Season 14, Episode 5: The First Frontier

[Don Damien Addams]

[The Arizona Herald - Paradize, AZ]

"Mr. Adams!  Where's that story for the front page?  We need to be ready for the train, tomorrow!" called out Mr. John Schmit.  Don seemed to have been in his own little world and completely lost focus.  A half written article about the southern Pacific line still sat in his typewriter, waiting to be finished for the editor himself.  Don worked hard to get to where he was; from a small time paper in Boston, to here, a senior reporter for the Herald.  His son Alex was off in a corner, looking like he too had been in a daze, with a half finished drawing in his hands.  Don was supposed to be finishing the front page article, and his son had been working on a drawing of the train route... as well as a half drawn picture of birds in a tree.

[The Arizona Herald - Paradize, AZ]
The reporter writer was staring at the blank new page in the old ancient type writer. His mind was not focus at the task itself. Licking his dry lips, Don was looking at the editor. "Mister Schmit I am getting there," he replied.

There was a page with notes on on the right side of the black iron cast typer writer. He picked it up and read it. The notes was on the newly built station was being built, a town everyone knew everyone, want to be on the map to prosper and not linked to the nation yet. That was familiar to him.

The  tabs of the ancient type board was feeling alien to him. He took a peak under the his hood of his eye lids to see anyone see he was stalling. His son was drawing away. That was good. He smiled as he was proud of the boy. They had traveled to be part of this town. Even they had a run in with a robbery. All he knew they were planning to head more west with a poker player, a dancer, a teacher, and his son.

He placed his fingers on the keys to see it was a natural thing for him. Which was not. You think his fingers would dance across the keys and make magic happen. He knew how to make it work. He was in some high status academy which trained him. It was one of the best. He just can't recall the details but he knew he was highly educated.

He licked his dry lips as he was trying to fit it together. Then he pressed the G key and the e and t and t again slow. He was typing the 'Getting' was the first word he typed.

Feeling Mr. John Schmit was giving him a look of what the heck you doing son. He gave the fellow a small weak smile and turned back to his workstation.

He went on typing as it was slowly getting easy then he made a mistake. He frowned. He figured he would turn the left wheel of the roller on the type writer to get out and feed a new piece of paper in it.

Then he took a nice clean sheet of paper and feed it in. He adjusted the margin and he started over. The typing was starting to feel right. Like he something from the future. Clothes all green as military men and sounds of guns and explosions. He was remembering WWII holodeck which had type writers like he was using. It was not advance as those but he had not recalled using one. Or did he?

He sat up once more to square his posture together. Would he be able to type something up like... "Paradise will be soon be Paradise as the gates are opening by the trains are coming." Then he read what he wrote. That was dumb. Then he ripped out the paper and put another one.

"I know I am was warming up," he made a excuse.

"Come the railroad. Paradise will be prosper. New horizon is here! Such jolly community dying to see new faces. It will happen sooner then you think!  The new faces will come soon by dozens by dozens by train," he was typing. Not very fast but he was starting to get hang of it.

[Alexander Graham]

Into the late afternoon/evening hours...

[Paradise Saloon - Paradise, AZ]

"Miss Said!  Hurry up! Yer on soon!" Miss Thatcher called out backstage.  How long had it been since she'd been dancing?  It was hard to tell at first.  Regardless, this is the best place to be in the world.  Only a day or two more before Nira would be entertaining everyone from the Governor to the President... to even Kings.  Hell, this town was about to become a modern kingdom.

"Miss Said, go!  Yer on!"

Outside in the saloon proper another intense game of poker was going on, with the goal to try to beat down the card shark of the town, a high roller named Nevil.  He was laughing with a cigar in hand as he won yet another hand.  Known in the West as Ned the Nose for his peculiar nose shape; some speculated he got hit with a train, others said it was a fight.  Either way... no one seemed to be able to pull off an injury like he had.. so much so that he did in fact have a reputation with the ladies.  Ever since coming to Paradise, however, Nevil seemed content to enjoy himself.. as well as win cash off of anyone who dared stepped to his table.

[Paradise Schoolhouse - Paradise, AZ]

The last of the children left the one room schoolhouse, leaving Luby free to look over her books and her lesson plan for tomorrow.  Such darling children!  The light was started to head down to the horizon, so there was only a few hours left of good light.  Speaking of some hours left of light, it was about time to think about supper....

[The Arizona Herald - Paradize, AZ]

"Mr. Adams!  Where's that story for the front page?  We need to be ready for the train, tomorrow!" called out Mr. John Schmit.  Don seemed to have been in his own little world and completely lost focus.  A half written article about the southern Pacific line still sat in his typewriter, waiting to be finished for the editor himself.  Don worked hard to get to where he was; from a small time paper in Boston, to here, a senior reporter for the Herald.  His son Alex was off in a corner, looking like he too had been in a daze, with a half finished drawing in his hands.  Don was supposed to be finishing the front page article, and his son had been working on a drawing of the train route... as well as a half drawn picture of birds in a tree.

[The Arizona herald- Paradise,AZ]

The son who was just coming out of a confused daze looked at his drawings with such disgust. He could hear a voice telling him "œthis is absolutely despicable you're going to have to do a whole lot better than that." It wasn't like he was going to roll his eyes at the person in the current state that he was in. He got back to work drawing the landscape and the buildings in the unsettled west. He was determined to get this done despite being yelled at and still feeling sort of confused. He just had to somehow tune out the voice that was yelling at him.

[Danjar-Torra Addams]

Crewman Helga Tragnar
[Box Canyon - Outside Paradise, AZ]

[Box Canyon - Outside Paradise, AZ]

Lek's eyes narrowed as A'ron spoke and as he did, it only served to make Lek like him even less. When he stormed off to find T'lara, Lek had to trot to keep up with the long legged human, but that didn't keep him from barking the whole way.

"Look you PetaQ, as you well know, anything temporal is highly classified, so you also have to know we wouldn't be aware of whatever urinating contest you are having 400 years in our future. We weren't even supposed to be here, so how in the South side of Sihnon were we supposed to know about an temporal incursion by aliens in Earth's past? Especially when you toDSaH of Temporal Intelligence classify everything double purple ultra secret!

"In case you haven't noticed Hyoomon, we are standing in a desert with no food or water and you have the audacity to tell us not to go into the local town? What are we supposed to do? Trek across Vulcan's Forge to the next village? For someone that thinks being here is cadet's work you might want to start by pulling your head out of your sa'hut! Because if you're what passes for a lieutenant in the 29th Century's Starfleet, we are in more trouble than I thought!"

By this time they'd reach T'Lara and out of deference to her, Lek stopped shouting, but the way his eyes flashed, it was clear he was still livid by the situation and by A'ron in particular.

Helga was not in a good mood.  Having been 'captured' by some unknown transporter technology, the Klingon Hybrid felt rather annoyed with herself, the situation and that she'd been unable to do anything to prevent it all.  She moved through the throng of people (most seeming to be a bit lost - especially after the ship disappeared), and looked for PO Bradley to report - anticipating that some sort of her perimeter watch might be needed.  She seen a few crewman like herself, but as yet no Bradley.

Suddenly, Lek's nasal and somewhat shrill voice could be heard up ahead.. most of the words she couldn't make out but it was clear he was upset.  Pushing her way through the crowd, Helga got near enough to see her Ferengi mate, rapidly following some human.  The fact that the Ferengi was swearing in Klingon had Helga grinning toothily.   But it was his agitated movements that caught Helga's attention.  As security, she was trained to spot the signs of growing threat.. and at the moment Lek's almost aggressive antics held her attention.   Her eyes followed him like she wanted to devour him. 

[Nira Said]

[Box Canyon - Outside Paradise, AZ]

The agent did not look impressed by the Ferengi, and crossed his arms.  "Oh sure, my ship is nearby... spatially.  We're just about a thousand years too early.  Temporal, remember?" he said, shaking his head.  "I was just supposed to scout and report back, and try to get you guys back to your own time.  Cadet work, really.  But because they found out about your ship... probably thanks to your outdated clumsy approach with an away team; now they have had reason to step up their protections, including a temporal inhibitor.  Unless we can get an exact temporal coordinate, my ship can show up in any time period within a hundred years of this day.  And in case you forgot Earth history, in a hundred years humans start going into space." he said, deciding to seek out and go to the First officer.  He assumed the Ferengi would follow.

"Commander?  I'm Lieutenant A'ron of the Federation timeship Einstein. I was just informed by your Chief Engineer that your Captain and an away team went over to Paradise?  This will complicate things.  But we're now stuck in this time period with no ship, and just the technology we have with us... and..." the futuristic officer looked around the desert floor.

"This must be a joke... I think the T'hunga are playing with us." he said, pointing out the desert floor of the canyon.. where time period clothing laid folded, just as it had left the replicators.

[Lieutenant JG Savar | Desert | Arizona Territory | Earth | 1890s ]

*Earlier That Day*

Seeing the temporal agent, Savar realized his question's bound to go unasked. Commander T'Lara will no doubt be busy with him, so he stepped back and...

He felt something. Somehow, he felt a bout of grogginess, totally unrelated to him, now that he was fully awake. And a feminine Where am I?

Suddenly, Savar smiled. He realized what it meant. Nira was awake. He stepped over the apparent period clothing that appeared out of nowhere and went off to the side, not far from the crew, to talk to Nira.

Nira? Are you all right?

He felt puzzlement. Almost like she didn't recognize him. Savar furrowed his brow. This wasn't like Nira.

Nira?

Can't talk now, she replied hastily, it's showtime.

A moment later, a little burst of energy. A feeling of elation. Savar recognized that feeling, Nira made those whenever she danced. And he ought to know that energy with that elation meant she was dancing. He should know it, he saw her dance plenty of times in private since the night they engaged in Pon Farr, a dance preceding pleasure. But something was definitely wrong with Nira.

Savar sat in a meditative pose and looked around. He had picked a good spot, a view of the valley. It almost felt as if he was meditating on the slopes of Mount Seleya, though the renowned mountain on Vulcan rose a lot higher. Then he put his focus on his meditating. He had to admit, he hadn't done meditating in a long time, being a "Vulcan Without Logic." Before he met Nira, he thought of meditating as a waste of time. But now, it seems, they had all the time in the world.

He had found, of course, by concentrating enough, when it came to the telepathic bond he and Nira shared, he could project an image of himself in Nira's head. In fact, it worked both ways, too, he'd also see an image of Nira in his own head. The first time it happened, he had been enjoying Nira's incense and was so lost in thought, suddenly he saw an image of Nira in his own head. She balked in surprise and demanded, mentally, to get out of her her head. She later told him off for distracting her while she was on duty. However, she didn't mind having it in, later, when they were off-duty, or when duty hours were slow, but he kept them brief, not wanting to distract Nira.

He had discovered he got the best results of mental imaging through meditating, which was handy if he and Nira would be separated for long periods of time, even if Nira had to be away overnight. Now, this was imperative than ever, since Nira had gone missing with the Captain and the rest of an away team, and more especially since Nira didn't seem to recognize him.

For the rest of the afternoon, he tried to engage her in telepathic conversation, but she seemed to busy dancing to notice. He eventually succeeded in getting her image mentally and was surprised at what she was wearing. She had on a thinly-strapped red dress with a corset and skirt, loose enough to reveal her legs.

He was growing suspicious that something happened to Nira's mind for her to not recognize her, along with the dress, and once she had a chance to talk, they were confirmed. He flinched, taken aback, in meditative posture, when Nira inquired who he was, and his puzzlement increased when Nira referred to him as an elf....a "romantic elf of fantasy."

Savar was so surprised he opened his eyes with a start, breaking the connection. He blinked, and then breathed in, regaining his composure. Then he closed his eyes and tried to talk telepathically.

Nira...

I don't know where your getting this Nira from, it's Najwa. Now get out of my head and don't bother me while I'm working. How do I know you're no hallucination? Some mirage from desert fever?

Savar was so taken aback to hear Nira talk to him like that, he nearly cried. You're one to talk about desert fever, you've lived in Arabia from childhood...

GO AWAY!!! THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO TALK!!!

The thought was so severe, he flinched badly enough to tumble over from his meditative pose, he was so shocked. Shocked at this new Nira, shocked that she'd even regard him as a mirage, a hallucination...a fantasy. His anguish was enough to make him pound the desert floor.

He returned to the crew and sought out Torra. He needed someone to talk to.

"Torra?" he said. "I'm...sorry I was missing the whole thing. I was knocked unconscious by the crash, though the impact would've likely killed anybody else who didn't match a Vulcan's strength. I could've been comatose if I didn't hear a thought from Nira. A panicked religious explative. Followed by two words: 'he knows.' Whoever 'he' is, he must've captured Nira and did something with her mind, she doesn't recognize me, she thinks I'm an elf and is apparently engaging an audience in performance. We...have a telepathic bond, ever since...Pon Farr," he added uncomfortably, and quieter, he never admitted this much to someone else before, but he needed someone to talk to. "Right now, our bond is the only way we can communicate."

After a moment around Torra, he felt a little better, and then he approached the temporal agent. "Excuse me, sir," he said, knowing he's the best person to talk to in a situation like this, "but is there any way we can get into town and find the away team? My girl's a part of that team."

He spoke because he was anxious to swoop down into town to find Nira. He didn't care if it was going to be enemy territory; he'd tear down the whole town like the pre-Surak monsters of old, if he could find Nira and save her.

[Tekin Nevir]

[Box Canyon - Outside Paradise, AZ]

Lek's eyes narrowed as A'ron spoke and as he did, it only served to make Lek like him even less. When he stormed off to find T'lara, Lek had to trot to keep up with the long legged human, but that didn't keep him from barking the whole way.

"Look you PetaQ, as you well know, anything temporal is highly classified, so you also have to know we wouldn't be aware of whatever urinating contest you are having 400 years in our future. We weren't even supposed to be here, so how in the South side of Sihnon were we supposed to know about an temporal incursion by aliens in Earth's past? Especially when you toDSaH of Temporal Intelligence classify everything double purple ultra secret!

"In case you haven't noticed Hyoomon, we are standing in a desert with no food or water and you have the audacity to tell us not to go into the local town? What are we supposed to do? Trek across Vulcan's Forge to the next village? For someone that thinks being here is cadet's work you might want to start by pulling your head out of your sa'hut! Because if you're what passes for a lieutenant in the 29th Century's Starfleet, we are in more trouble than I thought!"

By this time they'd reach T'Lara and out of deference to her, Lek stopped shouting, but the way his eyes flashed, it was clear he was still livid by the situation and by A'ron in particular.

[Box Canyon - Outside Paradise, AZ]

A'ron did his best to keep his cool, despite the short wannabe Klingon doing his best to rile him up.  He had to refer back to his Starfleet training to keep himself calm.  More than half of the encounters with temporally primitive people would result in anger and annoyance.  He turned back to the Chief Engineer, and then turned his head again when a Vulcan officer came up to him.

"Chief, think of it this way.  Yes, staying out of the town is a good idea.  Had your Captain done so, you may have been able to get away faster.  Its not either of your faults, you had no way of knowing, and I understand that.  To be frank, Starfleet had no way of knowing.  But sending another party to the town would call too much attention... especially for some of you." he said, looking between the vulcan and the ferengi.

The starfleet officer gestured in front of his badge again, and another holo display showed up in front of him.  There was clearly a scanned map, and he moved through the different point, zooming and scrolling, until he was able to center on Paradise and the canyon they were in.  The town itself was under what looked like a black circle with 'Unknown' on top of it.  But there were dots in the canyon... including a blue dot representing himself.

"Okay.. there is an abandoned mining camp a click or two towards the west.  Its the original Paradise mine.  Abandoned, like it was supposed to be.  Its sheltered and shaded, and a good staging point.  If we were to go there, I can explain as much as possible about what is going on.  I know its asking quite a lot, but trust me.  I will do everything I can to get your Captain, away team, and ship, and get you back to your time.  You are, at the very least, not alone." he said, making a gesture in front of his badge again and the holo image vanished.  He then squeezed the sides of his badge, and his clothing shimmered with a black sheen as it went from his Starfleet Uniform, to a more age appropriate outfit, slacks, suspenders, a shirt, and a brimmed hat.

He would then turn on his heels, and walk towards to the mine.  It really wasn't very far at all, and in addition to a hole in the side of a mountain, there were abandoned wooden structures and tents.  A bubbling pond nearby told of an underground spring that had broken through.

"Ironic... it was this mine and spring that earned the name of the camp Paradise.  Accessible gold and a nearby water source... but they wouldn't find munch after the first couple of years.  According to the records, this town was mostly dead by now, and would be abandoned in the next 4 years.  But that is clearly not the case." A'ron said, as he stood and let the crew find some shade and water.

"This mine was abandoned way too quickly. It looks like they just jumped up and left, leaving everything behind.  Something caused the miners to abandon this place immediately, and yet the town suddenly prospered.  Either they found another means of production, or they found another place to mine." he stated, mostly to himself, as he left the guys relax.

"Alright, I promised I would tell you as much as I can, and I will.  And you have already stated, Chief, this is highly classified still within your time.  To start with, we have known about time travel since... well since First Contact.  Time is a dangerous tool, and even more dangerous weapon.  If there was a hint of it being possible to alter time, any number of factions would have tried.  However, it was only a matter of time before more scientists would start to see the correct formula for time travel, and start to develop the technology.  By my century, time travel became as mundane as warp travel is for you." he stated, taking a seat.

"But that didn't stop those who wanted the power to alter history; creating changes to improve themselves, or their species.  At first, we tried to regulate time travel, monitor it.  Then we allied with another time powers to stop any attempts to change history.  But eventually the technology got away from us, and before we know it, there were not just a couple, but several factions threatening to use time to harm others.  This is the period we call the Temporal Cold Wars.  From my point of view, that is where we still are.  Organizations like Starfleet watch the timeline, waiting for the first strike to signal the start of full war.  This has now become one of their fronts, and we have no idea why.  And until we can take down the temporal inhibitor, we're going to be stuck here.  So... any questions so far?"

[Lek]

[Box Canyon - Outside Paradise, AZ]

A'ron did his best to keep his cool, despite the short wannabe Klingon doing his best to rile him up.  He had to refer back to his Starfleet training to keep himself calm.  More than half of the encounters with temporally primitive people would result in anger and annoyance.  He turned back to the Chief Engineer, and then turned his head again when a Vulcan officer came up to him.

"Chief, think of it this way.  Yes, staying out of the town is a good idea.  Had your Captain done so, you may have been able to get away faster.  Its not either of your faults, you had no way of knowing, and I understand that.  To be frank, Starfleet had no way of knowing.  But sending another party to the town would call too much attention... especially for some of you." he said, looking between the vulcan and the ferengi.

The starfleet officer gestured in front of his badge again, and another holo display showed up in front of him.  There was clearly a scanned map, and he moved through the different point, zooming and scrolling, until he was able to center on Paradise and the canyon they were in.  The town itself was under what looked like a black circle with 'Unknown' on top of it.  But there were dots in the canyon... including a blue dot representing himself.

"Okay.. there is an abandoned mining camp a click or two towards the west.  Its the original Paradise mine.  Abandoned, like it was supposed to be.  Its sheltered and shaded, and a good staging point.  If we were to go there, I can explain as much as possible about what is going on.  I know its asking quite a lot, but trust me.  I will do everything I can to get your Captain, away team, and ship, and get you back to your time.  You are, at the very least, not alone." he said, making a gesture in front of his badge again and the holo image vanished.  He then squeezed the sides of his badge, and his clothing shimmered with a black sheen as it went from his Starfleet Uniform, to a more age appropriate outfit, slacks, suspenders, a shirt, and a brimmed hat.

He would then turn on his heels, and walk towards to the mine.  It really wasn't very far at all, and in addition to a hole in the side of a mountain, there were abandoned wooden structures and tents.  A bubbling pond nearby told of an underground spring that had broken through.

"Ironic... it was this mine and spring that earned the name of the camp Paradise.  Accessible gold and a nearby water source... but they wouldn't find munch after the first couple of years.  According to the records, this town was mostly dead by now, and would be abandoned in the next 4 years.  But that is clearly not the case." A'ron said, as he stood and let the crew find some shade and water.

"This mine was abandoned way too quickly. It looks like they just jumped up and left, leaving everything behind.  Something caused the miners to abandon this place immediately, and yet the town suddenly prospered.  Either they found another means of production, or they found another place to mine." he stated, mostly to himself, as he left the guys relax.

"Alright, I promised I would tell you as much as I can, and I will.  And you have already stated, Chief, this is highly classified still within your time.  To start with, we have known about time travel since... well since First Contact.  Time is a dangerous tool, and even more dangerous weapon.  If there was a hint of it being possible to alter time, any number of factions would have tried.  However, it was only a matter of time before more scientists would start to see the correct formula for time travel, and start to develop the technology.  By my century, time travel became as mundane as warp travel is for you." he stated, taking a seat.

"But that didn't stop those who wanted the power to alter history; creating changes to improve themselves, or their species.  At first, we tried to regulate time travel, monitor it.  Then we allied with another time powers to stop any attempts to change history.  But eventually the technology got away from us, and before we know it, there were not just a couple, but several factions threatening to use time to harm others.  This is the period we call the Temporal Cold Wars.  From my point of view, that is where we still are.  Organizations like Starfleet watch the timeline, waiting for the first strike to signal the start of full war.  This has now become one of their fronts, and we have no idea why.  And until we can take down the temporal inhibitor, we're going to be stuck here.  So... any questions so far?"

[Box Canyon --> Mine -  Outside Paradise, AZ]

Lek was somewhat mollified when A'ron took a less condescending and accusatory tone, enough to not interrupt him again as he explained the situation better. Now Lek was more angry about not being able to do anything to change their situation. As least when they reached the abandoned mine, they were out of the sun and had water. While it wasn't optimal, the crew could survive a long time under their new conditions.

"Okay, I follow all that, but at some point, we are going to need food and I'm going to have to have access to what passes for technology of this era if I'm to construct a signal booster to be able to contact the Discovery. A combadge is an amazing bit of kit, but its only got a 500 kilometer range and Luna is 400,000 kilometers from Earth.

"However, I want you to know, we've had experience with time travel, not the Discovery per se, but we found the USS Burke after it was lost for more than a hundred years. Time displaced right into our lap a year ago. This Temporal Cold War is none of our business, so don't worry about us interfering with that, we just want our ship back and we'll figure out how to get back to our era on our own."

[Nira Said]

[Box Canyon - Outside Paradise, AZ]

A'ron did his best to keep his cool, despite the short wannabe Klingon doing his best to rile him up.  He had to refer back to his Starfleet training to keep himself calm.  More than half of the encounters with temporally primitive people would result in anger and annoyance.  He turned back to the Chief Engineer, and then turned his head again when a Vulcan officer came up to him.

"Chief, think of it this way.  Yes, staying out of the town is a good idea.  Had your Captain done so, you may have been able to get away faster.  Its not either of your faults, you had no way of knowing, and I understand that.  To be frank, Starfleet had no way of knowing.  But sending another party to the town would call too much attention... especially for some of you." he said, looking between the vulcan and the ferengi.

The starfleet officer gestured in front of his badge again, and another holo display showed up in front of him.  There was clearly a scanned map, and he moved through the different point, zooming and scrolling, until he was able to center on Paradise and the canyon they were in.  The town itself was under what looked like a black circle with 'Unknown' on top of it.  But there were dots in the canyon... including a blue dot representing himself.

"Okay.. there is an abandoned mining camp a click or two towards the west.  Its the original Paradise mine.  Abandoned, like it was supposed to be.  Its sheltered and shaded, and a good staging point.  If we were to go there, I can explain as much as possible about what is going on.  I know its asking quite a lot, but trust me.  I will do everything I can to get your Captain, away team, and ship, and get you back to your time.  You are, at the very least, not alone." he said, making a gesture in front of his badge again and the holo image vanished.  He then squeezed the sides of his badge, and his clothing shimmered with a black sheen as it went from his Starfleet Uniform, to a more age appropriate outfit, slacks, suspenders, a shirt, and a brimmed hat.

He would then turn on his heels, and walk towards to the mine.  It really wasn't very far at all, and in addition to a hole in the side of a mountain, there were abandoned wooden structures and tents.  A bubbling pond nearby told of an underground spring that had broken through.

"Ironic... it was this mine and spring that earned the name of the camp Paradise.  Accessible gold and a nearby water source... but they wouldn't find munch after the first couple of years.  According to the records, this town was mostly dead by now, and would be abandoned in the next 4 years.  But that is clearly not the case." A'ron said, as he stood and let the crew find some shade and water.

"This mine was abandoned way too quickly. It looks like they just jumped up and left, leaving everything behind.  Something caused the miners to abandon this place immediately, and yet the town suddenly prospered.  Either they found another means of production, or they found another place to mine." he stated, mostly to himself, as he left the guys relax.

"Alright, I promised I would tell you as much as I can, and I will.  And you have already stated, Chief, this is highly classified still within your time.  To start with, we have known about time travel since... well since First Contact.  Time is a dangerous tool, and even more dangerous weapon.  If there was a hint of it being possible to alter time, any number of factions would have tried.  However, it was only a matter of time before more scientists would start to see the correct formula for time travel, and start to develop the technology.  By my century, time travel became as mundane as warp travel is for you." he stated, taking a seat.

"But that didn't stop those who wanted the power to alter history; creating changes to improve themselves, or their species.  At first, we tried to regulate time travel, monitor it.  Then we allied with another time powers to stop any attempts to change history.  But eventually the technology got away from us, and before we know it, there were not just a couple, but several factions threatening to use time to harm others.  This is the period we call the Temporal Cold Wars.  From my point of view, that is where we still are.  Organizations like Starfleet watch the timeline, waiting for the first strike to signal the start of full war.  This has now become one of their fronts, and we have no idea why.  And until we can take down the temporal inhibitor, we're going to be stuck here.  So... any questions so far?"

[Lieutenant JG Savar | Box Canyon | Arizona Territory | Earth | 190something]

Savar followed the temporal agent, along with the rest of the crew, to a mine. He listened to what he had to say. He was a little miffed that he couldn't be allowed to head to town to find Nira, but then, cooler heads prevailed; he realized, even as a "Vulcan Without Logic," that storming into town like a knight in shining armor was the most illogical thing to do in this situation. The best he can do is wait and see what the temporal agent had in mind. He hated to leave Nira there, but at the moment, there was no good plan available.

As he listened to the temporal agent, suddenly, there was a part of Nira in him becoming inquisitive; maybe it was because of his relationship with Nira thus far, the fact that he joined her for mystery holonovels. Or it was the telepathic bond they shared that worked both ways, picking up mannerisms and skills. Either way, suddenly he began thinking like Nira: The original mine was abandoned too quickly; the town Nira, the Captain, and the rest of the away team were trapped in, Paradise, was supposed to have been abandoned by now, but instead, it's prospering; either another means of production or another place to mine; and it had to do with the same somebody who captured Nira and screwed with her mind.

"A few questions have crossed my mind, sir," he said when the temporal agent asked for questions. "First of all, what's the means of production making the town prospering? If there's another place to mine, what they possibly be mining? And what can we do to make sure we enter town safely when the time comes? Where could be hiding the inhibitors? And who is the opposition we could be dealing with, and is he possibly armed with means of mind alteration?

"I don't mean to bring in so many questions," he said apologetically, "if I'm inquisitive, it's that I get it from my mate...my girl. She's at the town right now, one of that away team, and something happened to her mind. She's not herself, that much I know."

Even as he mentioned it, he realized with a shock that what affected Nira could happen to him. He decided he must not talk to Nira again telepathically. It'd be better if she talked to him. He could only be a nuisance, as what most people regarded telepathic conversations.

He didn't mean to spill so much, but right now, the temporal agent was the only one who knew what to do and offered what he can do to help. Maybe he'd turn to Torra for comfort, but right now, he needed information. As Nira had often commented, "an investigation can't go anywhere without any information to go on."

[Luby Wentock]

Into the late afternoon/evening hours...

[Paradise Schoolhouse - Paradise, AZ]

The last of the children left the one room schoolhouse, leaving Luby free to look over her books and her lesson plan for tomorrow.  Such darling children!  The light was started to head down to the horizon, so there was only a few hours left of good light.  Speaking of some hours left of light, it was about time to think about supper....

Into the late afternoon/evening hours...

[Paradise Schoolhouse - Paradise, AZ]

Luby smiled and waved back to the small freckled girl with pigtails in a pinafore and something in the back of her mind thought she'd seen her before somewhere.

She mentally shook herself.  Of course she had, every morning since she'd come to Paradise, the girl was one of her favourite pupils, a keen reader, Luby had even loaned her a few books of her own as the girl read voraciously as she herself had at the same age.

But that wasn't it... something niggled but the teacher pushed it to the back of her brain as her stomach let out a loud rumble.

"Yeah, I hear you... but got to finish this up.  I suppose now that I'm earning a wage I could go get a pie or something at the Saloon, see how Nira's getting along." she muttered to herself as if talking to her stomach.

Finally she turned down and blew out the oil lantern and popped it on the shelf then walked to the same door where the child had stood about 30 mins earlier and taking one last look around the room, she closed the door, locked it and dropped the key in the deep pocket hidden in the seam of her skirt.

Saloon
Carrying an armful of books she made her way to the Saloon, and smiled as she heard someone call Nira's name. 'Guess I'll talk to her after then, maybe treat her to supper if I'm allowed to.'

She smiled at one of the other customers, a typical 'cowboy' who stood and offered her his seat as it was busy.  "Oh, how kind, but I still need to go to the bar for a drink."

"Allow me to buy you one Ms. Wentock, you've helped young Mitchell's spelling come on by leaps and bounds.  What'll you have?"

"Oh yes of course, you're Mr. Mulligan, I'm sorry, it's been a long day..."

"Mitchell not been misbehavin' has he miss, I'll ---"

"Not at all, the children are delightful.  It's my fault I was engrossed reading last night, lost track of the time and didn't get much sleep, then working all day.  That's why I came here rather than going home, so I could get supper here! Saves me trying to cook on the little primus stove in our room!  And I could do with some adult company!  I'll have a small whisky with a lot of water, about 1 to 3 whisky to water ratio please!"

"Comin' right up, Miss!"

As Nira, 'No... that wasn't her name. Her name was Najwa,..' Luby thought to herself, '..why am I calling her Nira?' was being called she hoped that the attention would be off her, one of the few women in the saloon not behind the bar serving or ah... scantily clad.

She belatedly thought that it was the wrong place to come if she wanted to be alone with her thoughts and to try to think where and why she thought that she knew Martha from before the time she was living in Paradise, she seemed to have been here forever now but she knew she'd come from England, so likely, Martha just reminded her of countless children on the boats coming to America at the time.

Then there were the disturbing dreams, about a metal 'ship' which floated in the sky, and travelling amongst the stars.  What did that mean, was it one of those metaphors for something else that people said dreams meant?  And the man with the bumpy nose here... he was there, but wearing a strange costume in red, with an arrow head... was he an Indian?

Mr. Mulligan returned with her drink and she took a grateful sip.  "I wonder Mr. Mulligan, could you assist me once more?"

"Anything for the second most beautiful girl in the town, I have t'say that or Mrs. Mulligan would shoot me clean outta the place with her Winchester!"

Luby chucked and blushed, knowing that Kathleen Mulligan was a dear, sweet woman until you crossed her, but then also a crack shot with her gun, which kept lots of fresh meat on the table for them, some of which found it's way to the grateful stomachs of Najwa and herself in the form of casseroles and such.  They did pretty well with the parents of the children giving their excess to them in the form of pies and things easy to heat through or which could be eaten cold.  The little primus stove they had was only good for doing simple stuff like boiling water (and eggs!) or frying a little bacon, but Luby was quite an adept cook, it was more the space that was limited and only being able to use one pan at a time.  Hence why she'd come to the Saloon, in the hopes of getting food she didn't have to cook or warm herself and not being in the room by herself until Najwa came home.

"Here,.." she said scribbling a note to Nira.  "Can you get that to Ms. Said, or to someone who can pass it to her, just to let her know that I'm here!"

"Oh sure, I'll give it to Smithy, he'll give it to her."

Trusting the note to him.  She sat back and sipped her drink with a grateful smile.

The note when Nira gets it reads.

'Hi there Najwa, I'm out front having a drink with Mr. Mulligan and his friends.  Would you like supper here for a change, my treat!  Break a leg with your dancing tonight!  Biggest cheers from me!, Luby x'

[Lek]

Crewman Helga Tragnar
[Box Canyon - Outside Paradise, AZ]

Helga was not in a good mood.  Having been 'captured' by some unknown transporter technology, the Klingon Hybrid felt rather annoyed with herself, the situation and that she'd been unable to do anything to prevent it all.  She moved through the throng of people (most seeming to be a bit lost - especially after the ship disappeared), and looked for PO Bradley to report - anticipating that some sort of her perimeter watch might be needed.  She seen a few crewman like herself, but as yet no Bradley.

Suddenly, Lek's nasal and somewhat shrill voice could be heard up ahead.. most of the words she couldn't make out but it was clear he was upset.  Pushing her way through the crowd, Helga got near enough to see her Ferengi mate, rapidly following some human.  The fact that the Ferengi was swearing in Klingon had Helga grinning toothily.   But it was his agitated movements that caught Helga's attention.  As security, she was trained to spot the signs of growing threat.. and at the moment Lek's almost aggressive antics held her attention.   Her eyes followed him like she wanted to devour him.

[Abandoned Mine - Outside Paradise, AZ]

Lek still hadn't fully calmed down from his encounter with A'ron. The sudden loss of Discovery was affecting him more than he wanted to admit, especially as he felt a keen guilt that it has been his engines that had got them into this situation in the first place.

As A'ron spoke with the First Officer, Lek meandered around the abandoned mine until his eyes fell on Helga. He immediately felt another keen pang of guilt as he hadn't spent that much time, any to be honest, with her since he'd managed to make the deal to get her transferred to Discovery.

"In all likelihood, she's going to backhand me into some random Tuesday if I try to speak to her, but you can't make profit if you don't try."

He thought as he approached her. He knew better than to sneak up on her, so he cleared his throat before he got within arm's length and she turned to face him.

"Hi Helga, been a crazy day hasn't it?"

[Nira Said]

Into the late afternoon/evening hours...

Carrying an armful of books she made her way to the Saloon, and smiled as she heard someone call Nira's name. 'Guess I'll talk to her after then, maybe treat her to supper if I'm allowed to.'

She smiled at one of the other customers, a typical 'cowboy' who stood and offered her his seat as it was busy.  "Oh, how kind, but I still need to go to the bar for a drink."

"Allow me to buy you one Ms. Wentock, you've helped young Mitchell's spelling come on by leaps and bounds.  What'll you have?"

"Oh yes of course, you're Mr. Mulligan, I'm sorry, it's been a long day..."

"Mitchell not been misbehavin' has he miss, I'll ---"

"Not at all, the children are delightful.  It's my fault I was engrossed reading last night, lost track of the time and didn't get much sleep, then working all day.  That's why I came here rather than going home, so I could get supper here! Saves me trying to cook on the little primus stove in our room!  And I could do with some adult company!  I'll have a small whisky with a lot of water, about 1 to 3 whisky to water ratio please!"

"Comin' right up, Miss!"

As Nira, 'No... that wasn't her name. Her name was Najwa,..' Luby thought to herself, '..why am I calling her Nira?' was being called she hoped that the attention would be off her, one of the few women in the saloon not behind the bar serving or ah... scantily clad.

She belatedly thought that it was the wrong place to come if she wanted to be alone with her thoughts and to try to think where and why she thought that she knew Martha from before the time she was living in Paradise, she seemed to have been here forever now but she knew she'd come from England, so likely, Martha just reminded her of countless children on the boats coming to America at the time.

Then there were the disturbing dreams, about a metal 'ship' which floated in the sky, and travelling amongst the stars.  What did that mean, was it one of those metaphors for something else that people said dreams meant?  And the man with the bumpy nose here... he was there, but wearing a strange costume in red, with an arrow head... was he an Indian?

Mr. Mulligan returned with her drink and she took a grateful sip.  "I wonder Mr. Mulligan, could you assist me once more?"

"Anything for the second most beautiful girl in the town, I have t'say that or Mrs. Mulligan would shoot me clean outta the place with her Winchester!"

Luby chucked and blushed, knowing that Kathleen Mulligan was a dear, sweet woman until you crossed her, but then also a crack shot with her gun, which kept lots of fresh meat on the table for them, some of which found it's way to the grateful stomachs of Najwa and herself in the form of casseroles and such.  They did pretty well with the parents of the children giving their excess to them in the form of pies and things easy to heat through or which could be eaten cold.  The little primus stove they had was only good for doing simple stuff like boiling water (and eggs!) or frying a little bacon, but Luby was quite an adept cook, it was more the space that was limited and only being able to use one pan at a time.  Hence why she'd come to the Saloon, in the hopes of getting food she didn't have to cook or warm herself and not being in the room by herself until Najwa came home.

"Here,.." she said scribbling a note to Nira.  "Can you get that to Ms. Said, or to someone who can pass it to her, just to let her know that I'm here!"

"Oh sure, I'll give it to Smithy, he'll give it to her."

Trusting the note to him.  She sat back and sipped her drink with a grateful smile.

The note when Nira gets it reads.

'Hi there Najwa, I'm out front having a drink with Mr. Mulligan and his friends.  Would you like supper here for a change, my treat!  Break a leg with your dancing tonight!  Biggest cheers from me!, Luby x'

[Najwa/Nira (?) Said | Saloon | Paradise | Arizona Territory | 190something]

As Najwa danced on, stopping as the song finally ended, ending with enough applause that could've caused landslides to plug the Grand Canyon. She realized how lucky the saloon was to have her and her hoochie-coochie, that the pianist happened to know the song that went with it at the Chicago World's Fair where it was introduced..."The Streets of Cairo, or the Little Country Maid." Throughout the whole afternoon, she was sure the song was repeated a few times to keep in sync with the dance, but she didn't care. She was dancing, that was all.

A tiny piece of her mind began noticing the abrupt absence of the elf. She wondered if she had scared him away. She made a shrug that passed off as sultry shoulder rolling at that thought, making a coy smile. She was too busy to care.

As she took a curtsy at the end of the dance, being the star of the show, and very likely expecting to be showered in the audience's coinage, amidst the applause, Smithy, one of the regulars, stepped up with a slip of paper.

"Message from ya, Ms. Said," he said, mispronouncing her name to say "said," not "Sai-eed."

Najwa smiled with amusment at the pronunciation. She was too used to it to care...a strangely familiar feeling...

"Somebody has an admiration for me?" she said with delight.

"No, ma'am," he said. "Look at us all, it's our way of expressing our admiration. No, it's from the new schoolteacher."

Najwa raised an eyebrow. Lu? She took the paper and read the message. She furrowed her brow at the name at the bottom. Luby? Oh. Lulu Belle. That's what she described it as...wait...Lulu Belle doesn't seem to sound right, that's something she made up...or did she? No, it has to be Lulu Belle...screw it, I'll just stick with Lu. It's easier.

"Tell her I'll join her as soon as the dance is over," she said, "though I imagine the men will want me here all night, now that this side of the Mississippi, San Francisco, and the Rio Grande has its own Hoochie Coochie."

Smithy nodded in agreement, making the same wolf whistle she'd been hearing from the audience since she'd been introduced.

As another dance was called for - cued, again, "The Streets of Cairo," it's a pity the pianist doesn't know any other kind of exotic, let alone Arabic, music, but the men are too entranced by her dance to care, with possible exception to The Nose - Najwa looked around. Somehow, she could spot every little detail, every sort of body language, as well as being psychic. But she was a dancer, not a Pinkerton, nor a Wells Fargo investigator, yet she had that uncanny skill. She could tell that one man endured a surgery that left him with a permanent limp, for example. Anyway, she spotted Lu at a table off in the distance, and some ways away from the card tables where The Nose was, as far as she could tell (he never even left that table, he could've been there all day), making as much as she was just from hustling other poor unfortunate souls. Come to think of it, upon reflection, she might have seen her coming in during her dance, carrying books. Such a woman could hardly go unnoticed in a saloon, with or without the books, she was among the only women in the saloon who weren't as dressed as she was. Yet Nira - no, it's Najwa - spotted her like a hawk to its prey. Was her attention to detail so uncanny she'd give a Pinkerton a run for his money?

[Lieutenant JG Savar | Box Canyon | Arizona Territory | Earth | 190something]

Savar briefly stared into space, arms folded, like one of the priests of Surak's temples, in contemplation. He waited to see what he can do. And he resisted the urge to try to contact Nira again, still afraid that what happened to Nira could happen to him. In fact, in the midst of his contemplation, there were some things that had occurred to him:

He was beginning to realize his behavior, especially recently, was unbecoming of a Vulcan at all. Even as a V'tosh ka'tur, he cannot, should not, ignore or suppress logic in favor of emotion, even love. He had known plenty of times when logic took hold, especially as of now, when he began thinking deductively. Like Nira. The Nira he always knew and loved. Not only that, but the V'tosh ka'tur, which was once prominent between First Contact and the explorations of Jonathan Archer, had most notably been decreasing. By now, before the turn of this century, there are so few V'tosh ka'tur left, so few, whatever communities remained had populations barely beyond the double-digits. Maybe enough to warrant multiple zeroes next to the decimal point before a different number comes up. For all intents and purposes, he and his mother and his community, which required at least a dozen more families to reach the level of "hamlet," were among the only ones left remaining. He never saw another V'tosh ka'tur other than his mother and his backwoods community. Not even in Starfleet.

Then, in his contemplations about Nira, and the bond they shared, for the first time, he began to question his relationship with Nira, began wondering if it was a mistake for him to engage her in Pon Farr, which lead to the bond to exist in the first place. He remembered that Betazoids regarded telepathic conversations around non-telepaths taboo, but then, Nira was raised among humans, which would've left her unfamiliar with Betazoid customs. He wondered how often he and Nira conversed with each other. In public. If at all. He remembered that she often conversed with him decks apart. Feelings came to him that weren't his own, and they worked in turn for her. They were two telepaths together...but how did it not occur to him until now that telepathic conversations from distance can cause a bother?

Savar sighed wearily. He also remembered Nira had just become a departmental head herself; even without projecting his image, it had occured to him that telepathic conversation will only distract Nira from her duties. She could be a liability because of the possibility that what she would know, he'd know eventually. He decided that if and when they managed to get away and things went back to normal, telepathic conversation and the use of their bond between the two lovers, must be restricted between them in privacy. It's not only a distraction when on duty, it's also rude, that was why Betazoids regarded it as taboo.

Again, Savar sighed. Everything about this seemed so off, even with time travel involved. He ignored whatever feelings of elation, of belonging, that weren't his as of late, muting them out. He felt to himself that he had to put duty first, like a proper Vulcan. True, the V'tosh ka'tur believed in using emotion to supplement, not replace, logic. He realized his behavior was unbecoming in that he found pleasure in emotions, thus inadvertently perverting the belief of the V'tosh ka'tur. He knew full well he was different from other Vulcans, that was why he sought out assignments that involved isolation. Most of his superiors commented his talents were wasted, working on sensor arrays and deflector dishes, but it's why Savar chose those assignments: he didn't want his colleagues notice how unusual a Vulcan was. That was all before he met Nira, and then began their relationship, and he began coming more out in the open.

He looked back at Torra. Nira's best friend. Savar had no friends before his transfer to Discovery. Any friends he made as of late were only Nira's, even though he first met Torra under different circumstances. Right now, Torra was the best person to turn to. And he had nothing to do...yet.

[T'Lara]

[Box Canyon - Outside Paradise, AZ]

The agent did not look impressed by the Ferengi, and crossed his arms.  "Oh sure, my ship is nearby... spatially.  We're just about a thousand years too early.  Temporal, remember?" he said, shaking his head.  "I was just supposed to scout and report back, and try to get you guys back to your own time.  Cadet work, really.  But because they found out about your ship... probably thanks to your outdated clumsy approach with an away team; now they have had reason to step up their protections, including a temporal inhibitor.  Unless we can get an exact temporal coordinate, my ship can show up in any time period within a hundred years of this day.  And in case you forgot Earth history, in a hundred years humans start going into space." he said, deciding to seek out and go to the First officer.  He assumed the Ferengi would follow.

"Commander?  I'm Lieutenant A'ron of the Federation timeship Einstein. I was just informed by your Chief Engineer that your Captain and an away team went over to Paradise?  This will complicate things.  But we're now stuck in this time period with no ship, and just the technology we have with us... and..." the futuristic officer looked around the desert floor.

"This must be a joke... I think the T'hunga are playing with us." he said, pointing out the desert floor of the canyon.. where time period clothing laid folded, just as it had left the replicators.

[Box Canyon - Outside Paradise, AZ]

A'ron did his best to keep his cool, despite the short wannabe Klingon doing his best to rile him up.  He had to refer back to his Starfleet training to keep himself calm.  More than half of the encounters with temporally primitive people would result in anger and annoyance.  He turned back to the Chief Engineer, and then turned his head again when a Vulcan officer came up to him.

"Chief, think of it this way.  Yes, staying out of the town is a good idea.  Had your Captain done so, you may have been able to get away faster.  Its not either of your faults, you had no way of knowing, and I understand that.  To be frank, Starfleet had no way of knowing.  But sending another party to the town would call too much attention... especially for some of you." he said, looking between the vulcan and the ferengi.

The starfleet officer gestured in front of his badge again, and another holo display showed up in front of him.  There was clearly a scanned map, and he moved through the different point, zooming and scrolling, until he was able to center on Paradise and the canyon they were in.  The town itself was under what looked like a black circle with 'Unknown' on top of it.  But there were dots in the canyon... including a blue dot representing himself.

"Okay.. there is an abandoned mining camp a click or two towards the west.  Its the original Paradise mine.  Abandoned, like it was supposed to be.  Its sheltered and shaded, and a good staging point.  If we were to go there, I can explain as much as possible about what is going on.  I know its asking quite a lot, but trust me.  I will do everything I can to get your Captain, away team, and ship, and get you back to your time.  You are, at the very least, not alone." he said, making a gesture in front of his badge again and the holo image vanished.  He then squeezed the sides of his badge, and his clothing shimmered with a black sheen as it went from his Starfleet Uniform, to a more age appropriate outfit, slacks, suspenders, a shirt, and a brimmed hat.

He would then turn on his heels, and walk towards to the mine.  It really wasn't very far at all, and in addition to a hole in the side of a mountain, there were abandoned wooden structures and tents.  A bubbling pond nearby told of an underground spring that had broken through.

"Ironic... it was this mine and spring that earned the name of the camp Paradise.  Accessible gold and a nearby water source... but they wouldn't find munch after the first couple of years.  According to the records, this town was mostly dead by now, and would be abandoned in the next 4 years.  But that is clearly not the case." A'ron said, as he stood and let the crew find some shade and water.

"This mine was abandoned way too quickly. It looks like they just jumped up and left, leaving everything behind.  Something caused the miners to abandon this place immediately, and yet the town suddenly prospered.  Either they found another means of production, or they found another place to mine." he stated, mostly to himself, as he left the guys relax.

"Alright, I promised I would tell you as much as I can, and I will.  And you have already stated, Chief, this is highly classified still within your time.  To start with, we have known about time travel since... well since First Contact.  Time is a dangerous tool, and even more dangerous weapon.  If there was a hint of it being possible to alter time, any number of factions would have tried.  However, it was only a matter of time before more scientists would start to see the correct formula for time travel, and start to develop the technology.  By my century, time travel became as mundane as warp travel is for you." he stated, taking a seat.

"But that didn't stop those who wanted the power to alter history; creating changes to improve themselves, or their species.  At first, we tried to regulate time travel, monitor it.  Then we allied with another time powers to stop any attempts to change history.  But eventually the technology got away from us, and before we know it, there were not just a couple, but several factions threatening to use time to harm others.  This is the period we call the Temporal Cold Wars.  From my point of view, that is where we still are.  Organizations like Starfleet watch the timeline, waiting for the first strike to signal the start of full war.  This has now become one of their fronts, and we have no idea why.  And until we can take down the temporal inhibitor, we're going to be stuck here.  So... any questions so far?"

[Box Canyon --> Mine -  Outside Paradise, AZ]

Lek was somewhat mollified when A'ron took a less condescending and accusatory tone, enough to not interrupt him again as he explained the situation better. Now Lek was more angry about not being able to do anything to change their situation. As least when they reached the abandoned mine, they were out of the sun and had water. While it wasn't optimal, the crew could survive a long time under their new conditions.

"Okay, I follow all that, but at some point, we are going to need food and I'm going to have to have access to what passes for technology of this era if I'm to construct a signal booster to be able to contact the Discovery. A combadge is an amazing bit of kit, but its only got a 500 kilometer range and Luna is 400,000 kilometers from Earth.

"However, I want you to know, we've had experience with time travel, not the Discovery per se, but we found the USS Burke after it was lost for more than a hundred years. Time displaced right into our lap a year ago. This Temporal Cold War is none of our business, so don't worry about us interfering with that, we just want our ship back and we'll figure out how to get back to our era on our own."

[Box Canyon - Outside Paradise, AZ]

So much had happened that it was hard for the first officer to think of a plan of action. They had worked tirelessly to get the ship up and running, then suddenly the ship had disappeared and been replaced by this temporal agent.  At this time there were many possibilities for what to do next, but they all had to be based on what A'ron had to tell them. She didn't like it at all and still felt a level of distrust. But it was all they had to go on. T'Lara just wanted to get to figuring out how to bring their away team back and get home, but she could tell it wasn't going to be easy.

When the unfamiliar frame of A'ron approached her with Lek in tow, she nodded to him as he introduced himself and listened closely.
"Greetings, Lieutenant A'ron. It is true members of our crew have left for the settlement based on a decision by the captain. We needed to find out more about our situation, and we believed we could manage it without endangering the Prime Directive. It appears we may have made the wrong choice. If I may ask, what are the T'hunga?"

In time they reached a point in the conversation when it was necessary to find a place out of the way. It certainly appeared that this man was offering to help so, ever the diplomat, the Vulcan bowed. "Thank you," she said simply as she motioned to the crew and followed him to the mine. She saw his clothing transform and picked up an ensemble of clothing out of the piles of material littering the surrounding area. When they were done talking she would seek out a place to change. Maybe they didn't have access to cosmetics, but she'd use what they did have available. Picking up a Stetson, she donned it in an effort to hide her revealing ears. Once they arrived at the mine she told the rest to feel free to find refreshment, but stayed with A'ron as he continued to speak.

Time travel, as she was all too aware, was tricky business. She was slightly disappointed that her crew had found themselves mixed up in it once again. The Burke event had certainly not escaped her mind. She sat a comfortable distance away from A'ron as he continued. When he reached the end, she folded her hands in front of her and spoke.

"As far as we know, the reason we are here is because there was an incident while testing out our new quantum slipstream drive. To my knowledge the drive is the only thing that has changed from our last mission, so therefore it would be logical to assume it is the reason why we are here. Do you have any theories as to how it caused us to land here in this time?" It was an amazing coincidence that they had ended up here at the same time A'ron was dealing with an event during this temporal war, but then again time travel had an uncanny ability of bringing those about. While Lek was asking about how to get back in contact with the ship, T'Lara wanted to know how this had happened in the first place so they could prevent it from happening again. To them, or to anyone else.

[Danjar-Torra Addams]

Ensign Danjar-Torra Addams
[Box Canyon >>> Abandoned Mine - Outside Paradise, AZ ]

[Lieutenant JG Savar | Desert | Arizona Territory | Earth | 1890s ]

He returned to the crew and sought out Torra. He needed someone to talk to.

"Torra?" he said. "I'm...sorry I was missing the whole thing. I was knocked unconscious by the crash, though the impact would've likely killed anybody else who didn't match a Vulcan's strength. I could've been comatose if I didn't hear a thought from Nira. A panicked religious explative. Followed by two words: 'he knows.' Whoever 'he' is, he must've captured Nira and did something with her mind, she doesn't recognize me, she thinks I'm an elf and is apparently engaging an audience in performance. We...have a telepathic bond, ever since...Pon Farr," he added uncomfortably, and quieter, he never admitted this much to someone else before, but he needed someone to talk to. "Right now, our bond is the only way we can communicate."

Torra's quiet attention to the conversation between Lt Lek and the .. Temporal Agent (?) .. was distracted when Savar approached her again after some time with some bizarre information about Nira not recognizing him.  The Grazerite had no idea of what Ponn Farr was but Savar seemed quite uncomfortable mentioning it.  So did not question him on it but rather focused her answer on what he'd mentioned about Nira.

"While I want to believe Nira is fine... but if what you say is accurate, it might be best to inform the Temporal agent." she advised speaking gently.  It was only after he left to speak to the man, that Torra let her own concern for Don show. She bit at her lip and for the first time wished she had some way to communicate with her husband.

[Box Canyon - Outside Paradise, AZ]

"Okay.. there is an abandoned mining camp a click or two towards the west.  Its the original Paradise mine.  Abandoned, like it was supposed to be.  Its sheltered and shaded, and a good staging point.  If we were to go there, I can explain as much as possible about what is going on.  I know its asking quite a lot, but trust me.  I will do everything I can to get your Captain, away team, and ship, and get you back to your time.  You are, at the very least, not alone." he said, making a gesture in front of his badge again and the holo image vanished.  He then squeezed the sides of his badge, and his clothing shimmered with a black sheen as it went from his Starfleet Uniform, to a more age appropriate outfit, slacks, suspenders, a shirt, and a brimmed hat.

He would then turn on his heels, and walk towards to the mine.  It really wasn't very far at all, and in addition to a hole in the side of a mountain, there were abandoned wooden structures and tents.  A bubbling pond nearby told of an underground spring that had broken through. 

Leaving the senior officers to speak to the temporal agent alone, since she knew such things were classified, Torra shooed other crewmembers away and sought out the various department heads or their next in line suggesting for them to gather their peopled together to organize them to inventory what they had as assets and prepare for whatever decision came from the senior officers' talk.  This organizing included the gathering of the clothing that had appeared with them outside the ship and getting Security to set a perimeter watch until such time as the crew were given other orders.

After a while, the ordered given was to follow the temporal agent to an abandoned mine.  There, Torra helped the senior officers with organizing the collection of water.  The crew could last a day or so without food, but water was a necessity and so took priority.

At the mine, the senior officers spoke together again.  Hopefully soon they would come up with a plan.

NPC Crewman Helga Tragnar

[Abandoned Mine - Outside Paradise, AZ]

Lek still hadn't fully calmed down from his encounter with A'ron. The sudden loss of Discovery was affecting him more than he wanted to admit, especially as he felt a keen guilt that it has been his engines that had got them into this situation in the first place.

As A'ron spoke with the First Officer, Lek meandered around the abandoned mine until his eyes fell on Helga. He immediately felt another keen pang of guilt as he hadn't spent that much time, any to be honest, with her since he'd managed to make the deal to get her transferred to Discovery.

"In all likelihood, she's going to backhand me into some random Tuesday if I try to speak to her, but you can't make profit if you don't try."

He thought as he approached her. He knew better than to sneak up on her, so he cleared his throat before he got within arm's length and she turned to face him.

"Hi Helga, been a crazy day hasn't it?"

Helga had helped with the perimeter watch earlier back where the ship had been.  Then helped carry the worst of the injured, even though she had possible cracked ribs herself, to the mine when it was decided to go there. At the mine, she was on water detail securing a safe access point.  Yet throughout all this, whenever there was a spare moment and her attention wasn't called on for some specific task, her thoughts turned back to seeing Lek angrily storming after the one called A'ron.  It was rare to see him so worked up.   Yes, he was often grumpy and cynical - but rarely did he let his anger flare like it had today.  Or at least it had been rare on Challenger.   She really didn't know what he was like on Discovery because he'd been so busy with the slip stream drive that today was the first real time she'd seen him.  Helga wondered what it was that had sparked it. Maybe later she should seek him out... help him vent some of his frustration... she grinned to herself at the thought.

As if her thoughts of him were some sort of summoning, when she turned at the sound of someone clearing his voice, there he was.   Given the direction of her thoughts just moments later, Helga for a moment felt flustered.  Could he tell what she'd been thinking?

His greeting, in the wake of these thoughts, sounded rather comedic and she laughed a bit then winced as the laughter caused the pain of her ribs to spike.   When the pain settled, she gave a nod. "Yeah, you could say that.

Helga was curious as Hell about what was going on and concerned at the lack of Captain Tekin's presence.  Even the Commander wasn't talking to the crew.  Several of the Department Heads were missing.  Those left in charge were Lek, Banan and HalverstrÁ¶m  - and no offense to the other two but Lek was the only real one that stood out today to really do much of anything - at least from Helga's perspective.

"You sounded furious today. It was impressive - I especially liked your choice Klingon for emphasis.  Nice touch." she grinned.  It was a shame they weren't somewhere more private she could have showed how impressed she'd been.  But that really wasn't appropriate right now with them stranded.

"So what the Hell is going on?  No one is talking to the crew.  Where are we? Who was that guy and why were you so pissed at him?"

[Luby Wentock]

[Najwa/Nira (?) Said | Saloon | Paradise | Arizona Territory | 190something]

As Najwa danced on, stopping as the song finally ended, ending with enough applause that could've caused landslides to plug the Grand Canyon. She realized how lucky the saloon was to have her and her hoochie-coochie, that the pianist happened to know the song that went with it at the Chicago World's Fair where it was introduced..."The Streets of Cairo, or the Little Country Maid." Throughout the whole afternoon, she was sure the song was repeated a few times to keep in sync with the dance, but she didn't care. She was dancing, that was all.

A tiny piece of her mind began noticing the abrupt absence of the elf. She wondered if she had scared him away. She made a shrug that passed off as sultry shoulder rolling at that thought, making a coy smile. She was too busy to care.

As she took a curtsy at the end of the dance, being the star of the show, and very likely expecting to be showered in the audience's coinage, amidst the applause, Smithy, one of the regulars, stepped up with a slip of paper.

"Message from ya, Ms. Said," he said, mispronouncing her name to say "said," not "Sai-eed."

Najwa smiled with amusment at the pronunciation. She was too used to it to care...a strangely familiar feeling...

"Somebody has an admiration for me?" she said with delight.

"No, ma'am," he said. "Look at us all, it's our way of expressing our admiration. No, it's from the new schoolteacher."

Najwa raised an eyebrow. Lu? She took the paper and read the message. She furrowed her brow at the name at the bottom. Luby? Oh. Lulu Belle. That's what she described it as...wait...Lulu Belle doesn't seem to sound right, that's something she made up...or did she? No, it has to be Lulu Belle...screw it, I'll just stick with Lu. It's easier.

"Tell her I'll join her as soon as the dance is over," she said, "though I imagine the men will want me here all night, now that this side of the Mississippi, San Francisco, and the Rio Grande has its own Hoochie Coochie."

Smithy nodded in agreement, making the same wolf whistle she'd been hearing from the audience since she'd been introduced.

As another dance was called for - cued, again, "The Streets of Cairo," it's a pity the pianist doesn't know any other kind of exotic, let alone Arabic, music, but the men are too entranced by her dance to care, with possible exception to The Nose - Najwa looked around. Somehow, she could spot every little detail, every sort of body language, as well as being psychic. But she was a dancer, not a Pinkerton, nor a Wells Fargo investigator, yet she had that uncanny skill. She could tell that one man endured a surgery that left him with a permanent limp, for example. Anyway, she spotted Lu at a table off in the distance, and some ways away from the card tables where The Nose was, as far as she could tell (he never even left that table, he could've been there all day), making as much as she was just from hustling other poor unfortunate souls. Come to think of it, upon reflection, she might have seen her coming in during her dance, carrying books. Such a woman could hardly go unnoticed in a saloon, with or without the books, she was among the only women in the saloon who weren't as dressed as she was. Yet Nira - no, it's Najwa - spotted her like a hawk to its prey. Was her attention to detail so uncanny she'd give a Pinkerton a run for his money?

[Saloon]

Smithy returned and whispered in Luby's ear.  She shook her head unable to hear over the wolf-whistles and noise, so he spoke normally, which, with the volume of noise was still pretty quiet but she caught it.

"Miss Said will come over after this dance." he said and winked.  Luby nodded her thanks and smiled, inwardly cringing at the pronunciation of Najwa's name.

Still that name, Najwa not Said in this case, bothered her.  Something told her this lady should be dressed in yellow.  Why yellow? That wouldn't her skin tone at all.  Blues and rich tones would be much more flattering.  But still it niggled her brain.  'And she should have a gun, no not a gun... but like a gun.' She shook her head.

"Somethin' amiss Miss Wentock?" Mulligan asked.

"A fly, or skeeter... something along those lines!" she said covering her uncomfortable thoughts.  It would have been too difficult to explain that, and the fact that she'd remembered where she'd seen Martha before.  On some kind of box, with moving pictures.  She made a mental note to discuss it with Ni...Najwa when they were home tonight.

"Probably wants my whisky!" she laughed.  "If so it has taste but...Not getting it.  Did you happen to see what's on offer by way of a meal when you were at the bar?"

"Rabbit Pie, and I knows you like rabbit.  Is Miss Said ok with rabbit?" Mulligan asked.

"Far as I know her religious beliefs don't prohibit the eating of rabbits!" Luby smiled back.  "I'm sure the regular of baked potatoes is still available if it does!"

"Aye there's always that back up!"

[Tekin Nevir]

[Paradise Mine - Outside Paradise, AZ]

The Temporal Agent watched the Ferengi walk away, and sighed when he was addressed by the first officer.  Not in frustration, but in understanding.

"Allow me to answer the biggest issue, Commander.  The T'hunga.  A species from just about directly across from us here galactically speaking.  One of the lesser time powers of the Cold War, but they make up for it with a unique ability to blend within the mind of everyone around them.  The more time spent with them, the more you accept them being there.  They have found ways of speeding up that effect, and have even found ways with their biology to develop the type of mind control technology that is almost completely perfect.  We have lost agents because they were not only found out, but altered so that their cover story was no longer a cover, it was just their story.  And anyone in the vicinity starts to recognize them almost instantly as that cover story.  If you're away team has been discovered and caught by them, then its possible that they have already been 'corrected'.  What leads me to believe its them is the fact that you were all left on the desert ground with replicated period clothing strewn around you.  I'm not sure if anyone noticed the ship was suddenly creating clothing before you all were transported?  Its part of their motive; they have the advantage in the past of being accepted, it is us who have to adapt to what is around us." he stated, looking around.

"I hate to say this.. but right now they have the advantage.  As long as their inhibitor device remains active, there will be no way to get a signal out of the atmosphere to your ship, or anyone else for that matter.  We are stuck with using the tech of the day to get back to where we belong.  This also means that right now, the Temporal Prime Directive has been more than breached." he stated, biting his lower lip; the first real sign of him being a human and not just a future man.

A'ron looked from Lek to T'Lara as the commander brought up the point of how this occurred.  She seemed to think it was their experimental engine.. but the ship seemed like a 24th century ship, so they couldn't have already started testing some kind of temporal displacement drive.  The man gestured at his badge, bringing back the tricorder holo display, and scrolled through was looked like a series of lines and ribbons.  He was looking for something.

"Discovery.. Discovery... Spore? No... way past that.  Transwarp.. that was Excelsior... Quantum was Voyager.. oh wait!  Discovery B, Prometheus class... Quantum Slipstream Drive?  It couldn't do it on its own, but if you all hit something like a quantum filament... yeah, that might have been it.  Unfortunately, without the ship's sensor logs, that will have to be something that waits." he said, looking around.

"Commander... I have need of you and your crew, and I think it would be the best interest if we worked together.  We're going to need to find a way to set Paradise on its death spiral and get rid of the T'hunga.  Thats the only way I can think of to save your team and your ship.  We won't be able to offer support until that inhibitor is taken offline."

[Tekin Nevir]

[The Arizona Herald - Paradize, AZ]

The reporter writer was staring at the blank new page in the old ancient type writer. His mind was not focus at the task itself. Licking his dry lips, Don was looking at the editor. "Mister Schmit I am getting there," he replied.

There was a page with notes on on the right side of the black iron cast typer writer. He picked it up and read it. The notes was on the newly built station was being built, a town everyone knew everyone, want to be on the map to prosper and not linked to the nation yet. That was familiar to him.

The  tabs of the ancient type board was feeling alien to him. He took a peak under the his hood of his eye lids to see anyone see he was stalling. His son was drawing away. That was good. He smiled as he was proud of the boy. They had traveled to be part of this town. Even they had a run in with a robbery. All he knew they were planning to head more west with a poker player, a dancer, a teacher, and his son.

He placed his fingers on the keys to see it was a natural thing for him. Which was not. You think his fingers would dance across the keys and make magic happen. He knew how to make it work. He was in some high status academy which trained him. It was one of the best. He just can't recall the details but he knew he was highly educated.

He licked his dry lips as he was trying to fit it together. Then he pressed the G key and the e and t and t again slow. He was typing the 'Getting' was the first word he typed.

Feeling Mr. John Schmit was giving him a look of what the heck you doing son. He gave the fellow a small weak smile and turned back to his workstation.

He went on typing as it was slowly getting easy then he made a mistake. He frowned. He figured he would turn the left wheel of the roller on the type writer to get out and feed a new piece of paper in it.

Then he took a nice clean sheet of paper and feed it in. He adjusted the margin and he started over. The typing was starting to feel right. Like he something from the future. Clothes all green as military men and sounds of guns and explosions. He was remembering WWII holodeck which had type writers like he was using. It was not advance as those but he had not recalled using one. Or did he?

He sat up once more to square his posture together. Would he be able to type something up like... "Paradise will be soon be Paradise as the gates are opening by the trains are coming." Then he read what he wrote. That was dumb. Then he ripped out the paper and put another one.

"I know I am was warming up," he made a excuse.

"Come the railroad. Paradise will be prosper. New horizon is here! Such jolly community dying to see new faces. It will happen sooner then you think!  The new faces will come soon by dozens by dozens by train," he was typing. Not very fast but he was starting to get hang of it.

[The Arizona herald- Paradise,AZ]

The son who was just coming out of a confused daze looked at his drawings with such disgust. He could hear a voice telling him "œthis is absolutely despicable you're going to have to do a whole lot better than that." It wasn't like he was going to roll his eyes at the person in the current state that he was in. He got back to work drawing the landscape and the buildings in the unsettled west. He was determined to get this done despite being yelled at and still feeling sort of confused. He just had to somehow tune out the voice that was yelling at him.

[Arizona Herald - Paradise, AZ]

After another hour or so the light was disappearing in the office, and even the oil lamps made for too much strain on the eyes.  Schmidt knew that they weren't going to get much more done, so after requesting and looking over what Don had, he nodded to the younger reporter.

"Alright, Donny... this is good.  I'll have Jerry get it pressed immediately.  Tomorrow is when we can let the world know about the benny rocks.  With the first train out of the station.  For now, the Sheriff should be heading over to the saloon with the first family.  We should get going too, they've promised a round for everyone.  A final celebration.  You and your boy clean up here, and I'll see you at the saloon.  And don't forget about the benny.  This is an opportunity to get your name in the history books Don.  You don't want to miss your chance.  See you all over there."

The benny... or Bennyrock.  What the townsfolk called the almost chalky crystal they found nearby.  A rock with more energy than even oil, and way more energy than coal.  A specially made steam engine would be driving the first train out of Paradise; this material would show the world the absolute clean power it could produce.  They would no longer need a coal car to keep a train moving....

[Saloon]

Smithy returned and whispered in Luby's ear.  She shook her head unable to hear over the wolf-whistles and noise, so he spoke normally, which, with the volume of noise was still pretty quiet but she caught it.

"Miss Said will come over after this dance." he said and winked.  Luby nodded her thanks and smiled, inwardly cringing at the pronunciation of Najwa's name.

Still that name, Najwa not Said in this case, bothered her.  Something told her this lady should be dressed in yellow.  Why yellow? That wouldn't her skin tone at all.  Blues and rich tones would be much more flattering.  But still it niggled her brain.  'And she should have a gun, no not a gun... but like a gun.' She shook her head.

"Somethin' amiss Miss Wentock?" Mulligan asked.

"A fly, or skeeter... something along those lines!" she said covering her uncomfortable thoughts.  It would have been too difficult to explain that, and the fact that she'd remembered where she'd seen Martha before.  On some kind of box, with moving pictures.  She made a mental note to discuss it with Ni...Najwa when they were home tonight.

"Probably wants my whisky!" she laughed.  "If so it has taste but...Not getting it.  Did you happen to see what's on offer by way of a meal when you were at the bar?"

"Rabbit Pie, and I knows you like rabbit.  Is Miss Said ok with rabbit?" Mulligan asked.

"Far as I know her religious beliefs don't prohibit the eating of rabbits!" Luby smiled back.  "I'm sure the regular of baked potatoes is still available if it does!"

"Aye there's always that back up!"

[Paradise Saloon - Paradise, AZ]

As another set came to an end, the Sheriff walked into the saloon; going over to the bar and leaning against it.  Even as the men called for another dance from the flower of the east, it was Miss Thatcher who took the stage.  "Go on and git yerself a bit to eat, hunny.  I hear Miss Wentock is waiting for you." she said to Nira, nudging her off stage.  The started to boo, but a stern look from Thatcher put a stop to it.

"Now I know you men have been working hard, and I won't deprive ya any more than I need do... but tonight is a special occasion.  So if y'all don't mind, I would like to present the heroes who not only saved, but blessed Paradise; Ms. Martha and Mr. Harold Rinthal!" she said, as the rich couple took the stage.

"Thank you kindly Ms. Thatcher.  I just wanted to offer my sincere thanks for the hard work you all have done for our great town.  In two days time, the first of our Benny steam engines will be on their way to Washington DC.  We were able to convince the territory government and the Federal government to put the southern line here, and now we will show them why.  We are sitting on a new power source the world has never seen.  President Cleveland, of course, wants to claim it for his own.  Now I say we're all Americans, but Cleveland does not represent us!  His opponent, however, Mr. Harrison, is more agreeable in giving credit where credit is due.  Once our train arrives in DC, we will vote out the old, and vote in the new!  And then next we gain statehood, with Paradise as its capital.  It goes without saying, but I will submit to you now my plans of being the first governor of the new state of Arizona.  And then as the 90s arrive, we still stand up in the national ring, where I plan to serve as the first President from the state of Arizona.  And then finally.. finally my friends, we will bring the world under us with an era of prosperity the likes of which the world has never seen.  Each and every one of you sits here on the ground floor of the new America, and those of you who backed us when others gave up will be the next great men of the world. I personally would like to extend my thanks to the man who made this all possible, our Sheriff.  Without his aid and his passion for this town, we may have ended up another desert ruin in the West.  So let's hear it for the Sheriff!"

A cheer went up with the crowd, as the Sheriff raised a hand to acknowledge and quiet down the semi-drunk crowd.

"I thank you, Mr. Rinthal, for believing in me.  The Benny is as much your doing as it is mine.  I do not wish to ruin the mood, but I do want to state that this is the perfect time for us to begin.  I received word just this evening that Fort Rim to the north of us has been overrun by the desert Injuns.  I know we weren't on great terms with the US Calvary, but they were still here to protect us.  Until we can get reinforcements, I strongly advise against all travel to the north.  Other than that... tonight is a night to celebrate our accomplishments.  So, for tonight only, everything is on the house."

A large cheer erupted from the men, and calls for Ms Thatcher to bring the ladies back on sounded again.  Thatcher looked over to the bar.. hoping her desert flower has had time to eat and relax.  In the meantime, she called for some of the other girls to get on stage for the men.

A commotion at the poker table was barely noticeable above the sounds of cheers and dancing, however before anyone knew it, the Nose had his gun out in defense against a man in a wide hat, who's gun was pointed directly into his face.

The Sheriff calmly walked over as the two men stared each other down.  "Is there a problem?"

"Yeah, I knows I was the big shot here, and then this smashed-face swindler walks in and clears me out of my money.  It ain't right I tell you.  I knows he's been cheating."

The Sheriff smirked.  "You think I don't have eyes on the table?  That Mr. Teccan has been cheatin' and I ain't got it?  Is that it?"

"Must be!  Ain't no way I can lose like that."

"And yet you did."

A flash of light later, the uppity poker player was cradling his gun hand, while the gun it held had fallen to the floor, slightly smoking.  The sheriff called to one of his deputies to come over and apprehend the man.

"Looks like you're lucky Mr. Pearson.  The good Lord don't see you as a bad person, just a bit over.  Why don't we have you sleep it off in the pen, and then you can join us again tomorrow."

Mr Pearson nodded, slowly, and walked over with the deputy and out of the saloon.  The Sheriff reached down and picked up the gun, putting it in the middle of the pot on the table.

"Anyone else want to blame the Nose for their misfortune?" he asked, and everyone else at the table shook their heads.  The Sheriff turned around, patting Nevill on the shoulder, and headed out of the saloon to let the rest party.