by Dalton S. Spence
Part VIII - Expert Testimony
The Special Select Committee on Time Travel has called for an immediate hearing at Starfleet Command to consider my request for an authorized rescue mission to twentieth century Earth to retrieve our ship's counsellor. Ordinarily, I would be very pleased by the speed at which the hearing was arranged, but unfortunately my crew and the research team headed by Dr. Bennett have yet to uncover any evidence of such a mission having already taken place. Since this is the most important requirement to authorize such a mission, it will be difficult for us to present our case successfully at this time. However, I have no alternative. If I fail, there is no appeal. Therefore, in spite of my misgivings, I have made arrangements for the attendance of a very special witness."
It was the third day of testimony. The first two had consisted of an in depth examination of the authenticity of the archaeological evidence. Captain Picard was taking no chances with the Admiral's prediction about the excuses the committee might use to obstruct his goal. Each step in the discovery and examination of the underground community was rigorously analysed and thoroughly documented. Doctor Bennett's mother was called to testify as to the authenticity of the Bennett Journal. Finally the committee officially accepted the evidence as valid and not tampered with. Today would consist of an examination of more recent events.
"Captain Picard, why did you not contact this committee immediately when you became convinced that one of your crew was going to be sent back in time?" The question came from the head of the committee, Dr. Jason Devereaux. He was the youngest person ever to head the committee, and had made it clear at the outset that it would take a create deal of convincing before he would lend his vote to this venture.
"At that point in time, we knew next to nothing about what was going to happen. Until Q actually abducted Counsellor Troi, I had nothing to report that the committee could do anything about. Most of the information we have now was uncovered AFTER the abduction."
"Do you have any ideas as to the motives of the Q entity?" asked the member from Vulcan, T'Synn. "It seems highly illogical that a being of such intelligence and power would risk the integrity of the time-space continuum over such a trivial reason as a wager."
"On the contrary, it seems perfectly in character. Please remember that Q claims to come from an entirely different continuum from us. Possibly he feels immune from any consequences to this one. He has shown us repeatedly that he considers all lesser lifeforms trivial, an opinion which he delights in sharing with us. I doubt very much that he would bother to lie to me. I have even begun to suspect what his wager might be."
The Andorian delegate Lham B'din inclined his head politely towards Picard, to let his antennae more accurately see and hear him. In a slightly sarcastic tone he asked, "Do you think you could bring yourself to share that speculation with us?"
Ignoring the Andorian's tone, Picard continued. "The basis of my theory rests in something Q said shortly before he disappeared. May I," Picard said, indicating the computer console. Dr. Devereaux nodded. "Computer, replay audio record, senior staff briefing, stardate 46928.03, starting after my words 'Q, what is the meaning of this outrage.' Begin"
The sound of Q's voice filled the hearing room. "See, don't you feel better now? No? Well, to answer your question, I need your Counselor to help settle a little wager. Don't worry, she won't harmed, and can return to you after I'm through. That is, if she wants to. But you'll have to have to come to pick her up."
"Computer, end playback," ordered Jomak Ovik, the temporal physicist from Tellar. "We already know he wants us to go back. All the more reason not to. What are you trying to prove, anyway?"
"The key phrase is immediately before that," said the Admiral, grasping what Picard was trying to say. "Q said, 'if she wants to'. This implies that, for some reason, Counselor Troi might WANT to stay in the twentieth century. But why?"
"I believe I can answer that question," said a voice from the back of the room. Picard fidgeted uncomfortably on the witness stand as the newcomer made her way forward. Doctor Bennett gasped in outrage, while Beverly, sitting off to the side with the rest of the command crew, sent a glare her captain's way. The committee members exchanged puzzled looks as the beautiful woman reached the witness stand. "It's been a long time, Jean Luc," she said, smiling at the clearly uneasy Captain.
Annoyed at the theatrical entrance of this new witness, Devereaux sent a look that warned Picard "you'd better have a good explaination for this". Clearing his throat, Picard spoke to the committee. "Gentlebeings of the committee, I would like to introduce the foremost expert on the entity Q, and noted archaeologist, Dr. Vash."
"Thank you, Captain," said Vash as she assumed the witness stand. "I am very proud to testify before this committee on such an important matter. The primary thing to understand about Q is his constant need to prove that not only are lesser powered beings trivial, but so are their ideals and beliefs. For almost two years I travelled with Q, and watched as he dealt with numerous races. One of his favorite games is to take a race's cherished ideals or legends, and 'prove' they are based on logical fallacies or outright lies. That is what this wager is about. And Deanna Troi is only a pawn in his game."
"And the ideal being discredited is...?" asked the Admiral.
"True Love. Specifically, the story of Vincent and Catherine Chandler." Vash paused for dramatic effect. "Since the news broke about the tunnels under New York, many people have approached the Archaeology Council with stories handed down by word of mouth about that place. Most of them centre around the Beauty and the Beast aspect. All of them agree Catherine was Vincent's one true love. Legends like this are important to society because they promote optimism, which is a much greater force than you might think."
"Deanna Troi is supposed to destroy this legend? How?" asked T'Synn.
"An important part of the story is the empathic bond that existed between Vincent and Catherine. This enabled Vincent to rescue Catherine from mortal danger several times. The only time he failed was when the bond was broken by traumatic experiences. But Counselor Troi has her own empathic abilities. Q probably believes that if a new bond is established between Counselor Troi and Vincent, the once in a lifetime love story will become a story of first love.
What Catherine and Vincent had was an eternal love, lasting beyond death. Such a love is always more interesting than first love stories. That is why so many of the famous love stories are tragic ones. If the story changed, all the lives influenced by the story would also change."
"More importantly," interrupted Picard, "the genetic history of the human race could be altered." This startling pronouncement caught and held the committee's attention. "According to the Bennett journal, Vincent had a child by Catherine that inherited some of his empathic powers. If my ship's counselor should fall in love and marry Vincent, their children might not only be empathic, but telepathic as well. Such talents would allow them to rise to positions of power, where they could alter history as we know it. This would be a clear and present danger to the integrity of known history."
The committee was clearly impressed by this idea. It was one thing to speculate about the social effects of a myth, but another to introduce into the past people that had never existed before. People who would be genetically and psionicly superior to the average man, as well. The spectre of Khan's eugenic supermen(1) was still fresh in the committee's mind. They decided to recess to consider it further.
Omaha Air Force Base turned almost turned out to be a dead end. The underground C&C bunker was still intact, but there were holes in the ancient computers where the hard disks should have been. But luck was with the Professor. As he kicked one of the consoles in fustration, a rusted panel swung open, and a yellowed piece of paper fell out. He carefully scanned this meager piece of evidence with his archaeology tricorder, and managed to extract an image from that document. It was a receipt for the drives from Strategic Air Command headquarters at Cheyenne Mountain, Wyoming.
Cheyenne Mountain was probably the most examined and documented military installation on Earth. Every piece of data that could be extracted from the many computers there had been catalogued over a hundred years before. It was a simple matter to search the database using the serial numbers on the receipt. To his consternation the Professor saw that the drives had been wiped almost immediately upon installation. However a minute examination of the communication logs showed that an off site full system backup to a secret New Mexico facility had been in progress at that time. It was possible that at least part of the data on those new drives had been backed up before they were wiped.
Filled with renewed enthusiasm, the Professor was about to call the facility, which now served as a museum for the technologies that had been state-of-the-art at the time, when he RECEIVED a call on his personal audio communicator from the self same facility. Apparently someone had been monitoring his work.
After an attractive female voice had asked him to identify himself, the voice continued, "I understand you are looking for some data about a twentieth century military project called Bluebook 9?"
"Yes," replied the Professor, "it's really rather urgent that I find this information immediately. Could you please give me access to your computer?"
"Honey," replied the voice, sounding amused, "I AM the computer."
REFERENCE
1. ST:TOS "Space Seed" SD? (Aired ?) and the movie "STAR TREK II: The Wrath of Khan"