Chapter Text
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“Why the hell is there a goddamn intel probe sniffing around the Gorn facility our starship just annihilated?”
This was Trujillo’s initial reaction to the news.
“Are we trying to start a war? Because if so, we’re doing a damn fine job of it!”
Tarrant and Garrett had found Trujillo already in a video-conference with Verde over subspace. He had remained connected to hear Tarrant’s revelation about the recon probe.
Tarrant had his hands up, though whether in a warding gesture or primary defensive stance was unclear. “Commodore, I understand your frustration, but I was only made aware of its presence and telemetry a little while ago. I was going to brief you on the revelation of this asset, but I couldn’t quite grasp what I was seeing, so I asked for Mister Garrett’s assistance.”
Trujillo turned her desktop viewer towards the new arrivals so Verde could participate in the conversation.
“Who’s calling the shots on this?” Trujillo inquired insistently. “I can’t have someone from Intelligence sling-shotting probes into a powder-keg like this without my knowledge or authorization. Give me a name, Captain.”
“Rear-Admiral Constance, sir. Heading up the StellarSpatial Telemetry Office with Intel.”
Trujillo nodded. “Thank you. Now I know who to sick Admiral Saavik on.” She gestured for Tarrant and Garrett to be seated. “Now, please tell me what’s so important that you two rushed in here like your hair was on fire?”
Tarrant looked to Garrett. “Sir, I’d better let the lieutenant explain.”
Garrett took a moment to collect her thoughts and push the admiralty-level venom she’d just been exposed to into a tightly locked box in her subconscious.
“Sir, whatever the Gorn were researching at that facility, its destruction appears to have caused a highly localized rupture in space/time. It appears similar to what Federation science has conjectured to be a White Hole, an energy fountain spewing matter, radiation and gravimetric shockwaves into our dimension from… well, someplace else.”
Trujillo quirked an eyebrow. “Someplace else?”
“Another dimension, sir. Possibly one of pure energy, or potentially energy evulsing from a rupture of one of the energetic membranes between dimensions.”
Trujillo slumped back against her desk, partially sitting on its edge. “What could do that?”
Garrett cast a quick glance at Tarrant before answering. “If I had to guess, sir, I’d put my latinum on isolytic weapons. If that’s what they were researching, they might have had dozens of the weapons stored there. That many devices detonating in concert might theoretically create such a trans-dimensional tear.”
“Subspace ordinance?” Trujillo bowed her head, rubbing the bridge of her nose to try and forestall the headache that was quickly forming. “We never did get the Gorn to sign the treaty banning those, did we?”
On the small screen atop her desk, Leo's eyes widened as he noted, "I think we count ourselves lucky we got them to sign the one about Cestus III."
Tarrant appeared deep in thought for a long moment. “Commodore, I’m a bit uncomfortable accepting that the supposedly secret Gorn research facility that a rogue starship captain apparently decided to attack without authorization just happens to be one in which they’re researching some of the deadliest and most unpredictable weapons known to science.”
Trujillo held up a hand. “Hang on, Captain. I’m right there with you, but I need to know more about what this White Hole phenomenon is and what its ramifications might be.”
Garrett, sensing that she was in the spotlight once again, offered, “I have absolutely no idea what this thing might do, sir. It could continue to expand, or it might collapse on its own. Starfleet’s only ever detected one of these previously, and it’s deep in the Delta Quadrant, almost at the edge of the galaxy. This one in Gorn space has apparently affected subspace communications in the area, as the intel probe had to withdraw nearly back to the border to be able to broadcast the telemetry”
Leo sighed. "Oh, no…"
Trujillo glanced towards her desktop interface. “Leo?”
He reached forward, out of the visual pickup and pulled back his display device. "You've got authenticated orders pumping out at max volume on repeat. If the probe had to pull back to transmit home, then Repulse may have only received a partial. And as you're very aware, under those circumstances, a ship on that kind of mission…" He trailed off, leaving the rest unspoken.
“You’re suggesting I may have inadvertently given Captain Keller an ‘open season’ notice on the Gorn by way of an incomplete order?” Trujillo asked, aghast at the idea. “I really don’t see how even a partial intercept of my message could be misconstrued in that way, though.”
"Not originally, but now that nightmare is in my head, thanks," Leo replied wryly. "No, my point is that if he's under orders or has any kind of mandate… then your message isn't likely getting through the interference, if he's operating behind the effects of this White Hole. At best, he only got a fragment of your message. He doesn't know he needs to cease operations and Romeo-Tango-Bravo, post-haste."
Trujillo’s existing frown increased threefold. “Wait… what do you mean, ‘if he’s under orders?’ We’ve confirmed with Command that no orders were issued for anyone to violate Gorn territory, and certainly not to attack any of their installations.”
With a deep, controlled breath, Leo shook his head. "I'm looking at this as though I had to defend Keller in a court-martial, sir. Even though this is conjecture at best, given that Keller's record as a CO is pretty clear… His actions have proven that a border nation has been developing weapons of utter catastrophe to the interfold layer." His eyes drifted over to Tarrant for support of his hypothesis, "Captain, back me up, here. Doesn't this sound like plausible deniability?"
Tarrant nodded slowly, looking pained. “Unfortunately, yes, Commander. It does. Though I can’t think of Starfleet Command doing anything like this for decades. Not since… well, they sent Captain Kirk to steal a Romulan cloaking device back in the '60’s and would have disavowed him had he failed.”
Trujillo was now scowling. “Are the two of you telling me that this whole song and dance we’re doing here may be cover for someone’s hare-brained black op?” She paused and looked to Garrett. “Lieutenant, my apologies, but I’m going to have to use some adult language with these gentlemen and I need you to clear out of the compartment.”
Garrett nodded and abandoned the ready room without another word.
"I know it's a stretch," Leo started after waiting, his tone underscored by his reticence. "Glal, Jarrod, and I have been wracking our brains trying to get inside Keller's head. You know my history with Keller, but Glal and Jarrod are helping me remain objective. This news about the probe, it's like a new piece of the puzzle. It could help build a different story for Keller's defense, one that introduces reasonable doubt about him acting alone and going completely out of character."
“It’s… possible, sir,” Tarrant confessed, “however unlikely. It’s happened before, but only under the most extreme circumstances.” The Intel officer looked over to Verde on the desktop display. “The question is, would Captain Keller accept such extreme orders, knowing that he might well be disavowed by Starfleet if he and Repulse were captured?”
"Hell, no, sir," Leo responded with conviction. "If he had orders to operate against the Gorn, then he has to be absolutely convinced that he is covered. He would never risk his career like this. I'll stake my own career on that, Captain." His eyes tracked back to Trujillo, and added, "Commodore."
Trujillo heaved a heavy sigh. “Okay, we’re wandering into complete conjectural territory here, gentlemen. None of this gets us any closer to locating Repulse or mollifying the Gorn. What this does do is potentially give us some leverage with the Hegemony. I have a sneaking suspicion that neither their government nor their military has the first notion of what to do about this hole that’s been blown open in their space.”
She pointed towards the ready room doors out onto the bridge. “I, on the other hand, have two of the Fleet’s finest science officers out there.” Trujillo looked from Tarrant to Verde on the screen. “Any objections to me offering our scientific assistance as a carrot? It’s a bit more difficult to justify attacking someone if they’re actively trying to help you. Not impossible, mind you, just harder.”
"Speaking strictly as your legal officer," Leo began, his eyes focused on the screen, "that's within the scope of your written orders, Commodore." He glanced at the device in his hand. "No objections here."
Tarrant raised his hands in a gesture of mock-surrender. “If it saves lives, sir, and here I’ll admit to selfishly thinking of my own in this circumstance, I’m absolutely for it.”
* * *
The unabashed excitement evidenced by both women ignited the beginning of the headache Trujillo was sure to come.
Garrett began, “Sir, just as nothing known, not matter, energy, light or information can escape the event horizon of a black hole, none of these things are believed to be able to penetrate the event horizon of a white hole.”
Davula offered, “It might be best to think of a white hole as a geyser erupting so forcefully nothing can be introduced into its venting aperture.”
Garrett nodded, “Right, yes. And given that situation, our ability to introduce something into the phenomena to initiate its collapse is effectively zero.”
“Our understanding of the white hole phenomena begins with Einstein’s equations and has been enhanced by the 22nd century work of Sopek of Vulcan,” the younger woman continued. “White holes are predicted as part of a solution to the Einstein field equations known as the maximally extended version of the Schwarzschild metric, describing an eternal black hole with no charge and no rotation.”
Trujillo held up a hand in a gesture of abeyance. “Let’s dumb this down to the level of your poor CO who hasn’t attended an academy astrophysics course in the better part of a quarter century, shall we?”
A blush crept up Garrett’s neck to color her cheeks. “Of course, sir. I’m sorry. In effect, we can’t jam something into the maw of this thing to snuff it out. However, if we were to tunnel into a layer of subspace contiguous to where this eruption originates, we might be able to extinguish it.”
“Tunnel how?”
“Utilizing our navigational deflector, and those of other ships in our task force. We’d have to modify and re-tune them, but it’s the only component aboard capable of channeling that much power with the kind of focus we require.”
Trujillo’s discomfort was evident. “Do the Gorn have the technology to initiate such a procedure?”
The two officers looked at one another.
“I… uh, I’m not sure, sir,” Garrett confessed.
“I’m not at all comfortable with multiple starships taking their navigational deflectors offline long enough to perform this ‘tunneling’ you’re proposing while inside Gorn territory. It would effectively strand the ships at sub-light speeds and leave them vulnerable to Gorn attack.”
“But sir, if we created this damage, shouldn’t we be the ones to fix it?” Garrett asked, guileless.
“The Gorn are a mercurial species, Lieutenant,” Trujillo said. “They could easily agree to allow us to try this tunneling process, only to attack us in the midst of our efforts. They’re highly unpredictable at the best of times, let alone when they’ve been justifiably provoked.”
Garrett looked crestfallen. “I understand, sir.”
Trujillo smiled in response. “That wasn’t an invitation for you to give up, Mister Garrett. Please, both of you continue with your research into the possibility of using this technique. We may be able to present it to the Gorn as a peace offering of a kind.”
The two women nodded in unison, their enthusiasm reigniting.
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