<USS Avalon> Tempering With Time by Lieutenant Anthony Manson

Tempering With Time

by Lieutenant Anthony Manson



Silence was the company of space these days. There were very few ships 
traveling between star systems. Space commerce as it were was almost 
non-existent. For one reason long range transporter technology had cut the 
space way business too almost nothing. There was no longer any need for ships 
aside from defense. The other reason was the seeming chaos that raged 
throughout the alpha quadrant for a better part of nearly three hundred years. 
After the break of the Federation, trade wasn?t the same. And since then hadn?t 
made any sense. Many were rebuilding their worlds, and were far too concerned 
with energy consumption and food to be bothered with credits, monetary sums, 
and the such.

And even through the tumultuous years, the Federation still stood. A ship 
soared through the stars at faster than warp nine. It?s bow was a dagger like 
point and the body narrow. The metal on the ship appeared white, pristine as 
marble itself and under the gaze of a sun, it looked like a beacon to a better 
place. Yet the design was meant to be intimidating. It was bred for war. While 
the peace between the Alliance and the UCP still existed, the Alliance was 
clear on one point; the UCP will never again catch the Alliance off guard. To 
that end since the peace, the Alliance bred newer, faster, and more heavily 
armed ships designed specifically for border patrols and defense incase there 
were any incursions. Orders had also been given that because of the required 
demands, a minimum crew was to be sufficient for the vessel, and replicator 
rations be restricted to only the most needed supplies and manufactured 
products. 

The U.S.S. Octavius, streaked past the borders and headed out to known space. 
The borders of the UCP and the Alliance was far between and the ships primary 
orders were clear; investigate a temporal anomaly detected from a scout ship. 
Captain K?len sat in her chair which was painfully upright and as always on the 
center of the bridge. She had a severe cut for her hair, dark brown eyes and 
pale skin, she wore a predominantly black uniform having the familiar four pips 
on the upper right of her neck. The room was well lit and only had five 
consoles that occupied the room. Operations, Helm, Tactical, Science and 
Engineering. There were no secondary stations as Starfleet felt that it didn?t 
need any. Each one manned by Starfleet officers. Two humans, a Bolian, a 
Deltan, and a Klingon to be exact. The ship held a crew of sixty, and decks ran 
down from the bridge to deck twenty six. Most of the vessel had been 
compromised for weapons and engines. After all, it was a ship of war. 

The Vulcan Captain looked up from her PADD, reviewing the latest reports from 
all departments. "Ensign, status report."

"We?ve passed the Federation border thirty minutes ago. Currently running under 
cloak, and all departments including engineering and security report ship 
readiness at any moment?s notice." Ensign Tate replied as she continued to 
monitor her console. 

"Our estimated time of arrival at the UCP border, ensign?" 

"Within two hours ma?am." 

Captain K?len simply nodded, "commander," as she turned to see the Klingon who 
sat surprisingly comfortably on his seat, "you have command; I shall be in my 
ready room. Alert me if anything arises."

The Klingon, in a dark blue department uniform, nodded. Captain K?len made her 
way to her ready room. Upon entering she relaxed herself against the doors and 
sighed. A most atypical expression for a Vulcan. Nothing is as it was once, why 
stop with us Vulcans, she thought to herself. As far as she knew, Vulcans had 
been expressing emotions about a century before the wars. It was- at first- 
defied and thought to be some neural epidemic spreading across the entire 
species, but later it was realized to be simply as evolution. 

Her mission was a simple one but entailed risk. She sat by her desk and 
accessed the terminal for records and all pertinent information. According to 
the sensor logs of the scout ship- Hermes, a temporal anomaly was detected 
three light years into UCP territory. Further long range scans indicated a lone 
ship, Federation in design. Sensor records also showed it was 500 years out of 
date. Starfleet, having heard of this almost immediately after the sensor pick 
up, assumed that it was the U.S.S. Avalon. History indicated that she was lost 
with all hands. A few years after her disappearance, Starfleet sent another 
ship- the U.S.S. Seraph- to study the rifts and hopefully draw a conclusion of 
what happened to the Avalon. As far as the Seraph could tell, the U.S.S. Avalon 
was not destroyed but entered the region and was lost into temporal 
displacement.

Her two objectives were very clear. One, to get the Avalon into safety away 
from UCP general orders. And two attempt to get the Avalon back in it?s own 
time. Starfleet- or the Alliance for the matter- did not condone temporal 
replacement, but the Council had convinced all concerned parties that such an 
attempt was minute in comparison to what they had in plan during the wars. The 
ATD- Alliance Temporal Division- came to a hypothesis that with the return of 
the Avalon, the wars that had been placed in the last centuries may have been 
averted. Since the Avalon never returned to their own time in their present 
history, it was safe to assume that this one act may change the future and save 
the billions that had passed in the alpha quadrant?s dark history. 

Being a scientist by profession, K?len understood that there were two 
possibilities with this attempt. One, the Avalon returns and in so doing 
destroys this universe and sets forth a new timeline. Or two, the Avalon 
returns- the current universe remains the same, and therefore a new timeline 
splits with a different history. It was a very risky attempt to do such a 
thing, but as long as the Avalon went back in time, there was that possibility 
that everything can be changed. Her mind raced through the possibilities of 
this temporal shift. One could be advance temporal technology that the Octavius 
had on board. Or two attempt a Feynman curve around a sun- which then the 
Avalon had to be close to their original starting point if they wanted to 
return safely or accurately enough.

Orders were clear. Penetrate the UCP border undetected and come in contact with 
the Avalon and maintain strict communication silence until the objective was 
complete.

Captain K?len looked at it. What if the Avalon was already in contact with the 
UCP? Would she risk a treaty that could plunge the quadrant into another war, 
or help those that had the future in their hands? Time; the devil you know, and 
the devil you don?t. What would she do?


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