~\\_               
          \\\\_             
          `\\\\\            -----------------------------------------
           |\\\\\           Starfleet Command, Eighth Fleet (OOC)    
            \\\\\|__.-~~\   
         _--~         ~~/   Defenders Task Group 85.3, "Whitestone"  
       /~         _-~~~'    Embarked on U.S.S. Coronado, NCC-97901   
      ('-//////-//          Rear Admiral Tebrun Lora Kor, Commanding 
       ////// }}-)          -----------------------------------------
     /////~                 Simulation Teaser                        
  _///~                     Stardate 240303.03                       
 `                          
 _______________________________________________________________________ 
/ Simulation Teaser                                                     |
/ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ 

 =/.= Stardate unknown =/.=

 It was unusual for a Starfleet Captain to keep a pet and on the rare
 occasions when they did, the pet was almost invariably a dog. 
 Starfleet Captains tended to be dog people.  Captain Walker Kile was
 an exception to the rule: he had a 13-year-old cat.

 Mishon was normally a grumpy old lady.  A tortoiseshell-colored
 Siamese mix, Kile had owned Mishon since his Lieutenancy, and she
 had followed him from ship to ship during that time.  She had borne
 two litters of kittens in her day, but now it was again just the two
 of them, and she had become a grumpy old lady.  Captain Walker Kile
 sat in his Ready Room aboard U.S.S. Enterprise with her in his lap. 
 For a change, on this particular night she seemed to be in a good
 mood.  This was ironic because Kile's mood could hardly be worse. 
 Mishon sat on the Captain's lap, purring away, as the Trill
 considered the awful situation that Enterprise, Xanadu, and the 87
 other ships with them found themselves in.

 Ranjan, the red giant star that had served as their entry point into
 the Gamma Quadrant, was a little over 85 light-years out of
 position, relative to six other nearby objects.  The star's
 spectrograph was also subtly altered.  The change was subtle enough
 to be easy to overlook, in fact.  But the combination of the change
 of position and the spectrographic change pointed to an unavoidable
 conclusion.

 "Temporal displacement -- we're trapped in the past," r'Lak had
 said.  When Kile had asked how far back in time, the Science officer
 had been unable to say with any accuracy.  But his range of
 estimates were horrifying.

 At the low end, he estimated that they were 30,000 years in the
 past.  At the high end: 300,000 years.

 "Captain," r'Lak had said, "at this level of displacement, it's
 impossible to determine what year it is with any accuracy.  We don't
 have good enough data on stellar drift for this region.  When we get
 into M64, I can probably give you a better estimate," he had said,
 then looked profoundly unhappy.  "We have very good fossil records
 for the pre-braid species on Reor'sa, as well as the canine
 ancestors of the Garou," he had explained.  The Garou were the
 natives of Micropolis.

 That the group should continue on to M64 still seemed to be the best
 option to most of the Captains he had surveyed.  All agreed that to
 settle in the Gamma Quadrant would be risky to the normal
 development of Milky Way history.

 Returning to their own time was impossible.  Without a quantum
 waveform trace to follow, it was impossible to Jaunt to the future. 
 Only if one had created such a trace Jaunting into the past was it
 possible to return that way.  Nobody knew why this might be so, or
 how such a connection was made, but every attempt to use the Jaunt
 to access the future had failed.

 The remainder of the Thousand Ships had no reason to look for
 them... no reason to think they had not been destroyed by the Borg.
 When no further ships emerged from the exodus gate in 2486, they
 would naturally assume that the gate had been closed from the other
 end.  What remained of the Thousand Ships would proceed on to M64...
 the M64 of 2486, of course.

 The chronometer on Captain Walker Kile's desk ticked over from April
 27, 2486 to April 28, 2486... but the chronometer was lying.  As a
 result, Kile sat in his Ready Room, absently petting Mishon, and
 wondering what kind of future might lay in store for he and the
 people with him.

\_______________________________________________________________________ 
\ End Simulation Teaser                                                 |
 ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ 

 Defenders Task Group 85.3, "Whitestone" Staff:
    Commanding, TG 85.3:       RADM Tebrun Lora Kor      (Jester)
    S-1, Group Adjutant:       Cmdr. Sieven Drexler      (Brad)
    S-2, Group Intelligence:   LCdr. Kariasa Ma'Aru      (Kari)
    S-3, Group Logistics:      Cmdr. Savant              (Savant)
    Commanding, 1DIV, SFMC:    Brig. Jeremy Ironside     (Fraser)

 U.S.S. Coronado Crew Roster:
    Commanding Officer:        Capt. William Daren       (Daren)
    Executive Officer:         Cmdr. Darek Smith         (Aggie)
    Chief of Operations:       Cmdr. Olme Tlaloco        (rev)
    Chief Flight Operations:   Lt. (JG) Maiko D'Rall     (Farrell)
    Chief Tactical Officer:    LCdr. Kyle Marcy          (Marcy)
    Assistant Tactical:        Ens. Edward Miller        (Thompson)
    Raptors Squadron Leader:   Lt. Colonel Thomas Wayne  (Masters)
    Battalion Commander:       Maj. Jacob Prescot        (Shadow-FjP)
    Flight Leader:             LMaj. Thirishar ch'Thane  (Alffred)
    Chief Engineer:            Cmdr. Zunite Oswald       (Sonya)
    Assistant Engineer:        LCdr. Jack C. Farley      (CCC)
    Assistant Engineer:        Lt. Aramis Skylooker      (LewisSharp)
    Chief Science Officer:     LCdr. Isamu Dyson         (Isamu)
    Chief Medical Officer:     Cmdr. Alec Reed           (McC)
    Assistant Medical:         Lt. Lauren Dyson          (Natty)
    Bartender:                 PO/1 Bridget Bordeux      (Dolin)

 On Extended Leave of Absence:
    Flight Leader:             1Lt. Natalia Petrovna     (Phishie)

 Positions Available:
    None!

------
Jester

Rear Admiral Tebrun Lora Kor
Commanding, Defenders Task Group 85.3, "Whitestone"
embarked on U.S.S. Coronado, NCC-97901
http://www.jestertrek.com/coro2400/