Not Here, Not Now

Posted on Tue Jul 22, 2025 @ 9:07pm by Lieutenant Kivan Ta'Gas

1,623 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Time After Time
Location: Service Corridor - Sickbay
Tags: Kivan, time travel, sickbay

Lieutenant Kivan Ta'Gas moved through the shadowed corridors of Deep Space 5 like a ghost, keeping to maintenance areas and abandoned sections of the station. He had been avoiding all contact with the crew since arriving with the other time-displaced officers, a decision that grew more difficult with each passing day. The irony wasn't lost on him - he had traveled back in time to help prevent the Cardassian attack on Pangaea, yet found himself unable to participate in that very mission.

The reason was both simple and terrifying: somewhere on this station was another version of himself. His past self was going about his duties, unaware that his future counterpart lurked in the station's forgotten spaces. By all the laws of temporal mechanics Kivan understood, he shouldn't exist anymore. The successful prevention of the Cardassian attack should have caused his timeline to collapse, merging him with his past self or simply erasing him from existence entirely. Yet here he was, days after their arrival, still inexplicably separate and whole.

The questions haunted him as much as the growing weakness in his body. Why hadn't the temporal merger occurred? What did his continued existence mean for the timeline they were trying to save? These thoughts consumed him as he made his way through the rarely-used service corridors, avoiding the main thoroughfares where he might encounter officers who knew his past self.

It was while accessing a maintenance junction near the lower docking ring that the first serious symptoms manifested. Kivan had been working on tapping into the station's internal sensors - trying to monitor the situation without revealing his presence - when a wave of dizziness overtook him. His hands trembled as he gripped the access panel, and beads of perspiration formed on his pale forehead despite the cool temperature of the maintenance area.

"Not now," he muttered to himself, fighting against the weakness that seemed to be spreading through his limbs. But his body had other plans. The corridor seemed to tilt around him, his vision blurred, and before he could steady himself against the bulkhead, he collapsed onto the deck plates with a resounding crash that echoed through the empty passage.

It was a routine maintenance sweep that led to the discovery. Ensign Valdez, making her rounds through the lower service areas, heard the sound of the collapse and investigated. What she found sent her immediately to her combadge. "Medical emergency in service corridor 12-Alpha. I have an unconscious officer down here."

Within minutes, an emergency medical team arrived to find the mysterious figure. The unconscious man wore a Starfleet uniform, but there was something off about him that the medics couldn't quite place. As they loaded him onto an anti-grav stretcher and transported him to sickbay, none of them realized they were dealing with a temporal refugee who had been hiding in plain sight.

In sickbay, Dr. Yenara began her examination of the unknown patient. Her initial scans revealed immediate concerns - severe dehydration, malnutrition consistent with someone who had been avoiding the ship's mess halls, and most troubling, unusual radiation signatures in his bloodstream.

"I don't recognize this officer," Dr. Yenara told her medical assistant as she studied the readings. "Run his biometric signature against the crew database."

The results were puzzling. The computer identified the unconscious man as Lieutenant Kivan Ta'Gas, but according to the duty roster, Lieutenant Ta'Gas was currently on shift in Operations. Dr. Yenara double-checked the readings, then called Engineering directly.

*COM* "This is Dr. Yenara. I need to confirm the location of Lieutenant Ta'Gas."

The response was immediate: *COM* "He's currently working on the power distribution grid. Is there a problem?"

Dr. Yenara stared at her unconscious patient with growing confusion and alarm. The biometric scans were definitive - this was Kivan Ta'Gas. Yet Kivan Ta'Gas was also currently working in Engineering. She ran the scans again, checked for possible transporter duplicates, cloning attempts, or shapeshifter infiltration. All tests came back negative.

As she continued her medical examination, more disturbing findings emerged. The man's serum calcium levels had dropped to dangerous levels, explaining the collapse. More concerning were the traces of chroniton particles she detected in his cellular structure. "Chroniton radiation," she murmured, running specialized scans. "But how? And why is he hiding on the station?"

Lieutenant Commander Hayes arrived in sickbay after being called to consult on the mysterious radiation readings. He studied the medical data with the trained eye of a temporal mechanics specialist.

"These chroniton signatures are consistent with someone who has been exposed to temporal displacement," Hayes observed. "But the pattern is unusual - it's as if his temporal matrix is unstable, fighting against some kind of temporal merger that should have occurred but didn't."

Dr. Yenara administered radioline to help counteract the chroniton poisoning while they worked to solve the puzzle. As the medication took effect, their patient's vital signs stabilized, though he remained unconscious.

"I want to run a chroniton signature analysis," Dr. Yenara decided. "If this man has been displaced in time, it should show up in his temporal matrix."

The results of the chroniton signature scan were both revealing and mystifying. The readings confirmed that their patient was definitely displaced in time - his temporal matrix showed clear signs of chronoton exposure and displacement - but the exact origin point remained frustratingly unclear.
"His chroniton signature is completely out of phase with our current timeframe," Commander Hayes said, studying the complex readings. "But I can't determine exactly when or where he came from. The signature is... scrambled somehow."

Dr. Yenara ran additional scans, focusing on the patient's genetic structure. "Wait, look at this. His DNA shows mixed heritage - half Bajoran, half Cardassian. That's an unusual combination."

Hayes leaned over the readings with renewed interest. "Mixed-species genetics can sometimes create unexpected interactions with temporal energy. The Bajoran pagh - their life force - has been theorized to have temporal-resistant properties, while Cardassian physiology has shown unusual resilience to various forms of radiation."

"You think his mixed heritage is protecting him somehow?" Dr. Yenara asked, comparing the genetic scans with the temporal readings.
"It's possible," Hayes mused. "If his Bajoran-Cardassian DNA is creating some kind of temporal buffer, it might explain why his chroniton signature is so distorted. It could also explain why he hasn't undergone whatever temporal merger or erasure should have occurred."

Dr. Yenara looked at their mysterious patient with growing fascination. "His mixed-race genetics might be acting like a temporal anchor, keeping him stable in this timeline when he should have been affected by whatever temporal changes occurred."

As if responding to their conversation, Lieutenant Kivan Ta'Gas - the future version - began to stir. His eyes opened slowly, adjusting to the bright lights of sickbay. When he saw the faces of the medical staff looking down at him, his expression became carefully guarded, though concern flickered behind his dark eyes.

"How... how long have I been unconscious?" Kivan asked weakly, his voice hoarse from dehydration. He tried to sit up but Dr. Yenara gently pressed him back down onto the biobed. "About six hours," Dr. Yenara replied, keeping her tone professional and neutral. "You collapsed in one of the service corridors. Severe dehydration and some concerning radiation readings in your bloodstream."

Kivan's jaw tightened slightly, but he said nothing about the radiation. The Temporal Prime Directive weighed heavily on his mind - he couldn't reveal anything about his true situation, no matter how much he might need their help. "I've been feeling tired lately," he admitted carefully. "Working too many double shifts, I suppose. Not eating regularly."

Commander Hayes exchanged a meaningful glance with Dr. Yenara before speaking. "How long have you been experiencing these symptoms? The fatigue, I mean. Any dizziness, weakness, unusual sensations?"

Kivan considered his answer carefully, aware that any details he provided might reveal too much. "A few days, maybe longer. It's been... difficult to keep track."

"Have you noticed anything else unusual? Any strange experiences, disorientation beyond what you'd expect from overwork?" Dr. Yenara probed gently, not wanting to lead him toward any specific answers. The half-Bajoran, half-Cardassian officer studied their faces, searching for any sign that they suspected the truth.
"Nothing that I can think of," he said finally. "Just the usual stress of... of current circumstances." Dr. Yenara nodded, making notes on her medical padd. "Well, we're going to keep you here for observation. You need proper rest and nutrition, and I want to monitor those radiation levels."

After Kivan had been given some water and encouraged to rest, Dr. Yenara and Commander Hayes stepped into the adjacent office to discuss their next course of action. "This is clearly beyond our expertise," Dr. Yenara said quietly. "Whatever temporal situation we're dealing with here, we need specialists."

Commander Hayes nodded grimly. "I think it's time we contacted the Department of Temporal Investigations. They have protocols for dealing with temporal anomalies and displaced individuals."

"Agreed. This situation is too complex and too dangerous for us to handle alone," Dr. Yenara said, already preparing to compose the classified message. "DTI will need to know about the temporal radiation, the genetic anomalies, and the... duplicate situation we've discovered."

As they worked on their report to the temporal investigators, Kivan lay on the biobed in the main sickbay, staring at the ceiling and wrestling with impossible choices. Every moment he remained in this timeline risked further contamination, yet he still had no answers about why he continued to exist or what his presence might mean for the future they had fought so hard to prevent.

---

Kivan Ta'Gas, Lieutenant
Operations Officer
Deep Space 5 (future)

Mu'rasha Yenara, M.D.
Medical Officer
Deep Space 5 (Present)

Carmichael Hayes, Lieutenant Commander
Science Officer
Deep Space 5 (Present)

 

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