Aftermath by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pocket Books
Published: 2004-08-29T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter

7

Pattie noticed the chamber had grown warmer as she struggled with the workstation that was directly tied to the power processing machinery. She had been working with it steadily for fifteen minutes, coaxing the computer commands to reroute some of the building energy. Right after speaking with Captain Gold, she set to work on recharging the batteries. Soloman helped her to reestablish the links and then the Bynar took over, coming up with the commands that would get the mainframe to respond to Pattie’s orders. It was tedious and slow, beyond what Pattie was used to, and she fretted over the time remaining. As it was, Fabian Stevens, back aboard the da Vinci, was monitoring the power outputs and had estimated that even with recharging the batteries, they had bought themselves maybe an extra hour.

It would have to do, Pattie concluded.

“Have your people ever done anything this reckless?” she asked Soloman. He looked surprised at the question, looking up from the master console. Unlike Pattie, he was looking uncomfortable. Bynars apparently didn’t sweat, a humanoid trait she was grateful he lacked, all things considered. Still, after their chat earlier, she felt more comfortable around him than ever before. Not bad for a couple of outcasts, she mused.

“No,” he answered. “While my people have studied and grasped the basic concepts of time travel, it is not something that we have found appealing. I remain amazed that humans find tampering with the timestream of any interest. The repercussions are enormous and, as we have seen, have changed the core timeline on more than one occasion. We have even theorized that the constant use of time travel threatens the stability of this core timeline.”

“I’ve read some of the research papers,” Pattie said, tapping a final set of commands. The holographic screens blinked with new data and everything matched Soloman’s instructions. “The original Temporal Accord was strictly intended for research. While there are those who have used time travel to find out information lost to the ages, it has also been used to save a planet. There was an alien probe that sought information from an extinct species of marine life on Earth and some captain went back hundreds of years to bring back samples to answer the probe. Not only was the planet saved, but an extinct species was revived. The argument can be made that time travel can be used effectively.”

“But what of the Temporal Cold War?” Soloman asked. “Technology from the future was handed to a race ill-equipped to handle it and there were disastrous effects felt throughout the quadrant for decades. It can be equally said that time travel can be used recklessly. Better we stay in the here and now.”

Pattie glanced at the readouts, watching the alien characters change, obviously counting down. “Well, the here and now isn’t looking that good to me.”

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