Chapter 65. Time travel
"Admiral..." Before Noah could finish speaking, the communication was interrupted. Noah looked around confused, no one really seemed to know what to do with the information he was hearing.
"Contact them again, Mr. Ingmar."
"I'll give it a try." His tone was not optimistic. Noah understood how he felt. What happened?
Suddenly, the spacecraft trembled slightly. The attack begins.
"Should I fight back?" Murakami asked.
"Absolutely not. I don't want to be hostile."
Murakami Io seemed not satisfied with this, but did not refute it.
"Mr. Nilfer, turn off the thrusters. Maintain the same position. Mr. Ingmar, continue to contact them. They will have to respond to us sooner or later."
The crew's patience was severely tested. The strange ships launched an attack on the Republic. The ship shuddered slightly again and again, the shields weakening slightly, but no other damage was done. The Republic became a target for the enemy, and the ship remained motionless in space, as if mocking their attacks. The attack lasted an hour and then suddenly became quiet. An almost eerie tranquility. It's amazing how quickly people adapt to those little explosions.
Noah raised his head, as if he had been staring at the captain's chair for an infinite time. Only then could he best endure that restlessness. Time seemed to drag on like sticky gum. Gradually, each attack merged into a buzzing sound, and he lost all sense of time.
"The shield remains at 89%," Ingmar reported. "There is no other damage. The enemy ships have retreated and regrouped and are beyond weapons range... They are contacting us."
"That's good." Noah said with a sneer. "Put on the screen."
The face of Admiral Kobowei appeared again. There were some red spots on his face. He was obviously very excited by the progress of the battle. Given the enemy's superior numbers, he might have expected an easy victory. No wonder he comes off so cocky. He doesn't lack self-confidence at all. On the contrary, it is almost a sign of arrogance.
However, Noah didn't want to make the situation more complicated, so he ostensibly gave in. "Okay. What's your question?"
"Where did you come from? You look like humans, but you have technology that does not exist on Earth. You are a disguise for a hostile race."
Noah didn't know what to say. The situation is getting increasingly confusing. Kobowei doesn’t know these technologies? How can this be? "Admiral, we are not a hostile race in disguise. We are all from Earth." He glanced at Murakami, then added, "Well, almost all."
"That's completely impossible," Kobowe almost growled. His self-control ability is not strong. "You probably think we are fools. If you don't answer our questions truthfully, we will eliminate you all."
"Admiral," Noah interrupted. Suddenly he had an idea that he didn't like. "Excuse us for a moment." Then he nodded to Ingmar, telling him to close the communication. Now they could not hear Kobowei's voice, and Kobowei could not hear them.
Noah turned to his science officer. "Mr. Jeffrey, is it possible that we were thrown back in time and now we are stuck in the past? After all, we have encountered time particles before. And as far as I know, there are scientists who claim that these particles may realize time travel."
Jeffrey raised his right eyebrow. "Are you going to use this hypothesis to explain these differences? All previous findings suggest that this time is inconsistent with any past era."
"Yes, that's true," Noah admitted. "But if someone changes the timeline..." He trailed off and turned to the screen again. Ingmar reestablished the communication link.
"That's so rude," Noah interrupted angrily. He didn't really want to argue with the man. "In fact, we do come from Earth. We are all Starfleet officers. We were involved in an experiment and don't know what happened, but we hope that everything can be explained on Earth. Therefore, we requested to continue flying to Earth. "
"How naive do you think we are? You will destroy the Earth when you reach it, right? I'm sorry, we won't be fooled by you."
"Admiral," Noah sounded like he was explaining something to a child. "You have already attacked us. You know you can't stop us. We can use force to clear the way if you want. But I hope that can be avoided. You can escort us to Earth. We only want to be with your Supreme Commander meeting. That's all. When we figure out why it all happened, we'll leave."
There seemed to be some thinking in Copperwei's mind. He should have realized that there was no way to stop the Republic. And escorting may have more benefits than desperate fighting. At least he can maintain his image when facing his superiors. "You need to maintain your current position," he finally said, barely restrained. "We will contact the federal parliament. Then you can talk to parliament. That's all I can allow."
Noah nodded. Although it wasn't exactly what he expected, it was at least better than before. And the Federal Parliament sounds good and familiar. "Okay. Let us know when you make the connection."
"We will," Kobowei confirmed and immediately interrupted communication.
"They might be playing tricks on us," Ingmar muttered.
"We'll see," Noah replied tersely. "Mr. Jeffrey, please check your thoughts on time travel. I want to know what we are dealing with."
They were severely tested. The first hour was completely uneventful. The crew on the bridge was silent and extremely nervous. The tension was building by the minute, becoming a real burden.
Noah guessed that they might have to wait longer. He knew it would not be easy to call the federal parliament into a special session. Therefore, he decided to return the leading officials to their residences. They should try to take a break. Who knows when the next opportunity for a break will be. But they must be ready to return to duty within minutes. At this point, other shifts take over the lead officer's duties. While routine services are somewhat chaotic, good rotations are currently difficult to maintain due to the large number of casualties.
Noah himself retreated to his residence. At this moment, he was lying on the sofa, closing his eyes and trying to take a nap. But it won't be easy. On the one hand, he found it a little uncomfortable to lie down in his uniform. On the other hand, his mind returned again and again to their situation and the events that had led to it. There are still too many unanswered questions, too many things that are unclear. The puzzle doesn't quite come together yet. The pieces have not yet formed a whole. But he believes talks with federal parliament will shed some light on the issue. However, as long as he kept thinking about this, his mind could not be quieted. Can't relax at all.
Then, at some point, he did fall asleep because the intercom buzzed, startling him and leaving him a little confused. He doesn't usually sleep on the couch, so his surroundings seemed a little strange to him at first. As people get older, they may become less flexible, he thought, and quickly turned on the screen.
"Captain, we received a call from. It's Admiral Kobowei." Someone reported.
"I'll be on the bridge right away." So Noah walked out of his residence. On the way to the elevator, he adjusted his uniform.
In front of the elevator, he met Jeffrey. The Vulcan usually couldn't tell if he'd rested, he was always as calm and unwavering as ever.
"Captain," he said immediately to Noah. "I double-checked your idea of time travel. Two pieces of evidence do not support this idea. First, there has never been a time when the Alliance of Earth and Andoria existed."
The elevator arrived and the two of them walked in.
"Perhaps other events interfered with the record," Noah interjected. "Get to the bridge," he ordered the elevator's voice control.
Jeffrey's only response was to raise his right eyebrow. He then continued, "The second point is, I compared our star chart to the constellations. The results clearly showed that we are still in our time. So we are not time traveling."
Noah nodded thoughtfully. "What if...? We may not have time traveled. But maybe someone else tried to manipulate time and changed things."
If Jeffrey hadn't been a Vulcan, Noah would have bet that Jeffrey looked at him like he was crazy. Fortunately, at that moment, the elevator doors opened and they walked onto the bridge. Noah glanced at the clock. Seven hours had passed since the last communication. Less than he worried about.
"Project the picture of Captain Cobowei." He ordered Shu Ran and walked towards the command chair. Noah felt more comfortable standing.
Kobowei didn't look like he had a good rest and looked very tired. His voice also lost its previous strength, "Captain, the Federation Council wishes to speak with you in person. Therefore, you have permission to fly to Earth. But we will escort you. If you do anything stupid, we will Destroy you."
Noah just nodded, ignoring this meaningless threat. They had proven that the NX ship was powerless against the Republic.
"On arrival, your ship will enter a standard orbit. You will receive the landing coordinates to get there," Kobowei said.
Noah didn't know how Copper Guard knew their teleporter wasn't currently working. So they got the pickup coordinates and prepared the shuttle. "Thank you," was all he said, "we'll follow you."
Copperwei nodded, and the call was disconnected. "Mr. Nilf, follow them. Ms. Shu Ran, call Lieutenant Daisy. She is going to prepare the ship's repair work in the engine room. I hope we can get it repaired at one of the docks soon." He thought of the cracks on the hull, The boat may not look pretty at this point. At this moment, the Republic looked to him more like a proud deer dragging a wound through the forest.
Even though the conditions weren't ideal, it was still a beautiful sight to see Earth again. In the dark night of the universe, it is a blue shining gem. Clouds and mist float around the planet like white cotton balls. In the Caribbean, a tornado appears to be forming. The eye can clearly see the whirlpool in the clouds. Overall, everything seemed so peaceful and harmonious. Of course, other planets are also surrounded by oceans and appear blue in space. But Noah felt that the earth seemed brighter than other planets. It might just be an illusion, but he likes the feeling.
"Enter geosynchronous orbit," Nilfer reported.
Noah just nodded. "Mr. Ingmar, do we have the landing coordinates?"
"Yes, sir. Transmitted to the shuttle. You will land near the center of Geneva."
"Excuse me? Why are you there?" Noah felt strange. "The Federal Parliament usually meets in Paris."
"Well, maybe they chose to hold the meeting out of town because they didn't want to attract too much attention," Ingmar shrugged.
Noah remained skeptical. This explanation may have been correct, but his confidence faded. Something is wrong here. "Okay," he finally said. "Ms. Carol, Mr. Jeffrey, Mr. Io Murakami, come with me to the shuttle hangar. We'll see if we can find some answers there. Mr. Ingmar, you're in command. In the meantime we'll see if we can Establish contact with Starfleet. We urgently need to arrange a meeting on the station."
"Well, Captain," Ingmar replied hesitantly. "I've scanned the station. I almost don't think we'll be able to get inside."
"What do you mean? The Republic was parked on the space station until a few days ago."
"Yes, sir, I know. But they must have shrunk since then. All the space stations we've found in orbit only fit NX-class ships at best."
Noah took a breath and turned toward the elevator. "It's getting complicated," he muttered. Before entering the elevator, he said to Ingmar again, "Anyway, try to contact Starfleet. Maybe they can explain what happened at the docks."
"Yes, sir," Ingmar replied reluctantly.
The four silently rode the turbine elevator to the shuttle deck. Whatever they find on Earth may be the answers they're looking for. There was no talking on the shuttle either. Tension hangs over them. What can they talk about now? All thoughts circled around current events, but they could only speculate now.
The hangar door opened and Noah safely steered the shuttle out of space. They approach the atmosphere in a wide arc.
"Captain." Jeffrey looked up from the instrument. "Two space shuttles of unknown type are escorting us on both sides. According to the scan results, they are well-equipped fighter jets."
"They don't believe us," Noah replied, not surprisingly. "However, we will not give them a reason to open fire. After all, we just want to get some answers."
They traveled through the atmosphere with their escort and landed at a small landing site in an urban area of Geneva. The convoy also landed here. Some soldiers got out and surrounded the place. Apparently, they wanted to prevent the Republic's crew from entering the city.
After shutting off the thrusters, Noah stood up and turned to face his officers. Carol opened the door and was the first to walk out. Others followed.
Sunlight shines on the square from a cloudless sky. A gentle breeze blew through some trees. Noah had to shield his eyes with his hands as the sun hung low on the horizon and blinded him. Carol and Io Murakami also wrinkled their eyes. Only Jeffrey remained unmoved. The Martian sun is much brighter, and Martians evolved to adapt to this.
On the other side of the square stood General Fleet. He motioned to them to come closer. Noah accepted the invitation and they walked a few steps together until they were only a few steps away from General Lal. The distant sun prevented him from clearly seeing his surroundings, but he seemed to see soldiers forming a circle and getting closer from the corner of his eye. As he turned to look more closely, something struck him in the shoulder. He touched it with his hand and felt a small arrow stuck in his skin. He wanted to warn his officers, but he was speechless. He was dizzy and unsupported. Before he lost consciousness, he saw Carol also kneeling on the ground.
