Mission 26: Shadows of Tomorrow

[Carl Torek]

~ Mission 26 : Shadows of Tomorrow ~

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

Synopsis:


Following her three year mission, after whom Commander Watson was demoted for his reckless actions and was recalled to Earth, the USS Raven-B was once again ready for active service ... She had been released by Star Fleet and ordered to investigate a Tachyon surge near an outpost on the edge of Federation Space ... On arrival, the crew investigated the colony thoroughly and found no sign of any problem. After leaving supplies and updated communications equipment, the Raven prepared for departure. Leaving orbit, they set course for their next assignment ... Suddenly, long-range scanners pick up an Anti-Tachyon Serge ….. Under normal circumstances this is an unusual occurrence and would warrant investigation, but the fact that ‘something’ appeared within the serge was cause for concern to the Raven and her crew.

Raising shields, Torek placed weapons systems on stand-by and dropped from warp. As they approached the region of the Tachyon Burst, the Raven’s sensors were able to pick up more and more information, but the more they discovered, the more confounding the information became …..

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

Can the Raven crew come to terms with what they encounter from almost five hundred years in the future ?

The fate of the very fabric of the Federation may be at stake if they cannot




~ Be prepared for some surprises ~

Regards

Adm. Carl Torek

[Carl Torek]

Given the stresses that the Raven and her crew have had to endure over the last three years. Carl was happy to be back in space, despite the loss of his Executive Officer, Commander Alex Watson. He was given the option of allowing Star Fleet Command assign the replacement, or advancing someone himself. He had appointed commander Jamison without hesitation, their first outing was hopefully going to go smoothly ... They had been sent to the Kyven System on the edge of Federation Space to map and investigate a series of tachyon burst's close to one of the Federations Outposts. The colony, mainly involved in vacuum research, had informed the Federation of the anomalies and had requested a Star Ship just in case the worse-case scenario came and they needed to leave in a hurry.

Thankfully, the outpost was secure and in no danger. The Raven resupplied the station, and upgraded numerous of the 'base systems. Finally, they were ready to depart ... The Senior Staff were invited to a meal with the researchers before they left, and at twenty three hundred hours, the Raven left orbit en-route to her next assignment.

~~~~~~~~

Carl decided he was going to visit 'Ten Forward' before returning to his quarter's for the night, the subdued lighting of night shift always helped him relax. The Children and Chloe were all asleep, and he knew that he wouldn't settle for a while ... Entering, he noticed the room was almost empty as he took a table beside the full length plexi-glass windows. The Steward took his order and he settled back into the chair watching the stars. He had often come here during the night before Chloe and the Children, but it was a rare occurrence nowadays he knew.

Enjoying the coffee, he could feel himself tiring, the view always helped him wind down. Rising, he headed for the door and was about to step through when 'Ten Forward' suddenly lit up as if it was mid-day ! ... He turned in time to see a tachyon burst off the Starboard side of the ship. He knew instantly that this wasn't any normal 'burst, something was wrong. He tapped his Comm badge:

=^= Torek to Bridge =^=

=^= Commander Wedlerson Admiral =^=

=^= Was that another tachyon burst Harry =^=

=^= Yes Sir .. But not like any we have recorded so far .. The figures are off the scale and all seem to be 'negative' readings .. We're picking up negatively polarized tachyon traces from the epicentre of the burst .. I've got everything recording =^=

=^= OK .. Raise shields .. Drop from warp and hold position here .. I'm on my way .. Torek out =^=

He entered the Bridge to see numerous Officer's using every available station to measure and record the tachyon burst. Harry got out of the Command seat as Carl approached, but he walked to the massive view-screen to watch the aftermath of the enormous eruption of tachyons from sub-space. Strictly speaking, you couldn't actually get negative tachyons nor could you get what some had called anti-tachyons but some form of the faster-than-light particle 'had' entered the normal realm of space.

"Should I have the Senior Staff come to the Bridge Admiral ?" Wedlerson asked, almost transfixed by the myriad of colours emanating from the center of the burst.

"No ....." Carl said, not wanting to wake his staff simply to record this event.

"ADMIRAL !" the duty Tactical Officer said, instantly regretting her outburst.

"Calm down Lieutenant. What have you got ?"

"Sir ... 'Something' is emerging from the epicentre of the tachyon burst !" the Duty Helm Officer said, the Tactical Officer nodding. Carl immediately went to his seat and sat. He ordered full magnification on the view-screen. Nothing. Whatever it was may be too small or still too far into the tachyon corona to be physically visible, "Sir, whatever it is, it's holding on the event horizon of the tachyon burst itself. I just don't see how it is there, let alone staying there."

"Shields are beginning to be bombarded by tachyons Admiral ... Down three point six percent and rising in intensity. Nine point four and climbing." the Tactical Officer informed Torek. Carl was torn, he wanted, needed to stay and find out 'what' the object in close proximity to the event could be, while realizing he had a ship to protect.

"Helm. Move us away One million kilometres." the ship began to back away and the effect of the tachyons against the shields diminished instantly, "Hold position here ... I want everything scanning that event horizon. Prepare a Class Four probe and launch when ready."

"Probe launched ..... Sir, the radiation levels are dropping substantially now. We can safely move closer if you wish."

"Very well. helm, begin moving us back to our original position but keep a wary eye on those readings, at the first sign we could be in danger, don't wait, understood ?"

"Aye Sir."

"Readings coming through from the probe now Admiral ..." the Tactical Officer said, a frown forming, "Sir, I suggest we send a second probe, the first seems to be malfunctioning." Carl asked for an explanation, "Well, the probe is reading a solid object, well, no, not solid, but it 'is' solid, part of the time ... It's as if it is moving between our space, and wherever the tachyon burst originated, almost here but not here. It must be a fault in the probe Sir, because if I had to hazard a guess, I would say it was ... A ship !"

The Bridge fell totally silent at the young lieutenant's last words.

"Now may be the time to get the Senior Staff up here Harry." Carl said, trying to keep the tremor from his voice ..........





< tag : All >





OOC : OK everyone. Mission 26 is off and running.

Could I just ask that at this point no-one identifies the ship in any way apart from vague details.
It is stuck in the event horizon at this point in time (so to speak) and we can't get much closer.

All will become clear in due course .....

[Marionette]

((I can always switch out names, if you decide not to thread-intro with poker))

Marionette, Lysia Teng, Andae Blakus, and T'Brel Peers were playing poker. "I shall see your fifty, and raise you, another hundred." Marionette almost-slyly said to T'Brel as she placed the poker chips into the center pile, suspecting that he was trying to bluff a low two-pair hand, which according to her calculations, would have been two 3's and two 5's, with the 68 percent possibility of a Jack. Marionette herself had a straight; jack of spades, 9 of hearts, 8 of clubs, 7 of diamonds, and a 6 of spades.

(T'brel's response ?)

Marionette found it to be a most fascinating game of strategy and social interaction, on multiple levels. However, given her now-quite small pile of poker chips, it was clear that she still had alot to learn about the game, beyond just the ranking card-hands. The winning pile, or piles as it were, was split between Lysia and T'Brel.

=^= All Senior Staff, Report to the Bridge.=^=

With that, the card game was ended. As they exited into the hallways of the ship, and entered into the turbolift, Marionette asked T'brel "I am curious, what hand did you have that would beat a straight ? "

The turbolift doors opened, and T'brel said nothing, instead amusingly handing the female android a 100 poker chip, as he walked off the turbolift and took his post. Marionette was left there next to the turbolift, unsure of what to make of Peers reaction.... Dismissing it for now, Marionette likewise took her post at Helm, tucking away the poker chip into a small pocket in her gauntleted hands. The duty helm officer quickly whispered the current events to Marionette, and she nodded, relieving the lieutenant to resume her duties elsewhere.

[Deleted]

"You know? I think you've lost a step or two Will." Delik called from the next shower stall. "I mean, there was a time when you would have dropped me on my [word deleted] without hesitation. But you pulled up on that last sequence. I could have taken you out."

Will could hear the grin in his friends voice. They met in the gym when ever time permitted to work out together and stay in shape.

"You ever think maybe I pulled up because I felt you were getting slow?" Will teased back.

There was a moment of silence before Will spoke again.

"Tell you what. We'll meet back here after shift tonight and have another go. How's that sound?" he asked the Bajoran.

"Sounds like a plan. Not like anything is going on." responded Delik.

"Right? I mean, this is the Raven after all. Who'd believe we were out here for this long without anything happen..." Will began before being cut off.

=^= All Senior Staff, Report to the Bridge.=^=

"Here we go again." was all Delik said as they began to dress and head up top.

[Andae Blakus]

Blakus sat in engineering quietly contemplating that farce of a poker game. He'd been losing, throwing his spiteful weight around - he was very competitive. The fact that he hadn't been able to rectify his position in the game buried him further into the pit of frustration. Losing as he was he'd in fact left the poker game early, and was then angry at the extra weight of uselessness that he'd placed on himself by that action and being unable to correct the perceived miscomprehension.

He'd given some thought to the tachyon particles the researchers had detected in the Kyven system, and had theorised, briefly, that they were emanations from the Kyven star. Such exotic-particle events had been observed in the past, as early as the 20th century on Earth, but never at this magnitude and intensity. The tachyons, the researchers had said, burst forward in a sudden pulse, and while it was often impossible to predict the direction tachyons travelled in, perhaps by the sheer magnitude of the pulse the researchers had determined that i tcouldn't have come from the star. Indeed such an event would've been an unprecedented phenomenon.

"Chief?" Milyanov sat beside him. Blakus looked across briefly. The Russian Assistant's injuries - sustained on the mercenary ship seconds before it went up and he and the others of the away team were beamed away - had almost fully healed. There was a newly etched spiral of scar tissue below his right temple - something that should be easily cured but the Russian had been strangely hesitant. "You're quiet," he said, "I can't run this place on my own you know?"

Blakus smiled, but sighed heavily as he straightened his posture at the master console, "Not to be pedantic, Lieutenant, but neither can I, nor any one of the engineering staff. I'm sure you'll be alright for a few minutes..."

As he spoke the warp core, thrumming away as it instigated faster than light travel through the medium of the coils, ebbed in its tone, the deuterium in the constrictors falling into a leisurely wash of sliding cerulean material heading towards the dilithium chamber. "We've dropped from warp," Lieutenant Tinsley called over.

Blakus tapped the shortcut button to comm the bridge, "Commander Wedlerson, Blakus. Is there a problem? We've just dropped from warp."

"Stand-by, Commander. Nothing of concern. The Admiral would like to survey this region of space."

"More tachyons?"

"I cannot say, Commander... Stand-by, the Admiral's arrived." The channel was cut.

Blakus slumped to the console, imagery of a deck of cards clattering through his head, reminding him once more of his defeat, or rather his quitting. "What's suddenly so clandestine that the Second Officer shouldn't know what the stand-in Ops officer should?"

Milyanov patted his Chief on the shoulder and rounded the corner away from the idling core towards the 'pool table'. "Chief, I've known you a long time now. I believe it's considered wise that a man can point out his friend's faults. Why are you so cynical all the time?"

Blakus scanned sedately through the padd placed beside his console, studying the tachyonic surges from the Kyven system and, as the Kyven Outpost vacuum scientists would have it, from the surrounding several parsecs. "Not, all the time, Milyanov. Only when you remind me of the fact." Now they received a call from Wedlerson.


Blakus entered the bridge, hand sliding along the tactical rail as he headed to the engineering station. "Computer, transfer engineering to bridge," he commanded and slid into the pull-out chair. "Admiral sir, what do we have?" However before Carl gave his answer Blakus saw exactly what they did have. "No..."

"Tachyonic subspace disturbance, Andae. Flickering on the event horizon there's what we believe to be a ship of some kind. It seems to be stuck on the horizon, alternating between distinct locations."

"Can we head in and tractor it out?" Blakus asked, checking his readings, fingers cracked and dancing across the console.

"Too dangerous, Commander," Wedlerson said. "Those tachyons, highly energetic, depleted some of our shields when we attempted approach."

"I'd advise we study the tachyons themselves..." Andae sighed lightly; he'd nearly had enough of tachyon-based particles, especially after the debacle of their shore leave. "They must be of the same type as detected by the Kyven scientists. So they're negatively polarised... Unusual. If we can determine their nature more exactly it might give us a clue as to the exact nature of the burst from subspace."

<Tag Torek, all bridge crew>

[Deleted]

---Tachyon Coils Engaged---

---Phase Alignment Shifting---

---Stabilise---

---Danger of Hull Breach in sections 4 through 5---

---Stabilised---

---Holding---

---Scanning---

---Ship Detected Range 1 Million Kilometres---

---Identifying---

---Identity NCC-750059-B USS Raven---

“Impossible....” whispered The Captain.

<<<>>>

500 Years Later:

The day cycle began slowly – Jessica yawned slightly and rolled herself out of bed. Today was the day, The Captain said. Today was the day that they were going home. Jessica found it hard to believe – she'd never been much of one for fantasy stories. Let the warlocks work that out, she figured.

Looking around at the cluttered habitation space, Jessica sighed and resigned herself to clearing up later. She slouched towards the bathroom, brushing her teeth and taking a shower. The Captain had ordered that all important inhabitants gather in the main hall for the ceremony and she wanted to look as presentable as possible, given that she was one of the council members.

She had never had much of a thirst for politics, but it had been her father's wish that she continue the “family trade”. She had sacrificed much for her career: the chance for a family, the chance for real fulfilment – the list went on. All to serve on The Captain's council – an organisation that Jessica was fast becoming disillusioned with as impotent and purposeless. The Captain was God – anything he said got done, and anyone who argued mysteriously disappeared soon after.

The Captain had been making promises for a long time that his warlocks were close to achieving their goal of creating the spell that would take them home, but Jessica had long since given up hope of ever seeing the mythical “Terra” of the fables. It was a story told to put children to sleep and instil fear into the population: that if they misbehaved they would not reach Terra.

She put on her robes of office, a strange outfit that was apparently based on the clothing of The First. She clipped the three small brass buttons to her collar, and strode out of her room towards the meeting hall.

<<<>>>

The roads in between were dirty, and full of the homeless that had grown in numbers so rapidly. Living space was at a premium in The Community, and only the highest ranked families in society had a habitation to themselves – council members were allotted a habitation individually: an extreme luxury.

As she strode along the roads towards the meeting hall, a few people tipped their caps to her, while others simply ignored her. The oppressive light of the day cycle shone from all around, and Kate had to screw up her eyes several times to clear them, blinking back the after images. Finally, she arrived in the meeting hall.

Most of the population that mattered were already there in their official dress. The councillors arrayed in their finery around the table at the front. Jesica strode up to take her place...

<<<>>>

Several minutes later, and 500 years earlier:

Jessica groaned and picked herself up from the floor of the Hall. The whole Community had been shaken and ravaged by the spell that the warlocks had cast. There were cracks all around, and everyone had been thrown off their feet. Jessica looked out into The Beyond through the window of the meeting hall. It was different – no doubt about that. They were definitely somewhere else. Jessica could see something in the distance but couldn't quite make it out. Its shape suggested something majestic from the old legends, but she was certain that she was seeing things.

The Captain's voice filled the air, as if from nowhere, as it always did. Jessica was expecting a glowing testimony on the hard work of the warlocks and orders for a praise session in short order. What followed shocked her, scared her, and seemed to stun everyone around her.

“Jessica T, you have been summoned for a private audience. Come to the ascender and access will be granted to you alone. Do not keep me waiting long, Councillor.”

[Calli Valente]

If asked, Calli would have to admit that she had thoroughly enjoyed the mission to the Kyven system to help out the colony on one of the Kyven Moons. They had experienced some tachyon bursts from the edge of the system and had been rightly concerned. The Raven, fresh from an extended mission and a difficult shore leave, had undergone a massive refit. With over thirty percent of primary and secondary systems being either replaced or upgraded. Truth be told, this was an enjoyable mission because for the first time in a long time, her role as part of Star Fleet Intelligence wasn't mentioned, and yes, she did know that there were still the odd 'whisper' regarding her role and very presence on the Raven, but thankfully, these were few and far between now that people had come to trust she only had the ship's interest at heart ...

The dinner had been enjoyable, almost relaxing, as the Senior Staff were entertained by the outpost's personnel. But alas, it had to end, and everyone made their farewell's before returning to the ship. It would normally have been Calli's watch, being assigned on rotation to cover Gamma Shift for the next four days, but Harry had offered to take the duty as he was still working hard toward a Command position and wanted the experience since passing his Command Officer training. Calli, was more than happy to oblige, and at zero forty five hours her head hit the pillow ...

Her eyes snapped open before the first chirp of the Comm had finished. She lay perfectly still, a force of habit, as Commander Wedlerson's voice floated in the air:

=^= Senior Staff .. Report to the Bridge Immediately .. Senior Staff to the Bridge =^=

ooooo

She was glad to see that she was one of the first to arrive ..... Admiral Torek and several other's were looking at information, both on their own stations, and projected on the massive view-screen. They were holding position, apparently investigating something unheard of in Star Fleet history. Something, now established to be a vessel, was trying to come through a rift in space-time, but it was seemingly captured on the event horizon of the rift. Scanning was proving difficult as the 'ship' seemed to be switching between here, and wherever it originated from ...

She walked around the Bridge from the upper to lower levels, her eyes never leaving the view-screen ..... For some reason, she felt a sense of foreboding, totally irrational of course, she rebuked herself quickly. But something was telling her they should warp out of here, and quickly !

"Have we managed to get any information about that ship out there yet ?" Carl was asking.

"Sir, these readings are, sporadic at best. But ....." the Duty Tactical Officer said hesitantly.

"But. Lieutenant ?" Torek asked patiently.

"Sir. I'm picking up readings from numerous unknown materials, along with some that seem to have been, for want of a better word, obsolete according to our database, and ....... and some that match Federation Hull design specifications."

He turned to look at the man, not for a second doubting his abilities as one of the ships Tactical Officer's under T'Brel, but how could a ship appearing from a tachyon burst have hull plating from ... He just couldn't figure it out. He asked the Comms Officer if there had been any reply to the hails from the Raven, only to be told no.

"Anything from the probe ?"

"No Sir. It discontinued transmitting seconds before reaching optimum distance from the unknown vessel."

Carl sat in his seat as the remainder of the Senior Staff arrived. He sat watching the image of the ship as it seemingly shifted between it's own time and the one it was penetrating. There would, he knew, come a time when he would need to make a decision regarding the ship ..........

[Andae Blakus]

Handren was busy with an extended project in the science laboratory, and Ops officer Wedlerson was taking on greater responsibility on the bridge, so it came down to Blakus to take the scientific lead in studying the tachyons. While the hard physics of FTL particles such as tachyons wasn't his exact area of expertise, they did have enough properties that were relevant to their interaction with vacuum to give an engineer a framework in which to apply his knowledge.

He remained on the bridge, coordinating with the officers of the science department who hadn't been pulled into assisting with Handren's research, and also liaising with those of his engineers who had a specific scientific background and had somewhere along their careers of exploratory/military service, worked their way into the field of engineering.

Lieutenant Taylor was one such officer. The small moving image of her on his display panel at the rear of the bridge glanced between him and her console. Even from this range it was uncomfortable for Andae to look at her. Although their brief relationship was now many years ago, he still felt the strain in looking her in the eye - mysteries and knowing there that made him feel unmasked, as if he was hiding an aspect of himself that should've been turned up from the soil of his mind a long time ago. Her coma induced by the Cordovin assassin and her subsequent torturous recovery had bonded them again somewhat, but the emotional scarring ran too deep in Andae's conscious to simply be washed away by time.

"Tachyons, negatively polarised... might indicate a form of antimatter," Blakus said, picking his brains for the dry subatomic physics lectures of Professor Grazelski at the academy.

"No. Tachyons do not have an antimatter counterpart, Andae," Taylor's small image on the sceen said. "Something approximating them was used only once, to close a spacetime rift in the year 2378; but the technology used to produce them was found in the Delta Quadrant. The Federation have been unable to replicate the technology."

"Then this is no alternate universe we've encountered here, one full of antimatter, one that if it came into direct contact with our universe could annihilate both." Andae knew that the notion of another universe consisting mostly or entirely of antimatter had been virtually disproven - doubts had begun to be raised some 400 years ago - thus his comment was both morbid and unnecessary.

"What if," he raised a hand, blocking off his former girlfriend's efforts to put his course of thought back on level heading, "These negative tachyons work in a manner as was originally proposed by Einstein et al? The idea that emitted tachyons will travel backwards in time and then manifest themselves in that time as the opposites of their originals. Polarisation switched; what was once an ordinary FTL particle now flipped over as it arrives in the past?"

"Andae... You're saying the burst of those particles, that rift with the ship on its event horizon, is an opening into the future?" Taylor paled. She looked down at her console, a barely heard rush of beeps indicating she was making some rapid calculation. "Judging by the stability of the particles in their negatively polarised state, and assuming they were ordinary tachyons to start out with..." She paused, "We could be viewing a rift that was opened anywhere between 200 to 3000 years into our future..." Her breaking off into silence indicated the magnitude with which she considered this revelation.

"Is this... one way?" His assistant looked up. Andae smiled; he knew his question was speculative. "Could we travel into the future using this portal?"

"I think Admiral Torek would make that kind of decision, Andae..." she chided, "And there's the matter of that object out there, whatever is, to contend with first."

"And we can't get much closer to it without being bombarded by high-energy tachyons..." Andae mused. "If they are from the future, then they might have harnessed tachyons of much higher energies... They might be able to control the force of the burst they send forth."

The tactical officer, who'd been listening in, turned round, "So who's to say the continual transmission of them isn't with malevolent intent? They might want us to stay away."

Andae twisted in his chair, steepling his fingers, "Perhaps for our own good..."

<Tag All>

[Carl Torek]

Carl listened in silence as his Senior Staff discussed options and idea's ... The consensus seemed to be that the tachyon burst had improbably, opened a rift in space-time, from where it was impossible to establish, and the main topic was obviously the 'ship' that was somehow managing to hang onto the event horizon of the rift, albeit slipping in and out of reality as it tried to take hold of one side or the other ...

"How close did the probe get ?" he asked no-one in particular.

"Four hundred fifty eight kilometres before it ceased transmitting, and what it did send back was almost gibberish Admiral."

"Comms. Contact Star Fleet Command. appraise them of our situation and tell them we are remaining on station for further investigation." Torek ordered, hardly surprised when he was informed that all sub-space communications were being blocked by the tachyon field expanding from the epicentre of the burst. He didn't bother to ask her to try again, knowing it was a waste of energy, "Is there 'ANY' way we could get a signal through to that ship Andae ?"

Realizing his Chief Engineer was already likely to be working through numerous possibilities in his head and on the diagnostic screens at his disposal.

"How about using a shuttle as a relay ?" Carl continued, "We know it wouldn't last long, but it may give us the chance, however briefly, to get through to the ship." Andae turned to his console and began looking at the idea.

Four hours later:

They watched on the view-screen as the unmanned shuttle departed the Raven and came around her in a lazy arc to port. Once alongside, the Duty Pilot Officer looked at the Admiral, who nodded his consent. The shuttle darted away from her home like an arrow as Andae and several of his Engineering team monitored the shields and other systems trying to compensate for the terminal damage the tachyon field would eventually inflict on the doomed transport. Holding at eight hundred thousand kilometres, the Raven began relaying her original hail ...

"Shields down to ninety eight point six and falling."

"Moving to six hundred thousand kilometres." the Pilot informed the Bridge.

"Shields down to seventy nine point four." Harry continued his updates.

"Admiral." the Comms Officer said, "We still cannot be sure our hail is even reaching the ship, we have no way of verifying. I have it on a loop now, should there be any form of transmission from the other ship our message will cease and lock onto the origin of the reply, but it's hit and miss."

"Admiral, the shuttle can only withstand another thirteen minutes exposure at this distance." the Duty Tactical Officer informed him.

"Pilot ... Move the shuttle to one hundred thousand kilometres and set to station keeping ...... Comms, you have until the shuttle disintegrates to get through to that ship, if I have to use a second one it's coming out of your pay." he said, knowing full well that they may have only seconds if they were lucky ... The shuttle began her 'fall' toward the event horizon, the Pilot taking every precaution he could to ensure they got all they could out of the now doomed craft. At the designated distance, the Pilot set the controls to produce the equivalent counter-thrust to the pull of the horizon then changed the configuration of his station so he could monitor the shuttles demise in detail.

Thirty seconds passed with no change ... Forty five ... Sixty ...

"The shuttle is no longer capable of counteracting the gravitational pull Admiral, she's beginning to fall towards the other ship."

Seventy five seconds ... Ninety ...... Ninety six ......

=^= ... ederation Star Ship .. 'DO NOT' attempt any further contac .......... =^=

[Deleted]

=^= ... ederation Star Ship .. 'DO NOT' attempt any further contac .......... =^=

The turbo lift doors parted and Will and Delik entered the bridge. As Delik went to the security station, Will made his way down to take his seat next to Admiral Torek.

"Seems almost unfair that they get to know who we are." he said as he sat down and leaned forward. "Have we gotten any information back, sir?" he asked the CO.

He listened as the crew continued doing their jobs at attempting to gather the required information. He began bouncing his knees up and down. Being a former CTSO, he wanted to get up and handle the station himself but he trusted the Ravens Security department so he controlled his urge.....for now.

[Andae Blakus]

"Commander Wedlerson, permission to share control of the Ops station," Blakus commed quietly on his commbadge, not wanting to disturb the general flow of activity of the bridge.

He heard Wedlerson sigh, "Why...?" After several seconds, "Ok, there we go. Hope you're not planning to mess with my interface. Got an idea, Commander?"

"I'd like to reconfigure the sensors scanning the anomaly. We're going about this the wrong way, if we want to explain why they seem so eager for us to stay away." Blakus had a theory that the tachyon emissions weren't designed, at least intentionally, to keep the Raven clear, but that they were a necessary consequence of the rift the ship on the anomaly's event horizon was attempting to maintain.

"Unmanned shuttle will last a further forty-five seconds at current distance from rift," Wedlerson called out to the bridge, "That time is shortening, obviously due to the countdown, and also as it falls closer to the event horizon and is bombarded with tachyons."

"The object, ship, whatever it is out there..." That was still uncertain given the fractured natured of the comm they'd received from the general direction of the anomaly. Blakus studied his console almost maniacally. Moments that required intense concentration automatically shut out all outer sensation, as if the mind had developed tunnel vision, could see only the data and the myriad divergent consequences of it depending upon what action he took.

He turned to Torek and Jamison who stood side by side at the command seats, "The 'ship' is continuing to oscillate between our spacetime position and its position, wherever that is in time, on the other side of the rift," he said, "I believe by their forcing of the rift to produce that many high-energy tachyons they're doing all they can just to remain in place."

"You have an idea, Andae? Something that will... push them one way or the other?"

"Without us having to get any closer, yes," he said, as they all just witnessed the shuttle go up in flames, its miniature warp core detonating about halfway between the Raven and the other ship. Hopefully its transmitted telemetry would give them further clues about what it was that lay out there - leaving aside the cursory scans revealing obsolete technology combined with Federation-standard chassis parts and components.

"If we direct... a burst of ordinary tachyons towards the rift, using the navigational deflector, it might boost the rift's negatively polarised tachyon output."

"'Boost' it? We're in enough danger as it is."

"I suppose so," Blakus said darkly, looking back at his console, "Myself and engineer Lieutenant Taylor believe that at the event horizon the polarity of the tachyons switches. We'll be adding to the tachyon flux coming towards us, yes, but that might be what they're needing to push themselves one way or the other through the rift. They might not have sufficient power to do it themselves... They could be seconds from disaster, sir."

<Tag Torek, Jamison, All>

[Carl Torek]

"Jessica T. You have been summoned for a private audience. Come to the ascender and access will be granted to you alone. Do not keep me waiting long, Councillor."

Jessica like everyone else in the privileged ranks, had her role on the ship ! ... Her forebears were Command Officer's all, and despite the fact that her role was that of Second only to the 'Captain' himself, it grated on her when he addressed her as 'Councillor' ... Moving to one of the only two ascender's both heavily guarded, she stepped inside conscious of the guards watching her with barely concealed indifference.

The door opened and she entered. No-one, not even her, had seen the Captain face to face for as long as anyone could remember. Everyone knew, that being summoned didn't fare well from the, experience. He had positioned a silk-like curtain separating himself from those he allowed audience, it allowed a ghost-like view of the one who had lead them from seclusion ... She moved to the circle, etched into the marble floor, and the only ornamentation on this side of the curtain and waited.

"You have warned the ship to remain away." It was a statement, not a question, so Jessica remained silent, "What, in your 'valued' opinion, do you think we should do, proceed with the encounter, or retreat back through the portal." again, she knew this was a hypothetical question, not one the Captain was expecting an answer to. He would ask you to speak if he needed your opinion, and he hadn't asked !

Through the silken curtain, Jessica could see a myriad of monitors and large view screens, this, in part, was how the Captain remained informed about the 'Community' as he chose to call them on occasion. Of course, he had eyes everywhere, many would pass information hoping to gain favour, but it usually got then the opposite. She looked down at the one meter circle, a single piece of gold, five centimetre wide set into the black marble. The outright extravagance appalled her given most of the lower echelon's struggled to eat or feed their children.

"You will open a dialogue with the ship." the Captain suddenly continued, seemingly aggravated by her lack of concentration, "Tell them little, but allow them to know who we are, and from where. I have ordered the warlocks depart the portal on this side, for the time being. Should our congress prove fruitless, they shall destroy this Raven and depart. There will be other's ......" she knew it was a dismissal so turned without uttering a single word and returned to the Meeting Hall. She addressed the Council, informing them of what they were to undertake. Each member activated dedicated system's and numerous screens activated. Jessica looked around the table, not relishing the task before her, and knowing that several around this very table envied her role, and would not be unhappy to see her fail ...

"Admiral ... The Tachyon Burst is diminishing, event horizon receding ... The ship is stabilizing !" Wedlerson informed him ... Carl and Will spun to face the view-screen and sure enough, the ship was solid, and scanning as such. Now the Raven could begin scanning the vessel more thoroughly, and what they were seeing was nothing short of astounding. They were still going over the flood of data when the Comms Officer shakily informed them they were being contacted. Will told her to open the Comm:

=^= We wish certain clarifications before we are willing to commence a visual dialogue .. Your vessel has been identified as .. Star Fleet Vessel .. USS Raven-B .. NCC 750059-B .. Is this information correct ? =^=

=^= I am Admiral Ca .... =^= Torek began.

=^= Is the information .. Correct ? =^=

=^= Yes .. The information is correct =^=

=^= What is your current .. Star Date ? =^= the woman continued, almost hesitantly.

=^= Our Star Date is 2400.0814 =^= The reply took so long in coming back, Carl thought the ship had broke off the Comm. But when the woman spoke again, her question was the last thing he had expected to hear.

=^= You are from .. Terra ? =^= Carl looked at Will, then replied in the affirmative.

=^= You may commence visual dialogue now =^=

The view-screen shimmered as if having trouble establishing a coherent image before it finally settled on what looked like a circular room, of chamber. A circular table seated numerous people. There seemed to be one empty seat, a young woman, sat next to the vacant place, and maybe in her early twenties, was presumably watching their version of a view-screen, assessing them in turn. Will stepped closer to the screen, eyeing the room, not those present. He turned back to Torek, a warning look on his face that those on-screen couldn't pick up. Carl glanced at Harry who began scanning the other vessel more thoroughly, a frown forming as the information came up.

=^= You are .. Admiral Torek .. Carl Torek .. Mother Sarah and Father Talek .. Is this correct ? =^=

=^= You have me at a disadv .. Yes .. The information is correct .. Now would it be impolite to ask who I am speaking to ? =^=

The woman hesitated, looking at those present then seemingly listening to someone out of view. Then she looked back at Carl:

=^= My name is .. Jessica .. Torek .. I am approximately twenty generations your direct descendant =^= ..........






< tag : The Captain / All >

[Calli Valente]

Watching as the crew went through check after check, scan after scan, in an effort to identify the mysterious vessel hovering in and out of time, she couldn't help wondering how it had got here, and way ...

They had tried to communicate but to no avail, the ship, if indeed it 'was' a ship, simply refused, of couldn't answer the Raven's hail.

The sudden shock of a voice, seemingly from the other ship, had everyone on edge. Calli watched as the Admiral made decisions as things began to happen. firstly, the ship seemed to be stabilizing in the 'present' although that could be a subjective term given they had no clue as to where or when, the ship was coming from. The communication continued without a visual of the speaker:

=^= We wish certain clarifications before we are willing to commence a visual dialogue .. Your vessel has been identified as .. Star Fleet Vessel .. USS Raven-B .. NCC 750059-B .. Is this information correct ? =^=

=^= I am Admiral Ca .... =^= Torek began.

=^= Is the information .. Correct ? =^=

The Bridge was now a flurry of activity. Calli had gone to the Tactical Station besides Commander Peers, the reading's he was getting were sporadic and fluctuating even now. She realized he was trying, and failing, to get any kind of lock on the newcomer, and it was beginning to frustrate him. She whispered something and he nodded, thanking her, before continuing calmly. The woman decided that they could have a visual and she waited to see what they may be dealing with. What she hadn't expected was for the woman to have a seemingly 'Human' appearance !

She could see the Executive Officer moving toward the screen as if scrutinizing something closely. she too had the feeling something was 'familiar' about the image, or rather, what was behind the woman ...

=^= You have me at a disadv .. Yes .. The information is correct .. Now would it be impolite to ask who I am speaking to ? =^=

The woman hesitated, looking at those present then seemingly listening to someone out of view. Then she looked back at Carl:

=^= My name is .. Jessica .. Torek .. I am approximately twenty generations from your future .. I am your direct descendant =^=

The Bridge was ghostly silent, as everyone took in what the young woman before them had just said. Then Calli realized what she was looking at.

"It's the Raven !" she whispered, turning to face Carl so the woman couldn't see her face. She ran her finger across her throat to signify she wanted the Comm muted, a second later the Comms Officer nodded:

"Admiral. That ship out there is the Raven ...." she said quickly, seeing Will nod in agreement as he too had figured out what had been worrying him about what he was looking at, "Maybe not 'our' Raven ... In fact definitely not our Raven, if what they are saying is correct." she looked back at the screen. The woman, Jessica, seemed to be waiting patiently for the conversation between them to continue.

=^= You're Officers may now scan our vessel at your convenience Admiral =^= Jessica said almost casually, although Calli could hear the tenseness in her voice as she spoke, almost as if reciting from a second source.

"Helm." Carl said, still not responding to the young woman, but keeping eye contact with Calli, "Take us to one hundred thousand kilometers and hold position there. Begin scan's once we are in position."

Again Jessica waited, not countermanding Carl's orders, or restricting the Raven's traverse to a closer position as he re-opened the Comm:

=^= You say you are my descendant .. We are attempting to scan your vessel and are coming up with some frankly unusual results .. Are you on a Federation vessel of some design ? =^=

=^= All in good time Admiral .. For now carry out your scans .. Under .. 'NO CIRCUMSTANCES' .. Will you attempt to contact your Superiors .. Nor will you make any attempt to .... Materialize on to our vessel .. To do so will result in .. Will be unfortunate at this time .. I will contact you in two hours to continue dialogue .. We feel this should give you adequate time to gather and examine any information gained =^= the Screen changed to a view of the stars as Jessica closed the communication ..........

[Andae Blakus]

OOC: This might not acknowledge Calli's post very well... I wrote this before seeing it

Cross checking the information once more, Blakus realised his eyes weren't deceiving him after all. The vessel before them was approximately two and a half times the length of the Raven, but the general outline... was strangely familiar. A sense of disquiet came over him as he read the results of scans fed through from operations: composite metals. About two thirds of the ship was tritanium/duranium - most of it lying near the core of its mass - with the rest made up of other duranium-based composites and obsolete materials, including carbon fibre and even in places aluminium alloys and steel.

What drove the shock home was of course the name of the apparent leader of the other vessel, and her stated genealogy. Little was said in the minutes following her identification. Blakus worked his console quietly, conferring with Milyanov and Taylor in engineering, who were having their own heated debate. The comm channel to the other ship again appeared to have cut out, but a quick check showed it still to be open, both sides perhaps recoiling from the shock.

"It's not possible. She's lying." Milyanov shook his head on the small screen in Andae's engineering console.

Blakus had kept both his assistants up to date. He leant into his console, rubbing his eyes expecting his vision to clear and the readings from the other vessel to begin to make sense. He understood Milyanov's point of view, but he had to balance it with what he and Taylor had found out about the tachyon burst.

"Lieutenant Milyanov, Taylor and I found that the far side of the rift lies hundreds perhaps thousands of years into the future." Suddenly he felt very tired. "If... Ms Torek's claims are true, then four hundred or more years have passed for their version of the Raven."

No one had dared to make that particular assumption yet, but the evidence for it had become compelling. Despite the chronological difference, the tritanium/duranium materials and further inner workings of the ship - as far as the Raven's scanners could delve into it - were consistent with the Galaxy class herself. In addition, ongoing quantum dating was narrowing the emergent vessel's time of origin down to a time consistent with the number of generations that Jessica Torek had claimed.

"Reading over twenty thousand lifesigns, sir," Wedlerson reported, astounded at his scans, "They must be packed in tight."

As Milyanov and Taylor fell back into argument - Milyanov refuting the possibility of a future Raven's existence - Andae murmured to himself in his chair at the back of the bridge, "It has been shown that the fate of the universe is not predetermined. Whatever appears to be out there... not our future," he choked, imagining his tombstone on the outskirts of Rome, Italy, where he had dreamt he'd someday lie with the rest of his family.

---

Desperate screams echoed off the cavern's walls, rebounding from the stalactite-coated surfaces towards uncertain heights. The cursed Light pierced these depths, illuminating stacked residences of thousands of hungry groaning pleibians. Such did Ultimus call them.

He pulled his head in from outside the window and jammed its rotting frame back into place. Rubbing his neck from having craned it towards the Light for so long, he surveyed his house. Darkness pervaded; little of the Light filtered in through the dirty plexiglass panes. The children were asleep at last, in their compartment, although he knew they wouldn't be able to rest for long.

Rousseau, his cat, was nowhere to be seen - hunting vermin on the mid-levels again no doubt. He'd followed Rousseau once, tried to see where he went, but always lost him on the ninth floor. There was a gap, a wedge created by sheets of metal unevenly propped against one another, too small for him but large enough for Rousseau to slip through. Once Ultimus had looked through the wedge, and had seen a brightly lit corridor free of stalactites and plant growths. The sight had frightened him so much he'd run away, clambering down the piles of metallic wreckage back to his home.

He took the wicker chair lying on the floor amongst the detritus - he needed to tidy up - and swung it to face his desk. He sat himself, the chair squeaking on tired strands of interwoven thread, and he started writing again.

Clatterings and deep groans, like that of a thousand voices, passed through the Community staying his pen. He looked up, saw the light fixing was swinging, grit loosened from the ceiling falling to the worn carpeted floor. This time it wasn't the mourning of the pleibians that had disturbed his peace.

[Deleted]

The Captain ran over his decision again and again in his mind. Only a handful of people – those who served on the Council – were privy to the true nature of the situation. If the truth were to be discovered, there would be serious trouble. All that kept this fragile little world together was the sense of isolation and ignorance. If that were removed....

Nevertheless, it was a necessarily calculated risk. Jessica had many of the qualities of her ancestor: the smooth diplomacy, the conviction...but he sensed a reluctance about her – the deceptions bothered her. Too bad – they would have to go on bothering her or he would find someone else. He always had.

Direct contact between himself and the other ship would be extremely unwise at this juncture, which was why he had elected the girl. He hadn't counted on this happening. Folding subspace using powerful tachyon bursts was one thing, but he hadn't calculated that it would also fold the spacetime continuum. There was nothing for it now, however. The tachyon field had collapsed, leaving them without a means to return, even if they had wanted to.

He took a deep breath, sighing heavily. This would not do at all...


<Sorry about the delay and short post – I'll be away for a few days and back on Monday. I'll get a more detailed message up then.>

[Carl Torek]

Year twenty one:


On the fourteenth year of the interstellar war, the Earth finally succumbed ... The bombardment, and subsequent radiation destroyed every living thing, contaminating the planet for hundreds of years to come. The Klingon empire was no more, eradicated mercilessly, along with over two hundred other species ... The Federation never knew their enemy, never knew the race that had entered the Alpha Quadrant and systematically begun to destroy all life. Billions upon billions took to vessels and headed out into the depths of space, hoping beyond hope to escape their fate. Some did escape, while some were caught and suffered the consequences. The remnants of what had once been the United Federation of Planets had met on a remote outpost. Finally admitting they were defeated, it was agreed that every capable vessel would leave the Alpha Quadrant, and go in search of a new home, away from their foe, away from the holocaust they had suffered. It was never expected that any of those vessels would return, indeed, there was no reason for any to do so .....

Seven years after the USS Raven-B had escaped, they had traversed deep into the Gamma Quadrant ... Scavenging what they could when needed, they had managed to secure their continued journey for many years to come. Carl Torek, now sixty three years old, was still Commanded the ship. Chloe, his wife of eighteen years by his side as the ship's Councillor They had a Daughter of their own now, Amy, in her seventeen and an exceptional Engineer in her own right. Bethan was herself married and had children, but Vanessa, who had returned to her Father Scott so long ago, was presumed dead in the attack on the Mars Colony in the first years of the war ... He had been ill for a long time, and had wanted to step down from Command in favour of his long time friend and Executive Officer Will Jamison, but the crew wouldn't allow it, until finally he succumbed to the ravages old age and continued illness.

On his deathbed, Chloe held his hand, Amy crying on his chest, her sobs breaking his already failing heart. He was surrounded by his Children, his Grandchildren, Calli, his sister, and his closest, dearest friends. Looking at them in turn, Will, Andae, Marionette, T'Brel, he knew in his heart that they were able to survive what was ahead of them. Every fibre of his being wanted to remain with them, with his family, but time was drawing in, and he knew he had moments left.

"You must carry on." he sighed, so low it was almost inaudible, "You must find somewhere, start anew ..... Promise me." he sighed, tiring from the exertion of trying to speak.

"I think we should leave him to rest now." Calli said, receiving a nod of appreciation from Chloe as the other's filed out of the room.

Carl looked at his family, so proud, so happy to have been fortunate enough to have been given the chances he had. Calli leaned in and kissed him tenderly on the forehead, a tear falling, to land on his cheek, before she stood back allowing each in turn to say their goodbye's ...

"I love you." he whispered to Chloe, then he looked at his Family and smiled, "I love ... you ...... all." Finally, the first of the Raven family was gone .......

ooooo00000ooooo


~ The Raven. A minuscule speck of existence in the unfathomable vastness of creation, continued her flight to salvation ~

[Andae Blakus]

Blakus considered the so-claimed Jessica Torek's words. The channel had now been closed for twenty minutes, one sixth of the time given to them to scan the emergent vessel and presumably ascertain that it was indeed the Raven. And to pick up any particulars about its function, interior layout, exact numbers and species. This would prove to them that Jessica was telling the truth. But why, Blakus thought, were they here? Assuming they had planned to come back to this point, to intercept the Raven - the alternative being that this was all a huge coincidence - what did they hope to achieve?

Before letting his thoughts carry too far ahead, he thought he'd better determine if this was indeed some future mutated version of the Raven, with its scavenged materials - interior walls, makeshift hull shielding - tacked on.

Marionette had taken up the helm console now. With an almost fervourous skip, Andae descended from the engineering console to the front of the bridge. "Commander. Myself and Wedlerson have been scanning that thing to establish where its extra metals came from." He handed Marionette a padd, watched her scanning it through.

"Would you agree that some of the metals are of Dominion origin? They're of a type never before encountered. Strengthened with unknown polymers, augmented with metaphasic hull plating. But the trademark of Dominion technology is there."

Marionette sat in silence for a moment, the bridge falling into an unusual stillness, one of those unusual lulls where all hushed conversation seemed to become the focii of attention. "Ok, the real- While this is important," Blakus quickly corrected, pointing at the padd. "The real reason I came down here was to ask... If that is the real Raven out there, 400 or more years from our future, what do you think became of you? Your life may continue for an indefinite amount of time, correct?"

<Tag Marionette>

---

More than fourteen years in the future?, Outpost 48 Beta, outskirts of former Federation territory

The sulphuric yellow clouds, swirling in sickening miasmas high in the atmosphere, cast a pallid and ill glow on the meagre outpost situated atop a bare hill. This was a world of rocks in the serene repose of death - no erosion bothered their tired surfaces, the planet's geological processes having been rendered inert or reduced to sub-glacial pace by the lack of atmospheric currents and other climatic processes.

A gathering of dark figures, stark against the pale grey square before the outpost's main entrance, mingled with each other, swarming, halting, falling to the dust of the square, like dying bacteria.

From this distance, aboard the incoming craft, all activity in the square seemed silent. Jerdo Krecik had his plain grey ship land on a plateau overlooking the square from the side opposite the outpost. He'd come from Alpha Centauri, one of the last survivors to flee from that Federation colony and founding UFP member world. But none of those words: the Federation, Alpha Centauri, colonies, meant anything anymore. All that mattered was these refugees' survival.

He had been a junior member of Alpha Centauri's planetary council, and was now reduced, along with many, many others, to the humble status of a human being fleeing a quadrant-spanning catastrophe. Emerging from his craft accompanied by what remained of his aides and other officials, he descended to the square where leading figures of the UFP, including Starfleet Admirals and Captains, were heatedly debating what to do next. Returning to the hell that the sectors containing the core worlds had become was out of the question. They could only push outwards, perhaps forever.

"Councillor Krecik," someone nodded his way, recognising Jerdo immediately. Jerdo acknowledged the man, but his sparkling eyes were caught by the sight of another. A beautiful woman, seeming out of place in this gathering of high ranking officials. She had raven-dark hair, was tall and slim, and carried herself with a grace that really didn't jive well with the current situation.

As he approached her, leaving his aides behind and pushing past disgruntled officers, another man moved to block his way. The man stepped to the side and brought the woman up alongside him. Jerdo regarded the man disdainfully: bedraggled, dark rims under the eyes, a pale complexion - he wondered if that was a result of the war - and wearing a torn Starfleet gold division uniform, with Commander's pips.

"Jerdo Krecik," the man said. His voice was heavy, laced eternally with sorrow. "I've heard about you. Please meet my daughter, Aurelia."

Jerdo grinned at Aurelia who looked away, suddenly seeming very interested in the outpost across the square. "Your daughter and I are acquainted, Commander...?"

"Andae Blakus of the USS Raven. Myself and Aurelia will be returning to the ship once the Admiralty decides how we're going to save the rest of our civilisation..." Above them the stars broke through the tempest of sulphuric cloud formations, lying in wait. Fate seemed to beckon to them all, to these survivors convening on this abominable world. The future, whatever it would bring, awaited them with its customary patience, but it might arrive too soon.

[Marionette]

"Helm." Carl said, still not responding to the young woman, but keeping eye contact with Calli, "Take us to one hundred thousand kilometers and hold position there. Begin scans once we are in position."

"Aye sir, moving to new position." Marionette said, tapping in the command codes to navigate the ship to the point the admiral specified.

=^= You say you are my descendant .. We are attempting to scan your vessel and are coming up with some frankly unusual results .. Are you on a Federation vessel of some design ? =^=

=^= All in good time Admiral .. For now carry out your scans .. Under .. 'NO CIRCUMSTANCES' .. Will you attempt to contact your Superiors .. Nor will you make any attempt to .... Materialize on to our vessel .. To do so will result in .. Will be unfortunate at this time .. I will contact you in two hours to continue dialogue .. We feel this should give you adequate time to gather and examine any information gained =^= the Screen changed to a view of the stars as Jessica closed the communication

- o -

"....If that is the real Raven out there, 400 or more years from our future, what do you think became of you? Your life may continue for an indefinite amount of time, correct?" Commander Blakus said, in rather hushed tones.

Seeing no need to likewise speak in whispers, Marionette answered in her normally auto-tuned musical voice. "That is correct sir, however, i would presume that my future self would look quite different than i do now, given the anticipation of regular upgrades and repairs. I might have even achieved a kind of practical-humanity by the time Jessica Torek was born, or, will be born." she said, tapping the PAD and analyzing its data At Speed, before continuing. "From a social outlook, it is very likely that my future self would have known every Torek, from Carl in the present, to Jessica in that time-era, from childhood to old age and death, if not also a similar situation for many families aboard the Future Raven."

Pausing for a beat, Marionette spoke again "Also, i would posit the theory that in due time, my future self might possibly have built descendants of her own, and that those newer-model descendants might also likely follow suit, possibly in numbers great enough to appropriately say, that it would be the foundations of a new race. This is of course, based on recorded federation trends of family models." she said, calculating numerous family statistics in her head, at speed.


In the great dispersal of the humans and other survivors, Marionette had scavenged 25th century Borg technology, and refined it into something far less malevolent. Marionettes daughters were the first generation of a new race, The PRIL (positronic robotic integrated lifeform). In due time, the Pril swiftly self-evolved to become a full-fledged race (with a populous of about 5,000 to 8,000 in Jessica's time) that was capable of all that a naturally biological race could do, and in some cases, more.

Unlike the borg, however, the equally as cybernetic Pril were created otherwise completely from scratch, rather than parasitically assimilated from the adult members of other races. There was also no dominating collective hivemind among the Pril. Physically, they were taller and larger (and far stronger and faster) than most other humanoids, and bore the marks of their intrinsic artificial origins, with thin black lines on their pale white bodies and faces, and a sigil of identity inset into the upper-center of their chest. An odd-ness of the species, is that most Pril were female.... Nobody complained about it though, so the Pril's 3-1 ratio in favor of female gynoids never really stopped.

Stemming from the noble examples of 'The Marionette', the Pril came to serve alongside the remnants of humanity as negotiators of peace, keepers of lore and technology where possible, and in times of war and combat, super-soldier-like warrior-servants and sacrificers. (Unfortunately, even with this blossoming new super-race at their side, it was an issue of far too little and much too late. All that mattered now, was survival, and travel.)

In due time, Marionette had achieved her goal, and had become so human-like, that the only outward thing that set her apart from other humans, was her her ageless immortality, and of course, her 'Lithium Goddess' reputation where the Pril were concerned. She could even have relationships and bear children by then, thanks to the 32nd centuries borg nanites ability to recode DNA at thought-whim.

[Carl Torek]

".... my future self might possibly have built descendants of her own, and that those newer-model descendants might also likely follow suit. Possibly in numbers great enough to appropriately say, that it would be the foundations of a new race. This is of course, based on recorded federation trends of family models."

Carl grinned. Had anyone else stated so casually that they 'could' at some point become the progenitor of a new race, he would have been sending them to see the Councillor at the bare minimum. But coming from Marionette, it seemed almost logical ... Getting up out of his seat, realizing that he had been so tense it had knotted the muscles in his back, he stretched and headed for the turbo-lift:

"Call me if anything happens, otherwise I'll be back up here before our, deadline. Will, the Bridge, and philosophical symposium, are all yours. I'll be in my quarters."

~~~~~

He had enjoyed a meal with his family, and had managed to chastise Chloe, much to the amusement of all three girls, about allowing Bethan and Vanessa to stay up so late. After thirty seconds he knew he was in a loosing battle so raised his arms in submission and gave up. He checked the time and realized he was due back, so kissing each in turn he left their quarters ...

~~~~~

".... illions of little Marionette's running around then, is that what you are saying ?" T'brel was asking to a seemingly very patient Marionette as Carl re-entered the Bridge. Will almost gratefully got up out of the center seat.

"What gives you the impression any 'progeny' of mine would be 'little' as you put it Commander ?" the Android asked, clearly enjoying the conversation. Carl wondered if she had a sarcasm chip in that head of hers.

"What's our status Will ?" he asked, allowing the conversation to continue in the background. Jamison was about to tell him that the only significant development was that he had a headache, when the Comms Officer spoke:

"They're back." she said, almost ominously, and receiving a side-on look from the Admiral. The view-screen image once again showed the 'Bridge' of the other vessel, and again Jessica was there. She began to outline various stipulations regarding their further contact ... The Raven, or rather, Torek's Raven, would come about and close the distance to one thousand kilometers. At that point they would cease 'ALL' scans and stand-by for further instructions. Jessica was already raising her hand to close the Comm when Carl, politely, coughed:

=^= OK .. While I can fully understand your being cautious in regards to what we can or can't scan .. Or the constant reminders that we must not do this or do that .. I am a little tired of the fact that 'you' seem to be under the impression that you are in control of this .. Meeting .... We have met with races before that are adept at 'imitation' so your arrival while unusual isn't exactly unique .. So I think we should start again and this time we'll play nice regarding who can do what .. How does that sound ? =^=

Jessica looked at him in silence for a long time, but he could see her eyes darting to someone, or something, just out of line of sight of the monitor. she was obviously listening to someone, maybe the Commander of the ship, he didn't know yet ...

=^= You will do as instructed Admiral .. Failure to comply will result in ..... =^=

"Helm. Bring us about. Prepare to move on to our next assignment. Mister Peers, drop a buoy and as soon as we're out of jamming range inform Star Fleet of our situation and request they sen ...."

=^= Very well ! =^= Jessica said, a sudden nervousness in her voice.

Carl waited patiently.

=^= We understand your concerns .. We shall contact you shortly with arrangements for a physical meeting .. I assume you are able to move from vessel to vessel using your 'transporter' technology ? =^=

=^= Yes .. We can beam you abo .... =^= he began to reply.

=^= Stand-by =^= Jessica said, closing the Comm before Carl could interrupt or comment further ...

"Geez. I wonder if 'ALL' my future relatives are as short-tempered." Carl said, a wry smile forming.

"Did anyone else notice that Jessica continually said 'We' rather than 'I' ... ?" Calli asked ..........

[Andae Blakus]

Blakus swung in his engineering chair, rubbing his chin, "It might indicate some sort of quorum or council that commands their ship by consent. Alternatively she may be referring to her ship in a similar manner to that of her claimed ancestor," he said, grinning at Torek.

He turned back to the console. "So what's our next move. If we're not closing to their demanded 1000 kilometres, are we maintaining position and waiting for them to take action? Or are we expecting a surprise beam-out, or beam-in, to our transporter room or even the bridge...?"

"Shields are raised, Commander," T'Brel said, "Unless they have something advanced enough to pierce through shields and by the looks of it..."

"Well it looks like a mess from the outside," Blakus acknowledged, studying the rotating wireframe image of the 1500 metre long vessel on his console. "The core components of the Raven will be in place and the obsolete technologies fused to its main structure don't help our interpretation of it. Much of it perhaps is dilapidated, the uninhabitable parts that may be exposed to vacuum for example, but as Marionette says about herself, the ship would've received upgrades over the 400-500 years."

If they were part of a future timeline where the Federation still existed - a Federation perhaps reduced to a mercenary role (the thought chilled him) by the looks of it - then they would considerably out-perform the Raven from this time in any combat engagement. Perhaps that's why Jessica Torek demanded they stop their scans, before they found out anything about tactical ability, or perhaps lack thereof...

Just after Andae left the bridge to get more hands-on in engineering, as was his preference, an incoming communication alerted the other bridge crew.

"Sir, they're hailing again..." Wedlerson reported. "Seems they may have made up their minds."

<Tag Torek, All>

---

Coughing and weeping came from the other compartment. "Father..."

Ultimus dropped his pen and pushed the wicker chair back, it tipping over to join the rest of the detritus on the dust-coated floor. Scrawled ink had made it halfway down the page, the latest in a line of accompanying scripture the rest of at this moment was covering one wall of the living space. He hurried through to the sleeping compartment, coming to his son's side and taking his hand. "More nightmares...?" he said softly in the darkness. "More spectres from the crypt?"

"As you said, father," the child nodded, sitting up in his small rickety bed. He'd accepted his patriarch's explanation for his recent nightmares. It was part of the gathering of knowledge that one day, hopefully, woud allow him to become a member of the serving warlocks, where he'd learn the scripts in greater detail from the basics Ultimus had taught him. He didn't know what his father told him was only what he'd invented himself - Ultimus knew nothing of the warlocks' magics.

"Back to sleep. Hey, a story I wrote for you. Hold on a moment." A minute later Ultimus came back into the room, Rousseau the cat slipping between his legs and jumping on the bed. It let out a croaky feral meow, padding across the coarse sheets. As Rousseau coiled beside Ultimus's son, the father passed him the half-written portion of scripture that would be the latest addition to the wall.

"Dreams," he stated. "Of our forefathers. Rest easy with old legends. They'll prepare you, if you want to join the ranks of the warlocks one day." Ultimus patted his son's head, who promptly drifted back to sleep, the throaty purr of Rousseau accompanying him.

Ultimus came to stand opposite the scripture-covered wall, with the picture-engraving at its centre.

"The tomb on the edge of the city eternal, resting place of the Gods." He nodded his head briefly in reverence. But something seemed different. He frowned, approaching the wall, peering closely at the intricately pencilled detail of the arranged tombstones and the crypt at the centre. He couldn't believe it. The name on one of the tombs was being erased before his eyes.

He ran from the house. Had the day come? Tears streamed down his face; he felt like screaming, screaming to the levels of packed-in humanity and dying old folk in the stacked levels above him deprived for so long, screaming to the Light. He clambered over mounds of oil-stained wreckage, tubing, smashed machinery, to a darker abode the far side of Shaft Gamma. It would be many hours til daybreak, although the cruel Light always shone here.

[Carl Torek]

"Geez. I wonder if 'ALL' my future relatives are as short-tempered." Carl said, a wry smile forming.

"Did anyone else notice that Jessica continually said 'We' rather than 'I' ... ?" Calli asked.

The Bridge went about their tasks, scanning, monitoring, trying to make 'educated' guesses at what was going on, but the consensus seemed to be that everyone was sceptical as to the origin of the newcomer. Of course Star Fleet had encountered phenomenon like this before and had managed to deal with it, but a vessel meeting her future self was a new one, even for Torek. He was about to stretch his legs when Harry spoke:

"Sir. They're hailing again ..." Wedlerson reported. "Seems they may have made up their minds." Carl nodded, looking up at the screen, but the Comm was audio only.

=^= USS Raven-B .. A Delegation of Representatives has been dispatched =^= the Comm closed before anyone could reply. Carl looked at T'Brel:

"Has anyone requested transporter co-ordinates ?" Torek asked, getting a simple 'No' from Peers, but the Chief Tactical Officer suddenly looked up from his console and pointed at the screen:

"Looks like they are coming via, well, whatever that thing is !" he said. There was a tiny shuttle-craft moving away from the ship, or at least, at this magnification it looked like a shuttle, "I've no idea how that thing is staying in one piece looking at these readings." he said, magnifying the image to show what could only be described as a wreck ... It was obviously leaking whatever they were using as a fuel source, and was almost hopping along, spluttering right and left as it's inertial dampers, if any, struggled to hold a steady course. Carl had the distinct feeling it was going to fall apart before reaching the Raven, thus plunging them into some, well, god-knows what ...

"Is that a 'sail' on top ?" Harry asked, looking at the makeshift structure protruding from the top of the approaching shuttle as it past the Raven and began a slow turn to line up with the main shuttle bay.

"T'Brel. Get the 'bay ready to receive that, thing, then join us. Send a couple of your men down there too but tell them to keep their weapons out of sight. Marionette, get the Senior Staff outside the main shuttle-bay now. You have the Bridge." Carl said, heading for the turbo-lift .....


~~~~~~~


=^= Admiral .. Shuttle Bay Officer .. They are here .. No sign of movement and their craft appears powered down and stable =^=

=^= OK ..... Open the doors Chief =^=

They stepped into the main shuttle-bay, apprehension running through each and every one of them ... Moments past and Carl looked up at the Chief, who replied with a shrug, then the rear door of the shuttle began to open. For some reason it reminded Carl of the door of a castle just before the Vampire made an appearance ... Five people stepped out of the shuttle, two female, three male, [See OOC] and lined themselves up in front of the Raven Officer's. They looked at each other as if weighing up an opponent prior to a fight. Carl took a step forward and spoke:

"Welcome to the Raven. I am Admiral Carl Torek. These are my Senior Offi ...." Jessica stepped forward, interrupting his 'welcome' speech.

"These are the ruling Council of our Community. I am sure we can exchange pleasantries until we both tire, but I think it will become obvious to you all just 'who' each of us are, in due course. Now ..." Jessica said, moving past Carl as if she had every right to do so, then coming to a stop as one of the Security Officer's raised his phaser .....

"You are ..... Callista Wedlerson." one of the young man said, ignoring the fact that Jessica had a weapon pointed at her, "I am Micha ...."

"No." Calli replied, "My name isn't Wedlerson." a look of astonishment on her face.

"Lieutenant, lower your weapon, Jessica, I'm sorry but you can't simply turn up and expect free reign of our ship. We have no idea who you really are, so allowing you to move around would be less than prudent, don't you think ?" Carl said, eyeing Calli, who in turn was trying 'not' to eye the young man who had spoken to her.

"You're name 'is' Callista, am I right in thinking so ?" the man persisted.

"Yes ... Callista Valenti though, certainly not Wedlerson." Calli said, trying to keep an eye on what was happening between the Admiral and Jessica.

"Then I am right." the man said simply, "At some point you married, or will marry, I am getting confused with the time-line, Captain Harry Wedlerson. You will have two children, one boy one girl, before your spouse looses his li ......"

"WHOA !!" Calli said, "This is all getting a little 'TOO' weird ... Admiral ?"

"Agreed." Carl said, looking at the newcomers more closely, "Let's go to the Observation Lounge, we can talk better there. Does your, shuttle need any attention ?" he asked, receiving a negative reply, "OK, If you will follow me."

He left the shuttle bay almost in a daze. The implications of what was happening were immense to say the least. he was already beginning to suspect that these people were indeed descendants of the Raven crew. but he'd seen hoaxes before, some a damn-sight more elaborate than what was playing out at the moment. But with that ship blocking all communication's with Star Fleet Command, he was, for want of a better phrase ... 'On his Own' ..........

[Andae Blakus]

The excursionary craft clattered its way through the empty volume separating their grand Community from the silvery relic of the past. Barely believable to their eyes the old ship would be if they weren't already in the privileged position of knowing why this particular ancient vessel was here.

The Community, and the other cities roaming out there in the cosmos - striving for their new homes - had long since surpassed the 'Federation's' achievements. They'd explored half the known galaxy, collectively, and while the Community had fallen out of contact with... a number of the other ships that had set out those centuries ago, all the vessels knew their cause to be just and their goals honourable. They'd carry it through to the end.

The new Mage of the Warlocks peered out one of the small viewing portals lined along the side of the passenger seats, as the craft continued its plunge towards this historical curiosity and, perhaps, article of great importance.

He was the new Mage, because the former Mage had the misfortune of explosively decompressing when the airlock sealing mechanism had failed during their party's boarding of the excursionary craft. The old Mage's bulbuous iced-over body had gone tumbling end over end out into the blackness.

"Mage Cesif," Jessica T called over to him. He turned from his passive observance of the stars in this region. "Shouldn't you be monitoring the engine. And the solar sail?"

Cesif smiled sympathetically. He was at pains to explain, "Not any more, First Councillor. Now the Mage is dead and I've taken up his position, I delegate the engine monitoring and blessing duties to the new deputy, Kris Hunt." Jessica nodded perfunctorily, turned away to take up the co-pilot seat again. Not many accepted Jessica T's position as First Councillor. Cesif Ruh Teiler was among them, and with his new position as Mage of the Warlocks he expected he'd be able to exert much more influence on the Council and ultimately, perhaps, the Captain.

For now he watched the stars, until they began wheeling, unsteadily, in indication that they were on final approach to a slice of history. What strange things these old folk might seem, relics from the dark ages. The craft rattled around him; he heard the distant warlocks chanting their incantations over the machinery in the aft compartment. And what strange things might they make of us! he thought.

---

Blakus sized up the new arrivals. A strange bunch, descendants of the current Raven crew or not. Some wore tight-fitting suits bearing remarkable resemblance to the contemporary Starfleet uniform, despite the 500 year gap between them. Others wore long robes, chrome chains dangling round their necks stooping them slightly. A couple others wore what looked like combat fatigues, although it was hard to guess - military representatives on this Council of theirs then.

On the exchanging of pleasantries with their opposites - Blakus was looking for a recognisable chief engineer - it was hard to know who to walk with in the corridors, or who to sit opposite in the observation lounge. The man that sat opposite him once they'd reached conference was not whom he'd expected. He was one of the robed individuals. His robes were crimson, regal, almost monastic in appearance; the chains around his neck were of finer work than those of the others in the party, and spindly tattoos were inscribed in his forehead, cheeks and neck. It seemed to spell out some sort of script.

While Blakus hadn't recognised the robed one's position it was clear his opposite number had immediately recognised his. "And you are, sir?" Blakus asked, sipping tea. The whole staff, along with counterparts, were gathered in the conference room.

"Mage Cesif Ruh Teiler, of the Warlocks of the Community."

"The... Community?" Blakus said.

"That floating city that glides through the heavens, courtesy of our magics. Here we arrive. The Warlocks, your 'engineers', summoned into being the force of will that carried us back across the centuries." There was something mocking in Teiler's voice.

"Our 'engineers' saved you from annihilation at the event horizon of your 'force of will'," Blakus replied. Teiler laughed, sampling the tea given to all the conference attendees. Blakus's blood started boiling, "What? Tachyons aren't magic. And I'd be surprised if you weren't entirely aware of that."

Teiler kept chuckling, looking around absently at his surroundings. Blakus was thinking of something else too... Teiler... "Sir," he addressed the Mage again. "How do you pronounce your second name?"

"What? Oh, here we are... TAY-LOR."

"Taylor?!" Teiler nodded. Blakus's mind was reeling. Christina Taylor... Could he possibly have got -

He and everyone broke off their lines of thought as there was a commotion at the far end of the table, where Admiral Torek, Will Jamison, Jessica T and her presumed second-in-command were 'talking'.

<Tag Torek, Jamison>

[Calli Valente]

"WHOA !!" Calli said, "This is all getting a little 'TOO' weird ... Admiral ?"

"Agreed." Carl said, looking at the newcomers closely, "Let's go to the Observation Lounge, we can talk better there. Does your, shuttle need any attention ?" he asked, receiving a negative reply, "OK, If you will follow me."

Calli had attended many summits, conferences, official gatherings, so was used to being sat across from their counterparts, 'So to speak' she thought. But this was different, in fact it was so different as to be almost unreal ... She was trying her best not to look at the man who had spoken to her earlier, still not believing the man's comments. As fas as she was concerned marriage wasn't on her list of things to do, in fact, is was most certainly on her list of things 'not' to do at this point in her life. So it begged the question in her head as to what could possibly have changed to make her change her attitude so thoroughly !

Looking around the table as the Admiral and Jessica spoke quietly, her eyes fell on Andae, who seemed to be having a paternal crisis of his own.

"What? Oh, here we are... TAY-LOR."

"Taylor?!" Blakus repeated, somehow managing to keep his expression neutral. Calli wondered who Andae had married before returning her attention to the Admiral and Jessica. The man beside her seemed to be making some sort of demand regarding their situation, or rather, the situation the 'present' Raven found herself in.

"I'm sure we don't need to be raising our voices." Will said, attempting to calm the issue before it became too volatile.

"There is no possibility of us revealing anything from our past, or your future." the Mage said, raising his hand to silence everyone around the table. Calli noticed the look of disdain the Ruler of the so-called Warlocks received from Jessica before she smiled and spoke quietly:

"I am sure we all have questions." she began, looking side-on at Teiler as he began to interrupt, "I think our first meeting has gone, better than we all could have expected. You must understand Admiral, that even if records still existed regarding what happens in our distant past, any information could cause a change in, in all our futures. Now, I think it prudent that we try not to focus on events that for us, are history, and must remain thus."

Calli was watching Jessica as she spoke, and realized something quickly ..... She was lying ! .... Carl too was watching, but he was looking at the Mage, who looked anything but content to sit back in silence.

"From what we picked up from the scans ..." Will said, trying to deflect the topic to something less tetchy, "Your vessel looks in need of some serious repair. Large area's are open to space. Is there anything we could do to help, I'm sure our Chief Engineer could send teams out to begin sealing the rupt ....."

"NO !" Teiler said, a little too quickly, before realizing everyone was now watching him closely, "Those area's of our Community have long-since been abandoned, and you have received instructions already regarding your ship and crew. Any deviation could result in, problems, between us."

Calli knew instantly that, as much as Jessic had been, sparse, with the truth, this man was not lying, in fact, he had gone to great lengths to ensure everyone was in no way confused about his integrity, or rather, his commitment, to the blatant threat he had just made. She would need to keep an eye on this man, because if anyone was going to cause an issue, she was putting her money on the Warlock.

Carl stood, choosing to ignore the Mage and his statement. He tapped his Comm badge and spoke for a few seconds before turning back to the table.

"I think we should take a break here." he said, looking around the table, his best 'diplomatic' smile plastered firmly across his face, "I have arranged for some refreshments, we can relax a little, talk informally, get to know each other a little better, before you need to return to your, Community."

Steward's entered the room, carrying large platter's of food that had hastily been prepared. They set them on the conference table, along with carafe's of synthesized wines. He took Jessica's arm, much to her surprise, before escorting her around the table. He picked up a plate and began placing various items on it before handing it to the First Councillor ... Jessica looked at the food for a long moment before replacing the plate, untouched, on the table, the remainder of the Community hadn't even attempted to take any of the fare.

"Do not be insulted Admiral." Jessica said looking at the Raven Officers, now self-consciously holding untouched plates before them, "You must understand ... In our Community, food is scarce to say the least. Those privileged of us, who rule, are able to eat daily. But there are 'Thousands' of our people who suffe ....."

"I do not think our 'FOOD' issues are of any concern to these people ... Jessica !" Teiler said dangerously.

"We are starving !" Jessica retorted, spinning to face the Warlock defiantly, "I see no purpose in hiding the fact. We are not here to discuss food, nor are we here with our hands out. Our issues, are our own Cesif, and you would do well in future to remember your place on the Council, and remember MINE ! ... Now ... I am sure the Admiral and our friends do not want to hear our childish bickering, so let us enjoy the remainder of our stay aboard this fine vessel." she finished, picking up her plate before taking a piece of cold meat and popping it into her mouth. She eyed the other Community members, who likewise took plates and began to eat. finally the Raven Officers joined them.

Calli wondered idly how much self-restraint Jessica was using not to simply gorge herself on the fare before her ..........

[Marionette]

"T'Brel. Get the 'bay ready to receive that, thing, then join us. Send a couple of your men down there too but tell them to keep their weapons out of sight. Marionette, get the Senior Staff outside the main shuttle-bay now. You have the Bridge." Carl said, heading for the turbo-lift .....


=^= All senior staff, please assemble outside the Main Shuttlebay. =^= Marionette said, relaying Admiral Torek's order, before taking an At-Ease stance right in front of the Big Chair, as if on the verge of sitting in it. The duty officer at tactical, a catian ensign, leaned forward and purred out "I've heard rumors that the captains chair is so big, that they sometimes have to fish out the watch officer with a rope...." Marionette turned at the waist to look at the ensign, with the slightest hint of an almost-worried look on her face. The Gynoid tried to discern the feline ensigns facial expression, but since Marionette had a hard enough time trying to decipher humans non-verbal cues, it was quadruply hard trying to read the catian officer on the other side of the wooden arch. Turning back to look at the screen, Marionette took a half-step forward - and the conn and tactical duty officers both smiled a X-eating grin.


~~~~~~~~

The Future-Raven delegation arrived in the observation lounge, with Councilor Andromeda trying to stay in the background and be a wall-willow..... Even to the point where she hadn't yet properly introduced herself, as the others had done. Entering the observation lounge, Andromeda put her Councilors hood down, revealing unnatural blue eyes, pale white skin, void-black hair in dreadlocks, close fitted wire-lines imbedded into her face (which emphasized the cheeks and forehead), and of course, a larger-than-life height and size not seen in anyone else, save a certain Other Gynoid, who was currently on Watch on the Bridge - Andromeda was obviously one of the 'new race' that the Present-Raven's Marionette had theorized on.

While Warlock Teiler and Jessica Torek were busy Jousting Politik about food, Andromeda busied herself with serving drinks to the other councilors, most of which paid her no mind, but one of whom openly sneered arrogantly at the tall Pril Councilor for her kindly duties. She was grateful to be in mixed company, as it helped to stave off the words and .... other little things, that she would have been subjected to, back on The Community. Her kind were usually not well thought of.

[Andae Blakus]

The conference table in this antiquated, but somehow and quite unexpectedly clean space now took on more comfortable qualities. The Mage reclined in his seat, his eyes penetrating his ancestor's while he grudgingly accepted the food supplied by these backwards historical relics who, he was still astonished to discover, believed they were living in some new age progressive paradise.

The hell that would be visited on them in the coming years would ruin that illusion. Not, however through the devastation of their interstellar civilisation, but by the mirror that their crushing defeat would then hold up to their decadent society.

Hierarchical order: the poor's freedoms curtailed to provide for the rich, the privileged and educated who werre best placed to lead the whole of society along a truer course, towards glory and pangalactic dominance (the ultimate goal). That was what was required, and was what these people would learn, in time, once the apocalypse was over and their people scattered like leaves on the breeze.

"So... Teiler. Teiler..." Blakus murmured as if trying the word for size. "How much do you know of your distant ancestors? Us, I mean." He leant forward, dropping his cutlery. All around the table the senior staff and counterparts were in similar discussions, with a couple of exceptions. "This is your ship, Teiler. You treat us with disdain now, but you must realise, this is your past. The USS Raven-B. We both inhabit it, just at different times."

The Warlock flicked his wine glass, feigned surprise at the ringing sound resulting from it. He cleared his throat, a picture of smugness. "Mage. Please."

Blakus sighed, "Mage. Your ship is in a... total state. Our scans revealed that at least a third of it is exposed to vacuum, approximately half has an average personnel, or is that population? density of 0.5 persons per cubic metre - how do you pack those in? - and that the core of your vessel - the part constituted of Raven metals - while having much the same in the way of life support and population as the 24th century Raven has been massively reconfigured internally: corridors shifted, great interior spaces opened up, the bridge completely reconfigured, if bridge it still is - "

"Mr... Blakus. Please." The Mage held up a hand. "Do you always babble like this?" He shook his head, "You're exactly like my grandfather." The Mage downed the rest of the imitation wine given to him making an expression of distaste. Still, he refilled his glass, offering the rest of the bottle to the future Raven crewmember sitting next to him - another Warlock.

"Mage Teiler... If you're my direct descendant, and," Blakus frowned in bemusement, looking around the table, "All of these people, who happen to be sitting on your Ruling Council, are all descended from the Raven's senior staff despite the 500 year gap between us, then I'd very much like to learn about my descendants. And how did this come to be? 500 years is a long time. Are we to believe the same people, or our descendants, are still in charge of the ship circa the year 2900?"

Teiler set his glass down, for once seeming to desire a serious conversation. "It's, complicated..." There was something aggressive in the way the man spoke. It seemed to Blakus that while he was willing to divulge personal information, familial relations etc, he would stop short, shut Blakus down as soon as he started enquiring about his ship or what its mission was here.

Teiler glanced around the table, making sure no one was listening to closely, "After initial instability in the wake of the expiry of the original senior staff..." The start of the statement sent a chill down Blakus's spine. "... It was decided the best way to preserve the ship's future was to ensure those most apt to particular positions high in the chain should retain those positions. In effect, the sons, daughters, nephews, nieces of the original senior staff would take on those respective senior roles - if they showed themselves to be worthy. Eventually the succession of senior officials took on a monarchical character, hereditary passing on of knowledge. It didn't always work. For instance, I've only just been promoted to Mage of the Warlocks... Aptitude for engineering ran in the Blakus family. I don't know much of the early history but at some point the Blakus's started calling themselves by the name Taylor. The spelling transmuted over the centuries... And here I am." Teiler sat back, picking up his wine glass and holding it as if he was posing for a head of state's official portrait.

Somehow having coped with this information overload, Blakus ran his eyes down the length of the conference table, then found his eyes running up to something that looked oddly familiar and yet not so. "Pleased to meet you," Blakus said, offering his hand to this pale giant, deciding that - unlike in the case of Teiler where there were close familial relations to be worried over - he should start this act of diplomacy on a firm and fair footing.

<Tag Andromeda / All>