Arrival--Earth

Posted on Mon Sep 23rd, 2024 @ 2:56am by Captain Michael Murphy & Captain Jackson Adams & Lieutenant Commander Steve Ryan & Lieutenant Kestra Ral & Lieutenant Stuart Mann

Mission: Through the Looking Glass

After a few hours at warp, the ship came into the Sol Sector.

"Take us to impulse, Lt. Mann, ordered the Captain."

Hitting a button on his chair, "Commander to all command staff, report to the bridge."

From his COO Office, Lt. Ryan heard the captain's communication and acknowledged it, standing by his operating console in the area and making his way at a fast pace to the bridge.

"Good morning" Steve saluted while entering the bridge area as the captain instructed.

Murphy was taking a walk around the ship and had been in the mess hall having a cold drink when the communication came through. He downed the rest of his glass and headed to the bridge, arriving shortly after.

Kestra rubbed her eyes. Her department had gone over years of research but nothing on the Mirror Universe so far. she nodded to the Captain and first officer then she walked over to the chief operations officer. "I was thinking our best bet is to see if we can access any computers on the earth we are going to. they at the very lease have information we need."

"Sounds like a plan" Steve nodded "but we need a computer linked to Starfleet HQ and that means another starship or a base. And our ability to infiltrate into such a place depends a lot on who we are in this universe and where we should be" concluded.

Kestra nodded slowly. "True." She rubbed the back of her neck as she thought. "We can scan all frequencies to see if the people of this earth even speak federation standard or any of the known dialects for this world. My scans have found cities. The lifeforms are human, so their development hopefully remained then the same." she smiled. "A few of my people were hoping for dinosaurs and were disappointed." she laughed. "Planets' atmosphere is a little tricky to judge the time frame. I would say they had a few more wars than the earth we know did. My guess is mid-22nd century, over 100 years before James T. Kirk was captain of the USS enterprise. "

"Let's just watch the news " Steve was joking but his idea was indeed sound. He started tapping on his console to sweep standard frequencies, both Starfleet and civilian.

"TV?" She raised an eyebrow and then watched the screen as images showed up. "If I am not mistaken, these shows were sometimes fictional and factual. How will we know what one we are watching?"

"Maybe even the fictional would still have some truth to them?" Murphy asked.

"It's not just fiction" said Steve still working on his data "there's news, Theresa scientific programs, there's commercials..."

"Ah commercials! To get the people to buy things. I bet the Ferengi took advantage of that information. " Kestra nodded

Murphy laughed, "I would bet that's all the Ferengi broadcast."

Kestra laughed, but the next commercial was a recruitment for the Terran Alliance. She frowned. "Terran Alliance? " and they did not like off world beings. She raised an eyebrow.

Murphy didn't like the sound of that. "I guess we're not in Kansas anymore..."

"Yea, I don't remember reading anything about the Terran Alliance." Kestra sat at a console looking for and access to a possible school computer. "Jack pot a high school is computerized."

Kestra scanned the records and downloaded the information as fast as she could. "Oh. oh, this is bad. April 5, 2063 The Vulcan survey ship T'Plana Hath detects the warp signature of Zefram Cochrane's Phoenix, the first warp-capable ship." Everyone knew that Kestra thought "well it would seem Zefram Cochrane killed all the Vulcans when they stopped to talk. Not greeted them like in our history. That is a huge change. " Kestra frowned.

"Oh boy" Steve frowned "with 2060's technology I guess it will be difficult to find someone who can help us re-open a space anomaly to hop in and get back home".

Kestra was reading as fast as she could. "it would seem this Terran Alliance does not like aliens at all." Kestra bit her lip. " Instead of joining the different races, they are attacking, killing, or enslaving them. This could be very bad."

"It is" the COO nodded thoughtful "But this is their reality and we should not interfere with their way of living. Not that I'm sure that if they came by chance to our world they would, but guess it's best to"

"Does the Prime Directive apply to other realities?" Murphy wondered aloud. "If this place is that terrible, do we have a duty to interfere if we can?"

Kestra raised an eyebrow. "Not sure we could make this a better place. That would involve knowing every moment of their history and a time machine to make all the changes. Still, this is not the place I want to spend the rest of my life in."

Murphy pondered their situation. He knew the non-human members of his crew could be in danger here. They would have to tread carefully.

"It is not a matter of prime directive here..." Steve answered the XO "We are in a place and time we do not belong to. Whatever we change, for good or for bad, will have repercussions on the timeline of this place and it's definitely not a good idea. I also suggest that, if we will ever need to mix up with these people, to avoid them being in touch with our non-human colleagues". He suggested.

Kestra gasped. "Well, we at least can't let them know we aren't human.... And no mixing at all. Very bad idea. While the Terrans look human, there are differences ...... One, they have photophobia. They are more aggressive, very mistrustful, and opportunistic, very much like a Ferengi." She looked up from read and frowned, "only don't quote me on that. They would kill me over that comment alone. I am betting on a cellular level there are differences as well."

Kestra continued reading "well seams the Betazoid race has been nearly destroyed by the Empire because they felt threatened by us being telepathic. I am definitely going to need contact lenses. " she frowned," maybe blue-eyes . I always wanted blue eyes."
She looked back at the screen. "Here it is!
The ISS Enterprise was in an ion storm and they beamed a team back on the ship only they received the counter parts from our universe ." She frowned "Well we can't just transport ourselves back, but that does suggest that equal portions of mass has to be exchanged for it to work."
Kestra sighed, feeling defeated.

"If you have to talk to any of them I suggest you lower the lights in here too." Kestra continued.

Steve nodded and took a note, in case it would be needed in future "Seems like a good idea"

Kestra thought about it. "I believe unless they did a deep genetic test, they wouldn't be able to tell you weren't from this universe. As a precaution, we might want to slowly lower our own lights on the ship. It would condition us to the environment we will be dealing with, and in an emergency, we will not be thinking of the lights. We also don't want to be at a disadvantage. better to adjust to it now than all at one time. In your dealing with them sir, I would say be stern and unmoving. You are always in the right and superior to the person you're talking to. Violence might be necessary to prove a point, but superior power wins in the end. " She paused for a moment, " You will have to keep in mind all aliens are beneath you. We are slaves and tools. It will explain why you have some on the ship. I will try to pass as human if that fails. I'll fall back on being the Captain’s person tool of spying on the crew to insure loyalty."

The chief of operation listened carefully to his colleagues' information on the alien culture. He prepared to lower lighting on the ship at Captain's orders and to draft a quick communique to the entire ship in order to spread the news to the department heads at the Captain's order.

"Lieutenant Ryan, dim the lights over the whole ship. Lock out the override to where it can only be adjusted from the Bridge," Commander Murphy gave the order. This was worse than he had anticipated. "If I'm understanding that correctly, Lieutenant Ral, an equal exchange of mass implies that there is an alternate version of the Montana which is possibly wreaking havoc back home?"

Kestra nodded slowly, "When the enterprise beamed crew up from a planet. At the same time, the enterprise here did for the Terran Alliance. They had the same crew members and the same amount of mass. The Icon storm somehow switched them from one universe to the other. When we went through the rift I did feel I was in two places at one time. So that could very well be true Sir."

Ryan tapped a few buttons on his console and immediately the lights of the bridge dimmed. Dark invaded the bridge. It was a weird feeling at first, at least till the human eye started to get used to it. He also sent an automatic PADD message to the departments head to explain the rationale behind this new ambience light needs.

Murphy pondered the information. "So, if a xenophobic Montana from a world of violence and cruelty found it's way to our reality, would they be trying to get home? Or would they be trying to conquer?" He wondered aloud.

"Commander, what do you think?" asked the Captain.

"We can't create a black hole, but maybe can we find one in this reality. With any luck, the other Montana will be doing the same thing. Or we can try to find out what this reality has accomplished with polaric energy, and try to get home through that route." Murphy looked around the Bridge, "Anyone think they know which would be easier?"

"Ain't no scientist but I guess finding another black hole is easier than hoping Romulans are playing with polaric energy as of now in this universe, or am I wrong?" Steve offered.

"Good enough for me," Murphy responded. "Let's find us a black hole."

OFF:
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Captain Jackson Adams
Commanding Officer

Commander Michael Murphy
Executive Officer

Lieutenant Steve Ryan
Chief Communications and Operations Officer

Lieutenant Kestra Ral
Chief Science Officer

Lieutenant Stuart Mann, NPC
Navigation Officer