Temporal Edict

Freeman is annoyed that the Cerritos has been pulled from talks at Cardassia Prime to deliver ceremonial gifts to Gelrak V. The ensigns introduce Tendi to “buffer time”, the habit of padding out task estimates to leave room to relax. Boimler, who hates the idea, mentions it to Freeman, and she responds by setting tight deadlines for every job on the ship. The crew falls into exhausted chaos, and the away team led by Ransom hands the Gelrakians the wrong gift. The insulted Gelrakians take them prisoner, and Ransom must fight their champion, Vindor, in a trial by combat. As the Gelrakians attack the ship, Boimler persuades Freeman that the crew need slack to do good work. She scraps the deadlines, the crew repel the boarders, and Freeman honours the new policy as “The Boimler Effect”, to Boimler's horror.