Balance Restored
Posted on Wed Sep 9th, 2026 @ 2:08pm by Captain Thorrin & Commander Marisa Sandoval & Lieutenant Commander Tarian Aloria & Lieutenant Sivek & Lieutenant C'Mila Juli & Lieutenant Junior Grade M'Ressa & Major Hastios Eilfaren & Crewman Lekran
Edited on on Wed Sep 9th, 2026 @ 2:15pm
1,891 words; about a 9 minute read
Mission:
In The Nick Of Time
Location: The Planet Trieste
Timeline: MD009 1100 hrs
As M'ressa brought the ship out of temporal space Thorrin felt the telltale twinge of pain in his temples and sinus. However, he did allow anyone to notice. "Major Eilfaren tactical analysis of the planet if you please. Lieutenant Juli what do we know about who is down there?"
The transition back into their own time tugged at Hastios in a way the instruments around him could never quite measure. A brief pressure behind the eyes, a sense of the universe settling back into the groove it believed it belonged in.
Then training took over. His hands moved across the tactical console, pulling the planetary scans into something useful rather than simply impressive. The picture that assembled in front of him was so different from the one they had left behind that he ran the analysis twice before speaking. “No active weapons fire. No orbital engagements, no military formations moving on the surface and no indications of mobilisation.”
Hastios narrowed the scan, checking installations and defensive networks. “Planetary defense systems are present, but they’re at normal readiness. Nothing is tracking us aggressively. No emergency traffic, no distress calls, no evidence of recent combat in the areas tactical sensors can resolve.” His eyes remained on the display for another beat. “From a tactical standpoint, Captain, Trieste is quiet.” A faint crease formed between his brows. “Remarkably so.”
"Life signs are easy to pick up, Captain. No defensive systems blocking our sensors and I'm showing large populations of both Kroat and Vwaarti races, as well as signs of interracial breeding going back several generations," Juli reported. "Much of the planet is connected through a well-established infrastructure. It appears that most colonies are able to travel and communicate with one another."
Thorrin uncrossed his legs and stood. "Well now that is a large change. Hail..." He was interrupted by Hastios telling him there was an incoming message from the planet. When the viewscreen resolved he saw a woman who looked like she was a hybrid of Kroat and Vwaarti. "Greetings Captain I am Counselor Nagla of the Trieste Ambassadorial Counsel. You have been expected, although I confess I did not expect Starfleet and the Federation to act this quickly. Although when someone applies for membership I guess it is a moment to move quick."
Thorrin was caught off guard, but only briefly and in such a way that no one noticed. "Yes Counselor. I am Captain Thorrin of the USS Herodotus. We are a science vessel, and were in the area. Our assignment now is to make contact and begin the preliminary discussions of membership."
"Very well Captain. We look forward to face to face. I will transmit coordinates for transport and see you this evening. Trieste out." The screen blinked off and all at once the genial Southern gentleman was replaced by someone who attempted to deduce everything at once. "Thoughts?" he asked his senior staff.
Marisa glanced at Hastios. Nagla. The woman who, on their first visit, tried to kill them. Nothing said things were different more than that. And that there actually were Vwaarti. "This promises to be most enlightening."
Tarian was sitting at the temporal ops station, running a few scans and making sure that nothing was out of sorts. He looked back at Thorrin and said, "Temporal variances are within the norm. Heck, I don't think it could have gone any better if we tried. Even with everything that happened in the past with the fire fight and all that, it appears that all is well. Sending over the temporal data over."
Tarian punched in a few commands and sent over the data about how the temporal data showed there was only a variance of .00002% off for their whole experience.
"Thank you Tarian. Lieutenant Juli. What do you make of all this?" Thorrin was curious what his science officer had to say. There was a part of him that worried about going down there at all. He was not sure if they would contaminate this planet's timeline any further than they have. But, then again they adjusted their own timeline and perhaps this was the natural order that the Herodotus restored.
"We do know that when a planet is united and not at war with itself that technological advances do seem to happen at a faster rate - the planet hasn't been destroying itself, trying to hide what it's done," Juli responded. "If the wedding was in fact the catalyst that we were meant to change, then the hybrid population would be expected also," she replied. She was pleasantly surprised - hopeful that the DTI would confirm that this was the correct result.
"I am searching for their initial communication regarding Federation membership," Juli replied. "If another vessel was sent to respond already, should we be here?" She asked.
"Succinctly put Lieutenant." Thorrin said in response to Juli's question. "Kindly send a message to Starfleet command that the USS Herodotus will be taking this first contact mission. I will make sure that Jerimiah is updated to the situation as well." Thorrin made this requests to Sandoval. He said the name Jerimiah as genteelly as possible, however, there was a touch of venom in the way he said it.
Lieutenant Sivek had been prepared to note the intricate and highly-advanced technology that was now present on the planet when the door to the turbolift opened and Crewman Lekran stepped through with a PADD in one hand. He paused for a moment to gawk at the viewscreen before turning to Tarian.
"Commander Aloria," he whispered excitedly. "You need to look at this!"
Tarian looked over at Sivek and raised an eyebrow before walking over and said, "What's up? What am I looking at?"
The Vulcan engineer appeared dubious. "I did not speak."
Peering over his shoulder and few feet behind him was the unmistakable form of Crewman Lekran. "I believe the Ferengi is attempting to gain your attention, Commander."
"All Senior Staff will go down to the planet under First Contact protocol. Uniforms are a must. Meet in the transporter room in one ho..." Thorrin's orders were interrupted by the arrival of the Ferengi. "Crewman. What do you have?" He said as he stood to face the Ferengi.
Lekran stepped toward the command well, almost putting himself between Thorrin and the engineering station where Sivek and Tarian had been working.
"Captain," the Ferengi began, "the probability profile for the planet..." It took him a moment to find the words, glancing back and forth between the officers.
"The change has been... stunning, sir. Every calculation considered placed this particular outcome in the lowest percentile. I'm talking about one in twenty seven trillion or three-point-seven times ten to the power of twelve!"
He took a deep breath and continued, suddenly noticing Lieutenant Juli's presence and letting his eyes wander over her.
"Or, to put it in terms that my people might express: if you offered me one hundred billion bars of latinum, I'd still ask for collateral."
Thorrin smiled at the Ferengi turn of phrase. "I would hesitate to ask, but have to know. Is this something we should be proud of or afraid of?" Thorrin was of the school of Captains where one should never tell him the odds. However, there was something to be said for having someone like Lekran aboard a timeship.
Tarian chuckled as he said, "I apologize, crewman. Misheard who was calling me over and where it was coming. But, that's actually incredible! I'm assuming you've come with the data on that, Mr. Lekran?"
Lekran chose to respond to the Captain first. "Initially, I too, was frightened, sir. But I've triple-checked the probabilities and run it through the computer, too. We should be celebrating."
He turned to Tarian and with a nod, passed him the data PADD which contained detailed changes to the timeline. "All yours, Commander."
Tarian took the PADD from Lekran and looked it all over. A small bit of emotions showed on his face as he said, "Dang. This truly was one of the best possible outcomes. Even if it was one of the least probable. Juli, have you seen this?"
"Love conquers all, right?" She gave him a cheesy grin.
If Thorrin was pleased he did not show it too much. He had been in the DTI for longer than anyone on his crew and he knew that although the numbers looked great. There was always something the numbers left out, and that something was never good. "As I was saying. Senior Staff, transporter room one, full dress uniform, one hour." Without another word he left for the turbolift. This was something that needed to be seen first-hand.
Marisa looked at the viewscreen again and smiled. This was the best of all outcomes. She was eager to go down to the planet and see what the prince and princess's happily ever after looked like today.
Hastios remained at tactical after Thorrin left, his eyes settling on Trieste again.
The surface read nothing like the world they had first encountered. No fractured territories braced against one another. No mobilization. No active weapons fire. Kroat and Vwaarti life signs were spread through the same settlements now, generations of mixed ancestry woven through the population. The old divisions had not merely gone quiet. They had been lived through.
Trade routes crossed the planet where front lines might once have been. Communication networks linked colonies that had once stood apart. Defensive systems sat at normal readiness instead of waiting for the next attack. Somewhere below, people whose grandparents might once have been taught to hate one another were simply going about their lives.
And Nagla was an ambassador.
He remembered blood in the grass. The assassin’s weight across his shoulder. The sharp heat of the blade in his side. A wedding that had almost ended before it began.
Now Trieste was applying to join the Federation.
Hastios let out a slow breath and closed the tactical display.
“One hour,” he murmured.
For once, history had left behind something better than a scar.
A Joint Post By
Captain Thorrin
Commanding Officer
USS Herodotus DTI-30656
Commander Marisa Sandoval
Executive Officer
USS Herodotus DTI-30656
Lieutenant C'Mila Juli
Chief Science Officer
USS Herodotus DTI-30656
Lieutenant Commander Tarian Aloria
Chief Temporal Operations Officer
USS Herodotus DTI-30656
Lieutenant Sivek
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Herodotus DTI-30656
Crewman Lekran
Temporal Risk Analyst
USS Herodotus DTI-30656
Major Hastios Eilfaren
Chief Security & Tactical Officer
Second Officer
USS Herodotus DTI-30656
Lieutenant Junior Grade M'Ressa
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Herodotus DTI-30656
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