[Ops]
"Sir, the early results of these anomalies reveal a malicious source," he started directly. "I believe we are dealing with either, to barrow a term, a lone wolf terrorist or some an old enemytrying to rekindle the spark of war."
He handed over his PADD.
"Here are the rest of the results."
[CO's Office]Stafford accepted the PADD and read it. He had the one that Kinun had given to him in his other hand. Hesitatingly, he held it out for the science officer.
"Lieutenant, I am about to impart information of an extremely classified nature. You're a Starfleet officer, so I don't have to remind you of your duty. Maintain operational security." He finally handed over the PADD. "The anomaly we've encountered was engineered, as your findings support. However, the perpetrator or perpetrators are not terrorists, at least not in the traditional sense."
He took a deep breath and continued. "Section 31 is a Federation sanctioned government entity, but often operates separately from Starfleet or the UFP. Lately, it seems, they've gone rogue. A few months back they kidnapped a Starfleet flag officer. Their activities have been...erratic, to say the least. We don't know what they're planning, but we do know that they placed this chroniton portal into our base to destroy us. It's an elegant weapon: tempt people to change their own past."
Sighing, the captain sat on the edge of his desk and contemplated the head of his cane.
"One thread unravels the entire ball of yarn, lieutenant. Let's say I travel into the past. I go to the Promenade and see an older woman buying something. I smile at her. It reminds her of her son, a Starfleet officer, so she contacts him later that day and tells him that she misses him, that she loves him. The son has been feeling that his job is a dead end, but his mother's words cheer him up. He goes to work the next day with a renewed sense of purpose. He gets promoted, and his good work is noticed. And so on. Eventually he becomes a commanding officer of a vessel that gets engaged in battle with an enemy. He destroys an enemy ship, resulting in the loss of hundreds of lives."
"That's an extreme example, of course, but even a small amount of time in the past can effect the future and present to an exponential degree. We're already seeing changes here. Someone in the past has done something that results in the destruction of the Starbase Columbus."