Well she certainly knew the way to sickbay now. That was about all
she knew, but she knew it well. They were back in the sterile comfort of
sickbay before she could even ask where they were going. She was asked to
take a seat and a smiling, though tisking, doctor, quickly checked her
over.
"You have been unconscious for four days now, what you really need is fluids and sustenance, not a trip to engineering. Other then that though I would say you seem to be in fairly good shape. No need for you to stay here any longer really." He smiled at her " I also should let you know that I took the liberty of correcting your vision. In their removable and their frozen state your optical correctors were unfortunately irreparable. By me." He qualified. Then he nodded to the Captain, who stood nearby.
She found herself absently touching her face, in a state of near shock. This she would deal with later.
The Doctors name was Dr. Phlox, she had been told. And he was indeed an alien in some kind of exchange program. With the majority of the words being unfamiliar to her, she was having a hard time remembering the particulars.
He did have the most startling blues eyes, though, and an almost disturbingly large smile. She couldn't help but smile back at him. He just seemed one of those people who saw the bright side of everything. Always good to have one of those around.
Hoshi had also come to sickbay with them, promising the Captain an answer to some question he had posed earlier. Maggie wasn't sure what the question had been, but having the answer close on the horizon had seemed to calm him down rather quickly.
"Thank you Doctor. If we could have a moment please?" The Captain left the open-ended question hanging.
"Of course sir, let me know if you need anything further." And with that he left through the beautiful glass doorway.
"Now Ms. Claims, if you don't mind I would like some answers please."
Well at least he said please. He could always have just simply reverted to mind probes or torture. Please was a good sign.
"Ok." She said sitting up straighter on the biobed and absently brushing her short black hair out of her eyes. "I don't really know were to start, and I'm not entirely convinced you'll believe me." She looked up at him to gage his reaction.
Hoshi used the pause to speak up.
"Captain, this might be a good time for me to answer your question from earlier. Then Ms.Claims can fill in the blanks for us."
Maggie wasn't sure exactly what was going on, but if it postponed her talking herself in to a straightjacket, well then it was ok with her.
The Captain nodded and turned his attention back to Maggie.
"The first time you woke up you introduced yourself to me. I then asked Ensign Sato here to run a background check on it to see what we could learn."
"That seems a reasonable thing to do." She said feeling he needed a reply there.
"Yes well, I did the check." Hoshi said. "And it came back with more questions then answers."
"Considering how I got here that's understandable."
Hoshi nodded and faced the Captain to relay what she had learned.
"A Margaret Claimes matching Ms.Claimes description came up in three different places. I had ruled out all three, now I'm beginning to reconsider. You see the first one is currently serving on a cargo vessel that won't be back in range for another two years. I contacted Captain Fargo and was informed that Mrs.Claimes was the wife of his first officer and currently the ship medic and expecting their third child. So I ruled her out. The second was Margaret Claimes who resided in Paris, France until she died at the age of 67 in a shuttle crash over the Atlantic. The third was the most farfetched of all. Maggie Claimes, an engineer working for the government in a secret instillation in Utah, disappeared with out a trace. One man, a fellow scientist claimed that he knew what happened to her, but his stories later led him to be committed to a local hospital for mental health treatments for a period of about one year."
Maggie was listening intently the whole time. Poor Mark, he finally finds something and can't find a single person to believe him. Well she believed him. And if she ever got back to see him again she planned on telling him just that. She looked at the Captain to see how he was reacting to these bits of information. He seemed willing to listen and consider at this point. And for her that was better then being treated for mental health disorders any day.
"Well the last one is the one that seems most feasible, Ensign. What else did you find?"
"Well the thing is, I would have thought it was our best bet too, but Maggie Claimes, the engineer disappeared in the year 2001."
Hoshi stopped talking, allowing for that bit of news to sink in.
Maggie braced herself visibly for what was sure to happen next. Maybe straight jackets wouldn't be that uncomfortable after all.
"So we're dealing with time travel here. T'pol isn't going to like this. Impossible my butt."
Maggie couldn't have been more shocked if the Captain had up and said he was the wizard of Oz and Ensign Sato was really the Scarecrow. They were actually jumping to the right conclusion. They hadn't ruled her out, but instead she was now well on her way to being understood. She just couldn't believe it.
"So, Ms. Claimes," the Captain began, addressing her.
"Maggie." She corrected almost instinctively.
He smiled. "Maggie, why don't you tell us how you got here? Assuming you are the Maggie Claimes that Ensign Sato is describing. Or are you a pregnant first officers wife?" he was actually trying to put her at ease. She almost fell over backwards in her shock.
"No. I mean no I'm not pregnant, or a first officers wife, or anyone's wife for that matter. But yes I will answer your questions and tell you what I know."
He nodded for her to continue and Hoshi smiled warmly at her.
"Well I'm an engineer, but I deal more in theories then absolutes." She fell easily in to her pitch. The way she had millions of times. This was something she could control. She had made this speech about her and her work many times before and routine was a glorious thing.
"When I graduated with my degrees I had planned to go straight in to development at NASA or Bowing or something equally glamorous. I ended up working in my uncle's airplane garage in Washington State instead. Then I answered a want ad one day and it turned out to be for a government research position. It was like a dream. I had been tinkering with this Idea I had since before I went to school. An Idea that it was possible to travel faster then the speed of light thought the warping of space around a vessel. I even had a rough idea of what an engine capable of doing this would have to look like. So of course I applied for the job right away. I turned out to be more then I bargained for though. It was in a secret research facility that had been set up in Utah. I was actually one of the people they had hired for strictly cover story status. We were given places to live, and places to work, and funds to work with, but we were defiantly not top priority. The bases primary function was to develop military technology. But I worked with what I had.
"I was actually really close to proving my theory when a colleague of mine, Mark, made his ground breaking discovery. He found a way to see through space and time."
Archer's eyebrows went up at this and he uncrossed his arms and leaned in, gaining interest in her story.
" He called them windows. I of course thought he was nuts, who wouldn't, but he was convinced he was right. So he decided to prove it to me by giving me a demonstration, a private screening if you will. And well it worked, but I got in the way and the window suddenly turned in to a door, and I suddenly found myself knee deep in the snow looking up at two moons." She held up her hands in defeat. "And now you know as much as I do."
There was a long silent pause from the both of them. They were thinking it over.
"Maybe it would be good to bring T'pol in on this?" Hoshi suggested.
Archer nodded. "This seems to be bigger then I thought. I mean a warp engine before world war III, what kind of world would we live in now."
"Seems like a paradox to me, I'm really no good at those."
"I'm not sure anyone is."
They finally turned their attention back to her. Maggie smiled at them nervicely.
"I'm not crazy." She just needed to say it out loud.
Archer stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Its ok. We believe you Maggie. This isn't the first time we've come across something like this. Tell you what, I'll have some quarters prepared for you and Ensign Sato will show you to the mess hall to get something to eat, doctors orders. Then once you've eaten and settled in we'll talk some more. I'd like my science officer to hear everything you remember about your friends discovery." He was smiling kindly and it was all Maggie could do not to break in to tears.
They believed her! It was almost to good to be true.
"I'd really like that, thank you."
He squeezed her shoulder and then turned to Hoshi.
"Let me know when she's settled in."
"Yes sir."
And with that he left the room.
*Sorry it's so short. I'll try and make the next one longer. Feedback is always welcome! ( *
To Be Continued…
"You have been unconscious for four days now, what you really need is fluids and sustenance, not a trip to engineering. Other then that though I would say you seem to be in fairly good shape. No need for you to stay here any longer really." He smiled at her " I also should let you know that I took the liberty of correcting your vision. In their removable and their frozen state your optical correctors were unfortunately irreparable. By me." He qualified. Then he nodded to the Captain, who stood nearby.
She found herself absently touching her face, in a state of near shock. This she would deal with later.
The Doctors name was Dr. Phlox, she had been told. And he was indeed an alien in some kind of exchange program. With the majority of the words being unfamiliar to her, she was having a hard time remembering the particulars.
He did have the most startling blues eyes, though, and an almost disturbingly large smile. She couldn't help but smile back at him. He just seemed one of those people who saw the bright side of everything. Always good to have one of those around.
Hoshi had also come to sickbay with them, promising the Captain an answer to some question he had posed earlier. Maggie wasn't sure what the question had been, but having the answer close on the horizon had seemed to calm him down rather quickly.
"Thank you Doctor. If we could have a moment please?" The Captain left the open-ended question hanging.
"Of course sir, let me know if you need anything further." And with that he left through the beautiful glass doorway.
"Now Ms. Claims, if you don't mind I would like some answers please."
Well at least he said please. He could always have just simply reverted to mind probes or torture. Please was a good sign.
"Ok." She said sitting up straighter on the biobed and absently brushing her short black hair out of her eyes. "I don't really know were to start, and I'm not entirely convinced you'll believe me." She looked up at him to gage his reaction.
Hoshi used the pause to speak up.
"Captain, this might be a good time for me to answer your question from earlier. Then Ms.Claims can fill in the blanks for us."
Maggie wasn't sure exactly what was going on, but if it postponed her talking herself in to a straightjacket, well then it was ok with her.
The Captain nodded and turned his attention back to Maggie.
"The first time you woke up you introduced yourself to me. I then asked Ensign Sato here to run a background check on it to see what we could learn."
"That seems a reasonable thing to do." She said feeling he needed a reply there.
"Yes well, I did the check." Hoshi said. "And it came back with more questions then answers."
"Considering how I got here that's understandable."
Hoshi nodded and faced the Captain to relay what she had learned.
"A Margaret Claimes matching Ms.Claimes description came up in three different places. I had ruled out all three, now I'm beginning to reconsider. You see the first one is currently serving on a cargo vessel that won't be back in range for another two years. I contacted Captain Fargo and was informed that Mrs.Claimes was the wife of his first officer and currently the ship medic and expecting their third child. So I ruled her out. The second was Margaret Claimes who resided in Paris, France until she died at the age of 67 in a shuttle crash over the Atlantic. The third was the most farfetched of all. Maggie Claimes, an engineer working for the government in a secret instillation in Utah, disappeared with out a trace. One man, a fellow scientist claimed that he knew what happened to her, but his stories later led him to be committed to a local hospital for mental health treatments for a period of about one year."
Maggie was listening intently the whole time. Poor Mark, he finally finds something and can't find a single person to believe him. Well she believed him. And if she ever got back to see him again she planned on telling him just that. She looked at the Captain to see how he was reacting to these bits of information. He seemed willing to listen and consider at this point. And for her that was better then being treated for mental health disorders any day.
"Well the last one is the one that seems most feasible, Ensign. What else did you find?"
"Well the thing is, I would have thought it was our best bet too, but Maggie Claimes, the engineer disappeared in the year 2001."
Hoshi stopped talking, allowing for that bit of news to sink in.
Maggie braced herself visibly for what was sure to happen next. Maybe straight jackets wouldn't be that uncomfortable after all.
"So we're dealing with time travel here. T'pol isn't going to like this. Impossible my butt."
Maggie couldn't have been more shocked if the Captain had up and said he was the wizard of Oz and Ensign Sato was really the Scarecrow. They were actually jumping to the right conclusion. They hadn't ruled her out, but instead she was now well on her way to being understood. She just couldn't believe it.
"So, Ms. Claimes," the Captain began, addressing her.
"Maggie." She corrected almost instinctively.
He smiled. "Maggie, why don't you tell us how you got here? Assuming you are the Maggie Claimes that Ensign Sato is describing. Or are you a pregnant first officers wife?" he was actually trying to put her at ease. She almost fell over backwards in her shock.
"No. I mean no I'm not pregnant, or a first officers wife, or anyone's wife for that matter. But yes I will answer your questions and tell you what I know."
He nodded for her to continue and Hoshi smiled warmly at her.
"Well I'm an engineer, but I deal more in theories then absolutes." She fell easily in to her pitch. The way she had millions of times. This was something she could control. She had made this speech about her and her work many times before and routine was a glorious thing.
"When I graduated with my degrees I had planned to go straight in to development at NASA or Bowing or something equally glamorous. I ended up working in my uncle's airplane garage in Washington State instead. Then I answered a want ad one day and it turned out to be for a government research position. It was like a dream. I had been tinkering with this Idea I had since before I went to school. An Idea that it was possible to travel faster then the speed of light thought the warping of space around a vessel. I even had a rough idea of what an engine capable of doing this would have to look like. So of course I applied for the job right away. I turned out to be more then I bargained for though. It was in a secret research facility that had been set up in Utah. I was actually one of the people they had hired for strictly cover story status. We were given places to live, and places to work, and funds to work with, but we were defiantly not top priority. The bases primary function was to develop military technology. But I worked with what I had.
"I was actually really close to proving my theory when a colleague of mine, Mark, made his ground breaking discovery. He found a way to see through space and time."
Archer's eyebrows went up at this and he uncrossed his arms and leaned in, gaining interest in her story.
" He called them windows. I of course thought he was nuts, who wouldn't, but he was convinced he was right. So he decided to prove it to me by giving me a demonstration, a private screening if you will. And well it worked, but I got in the way and the window suddenly turned in to a door, and I suddenly found myself knee deep in the snow looking up at two moons." She held up her hands in defeat. "And now you know as much as I do."
There was a long silent pause from the both of them. They were thinking it over.
"Maybe it would be good to bring T'pol in on this?" Hoshi suggested.
Archer nodded. "This seems to be bigger then I thought. I mean a warp engine before world war III, what kind of world would we live in now."
"Seems like a paradox to me, I'm really no good at those."
"I'm not sure anyone is."
They finally turned their attention back to her. Maggie smiled at them nervicely.
"I'm not crazy." She just needed to say it out loud.
Archer stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Its ok. We believe you Maggie. This isn't the first time we've come across something like this. Tell you what, I'll have some quarters prepared for you and Ensign Sato will show you to the mess hall to get something to eat, doctors orders. Then once you've eaten and settled in we'll talk some more. I'd like my science officer to hear everything you remember about your friends discovery." He was smiling kindly and it was all Maggie could do not to break in to tears.
They believed her! It was almost to good to be true.
"I'd really like that, thank you."
He squeezed her shoulder and then turned to Hoshi.
"Let me know when she's settled in."
"Yes sir."
And with that he left the room.
*Sorry it's so short. I'll try and make the next one longer. Feedback is always welcome! ( *
To Be Continued…
