Retrospective
Posted on Sun Aug 31st, 2014 @ 2:22pm by Lieutenant JG Allison Price
Mission:
Vagrants, Vagabonds, and Thieves
Location: Personal Quarters, USS Beyla
Timeline: After "The Endgame"
The life of a Starfleet officer was an interesting life indeed. What started out as a simple mission to investigate some possible salvage turned into a voyage to the 23rd century for Jordan Gunning, Augustus Deaking, and Allison Price. Not that anyone would ever believe them. Even Vahn Drayel, the marine captain who accompanied them on the mission believed them, and he saw the Seraphim disappear. But it didn't matter to Allie if Vahn, or anyone else, believed her. She knew she was there. There was no way that she could have imagined that trip.
Her instructors at Starfleet Academy did what they could to prepare students for the possibility of temporal anomalies, but that doesn't really make them any easier to comprehend. One second they were exploring a crashed ship, and the next they were in the 23rd century and hiding from crew members. They lied to the ship's captain, fought Klingons, and returned to the present, only to find that the ship was never there. Paradoxes were never easy to understand, but Allie didn't think that made them any less interesting.
But there was one thing that Allie did know about time travel; it was exhausting. With the Beyla back in space and on her way back to Starbase 332, it was time for Allie to get some rest. She was in her quarters on the small garrison ship, and still in her borrowed uniform.
Women's fashion in the 23rd century seemed to have a common theme, and that was short skirts. The entire time on the Seraphim she was nervous about the uniform. The red skirt barely felt like it covered her thighs, and she spent hafl the time trying to pull the hem down, to no avail. It wasn't until she was in her bunk that she finally had a chance to look in a mirror. Surprising herself, the look was starting to grow on her. She reflected on that a moment before preparing her personal log entry.
"Personal Log, Supplemental," she announced to the computer, creating a continuation of the log she had created early that morning. "I have arrive safely on the Beyla following the mission to the surface of Bellatrix II. The readings of a possible crashed ship were accurate, but I could not anticipate what we had found. Lying in the dunes was the remains of a Constitution-class starship, markings identifying it as the USS Seraphim. The away team found an opening in the hull in the stardrive section which we used to get inside. The interior was well preserved. It was an eerie feeling being inside the hull of a crashed ship, but it was also an incredible experience. I've never been aboard an actual, original Constitution-class ship before. Even the one at the fleet museum was post-refit."
Allie took a seat on her bed. As she recounted the story of how she restored some power for lighting, she removed the boots from her 23rd century uniform. Naturally, from the trip across the desert to return to their ship, she had managed to collect a good bit of sand. It was impressive, she thought while she poured grams of sand from her boots into the wastebasket, that she was able to track in that much. Her story to the computer continued, explaining how Deakin recovered the ship's flight recorder, and how activating it transported them back in time. "After we had escaped engineering, somehow without being seen, we decided that we needed to blend in and investigate further. The uniforms of that time period were very, revealing." She stood from her bed and took another look at herself in the mirror. "Personal note, I don't think the color goes well with my redish brown hair, but I think I could pull off the look of the short skirt. Supplemental note, I do not think that we should go back to the short skirts for our duty uniforms, but keep in mind for when not on duty."
She started going through her gear to find something else to change into, selecting a standard issue tank top and a comfortable pair of pajama pants. "From there we made our way to the bridge. The spookiness of the empty, crashed ship was replaced by the busyness of a normally operating starship. It felt like a whole other world, seeing crew and officers moving about the duties wearing such different uniforms. The technology was so similar, and yet so different at the same time. Starfleet's retro design style of the era clashed with anything else I have seen in the fleet museum. I've been in holodeck simulations of similar ships, but there is nothing like being on the real thing."
"Once we made it to the bridge, Commander Gunning had us take stations and pretend to go about our work until we could figure out what was going on. I know I had a job to do, but a big part of me just wanted so badly to just explore and study the computer systems. But I know just being there was a big enough risk. I thought out cover was blown several times, but fortunately my superior officers were more experienced than me, and they knew how to cover our tracks. Both Commander Gunning and Lieutenant Deakin were impressive with their acting skills and quick thinking. Maybe I could convince them into acting in a play sometime. But I imagine that will take some doing. But if anyone wants to hear a fun story, they should ask Lt. Deaking about the time he pretended to have worked alongside Ambassador Spock."
Now changed, Allie lounged back on the bed. Even though she was sure the events would make it into Gunning's official report, she still felt she had to tell the tale herself, if for no other reason than for her to have a record of it later. Her narrative went through the remaining events on the bridge, including almost getting caught, and eventually the fight with the Klingons. "I'll admit, I don't think I've ever been so terrified. I know that my job is dangerous, and my family knows that something could happen and I'd never make it home again. But the thought of dying in the past, where no one would never know I was gone, was terrifying. I'd hate for my family to have to go through that. But that's getting to be too depressing, and as it turns out, irrelevant. We managed to defeat the Klingons thanks to some quick thinking by Gunning and Deakin."
"We were able to convince Captain McIndoe that we needed to leave. The Commander gave her some made up response about our method of leaving was classified, but to be honest, I'm still not sure what actually happened. We made it back to where we stashed the flight recorder. There was still a large buildup of chroniton particles, but they were fading fast. Somehow switching on the power excited the particles and it sent us back to where we left, but the wrecked Seraphim was gone. The Ripple Effect must have caught up to us about the time we got back since even the flight recorder that served as the catalyst for the time travel was gone. We took some scans, but they were inconclusive. The concentrated chronitons were gone. All that was left of the Seraphim's presence on Bellatrix II was the indentations in the sand and our memories."
"Now we are back safely aboard the Beyla. The crew remember coming here to investigate a possible wreckage, and even Captain Drayel, who remained outside the wreckage, remembered seeing the Seraphim. It's an interesting paradox, and one that I'm glad I don't have to solve. I'm sure the temporal mechanics scientists will have a field day. But despite the mystery, or maybe because of it, this experience has still left me in awe. At the very least, it reminds me of the very reason why I joined Starfleet in the first place. We certainly got to explore the unknown."
Not really knowing what else she should add, Allie laid her head down on the pillow. A few more thoughts went through her head, trying to think if there was something else she should add. But all she could think about was how tired she was getting. She figured that was as good a note as any to end on. All she added was "Computer, end recording." Following the computer's chirp of acknowledgement, Allie smiled. She couldn't wait until the next fantastic adventure. And with that, she drifted off to sleep.
Ensign Allison Price [P: Von]
Chief Engineer
USS Jackal
