Lost and Found Causes

[KejalBuris]

The ship is on a research mission, accompanied by an Astrophysics class from the Vulcan Science Academy. They are going to a distant binary system, T'kala. In a case that the VSA lists as "highly statistically improbable", long-range sensors have indicated that both T'kala A & B look like they will be going nova at the same time. This will obliterate their four lifeless planets, and leave a huge black hole remnant behind. It is not merely a once-in-a-lifetime occurance, but more like once-in-any-concievable-lifetime. Therefore, in addition to dispatching a vessel, Starfleet and the VSA have decided that these astrophysicists should be able to study it - and see it, from close range and with their own eyes.

Unfortunately, just 10 hours before the "event", the warp nacelles become mysteriously hypercharged with plasma, launching the ship into an uncontrollable, violent trip into subspace, their course rapidly drawing them into the point where the gravity wells of the two stars meet. It is a known phenomena that warp fields cannot stably exist directly in a sun's gravity well, much less that of a binary star. The field becomes destabilized and there is nothing the crew can do to stop the ship, at least not before they find themselves being thrown around through who-knows-where (and when). When the ship does enter realspace again, they find themselves in a system that seems to correllate to T'kala, but instead of 4 planets and highly swollen suns, the stars are now in main phase - red and orange. There are 9 planets total, and of that, T'Kala A Prime and 2 have abundant life - along with B 3 and 4. It appears that B4 and A2 are recent colonies, armed more heavily and without any real "ecosystem" to speak of.

If the crew monitors the T'Kalan communications, they will find that there is (and has been) a civil war raging across the system. And one of the fringe groups has gotten far enough to create a plasma injector, which will cause both suns to swell and become supergiants that will absorb T'Kala A Prime, A2, and B2. If the crew does not step in, they either abandon a civilization to violent death or die themselves.

Can they save the ship, the people, and the timeline - before it's too late?

[Williams]

Interesting. What about the Prime and Temporal Prime Directives, though?

[KejalBuris]

That was where I thought the drama would primarily come from, actually. In part, the Prime Directive does not apply - doomsday weapons gone awry are not part of the "natural development" of any known species, planet, or system. Also, if the ship arrives in that condition, they're likely to be unable to hide themselves. The temporal issue is a biggie, because saving the lives of the people in the past might just have a serious effect on the future.

But the very questions you raise were the first ones that came to my mind - and the ones I thought would provide the most drama in play - especially if the crew doesn't fall on one side or the other.