Time And Again

On approximately Stardate 48486, Voyager was proceeding on course for the Alpha Quadrant when the ship encountered a powerful shock wave emanating from a nearby planet. Investigating, Captain Janeway found that the planet had been completely devastated by a massive polaric explosion. Lieutenant Paris experienced a brief "time jump" whilst on an away team on the surface. It became apparent that the polaric explosion had caused breaks in space-time, resulting in segments of the past drifting around like "icebergs in time". As the away team prepared to beam back to the ship, one such segment swept both of them several days into the past. [1]

Since the planet appeared to be pre-warp, the Starfleet officers were bound by the full force of the prime directive which directed that there should be "no identification of self or mission, no interference with the social development of said planet, and no references to space, other worlds, or advanced civilizations." [2] They acquired local clothing and investigated the local area. They found that the planet used a polaric energy system to supply power for day to day life, apparently not realising or not caring that the system is inherently unstable and prone to catastrophic failure. Hoping to use polaric power to help them return to their own time, they travelled to the nearby power plant where they became unintentionally involved in a demonstration against the use of polaric power. When Janeway was injured by the plant's security forces, the pair were rescued by the protesters and taken back to their headquarters. [1]

Voyager's crew, meanwhile, was attempting to devise a method of rescuing their officers. They devised a method of preventing the "icebergs" from affecting personnel on the surface and a device which could open a portal into the correct time and place to retrieve the Captain and Lieutenant Paris. A first attempt succeeded only in establishing brief communication with the past, but the crew resolved to try again. [1]

In the past, Paris and Janeway were suspected of being agents of the government attempting to infiltrate the anti polaric power movement. Realising that their presence had already violated the prime directive, Janeway confessed to their true origin but this was not believed. The movement was planning a raid on the power plant and decided to take the officers along, hoping that if they were agents they may be able to secure access to the facility. On arrival Janeway confessed to the security guards at the gate so as to foil the raid, but this was unsuccessful. The raid proceeds, with Janeway pursuing the rebels inside the plant. [1]

As the moment of the disaster approached, the portal from Voyager appeared in the past. It came close to one of the polaric energy conduits, and Janeway realised that it was the attempt to rescue her which actually caused the accident in the first place. She used her phaser to disrupt the portal, preventing the explosion and so avoiding the entire sequence of events. [1]

In the new timeline the original accident never happened; Voyager did not encounter the shockwave but simply continued on it's course to the Alpha Quadrant. [1]

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