“And that’s it?” Duncan checked as he scribbled his name on the final document before him.

Smiling and nodding in response, Principal Jinna-Chiva spoke up from behind her desk. “That’s it Commander Duncan, your two sons are now enrolled with our school.” The Grazerite woman collected the PADD from him after he finished adding his signature. “If they’re ready to go, then Miss Gelhem can take them along to their tutor group session.” She indicated to the Coridanite woman who stood beside her smirked.

Duncan looked to Court, who was also smirking, before turning his focus to both boys. “You guys ready?”

Jorgeh and Wylem just acknowledged with a simple shrug from one and a nod from the other. They were somewhat nervous but on the other hand were eager (on some level) to make friends with others. Counsellor Horin had encouraged it after the Century Storm mission. She believed it would help them begin to come to terms with their new lives with Duncan and Court.

“We’ll take that as a yes.” Principal Jinna-Chiv said with a slight chuckle. She looked at the two young men who were now her students. “Both of you have nothing to worry about, Miss Gelhem is one of my finest teachers here and she will look after you.”

“Gentlemen, shall we make our way?” Miss Gelham indicated with her left hand to make their departure from the principal’s office and towards their classroom.

Both boys got up and said their goodbyes to their dads with a brief hug.

Court looked at them and ruffled up Jorgeh’s hair. “We’ll be here at the end of the day. Enjoy!”

Waving their dads off in an attempt to remain calm and composed (or cool in their heads), Jorgeh and Wylem followed their teacher out and down the corridor.

Duncan and Court returned their focus back to the principal. “Thank you Principal Chiva. We appreciate your support and understanding of how delicate this whole situation is.” Court stated.

Raising her hands to show them it was no issue, she carried on being positive in her response. “I promise Chief, I’ve experienced a lot of things with young people over the years. Jorgeh and Wylem will fit in well but they need time.”

“Don’t we all?” Duncan agreed before he shook her hand and indicated for Court to make their exit. “Thanks, again.”

Leaving the principal’s office, Duncan and Court exited the area on the ship assigned to the school. It was a huge area, though the children and young people on the Odyssey were small in number, the entire school complex had areas for daycare, a nursery, a primary school and a secondary school. Principal Chiva ran the entire school and was an accomplished educator herself. She was known to be a strong community leader among the civilian population and was liked by all of the parents on board the ship. Her wife assisted her in being the school’s administrator and the two of them had a daughter who was attending the school too.

Making their way towards the nearest turbolift, holding hands, Duncan and Court sighed at almost the same time as they entered the cart. Both chuckled at how silly they both were being. “Seriously, what has got into us?” Duncan questioned.

“Right?” Court agreed. “I mean the boys are both great kids. They’ll be fine. Won’t they?”

“Yeah.” Duncan said tentatively and then repeated himself being more confident. “Yeah, they will.”

“At least Theo, Henri and Alfie will be in their classes too.” Court added. “They won’t have any strangers who won’t talk to them.”

“That’s if the boys want to open up to them, with what happened to Alfie earlier, I’m surprised that the captain let him go to school today.” Duncan responded.

“Alfie can be stubborn, he gets that from his father.” Court stated. “He obviously needs to feel some normality.”

“Don’t we all?” Duncan asked for the second time that day, just as their turbolift arrived on deck one. The doors parted to show them the bridge and both men walked out after letting go.

Sitting in the captain’s chair was Doctor Slyvexs, she was just signing something off for an ensign on a PADD before she noticed the turbolift doors behind her opening.

“How did the first day at school go?” Slyvexs asked the couple as they walked out.

“It’s only just begun, a full report will be ready by the end of the day.” Court answered back with.

The three of them all laughed lightly. “It’s great to hear that Jorgeh and Wylem are starting to get more normality in their lives. You both are doing a grand job.” She assured them.

Appreciating the remark, the pair of men smiled at her and at each other for what they were achieving with their adopted sons.

“So are you getting comfortable, Doctor?” Duncan asked her, still with a friendly smile as he looked at the centre chair before he took his own.

Rubbing both arms, Slyvexs got the hint but didn’t get up yet. “It’s pretty snug, if I’m honest with you and the view isn’t too bad.”

“Where’s the captain?” Court inquired.

Indicating with her eyes and an incline of her head in the direction of his ready room, Slyvexs answered. “He dropped off Alfie at school before he went in there. About ten minutes ago, Commander Banfield arrived and I’ve not seen anything since.”

Considering the situation, Duncan wondered if he should go in there.

“Don’t do it Max.” Court advised quietly.

Duncan looked at his partner, “I beg your pardon?”

Court lowered down to whisper in his ear. “I know that look, you’re thinking about going in there and interrupting the meeting to make sure he is okay with her.”

“Do you blame me for considering it?” Duncan returned.

“You should listen to your husband,” Slyvexs said as she eventually rose from the chair. “He has a point.”

“He’s not my husband.” Duncan replied back swiftly at the Denobulan, before realising the tone he had taken with his response and looked at Court. “I don’t mean it like that.”

Court just rolled his eyes and made his way over to Mission Ops, with a wave of his hand telling Duncan he was fine.

Duncan looked over to Slyvexs who was just about to enter the turbolift. “Are you sure, I shouldn’t just check-in?”

As she got into the lift she crossed her arms and shook her head. “Absolutely not.” She said before ordering the lift to take her to sickbay. “You have the bridge, Number One.” She replied with a smirk and a cheeky wink just as the doors closed behind her.

Sighing, Duncan ignored the saucy remark from Slyvexs and looked at the door leading to the ready room. He only wished he had either Tremt or Louwanna up here to see if they could sense what was happening in there.

Sipping from her raktajino, Commander Banfield was pleased the beverage was still warm. “Interesting,” She said as she typed some notes on her PADD based on what Captain McCallister was telling her. “So from the data you were supplied with from the future versions of Commander Duncan and Lieutenant Tomaz, these modifications for Odyssey seem unusual but necessary?”

“Unusual yes, from what Admiral Duncan and Captain Tomaz explained to Lukiz and I, they’re Borg-inspired technology that the Department of Temporal Investigations installed.” McCallister replied before drinking from his own mug of tea. “And necessary, yes I suppose if we are to believe that their installation will help deal with the whole temporal episode we’ve just gone through.”

The two of them were sitting in the more informal area of the captain’s ready room. She was in one of the arm chairs while he took a centred position on the huge sofa that curved undered the sloped windows.

“Yes, my team have already tested several of the bio-neural gel packs on the ship and have confirmed the presence of this anti-chroniton serum.” Banfield stated. “It would appear that what you and your teams did has evidence to back up that you did travel back in time.”

“I’m glad we weren’t going mad.” McCallister said in a sarcastic and honest tone.

Sniggering, Banfield liked the captain’s wit. Placing a finger over her smile, she leaned her head to one side. “Your doctor also tells me that the serum is still in your blood work, as much as it is in the others you injected.”

“Apparently it’s a permanent thing.” McCallister said as he placed his mug on his lap. “I hope that doesn’t make more paperwork for D-T-I.”

She shook her head twice, “No, but I’d imagine it may protect you from any more future changes in the timeline. That could cause more paperwork for you, captain.”

“Touché, commander.” McCallister said prior to taking more of his tea. “So will those conduits be installed?”

Shrugging her shoulders, Banfield took the last gulp from her drink before placing her empty mug down on the circular table before her. “I’m afraid I can’t know for certain, sir. That will be up to the regional director to decide, even so it might have to come from the Secretary of the department.”

“Oh I bet bureaucracy in the D-T-I isn’t as slow as it can be in Starfleet. I’m sure they don’t have the time.” McCallister replied.

Shaking her head at his next jovial remark, Banfield just smirked. “It can be interesting, sir.” She eventually said. “I’d like to discuss more about this temporal observatory that you and Lieutenant Commander Jen, used as a mission base. The plans that Admiral Duncan and Captain Tomaz provided are pretty sophisticated. Did they let on where some of this technology comes from?”

“Again, most of it was Borg-inspired but they also mentioned Krenim involvement.” McCallister replied. “I got the impression that the alternate future they came from the Krenim somehow are either allies or even members of the Federation. The chief medical officer of the Odyssey in their timeframe was a Krenim and held a Starfleet commission. Duncan indicated that I had something to do with that.”

“Was there any specifics?” Banfield questioned as she carried on writing.

“Nothing as detailed but one of the timeframes had a diplomatic reception for a summit for some natives of the Delta Quadrant.” McCallister remarked.

“Do you know who was in attendance?” Banfield wondered aloud. “I mean, the races at this summit?”

“All I know is that the Krenim were there.” McCallister answered, “But I’m to brief Horin and Samris that they will be there and should await for the arrival of Admiral Duncan and Captain Tomaz to turn up.”

“Yes, that’s an interesting point you raise as in both your report and Lieutenant Commander Jen’s one, you both state that Counsellor Horin was not to receive the serum but she was present in your confrontation with the Hunters of D’Ghor. How was that possible?” Banfield checked.

Scratching his beard, McCallister recalled the situation they were in. “We knew that taking back engineering from the Hunters would require a lot of us, so the plan had been to limit Horin’s dosage compared to the rest of us. Her one was able to be retracted from her system before we activated the field to reset the ship.”

“Interesting.” Banfield said as she added that to her notes. “Your interactions with your past timeframes, I want to know more about your interaction with Commander Zack Hawkins. I want to know, did you tell him about his death?”

“No.”

“Honestly?”

“Honestly.” McCallister stated firmly. “Seeing Zack again brought back some old feelings, I’d admit that, but I knew the temporal prime directive was important. He never knew what his fate was.”

“Good, because he said the same thing.” Banfield responded.

Leaning forward, McCallister was confused by that statement. “What?” He stuttered out first. “What do you mean?”

“You honestly thought that D-T-I wasn’t aware of this paradox from happening before it happened?” Banfield quizzed the captain. “Remember captain, it is every Starfleet officer’s duty to report any temporal phenomena they encounter to the department. After that mission where you rescued the Romulan refugees, Commander Hawkins met with agents while you thought he was on a brief vacation. Everything you’ve said in your reports and what you just shared were backed up by his own words.”

Smiling at hearing that even in the past that Hawkins had his back, McCallister appreciated the sentiment of it all. “Zack was a fine first officer and an excellent captain.”

“From the recording he made, he was certainly a fan of yours, sir.” Banfield said. “Which leads me on to Commander Hawkins’ successor, Commander Cambil.”

“She’s on her way, Commander T’Rani left to get as discussed.” McCallister said, assuring him.

“Oh I know,” Banfield confirmed, “she, like Hawkins, also reported the paradox but what I need to know is did you reveal to her more about the future and what was happening in that timeframe?”

“What do you mean, commander?” McCallister asked.

“I’m afraid my clearance isn’t high enough to know what this means, but a request from Admiral Bennet and my director is to ask you, did you share any knowledge about a certain directive that you were under at that time?”

Omega, McCallister thought. Annoyed that such a thing was asked in such a roundabout way, McCallister shook his head. “No, nothing classified was revealed to her.” Seeing as Banfield had no idea what he was going on about, he wondered just how much her superiors knew about the Omega Directive.

“Tell me what you did discuss?” Banfield asked. “Because it was only last year on her return to the Alpha Quadrant did Commander Cambil inform the department about it.”

“It was about our relationship.” McCallister truthfully shared. “The timeframe that Lukiz and I entered was just at the point after Bexa had resigned from Starfleet and from being my first officer.”

“That must have been difficult.” Banfield remarked. “Please go on.”

“It was,” McCallister admitted. “I never thought I’d have to go through that again. I mean after Zack left the ship, Bexa and I got on well like a house on fire. We had the best partnership, one of the best in fact.”

“You two were close?” Banfield asked.

“We were.” McCallister nodded. “My sons were best friends with hers. She and Karyn got on well as much as I did with her husband, Naprem. We lost a lot when she left the ship but in that moment and during this whole paradox, somehow we were able to rebuild what we both destroyed.”

“And some say time travel is a dangerous thing!” Banfield stated. “Do you mind if I get another mug, sir?” She asked, indicating towards the replicator.

“Please, be my guest.” He gestured towards the replicator. “What do you mean by that saying?”

As she approached the replicator, she asked if he wanted another mug of tea which he nodded before she replied to his question. “As you’ve probably seen from my own personnel file, I have a spot in my record that does not quite make sense and is classified by D-T-I.”

“I won’t lie, I did see it.” McCallister said as she gave him his next mug of tea.

“Let’s just say I’ve seen the pros and cons of time travel and for me it did change my life.” Banfield shared as she returned to her chair and placed her new mug on the table before picking up her PADD. “When Commander Cambil arrives, I’d like to interview her first and then do a follow-up with you both, if that’s okay?”

“By all means.” McCallister agreed as he took a sip from his tea. He started to think that perhaps Banfield wasn’t too bad after all. She appeared to be thorough and civil and he was certainly intrigued by that gap in her record.

What time travelling shenanigans had she been up to?

Before he could find out more, the intercom went off. “Counsellor Samris to Captain McCallister.” 

Sitting up straight, he tapped his combadge. “Go ahead, counsellor.”

“Sorry to interrupt, sir but you’re needed in sickbay. Henri and Theo have got into a fight.” Samris shared.

“What? Who with?” He questioned as he stood up.

“Each other, sir.” Samris said after a beat.

Not believing what he heard, McCallister shook his head in anger and frustration. Ending his interview with Banfield, he stormed out of his ready room and went straight to the turbolift.

“Everything okay, sir?” Duncan asked from where he was by Mission Ops, the moment he saw McCallister marching quickly across the room.

“Absolutely bloody fine.” McCallister replied as he got onto a turbolift at the same time Banfield exited the ready room.

Duncan turned to look at her, Court was by his side. Both men eyed her up.

“What happened?” Duncan called out towards her.

“Something to do with his two sons fighting and are now in sickbay.” She said, indicating where the captain was previously standing.

Realising now why the captain was in a mood, Court was already out of his chair before Duncan had to say anything else. “I’m on my way.”

Duncan returned to the centre seat and looked at Banfield. “Even in dry-dock, there’s drama on this ship, commander.” He shared.

“I’m starting to realise that.” The Human-Klingon woman said. “Please pass on my gratitude to the captain for the time he gave me this morning, tell him when he is ready I’d be happy to reconvene with him.”

Duncan just nodded in acknowledgement.

Looking at her PADD and then back at Duncan, Banfield carried on with comments. “Now that I’ve got some free time, I suppose I could talk to others. Perhaps Commander Hunsen?”

“He’ll be in engineering.” Duncan stated.

“Please tell him to meet me in my office.” Banfield said in a stern voice as she walked across the bridge to the same turbolift.

While her back was turned to him, Duncan mocked her with a simple salute before he called down to Hunsen. He wondered if he would ever get the delight of getting to know her anymore.