S5: E: 8 Echos of a Tattered Past.

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Surface of Kaimo VI - Mountain Cave - Vault Door]

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Crater Lake Island | Kaimo IV]

Nira could practically feel Lahr's confidence wavering, and she had paced away to half a dozen meters away. She came in close when it felt too strong, and she was surprised at his display.

"Mister ch'Verret," said Nira, putting on her sternness, "what is wrong with you? Just because you got something wrong doesn't mean you have to fall apart. As fatal looking as it was, we're still alive. Besides, you're the best person for the job, to help Savar out. If you're going to fall apart every time something technical goes wrong, you wouldn't be the right Chief Engineer material. My last post's chief engineer never balked, never gave up, never fell apart at something going wrong, he could always find something to ensure it works. Besides, did any of the great Engineers of Starfleet fall apart when something went wrong? Did Geordi LaForge? Did 'Trip' Tucker? Did Scotty? No! They worked their miracles to help their ships and whatever technology could be out of place or a threat, or both! There's a good reason Engineers are often referred to as 'miracle workers.'"

She didn't mean to sound so snappish, but clearly, Lahr's confidence was wavering. In any case, there was more than one time she had to reprimand her Security underlings or even gave a pep talk back on Discovery.

"I don't know whether it will be right, but I doubt this time a wrong answer will trigger a booby trap," said Nira, hoping she was right. "Besides, it's a matter of luck. In any case, we can't get Hyperion fast enough, not with the Challenger's computers being the way they are. Savar can help you if you need to. If you still feel like you don't belong, then I can call a shuttle to bring you back up and replace you with your departmental head if you wish, BUT you are our best engineer right now, and an engineer must not lose his head."

Savar stepped to Lahr's side, nodding in agreement. "She's right," he said. "And Commander Said is a good judge of character. She wouldn't have picked you if she wasn't confident in you. Now, I can help you interpret these symbols..."

The Andorian stared at the Commander while she questioned 'what was wrong' with him?  Really? She had to ask?  Wasn't his psyche-file known to the XO?  It was there in black and white - that he had PTSD and survivor' guilt from the battle for Innominatum.  He'd only agreed to stay in the Fleet for Ruth - cause she'd promised he wouldn't have to even set foot in an away team again.    Yet here he was with people's lives relying on him to make the right choice.  He'd thought he could do... it but the last puzzle proved he knew nothing - nothing at all about what these puzzles were looking for.

He scoffed as the Commander tried to make comparisons between him and some of the greatest engineers Starfleet ever gave rise to.   He'd only just started in engineering a short time ago and now he was supposed be compared to them?!   But while he had no where near their experience, the Andorian did understand what the Commander was trying to get across. She was trying to bolster his confidence to get him to not give up.   To try.

Lahr looked to the Caitian who'd offered him support, then to Lieutenant Commander Savar who offered to assist with the interpretation and lastly to Chloe who had her arms folded frowning at him.

"Can you just hurry up and get us through that door already?  The longer we are stuck here, the greater chance there is of your worst fears coming true.  Blackfeather is stable but he needs a proper sickbay.  Right now, as much as I hate to say it... you are our best hope."

Lahr looked away but found he could hear the Commander's words repeating in his head.  He gave a long sigh.

"Alright... but its not my fault if we all die. You asked for this." Lahr pointed out, before turning his attention to the puzzle once more.

"Seven symbols.. each, to our knowledge, representing numbers.  The first six being consecutive 1 through 6.. the seventh representing 8.  There clearly 7 responses wanted... the lines to right - suggesting that the answer is 1,2,3,4,5,6,8.   But it makes no sense to have the answer to a door code be written on the door itself."

This is what puzzled Lahr the most.  "What I see... is that there are seven numbers written, but not number 7"  Lahr looked the Commander significantly. "Which is why I think the answer is the single digit - 7."

Lahr looked to Savar to see if the Vulcan agreed with his reasoning. "But maybe I'm overthinking things."   

[Ian Galloway]

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Surface of Kaimo VI - Mountain Cave - Vault Door]

Lahr kept his eyes on the symbol display as he tried to play for time.  Roohz!- why was she having 'him' do this again? His guess last time had nearly cost Blackfeather his life.   Wouldn't her snuggle-boytoy, the science officer, be the better choice for this?  The Vulcan was sure to be smarter than he!

While he hesitated on his interpretation of the symbology, Ensign Mrekrerhas came up to him and offered, surprisingly a bit of support.  The Andorian looked to the Caitian,  "Do you have any ideas on this?"

He pointed towards the 7 symbols and the lines beside them.  What were those for anyway?  Wait.. maybe it wasn't a single tone that was the answer but rather a series of 7 tones... 1 through 6 and 8.  Or was that completely wrong like his last suggestion?  It seemed too simple... just like last time and he'd gotten that wrong.

Lahr shook his head and looked to the Commander.   "I can't decide...  I won't!  I shouldn't be here." he affirmed.  "I'm gonna end up killing someone with my ignorance."

That outcome was fine enough if it was just him endangered.. but that might not be how thing's turn out.

"I'll send this scan up to Hyperion. We'll just have to wait for him to have time to provide us the answer." Lahr stated as he scanned the display and sent it up to the ship - Attention:  Hyperion.

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Crater Lake Island | Kaimo IV]

Nira could practically feel Lahr's confidence wavering, and she had paced away to half a dozen meters away. She came in close when it felt too strong, and she was surprised at his display.

"Mister ch'Verret," said Nira, putting on her sternness, "what is wrong with you? Just because you got something wrong doesn't mean you have to fall apart. As fatal looking as it was, we're still alive. Besides, you're the best person for the job, to help Savar out. If you're going to fall apart every time something technical goes wrong, you wouldn't be the right Chief Engineer material. My last post's chief engineer never balked, never gave up, never fell apart at something going wrong, he could always find something to ensure it works. Besides, did any of the great Engineers of Starfleet fall apart when something went wrong? Did Geordi LaForge? Did 'Trip' Tucker? Did Scotty? No! They worked their miracles to help their ships and whatever technology could be out of place or a threat, or both! There's a good reason Engineers are often referred to as 'miracle workers.'"

She didn't mean to sound so snappish, but clearly, Lahr's confidence was wavering. In any case, there was more than one time she had to reprimand her Security underlings or even gave a pep talk back on Discovery.

"I don't know whether it will be right, but I doubt this time a wrong answer will trigger a booby trap," said Nira, hoping she was right. "Besides, it's a matter of luck. In any case, we can't get Hyperion fast enough, not with the Challenger's computers being the way they are. Savar can help you if you need to. If you still feel like you don't belong, then I can call a shuttle to bring you back up and replace you with your departmental head if you wish, BUT you are our best engineer right now, and an engineer must not lose his head."

Savar stepped to Lahr's side, nodding in agreement. "She's right," he said. "And Commander Said is a good judge of character. She wouldn't have picked you if she wasn't confident in you. Now, I can help you interpret these symbols..."

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Surface of Kaimo VI - Mountain Cave - Vault Door]

The Andorian stared at the Commander while she questioned 'what was wrong' with him?  Really? She had to ask?  Wasn't his psyche-file known to the XO?  It was there in black and white - that he had PTSD and survivor' guilt from the battle for Innominatum.  He'd only agreed to stay in the Fleet for Ruth - cause she'd promised he wouldn't have to even set foot in an away team again.    Yet here he was with people's lives relying on him to make the right choice.  He'd thought he could do... it but the last puzzle proved he knew nothing - nothing at all about what these puzzles were looking for.

He scoffed as the Commander tried to make comparisons between him and some of the greatest engineers Starfleet ever gave rise to.   He'd only just started in engineering a short time ago and now he was supposed be compared to them?!   But while he had no where near their experience, the Andorian did understand what the Commander was trying to get across. She was trying to bolster his confidence to get him to not give up.   To try.

Lahr looked to the Caitian who'd offered him support, then to Lieutenant Commander Savar who offered to assist with the interpretation and lastly to Chloe who had her arms folded frowning at him.

"Can you just hurry up and get us through that door already?  The longer we are stuck here, the greater chance there is of your worst fears coming true.  Blackfeather is stable but he needs a proper sickbay.  Right now, as much as I hate to say it... you are our best hope."

Lahr looked away but found he could hear the Commander's words repeating in his head.  He gave a long sigh.

"Alright... but its not my fault if we all die. You asked for this." Lahr pointed out, before turning his attention to the puzzle once more.

"Seven symbols.. each, to our knowledge, representing numbers.  The first six being consecutive 1 through 6.. the seventh representing 8.  There clearly 7 responses wanted... the lines to right - suggesting that the answer is 1,2,3,4,5,6,8.   But it makes no sense to have the answer to a door code be written on the door itself."

This is what puzzled Lahr the most.  "What I see... is that there are seven numbers written, but not number 7"  Lahr looked the Commander significantly. "Which is why I think the answer is the single digit - 7."

Lahr looked to Savar to see if the Vulcan agreed with his reasoning. "But maybe I'm overthinking things."

[Underground Facility - Kaimo VI]

Whether Lahr was overthinking or not didn't seem to concern the massive set of doors or the blinking access panel. Unlike the outer door, this one did not emit a set of tones. Each of the symbols blinked in sequence and then repeated. One thing that was obvious was that the color of the symbols was changing during each sequence, they had started white, but were slowly shifting on the red scale getting darker each time the sequence repeated with the implication that it was some sort of warning or timer. Whatever it wanted, it seemed to want it sooner rather than later.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

When the ship closed to within 300,000 kilometers, Ian ordered the helm to come to a stop. The last time they got closer, 275,000 kilometers to be exact, the probe had fired. The probe did not react as the Challenger closed or after it stopped. It seemed as if it was focused on a single task.

"Chroniton pulses increasing Captain."

Randall spoke from the Science one station.

"Power is also increasing, clear off the scale. It seems to have activated a zero point reactor system. The tectonic displacement and temporal shifts on the surface are getting worse."

As this occurred, there were odd bursts of light that flashed over the entire surface of the planet. During the flashes, the jungle landscape was replaced with a modern, and advanced, cityscape, only to return to normal when the flash ended.

"Sensors show those flashes and the shift from jungle to city are planet wide Captain. Whatever is happening, it's picking up speed."

"Bloody hell. I don't like this one little bit. Raise shields. I ken we are short on power T'Kel, so focus everything we have on the forward shields and arm the quantum torpedoes. We nae have the power for phasers."

"Aye Sir."

"I nae ken what that probe is doin', but we're too far off ta beam off the away team and a shuttle won't reach them at time. Randall, when you think the time is right, give me the word and we'll do what we can ta stop whatever it is that bloody menace is doin'."

"On it Sir."

Ian watched the probe closely and hoped the away team was making some sort of progress that would keep him from having to fire.

[Nira Said]

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Surface of Kaimo VI - Mountain Cave - Vault Door]

The Andorian stared at the Commander while she questioned 'what was wrong' with him?  Really? She had to ask?  Wasn't his psyche-file known to the XO?  It was there in black and white - that he had PTSD and survivor' guilt from the battle for Innominatum.  He'd only agreed to stay in the Fleet for Ruth - cause she'd promised he wouldn't have to even set foot in an away team again.    Yet here he was with people's lives relying on him to make the right choice.  He'd thought he could do... it but the last puzzle proved he knew nothing - nothing at all about what these puzzles were looking for.

He scoffed as the Commander tried to make comparisons between him and some of the greatest engineers Starfleet ever gave rise to.   He'd only just started in engineering a short time ago and now he was supposed be compared to them?!   But while he had no where near their experience, the Andorian did understand what the Commander was trying to get across. She was trying to bolster his confidence to get him to not give up.   To try.

Lahr looked to the Caitian who'd offered him support, then to Lieutenant Commander Savar who offered to assist with the interpretation and lastly to Chloe who had her arms folded frowning at him.

"Can you just hurry up and get us through that door already?  The longer we are stuck here, the greater chance there is of your worst fears coming true.  Blackfeather is stable but he needs a proper sickbay.  Right now, as much as I hate to say it... you are our best hope."

Lahr looked away but found he could hear the Commander's words repeating in his head.  He gave a long sigh.

"Alright... but its not my fault if we all die. You asked for this." Lahr pointed out, before turning his attention to the puzzle once more.

"Seven symbols.. each, to our knowledge, representing numbers.  The first six being consecutive 1 through 6.. the seventh representing 8.  There clearly 7 responses wanted... the lines to right - suggesting that the answer is 1,2,3,4,5,6,8.   But it makes no sense to have the answer to a door code be written on the door itself."

This is what puzzled Lahr the most.  "What I see... is that there are seven numbers written, but not number 7"  Lahr looked the Commander significantly. "Which is why I think the answer is the single digit - 7."

Lahr looked to Savar to see if the Vulcan agreed with his reasoning. "But maybe I'm overthinking things."

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Crater Lake Island | Kaimo IV]

Nira listened just as raptly as Savar had to Lahr. At least it made sense, given the last time they didn't stick to numerical order, it went wrong. Not to mention there were no sound tones this time.

"It sounds logical," said Savar. "And it's okay, sometimes I tend to overthink, too," said Nira as well.

[Underground Facility - Kaimo VI]

Whether Lahr was overthinking or not didn't seem to concern the massive set of doors or the blinking access panel. Unlike the outer door, this one did not emit a set of tones. Each of the symbols blinked in sequence and then repeated. One thing that was obvious was that the color of the symbols was changing during each sequence, they had started white, but were slowly shifting on the red scale getting darker each time the sequence repeated with the implication that it was some sort of warning or timer. Whatever it wanted, it seemed to want it sooner rather than later.

Nira was especially noticing something about the symbols: They were changing color. While they were starting white, they were progressively reaching a dark reddish color. Nira wasn't sure if it meant a timer or a warning.

"Let's try that number then," said Nira. "Hopefully we'll have enough chances to get it right before we resort to blowing the door off. Do it. And fast."

[Zhukdrashar Mrekrerhas]

[Ensign Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas | Island Cavern - Kaimo VI]

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Surface of Kaimo VI - Mountain Cave - Vault Door]

The Andorian stared at the Commander while she questioned 'what was wrong' with him?  Really? She had to ask?  Wasn't his psyche-file known to the XO?  It was there in black and white - that he had PTSD and survivor' guilt from the battle for Innominatum.  He'd only agreed to stay in the Fleet for Ruth - cause she'd promised he wouldn't have to even set foot in an away team again.    Yet here he was with people's lives relying on him to make the right choice.  He'd thought he could do... it but the last puzzle proved he knew nothing - nothing at all about what these puzzles were looking for.

He scoffed as the Commander tried to make comparisons between him and some of the greatest engineers Starfleet ever gave rise to.   He'd only just started in engineering a short time ago and now he was supposed be compared to them?!   But while he had no where near their experience, the Andorian did understand what the Commander was trying to get across. She was trying to bolster his confidence to get him to not give up.   To try.

Lahr looked to the Caitian who'd offered him support, then to Lieutenant Commander Savar who offered to assist with the interpretation and lastly to Chloe who had her arms folded frowning at him.

"Can you just hurry up and get us through that door already?  The longer we are stuck here, the greater chance there is of your worst fears coming true.  Blackfeather is stable but he needs a proper sickbay.  Right now, as much as I hate to say it... you are our best hope."

Lahr looked away but found he could hear the Commander's words repeating in his head.  He gave a long sigh.

"Alright... but its not my fault if we all die. You asked for this." Lahr pointed out, before turning his attention to the puzzle once more.

"Seven symbols.. each, to our knowledge, representing numbers.  The first six being consecutive 1 through 6.. the seventh representing 8.  There clearly 7 responses wanted... the lines to right - suggesting that the answer is 1,2,3,4,5,6,8.   But it makes no sense to have the answer to a door code be written on the door itself."

This is what puzzled Lahr the most.  "What I see... is that there are seven numbers written, but not number 7"  Lahr looked the Commander significantly. "Which is why I think the answer is the single digit - 7."

Lahr looked to Savar to see if the Vulcan agreed with his reasoning. "But maybe I'm overthinking things."

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Crater Lake Island | Kaimo IV]

Nira listened just as raptly as Savar had to Lahr. At least it made sense, given the last time they didn't stick to numerical order, it went wrong. Not to mention there were no sound tones this time.

"It sounds logical," said Savar. "And it's okay, sometimes I tend to overthink, too," said Nira as well.
Nira was especially noticing something about the symbols: They were changing color. While they were starting white, they were progressively reaching a dark reddish color. Nira wasn't sure if it meant a timer or a warning.

"Let's try that number then," said Nira. "Hopefully we'll have enough chances to get it right before we resort to blowing the door off. Do it. And fast."

[Underground Facility - Kaimo VI]

Whether Lahr was overthinking or not didn't seem to concern the massive set of doors or the blinking access panel. Unlike the outer door, this one did not emit a set of tones. Each of the symbols blinked in sequence and then repeated. One thing that was obvious was that the color of the symbols was changing during each sequence, they had started white, but were slowly shifting on the red scale getting darker each time the sequence repeated with the implication that it was some sort of warning or timer. Whatever it wanted, it seemed to want it sooner rather than later.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

When the ship closed to within 300,000 kilometers, Ian ordered the helm to come to a stop. The last time they got closer, 275,000 kilometers to be exact, the probe had fired. The probe did not react as the Challenger closed or after it stopped. It seemed as if it was focused on a single task.

"Chroniton pulses increasing Captain."

Randall spoke from the Science one station.

"Power is also increasing, clear off the scale. It seems to have activated a zero point reactor system. The tectonic displacement and temporal shifts on the surface are getting worse."

As this occurred, there were odd bursts of light that flashed over the entire surface of the planet. During the flashes, the jungle landscape was replaced with a modern, and advanced, cityscape, only to return to normal when the flash ended.

"Sensors show those flashes and the shift from jungle to city are planet wide Captain. Whatever is happening, it's picking up speed."

"Bloody hell. I don't like this one little bit. Raise shields. I ken we are short on power T'Kel, so focus everything we have on the forward shields and arm the quantum torpedoes. We nae have the power for phasers."

"Aye Sir."

"I nae ken what that probe is doin', but we're too far off ta beam off the away team and a shuttle won't reach them at time. Randall, when you think the time is right, give me the word and we'll do what we can ta stop whatever it is that bloody menace is doin'."

"On it Sir."

Ian watched the probe closely and hoped the away team was making some sort of progress that would keep him from having to fire.

Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas' ear flicked as he overhead Lahr asking for assistance. Eyebrow raised, he promptly returned towards him, as he was shown the symbols. He squinted his eyes, as his brain got to unraveling the question posed by the ancient systems, which Lahr required help with. He could do without Lahr being mopey about himself, though. This was no time to falter, yet he couldn't really blame him in the end. He still needed another burst of confidence, and with good reason.

He had needed one too before.

His brow furrowed, and his ears fell flat on his head as he tried to keep the external ambiance and the talking from his fellow Starfleet members away from his mind. He had to concentrate, or else he could make a mistake in his reasoning. 7. The sequence, he believed, seemed to indicate that a seven should be next, considering that the number was not present within the symbols, at least, as far as he could remember.

So after some more pondering, he finally took a deep breath and nodded toward Lahr

"I am not an engineer, but I have posited that your answer is correct. It is either a sole digit, seven, or having to insert the proper sequence, one through seven. Else, I would argue that mayhaps the sequence asks for the following numbers of nine, ten, etcÁ©tera, yet I do not believe that is a choice, as we do not know of them."

"So my final answer is that you should just insert the '7'. Your argument for it is solid, and as you have stated, the system itself seems to lightly hint at such a choice."

He gripped his rifle tightly. This small experience had made him aware that the decision of choice over a large group of people was certainly a difficult one. He really didn't want to be in Lahr's shoes at this moment, but he felt correct in his answer. It shouldn't be wrong. It couldn't. And Savar's statement only reassured him that he was correct. So he looked confidently over to Lahr, waiting for him to insert the code.

They couldn't wait too much, in any case. If the shift to red on the color was any indication, it was probably a timer counting. And he wasn't too sure he wished to risk waiting to see what happened either.

"We are in this together, Petty Officer Lahr. We seem to agree on the choice."

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Surface of Kaimo VI - Mountain Cave - Vault Door]

With the majority of the team in agreement and supportive of Lahr's choice, Lahr lifted his PADD and played the tone for the digit 7 since there was no keypadd or other form of input.

There was an immediate change of the color on the display from the flashing orange to flashing red.   CRAP!  His antennae shot straight up in alarm expecting to get shot at or electrocuted. It seemed he'd guessed wrong again!

After a second or two where the Andorian was braced to dodge again, nothing happened.   Wow, was it really giving him yet another try at the code?

Oh well, if it wasn't 7... then that only left the ascending numbers.

Lahr quickly wrote up the commands on his PADD and played the ascending tones for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 and was relieved to see the red in the display return to white and there was an audible 'clunk' as the vault door unlocked.

"I guess the take away from this is: Keep it simple."

[Buck McNair]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Buck had been standing there, his arms in a loose fold as he looked around the bridge. Whilst he was the new kid on the block, he wanted to do something helpful; clambering through Jeffries Tubes in the dark had been rather fun but  he thought with the greeting that he had gotten from the Chief Engineer, there was no real point in bothering her again - she would crack him in half. Perhaps it was anxiety that he was feeling from watching the probe from his Ops station, and not being able to properly contribute; the transporters were out - the power was being diverted to the front shields and quantum torps.

The ship had four launchers for torpedos; two at the front and two at the rear of the ship - though considering they were not manueverable at the current moment, two at the rear were being unused. "Cap'n, need me to pass word down to tactical to prep the quantum warheads?"

[Ian Galloway]

[Ensign Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas | Island Cavern - Kaimo VI]

Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas' ear flicked as he overhead Lahr asking for assistance. Eyebrow raised, he promptly returned towards him, as he was shown the symbols. He squinted his eyes, as his brain got to unraveling the question posed by the ancient systems, which Lahr required help with. He could do without Lahr being mopey about himself, though. This was no time to falter, yet he couldn't really blame him in the end. He still needed another burst of confidence, and with good reason.

He had needed one too before.

His brow furrowed, and his ears fell flat on his head as he tried to keep the external ambiance and the talking from his fellow Starfleet members away from his mind. He had to concentrate, or else he could make a mistake in his reasoning. 7. The sequence, he believed, seemed to indicate that a seven should be next, considering that the number was not present within the symbols, at least, as far as he could remember.

So after some more pondering, he finally took a deep breath and nodded toward Lahr

"I am not an engineer, but I have posited that your answer is correct. It is either a sole digit, seven, or having to insert the proper sequence, one through seven. Else, I would argue that mayhaps the sequence asks for the following numbers of nine, ten, etcÁ©tera, yet I do not believe that is a choice, as we do not know of them."

"So my final answer is that you should just insert the '7'. Your argument for it is solid, and as you have stated, the system itself seems to lightly hint at such a choice."

He gripped his rifle tightly. This small experience had made him aware that the decision of choice over a large group of people was certainly a difficult one. He really didn't want to be in Lahr's shoes at this moment, but he felt correct in his answer. It shouldn't be wrong. It couldn't. And Savar's statement only reassured him that he was correct. So he looked confidently over to Lahr, waiting for him to insert the code.

They couldn't wait too much, in any case. If the shift to red on the color was any indication, it was probably a timer counting. And he wasn't too sure he wished to risk waiting to see what happened either.

"We are in this together, Petty Officer Lahr. We seem to agree on the choice."

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Surface of Kaimo VI - Mountain Cave - Vault Door]

With the majority of the team in agreement and supportive of Lahr's choice, Lahr lifted his PADD and played the tone for the digit 7 since there was no keypadd or other form of input.

There was an immediate change of the color on the display from the flashing orange to flashing red.   CRAP!  His antennae shot straight up in alarm expecting to get shot at or electrocuted. It seemed he'd guessed wrong again!

After a second or two where the Andorian was braced to dodge again, nothing happened.   Wow, was it really giving him yet another try at the code?

Oh well, if it wasn't 7... then that only left the ascending numbers.

Lahr quickly wrote up the commands on his PADD and played the ascending tones for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 and was relieved to see the red in the display return to white and there was an audible 'clunk' as the vault door unlocked.

"I guess the take away from this is: Keep it simple."

[Underground Complex - Kaimo IV]

The massive doors opened once Lahr figured out the symbols and, the away team found a fully automated communication station. The monitors showed the feed from three others stations on the planet, each linked to extraordinarily detailed, real-time data about the condition of the planet back to this master terminal, which was then feeding the data into space. Which, for the away team, was an unknown part of the puzzle.

Before they could advance beyond the doors, holographic images of three humanoid women of surpassing beauty, each possessing an aristocratic bearing and obvious intelligence as they begin speaking. Fortunately, the Universal Translator was able to make their words sound like Federation Standard.

"Greetings. Two hundred thousand years ago we realized that our sun was entering a dangerous period of flares and expansion, which would destroy our civilization. As we were unable to prevent this catastrophe and equally unwilling to either be annihilated as a people or evacuate our population, we designed a probe to wait out the flares and aftermath. Once the period of instability had passed, the probe would create a temporal pocket to 'shift' our civilization forward to this new, "safer" period in our planet's history. This station has noted the arrival of the probe and the process to restore our civilization to it's place in the quadrant has begun. Our monitoring station has detected your presence and that you are not Kaimo. If you attempt to interrupt our return to our own world, this facility has the means to protect itself. If you do not depart immediately, your biological matrix will be destroyed by the temporal relocation. You have been warned."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Buck had been standing there, his arms in a loose fold as he looked around the bridge. Whilst he was the new kid on the block, he wanted to do something helpful; clambering through Jeffries Tubes in the dark had been rather fun but  he thought with the greeting that he had gotten from the Chief Engineer, there was no real point in bothering her again - she would crack him in half. Perhaps it was anxiety that he was feeling from watching the probe from his Ops station, and not being able to properly contribute; the transporters were out - the power was being diverted to the front shields and quantum torps.

The ship had four launchers for torpedos; two at the front and two at the rear of the ship - though considering they were not manueverable at the current moment, two at the rear were being unused. "Cap'n, need me to pass word down to tactical to prep the quantum warheads?"

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian looked up when Buck spoke and shook his head as he replied.

"As the rest of the bridge is busy gettin' ready for whatever is about ta happen, I need you ta see if'n you can reach the away team. They haven't reported in since askin' about that puzzle and I need ta ken if'n they have a means ta shut that bloody probe down."

[Nira Said]

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Surface of Kaimo VI - Mountain Cave - Vault Door]

With the majority of the team in agreement and supportive of Lahr's choice, Lahr lifted his PADD and played the tone for the digit 7 since there was no keypadd or other form of input.

There was an immediate change of the color on the display from the flashing orange to flashing red.   CRAP!  His antennae shot straight up in alarm expecting to get shot at or electrocuted. It seemed he'd guessed wrong again!

After a second or two where the Andorian was braced to dodge again, nothing happened.   Wow, was it really giving him yet another try at the code?

Oh well, if it wasn't 7... then that only left the ascending numbers.

Lahr quickly wrote up the commands on his PADD and played the ascending tones for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 and was relieved to see the red in the display return to white and there was an audible 'clunk' as the vault door unlocked.

"I guess the take away from this is: Keep it simple."

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Vault Door | Ancient Yet Advanced Cave Dwelling | Kaimo IV]

"I guess it is," said Nira. "Always best to keep things simple. Now that you've given the technological 'Open Sesame,' let's see what's inside."

[Underground Complex - Kaimo IV]

The massive doors opened once Lahr figured out the symbols and the away team found a fully automated communication station. The monitors showed the feed from three others stations on the planet, each linked to extraordinarily detailed, real-time data about the condition of the planet back to this master terminal, which was then feeding the data into space. Which, for the away team, was an unknown part of the puzzle.

Before they could advance beyond the doors, holographic images of three humanoid women of surpassing beauty, each possessing an aristocratic bearing and obvious intelligence as they begin speaking. Fortunately, the Universal Translator was able to make their words sound like Federation Standard.

"Greetings. Two hundred thousand years ago we realized that our sun was entering a dangerous period of flares and expansion, which would destroy our civilization. As we were unable to prevent this catastrophe and equally unwilling to either be annihilated as a people or evacuate our population, we designed a probe to wait out the flares and aftermath. Once the period of instability had passed, the probe would create a temporal pocket to 'shift' our civilization forward to this new, "safer" period in our planet's history. This station has noted the arrival of the probe and the process to restore our civilization to it's place in the quadrant has begun. Our monitoring station has detected your presence and that you are not Kaimo. If you attempt to interrupt our return to our own world, this facility has the means to protect itself. If you do not depart immediately, your biological matrix will be destroyed by the temporal relocation. You have been warned."

What they saw next caused Nira to stagger in surprise. Finally, answers, and yet in the most unusual of circumstances. There were no Romulans, and there was an advanced civilization after all in this ancient structure. Nira blinked at the message the computer had given. This was a civilization willing to violate two kinds of Prime Directives: The regular and the Temporal Prime Directive.

"This is going to be a new one for the Department of Temporal Investigations," Nira muttered to herself, recalling being debriefed by members of that Starfleet department after Discovery went back in time and Nira, along with Captain Tekin, Don Addams and two other away team members went under the T'hunga mind control, something Nira still felt was mentally scarring. Pompous asses, Nira thought the Temporal Investigations people were. "These people make the Iconians look like the T'hunga.

"Okay," she said louder, both to the automated computer displaying the autocratic holograms and to her own away team, "what I'm getting at is: You are an ancient yet advanced civilization, but you intended to bring your own race forward a couple hundred thousand years, or to hide your civilization until such time as they'll be able to be sent back to a current time when they won't be destroyed...no, you're bringing your civilization forward...damn time travel..."

She paused a moment...she remembered hearing from Captain Galloway that Challenger was crippled by a probe, and this probe could be doing something to the planet now...was it doing some kind of temporal terraforming, jumping its civilization forward or backward in time?

"But this is now," said Nira. "There are advanced civilizations around you that can help you," she added, wondering where the hidden people from the civilization, assuming they were still around...no, they were coming...

"You don't have to live in fear of immediate destruction, nor could you try to keep on going back and forth in time...we can help you...I need to confer..."

Mostly to just get away from the headache about time travel and the mind-blowing discovery they found, Nira tapped her comm badge.

"Said to Challenger," she called. "Are you there? Come in...Come in, please..."

Unfortunately, it took a moment, longer than expected for comms from Nira to get to the ship. It was transpiring that the away team were so far underground, comms weren't working very well. It took Mister McNair, once he opened the ship comms, a moment for him to adjust the communications frequencies so that the away team could have a clear transmission between their comm badges and the ship.

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Kaimo IV - Underground Complex]

[Underground Complex - Kaimo IV]

The massive doors opened once Lahr figured out the symbols and, the away team found a fully automated communication station. The monitors showed the feed from three others stations on the planet, each linked to extraordinarily detailed, real-time data about the condition of the planet back to this master terminal, which was then feeding the data into space. Which, for the away team, was an unknown part of the puzzle.

Before they could advance beyond the doors, holographic images of three humanoid women of surpassing beauty, each possessing an aristocratic bearing and obvious intelligence as they begin speaking. Fortunately, the Universal Translator was able to make their words sound like Federation Standard.

"Greetings. Two hundred thousand years ago we realized that our sun was entering a dangerous period of flares and expansion, which would destroy our civilization. As we were unable to prevent this catastrophe and equally unwilling to either be annihilated as a people or evacuate our population, we designed a probe to wait out the flares and aftermath. Once the period of instability had passed, the probe would create a temporal pocket to 'shift' our civilization forward to this new, "safer" period in our planet's history. This station has noted the arrival of the probe and the process to restore our civilization to it's place in the quadrant has begun. Our monitoring station has detected your presence and that you are not Kaimo. If you attempt to interrupt our return to our own world, this facility has the means to protect itself. If you do not depart immediately, your biological matrix will be destroyed by the temporal relocation. You have been warned."

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Vault Door | Ancient Yet Advanced Cave Dwelling | Kaimo IV]

What they saw next caused Nira to stagger in surprise. Finally, answers, and yet in the most unusual of circumstances. There were no Romulans, and there was an advanced civilization after all in this ancient structure. Nira blinked at the message the computer had given. This was a civilization willing to violate two kinds of Prime Directives: The regular and the Temporal Prime Directive.

"This is going to be a new one for the Department of Temporal Investigations," Nira muttered to herself, recalling being debriefed by members of that Starfleet department after Discovery went back in time and Nira, along with Captain Tekin, Don Addams and two other away team members went under the T'hunga mind control, something Nira still felt was mentally scarring. Pompous asses, Nira thought the Temporal Investigations people were. "These people make the Iconians look like the T'hunga.

"Okay," she said louder, both to the automated computer displaying the autocratic holograms and to her own away team, "what I'm getting at is: You are an ancient yet advanced civilization, but you intended to bring your own race forward a couple hundred thousand years, or to hide your civilization until such time as they'll be able to be sent back to a current time when they won't be destroyed...no, you're bringing your civilization forward...damn time travel..."

She paused a moment...she remembered hearing from Captain Galloway that Challenger was crippled by a probe, and this probe could be doing something to the planet now...was it doing some kind of temporal terraforming, jumping its civilization forward or backward in time?

"But this is now," said Nira. "There are advanced civilizations around you that can help you," she added, wondering where the hidden people from the civilization, assuming they were still around...no, they were coming...

"You don't have to live in fear of immediate destruction, nor could you try to keep on going back and forth in time...we can help you...I need to confer..."

Mostly to just get away from the headache about time travel and the mind-blowing discovery they found, Nira tapped her comm badge.

"Said to Challenger," she called. "Are you there? Come in...Come in, please..."

Lahr stood in awe in front of the open vault door, staring at the ancient hologram projections that forewarned the away team of their civilization's arrival.   His mouth hung open a bit at the advance technological level these people must be at in order to be able to do even contemplate such.

"We need to get out of here." He stated even as the Commander tried reasoning with the holograms.   He cocked his head watching for reaction, wondering if these were preprogrammed interfaces or perhaps a communication from across the temporal divide.

The threat of having his biological matrix destroyed when the other civilization did come forward was worrisome - so he hoped the Commander finished talking soon.  Then it struck him.  It wasn't just the away team that was in danger.  Depending on how vast their civilization was it could impact the local natives.  "Roohz!"

While the Commander waited on a reply to her call to the ship Lahr sidled close.  "Ma'am, I know we aren't supposed to get involved in local disputes... but this seems wrong.   What is going to happen to Akuuta and his people when the ancients come forward?  Is it just locally around this island or is their entire planet being chronologically overwritten?  I get the sense from the warning that its an all or nothing type of process."

This wasn't good. This time it was he who tried reasoning with the ancient holograms.

"You realize you are destroying your own great-to-the-whatever-nth grandchildren right?  They survived the flares and instability and have started on the path towards a growing community; but your coming from the past, will wipe them out.  What a wonderful acknowledgement to their strength and perseverance." his tone was a bit mocking as he spoke.  "What makes your society so much better than what they might accomplish if left to evolve?"

[Nira Said]

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Kaimo IV - Underground Complex]

Lahr stood in awe in front of the open vault door, staring at the ancient hologram projections that forewarned the away team of their civilization's arrival.   His mouth hung open a bit at the advance technological level these people must be at in order to be able to do even contemplate such.

"We need to get out of here." He stated even as the Commander tried reasoning with the holograms.   He cocked his head watching for reaction, wondering if these were preprogrammed interfaces or perhaps a communication from across the temporal divide.

The threat of having his biological matrix destroyed when the other civilization did come forward was worrisome - so he hoped the Commander finished talking soon.  Then it struck him.  It wasn't just the away team that was in danger.  Depending on how vast their civilization was it could impact the local natives.  "Roohz!"

While the Commander waited on a reply to her call to the ship Lahr sidled close.  "Ma'am, I know we aren't supposed to get involved in local disputes... but this seems wrong.   What is going to happen to Akuuta and his people when the ancients come forward?  Is it just locally around this island or is their entire planet being chronologically overwritten?  I get the sense from the warning that its an all or nothing type of process."

This wasn't good. This time it was he who tried reasoning with the ancient holograms.

"You realize you are destroying your own great-to-the-whatever-nth grandchildren right?  They survived the flares and instability and have started on the path towards a growing community; but your coming from the past, will wipe them out.  What a wonderful acknowledgement to their strength and perseverance." his tone was a bit mocking as he spoke.  "What makes your society so much better than what they might accomplish if left to evolve?"

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Vault Door | Ancient Yet Advanced Cave Dwelling | Kaimo IV]

Nira took in Lahr's words as she waited for contact from the ship, and she realized the gravity of what was going to transpire...she remembered instantly that room they found in the cliff...what the cliff they had descended used to have been a building of some kind, that river they crossed used to be a roadway...

"Somehow, Lahr, I have a feeling it's not going to be restricted to this island," said Nira warily, remembering the Captain mentioning chroniton bursts.

She took in Lahr's words addressing the three holograms and she smiled at him. Oh, this was definitely somebody who deserved to be Chief Petty Officer. And she recalled Akuuta, his people...

"He's right," Nira said to the holograms. "Besides, are you aware of your descendants' potential? Are they even aware of you? It's clear this place is more than what it is...if you fear your planets' destruction so..."

But something also occurred to Nira: The holograms mentioned they were unwilling to evacuate the planet...

"But surely, all these measures of bringing your civilization forward in time, are they even necessary? Don't you have your civilization frozen cryogenically until such time as they can awake and then rebuild?"

She was hoping they would say they do, she had hoped, but deep down, perhaps it's not likely...if they answer otherwise, then Nira was sure these people are not only unwilling to leave their planet, they're unwilling to leave behind all their accomplishments that they have built...

As she waited for the holograms to reply, and perhaps Challenger, something was formulating in Nira's mind...if this civilization didn't take their descendants into consideration, then Nira had to do something for them...technically, it's no violation of the Prime Directive, not if these people were really advanced...they just didn't know it...how much room could they make in the holodecks to make a simulation of their villages...?...no...Nira put the idea on stand by, she needed to hear from these holograms and from Captain Galloway before she could decide on something that would be as colossally insane as taking on a cephalopod as big as a Bird of Prey - Romulan or Klingon.

But it's more than just a mystery theory now...it's a Kobiyashi Maru. Even the very name was enough to make Nira sweat...

[Ian Galloway]

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Kaimo IV - Underground Complex]

Lahr stood in awe in front of the open vault door, staring at the ancient hologram projections that forewarned the away team of their civilization's arrival.   His mouth hung open a bit at the advance technological level these people must be at in order to be able to do even contemplate such.

"We need to get out of here." He stated even as the Commander tried reasoning with the holograms.   He cocked his head watching for reaction, wondering if these were preprogrammed interfaces or perhaps a communication from across the temporal divide.

The threat of having his biological matrix destroyed when the other civilization did come forward was worrisome - so he hoped the Commander finished talking soon.  Then it struck him.  It wasn't just the away team that was in danger.  Depending on how vast their civilization was it could impact the local natives.  "Roohz!"

While the Commander waited on a reply to her call to the ship Lahr sidled close.  "Ma'am, I know we aren't supposed to get involved in local disputes... but this seems wrong.   What is going to happen to Akuuta and his people when the ancients come forward?  Is it just locally around this island or is their entire planet being chronologically overwritten?  I get the sense from the warning that its an all or nothing type of process."

This wasn't good. This time it was he who tried reasoning with the ancient holograms.

"You realize you are destroying your own great-to-the-whatever-nth grandchildren right?  They survived the flares and instability and have started on the path towards a growing community; but your coming from the past, will wipe them out.  What a wonderful acknowledgement to their strength and perseverance." his tone was a bit mocking as he spoke.  "What makes your society so much better than what they might accomplish if left to evolve?"

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Vault Door | Ancient Yet Advanced Cave Dwelling | Kaimo IV]

Nira took in Lahr's words as she waited for contact from the ship, and she realized the gravity of what was going to transpire...she remembered instantly that room they found in the cliff...what the cliff they had descended used to have been a building of some kind, that river they crossed used to be a roadway...

"Somehow, Lahr, I have a feeling it's not going to be restricted to this island," said Nira warily, remembering the Captain mentioning chroniton bursts.

She took in Lahr's words addressing the three holograms and she smiled at him. Oh, this was definitely somebody who deserved to be Chief Petty Officer. And she recalled Akuuta, his people...

"He's right," Nira said to the holograms. "Besides, are you aware of your descendants' potential? Are they even aware of you? It's clear this place is more than what it is...if you fear your planets' destruction so..."

But something also occurred to Nira: The holograms mentioned they were unwilling to evacuate the planet...

"But surely, all these measures of bringing your civilization forward in time, are they even necessary? Don't you have your civilization frozen cryogenically until such time as they can awake and then rebuild?"

She was hoping they would say they do, she had hoped, but deep down, perhaps it's not likely...if they answer otherwise, then Nira was sure these people are not only unwilling to leave their planet, they're unwilling to leave behind all their accomplishments that they have built...

As she waited for the holograms to reply, and perhaps Challenger, something was formulating in Nira's mind...if this civilization didn't take their descendants into consideration, then Nira had to do something for them...technically, it's no violation of the Prime Directive, not if these people were really advanced...they just didn't know it...how much room could they make in the holodecks to make a simulation of their villages...?...no...Nira put the idea on stand by, she needed to hear from these holograms and from Captain Galloway before she could decide on something that would be as colossally insane as taking on a cephalopod as big as a Bird of Prey - Romulan or Klingon.

But it's more than just a mystery theory now...it's a Kobiyashi Maru. Even the very name was enough to make Nira sweat...

[Underground Complex - Kaimo IV]

The holograms took in the information from Lahr and Nira, conferring briefly before replying.

"The restoration has begun. We the Kaimo will return to our world. Those still present when the temporal relocation occurs will be supplanted by our return. This is how it must be. Depart this facility while you still can, otherwise the defenses will activate. You have..." There was short pause as the hologram calculated units of time. "Thirty of your seconds to flee."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian could see on the display built into the command chair that the chroniton pulses that time was running out. He was going to have to risk firing on the probe, because it was now too late for a shuttle to reach the away team before he had to take drastic action.

"Sir! I've got it. If we launch a probe, it can act as a relay to communicate with the away team!"

Randall said excitedly.

"Execute Mister Randall. If'n they can't do summat in the next five minutes, we'll have ta fire."

"Aye Sir. Probe away."

Ian willed the probe to move faster as the seconds ticked away.

"The probe is in place Sir."

T'Kel said with her usual calm.

"Excellent. Challenger ta Commander Said. Report!"

[Buck McNair]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian could see on the display built into the command chair that the chroniton pulses that time was running out. He was going to have to risk firing on the probe, because it was now too late for a shuttle to reach the away team before he had to take drastic action.

"Sir! I've got it. If we launch a probe, it can act as a relay to communicate with the away team!"

Randall said excitedly.

"Execute Mister Randall. If'n they can't do summat in the next five minutes, we'll have ta fire."

"Aye Sir. Probe away."

Ian willed the probe to move faster as the seconds ticked away.

"The probe is in place Sir."

T'Kel said with her usual calm.

"Excellent. Challenger ta Commander Said. Report!"

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

The suggestion of launching a probe out to attempt to access communications with the Away team was a really good idea, whilst Buck had been trying to come up with an idea - it seemed that Randall had beaten them to the punch line and launched the probe.

Buck watched, leaning against his station.

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Vault Door | Ancient Yet Advanced Cave Dwelling | Kaimo IV]

Mostly to just get away from the headache about time travel and the mind-blowing discovery they found, Nira tapped her comm badge.

"Said to Challenger," she called. "Are you there? Come in...Come in, please..."

Unfortunately, it took a moment, longer than expected for comms from Nira to get to the ship. It was transpiring that the away team were so far underground, comms weren't working very well. It took Mister McNair, once he opened the ship comms, a moment for him to adjust the communications frequencies so that the away team could have a clear transmission between their comm badges and the ship.

Buck perked a little as static came over the speakers. His brows furrowed a little as he glanced over and began to adjust the frequencies; messing with it so that the voice would become clearer. "Captain, we're gettin' something over here." He continued to twiddle, the planet interference was messing with their downed systems a little but the probe was doing wonders as the sound soon became audible and clearer.

His eyes widened. "And we have contact, sir!"

[Nira Said]

[Underground Complex - Kaimo IV]

The holograms took in the information from Lahr and Nira, conferring briefly before replying.

"The restoration has begun. We the Kaimo will return to our world. Those still present when the temporal relocation occurs will be supplanted by our return. This is how it must be. Depart this facility while you still can, otherwise the defenses will activate. You have..." There was short pause as the hologram calculated units of time. "Thirty of your seconds to flee."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian could see on the display built into the command chair that the chroniton pulses that time was running out. He was going to have to risk firing on the probe, because it was now too late for a shuttle to reach the away team before he had to take drastic action.

"Sir! I've got it. If we launch a probe, it can act as a relay to communicate with the away team!"

Randall said excitedly.

"Execute Mister Randall. If'n they can't do summat in the next five minutes, we'll have ta fire."

"Aye Sir. Probe away."

Ian willed the probe to move faster as the seconds ticked away.

"The probe is in place Sir."

T'Kel said with her usual calm.

"Excellent. Challenger ta Commander Said. Report!"

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

The suggestion of launching a probe out to attempt to access communications with the Away team was a really good idea, whilst Buck had been trying to come up with an idea - it seemed that Randall had beaten them to the punch line and launched the probe.

Buck watched, leaning against his station.

Buck perked a little as static came over the speakers. His brows furrowed a little as he glanced over and began to adjust the frequencies; messing with it so that the voice would become clearer. "Captain, we're gettin' something over here." He continued to twiddle, the planet interference was messing with their downed systems a little but the probe was doing wonders as the sound soon became audible and clearer.

His eyes widened. "And we have contact, sir!"

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Vault Door | Ancient Yet Advanced Cave Dwelling | Kaimo IV]

The announcement that the defenses would activate in thirty seconds spurned Nira to action, and at the same time, she knew what she had to do.

"Away team, let's get out of here!" she shouted, and she and Savar made a run out of the facility. Knowing full well what the defenses were capable of, getting a taste of it earlier, she decided it was best not to mess with the facility.

They were just on the way when the transmission finally came through.

"Thank Allah, Captain," she said as they proceeded. Now that it was confirmed to Nira that the transmission was coming in clearly, though she was concerned with how long it too, she made her report: "We finally found the source. Captain Galloway...Ian...you're not going to believe this. We've come across a violation of two different Prime Directives in progress by this ancient civilization..."

She elaborated what was discovered to Captain Galloway as fast as she could, knowing that what could transpire could happen any moment. She also relayed what to do: She had planned on allowing the advanced civilization to return, but at the same time, she planned to evacuate as many of the descendants as she could, and so that they can be brought back to get to know their ancient yet advanced forebears, seeing as how advanced they are...she full well knew that the instinctive thing was to regard what she had in mind a violation of the Prime Directive, she could feel it from the rest of the away team.

She had to help the descendants. They had to do what they can to help. The question was, how, and what would Captain Galloway decide upon? Would he agree to help or would he much rather leave these people to die or keep on with their loop? Of course, everybody knew the dictates of the Prime Directive, but then again, Nira distinctly recalled every detail from back to cover, one of many things she knew cover to cover, and she had her defense.

"I know we have our own Prime Directive and protocols to deal with, Captain," said Nira, "but this IS an advanced civilization, however ancient it is, and the fact is that this is we're dealing with interference from an advanced civilization, them against the lesser one, and believe me, our own Prime Directive allows that addressing,  so we must ensure the descendants' survival. We'll need mass transporting, all our shuttlecraft, and to ensure nobody sees out advanced technology, we administer a gas to render them unconcious just as they come in, even simulate their world on our holodecks.

"However," said Nira, "you are the Captain, after all; it's your call, not mine. The decision is yours. And you'll need to make it fast, there may not be enough time...we're returning to the surface as we speak, and we'll need extraction."

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Kaimo IV - Underground Complex]

[Underground Complex - Kaimo IV]

The holograms took in the information from Lahr and Nira, conferring briefly before replying.

"The restoration has begun. We the Kaimo will return to our world. Those still present when the temporal relocation occurs will be supplanted by our return. This is how it must be. Depart this facility while you still can, otherwise the defenses will activate. You have..." There was short pause as the hologram calculated units of time. "Thirty of your seconds to flee."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian could see on the display built into the command chair that the chroniton pulses that time was running out. He was going to have to risk firing on the probe, because it was now too late for a shuttle to reach the away team before he had to take drastic action.

"Sir! I've got it. If we launch a probe, it can act as a relay to communicate with the away team!"

Randall said excitedly.

"Execute Mister Randall. If'n they can't do summat in the next five minutes, we'll have ta fire."

"Aye Sir. Probe away."

Ian willed the probe to move faster as the seconds ticked away.

"The probe is in place Sir."

T'Kel said with her usual calm.

"Excellent. Challenger ta Commander Said. Report!"

While the three holograms conversed between themselves, Lahr peeked past them further into the room beyond.  Maybe if he had some time alone with their computers, he could figure out a way to stop their time shift.  Unfortunately, he wasn't given that time and at the 30 second warning he braced himself for a fight thinking the Commander would want to press forward.

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Vault Door | Ancient Yet Advanced Cave Dwelling | Kaimo IV]

The announcement that the defenses would activate in thirty seconds spurned Nira to action, and at the same time, she knew what she had to do.

"Away team, let's get out of here!" she shouted, and she and Savar made a run out of the facility. Knowing full well what the defenses were capable of, getting a taste of it earlier, she decided it was best not to mess with the facility.

They were just on the way when the transmission finally came through.

"Thank Allah, Captain," she said as they proceeded. Now that it was confirmed to Nira that the transmission was coming in clearly, though she was concerned with how long it too, she made her report: "We finally found the source. Captain Galloway...Ian...you're not going to believe this. We've come across a violation of two different Prime Directives in progress by this ancient civilization..."

She elaborated what was discovered to Captain Galloway as fast as she could, knowing that what could transpire could happen any moment. She also relayed what to do: She had planned on allowing the advanced civilization to return, but at the same time, she planned to evacuate as many of the descendants as she could, and so that they can be brought back to get to know their ancient yet advanced forebears, seeing as how advanced they are...she full well knew that the instinctive thing was to regard what she had in mind a violation of the Prime Directive, she could feel it from the rest of the away team.

She had to help the descendants. They had to do what they can to help. The question was, how, and what would Captain Galloway decide upon? Would he agree to help or would he much rather leave these people to die or keep on with their loop? Of course, everybody knew the dictates of the Prime Directive, but then again, Nira distinctly recalled every detail from back to cover, one of many things she knew cover to cover, and she had her defense.

"I know we have our own Prime Directive and protocols to deal with, Captain," said Nira, "but this IS an advanced civilization, however ancient it is, and the fact is that this is we're dealing with interference from an advanced civilization, them against the lesser one, and believe me, our own Prime Directive allows that addressing,  so we must ensure the descendants' survival. We'll need mass transporting, all our shuttlecraft, and to ensure nobody sees out advanced technology, we administer a gas to render them unconcious just as they come in, even simulate their world on our holodecks.

"However," said Nira, "you are the Captain, after all; it's your call, not mine. The decision is yours. And you'll need to make it fast, there may not be enough time...we're returning to the surface as we speak, and we'll need extraction."

Her call for retreat caught him completely by surprise.  It took a full 5 seconds for him to realize that yeah, they were actually backing down on this.   Ugh. This sucked.   The Andorian reluctantly turned away before making a run for the exit.  He couldn't actually hear the discussion going on between the Commander and Captain but Lahr hoped a call for transporter pick up was part of it... there was no way they could escape the cave much less the island or the planet in time otherwise.

[Zhukdrashar Mrekrerhas]

[Ensign Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas | Island Cavern - Kaimo VI]

[Underground Complex - Kaimo IV]

The massive doors opened once Lahr figured out the symbols and, the away team found a fully automated communication station. The monitors showed the feed from three others stations on the planet, each linked to extraordinarily detailed, real-time data about the condition of the planet back to this master terminal, which was then feeding the data into space. Which, for the away team, was an unknown part of the puzzle.

Before they could advance beyond the doors, holographic images of three humanoid women of surpassing beauty, each possessing an aristocratic bearing and obvious intelligence as they begin speaking. Fortunately, the Universal Translator was able to make their words sound like Federation Standard.

"Greetings. Two hundred thousand years ago we realized that our sun was entering a dangerous period of flares and expansion, which would destroy our civilization. As we were unable to prevent this catastrophe and equally unwilling to either be annihilated as a people or evacuate our population, we designed a probe to wait out the flares and aftermath. Once the period of instability had passed, the probe would create a temporal pocket to 'shift' our civilization forward to this new, "safer" period in our planet's history. This station has noted the arrival of the probe and the process to restore our civilization to it's place in the quadrant has begun. Our monitoring station has detected your presence and that you are not Kaimo. If you attempt to interrupt our return to our own world, this facility has the means to protect itself. If you do not depart immediately, your biological matrix will be destroyed by the temporal relocation. You have been warned."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian looked up when Buck spoke and shook his head as he replied.

"As the rest of the bridge is busy gettin' ready for whatever is about ta happen, I need you ta see if'n you can reach the away team. They haven't reported in since askin' about that puzzle and I need ta ken if'n they have a means ta shut that bloody probe down."

The transmission that came through caught Zhukdra'shar off-guard. He marveled at the beauty of the holographic women on display, his eyes widening as he wondered if he would be able to speak to the remains of this long-lost, dead civilization. Maybe he even attempted some 'diplomacy' with his knowledge of the art of allure. Whatever dreams he had, however, were shattered as the explanation of the installation was provided, letting him, and the rest of the troupe know that their civilization had ended. Yet, they would return through some kind of time rift, synchronized with a probe in orbit.

He shook his head, as instead of fearing for his own life, he felt his heart clench at the fact that the temporal relocation would most likely also eliminate Akuuta and his fellows. That was not something that he wished to abide by. A thousand thoughts began to flood his mind, leaving him unable to respond as his ears twitched and his head swiveled from side to side. Momentarily losing himself.

It certainly didn't seem fair to him that the ancestors of the individuals that roamed the land were about to wipe their descendants out. Whether knowingly or unknowingly, to destroy a present civilization that had thus far done no harm, and that he had personal stakes in, as minimal as they were, was an act of brutality he couldn't condone.

Then again, was it fair to not allow the ancients to rebuild once more? After all, they had devised the means to protect themselves after an event out of their control threatened with wiping them out. Self-preservation is a vital part of life, as he saw it, and he wondered what great knowledge the ancients would possess that they could potentially share if first contact happened.

Finally, though, he took a decision, as he gripped his weapon

"My vote is with the savag-"

[Underground Complex - Kaimo IV]

The holograms took in the information from Lahr and Nira, conferring briefly before replying.

"The restoration has begun. We the Kaimo will return to our world. Those still present when the temporal relocation occurs will be supplanted by our return. This is how it must be. Depart this facility while you still can, otherwise the defenses will activate. You have..." There was short pause as the hologram calculated units of time. "Thirty of your seconds to flee."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian could see on the display built into the command chair that the chroniton pulses that time was running out. He was going to have to risk firing on the probe, because it was now too late for a shuttle to reach the away team before he had to take drastic action.

"Sir! I've got it. If we launch a probe, it can act as a relay to communicate with the away team!"

Randall said excitedly.

"Execute Mister Randall. If'n they can't do summat in the next five minutes, we'll have ta fire."

"Aye Sir. Probe away."

Ian willed the probe to move faster as the seconds ticked away.

"The probe is in place Sir."

T'Kel said with her usual calm.

"Excellent. Challenger ta Commander Said. Report!"

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Vault Door | Ancient Yet Advanced Cave Dwelling | Kaimo IV]

The announcement that the defenses would activate in thirty seconds spurned Nira to action, and at the same time, she knew what she had to do.

"Away team, let's get out of here!" she shouted, and she and Savar made a run out of the facility. Knowing full well what the defenses were capable of, getting a taste of it earlier, she decided it was best not to mess with the facility.

They were just on the way when the transmission finally came through.

"Thank Allah, Captain," she said as they proceeded. Now that it was confirmed to Nira that the transmission was coming in clearly, though she was concerned with how long it too, she made her report: "We finally found the source. Captain Galloway...Ian...you're not going to believe this. We've come across a violation of two different Prime Directives in progress by this ancient civilization..."

She elaborated what was discovered to Captain Galloway as fast as she could, knowing that what could transpire could happen any moment. She also relayed what to do: She had planned on allowing the advanced civilization to return, but at the same time, she planned to evacuate as many of the descendants as she could, and so that they can be brought back to get to know their ancient yet advanced forebears, seeing as how advanced they are...she full well knew that the instinctive thing was to regard what she had in mind a violation of the Prime Directive, she could feel it from the rest of the away team.

She had to help the descendants. They had to do what they can to help. The question was, how, and what would Captain Galloway decide upon? Would he agree to help or would he much rather leave these people to die or keep on with their loop? Of course, everybody knew the dictates of the Prime Directive, but then again, Nira distinctly recalled every detail from back to cover, one of many things she knew cover to cover, and she had her defense.

"I know we have our own Prime Directive and protocols to deal with, Captain," said Nira, "but this IS an advanced civilization, however ancient it is, and the fact is that this is we're dealing with interference from an advanced civilization, them against the lesser one, and believe me, our own Prime Directive allows that addressing,  so we must ensure the descendants' survival. We'll need mass transporting, all our shuttlecraft, and to ensure nobody sees out advanced technology, we administer a gas to render them unconcious just as they come in, even simulate their world on our holodecks.

"However," said Nira, "you are the Captain, after all; it's your call, not mine. The decision is yours. And you'll need to make it fast, there may not be enough time...we're returning to the surface as we speak, and we'll need extraction."

Yet, he was interrupted by the voice of the holograms once more, even as Lieutenant Nira and Petty Officer Lahr discussed their own views on the matter. Thirty seconds was too little for them to be able to properly flee. He knew that even with his nimble feet, he would probably be unable to reach the exit in time. Yet, his sharp audition heard the order from Lieutenant Nira to retreat.

He frowned but obeyed. It wasn't in his line of duty to question his superior, and he didn't want to be torn to ashes from one of those turrets. Still, he wondered for a moment, as he began to turn his tail and flee if he should fire upon any systems that seemed important. Maybe it would give them some time to escape towards the outside. And maybe it would stop the time shift from taking place.

Or maybe it would aggravate things, and the temporal jump would speed up, killing them and all of the natives in any case. And the ancients to boot. Technology was a headache for him sometimes. Gritting his sharp teeth, he just rushed to the exit, making sure to glance over at his wounded companions to pick them up in case they were moving too slow.

His eyes were too trained on the walls, ready to avoid any more force-fields or turrets that might hinder their escape.