Chapter Revamp: May 2015


"Captain?"

Spock returned from seeing Uhura back to the bridge. Kirk was still standing on the transporter pad, peering down at the quickly congealing blood spot. At the sound of his first officer, Kirk squared his shoulders and quickly put the image of the prone girl to the back of his mind. There were more important things to attend to. Specifically, the loss of one of their own.

"Ensign Jeffery Dutch. Aged thirty-one years, been with Starfleet for six," Spock said, handing a PADD to Kirk. Jim swiped across the screen, an image of the security officer and his personnel file displayed.

"We're sure he died down there?" Kirk asked, letting the PADD scan his thumbprint for the death certificate. "I mean, I saw the way his body looked but...We didn't just condemn a man to a world of the past?"

Spock examined Kirk's expression for a moment. The younger man was clearly schooling his face into one of neutral attitude. Most fascinating. Humans really did have to work at hiding their emotions.

"While on the bridge I took the liberty of reviewing the vital signs of all members of our landing party for the duration of our mission," Spock replied, retrieving the PADD. Kirk exited the transport room, Spock a mere half step behind. "The ship's computer registered and recorded a complete cease in bodily functions of Ensign Dutch. He died instantly, Captain."

Jim paused in the hall, turning to Spock. The Vulcan was, as always, completely unreadable by his facial expression. Though Jim knew it was Vulcan nature, he couldn't help but feel a spark of anger from deep within.

"Is that meant to comfort me, Spock? A man died down there today and that's on me," Jim snapped. Spock raised a sharp eyebrow.

"It was neither meant to comfort or anger, Captain. It is merely fact. Though I can comprehend that the first loss of your crew is a difficult hurdle you will have to overcome. Such is the nature of your position."

Kirk exhaled deeply through his nose, stepping away from Spock as a red-shirted crew member passed. He nodded at the passing female officer, who saluted in return before continuing on her way. He peered after her retreating form for a moment, realizing he didn't even recognize her.

"I didn't even know Dutch's name before this mission," Kirk said slowly. "What kind of Captain doesn't even know his crew?"

"One that commands a starship of over four hundred," Spock replied. "It is not your job to roam the halls making friends." The first officer entered a nearby turbolift, waiting expectantly for Jim.

"It may not be my job," Kirk replied, hurrying to catch up with Spock's long strides, "But it might be worth the effort. A good Captain knows who he serves."

Spock tilted his head slightly at Jim's choice of words. "That is, of course, at your discretion Captain. However, for the moment might I suggest we continue on with the present difficulties at hand?"

The turbolift docked suddenly at the bridge. Jim paused only momentarily to square his shoulders and remove all traces of insecurity before striding confidently back to his command post.

"Captain, I have accessed Earth's archives," Uhura said as soon as she saw Jim. "If you can give me an approximate time, I might be able to narrow down what exactly happened down there."

"I can give you more than an approximate," Kirk replied, settling into his chair. "September 21st, 2013. What was then Spokane, Washington."

"Searching now."

"I might point out that it is unlikely we traveled back in time, in the strictest sense," Spock interjected. He tapped idly at a vertical console, bringing a second set of historical archives up across the crystal display. "As we all seemed to agree, the nature of the city didn't quite seem to match what we remembered from our history books. By 2013, the Eugenics Wars had come and gone and Earth was in a state of recovery. I saw no evidence of a civilization recovering from nearly entering a second Dark Ages."

"So an alternate reality?" Sulu asked from his position at the helm. "Like with the Romulans?"

Spock nodded. "I find that to be the most logical conclusion. Except where the Romulans were trapped in our universe via black hole, we were fortunate to encounter this alternate reality through a wormhole. A two way route, as we discovered."

"Well, according to our historical archives, Spokane was relatively unscathed physically during the Wars," Uhura announced. "Most of the city was still intact and therefore a great draw to surrounding surviving human populations. It was later renamed Haven."

Kirk recognized the name. "Haven is a major city on the east coast of America."

"Indeed," Spock confirmed. "Not a leading political entity within the United Earth government but it does contain a rather sizable population and a few historical monuments."

"Lt. Uhura, did anything happen in our history on September 21st, 2013?" Kirk asked. "In Hav- Spokane, I mean?"

"Let me see... Yes. A gas leak led to an explosion in the vicinity of a popular outdoor market. Casualties numbered at fifty-six."

"Captain, a gas leak does seem consistent with what we witnessed," Spock said.

Kirk let himself fall heavily back against his chair. Steepling his fingers, he tapped them gently against his chin.

"So our Earth shares specific similarities with this other Earth?"

"Eeef I may interrupt, Keptin," Chekov said suddenly. "I haff been running calculations based on our travels within the wormhole." Chekov stood and passed off his own PADD to Spock for him to double check.

"These appear to be sound, Ensign." Spock replied. "I am inclined to agree."

"What is it?"

"Well, we did travel to an alternate reality, that much is clear by the lack of evidence of the Eugenics War." Spock began, handing the PADD to Kirk.

"I thought that's what we just confirmed," Kirk replied, scanning through Chekov's calculations. He furrowed his brow. "I'm sorry, this indicates that we traveled along our own time line, not an alternate."

"Mr. Chekov ran schematics on what we witnessed down on Earth. The clothing, technology, vehicles, etc- all of these coincide with our own Earth's historical achievements. Specific events, such as the gas explosion, are relevant in both histories." Spock turned and pointed to the archives he had pulled up earlier. "With one major exception, of course."

"The Eugenics Wars," Uhura answered. Spock nodded.

"Captain, I believe we entered an alternate reality vastly similar to our own. The only difference being that this new Earth had no Eugenics wars. The Augments were never created."

"So what we were witnessing was the natural progression of our Earth had the Augments never rose to power," Sulu realized. "That's incredible."

"Indeed, Mr. Sulu," Spock agreed. "It would have been most fascinating to see the parallel of our own time in this new Earth, to see where they would be compared to our advancement."

"I am familiar with the Augments and the Eugenics Wars," Jim said, passing the PADD back to Chekov, "What I don't understand is how this could be the only difference between our Earth and the second." He glanced at Spock, an eyebrow raised. "Isn't that an awfully big assumption for a Vulcan to make?"

"I do not make assumptions, Captain. I make conjectures based on evidence at hand," Spock replied. "Lt. Uhura, please display the data collected from our mission."

Against the backdrop of space, the images Spock collected from the second earth began to populate the display.

"This statue," Spock said, "Is former United States President Abraham Lincoln. A figure that exists in your history as well. The Harley motorcycles you found yourself so distracted by-" Again, images of a neat row of motorcycles were displayed to the bridge, "All are models found to have been manufactured in our time line."

"By matching ze bits of cultural information Commander Spock managed to collect, I was able to create a program that compared zis data to our own historical archives," Chekov supplied then. "While it iz indeed a small sample, everything from the second earth matched our own history- down to ze gas explosion."

"The only difference being that where it happened in a city recovering from a second middle ages in our time," Kirk said, "in this time, in this reality- it happened to a city in a world where there was no Eugenics War."

"Precisely," Chekov replied, beaming.

"As it stands, this is only a hypothesis," Spock added. "I would need to match other events in the history of the new Earth to our own time line in order to form a more stringent theory. This could be done by speaking to someone from this past reality."

Kirk's communicator chirped suddenly.

"Jim, if you have time, you might want to come to the sickbay."

"McCoy, you have impeccable timing," Kirk said, glancing back at Spock. "Well Mr. Spock, you might be able to form that theory. Bones, we'll be there soon. Kirk out."


"An explosion? That does seem consistent."

McCoy crossed his lab and picked up a small glass jar. He gave it to Kirk to examine. Several pieces of wood and metal and other various materials were collected within. "These were embedded throughout her body. Shrapnel from the explosion, I expect. It gave the appearance of bullet wounds at first glance. I thought we'd maybe been caught in a gunfight."

"Do I detect a hint of disappointment, Doctor?" Spock inquired, taking the jar for his own examination. Bones shrugged, albeit a bit guiltily.

"Bullets haven't been used in hundreds of years. It would have been interesting anyway."

Kirk's gaze was drawn by a lone figure in the sickbay. Ignoring his medical officer, Jim moved closer to the hospital bed.

The girl was indeed young. She couldn't have been more than eighteen. Her skin was pale and gaunt against the rough medical grade sheets and blankets. Her body was positively engulfed in the plain white tunic and pants the nurses had changed her into. Scratches littered her exposed skin and Kirk could just make out the faint beading of sweat against her hairline.

"She's stable, Jim," Bones said suddenly, coming to stand beside him. "I stopped the bleeding, patched her up."

"When will she awake?" Spock asked, the jar of shrapnel still in his palms. "I am very curious to speak with her."

"Er, actually she won't," Bones replied. "At least, not until I want her to."

Kirk ripped his gaze from the girl. "What do you mean?"

Bones moved to stand next to the bed, adjusting the girls' IV and heart rate monitor. "Look, Jim, humans may not have evolved too much in the years since this girls' time, but medicine sure has." He motioned to a row of hyposprays lined neatly across a table next to the hospital bed. "I am inoculating this girl against all of the diseases she could transmit to us- or us to her. I'm not putting anyone at risk."

"So you're keeping her in a medically induced coma," Spock said. "I assume to reduce the stress on the body." He picked up her medical charts and began poring over them. "Fascinating."

While Spock was busy getting lost in the complexities of a girl from the 21st century, Bones pulled Kirk aside.

"The coma is not just reducing stress on her body, Jim," Bones said lowly, "But her mind as well."

"I don't understand," Kirk said, his eyes still on the time traveler. Bones put his own body between her and Kirk's gaze.

"Damnit Jim! Don't you see? I have no idea how this girl is going to react when she becomes aware of what's happened to her. I might be a doctor but I'm not a psychologist."

"What would you have me do?" Kirk asked, "She's going to have to wake up eventually! We won't be able to keep the existence of the 23rd century a big secret."

"I know, Jim!" Bones said gruffly. A passing nurse looked at them curiously. Bones shot her a look that sent her scurrying. Clearing his throat, he gestured back towards the girl. "She's gonna need real help, something a starship just isn't equipped for. We need to get her back to Earth. To Starfleet."

"Back to Starfleet!" Kirk exclaimed. "We just began this year long mission. I can't have us turn back because of a mere hiccup."

"A time traveler is more than a hiccup, Jim-,"

"It's all a part of the mission, Bones!" Kirk snapped. "I am not going to compromise the integrity of the mission or the Enterprise just because we happened to encounter something out of the ordinary. That is the nature of our job, Bones."

"But-,"

"No buts, McCoy. Keep her sane or keep her asleep; I don't care." He spared another glance at the pale child on the bed. "Either way, the mission goes on. Understood?" Before the medical officer could reply, Kirk strode out of the sickbay.

Bones struggled to keep his temper in check. That damn ambition of Kirks' was going to cost him dearly.

"For what it is worth, Doctor, I agree with your assessment," Spock said suddenly, done with his own analysis of the girl. Bones snorted.

"I guess there's a first time for us to agree on something Spock," he replied. "Thanks."

"I will see if there are alternative solutions to this present situation. In the meantime, I suggest you continue to keep the child in a comatose state."

Spock left Bones to his own devices. Leonard returned to the side of the girl. She was just a few years older than his own Joanna. Sighing, he prepped another hypospray.

"Sorry kid."


Miri was floating. Everything was blue and so soft and so comfortable. It was mostly silent.

But what was that humming sound? So gentle and faint.

Was she dreaming? That must be it. A nice dream, then.

But would she ever awaken? For being asleep, her body felt oddly weary.

Not entirely painless, either.

A sharp jab began to radiate from her midsection, winding upwards towards her eyeballs.

That's okay. It will be over soon.