Star Trek: The voyages of the USS Apollo

Chapter Twenty One: The Temporal True Way

September 6th 2411

"Captain's Log: Star date 388318.261. We have discovered that the Diamond was an ark that the Veskanans created to flee their home world after it was struck by a supernova. They went through space for years before being attacked by none other than the True Way, the ones responsible for us ending up here in the Gamma Quadrant. The True Way destroyed the dome cities across "The Great Ark" as the Veskanans called it and thus killed seventy two million people in just a matter of hours. The remaining eight million fled on smaller ships and took refuge on what is now New Veskana. We had expected to encounter the True Way at some point, but in this past year we haven't even encountered so much as a trace of those terrorists. Until now that is. But what is most disturbing is that the Great Ark was attacked five thousand years ago and that we and the True Way ended up here in the Gamma Quadrant only one year ago. Meaning that something very suspicious is happening and I intend to find out before this day is out."

In the twenty one hours since the away team returned to the Apollo, the Crew had been gathering as much evidence as they could to confirm weather or not the True Way were actually behind the attack. After hours of searching it had been confirmed, the True Way had indeed been responsible for the attack and the tens of millions of deaths. However how the True Way could've attacked the Great Ark five thousand years ago when they clearly came to the Gamma Quadrant only one year prior was proving to be quite a mystery. No one was sure how, but T'Vrell was determined to find out how. Inside of the Main Science Lab, T'Vrell was checking scans of the Cardassians from the old security systems of the Great Ark and was hoping to find something that would explain how the True Way attacked five thousand years prior. T'Vrell was looking at the scans results on a console, hoping to find answers when she saw it. T'Vrell saw that the Cardassians were all covered in a radiation that the computer identified as temporal radiation and finally figured it all out.

Knowing what she had to do, T'Vrell downloaded the scan results onto a Padd and pressed on her Com Badge to say "Lieutenant T'Vrell to Captain Rivers and the rest of the Bridge Crew, I believe I have found out how the Cardassians appeared here five thousand years ago and I need to explain it in the Conference Room." The voice of Captain Rivers then replied "Alright then. We meet there immediately." T'Vrell then walked out of the Science Lab with the Padd in hand and walked across the hallway to the nearest turbolift. As she did, Ada appeared next to her and said "T'Vrell, I was hoping to run into you. I think I have an idea on how the Cardassians ended up here. Maybe they are trying to use time travel to try and conquer the Federation before it even exists?" As they entered the turbolift, T'Vrell said "Yes, I have developed the same theory. I shall be explaining it to the Bridge Crew upon our arrival in the Conference Room."

Gathered in the Conference Room were all seven members of the Bridge Crew and Ada, the official guide the Apollo had for the Gamma Quadrant. As they all sat down a sense of worry and uncertainty was present in all of them. None of them were sure for as to how the Cardassians had managed to end up five thousand years in the past, but they got their answer and T'Vrell said "It would appear that the Cardassians were covered in radiation. The first kind was the kind that someone usually gets covered in when they cross through a wormhole. That is understandable. But what is most surprising is that the second kind is temporal radiation. Which usually results from travelling through time. Meaning that the True Way somehow managed to travel five thousand years into the past. But how they did is yet to be solved." In that moment Ethan remembered what Gul Madred said "You really think it will be me who returns with an armada of a thousand star ships that will revive the True Cardassian Way of life? No. It will be our children, our grandchildren and great grandchildren who revive the Cardassian Union under a more fitting title...the Cardassian Empire!"

But what Ethan remembered the most was how Madred said that it would be the True Way's children, grandchildren and great grandchildren who would bring back the old ways of the Cardassian Union. The entire Crew had always thought that this meant that Madred had accepted that they would be in the Gamma Quadrant for many years and so he intended for their descendants to conquer the Alpha Quadrant. But now Ethan understood what "Mad Madred", as the Crew insultingly referred to him as, really meant. Ethan stood up and said in a shocked voice "The Wormhole! They used the Wormhole to travel back in time!"

The entire Bridge Crew looked at Ethan with confused faces as Alisha said "What are you talking about Captain?" Ethan then explained "Think about it. Old Mad Man Madred said that it would be the True Way's descendants who would form the so called "Cardassian Empire". We believed that he meant that they would invade the Alpha Quadrant in a couple hundred or so years. But now it makes sense. The True Way appeared five thousand years in the past, because they time travelled back there! The Wormhole must've had some kind of temporal displacement effect for the first ships that go through." The Bridge Crew found that this made some sense. But there was another question to be asked. Ensign Jackson tapped his index finger on the table a few times and asked "Then in that case, why weren't we thrown five thousand years in the past?" T'Vrell brought out the Padd and explained "I believe I have the answer to that. I have a hypophysis that the Wormhole does lead to a time of one's choosing initially. However after it begins to destabilise it no longer leads to another time, but to the exact same exit location at the exact same time as the entry location. Also the Star Date on our consoles would have changed, so therefore it is logical to assume this theory correct."

This was what the Bridge Crew needed to convince them of the truth. They now understood that the True Way had not just travelled to another part of the Galaxy, but also another time! Despite the fact that the True Way had arrived five thousand years in the past, there was still the potential for there to be highly advanced technologies that the True Way could use to form their new empire. The Iconians, for example, once controlled a large portion of the Galaxy. So it was possible that the True Way might've been able to obtain highly dangerous and advanced technologies that would allow them to conquer the entire Galaxy. In that moment Lieutenant Commander Voq realised something terrible that he had failed to realise until then. Voq stood up and said "Wait a minute. Do you all remember that planet we came across whose leaders said that they had been attacked by aliens several thousand years ago?" Ethan looked at Voq and answered "Yes why?" All eyes were on Voq as he said "I think that the True Way attacked the Great Ark for the advanced Warp technology it has and they attacked that planet because they had something they wanted. I believe that the True Way have been attacking planets that posses the technology and weapons that they need in order to conquer the entire Galaxy!"

Mummers of agreement were heard throughout the Conference Room as they all realised that the True Way had likely been attacking alien races for anything that might help them conquer not just the Gamma Quadrant, but the entire Galaxy! As they realised this, Jodem said "Well in that case they might've built their "Cardassian Empire" already. Who knows what kind of military they have? And who knows how big their empire already is?" Laren, having been taught of the atrocities committed against the Bajoran people during the occupation, then angrily said "Or who knows what kind of atrocities they've committed other than one of the largest genocides in history!?"

The Bridge Crew could easily agree with Laren. There was no telling what other horrors the Cardassians had perhaps committed in the Gamma Quadrant. But one thing was certain and Captain Rivers made it clear as he said "The True Way are clearly relentless when it comes to achieving their goals as we have seen here today and they are even more devoted now that they wish to conquer the entire Galaxy in the name of the Cardassian people. When we get back to the Federation we will tell them everything we know about the True Way and the Empire they've built. I am also hopeful that one day we shall be part of the fleet that will destroy whatever empire the True Way has established. For now though, we will be looking for new weapons and technology that could help us in a combat scenario. After today, we're gonna need a lot of them now that the True Way are back." So began a new and potentially dark chapter in the Apollo's journey home and it was coming across whatever damage the True Way had done to the Gamma Quadrant. While they were sure that the True Way had done terribly serious damage to the lives in the Gamma Quadrant, they were also sure that they would need the help of an entire fleet to stop the True Way. Help that they would get as they would finally, at long last, after one year, three weeks and three days in the Gamma Quadrant, re-establish contact with home.