The Door On The Wall Pt. II
Posted on Mon Jun 29th, 2026 @ 3:43pm by Captain Saelira Venn & Commander Vren'desh Son of Rukas & Lieutenant Wynning Pi & Lieutenant JG Daniella Fox & Lieutenant JG Melody Piper
2,589 words; about a 13 minute read
Mission:
Mission 1: Through the Janus Gate
Location: Observation Lounge - USS Resolute
Timeline: MD001 - 0845 hours
“No direct handling. No unnecessary proximity. If and when we gain access to the device, anyone approaching it goes suited and monitored, with Medical tied into the recovery plan from the start.”
Then she looked back to Nathan.
“It’s not the answer you need, Doctor, but it’s the one we have. We prepare wide, then narrow it when Science and Engineering can tell us more.”
So far everything Lorek was hearing was all from a technical perspective but he still needed to inquire "We now have some understanding of the device; my inquiry is the location of said device. Depending on the device's location I can have several security teams ready and at your disposal if need be" he commented hoping for some direction for his part in the mission.
Saelira looked to Lorek.
“That is the next unpleasant part,” she said.
She touched the panel again, and the schematic of the Janus Core shifted to one side. A second image appeared beside it: a partial long-range scan of a Pakled vessel, grainy and incomplete, with several sections marked by sensor uncertainty.
“Current intelligence places the device aboard a Pakled ship. We don’t have an exact internal location yet, and the vessel has been modified enough that I don’t want anyone trusting a standard deck layout.”
Her eyes stayed on Lorek.
“So no, I’m not going to ask you to build a boarding plan around guesses. Not yet.”
There was a faint edge of old Security officer in that, practical rather than sharp.
“What I do want is a flexible response framework. Insertion options. Extraction options. How we isolate the device once we know where it is. How we keep the crew away from it without escalating the situation unless we have to. And how we pull our people back quickly if the Core starts doing something we don’t understand.”
She glanced briefly to Wyn and Daniella, then back to Lorek.
“Once Science gives us a better fix and Engineering can tell us what parts of that ship are feeding it, you can turn that into something more precise.”
A small pause.
“Until then, we plan for uncertainty. Assume the ship won’t match its own schematics, assume the crew may not understand what they have, and assume the device is more dangerous than the people carrying it.”
Saelira looked around the table.
“We know the vessel is somewhere within the Archanis Drift. If the Core is active, finding them may be the easy part. The signature should stand out once we’re close enough.”
Her gaze returned to Lorek.
“The hard part will be getting near it without giving anyone, including us, the chance to make this worse.”
Listening to the Venn, Lorek knew she had a firm grasp on the situation despite the lack of current available data; that in itself was a huge step forward. Thinking for a moment he simply replied "Understood Captain."
Nathan jumped in again. “So then, since intelligence doesn’t have any information on this device, what we know can happen from past experiences are as follows:
Memory fragmentation.
Cellular degradation or degeneration
Accelerated aging.
Neurological instability.
Which can all lead up to and including death.”
Nathan folded his hands together after counting those experiences with his hand.
“And those are all documented cases.” Nathan reiterated a little nervously.
Saelira let Nathan’s list sit for a moment.
“Yes,” she said. “That’s exactly why we treat this as an unknown exposure risk, not just an engineering problem.”
Her gaze moved briefly to the schematic.
“If the Core opens a rift, even partially, the danger may not be the device itself. It may be the field around it, the distortion before it activates, or whatever happens when local space-time tries to compensate.”
She looked back to Nathan.
“So yes: baselines for any away team, neurological checks, cellular markers, exposure tracking. Keep it practical, but assume symptoms may not look obvious at first.”
A faint warmth touched her expression.
“And add me quietly to that list. El Aurians can be… difficult around temporal disturbances. I’d rather we notice that early than make it dramatic later.”
While the others were talking about the device with its fluctuations of the temporal kind and how it may affect those who would come in close contact with it.
Melody was gleaning as much information as she could from looking at the images of the device, but her thoughts also turned to the Pakled ship itself.
She heard the suggestions, the possible plans, one thing which stood out the most from what the Captain stated, they needed a way to get near the ship that the Pakleds were on. Pakleds were known to cobble together bits and pieces of different technology, which in turn could in one way provide a way for them to get closer, she felt there did need to be some sort of shielding for that to happen.
"Is there information as to the ship that the Pakleds are utilizing. The ships the Pakleds normally start out as a Mondor type ship, then they add bits and pieces of technology from ships they have stolen from."
"We find what sort of pieces that the Pakled Clumpship is composed of, this in turn would make it possible for us to make a better plan for us to get closer to it, and get a better reading, hopefully enough to make certain an issue isn't triggered."
"If there is data about the make up of the Pakled ship I that is we." Looking towards Engineering and Operations. "Might be able to ascertain, what we could do to help protect us as well." Melody's voice a bit soft, but not too soft where it couldn't be heard.
Nathan looked around the table, making sure he was able to get in this last bit and didn’t want to interrupt anyone.
“Captain, I would request that Sickbay actively monitor any staff assigned to board the vessel or operate in close proximity to the device. Given the potential for a number of medical issues that could arises, Medical can be on standby if an emergency beam out is needed right to sickbay.”
Saelira listened to Melody first, then gave a small nod.
“You’re right that the ship matters,” she said. “But probably not in the way a standard tactical profile would help us.”
She brought up the partial scan of the Pakled vessel beside the Core schematic. It was ugly with uncertainty: hard edges, grafted systems, power signatures that did not quite agree with one another.
“Pakled vessels change too much to trust the original layout. If this began life as a Mondor-type, I doubt it still behaves like one in any useful way. What we can use is the composition: hull materials, shield behaviour, power routing, anything that tells us where they’ve added systems and what those systems are drawing from.”
Her eyes moved to Melody, then briefly to Wyn and Daniella.
“So yes, work with Engineering and Operations on that. Not to build a perfect map. We won’t have one. But if you can help identify what they’ve bolted on and where the Core may be tied into the ship, that gives Security better options and gives us a safer way to scan or transport if it comes to that.”
She looked back to the display.
“Getting close to a Pakled ship is not the part I’m worried about. The Resolute can manage that. What concerns me is what happens when they realise we’re interested in something aboard their vessel. Sensors, hails, transporter locks, even a simple approach may be enough to make them protective or frightened.”
A small pause.
“And frightened people with dangerous technology tend to make decisions quickly.”
Then she turned to Nathan.
“Approved, Doctor. Sickbay monitors anyone assigned to a boarding team or close-proximity operation. Coordinate with Operations for live biosigns and transporter lock support. If someone needs to come back fast, I want Sickbay ready to receive them directly.”
Her gaze moved around the table again.
“Good. Keep those concerns coming. This is the part of the mission where questions are cheaper than answers.”
Dani continued to make notes as she listened to the discussion around her. She wished she could take the device apart--or get enough readings to build something like it. But she knew there would likely be too much that was unknown for that to be feasible. "We need to scan everything. Right now, we have no idea what may or may not be important later. The more data we have, the better we'll understand." Dani waved to the image. "And there's a whole lot we don't understand right now."
"Depending on where they may or may not have scavenged components," Wyn said thoughtfully, "I think Melody has the right idea. We might be able to accidentally cause one or more of their components into safe mode, not shutting it down because who knows what kind of mess that could cause. If we can get that to happen, then we have an excuse to render aid and get a good look. Especially if they have any Federation components. If there's something aboard we that we can send a shut down or test mode trigger into, they might not pick up on it."
"Depending on their tech, you could piggyback something on a comm channel," Dani added.
Lorek was quiet listening to the conversations while making a few notes along the way before speaking up "Logically the more data we have the better the outcome will be; please forward any data to security. Like Doctor Lake, my primary focus is the safety of any crew that disembarks from the Resolute to the Pakled vessel."
Vren'Desh continued to listen, acknowledge where needed and process. Despite all of the potential threats that had been brought up there was something that seemed to be glaringly left out. "Captain, I believe we should summon a team from the Department of Temporal Investigations. This is well within their scope of practice. We can easily detain the Pakleds without getting near the technology and allow the DTI to take control upon their arrival. This would prevent any potential threat to this ship and crew. If they attempt to use the device we can interfere. Depriving a Pakled vessel of power is an easy enough task."
"With respect Commander, while that may be the optimal approach to the situation I have queries. How long would it take for the DTI to assist and can we afford to wait until they arrive given the uncertainty of the device in question" Lorek commented wanting to point out all contingencies.
Saelira listened without interrupting, letting the room work through the problem in front of her. Daniella and Wyn were already reaching for the ship around the device, which was where they needed to go next. Lorek was keeping his attention where it belonged. Vren’desh, as expected, had gone straight to the cleanest and most sensible answer.
Unfortunately, clean and sensible did not always arrive in time.
“I’ll contact Director Isaacs at the Department of Temporal Investigations,” Saelira said. “They need to know about this, and if they can give us anything useful while we’re en route, I’ll take it.”
Her gaze moved to Vren’desh briefly, then back around the table.
“But we can’t assume they’ll reach us before we find the ship. And I’m not comfortable leaving a Dominion-built temporal device in anyone’s hands while we wait for a specialist team to catch up.”
She touched the panel, bringing the Pakled vessel back beside the Janus Core schematic.
“Commander, you’re right that disabling the ship may be an option. But if the Core is drawing from their power systems, cutting that power abruptly may not make it safer. It may do the opposite. We don’t know yet.”
Saelira looked to Wyn and Daniella.
“I like the direction you’re both thinking. Scan everything. Passive first, as much as possible. If there are Federation components aboard that can be queried, tested, or put into a diagnostic state without alerting them, I want that modelled before anyone tries it. No clever trigger goes out until Engineering, Operations, and Science agree it won’t wake something we’re trying very hard to keep asleep.”
Her eyes shifted to Melody.
“Lieutenant Piper, work with them on the sensor side. I want every odd reading flagged, even if it looks minor at first. Especially if it looks minor.”
Then to Lorek.
“Security prepares for boarding, extraction, and containment support, but no one goes over until we understand the environment better. Your teams will have the data as it comes in.”
Finally, Nathan.
“Doctor, your monitoring plan is approved. Anyone assigned to a boarding or close-proximity team gets baseline scans before they leave and Medical oversight until you clear them afterwards.”
Saelira let the display hold for another moment, then lowered her hand from the panel.
“Engineering, Operations, and Science will begin work on a containment plan immediately. I want a chamber prepared before we reach the target: chroniton dampers, metaphasic shielding, independent power sink, remote handling, transporter isolation, whatever else you decide we need. Assume the device will not behave politely once it is aboard.”
There was a faint softness in her expression then, not enough to dull the seriousness of it.
“You all know your pieces. I don’t need perfect answers yet. I need honest ones, early enough that we can do something with them.”
She looked around the table once more.
“We’ll reconvene when we have updated scans or DTI gives us something worth sharing. Until then, get your departments ready.”
A small pause.
“Dismissed.”
Without saying a word to anyone, pleasantries could wait for another time, Lorek grabbed his PaDD and headed out the door on his way to the security room. Now he had his work cut out for him starting with a preliminary plan which would be revised as new data became available. Things had just become real.
Daniella looked to Wyn and Melody. "Meet in an hour? I'll bring cookies."
A quiet smile to Daniella before she rose from the table and headed for Science.
"Sounds good," Wyn said as he moved his PADD to travel mode and wrapped it around his forearm. I'm going to model this and begin running simulations in engineering to see if we can get ahead of things. See you in an hour." Idly, he wondered what kind of cookies there would be.
Vren'Desh stood and made his way out to the Bridge. None of this was to his liking. Time travel was and always has been without honor. However, this was the mission that they were assigned and he would see it done, even if it meant sending a number of Pakleds to Sto'vo'kor.
Captain Saelira Venn
Commanding Officer
USS Resolute
Lieutenant Lorek
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Resolute
Lieutenant JG Melody Piper
*New* Chief Science Officer
USS Resolute
Lieutenant JG Daniella Fox
Chief Operations Officer
USS Resolute
Lieutenant Wynning Pi
Chief Engineer
USS Resolute
Commander Vren'Desh
Executive Officer
USS Resolute
Lt. Commander Nathan Lake
Chief Medical Officer
USS Resolute
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