/\ Main Engineering /\ Ensign Carter was racing desperately around the Warp Core. He could feel the air leaving his lungs. He could feel his hair grow. He knew he had to get out of there, but somehow, he didn't manage it. PO1 D'Diara knew she had to reach the main console. They had to isolate the core, no matter the cost. Her outstreched hand was inches away from the controls, yet it seemed to take an eternity to reach it. She could see the dust settling on the aging touchscreen. She tried to scream, but it never came out. Lt. Kaiser couldn't move. He stared at his hands, as they started to wrinkle, the veins popping out, the flesh drying as eternity went by with the speed of a thought. The last images in his head were for Gwen McKenna, before his heart stopped pounding and his brain turned to dry dust, together with the rest of the body. Specialist McKenna watched John Kaiser freezing in midtrack and aging at incredible speed. When the dust fell to the floor, she started crying madly, unable to stop. Unable to understand. Unable to think. Sean stormed into Engineering, only to find a gruesome picture. Half the crew was frozen on tracks, the other half was speeding unnaturally around engineering, crying in pain, aging, dying. "What the hell" he shouted and raced into the room. Sean stormed into Engineering, only to find a gruesome picture. Half the crew was frozen on tracks, the other half was speeding unnaturally around engineering, crying in pain, aging, dying. "What the hell" he shouted and raced into the room and towards the console, where he spotted D'Diara, frozen in the vain attempt to reach it. He stopped in his tracks and turned towards the warp core. He watched himself kicking aside a rusty panel. "What the hell" he shouted and raced into the room and towards the console, where he spotted D'Diara, frozen in the vain attempt to reach it. He stopped in his tracks and turned towards the warp core. He watched himself kicking aside a rusty panel. With decision, he raced towards himself, with a sudden understanding of the situation. A temporal anomaly was wreaking havoc in the ships heart. "It's trapped" he heard himself from behind and turned around. "What the hell" he shouted and raced into the room and towards the console, where he spotted D'Diara, frozen in the vain attempt to reach it. He stopped in his tracks and turned towards the warp core. He watched himself kicking aside a rusty panel. With decision, he raced towards himself, with a sudden understanding of the situation. A temporal anomaly was wreaking havoc in the ships heart. "It's trapped" he shouted to himself, as he raced towards himself, where he was kicking aside a rusty panel. He saw himself turn around and nod, then race towards a rusty panel and kick it aside. Sean dived to the floor, looking desperately for a particular module. It had to be there, he himself had installed it. Failsafe module. He distrusted the prototypes through and through, and he had been proven right. The anomaly that breached through the shields earlier had settled inside the ship and reverberated on the regenerating temporal shields. He had been chasing himself, and now he was doing it again, in an endless loop. "It's trapped" he shouted to himself, as he raced towards himself, where he was kicking aside a rusty panel. He saw himself turn around and nod, then race towards a rusty panel and kick it aside. Sean dived to the floor, looking desperately for a particular module. It had to be there, he himself had installed it. Failsafe module. He distrusted the prototypes through and through, and he had been proven right. The anomaly that breached through the shields earlier had settled inside the ship and reverberated on the regenerating temporal shields. He had been chasing himself, and now he was doing it again, in an endless loop. Yet, the anomaly had to be stopped, even now, he could sense his crew dying, helpless, trapped. For some reason, he was the only one able to move. Maybe it was destiny. Maybe it was just luck. Sean didn't care. He knew what had to be done. "SEAN" he suddenly heard behind him, as he spotted the module. He turned around. Through an endless row of ghostly selves, he saw the slim figure of Axa. "STAY BACK!" he shouted. "GET OUT OF HERE", but Axa just pointed at the Warp Core. Sean turned around, panicking for a moment. A black, grey and mustard streak of light surrounded the core, while the pulsating light swept irregularly and sped up through the long tube that contained the heart and soul of the ship. The emergency fields where holding, but rays of light erupted at the top of the containment chambers. The Core was aging and would die if he didn't do something. "SEAN" he suddenly heard behind him, as he spotted the module. He turned around. Through an endless row of ghostly selves, he saw the slim figure of Axa. "Stay BACK!" he shouted. "GET OUT OF HERE", but Axa just pointed at the Warp Core. Sean turned around, panicking for a moment. A black, grey and mustard streak of light surrounded the core, while the pulsating light swept irregularly and sped up through the long tube that contained the heart and soul of the ship. The emergency fields where holding, but rays of light erupted at the top of the containment chambers. The Core was aging and would die if he didn't act. He turned back to the module and extracted the one he was looking for. Then he saw himself, covered in light, screaming in agony. And he knew. "I can't believe I'm doing this..." he muttered and shoved the module into a different slot. Suddenly, the temporal shield bent impossibly into the ship. Corridors, Rooms, Systems flickered in and out of existence, as the anomaly was forced out of the core and out of engineering. Power was automatically rerouted and rerouted again in splitseconds. Forcefields fired up and went down again. The shield bent back and covered the Chimera in an intact bubble. Sean felt a pain as he had never before in his life. Streams of light covered his hand, as he was unable to loose his grip on the module. He screamed in agony. Then, the lights subsided. Sean fell to the floor, his arm turned into a sticky nothing of molten flesh and bone, his face relaxing, as the pain went slowly away and the lights started to fade. Ensign Carter stopped exhausted and looked at the regularly pulsating warp core. He realized he had shaky legs and looked down on him. A large, grey beard covered the topmost part of his ragged uniform, and his veiny hands barely had the force to clamp themselves to the railing. Tears started to roll down his wrinkled face, as he realized the truth. PO1 D'Diara reached the clean console, wondering where the dust had gone, and what just happened. She tapped in a few commands and read the data. Everything seemed to be normal. She sighed with relief. Specialist McKenna fell on her knees, weeping without control. Her brain was refusing to accept, that John, her only love, was gone, aged to dust in an eternal second. Axa carefully walked to where Sean lay. Slowly, she kneeled down, next to the rests of his arm, watching the fast and interrupted breathing. "Sickbay to Engineering. FAST. Man down" she croaked almost voiceless into her combadge. Sean turned his head as he heard the words. The pain was receeding, and in the dim light, he saw the face of Axa. "are... we... safe..." he whispered with difficulty. Axa nodded, tears coming down her cheeks. "We are safe, Sean." she said slowly, stroking gently Seans hair. "we are safe. Help is coming". Sean smiled. The lights were almost gone. "Good" he muttered and relaxed. "You're a good... engineer, Axa" he added slowly after a short moment. Darkness came for him, never to leave again. -------------------------------------------------------- Lt. Sean McTaggert Former CEO USS Chimera