[2010: SEP-OCT] "Uran Matie Rewrites History!"

[Msgrv32]

==WARNING==

- The following story is set in the distant future, and in an alternate universe where time travel devices exist and are used by major companies to gather samples from all time periods of history. All names and places mentioned in the story are nothing more than alterations/fabrications/additions/subtractions/multiplications/divisions etc to the timeline of this alternate universe... so no coming down on me because I like to quote 24th Century Philosophers

==WARNING==

==ADDITIONAL WARNING==

- Uran Matie: OOO-raan Maa-Tea

- Tell me that doesn't roll off your tongue?

((Lake Nyos / Central America / 1986))

“If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it does it make a sound?”

A brilliant flash ensued. It dissipated after a moment and a small telephone booth appeared in its place. The box was labelled “Tardis” and the doors to it opened revealing a 48 year old man. He wore a brown suit, in three pieces. While it was made of fabrics unknown to this time, it bore a throwback resemblance to what might have been worn. He had brown hair and a thick beard that consumed the features of his face. The wrinkles formed over the course of his experiences were hidden away behind his facial hair. His eyes: blue, containing a twinkle that brought smiles to faces. In his time - The 28th Century - he is every first year cadets favourite professor. In this time - The 20th Century - he is an explorer.

He looked out over his new horizons and was overwhelmed by their pristine beauty. History told him that soon this place of great beauty would be the center of a great tragedy. He noticed the seemingly endless strains of fauna that grew along the banks of the lake where he stood. He literally stopped to ‘smell the roses’ - even though he never smelled a rose - because these fauna did not exist in his time. He felt like a modern day Christopher Columbus: discovering something that was already discovered but yet felt so new and real that its rediscovery helped define it better somehow.

Out of his method of transportation - The Tardis Box - he pulled a sleek submersible vehicle. It would provide him transport the rest of the way. His destination was the bottom of the lake; where historical myth pointed him. Resting in a small air filled cave was an Omnipotent being, capable of extraordinary power. The trip was down was hundreds of meters and the vehicle performed well. A tragic encounter in the depths however managed to cause his craft serious damage. He was unable to abandon it so far below the surface and blacked out.

He awoke in the air filled cavern he was searching for. His first gasps rolled him to his side. His lungs slowly regained their oxygen and his vision returned. The cavern must have been millions of years old and formed by the rushing water and minerals over that expanse of time. It was strikingly beautiful in a much more personal way. This cavern had been nothing more than myth until now. He had discovered it conclusively. He sat up with a smile and then held his head in his hands. A tear escaped his eyes, but it was of joy. He soon found that in this cavern he was not alone.

Q: Hello there.

Uran: Hello, to you.

Q: Do you know me?

Uran: Only by myth and reputation sir.

Q: Do I know you?

Uran: Is there anything you don’t know?

Q: No. I = Omnipotent.

Uran: It is a personal honour to meet you here and now.

Q: Your personal honour intrigues me, tell me why you feel so?

Uran: This place, this time, this moment, it doesn’t not exist where I am from. To come back, to rediscover this place and banish the word ‘Myth’ from its annuls is monumental for me. I will be remembered for this.

The Q smiled at him. It hid behind the facial twitches a deep sense of disappointment that Uran Matie was not aware of.

Q: Yet, who will remember a man who vanishes and is never heard of again?

Uran: What do you mean?

Q: You have no way back to your machine, and therefore no way back to your time. You will die here and become yet another chapter in the long history of this mythical place.

Uran: I will not die here.

Q: How will you survive?

Uran: You will set me free. I will awaken on the surface and go back to my time.

Q: I do not decide the fate of mere humans.

Uran: Of course you do. In a few centuries you put all of humanity on trial. I should know, I lecture an entire course to first year students on the ‘Q’.

Q: You... would allow me to intervene in your predestination?

Uran: If your intervention transports me to the surface and allows my return to the 28th Century, yes I would allow it.

Q: A very strange bargain for one to make. I will consider your words carefully.

The Q snapped his fingers and Uran awoke standing in front of his Tardis box. He looked deep into the lake and then stepped inside the machine.

A flash of light, and then nothing... until the Lake itself spewed forth Carbon Dioxide in such strength that the areas all around it became poisoned. Nearly 2000 people were killed as a direct result of the poisoning.

((Lecture Hall A / Jupiter Station / 2786))

The morning had been nothing but controversy. Dr Uran Matie delivered a jaw dropping presentation that had the room - filled with Top Scientists and Federation Representatives - in gasps. Even more shocking was the arrest of Dr Matie that followed the presentation. He was led off the stage in front of his peers by Starfleet Security. Word spread fast, Matie had hired Cybill Fletcher as his lawyer. The Federation council had reviewed the case in an emergency session and it was turned over to the courts and Chief Prosecutor - also a former Academy Professor - Erwin McKinley.

((Federation Supreme Court / Division 7 / Earth))

Erwin McKinley was dressed in the traditional clothing of 28th Century Prosecutors. He wore a form fitting jumpsuit whose shirt could be detached from the pants. It was navy blue and the collar had his Prosecutor rank embroidered in red lace. Even as he rose from his seat the incorrigible Cybill Fletcher, in a blindingly white dress that stretched her thin 6’4 frame from neck to toe shouted out.

Fletcher: My client wishes to plead the 5th!

The outburst confused McKinley who was at heart a budding statesman at 56. He and Cybill both looked forward to the Judge who considered her request. The Judge - Art Taylor - was 74 years old and nearing his retirement. His hair was stained grey and his face had many blemishes of time. He asked a question in response to her request. As was his custom.

Taylor: For when?

Fletcher: For now, the future, and all time past his return.

McKinley: That’s outrageous, his previous statements are what inform the assembly of this trial.

Fletcher: His previous statements were made under the belief that they would not be held against him in a court of law. Therefore to include them would be prejudicial and in violation of the right to refuse to testify against oneself in court.

Taylor: You make an intriguing philosophical argument, however at this time I will not rule on said right. Does the prosecution have enough evidence to pursue this case should I grant the defendant's request?

McKinley: The prosecution does your honour.

Taylor: Then for the moment, let us keep an open mind when it comes to the statements made by the accused and let us not forget, innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt by a jury of his peers. Mr McKinley, we will hear the prosecution’s case tomorrow and the defense one week from now. Until then, this court is dismissed.

((The Prosecution))

Erwin Mckinley did an unusual bit of judicial theatre to begin the case of the prosecution. He took the stand. As he sat he looked out towards the mark he would usually occupy. In his eyes he must have seen himself standing there. He had decided to play the role of witness since he could not call Uran Matie to the stand. For what role other than that must firmly be established in the mind of those who bear witness?

“It’s like we were dreaming. It was a beautiful, magnificent dream. A dream we too often forget in its aftermath. I wish we were dreaming right now. Could it have just been a dream that Uran Matie travelled 800 years to the past and met a being so powerful? We’re we dreaming when Uran Matie convinced the being to spare his life, and then gave the being details of knowledge about the future... we would surely come to the inescapable conclusion that the consequences of such actions become simple to predict. We’re we dreaming when Uran Matie traded the fates of nearly 2000 for his own? The needs of the many became casualties of the one and its singular need to survive. Those whose survival became irrelevant cannot speak in the here and now. What of those souls tormented by this manic omnipotence in centuries past? What of the ‘Q’ and their ‘judgements’ of humanity? A great Captain, then Ambassador, then philosopher, archaeologist - the list of accolades is extensive - once wrote ‘and though I knew he had come to a conclusion himself, he left me words still fresh in my mind today... The trial never ends.’

He paused and took a breath.

We understand through history that on stardate 41153.7 Humanity was formally put on trial by the ‘Q’. If that trial is too last an eternity then we should not be looking to the end but... to the beginning. What if the trial for humanity didn’t start on stardate 41153.7? What if it began here in the future!”

He was by far a young man but Erwin McKinley had got himself a full head of steam. His theatrics continued as he paused and then moving from the witness stand he came to a standstill on the mark, the same one he stared at with such intensity not a moment ago. He turned and spoke to the perceived masses.

“The trial of humanity is not a linear event. It stretches and distorts the annuls of history. It began here a short while ago, it weaved its way 800 years into the past, it awoke an Omnipotent dragon and traded the needs of the many or its singular need! The cold war lasted nearly 500 years, until its formal declaration was laid down in our linear universe... but it began here! It began when Uran Matie went back! His greed was singular, and his responsibility should bear an appropriate consequence!”

He turned after a brief pause to the judge.

“This is the case of the prosecution your honour.”

((The Defense))

Cybil Fletcher is a tall imposing person. She also stands with a fiery eloquence. Now in middle age she remains the only female permanently banned for life from Starfleet Athletics. That tale involving a female Klingon 3rd year Cadet and a broken neck is best left to the annuls of time. Cybill was also a great enthusiast of 24th century philosophers. She wore her blinding white dress and - at 6’4 - when she stood one week later to give ‘The defense.’ she was magnetic on the eyes. She came out to the center of the room and stood gazing about. As her gaze slowly settled on a spot somewhere above the various heads she began to speak softly but with a determined tone.

“I feel... like... I’m dreaming... this is a joke right? Some sick joke I wasn’t aware of? Where are your precedents? This is not the 20th century or the 24th century, it is the 28th century. Your precedents are dead and buried in history. It should be of no relevance in a court of law. The case of the prosecution is based on nothing more than coincidence and barely circumstantial anecdotal hogwash! There is an emotional wail of theatrics and sob stories trotted out to influence your judgement. To succumb to emotion and theatrics is to jeopardize your hold on rationality and the facts. This trial should be thrown out. It is no longer legal. The defense neglects to point out several things and the first is: Uran Matie is legally licensed by a 2733 Court Case to use and make non linear methods of transportation. His travels are not illegal. He and others like him have every right to do this. I will indulge the case of the prosecution a moment: Jean Luc Picard, Erwin really? I know you hesitate to bring up his name because its become taboo to say it aloud these days. You can trot out his accomplishments but if you can’t even say his name what right have you to quote his words? Picard the philosopher saw 4 lights! The captor dealt him pain and said no, there are 5 lights! Picard though in extreme agony would not be broken by the simple and outdated methods of torture. Here today I will not have the prosecution break Uran Matie and his good name. The ‘Q’ are Omnipotent! Does that not mean that they are capable of non linear conscious memory? How can we point to any one event or stardate when we have a variable like the ‘Q’ at play? How can we put Uran Matie on trial for this?”

Cybil looked down at Erwin McKinley and chastised him.

“On Stardate 41153.7 the battle bridge of the Enterprise was encompassed by a cube like force field and the setting changed to a world war 2 style location. A high ranking officer ‘Troi’ gave a first hand account that very day that everything happening was real, right down to the soldiers and their machine guns. If that doesn’t prove reasonable doubt that the ‘Q’ in their eternal Omnipotence have access to non linear travel and thought then you’re standards Sir... are unreasonable.”

She turned from the prosecution to the judge.

“Let us not fall upon old habits, let us not charge one man for the crimes of humanity.”

She sat and concluded.

“That is our defense your honour.”

((The Verdict))

Art Taylor was simply getting too old for this. He had spent a month of his life entangled in this political mess surrounding Uran Matie and his statements clarifying historical myth with newly rediscovered facts. The Judge had spent the nights following “The Defense” considering how much sleep he’d lost since it all began. Those nights up wandering the hallways of his three story house always landed him on one conclusion. The Court Case of 2733. It summed up like this:

Year: 2733

Case: # 2733

Forum: Supreme Federation Courts

Notes: For years private companies have been close to perfecting “Tardis” technology. This ship can - once completed - travel non-linear paths. The laws prohibiting full restriction of this technology were successfully challenged in the courts. After an unclear verdict Private Companies would be allowed limited use of the technology for geological surveys of the past/future and for fauna specimen gathering. Only trained Academics and Scientists would be allowed through, and only one at a time.

Those sleepless nights would finally end. The courtroom was called to order and Art Taylor read aloud his verdict.

“I’m an old man, but I still pilot my shuttle... slowly. I’ll keep it short and sweet. The Court Case of 2733 is relevant to this situation and it reminds me that Uran Matie’s own words set this trial in motion. What I’ve seen these past weeks informs me that in many ways nothing has changed in the elapsed time. His words remain the only evidence available. Therefore it is the opinion of this Judge that we cannot suspend reasonable doubt in the case of Uran Matie, and will henceforth set him free to resume his original mission: geological cataloguing of the timeline and fauna specimen gathering.”

Art turned once more to the Defendant and his counsel.

“I’m not quite sure what made you go down into that Lake. I wasn’t there but for the time remaining try to limit yourself to your paid work and not go chasing after myths, or facts... depending on what you say. Uran Matie... some sleeping dragons are best left to their slumbers in the annuls of history.”

He nodded to everyone and finally concluded with these words.

“I’m sure you’ll want to appeal my decision Mr McKinley and that is your right. Once you have your case together you can apply for a retrial in 6-8 months. Ladies and Gentlemen, this trial is adjourned... until then.”

The End?

[Msgrv32]

My entry is now a work in progress! Let it be once from the henceforth!

[Msgrv32]

*This is the second draft, possibly the final one.*

((Mid Atlantic Ocean / 4th Century BC / Earth))

A small boat floated endlessly in the far off reaches of the Atlantic Ocean. Nearby this empty boat a large island loomed. Upon the edges of its sandy beaches, the sound of the waves was interrupted by a most unexpected event.

A brilliant flash ensued. It dissipated after a moment and a small telephone booth appeared in its place. The box was labelled “Tardis” and the doors to it opened revealing a 48 year old man. He wore a silk toga that was cast in a variety of colours. While it was made of fabrics unknown to this time, it bore a throwback resemblance to what might possibly have been worn. He had brown hair and a thick beard that consumed the features of his face. The wrinkles formed over the course of his experiences were hidden away behind his facial hair. His eyes: blue, containing a twinkle that brought smiles to faces. In his time - The 28th Century - he is every first year cadets favourite professor. In this time - The 4rd Century BC - he is an explorer.

He looked out over his new horizons and was overwhelmed by their pristine beauty. History told him that soon this place of great beauty would be the center of a great tragedy. Uran Matie stands on the beaches nearby Atlantis. He thought of how amazing his next book was sure to be. His subject matter until now was reserved for mythology. He had finally proved his philisophical idol ‘Plato’ correct. Atlantis exists! Uran Matie smiled as he would not be heading right to Atlantis. He turned and looked in 360 degrees taking in the view. He stopped to pick a few flowers growing along the forest edge but made sure not to stray to far. Soon he went back to the edge of the beach where he had originally appeared.

Out of his method of transportation - The Tardis Box - he pulled a sleek submersible vehicle. It would provide him transport the rest of the way. His destination was not Atlantis but a small underground cave. Historical myth pointed him to there. Resting in that small air filled cave was an Omnipotent being, capable of extraordinary power. The trip was down was hundreds of meters and the vehicle performed well. A tragic encounter in the depths however managed to cause his craft serious damage. He was unable to abandon it so far below the surface and blacked out.

He awoke in the air filled cavern he was searching for. His first gasps rolled him to his side. His lungs slowly regained their oxygen and his vision returned. The cavern must have been millions of years old and formed by the rushing water and minerals over that expanse of time. It was strikingly beautiful in a much more personal way. This cavern had been nothing more than myth until now. He had discovered it conclusively. He sat up with a smile and then held his head in his hands. A tear escaped his eyes, but it was of joy. He soon found that in this cavern he was not alone.

Q: Hello there.

Uran: Hello, to you.

Q: Do you know me?

Uran: Only by myth and reputation sir.

Q: Do I know you?

Uran: Is there anything you don’t know?

Q: No. I = Omnipotent.

Uran: It is a personal honour to meet you here and now.

Q: Your personal honour intrigues me, tell me why you feel so?

Uran: This place, this time, this moment, it doesn’t not exist where I am from. To come back, to rediscover this place and banish the word ‘Myth’ from its annuls is monumental for me. I will be remembered for this.

The Q smiled at him. It hid behind the facial twitches a deep sense of disappointment that Uran Matie was not aware of.

Q: Yet, who will remember a man who vanishes and is never heard of again?

Uran: What do you mean?

Q: You have no way back to your machine, and therefore no way back to your time. You will die here and become yet another chapter in the long history of this mythical place.

Uran: I will not die here.

Q: How will you survive?

Uran: You will set me free. I will awaken on the surface and go back to my time.

Q: I do not decide the fate of mere humans.

Uran: Of course you do. In a few centuries you put all of humanity on trial. I should know, I lecture an entire course to first year students on the ‘Q’.

Q: You... would allow me to intervene in your predestination?

Uran: If your intervention transports me to the surface and allows my return to the 28th Century, yes I would allow it.

Q: A very strange bargain for one to make. I will consider your words carefully.

The Q snapped his fingers and Uran awoke standing in front of his Tardis box. He looked back at the shining city just beyond his sight in the distance and sighed.

A flash of light, and then nothing... until... the city of Atlantis sank into the sea.

((Lecture Hall A / Jupiter Station / 2760))

The morning had been nothing but controversy. Dr Uran Matie delivered a jaw dropping presentation that had the room - filled with Top Scientists and Federation Representatives - in gasps. Even more shocking was the arrest of Dr Matie that followed the presentation. He was led off the stage in front of his peers by Starfleet Security. Word spread fast, Matie had hired Cybill Fletcher as his lawyer. The Federation council had reviewed the case in an emergency session and it was turned over to the courts and Chief Prosecutor - also a former Academy Professor - Erwin McKinley.

((Federation Supreme Court / Division 7 / Earth))

Erwin McKinley was dressed in the traditional clothing of 28th Century Prosecutors. He wore a form fitting jumpsuit whose shirt could be detached from the pants. It was navy blue and the collar had his Prosecutor rank embroidered in red lace. Even as he rose from his seat the incorrigible Cybill Fletcher, in a blindingly white dress that stretched her thin 6’4 frame from neck to toe shouted out.

Fletcher: My client wishes to plead the 5th!

The outburst confused McKinley who was at heart a budding statesman at 56. He and Cybill both looked forward to the Judge who considered her request. The Judge - Art Taylor - was 74 years old and nearing his retirement. His hair was stained grey and his face had many blemishes of time. He asked a question in response to her request. As was his custom.

Taylor: For when?

Fletcher: For now, the future, and all time past his return.

McKinley: That’s outrageous, his previous statements are what inform the assembly of this trial.

Fletcher: His previous statements were made under the belief that they would not be held against him in a court of law. Therefore to include them would be prejudicial and in violation of the right to refuse to testify against oneself in court.

Taylor: You make an intriguing philosophical argument, however at this time I will not rule on said right. Does the prosecution have enough evidence to pursue this case should I grant the defendant's request?

McKinley: The prosecution does your honour.

Taylor: Then for the moment, let us keep an open mind when it comes to the statements made by the accused and let us not forget, innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt by a jury of his peers. Mr McKinley, we will hear the prosecution’s case tomorrow and the defense one week from now. Until then, this court is dismissed.

((The Prosecution))

Erwin Mckinley did an unusual bit of judicial theatre to begin the case of the prosecution. He took the stand. As he sat he looked out towards the mark he would usually occupy. In his eyes he must have seen himself standing there. He had decided to play the role of witness since he could not call Uran Matie to the stand. For what role other than that must firmly be established in the mind of those who bear witness?

“It’s like we were dreaming. It was a beautiful, magnificent dream. A dream we too often forget in its aftermath. I wish we were dreaming right now. Could it have just been a dream that Uran Matie travelled 3000 years to the past and met a being so powerful? We’re we dreaming when Uran Matie convinced the being to spare his life, and then gave the being details of knowledge about the future... we would surely come to the inescapable conclusion that the consequences of such actions become simple to predict. We’re we dreaming when Uran Matie traded the fates of an entire city of people for his own? The needs of the many became casualties of the one and its singular need to survive. Those whose survival became irrelevant cannot speak in the here and now. What of those souls tormented by this manic omnipotence in centuries past? What of the ‘Q’ and their ‘judgements’ of humanity? A great Captain, then Ambassador, then philosopher, archaeologist - the list of accolades is extensive - once wrote ‘and though I knew he had come to a conclusion himself, he left me words still fresh in my mind today... The trial never ends.’

He paused and took a breath.

We understand through history that on stardate 41153.7 Humanity was formally put on trial by the ‘Q’. If that trial is too last an eternity then we should not be looking to the end but... to the beginning. What if the trial for humanity didn’t start on stardate 41153.7? What if it began here in the future!”

He was by far a young man but Erwin McKinley had got himself a full head of steam. His theatrics continued as he paused and then moving from the witness stand he came to a standstill on the mark, the same one he stared at with such intensity not a moment ago. He turned and spoke to the perceived masses.

“The trial of humanity is not a linear event. It stretches and distorts the annuls of history. It began here a short while ago, it weaved its way 3000 years into the past, it awoke an Omnipotent dragon and traded the needs of the many or its singular need! The cold war lasted over 2 dozen centuries, until its formal declaration was laid down in our linear universe... but it began here! It began when Uran Matie went back! His greed was singular, and his responsibility should bear an appropriate consequence!”

He turned after a brief pause to the judge.

“This is the case of the prosecution your honour.”

((The Defense))

Cybil Fletcher is a tall imposing person. She also stands with a fiery eloquence. Now in middle age she remains the only female permanently banned for life from Starfleet Athletics. That tale involving a female Klingon 3rd year Cadet and a broken neck is best left to the annuls of time. Cybill was also a great enthusiast of 24th century philosophers. She wore her blinding white dress and - at 6’4 - when she stood one week later to give ‘The defense.’ she was magnetic on the eyes. She came out to the center of the room and stood gazing about. As her gaze slowly settled on a spot somewhere above the various heads she began to speak softly but with a determined tone.

“I feel... like... I’m dreaming... this is a joke right? Some sick joke I wasn’t aware of? Where are your precedents? This is not the 4th century BC or the 24th century AD, it is the 28th century. Your precedents are dead and buried in history. It should be of no relevance in a court of law. The case of the prosecution is based on nothing more than coincidence and barely circumstantial anecdotal hogwash! There is an emotional wail of theatrics and sob stories trotted out to influence your judgement. To succumb to emotion and theatrics is to jeopardize your hold on rationality and the facts. This trial should be thrown out. It is no longer legal. The defense neglects to point out several things and the first is: Uran Matie is legally licensed by a 2733 Court Case to use and make non linear methods of transportation. His travels are not illegal. He and others like him have every right to do this. I will indulge the case of the prosecution a moment: Jean Luc Picard, Erwin really? I know you hesitate to bring up his name because its become taboo to say it aloud these days. You can trot out his accomplishments but if you can’t even say his name what right have you to quote his words? Picard the philosopher saw 4 lights! The captor dealt him pain and said no, there are 5 lights! Picard though in extreme agony would not be broken by the simple and outdated methods of torture. Here today I will not have the prosecution break Uran Matie and his good name. The ‘Q’ are Omnipotent! Does that not mean that they are capable of non linear conscious memory? How can we point to any one event or stardate when we have a variable like the ‘Q’ at play? How can we put Uran Matie on trial for this?”

Cybil looked down at Erwin McKinley and chastised him.

“On Stardate 41153.7 the battle bridge of the Enterprise was encompassed by a cube like force field and the setting changed to a world war 2 style location. A high ranking officer ‘Troi’ gave a first hand account that very day that everything happening was real, right down to the soldiers and their machine guns. If that doesn’t prove reasonable doubt that the ‘Q’ in their eternal Omnipotence have access to non linear travel and thought then you’re standards Sir... are unreasonable.”

She turned from the prosecution to the judge.

“Let us not fall upon old habits, let us not charge one man for the crimes of humanity.”

She sat and concluded.

“That is our defense your honour.”

((The Verdict))

Art Taylor was simply getting too old for this. He had spent a month of his life entangled in this political mess surrounding Uran Matie and his statements clarifying historical myth with newly rediscovered facts. The Judge had spent the nights following “The Defense” considering how much sleep he’d lost since it all began. Those nights up wandering the hallways of his three story house always landed him on one conclusion. The Court Case of 2733. It summed up like this:

Year: 2733

Case: # 2733

Forum: Supreme Federation Courts

Notes: For years private companies have been close to perfecting “Tardis” technology. This ship can - once completed - travel non-linear paths. The laws prohibiting full restriction of this technology were successfully challenged in the courts. After an unclear verdict Private Companies would be allowed limited use of the technology for geological surveys of the past/future and for fauna specimen gathering. Only trained Academics and Scientists would be allowed through, and only one at a time.

Those sleepless nights would finally end. The courtroom was called to order and Art Taylor read aloud his verdict.

“I’m an old man, but I still pilot my shuttle... slowly. I’ll keep it short and sweet. The Court Case of 2733 is relevant to this situation and it reminds me that Uran Matie’s own words set this trial in motion. What I’ve seen these past weeks informs me that in many ways nothing has changed in the elapsed time. His words remain the only evidence available. Therefore it is the opinion of this Judge that we cannot suspend reasonable doubt in the case of Uran Matie, and will henceforth set him free to resume his original mission: geological cataloguing of the timeline and fauna specimen gathering.”

Art turned once more to the Defendant and his counsel.

“I’m not quite sure what made you go down into that Island. I wasn’t there but for the time remaining try to limit yourself to your paid work and not go chasing after myths, or maybe they are facts... depending on what you say. Uran Matie... some sleeping dragons are best left to their slumbers in the annuls of history.”

He nodded to everyone and finally concluded with these words.

“I’m sure you’ll want to appeal my decision Mr McKinley and that is your right. Once you have your case together you can apply for a retrial in 6-8 months. Ladies and Gentlemen, this trial is adjourned... until then.”

The End?

Edited September 13, 2010 by Msgrv32

[Msgrv32]

"Final Draft"

((Mid Atlantic Ocean / 4th Century BC / Earth))

A small boat floated endlessly in the far off reaches of the Atlantic Ocean. Nearby this empty boat a large island loomed. Upon the edges of its sandy beaches, the sound of the waves was interrupted by a brilliant flash.

The flash dissipated after a moment and a small telephone booth appeared in its place. The box was labelled “Tardis” and the doors to it opened revealing a 48 year old man. He wore a silk toga that was cast in a variety of colours. Made of fabrics unknown to this time, it bore a throwback resemblance to what might have been worn. He had brown hair and a thick beard that consumed the features of his face. The wrinkles formed over the course of his experiences; hidden away behind his facial hair. His eyes: blue, containing a twinkle that brought smiles to faces. In his time - The 28th Century - he is every first year cadets favourite professor. In this time - The 4rd Century BC - he is an explorer.

He looked out over his new horizons and was overwhelmed by the pristine beauty. History told him that soon this place of great beauty would be the center of a great tragedy. Uran Matie stands on the beaches nearby Atlantis. He thought of how amazing his next book was sure to be. His subject matter until now was reserved for mythology. He had finally proved his philosophical idol ‘Plato’ correct. “Atlantis exists!” Uran Matie smiled as he would not be heading right to Atlantis. He turned and looked in 360 degrees taking in the view. He stopped to pick a few flowers growing along the forest edge making sure not to stray to far. Soon he went back to the edge of the beach where he had originally appeared.

Out of his method of transportation - The Tardis Box - he pulled a sleek submersible vehicle. It would provide him transport the rest of the way. His destination was not Atlantis but a small underground cave. Historical myth guided him. Resting in that small air filled cave was an Omnipotent being, capable of extraordinary power. The trip was down was hundreds of meters and the vehicle performed well. A tragic encounter in the depths however managed to cause his craft serious damage. He was unable to abandon it so far below the surface and blacked out.

He awoke in the air filled cavern he was searching for. His first gasps rolled him to his side. His lungs slowly regained their oxygen and his vision returned. The cavern must have been millions of years old and formed by the rushing water and minerals over that expanse of time. It was strikingly beautiful in a much more personal way. This cavern had been nothing more than myth until now. He had discovered it conclusively. He sat up with a smile and then held his head in his hands. A tear escaped his eyes, but it was of joy. He soon found that in this cavern he was not alone.

Q: Hello there.

Uran: Hello, to you.

Q: Do you know me?

Uran: Only by myth and reputation sir.

Q: Do I know you?

Uran: Is there anything you don’t know?

Q: No. I = Omnipotent.

Uran: It is a personal honour to meet you here and now.

Q: Your personal honour intrigues me, tell me why you feel so?

Uran: This place, this time, this moment, it doesn’t not exist where I am from. To come back, to rediscover this place and banish the word ‘Myth’ from its annuls is monumental for me. I will be remembered for this.

The Q smiled at him. It hid behind the facial twitches a deep sense of disappointment that Uran Matie was not aware of.

Q: Yet, who will remember a man who vanishes and is never heard of again?

Uran: What do you mean?

Q: You have no way back to your machine, and therefore no way back to your time. You will die here and become yet another chapter in the long history of this mythical place.

Uran: I will not die here.

Q: How will you survive?

Uran: You will set me free. I will awaken on the surface and go back to my time.

Q: I do not decide the fate of mere humans.

Uran: Of course you do. In a few centuries you put all of humanity on trial. I should know, I lecture an entire course to first year students on the ‘Q’.

Q: You... would allow me to intervene in your predestination?

Uran: If your intervention transports me to the surface and allows my return to the 28th Century, yes I would allow it.

Q: A very strange bargain for one to make. I will consider your words carefully.

The Q snapped his fingers and Uran awoke standing in front of his Tardis box. He looked back at the shining city just beyond his sight in the distance and sighed.

A flash of light, and then nothing... until... the city of Atlantis sank into the sea.

((Lecture Hall A / Jupiter Station / 2760))

The morning had been nothing but controversy. Dr Uran Matie delivered a jaw dropping presentation that had the room - filled with Top Scientists and Federation Representatives - in gasps. Even more shocking was the arrest of Dr Matie that followed the presentation. He was led off the stage in front of his peers by Starfleet Security. Word spread fast, Matie had hired Cybill Fletcher as his lawyer. The Federation council had reviewed the case in an emergency session and it was turned over to the courts and Chief Prosecutor - also a former Academy Professor - Erwin McKinley.

((Federation Supreme Court / Division 7 / Earth))

Erwin McKinley was dressed in the traditional clothing of 28th Century Prosecutors. He wore a form fitting jumpsuit whose shirt could be detached from the pants. It was navy blue and the collar had his Prosecutor rank embroidered in red lace. Even as he rose from his seat the incorrigible Cybill Fletcher, in a blindingly white dress that stretched her thin 6’4 frame from neck to toe shouted out.

Fletcher: My client wishes to plead the 5th!

The outburst confused McKinley who was at heart a budding statesman at 56. He and Cybill both looked forward to the Judge who considered her request. The Judge - Art Taylor - was 74 years old and nearing his retirement. His hair was stained grey and his face had many blemishes of time. He asked a question in response to her request. As was his custom.

Taylor: For when?

Fletcher: For now, the future, and all time past his return.

McKinley: That’s outrageous, his previous statements are what inform the assembly of this trial.

Fletcher: His previous statements were made under the belief that they would not be held against him in a court of law. Therefore to include them would be prejudicial and in violation of the right to refuse to testify against oneself in court.

Taylor: You make an intriguing philosophical argument, however at this time I will not rule on said right. Does the prosecution have enough evidence to pursue this case should I grant the defendant's request?

McKinley: The prosecution does your honour.

Taylor: Then for the moment, let us keep an open mind when it comes to the statements made by the accused and let us not forget, innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt by a jury of his peers. Mr McKinley, we will hear the prosecution’s case tomorrow and the defense one week from now. Until then, this court is dismissed.

((The Prosecution))

Erwin Mckinley did an unusual bit of judicial theatre to begin the case of the prosecution. He took the stand. As he sat he looked out towards the mark he would usually occupy. In his eyes he must have seen himself standing there. He had decided to play the role of witness since he could not call Uran Matie to the stand. For what role other than that must firmly be established in the mind of those who bear witness?

“It’s like we were dreaming. It was a beautiful, magnificent dream. A dream we too often forget in its aftermath. I wish we were dreaming right now. Could it have just been a dream that Uran Matie travelled 3000 years to the past and met a being so powerful? We’re we dreaming when Uran Matie convinced the being to spare his life, and then gave the being details of knowledge about the future... would we not surely come to the inescapable conclusion that the consequences of such actions become simple to predict! We’re we dreaming when Uran Matie traded the fates of an entire city of people for his own? The needs of the many became casualties of the one and its singular need to survive. Those whose survival became irrelevant cannot speak in the here and now. What of those souls tormented by this manic omnipotence in centuries past? What of the ‘Q’ and their ‘judgements’ of humanity? A great Captain, then Ambassador, then philosopher, archaeologist - the list of accolades is extensive - once wrote ‘and though I knew he had come to a conclusion himself, he left me words still fresh in my mind today... The trial never ends.’

He paused and took a breath.

We understand through history that on stardate 41153.7 Humanity was formally put on trial by the ‘Q’. If that trial is too last an eternity then we should not be looking to the end but... to the beginning. What if the trial for humanity didn’t start on stardate 41153.7? What if it began here in the future!”

He was far from being a young man but Erwin McKinley had got himself a full head of steam. His theatrics continued as he paused and then moving from the witness stand he came to a standstill on the mark, the same one he stared at with such intensity not a moment ago. He turned and spoke to the perceived masses.

“The trial of humanity is not a linear event. It stretches and distorts the annuls of history. It began here a short while ago, it weaved its way 3000 years into the past, it awoke an Omnipotent dragon and traded the needs of the many or its singular need! The cold war lasted over 2 dozen centuries, until its formal declaration was laid down in our linear universe... but it began here! It began when Uran Matie went back! His greed was singular, and his responsibility should bear an appropriate consequence!”

He turned after a brief pause to the judge.

“This is the case of the prosecution your honour.”

((The Defense))

Cybil Fletcher is a tall imposing person. She also stands with a fiery eloquence. Now in middle age she remains the only female permanently banned for life from Starfleet Athletics. That tale involving a female Klingon 3rd year Cadet and a broken neck is best left to the annuls of time. Cybill was also a great enthusiast of 24th century philosophers. She wore her blinding white dress and - at 6’4 - when she stood one week later to give ‘The defense.’ she was magnetic on the eyes. She came out to the center of the room and stood gazing about. As her gaze slowly settled on a spot somewhere above the various heads she began to speak softly but with a determined tone.

“I feel... like... I’m dreaming... this is a joke right? Some sick joke I wasn’t aware of? Where are your precedents? This is not the 4th century BC or the 24th century AD, it is the 28th century. Your precedents are dead and buried in history. It should be of no relevance in a court of law. The case of the prosecution is based on nothing more than coincidence and barely circumstantial anecdotal hogwash! There is an emotional wail of theatrics and sob stories trotted out to influence your judgement. To succumb to emotion and theatrics is to jeopardize your hold on rationality and the facts. This trial should be thrown out. It is no longer legal. The Prosecutor neglects to point out several things and the first is: Uran Matie is legally licensed by a 2733 Court Case to make and use non linear methods of transportation. His travels are not illegal. He and others like him have every right to do this. I will indulge the case of the prosecution a moment: Jean Luc Picard, Erwin really? I know you hesitate to bring up his name because its become taboo to say it aloud these days. You can trot out his accomplishments but if you can’t even say his name what right have you to quote his words? Picard the philosopher saw 4 lights! The captor dealt him pain and said no, there are 5 lights! Picard though in extreme agony would not be broken by the simple and outdated methods of torture. Here today I will not have the prosecution break Uran Matie and his good name. The ‘Q’ are Omnipotent! Does that not mean that they are capable of non linear conscious memory? How can we point to any one event or stardate when we have a variable like the ‘Q’ at play? How can we put Uran Matie on trial for this?”

Cybil looked down at Erwin McKinley and chastised him.

“On Stardate 41153.7 the battle bridge of the Enterprise was encompassed by a cube like force field and the setting changed to a world war 2 style location. A high ranking officer ‘Troi’ gave a first hand account that very day that everything happening was real, right down to the soldiers and their machine guns. If that doesn’t prove reasonable doubt that the ‘Q’ in their eternal Omnipotence have access to non linear travel and thought then you’re standards Sir... are unreasonable.”

She turned from the prosecution to the judge.

“Let us not fall upon old habits, let us not charge one man for the crimes of humanity.”

She sat and concluded.

“That is our defense your honour.”

((The Verdict))

Art Taylor was simply getting too old for this. He had spent a month of his life entangled in this political mess surrounding Uran Matie and his statements clarifying historical myth with his ‘newly rediscovered facts’. The Judge had spent the nights following “The Defense” considering how much sleep he’d lost since it all began. Those long and lonely nights up wandering the hallways of his three story house always landed him on one conclusion. The Court Case of 2733. It summed up like this:

Year: 2733

Case: # 2733

Forum: Supreme Federation Courts

Notes: For years private companies have been close to perfecting “Tardis” technology. This ship can - once completed - travel non-linear paths. The laws prohibiting full restriction of this technology were successfully challenged in the courts. After an unclear verdict Private Companies would be allowed limited use of the technology for geological surveys of the past/future and for fauna specimen gathering. Only trained Academics and Scientists would be allowed through, and only one at a time.

Those sleepless nights would finally end. The courtroom was called to order and Art Taylor read aloud his verdict.

“I’m an old man, but I still pilot my shuttle... slowly. I’ll keep it short and sweet. The Court Case of 2733 is relevant to this situation and it reminds me that Uran Matie’s own words set this trial in motion. What I’ve seen these past weeks informs me that in many ways nothing has changed in the elapsed time. His words remain the only evidence available. Therefore it is the opinion of this Judge that we cannot suspend reasonable doubt in the case of Uran Matie, and will henceforth set him free to resume his original mission: geological cataloguing of the timeline and fauna specimen gathering.”

Art turned once more to the Defendant and his counsel.

“I’m not quite sure what made you go down into that Island. I wasn’t there but for the time remaining try to limit yourself to your paid work and not go chasing after myths, or maybe they are facts... depending on what you say. Uran Matie... some sleeping dragons are best left to their slumbers in the annuls of history.”

He nodded to everyone and finally concluded with these words.

“I’m sure you’ll want to appeal my decision Mr McKinley and that is your right. Once you have your case together you can apply for a retrial in 6-8 months. Ladies and Gentlemen, this trial is adjourned... until then.”

Written and submitted by:

Lt. Thomas N. Gregory

Chief of Operations

USS Ronin NCC-34523