Through Time, Darkly

[Pryce]

[color=#FFFF00]Main Hangar


As Doyle finished speaking, Doctor Owens rose from the table, and walked over the fighter, eyeing it casually. He glanced at Doyle, then at Graham. "The Lieutenant is right. Let's not jump to conclusions. If we follow the theory of tunneling , this could merely be a random event, however incredible the odds may be." He paused before adding; "Stranger things have happened."


Graham shook his head. "I don't believe it. An Alliance pilot, that happens to appear next to an Alliance colony, centuries later. The Libertys' landing point, no less." He had a gruff, deep voice, that others often assumed implied a hostile demeanor, though in actuality, rarely the case. "That has to be an indication of an intelligent decision to send him here. "


On the other side of the hangar, the larger hatch opened, and Gwen Hart began making her way towards the group, trailed closely by Thomas Keller. Gwen carried a large grey case, Keller pushing a tall rolling cart.


Owens spoke again; " I did not mean to suggest a random tunneling event to Sirius would be, or is, a common occurence. I'm only suggesting that this once, multiple factors combined, by chance, to produce the results we have now. Rather like the original formation of the universe. Terras' own place in Sol, and the life developed on it. Each a rare likelyhood of success, but each happened regardless. Just because the Lieutenant has a shared origin with the current occupants of this sector, doesn't mean we should instantly assume a connection."


"But Manhattan? To appear near Manhattan? I don't see that as an accident, cosmic or otherwise." Graham was frowning. "If he had arrived in the Reunion minefield, or out in the Edge Nebula, I would indeed consider it more closely; but as it is, I cannot believe it sir."


Samantha Ross spoke, glancing between Graham and Doyle; "I would tend to agree with Doctor Graham. I cannot see how this could have happened randomly." She blinked. "However, it would be negligent not to consider any possible alternative."


"Ooo! The conjecture phase! I love this part!" Gwen Hart had wandered within auditory range. She set her burden down on the deck, and threw a smile at the group. Nodding towards Doyle, she spoke again; "Maybe he's from an alternate reality! Just kinda popped in from somewhere else. Maybe where he's from, coffee tastes like Synthpaste! Or vise versa! Or both!"


Ross nodded. "Indeed, a reasonable proposal, Doctor Hart. The concept of an alternate reality, not the Synthpaste part."


Thomas Keller, who had been listening quietly, murmured; "Actually, I think Synth tried that once..." He grimaced.

Hart made a face, and then frowned, something she did rarely. "Ugh. That was a joke Doctor, I didn't mean to really suggest that. That's a little too science fiction for what we're doing here."


"Pardon me." Doctor Owens interrupted. "Not at all. I was about to suggest the same. The Everett-Dewitt theories may well apply here."

Graham raised an eyebrow. "You mean the cat is dead? The cat is not dead? What possible data do we have here would indicate that could apply?"


Owens replied; "The possibilites are endless. The very fact that he appeared next to Manhattan, for example."


Hart shivered, and said to Doyle. "Pretty soon we're gonna have to start calling you Iceman." She then glanced longingly at the table near the bulkhead; "Mmm. More coffee! STAT!" She walked over for another cup, her sixth so far in the day.


Donovan spoke; "We've all been saying how Doyle has "appeared" or "popped in"; but we really don't know that is what has happened at all. The Lieutenant simply regained consciousness here in Sirius. That doesn't really tell us anything about how he got here."


Ross interjected; "Go on."


"Perhaps he wasn't brought then to now at all, but simply took the full time to get here."


"Back to the idea he was in some sort of stasis." Owens said.


"Could someone really be recoverable after so long?" Ross asked.


"It would be unlikely, but not completely infeasible.There have been some cases of a human subject surviving far longer periods of time in stasis than they were originally intended. Admittedly, I'm not aware of any as long as the Lieutenant would have been. I'm just saying we should consider it."


Graham spoke; "Which brings us again to the fact the Lieutenant did not wake up in a pod. He woke up in a fighter, adrift. That fighter." He indicated the Minuteman. The fighter, adrift, not a pod." He repeated.


Donovan spoke, a bit softer then he had before. "Such a distance, for such a long time. We should consider that the Lieutenant may not be able to fully trust his memory. Something could have happened to disrupt the stasis, or maybe he was revived incorrectly. There might have been...damage. Even the sleeper ships had losses for the same reason. The Lieutenant should undergo a medical exam, to check for injuries related to improper recovery." He looked to Doyle and asked; "Tell us Lieutenant, have you experienced any memory loss that you are aware of? Lost time or not remembering something since you arrived here?"

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