Chapter 4: Violations of the Temporal Prime Directive
As Janeway woke up, she realized that she had to go quickly. Mark woke up, and said "where are you going" Janeway responded, "sorry, but I have some work to do, I have to go now, see you later", Mark quickly replied, "oh I won't let you go without having breakfast first, at the very least", Janeway wanted to get out as quickly as possible, but agreed as to not make it appear as if something might be wrong, "I'd love to", said Janeway, to ease Mark. Once breakfast was over, Janeway went home. She remembered that she was days away from the God-forsaken mission to the badlands. And then it hit her. "Tuvok. I have to contact Tuvok", Janeway worriedly realized. She knew that in the "original" timeline, whatever that means to her now, she was unable to reach Tuvok, which prompted her mission to the Badlands in the first place. So she had to reach Tuvok and send an encrypted message as quickly as possible. She went to Starfleet Headquarters to discuss with Admiral Paris, how he could possibly locate Lieutenant Commander Tuvok. Admiral Paris asked Janeway "what's the hurry, I'm sure Tuvok is fine. He's probably not able to answer at the moment, given his proximity to the Maquis, we can't risk contacting him or he will be caught", "I understand Admiral, but its extremely urgent" Janeway replied. "Might I know what this is about?" the Admiral asked. Janeway, having to quickly conceal her true motives, answered, "its of a personal nature, but it's extremely important, is there any way of reaching him" Janeway asked. "Well, its possible. We may be able to ask Commander Sisko of Deep Space Nine, to relay your message. He may be able to find him somehow" the Admiral replied. "Thank you, Admiral", Janeway said, but before she could go, "I always collect on favors I am owed, Captain, remember that" the Admiral unashamedly remarked. "I will keep that in mind", said Janeway, and quickly left.
She went to her home, and wondered what to tell Tuvok, if she could reach him at all. "Do I tell Tuvok not to go to the badlands, and possibly risk having him be found out, or do I tell him to go to the Badlands, knowing what to expect when he arrives in the Delta Quadrant, and inform him what to do in order to get back" wondered Janeway. She realized the best decision would be to allow Tuvok and Chakotay to reach the badlands, and if they do get pulled in by the coherent tetryon beam of the Caretaker, Tuvok will at least know where he is, who he has to deal with, how he can avoid the Kazon, possibly help Neelix rescue Kes, and then be sent back to the Alpha Quadrant while simultaneously ensuring the Caretaker's Array is destroyed as well. "Computer, begin encrypted and secured message, to be only accessed by Lieutenant Commander Tuvok" spoke Janeway, "acknowledged" the computer responded, "begin message." "Tuvok, I hope you are reading this message alone. It is important you tell no one. I can only trust you with this information. I'm not the Janeway you knew up to recently, I'm from over 4 years in the future, from exactly Stardate 52340. I come from a future where our mission to the badlands strands us in the Delta Quadrant, over 70,000 light years away, due to a regrettable decision I had to make, to save an alien species, the Ocampa. We were on a mission to the Badlands to find you, when we also got pulled in by an entity known as the caretaker. Tuvok, it is important you listen carefully, I will not be able to come to the Badlands this time to find you. But it is imperative you do not stop the mission which leads you to the Badlands a few days from now, or you may risk getting caught and being killed. If and when you do get to the badlands, a coherent tetryon beam will pull you 70,000 light years from the Federation. You will encounter a space station, which is the Caretaker's array. They are a species called the Nacene, and are not humanoid. The caretaker is looking for biological samples so he can mate and produce an offspring to continue taking care of another species, called the Ocampa. But he will fail in finding a biological match, and will be forced to destroy the Space station, stranding you in the Delta Quadrant. Your mission, is to immediately find any excuse to transport to the Caretaker's array, ALONE, when you arrive in the Delta Quadrant, and explain to the Caretaker that you have knowledge from the future, that you know his intentions, and that you know that he will fail in finding a match in the crew of the Maquis Ship Valjean. You must tell him that you must be sent back, and to not waste time on your Maquis crew, sampling them, and you must avoid interacting with a species known as the Kazon. Tell the Caretaker that once he sends your crew back, he can safely and securely self destruct his station. Oh and one more thing, if you encounter a Talaxian named Neelix, please pretend to ask him to help you find out whats going on. He will use you to rescue his girlfriend, an Ocampa named Kes. When you arrive on the planet she's being held on, simply inform him you can scan the planet, and beam up anyone, so he can inform you that she's the only Ocampa on the surface, making your job easier, as in the original timeline, we were forced to go on the surface, and this action was mostly responsible for stranding us in the Delta Quadrant. Do not make contact with the Kazon. Once you get back, we will send three runabouts to your ship, they will pretend to want only you, and inform your ship that you have committed many crimes, you will tell your crew that you are willing to turn yourself in to avoid getting the rest of the Maquis crew killed, and then, when you are safely beamed aboard, you can then fire on the Maquis ship, and capture the Maquis crew. Lastly, ask Neelix and Kes if they would like to come back to the Federation with you, make up any excuse to keep them if they decide they want to. I will inform the runabouts to beam them along as well, making up an excuse that they were brought along seeking asylum. Good Luck, Tuvok".
Having sent the message to Deep Space Nine, Commander Benjamin Sisko received the message, but was curious as to why it was encrypted, and why it was so urgent. Sisko contacted Janeway, "Captain Janeway, I've received your message. I see you want it sent to a Lieutenant Commander named Tuvok, and you say he's undercover in the Maquis. I want to know what's in the message before I risk the lives of my crew to deliver it somehow, safely." said Sisko. Janeway knew she was in a pinch here, but she knew there is no way she could reveal the truth, so she made up some excuse, "I understand your concern Commander, but the message is extremely important and urgently needed, I'm afraid Starfleet required the message to be heavily encrypted, to prevent it from falling into Maquis hands" Janeway said, "I understand the need for security, but we are on the same side here, it would help a lot if I knew the contents of the message, and verify that the contents of the message haven't been compromised, or are perhaps intended to be delivered to a double agent" Sisko responded with concern." "Commander, I have no time to explain my orders. You are ordered to find any way to deliver the message immediately, is that understood, Commander" Janeway asked authoritatively, "Understood", Sisko replied, "but I will note this order in my log, and carry it out despite my objections" Sisko informed Janeway, as to let her know he knew something was going on. "You have your orders" Janeway said in a confident tone, trying to make Sisko's suspicions seem like his own paranoia. With that, Sisko took the message to Odo, knowing Odo would be the only one to carry out the message. Odo requested passage in a Kobheerian Freighter whose route would pass the Badlands, allowing Odo to make a discreet stop in one of the worlds of the Demilitarized zone in the Cardassian side of the border, but not before Quark got on his nerves by threatening to commit as many crimes during his absence as possible. With that, Odo was successfully able to give the message to Tuvok, undetected. When Tuvok read the message, he could not believe the captain would violate the Temporal Prime Directive so blatantly, but he realized his trust in Janeway is absolute, and that she must have had a very good reason for breaking the temporal prime directive, not knowing that in reality, she was just feeling guilt, and felt homesick. Having received the message, Tuvok was able to carry it out precisely, and bring back Neelix and Kes to the Federation as well. Upon their return, Tuvok, Neelix, and Kes were beamed onto the runabout.