S1 M4 "The Temporal Variable"

[Ian Galloway]

[Briefing Room]

Ian entered the briefing room, still trying to process the unexpected summons to be there at all. When he looked at the others in the room along with the palpable tension, he wished he could beam himself back down to his regular duty station at the auxiliary helm behind the backup console on the battle bridge.

"Oh bloody hell."

He thought, before clearing his throat and taking pride in the fact that he managed not to squeak as he spoke.

"Cadet Ian Galloway reporting as ordered."

[Lizzie Vaughan]

[Briefing Room]

James kept staring at the PADD he could not help see the names over and over again.  He was not in command, but it reminded him of the pressures of command.   The hardest orders are usually the ones that leads to someone's death.

As he looked at the PADD he heard the doors of the turbolift swish open.

How could I even considering this...on one side we have this list of people that would die if we engage on this, but if we don't we might be erasing from the timeline an entire civilization, cultures stories from sentient living people.  James thought

He looked up and noticed Lizzie coming into the Briefing Room.  He attempted to give a fake smile that everything was ok.  Afterwards he looked at the PADD.  She sat down next to James

James looked at Lizzie and gave another fake smile.  He tried to think of a joke, but his mind was blank.  His eyes began to water.  His eyes began turning red and glassy.   Hawke was attempting to hold his emotions in check.  He was telling himself not to get emotionally invested, but he couldn't.  He shook his head and responded candidly "No, I am not..." His eyes began to water more "I can't save everyone"

He first handed the wedding picture to Lizzie so she could look at it.

James then gave a smile "You look happy, umm...I don't know how to say this...so when I was there, like always....I took my shirt off...so they handed me my old shirt which there was a picture ...of you, as my wife....I know is kinda awkward still wrapping my head on that one...but bear with me"

He then turned to her and looked her in the eyes "I met her , you should have seen her, Elizabeth Masters...she is one of our descendants, named after you... swear to god she had your hair and your sense of duty, all I have to say is thank god my genes got diluted"  James smiled as he made a joke.

James then took a second and reflected " Umm...I can see this...apparently you were great mother and managed to control me...I don't know how you managed that one...you're probably a saint for that one...she was amazing...you did a great job, I almost felt proud of you"  He took a deep breath and then grabbed the PADD.

Then he felt more weight "This PADD contains the names of every person that died on the Tempest people we know and care about.  If we do nothing and let history play out we are sending them to their death if we do something...we are taking away all these life and joy of the universe"

James then tried to reach his hand as he wanted to tell her something else but they were interrupted as the door swished open.  It was another familiar face.

James remained sitting as his eyes were still watering.  There was pain in the message he was giving, but also moments of joy.    He noticed Normandy come in and squatting next to him.

James observed Normady as he appeared affected by the situation.  The decision that needed to be made was not a simple one and one that would affect other people than himself.   With a sincere tone James said "I didn't know that about you, I can tell you one thing she was proud of that name and probably you too,  I swear for a moment, she sounded like you when I jumped a deck and she promptly informed me that they have stairs"  James gave a faint smile

"I don't know if a drink can fix it"  James pondered.

As James was speaking to Normandy he noticed other individuals coming in.  From the corner of his eyes he noticed that K'lizh was still standing.

James noticed how he had his knuckles on the table as he was still standing.  He had his knuckles on the table.  The tone of voice directed towards Normandy was not appreciated.  It was a delicate matter.   Before James could respond...he was interrupted by Normandy.

With a sudden outburst James had it.  Standing up while everyone was sitting was a sign of power or superiority.  Hawke did not know if he meant it that particular way but he was already emotional.  He stood up and looked at the Caitlain.  "Take your seat, Lieutenant "  James emphasize the Lieutenant part.   He was in an emotional state and was not in the mood to play around.  Normally, he was one of the most informal officers of the ship.

He then nodded at his friend Normandy.

He then ranted "You want logic....I'll give you logic, those individuals are a civilization they are whether we like it or not they ARE sentient beings, for all intent and purposes they are ALIVE...we have Temporal Directive and the Prime Directive to consider...not only that we also have the life of our OWN crewmates to consider...and to make this more logical remember that prime timelines are a matter of perspective and wait a second ....we don't even know what the consequences on other civilizations  in short....SOMEONE has to die and who made us Gods to decide?"  James ranted.

As he finished, James then looked down.  He knew he overstepped his bounds and acceptable behavior.  He looked at everyone and said "I'm sorry that was uncalled for" As he finished he sat down against.  The last time he altered time he did it to save lives...now he has to take lives away.

Briefing Room

Lizzie looked at the picture and gasped. It was her, in a white dress on her wedding day! She looked so happy and relaxed. She realised, that while it may have taken James and her a while to settle down, they had made each other very happy. She also saw the list of Names that James mentioned, and it was not a short one. What a terrible choice to have to make. To either sacrifice so many of their crew and trap the rest in the past to ensure the timeline carried out as the other crew had describe or change the course of history and wipe out the other crew and all the colonists out of existence. It was a dammed if you do and dammed if you don't scenario.  She had no comfort to give or advice to offer. She handed the PADD back to him and placed her hand on his arm before taking her seat. She sat there, silently as she fought with her emotions, waiting for Will to address the room.

[William Waring]

[Briefing Room]

Will had let the Senior Officers talk amongst themselves. It was only right to let them say what they thought needed to be said. That is until an outburst occurred. That's when he to draw the line.

"Enough!" He said, slamming his into the table causing a pound thud "You are a Senior Officer and shouldn't be acting like a kid from down in the School! I don't care what emotional attachment you may or may not have to those on the other ship but I not to allow outburst such as that again. I hope I have made myself clear, Lieutenant Commander." He stared straight at James for a moment until he heard the door open behind him and the voice of one of the new crew.

[Briefing Room]

Ian entered the briefing room, still trying to process the unexpected summons to be there at all. When he looked at the others in the room along with the palpable tension, he wished he could beam himself back down to his regular duty station at the auxiliary helm behind the backup console on the battle bridge.

"Oh bloody hell."

He thought, before clearing his throat and taking pride in the fact that he managed not to squeak as he spoke.

"Cadet Ian Galloway reporting as ordered."

Will took a moment to cool down before addressing the Cadet. "Mister Galloway, I'm glad you decided to join us. No better way to meet the Senior Staff then during a briefing such as this." Will took a moment to look around the table "As the CFO has yet to show you may use that seat at the table." He gave the man a nod and turned back to address everyone's assembled "Now, if we can agree to move past what happened moments ago, I would like to hear what everyone has on the matter."

Naga listened to everyone as tensions ran high.  Many had descendants on that ship, just as she did.  There were a few things that puzzled her about their reactions, however, and maybe this was just a Gorn view of things, but when she was indicated to speak, she told them all her exact thoughts on the matter, and what she had learned.  "There were many profound things I learned over on that ship, and in my discussion with The Elder and Hrissan."  She began.  "So many incredible things that I am still.... humbled.  For one, there is a successful Gorn colony now which lives symbiotically with humans and other sentients.  Second, a good percentage of this population are directly related to me, and according to the records I found, it means there is a possibility I may someday be able to regain two or three of my brood."  She had to pause for a moment as her throat fluttered, her doral frills were extended and the blood flushing into them gave the delicate looking things a violet hue, before she pushed on.  "... which means I will be able to figure out how to do this sometime in the future.  And make no mistake, I will discover how, weather or not this particular temporal displacement comes to pass or not.  I learned that I have it in me to mate and marry outside my species, though the Elder did not divulge his Identity fully.  I learned that family does not always have to have blood bonds, as I was told that I have Caitian grandchildren in their current timeline.  This is a tricky sort of situation, but who is to say that, armed with what we now know, we won't be able to provide a better life, a future for our children and these people we met?  The Elder obviously lived and thrived on this planet where they landed, as did their descendants, but since she is me, she knew all of you, all of them, for 200 years.  I know how I think, and what I think is intolerable.  If the Elder had thought that none of this was possible, if she thought that changing the past would ensure that lives would be erased forever, she would have tried to warn me of it.  Instead, she merely told me of the possibilities open to me in my life.  Maybe we won't all be the same people, or have children that are exactly the same, but I believe we shouldn't be too fearful.  In fact, I think something may have already changed."  she took out a data pad and sent a medical record to the central table.  "As Doctor Belmont already knows, I have put in a request earlier today to get my sickle claws replaced.  According to the other Tempest's records, I did not request that until we had already been on the planet for a week.  Things may already have been different since this morning."

Will nodded as Naga spoke "Interesting. Any reason for this request now instead of a week from now? Or any information regarding our situation would be of value." He finished, giving the floor the the Senior Officers.

[Ian Galloway]

[Briefing Room]

[Briefing Room]

Will had let the Senior Officers talk amongst themselves. It was only right to let them say what they thought needed to be said. That is until an outburst occurred. That's when he to draw the line.

"Enough!" He said, slamming his into the table causing a pound thud "You are a Senior Officer and shouldn't be acting like a kid from down in the School! I don't care what emotional attachment you may or may not have to those on the other ship but I not to allow outburst such as that again. I hope I have made myself clear, Lieutenant Commander." He stared straight at James for a moment until he heard the door open behind him and the voice of one of the new crew.Will took a moment to cool down before addressing the Cadet. "Mister Galloway, I'm glad you decided to join us. No better way to meet the Senior Staff then during a briefing such as this." Will took a moment to look around the table "As the CFO has yet to show you may use that seat at the table." He gave the man a nod and turned back to address everyone's assembled "Now, if we can agree to move past what happened moments ago, I would like to hear what everyone has on the matter."Will nodded as Naga spoke "Interesting. Any reason for this request now instead of a week from now? Or any information regarding our situation would be of value." He finished, giving the floor the the Senior Officers.

"Aye Sir!"

Ian responded automatically and without thinking about it as he looked at the indicated chair like it was a Denebian Slime Devil, but managed to take a seat without tripping over his own feet. Ian sat ramrod straight and in complete silence figuring whatever was going on was so far above his level that he'd sit there until the galaxy froze over unless asked to say something.

"Looks like the soddin' 285th Rule of Acquisition that 'No good deed goes unpunished' has never been truer than it is right now. I trade shifts with someone so they can go on a date and here I am in the middle of some sort of senior staff dust up. Note to self, 'your shift is your shift' no more tradin'."

[Naga Rylu]

[Briefing Room]

Will had let the Senior Officers talk amongst themselves. It was only right to let them say what they thought needed to be said. That is until an outburst occurred. That's when he to draw the line.

"Enough!" He said, slamming his into the table causing a pound thud "You are a Senior Officer and shouldn't be acting like a kid from down in the School! I don't care what emotional attachment you may or may not have to those on the other ship but I not to allow outburst such as that again. I hope I have made myself clear, Lieutenant Commander." He stared straight at James for a moment until he heard the door open behind him and the voice of one of the new crew.Will took a moment to cool down before addressing the Cadet. "Mister Galloway, I'm glad you decided to join us. No better way to meet the Senior Staff then during a briefing such as this." Will took a moment to look around the table "As the CFO has yet to show you may use that seat at the table." He gave the man a nod and turned back to address everyone's assembled "Now, if we can agree to move past what happened moments ago, I would like to hear what everyone has on the matter."Will nodded as Naga spoke "Interesting. Any reason for this request now instead of a week from now? Or any information regarding our situation would be of value." He finished, giving the floor the the Senior Officers.

"I am afraid my only reason was nerve pain, sir, and I didn't wish to put the operation off any longer."  She replied, giving him a short bow of respect.  "I've been meaning to do it for some months now.  Cold air does seem to make it worse as well."  Cold air, sudden movements, stubbing toes on any steps or corners...

[Lizzie Vaughan]

[Briefing Room]

Will had let the Senior Officers talk amongst themselves. It was only right to let them say what they thought needed to be said. That is until an outburst occurred. That's when he to draw the line.

"Enough!" He said, slamming his into the table causing a pound thud "You are a Senior Officer and shouldn't be acting like a kid from down in the School! I don't care what emotional attachment you may or may not have to those on the other ship but I not to allow outburst such as that again. I hope I have made myself clear, Lieutenant Commander." He stared straight at James for a moment until he heard the door open behind him and the voice of one of the new crew.Will took a moment to cool down before addressing the Cadet. "Mister Galloway, I'm glad you decided to join us. No better way to meet the Senior Staff then during a briefing such as this." Will took a moment to look around the table "As the CFO has yet to show you may use that seat at the table." He gave the man a nod and turned back to address everyone's assembled "Now, if we can agree to move past what happened moments ago, I would like to hear what everyone has on the matter."Will nodded as Naga spoke "Interesting. Any reason for this request now instead of a week from now? Or any information regarding our situation would be of value." He finished, giving the floor the the Senior Officers.

Briefing Room

Lizzie sat there and listened to Will have a go at James. She agreed that this was not the place to loose your cool. But on the other hand, she could also understand the depth of the emotion he showed as it was a truly terrible decision to make. Made worse by the fact that there had been a breach of the Temporal Prime Directive. With the crew not only being given, but actually reading data on their future selves. She sat up a bit straighter and spoke with a voice that was heavy with feeling.

"I don't think we have any right to have any say on what may or may not happen. If temporal mechanics tells us anything, it's that you cannot hope to try and influence the future or the past with any accuracy. All we can do is agree on a course of action and accept the consequences." She said, barely able to keep the tears at bay at the choice they were faced with.

[Zed Masters]

Briefing Room

Lizzie sat there and listened to Will have a go at James. She agreed that this was not the place to loose your cool. But on the other hand, she could also understand the depth of the emotion he showed as it was a truly terrible decision to make. Made worse by the fact that there had been a breach of the Temporal Prime Directive. With the crew not only being given, but actually reading data on their future selves. She sat up a bit straighter and spoke with a voice that was heavy with feeling.

"I don't think we have any right to have any say on what may or may not happen. If temporal mechanics tells us anything, it's that you cannot hope to try and influence the future or the past with any accuracy. All we can do is agree on a course of action and accept the consequences." She said, barely able to keep the tears at bay at the choice they were faced with.

[Briefing Room]

Zed listened quietly for a moment absorbing what everyone had to say. He thought carefully on every word before thinking even more carefully about his response. He led his first sentence with a short sigh. "We have the only right." He paused to allow his words to sink in to everyone else. "We can't save everyone. We can't even try. We have two options. Prevent the accident and save lives of our crew, or follow their timeline. They were family, but so is everyone on the list of people that die in the crash. It's somehow a worse version of trolley problem. Do you pull the lever and send it to kill the family you barely know, or let the trolley plow over the family you know." Normandy paused again letting out another sigh. He looked down to the floor a moment and then back up to William. "Whatever we do, we have to live with our decision for the rest of our lives."

The room was charged with emotion to say the very least. Zed had spent a lot of time trying to tune out emotions that he didn't need to know, but this was different. It was about as bad as when he was a child. His head had already began pounding and the pain was killing him. He wanted the meeting to end so he could sit alone in his room for a long time to allow him to calm down. Normandy felt like he was going to pass out at any time from the pain. It made him miss every other mission. At least then he knew that if he died or passed out it would be either heroically or at the least under extreme circumstances. Not sitting in a briefing room surrounded by the crew.

[James H. Hawk]

[Briefing Room]

Zed listened quietly for a moment absorbing what everyone had to say. He thought carefully on every word before thinking even more carefully about his response. He led his first sentence with a short sigh. "We have the only right." He paused to allow his words to sink in to everyone else. "We can't save everyone. We can't even try. We have two options. Prevent the accident and save lives of our crew, or follow their timeline. They were family, but so is everyone on the list of people that die in the crash. It's somehow a worse version of trolley problem. Do you pull the lever and send it to kill the family you barely know, or let the trolley plow over the family you know." Normandy paused again letting out another sigh. He looked down to the floor a moment and then back up to William. "Whatever we do, we have to live with our decision for the rest of our lives."

The room was charged with emotion to say the very least. Zed had spent a lot of time trying to tune out emotions that he didn't need to know, but this was different. It was about as bad as when he was a child. His head had already began pounding and the pain was killing him. He wanted the meeting to end so he could sit alone in his room for a long time to allow him to calm down. Normandy felt like he was going to pass out at any time from the pain. It made him miss every other mission. At least then he knew that if he died or passed out it would be either heroically or at the least under extreme circumstances. Not sitting in a briefing room surrounded by the crew.

[Breifing Room]

Until now, James had silently observed the meeting. He was strongly against allowing the accident to happen but he wasn't quite sure what to say so he kept his mouth shut.

"Mr. Masters is right. We only have two options so that is not in question, we must decide what we do," James said finally speaking. "I'm sure you have all heard the Vulcan proverb 'the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.' In this case, our crew is the many and I for one wouldn't be able to live knowing we made a conscious decision and knowingly killed hundreds of our shipmates," he paused briefly for effect before continuing, "It's not a matter of who we kill but who we save and I say we save our crew."

[Ian Galloway]

[Briefing Room]

Ian remained silent as the seniors quarreled and tried to fill in the blanks of what was causing tension.

"Alright lad, here is what ya know. Red alert sounded because a proximity alert caused by another ship. That ship is supposedly the Tempest from the future. Seems like an away team went over and confirmed this is true and everyone has their knickers in an uproar over meeting their descendants. Well, I can sure see where that would upset the apple cart. Bloody hell, I wonder if there are any Galloways over there? Regardless, we get trapped in the past, some die, and if we avoid the accident, we will collapse that timeline and all those people disappear. If ever there was a time for Mrs Galloway's little boy Ian to keep his gob shut this is it."

Ian glanced around the room as nonchalantly has he could and continued to wonder why he'd be called in to this briefing.

[William Waring]

"I am afraid my only reason was nerve pain, sir, and I didn't wish to put the operation off any longer."  She replied, giving him a short bow of respect.  "I've been meaning to do it for some months now.  Cold air does seem to make it worse as well."  Cold air, sudden movements, stubbing toes on any steps or corners...

[Conference Room]

"I see. Nothing more then coincidence then." Will let out an internal sigh. He had hoped things would go smoother then they had.

Briefing Room

Lizzie sat there and listened to Will have a go at James. She agreed that this was not the place to loose your cool. But on the other hand, she could also understand the depth of the emotion he showed as it was a truly terrible decision to make. Made worse by the fact that there had been a breach of the Temporal Prime Directive. With the crew not only being given, but actually reading data on their future selves. She sat up a bit straighter and spoke with a voice that was heavy with feeling.

"I don't think we have any right to have any say on what may or may not happen. If temporal mechanics tells us anything, it's that you cannot hope to try and influence the future or the past with any accuracy. All we can do is agree on a course of action and accept the consequences." She said, barely able to keep the tears at bay at the choice they were faced with.

[Briefing Room]

Zed listened quietly for a moment absorbing what everyone had to say. He thought carefully on every word before thinking even more carefully about his response. He led his first sentence with a short sigh. "We have the only right." He paused to allow his words to sink in to everyone else. "We can't save everyone. We can't even try. We have two options. Prevent the accident and save lives of our crew, or follow their timeline. They were family, but so is everyone on the list of people that die in the crash. It's somehow a worse version of trolley problem. Do you pull the lever and send it to kill the family you barely know, or let the trolley plow over the family you know." Normandy paused again letting out another sigh. He looked down to the floor a moment and then back up to William. "Whatever we do, we have to live with our decision for the rest of our lives."

The room was charged with emotion to say the very least. Zed had spent a lot of time trying to tune out emotions that he didn't need to know, but this was different. It was about as bad as when he was a child. His head had already began pounding and the pain was killing him. He wanted the meeting to end so he could sit alone in his room for a long time to allow him to calm down. Normandy felt like he was going to pass out at any time from the pain. It made him miss every other mission. At least then he knew that if he died or passed out it would be either heroically or at the least under extreme circumstances. Not sitting in a briefing room surrounded by the crew.

[Breifing Room]

Until now, James had silently observed the meeting. He was strongly against allowing the accident to happen but he wasn't quite sure what to say so he kept his mouth shut.

"Mr. Masters is right. We only have two options so that is not in question, we must decide what we do," James said finally speaking. "I'm sure you have all heard the Vulcan proverb 'the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.' In this case, our crew is the many and I for one wouldn't be able to live knowing we made a conscious decision and knowingly killed hundreds of our shipmates," he paused briefly for effect before continuing, "It's not a matter of who we kill but who we save and I say we save our crew."

"We can not simply condemn those to death simply because we want life..." He took a moment and hung his head "...But we can't allow ourselves to be sent back. That isn't our time as much as this is theirs. As such, minutes ago, I have requested an increase of distance between us and them. Should we have to I except to jump to Warp at a moments notice" Will looked at Cadet Galloway as he said this. "Now, I understand the emotional strain is immense. Perhaps I feel it the most given recent events, but we must do what we have to do without hesitation."

He began to pace back in forth as he addressed the table once more "Did the Away Team conclude the cause of the 'trip' in time? Abnormalities in any of the logs?"

[Klizh]

Briefing Room

Talked shit to K'lizh

Told Hawke to calm his tits

Insubordination or not, K'lizh almost pointed out that there was no regulation requiring him to sit, especially not in chairs not designed to accommodate his physiology, i.e. his tail. But out of respect for Commander Waring, K'lizh slowly lowered himself into a seat, albeit with fur raised and slit-eyes glaring daggers at the chief engineer.

He waited a while til others had spoken their peaces before piping up again, in a deliberately calm and slow voice. "We can talk about 'moral obligation' to these supposed descendants of ours and keep going in circles, but there is one other factor no one has yet mentioned. We, all of us, swore an oath before coming aboard that ship. We swore to serve and protect the Federation. We cannot do that if we allow ourselves to be sent back in time to before its very foundation. We have a duty as Starfleet officers to keep this ship in service."

[Ian Galloway]

[Conference Room]

"I see. Nothing more then coincidence then." Will let out an internal sigh. He had hoped things would go smoother then they had.
"We can not simply condemn those to death simply because we want life..." He took a moment and hung his head "...But we can't allow ourselves to be sent back. That isn't our time as much as this is theirs. As such, minutes ago, I have requested an increase of distance between us and them. Should we have to I except to jump to Warp at a moments notice" Will looked at Cadet Galloway as he said this. "Now, I understand the emotional strain is immense. Perhaps I feel it the most given recent events, but we must do what we have to do without hesitation."

He began to pace back in forth as he addressed the table once more "Did the Away Team conclude the cause of the 'trip' in time? Abnormalities in any of the logs?"

[Briefing Room]

Ian took in the XO's gaze as he mentioned having to go to warp and arched an eyebrow in surprise before he could stop it.

"Oh bugger all, what does that mean, and why is he lookin' at me when he said it. Under normal conditions, my post won't even let me change the level of the lightin' let alone move the ship."

[T'Prina]

[Conference Room]
T'Prina sat quietly while tempers and attitudes raged around her. Thankfully, there were cooler minds keeping the peace somewhat. She had retrieved her PADD from Hawke and prepared the data she had collected for presentation. The sooner all the information was out on the table, so to speak, the sooner a conclusion could be reached. That was her opinion on the matter. Personally, she had no desire to die in a crash that could be avoided. But it was not her place to decide and thus she kept her own counsel.

[Conference Room]

"I see. Nothing more then coincidence then." Will let out an internal sigh. He had hoped things would go smoother then they had.
"We can not simply condemn those to death simply because we want life..." He took a moment and hung his head "...But we can't allow ourselves to be sent back. That isn't our time as much as this is theirs. As such, minutes ago, I have requested an increase of distance between us and them. Should we have to I except to jump to Warp at a moments notice" Will looked at Cadet Galloway as he said this. "Now, I understand the emotional strain is immense. Perhaps I feel it the most given recent events, but we must do what we have to do without hesitation."

He began to pace back in forth as he addressed the table once more "Did the Away Team conclude the cause of the 'trip' in time? Abnormalities in any of the logs?"

"If I may be allowed to speak, Sir, I believe my findings prove relevant."

She adjusted her PADD to project onto a larger screen so that the data was easily viewable by everyone in the room. She quietly cleared her throat, addressing a group wasn't one of her preferred pastimes.

"While we were touring the ship, a coolant cannister near the warp core began to malfunction and leak. Lt. Commander Hawke leapt to immediate action to contain the leak. I went to the main console and shut down and temporarily rerouted the coolant from that cannister." She spoke in a matter of fact voice, much like one describing paint drying instead of what was a life threatening situation.

"While at the console, I noticed a slight miscalculation in the theta-matrix compositor. The algorithm that controls the recrystalization process is very precise and to be fair, I do not believe a standard diagnostic scan would have detected the anomaly. The only reason I noticed it myself, I've had this equation and several others memorized since childhood. It is my theory that the dilithium was being recrystalized improperly. The excess energy created was unstable and the ship was nearly out of control. On a collision course with the sun in this system, an attempt was made to minimize damages and loss, namely, a change of course was applied that accidentally resulted in an artificially created time-warp. It's known as a light-speed breakaway factor, or sling-shot effect. As you see, the logs correspond with this theory. It is my opinion, that correcting the dilithium and finding a safe controlled way to release the excess of energy before it reaches a critical point could prevent this temporal mishap entirely."

She sat back again and folded her hands on her lap. She gave them her findings, they could do with them what they would.

[James A. Hawke]

[Briefing Room]
As he finished his statement, James sat down and scratched his eyes with his thumb and index fingers.    He figured he stepped over his bounds but was still thinking of the dillema.

She had no comfort to give or advice to offer. She handed the PADD back to him and placed her hand on his arm before taking her seat. She sat there, silently as she fought with her emotions, waiting for Will to address the room.

James accepted the moment and took a second he wanted to talk to her in private.  He observed her as she took her chair and kept observing the conversation.

[Briefing Room]

"Enough!" He said, slamming his into the table causing a pound thud "You are a Senior Officer and shouldn't be acting like a kid from down in the School! I don't care what emotional attachment you may or may not have to those on the other ship but I not to allow outburst such as that again. I hope I have made myself clear, Lieutenant Commander."
"Mister Galloway, I'm glad you decided to join us. No better way to meet the Senior Staff then during a briefing such as this." Will took a moment to look around the table "As the CFO has yet to show you may use that seat at the table." He gave the man a nod and turned back to address everyone's assembled "Now, if we can agree to move past what happened moments ago, I would like to hear what everyone has on the matter."Will nodded as Naga spoke "Interesting. Any reason for this request now instead of a week from now? Or any information regarding our situation would be of value." He finished, giving the floor the the Senior Officers.

James observed the table as William placed his fist in the desk.   As he finished he continued "You have my apologies, Sir"

[Conference Room]
T'Prina sat quietly while tempers and attitudes raged around her. Thankfully, there were cooler minds keeping the peace somewhat. She had retrieved her PADD from Hawke and prepared the data she had collected for presentation. The sooner all the information was out on the table, so to speak, the sooner a conclusion could be reached. That was her opinion on the matter. Personally, she had no desire to die in a crash that could be avoided. But it was not her place to decide and thus she kept her own counsel.

"If I may be allowed to speak, Sir, I believe my findings prove relevant."

She adjusted her PADD to project onto a larger screen so that the data was easily viewable by everyone in the room. She quietly cleared her throat, addressing a group wasn't one of her preferred pastimes.

"While we were touring the ship, a coolant cannister near the warp core began to malfunction and leak. Lt. Commander Hawke leapt to immediate action to contain the leak. I went to the main console and shut down and temporarily rerouted the coolant from that cannister." She spoke in a matter of fact voice, much like one describing paint drying instead of what was a life threatening situation.

"While at the console, I noticed a slight miscalculation in the theta-matrix compositor. The algorithm that controls the recrystalization process is very precise and to be fair, I do not believe a standard diagnostic scan would have detected the anomaly. The only reason I noticed it myself, I've had this equation and several others memorized since childhood. It is my theory that the dilithium was being recrystalized improperly. The excess energy created was unstable and the ship was nearly out of control. On a collision course with the sun in this system, an attempt was made to minimize damages and loss, namely, a change of course was applied that accidentally resulted in an artificially created time-warp. It's known as a light-speed breakaway factor, or sling-shot effect. As you see, the logs correspond with this theory. It is my opinion, that correcting the dilithium and finding a safe controlled way to release the excess of energy before it reaches a critical point could prevent this temporal mishap entirely."

She sat back again and folded her hands on her lap. She gave them her findings, they could do with them what they would.

He looked at the Cadet Helm Officer and said "Mr. Galloway, can you do flight analysis and situation from the PADD and information recovered from the Future Tempest?"

James listened to his fellow officers about the situation.  They all gave valid points.  James then was thinking...and he wanted to cheat.
"What if we cheat?  We have two ships...only one of them need to go back in time.  What if we duplicate the crew...which is probably not ethical...there are few instances of duplicating people in the Transporter Room within certain conditions.  If we replicate something like those...we can replicate the crew.  If the Medical staff can find a way...to give us or our duplicates something to forget the last 48 hours  with the exception of key individuals...then we can replicate the events.  " James said

"In order for this plan to work we will need the full corporation of both ships" James said

He then looked "Commander, if someone needs to go in the transporter room to be tested, I volunteer...although I would hate having another myself running around"

[Zed Masters]

[Briefing Room]
As he finished his statement, James sat down and scratched his eyes with his thumb and index fingers.    He figured he stepped over his bounds but was still thinking of the dillema. James accepted the moment and took a second he wanted to talk to her in private.  He observed her as she took her chair and kept observing the conversation.
James observed the table as William placed his fist in the desk.   As he finished he continued "You have my apologies, Sir"

He looked at the Cadet Helm Officer and said "Mr. Galloway, can you do flight analysis and situation from the PADD and information recovered from the Future Tempest?"

James listened to his fellow officers about the situation.  They all gave valid points.  James then was thinking...and he wanted to cheat.
"What if we cheat?  We have two ships...only one of them need to go back in time.  What if we duplicate the crew...which is probably not ethical...there are few instances of duplicating people in the Transporter Room within certain conditions.  If we replicate something like those...we can replicate the crew.  If the Medical staff can find a way...to give us or our duplicates something to forget the last 48 hours  with the exception of key individuals...then we can replicate the events.  " James said

"In order for this plan to work we will need the full corporation of both ships" James said

He then looked "Commander, if someone needs to go in the transporter room to be tested, I volunteer...although I would hate having another myself running around"

[Briefing Room]

Zed had sat quietly listening to everyone speak, his face buried into his hands and pointed to the ground. As James spoke a small smile appeared on his face. "Always the hopeful James." The young Betazoid said under his breath with a small breathy laugh. "If he's volunteering I do as well. He's my best friend and I live and die by him. Whatever that means." In truth Normandy just wanted the meeting to be over. Worst case scenario something went wrong while they were attempting to replicate them and he didn't have to worry about the pain of dealing with all the emotion that was in the room any longer. Quickly he shot a look over to James and gave a small nod. "Plus every version of James needs a version of me to make sure they don't blow something up when he's not supposed to." His voice was growing increasingly raspy as the meeting went on. He offered another pain filled laugh as he put his head back down and put his face back in his hands.

Every second was worse than the last. Every statement charged with emotion. He hardly had time to feel any emotion of his own as the emotion of everyone else in the room. As he closed his eyes he pictured the same white room from before. The same dove was sitting in the center of it. No matter how hard he tried focusing on the dove did nothing to alleviate the pain. At this point the pain was even worse than what he remembered from when he was on board the station in that stupid heater core.