Chapter 1

Posted on Sun Apr 17th, 2022 @ 3:24am by Captain Luzol Targaryen & Willian Targaryen & Commander Galatea & Captain Ryan Walsh & Captain Nathan Bishop & Commander Ash Randall & Commander Nathan Hawkins & Commander Jasmine Haynes & Lieutenant Commander Patton O'Sullivan & Lieutenant Dylan Blake & Lieutenant Bissiv th'Zaanaq & Lieutenant Cyrus Marner & Lieutenant R'relle & Warrant Officer Harris Zim

4,039 words; about a 20 minute read

Mission: Waiting for the End
Location: Starfleet One
Timeline: 3189-03-15, 07:00

Fleet Liason's Log, Stardate 866200.7, Commander Galatea Recording:

After a great deal of soul searching I have decided that it is important to give the Senior Staff of Starfleet One a bit more detail on what has happened to them and the history of this galaxy. Because of our shared history, and a bit more information that I am aware of that they are not, I am a bit trepidatious to share some details with them; however, they are deserving of the truth. No matter how painful it may be.

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Commander Galatea stood at the grill in the officer's lounge of Starfleet One gingerly making uttaberry crepes for the crew. When she last remembered attending a meeting hosted by Admiral Targaryen, or rather Captain Targaryen now, he had insisted upon having a meal available for those attending to make things a bit less formal. With the ship's current condition there were not many options available aside from rations, but the ship had a large assortment of Bajoran uttaberries aboard from their recent mission to Bajor before the transference. Uttaberry crepes may have been a pastry, but she felt that they were a genuinely friendly option for the bombshell she was about to drop upon them.

It was strange to see this ship so empty. She was more in line with having the ship filled to near capacity with thousands of crewmembers aboard. Instead they barely had a skeleton crew aboard at the moment and it was seriously messing with her head. Almost as much as she was certain her presence here was messing with the crew. So many of them did not trust her, she couldn't blame them, and why should they? Last time they saw her she was a hologram and imbedded in the ship's systems. She was now a far cry from that and looked like she could be grandmother to any of them. It was going to take some explaining.

As she prepared a plate she heard the doors slide open.

The Caitian counselor walked in. "I don't believe we have met. I am Counselor R'elle. It is nice to meet you." She said to Galatea, She stuck out her hand as seemed the custom among many people in Starfleet.

Galatea nodded, politely, to the officer who passed by. She checked her own memory banks for the Counselor, cross checking to see if she had ever had interactions in the past.

Zim had received word that there was to be a rather large meeting where possibly all would be explained. This was good news to him as he had a lot of questions, and feelings from the enlisted aboard that the Captain needed to hear. The Capellan knew more than most that a ship's enlisted were the heart and soul and if you did not pay attention to them your command would never succeed. These thoughts and many other scrolled through his mind as he walked into the Officer's Lounge. He was all business as he bypassed the refreshments and took his seat. He gave the Caitian a curt smile as he sat down. "Counselor..."

"Morning Zim." she smiled back at him.

The smell that hit Lieutenant Blake's nostrils evoked mixed feelings. Firstly, came the primal instinct of hunger. Having been living of months of rations and whatever limited supplies they'd been able to gather the prospect of freshly cooked food made his stomach growl loud enough to be heard by the others present. His second feeling however was polar opposite once he'd been able to identify what was being cooked by the elder woman who'd identified herself as Galatea. It was the Uttaberries they'd acquired from Bajor before things went sideways. The very berries he'd bartered for Commander Chire to sample and add variety in her diet being a giant bird she couldn't digest some items. Instantly the aroma bought back fresh memories of their time together and how much he missed her companionship. He hoped dearly she'd survived when the crew had been evacuated in the escape pods.

Feeling distinctly gloomy the Lieutenant sat a the nearest table in heavy silence

"Good morning Lt." R'elle said.

Lost in his own thoughts the Counsellor's cheery greeting was lost on Blake

Arriving a short time later Commander Hawkins entered the lounge and approached the gathered personnel: "Morning all, what's this? Breakfast?" he added suspiciously looking at the crepes. "A sweet treat to soften the blow?" he arched an eyebrow at the new guest. "Something tells me we're not going to like whatever it is you have to say."

"Uttaberries." Ash mused aloud, to herself, as she entered the Officers Lounge and followed her nose to where Galatea was making crepes. "Would you care for any assistance, Commander?" The Tuansee officer asked, while she looked on, tail swishing back and forth in a relaxed manner. The Chief Engineer looked tired but seemed in good spirits and had an air of relief about her.

Galatea looked between the two, somewhat grateful for the interruption. What she was going to share was more in the eye of the beholder than anything, but it wasn't going to be easy for many of them to hear. "I am quite well, Commander, thank you for offering."

"Don't be such a pessimist Commander Hawkins." R'elle looked over at Ash. A very attractive feline in her opinion! "Good morning Ash!" she said with a smile. She tried not to lick her lips. She managed but it took a little willpower. She went to the replicator and got her usual coffee /chocolate mix. Then R'elle began getting some food. Caitians are technically omnivorous but generally preferred meat. She grabbed up a selections of the different meats available!

Ash looked over her shoulder to R'elle at her greeting. "Good morning Councilor." Ash replied, with a little flick of her tail that echoed her greeting.

Ohh that tail! She was very sexy! R'elle's tail started flicking faster. She summoned up her courage and went over to Ash, "May I join you Ash?" she asked. Oh, R'elle was becoming quite taken. Well, there weren't that many feline species onboard and that fur color and pattern was beautiful.

"Sure." The Chief Engineer responded to R'elle and nodded to Galatea as she moved away. "Shall we?" She asked R'elle, as she moved to one of the empty tables near by and took a seat.

"Rrr, yes by all means!" she followed ash to the table, smiling happily, her tail flicking wildly, a sign of excitement and joy among caitians. after they sat down R'elle asked ash a question. "Ash you have been aboard much longer than I have. Do you know this woman, Galatea? I've never heard of her."

"Galatea is the AI of Starfleet One." Ash explained without going into any more detail than that. A whole lot was about to be explained and what Ash had to say on the subject might not be on the same page as what was about to be revealed so the Tuansee was keeping her mouth shut until otherwise indicated.

"Interesting. I wasn't aware that fedone had an AI!" R'elle said. She looked to Gaatea. The apparently former AI of the ship. Curioser and curiouser. She smiled at Ash. She had a feeling this would prove to be an informative meeting.

With a slight shake of his head Hawkins stepped aside as the two felines huddled together and collected himself a plate.

Cyrus came into where others were at, he had been perusing a datapad, he almost ran into the door but it opened just barely in time. He lowered the datapad , his nostrils catching the scent of delicious food." Oh this smells amazing!" he exclaimed. "Brings back memories of my mother making fresh pancakes with freshly made blueberry topping over it. With a dollop of whipped cream. This smells divine." complimenting Galatea as he got a plate and placing some crepes upon it. His southern drawl coming out. He went to take a seat to enjoy the food.

Walking along with his wife, Captain Willian Targaryen stepped through into the Officer's Lounge holding onto Luzol's arm to offer her support. He glanced at the kitchen and spotted Galatea inside busily cooking away. He glanced at his wife, having shared with her the truth as to why he knew Galatea was a legitimate party and not an impostor, before helping her to a seat. They were nearing the coordinates that the Federation Security Officer had provided them, but she was insistent upon this meeting.

"How many more are we waiting on?" He asked as he looked around the Lounge at the crew. He smirked after saying it, already falling into old habits, as Galatea would have no idea.

"That's a you question, Admira... Captain. I have not been aboard this ship in a long time," the synthetic officer announced. "I am able to start when you are ready."

The El-Aurian nodded, "Perhaps we should get started then. Others can join as they are able. You wanted to see us, Galatea, so please feel free to start your briefing."

Walking around with the plates that she had prepared, Galatea started setting them before the crew. Despite her age she was incredibly spry, moving at surprising speed and grace as she navigated the large lounge. "I suppose that the best place to start is by asking a simple question: what is the last thing that you remember before ending up here?"

Bishop walked in just as Galatea asked her question. He moved silently as he took a plate and placed a few pancakes and sausages along with a glass of orange juice before taking a seat and settling in before giving a nod to Hawkins and Cyrus. He looked around the room to hear how the others replied to Galatea's query.

Ash looked to Captain Targaryen and asked, "Captain?" The one-word question sounding like it might have been the continuation of a, long running, argument.

Patton walked into the room having had a situation he had to finish with and sat in an empty chair. He heard the question and spoke.

“I don’t really remember anything.” Patton spoke up. “After having dinner. It’s like a black hole for me. I know some things are missing because I remember heading out to go on shift the. Chaos.”

Captain Walsh came in right behind him and sat down next to him, which was a bit of a surprise. They weren’t exactly friendly at the moment, but not enemies either.

“We were evacuating.” Ryan replied. “I had just joined others to leave the ship.”

"I remember I had just joined the crew a few days before as the new councilor. I remember the alarm going off. Then nothing before finding ourselves here." R'elle said.

Lieutenant Th'Zaanaq still kept his distance from the crew. He didn't want to seem overly friendly but at the same time he didn't want them to fear him after their first run in together. He was pleased that he had been welcomed abroad but still got the odd feeling he wasn't welcome. He didn't known if he was imagining it or not.

He grabbed a plate and served himself some food before heading to a free table.

Galatea noted that she was unfamiliar with the Andorian that had joined them, her own memories searching for a name that she could not find. It had to be someone that they had come across since arriving in this era, but she would have to do more research. Instead, she kept up appearances.

"Exactly, Captain," she directed back at Walsh. "What was only around six months ago for all of you involved this ship being evacuated as we traveled to Ni'Var after we encountered a subspace anomaly while at Warp. The ship was heavily damaged in the process, nearly destroyed, and the evacuation suspended when Commanders Ash, Bishara, and Hawkins were able to stabilize the ship." She set a final place, "at least that is what history shows as having happened."

She paused, allowing the information to sink in for the crew before she spelled it out for them. "Not to get all timey whimey, but the anomaly that this ship encountered created a quantum duplicate of it. One ship remained in the 25th Century and traveled to Ni'Var where it was instrumental in restoring the Vulcans as members of the Federation. The other was trapped in a relativistic nightmare where it was propelled forward to an era where the Federation is nearly destroyed, dilithium is almost nonexistent, and I look like the only person older than me would be father time himself."

Still feeling sour Blake rolled his eyes at Galatea's choice of wording as if they were a collection of children.

Commander Randall blinked a few times at the revelations from Galatea, shrugged, and stood up. "Well, if that's it, I have work to do." She announced, as if what she heard was old news, and looked to Captain Targaryen. "Permission to go back to work, Captain?" She asked, expectantly.

Zim agreed with Commander Randall. There was no use in discussing what happened when they could not change it. Although, this new piece of news made it clear to him that there was no way they could go back. So, they might as well make the best of the situation they were in. "I too would like permission to return to my station. Unless Commander Galatea can tell me how my people are fairing in this time, I think I can be of better use to the ship manning my station."

Willian considered the request, he himself also impacted by what Galatea had suggested. Suddenly so much made sense of what had happened to them since they arrived in this Godforsaken timeline. Even with his supposition that such a convergence had occurred it still stung to hear officially.

"Galatea," he spoke up, "what exactly is the Federation's status?"

"It's been a while since I was last hooked up with HQ, but it is not very pretty these days. The Federation experienced a bit of a renaissance after the fall of the Romulan Empire and their absorption into the Federation. We peaked at 350 member worlds with thousands of colonies spread across the entire Milky Way. Problem was dilithium was becoming scarce even before the Burn. The Federation Council made an alternative a galactic priority, we were close, but the strain that dilithium put upon the galaxy started to rip us apart even before the Burn. The Vulcans came closest with an experiment called SB19, but it was concurrent with the Burn. Hell, it may have been the cause. There are more theories than we have ships frankly." She sighed, "But that's not what you asked. Chief, I do not have an answer for you. Your planet is not one that we have had much contact with since the Burn. The Federation consists of roughly 38 members, maybe more and maybe less. With the limits on communication and travel we really cannot be completely sure. Some have remained, some claim to have remained, others have lied about it. The only ones I can tell you definitively have left are the Andorians, Humans, and Vulcans. Only the Tellarites have remained of the founding worlds."

R'elle was scared to ask her question, but she had to know. "Galatea, what of cait? How are they faring?" in a way it was comforting that a version of her did survive and perhaps went on to a happy life but she was here and now and wanted to know of her home.

"I am sorry, Counselor, but I am afraid I have very little information on Cait. It has been a long while since we were out that way either," she carried a plate with her as she walked over toward the CO. Setting a plate before Admiral Luzol, she continued walking.

Ash shook her head. "All, processed, dilithium has the same quantum structure and responds to the same resonance frequencies. Transmit the right resonance field through sub-space and any vessel travelling at warp would find it's dilithium crystals resonating in sympathy and, if of sufficient intensity, they would shatter." The Chief Engineer mused, quietly. "Get that resonance to travel through the subspace communication systems and you not only get ships at warp you get every facility using a dilithium matrix that also has a sub-space receiver in proximity to it." She added, and sighed. "It was a sub-space resonance field causing a sympathetic response in our dilithium matrix that destabilized the warp drive of StarFleet One after the worm hole suddenly appeared." She continued and looked to Galatea. "What kind of reception are we about to get?" She asked.

Galatea processed what the Chief Engineer had said, "As I said there are many theories about what caused the Burn. The only concrete thing we know is it appeared to cross the entire galaxy simultaneously. Every ship with an active warp drive was destroyed. Only a handful of starships survived in every major power. No one's seen a Klingon in almost a century, the Romulans and Vulcans have sealed their borders to us, the Ferengi and Cardassians are still friendly, but we encounter them infrequently. The Chain - the Andorian/Orion mercantile alliance - is the dominant government of the galaxy." She glanced at a few of the crew, "I think you have had some experience with them."

Cyrus had taken another bite of his food when the news that Galatea had just revealed made his fork pause and he looked at her, then towards Will. "I have a question, if we have a splinter of ourselves in another reality, is it possible to once in awhile have glimpses of what our other selves are experiencing? Like in dreams or flashes? I've had dreams of me being somewhere that I've not been before."

"That is a very good question, Doctor," Galatea interrupted before the Captain could answer. "Truth be told I do not know the answer. Most of our databases have been restricted, we have lost a lot of good people and a lot of good researchers over the time of the Burn. I will work to get you an answer though."

Jasmine's stiff leg, made her a little sensitive but she was hiding the pain well. She managed to hide the limp as well. It was healing but a little slower than she would have preferred. She walked over to the table area and noticed that the others were sitting down. "May I join you all?" Jasmine asked, as she looked to the Doctor and Galatea.

"Please join us, Madame Secretary," Galatea paused, "I am sorry, High Commissioner." She rubbed her head, "Guess my subprocessors are not like they used to be." She walked over to the console and grabbed another plate, "Computer, display navigational holo."Willian was about to interrupt when Galatea beat him to the punch, "I reinstated my command access codes when I arrived aboard, Captain. I was a little surprised to find that my systems were not fully integrated, but that is to be expected and is actually better for everyone once we reconnect with the fleet."

"Next time ask before you go mucking about our computers," Willian chastised the android.

She nodded, "My apologies for my efforts, Captain. It seemed prudent to reestablish my connections to the ship and crew so that I could best serve all of you as we reconnect with Starfleet. The Federation needs this ship more than ever and my job will be to help acclimate each of you to this time period. The Admiral has been notified that I have made contact with you and she is very much looking forward to meeting you when we reach the Stargazer."

"How long?" Luzol interrupted.

Galatea pointed to the floating hologlobe, "We'll be there within the hour. The Stargazer's quite a ship. I think that you will all be very impressed by her. As well as the rest of the Battle Group."

Zim simply sat with his arms folded as he listened and took everything in. Having not been given permission to leave he remained. Although he felt entirely out of place at a function such as this, and what made matters worse was that he felt they walked into more than they bargained for.

"What about you Galatea?" Hawkins asked the woman watching the way she moved around the mess hall with surprising ease considering her apparent age. "How are you living so independently? And how did you find us?"

Galatea was about to answer the question when Captain Targaryen rose from his seat, "It's been a rather long meeting already, best to leave some mystery for another day." He looked around at the crew, "We meet up with Starfleet soon. Let's get ready for the homecoming."

"Another time then," Galatea answered with a polite smile. "Can people at least stay and finish their breakfasts?"

"If they wish," Willian said with a nod.

Disappointed the Captain had called time on their question time Hawkins tucked into the remains of his crepe hungrily before they made final preparations.

Ash shook her head and shrugged before taking a seat at the table she was at. There was no point in letting the crepe go to waste and Ash was, somewhat, relieved she wouldn't need to keep the duality of SF1 a secret anymore, not that she was going to talk about it much when there really wasn't any point in doing so except for self-validation and cause herself problems. Ash had enough problems already and was only just beginning to wrap her arms around the most major of them. The Tuansee took a bite of her crepe and looked to R'elle. "Do you have any openings in your calendar to see a new patient?" She asked.

"Of course Ash. I'll make time for you if I need to. When do you want to start?" R'elle answered. Now she was a bit concerned. She really didn't know ash that well. She really didn't know anybody aboard that well as she was still fairly new. However she liked ash and wanted to help her any way she could.

Ash took another bite of crepe while R'elle answered and nodded while she chewed. "Thank you. As early as you can fit me in after we get where we're going, would be great." Ash responded, with a little smile, and a sigh.

"Of course. When we get wherever we are going. we can start Ash." she smiled at the Tuansee. Yeah she had a weak spot for her, but even so, if she needed help, she would jump at the chance to help Ash!

The Chief Engineer nodded. "Thank you...I look forward to starting." Ash replied, took a final bite of crepe and then settled back in her chair for a few seconds with her eyes closed while she took a few, deep, breaths and then opened her eyes again. "That's the most I have eaten in one sitting in 2 months. I'm stuffed." She admitted, the single crepe being barely what would pass as an appetizer let alone a meal. "See you soon." Ash announced as she stood up from the table. "Time to do what I do." She added as she moved off and called back. "Thanks again."

As soon as the words lets get ready left the Captain's mouth Zim was on his feet and heading for the door. He was of a mixed mind about what went on. He had been on the side of heading into the future, however, now that they were here he was not so sure it was the right decision. If you asked the Capellan he would tell you that it seemed that no one had been upfront with them since they arrived. Zim decided the best way for him to handle the situation at least for the time being was to man his station and keep his eyes open. There may come a time when he would have to speak up.

Blake too left the lounge quickly eager to return to his station as distraction to allow him to process the truth of their situation.

 

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