. She turned back to the Romulan suddenly. "What's your name?" she asked casually in Romulan. She knew the causes of memory loss were complex but she also knew that ingrained habits might bypass his consciousness.

The casual manner in which the question was asked didn't fool the Romulan - not even for a second. In fact, it did the opposite - making him rather alert and sensitive about the topic. His dark eyes cast a sour look towards the human. "That's what I would like to know."

"Sorry about that. I knew it was a longshot, but until we get you to sickbay for a full diagnostic, I don't have a lot to work with." She smiled, an expression that seemed much more natural now that she wasn't under threat of imminent death.

CONFERENCE ROOM

Escorted by his Polynesian goon, the Romulan arrived safely at the Conference Room. He stepped through the doorway and glanced about alertly, noting the location of exits, possible weapons and individuals. It was only on his second glance around that he paid closer attention to the details of these individuals. It was then that he noted the familiar features of the auburn haired woman that sat at the head of the conference table. He did know her! But placing from where was a problem. He frowned in concentration staring at her, still standing in the doorway.

"Mission accomplished, Captain." Alia said, still a bit excited that her first command wasn't a disaster, mitigated or otherwise.

Devin sat stunned as she regarded the man who had walked in through the door with Fitzgerald, it took a full three seconds for her to process whom it was. Without a word she rose from her said and strode around the table. By the time she reached him it had almost turned into a sprint. She threw her arms around the Romulan and let out a near-squeal of joy.

"Rayek!" she cried, almost laughing. "Goodness, what a strange universe!"

Klarth had walked into the conference room just as Hadenbeer was hugging a Romulan. Klarth said nothing and sat down but he was seriously considering calling security since he felt there was a high probability the Captain had gone crazy. But instead he listened to the conversation and tried to make sense of it.

The Captain's joyous greeting was completely unexpected, yet as her arms wrapped about him, he found himself doing the same, as if he were greeting an long time friend. The name that she called him - Rayek - while it sounded and felt right - was still foreign to him. Why didn't he remember his own name?

R'elle raised an eyebrow at this. This was most unusual behaviour for the Captain. It was good to see her happy. However she was curious about how she knew this romulan.

She reluctantly let him go and stepped back to regard him, the grin on her face causing her cheeks to ache, "Look at you! You look, well, odd out of uniform. Is Tess with you?"

The Romulan... Rayek... straightened his posture as the Captain stepped back to look him over. Her grin was infectious, as a smile grew on his face as well in reaction. Or maybe it was just nice to have someone actually know who he was. Yet his smile froze, and then widened on his face the moment she spoke the name Tess.

Memories of a raven-haired beauty descended on him. Over the course of a year, Rayek had gone from being merely Tess' commanding officer, to instead her enemy, and then fantasy, and even to her patient - growing over time into a close friendship that he belated realized was in fact love. His happiest day, was the day the Ba'ku woman had accepted him as her husband. So many amazing memories and strong feelings took hold of him that tears flowed from eyes.

Tess had borne his child - a son name Fvienn! The revelation was almost overwhelming.

She glanced at Fitzgerald, "Was he alone?" she turned back to Rayek before Fitzgerald could respond, "How did you get here? You are about as far from home as a person can be."

It was Captain Hadenbeer's question to Fitzgerald that triggered the end of Rayek's joy. 'Why had he been alone? Where was Tess?' he questioned himself - and the answer was suddenly apparent in his memories - whatever had blocked them before was gone.

The Thinkers had attacked their ship, the Amalthea, while the Starfleet ship had been attempting to open the Gamma Quadrant side of the wormhole which had been stuck closed for over a year in the aftermath of earlier Thinker offensive.

"I'm not certain." Rayek answered thickly, looking towards the red-headed Captain as he wiped at his eyes, clearing away his tears of joy. "I was badly injured during a Thinker attack and Tess ordered me to Sickbay. Padrini's scowl, as he looked over my injury, is the last thing I recall." His hand moved to the injury at his side that S'Lace had stitched up earlier. Was it the same one? "Before waking in an escape pod just a short while before being rescued by... your crew."

The Romulan knew Captain Hadenbeer - having met her, and her Bridge crew, some few months prior, when the Lionheart had been found adrift after their temporal drive left them stranded in the Gamma Quadrant in the future - their future - Rayek's natural timeline. Devan had changed dramatically in that short amount of time. She had aged. A worrisome suspicion grew. "Captain, what year is this?"

"It's stardate 34849.3," Devin replied, "For me it has been four years, but for you, well, honestly with Vulcans and Romulans with your comparative lifespans it can be hard to tell. I-"

Commander Junix entered the conference room, Devin turned and frowned when she regarded the XO's expression. Something about it...

The Romulan's forehead ridge stood out in more pronounced manner as Rayek furrowed his brow in reaction to the Captain's answer. By his recollection it had only been 8 months. Yet even more jarring than the discrepancy in the time apart - was the fact that he somehow had traveled into the past, 19 years. "Huh...Well, that's problem." How was he to get back?!

Devin mentally shook herself. As Junix took a seat Devin motioned for Rayek to take one as well. The Captain began, "This is Rayek, a refugee from...elsewhere. His presence complicates things a bit, as does the Gabriel refugees on board and what feels like a series of misdirections on the part of our unknown foes. At the moment we are heading away from Gabriel Station at warp one, I..."

Devin hesitated, then turned to the COO, "Lieutenant Fitzgerald, Rayek's escape pod represents technology from a future timeline. What happened to it?"

Alia swallowed but answered firmly. "I chose to leave it behind as I judged it would hamper our ability to escape or, possibly survive."

Devin recalled how Fitzgerald chose to describe the pod, dismissing it as a "jury-rigged" piece of equipment. She now wondered if the young officer truly believed that or had called it that to downplay her actions. "I see," Devin murmured, her expression unreadable, "And what happened to the pod?"

Rayek, at the Captain's gesture to sit, chose a spot where he had clear line of sight of the room's entrance. While the Captain introduced him by his given name, the Romulan took a closer look at those who were also in attendance. Not a single face, other than the Captain's, seemed familiar. It seemed much had changed in the four years here.

With a fuller comprehension of the situation, Rayek now understood why the escape pod had been taken by the B'rel class Bird-of-Prey. Leaving it behind was problematic... breaking numerous temporal rules... but there was no way for any of them to know that at the time he was being rescued.

Klarth looked at the Romulan. As Romulans go he didn't look particularly dangerous, but that's the problem isn't it, they never do until they are plunging the knife into your back. "If he is from the future, I don't supposed he knows anything about our current mission?" Klarth looked at the Romulan and said "Do you remember after hearing anything about an area called the Void an area where ships that enter are never heard from again?" Then Klarth smiled playfully and jokingly said "And I don't supposed you can tell me who will win the next 19 Bat'leth tournaments on Forcas III?"

Rayek regarded the questioning Klingon. The Romulan knew no matter how he replied, his responses would be distrusted by the Klingon. Even so, Rayek answered as honestly as he could.

"I only know what I've picked up from listening to the conversations in my presence." He paused as Klarth questioned if he knew anything about the Void and asked after bat'leth tournament stats and winners. Rayek shook his head with a slight chuckle.

Then Klarth looked to Sheppard and said "I don't suppose in the brief time the enemy ship was visible to Rumpleteaser any of the readings she had taken could shed any light on we talked about regarding what modifications they have that would possibly let them traverse the Void?"

Sheppard breaks his attention from the Captain and the Romulan. “Uh,” he stammers, scratching his right ear. “We would be looking for magnetometer pulses...refracted asymmetrically,” he says sounding more like a question than a statement of fact. “Theoretically a temporal dissonance could be causational?” he says, still sounding unsure.

Klarth didn't know what that meant, but he didn't really expect he would.

Klarth looks to R'elle and says "Did you have a chance to interview H'orri? She's the only scientist from Gabriel Station still alive. Was she working on the ship that appeared out of the Void or the book that was found in the ship?"

"I didn't ask her about that yet. I was more concerned about how she was feeling. She had been through a lot and I was worried about her state of mental health. She seems to be handling it alright for now. I am going to be monitoring her to make sure there is no post traumatic stress. Sometimes it rears it's head when you least expect and with all she has been through, well I think it is a distinct possibility."

"Well," said Klarth "if we don't get some answers about the Void we all might be suffering a very serious mental health problem, death!"

Klarth then looked to the Captain and said. "It's obvious from your greeting that he (Klarth pointed to Rayek) is a friend of yours. But it seems to be too big a coincidence that the same day we fight mysterious Romulans posing as Klingons that we find a Romulan in an escape pod? Surely these things are somehow related?" Klarth looks at Rayek and says "Are these enemies of ours from the future too?

And R'elle added "And Captain, if you friend is indeed from the future, well isn't it a violation of the temporal prime directive?"

Rayek also believed his arrival was no coincidence; but the Klingon's assumption that Rayek knew who their enemies were, he found to be rather accusatory and insulting. "And how would I know that? I only just was informed -by you... now... that they are Romulan's and not actually Klingons." Rayek snorted derisively. "I suppose it was wise of me not to assume your loyalty to the Captain was in question - just because they were in a Klingon ship."

"Don't twist my words" said Klarth. "As a general rule I'll admit, I don't trust Romulans further then I can throw them....but in this case I was just wondering if you were FIGHTING these Romulans in Klingon-clothing on the other side of the time journey."

Sheppard adds, “Captain, I can have a team run a series of simulations based on what we know now, and we might be able to confirm that the way through the void is temporal in nature, however…” He pauses, trying to think it through before saying it aloud. “If that’s the case, our current technology may not allow it, or worse… We may have no control over the outcome.” He cringes slightly, hating to disappoint the Captain.

Devin held up her hands, "All right, slow down, all of you. What happened to Rayek here may be...All right, is almost definitely my fault."

The Captain's words drew Rayek's attention. How was she to blame?! His expression clearly showed his disbelief.

She sighed and stood, then walked over to the door. She called out, "Mella'a, turn the ship around, warp two. We are going to engage both vessels." The doors swooshed closed as she made her way back to the head of the table, "I want that escape pod back and we are likely going to have to fight to get it. Hopefully both ships are there, wondering what happened. We can only hope they are still together, thinking of strength in numbers."

She reached the wall monitor and turned it on, then manipulated it as she kept talking, "Only Doctor Klarth here is aware for this, although it is within my power to authorize whomever I think needs to be aware of it. There have been officers who have come and gone and were blissfully ignorant of this."

A schematic of Lionheart appeared, Devin zoomed in on deck thirty five which was largely taken up a cargo bay. Devin pointed to it and said, "Lionheart possesses a drive that allows her to breach dimensional barriers. Years ago I took the Lionheart A on an expedition, the first of it's sort."

"Oh no," said Klarth. "Not this thing again. If I forget who I am again, I'll be very upset....though I guess I won't remember to be upset...oh just forget it!"

Rayek, of course, knew all this already. It had been his Captain-wife and he who had found the Lionheart-A stranded in the Gamma Quadrant... and Katra's and the Amalthea's engineers who had helped patch the ship and provide supplies to Hadenbeer's engineers so that the ship could continue on home.

She turned and regarded the room soberly, "We got lost. The 'experts' had not taken into account how mass affects the calculations for dimensional travel and we wound up not where we were supposed to be. On our travels back we arrived in a dimension almost exactly like ours, only some twenty years in the future. Rayek's home dimension," she nodded at the Romulan, "Last night I ran a diagnostic on the drive, covering my tracks by ordering a level three diagnostic. It was past due for a check up and we were in a remote area of space and Gabriel Station's sensors were down.

"What I believe happened is whatever caused Rayek to appear here somehow honed in on the drive's signature, which is why he wound up here and not the Bajoran wormhole."

Rayek looked to the Captain thoughtfully a moment. "That would make sense... since we were using science and tech based off of what our engineers learned from your dimensional drive to attempt to reopen the wormhole." Rayek admitted, glancing back to the display.

As Hadenbeer spoke something interesting was happening on the schematic. Something in deck thirty five's cargo bay was beginning to pulse green...then shifted into yellow...

The pulse of green had not been concerning to the Romulan. Green generally meant all was well. However, when that pulse shifted into yellow, he narrowed his gaze on the point of light. "Captain, I think there may be a problem." Rayek nodded towards the display.

Devin blinked, then turned to regard the schematic.

"Oh no," Hadenbeer breathed as she felt something cold and hollow form in the pit of her stomach...

 

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