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"A Chance of Light" by A. Rhea King
Rating: PG Archer shook his head with a patient, knowing smile. He looked down at T’Pol walking beside him. “You’re never going to believe time travel is possible are you?” Archer asked her. “No.” “Even after experiencing it yourself?” “While I now believe it’s probable, I still need conclusive scientific evidence to believe it exists beyond probability.” “But that’s the thing about time travel; there isn’t any proof. People can just go back and change it.” T’Pol looked up at Archer. “Then it appears I will never believe it exists.” The two stopped at the lift. Archer pressed the call button, turning to her. “But after everything you’ve experienced, you must believe it’s more than just a theory.” The door opened and the two stepped on. Archer tapped a button. “I do not,” T’Pol stated. “What about those molecular black holes you were so excited to find out about? You believe they exist, yet you have no scientific evidence.” “I gained evidence of their existence.” “All you gained was a shuttle pod full of tiny holes. A lot of things could have caused that.” “However, the other events that could have created holes that small, and that easily, would have left a different energy signature. I have scientific proof it was molecular black holes.” The lift doors opened and the two walked off. T’Pol turned into her station and Archer turned into the situation room. He added as he walked around the corner, “Some day you’ll have proof and then I’ll get the last laugh, T’Pol.” T’Pol didn’t reply, making Archer smile. Trip was working at the main console, sipping from a mug. “Anything interesting this morning?” Archer asked him. “Nope. This quadrant has to be the equivalent to the Sahara. There’s not even a stray asteroid to poke at!” Archer walked over to the monitor on the wall, changing screens. Trip looked back down at the console, setting his mug on the edge. “The gravity plating on decks D and E have been acting up for three days now,” Archer said. “You need to get a crew working on it today, Trip.” “I know. Malcolm has reminded me every time it goes offline. And I do mean every time.” Archer smiled as he turned around, leaning on the console. Trip tapped the screen. He reached out to pick up his mug and grabbed air. Trip looked down. His mug was gone from where he’d sat it down. He looked up at Archer. “Where’d you put my mug, Cap’n?” Archer didn’t look away from the screen. “I didn’t touch it.” “Then where is it?” “Did you knock it off?” Trip looked at the floor. “No. Are you sure you didn’t move it?” “Positive, Trip.” Trip crouched, looking under the console. He stood, turned and opened his mouth to ask Archer about the mug again. He stared at the mug that sat right where he’d sat it. “Are you sure you didn’t move it?” Trip asked. Archer glanced at Trip as he walked away. “Yep.” Trip frowned, looking suspiciously at the mug. # Archer could see T’Pol was in deep thought when he sauntered into the mess hall. He walked to the resequencer and ordered a bowl of spaghetti. He poured himself a glass of tea and joined her. T’Pol didn’t acknowledge him sitting down across form her. Archer started eating, mulling over drifting thoughts. “Captain.” Archer looked up at her, finding her watching him. He swallowed the food in his mouth. “Yeah?” “I did not hear you sit down.” “I noticed. Am I bothering you?” Archer asked. “No. I’m concerned that we may uninvited guests on board, Captain.” “Why do you think that?” “Several crewmen have reported items missing, mainly food and drink.” “They’ve actually reported food and drink missing?” “No. That I have overheard.” “That’s called eavesdropping, T’Pol, and it’s considered rude.” “I cannot help that I have sensitive hearing.” Archer smiled, shaking his head. He scooped another bite into his mouth and finished chewing it before saying anything. “What else is missing?” “Souvenirs they’ve purchased recently, personal effects, and articles of clothing are a few of the items reported missing.” Archer looked at her again. She was watching space outside the mess hall port. Archer reached for his glass of tea and picked it up. He lifted it to his lips and started drinking before he realized there was no tea in the glass. Archer held the glass away, staring at it. He looked at the pitcher of tea sitting on the counter and then the empty glass in his hand. “They probably just misplaced the items,” Archer said as he stood. “Or we have a prankster. If it persists or gets out of hand, I’ll say something to the crew.” Archer walked toward the counter, looking at the pitcher. Archer stopped, staring at the empty pitcher. Archer returned to the table, sitting down slowly when he saw his bowl was empty. It was clean, like there had never been food in it. Archer closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’ve got to get some sleep tonight,” Archer muttered. “You haven’t been sleeping well?” “Not for a couple days. I keep having strange dreams.” Archer looked at her. “I don’t remember finishing my supper.” T’Pol looked down. The bowl had spaghetti in it and his glass was full of tea. “You haven’t finished your supper, Captain.” Archer looked down, staring at the spaghetti in the bowl. He looked at the pitcher. It had tea in it. Archer resumed eating without comment. “We are headed toward a neutron star cluster. We should reach it in five days and I would like to collect some readings,” T’Pol told him. “A neutron star cluster seems to be the only thing in the immediate vicinity. I feel like we’re going through the Bermuda Triangle.” Archer finished his meal. “The Bermuda Triangle is a myth,” T’Pol pointed out. Archer stood, picking up his dishes. He smiled at T’Pol. “And a good one at that. Good night, T’Pol.” “Good night, Captain.” Archer deposited his bowl in a tub and exited the mess hall. T’Pol turned back to her PADD. # Phlox walked into Sickbay with a tray of food for his animals. The air filled with cages rattling and animal noises. “Good morning everyone,” Phlox said with a smile. He sat the tray down on the counter and began feeding. He reached the last aquarium and stared at it. He crouched down, looking into the murky water where nothing moved. He opened the lid and poured food into the water. Still there was no movement. Phlox sat the food down and moved to the last cage. It was set up with a plant and a log, but the lizard creature that occupied it was missing. Phlox sat the food containers down and walked around the counter to get a scanner. Phlox walked back and stopped short. The lizard creature was stretched out on the log. Phlox fed it and then scanned the aquarium. “Very odd,” Phlox muttered to himself. He turned and walked to a companel, passing his bat’s cage. He stopped short, turning back. The cage was silent. Phlox walked around to the front of the cage. “I just fed you. Where…” Phlox turned around, looking across Sickbay. The bat’s cage suddenly begun rattling. Phlox heard water sloshing and looked at the aquarium. The water splashed as the creature inside devoured its breakfast. “I should go to bed earlier tonight,” Phlox noted to himself as he walked away from the animals. # T’Pol sat up from her viewer and reached above it, adjusting something. She looked in it again and tried another adjustment. Across the bridge Trip watched her, mentally counting ‘Mississippi’s’ before she asked him for help on whatever the problem was. “Commander.” T’Pol turned to Trip. Trip smiled. “Yeah?” “I cannot get my viewer to adjust properly. I thought you told me you repaired it.” “I did. Yesterday.” Trip walked over to her station. He adjusted with the controls and looked through the viewer. “This can’t be right. I made new modular links and put ‘em on yesterday. This says they aren’t even there.” “Perhaps they were not resequenced properly.” “No, T’Pol, it doesn’t say they’re malfunctioning, it says they aren’t there. They’re missing. Who would take out modular links?” “Perhaps the same person or persons who have been taking other items from the ship.” “You scanned the ship for alien bio-signs?” “Yes, but scans have missed alien bio-signs before.” “Modular links are hardly a threat to anyone. They regulate the viewer data flow to and from the computer.” “And they regulate data flow from the long range sensors, Commander. It would be a wise tactical maneuver.” “We are in the middle of no where, T’Pol. We haven’t seen anything or anyone for days. Now you’re just getting spooked.” “Vulcans do not get spooked.” Trip smirked. “We could argue that point for days, but instead, I’m going to go replicate another set of modular links. Be right back.” Trip walked over to the lift. T’Pol turned back to her terminal to initiate a different scan. # Phlox entered Archer’s ready room when the door opened. Archer looked up from his work, watching Phlox stop beside his desk. “Captain, I’m missing animals,” Phlox said. “Come again?” “There are animals missing from their cages. At first I thought I was imagining it. Yesterday, when I fed them, I thought a few were missing, but when I checked again, they were there. This morning, the ones I thought were missing yesterday are now missing along with four more.” “Did they get out?” “Most fish aren’t prone to jumping out of closed aquariums, Captain. I’ve also thoroughly checked Sickbay for the ones that could.” “See if T’Pol’s picked up anything on her scans.” “There’s more. Everything I’ve resequenced in the last seventy-two hours is missing.” Archer sat back in his chair. “T’Pol’s been concerned that we have some aliens on board.” “None of my scans revealed anything out of the ordinary, but I’m not about to disregard the possibility.” Archer thought for a moment. “Resequence something that isn’t all that harmful but label it something that was taken. Let’s see if whoever is stealing things takes the bait, and then we’ll go from there.” “If they are invisible to our visual spectrum, they may hear us right now.” “Take the chance.” “Yes, Captain.” Phlox left, leaving Archer to worry about the intruders alone. # Hoshi pursed her lips, tapping the controls. She frowned and tapped them again. She glanced from Archer to Travis and back. Archer was sitting on the edge of his chair, reviewing data on a PADD. She and Travis both looked at the lift when it opened. Trip dashed across the bridge to the engineering station. “Cap’n, you gotta see this,” Trip said. Archer got up and joined him at the station. Trip pulled up a schematic of the ship and zoomed in on the warp engine. “See these blinking red dots?” “Yes.” “These are parts that we’ve replaced in the last month or two and they’ve all come up missing in the last two days.” Trip looked up at Archer. “And they’re starting to disappear regularly. It’s like someone’s takin’ the ship one piece at a time. I’m worried that whoever’s doing this is going to take off something vital and blow the ship up or cause permanent damage.” Archer walked over to T’Pol’s station, leaning next to her. “Show me the results of the last scan you ran, T’Pol. Maybe you overlooked something.” “I did not overlook anything, Captain.” “Humor me.” T’Pol pulled up the results of the scans. Archer skimmed the information. He stood suddenly, looking down at her. “Why didn’t you run an ECE scan?” Archer looked down at her. “What is an ECE scan?” “Energy Circuitry Emission scan.” “I’ve never run that scan before, Captain.” “T’Pol, the sensors for it were brought online three weeks ago. I told you about it last Monday and you’ve ran it every morning for the last week.” “You must be mistaken, Captain.” Archer reached down and changed the screen. He pointed at it. “This is the test scan and two more full ships scans I ran before telling you about it. Read it.” T’Pol read the screen. She changed it a couple times and then looked up at Archer. “I don’t remember ever performing this scan, Captain. I don’t remember how to do it.” “I can’t remember how to calibrate the communication modules,” Hoshi said. Archer and T’Pol looked at her. She was watching them. “It’s like…I know I knew once, but I can’t remember how to do it now.” T’Pol looked up at Archer. “Yes. I feel the same as Ensign Sato, Captain. I believe I knew the information once but I also cannot recall it.” “What in the hell is going on?” “I did look for a pattern in the disappearances since they’ve been reported,” T’Pol looked at the monitor. “The disappearances are happing from the newest items to the oldest items,” T’Pol looked up at Archer, “and the rate of disappearances are increasing rapidly.” “After all the time traveling crap we’ve been through, Cap’n, this could be just about anything,” Trip added. “If… If items are disappearing from newest to oldest… What about people?” Hoshi asked. “Travis and me are four of the youngest crewmen on board!” “Let’s not jump ahead of ourselves, Hoshi. And besides, it’s only been equipment and supplies.” “Doctor Phlox’s animals are disappearing too, Captain,” T’Pol pointed out. Archer shot her a glare. “But they are animals. They probably have no relevance to the situation.” “Exactly,” Archer smiled at Hoshi. “Don’t panic, Hoshi. It’s going to be all right.” She nodded, turning away. “T’Pol, re-learn how to run the ECE scan.” “Yes, Captain.” “We should probably drop out of warp for a while, sir,” Trip said. “In case something comes up missing from the warp engine. That could be a catastrophe waiting to happen.” “I agree. Travis, take us to quarter impulse.” “Aye, sir.” Travis turned to Archer. “What’s happening, Captain?” “I wish I knew, Travis.” Archer looked at him. “Maybe we—” Travis suddenly stopped talking. “Maybe what, Travis?” Archer asked. “What?” “You were saying something. What was it?” “I was?” “Yes.” “Yes what?” “Travis, what were you about to say?” Travis’ brow creased. “Who are you?” “Travis, I—” Travis winked out of existence. Archer looked at T’Pol. “Was he transported off?” T’Pol checked the sensor readings. “No, Captain.” “Is he still on board?” “No, Captain.” T’Pol looked at Archer. “We’re going to disappear like that, aren’t we? All of us!” Hoshi cried, standing up. Archer turned, walking up to her. He grabbed her shoulders, gently pushing her back into her chair. Holding her gaze Archer told her, “We cannot panic, Hoshi. I need you to stay with me and stay focused.” “There are only six people younger than me on this ship, Captain.” “Hoshi, calm down. I need you to get Admiral Forrest for me. Can you do that?” Hoshi nodded. “Good. It’s going to be all right. We’re going to figure out what’s going on, we’re going to get Travis back, and you will be safe. I promise I won’t let anyone kidnap you again, okay?” Hoshi nodded. She pulled away, turning to her controls. Archer walked into his ready room, stopping in the middle of the room. His hands went cold and his breathing shortened. ‘Hoshi should be scared. We don’t know what or who’s doing this and we could all disappear. What if we don’t come back? What if whatever’s happening is killing us!?’ Archer closed his eyes, fighting back his fear. He sat down in his chair, staring out at space while he waited for Hoshi to get Admiral Forrest. # T’Pol looked up at the view monitor, thinking for a moment. She got up and walked over to the captain’s chair, sitting down. She closed her eyes, relaxing her body as she exhaled. “What are you doing?” Hoshi asked. “I need a few moments to clear my mind.” Hoshi looked back at her controls. T’Pol opened her eyes, focusing on the view monitor before her. Her breath caught when she saw stars briefly and regularly nictate, something that shouldn’t be happening in space with no atmosphere, gas, or debris to cause the pulsation. T’Pol watched them for a moment as realization slowly came over her. She walked back to her station and began a long-range scan with as many sensor as she remembered how to use. She turned to another control panel and began taking time-lapse images of the space ahead. T’Pol sat back, watching her monitors while she waited. # “No, Admiral, there’s no indication tha—” Archer stopped when T’Pol rushed into his ready room. “Captain, Ensign Carter and Sato have disappeared and we are two of four crewmen left aboard.” “What?” Archer gaped. His hands grew clammy again, anxiety savagely eating away at his calm. “We’re the only ones left?” “When Ensign Carter disappeared I tried hailing other crewmen. Only Doctor Phlox and Lieutenant Hess answered. They said they have been trying to find other crewmen for twenty minutes, and that crewmen have disappeared before their eyes like Ensign Mayweather.” “This sounds like more than a problem with Suliban, Jon,” Admiral Forrest said. “Yes, it does.” “Captain, it is highly probable that what is causing the disappearances is a natural phenomenon, however, I cannot be certain. Scans show nothing out of the ordinary. Whatever is ahead—” “If scans show nothing then we have nothing to go on, T’Pol. Go back to your post and try to find my crew.” T’Pol slapped a PADD down in front of Archer, leaning down to look him in the eye. “Scans show nothing, but the images I took revealed a great deal. Look at the time lapse I took of the space ahead of us, Captain.” Archer picked up the PADD and played the time-lapse images. It showed stars recurrently appearing and disappearing as if passing behind solid objects. He looked up at T’Pol. “What is it?” “I do not know. However, once I discovered this, I took time-lapse images from all external visual sensors. We appear to be in the middle of whatever this phenomenon is, Captain. The same thing is happening all around us. I then went back and looked at all the images taken since we first noticed things disappearing and four days prior to that. We have been in this area for six days.” “Can you tell where it ends?” “As I said, sensors aren’t picking anything up. I can’t even tell what it is we’re surrounded by. I had the computer render a two dimensional plot from the photos, hoping that it may give me insight as to what is surrounding us. It drew dozens of sphere shaped objects that are two-hundred and fifty-five meters long and thirty meters in height.” “Have we been going through them?” “No. They have become more dense as we’ve flown further into the phenomenon. But if the images are correct, we will run headlong into one in the next five minutes.” “Order Travis to bring us to a full halt.” “He is missing. You witnessed it yourself.” “I did?” “Yes. Two hours ago.” “What about two hours ago? “Ensign Mayweather disappeared, Captain. There is no one to pilot Enterprise.” Archer’s brow furrowed. “What? Who are you?” “Jon,” Admiral Forrest said on the screen. Archer looked at the screen. “Who are you?” Archer looked up at T’Pol, disappearing in a wink. T’Pol closed her eyes, leaning on the desk. “T’Pol?” T’Pol looked at the screen. “I’m afraid that all of the crew will disappear, Admiral. I don’t know how to avoid this phenomenon.” “Can’t you navigate around it?” “No.” T’Pol looked down at the PADD in her hand. “The time-lapse images show that…” T’Pol fell silent. “What about the time-lapse images, T’Pol?” T’Pol looked up at the screen, staring blankly at it. “T’Pol, are you okay?” “Whom are you talking to?” T’Pol asked. “Who are you?” Admiral Forrest’s face drooped into horror. “T’Pol, you have to pilot Enterprise away from this phenomenon.” “What phenomenon? What’s Enterprise?” “T’Pol, listen—” T’Pol disappeared. # The outer edge of Enterprise’s disk and the tips of her warp nacelles were all that could be seen. The rest of the ship was simply gone. And she wasn’t moving a centimeter. # Admiral Forrest tried to sleep but all he could do was stare at the dark ceiling overhead. He turned his head, watching his wife sleeping beside him. Exasperated with his sleeplessness, he finally crawled out of bed and walked to the living room resequencer. He put a glass in the opening. “Bourbon,” he ordered. He picked it up when it finished pouring and walked to a window, staring across the city lights of a sleeping San Francisco. He glanced back when the monitor on the counter beeped. Forrest sat his drink down and walked to it, tapping the screen. A man appeared on the screen. “Admiral, Commander T’Pol is requesting to speak with you.” “Put her through.” T’Pol appeared on screen. She was standing on the bridge and if she weren’t pale, he never would have guessed she was experiencing fear. Archer sat in the captain’s chair looking dazed and bewildered. “Do you know who you two are?” Forrest asked. “Commander T’Pol and Captain Archer,” T’Pol answered. “We remember everything.” “And then some,” Archer muttered. “What does he mean?” “He claims to remember past events that haven’t happened to him and while he was on another planet. I… I feel that I remember events that have not occurred yet.” “Is the crew returning?” “In the same order they disappeared,” Archer answered, looking Forrest. “Everything is. And much faster than they disappeared.” “Do you know if you’re still in the danger area?” “We… We just got back.” Archer answered. “We’re not… I…” “We haven’t had a chance to do anything, Admiral.” T’Pol answered. “We both felt you should be alerted right away.” “Thank you for that consideration. As soon as you’re sure your ship, crew, and you, are okay, Jon, contact me. I want to know what happened.” “Yes, sir,” Archer answered. Forrest was glad to see them back, but Archer’s unusually quietness concerned him. What had he seen? “Forrest out.” Forrest tapped a control, the view monitor going to black. # They were waiting for Phlox but the idle chatter that usually filled the situation room while they waited for someone was absent today. All of the senior staff, even T’Pol, was feeling confused and unsettled by what had happened. Phlox came around the corner off the lift and walked to the open space between Hoshi and Travis. “It appears that for eighteen hours Enterprise was suspended in time. Everything ceased to continue on its regular course during that time, including us.” “We weren’t victims of the Temporal Cold War again, were we?” Archer asked. “No. All other the time travel events haven’t had any noticeable side effects. This did. Everyone regressed in age. Those on the outer most edges of Enterprise regressed in age by a week. The closer to the center a person was, the further they regressed in time. Everyone on the bridge and near the core regressed by five months. Injuries that happened one to five months ago have disappeared. Just like T’Pol and you, Captain, most of the crewmen report having memories of events that logs clearly indicate have not happened, while others have memories of events that happened in the past, long before they were even born. I confirmed those memories with database records and found many coincided.” “And mine?” Archer looked at him. “Denobulans being slaughtered by an alien race?” Phlox sighed. “You’re description is of the research outpost Rekahln, on Seta Prime, but no such event as you’ve described has ever happened there. Yet.” “Do you think our memories are real?” Hoshi asked. “I don’t know. I can only confirm past events right now, but considering they are all real, I have to say that the memories that can’t be accounted for, will be.” “But you have no idea what happened to us?” Archer looked at T’Pol. “Were I to believe in time travel, I might say we were trapped in a time bubble,” she answered, “and that it ruptured, releasing Enterprise from it.” Archer crossed his arms. “No scientific evidence?” “Only Doctor Phlox’s findings and time-lapse images. That is hardly enough evidence.” Archer shrugged, looking at the console. “Some day you’ll get your evidence, T’Pol. Otherwise my crew is fine, Doc?” “Yes, Captain.” “Make sure we mark that area off on the star charts, T’Pol. Dismissed, Crew.” The crew solemnly returned to their duties. |
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