For every story told, there are an infinite amount of infinite variations. Within the whole multiverse, truth and lie are both relative terms, as falsehoods in one universe may be truth in another. I observed a Narada collapse into the pseudo-black hole that would be its end, and I let myself flow backward into time, bringing myself to the moment she arrived from the 24th century.
Through that temporal anomaly, a physical object that had been formed from dimensional planes so numerous even I had not tread them all, I could feel the multitude of universes connected by that one event. I bore witness to trillions upon trillions of Narada, some only differing by the mere atoms within the ships structures, some more alien than the last, each traveling through the infinite number of temporal tunnels. Thus, each in turn was crossing into a universe where their presence changed the course of history...or, in some cases, ensured the very nature of that said course.
Randomly I chose a place and time, picking only one particular universe to observe, one whose differences were above the atomic in nature. I chose, watching and waiting; the show was about to begin...
"Commander Kirk?" Captain Norman asked, startling the young Commander from his focus.
"Sorry, Captain," the young, sandy-headed man said. Sitting on the bridge of the USS Kelvin, it was easy to get lost in one's own world during the more tedious hours. "I was just looking over our last sensor sweeps of the Neutral Zone, and I noticed a few unusual areas of radiation near the Klingon border..."
The Captain leaned over Kirk's shoulder to take a long look at his Security Chief's screen. "It could be small radioactive deposits in the comets and asteroids of the region. How does this scan compare to the ones we compiled earlier?"
Kirk tapped his console keys a few times, and comparisons between all three scans appeared. "It's pretty consistent with the drift patterns in this region of space, sir, but the radioactivity has remained steady." He sighed as he mulled over his thoughts. "The readings are similar to those given off by a model of Klingon antimatter mines dating back two decades ago, if I recall."
Captain Norman nodded, standing up straight as he tugged at the bottom his yellow command blouse. "File that away for Starfleet Command's future reference, Commander. Meanwhile," he said as he turned towards the helm, "I believe we're about due to make way for home, Ensign?"
"Yes, sir," Ensign Collins replied coolly as her hands danced a course correction into the navigation console. "The Freeman should be arriving within a half-hour to relieve us, Captain."
"Splendid, splendid," Captain Norman said, returning to his command chair. "Ensign, set course and heading to rendezvous point, then." He turned his chair slightly towards Kirk. "Commander, keep an eye on those sensor scans; we don't need any mistakes now."
"Understood, sir," Kirk replied as he punched up the most up-to-date images of the sensor sweeps.
The Kelvin shifted slightly as she turned, entering a lazy arc away from the Neutral Zone. A Magna Carta-class exploratory vessel, she often turned heads simply due to her design. The saucer section was virtually identical to every other standard Federation starship, save for the fact she was two decks thicker than most other saucer designs. The deflector dish protruded at a ninety-degree angle from the ventral section of the saucer, where the perimeter sensor dome would normally be on larger vessels. Completing the package were two over-sized impulse engines, sensibly located at the aft end.
Just in front of those impulse engines, two pylons of power transfer conduits jutted diagonally from the underside of the saucer, each ending after a short distance at a warp nacelle. Another pylon of conduits also rose vertically from the dorsal side of the saucer, though unlike the ones linked to the warp nacelles, these surrounded two turbolifts. This short dorsal tower connected to a smaller disc as thick as the Kelvin's own saucer section, packed starboard to port with sensor equipment and containing a small shuttlebay at its aft end.
As the Kelvin slowly continued her lazy arc, the Bridge crew settled back into their usual, somewhat quiet routine, and Kirk's attentions drifted over the sensor feeds. Those feeds became increasingly quieter as the Kelvin drifted further away from the Klingon Neutral Zone, and he found himself gladly thinking of his wife and son, and the smile broadened as he added another 'son' to the mix. That last night before his deployment, in the loft of his brothers barn in Idaho...her scent still lingered with him, even in that memory. It felt good to know he'd be welcomed home not just by her, nor by Sam, but also by one more little baby boy.
The machinations of the universe, however, were conspiring for other events to occur...
Several light-years along the Klingon Neutral Zone, just inside the limits of the Kelvins sensors, a powerful burst of energy seemingly sprang forth from absolutely nowhere. The singularity, a bright white fountain of energy, emerged and began to grow instantly, and the white glow quickly became a ring of light surrounding a massive, swirling void. Of course, the consoles aboard the Kelvins bridge light up mere moments after the singularity's inception.
"Captain," Kirk exclaimed as the sensor feeds began detailing the massive energy spike. "We've got a massive surge of energy; the whole spectrum, from microwaves to gamma..." As Captain Norman swung his chair around to see his station, Kirk looked over his shoulder. "Captain, I've got readings even our computer core can't figure out. It's right along the Zone, though; five minutes at warp eight and we'll be there."
"Klingons, Commander?" Norman asked simply.
Kirk's eyes darted off to the side for a moment, and then he gently shook his head as he returned his eyes to Captain Norman. "It's right on the edge of our side of the Zone, and I don't know what would be making these readings, sir." A grim look crossed his face as he took in the possibility. "If it's the Klingons, well..." He shook his head, banishing the thought.
Norman nodded, quickly swiveling back towards the viewscreen. "Helm, set course to intercept those readings, set speed to Warp 5." He glanced back towards Kirk. "Keep an eyeball on your screens, Commander; if they get too dangerous for us, I want to be well aware of it."
"Aye, Captain," Kirk replied with his eyes already glued to the sensor information presented before him.
As the Kelvin's warp core roared to life, pushing her beyond the light-speed barrier, a massive starship emerged from the swirling void of the singularity. Despite the fact that any running lights she had were currently off, the iridescent shine of her deep, green armor reflected what little light the remaining energy of the singularity gave off. As she listed slightly to the side, the singularity dissipated, leaving the Narada all alone in the surrounding night.
For a moment, silence filled the empty air inside the Narada, but the skeleton crew aboard began to stir, their minds still reeling from the passage through the singularity. Thought the journey had assaulted their minds, the quickly came to find their senses and their bodies relatively intact, and soon discovered that the warship herself was also quite intact.
At the center of the ship's nervous system, the bridge, an aggravated Commander Nero rose to his feet. Along the walls in front of him were the ships three view-screens, showing the areas fore, starboard, and port of the Narada herself. As the ship rose from her strange slumber almost in tune with her crew, these screens kicked on, revealing nothing but empty space and the stars beyond.
Glancing around the bridge as the other occupants returned their post with due diligence, Nero bellowed, "Reports!" After a few moments, he contemplated threatening his staff for their untimely lack of response, but was interrupted from this thought when one of the officers – an engineering officer – responded to his order. "Sir," the officer intoned, "all systems appear nominal. No apparent damage reported by ships systems."
"Not a good enough answer, Centurion," Nero growled, settling back into his command chair as he eyed the remaining crew. "Just what did we encounter a moment ago?"
Another Centurion pipped up this time, apparently from the science's division. "Commander, it seems we passed through some sort of…angular-momentum singularity. Our emergency warp protocols engaged, and we seem to have warped ourselves through the event horizon."
Nero sneered, his irritation growing as he processed the information. "I would assume then, that Spock was able to interfere with the torpedo before it detonated," he mused aloud. Refocusing his questioning, he turned his attentions to the helm station. "Navigation, where have we arrived to, exactly?"
The Centurion stationed at the helm seemed to freeze, and silence hung in the air around him. Letting his nagging irritation finally overcome his rational, Nero threw himself out of his chair and within moments grabbed the officers shoulder. "Sir!" the Centurion yelped, embarrassed and apparently grasping for answers. "Our instruments cannot be right; according to our astro-navigational systems…"
Nero waited approximately one second before shoving the Centurion aside, deciding the stuttering fool wasn't capable of answering the simple question. Glaring down at the navigation console, however, he appropriately realized why the officer had expressed confusion at the readings. "Centurion Hevan, run diagnostics on our navigational systems," he barked at the officer who'd spoken up earlier, before turning his voice to the science officer. "Centurion Tovet, can you corroborate what this console's stating to be correct?
After several moments, Tovet gave his Commander a stern nod. "According to my instruments, Commander, the readings are quite correct."
Nero's brow furrowed less now with frustration, and more with puzzlement. He glanced back at Hevan, and only waited a few more moments before he, too, confirmed that the navigation systems were indeed functioning properly.
Slowly turning his eyes back to the view-screens, Nero let the thoughts sink in; 'time travel…into the far past…' he thought to himself as a cruel smile crossed his face. 'The cruelest of gods has smiled upon us in our hour of desire.' His mind reeling with potential, he spun on his heels and returned to his chair without another word. Once there, he sat for several moments in silence, giving no more thought to the officers around him.
Eventually, his Sub-Commander, Merra T'sill, stepped up to his chair, having made quiet rounds to all the various bridge stations. "Commander," she said in hushed tones, speaking more for the immediate crew than herself. "What are your orders, sir?"
Nero gave her a quick glance; despite her conservative, military-approved appearance, she was attractive enough to give even him slight pause; unfortunately, the memories of his family would never allow him to act on his impulses. After this silent moment, he motioned casually to her. "Run diagnostics on everything, and make sure we're prepped for full operations. We've been given a blessed opportunity, and we're not going to waste it."
"By your command," Merra replied curtly, before rattling off orders to the officers present. Nero was confident in her ability to delegate from his simple orders, which was precisely why she was aboard in the first place.
"Commander," one of the other Centurions shouted from his sensor operations post. "I've got a vessel on long-range sensors…a small ship, sir." His hands danced across his console twice over before he continued. "…sir, the ship registers as an old Federation vessel, nearly one-hundred and fifty years old in design!?"
"Yes, I can believe that," Nero said quietly as a rouge smirk snuck its way onto his face. "We've gone a long way away from our home…oh, but how we shall serve it…"
"Prepare the cloak," Merra barked, intending to prevent the Kelvin from getting a good look at the 24th-century Romulan Warbird.
"Belay that order," Nero replied curtly, leaning forward now in his chair. "Let them come and see what their future brings…" His smirk became a toothy, unsettling smile; "Let them become our plaything, T'sill. We need to see just how greatly our mighty vessel outclasses Federation starships of this time, no?"
Merra personally never enjoyed seeing him smile, but buried her unease beneath a professional prose envied by those beneath her. "By your command," she replied, and nodded to the operations officer. Meanwhile, the Kelvin made her way ever closer, to a darker fate than any aboard could imagine…