Season 11: Episode 2 - Diplomatic Disaster

[Sukal]

[Bridge]

Hawke to Lt. Sukal, I will be sending a request for two Bio Neural Gel Packs, it goes with the Data Stream of the Holodeck so the repair should be a low priority Hawke out

Sukal heard the request, and swiftly tapped the request in to be taken care of by one of his fellow members of Operations.  It was an easy enough request to fill.

"Good idea, Lieutenant. Let me know what you find." Kyle said. "That's definitely something I wouldn't want to repeat." He hadn't told anyone but he was still getting headaches that he contributed to that attack.

Sukal didn't bother to turn around to acknowledge his Captain's words, but he did answer, "Nor would I, Sir."

That was saying something.  The fact that his first return mission to Starfleet space duty had pitted him against the Human portion of the ship's crew had been, at the very best, awkward.  It was not an ordeal he intended to go through again if at all possible.  Of course, they were a great distance from where the incident had taken place, but Sukal believed in being prepared.  One of the options he had after examining the weapon used on the DISCOVERY was a possible phase variance to the shield matrix.  It was something he had been working on in his constant vigilance against the Borg...even though he hadn't been in space for four years.  The phase variance idea would, at least in theory, possibly disrupt the alien blast that had caused such havoc.  Of course, he had no idea if even the normal shields would have worked to begin with since the ship had not had them up when the attack came.  Yet, the phase variance idea would possibly distort the attack...possibly making it even ineffective.

[James A. Hawke]

CMO's Office

Lizzie sat back in her chair and listened to what Hawke was saying. To put it bluntly, he was scared. She figured that he had a right to be. Starfleet took breaches of the Temporal Directives seriously. She paused for a moment to formulate her response.

"I have an offer to make you Mr Hawke. If you can satisfy me that you have no intention of causing harm to this reality, I am prepared to keep your secret by repairing the damage and updating your records. As Chief Medical Officer, I am not obliged to share information regarding patients physical condition with anyone. Unless it presents a clear danger to the ship or the Federation. However, if I do this I expect you to be completely honest with me. I want to know the full story from your point of view. And I reserve the right to report this to the Captain and Starfleet Security should I deem there to be a threat. Do you accept this?" She asked, her voice level but her tone was serious.

James heard the officer from Lizzie and nodded.  "Agreed, I won't lie to you,  I will tell you the general story".  He rose from his seat and took a deep breath he was about to begin "If I were you, I would get a drink since part of this will be hard to believe".

This would be his first time talking about his memories.  "Alright, I will start from the past.  In 2267, James T. Kirk encountered the Guardian of Forever.  It was an unknown Alien Machine which functioned as a time portal that was created by an unknown Galactic Civilization.  Most of this historical information is classified and traffic to the Guardian is restricted.  Now, hold on to this piece of information"

James then started pacing "About a year ago, we were at war with the Klingon Empire.  From your perspective the war was relatively short and ended with a Federation Victory.  That's not what originally happened.".

James took a deep breath and his eyes began to water.  He remember the war very differently and more brutally.  "In my perspective, we lost every single major battle.  It was like the Klingons knew what we were up to before we even knew it.  They knew our fleet movements, our weakness, pretty much everything.  At first we believed it was a mole and began fragmenting our fleet and operations.  The strategy backfired as the Klingon took advantage of our smaller fleets and theater of operations.  It was a blood bath, most of the fleet was destroyed.  I lost almost all my friends, one by one. "

James closed his eyes and continued in a somber tone "Overall, I was pretty lucky.  I was stationed in an Intrepid Class Vessel, a former flagship and that ship was thought as nails.".  A tear came down from his right eye as James too another second to compose himself.    He was trying hard not to cry.

He did what he usually does to deflect internal pain.  He smiled and said "I know this is hard to believe...but I got married in the middle of a war.  I believed that love could bloom even in a battlefield. Funny enough she didn't pay attention to me until the downfall of the federation .  I loved her with all my heart...I thought we would win this war and live happily ever after...I always had a plan...and I got her killed"  As James finished that sentenced he look down.  He had not shared this to anyone.

"Is there any way that I could get a Synthale?  "Hawke inquired, his eyes were watered but the question was asked with a smile.  He was trying to hide his pain.  He did not know he would be that emotional especially talking about his former wife.  He needed to take a break from the conversation.

[Lizzie Vaughan]

James heard the officer from Lizzie and nodded.  "Agreed, I won't lie to you,  I will tell you the general story".  He rose from his seat and took a deep breath he was about to begin "If I were you, I would get a drink since part of this will be hard to believe".

This would be his first time talking about his memories.  "Alright, I will start from the past.  In 2267, James T. Kirk encountered the Guardian of Forever.  It was an unknown Alien Machine which functioned as a time portal that was created by an unknown Galactic Civilization.  Most of this historical information is classified and traffic to the Guardian is restricted.  Now, hold on to this piece of information"

James then started pacing "About a year ago, we were at war with the Klingon Empire.  From your perspective the war was relatively short and ended with a Federation Victory.  That's not what originally happened.".

James took a deep breath and his eyes began to water.  He remember the war very differently and more brutally.  "In my perspective, we lost every single major battle.  It was like the Klingons knew what we were up to before we even knew it.  They knew our fleet movements, our weakness, pretty much everything.  At first we believed it was a mole and began fragmenting our fleet and operations.  The strategy backfired as the Klingon took advantage of our smaller fleets and theater of operations.  It was a blood bath, most of the fleet was destroyed.  I lost almost all my friends, one by one. "

James closed his eyes and continued in a somber tone "Overall, I was pretty lucky.  I was stationed in an Intrepid Class Vessel, a former flagship and that ship was thought as nails.".  A tear came down from his right eye as James too another second to compose himself.    He was trying hard not to cry.

He did what he usually does to deflect internal pain.  He smiled and said "I know this is hard to believe...but I got married in the middle of a war.  I believed that love could bloom even in a battlefield. Funny enough she didn't pay attention to me until the downfall of the federation .  I loved her with all my heart...I thought we would win this war and live happily ever after...I always had a plan...and I got her killed"  As James finished that sentenced he look down.  He had not shared this to anyone.

"Is there any way that I could get a Synthale?  "Hawke inquired, his eyes were watered but the question was asked with a smile.  He was trying to hide his pain.  He did not know he would be that emotional especially talking about his former wife.  He needed to take a break from the conversation.

CMO's Office

Lizzie listened to the general story. She had read about the Guardian of Forever. The incident that had caused a new General Order that was punishable by the Death penalty. Thankfully it had now been rescinded. She hear his question and nodded.

"Of course." She replied, getting up and going over to the replicator.

"One Synthale and one Raktajino, large with double sugar." She asked. A few seconds later two mugs appeared in the dispenser. She picked them up, hading the Synthale to Hawke before taking her seat.

"Please continue Mr Hawke." She said after taking a sip of her drink.

[Leela Kaz]

Arlan looked up at her and waved at the empty chair across from him before speaking.  They'd been shipmates for a while - and she was one of the few people he felt comfortable around (hell, he even enjoyed it when they got into the philosophical discussions about the nature of the 'self' invited by the symbionts - discussions that'd been going on in their species since long before the two were born... and didn't look to be resolved any time soon).  He soon came back to focus and actually smiled at her.  "Yeah, maybe ten thousand is about right.  You don't notice how cramped a ship is until you're bottled up inside it.  I know it's probably just in my head, but I feel useless.  The computer handles the torpedo firing, all we do down there is make sure the computer tells us there's enough torpedoes, and press buttons when the computer tells us a targeting and firing order came down from the Bridge."

He looked at her and shrugged.  "Do you ever feel that way, over in Engineering?  Like the computer could handle it and you're there more out of courtesy and tradition than actual need?  I wouldn't figure it.  Maybe I should try for a transfer to Engineering.  Wouldn't have to change my uniforms, even."

His constant self-doubt was normal enough, if a bit frustrating, but idleness and an inability to do anything he felt was productive had conspired to make things even worse.

"I know what you mean." The Trill smiled and took the seat opposite of Arlan. She understood where he was coming from, although she didn't completely agree. "Maybe you should consider it. We are definitely never bored down in the engine room. It seems like two new problems crops up for every one we solve. But youre right. It certainly is small." She tooka sip of her tea as her memory seemed to fade to a time long gone by. An age where crew were staked into starships by the hundreds. "Although its nothing like the early years."

[Kyle Briggs]

After speaking with Lieutenant Sukal for a few moments, Kyle decided to send him planet side instead. He slapped at his commbadge.

=^=Briggs to Benjamin. Belay that last order. Report to the Bridge instead. Briggs out.=^=

Turning back to the Ops chief, he smiled. "Why don't you join the shuttle mission instead." he said. "Head on down. They're probably waiting."

[Jiseth]

[Deck 10 - Shuttlebay]

"Oh, ma'am! It seems your signature is required, the release for the shuttle has been amended."

The operations crewman held out the PADD to a rather bemused Jiseth. She gingerly took it and scanned for any changes. At first she saw no alterations, but an eyebrow did raise when she got down to the passenger manifest. Now the COO was coming a long which completed the trifecta of having everyone be of the same rank, let alone the heads of their respective departments. Well, Jiseth was not technically CFO, but that particular individual was away and she had taken over those duties in addition to her own.

A gloved finger scribbled on the handheld screen before she returned it and he departed with a slight bow. She looked over to her first accompanying officer. Bajoran. Gavin's boss. If she were a Ferengi, her lobes would surely be tingling from the opportunity this presented.

"...Seems we're taking Mr. Sukal, from Ops. Vulcan, if I remember correctly. Have you ever met him before?"

[Tekin Nevir]

[Deck 10 - Shuttlebay]

"Oh, ma'am! It seems your signature is required, the release for the shuttle has been amended."

The operations crewman held out the PADD to a rather bemused Jiseth. She gingerly took it and scanned for any changes. At first she saw no alterations, but an eyebrow did raise when she got down to the passenger manifest. Now the COO was coming a long which completed the trifecta of having everyone be of the same rank, let alone the heads of their respective departments. Well, Jiseth was not technically CFO, but that particular individual was away and she had taken over those duties in addition to her own.

A gloved finger scribbled on the handheld screen before she returned it and he departed with a slight bow. She looked over to her first accompanying officer. Bajoran. Gavin's boss. If she were a Ferengi, her lobes would surely be tingling from the opportunity this presented.

"...Seems we're taking Mr. Sukal, from Ops. Vulcan, if I remember correctly. Have you ever met him before?"

[Shuttlebay]

To say that Nevir was starting to get upset over the lack of a Benjamin was an understatement.  He wasn't itching to get down there, actually the truth of the matter was that there was no need for it.  But when you are given orders.... you follow them immediately.  He was about to slap his own badge when Jiseth came to him with the news.

"Chief Ops, I've met him on the Bridge, but not enough time to get to know him.  I'm he'll know of me, which will be interesting, but that's it.  Alright, I'm sure he'll be here any moment, lets get prepped to take off." he said, finally climbing aboard the shuttle.

[Anastasia Zhestakova]

[Astrometrics]

With a rather puzzled smile, Gavin glanced around the laboratory.  The girl's accent was as thick the air in a Fereginar summer, but he was able to parse it.  "Most of them got to go planetside.  I got stuck running the data through the computers."  He grinned, running his fingers through his mop of auburn hair.  "USS Discovery gets one of Daystrom's '30 under 30', and what do they do with me?  They have me collate data."  He held out his hand, glancing at it as he realized it still held a padd.  "Er..." he said, switching the padd to his left hand and re-offering the right.  "Gavin Van Gelder, Sciences.  I deduce by your teal shirt and the fact that you hang around a lab like this for fun that you're in Sciences, too.  What are you working on?"

[Astrometrics]

Anastasia looked up and quickly hid the look of shock on her face. Egotistical, though it may be, she had always been rather annoyed for not being recognized as the genius she was. Vell, you had better live up to zhat Mr. Gelder, she thought. "Anastasia Zhestakova," she said taking the PADD free hand. "I am vorking on a pet proyect of mine." She stood up from her console and offered Gavin the seat. "It has been several years and slo' vork." The Russian intentionally didn't say what she was working on, intending to see if Gavin was worthy of his 30 under 30 boast.

[Sukal]

[Bridge]

After speaking with Lieutenant Sukal for a few moments, Kyle decided to send him planet side instead. He slapped at his commbadge.

=^=Briggs to Benjamin. Belay that last order. Report to the Bridge instead. Briggs out.=^=

Turning back to the Ops chief, he smiled. "Why don't you join the shuttle mission instead." he said. "Head on down. They're probably waiting."

Sukal was not normally taken back by changes in orders, but in the midst of his studying of the attack the starship had endured earlier in their first assignment...the last thing he had expected was to be sent to the shuttle mission.  Still, he adapted quickly to the order, and turned back to his Captain.

"Of course, Sir.  I would be glad to be of aid to the team Lieutenant Jiseth is taking," Sukal replied, and nodded for Ceria Arevalo to take over as he stood up.  The officer took Ops over smoothly from him, and Sukal nodded politely to his Captain on his way to the lift.

[Shuttle Bay]

It wasn't long before the Vulcan/Betazoid officer was striding into the Shuttle Bay, and soon spotted the team he was to accompany.  With purpose, Sukal strode over to the other two officers, and inclined his head politely to both.

"Shall we, Lieutenant Jiseth," Sukal said to the woman in his professional tone...though without the normal Vulcan iciness most would have expected.  He glanced over at the Chief Science Officer:  Tekin Nevir...a Bajoran.  "I suspect this mission should pose some interesting moments for examining the atmosphere," the Operations Chief added to the Bajoran.  "A moment of exploration without trouble would certainly be nice."

[Gavin Van Gelder]

Anastasia looked up and quickly hid the look of shock on her face. Egotistical, though it may be, she had always been rather annoyed for not being recognized as the genius she was. Vell, you had better live up to zhat Mr. Gelder, she thought. "Anastasia Zhestakova," she said taking the PADD free hand. "I am vorking on a pet proyect of mine." She stood up from her console and offered Gavin the seat. "It has been several years and slo' vork." The Russian intentionally didn't say what she was working on, intending to see if Gavin was worthy of his 30 under 30 boast.

[Astrometrics]

Cocking his head (rather puppy-like) at the empty seat, Gavin gave a microscopic shrug and slid into the seat.  He wasn't sure if the girl wanted him to look over her work or she just wanted to show it off.  He could appreciate the need to work for an audience...sometimes.  Ever since he first tested off the charts as a child and the word 'genius' started being bandied about, Gavin had begun feeling a breed apart from humanity.  He was suddenly glad he'd not said something like that out loud, because it sounded incredibly dramatic and arrogant, but it was also kind of true.  What was the use in being the smartest guy in the room if you couldn't show off a little...every now and then?

"I'm fairly new here," he said, idly scrolling through her computations.  "Have you been on Discovery long?"  He tapped through a few more pages, nodding occasionally.  "Is this your first shipboard assignment?  You look super-young, but people say that about me, too.  Especially since I went to the Academy early.  Also, do you have permission and clearance to be digging into temporal mechanics?"

[Jiseth]

To say that Nevir was starting to get upset over the lack of a Benjamin was an understatement.  He wasn't itching to get down there, actually the truth of the matter was that there was no need for it.  But when you are given orders.... you follow them immediately.  He was about to slap his own badge when Jiseth came to him with the news.

"Chief Ops, I've met him on the Bridge, but not enough time to get to know him.  I'm sure he'll know of me, which will be interesting, but that's it.  Alright, I'm sure he'll be here any moment, lets get prepped to take off." he said, finally climbing aboard the shuttle.

"Shall we, Lieutenant Jiseth," Sukal said to the woman in his professional tone...though without the normal Vulcan iciness most would have expected.  He glanced over at the Chief Science Officer:  Tekin Nevir...a Bajoran.  "I suspect this mission should pose some interesting moments for examining the atmosphere," the Operations Chief added to the Bajoran.  "A moment of exploration without trouble would certainly be nice."

[Deck 10 - Shuttlebay - Theseus]

If there was one thing that bugged her about the Argo-class shuttles, it was probably the buggy. As much as she loved it, the thing kind of got in the way. Especially since there was only one way in and out of the bloody ship. At least a Danube had doors on the sides of the cabin close to the cockpit. Then again, Starfleet systems design was predicated on emergency transporters working to send the occupants to safety before being vaporized. If only the recorded history of the last two decades proved they actually worked and in the presence of those who would rather keep their fingers crossed, Jiseth was the type to prefer sulking about her predicament while floating in space and slowly suffocating.

After stepping past the buggy and into the cockpit, she was reminded of how many design features had been taken as inspiration from this type of craft and used on the Daedalus. Inspiration is perhaps inaccurate compared to shamelessly stolen. Things were on a time crunch and she just did not have the time to invent everything as she went. Plus, Admiral Brown gave her access to every bit of nonstandard tech she could get her greedy hands on. Phased polaron beam emitters, Breen energy disruptors, a cloaking device, even a shower. That last component was incredibly important because the hot water helped the Romulan get used to burning in Hell, which was where a surprising number of supposedly nonreligious humans wanted her to go.

Taking her seat at the controls, Jiseth strapped herself in and began powering up the warp core. Severing the lines that connected the Theseus to the Discovery, she held off starting the engines until Sukal was seated.

"We're on our own power... Rear ramp closing... Locked. Pressure seals are all green. Lift thrusters engaged... Altitude 2 meters and holding... Landing struts coming up... Struts locked. Impulse engines spooling up to idle..."

The Romulan was mostly talking to herself as she ran through her checklist. It was not until she reversed away from the landing pad, turned toward the forward end of the shuttle bay, and swiftly flew out into space the empty vacuum did she exit her almost mechanical process. Her hand went up to her helmet and the polarization faded, revealing her face once more.

"...I wonder how long we could explore. We have rations for days and they didn't exactly give us a deadline for this mission. Your thoughts, gents?"

[Anastasia Zhestakova]

[Astrometrics]

Cocking his head (rather puppy-like) at the empty seat, Gavin gave a microscopic shrug and slid into the seat.  He wasn't sure if the girl wanted him to look over her work or she just wanted to show it off.  He could appreciate the need to work for an audience...sometimes.  Ever since he first tested off the charts as a child and the word 'genius' started being bandied about, Gavin had begun feeling a breed apart from humanity.  He was suddenly glad he'd not said something like that out loud, because it sounded incredibly dramatic and arrogant, but it was also kind of true.  What was the use in being the smartest guy in the room if you couldn't show off a little...every now and then?

"I'm fairly new here," he said, idly scrolling through her computations.  "Have you been on Discovery long?"  He tapped through a few more pages, nodding occasionally.  "Is this your first shipboard assignment?  You look super-young, but people say that about me, too.  Especially since I went to the Academy early.  Also, do you have permission and clearance to be digging into temporal mechanics?"

[Astrometrics]

Anastasia watched over Gavin's shoulder as she scrolled through her work with a smug look on her face. "Not zhis time but zhis vas my first assignment from zhe Academy. I have been passed from hand to hand for a vile." She shrugged even though he wasn't looking at her. "I vent to zhe Academy at zixteen and left yust before my eightteenz birzday." Her tone became clipped for a moment as she glossed over her time at Starfleet Academy, signaling she didn't want to discuss it, still sour over the events that had happened precluding her from her commission at the time.

When Gavin asked about her permission to access the temporal mechanics models the smug look disappeared from her face and was replaced, to her own surprise with a look of glee. Yust maybe you do deserve zhat zhirty under zhirty title. "Zhere vas somezhing zhe computer said vhen I vas first stationed here but Keptin Kirok hard codded my permission vhen I ignored zhe computer's skvahking and went about my vork anyvay. Most of my CSO's never like it much but," she shrugged again, "vhatever."

Reaching over Gavin's shoulder she scrolled to the end of her work and beamed, happy to have someone who might at least get a ghist of what she was doing. "Zhis is zhe end goal." The screen displayed her own creation, a model depiction the creation of a wormhole through time, what she called a temporal tunnel. "Von day I vould like to visit zhe Bayoran vurmhole and talk to zhe "Prophets" about how zhe created zheir vurmhole. I see no reason ve could not use zhe same technique in a temporary vay and point it zhrough time razher zhan zhrough space." She stood defiantly before him and said, "Zhe maz supports my zheroy. I yust do not know how to make zhe hole."

[James A. Hawke]

CMO's Office

Lizzie listened to the general story. She had read about the Guardian of Forever. The incident that had caused a new General Order that was punishable by the Death penalty. Thankfully it had now been rescinded. She hear his question and nodded.

"Of course." She replied, getting up and going over to the replicator.

"One Synthale and one Raktajino, large with double sugar." She asked. A few seconds later two mugs appeared in the dispenser. She picked them up, hading the Synthale to Hawke before taking her seat.

"Please continue Mr Hawke." She said after taking a sip of her drink.

James took the Synthale from Lizzie and observed her  as she took a sip of her Raktajino.  He gently smiled and said "Thank you, you know, you got to give Klingons Credit, they do two things really well stab you and great coffee."

He took a sip of the Synthale.  It tasted a little watery with a small bitter flavor.  It had a golden color.  In truth, James preferred regular beer however, such beverages are usually save for special occasion.  As James took a sip he continued with the story.

"After I got my wife killed, I realize a little late that she was right.  There was no mole, something else was telling the Klingons of our tactical layouts.  At this point, Earth was lost and Starfleet was mostly in shambles.  So, I did something that I should have done years ago...I went to the Guardian of Forever"  James said as he took another sip from his Synthale.

"There I have learned that, the Klingons found a mirror that gives the person insight of the future, a technology developed by the Guardian of Tomorrow.  With the help of my last surviving friends...I went back in time.  I met with myself and worked to destroy the mirror.  We were successful. "James said

He continued "I broke the mirror it into three parts and hid each of the parts in the different location.  I knew Section 31, Romulans, Kligons all of them would be after the mirror.  No one should have that much power, even the Federation."  James looked down as he was reflected of the last statement.  He knew he should have reported the mirror, but he also knew of people like his Father that would use it for their own motives.

"I stayed behind to make sure the mirror is never reconstructed.  My younger counterpart travelled to the Guardian of Forever to my prime universe and your alternative universe."  James finished his drink and gently placed it on Lizzie's table.

"I know it is a lot to take in...I did what I did to save the Federation".  He stopped for a second and continued.  "No..that's a lie I did to save her...even thought she does not know how much I love her or have the same memories"

James eyes reflected pain as he knew something and she had no idea.  "So...is that what you thought?  Are you going to get me arrested?"  James asked with a smile trying to hide his pain.

[Lizzie Vaughan]

James took the Synthale from Lizzie and observed her  as she took a sip of her Raktajino.  He gently smiled and said "Thank you, you know, you got to give Klingons Credit, they do two things really well stab you and great coffee."

He took a sip of the Synthale.  It tasted a little watery with a small bitter flavor.  It had a golden color.  In truth, James preferred regular beer however, such beverages are usually save for special occasion.  As James took a sip he continued with the story.

"After I got my wife killed, I realize a little late that she was right.  There was no mole, something else was telling the Klingons of our tactical layouts.  At this point, Earth was lost and Starfleet was mostly in shambles.  So, I did something that I should have done years ago...I went to the Guardian of Forever"  James said as he took another sip from his Synthale.

"There I have learned that, the Klingons found a mirror that gives the person insight of the future, a technology developed by the Guardian of Tomorrow.  With the help of my last surviving friends...I went back in time.  I met with myself and worked to destroy the mirror.  We were successful. "James said

He continued "I broke the mirror it into three parts and hid each of the parts in the different location.  I knew Section 31, Romulans, Kligons all of them would be after the mirror.  No one should have that much power, even the Federation."  James looked down as he was reflected of the last statement.  He knew he should have reported the mirror, but he also knew of people like his Father that would use it for their own motives.

"I stayed behind to make sure the mirror is never reconstructed.  My younger counterpart travelled to the Guardian of Forever to my prime universe and your alternative universe."  James finished his drink and gently placed it on Lizzie's table.

"I know it is a lot to take in...I did what I did to save the Federation".  He stopped for a second and continued.  "No..that's a lie I did to save her...even thought she does not know how much I love her or have the same memories"

James eyes reflected pain as he knew something and she had no idea.  "So...is that what you thought?  Are you going to get me arrested?"  James asked with a smile trying to hide his pain.

CMO's Office

Lizzie leaned back in her chair and thought over what the Lieutenant had just said. What she should do is is detain him, call the Captain and report the whole thing. However, the situation was far from standard and what good would reporting him do? None, as far as she could see. However she needed to impress him with the seriousness of the situation.

"Right Mr Hawke. I hope you understand the situation that I am in. What I should be doing right now is calling security and the Captain, informing them of the situation and make sure you are detained for breaking practically every aspect of the Temporal Prime Directive. Not only have you changed the course of events, but you crossed the reality barrier to do it. You had no right making that decision!" She said, her voice rising as she got up and leaned on her desk. "Who knows what you changed. I take you are aware of the ripple effect?" She asked, her green eyes, now as hard as the emeralds they resembled, staring at him without blinking.

[James A. Hawke]

CMO's Office

Lizzie leaned back in her chair and thought over what the Lieutenant had just said. What she should do is is detain him, call the Captain and report the whole thing. However, the situation was far from standard and what good would reporting him do? None, as far as she could see. However she needed to impress him with the seriousness of the situation.

"Right Mr Hawke. I hope you understand the situation that I am in. What I should be doing right now is calling security and the Captain, informing them of the situation and make sure you are detained for breaking practically every aspect of the Temporal Prime Directive. Not only have you changed the course of events, but you crossed the reality barrier to do it. You had no right making that decision!" She said, her voice rising as she got up and leaned on her desk. "Who knows what you changed. I take you are aware of the ripple effect?" She asked, her green eyes, now as hard as the emeralds they resembled, staring at him without blinking.

[CMO's Office]

James kept his attention as she heard the statements for Lt. Vaughan.  He noticed that her voice was raised and she was leaning into her desk.  She was visually upset and had every reason to do so.  His actions were major violations.  Even though it was for the sake of the Federation it went against some of the core values.

Hawke looked at her green eyes.  Noticed that they looked serious and no blinking involved.  Instead of dogging them he look at her with his blue eyes.  His wife commented that his eyes were reflective of emotions.  At this moment, his eyes showed seriousness.

He responded with a calm demeanor "Yes...you don't have to lecture me about the ripple effect and the seriousness of my actions.  You are the only person in this timeline that knows.  I keept it a secret because it could cause negative consequences to individuals.  I always remember a story from the middle east, earth about a person that receives a prophecy that death was going to kill him.  As he walked out he sees death and began to run.  He ran until he could no more.  When Death was about to touch him he looked at him and said "I was surprised to see you here, since my instructions was to touch you in this very spot...I had no idea how or why you made it this far"  before death took him"...he took a deep breath and continued talking calm "It's easy to follow the rules when you are in paradise or during peace time...where a consequence are... no holodeck   time or time in the brig...maybe worst offender like me, a penal colony.  It's way harder when you are alone and you are fighting for your very survival...your right...I had no right to do what I did, and I don't know all the consequences of my actions, but I can tell you if it weren't for my actions Earth was going to fall within four years and probably most of your friends, shipmates, academy friends would be dead...The Federation was about collapse"

James approached her desk.  As he stood there without blinking "I don't need friends, I don't need an ear to talk about my trauma or mistakes...I don't need medals ...I don't need my rank back...I don't need to be loved.   What do I need is to make sure the Klingons or someone else that does not have our morality get a hold of a weapon that permits them to see the future.  Every day I live, I live with the consequences of my actions.  That's why I don't go to the Holodeck...because I can't enjoy myself.  I told you sometimes the Truth is worse than hell, I told you the truth.  You must hate me or find me arrogant for what I did...and quite frankly I can't blame you"