Pieces of a Puzzle
Posted on Sat Jan 16th, 2021 @ 6:19pm by Lieutenant Mila Lynn & Major Ashley Rogers
1,492 words; about a 7 minute read
Mission:
Chapter III: The Hunt is On
Location: Rogers' Quarters, I.R.W. Ourainavassa
Timeline: 238701.21
Ash woke up and continued to stare at the little device that Ellie had given her while half heartedly eating her breakfast in her quarters, grateful the replicators are far superior to the ones that were on the Claw. She was still suspicious of Ellie and her motives, but she couldn't deny the technology in her hand. It's beyond anything that they currently have. The shuttle was clearly from the Terran Empire and Ellie had information on it. Well, now she and Mila do too. But can she trust it?
Ash checked the time... surely Mila should be up by now. Her impatience got the best of her, "Rogers to Mila... you up? This time I have something you should see."
Mila had only just woken up when her intercom light flashed - a quick modification she had done to accommodate her lack of hearing. She did enjoy a longer lie-in when she was not on duty - especially when Miles did not wake her up early, for a change. He had tinkered on one of the Klingon-built shuttles all through the night, and for all she knew, he was still out cold.
The young scientist stretched and yawned, before switching on her implant and answering the call. "Morning Ash," she said, her voice still noticeably tired. "You can come over here, if you want, you have the access code. Just let yourself in. Unless you want me to come over to yours?"
Ash shook her head at the tired voice of Mila, "How about you wake yourself up and come over here when you're ready. I guarantee that it's worth it." As she was talking, Ash organized her quarters a bit. Putting away any random weapons she had lying around. Granted she didn't have a lot of clutter, she still didn't want Mila to see that her off duty hobbies included sharpening knives and recalibrating her collection of side arms.
Mila hopped into the shower and threw on some clothes, and, half an hour later, stood outside Ash's quarters. her hair still wet and messy and sticking up in all directions. In her hand, she was clutching a thermo mug of strong raktajino, fresh from the replicator. She yawned, and pressed the door chime. "It's Mila," she said, sounding barely more awake than before. "I hope this is worth me getting up early. For your sake."
Ash opened the door and tossed the little device that Ellie left, "Before I tell you anything, what do you think that is?" She knew the scientist in Mila would probably rather do her own analysis than be told what something is. This ensured that Ash would get a fresh perspective to either confirm or disprove what Ellie had told her.
"That is a strange little thing, is what it is," Mila said, catching the device in her hand. She sat down on the nearest chair, put down her coffee, and gave the gadget a closer look. It did not look familiar to her. "Where did you get this?", she asked, as she began fiddling with the egg-shaped object.
Suddenly, a holographic projection of the small vessel sat in the hangar bay appeared out of the device. "Ah, that's what it is!", Mila almost shouted.
"And what exactly do you think it is? I was told where it came from, but I want some independent verification because I don't exactly trust the source..." Ash said as she watched Mila's excitement.
Mila turned the device off and on again, and turned it around in her hand, examining it for a few moments. "These are the schematics for the vessel we found. In a little projector that is just as advanced and strange as the ship itself. And... hang on." She had noticed something on the reverse side of the projector. "This is interesting." She showed Ash what she had found.
She had managed to flip open the bottom of the device, revealing the same insignia as on the shuttle. It looked like a starfleet arrowhead, but upside-down and impaled by a dagger, with a planet superimposed on it. Next to the emblem, it seemed as if a name and service number should have been placed, but the space was blank.
"So," Mila mused, furrowing her brow. "Is this some kind of combadge or something? But then why does it have a holoprojector, and hold this data? And what is this logo?"
Ash sits down, "Well, maybe you should sit down too. Last night, I found someone in the Science lab... her name is Ellie, she's someone from Raven's past. Raven thought she was dead, but here she was... looking at our data for that vessel we found. So that's red flag number one. Red flag number 2...When I confronted her, she told me that she was a Temporal Agent... That's why I wanted you to verify what she said. If she was telling the truth, that device is from the future. And furthermore, she may have insinuated that the pilot of this vessel... was a version of me. She left me that thing and that's all I got."
Ash picked up the device and looked at the logo, "This is a symbol from the Terran Empire... an alternate universe where there are versions of all of us... more unpleasant versions of all of us... So if something about Hobus has caught the attention of Temporal Agents, we might be walking into something major." She looked up to see how Mila was taking in the information. "Temporal mechanics make my head hurt... I hope that made sense to you..."
Mila nodded slowly. "So what you are saying, basically, is that this little thing is from the future, of a parallel universe, just as that ship is." She looked at the projector, or badge, or whatever it was. "Mind if I hold on to this? I want to extract the schematics, and take this little thing apart. See how it works and what it can actually do."
She took a sip from her coffee. "So, what do we do now. We fix the craft, obviously. But then what? Do we take it to Hobus and see what happens? Can't say I'm not curious, but it could be risky. Have you told the Colonel about any of this?"
"Definitely, that thing is probably more useful in your hands than mine. So, yes... I think we owe it to ourselves to find out what is going on with Hobus..." Ash shook her head, "I haven't. I wanted to get your thoughts on all of this and since you confirmed what Ellie told me last night, we need to let Raven know what's going on. So.... was this worth waking up for?"
Mila thought for a moment. "Oh it definitely was. But let's wait with telling her. Let me see what I can get out of our little toy first."
Ash nodded at Mila, "Makes sense, let's make sure we have all our ducks in a row before we go up there telling her that her long lost girlfriend is not what she seemed. And on a more cautious note, if we are dealing with Temporal Agents and alternate universes, if anything suspicious happens, call me. I want to make sure you're safe as we keep digging into this. Otherwise I'll be a thorn in your side the entire time you're analyzing that thing. Deal?"
"Wait. Girlfriend?" Mila raised a curious eyebrow. "There's got to be a story there. But don't worry," she added, playfully throwing the device into the air and catching it again. "I know how to be careful."
Ash shook her head and cringed a little when Mila tossed the device in the air, "There's always a story... and let's not break the fancy device from the future? If I knew you were just going to play catch with it, I could've kept it to myself." She smiled at Mila, noting how much she has come out of her shell since they first met, "Go do science things so we can fix that ship up and I might be able to do smash bad guys in the face things."
Mila chuckled, and tossed the device up again, pretending that she only narrowly caught it this time. "What, don't give me a fancy toy and then don't let me play with it," she added, giving an overexaggerated pout before breaking into laughter. "Right. I'll go grab some breakfast and then head to the lab. Apparently Raven's hired a new chef, let's see if she's any good."
"I already ate but if you don't mind company, I'll join you. Since this entire ship from a future parallel universe thing came up I haven't had a chance to review who Raven's hired. Might as well go say hi to the new chef. And maybe I'll tell you how our engineer lost her eyebrows," Ash chuckled.
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