Die Hard: Time Ship Edition - Part 1

Posted on Tue Jan 2nd, 2024 @ 12:54am by Chief Engineer Michael Burnstein

Mission: Elsewhere
Location: Starbase Aeon
Timeline: 8 years ago
5679 words - 11.4 OF Standard Post Measure

Yavid Ismael had awoken that day to see that the Etesian was enroute back to Starbase Aeon.  An indicator on his palm computer told him that the quantum drive had been used and abused pretty badly in close contact with something throwing off a lot of radiation and gravimetric shear.

How many times do I have to stress that drive activation in close proximity of a planetary or stellar mass can be devastatingly damaging to the precision components within the drive itself, he thought as he walked purposefully toward the security checkpoint. I wouldn't be surprised if they managed to burn out every micro-actuator and the shock suspension system completely.  I'll probably have to rebuild the entire thing from scratch... as long as the core is intact though, it should be okay.  Having to rebuild the quantum core would take months.

"Mr. Ismael, I'm glad you were free," Burnie said, coming over as he spotted the senior developer.

Ismael glanced at the younger engineer.  The man was brilliant, albeit a bit too fixated on the weaponization of whatever he could get his hands on.  He was a smart engineer though and more than capable to assist with the repairs to the Etesian. "Lt. Burnstein, did you at least stabilize the containment fields?"

"I did," Burnie replied. "In fact, I was able to use some energy redirection to reinforce them even further.  In light of the damage done, I think doing so may have saved the temporal core from being brought out of alignment."

He nodded. Burnstein knew his design about as well as anyone else.  The core being out of parallel would be devastating and rendering it about as useful as a paperweight. As they reached the security checkpoint - a necessity given the nature of the Etesian itself - Yavid produced his badge, a formality given his familiarity with the designated protective detail assigned permanently to the Etesian when it was in dock.

The officer manning the station together with a trio of visibly armed security crewmen waved the two by the post and disengaged the docking collar force fields so they could pass through the boarding port.

=/\= USS Etesian, Engineering =/\=

Yavid was massaging his temples as he watched the ship's diagnostics run. "My God... did you activate the drive within a star's corona?  The neutrinos embedded within the chroniton actuation valves are in the millions... I'm surprised the drive even was able to function with that sort of bombardment."

"Better to be lucky than good sometimes..." Burnie answered with a grin. "...and to answer your question, yes, basically.... granted the corona was rapidly advancing on us."

"Racing a supernova." Ismael barely resisted facepalming.  "Reckless.... absolutely reckless to do so with such a valuable tool."

Burnie shrugged. "It would have been more reckless not to use it." He offered a half-smile - he understood the other engineer's reaction; in a lot of ways the Etesian was his 'baby'. "Besides, it may be a valuable tool, but you know the old joke about Starfleet's budget."

"Yes." The older engineer sighed, reciting it as if by rote. "In ten years the whole budget will be tied up in one extremely advanced starship that will be too valuable to risk in battle."  He gave the man a sour look. "But that's been ten years hence since I was a boy."

"According to my dad, the joke was originally about the old United States Navy and kept being ten years in the future for almost two centuries," Burnie chuckled. "Until it got translated to Starfleet."

"Is your father an engineer too?"

"Nope. History professor." He shook head with a wry smile. "It's a good thing I'm not allowed to tell him about this.  He'd be torn between appalled at the idea of how we might change history and dying to give it spin."

Ismael's brow rose. "He'd want to change history?"

"I don't know..." Burnie mused as he scrolled back over some read outs and began making notes. "There's the whole changing the past and making yourself disappear paradox, but there are few spots in history where it would be awfully tempting... " He couldn't help thinking of his recent mission and how close he'd come to committing mutiny before orders made the issue moot. "I mean, if you saw a point where one little intervention could prevent a genocide..." He looked over and noticed Yavid is looking at him intently. Yeesh, he's probably wondering if he should report me a potential security threat. "Sorry. I guess it's a good thing my job is just to keep the tools working for the people qualified to make those decisions."

=/\= Starbase Aeon, Ismael's Lab =/\=

Yavid was mindlessly working on a simulation of a proposed fix to purge the neutrinos embedded within the quantum drive on the Etesian.  They had to find a way to withdraw them without releasing a chroniton wave or the ship could tear itself apart, or the starbase, or rip a hole in space-time.  They simply were playing with a theoretical combination that hadn't been considered.  Of course, if Yavid's instruction to not activate the drive in close proximity of a stellar body like a star, had been followed they wouldn't even know that this would be as difficult as they had discovered it was.

"He may be a kindred spirit... he even expressed a desire to right the wrongs of the past...But I planned on doing this alone.  The risk goes up exponentially if we involve another, especially one that may not wholeheartedly agree," Ismael mused to himself as he worked. "It would be easier if there was another though.  The ship can run itself with a single person operating it, but a second would add some redundancy.  What's the harm in testing him more and seeing if he'd consider it?"

"Or... or I conscript him.  The neutrinos are a much bigger concern than either of us ever considered..." He smiled - a timetable in his mind formulating itself. "Yes... to avoid irreparable damage to the starbase and the planet, we need to move the Etesian to the system's rim or beyond to attempt the neutrino purge.  He'll have no choice but to help then, especially since we'll need to limit the crew aboard to avoid unnecessary loss of life." 

=/\= SB Aeon, Commander Drake's Office =/\=

"...and once the neutrinos are purged, we'll return and finish repairs.  The Etesian should be back to full readiness inside a week," Burnie concluded, finishing his report.

Drake steepled her fingers, one eyebrow ascending. If it were as straightforward as that, you wouldn't be needing to take it outside the system.  "And if you run into difficulty purging the neutrinos?"

He shrugged. "Well, then we'll find out what it's like to get sucked into a temporal singularity."

The Commander's brows rose. "And the chances of that are...?"

"I'm not a Vulcan, sir. I don't calculate odds," he replied. "But with the two of us working together, I'd say the chances are low."

Drake tapped her index fingers to her lips, thinking.  Lotor had raised concerns about Ismael, enough that if he were any average, easily replaceable contractor, she'd have revoked his clearance pending investigation. But there was no one else who could meet his job requirements, except perhaps Burnie.  "And if it were just one of you?"

"A lot lower," he admitted honestly.  "But he's a civilian.  I'm willing to try on my own if you don't want to risk him."

It's you and the Etesian that I don't want to risk. Still, we could be wrong about Ismael.  If the mole is as clever as Lotor makes him out to be, he could be framing him.  And if the ship will still need repairs after the purge, I can invent an excuse to pull him off once they get back...  "No.  I'd rather maximize our chances of not blowing a hole in space-time."

"I'm with you there, sir." Burnie flashed a half-grin. "Don't worry.  DeBlois and I have worked out some ideas to keep the bang down to a pop. And if those don't work, she knows how to seal the hole."

"Very well.  You have permission to take the Etesian," she stated. "There's just one more thing I require of you, Lieutenant."

"Sir?"

"Come back.  Preferably in one piece."

Burnie straightened. "Yes, sir. I'll do my best."

=/\= USS Etesian, Bridge =/\=

"Computer, activate automated pilot program Ismael 1." 

"Automated controls activated," the computer chirped. "Single pilot confirmed by voiceprint and biosensor analysis."

Ismael tapped the comm. "Lt. Burnstein, are you ready?"

"Standing by in engineering.  Maneuvering thrusters and impulse engines are online."

"Starbase Aeon," Yavid stated formally. "This is the Etesian.  We are ready for departure."

"Confirmed Etesian," the Controller replied. "You have clearance for departure immediately.  Follow regular departure vectors until you are outside of the inner combat air patrol radius.  Fair seas Etesian.  Aeon out."

Ismael sat down in the captain's chair.  His chair.  It had always been his chair, his ship, his life's work. How far have I come to finally be here... this moment. I have a clarity of mind about this... it is my destiny.  It is my birthright.  Every moment has been a stepping stone to now... and now I seize control of my destiny.  I have been tasked to safeguard the Federation, civilization itself, democracy, freedom, the value of life itself. It is now time to use time as a weapon not of offense, but of defense.  "Computer, disengage moorings."

The Etesian floated free of the starbase and Ismael, from the captain's chair, helmed the ship clear of the Starbase and then on to an escape vector chosen ahead of time.  The ship accelerated once clear of the starbase's shields and shuttle traffic.  Once they were a tens of thousands of meters away, the impulse engines pulsed to life and pushed the ship away from the starbase rapidly.

As the ship reached the edge of the system, Ismael changed course. The sheltered way was within a LaGrange point of the largest moon of the most distant planet of the Aeon star system.  It would hide the ship's jump to warp.  He may be with me... Ismael thought. Or not.  Until I'm certain, I must be careful. "Computer, begin lockout procedure Ismael Alpha.  Secure the main computer using my fractal code and voiceprint lock all access ports within the system.  Do not display the lockout on any screens except the bridge." 

"Lockout initiated.  Notification restricted to bridge terminals only."

As the Etesian moved into the LaGrange point and the sensor emissions from the starbase dropped to nothing.  There was a sensor buoy here, but he had remotely disabled it and mocked it's transmissions over the last 24 hours so that they would seemingly disappear without a trace.  Originally the intent was to use the temporal drive here, but with the neutrino bombardment in the latticework, he would have to delay that until the neutrinos could be purged, but the regular warp drive was fully functional.  He set a course and heading that would leave them off the starbase's sensors as they ran.  "Go to warp seven and mask our warp trail."

"Warp drive activated," the computer replied.  "Masking systems activated.  Course confirmed.  Warp drive engaging."

=/\= USS Etesian, Engineering =/\=

Burnie felt the vibrations of the ship shift.  The dampening fields had changed their pulse frequency.  It was something not unnoticeable to an engineer, especially without the distraction of much to do except monitoring a temporal core to ensure that movement wasn't doing any damage to it.

Why did we just go to warp?  "Bridge, engineering... are we in a rush to get somewhere?"

"Not at all Michael." Ismael's voice was almost serene. "We have all the time in the universe to get where we're going. I'm sure you're wondering why we're at warp.  I want to explain to you everything, but first we need to talk."

Michael?  He's never called me that before.  Weird.  His curiosity was getting the better of him, but there was a part of his mind that told him to take some precaution and he decided to stop at an arms locker along the way and pick up a phaser, just in case. "Okay... I'll come up."

"I'll be waiting."

A few moments later Burnie stepped from the turbolift onto the bridge. He had found that each arms locker was locked with an additional layer of codes that he couldn't crack.  That didn't stop him. He used a plasma torch to cut his way into one as quickly as possible.  The bulge under his uniform jacket was noticeable though.  He wasn't as used to concealing a phaser as someone used to combat. 

Ismael was sitting in the command chair.  The viewscreen was filled with blurred and streaking stars. "I hope you didn't do too much damage on deck three to that arms locker." 

"It's only superficial," Burnie answered coolly. "Where are we going?"

"Everywhere," Ismael replied. "Michael, if one were able to prevent a murder, would it not be immoral to stand aside and allow it to occur?"

"Of course." Burnie nodded.

"What about a disease?" Ismael pressed.

"Certainly," he agreed. "If there were a cure."

"What about a genocide?"

"It would be the same as the murder of a single person. It would be completely immoral to not act."

"Michael, I looked at the mission logs of the last mission for this ship.  Only after the Federation's security was directly threatened was its use authorized to alter the past. Had the Federation not been threatened, do you think that authorization would have been granted?

Burnie's mouth twisted sourly. "I'm not sure." 

"That is my point," Ismael said, a hand smoothing possessively along the conn arm. "The Etesian's potential is not recognized by Starfleet or the Federation, but I understand the potential of this tool to radically impact the Federation and all lives within the galaxy and universe for the good of all.  The ability to prevent such atrocities without weighing the strategic or tactical advantages or disadvantages of doing so, but to prevent tragedies for all peoples."

Burnie began to feel like he was looking at a man possessed.  Ismael looked more vibrant and alive now than he had ever looked when hunched over a piece of equipment or lying half-within another.  He also noticed a slight shimmer in the air separating them - a force field.

=/\= Starbase Aeon, Drake's Office =/\=

Drake had taken the PaDD first and perused it before passing it to Hirsch, who noted that Lotor wasn't one to provide a summary of the information contained, either that or he had so hastily put it together that he hadn't bothered writing one.  Either way, the information had been highlighted in the right areas.

"I would say this moves us from circumstantial to evidential."

"We've been spending too much time together," Drake drawled. "That sounded like how a prosecutor would say it.  I obviously agree.  Have security pick him up for questioning." 

Hirsch gulped a bit. "Since all we had was circumstantial evidence, his security clearance was never placed on hold, especially considering how crucial he was to repairing the Etesian.  He and Lt. Burnstein just left dock an hour ago aboard her run a crucial, yet dangerous repair to one of the critical systems."

Drake scowled, but realizing how quickly this was going to cross into need-to-know, she nodded at the contractor. "Mr. Lotor, your diligence in this investigation is appreciate greatly.  Major Hirsch and I must speak in private now."

Lotor quickly left after muttering something, but finally beaming a large grin at both - a satisfied look that his efforts had finally proven to not be in vain. 

After the door closed, Hirsch placed the PaDD on the desk. "Sorry, sir, I thought you knew."

"I did know.  I had simply lost track of what time it was.  We can dispatch a ship to bring the Etesian back.  Mr. Samuel can arrest Yavid upon intercept. The charges will be borne out once we can have technicians analyze his personal computers, lab, and tear apart his quarters.  Make sure to revoke his security clearance and secure area privileges."

He walked out into the main ops area. "Mr. Ko'Var, please relay orders to the nearest ready starship to intercept the Etesian.  Mr. Samuel, you'll go aboard and arrest Yavid Ismael upon intercept on suspicion of treason."

"Sir," Ko'Var replied. "I am unable to detect the Etesian."

"They should be well within sensor range." 

The Ops officer rechecked his readings. "The last known track point had them here... near the 3rd moon of the ninth planet."

"Where did they go?  Starships don't simply disappear," he snapped. The time drive?  Could he have used it already? "There is a sensor buoy near there.  Is it functional?"

Ko'Var began to access the buoy.  "Yes... but it's on standby." 

"I'm getting a feed from it," Samuel reported.  "Your system must be wrong."

"It's not," Hirsch said, studying the display.  "It's been faked.  Reset the buoy."

=/\= USS Etesian, Bridge =/\=

And people think I'm crazy... Burnie thought for a moment of how close he'd come to hijacking the Etesian himself to do just what Yavid is suggesting in one instance.  To be able to stop Saba'Nar before he got to Signious Prime, save the millions lost during the Rukakon War... He understands the temptation, especially for the man who created this technology, to want to control it, use it as he believes it should be used. ...and maybe I am crazy.  "You have a point. Honestly, I was getting pretty close to taking over the ship on my own when the orders finally came through."

He understands!  Ismael smiled.  "I suspected as much. The sensor logs indicated someone had made preparations."

"I wouldn't have been able to live myself if 'following orders' meant allowing genocide," Burnie stated truthfully.  "But, the historical genocide that springs to mind, that we could stop now ...well, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be here if my many times great-grandparents hadn't left opposite ends of Germany for New York.  I doubt your family history would have turned out quite same either."

Ismael nodded.  "We will have to be careful about paradox, Michael.  We will stay within our own timelines, at least where earth is concerned.  But if changes must be made in the times when we have been elsewhere, the ship is shielded.  We will not cease to be."

We won't cease to be, but you're okay with the idea of it happening to others...'for the greater good', no doubt... He studied Yavid, who was nearly radiating certainty, righteousness ...or self-righteousness. 'More evil has been done by men so convinced of rightness of their cause that they can justify bending all else to their wills than by all the men who ever gave in to sin.'  He can't remember where the quote is from, but it resonates with warning.  Yavid must have planned this.  How far had he gone to accomplish it?  How far would he go?  "Sounds like you've really thought this out."  

"It has been my sole focus, my very reason for being. We can remake the galaxy, Michael." Obsession shone in Ismael's eyes. "With this ship, we can make it as it ought to be."

For a given value of 'ought'... Burnie thought. I may be crazy, but at least I don't think I'm qualified to play God. for just a moment he was very tempted to play on a quote from Starfleet history asking why 'god' needs a starship, but he couldn't afford to antagonize Yavid, who could probably accomplish his plans alone.  But maybe he's suddenly calling me Michael because he wants me to be his right-hand archangel...  "Okay, I'm on board."  He took the phaser out of his jacket and set it on a console, then held hands open at his sides.  "But we can't do anything with it unless we get the neutrinos purged.  That's not going to happen with us sitting here while the ship warps across the quadrant."

=/\= SB Aeon, Ops =/\=

"No indications of debris" Draked asked. "Or bodies?"

"No sir," the pilot replied. "No evidence of either."

So, Burnie didn't opt for going out with a bang...or couldn't. "Scan for ion trails or subspace distortions."

"I have an ion trail, but I can't get more than initial heading. It looks like an EM pulse was used to disperse it shortly after engaging."

"Record it and map direction," Drake ordered. "We're dispatching a ship for pursuit.  Aeon out." She closed comm, frowning. "That's going to make tracking difficult. I wish we knew where, or when, they planned to take it. She paced, thinking.  "No signs of destruction.  There's some hope Lt. Burnstein might be able to retake the ship or find a way to drop some bread crumbs."

"Unless he's incapacitated." Hirsch frowned. "Or working with Ismael."

Drake shook her head. "I've worked pretty closely with Burnstein.  He was ready to die rather than let those Cardassians take K-7.  He may be eccentric, but he's not a traitor. I only hope he's alive."

=/\= Meanwhile, USS Etesian, Bridge =/\=

"Yes Michael, you see now that this ship is simply a tool. And more than that: a surgeon's scalpel.  Tyrants can be eliminated before they ever take power and commit genocides.  Diseases can be eradicated at their source before they can ravage a planet's population." 

"Yes, it could be used to do that," Burnie agreed. "But how would we know where to start?"

"Like we would solve a problem with a warp manifold.  Dynamic modeling.  I have long been at work building such a program.  It will guide us, much like a religious text... the Talmud, Midrash, or Zohar for instance."  

Burnie noticed that Ismael had lowered the force field.  He thought of the phaser he had set down, but noticed it was gone now, and even if he had it, Yavid had locked out the main computer completely.  He would just be a prisoner on a ship running at warp in an unknown direction if he disabled the older man somehow.  "Wouldn't our actions change the prophetic modeling?"

Ismael smiled. "I like that term Michael. I hadn't considered my modeling program prophetic, but I agree that it will be the more we use it.  To answer your question, yes.  The prophetic model will dynamically change with the timeline.  I built in algorithms to allow it to do so."  He glanced at the ship's chronometer. "We should begin the neutrino purge." 

"I can handle it if you unlock the diagnostic functions in engineering," Burnie offered.

Ismael was weighing whether he was certain in his trust of Burnstein, but he had made this judgment already and he did not want to doubt his instincts.  Burnstein was of like mind, just perhaps not as zealous yet as he.  "Yes, certainly.  Computer, deactivate system lock and extend basic privileges to Michael Burnstein."

The computer chirped. "Voiceprint and biometric confirmation of command recorded.  Privileges set."

"You'll find that your engineering privileges have been restored," Ismael said cordially. "You'll also find your access will be restored to most ship's systems."

"Most?"

"Certain systems will remain locked out until the temporal drive is operational so that Starfleet's short-sighted nature will not stop us before we can make a jump."

=/\= USS Etesian, Engineering, Later =/\=

Burnie read over diagnostic scans.  It was perfectly justified - after the unexpected (at least to him) jump to warp, he needed to recheck the data on the neutrinos embedded within quantum drive and the chroniton actuation valves.  If the purge wasn't done precisely right, it could result in a chroniton wave that could tear the ship apart or rip a hole in space-time.  That was why they'd had permission to take the Etesian far from Aeon and any star system. And why he hadn't gone to do it alone.

I'm not sure whether to be mad that damaging the time drive played into Yavid's hands, or thankful it stopped him from implementing whatever scheme he'd originally had for stealing it... since he seems to think he's god or some sort of messiah - comparing his program to the Zohar? Seriously? - who knows what he might justify doing. His version of tikkun olam - repairing the world - seems to be driven by faith only in himself... He stared at the displays.  It wouldn't take that much to make the purge go wrong.  One misstep and - Kaboom!  Scratch one 'master of the universe' and his unwilling discipline.  But Ismael was a saboteur, and would undoubtedly be on guard for any attempts to sabotage the process.  Which isn't to say that purging the neutrinos didn't present some opportunities.  The ship would have to drop out of warp.  If anyone was looking for them, a neutrino burst far from any star that might emit them should draw notice.  In fact, since the warp drive and time warp engines weren't entirely decoupled...

Surely Yavid has noticed that.  I wonder if it's a test? ...and if it's a test, can I cheat... He tapped his commbadge. "Yavid, the neutrino build-up has increased from running the warp engines at full.  I'm going to need to bleed them away from the drive before we starting leaking a noticeable trail."

"It's good that you caught that, Michael.  How long will it take?"

"If we drop to warp 3, an hour." Burnie fit tools into his belt. "Less if you come down and lend a hand." 

A short time later Burnie had gone down to engineering by himself to prepare the neutrino purge.  Yavid had said he would be along in moments, and true to his word, he was.  Two minutes later he appeared through the doors, asking "Have you begun preparations?"

I just got here...  "I'm starting to set up now," Burnie replied.

"Excellent." Ismael smiled. "Computer, disengage warp drive and engage phase cloak."

The ship slowed from warp and phased out of plane with the galaxy.

"I will monitor the matrix from the station here while you set up the helium containment field," Yavid said, standing near the station and staring at it for a minute before he nodded for Burnstein to continue as if lost in thought for a moment.

=/\= Starbase Aeon, Long Range Sensor Control Room =/\=

Hirsch always was in awe when he found a new part of the starbase.  This place was larger than life, and one of the largest structures ever built in orbit.  As such, there were just not enough hours in the day to find every nook and cranny.  This room was just such a place.  The control room was square and in the center erected in a circle were consoles with just one gap for people to walk through into the center.  The walls were dotted with holographic projectors and other flat displays.

Starships had astrometrics suites when they were large enough, but a starbase had a full stellar cartography lab, and this class starbase apparently had a stellar cartography lab married with long range sensors from every ship part of it's defensive task force, every automated defensive platform in the system's asteroid belt, every sensor buoy, and every long range array within transmission range including an extensive array that was aimed at Cardassian space from deep within Federation space. He was mesmerized at the dance of lights and shapes around and above him as the sensors coagulated their "take" and the computer displayed it as constantly shifting holograms.  Within the various lights and shapes formed by the projection system were symbols and shapes which indicated ships, spatial anomalies being tracked, and other points of interest.

"Major," DeBlois said in short acknowledgment before jumping into her report. "We've been trying to locate the Etesian's warp trail, but the Etesian's nacelle orientation combined with dispersion pulses makes it nearly impossible to detect unless we had a ship right on top of it. So I've been trying to think of other ways we could detect the Etesian.  At first I thought we could simply activate the emergency beacon remotely, but without knowing exactly which azimuth to send that signal out on, we would risk setting off every starships' beacons."

"Let's not do that," Hirsch advised.

"Another option I had is trying to not search for the warp trail, but rather the subspace disturbance caused by a ship's passage, much like looking for a ship's wake rather than for the ship itself. We need to be closer still... Sorting out the various subspace vibrations is difficult because those vibrations continue for light years and interweave and overlap in places. If the Etesian were traveling slow enough, say below warp 3, they were be indistinguishable amongst the background clutter. I also tried to use the sensor links that provide this room with much of their data to see if I could get a source azimuth, but the link was severed when the ship disappeared."

"So we're stuck?"

"Maybe not.  I did some research and the neutrino purge that supposedly needed done on the ship should go unnoticed, but it will cause a momentary chroniton surge.  If we could get an idea which direction to be looking when it happens, we might be able to spot it on the long distance arrays."

"Focus your search on a cone coming to it's apex in the moon's LaGrange point at the time of the ship's disappearance," Hirsch suggested.  "Have it expand out at 60 degree angles from there.  Unless they doubled back past us, we should at least have a chance."

=/\= USS Etesian, Engineering =/\=

Burnie worked quietly on the containment field, seemingly absorbed in his task.  He was a bit surprised when Yavid appeared so quickly, but realized now that he'd either transported site-to-site within the ship or had been somewhere close by keeping an eye him.  Either indicated that he didn't exactly trust him yet.  However, if he'd been watching all he would have seen was an engineer doing perfectly reasonable things.  Calibrating instruments, refining sensors and setting measures to mitigate damage in case the purge didn't go according to plan.

Monitoring from the station... Burnie thought. He could have done that from the bridge. I guess he wants to keep an eye on me. But not too close in case I try to knock him out with a spanner. He smiled to himself; he'd halfway expected it.  Not likely since I'm pretty sure he took that phaser.  But fair enough. I'm just as happy to have him right there and can see what he's seeing. He glanced at the station display mirrored on his wrist PaDD.  "The containment field is almost ready. Check the interphase coils.  I'm reading a shift in neutrino concentration."

Ismael looked over the station read outs. "Yes.  I expected that might happen; a result of dropping out of warp." He tapped a sequence on the controls.  "I've adjusted the dimorphic inertia system to compensate."

After checking the reading, Burnie nodded. "Then we're ready to begin." He pulled out a phase coil resonator for monitoring micro energy gradients. "I'll keep an eye on the containment field, just to be sure."

"On my mark," Ismael said. "Computer initial purge program Ismael-0-0-9-1."

"Program initiated," it replied.

Both men stood at the respective stations watching the readings  The purge would require shunting neutrinos into the containment field and then a controlled release out into space. To minimize the danger of temporal shock-wave, they had broken it into two phases.  First draining the neutrinos from the quantum drive - 1/3 of the build-up so any unforeseen complications were less likely to prove catastrophic - and then from the temporal matrix.

Ismael, while seemingly absorbed in data, kept a close eye on Burnstein.  However, as the minutes ticked away through the first phase and the other engineer remained dutifully focused on accomplishing the task, his wariness began to relax.

"Only background levels of neutrinos in the drive," Burnie reported, and exhaled a relieved breath. "Looks like phase one went without a hitch."

Ismael smiled, the first smile genuinely returned to another human being in a long time. "Yes. It did. Computer initial purge program Ismael-0-0-9-2." He felt a growing sense of elation as the last phase progressed. Soon the Etesian would be fully functional. Soon his destiny would be within his grasp.  And he will have help in achieving it. I've had to be paranoid to accomplish my goal for so long, it's understandable that it's become habit. But I should know to trust my instincts; my instinct about Michael was right.

Watching as the purge reaches 25% completion, Burnie glanced to the side and gave Ismael a quick grin. "So far so good. Just little variation from the projected curve..." As soon as Ismael reflexively leaned closer to check, Burnie adjusted his resonator and threw it into the field.  

FZZTT!  A burst of neutrinos, barely below the threshold for spatial-temporal shock wave, flew out, rocking the ship!  The field collapsed and sending feedback through every system in the room.  Consoles erupted in arcs of energy, sparks flying everywhere!*

Burnie hit the deck and rolled, looking up in time to see Yavid blown back when his station exploded.  Yavid groaned and began to try to sit up.  Burnie took a moment to check that his safety measures kick in, shunting neutrinos back through every available pathway - no point in missing the show if he's going to die anyway - and then grabbed his tool kit and ran, a phrase from an old earth movie echoing in his head. Yippee-ki-yay...