Tinkering with Time

Lt. Chu's shift had finally ended. It had been a lighthearted shift, with the crew discussing their recent visit to Starbase 114 and the Captain had shocked all of the Bridge crew with his revelation that he had once been married. Now that there was a full crew complement the mood on the ship had changed. They were currently heading towards an unexplored M class planet, but wouldn't reach it for another six hours. Chu walked over to the Captain's ready room and pressed the door chimes panel. The door opened and the Captain asked the Lieutenant to come in.

"I was just examining some of the personnel files of the crew that came aboard whilst we were at Starbase 114. I've not read many of the science section files yet, I expect that you've not had much time either ?." The Captain explained.

"Once I've arranged the survey team for the planetary expedition, that's the next thing that on my list Sir." Chu replied.

"Anyway, what can I do for you Lieutenant ?" The Captain asked.

"I'd like to discuss what I've found out about Doctor Clairidge's equipment and experiments. With all the commotion of that unusual promotion ceremony and our visit to Starbase 114, I've not had time to fully evaluate everything until now." Chu replied.

"OK, Lieutenant let us hear what you have, I was intrigued by your request to seal off the cargo bay without any explanation. I'm eager to find out what has been going on." Tthe Captain said.

They both began to think back to their previous discussion about the Doctor's experiments.

Sickbay (Four days earlier)

[Lieutenant Barker, please report to the Captain's ready room immediately]

Chu was in the sickbay, finishing his work on the EMH systems. The Engineering team had done an excellent job of clearing out the computer network and the EMH had finally sprung to life upon being activated. Chu had just finished running a diagnostic on the medical database interface systems when the Captain's message had come in.

*I wonder what he wants* He thought.

Leaving sickbay, he deactivated the EMH and left. The image of the EMH flickered for a few seconds and then dissolved into thin air. Had Chu noticed this anomaly he would have probably set a diagnostic of the holo-emitters going. Reaching the Bridge, he walked towards the Captain's ready room and pressed the panel, hearing the chime inside. Ten seconds later Captain Devore appeared at the door as it opened.

"Ah, Mister Barker, please come in and take a seat, I've something I want to discuss with you. Would you like anything to drink ?"

"No thank you Captain." Chu replied.

"Coffee, black and strong." The Captain ordered from the replicator and walked over to the couch. "Please Chu sit down."

"Firstly sir, I'm pleased to report that the emergency medical hologram is back online. Lieutenant Hansen's engineering team has done a good job, what with all the other repairs that he's had to contend with." Chu told his Captain.

"Good work Chu. Relax a little Lieutenant, I have a small favor to ask. What do you know about temporal mechanics ?."

"A little, mainly what is taught at the Academy whilst examining incursions into the past by other vessels. I've also read some papers on the temporal string theory, which basically states that you can only travel back in time, not forward to a point in the future."

"How would you ever get back ?" The Captain asked.

"You've misunderstood sir. You can always travel forward to the point that you left, but not much further into the future. To travel far into the future would require a massive amount of energy, something like a star going nova." Chu explained. "I'm curious as to where this is all leading sir ?."

"Were you aware of Dr. Claridge's experiments in cargo bay three ?" The Captain asked.

"I knew that she'd brought a great deal of equipment on board and that she was running various experiments, yes. More than that I don't know."

"I have learnt that she was actually an expert in temporal mechanics, in fact probably the best so I've just read in her personnel file."

"You mean Dr, Clairidge was, THE Dr. Clairidge. Wow. Sorry sir, but when you actually find out that you've been working with a celebrity it sometimes takes your breath away." Chu exclaimed and quickly regained his composure.

"So you've heard of our Doctor's other bow string. I would like you to look at her experiments. Once we reach Starbase 114, I've been ordered to allow a security team to remove all of the Doctor's experiments, computer logs and personal possessions. This will include the purging of all her logs, personal and professional."

"I don't know of how much help Ill be, but I'll certainly take a look." Chu replied.

"Thank you Lieutenant."

Outside Cargo Bay Three

Chu stood outside cargo bay three and took a deep breath. He'd no idea about what he was about to find inside, but he was loyal to his Captain. Opening the door, he stepped inside and looked around. Most of the cargo bay was filled with the usual junk, empty containers of all shapes and sizes, pieces of debris recovered from the Borg. However, over in one corner was a clear space, with a myriad of equipment and a biobed.

*Why would the Doctor need a biobed for her experiments ?* Chu thought, walking towards that equipment.

He examined most of the equipment and quickly realized that it was far more advanced that anything he'd ever seen before. He'd recognized some of the equipment, but other pieces had totally eluded him. Abandoning his examination of the equipment, he turned his attention to the computer console. This was still standard issue and something that Chu could work with. He flicked through the catalogue of log entries, examining a couple of the early one's which caught his eye.

Most of the entries had been logs of her experiments and the results. One detailed an account of a completed experiment and included a full medical scan. She was experimenting upon herself, examining the effects of the temporal field upon her own body. From the logs that he'd read it was clear that Doctor Clairidge had been successful in creating a temporal vortex and traveling through it into the past, all be it only for seconds.

However, the last entry sent a shiver down his spine. It had been made just before the Leviathan had engaged the Borg. It detailed her account of her latest experiment, which would appear to have been a failure. The log had been left open for over three hours before someone had abruptly closed it. Going back to the logs, Chu started to notice a pattern emerging and suddenly came to a curious discovery. The doctor had always made three log entries for each experiment. The first detailed the purpose of the experiment and the expected results, the second detailed the actual results achieved and the third was a personal account of the experiment.

Chu had started to notice that this pattern had started to fall over, until he realized that someone else had been looking at the logs and deleting several entries, some pre-experiment, some post and some personal. In total, Chu estimated that seventeen log entries had been deliberately erased. But by who ?.

"Computer, can you tell me who erased the records from his data terminal." Chu enquired.

<All the logs were security deleted by Doctor Barbara Clairidge on Stardate 2060200.>

*That's impossible, she was dead by then.*

"Computer, Please state exact time of death for Doctor Barbara Clairidge."

<Doctor Barbara Clairidge died at 17:47 on Stardate 2060200, due to a single bullet wound from a Beretta 9 mm. A full autopsy report is not available.>

"Computer, please state exact time of the file deletions previously mentioned."

<The computer logs were security deleted by Doctor Barbara Clairidge at 18:05 on Stardate 2060200.>

*What is going on ?* Chu thought. "Computer, run a full micro cellular and spectral scan of cargo bay three."

<The scan will take seven hours to complete.>

"Lieutenant Barker to Captain Devore"

[What is it Lieutenant ?] The Captain's voice said over the comm link.

"I'd like to seal off cargo bay three for seven hours, could you get Lieutenant Toran to assign a pair of security officers to guard the doors."

[Exactly what have you found Lieutenant.] Captain Devore asked.

"I'm not sure sir and it's not something I'd like to discuss over an open comm channel. I'd like to get some more information and examine several avenues of inquiry before I give you an answer. I would stress that if I think what has happened has, then we have had a security breach in the ships computers."

[Lieutenant, I'll expect a report as soon as possible.]

On the Bridge, Devore turned to Toran who was already dispatching a security team to cargo bay three.

[The security team is on it's way Chu] Toran said, smirking at the Captain.

Captain's ready room (Present)

"At first I thought that it was a computer error, so I ran a diagnostic of the computer systems. The only person who could have deleted those files, had to have been Doctor Clairidge. You would need voice, DNA and security access to delete those files without tripping several security alarms. All the logs showed that everything was in order and that all three verifications checked out. The files were in fact deleted by Doctor Clairidge, nearly twenty minutes after her death. Or by someone with access to her DNA, voice print and security codes." Chu began to explain.

"Any ideas about who ?" The Captain asked.

"That's why I requested that the cargo bay be sealed. I ran a detailed scan of the entire cargo bay, looking for traces of DNA. The only person who entered the bay after the Doctor's death was myself. The scans shown no major traces of any rouge DNA. Or anything else out of the ordinary." Lieutenant Barker continued.

"What were you looking for ?" Devore inquired.

"Borg nanoprobes. The next logical explanation would be a Borg drone transporting into the cargo bay undetected. The Borg would have assimilated at least some of the Doctor's knowledge during her very brief connection to the collective. Maybe they discovered something and wanted to obtain more information, her experiment logs would be the logical source. However, I found no such evidence, there are traces of nanoprobes in all the other areas that the Borg visited."

"Are these nanoprobes in any way dangerous ?" The Captain asked with alarm in his voice.

"No, the nanoprobes that I've detected were all dead nanoprobes, either damaged when the drones were attacked or discarded just like we discard our skin, having performed their function. The nanoprobes are part of the Borgs natural function, they repair damaged tissue, just like our own biological systems do, only at an accelerated rate." Chu explained.

*I'd never thought of the Borg as having any biological functions, I only thought of them as mechanical monsters. They are however biological entities I guess.*

"Could it have been someone from Starfleet Intelligence then ?" The Captain asked, thinking about another conversation where they had discussed their suspicions about their Intelligence officer.

"That was my thought as well, but after I scanned the computer console I was positive that it wasn't Rashad. The only DNA that I found on the console apart from my own, was that of the Doctor. This got me thinking about who had shutdown that final log. I started to scan for temporal anomalies within the cargo bay and found several such pockets, probably some kind of after images from the Doctors experiments. The strongest however didn't match any of the others and I started to study it more closely."

"Did you find any answers ?" Devore inquired.

"Not exactly, just a theory about what has happened. From what I know and having read some of the Doctor's theories on the possibility of traveling into the future, I think that this is what happened. Her last experiment ended just after the first Borg attack and there were several power surges all over the ship, including one in cargo bay three. I'm guessing that somehow the Doctor was projected by this power surge, approximately three hours into the future. From here, she closed the final log and deleted those that are missing. After that, who knows, maybe she's still haunting the ship in our future. It's now the only explanation that I can come up with that makes any sense. I know it sounds incredible and totally impossible."

"It's certainly an interesting story, I guess we'll never know exactly what happened. Did the security team at Starbase 114 find anything out when they remove the computer logs."

"I doubt it sir, they weren't very delicate in their extraction of the Doctor's log. They used a powerful viral computer program to purge all of the Doctor's logs from the Leviathan's computer banks once they'd got what they needed. We've lost not only the Doctor's personal logs and those from her experiments, but also all the medical logs that the Doctor had made whilst aboard. I didn't think it appropriate to mention to anyone that some of the logs were actually missing. Knowing Starfleet, they'd probably try and reproduce the experiment again. I think that the Doctor knew that this would happen and so deleted those specific logs to stop it." Chu warned.

"Thank you Lieutenant." Devore said, with sadness in his voice.

Chu rose from his chair and left the ready room, leaving the Captain sitting in deep thought. Rising from his desk, we too walked out of the ready room and onto the Bridge. Commander Harris instinctively rose to vacate the command chair and move to his right.

"You still have the Bridge Commander. If you need me, I'll be in my quarters. What's our ETA at the planet ?" The Captain asked.

"At present course and speed another five and a half hours sir" Came the reply from Ensign Ambrose at the helm.

The Captain turned and headed for the turbolift.