Surefoot 07: Uncertainty Principle

"Jonas Ostrow is on the Bridge."

Eydiir held up a spare combadge. "I found this when I went looking for him."

"He was more upset than any of us," Neraxis breathed, her dark blue paling as she rose to her feet. "We have to find him."

"He will be found." T'Varik raised her voice again. "Beta Shift: report for bridge duty immediately. Lt. Abed: report to the bridge, armed. Dr Ling: Alpha Squad is reporting to you, initiate a full neurological examination on all of them. T'Varik out." She looked to Alpha Squad. "With the exceptions of Eydiir and Kitirik, you appear to be the victims of psychic assault."

"Why?" Rrori asked.

"I will ask our chief suspect, after he is in custody."

"What about Jonas?" Sasha asked, "He knows this ship better than anyone else, he can be anywhere!"

The Vulcan nodded. "Computer: where is Counselor Shall?"

"Counselor Shall is in Sickbay."

T'Varik raised an eyebrow, just as Lt. Abed and Beta Squad entered the bridge. She looked to Sasha and the others. "I believe you can update the Counselor discreetly, and enlist her to find Jonas. Her senses can undoubtedly track him faster than a general search, and given the possible fragility of the state of his mind, it will be better to restrict the search party to one."

*

Kami was flexing the hand she had broken, now repaired thanks to Dr Ling's nurse, but lingered around, having heard the strange announcement from the First Officer. When Alpha Squad entered, she strode up to them. "What's wrong?"

Eydiir took the lead. "Lieutenant Aiken has some sort of telepathic ability. He used it on at least some of us to alter our memories, to make us believe lies about you."

"What? That's not possible!"

"My preliminary scans say different, and Dr Ling will confirm the findings. Commander T'Varik is off to arrest him now."

The breath caught in her throat. Memory alteration? That was... that was obscene!

And... also made a lot of sense, as to why she had memories of herself, memories that she would have sworn weren't true, but still felt real. So real she believed them. And, to judge from Sasha's earlier outburst, real to the others. Sickened to her stomach, she started, "I- I'm so sorry-"

"Never mind that," Sasha interrupted. "You have to find Jonas."

"Jonas? Where is he?"

"No one knows! He took off his combadge, T'Varik doesn't want the whole ship knowing what happened now, she wants you to find him."

"Your father-"

"He's over at Tyche Station."

Kami nodded. "I'll find him, and bring him back here."

*

She tried to stay focused on her tracking, a far more difficult feat than non-Caitians might understand; not all of her people possessed the same level of skill in using their nose, any more than all Klingons were master fighters or all Vulcans were master intellectuals. Fortunately, a few choice questions with some passers-by pointed her in the right direction, down into the secondary hull, a quieter, less-populated section of the ship, whose more confined interiors allowed the young man's scent to linger for longer periods.

Inwardly, she was horrified at what had happened to her and the cadets. She was furious. To be invaded like that, their most private places...

She wanted to find Aiken right now. Find him and-

No. She forced herself to focus on the task at hand.

She heard the young man in some anonymous open airlock before she saw him, and relaxed even further, quietly approaching and poking her head around the corner. "Jonas?"

He was sitting on the floor, staring at the opposite wall, his face blank, his hands fidgeting.

With a sharp cutting tool in one hand. Slowly rotated by agitated fingers.

Kami stepped into the doorway slowly, never feeling this level of anger and anxiety from the young man before. "Jonas, I heard that something bad happened when you saw Lieutenant Aiken-"

"Don't talk to me," he cracked, trembling, his eyes looking wet, his grip on the cutter tightening. "I trusted you. I trusted them. All of you said you liked me. You were lying-"

"No," she denied softly, slowly descending to her knees beside him. "What you think happened, didn't. Your memories were altered. You, and me, and the others. It was Aiken-"

"I liked you!" he snapped, facing her now. "I came to you, opened up to you! And you- you-"

"Jonas," she murmured, reaching out and gently touching the cutter. "You're not going to use this, are you?"

"What?" He stared down at it, as if seeing it for the first time. He let her take it.

Kami set it aside, swallowing. "Jonas, Lieutenant Aiken planted false memories in you. In all of us. We don't know why he did it yet, but you have to believe me-"

His lips quivered. "You said I was- I was-"

Now she took his hand in hers, feeling her own tears race down from her eyes. "Jonas, I swear on my cub's life, whatever bad thing you might think anyone has said about you... is false. Do you know why? Because there's nothing bad to be said about you. You are a bright, sweet, gentle, wonderful young man, and I am so very proud and happy to know you. We all are: myself, Captain Hrelle, Sasha and Neraxis and Eydiir and Kit and Giles and Rrori and Chief Grev and everyone else. I have never heard a bad word said about you."

She drew closer, taking his other hand.

His trembling increased. "I'm sorry- I'm so sorry-"

"Shhh... come here sweetheart." She took him in her arms and held him tightly, her own tears almost as copious as his.

*

Auxiliary Office:

Lieutenant Aiken was sitting at the desk, rubbing at his temples, when the door slid open without warning, and Commander T'Varik and Lieutenant Abed entered, the latter carrying some sort of tricorder in his hand. He stood up and walked around towards them, recovering quickly. "Commander! You'll be pleased to hear that I will not be conducting any more interviews."

"I know. Lieutenant Martin Aiken, you are under arrest on suspicion of multiple counts of telepathic assault, as detailed under Starfleet Regulation 128."

Aiken paled. "Those are very serious charges, Commander."

"Indeed."

"You realise this is merely Counselor Shall's attempt to deflect-"

"Counselor Shall did not raise these charges against you. Cadet Eydiir Daughter-of-Kaas has. And she has provided sufficient medical evidence for me to take her accusations seriously enough to be here now."

He shook his head. "That girl has faked the evidence! She's driven by a deep-seated jealousy of her friend's relationship with Giles!" Then he reached out quickly and clasped his hand around her wrist. "You remember her last outburst?"

T'Varik stood there impassively, her furrowed brow the only visible reaction in her demeanour. "You are attempting to force a telepathic bond between us, as you did with the others. It is a waste of time and effort. I am Vulcan; we possess many defences. Allow me to demonstrate another."

She reached up with her free hand to his neck, pressed down and pinched.

Aiken spasmed and dropped to the floor, unconscious.

T'Varik stared at him for a moment, before asking, "Mr Abed, you recorded the incident?"

"Yes, Commander, both multispectral and neurological; I'm, ah, not sure about what I just saw-"

"I will instruct you at a later date. In the meantime, secure the psychotricorder and the prisoner as per procedure; do not allow him physical contact with anyone. I will need to update the Captain on recent events."

The door slid open - and Kami entered, her face a vision of terrible fury, claws extended and teeth bared. "Where is he? Where-" She looked down at his unconscious form.

"He has been disabled," T'Varik informed her, subtly stepping between them.

"Not disabled enough." She drew closer.

"You need to return to Sickbay and be examined, along with his other victims," T'Varik reminded her gently.

"He hurt us!" the Caitian shrieked. "He hurt them! Jonas almost- he..."

T'Varik reached out and set a hand on Kami's shoulder. "I know. And he will pay for his crimes. But not at your hand; anything you do to him now will ultimately only work in his favour. Return to Sickbay, Kami. Please."

Kami was shaking in place. Then she breathed in slowly, deeply, before finally relaxing a little. She nodded silently, unable to look at Abed as she turned and departed.

Abed breathed out. "I've never seen her like that before."

"It is unsurprising; telepathic memory invasion and alteration is a particularly execrable crime, while thankfully remaining a rare one. Secure the prisoner, Mr. Abed. His comfort... is not a priority."

*

Tyche Station:

Hrelle stared at the red and white spheres, looking like a collection of colourful inflatable beach balls more than anything else. Or spatial mines. He focused on the former image. "And that's them? Your games?"

Solberg grunted. "I refuse to believe they're something as trivial as that. By all accounts, the Malbrukians were as advanced as they were peaceful, when my ancestors were sitting around tanning hides and singing about the approaching Ragnarok. To have only these survive-"

"At least something did survive; how many civilisations have been wiped out without a trace?" He watched as a number of diminutive, pink-skinned beings milled around one of the spheres, some working the panels on the upper half, others recording results. They were identical, including their utilitarian jumpsuits, and communicated with each other in high-frequency sounds that made Hrelle's ears twitch. "Who are they?"

"Bynars, from the Beta Magellan system. They're interlinked somehow to each other with cybernetic implants and speak in binary code. They're unnerving... but they're master computer technicians and cryptologists. They haven't had much success finding anything wrong with the systems, so they're working on deciphering any possible activation sequences with the Spheres, and cataloguing the results for analysis." As if in illustration, the Sphere the Bynars were testing began reacting with a new sequence of lights and sounds, making the Bynars excited.

"Uh, Professor," Hrelle began. "If you don't know what these Spheres do, is it really a smart move to just keep pressing buttons until something actually happens?"

The elderly man harrumphed now. "We're not monkeys, blindly smacking the side of a bomb with a hammer, Captain! This is all carefully controlled!"

Hrelle was less sanguine about the method, remembering all the planets he'd read about who'd probably been just as careful with the projects they worked on - biological and nuclear weapons, doomsday machines, artificial intelligence - but he knew his foul mood was more from his fight with Kami before beaming over here.

He couldn't believe she would be so vicious as to use Hannah against him, though maybe he just hadn't assessed how difficult the situation with Aiken and the investigation had been. He had undergone similar scrutiny and criticism thanks to certain members of Starfleet Command, but he had Kami for support. Had he not been as supportive to her now? Had he simply made things worse by having sex with her, and then proposing, adding more pressure to her?

He shouldn't be here. He should be back with her, now-

Hrelle's combadge chirped. "Captain, this is Commander T'Varik. May I speak with you privately please?"

"One moment. Excuse me, Professor." As he stepped away, he continued, "Go ahead."

"Captain, I am aware that technically you are still relieved of duty, but events have occurred here that you need to be made aware of: Counselor Shall and members of Alpha Squad have been victims of assault from Lt. Aiken."

His heart stopped. "What happened? Are they okay?"

"Lt. Aiken apparently possesses some level of telepathic ability; he used it to attempt to alter their memories to implicate the Counselor in unethical practices, for reasons as yet unknown. They are currently being treated for varying levels of psychic and emotional trauma."

Sasha... Kami... his cubs... His subsequent words seeped out through clenched teeth as a dangerous growl. "Where is he now?"

"I have confined him to the Brig, after he attempted to assault me as well. I will investigate further and report accordingly-"

"No. I'm taking over, suspension or not. Beam me back, immediately."

"One moment, Sir." A pause, and then, "Sir, our sensors are detecting an unusual collection of neutrinos and other subatomic particles coalescing around the station. This is creating a growing subspace interference now preventing transport. Are they running some sort of experiment related to their work?"

Hrelle looked back at the Spheres. "Possible. Keep this line open and keep listening, chirp in if necessary."

"Captain!" Chief Grev strode up to him as he returned to Solberg. "We've been running all the usual tests, and there's nothing wrong with the machinery itself-"

"Hah!" Solberg cackled, tapping his cane on the floor. "So much for Starfleet ingenuity!"

The Tellarite scowled at the Professor, but stayed focused on Hrelle. "It's not the systems that's the problem, it's the fields surrounding the systems!"

"Fields? T'Varik's reporting neutrinos and other exotic particles collecting in a field around the station."

"As part of the diagnostics, we tested some of the neutrino scanners; they're detecting a 100% clockwise spin in the immediate area!"

Before Hrelle could ask for an explanation as to the significance of that, Solberg barked, "That's not possible! Probability dictates that there should be a 50/50 mix of clockwise and counter-clockwise spin!"

"Tell the neutrinos that, you old fossil!" To Hrelle again, he continued, "There are inexplicable and, well, improbable power drops and surges, malfunctions... Captain, I saw a perfectly healthy power conduit crumble into dust before my eyes, for no reason!"

A cracking sound drew Hrelle's and everyone else's attention, as a panel of transparent aluminium acting as an inner lining to an observation window suddenly cracked, as if by an invisible fist.

Hrelle frowned and looked back at the Spheres. Games... probability... "Those devices are affecting probability fields around us. Subspace interference is building up, preventing transport. Professor, get them to stop what they're doing."

"You can't be serious, Hrelle-"

"NOW!" he roared, his hackles raised.

The elderly man, taken aback by the outburst, turned to the Bynars - just as they completed a new sequence, sending a Sphere into an orgasm of colour and sound.

And alarms went off throughout the station.

*

USS Surefoot, Sickbay:

Dr Ling pressed the hypospray against Sasha's neck, "Desegranine will ease the effects of the false memories, and much of the emotional trauma you might have experienced. As for the aftereffects... well, you'll need to speak with the Counselor."

Sasha breathed out, "Thank you." Then she looked at the others affected: standing or sitting around, shocked, sullen, confused, all reflecting what she was feeling, too.

Then she focused on Kami, looking even worse, after bringing in poor Jonas. Sasha remembered the things she'd said to the woman, after Aiken's attack. Horrible things. It wasn't her fault, but that didn't assuage her guilt.

She approached Kami, standing before her, their eyes met. Sasha had so much she wanted to say, but had no words.

She embraced her instead, and was infinitely relieved to have Kami embrace her back.

Suddenly the Red Alert klaxon filled the room, and T'Varik's voice followed. "All hands to Emergency stations."

Sasha looked to the others, wondering if they were up for duty-

All of them mobilised.

She nodded to them, selfishly glad for the distraction. "Let's go."

As a unit they departed, Kami with them.

*

Tyche Station:

"We have multiple hull breaches, and the magnetic fields around the warp core are failing!" Grev shouted over the station's own alarms. "We have to evacuate!"

The gravity failed, lurching the Operations Room and everyone in it to one side; Hrelle caught Solberg before the elderly man could fall and hurt himself. Shouting now, he asked, "T'Varik, can you do anything about the transporters?"

"Negative, Sir, the subspace interference is growing. The instability may even lead to a subspace rift."

"Understood. Get the Surefoot to a safe distance, in case we do breach. We'll use the lifepods to make it to the surface of the planet. Keep track: if a rift is about to open up... destroy the station."

"Acknowledged, Sir."

Back with Grev, Hrelle commanded, "Send the Evacuation alert, let's get to the pods!"

"No!" Solberg cried, "Not without the Spheres!"

The man turned as if to head back to the room where they were being examined, but Hrelle grabbed him by the scruff of his trousers and dragged him along, leaving his cane behind as the orders to evacuate the station filled the air.

As they made their way to the nearest lifepod, Solberg was still struggling. "I'll have your command for this, Hrelle! Mark my words!"

"Kiss my furry ass, Professor." He bundled the man, Grev, and his cadets and assistant into one lifepod. "Buckle them up, Grev, see you down there."

"Don't be long, Sir," the Tellarite warned as the door slid shut. "The warp core will breach in about sixt-"

Hrelle missed the rest, but guessed he shouldn't tarry. He stayed long enough to see the lifepod launch into space, down towards the planet.

He moved along the curved corridors, dodging fires and smoke springing up seemingly from nowhere, wincing in pain at the sharp sounds of hull breaches.

The station lurched again, and Hrelle thought he felt the manoeuvring thrusters firing; a glance through an observation window confirmed they were moving... towards the planet. Seven Hells...

He found more personnel, ushered them into the remaining lifepods - and then his heart chilled as he heard one woman, having to be dragged into one lifepod, while she screamed, "My baby! My baby!"

"Where?" he roared over the chaos.

A man, possibly her partner, was pulling her in, saying, "She's in the Residential Ring, Berth 46! We couldn't get through to it!"

"Get going! I'll get her! I promise!" He raced down the corridor as they closed their door and launched.

*

Kami and Alpha Squad emerged onto the bridge, T'Varik sparing them a glance and, "Are you fit for duty?"

"They are," the Counselor assured her, taking her place at the Auxiliary Science station.

T'Varik accepted that instantly. "Beta Squad: report to your secondary stations. Alpha Squad: take your places."

"What's been happening, Commander?" Sasha asked, on behalf of all of them.

"The experiments on Tyche Station appear to have produced a growing field of literal improbability - bad luck, to use the vernacular. And the bad luck has reached levels where the personnel must evacuate to the planet before the facility self-destructs, or creates a subspace rift that will endanger the planet.

Science stations: monitor the neutrino spin, that will give you an idea of the scope of the field; feed the information to Helm. Mr Rrori: keep us out of the probability field, or we will begin to suffer the same malfunctions as the station. Tactical: scan the progress of the lifepods, Ops: scan the station for remaining lifesigns."

Everyone moved as one, T'Varik waiting patiently, studying the image of the station as it tilted jerkingly towards the ever-approaching planet, like a bottle bobbing on a wave.

"The field is continuing to expand," Kit reported. "Feeding coordinates to Helm."

"The subspace instability is increasing," Kami added. "The computer is warning of an imminent danger of a rift opening up."

T'Varik was not an expert on subspace physics... but knew enough about subspace rifts, especially ones opening up in the proximity of a planet's gravity well, to guess at the devastation it could cause. "Tactical, bring photon torpedoes online."