SECTION 11

Reginald leads you through the ship down to the cargo hold. Most of the space has been outfitted with sun-mimicking lighting illuminating a surprisingly expansive garden. You see a cluster of petunias along with various beds of flowers and fruit and vegetable plants from around the Federation.

“This is quite lovely,” you say as Reginald takes you past the garden and in deeper into the hold where the actual storage crates are.

“Thank you. I’m quite proud of it. I’ve been able to grow just about anything I’d like down here, including those hyandal berries. Just don’t tell the Qualor Two Gardening Club.”

“So, they won’t be getting their seeds then?” you ask amused.

“Regretfully, no,” he replies as he sorts through the crates. “And that will remain the case whether you save your timeline or not. Ah! Here it is.” He pulls out a battered tarnished metal box. It was once copper or rose gold colored. It’s impossible to tell which at this point. Now it’s just dingy. But, as Reginald said, it does indeed have a label on top reading, “Time Tunneler. Use at Your Own Risk”

Inside the box is a white vest covered in various wires and nodes. Two more thicker wire conduits lead to a small control console and display that strap to the wearer’s wrist. Reginald pulls it gently out of the box and helps you slip it on. It weighs a good seven to eight kilos, but it’s not horribly uncomfortable. You strap the controls to your right wrist, which still leaves you access to the display on your Section 31 uniform on your left sleeve.

“I don’t think it’s going to become the next fashion craze, but hopefully it will get the job done,” Reginald said. You try the controls.

Nothing.

The unit is completely dead.

“We’re going to have to find a way to power it up,” you say. You could tie it into your uniform. It would certainly simplify matters, and Section 31 helpfully provided a couple of leads for those situations when you needed to power up a dead door or console.

“I have just the thing!” Reginald says, rummaging back through his cargo. He comes up a few moments later with a spherical blue crystal, about ten centimeters in diameter, that has been embedded in a small housing. “A mate of mine found this in an old Iconian ruin years ago. It’s like some kind of battery. Too much and too big for a phaser, but not quite enough to run a ship off of. Should be perfect for tearing a hole in the space-time continuum, though!”

He does have a point. You’re trying to travel through time here, not just open a door.

But is that thing safe?

Maybe you should just stick to running the time tunneler through your Section 31 uniform.

Either way, you’d better make a decision. Your tachyon protection from this new timeline is only going to last so long.

If you connect the time tunneler to your Section 31 Uniform, go to Section 23.

If you connect the time tunneler to the Iconian battery, go to Section 20.