It's About Time

Posted on Sat May 20th, 2023 @ 2:16pm by Master Warrant Officer Trenton Mayhew & Ferrofax & Gregorio Emanuel de Castillo-Bartres
Edited on on Sat May 20th, 2023 @ 2:28pm

4,184 words; about a 21 minute read

Mission: Season 1 Interlude II (E5.5)
Location: Overwatch Station
Timeline: ID 5

Proximity alert. A masked impulse signature was detected coming out of the plasma storm on approach to Overwatch Station. What's more is that a brief glance at the day's schedule confirmed what Mayhew already knew to be true: there were no scheduled arrivals. He sent an alert to the Marines on duty and activated a stand-by order for the following shift to make ready. If some ship had found its way here undetected, then it had superior technical capabilities, and that meant infiltration was a heightened risk.

"Ferrofax..." Mayhew chided the AI like he would a malfeasant private. "Tell me why there is an unscheduled ship on approach inside my secure theater and I didn't know about it until now?"

“The ship in question is broadcasting all necessary identity codes and has provided all security checks needed for egress into the spatial volume around Overwatch.” Ferrofax mentioned in a distracted, but interested manner. “Also the ships counter intrusion system is surprisingly robust, and I’m enjoying sparing with a peer who doesn’t hold their punch-.”

Ferrofax paused. He paused for a longer moment than was perhaps called for, but when he spoke next he did so with his normal flippancy.

“The ship is the USS Tempest, registered as NVC 0087. That’s a registry used by the Department of Temporal Investigations. That’s why they were not expected, it’s the inquisition!” Ferrofax snapped. “I suddenly feel a shut down coming on.”

"DTI..." Mayhew let out a sigh. This was a threat, but one outside of his bailiwick. No, when threatened by bureaucrats, it was best to respond with a bureaucrat of one's own. "Stand down proximity alert and notify the PADD stacker that his presence is required at the airlock."

"Should I though? A misfiring torpedo just on docking sounds just so...tragic, and timely. There is irony in there," Ferrofax mused.

---

Mayhew stood stock still at the docking bay, matching the attention position held by the two Marines guarding the door. Who would arrive first? Their pet diplomat or whomever the DTI sent to kick tires?

As luck would have it, it seemed the pet diplomat arrived first. He nodded to the two marines and stepped beside Mayhew. "Chief Mayhew," he said letting a note of confusion come through. He didn't have a lot to work with on why he was standing outside the airlock. "I assume since we are standing outside an airlock, someone will be coming through it imminently. Could you give me the 10 cent abridged version of why that requires my presence?"

"Department of Temporal Investigations," Mayhew replied without looking away from the airlock. "They didn't see fit to announce themselves until they were right on our doorstep. I can't imagine that being good. In fact, the only thing I can imagine is they didn't much care for something the field team did and now we get to deal with it while the others are off on Planet Poundtown. Now, if it were Klingons or Jem'Hadar coming through that airlock, then I'd take point. From where I stand, Mr. Emanuel, this one's yours." He gave Gregorio a grim soldier's smile before looking back at the airlock. "Good luck."

The airlock let out a solid thunk, followed by the gurgling intestinal sounds of the air handling equipment cycling the airlock's interior from vacuum to standard. The heavy inner doors shook once, before yawning open to reveal an upright cadaver. Or at least someone who hadn't seen sunlight, natural or simulated, in a long time. His face had high angular cheekbones that protruded from skin pulled back tight, providing plenty of good contrast to fill in the depths of his watery blue eyes. His hair was a shade of white that was nearly transparent, combed back from his widow's peak fringe. He was dressed in a black two-piece suit and carried a simple attache case in one hand. In the other was a cane, whose crystal tip hit the deck of Watchtower Station with an ominous clack.

"It is good to see that our arrival has not perturbed you to any great deal," the man said in a voice best described as sepulchral. "So many make the mistake of becoming panicky when agents of the DTI arrive. So much fretting, so much wasted effort."

He smiled, lips tight as he leaned on his cane.

"You may call me Mr Clockwork. My associate will be joining us shortly, he has a penchant for the dramatic entrance you will find," the DTI agent chuckled dryly.

Just as the airlock began to close, a hovering drone about the size of a grapefruit floated next to Agent Clockwork. "There was no quantum variance detected in the docking bay," its tinny voice announced in a deadpan monotone. Behind the drone, and standing a might lower than Clockwork, was a Bynar wearing a polymer strip across his mouth held in place by small subdermal implants. It was difficult to tell whether his lips moved. The blinking light on the small hovering drone blinked in time and rhythm with the cadence of speech that it broadcasted. "I am called Agent Tenner, and we are here to conduct a surprise audit of all systems and personnel for temporal discrepancies. You may object but you may not obstruct. Do you have anything to declare at this time?"

Mayhew shook his head and then turned his attention to Gregorio.

The Spaniard blinked for a moment, nonplussed. What the hell did Mayhew think he was going to do? He shrugged inwardly. He would still obey to forms. "Welcome to Memory Theta, Mr. Clockwork, Mr. Tenner," he said, resisting the urge to make a 'very special agent' joke about them or ask if he'd like to send a heliogram to the Barbary Coast. "I am sure, once your credentials are properly validated Chief Mayhew, as the acting administrator of the facility will make sure your visit is appropriately facilitated for all staff and systems. However, all things considered, I must suggest that you have picked an inopportune time. The entire field team and most of the administrative staff are not currently at the facility and are therefore unavailable for inspection at this time," he continued. He spared a glance at Mayhew, hoping the marine picked up the hint at malicious to the letter compliance. "

"Agent Tenner, if you would be so kind as to provide this polite fellow with our credentials," Clockwork said with a nod towards the diplomat, for whom a chilly smile was provided. "I think you will find them in order, and when it comes to matters of timing I think you will find that that is our area of speciality. And we are always on time if you will pardon the temporal humour. Besides, all of the evidence of temporal malfeasance will be here and the machinations of your fellows would only slow and inevitable process of investigation."

The Bynar gave a hard blink of his own, then spoke through his hovering drone. "Our credentials have been uploaded from our vessel to your computer system." The hum of the gravitronic repulsion of the drone harmonized with the tinny monotone voice. "Now spread your arms out to either side and prepare to be scanned."

"Said credentials are rather in-depth and fully accredited," Ferrofax mused. "I'd spread those limbs, he has a licence for that scanner and knows how to probe,"

Without further warning, Tenner placed a monocle around one of his lilac eyes and extended a handheld device in front of him. Both triangulated with the hovering drone. As he passed the handheld scanner over Mayhew's chest, he paused long enough to glare up at the master-at-arms.

"Fine." Mayhew spread his hands out and submitted to the minimally invasive scan. "So what's with the mouth guard and hover drone?"

"No talking during the variance scan," Tenner rebuked harshly.

"My apologies, Agent Tenner." Mayhew stood silently for a moment. "Is Tenner a traditional Bynar name? I thought your people used numerical designations."

Tenner flinched. "It is an agnomen that I reluctantly adopted... for a number of reasons. My previous designation, which was taken from me, began with the base 1-0, a binary value mistakenly interpreted as ten. Through the wit of ignoramuses in the Federation State Department, ten became Tenner. Does that satisfy your curiosity, Master Mayhew?"

"It does." Mayhew then retorted, "How about you? Am I in the right timeline?"

"You are," Tenner confirmed without acknowledging the sarcasm. "Your turn," he said to Gregorio. "Assume the position."

Gregorio rolled his eyes. "You know, that's what my ex said right before taking me to the cleaners in the divorce," he said. "Pity, at least the proving was good then. Still, I suppose you may as well proceed with it. The bureaucracy is already slow enough."

"I neither know nor care what any of that means," Tenner said as he commenced the same triangulating quantum scan of Gregorio as he did Mayhew. "I see you are free of implants. All the better." He deactivated the scanners and nodded at Clockwork.

Gregorio blinked. "Yes. I'm neither Borg nor Lagashi," he said non-plussed. He shrugged. "Well, regardless, no alarms have gone off, so I suppose we should get to it. Mr. Mayhew, I believe the office between my own and Captain ben-Avram's is free and shouldn't contain anything dangerous? It should be an adequate location to audit the personnel and most systems. Perhaps yourself or one of your marines could provide the necessary escort should the agents have a need to visit another location to conduct their audit?"

"I think you will find that we are quite flexible, a small conference room will be all that necessary. We already have access to your computer files, and the Tempest has already begun a deep-level molecular survey of your station. Minor chroniton abnormalities, no doubt byproducts of your stored Theta level items. Some of those case files are very interesting reading," Agent Clockwork said with a chuckle. "The one from Venus was humorously titled, clearly your team has a flare for whimsy."

"I wouldn't know," Mayhew said as he turned around with no further ado. "Field missions are outside my purview. I maintain the operational security of this station and its personnel under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Storr Garlake. If you have questions about the artifacts themselves, our Intendent AI will be happy to fill you in on the details." He did a crisp about face, complete with a heel stomp, and extended a hand toward an auxiliary office. "This should meet your requirements. Do not bother wandering off; our automated security systems will not permit you to leave this section unescorted. I leave you in the capable hands of our resident bureaucrat." He nodded to Gregorio before contemptuously dismissing himself from the two DTI agents.

Tenner entered the office space and began to set up his portable terminal. "I trust that we will not have to ask twice for your full statement and declaration regarding this facility," said the drone to Gregorio as it hovered right in front of his face.

The Spaniard blinked. "I have no statement or declaration to give, Agent. Not only is my position outside your investigative remit, even were it not I have less than a week of experience and have met none of the personnel beyond Mr. Mayhew and Captain ben-Avram for more than a couple of hours at most."

There was a disturbing chortle that came through the hovering drone. "All of time and space is within our investigative remit." With his terminal finally set up, the Bynar seated himself and gestured for Gregorio to do the same.

"It is a rather large mission statement for us, but given the importance of stable continuity of linear existence you can see how there is room for mission creep," Clockwork said as he settled down. "Why only last year we stopped a deranged Bajoran war criminal from using the Bajoran Orb of Time to wipe out all of the Cardassian Union. And before that there was the incident with the USS Stromrider, the Romulan's. I mean, really, the only ones out there with any sort of clout next to DTI is the Tholain Assembly. And they are still grumpy about something one of our early Starfleet Captian's did to them. Archer, I think, or Adams was his name I think."

The Spaniard remained standing. "Archer," he said, although he only had a vague recollection of reading something about Tholians and something called the mirror universe when he was rush reading the classified data dump he'd gotten when he'd gotten stuck out here. He shrugged, "Do you require anything else? Sadly, I still have a dozen field reports to still read, hopefully before the physical embodiment of chaos shows back up."

"Negative," said Tenner's drone. "All of your existing tasks are suspended until the termination of our audit. Now, in the most recent field mission, it was reported that the attached vessel managed to destroy a large vessel of unknown origin alleged to be operated by a religious Klingon order that is above or beyond the KDF command structure and who were in possession of temporal technology, including a temporal superweapon. Can you attest to the veracity of the mission reports as I have summarized them?"

"I was not present aboard the Phantom at the time in question. Aside from those of Captains Mrazak and ben-Avram, nothing I have observed or noticed would lead me to doubt the veracity of the lodged reports. However, any questions you have about them will need to be directed to the concerned parties who were actually present. I am afraid I am only equipped to answer questions about the nationalization of Pathos Biomed or the professional shortcoming of Admiral Gareth Tau and Captain ben-Avram, neither of which strike me as likely of any interest to you."

Tenner shook his head in the negative, but it was his drone who spoke. "Yet it is you who is left to answer our questions. By law, you are compelled to do so or face censure. The mission report does not reflect any recovery of the alleged temporal technology. Are you aware of any artefacts whose entry into the system is pending for any reason? Why was the civilian Winton Ingram released upon his own recognizance after being present for these events?"

"Your first question is outside of my remit. As far as I am aware, nothing was recovered, and it would very much violate accepted procedures to leave them pending while off on vacation, but, for once, Captain Mrazak could rightly claim that there is zero obligation to inform me if that were not the case. Chief Mayhew or the illegal sapient AI that runs the station could probably tell you more. For the latter, while I have no doubt that Mr. Ingram is a very, very guilty man, there was no, legally useable, evidence to that effect. I can only assume, therefore, that the temporary military governor of the system chose to uphold his rights and release him."

Tenner's face twitched in the makings of a grimace, but the cover over his mouth obscured any such gesture from fully showing. "I see," said his hovering drone. "There was an artifact recovered some ten standard months ago from the Beta Magellan system. It is possessed of a quantum nature, and I should very much like to make a physical inspection of it."

Gregorio shrugged. "Then make an access request to Chief Mayhew, " he said bluntly. "My clearance here doesn't extend to authorizing the inspection of any items within the collection. For that matter, I suspect I probably don't have sufficient authorization to ask to see them myself, although I have no clue what danger could be posed by the non-functional remains of ben-Avram's gynoid or what benefit you could gain from inspecting it but Chief Mayhew is the acting administrator and can approve the request and arrange suitable security and supervision for you."

"We already have full run of the station. I already know the artifact is not on the planetoid, but is located in a sealed lab on this station." Tenner stood up and beckoned for both Gregorio and Clockworth to follow. The hovering drone kept emitting speech while Tenner walked with his back to them. "Let's go see this vault. Tell me, Mr. Emanuel, a man of your station must be aware of the persistent scandal surrounding the 'quantum upgrade' that was pressed upon every Bynar connected to the Master Network. The class-action litigation is still pending in the courts. Perhaps a man of letters like yourself is aware already, but quantum mechanics and temporal mechanics are often intertwined such that it becomes difficult to distinguish them in practicality. The delivery system for a quantum upgrade is, therefore, a matter of temporal interest." Tenner paused for a moment to throw a shady glare at Gregorio over his shoulder. "Do you find it suspicious that this artifact is not in proper storage but remains in a lab?"

"You will have to excuse my colleague, he is as you can well understand rather enthusiastic on this subject. And I too, must say I am interested in your answers, or lack of them as you seem more and more to be somewhat divorced from the day-to-day operations of this facility and its personnel," Clockwork said as he shuffled along in the rear, like death lagging in a slow motion sprint.

The Spaniard made no move to follow the agents. Instead, he moved to the communication panel at the desk. "Señors, you seem to have forgotten that your access extends solely to this area and you are not permitted to leave it," he said as he pressed a few buttons on it. "Excuse me, Chief Mayhew, our visitors seem to have had a momentary lapse in memory and forgotten that they are not permitted to wander the station unescorted. They wish to inspect the remains of Captain ben-Avram's gynoid stored in his laboratory space. Could we make appropriate arrangements to facilitate this?"

"Unless it is travelling through time in a way that sets it apart from the standard spacetime continuum," said Mayhew's voice over the comms, "they do not have authorization to do any such thing. Kindly tell them to stand down."

Amused, the Spaniard say down. "The acting commandant says no," he said mildly.

Before he could comment, a field shimmered into existence over the door. A feminine voice played through the room. "What business do you have with the remains of Biynah ben-Avram? Positronic and quantum computing have no temporal implications. Perhaps stating your true intentions would serve you better than the flimsy pretense."

"Obstruction of Temporal Justice is a capital offense," Tenner's drone warned. The Bynar himself accessed the hard line to the synaptic processor that had replaced his parietal lobe at birth and connected it to the door control panel. Electromagnetic whirring arose from the internal clash of commands, signaling the conflict taking place on the digital level. The force field dropped and the door released. "I will see the Variable's original shell or I will decommission this facility and everyone in it for crimes against the Federation!" There was a trilling effect in the drone's vocalization that failed to convey the wroth in Agent Tenner's eyes as he stormed down the corridor with the confident strides of a man drunk on power.

Gregorio blinked. He spoke to Mayhew again. "It seems, Chief, the good Agent doesn't seem to understand 'no' although apparently, a disembodied female voice seems to take exception and attempt... Actually, I think she, it, whatever hasn't given up yet."

"Stand down, Mr. Emanuel. Security response en route."

Another moment passed before a new set of forcefields appeared in front of and behind Tenner. "What makes you worthy," spoke the same female voice. "You were told you lack authorization. I suggest you return to your authorized area before station security and defenses deem you a threat."

Agent Tenner did not respond to the disembodied guardian. He walked to the next security door and accessed the wall panel with his hard line data port. "Never send a program to do an agent's job." The Bynar's voice echoed up and down the corridor as he fought for local control of station systems. While he was still locked out, he did manage to get the next door open.

"Took the words right out of my mouth."

When the doors opened, Tenner was greeted by Mayhew. The Type 2 phaser in his hand featured an extended grip for maximum charge and a modified laser sight that looked suspiciously like a Borg scanner. There was no time to react. Tenner's eyes grew wide as the Bynar realized the dot was lighting up the narrow bridge between his lilac eyes.

A flare of nadion radiation converted Agent Tenner from flesh and circuitry to a humanoid-shaped cloud of scorched carbon and silicate particulates before the smithereens themselves were atomized into oblivion. The hovering drone, its connection lost, fell to the ground. Agent Clockworth was left standing alone, his swagger stick left to fall where it may with his hands raised in surrender. A squad of four Marines flanked the corridor from all sides, including two who had beamed in with phaser rifles drawn.

"Don't fire!" shouted the remaining DTI agent. "Mister Tenner acted alone!"

"Marines!" barked Mayhew as only a Master-at-Arms could. "Secure the remaining DTI agent and escort him back to his ship immediately. Send him to meet his partner if he so much as trips along the way."

"Yes, sir!"

Mayhew wasn't done. "Ferrofax, if you're done with your coffee break, I need you to make use of the override I'm certain you've effected on the DTI vessel. Lock in a course to the nearest starbase and then delete the navigation systems."

"If I didn't know it would kill you to say 'please' then I would force it out of you," Ferrofax purred. "As it stands, my moral governors do not permit it. Consider the DTI vessel scrubbed and scuttled."

Closing his eyes and sighing, Mayhew said, "I miss the old days when computers didn't speak unless spoken to."

Gregorio shrugged. "That boat's long sailed," he said. "I believe the phrase for this is... what was it... bye Felicia," he called after Clockworth. "Now, I was under the impression that one Ferrofax is the resident AI. Who is the disembodied female voice that seems to be acting as a guardian AI while the combat AI is hiding under the bed like a red-headed stepchild?"

"As part of a number of redundancies implemented after our last security breach..." Mayhew let out a grunt as he resisted rubbing the tracheal implant in his throat while returning his weapon to his hip. "... various virtual intelligences formerly in inert storage have been installed to aid the Attendant AI in the operational security of this station." He looked down at the last spot Tenner had occupied before he was sent to meet his source code. "That the Bynar got as far as it did is either a testament to the foresight of that measure or evidence of a flaw in the new system. Digital permissions may need to be reevaluated."

"Interesting that a security AI would ask after motivations or question the agent's worthiness, but then again, that wouldn't make the top 50 list of bizarrerie around here, so como dios quiere I suppose," he said. "Shall we call it a day now? I trust you'll at least do your own paperwork for the disintegrating."

"Yes, because I have something else to burden you with," Mayhew said. "If that cyber-cockroach was right and the Captain is playing doctor with a synthetic, then I need to know precisely how many laws that is in violation of. One day we're going to hand over the keys to the quadrant to the machines and then wonder why the hell we're in chains."

While the two men engaged in their Two Minutes Hate the unfortunate former agent's remote blinked back to life and quietly moved out of sight. As it stood, the Spaniard noticed not at all as he regarded the MWO. "Is anything illegal on this station? I mean, the Copperhead is allowed to prance about freely with a synth sharing his brain pan. Station security is a set of them. Mrazak installed at least two into the Phantom. If I could actually refer the people here for prosecution, it'd be faster just to blow up the ship and declare this place a penal colony."

Mayhew let out a defeated sigh. "Yeah, you're right. I don't know why I keep forgetting we're on the Station of the Damned." Already Borg drones were coming along to sanitize the scene as if it had never been. "All right, I got an incident report to log. As you were, Mister Emanuel."

 

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