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Faction DTI

Emblem of the Federation Department of Temporal Investigations

DTI

Conjectural emblem of the Federation Department of Temporal Investigations

The Federation Department of Temporal Investigations, commonly known as DTI, was a department of the United Federation of Planets government, established as a branch of the Federation Science Council, charged with investigating and reporting on all time travel incidents that affected the Federation. This included conducting interviews with those who experienced temporal incidents, and determining whether their actions had a definite impact on the timeline. (DS9 episode: "Trials and Tribble-ations") The Temporal Displacement Division was a part of the DTI, responsible for assisting individuals relocated to different time periods. (NF novel: Cold Wars, NF short story: "The Road to Edos", DTI novel: Watching the Clock)

Origins[]

The DTI was created by legislation passed by the Federation Council in 2270 22nd of July, 7:08 PM Greenwich Mean Time, primarily in response to what was seen as Starfleet's cavalier use of time travel in the late 2260s. (TNG - Strange New Worlds II short story: "Gods, Fate, and Fractals", VOY - Strange New Worlds II short story: "Almost... But Not Quite", DTI novel: Watching the Clock) In 2298, following the Darvash Crisis, the Science Council merged the Chronal Assessment Committee of the Federation Science Council and the Temporal Physics Subgroup of the Anomalous Physics Group into the DTI, creating the modern department. (Last Unicorn RPG module: All Our Yesterdays: The Time Travel Sourcebook)

Though officially part of the Federation Science Council, the DTI operated beyond the boundaries of the council's purview, working directly with planetary governments and with Starfleet. (Last Unicorn RPG module: All Our Yesterdays: The Time Travel Sourcebook)

Organization[]

The Headquarters of the Department of Temporal Investigations were located in Greenwich, England, part of the European Alliance on Earth. The public section was in a trio of large, semi-detached Victorian houses atop the Prime Meridian. Beneath these buildings, in high-security underground levels, was the bulk of the DTI's operations. (DTI novel: Watching the Clock)

The organization was headed by a Director with four Assistant Directors beneath. (Last Unicorn RPG module: All Our Yesterdays: The Time Travel Sourcebook)

DTI branch offices were located in San Francisco - which was primarily responsible for investigations involving Starfleet - and in Sadvis on Aldebaran III, amongst other places. Each branch office was headed by an Assistant Director. (TNG - Strange New Worlds II short story: "Gods, Fate, and Fractals", DTI novel: Watching the Clock)

Another high ranking authority within the organization was the Temporal Investigations Commander. (VOY short story: "Almost... But Not Quite")

In 2364 a research annex was under construction on Vandor IV. The DTI also maintained a facility called the Eridian Vault, located on the planetoid Eris, where confiscated time-travel devices were secured. And, along with Starfleet, the DTI jointly administered Warlock Station which was a monitoring and research station orbiting the Black Star. (DTI novel: Watching the Clock)

DTI agents were placed on the planet where the Guardian of Forever is located, in order to prevent use of the Guardian except for an "extreme emergency". (Last Unicorn RPG module: All Our Yesterdays: The Time Travel Sourcebook)

The majority of DTI staff were made up from species known for emotional stability or self-discipline, such as Vulcans, Deltans, Rhaandarites, Zakdorn and Benzites. Humans were a distinct minority. (DTI novel: Watching the Clock)

Operations[]

The department used triple-redundant temporal phase discriminators in their data storage devices, called type Mark VII-T, in order to protect data integrity for comparison purposes in detecting timeline changes. (TNG short story: "Gods, Fate, and Fractals"; DTI novel: Watching the Clock)

The DTI Director issued monthly reports to the Federation Council on temporal issues. (ST novel: A Singular Destiny)

The seal for DTI is the familiar UFP outermost wreaths with star field, encircled by an "Ouroboros." This mythical dragon of Old Earth is depicted eating its own tail-a symbol representing eternity. Time, itself is believed to be eternal, or un-ending (with or without a beginning).

The department had use of several Starfleet starships over the years. These vessels were attached to the DTI for research and investigation purposes. (DTI novels: Watching the Clock, Forgotten History)

Ships attached to the Federation Department of Temporal Investigations
Emblem of the United Federation of Planets. BozemanEverettHypatiaTimeship OneTimeship Two Emblem of the Federation Department of Temporal Investigations.


In 2365, the department initiated a timeship design program for a temporal search and rescue vessel so they could conduct time travel investigations and recoveries without involving general Starfleet personnel. To this end, in 2370, the Thucydides-class entered service. (Last Unicorn RPG module: All Our Yesterdays: The Time Travel Sourcebook)

Notable Investigations[]

In 2373, DTI Special Agents Marion Dulmur and Gariff Lucsly investigated a temporal incursion by a disgraced Klingon Imperial Intelligence agent named Arne Darvin, who attempted to assassinate Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise in the year 2268 using the Bajoran Orb of Time. The agents later determined that Captain Benjamin Sisko and the crew of the USS Defiant had acted appropriately in their efforts to prevent this alteration of the timeline. (DS9 episode: "Trials and Tribble-ations")

Later that same year, Dulmer and Lucsly questioned Captain Jean-Luc Picard regarding the USS Enterprise-E's recent visit to 2063. (TNG novel: Rogue; DTI novel: Watching the Clock) They followed this up with a post-temporal-violation reconnaissance mission to 2063 via the Guardian of Forever, as well as one to 1996, following up on another temporal incursion by the USS Voyager. (VOY short story: "Almost... But Not Quite")

Not long afterwards, Dulmer and Lucsly were assigned to investigate the removal of the Maquis from history. They discovered a temporal alteration caused by a student of the Traveler, and were able to have him restore the original timeline. (TNG short story: "Gods, Fate, and Fractals") Later in 2368, DTI began production of a series of space-time detectors with the largest being the Space-Time Anomaly Detection Array over the stable red dwarf designated Cassandra. A year later, they authorized the USS Crick to travel back in time to gather the DNA of a White thendra which went extinct on Alpha Centauri during the planet's industrial age. The ship was successful and the species was reintroduced to the world's ecosystem. (Last Unicorn RPG module: All Our Yesterdays: The Time Travel Sourcebook)

In 2374, agents of Temporal Investigations interviewed residents of Deep Space 9 following their experiences of the War of the Prophets future timeline.(DS9 - Millennium novel: Inferno)

In 2376, Dulmer was a supervisor in the DTI's Temporal Displacement Division. That year, he assigned Agent Stewart Peart to escort Starfleet Lieutenant Arex Na Eth, who had come seventy-one years forward in time, back to his home planet. (NF short story: "The Road to Edos")

As of 2373, James T. Kirk had the biggest file in the department's records, with seventeen separate temporal violations (DS9 episode Trials and Tribble-ations). As such, the Department as a whole had a running joke that went "All temporal investigations lead, eventually, to the USS Enterprise". (DS9 episode: "Trials and Tribble-ations"; TNG short story: "Gods, Fate, and Fractals")

Personnel[]

External link[]

Executive departments and cabinet-level agencies of the United Federation of Planets
AgricultureCommerceDefenseExteriorHousingInterstellar TravelScienceTechnologyTemporal InvestigationsTravel

independent cabinet-level agency: Office of the Federation Security Advisor

UFP emblem image.
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