Folding Origami Space-Time
Posted on Tue Mar 18th, 2025 @ 2:10pm by Captain Malcom Llwyedd & Lieutenant Gale Deekros & Lieutenant Hank Solomon & Lieutenant JG Randolf Forst & Ensign Helle Leed & Ensign Winston Hubblestone
2,448 words; about a 12 minute read
Mission:
Interlude 1 Gamma Quadrant
Location: Various
Timeline: Before the Jem'Hadar attack
[ON]
"What a mess," Hank commented while scratching his head both in desperation and for a minor headache coming from the meet-up with the Jem'Hadar.
He checked in disbelief at the aftermath of their encounter with the predators and shook his head at the monitors and equipment in wrecks.
"We lost tons of material and data" the CSO noted "but at least some of the equipment was spared by their wrath" he concluded with a shy and bitter smile.
"But! We didn't lose the most important data, and most importantly, we didn't lose our lives," Gale said as he looked at his console, which was rather the worst for wear. At least Gale was feeling less concussed. Yes, once this was all done he'd probably sleep for half a day, but he was alive, which he supposed was a relief, even if he'd been ready to die to protect Hank and the lab's precious data. "True, we're a bit banged up, but we're still here because of you."
"Me?" he shook his head. "Nah, I didn't do much ...I didn't even manage to avoid them hitting you." He breathed out some air from his lungs in a controlled breath.
He inclined his head towards the least destroyed bank of consoles, picking his way across the crumbled debris on the floor. Something caught his eye, and he stopped, leaning over with a bit of a grown to pluck something from the mess of metal and glass. It was one of the pictures of the missing runabout crew that had sat atop the lab's central table. "Just a moment - it doesn't feel right to leave these on the ground."
Hank followed Gale's movements with his eyes and smiled at his gesture of salvaging the picture of the colleagues.
"Yes," he finally said "We have the data, but to run an analysis through them and then dig deeper into them we'll need much more time now that the lab is almost destroyed."
He closed into one of the last few working consoles and inputted his ID and password to log in. He connected to the external sensors' grid and ran a deep scan in order to see wether the Jem'Hadars left any useful tip or trace out there. He left the scans running while getting back to the task at hand, cleaning the mess in the lab.
"How's your head?" he asked Gale while starting a brief inventory of what was still functioning.
Gale slowly brought himself back to standing, but he did so with all the photos, more or less intact. He cleared off a spot for them on the table and set them there carefully.
"Oh, it's doing well enough, sir," Gale said in response to Hank's query. "Which is more than I can say for the lab. Gods, they did a number on this place. Though I can't help but feel that we - and the ship - got off lightly. Like as bad as this was," Gale continued, his eyes drawn towards the console as it ran the scan, "it could have been much worse."
Before Gale had the chance to consider the wisdom of saying such a thing on a day like this, he saw a flicker on the console. The Trill blinked, wondering if his head wasn't as well as he thought - but when he opened his eyes again, it was clear that something was happening with the deep scan.
"Ahhh, sir? We're picking up-" Gale stared at the display as if that would be enough to make the information make sense. "For the lack of a better word, something."
"Oh," Hank's eyes lit up with surprise at Gale's discovery. He tossed the now unrecognizable piece of equipment he was holding and closed in to the console suggesting something was going on. His fingers ran quickly through the keyboard isolating the source of the excitement.
"It's the anomaly" he muttered "The wormhole is shifting its frequency...it's like..." he paused for a fraction of a second, his mind running through possible scenarios "It's activating" he concluded.
Gale's eyes were already fairly wide - more than one person had called them 'doe-like' - but they widened even more as he saw the data on the screen. The long-missing wormhole was doing its best to make up for lost time, apparently.
The next thought hit Gale's consciousness nearly as hard as the Jem'Hadar's phaser rifle did a few hours ago. "Sir, if the wormhole is shifting - our science vessel might be as well. We should alert the bridge if they aren't already seeing this."
Hank nodded.
=^= Science lab to bridge =^= he hailed through his comm badge
'Go ahead science, Captain Llwyedd here," Macom said.
=^= Sir, we have a weird reading down here. Seems like the frequency of the wormhole is shifting. It is about to open and...=^= he paused pondering his words =^=I'm not sure what can come out from there, especially since our friend's Jem'Hadar last visit =^= he concluded his report to the bridge still keeping his eyes fixed on the console with the data feed from the outside.
Malcom listened to the report with a growing sense of discomfort and hope. "Understood. We are going to Yellow Alert. The ship's sensors are all yours if you need them. Let's hope that this is some good news. We could use some. Llwyedd out."
[Wormhole]
The long-dormant wormhole burst into purple, blue, and white light, blazing like a new star. However, when the wormhole opened slightly, it stopped expanding and a lone craft, surged out into open space. As it exited, a green lightning raced across the wormhole's mouth and the entire thing vanished once again, leaving the familiar darkness once more.
[Bridge of Littlebird]
Forst sat in the command seat wondering what exactly he was doing for a few moments. The realization of when he was clarified by the view of the Firebird in the viewscreen. He started a standard diagnostic and started to give orders in what he hoped was a measured tone.
“Full status report, Let’s make sure we are really here.”
The computer was starting to feed back standard telemetry, and the knot in his stomach started to relax.
"Omigod!" Risen half out of her chair, the words burst out from Helle. Her heart seemed to fly out of her like a bird barred too long in a cage it feared might never open. She quickly dropped back, wiping her cheeks with her sleeves. Her fingers flew as if their movement could warp them closer.
"No signs of chronometric displacement, no temporal drift. Our biological clocks match the expected timeframe." She cross-checked genetic markers and exhaled softly. Her mind screamed silently across the sky for her father. "Cellular integrity is stable, with no quantum mutations or molecular phase shifts. We are exactly as we should be."
Cobb ran through the standard sensor checks. "We are reading standard Starfleet energy sources. The Firebird appears to be as we left her and the crew compliment is consistent. I am picking up a number of different ships now clustered around the station, including a Romulan and a Ferengi ship," he said with excitement in his voice.
"Sir," Winston said. "I was monitoring space around us and apparently we came out of the wormhole but there was an unusual energy surge, the computer hasn't nailed down what it was, and it looks like it is closed again."
[Science Lab]
The console almost seemed to blare with light as the once-missing wormhole flared into existence again with a pulse of energy. Gale almost shaded his eyes, but as it faded, there were three notable things.
First, the readings from the wormhole looked off, even to this geologist, from before its disappearance.
Second, there had been a burst of some sort of yet unknown energy the console was still parsing, that would deserve as much study as the first point.
Third, where the maelstrom in space-time had stopped, a small, seemingly familiar vessel had appeared on sensors.
Gale blinked and looked at Hank. "Sir...it seems like a runabout. But is it ours?"
Hank looked at the scan results dubiously. He ran twice the analysis before actually confirming what his colleague highlighted just moments ago. "It's ours" he muttered, before passing the information to the bridge.
=^= Sir, something came out of the wormhole, it's a Starfleet runabout =^=
"We are tracking it," Malcom said with growing excitement. "Kipp, hail that ship."
Kipp, sitting at the communication console, nodded. "Aye, sir," he said and then opened a channel. "Runabout, this is the USS Firebird. Please identify yourself and your purpose."
[Little Bird]
Winston heard Kipp's voice loud and clear. He reached up to toggle the comms for a response and paused to glance over at Lieutenant Forst, who nodded at him.
"Firebird this is the USS Little Bird returning to the roost. I think I can speak for all of us here when I say that we are really, really glad to be home," Winston said, choking up a bit. "Request landing clearance at the earliest convenience."
[Firebird Bridge]
"Yes!" Malcom yelled as the Ensign Hubblestone's message concluded. "Kipp, bring them in." Malcom saw the grins all around the bridge. The unexpected good news was a welcome reprieve from the stress they'd all been under.
"Aye, Captain," Kipp said and then tapped his console. "Little Bird we confirm your last transmission. You are cleared for immediate landing. Just follow the lights. We will lead you home." He knew that Captain Llwyedd would approve of what he was about to do. His hands raced over the screens of his console.
[Little Bird]
"Well will you look at that," Lieutenant Cobb said in wonder.
The Firebird burst into radiant light as every sensor, warning beacon, running light... everything that could emit light blossomed at once. The little ship glittered in the darkness, a lighthouse to their lost sailors.
The Little Bird accelerated toward home. Their journey through space and time complete.
[Main Shuttlebay]
Gale definitely had a stitch in his side by the time he and Lt. Solomon made it to the main shuttlebay, and he hoped the residual queasiness was due to this unexpected sprint through the Firebird and not any lingering effects from his treated concussion. It wouldn't do to greet his missing colleagues by vomiting on their boots.
"I can't imagine what they're going through. To be home after - well, however long they were trapped," Gale said to Hank as they awaited the Little Bird's arrival.
Hank folded his arms, watching the shuttlebay doors with a mix of anticipation and apprehension. The return of the Little Bird should have been cause for celebration, but too many unknowns still lingered in his mind. What had happened inside that wormhole? What was that energy surge? And most importantly—what state were the crew in?
Aside from all the scientific dilemmas, he was happy that they were back and his expression gave away such a feeling.
"I'm sure they're happy to be back" he answered Gale's question "And I am as well" he confirmed.
"I can't hide it. I'm curious as well. They managed to solve the mystery of the wormhole activating it correctly from whatever place and time they were in. That's impressive, to say the least" he commented to Gale keeping his eyes locked in anticipation of the shuttlecraft doors unlocking.
The four members of the Little Bird exited the craft slowly. They looked worn. To a person, they all carried themselves like someone who had just participated in a marathon. They walked gingerly as they made their way towards the waiting officers. However, they all were smiling as they glanced around the shuttlebay.
Forst remembered a line from some ancient story "and blinking, step into the sun" as he stepped onto the deck of the shuttle bay. Although the architecture was still Starfleet, something about the size of the shuttle bay was both terrifying and reassuring. He moved to greet the assembled officers.
"With all due respect to my colleagues," he gestured at the crew behind him, "it is so good to see different faces."
Gale might not have looked as worn as the officers - their dear colleagues - looked as they exited the craft that had been their home for who knows how long, given the likely temporal distortions. But with weeks of sleepless nights trying to bring them home, and a recent head injury to book, he didn't think he was the most photogenic of the welcoming party.
"And we can't tell you how good it is to see you all here, in person, alive and hopefully mostly well, on the ship, not just in a holophoto," Gale said, the relief evident in the warmth of his voice as he stepped towards Forst. "Though we can make medical our first stop, if someone isn't on their way down already. It's been an....eventful...few hours."
A broad smile showed up on Hank's face.
"Can't really express how happy I am seeing you" he greeted the newly arrived officers "Sickbay would definitely be a forced stop but then, rest should be in order." He finally commented greeting them welcome.
As the science officers all moved down the corridor to the turbolift, the mandatory medical visit their first priority, Forst recalled more of that ancient poem. More to see than can ever be seen. More to do than can ever be done. More to find than can ever be found.. They had certainly pushed those boundaries, but there was more, always more to see.
[OFF]
Commander Malcom Llwyedd
Commanding Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298
Lieutenant Hank Solomon
Chief Science Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298
Lieutenant Gale Deekros
Science Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298
Lieutenant JG Randolf Forst
Assistant Chief Science Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298
Lieutenant JG Hopkins Cobb (NPC by Llwyedd)
Science Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298
Ensign Winston Hubblestone (NPC by Llwyedd)
Science Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298
Ensign Helle Leed (NPC by Leed)
Biologist
USS Firebird NCC-88298
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