"We're sending the Enterprise to the edge of Romulan space, where you'll rendezvous with their flagship, the Tebok," the admiral told Lowry, his voice as cool and emotionless as ever. "When you reach it, you'll activate your temporal engine and follow this criminal to the edge of time."
A hundred years ago, no one had dreamed of this. No one had dreamed of reaching a speed of 100 times the speed of light, but they were so close. It was within their grasp, the theoretically impossible was being deemed possible, all because of the new temporal engine breakthrough. It had functioned properly in all the field tests, and now it was time to really stretch the drive's legs. The whole of the Federation, however, was wishing that it could be on better terms; this technology had been developed for the sole purpose of capturing and perhaps killing an inter-dimensional criminal: the Doctor.
There was a legend of a humanoid by the name of "The Traveler", who used, quite simply, the power of his imagination to travel between starships and alter space-time. It was a just a legend, however, a story told to Starfleet children crawling under the covers of their comfortable beds. This "Traveler" had nothing to do with the Doctor, either; the "Traveler" had always been a hero to the Federation.
The admiral set a data pad on the desk, and pushed it toward the rather distracted Lowry. He was completely absorbed in making sure his attention stance was perfect, and didn't notice that he'd been offered any information. He heard the admiral sigh, only vaguely, though. When the admiral spoke, he was finally able to pull Lowry back out of his eagerness for perfection. "At ease, Captain, you've got the Enterprise now, and no one will take her away from you." Really, the admiral had no idea what Lowry was thinking. An imperfect posture of attention while seated wasn't going to take an entire starship away from the new captain.
Lowry let out a breath he had no idea he'd been holding and picked up the pad. On it was a summary of why they were pursuing the "Doctor", just the reasons he already knew, a threat to the timeline, ruining the future of the Federation, ruining the future of the galaxy. Yes, just the reasons ever Starfleet officer was already aware of, probably the reasons the whole galaxy was aware of.
Oh, those were more important reasons than he'd thought...
Lowry's life and timeline as he knew it could quite possibly disappear within the next few weeks, perhaps the next few days. If the timeline were to be altered, he wouldn't be aware of it, of course, but the Federation was in dangerous waters here. Everything they'd worked so hard to build and protect could be destroyed, and it wouldn't be that hard to knock down. This "Doctor" character, he was a threat, and had no respect for the space-time continuum. He thought he could fly about in his fantastic little piece of machinery, touching and contaminating whatever he wanted without consequence. He obviously hadn't caused any major damage yet, but that could all change in the blink of an eye. But they had hope, the Enterprise. "Are you finally beginning to understand the importance of this mission?" the admiral asked, his gaze growing intent as he leaned closer to Lowry.
The new captain slumped down in his chair, suddenly not feeling quite up to having the fate of the Federation and perhaps more in his hands. He wasn't about to back out, though; that wasn't quite Lowry's style. After a few moments, he nodded to the admiral, determined to win this battle. "I do understand now, Sir. The Enterprise will get the job done," he promised.
"Good," the admiral said, running a hand through his greying hair. He leaned back in his chair, staring searchingly at Lowry. Honestly, he wasn't sure this adolescent captain was up to the job. He'd never had the best academy grades, he didn't always think every situation completely through, but he was determined. He had a determination that the admiral had never seen in any other cadet, and he knew that Lowry would try. He would try until he won, or until he sent the Enterprise to her doom trying. His faith was not misplaced.
The captain and the admiral stood and shook hands, their gazes locked. The admiral had probably just sent Lowry off on a permanent away mission. And not just Lowry, he'd also sent off the Enterprise, the flagship, her temporal engine, her state-of-the-art warp drive, and a crew of Starfleet's best. Losing the ship would be a heavy blow to Starfleet, and the admiral preferred not to lose anyone to the hands of a criminal.
Once they'd finished the handshake, Lowry turned and headed toward the door, and it had just opened when the admiral stopped him from leaving the office.
"Oh, Utopia Planitia said something about a main computer 'glitch', but they also said it was minor and could be fixed in space. Thought I'd warn you before you found a little something wrong with your brand-new Indomitable class starship. I forget exactly what it was, but again, don't worry, just let your engineer know," he admiral told him.
The captain nodded, giving him a smile. "I'm sure it's nothing, but thanks for the heads-up." He turned to exit once again, when he breathed a sigh and turned back to the admiral. He looked around the room, taking every little detail in, but he said nothing, as if he'd forgotten to do so.
"Something wrong, James?" the admiral questioned, an eyebrow raised.
The captain was once again jerked out of his thoughts by his superior, feeling rather idiotic. "Nothing, sir, I just hope I'll see the headquarters again," he explained. Obviously eager to leave now that he'd appeared rather stupid, he turned on his heel and walked briskly out of the room.
The admiral watched him go, hoping exactly the same thing.