Temporal History - Textcard ==================

There is still no widespread agreement as to when the idea of time travel was fi rst conceived on Earth. However, Memoirs of the Twentieth Century , a book written by Samuel Madden in 1733 is certainly one of the earliest. It is mainly a series of letters from English ambassadors in various countries a round the globe to the Lord High Treasurer in London. Sent back in time to the e arly 18th century, they were all purportedly written in 1997 and 1998 and descri bing the conditions of that era. One of the most revered 21st century Terran scientists, Stephen Hawking, once su ggested that the absence of tourists from the future constituted a concrete argu ment against the existence of time travel, and even as late as the year 2151, ti me travel was still deemed impossible by the Vulcan Science Directorate. Despite this, as of 2378 at least 40 separate instances of some form of time travel had been noted by the Department of Temporal Investigations. In short, temporal history can best be described as any other timeline or record ed history that is similar to but not equal to our own. This begs the question, "What if history had developed differently?" Over one hundred years have passed since the USS Enterprise NCC-1701 made the fi rst, accidental trip a few minutes into the past. Subsequently, the Federation r emains the only known Alpha Quadrant power to possess temporal technology. This leaves us with a huge burden of responsibility. Initially, the experts were convinced that the past was fixed and unchangeable the so called 'law of conservation of reality'. As a result Starfleet began se nding historical research missions to several parts of Federation history, but w ithin less than a year it became clear that the past was not in fact fixed, but highly sensitive to change. When a second incident hurled the Enterprise back to 1966, the crew s unintentiona l interference with the past threatened to jeopardize future history significant ly. Starfleet began to re-appraise its policies on time travel, however, histori cal research missions continued for some time until it became obvious that the d angers were simply too high. 2268 saw the introduction of the Temporal Prime Directive (TPD). Just like its s tandard Prime Directive cousin, this policy was a complex set of rules which bas ically boiled down to one sentence meaning no Federation vessel or crew will wil lingly jeopardize past history under any circumstances. As a result of the introduction of the TPD, all Federation time travel was halte d and the existence of this technology was classified to all except those with t he highest possible security clearance levels. The Federation determined that it would be best if the very existence of temporal technology was forgotten. Nevertheless, it didn't work out as planned, and the Federation has since found itself dealing with a bewilderingly wide variety of cases involving time travel via long forgotten alien devices, natural and artificial anomalies, accidents, a nd deliberate sabotage. The response to this situation was the formation of the Department of Temporal I nvestigation (DTI) in 2273; officially the DTI would be responsible for investig ating all known instances of time travel, assessing the impact upon the timeline

and, if necessary, assigning blame to those involved. The DTI's other roles have expanded over the years to include the use of highly classified temporal scanning devices to monitor alternate timelines, engaging in covert activity in order to ensure the lid of secrecy remained tightly closed o ver all temporal technology, and even acting to restore the timeline after it ha d been altered by accident or design. I will now detail some of the more intriguing scenarios that the agency has inve stigated since its inception. The most common thing encountered by the DTI is a straightforward incursion into the past or future. A Future Incursion involves an object moving along the time axis at a rate, greater than one second per second; hence, the objects and/or p ersonnel involved will move into the future. A Past Incursion involves an objec t moving along the time axis at any negative rate, hence travelling into the pas t. Such incursions, more commonly called 'time t a rate vastly higher than normal, so that instant. Temporal Investigations has dealt , and is authorized to make such incursions . jumps', unusually involve the journey itself can be with many past and future itself when circumstances movement a virtually incursions require it

Wormholes are another common cause of temporal activity. All wormholes have two endpoints, which can be located anywhere in space-time and are connected by a tu nnel of finite length. The remarkable aspect of the wormhole is that its interna l length seems to be entirely independent of the external distance between its e ndpoints. For example, the Bajoran wormhole has a distance between endpoints of 70,000 lig ht years but its internal length is only 200,000 km. This would make wormholes ideal for long range travel - but unfortunately as we know from both the Barzan and Khittomer wormholes, the endpoints are notoriously prone to sudden and massi ve changes in their position. The Bajoran wormhole remains unique in that both ends are stable. While wormhole endpoints can be separated by huge distances, it is common for bo th ends to be located at the same point in time. However, some examples have be en discovered in which the endpoints are widely spaced in time, with little or n o spatial displacement. Wormholes of this sort are commonly responsible for pas t/future incursions encountered by the DTI, and as such their identification rem ains classified. The rarest of all wormholes are those that demonstrate significant time and spac e displacement. Such a one was discovered here in the Delta Quadrant by the USS Voyager in 2371. Another classic cause of a temporal incursion is a Causality Loop . These occur when a person or object involved in a temporal incursion initiates a n event which results in that person or object becoming a causal factor in the o riginal incursion. One of many declassified examples of this loop is the story of Edith Keeler, a s ocial worker from 20th century Earth. Edith Keeler, according to our current timeline, operated the Twenty-First Stree t Mission on planet Earth in 1930. Known for her compassion and forward thinking , she sought to bring peace to the entire planet and was killed in a tragic auto accident.

However an incursion into the past by certain crewmembers of the USS Enterprise sparked a chain of events throughout the timeline, essentially changing it and c reating an alternate temporal history. The Temporal history records that Edith Keeler operated the Twenty-First Street Mission on planet Earth. She was once saved from a tragic auto accident by a Leo nard McCoy. She continued striving towards her goals, eventually founding one of the largest peace movements in the United States. Her actions finally attracted the attention of President Roosevelt, with whom she met on February 23 1936, to confer on her plan of action for assisting the needy. By the late 1930s, the growing pacifism caused by actions she set into motion de layed the United States' involvement in World War II. The nation of Germany mean while completed its heavy water experiments and were first to develop of the ato mic bomb. This, together with the V-2 rocket, led to Germany capturing the world , ultimately erasing the Federation. The causality loop prevented this from becoming our timeline. If Doctor McCoy di d not travel back in time and alter the timeline by saving her, then Captain Kir k would not have followed him, would not have fallen in love with Keeler and wou ld not have left her die in the auto accident. The universe we see around us is the end result of an apparently infinite number of events interacting with each other in a particular order. Each one of these events generates alternate timelines - 'what might have been' universes in whic h every possible outcome is played out. Any temporal incursion which alters any past event will therefore generate an al ternate timeline; and since an 'event' in this context constitutes any degree of interference, even the disturbing of a single atom, then all incursions generat e not one but many alternates. DTI Records show that on stardate 47391.2 Lt. Commander Worf, experienced many d ifferent alternative realities after flying through a quantum fissure. He exper ienced several discontinuities in events against his memory. He soon discovered that he was not native to the universe he had journeyed into. Lt. Commander Worf stated that in that alternate universe, the Federation was at war with the Bajorans, and that he was a commander and first officer of the Ent erprise-D. Reluctantly he also stated he was married to Counsellor Deanna Troi, with whom he had two children. His journey to and from this alternate timeline had no effect on our current tim e space continuum, however it does provide an interesting view into how our choi ces cause outcomes, plus it provides us an example of quantum reality. For example, when a six-sided die is rolled there are six possible outcomes of t he roll. In alternate realities each of these outcomes exists and the perceived existence of a single state is not due to a fixed reality, but a fixed point of perception from which the other outcomes are not observable. This has led to the concept of the 'preferred timeline'. The DTI originally defined this as the timeline which would exist if temporal te chnology had never been created, but this has since been updated and the preferr ed timeline is now said to be the timeline which would exist if no further incur sions occurred. Temporal scanning has recorded the signature of the preferred t imeline, and this is used as the basis for comparison between timelines. Perhaps the most concerning temporal history, is of one recurring alternate time

line that the Federation has encountered on many occasions. It holds so many par allels to what we know to be true, that it is commonly referred to as the Mirror Universe. This parallel universe coexists with our universe on another dimensional plane. The universe was so named because many people and places seemed to be the exact opposites of their "normal" selves in "our" universe, but with numerous "good" a spects now "evil", and vice versa. We will not go into the full history of the Mirror Universe here, however, according to many reports the Mirror Universe diverged from our own timeline aro und about the time of the Eugenics Wars on Earth. What specific temporal incursi on caused this divergence is still unknown and still under investigation by the DTI. The largest threat to us, from the Mirror-Universe is the existence of mirror-co unterparts. People who look and act like, people you know, but are not of this U niverse. The Terran Empire has caused mayhem and tragic loss of life in both the Alpha an d more recently, the Delta Quadrant by their unprovoked incursions. The legendary James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise was the first Starfleet Captai n to encounter the Mirror Universe in the Alpha Quadrant. Whilst in the Delta Qu adrant, the USS Redeemer under the command of Chase Quinnell was the first Unite d Federation Starfleet vessel to encounter them. The Terran Empire is the Mirror Universe counterpart of the United Federation of Planets, and differs from the Federation in virtually all aspects of philosophy and ethics. Where the Federation has strict rules protecting less-advanced soci eties, the primary order of the Empire is to allow no mercy. The uniforms and heraldry of the Empire reflect its very violent nature. Uniforms are more flamboyant, and always incorporate weapons daggers and phasers . The symbol of the Empire is a stylized Earth with a sword behind it. The following excerpts are taken from the mission logs of the USS Redeemer, and reveal much about the Terran Empire Campaigns in the Delta Quadrant. In 2383 the USS Redeemer was heading deep into the territory of the late Crimson Rebellion, a small group of rebel Andorians who were determined to cause troubl e for UFS. After succeeding in neutralizing the rebel threat, scans of the wreck age revealed some field fluctuations. A further investigation revealed a mix of Dominion, Borg, and Starfleet technology in some of the wreckage. The subsequent investigations suggested that the Terran Empire was trying to cro ss over into the Delta Quadrant to gain more knowledge, technology, and territor y. Not long after, there were reports of disturbances from neighbouring systems. Further investigation revealed that a threat from the Terran Empire was indeed as suspected. A significant encounter with the Empire was in the battle of Pinastri. Quinnell's Log reveals: The USS Redeemer received a distress call from Sector001. We high-tailed it to P inastri with 3 Empire vessels on our tail. Upon arrival at Pinastri, we saw a b attlefield of death. Four Starfleet ships were adrift in space and Cascade stat ion was taking heavy fire. Cascade lost part of its outer ring in the battle an d we lost many good ships and officers that day..

Other battles were fought during the Terran Campaign, costing many lives and fac ilities, including the loss of the first USS Redeemer. The Mirror Captain Quinnell was captured and interrogated, which eventually led to victory for UFS and sent the Terran's back to their own universe. The Temporal Prime Directive states that in cases involving temporal phenomena, Starfleet must act so as to minimize disruption to the preferred timeline. The DTI generally accepts changes to the preferred timeline if such changes are judg ed to be within certain limits and the action of Captain Benjamin Sisko in delib erately meeting with Captain James Kirk during a recent temporal incursion is on e example. Many people both inside and outside the DTI complain that this means that the pr eferred timeline has thus become 'the timeline that the Federation wants to exis t in', and whilst this criticism has some justification, the DTI is based on the premise that what must be, must be so in order to fulfil its function it continue s to act on this basis. _________________________________________________ This lecture was written by Ishan Broek and Hroskell Skytower. These materials are property of UFSA & United Federation Starfleet and may not b e transferred or copied in any way without their consent.