Getting up to speed
Posted on Fri Jul 12th, 2024 @ 1:23pm by Captain Qa'ada MD & Lieutenant Amelia Fox
1,234 words; about a 6 minute read
Mission:
Fortuna
Location: Captain's readyroom
ON:
Now the pomp and ceremony were over and things onboard had sort of returned to normal, Amelia thought it would be best to fill the new Captain in on... her and her group's situation.
She had no idea how much Captain Fredericks had told Captain Qa'ada but he had a right to know.
She pressed the door chime to the ready room and waited.
"It's open," the Acting Commanding Officer of the Britannic said as he sat at his desk inside the Ready Room. Since meeting with the Senior Staff after arriving aboard, Captain Qa'ada had sequestered himself in the Ready Room to review every bit of information available about the treatment for the viral infection of the Melvaran Mud Flea. He needed the break.
Amelia entered and paused as the door closed behind her. The captain was the first Aurelian she had encountered and her first impression of him from afar in the shuttle bay was of a commanding figure. Now in the relatively enclosed space of the ready room, that was amplified. She took a breath and stood to attention.
"Captain, we did not get a chance to get formally introduced in the shuttle bay. I'm Com..." She stopped and corrected herself, "Lieutenant Amelia Fox. Myself and my husband, Lieutenant Syvar, our two children, Lieutenant Higgins and Lieutenant Ren were found drifting in an escape pod by the Britannic and Captain Fredericks allowed us to stay onboard. Now, I won't be able to tell you all the details of how we came to be here but what I can tell you has been cleared by an officer from temporal investigations."
The Captain had listened intently to what Lieutenant Fox had shared, curious by what she had said. A million questions flowed through his head that he wanted to ask, and a million more waited in the wings to be said as follow-up. He knew that, in the end, he was limited on what he could ask and the Lieutenant even more limited on what she could say. No doubt the Temporal Investigations people had left software in place to monitor, waiting for the Lieutenant to slip and say something she wasn't supposed to say.
Still, it was tempting. He'd encountered people who were out of time before. He was very curious whether the Lieutenant and her family came from before today, or after. He had noted that she'd started trying to say the word Commander, well that was his assumption at least, so she had to have come from at least a military hierarchy, perhaps Starfleet itself.
"So," Qa'ada spoke up, "what are you able to tell me other than you've been cleared by Temporal Investigations?"
Amelia paused and took a breath, "Captain I cannot stress the confidential nature of this information and that you only share it with those who have a level 10 security clearance or unless you think it's absolutely necessary. The escape pod in which we were found had travelled back 27 years from my present to now. There are currently two... possibly three Amelia Fox's in this time frame. My younger self is currently posted at Starbase 308. For this reason, I'm not allowed to step foot on there. Also, I'm not supposed to have any contact with the USS Merlin, nor am I allowed on Earth until we have passed the point in time at which I left."
"So, 27 years from now would put you roughly in 2402 if my math's right. Am I still alive," he mused before raising a hand quickly, "It's a joke, please don't answer it. With the nature of the Britannic's assignments and our involvement with D-14 it's pretty unlikely we'll be heading to Earth anytime soon. Starfleet Medical likes to keep D-14 assets as far away from the Core Worlds as possible because of the atypical nature of our patients, and the likelihood that any exposure to them could be devastating to others." The captain knew that probably wasn't the most reassuring message that he could convey to anyone, but it was at least the truth.
"I suppose an important question would be do you have familiarity with the Britannic, its mission, or fate? I only ask because it could be a temporal issue having you present aboard. I'm not planning to dismiss you, but we would need to take steps to ensure the safety of the timeline."
Amelia thought for a moment before answering. "No Sir. I was not familiar with the ship before we were picked up from the escape pod. Nor do I know about the ship's current or future missions."
"That's comforting," Qa'ada answered from his desk as he pulled up Amelia's file. "Normally, my posting with D-14 gives me a bit more access to someone's file than the routine stuff, including DTI files. Interesting that it's not letting me dig a little deeper into your history. No matter," he closed the computer display. "If you're here, now, there's a reason for it. I've learned a long time ago that time doesn't do anything without a purpose. It works to put people where they need to be when they need to be there, and I don't think I am an authority to argue with it."
Amelia nodded, following the Captain's logic. "I believe access to my personnel file onboard has been restricted as it could raise questions as to the presence of two Amelia Foxes. She entered her personnel authorisation code into the computer and the Capatin's terminal now displayed Amelia's service record.
"I have experience in advanced navigation and combat training, both armed and unarmed."
"Good skills to have," the Aurelian answered as he scrolled through the information on the display. "Regrettable skills to have onboard a medical ship. I hope that you don't find yourself bored?" It sounded like a statement, but the alien captain hoped she realized the question behind it.
Amelia shook her head. "Oh, not at all. I've been familiarizing myself with the ship and what currently going on. I've got my two girls to look after as well. I've also been given an assignment, plus I keep checking in on the other officer that arrived with me, making sure they are adjusting ok."
"And how is the other officer adjusting?" The Captain asked, curious for the Lieutenant's view.
"They seem to be adjusting ok." She replied but hesitated. "I'm worried about my children. What mother wouldn't be? However, they seem to be handling things as well as the others. There isn't anything we can do about it so we might as well try to carry on as normal." She managed a weak smile.
The Captain leaned forward in his chair, "Well, Lieutenant, if there is anything that I can do to assist you with acclimating to this time period or your assignment here, please feel free to contact me. Starfleet is a family and I am here for you any time."
"Thank you, Captain. That's very kind of you." She stood. "I think that's everything I wanted to tell you. If there's nothing else?"
"Nothing from me, Lieutenant, aside from a friendly if you need anything let me know," the bird-like alien did his best impersonation of a smile, "even though I just said that. You're dismissed, if you want to be."
Amelia inclined her head out of respect and added "Captain." Before tuning and heading out of the room.
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