As hard as this has been to witness, we took these actions for a reason. The unique energy particles that define this planet’s atmosphere, sent our shuttles and transports -- that attempted to land on this planet in the present -- into this planet’s past and future. Those vessels that found themselves in the past, discovered a thriving civilization. That civilization eventually died out over the more recent centuries, but the time-travel properties remained. Those properties, if not destroyed, could allow other vessels to travel into the past, thereby altering the history of this planet even further. We cannot allow that to happen. The Prime Directive requires us to preserve that civilization as much as possible, and the only way to do that, was to destroy the means of time-travel within the atmosphere.
Yes, we destroyed this planet in the present, to preserve its life in the past. If this sounds controversial, it is. I don’t like it, Captain Picard doesn’t like it, but it was the only choice we had.
For those that haven’t been following this unusual mission, it would seem that a full recap may be helpful at this point, so, please bear with me as I fill in the details...
All of this began four weeks ago when the Enterprise came here to explore a previously unknown class-M planet. Upon arrival, we discovered lush temperate forests, stunning mountain ranges, evidence of ancient burial mounds, and an untouched wilderness unlike anything in the Federation. It was an exceptional planet, and one ripe for exploration.
After determining the planet to be safe and uninhabited, the decision was made to send our two Pullman-class transports (the Aurora and the Volante), as well as three shuttles (the Hawking, my Eagle, and the Marine shuttle Arizona) down to the planet with personnel looking to explore, study, and relax. Unfortunately, as soon as these five vessels entered the atmosphere, they disappeared – transported, as we later discovered, to various points in the planet’s history.
The rest of us aboard the Enterprise scrambled to determine what had happened, discovering, shortly thereafter, that a type of energy particle saturated the atmosphere, and was the likely cause for the missing vessels.
Around this time, the Starfleet ships, USS Ambassador (Ambassador-class) and USS Arcane (Excelsior-class) arrived unexpectedly, indicating their desire to assist our efforts. Neither of them had orders to do so. At one point in the investigation, the USS Arcane’s chief science officer even took a Type-7 shuttle (the Invictus) down into the planet’s atmosphere to test a random theory. This was a foolhardy choice, and would end in his demise. The Invictus disappeared, like the other five vessels, and Captain Picard was understandably livid.
Meanwhile, the missing Marine shuttle, Arizona (with ten Marines aboard), landed on the planet, we assume, in 4175 BC, shortly after the Biblical event of Creation. They experienced a virgin planet even more beautiful than the planet we came here to explore. They engaged in survival and exploration activities until a man in a white suit named Ceraquel – whom many believe to have been an angel – appeared, and asked the Marines to leave. He indicated that the Marines did not belong in this time, a time he stated was only 23 days after Creation. He informed the Marines that as soon as the Arizona entered the atmosphere, it would be supernaturally transported back to the present. His instructions came to pass, and the Marines returned to the Enterprise seven days after they disappeared.
The transport Aurora (with 35 personnel aboard) also found itself in the past. We don’t know an exact date for the time they experienced, however, based on information derived from other historical sources (including the Adamoi and events from Earth’s own history), it is generally assumed that they visited this planet sometime around 3000 BC. They too experienced a rich uninhabited wilderness planet – much like the one the Enterprise orbited in the present. However, they were also present to witness the arrival of hundreds of tall humanoids, similar to the Adamoi, who appeared on the planet as if exiting an Iconian Gateway. The Aurora personnel chose not to interact with these visitors, but did indicate that they seemed to be setting up a new colony or settlement. The Aurora personnel also, inadvertently, left a distress beacon from the transport, where it was discovered by these gate travelers, and was never recovered. Shortly after these events, the same man in a white suit – who, here too, referred to himself as Ceraquel, asked the stranded Aurora to leave the past. He gave instructions for a supernatural return to the present (by launching into orbit), and the Aurora, reappeared in the atmosphere two days before the Arizona. The Aurora was the first missing vessel to return to the Enterprise.
The transport Volante (with 32 personnel aboard) traveled into the past as well, arriving 300 years after the Aurora (circa 2700 BC). Here, our crew and civilians discovered a thriving population -– likely descendants of the tall humanoids the Aurora crew saw arriving three centuries earlier. The Volante crew was introduced to this civilization when the natives captured a scouting party. A number of personnel, led by Lieutenant Glenn Tollison, tracked the captured scouts to an old city (surrounding the “burial mounds” the Enterprise discovered in the present), and negotiated for their release.
Lieutenant Tollison also reported that, during these negotiations, a native interpreter rapidly learned the English language over the course of an hour or two -- enough to communicate. This interpreter, at the request of the city leaders, asked Tollison to repair a “door” – a large metal ring located inside a temple, which was inside the largest “burial mound”. The Lieutenant was unable to assist, but reported his conclusion that he believed the natives were asking him to help activate an outgoing Iconian Gateway – a gateway that they were unable to fully construct. They seemed to lack the full construction knowledge necessary, and hoped our technologically advanced personnel could do what they could not. It was also during these meetings that Lieutenant Tollison was shown the now-300-year-old emergency beacon lost from the Aurora, a valuable relic to these people. In addition, Tollison determined that the strange radiation particles in the atmosphere were directly emanating from this broken “gateway”.
Shortly after these encounters, the Volante chose to attempt a return to orbit, and passed through the atmosphere, returning to the present (2365). The particles in the atmosphere were likely dense enough by this point in the planet’s history to allow a return trip through time.
The Type-7 shuttle, Hawking, also traveled into the past, although, astronomical readings, gathered by the six personnel aboard, indicated that they assumed their planetary stay to have been only ten years ago – in 2355.They experienced the same planetary environment the Enterprise detected in the present. During an experimental launch from the planet’s surface, into orbit, they safely returned to the Enterprise six days after they disappeared. Unfortunately, they left their encampment on the planet’s surface, and were unable to retrieve these supplies.
The fifth Enterprise vessel to disappear in the atmosphere, was my own Type-6 civilian shuttle, the Eagle. Aboard were security lieutenant David Brown, as well as our own Tessa Kensington and Cassie Queen. These three officers were intending to enjoy a camping trip on the forested surface (in the present), but instead, found themselves close to ten years in the future (sometime in the 2370s). The planet they saw below them, was not the beautiful forests they expected, but an arid environment much like Arizona or New Mexico on Earth.
Almost immediately after descending from the atmosphere, the Eagle was attacked by a hostile starship resembling a small purple-colored beetle. Despite exceptional piloting by Tessa, the Eagle was shot down, and crashed into the banks of a river at the bottom of a canyon. The Eagle was too damaged to salvage. With injuries, the three officers managed to find a cave further down the canyon, and set up a secure base camp. The next day, however, they were attacked by a small group of armed “alligator soldiers” (as Lieutenant Brown called them), led by a man named Borath, who claimed to working for “the Founders”. Borath also claimed that he was an enemy of the Federation, which was caught up in a war against them. He indicated that he was operating behind Federation lines, and was on the hunt for a mythical “door”, apparently located somewhere on this planet.
After being knocked out – and presumably assumed dead – David, Tessa, and Cassie managed to track down and located a faint emergency beacon from another Starfleet shuttle – soon determined to be the USS Arcane’s Type-7 shuttle, the Invictus. It was located in an underground cavern, having been, apparently, parked/hidden there by the Arcane’s rogue chief science officer four years earlier (4-5 years in our future). Evidence indicated that the Arcane science officer had died years earlier – possibly at the hands of a wild animal, leaving the Invictus unattended in the cavern. The shuttle Invictus was in operational condition, and allowed the three injured officers to attempt an escape into orbit. That escape resulted in them unexpectedly returning to the present, and being taken aboard the Enterprise. My crashed shuttle, Eagle, remains embedded in the river bank nearly ten years in the future.
With our missing personnel recovered, nearly two weeks later, our Enterprise science and engineering crew managed to develop a device that would allow our runabout, the USS Paladin, to clear a path through the particle-rich atmosphere, and finally land on the planet in the present day. A science and exploratory away team would then learn all they could about the planet, and hopefully answer many curious questions. Unfortunately, our calculations about the atmosphere were incorrect, and the Paladin also disappeared in time. They eventually determined their landing to be three years in the past (in 2362).
While on the planet, the away team managed to rig a runabout emergency beacon to begin transmitting three years later – the day they disappeared. They managed to record a short message indicating their intention to continue with their original mission, only completed three years ago, instead of in the present.
The Paladin away team remained in the past for three days. During their mission on the planet’s surface, they discovered the partially buried encampment left behind by the shuttle Hawking in 2355, as well as the ruins of the now-ancient mound-temple Lieutenant Tollison had been shown circa 2700 BC. Remarkably, debris from the Aurora’s 5,000-year-old emergency beacon/relic was also recovered, and brought back to the Enterprise upon the Paladin’s return. Of most note, however, the Paladin away team confirmed that the remains of the metal “Iconian Gateway” ring were, indeed, the source of the saturated energy/radiation particles in the planet’s atmosphere – and the likely cause of the time-travel. In addition, after 5,000 years, the ancient ring had also started giving off a dangerous form of localized radiation, and could not be safely removed. It would have to be destroyed on-site to negate its effects.
After gathering additional information about the planet, as well as a few specimens for further study, the Paladin launched into orbit, passed through the temporal atmosphere, and returned to the present.
Over the next few days, Captain Picard came to the conclusion that the large mound-temple would have to be phasered from orbit, thereby destroying the irradiated metal “gateway” (and the particles it was emitting). In addition, the Enterprise would have to chemically ignite the planet’s saturated atmosphere, in order to destroy the existing particle buildup, thus removing the time-travel element.
Today we completed those actions, and today, we destroyed this beautiful planet. In 8-10 years, when Tessa, Cassie, and David Brown crash on this planet – in my shuttle -- they will be experiencing the results of our destructive actions. How they were able to return to the present, though, with a time-travel-free atmosphere, remains a mystery.
-Lieutenant Sam Archer
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March 25, 2365 -- (Original Devron Timeline)