Disclaimer: If I owned them, do you really think I'd be inclined to share them with the rest of the world?

Author's Note: Again, there is no Scotty in this chapter. I apologize. But he will make an appearance in the next chapter! Someone has to show the 20th century Naval people how engineering is supposed to be done! And he's going to be a genius.

Author's Note 2: The Enterprise will be in the next chapter as well. Just so you know.

Happy holidays to everyone! Thanks for reading and reviewing! I will be responding to your reviews here shortly.

The Voyages of the USS Enterprise

Arc 2: Tomorrow is Yesterday

Summary of arc: During a routine patrol mission, the Enterprise gets sucked into the sun's gravitational pull. While trying to break free, it accidentally gets sent back to the year 1995, where space travel is in the far distant future and the countries on Earth are still heavily divided. Due to a transporter malfunction, Jim, Spock, Doctor McCoy and Scotty are beamed down aboard a naval aircraft carrier called the USS Seahawk. In order to avoid detection, the four must join the crew and become Naval officers. However, this proves difficult when the captain of the ship is murdered and JAG officers are called onboard the Seahawk to investigate.

Chapter 4: Recovery and Timeline Debates

Jim could tell from the lack of people in sick bay that it was now the night shift. There was one doctor supposedly keeping watch, but he spent more time nursing his coffee and writing reports than he did watching the sick bay occupants.

Jim knew from the loud snoring two beds over that Doctor McCoy was fast asleep and the quiet, even breathing signaled that Spock was meditating at the very least. Jim should have been asleep, but he was too excited. Being onboard a real, live 1995 Naval aircraft carrier was like a dream come true. When he was a little kid, he had read everything about the American Navy and watched all of the old war holos. When he was seventeen and had run away from home for the seven billionth time, he had even stolen an ancient F-14 Tomcat from a museum and took it for a joyride. He still had the old war plane in a storage facility in Georgia, not that the police would ever find out about it.

There was a roar coming from above Jim. He couldn't help but grin and shake his head. There was no way in hell that anyone was ever going to believe this happened. This had to be some strange, fascinating dream. There was no way he could have gone back in time or wound up in 1995 of all times.

He sighed, shoving back the covers. There was no reason for him to sit here and stare at the ceiling for the next few hours. Not when he had an entire aircraft carrier to explore.

Jim quietly crept out of his bed and headed toward the sick bay door. He didn't want to disturb McCoy or Spock, knowing he would probably receive a lecture from both of them about how illogical he was being.

He didn't care. He wanted to see the ship. And to find Scotty, but that would just be his excuse if Spock or McCoy found him.

Holding his breath, Jim quickly pushed open the hatch, feeling a thrill shoot through him as the cold metal door swung open. Taking a deep breath, he stepped through the door and into the hallway beyond.

Doctor McCoy woke the next morning to the sound of Jim chattering away excitedly about something involving airplanes and RIOs. Not quite believing that he was actually awake, the doctor rolled over, groaning as his back muscles protested the effort. He felt as though he had been run over by a starship.

Forcing his eyes open, McCoy started at the foreign surroundings.

Damn it, he thought. He had hoped the previous day's adventures had been some strange twisted dream. But from the look of utmost glee on Jim's face as he talked animatedly to a stoic, slightly bruised Spock, McCoy knew that his hope was in vain.

"I've got our cover stories all set up," Jim was saying as McCoy forced himself into a sitting position. "You and I are going to be Naval aviators. The helicopter we supposedly fell out of was bringing in the new recruits. It's perfect!"

"Cap—Jim," Spock said, sounding very distantly annoyed. "Although the thought might not have occurred to you, the 20th century American Navy does not fly starships."

Was Spock seriously being sarcastic and… bitchy? McCoy wondered, his eyes widening. This had to be a dream.

"I'm well aware of that, Spock," Jim said, with an offhanded wave. "But you are competent enough to read radar screens, aren't you?"

"I do not fully comprehend what you are asking," Spock said. "I have the ability to read a radar screen, as does anyone, but I was instructed on 23rd century equipment."

"You'll be fine," Jim said. "You adapt quickly enough."

Spock looked like he was about to say more, but the conversation was interrupted by the entrance of the sick bay commander.

"Well, lieutenants, it seems as though you three were extremely fortunate," he announced. "You will be released today and report to the skipper for bunk and duty assignments."

"Aye, sir!" Jim said, straightening and offering a perfect salute.

Doctor McCoy was amused. If only the instructors at Starfleet Academy could see their golden rebel child now.

"I will have some uniforms brought over for you," the commander said. He turned to Doctor McCoy. "You will remain here when your fellow recruits have left. I hear that you are a medical officer."

"That is correct," McCoy said, albeit hesitantly. He would never admit it, but he had the same reservations Spock had about taking roles in this century. Shouldn't they be focusing their efforts more on getting back to the Enterprise and getting back to their own time?

But Jim didn't seem to see things that way. He was like a little kid at Christmas who had gotten everything he had ever wanted. McCoy shouldn't have been surprised—when they had been roommates at the Academy, all Jim had ever done was talk about the Navy and how awesome it would have been to be a Naval aviator. When he wasn't going out, getting drunk, sleeping with girls and the like.

"Good," the commander said. "The Navy never seems to understand the need for competent medical help. I have been understaffed since the day we were deployed. It will be good to have some extra help."

"Aye, sir," McCoy said, mimicking the salute Jim had given moments before.

The commander nodded once and then left. McCoy looked back to Jim, who was now grinning his I'm going to get into trouble and drag you along with me grin.

"Don't," McCoy said before the other man could open his mouth.

"What?" Jim asked, trying and failing to look innocent.

"You know what," McCoy retorted.

Spock raised an eyebrow at the both of them, but otherwise said nothing. Jim mumbled something incoherent under his breath just as a medium height man with a serious mustache walked in. He wore a dark blue baseball cap that read USS Seahawk and the id information underneath it.

Jim stiffened instantly and offered another salute. Spock and McCoy quickly followed the suit, both deciding that mimicking Jim wouldn't hurt.

"At ease, gentlemen," the man said. "I hear two of you are potential aviators."

"Aye, aye, sir," Jim said.

"And who would you be?" the man asked.

"Lieutenant James T. Kirk, sir," Jim said. "This is Lieutenant Spock and Lieutenant McCoy. Spock is a RIO, sir."

"I'm the CAG onboard this ship," the man said. "Name's Boone. When you two are released, report to the flight deck immediately for a training mission."

"Aye sir," Jim said.

Although his face was composed, McCoy didn't miss the excitement that radiated off of Jim. The last time the doctor had seen his friend this excited was right after he had been given the Enterprise.

"That will be all," Boone said.

He turned and left. Jim was practically bouncing as he turned back to Spock and McCoy. He faltered slightly when he saw the looks on his friends' faces.

"What?" he asked.

"Do you even know how to fly an airplane?" McCoy asked, his voice quiet.

"Yes," Jim said promptly.

"I do not think that is the main problem," Spock said.

"Not the main problem?" McCoy echoed. "Not the main problem! You two could be killed out there if Jim doesn't know what he's doing!"

"While that is indeed some concern, we have to consider the outcome of our actions," Spock said. "As we are in the past, anything we do here could cause reactions so severe that we cannot even begin to predict them."

"The butterfly effect," Jim supplied, looking bored. "But Spock, isn't it possible that this is the same situation that Nero and the ambassador created when they came to our timeline?"

"It is highly unlikely," Spock countered. "The phenomenon which Nero created was caused by a substance called red matter, which creates wormholes and black holes. We were not sucked through either of these that I am aware of. We merely traveled so quickly in reverse that we succeeded in going backward in time. We are still in the same timeline, just in a different era."

"Damn it, I'm a doctor, not a physicist! What the hell does all this mean?" McCoy demanded.

"It means that if we do anything to influence things onboard this ship," Jim said, looking very serious for once in his life, "then it is possible that the future as we know it could cease to exist."