Author's Note: Hi everyone! Just a quick note before we begin the story. After reading multiple fics with OCs that basically regurgitate the original plot beat for beat, I wanted to try my hand at writing a story where the OC provides their own perspective rather than get shoehorned into every single scene. Hopefully it goes ok, but since this is my first ever story I am open to any constructive feedback/criticism you want to give.

With that being said, Star Trek:The Original Series was created and produced by Gene Roddenberry and all the ST:TOS characters/plots belong to him and the copyright holders. My original character and plots are mine and the work as a whole is non-commercial, non-proft and intended for personal enjoyment only. Please support the original TV show.

Prologue: Of Daydreams and Nightmares

"Let's see…Mountaineers would refer to the 10th Mountain Division." Katherine removed her pencil from behind her ear and scribbled the information down onto her notepad. She delicately flipped the photograph over to show an old black and white image, partially faded with time. Men dressed in white outfits with skis strapped to their backs and rifles in their hands were hiking up a steep ridge while snow-covered mountains stretched up in the distance. Scattered around on the table in front of her were an assortment of similar photographs, some labeled with captions and some left unknown. Katherine sighed as she slipped the picture into a protective sleeve and added it to the growing pile on the table behind her. She had already been working for hours and she had yet to make a dent in the collection she was processing. How could someone even have this many photos?

Katherine blew a strand of mousy, brown hair out of her face and turned to stare at the clock on the wall. It was still a little too early to take a lunch break, but she supposed a moment to make some tea wouldn't hurt. She stood up from the chair to stretch, cracking her back with a satisfying pop. Hunching over photographs and a notepad all morning was definitely not helping her posture. Quietly, she walked down the hall from her work station to the break room. No one else was there at the moment, leaving her free to commandeer the microwave to heat up some water. As she filled a mug at the little sink, she took a moment to stare out of the open window. It was a very lovely day out. The sun was shining and the sky was a bright blue. It would have been a great day for a walk if the wind wasn't so cold. Katherine continued to stare as she thought about what it would be like if she had an outside job. I wonder what it would have been like on those mountains…

"Katherine! Pay attention to what you're doing!" A shout startled her out of her daydream. She glanced down and saw that her mug was overflowing and causing a mess of water to stream out onto the counter. She yelped as she hurried to turn the water off and clean up the spill. A quick glance over her shoulder revealed her supervisor, Erica, shaking her head. "You know, that's the second time I've caught you this week staring off into space. Are you feeling alright?" Erica asked jokingly while grabbing some paper towels to help with the spill. Katherine could only make a noncommittal sound as her cheeks burned. She knew that Erica didn't mean anything by the comment, she was a very nice supervisor after all, but Katherine couldn't help but feel judged. Erica was right; she had been spacing out more and more lately.

"I'm fine. I just got caught up thinking about my current project, the World War II photographs Mr. Ewan donated last week." Katherine threw away the last paper towel and placed the mug back onto the dish rack. She wasn't feeling very thirsty for tea anymore. Erica just nodded in understanding at her statement.

"I'm familiar with him. He seemed like a bit of a goofball, but the man knew his stuff about photography," Erica mused. "Would you be able to have it finished soon? With the World War anniversaries in full swing, we've been getting more researchers coming in lately. I've had some requests from the exhibits department too. Can't be too prepared for the future after all." Erica clapped Katherine on the back at the younger woman's affirming nod. "Great, let me know when it's done." She walked out the door leaving Katherine behind.

Katherine scurried back to her work station, her ears still burning with embarrassment and her heart beating a bit rapidly. Not only did she embarrass herself in front of her boss, but now she had an extra time pressure for her work. Great. She sat down heavily in her chair and leaned forward to place her head in her hands. She had been working as an archivist here for three years now and she still could barely look her boss in the eye. She knew that it was a simple mistake. She KNEW that her supervisor was only teasing her good-naturedly. Yet she couldn't help feeling embarrassed at the situation. Already in your mid-twenties and you STILL can't handle yourself. Katherine just shook her head in frustration and turned back to her work, but her mind was not in it. She labeled, sleeved, and organized some more pictures before leaning back in her chair and staring at the ceiling. She crossed her arms in frustration. Working as an archivist was something she had loved doing. She could learn about all sorts of topics and had learned to handle the literal "stuff" of history. She had held papers that were centuries old, read accounts from people long passed, learned more things about history than most other people ever would. Katherine had rather enjoyed her work, so what had changed?

A loud beeping sound coming from her sweater pocket startled her out of her thoughts. She quickly reached down and pulled out her cell phone to check the message: a series of collection and box numbers stretched across the screen. The front desk needed her to pull some manuscripts for a researcher. At least I can do something productive. Maybe I just need a quick change of pace? Katherine jumped up from her seat and swept out of the archive's processing area, heading for the stairs. She took them two at a time before stopping on a landing beside two large, steel doors. Scanning her badge, she entered the archive vault.

The vault was not as big as those at larger repositories, the National Archives for example, but it was by no means small. Massive floor to ceiling shelves stretched across the width and length of the room and were so heavy, they had to be moved electronically. They were filled to the brim with any sort of material imaginable: books, manuscripts, maps, photographs. A few busts of men long-dead stared out from the shelves as Katherine ambled past. She typically loved fetching materials for researchers. It was an adventure in and of itself just trying to find what they wanted. She would wander in and out of the aisles, browsing the labels as she searched for the materials visitors needed. She chuckled to herself as she went, thinking of the many close calls she had over the years. Her coworkers had a tendency to move the aisles without realizing she was in them. Not the worst way for an archivist to go, I suppose. I wonder how long it would take to realize I was gone.

Katherine froze mid-chuckle at the thought. That happened quite often, people not realizing she was there. Then it clicked. That's what had been bothering her lately. While of course her work was important to the archives and herself, she had no real presence here. She had not done anything of note yet, something important. Well, you only have yourself to blame for that, she mused to herself ruefully as she continued walking. She wasn't really someone who went out of their way to be noticed, but that was usually fine. Her work spoke well enough for her, or at least she had hoped. But lately, that didn't seem to be enough- either for herself or for her academic field.

The young woman stopped as she found the manuscript boxes she needed. Typing in the code to open the shelving units, she tapped her foot while she waited for the large weight to move. The aisle had barely opened before she paused her foot and cocked her head to the side. Just beyond the hum of the machinery a strange sound had caught her ear. It was faint, but growing louder. It sounded like a deep thrumming, almost like a subwoofer. She paused the shelves before they were halfway open. The thrumming was louder now. Katherine peered around her and down the aisles, trying to find which direction the sound was coming from. She started to take a step only to notice that the shelves and light fixtures were vibrating before her now. What on Earth…? She froze as the thrumming suddenly increased in volume and then shrieked as the lights above her blew out, sending shards of glass across the floors.

The shelves were vibrating at an alarming rate as the floors began to wobble. Metal screeched as shelving units began to buckle and collapse in on themselves. Katherine began running down the way she came, trying not to trip over the wobbling ground. She could hear shouts coming from the rest of the building outside as her coworkers began to panic. She stopped as the room seemed to warp before her eyes. She couldn't tell if it was a trick of the light or her rising panic, but it seemed like the air in front of her was shimmering, the view of the hall bending around a fixed point as if being sucked away. Her eyes widened in disbelief as the air seemed to twist until what could only be described as a small tear began to form.

Katherine backed away quickly, trying to run but only managing a few feet before feeling a pulling sensation at her back. Each step took more and more strength as something pulled her back in the direction of the tear. She grasped onto the edge of one of the shelves and held on as she glanced behind her. A scream of fear ripped out of her throat as the tear widened into a small hole. Papers and photographs and artifacts whipped around in the air before being sucked into obscurity. Her skirts began pulling taught against her legs and her cell phone flew out of her pocket, disappearing into the nothingness as it grew larger. Her feet began sliding back across the floor until they were suddenly lifted into the air. Katherine screamed for help as her fingers dug into the metal. Her skin tore and bled as she clenched them harder, her throat sore from screaming. She could barely hear herself over the thrumming and the sounds of crushing metal. She felt her hands weaken as the metal shelf began to bend under the pull. As she felt her fingers slip, she suddenly thought back to her earlier thoughts that day. They felt so petty now, although at the same time who would have thought this would happen? She would have smiled ruefully at how ridiculous this all was, but she had no time as she was yanked back into the void and into the darkness.

The hole in the air slowed in its momentum before suddenly reversing, shrinking down into the small tear before fading away as if it had never been there. All that remained were the remnants of destroyed shelves and materials scattered across the cracked floor.