Two Crews, One Problem (Part 4)

Posted on Wed Jun 3rd, 2026 @ 3:43am by Captain Violet Bluegarden & Commander Jason Reeves & Lieutenant Commander Julian Wishmore & Lieutenant Hikari Takanashi & Lieutenant Irril Sharvo
Edited on on Wed Jun 3rd, 2026 @ 3:45am

1,690 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: What's Past is Present
Location: Conference Room
Timeline: After 'Two Crews, One Problem (Part 3)'

Previously, on Star Trek: The Sullivans:

He stood up, his Bajoran discipline a rigid line. He looked directly at Captain Violet Bluegarden, his loyalty to his own commander acting as his anchor. The engineers were fixated on mechanical risks while the ship suffered a quantum identity crisis, he tightened his grip on his PADD, "The 'Boom' only happens if we lose synchronization. I can map the parity in real-time, but we must stop looking at the manual and start looking at the subspace architecture. If we don't lock these frequencies, we won't just be stuck, we’ll be erased!"

And now, the continuation:

"Hold on, let's pump the brakes for a second!" Rebecca piped up. "Because clearly we have two competing narratives here, and we need to figure out which one is the correct one."

"Because if we don't, we can kiss this ship and everyone on her from both time periods goodbye!" Violet added. "Not to mention the potential time paradox and further damage to the Rhydonian nebula us blowing up would cause."

"If, what the engineers suggested is true, and the warp core explosion that would result from a mistake could be seen from Earth..." Rebecca speculated. "Well, I think that would also be the end of Rhydonian society as we know it. All that would be left of Rhydonia would be the Rhydonians that have relocated elsewhere, and I'm not about to let the Rhydonians become the next El-Aurians."

"Sounds like that's a risk we have to take in order to get out of this situation," Reeves mentioned. "Which makes it more imperative that we get the exact details right."

"It isn't a competition of narratives, Captains," Irril said, his voice dropping to a low, urgent frequency. The weight of the DTI agents' silent observation like a physical heat on his neck as he put himself out there, knowing full well that if he was wrong, he’d be responsible for the annihilation of two eras. Even though Tugril was from the other, that wasn't something he'd wanted. "The engineers are right about the risks of the core, which is precisely why we move the solution to the deflector array. We keep the 'mess' outside the hull," He tapped his PADD, projecting a shimmering overlay of the Rhydonian Nebula’s interference patterns.

"I can initiate a low-power test on a single deck or even a single compartment like the Mess Hall or a cargo bay. If we can stabilize the phasing there without triggering a resonance spike in the antimatter, we’ll have our proof." He looked from Rebecca to Violet, his Bajoran features set in a mask of grim determination. "We are already dying, one phased cell at a time. I’d rather take a calculated risk with a harmonic buffer than wait for the nebula to finish the erasure for us."

Rebecca turned towards the engineers, Lieutenants Takanashi and James.

"Lieutenants;" She addressed the engineers. "Would this man's proposal be safe? Or is there still an apocalyptic risk to us and Rhydonian society?"

Hikari looked at James, and tilted her head. "I mean... We could..."

"Yeah, but... You know." James replied.

"Yeah, I know... However we could do..." Hikari said in response.

"Oh, yeah, we could..." James nodded.

"Oh, the SIF...." Hikari said as she rested her chin between her thumb and forefinger.

"Not a problem. Remember..." James smiled.

"Oh of course..." Hikari said. She then turned back to the Captains. "We believe it can be done. But we would need to monitor structural integrity closely at all times."

With a nod, Rebecca turned back towards Violet.

"This is madness..." Rebecca quietly admitted to her great great granddaughter.

"Well, what other choice do we have?" Violet countered. "It's either we risk destroying Rhydonian society or let the Nebula erase us from existence."

"I don't like what your auxiliary Engineer is suggesting." Rebecca voiced her distrust of Irril's words. "But, if you trust him, I'm willing to go along with his silly plan..."

With a final affirmative nod, Violet turned back towards Irril.

"Will the engineers' response be satisfactory, Lieutenant?" Violet asked.

"Monitoring structural integrity is the fundamental metric of our success," Irril responded, his voice regaining its measured tone. He looked at Captain Violet Bluegarden, acknowledging her trust with a nod, while the skepticism in Captain Rebecca Bluegarden’s voice was a familiar sting. Irril was the "auxiliary" officer, a man whose father’s legacy made him a permanent outsider. He forced his fingers to remain steady, refusing to let her anxiety disrupt his focus. "The Structural Integrity Field will frame the harmonic buffer. If the SIF holds, the parity spikes remain contained. I'll begin a localized test in Cargo Bay 2, with your permission of course."

"I suppose the only thing left to do is to get started." Violet surmised, turning to Hikari and Daniel. "But, I want both engineering teams to closely monitor this test, and if anything starts to go wrong, your orders are to shut it down immediately."

"Its going to take time." Hikari explained. "Most of the systems on this ship are old. We'll need to reroute power conduits and set up safeguards first." She told them all. "But, we can gibe it a test. We do have a semi-working holodeck we can use."

"The holodeck's subsystems are integrated directly into the core, Lieutenant," Irril noted gently, his voice a steady, quiet anchor. "If a phase spike occurs there, the feedback loop could contaminate our Isolinear arrays. Cargo Bay 2 remains the mathematically superior choice. Its independent power relays act as a natural circuit breaker."

He looked back to Captain Violet Bluegarden, his fingers inputting the final safety thresholds onto his PADD. "With your approval, Ma'am, the engineers and I can isolate the cargo bay's SIF grids within the hour. We will keep the containment field entirely decentralized from primary ship operations."

"As soon as I give the other departments their assignments, we can get started." Violet remarked, turning her attention to the two Reexes: "As for Science; I want y'all to keep studying the Nebula's properties, figure out why this is all happening to begin with. Chances are good that if the Nebula started this, the key to solving this likely also lies in the Nebula."

Both Reexes gave a nod.

"We'll see what the Nebula holds." Keeli said. "I should have access to all Rhydonian knowledge on the Nebula and its properties, so there might be a clue there."

"There might also be some Rhydonian superstitions worth looking into." Elly added. "Maybe something Agent Sanchez would be able to help us with."

"Unfortunately, Agent Sanchez will be preoccupied." Rebecca replied, turning to Violet. "With your permission, I'd like to have Sanchez meet with your Intelligence Officer. He may be working with a 23rd century knowledge set, but if y'all can get him in touch with the DTI of your era, we might be able to figure out a way to solve this faster."

"Not a bad idea." Violet agreed, turning to Wishmore. "Commander Wishmore, I'd like for you to make time in your busy schedule to meet with Agent Sanchez. If there's a chance we can reach our DTI, we may be able to gain a different insight as to why this might be happening."

Julian had remained largely silent through the engineering debate, content to let those who understood the ship's machinery argue over the finer points of keeping it intact.

People, in his experience, were usually far more complicated than warp cores.

At Violet's words, his attention shifted from the display to the two captains.

A faint smile touched the corner of his mouth.

"Of course, Captain."

The response was immediate, almost effortless.

"If there is a way to establish contact with the Department in our century, Agent Sanchez and I will find it."

His gaze moved briefly toward the DTI agent.

There was no challenge in it. No bravado.

Only professional curiosity.

"I suspect we may benefit from comparing assumptions."

A small pause.

"Temporal investigations have a habit of becoming trapped by the era conducting them."

Julian clasped his hands behind his back once more.

"If nothing else, it should be an interesting conversation."

His expression suggested he genuinely meant that.

"Should be, indeed." Sanchez nodded.

"As for Security;" Violet turned to Jo'ohn and Drake. "I want y'all to keep order until we're all tangible to one another. If there's anything that each of our crew needs, I want each respective security department to handle it. Until we can sort out this whole phasing issue, if it even is one, we can't trust someone from one era in being able to pass something to someone from the other era."

The Betelgeusian merely nodded. "I shall execute my duties as best I can."

"Shouldn't be an issue." Drake nodded. "Long as nothing from our time gets overwritten by yours."

"As for us four..." Violet motioned to herself, Rebecca, Greyleth, and Reeves. "We're going to need to be more involved with each of our crews as we figure out a way out of this. And this goes without saying, but we CANNOT let Starfleet know what has happened until we get a grasp on the situation. Understood?"

Looking over to his Captain, Reeves nodded. "Understood and second that."

"If nothing else; I'd say let's get to work!" Violet declared. "Dismissed."

A Mission Post by

Captain Violet Bluegarden
Commanding Officer
USS The Sullivans
2373

Captain Rebecca Bluegarden
Commanding Officer
USS The Sullivans
2293

Commander Jason Reeves
Executive Officer
USS The Sullivans
2373

Lieutenant Commander Greyleth
Executive Officer
USS The Sullivans
2293

Lieutenant Commander Jo'ohn El'Ataa
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS The Sullivans
2373

Lieutenant Commander Nathan Drake
Chief Security Officer
USS The Sullivans
2293

Lieutenant Commander Keeli Reex
Chief Science Officer
USS The Sullivans
2373

Lieutenant Elly Reex
Chief Science Officer
USS The Sullivans
2293

Lieutenant Commander Julian Wishmore
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS The Sullivans
2373

Lieutenant Irril Sharvo
Chief Operations Officer
USS The Sullivans
2373

Lieutenant Tugril
Chief Personnel Officer
USS The Sullivans
2293

Lieutenant Hikari Takanashi
Chief Engineer
USS The Sullivans
2373

Lieutenant Daniel James
Chief Engineer
USS The Sullivans
2293

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