In Star Trek time travel is possible and accomplished through a myriad of different ways from a
number of different powers.
With all these temporal events, accidental and intentional modification to the timeline
was an inevitability and indeed, the galaxy would enter a state of prolonged temporal
cold war thanks to the temporal accords.
Since time travel was established as a possibility, the temporal Prime Directive was created within
the Federation that established the same mandates to preserve and mitigate changes to time in
the same way the Federation tried to stay hands-off in other cultures, especially those
unaware of the wider galaxy.
There was always some measure of protection, with the Department of Temporal Investigations
established in the 24th century to follow up temporal incidents, but mostly it was down
to the crew involved in the incident to fix any issues.
Captains in the field have permission to act in whatever way they see fit to maintain or
restore a timeline.
However the Temporal Investigations and later T.I.C.
departments within the Federation were mostly reactionary ones.
It was not until Time Travel was more commonplace that the Federation created the Timefleet
based on the operation of Starfleet, in the 29th century, although likely earlier.
We don’t know much about the Timefleet, but despite this, it features twice in Star
Trek continuity, both in the Voyager series and we get a pretty detailed look into how
they operate and their technology.
It’s not mentioned if this organisation is a part of Starfleet or a separate one,
but the Timefleet was created to take the burden of temporal events away from Starfleet
and bring some more dedicated focus to maintaining the timelines.
This saw specialised agents positioned throughout history to observe and correct changes as
well as the frequent conscription of natives to those eras to aid them.
While looking at their technology, let’s look foremost at the Wells Class Starship
that we see, a standard vessel for a Timefleet crew.
The Wells class was designed in real life by Rick Sternbach and its design was supposed
to be something radically different from contemporary Starfleet silhouettes that viewers were used
to, folding its profile into something of similar shape to the defiant.
However it was given a more organic and smoothed look of curved lines while maintaining the
design elements that were common to Starfleet ships, such as the nacelles, bussard collectors,
deflector and phaser arrays and so on.
To this end, it even has the livery adorning its hull, which in turn was given a pearlescent
effect to highlight a very different material being used.
Of course, the Universe class, recently covered here, was designed after this ship was, but
chronologically is placed well before it in the timeline, so technically that is a less
advanced vessel.
The Wells class was named for science fiction author H.G. Wells who famously wrote the Time
Machine so the connection there is obvious.
The ship was 195 metres long, and covered 9 decks and was produced around 2860 by the
Temporal Integrity commission and the University of Copernicus.
It had a crew of 250 although it could be operated by a crew of 6 in the command centre.
Speaking of, the bridge was not a symmetrical design as most Starfleet ships, instead it
was more like an office space, even the captain’s chair had been replaced by the Captain’s
desk.
This reflects the role of the commander of a Temporal ship better as it was more akin
to a handler advising and supporting agents in the field than a traditional Starship captain.
The warp core was combined with their time travel technology and known as the Temporal
Core which not only provided the standard warp abilities, but also the time travel capabilities.
This core fed into twin field generators and allowed for the ship to jump through time
while the rear impeller literally allowed it to navigate timestreams.
Its sublight engines were located within the “wings” of the vessel and the main deflector
underneath the hull.
The whole system was fed by a matter intake that could refuel the ship from a variety
of phenomena.
In terms of speeds, it would have had warp drive for sure and an efficient Quantum Slipstream
Drive.
But considering its ability to time travel, it could effectively bend spacetime to arrive
whenever and wherever it wanted.
The Wells class employed powerful and accurate sensor systems that, as you would expect,
allowed the vessel to peer through time and observe several different timelines throughout
the galaxy, not just the era it was in.
These sensors were accurate enough to locate a specific moment and record every event and
persons around it, all without being detected by that era.
Although, just to point out, the Borg’s temporal sensors were better.
In terms of armaments, the Wells class was armed with phaser arrays, those nadion-based
particle beams being a staple of the Federation since day one, but interestingly it was also
equipped with type ten Antiproton beams.
It had a single disruptor at the front and was armed with Chroniton Torpedoes.
This vessel was a science ship first and foremost, but if it had to fight, it could.
Frighteningly, the Temporal Core allowed the vessel to simply reverse time to a point before
it got damaged if needed too.
The hull was made from an alloy that worked in conjunction with the shape to create a
vessel that somehow mitigated the disturbance to spacetime when it travelled.
This all ties into the method of time travel that is based on the Tipler Cylinder method,
a real life theoretical method of time travel.
My speculative treknobabble version works by generating a cylinder ahead of the timeship,
which then spins this conduit up to incredible revolutions.
This drags space time with it, warping it and plotting a course along this twisted plane
allows a vessel to travel through time.
This is the reason for the strange shape, materials and cylindrical impeller.
In theory this does also mean that damage to the structure of the Wells class would
impair its ability to time travel efficiently.
So, Starfleet has long had temporal shielding, which is a form of shield that prevents the
enclosed from being altered by changes to time.
In apocrypha, the Department of Temporal Investigations maintains such a shielded database of history
that it routinely compares events to, seeking deviations.
By the 29th century this technology was applicable to their Starships and on a personal level
for those who operated in the field.
The timeships are only one aspect of the 29th century timefleet.
They are also seen to carry numerous devices that are evolutions of a Federation tech.
While their timeships are capable of delving through time themselves, the preferred method
is to employ a temporal transporter to beam individuals through time to minimise their
footprint in history.
These transporters however do still carry a risk, that of temporal psychosis which begins
with the onset of disorientation as beaming a person through time repeatedly takes its
toll.
This limits its use and increases Timefleet’s use of people native to those eras, preferably
ones also sworn to uphold the temporal prime directive, or by permanently embedding agents
in an era.
One of the other standout technologies is their ability to “reintegrate” people
or events into a single timeline, to repair damage and unify potential temporal doppelgangers.
This is an unknown process where a person’s timelines are literally merged into a single
one, so that multiple versions of themselves are unified into a single entity with the
experiences of all and undertaken to wrap up any loose ends created during a mission
that saw an agent used multiple times.
Timefleet seemed to operate exclusively in the past, although non-canon stories do have
them work in unison with the 31st century temporal agents at times, but according to
Starfleet Discovery, time travel past the 32nd century was far more restrictive as it
was generally banned for the sake of averting another temporal war.
This likely means that most of Timefleet’s assets were destroyed.
So that covers the Wells class and the 29th century Timefleet!
Thanks for watching this video, it probably helped ensure events play out as they should,
so I’ve been Ric, thanks for your assistance with the timeline and I’ll see you next
time for another one, goodbye!