Khaiell-Caernu

Posted on Fri Jan 2nd, 2026 @ 2:19pm by The Commander

1,158 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Histories
Location: Dreizhen III Surface / IRW Avalkar
Timeline: March 2105

Subcommander Draal felt the heat immediately as soon as his beaming down was complete. He wished he’d worn his desert fatigues.

“Centurion, report.” He ordered as he reached the tent where the officers were assembled. None of them looked particularly stifled, but they were dressed for the weather. It was a breezy northern Romulan design of the desert peoples, employed in the Imperial military for centuries. It wasn't enough to keep him from sweating, but Draal took it as a point of pride that he had so little in common with the yyaio ancestors that he had become unaccustomed to deserts.

The third planet of this system was hot, and little else. A barren volcanic rock with no natural water in its southern hemisphere. The north wasn’t much better, any surface liquid was frozen in a polar glacier hemmed in by surrounding mountains. Volcanic activity meant there was very little sunlight in the northern hemisphere.

“We’ve completed our surveys, sir. Other than scattered proto-vegetation in the north, there’s no life on this planet. We assume there must once have been, given the quality of atmosphere. No viruses, no fungi or mycelium, no biospheres of any kind that aren’t within a day’s walk of the northern glaciers, and those that are there are mostly different states of inert slime. We are still strongly considering the possibility there are cyanobacteria buried deep beneath the dunes we haven't been able to find yet.” The portable display in the centre of the room showed all the data simultaneously against a holographic overlay of the world.

“Curious. The only habitable planet in the system. If we could bring the seismic conditions to ideals the chance of life will increase dramatically.” The Subcommander speculated, an undertone of hopefulness in his usually dry clear way.

“We could seek support from the Aventine project. Raise a flag over this world.” The Centurion suggested with a calm eagerness.

“The Aventine is already overstretched without sending resources this much further out. The Senate will come to their senses sooner or later and tighten the taps of support. We cannot rely on the economic boon of raiding the Klingons forever without expecting them to figure it out, dim though they are. When that well is dry, projects like these will be the first to wither.” The Subcommander disagreed.

“Subcommander,” came a voice from the overdressed officer’s wrist, “we’ve found something you’re going to want to take a look at, sir.”

He was beamed back a few minutes later to the bird of prey in orbit, where his science officer had a look on her face like she was both worried and excited.

“Lieutenant K’Lir, report.” He addressed her, opening the floodgates of her eagerness to respond. Their frank conversations on the open bridge were a common occurrence here on the Avalkar, her advice was usually the final word on any scientific matter.

“I have no idea what I’m looking at here, Subcommander. I’ve never seen an anomaly like this. As far as we can see, it’s a tiny little hole. There seems to be light coming through.”

“A hole in what?”

“Spacetime.”

“A wormhole?”

“No, not exactly. A wormhole connects to another point within the same universe. As far as we can see, the light is coming from another universe.”

“How can you even measure such a thing?” Draal's first response was that the suggestion was preposterous.

"That's exactly it. It has no properties. A wormhole has verteron emissions and any other signature occurrences, but there's nothing here. It's our universe on one side, and the other universe beyond. No transitional singularity or quantum structure. Just a hole."

"So then how does seeing nothing tell you that this is another universe and not just something we can't properly identify?" Draal asked, a certin impatience creeping into his voice, though his frustration was only with himself for not comprehending.

“I..” K’Lir wanted to back up her hunch, but realised it required classified information. “I cannot disclose that in present company, Subcommander.”

“Give us the bridge.” He told the crew, and the handful of other officers staffing the small bridge immediately stepped out.

“There have been recorded encounters with members of one of the species in the exclusion zone around the undeclared, known as humans. The humans incurred into Imperial Space out of Tholian territory under the banner of a ‘Terran Empire’.

"Is that not another name they call themselves in one of their languages?" Xenolinguistics had always been a passion of Draal's, and he found Earth languages fascinating.

"In their antiquity maybe, but not for millennia. It was determined that these 'Terrans' had originated in a parallel universe, and were not from the Earth planet where the undeclared recently made contact. They are no Empire, the undeclared are steering them towards the same feeble colonial pacifist technocracy they have embraced.”

“How do we know that isn’t Tal Shiar propaganda to conceal their failure to identify a threat from Earth?” The Subcommander asked. He hadn't heard of this Terran Empire, but it didn't surprise him to learn the knowledge was classified.

“Because you can see it in their atoms. I tested samples for the security bureau myself when the first incursion was intercepted. There are elemental frequencies to all matter in the universe that speak to its origin here, the frequencies of these beings indicate that they originate in another universe. They are compatible here, within their usual physical limits, but the most minor variance of atomic signatures is unmistakable.” K’Lir explained.

“We know that this light is from another universe is a fact because some aliens have strange atoms?” Draal asked.

“We know this because we can see from the survivors how long they’ve been here. Their own atoms in their cells begin to slowly replaced by those from our universe as new cells regenerate, meaning that in time the ability to detect any being from another universe would decline. Some sort interphasic DNA sequencing would be required to know for sure.”

“So what are we seeing here that confirms your hypothesis?” Draal asked.

“We’ve analysed the photons from the other side. The light coming through that little pinhole is not native to this universe. It’s as obvious and unmistakable as with the Terrans.” K’Lir was certain.

Draal was silent for a moment, considering the display of the dry third world on the screen. He didn't want to stay here, but he sensed they had no choice.

“Very well. Contact the homeworld. Let them know we’re beginning efforts to probe this anomaly. Do not share any precursor data, details or speculation until we have confirmation from probes.” Draal orderered. Even as he gave the order he knew that he was entwining them in something that could cost all their lives for merely knowing about it.

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