Star Trek Hunter
Episode 15: A Stitch in Spacetime
Scene 7: The Nine Lives of Dr. Sarekson Carrera
.

15.7
The Nine Lives of Dr. Sarekson Carrera
.

Ensign Tolon Reeves was a bit curious why Dr. Sif had summoned him to the medical lounge. Of the seven lounges on board, the medical lounge was the smallest as it only accommodated two forensic specialists. Ensign Tolon had moved into the ensign's lounge when he was promoted and a few months later Napoleon Boles had taken Tolon's old sleeping/escape pod in the medical lounge as it was the only room available.

While he still felt it was appropriate for him to bunk with the other ensigns (Sun, Phillips and Chrissiana Trei), Reeves had missed spending time with Sif. Sif was light hearted, often to the point of being silly (a rare trait among forensic medical examiners) and she had somehow made it into her early 30's still looking and behaving quite girlishly.

Boles wasn't there at the moment. Sif tackled Reeves on his arrival and began kissing him passionately. She more or less dragged him into her pod. Although completely taken aback, Reeves responded in kind. Sif stopped him for a moment. "This must be your first time through."

"Through what?" Reeves asked.

"We got blown up, remember?"

Reeves' eyes grew wide. "I thought that was just a nightmare…"

"Yeah. No. It's real. And it's going to happen again and again and again. I'm not the kind of girl to make the first move, Reeves." Sif trailed her finger down his chest. "So next time, you're going to have to come here on your own and get things started. Gentle – just like you always are. Sweet talk me a little. I won't say no. If I'm going to die over and over, I can't think of a better way to go…"

.
A***A
.

In addition to alien Bob and the four Wesleys, another old man was waiting for Dr. Carrera in Engineering – a tiny, bald, but energetic and fit looking man with dark brown eyes, dark, wrinkled brown skin, wearing a brown three-piece suit and a pair of highly polished Wellingtons.

Dr. Carrera walked up to this newest visitor: "Dr. Carrera, I presume?"

The old Dr. Carrera held out his hand to shake hands with his younger self. "Let's go fix this thing," he said.

Dr. Carrera shook his own hand – and they both vanished from Engineering.

.

"What are you doing out of uniform, Lieutenant?" Justice Minerva Irons asked as she walked into her office to find her Director of Engineering with another old man who looked vaguely familiar.

"File 9, Code 8. And it's Lieutenant Commander, Captain. I will need you to promote me on my first trip through the loop."

"You definitely deserve the promotion, Sarekson," Irons responded, "but this boat is only authorized for two commanders and two lieutenant commanders."

"That is one reason you need to put me on extended detached assignment and arrange to have Admiral El Fadil transfer me to Star Fleet Temporal Command," said the old Carrera.

Irons suddenly looked closely at the old man. Her eyes widened. "Sarekson?"

"Fleet Admiral Carrera," the old man corrected. "Director of Star Fleet Temporal Command." He removed a tiny wallet from under his clothing and displayed his Star Fleet ID and rank insignia.

"Admiral El Fadil is just now developing the amendments to the Star Fleet Charter to establish the Temporal Command," Irons said.

"Which is another reason you need to put me on detached assignment until SFTC is established. You're going to need me to negotiate with the borg to bring them into the Alpha Quadrant in force to repair the Hulk. I will need the time on detached assignment to develop immunity to their implants and pull together a negotiating team who are similarly immune."

"What about my ship? Who is going to take your place?" Irons asked.

"Your honor… Minerva," said the younger Carrera, "I can no longer serve on the Hunter. I am the cause of the implosions. You will need to go to warp 9 in recursive mode at the correct time in every cycle or the damage we are doing with each implosion will become permanent. This is my final cycle. The only way for me to correct the problem is to leave. This is going to be a bit much for you to follow, but I need you to follow me closely here…" Carrera said.

.

"I have been studying the mathematics of the progenitors – the files we downloaded from the great library of the progenitors. Our universe is composed of information, which can be manipulated consciously through higher math. I have been unconsciously altering local spacetime around me, more and more recently, which has been causing the glitches in the performance of the Hunter's zip drive. All it takes is a stray thought. Until I gain control over this new… ability… it is unsafe for me to be around any warp engine, especially one set up for recursive warp."

Irons looked at the younger Carrera. "Where will you go? We aren't close to any habitable worlds…"

"Spacetime is not a problem for us," said the older Carrera. "Bob – that is the alien known to Star Fleet as 'the Traveler' – will travel with him – that is me – to help us learn how to control this…" The older Carrera made a vague gesture with his hands.

"This meeting is being recorded, your honor," said the younger Carrera. "You need to keep the data file with you and give it to me on my first trip through the loop, which will coincide with your eighth cycle through the loop. You will also need to advise me of my new assignment and order me out of uniform and into civilian clothing. And to arm myself. It was my first clue that I need to leave. I need to say farewell to Buttans."

"Who is going to run that engine down there, Sarekson? Who else is capable of it?" Irons asked.

"Dr. Moon. I have been grooming her to take my place. She was on the design team. After me, she knows more about this ship than anyone – even Professor Crumar. Tell her goodbye for me. She may tell you that she has been in love with me for years. If she does, tell her I knew, but there was nothing I could have done about it…"

The younger Carrera vanished. "I need to meet him in Engineering, but I wanted to pass along a joke first – Wesley's favorite joke," the older Carrera said.

"I could use one about now," Irons said.

"Well, and this will make it onto the recording for File 9, Code 8. Here goes: How many Wesley Crushers does it take to stop Rekki Carrera from destroying the Alpha Quadrant?"

"I don't know," Irons said.

The older Carrera grinned. "We may never know, but four isn't enough." He cackled briefly.

Irons just looked at him.

"Well," said Fleet Admiral Carrera, "I hope we meet again. It has been wonderful seeing you again, Minerva. I can't tell you how grateful I am to you. Don't forget to keep that data card on you so you can hand it to me along with one of these.." Carrera dug out the wallet with his ID and rank insignia, then tucked it back under his shirt. "Oh, one more thing, that illness among the vulcans? It isn't an illness. It's the next stage in their evolution…" Carrera stood up, stretched and promptly vanished.

.
15.7