Bienvenue à Paris... comme il a été

Posted on Wed Mar 20th, 2024 @ 2:44pm by Commodore Finchley Kerr & Lieutenant Commander Kevin Kilbane & Commander Shr'Nesh Karadis & Lieutenant Kell Asaa Dr & Lieutenant T'Lira Sh'Karra & Lieutenant Commander Isabelle Savette & Lieutenant JG Scott Kayne

2,342 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Investigate the Chintoka Shipyard Buildup
Location: Earth, France, Paris
Timeline: Current.

There was a blinding flash, Karadis shielded her eyes, then looked round again. All the team seemed to be there...no, one was missing.

"Commander Jaxom's missing!" she said loudly, "Someone check the hallway, see if he's out there."

Kell turned from the body she was examining, stepping out and not seeing him. She hurried back along the route they came, looking for the intrepid young man...

Suddenly Kardis became aware of a sound from outside, a regimented thud, thud, thud!

Curious, she moved to a window close by and looked out. She could hardly believe what she was seeing, "No, it can't be!" she exclaimed.

Kilbane, being equally as curious, but more so because of the reaction Karadis had had, moved to the window as well, looking out.

There was a moment of stunned silence before he whispered "Are those…Those are German soldiers...but from World War Two!"

Kell came back in the door, "I can't see him anywhere; I know he came upstairs with us, but there's no sign of him now!" She pauses as she sees Kilbane's expression, "What's that look for?" She just knew she didn't want to hear the reply...

Kilbane swallowed hard, and looked round at the now silent time drive device. He then looked at Kell and said, “If this is real, and that damned device has worked, we’ve gone back in time nearly four hundred and forty years. Out there…” he pointed to the window, “That’s the invasion army from Germany from during Earth’s Second World War!”

Karadis looked at Kilbane in disbelief, “It can’t be… surely not?”

Kilbane then pointed around the room, “When we came in here, there were computer terminals, that device, and the scientists, that was all. What do you see now?”

Karadis looked around the room. She saw no computer terminals, only benches, with large hessian bags on them. Suddenly she realized that they hadn’t moved spatially, but in time. The device was there, though now cold and quiet, as were the scientists, but everything else in the room was different.

Kilbane looked at Kerr, “Sir, we have to get those scientists to get us back, we can’t stay here.”

Finchley was about to answer when sparks flew out of the time drive device. “Kayne, wake up the scientists, I don’t care how you do it, but you make them talk, tell us what the hell’s going on!”

"Aye captain," Scott responded, then propped one of the said scientists against the wall, "Alright, buddy, you and I are gonna have a lovely conversation." He slapped the scientist as hard as he could as his first attempt to wake them up.

Turning to Isabelle, Kell, and T’Lira he said, “The three of you search this place top to bottom, find out what’s happened to Commander Jaxom.”

Kell nodded, "Let me assist here for a second, get the antidote prepped so we can bring them back around." As she messed with her kit, she told the others where she'd just looked for Jaxom before coming back in...

Isabelle was grateful for the distraction, thinking about where they were, given the fact that they'd traveled in time, wasn't a good feeling. "The Commander... right." She looked to T'Lira.

T'Lira sniffed the air, it was pungent with the scent of Humans, and the chill in the air. They were on Earth. They did travel in time and space. But where was Commander Jaxom? Though she was loath to admit it, the Vulcan Science Academy was wrong about time travel. T'lira studied her surroundings, She needed to know where and when they were.

"Perhaps Commander Jaxom came in at a different point in the timeline," T'Lira postulated.

“Of all the times we needed that crusty grouch McCrudden…” Finchley said exasperated. He looked at the time drive device, “Kilbane, you’re the next best person to see what’s happened with that damn thing, reckon you can work on it?”

Kilbane walked across to it and looked it over. “If I’m honest Bird, this is out of my league. I can understand the basics, but to fix it, get it working again, not a chance.”

Finchley sighed. Here they were, over four hundred years in the past, a time drive device that was buggered, and no one on their team could fix it.

“Right, if Scott can’t get the scientists to talk, we need a backup plan,” he said. “Information is the key, we need to know the exact date and year we’re in, also how many German troops are in the immediate area. I’ve studied this era, there was an underground resistance, we need to contact them, we also need a cover story for why we’re here and about…that!” he pointed at the device.

Karadis piped up “There was nothing even remotely close to that kind of technology then, surely?”

“However, advancement in technology increased greatly, at a much-accelerated rate” Finchley replied, “No one, well, very few people, would know of it, we just need to find them.”

"He's coming around!" Scott called out, as the scientist woke up, Scott pulled his phaser and held it to his neck, "Alright just where and when the hell are we. Talk, now!"


[ Hallway and adjoining space... ]

Leaving the hypo with Scott, Kell headed into the hallway, this time going along more slowly in her search for Jaxom...

“Doctor, wait” Isabelle offered a smile as she caught up with Kell. “We need to stick together, especially given the current circumstances.”

"I can't argue with that. I don't understand what happened to him. I kind of hope he didn't get thrown into this alternate reality we're in, but if he did, we need to find him pronto!" Kell tried to listen carefully as they worked their way down the corridor.


[ Back in the room... ]

The scientist looked at Scott, “What do you think you’ll achieve by killing me, mmmmm?”

Kilbane walked over to him, lifted his right foot, and brought it down hard on the scientist’s left ankle, snapping it in two.

The scientist screamed in agony, writhing about on the floor clutching his broken ankle. Kilbane knelt, grabbed the scientist by the throat, and placed his thumb on his right eye.

“You have precisely five seconds to tell us how thing device can be set up and re-initiated to take us back or I push your eye slowly back into your socket, popping it like a blister.”

“YOU CAN’T, THE CHAMBER CONTAINING THE ISOTOPES HAS DESTABILISED AND BLOWN!!!” the scientist screamed.

“Meaning you can’t fix it?” Kilbane asked.

“WELL…DUH, YES PSYCHOPATHIC ARSE!” the scientist shouted back.

“Then we don’t need you” Kilbane replied, taking his Bowie knife out of his pack, holding it to the scientist's throat, and swiping it across. Blood squirted out and up, thankfully not hitting anyone. The scientist grabbed at his throat, making gurgling noises as his life drained out of him.

Kilbane stood up and walked across to Finchley. “None of them have the remotest idea about this century or how things were. Even if they did, I can’t see any of them helping us.”

Finchley nodded slowly in agreement. He didn’t much care for what had just happened, had Kilbane not done it, he probably would have.

“We have to work on the assumption you’re right,” he said to Kilbane. Looking at Scott he said, “Kill the other three, they’re of no use to us, then get rid of all the bodies.”

"Understood," Scott said.

“We need to hide the device and get out of here so we can find the resistance,” Finchley said to Kilbane.

Kilbane looked around at T’Lira and Karadis, “Ok, you heard the Captain, hide the device and prepare to move out.”

"Hide the device? Hmm, perhaps it's in a recharge cycle," T'Lira suggested.

T'Iira tried using her tricorder on it, but the temporal fields that emanated from it blocked her readings.

T'Lira looked around for a suitable hiding place. She didn't want to bury it in all this junk, as she was uncertain how well-traveled this warehouse was, though by the looks of and smell of the musty confinement it probably wasn't cleaned very often. She looked up and the warehouse did have rafters in the ceiling. There were also adjoining braces high enough off the ground that someone would have to climb to get at it. T'Lira wrapped the device in canvas sheeting she found with the scraps then climbed the scaffolding and carefully wedged the device inside the northernmost bracing joint.

"Will that be sufficient Sir?" T'lira asked.

“That’s perfect Lieutenant, thank you” Finchley replied, then added, “Catch up with Lieutenants Asaa and Savette, try to find out where Commander Jaxom is.”

"Aye, Sir," T'Lira replied. Then she was off...


[ Adjoining space... ]

Kell looked over at Isabelle. "Any ideas? We can backtrack down the stairwell and see if he stepped off on the 2nd floor on the way here?"

Isabelle wasn’t so sure. “If we all arrived together, then it’s possible that Commander Jaxom never arrived here at all. Either that or we got separated.”

Kell shrugs. "Your guess is as good as mine right now. We need to find him, or at least some clue..."

Finchley looked at Scott, Kilbane, and Karadis, “Ok, first things first, we need to find period clothing, we can’t go outside in these clothes, even though they’re casual and not uniforms. They’re casual-looking from our century, not this one. Lieutenant Kayne, that’s your job for now, also whilst you’re out doing that, try to get a look around, see if there are any German patrols, what their strength is, and what the makeup of the patrol is.”

"Aye, sir, moving out," Scott said, "Should I attempt to grab uniforms if available?"

"For the moment, getting the period casual clothes is the priority, German uniforms can wait, though we may have to get them sooner or later" Finchley replied.

“And us?” Karadis asked, pointing to Kilbane and herself.

“You’re going sightseeing” Finchley replied.

“We are???” Kilbane asked, very surprised.

“Yes” Finchley said. “You remember that the palace in our era Paris is the Presidential one, well, I’m pretty sure that in this century, it will become the hub of the Wehrmacht. I need you two to find out if it is.”

Karadis simply nodded.

"How are we going to hide me? I'm obviously an alien, " T'Lira said.

"It's not unusual for women to wear headscarves" Finchley said, "We can use that as a disguise."

"Right, you all know what's required of you, get to your tasks, but be careful, don't take any unnecessary risks. If you captured by the Germans, they'll be unrelenting in their questioning of you, torture wasn't uncommon," Finchley said.

He himself ran out into the hallway and caught up with Isabelle and Kell. "Any sign of Jaxom?" he asked them.

Isabelle shook her head. “No, nothing yet. I’m starting to wonder if he even came through with us.”

Kell nodded. "Not a clue as of yet. We were about to drop down a floor and see if he got sidetracked..."

Scott had returned having secured what clothing he could find. Finchley instructed everyone to find clothes that fitted, and meet back in the hallway ASAP. When they were all gathered again he said, “We can’t wait any longer, we need to get out of here, and find the local resistance.”

He took the lead and soon they were all back down on the ground floor. “Ok, implanted universal translators should allow us to communicate easily with people. Remember, the locals will be jumpy, strangers in their midst, such as us, will possibly make them even more so. Try to look like you’ve been displaced from your homes and are looking to get back at the Germans in any way you can. It may create some sympathy, allow you to ask questions on how you can help do this, so it may lead to an introduction to the local resistance. Asaa and Savette, you two work together, go to local restaurants or bars, see what you can find out. The rest of us will do the same in others, we’ll meet back here in four hours. Have you all got that?”

Isabelle nodded. “Got it Sir, to be honest I can’t say I’m comfortable going out there, but it’s not like any of us have a choice.”

“I understand you not being comfortable Lieutenant” Finchley replied, “but as you say, we really don’t have a choice. We all have to try and cope the best we can.”

Kell nodded. "Restaurants... got it. We don't have local currency, so I'm sure we can look hungry and hopeful and maybe get a conversation going somewhere. Do we have a rendezvous for later?"

“As I just said Lieutenant Asaa, we’ll rendezvous back here in four hours. Is there anything else anyone wants to add or ask?” he said.

Kell nods, "I meant after that, if we can't make the 4-hour count, do we have a message drop here for where everyone went or maybe a backup location tomorrow?"

"Perhaps maybe two or three backup locations, if you miss the four hour check in, we'll scout each location and group up that way?" Scott said.

Kell nodded, not expecting things to go smoothly...

“None of us know the area well enough to select three different locations to meet up” Finchley replied, “We’ll stick with meeting here, but when you return, scout thus place first, don’t just assume it’s safe.”

Kell looks over at Isabelle. "Ready to go counselor?"

“About as ready as I’ll ever be” Isabelle smiled warmly. “Can’t say I’m looking forward to it though. The sooner we find a way home the better.”

 

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