Zorandi Entola watched the confirmation of the diagnostic with an incredulity he could not justify. After all, the sensors never lied, had never been at fault. Yet, they were telling him something incredible: a spacial distortion emanating from the constellation of Cygnus, but not located near any star. It was minute, really; he hoped no other world would have the technology to detect it. Most of all, planet Earth. The B’tari, under the guidance of Central Council, were keeping a close eye on this flourishing world. If its inhabitants knew about this phenomenon the response would be panic, followed by some kind of remedial action. Humans had a history of interfering with things about which they had no proper understanding, all in the interests of self-preservation. What mattered to the B’tari was the preservation and integrity of this galaxy – if not the entire universe – and thus its temporal continuance.
Now, in an expanding radius from about twelve thousand light years away, space was being transformed. According to the data, life on a planet in that region had been altered, indicated by its environmental signature. Its life had regressed from early-stage arthropods to basic aquatic creatures. Analysed to be in the order of twenty-five million years. It was not something that was actually visibly detectable. And after all, visual sensors would see it as it was twelve millennia ago. Only the spacial tunnelling array could give a reading from merely minutes in the past. At least humans did not yet possess such technology; he imagined the ensuing chaos if they had, the panic – if they truly understood the potential threat. Still, he could not be wholly convinced of what he was seeing.
Strictly speaking he should have reported this immediately to the council. But he held out, continued to watch.
The spacial distortion had spread through the neighbouring star systems. But like a wave in a lake there were minor ripples reaching, in their diminishing subtleties, to merely hundreds of light years away. Well, not quite. On closer observation, the sign-wave was not uniformly spread, but rather the background of space – and matter within – acted on it like a rocky undulating seabed.
A probe had been sent to explore the phenomenon. On its encounter with the wave’s periphery, strange readings were sent back: time appeared to be fragmented. Initially, these were fleeting temporal anomalies, as if bits of the past were breaking through; only detectable in their isotopic signature – no more than a mismatch of particles. As the probe approached the wave proper it activated its subspace encasement, but even within a negative energy bubble the device was not impervious to the distortion effects. Readings were almost off the scale; his observation team watched in a kind rapt horror as the telemetry told of the violent effects eventually culminating in the collapsing space around the probe, and its swift non-existence. What happened could not really be described as destruction, it was merely an adjustment back to a temporal order, albeit one that is in a constant state of change towards the past. Basic physics states that things cannot switch from one time to another: the probe was simply out of its time, and so winked out of that time like a particle in quantum flux fulfilling its role in the conservation of energy.
Zorandi had also been given responsibility for observing human exploration beyond the Sol system. Human exploration had become of increasing concern to the B’tari Central Council, of late. Humans seemed to be the risk-taking species of the quadrant; they would employ a new technology without giving due regard for the implications of its use. Sure, they put a new innovation through a battery of tests for basic safety, but there always seemed to be a lack of long term thinking. In a sense that was something to be admired; if the B’tari had shown such pioneering spirit they may by now have found a way to reach other galaxies. Instead they remained, bound in this role of overseer, like parents watching their teenage children but keeping a healthy distance.
There was a vessel that had landed on a planet in the Eludi system. A minor ripple had already reached it. The effects of which could not be quantified. Yet the readings the probe had taken of this planet suggested something far more mysterious. Channels of subspace were noticed, miniature wormholes like trails in water made by projectiles. Sharp EM emissions emanated from their end-points. The probe could not identify the emergence of any object, but Zorandi surmised that they must also be observation probes. Perhaps from the originators of this temporal phenomenon.
His findings would eventually be sent to Central Council, the B’tari’s governing body, responsible for overseeing the entire galaxy and implementing the rules of the Temporal Directive. Zorandi wondered if such a phenomena could render the Temporal Directive redundant; surely this would undermine the very basis for its existence as a guide, as a book of moral philosophy.
The council would as usual be very circumspect.
***