Everything Right Is Wrong Again: Difference between revisions
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==Summary== | ==Summary== | ||
Lieutenant Commander [[Craig Porter]] is spending a relaxing morning in Science Lab Two working on his pet project, the chroniton storage chamber, when Yeoman [[Tina Jones]] comms him and asks him to come to the Welcome Center. Upon arriving, Porter runs into a car...literally. Jones' secret admirer, who has been leaving presents for her for months, seems to have somehow managed to get a car and deposit it at the Welcome Center. Jones wants to know how it was done. Porter is due in Ops, but he says he'll check it out for her... and is almost immediately flattened by [[Ih'mad]], who is driving a hoverlift loaded with supplies to his restaurant. | Lieutenant Commander [[Craig Porter]] is spending a relaxing morning in Science Lab Two working on his pet project, the chroniton storage chamber, when Yeoman [[Tina Jones]] comms him and asks him to come to the Welcome Center. Upon arriving, Porter runs into a car...literally. Jones' secret admirer, who has been leaving presents for her for months, seems to have somehow managed to get a car and deposit it at the Welcome Center. Jones wants to know how it was done. Porter is due in Ops, but he says he'll check it out for her... and is almost immediately flattened by [[Ih'mad]], who is driving a hoverlift loaded with supplies to his restaurant. In Ops, Porter finds that Captain [[Lisa Beck]] and Lieutenant Commander [[Sean Russell]] have had equally bad starts to their days. | ||
[[Bradley Dillon]] is summoned to his campaign headquarters by his campaign director, [[Donna Lymon]]. Lymon is concerned about Bradley's prospects now that he is running against [[Kathryn Janeway]], who is not only Starfleet but also considered hero. Bradley decides that he wants to debate her as soon as possible and tells Lymon to set it up. | |||
Porter, Russell, and Morales continue to suffer various misfortunes as the day continued. Morales endures some minor injuries while Porter and Russell run afoul of an elderly Andorian woman. Safe in his quarters that evening, Porter reviews the sensor logs from the Welcome Center from the previous night. He assumes that Bradley Dillon is Jones' secret admirer, but this train of thought is derailed as he notices something far more disturbing: the presence of chronitons in the mall around the time he went to see Jones that morning. Believing that his chroniton storage chamber is somehow leaking and dosing him with chronitons, Porter heads to his lab and checks the device over for leaks. While adjusting one section of the chamber, Porter is caught in an energy surge. | |||
He wakes up in the Infirmary, where Dr. Diantha informs him that he was caught in an uncontrolled discharge of chroniton radiation and knocked unconscious for 6 hours. Diantha releases him and he heads to breakfast in the mall with Russell. On the way to the Beanus Coffee Hut, Porter's life suddenly goes into rewind, and suddenly it's a few moments earlier. This time as he and Russell approach the coffee shop, Captain Beck storms out of the place with a large coffee stain spreading across her uniform. He experiences several more of these time rewinds before he gets to Ops for the morning briefing with the rest of the command crew. At that point, the rewinds stop...until he heads to the Double D Diner for dinner, where he experiences several more time rewinds the results of which leave him covered in food due to a couple of accidents. | |||
The next morning Porter has come to a conclusion: they are under attack. In that morning's briefing, he explains this conclusion to the rest of the command crew. Based on the number of "accidents" that have befallen them all, he believes that he, Russell, Morales, and Beck have been targeted. Each of these accidents may or may not have happened. Someone seems to be manipulating time to make sure the outcome is the accident. That's why he detected chronitons near the Welcome Center around the time Ih'mad hit him with the hover-lift. And because of the chroniton surge he experienced, Porter is able to feel the manipulation as rewinds. As odd as it sounds, Beck is willing to give Porter the benefit of the doubt and has everyone give Porter the details of all of the accidents they've experienced recently, so that he can attempt to track how it's being done. | |||
Porter quickly determines that almost all of the incidents happened in [[Starfleet Square Mall]], so Commander [[Walter Morales]] is sent to walk the mall, with Security monitoring his every move, to see what happens. During this, Porter experiences a rewind, and soon after this Morales ends up plummeting from the upper concourse onto the lower concourse, breaking several bones in the process. Porter, Russell and Beck review the security footage from the mall and soon spot a likely suspect, a shaggy looking human male carrying a large box. Porter searches footage from the last couple of days and finds the same man with the same box wandering around. Since the man possibly has a device capable of altering the timeline, the decide to proceed cautiously and learn more about him first. | |||
Under the guise of giving him a survey about his visit to Waystation, Yeoman Jones is able to obtain fingerprints and a DNA sample from the man. Soon they have an identification: Dr. Jarvis Grint of the Pakled Institute of Making Things Work. But that doesn't explain why the Waystation officers are being targeted, since they've never heard of him. Even more confusing, they have solid evidence that Grint is currently on Pakled, so they determine that it's time to get the box. | |||
Using careful planning and Porter's ability to sense the rewinds, the crew is able to chase down Grint and get their hands on his box. When pressed for an explanation, Grint says that he is there for revenge against Beck, Porter, Morales, and Russell. In about three months, the Grint that is currently on Pakled is going to quit his teaching position and come to Waystation determined to start a new life of crime. Porter was part of Grint's reason for picking Waystation. Grint works with temporal physics as well, and admires Porter's research. In three months, when he arrives on Waystation, he will show Porter his work and end up with a position in the Sciences department, allowing for the perfect cover for his crimes. He will used a temporal manipulation device in his robberies, but Porter will figure it out, resulting in Grint being sent to a rehabilitation colony for thirty years. Over that time, Grint designed the timeline selector, which he built upon his release. He travelled back in time to Waystation before his past self would arrive determined to have the command crew, except Porter, die in "accidents." Porter he just wanted to torture a bit, but Grint wanted to keep Porter alive to work with his past self when he arrives. | |||
After a complicated, headache inducing argument of timelines and temporal mechanics, Grint taunts Porter with the knowledge that they are in a deadend timeline and that all of their knowledge of the younger Grint's plans will be erased allowing everything to unfold as it did the first time. To protect himself from the changing timeline and preserve his knowledge of events, Porter has himself beamed to his lab and dives into his chroniton chamber, flooding it with chroniton radiation. | |||
Porter is successful, and he remembers everything as the timeline shifts around him. He will be able to prevent the younger Grint's actions, but Russell is very skeptical about the whole alternate timeline business. | |||
==Featuring== | ==Featuring== | ||
| Line 31: | Line 58: | ||
==Also Featuring== | ==Also Featuring== | ||
*[[Stephanie Hodges]] | *[[Stephanie Hodges]] | ||
*[[ | *[[Ih'mad]] | ||
==Author's Comments== | ==Author's Comments== | ||
This story was developed a bit backwards. I had Porter's "And that's how I got this scratch on my head" line before I had anything else other than the idea that I wanted to do something twisty with temporal physics. There are a couple of big problems with time travel stories. First, they've been done a lot, so it's hard to find a new twist. And second, many times they just don't make sense. I can't say for sure if I avoided either of these issues, but I had a lot of fun writing this one. | |||
A couple of other quick notes: | |||
Freight of Rigel was supposed to be a play on "Crate and Barrel." It didn't work. At all. Oh well. | |||
One of these days I really need to draw a map of the mall. I know the layout in my head, but I'm never bothered to put it on paper. If I ever learn how to render things, it would be lots of fun to create as a mod level for Elite Force 2 or something. | |||
Bradley's campaign manager, Donna Lymon, owes her name to The West Wing. It seemed appropriate to give that show a little acknowledgement considering I don't think any other series has ever handled the presidency and elections remotely as well. | |||
==Links== | ==Links== | ||
[ | [https://www.star-traks.com//waystation/stories/page6/70_WAY_WAYWRONG/ Everything Right Is Wrong Again] | ||
Latest revision as of 03:40, 30 October 2022
| Star Traks: Waystation | |
| Episode name | Everything Right Is Wrong Again |
|---|---|
| Season | Stardate 58--- |
| Episode number | 5 |
| Writer(s) | Alan Decker |
| Year | 2381 |
| Stardate | Unknown |
| Chronology | |
| Previous in series | Life Of The Party |
| Next in series | Unwanted Overtures |
| Previous in timeline | Life Of The Party [WAY] |
| Next in timeline | Unwanted Overtures [WAY] |
Where's the line between a bad day and the universe actually being out to get you?
Summary
Lieutenant Commander Craig Porter is spending a relaxing morning in Science Lab Two working on his pet project, the chroniton storage chamber, when Yeoman Tina Jones comms him and asks him to come to the Welcome Center. Upon arriving, Porter runs into a car...literally. Jones' secret admirer, who has been leaving presents for her for months, seems to have somehow managed to get a car and deposit it at the Welcome Center. Jones wants to know how it was done. Porter is due in Ops, but he says he'll check it out for her... and is almost immediately flattened by Ih'mad, who is driving a hoverlift loaded with supplies to his restaurant. In Ops, Porter finds that Captain Lisa Beck and Lieutenant Commander Sean Russell have had equally bad starts to their days.
Bradley Dillon is summoned to his campaign headquarters by his campaign director, Donna Lymon. Lymon is concerned about Bradley's prospects now that he is running against Kathryn Janeway, who is not only Starfleet but also considered hero. Bradley decides that he wants to debate her as soon as possible and tells Lymon to set it up.
Porter, Russell, and Morales continue to suffer various misfortunes as the day continued. Morales endures some minor injuries while Porter and Russell run afoul of an elderly Andorian woman. Safe in his quarters that evening, Porter reviews the sensor logs from the Welcome Center from the previous night. He assumes that Bradley Dillon is Jones' secret admirer, but this train of thought is derailed as he notices something far more disturbing: the presence of chronitons in the mall around the time he went to see Jones that morning. Believing that his chroniton storage chamber is somehow leaking and dosing him with chronitons, Porter heads to his lab and checks the device over for leaks. While adjusting one section of the chamber, Porter is caught in an energy surge.
He wakes up in the Infirmary, where Dr. Diantha informs him that he was caught in an uncontrolled discharge of chroniton radiation and knocked unconscious for 6 hours. Diantha releases him and he heads to breakfast in the mall with Russell. On the way to the Beanus Coffee Hut, Porter's life suddenly goes into rewind, and suddenly it's a few moments earlier. This time as he and Russell approach the coffee shop, Captain Beck storms out of the place with a large coffee stain spreading across her uniform. He experiences several more of these time rewinds before he gets to Ops for the morning briefing with the rest of the command crew. At that point, the rewinds stop...until he heads to the Double D Diner for dinner, where he experiences several more time rewinds the results of which leave him covered in food due to a couple of accidents.
The next morning Porter has come to a conclusion: they are under attack. In that morning's briefing, he explains this conclusion to the rest of the command crew. Based on the number of "accidents" that have befallen them all, he believes that he, Russell, Morales, and Beck have been targeted. Each of these accidents may or may not have happened. Someone seems to be manipulating time to make sure the outcome is the accident. That's why he detected chronitons near the Welcome Center around the time Ih'mad hit him with the hover-lift. And because of the chroniton surge he experienced, Porter is able to feel the manipulation as rewinds. As odd as it sounds, Beck is willing to give Porter the benefit of the doubt and has everyone give Porter the details of all of the accidents they've experienced recently, so that he can attempt to track how it's being done.
Porter quickly determines that almost all of the incidents happened in Starfleet Square Mall, so Commander Walter Morales is sent to walk the mall, with Security monitoring his every move, to see what happens. During this, Porter experiences a rewind, and soon after this Morales ends up plummeting from the upper concourse onto the lower concourse, breaking several bones in the process. Porter, Russell and Beck review the security footage from the mall and soon spot a likely suspect, a shaggy looking human male carrying a large box. Porter searches footage from the last couple of days and finds the same man with the same box wandering around. Since the man possibly has a device capable of altering the timeline, the decide to proceed cautiously and learn more about him first.
Under the guise of giving him a survey about his visit to Waystation, Yeoman Jones is able to obtain fingerprints and a DNA sample from the man. Soon they have an identification: Dr. Jarvis Grint of the Pakled Institute of Making Things Work. But that doesn't explain why the Waystation officers are being targeted, since they've never heard of him. Even more confusing, they have solid evidence that Grint is currently on Pakled, so they determine that it's time to get the box.
Using careful planning and Porter's ability to sense the rewinds, the crew is able to chase down Grint and get their hands on his box. When pressed for an explanation, Grint says that he is there for revenge against Beck, Porter, Morales, and Russell. In about three months, the Grint that is currently on Pakled is going to quit his teaching position and come to Waystation determined to start a new life of crime. Porter was part of Grint's reason for picking Waystation. Grint works with temporal physics as well, and admires Porter's research. In three months, when he arrives on Waystation, he will show Porter his work and end up with a position in the Sciences department, allowing for the perfect cover for his crimes. He will used a temporal manipulation device in his robberies, but Porter will figure it out, resulting in Grint being sent to a rehabilitation colony for thirty years. Over that time, Grint designed the timeline selector, which he built upon his release. He travelled back in time to Waystation before his past self would arrive determined to have the command crew, except Porter, die in "accidents." Porter he just wanted to torture a bit, but Grint wanted to keep Porter alive to work with his past self when he arrives.
After a complicated, headache inducing argument of timelines and temporal mechanics, Grint taunts Porter with the knowledge that they are in a deadend timeline and that all of their knowledge of the younger Grint's plans will be erased allowing everything to unfold as it did the first time. To protect himself from the changing timeline and preserve his knowledge of events, Porter has himself beamed to his lab and dives into his chroniton chamber, flooding it with chroniton radiation.
Porter is successful, and he remembers everything as the timeline shifts around him. He will be able to prevent the younger Grint's actions, but Russell is very skeptical about the whole alternate timeline business.
Featuring
- Captain Lisa Beck
- Commander Walter Morales
- Lieutenant Commander Craig Porter
- Lieutenant Commander Sean Russell
- Yeoman Tina Jones
- Dr. Diantha
- Bradley Dillon
Also Featuring
Author's Comments
This story was developed a bit backwards. I had Porter's "And that's how I got this scratch on my head" line before I had anything else other than the idea that I wanted to do something twisty with temporal physics. There are a couple of big problems with time travel stories. First, they've been done a lot, so it's hard to find a new twist. And second, many times they just don't make sense. I can't say for sure if I avoided either of these issues, but I had a lot of fun writing this one.
A couple of other quick notes:
Freight of Rigel was supposed to be a play on "Crate and Barrel." It didn't work. At all. Oh well.
One of these days I really need to draw a map of the mall. I know the layout in my head, but I'm never bothered to put it on paper. If I ever learn how to render things, it would be lots of fun to create as a mod level for Elite Force 2 or something.
Bradley's campaign manager, Donna Lymon, owes her name to The West Wing. It seemed appropriate to give that show a little acknowledgement considering I don't think any other series has ever handled the presidency and elections remotely as well.