Brilliance Via Advance Planning

Posted on Tue May 14th, 2019 @ 10:37am by Commander Rita Paris & Lieutenant Commander Sonak

Mission: Fractured Fairy Tales
Location: USS Hera, Deck E, Intel Pod Lounge
Timeline: 2396

As an improvisational thinker, advance planning wasn't always Rita Paris' strongest suit. While in the moment she could usually be relied upon to produce an answer or at least pose a pertinent question, and that tended to get her through such situations. But in this case, there was a trial ahead, that would require her to be smarter than normal, to have contingencies planned and backup plans to the contingencies. This was going to be a series of maneuvers all seemingly destined to end in a starship battle.

Knowing one potential outcome she was hoping to avoid, already having promised her assistance, Rita Paris was spinning wheels in the present trying to be prepared for the future. But in doing so, she was cutting the most capable person she knew out of the loop. Today, she remedied that over lunch in the Intel pod, in the lounge that overlooked a holographic real-time representation of looking down on the saucer section- a breathtaking vista even when the USS Hera was not in spacedock at the Artan family orbital fortress.

The arrangement had been added to his schedule in the morning, as she wanted time to organize her thoughts before presenting them to him, although of course he already knew her mind on all of the relevant subjects. But voicing and ordering her thoughts helped her immeasurably, which he understood from years of association.

Having arrived early, she had two Andorian kelp salads with extra phloog waiting.

As usual, he didn't keep her waiting. At the exact appointed time, as was his habit either in his private or professional life, Sonak arrived. He went straight to her and stood in front of her, the grey of his eye slightly more luminous than usual as was the case every time he was alone with her. He didn't glance at the salads but it was obvious that he had noticed the entire setting of their planned meeting.

''It is agreeable to share your work with you, Rita my wife. As always.''

“It is always agreeable to see you, my husband. Please join me to share a meal, so that I may seek your perspective on a number of topics, and filter my choices and actions through a prism of pure logic.” While a Vulcan speech pattern was not her default setting, over the years the human bride of the kolinahr had learned how to phrase questions and requests in a logical framework. Although if she expressed herself emotionally, Sonak still responded, translating it through his own filters of having spent years dealing with the emotional humans whom had once surrounded him.

On the USS Hera, human was far from the default race one might find oneself involved in a discussion. But the emotional content was generally present, which tended to make communication more challenging. But not so for the logical Vulcan whose understanding of the emotional nature of most of the rest of the universe held no mysteries, due in no small part to his shared life with his emotional bride.

Sonak sat with her and looked at his bowl, appreciative as always of the effort she made to accommodate his vegetarian diet.

''Andorian kelp; always the explorer, my wife, even in such simple matter as a meal. You are always a source of discovery and wonder, down to the simplest aspects of life. I am honored and grateful.''

It had never been his habit to talk while he ate, as it distracted one from enjoying fully both. But his new life with a human woman has taught him to ''multitask'' as she was fond of saying. it had forced him to learn how to get all of an experience even if another was superimposed on it, never miss anything out of the complexity of life. In this, he had been the student and her the teacher, and he appreciated it. He took a bite of the alien dish to emphasize his voiced appreciation, then spoke again once she had done the same.

''Now, what it is you wish to discuss?''

“You never fail to bring a smile to my face,” Rita mused as she settled into the discussion. The way that Sonak was always to the point, while still observing the subtleties of their interactions, made the human woman happy. Compromise was always in play between them, which both offered willingly to the other. Adding to that his seemingly inexhaustible appreciation of her always made her melt inside.

“There is a trial ahead… the civilian pirate organization into which the captain was born is coming to a tribunal, as her mother wishes for the captain to reproduce either willingly or unwillingly. In challenging her authority, it has resulted in a power struggle. I have committed to helping, as have a number of the senior staff. It has been prognosticated that the final battle will be a starship duel, fought between customized Miranda classes.” The buxom bombshell paused in her explanation to collect her thoughts and take a bite of her salad.

''Interesting how the behavior of some species and societies remain the same despite significant advancement in knowledge and technologies,'' the Vulcan mused out loud. ''But to the problem at hand; Miranda class starships are a product of Starfleet technological development. It should be easy to find the flaws that made these vessels obsolete and exploit them. If they have customized those, this could also mean several additional deficiencies as a result of such tampering. Accessing the ships' specifications would certainly help.''

"That... is a magnificent point, m'love," Rita filed that way immediately. She knew she was too close to the problem, and calling in Sonak was clearly the right move, as evidenced in his opening offering.

“There are a great number of variables in play that make much of this difficult to describe or predict. What I do know is that the pirate queen is known for leading vicious boarding parties, and I plan to be a few steps ahead of her. But in order to do so I will need to outsmart her at her own game, and there is no one on the Hera smarter than you.” It might have seemed like flattery, but in truth, Sonak was easily the highest IQ onboard, even before factoring in his mental disciplines and creative application of intelligence for problem-solving.

The Vulcan pinched his lower lip a moment before speaking again.

''In military philosophy, it has always been proven successful to consider first and foremost the personality of the opposing leader in order to find how to defeat that opposition. On your Earth, during your so-called second world war, allied destroyer captains could locate German U-Boats and Japanese submarines by knowing the psychology of their commanders. Closer to us, Captain James Kirk defeated many enemies in space battles, from Klingons and Romulans to even a genius like Khan Noonien Singh, by knowing their way of thinking. I believe this should be an avenue to explore.''

"Again, you make an outstanding point, Sonak. Your logic is flawless, as always." The pirate queen's psychology would make her far more predictable were the Captain to simply embrace 'knowing thine enemy', which in this case, she'd had years of behavior to study.

"I believe she will engage some sort of transportational jammer that will project a field of interference to prevent a transporter target lock engaging during her anticipated boarding action. My proposal for circumventing this is to carry the portable transporter you've used to save me in the past to maintain my armory in subspace, in the buffer. It is inorganic matter and it will not be carrying an antimatter payload, thus the buffer rate required is much lower. I do not know how long I can power the reaction though. I need your help for the math, and probably to find a way to extend that battery life, complete with sufficient charge to beam the armor onto my position. Which is, I know, very dangerous. Which is yet another reason I require the input of my brilliant spouse."

''I come to serve,'' he simply answered. Then he added; ''Whatever jamming frequency she will use, there is always a counterjamming one to find. But easier to consider circumventing the problem. She might not allow us to interfere with transporting or use it against her as we did in our recent battles; but she will not be able to prevent us from implementing confinement forcefields around unauthorized transporter signals coming aboard. And once confined, locally reconfiguring gravity plates will pin them defenseless on the deck regardless of any powered combat suit they may use.''

"That's brilliant!" Rita exclaimed, then it brought about a moment of self-reflection. "I... I miss working with you. On projects, on challenges. Back in the old days it was just us, and Michael... mostly us," she grinned at him and stroked her cheek with her trailing fingers. "Now it's all mad gods and englishmen."

''And since I am not English, I estimate that you put me in the former category,'' he said deadpan.

"Mad you most certainly are not, my sensible spouse. The challenges in this century are different, but still surmountable. I just miss solving them more often with you," Rita clarified.

"So let's see.... the starship battle tactics Miss Dox and I have been going over, although now we'll look historically to study previous battles, which will provide statistical data to build a predictive behavioral model for her. Another strategy that I plan to employ is taking her bridge from the outside- our variable mode fighter is as yet still an unstable platform, but for a brief outing I feel this is warranted as both a tactical advantage as well as a field test of the system. It should be able to breach the bridge and assault it. Are there any pitfalls you could see there beyond the preventative tactics you outlined here already?"

''Targeting the command center is a sound approach,'' he acknowledged; ''and it is of course predictable. Henceforth, a feint would be in order, like seemingly adopting a completely different tactic to keep their attention on something else."

"A fake beam in, if I can get someone else on her bridge..." Already Rita had an idea, and an idea of how to implement a longshot plan that might just work if she could get Az'Prel into position.

Waiting patiently, Sonak recognized his exploratory partner's attention returning to the moment, so he proceeded. "Working on blinding their sensors with an antimatter spread could further hamper their own tactics. Also, a multi-pronged approach could be wise to consider; for example, targeting engines with main ship weaponry, their main computer core with viruses transmitted through comm channels, their piloting with tractor beamed debris, their navigational and deflector dish EM pulses, their personnel with transporters while sneaking in boarding parties to their bridge, using thruster suits, while they think our shuttles are trying to board their shuttlebays.''

"Use a shuttle as the kinetic sling... that'll be a new one. Load it with a torpedo, I like that one," Rita muttered as she took notes. "And chroniton particles still scatter everything, right... make it a nebula fog for her."

He paused a moment before adding;

''Then again, it is my advice that what may be the best course of action is to attack the opponent directly, personally; her mindset, her emotions, her needs and desires. Whatever tech or tactic involved, if she cannot think straight, she cannot succeed; then you can.''

He looked at her straight in the eye.

''Have you considered studying how some people have beaten the Starfleet Academy No Win Scenario? In particular, one Andorian cadet by the name of Kheren?''

“I have not… I’ll admit my studies in that arena are sorely lacking,” Rita replied, tapping away at her PaDD to copy down the ideas that were coming so seemingly effortlessly from the somber scientist, yet were all great ideas she had not considered. “Apparently beating the unwinnable scenario has become a thing. What was Kheren's angle?”

''Both the Andorian and the Klingon angles; he challenged the Klingon commander to personal combat.''

He took a bite of his salad to let that sink in.

''The tactic was logical and sound according to all data we have about the Klingons included within the simulation. But, as the computer had no programmed hand to hand confrontation within the simulation and the computer could not deny the valid approach in this instance, it simply ended the program. From this, we may find a way to approach the particular adversary we will have to meet here. Of course, it will not simply shut down the situation, but the point is: target the people and their psychology, not the technology and it's capabilities.''

Another bite in his meal and then he concluded:

''Instead of trying to find a Picard Maneuver, I suggest to go rather with a Corbomite Maneuver.''

“Outmaneuver her psychologically rather than confront, or at the very least, make it resistant force rather than offensive. Fascinating, and definitely a wiser strategy… which leaves me the physical tactical options should psychological warfare fail. I suppose I need to do my research on the target. So, another element… more of an ethics or behavioral query, really.” Rita paused to take a bite of her salad, then she sat back, waggling her fork as she spoke.

“I’ve been trying to keep more Starfleet personnel from signing on to this mission, as I have considerable misgivings about getting Starfleet involved in pirate affairs. However, since this is now a Starfleet operation, should I be more liberal in employing Starfleet personnel? I feel as though I am sticking to my principles here, but I also suspect I may just be acting intractable and stubborn for no good reason. Thoughts?”

He put his fork down and steepled his fingers in front of his face as was his habit when pondering something important.

''I myself was pondering on this very subject. Starfleet General Orders, chief of them the Prime Directive, explicitly forbid Starfleet personnel to get involved in local planetary affairs. Such interference would unravel the very fabric of the Federation. At best, it is allowed for a Starfleet member to request a leave of absence so that he or she may get involved in one's homeworld affairs... but any use of Starfleet resources or personnel in doing so would be the worst compromising of one's Starfleet oath. In this instance, you and I could not be allowed to get involved in this conflict.''

His gaze became even harder as he spoke further.

''Now, if this is an operation dictated by Starfleet Command, it is even more disturbing; because it would mean that, unless this pertains to the security of the Federation, Starfleet itself would be ignoring it's own rules and the spirit of the United Federation of Planets.''

“Ugh. I am now in the unenviable position of defending this,” Rita rolled her eyes, but in truth she had felt quite strongly about this from the beginning. But hearing her logical mate put it in plain and succinct terms was refreshing for her to hear as she had felt herself becoming mired in shades of grey in regard to the issue.

“According to the Admiral, if the Pirate Queen is actually changing allegiances and allying herself with the Orion Syndicate, this will upset the balance that has allowed the Artan family pirates to operate as privateers under letter of marque, if you will- pirates who hunt pirates. But intelligence is indicating that should the Artans side with the Syndicate, there would suddenly be an enormous threat to shipping in a great number of sectors. Thus, this has been authorized as a Starfleet intelligence undercover operation. We are to stabilize the situation by stopping the Pirate Queen in her quest to eliminate the captain and solidify her power base. I’m working on this from a number of angles but… I’ll admit, I’m struggling not to sink into the mire of moral ambiguity on this one.”

''If this is a directive from Starfleet Command and it concerns the security of Federation citizens, then there is no moral ambiguity. The mandate of Starfleet is to protect our citizens and ensure galactic peace, the very first reason for the United Federation of Planets to exist. As Orion is not a member of the Federation and acts against it's laws and policies even within Federation territory, it is classified as a hostile foreign power. As Starfleet officers, it is our duty to prevent any hostile foreign power from threatening peace and security.''

He paused before continuing to let her ponder on this.

''That being said, it is within the rights of any society or members of such society to choose freely who they wish to align with. Again, our interference in such a case would go against our core values. However, since this choice directly threatens the life and well-being of Federation citizens, mainly our captain and those associated with her, fulfilling our duty is thus directly called for.''

He took a new bite of his salad.

''In this instance, I understand the logic in opting for covert activity. Out in the open, even so justified, it would bog Starfleet into a quagmire of legal issues discussions and tie Starfleet hands while the threat would act unimpeded in the interim. By acting discreetly, the threat can be addressed now and the legal niceties resolved later, come what may. Michael would have approved.''

“When did he ever NOT approve our plans?” Rita chuckled, then poked at her salad a bit. “Thank you… I wasn’t really on solid moral ground until I got the go-ahead to make it a Starfleet intel undercover operation, with authorization to use Starfleet resources. Still… I needed that dose of perspective. And of course the input in regard to my plans, which has been invaluable... you have quadrupled our odds of success. So how long have you been listening to me turn this over in my head night after night?” Knowing that anything prevalent in her mind would be shared with him regardless of her intention, it was abundantly clear that he had known of all of this for quite some time. But as per usual, he would not intercede unless he grew concerned for her safety or was convinced her actions would be ruinous.

It was a level of respect to which she had been unaccustomed before him, and could not imagine living without

''Of course, because of our bond and our proximity, I am well aware of your thoughts,'' admitted the Vulcan. ''That being said, this awareness is more of a subconscious nature. When I was a full blown telepath back in our native universe, it took decades for me to build mental screens against the thoughts of others around me. My telepathy in this universe might now be as limited as that of any other Vulcan, but my training remains. Unless you ask me to, I do not intrude upon your mind. I must say it makes our relationship more... intriguing, and therefore interesting and valuable. Learning to know you is a gratifying experience.''

"Yet I spend so much time in yours," Rita raised her index and middle fingers together in the traditional method, and extended them toward him, meeting him halfway, as was custom. Ritual was important, after all. "You are truly a marvel, my One. How in all the universe did I get lucky enough to land a guy like you?"

''Luck is only the result of unknown or random variables we fail to properly calculate,'' Sonak gave as an explanation, reaching out with his own fingers to make the intimate connection between them and express his bond with her in return. ''But in our case, it did not merely come to pass; we made it happen. And, in my estimate, that is a good thing; for the both of us.''

"Pursuing you was the smartest thing I ever did," Rita smiled, enjoying the sensation of passionate embrace that transpired with the simple ritual contact. You never fail to amaze me, my t'hy'la.

And you make existence most fascinating, t'hy'la.

Basking in the moment, as she was still connected to him, her mind was sharper and far more easily able to grasp complex concepts. In short, in touch with his brilliant mind, she was far more intelligent than normal. Thus it was a good time to ask.

I have been selfish thus far in this exchange, my husband. I have sought your input on a situation, and received just what I needed. What are your labors and projects of the day, that I may offer some insight or suggestion? Or are there personal matters you wish to discuss? Our exchange must ever seek a balance, after all. Smiling at him, she beamed her contentment, her joy of being near him, the happiness that she brought to her heart by his mere presence, that much greater to experience his touch, both in mind and body. Plus he was still just as handsome as he'd been the day she met him, and those amazing eyes of his still arrested her attention.

Your input is always welcome and useful, my wife; even if only to validate my reasoning, he admitted out of hand. I am currently without major official ship business. Therefore I was endeavoring to complete a personal endeavor; data analysis and theory on what we have experienced with temporal and quantum physics; specifically, means and consequences of tampering with them. At the moment, I have devised a new hypothesis that is rather... intriguing; possibly with new and farther reaching consequences than expected.

He paused to better collect his ideas in the most succinct manner he could before continuing.

It was established in temporal mechanics that, once you changed something in the past, the future was irremediably changed; a new reality replacing the original one. Multiple instances in Starfleet History proved this point, from the incident with the Guardian of Forever, to the Krenim time war, as well as the Temporal Cold War. This presented problems like the well-known Grandfather Paradox.

He waited to see if she needed a reminder of these notions before resuming. They might have been connected mentally, but this was not a mind meld with instant exchange of thoughts. And he wanted her thoughts to be free of any interference, so as to truly help his own from her unique perspective.

"Aha! I read up on this one!" she said, speaking aloud. "When I first got here I debated going back in time and preventing the Sonak of this reality from getting disintegrated so that I could... ah. Well. But as I recall, the grandfather paradox is a paradox of time travel in which inconsistencies emerge through changing the past. The name comes from the paradox's common description: a person travels to the past and kills their own grandfather before the conception of their father or mother, which prevents the time traveler's existence. Despite its title, the paradox regards any action that alters the past, since there is a contradiction whenever the past becomes different from the way it previously occurred."

Well stated. In this regard, our own tangent reality recently suggested that quantum mechanics also could be at play; instead of a reboot, a new reality would be created each time a change was made in the past, however insignificant, while the original timeline remained. Although ours is the only observed instance of such an aberration, it still scientifically establishes that it is a possibility. The existence of different quantum universes has been observed and recorded, like the occasion when Lieutenant Worf of the USS Enterprise D experienced quantum shifting.

That, however, does not resolve previous paradoxes such as the one I mentioned. Neither did the various special conditions that interfered with such paradoxes; for instance, the time wake that isolated the Enterprise E during the Borg's attempt to change Earth's past. Do you see where I am going with this line of reasoning?

While she had been following along intently and with considerable interest, when asked directly, Rita drew a complete blank. First came a bit of panic, followed by some reassurance that he would not berate her for not foreseeing the conclusion. Then her curiosity won out, all over the space of a second. "No, I'm afraid I don't, my darling. But I'm dying to know. What does it all mean?"

The logic is so simple, it is a wonder that it escaped us all for so long. First of, we know for a fact that our form of existence can only exist in the present and move towards the future. Second, we understand that all paradoxes are resolved if we postulate that the past can not be changed. Yet, and thirdly, changes were observed in what followed such perceived altered past in comparison to our originally perceived past. Therefore, the logical answer lies in what your own Terran Albert Einstein initially postulated in his theory about spacetime; it is all about perspective. Does that sound correct to you?

"So Spock never changed the past, he just created an alternate timeline, and that's all anyone who time travels has ever actually done? While it appears they are living in the same timeline it is in fact a new timeline?" Despite the boost to her intelligence Rita wasn't positive where this was going, but she was giving it the Starfleet try.

He switched to verbal communication as she did.

''Affirmative, but more than that; by creating this alternate reality, he ended the original one. Removing oneself from one's actual reality effectively alters the original one just as much as intruding somewhere else on the timeline, regardless of any action or lack of, since one was part of it and now is not; henceforth ending it by making it a different one than what it should have been.''

His grey eyes focused on hers.

''A reality that was is obliterated, while two new ones that should never have been appear with one single displacement. Then, the distortion is exponentially amplified with every action taken from then on. If my reasoning is sound, do you see what it truly could mean?''

"Infinite possible realities?" Rita took a guess.

''Affirmative; and all artificially created... and destroyed... by our actions.''

He let that sink in a moment.

"So this is the theory you have been working on... that there are infinite realities as each decision causes a branching off of two divergent realities, thus causing are an infinite universe of possible realities?" Rita had a hunch that maybe she was getting a grip on the topic, but like any endeavor, first one had to ask questions.

''Affirmative; the theory itself is far from being a novel one; but the implications of deliberately altering the normal flow of spacetime, and without actively seeking to correct it, it is... exceedingly concerning.''

"Wait, now I'm confused- while we've done corrections, what are you implying about alterations?" Having caught up, now the concerned part was coming into focus for Rita, which was only more confusing.

''What I am implying is that, when someone removes oneself of the timeline, that timeline is instantly destroyed; altered in ways we can not begin to calculate. Unless such a displaced individual is then returned reasonably close to the point of departure, the timeline is altered; and the correction made is of another timeline created by the displacement itself.''

"Wait wait wait- this is multiversal theory, right?" Pulling her PaDD over, Rita tapped away at it for a few seconds with her free hand, then read what her research revealed.

"A prediction of chaotic inflation is the existence of an infinite ergodic universe, which, being infinite, must contain Hubble volumes realizing all initial conditions. Accordingly, an infinite universe will contain an infinite number of Hubble volumes, all having the same physical laws and physical constants. You're saying we're adding more through time and dimensional travel?" Still maintaining their two fingers together, Rita was getting excited about the theory Sonak was explaining to her, one perspective at a time.

''You understand clearly. But what I am implying beyond the mathematics and physics of it, is the moral responsibility of someone altering this multiverse. The mere act of moving out of one's reality potentially destroys it and at the same time creates a new one that never should have been.''

He looked at her.

'' The moral and ethical implications are serious enough; but there is more. It opens the possibility that you and I were effectively robbed of our true existence in this reality when temporal displacements like that of Ambassador Spock occurred... and given a false one in this artificially created reality we allegedly sprang from.''

"That... is sobering." Rita sat back in her chair, gently breaking contact with Sonak. "If that's true, how many others? Michael too? It's a bit unbelievable in scope. But by the same token... wait, doesn't that mean that our own presence in this timeline is causing divergency and disrupting the natural order in precisely the same manner? So does that mean our existence is causing ripple effects to ruin other people's timelines and destinies?"

The Vulcan's gaze nevre wavered.

''That is a definite possibility.''


He gave her time to emotionally process what he said before elaborating further. in his always deadpan tone.


''There is no way of estimating, whom, what and by how much our own displacement altered reality; or have even the merest chance to ever correct it. The number of time displacements known alone makes it next to impossible; and how many are unaccounted for? How many and which one did the Krenim alone made, during their centuries of deliberate time alterations, vainly trying to restore their lost empire from their initial attempt? Since I have been studying this, I have found out a few discrepancies that seem to have escaped even the Bureau of Temporal Investigations; like the fact that there should never have been a Third World War on your Earth in the late twentieth century... and no advanced TY-100 spaceship program to send Khan Noonien Singh into space... and not even a Khan Noonien Singh to conquer a quarter of the Earth back then.''

The Vulcan's gaze never wavered.

''That is a definite possibility.''


He gave her time to emotionally process what he said before elaborating further, in his perpetually deadpan tone.


''There is no way of estimating whom, what and by how much our own displacement altered reality; or have even the merest chance to ever correct it. The number of time displacements known alone makes it next to impossible; and how many are unaccounted for? How many and which one did the Krenim alone made, during their centuries of deliberate time alterations, vainly trying to restore their lost empire from their initial attempt? Since I have been studying this, I have found out a few discrepancies that seem to have escaped even the Bureau of Temporal Investigations; like the fact that there should never have been a Third World War on your Earth in the late twentieth century... and no advanced TY-100 spaceship program to send Khan Noonien Singh into space... and not even a Khan Noonien Singh to conquer a quarter of the Earth back then.''

“Jeez, now I feel guilty for surviving…” Rita muttered. The fact that their arrival here didn’t add a positive value but was actually a detriment to the space/time continuum genuinely bothered her. The effects of their existence and continued survival here might well be unravelling the future that was destined to be, truncating lives and careers that would otherwise have flourished. “Was this supposed to make me feel badly? Because I’ve spent most of this conversation feeling dumb, and now I feel bad about actually being here in this place and time. Nothing in anything that you’ve explained about this theory is even remotely positive.”

''I do not understand your... feeling about this. For all we know, we should have been born and live in this universe and were deprived of it because of unchecked time displacements, finding ourselves duplicated in a false universe that should never have been. It is pointless to assume responsibility for events you have no control over and no way to estimate their impact. Moreover, Knowledge and understanding have nothing to do with emotional comfort. But you may gain some emotional comfort, if ever needed, by knowing and understanding what should and should not be done; and by acting accordingly. That is the only true positive we may gain from it all.''

He paused before elaborating.

''If my thinking is correct, then we now know how to avoid causing such problems; the Temporal Prime Directive. And to ensure it, any temporal alteration must always be avoided unless there is a clear need to correct a recognized previous alteration. That should be corrected right at the source; which now should include the very act of correction. This means each displacement must end as close as feasible to it's point of origin, so as to avoid the consequences of departure before it actually has any tangible effect.''

He eyed her again without flinching.

''As for our personal impact, you and I; we can only measure it by what we can ourselves perceive of the consequences of our own actions. And considering all the lives we have positively impacted since our coming to this universe, we should consider our presence as a positive element of this reality, according to our own way of estimating such things. That is all we can understand... and need to understand.''

For a long moment she stared into those unflinching grey eyes. When she spoke, it was in measured tones... at least, at first.

"I've done my best. I sent the android from the future back to the future, and I didn't have her time locked or anything. Either she will come to pass, or by paradox she'll be wiped away. I will find out through the linear course of time in ninety-four years, give or take. The anachronism from the mirror universe who was thrust in my path was delivered by forces of the universe, and I think... this is like an undreamt of afterlife compared to her universe. I don't know if she belongs here, but she deserves to be here."

Tears were welling up in the eyes of the emotional executive as she spoke. "All those possibilities we create, all those destinies offset... I have to believe that's just life. We make changes, yes, and we alter the timeline by our presence. So I'm glad you glad you can see that it's a good thing," she smiled, a close-lipped smile as she traced her fingers along his heroic jawline.

"We weren't meant to be here. I think we're the x-factor, the element of chaos that the universe played as a wild card. The cosmos pulled us here for a reason- of that I am sure, although there is only faulty logic to back that up so far. But I'm sure of it- I feel it in my bones, Sonak. Why else would we be present at such a convergence of forces?" Rita's big blue eyes sparkled in the light as she proselytized. "If nothing else, I was brought here for Enalia. She needed a second like me, and I'm glad to be here for her."

''Your reasoning along the lines of the chaos theory is quite fascinating. There is much to ponder about when considering it as a premise. Thank you. This shall guide my meditations and research for quite some time.''

Rising to clear the dishes from the table, Rita shook her head, then leaned over to kiss her stoic scientist on the cheek. "Who else could turn a twenty minute lunchbreak into a challenging, stimulating discourse on the multiverse? Sonak, he who is my husband."

''Which is only a possibility only because of you, Rita my wife. Your mind is a perfect balance of emotion and reason. I am priviledged to have you as my mate.''

"Ditto," she replied with a smile, settling on his lap. "We've still got ten minutes left, you know..."

"Indeed..."