Chapter 65: Time's Up
January 2415
“The drive is prepared. The chronometric matrix will begin charging once we reach optimal position.”
The little red-haired Romulan spoke to the crew as she strode out onto the bridge. D’Kera Mandukar sat in the center chair, wearing a mask of contentedness, as her lead scientist began issuing instructions. “Helm,” Kirina said, not so much with authority as an air of simple superiority, “Set your heading 041, proceed 20 thousand meters to the incursion point, and come to a complete stop.” The helm officer, a Star Navy Sublieutenant, looked back to D’Kera for confirmation, even as Kirina circled around to a different station. “Activate the power bypass, and decloak the ship,” she instructed, “Align the deflector to the following temporal coordinates…”
As the bridge crew prepared their stations, there was a buzz of excitement in the air. It wasn’t limited to the Vauthilai; aboard all sixteen warbirds, Romulans waited in quiet anticipation, finally ready to embark on what they believed to be the most important mission in the history of Romulus. Sixteen warbirds - tens of thousands of Romulans, from three different factions, were gathered just a few lightyears away from the ruins of their former homeworld. Changing history and surviving to know about it was to be no small feat. And yet, despite all indications that they had finally reached the eve of their victory… something was off.
“Stop.” D’Kera hadn’t spoken a word in some time. There had been no orders issued; no charismatic speeches; no questions about the progress of the project. She sat in silence for hours, until that moment. “Deactivate the drive. Power down all non-essential systems.”
Only silence followed.
Sudden and awkward silence fell over the bridge of the Vauthilai. The officers looked to each other, confused about the order they were just given. They looked to D’Kera, who offered no explanation. And then they looked to Kirina. Kirina, who had been so intimately involved with the conception of their noble mission. Kirina, who must have known about a planned delay in the activation of the device. Except she didn’t. She was visibly as confused and concerned as the rest of them. “What’s wrong? What do you see?” she asked, assuming she’d missed some flaw or abnormality or nearby threat to the plan.
“It’s over. We can’t win. The Federation will be arriving shortly to take us into custody. If you wish to leave, the time is now.” The officer at tactical shook his head. There were no Federation ships within sensor range.
“… D’Kera, that’s ridiculous,” Kirina said, stepping close enough to lower her voice, “we’re finally ready. We’re here. It’s going to work. We’re going to restore Romulus.”
“We can’t win. I can’t win. It’s over, Kirina. We lost,” D’Kera’s speech was dry, almost monotone. This was not the same voice as the woman who seemed able to convince anyone to flock to her cause. “Deactivate the drive,” she repeated, “Power down non-essential systems. Inform the other ships that we will be surrendering.” Kirina stood in speechless silence. No objections were raised. The bridge crew followed Mandukar’s orders.
“Commander! Enemy fleet just entered sensor range!”
The tactical officer’s report was met only with another quiet utterance of, “I can’t win.” Mandukar’s gaze fixed forwards upon the viewscreen, as she sat motionless. Waiting.
What followed, for Kirina t’Nalah, was a moment of realization. They’d been so close. Literally on the verge of success. There was nothing wrong. Every reading, every test, every system, working exactly as she’d planned. The science was flawless. They were ready and able to return to the past, and she was absolutely certain of it. Months of meticulous work, countless thousands of deaths on her hands, everything she’d worked for; all of it wasted away before her eyes in that single moment. That moment when she figured it out: they’d already done it.
It didn’t work.
They could have done it hundreds of times, and it would have changed nothing.
It never worked.
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