Aanora: a Kelvin Timeline Story

by ccyager

After a trade dispute on Rigel V, Kirk and the Enterprise are asked by the two sides to find the master arbitrator, Aanora, to help them settle their dispute. The search takes the Enterprise into uncharted territory, and what they discover challenges their understanding of existence, time, and the value of friendship.

Aanora: a Kelvin Timeline Story

by

C. C. Yager

Diplomacy 101

The Rigel system had always fascinated him with its two stars and crowd of planets. Rigel A, the giant brilliant white star, so bright that he'd easily picked it out of the Orion constellation on the first try as a boy, dominated Rigel B, the smaller, somewhat duller star beyond the twelfth planet, with its own family of planets orbiting it. Rigel A up close left him in awe, making him feel small and inconsequential. After human beings had discovered that they weren't the only sentient beings in the Milky Way Galaxy, defining their humanity as exceptional had become harder and much less plausible. Rigel A shone its exceptional existence, making a human being nothing but a miniscule dot. What were humans doing exploring the galaxy anyway? What had humans to offer the universe? Kirk sometimes wondered if humans, including himself, were truly open to the possibilities exploration presented.

He surveyed the reception chamber where he stood on Rigel V, the fifth planet in the Rigel A system. The chamber reminded Kirk of something he'd seen before but he couldn't place it. Spock would probably know but he had drifted off with Uhura to talk with members of the Andorian delegation. The soaring light sand-colored stone cathedral-like arches that formed the dome over the room gave him the feeling that he was in a subterranean cavern, but the bluish-white light from Rigel A through the skylights and windows contradicted that and gave the room a bright airiness. The air smelled of lavender, he was sure of it, but there were no flowers of any kind on the serving tables. Delegations from twenty-five planets mingled, talked, and helped themselves to the food and drink the Rigelians had provided.

The Rigelians had proven to be gracious hosts for the three day diplomatic conference. They had opened all their best facilities for meeting, sleeping, and eating to the delegations who had come together to discuss issues they might have with each other and to get to know each other better. Starfleet Command had ordered that he and the senior Enterprise officers attend, also, representing the Federation in their crisp blue dress uniforms. So far, he had met socially delegation members from ten planetary systems including Andoria, Tellar, Vulcan, and Bolius.

Bones grinned next to him. "I bet you can't wait to sink your teeth into a nice side of diplomacy, Jim," he said, his tone rich in his native Georgian rhythms and gentle sarcasm.

Diplomacy. The bane of his existence. He was the captain of Starfleet's flagship and on a mission of exploration. He was expected to conduct himself with ease, confidence, and tact around any race of sentient beings they encountered. He was expected to have passed Diplomacy 101 a long time ago. He had passed the course at the Academy, but real life encounters rarely resembled the situations they had role-played in the classroom. So far, his failures included Nibiru (although that wasn't technically a diplomatic so much as a rescue mission), trying to present a peace offering gift to the Teenaxians from the Fibonans, and most recently, botching yet another first contact with the inhabitants of the Schmerit system. He desperately wanted – just once – to exercise his diplomatic skills with complete success. He was certain that he could do it. Or maybe not. If all he'd known were failures, how would he know what a diplomatic success looked like?

"If you're suggesting that I hunger after the opportunity to improve my diplomatic skills, I'd agree with you, Bones. You think there's anyone here who'd make a good mentor?" He looked around at the gathering. "I'd skip the Andorians, I think."

"Who is that over there? I don't think I've seen them before." Bones nodded to a group of four short bald humanoids with giant cartilaginous ears, the top of the lobes extending across their foreheads in a rounded ridge low over small eyes, and large round, horizontally ridged noses. They wore glittering tunics and a veil of matching tunic material that extended from the back of one ear to the back of the other and covered their necks. Their large teeth protruded slightly out of wide mouths with thin lips. "They certainly have an unusual humanoid physiology."

"You know, Bones, I think I'll follow Spock's lead and mingle."

The doctor followed the direction of the captain's gaze to a group of four green-skinned Orions, one of whom was female.

"Careful, Jim. I'm not sure the Orions would contribute a great deal of diplomacy to this gathering."

"I'm always careful around Orions, Bones."

Kirk, smiling, started toward the Orions. At the same time, the group of short bald humanoids strode over to the Orions, and having a shorter distance to traverse, arrived before Kirk. The Orions turned as a group to face the bald humanoids who shouted at them in an unfamiliar language. Kirk slowed. A confrontation at this reception? Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Spock turn away from the Andorians. He and Uhura exchanged a glance and then moved toward the shouting bald humanoids. Kirk stopped five feet away from the two antagonistic groups.

"What's the problem?" he said.

One of the bald humanoids squinted at him. "This is not your business, Human."

"Well, that may be true. But you're shouting and disturbing this peaceful reception so suddenly it becomes the business of everyone here at this Diplomatic Conference on Rigel V," Kirk said with a smile. Spock stopped next to him. "We haven't met. I'm James T. Kirk, captain of the Federation starship Enterprise."

"We already know who you are, Human."

Spock's voice spoke low in his ear. "Perhaps the Orion delegation is the problem."

Kirk nodded to Spock. "Thank you." He bowed toward the bald humanoid who'd spoken. "But I don't know who you are. What is your name and what planet are you from?"

The bald humanoid straightened, swinging his shoulders toward Kirk. "I am Damon Tal of the Ferengi Alliance."

"The Ferengi Alliance. I understand you have petitioned the Federation for membership."

"Yes. The wise Federation accepted our petition and we are now provisional members."

"As provisional members, Damon Tal, the Ferengi have the right to request assistance from the Federation whenever a dispute arises between them and any other member. We would be happy to assist. Do you have a dispute with the Orions?"

The Ferengi group recoiled as if he'd spit at them. The Orions remained silent. After a pause during which he could have flown to Mars and back, Kirk said, "What is your dispute with the Orions about? We are here to help."

The Orion female laughed. "Commerce, Starfleet. None of your business." She wore the same plain dark green and gray uniform as the Orion males. Kirk decided they must all be from the same ship.

"What does the Federation hope to gain?" Damon Tal said, his tone accusing.

"Friends, Damon Tal."

"Friends!" The Ferengi group laughed. The Orions eyed each other, their expressions full of contempt.

Kirk looked at Spock. At the same moment, they turned together and walked away, the Ferengis' abrasive laughter following them. Uhura and McCoy joined them at a table twenty yards away where fluted glasses surrounded a large chilled bowl of pale blue liquid. They each picked up a glass and served themselves before turning back to face the chamber. The delegates filling the room had returned to their social mingling. The Ferengi and Orions continued their discussion standing closer and facing each other like two wolf packs.

Behind the serving table, in one of the decorative stone pillars that formed the foot of a vaulting arch overhead, a section at about the height of Kirk's head softened and blurred. When it regained its original clarity and firmness, two eyelids appeared and opened, revealing glittering sapphire blue eyes. These eyes were without the white around the sapphire iris but with a black round pupil. They did not move at first, but regarded the backs of the Enterprise's four officers. Then they moved with slippery smoothness to take in the entire chamber.

"I thought that went well, didn't you, Spock? They're talking to each other instead of

shouting." Kirk sipped his drink. "This is delicious. What is it?"

"An Aenar drink, according to the Andorian that I was talking to," Uhura said. "It is delicious."

"As you know, Captain, the Orions are known for their stealth and thievery in matters of commerce. I would suggest that may have something to do with the Ferengis' dispute with them." Spock sipped his drink.

"Orions love to take someone for a ride."

Phaser fire erupted with screams and a convulsive scattering of delegates. The Orions and the Ferengi fired on each other repeatedly. One Orion spun and fell to the floor. Eleven Rigelian security officers flooded through the doors on the other side of the chamber. At the same time, the pillar's sapphire blue eyes seemed to move forward, and a humanoid form took shape out of the pillar. Clothed in a Rigelian security officer uniform, the figure hurried to join the other security officers.

"I didn't see any weapons. Did you see their weapons?" Kirk shouted to Spock as they both crouched down.

"Weapons were not allowed at the conference, Captain, as you know."

Kirk grabbed Spock's shoulder. "Where were they?"

"Hidden, Captain. Most likely on their persons."

"Come on, Spock."

Crouching, Spock and Kirk scuttled toward the Ferengis. Uhura and Bones helped three delegates gain cover behind and under the serving table. All the rest of the delegates had either hit the floor or were hiding behind pillars or overturned chairs located along the side walls. Seven Rigelian security officers overpowered the Orions while Spock and Kirk grabbed Damon Tal and the other armed Ferengi from behind. The rest of the Rigelian security force surrounded them.

"Take your hands off me, Human," Damon Tal screeched. Kirk had his arms around the bald humanoid. Spock disarmed the other Ferengi who stood over the Orion male splayed across the floor. McCoy pulled out his medical tricorder. He knelt next to the fallen Orion.

"Who are you?" Kirk said, nodding to the Ferengi Spock had disarmed.

"This is not your business, Human."

"Yeah, I keep hearing that. But because you and the Orions have fired on each other with illegal phasers, disrupting an otherwise peaceful diplomatic reception, your behavior has now become the business of all here, especially Rigelian security."

"That's correct, Captain Kirk. By bringing phaser weapons into this reception and using them, this group of Orions and this group of Ferengi have broken Rigelian law. Both groups will be detained." The Rigelian who spoke wore the shoulder stripes of a commander.

"Good. Bones?"

"He's dead, Jim."

"What's your name, Ferengi?" Kirk addressed the Ferengi Spock had disarmed.

"Lork." The Ferengi continued in the aggrieved tones of a child. "The Orion cheated me out of what was rightfully mine."

"And what was rightfully yours, Ferengi?" the Rigelian security commander said.

"I bought three asteroids in orbit between Rigel XII and Rigel B from him." Lork pointed at the dead Orion. "I found out that the asteroids were not his to sell but were owned by a Rigelian who had no intention of selling. I want my gold-pressed Latinum back! He pulled the phaser on me. I defended myself!" Lork's whining voice penetrated the air around them, its unpleasant grating sound reminding Kirk of his brother's fingernails scraping across a chalkboard at school when they were kids.

The Rigelian waved the Orions forward as Damon Tal and his group moved to stand with Lork. The Rigelian security commander addressed the Orions. "The Ferengi Lork has broken our law and will be detained. If you need assistance with your deceased, we will assist you." He addressed both Orions and Ferengi. "If you have a dispute, there are more productive ways to resolve it than with a phaser."

Damon Tal said, "Lork defended himself when they attacked. The Orions owe Lork his gold-pressed Latinum."

The Orion female stepped forward. "We owe nothing, Ferengi. The Orion that brokered the deal is dead. To us, there is no dispute now."

Damon Tal persisted. "You Orions are all the same. Cheaters and Thieves. We stand with Lork in his grievance against you. We demand arbitration."

The Orion female looked at her male companions. "We do not stand with Granda." She pointed to the dead Orion. "He's not related to any of us here. None of us were in business with him. You have killed him, Ferengi, and therefore no dispute now exists."

"I want my gold-pressed Latinum back!" Lork said.

"You are with the Orion thief," Damon Tal sneered at the Orion female. "Related in some way. All together in a pack. Orions are known liars as well as thieves." The Rigelians moved to stand between the Orions and Ferengi to prevent them from attacking each other again.

"We are not part of your dispute, Ferengi!" the Orion female responded.

"I demand arbitration," Damon Tal said. "You, Human." He pointed at Kirk. "You offered to help. We need an arbitrator and I choose Aanora. The Federation Humans can bring her here."

"Aanora!" the Orion female laughed, joined by the males. "She is most likely long dead, Ferengi. But if she's alive and if the Federation can find her, we would accept her as arbitrator. But not here. We have the right to choose the place. You chose the arbitrator. We choose the Planet Yliel in the Xerxes 435 star system."

Kirk saw Spock's eyebrow go up. Bones, standing behind him, spoke in his ear, "Watch it, Jim. I've got a bad feeling about this."

"Damon Tal," Kirk said, turning to the Ferengi. "The Rigelians have a rightful claim on both you and the Orions for breaking their law. Once that is resolved to the Rigelians satisfaction, we'd be happy to help. Do you know where Aanora is?"

"We heard that she was on 2466 PM in the Gamma Hedron system. We can provide you with the coordinates."

"Fine. We'll find Aanora for you and bring her to Yliel." Kirk turned to the Rigelian security commander. "We are also prepared to assist you in this matter."

"Thank you, Captain Kirk, but our laws are clear." He pointed up to where the domed ceiling met the walls. "We have been recording this reception for historical purposes. We will determine what happened. The record will show who is responsible here."

As they watched the Rigelians lead the Ferengis and the Orions away, Spock turned to Kirk. At the same time, the Rigelian security officer with the sapphire blue eyes half turned to look back at Kirk.

"Captain, I do not think it wise to agree to this mission."

"Have you ever heard of 2466 PM? I bet it's in space that's not seen a Federation ship and we'll be the first. And who lives in that system? Come on, Spock. We're explorers! It's part of our mission."

"Planet Yliel in Xerxes 435 on the other side of the Ion Nebula is uncomfortably close to the Romulan Neutral Zone. There are no Federation outposts in that area."

"We won't be far from Starbase 23." Kirk slapped Spock on the shoulder. "May the wind always be at your back, Spock."

The Search

Kirk felt energized. He had a specific challenge, to find the elusive Aanora, a welcome diversion from the routines of nebula mapping and stellar cartography. Starfleet Command had authorized their search for Aanora. Starfleet had confirmed her status as a respected diplomat and arbitrator. Kirk suspected Starfleet had its own reasons for wanting to find her. They had responded faster than usual to his report.

Could the Ferengi have a legitimate complaint against the Orions? He knew that Orions liked nothing better than to pull one over on their competitors and customers, and he'd recognized that characteristic in Gaila, the female Orion cadet who had helped him to beat the no-win Kobayashi Maru scenario. She'd initially refused to help him, but then she couldn't resist pulling one over on the Academy. She had re-programmed the simulator so that the Federation starship could rescue a disabled civilian ship threatened by a group of Klingons in the Klingon Neutral Zone.

After two days at maximum warp, they were in a sector of the galaxy where no other Federation ship had traveled. If nothing else, they were fulfilling their mission of exploration. They approached the coordinates Damon Tal had given them for 2466 PM, the planet in the Gamma Hedron system where Damon Tal believed that information about Aanora could be found. The planet filled their forward view screen.

"Mr. Spock, tell me about this planet."

"It's inhabited by advanced sentient beings as evidenced by the extensive land development and cities. The climate is similar to Vulcan."

"Captain, we are being hailed, sir," Uhura said from the communications station. "Visual."

"They know we're here?" Kirk turned to look at Spock.

"Unsurprising, Captain, given the evidence of their advanced civilization."

"On screen, Lieutenant." Kirk stood up from the command chair and straightened his gold uniform shirt that didn't need to be straightened.

"Yes, sir."

"Universal translator, Lieutenant."

The face on screen appeared to be a young human of no particular gender with powdery white skin and clear aqua-colored eyes, wearing a white flowing robe. "No need for the translator, Captain. I am Lyr'eyes of Metron. How may we be of assistance?"

"I am Captain James T. Kirk of the Federation starship USS Enterprise. We are on a peaceful mission of exploration and are seeking information about someone we're trying to find."

"We are pleased to help all who come in peace, Captain. About whom do you seek information?"

"We are looking for a diplomat named Aanora."

"Aanora! She helped us to establish peace with one of our neighbors. We have not met

with her for some time, Captain."

"How did you contact her? How did she travel to your planet? Perhaps that will help us in our search."

"We sent a message to Cestus III. They helped us to contact her. She arrived in a starship unlike yours, considerably smaller."

"Do you know where she is now?"

"When she left us, she said that she was going to a planet in the Nexus Tau star system that had requested her to arbitrate for them. She is a master diplomat. That was long ago. However, we recently heard that she resided on the fourth planet in the Reederian 7 system. We had no need to confirm this information. I do not know if she is there."

"This is the most specific information we've received so far. We'll check it out."

"May I ask, Captain, if you are on a peaceful mission, why is your ship so heavily armed?"

"Not everyone we encounter is interested in peace, Lyr'eyes."

"Ah. Defensive weapons. I expect Aanora could be of assistance to you in the ways to not use those weapons, Captain."

"I hope so. Now that we have met, may we meet again, perhaps request your assistance in learning about and mapping this sector of the galaxy?"

Lyr'eyes smiled. "Thank you for requesting permission, Captain. You may map this sector, of course. We prefer, however, to be left in peace. When you find Aanora, please give her our highest regards."

The view screen went dark. The bridge remained quiet for a minute. Mr. Sulu moved his hands over his console.

"Navigation, please note the coordinates of this planet, inhabited by the Metrons."

"We have coordinates from Lyr'eyes, sir," Sulu said. "For the Reederian 7 system."

"How far, Mr. Sulu?"

Sulu's hands flew over his console. "Approximately 2 earth days at maximum warp."

Spock moved to stand next to Kirk in front of the command chair. He said, "Another two days away from our original course, Captain."

"I know, Spock. But we're exploring the galaxy. And if we find this Aanora…."

"If she truly still exists, Captain." Spock gave Kirk a long look.

"May the wind always be at your back, Spock, and the sun warm upon your face."

Spock regarded his captain with one raised eyebrow.

Discovery

The fourth planet in the Reederian 7 system loomed large on the view screen. The green and brown land masses competed with cobalt blue liquid that covered about half of the planet. Wisps of white cloud floated here and there. No volcanic or seismic activity registered on the Enterprise's instruments.

"Reminds me a little of earth," Kirk said with a smile.

"With more land, less water," Mar'Qwart, the Kzinti navigation officer, said. "I'm not reading any indicators for cities or even villages. There may be no civilized life here."

"But there is an unusual energy reading emanating from the northern hemisphere 45 degrees north, just south of the polar ice cap," Spock said.

"Polar ice? Water?"

"Yes, Captain. Water."

"Life form readings?"

"Millions, Captain. Including the energy reading which is consistent with artificial production. However, I agree with Mr. Mar'Qwart. There are no indications of sentient life. The life form readings are vegetation and most likely lower animal forms."

"Well, I guess we've found what we're looking for." Kirk stood up from his chair.

"Uhura, please send an update report to Starfleet Command. Spock, you have the com."

"Captain, may I remind you – "

"I know, I know, Spock. I'll be fine."

"At least allow me to accompany you."

Kirk leaned over the communications console on the captain's chair and pressed a button. "Dr. McCoy, please join us in Transporter Room 3." Kirk nodded to Spock. "Fine. You, me, McCoy, and Lt. Lewis. Mr. Sulu, you have the com."

The four Federation men materialized standing in a meadow of blue-green grass that grew to their knees and flowers of all shapes, sizes, and colors, the most prominent being a brilliant pink lily-type flower in a five-pointed star shape. Trees the color of rust surrounded the meadow. Through a large gap in the trees immediately to their right, five yards away, they saw a cliff of rock that looked like granite. Spock turned on his tricorder and pivoted in a circle. He stopped facing the cliff.

"There, Captain. The energy emanates from that cliff."

"Where?"

Spock walked toward the cliff skirting a group of boulders. The other three followed. Spock walked right up to the wall of black rock veined with white and blue. "Right here, Captain."

"That's rock, Spock," Bones snorted. "Is your tricorder working?"

Spock, focused on his tricorder, turned and walked away from the rock wall to the other three men. "My tricorder, Doctor, is functioning within specified parameters."

Behind them, in the wall, unnoticed by any of the four men, a slight movement, slow and subtle: Two spots about 1.5 inches apart in the wall opened like eyelids revealing almond-shaped brilliant emerald green eyes fringed by long black eyelashes. The eyes possessed no white, only green with round black pupils.

Kirk, his back to the cliff, opened his communicator. "Scotty, what can you tell me?"

Scotty's voice came clear through the communicator. "You're practically standing on the energy source, sir. You should be seeing some sort of production facility or at least the entrance to one."

Kirk walked four steps ahead and turned. He froze, communicator near his mouth. "I think we've found the source, Scotty. Kirk, out."

The other three pivoted as Kirk moved forward.

A tall figure wearing a long gold-shimmering sage green hooded cloak stood in front of the granite wall. The hood covered the figure's head and left the face in shadow.

"Who. Are. You?" the figure said in a smoky low female voice.

"I'm James T. Kirk, Captain of the Federation Starship USS Enterprise. This is my first officer Lt. Commander Spock, my chief medical officer Dr. McCoy, and my chief of security Lt. Lewis. Who are you?"

"Federation!" The figure's arms rose. Lewis, startled, pulled out and aimed his phaser. Kirk grasped his arm to stop him. Pale humanoid hands pushed back the cloak's hood to reveal a female head with long black hair streaked a coppery red. The oval face appeared smooth and youthful, with a small nose. Her mouth opened in a radiant smile, her brilliant emerald green eyes focused on Kirk as a golden light shimmered all around her. "Federation! And you." She nodded once at Spock. "Vulcan?"

"Yes, I am Vulcan." Spock watched her, ready to move between her and the Captain. Lewis continued to aim his phaser at her.

"I worked with Vulcan. Long. Long time. Before." Her lips moved as if they were waking from Novocain. "Sarek. Know Sarek?"

Spock started at his father's name. "I know Sarek. What do you mean, you worked with him?"

She shook her head. "Apologize. I not spoken language many years."

McCoy activated his medical tricorder.

Kirk smiled. "Who are you? Where did you come from? There was no one here a moment ago." He and Spock exchanged a glance. He gestured for Lewis to put away his phaser.

"Ah. Aanora. I am. Welcome. My home." She opened her arms wide.

McCoy shook his head, looked at Aanora and back at his tricorder.

"You not see me with tool." Aanora's laughter sounded like tiny chimes.

"Jim, according to my tricorder, there's nothing where she's standing. Only empty air."

"Are you pure energy, Aanora?" Spock asked.

"Yes. No. Complicated. Why Federation here?"

Kirk took a step back. "Aanora. We're looking for a diplomat named Aanora." He walked behind Spock and McCoy while Lt. Lewis never took his eyes off Aanora.

"Yes. I am diplomat. Aanora." She nodded, her eyes on Kirk. "Why?"

Kirk approached her as he spoke. "You have been requested to arbitrate a dispute. We agreed to find you."

"Federation disputes with whom?" Aanora floated back away from Kirk. "Kirk, not approach. He does not like." She nodded to Lewis.

Kirk stopped six feet from her. "You are sensitive to protocol."

"Diplomats live for protocol." Aanora laughed. "You more a threat to me than I to you. And creatures on this world threaten all of us. Happy I am Lewis and his weapon." She turned and again she seemed to float to nearby trees rather than use feet to walk. Kirk stared at where her feet would be.

"The Federation disputes with whom?"

Kirk followed at a respectful distance, glancing at his officers. "We attended a diplomatic reception on Rigel V where a Ferengi named Lork phasered an Orion male during a commercial dispute. Damon Tal of Ferengia requested that you arbitrate the Ferengi dispute with the Orions."

Aanora frowned. "Ferengi request arbitration? In commercial dispute? Orions agreed?" She turned to face them, her cloak now open to reveal a lithe humanoid body in loose pants and high-necked tunic of the same material as the cloak. She stood almost as tall as Kirk. "Ferengi or Orion. They take and leave. If dispute occurs, they still take and leave. Orions favor violence. But not Ferengi. Something wrong."

Kirk and Spock exchanged another glance. "Nevertheless, they have requested arbitration," Kirk said.

"Ferengi live to acquire wealth. Orions live to pirate and smuggle. Their favored form of commerce."

"Yes. Although we know less about the Ferengi than the Orions." Kirk glanced at Spock who raised an eyebrow. "Orions like to cheat."

"These two not behaving as normal."

"They both agreed to have you as arbitrator for their dispute. Will you do it?"

"My curiosity must know why these two want arbitration. Yes." Aanora pointed up to the cliff behind them where a large reptilian feline with tusks watched them. "Those are almost sentient, and danger. Most wildlife here is same. I want to learn about development of sentience here."

"Perhaps, Captain, if Aanora agrees, we could return to the Enterprise and continue our discussion there," Spock said.

Kirk nodded and flipped open his communicator. "Scotty, five to beam aboard."

"Wait, Kirk." Aanora backed away from them. "I prefer my transport. I shall meet you on ship."

The four men clustered together. "Scotty, four to beam aboard."

"Aye, Captain."

Kirk felt the familiar physical disorientation and saw the light swirling around him. He saw Aanora watching. And then she was gone.

Discovery Enterprise

One

Kirk materialized on the transporter pad with Spock, Bones, and Lewis. He shook off the residual cold tingling in his arms. He expected to see Aanora waiting for them in the transporter room, but only Scotty manned the controls.

"Did ya find Aanora, Captain?"

Kirk stepped off the transporter pad, followed by the other three. "We did, Scotty. I expected to see her here with you."

"No one else here, Captain. How was she going to come aboard, then?"

"Bridge to Mr. Scott," Sulu's voice came over the intercom. "Is the Captain aboard?"

"Aye, Mr. Sulu, along with Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy, and Lt. Lewis."

"We have a visitor on the bridge, Captain."

"On our way, Mr. Sulu," Kirk said. He turned to Spock and Bones. "Spock, you'll check with your father?"

"Yes, Captain." Spock strode out of the transporter room.

"Bones, we have medical protocol for new sentient visitors, right? I want to know where she's from. She looks human but I don't think she is."

"I agree, Jim. I'll come with you now."

"Right."

As Kirk and McCoy stepped from the turbolift onto the Enterprise bridge, they felt the tension in the air. Uhura stood behind the command chair where Sulu sat regarding Aanora standing in front of him. Ensign Anderson at the Helm, and Ensign Mar'Qwart at Navigation had turned away from the forward view screen and stared at Aanora's back. The other bridge officers and technicians remained in place, but all eyes were on the commanding and gold-shimmering presence of Aanora.

Kirk, followed by McCoy, sidled up to the command chair. "Thank you, Mr. Sulu."

Sulu returned to his place at the Helm. Kirk smiled at Aanora, but he addressed the entire bridge. "Our guest is Aanora. She's a diplomat. She's agreed to arbitrate the commercial dispute between the Ferengi and the Orions. Please grant her the full extent of our warm Federation hospitality." He nodded to Aanora as he sat down in the command chair.

She placed her right palm open against the middle of her chest as she bowed her head to him and the bridge crew.

"Lt. Uhura, would you arrange quarters for our guest?" He looked at Dr. McCoy behind him. "Doctor? Would now be a good time for your meeting with Aanora?"

Dr. McCoy smiled. "If Aanora would join me."

Kirk met Aanora's emerald eyes. "Dr. McCoy has Federation medical protocol that needs to be followed."

"Understood, Kirk. Protocol." Aanora joined McCoy.

Kirk watched them leave the bridge, still unable to see Aanora's feet or how she floated when she moved. He turned to Sulu. "What happened?"

"She just appeared, Captain. Exactly where she was standing when you came in. She didn't say a word."

"She told us she preferred her own method of transport. She didn't want to use our transporter. We still don't know where she was down there. We saw only a granite-like cliff even though Spock confirmed the energy readings. And then she was just…there."

Ensign Mar'Qwart said, "She has a strange accent, Captain."

"She could barely speak when we first saw her." Kirk turned the chair to address Uhura. "Lieutenant, please notify Starfleet that we have found the diplomat Aanora and are proceeding to Planet Yliel to meet with the Ferengi and the Orions."

"Planet Yliel?" Sulu said. "That's just this side of the Romulan Neutral Zone."

"Spock reminded me of that, also. Please set course, Mr. Sulu, warp factor 5."

Two

Spock sat straight-backed in the communication alcove in his quarters. Behind him, the warm golden lighting illuminated the two rooms that extended back to the closed door of the bath. On his left were windows looking out on the vast canvas of star-filled space.

He had not spoken with his father for almost a year. He knew that Uhura was working as fast as she could to make the connections so that he would be able to talk to him. They were far from New Vulcan. But it took much longer than he'd expected.

Finally, light flared on the communication screen but only for a brief moment. Slowly, it returned, fading into a vision of Sarek's face. Behind him, Spock could discern a wall filled with books.

"Peace and long life, Spock. Where are you?"

"We have left the Reederian 7 system. We went there to find someone I think you know."

"I know no one in the Reederian 7 system."

"Do you know Aanora?"

Sarek's eyebrows rose and he leaned forward toward the screen. "Aanora. I have not seen her since before I served as Ambassador to earth. What was she doing in the Reederian 7 system?"

"She resides on the fourth planet which is very much like a prehistoric earth without humans. She has told us that she worked with you."

"True. A mining dispute on Aldas 3. The request for arbitration came through Federation channels, and the Vulcan High Command asked me to accompany Aanora to Aldas 3. I had not known of her before then."

"She is human?"

Sarek's eyes narrowed. "Humanoid. Not from earth. She never told me her origin. I understood that she wanted that information to remain private." He paused, studying his son. "I remember she had hair as black as space with brilliant green eyes that glittered like jewels. I always felt – " He looked away from his son, searching for the words. "She has a presence, a energy that can be soothing. Calming in tense situations." Sarek looked again at his son.

Spock nodded. "She sends her greetings."

"Is she well?"

"Yes. What else do you know about her?"

"Talented diplomat. Quiet. Respectful. An excellent listener and perceptive. I thought she might be an Empath because she read the Aldans so well. Capable of deep logic, but she was a mystery. Why have you sought her?"

"Damon Tal of the Ferengi requested her to arbitrate a commercial dispute they have with a group of Orions."

Sarek frowned. Spock didn't give him a chance to remark on this. "The dispute occurred on Rigel V during the diplomatic conference there. The two parties were not interested in Federation arbitration."

Sarek nodded. "Aanora would be a disinterested third party arbitrator. Effective in commercial disputes. But I fail to understand why either Ferengis or Orions would request arbitration. Neither is known to respect it."

There it was. The detail that nagged at Spock, the illogical detail. "We are aware of that. I cannot quell the suspicion that either the Ferengis, the Orions, or both have an ulterior motive for sending the Enterprise so far from Federation space."

"I have heard of nothing unusual in Federation space that would require the Enterprise, Spock. Starfleet Command would contact you if and when they needed you. Aanora offers an excellent opportunity for you to witness a master diplomat in action. Please give her my regards."

Three

In a greyish blue Sick Bay treatment room, Dr. McCoy, dressed in a white exam jacket over his light blue uniform shirt, held his medical tricorder up and waved it over Aanora where she stood by an examination bed. She smiled.

"This tool will not see me, Doctor."

He put it away. "You appear to have substance, a physical body. I touch your hand and feel its substance. I'd like to know how you create that substance, if you don't mind."

"You want to know why I do not exist according to your equipment." She was matter-of-fact. "There are kinds of existence in different space and time dimensions. You understand? You know parallel universes?"

McCoy's head cocked a bit to the right as he regarded Aanora. "I've heard Spock mention them."

Aanora smiled. "Vulcan Spock. Yes. He is science officer?"

"Yes, he is. And the unofficial logic officer."

"Precise, too? Sarek was precise always." She glided over to one of the exam beds with a vital signs monitor above it on the pearl gray wall. "This bed? Possesses form, mass, a reality as matter in this dimension. You see it, touch it. Atoms compose it. In this universe. I come from a dimension that occupies the same space as this bed, but because it is not same dimension bed is in, you cannot see it. But it exists."

"You have mass in your dimension?"

"Not as you understand mass. Here in your dimension, I must pull atoms into my energy essence to compose what you see. To create my substance that you can feel. That is not necessary in my home dimension. I change form also."

"A shapeshifter?"

"A shapeshifter. I am in human form to interact with you. When you arrived on my planet, I was not in this form."

McCoy's eyes widened. "The reason you appeared out of nowhere."

"To you, yes. But I stood with you the entire time. I stood in stone."

"In the cliff? Huh. OK. Do you mind if I check your physical form?"

"Please, check."

McCoy gently placed his fingers under her jaw to check for salivary glands. None. He held out his hand, palm up, and Aanora placed her hand on it. McCoy gently grasped it, then let go and held her wrist checking for a pulse. None. A thought hit him like a sledgehammer. "You are not really alive."

"Not by your measures of physical life in this dimension, Doctor."

"Are you immortal?"

"No. I will cease to exist. I am already what you call middle-aged. My kind live a long, long time according to your time measurement."

"How long have you been in our dimension?"

She smiled at him. "I have difficulty with this question. Which measure of time would you like me to use?"

McCoy shrugged. "I'm from earth. Do you know earth years?"

"Yes, I lived on earth. I know this time measure. I have inhabited this dimension for 174.75 earth years. I was already what you call "adult" when I came to this dimension."

McCoy stared at her. "So you could be over two hundred earth years old?"

Aanora laughed and the sound of chiming bells filled the Sick Bay.

"You said that you worked with Sarek. Vulcans have long life spans. When was that?"

"Before he became Vulcan's Ambassador to earth. Sarek and I worked together on a dispute that involved two parties on Aldas 3. I heard that he had been appointed ambassador. His acceptance made me curious about earth. I spent perhaps 10 earth years there the first time."

"Where on earth? Working with Sarek?"

"No, he did not know of my presence there. But I chose San Francisco because I knew he would be there if I needed him."

"Federation headquarters, Starfleet Academy. I don't suppose you worked at Starfleet Academy?"

"No, not there. I chose to live in an ordinary way, Doctor." She smiled. "Have I passed your examination?"

"I'm a doctor for humans and the occasional alien race in this dimension. I've found nothing in your presence that would threaten the Enterprise. But I don't understand why you remain in our dimension."

"I can be of use here." Aanora floated over to McCoy and extended both of her arms to grasp both of his hands in hers. "You, as a doctor, are a man of non-violence, yes?"

"Yes."

"As am I a non-violent being. I live and work for peace."

Four

Spock stood in the corridor outside of Aanora's guest quarters, his head bowed, deep in thought. He did not see or sense Aanora gliding through the curved white corridor toward him. Her green eyes glittered in the light. Her sage green cloak billowed like a sail catching a gentle breeze as she approached. Behind her, crew members passed through an intersecting corridor.

"Spock."

He looked up at her, startled.

"I seek guest quarters?" Aanora's head dipped to the left. "Please help."

"You have arrived at the guest quarters that Lieutenant Uhura assigned to you, Aanora."

"Thank you. You would speak with me?"

"Yes, if I may."

"Please show me my quarters. We talk. The more I talk, the faster language comes back to me."

Spock opened the door to the guest quarters and gestured for Aanora to enter first. Inside, the motion sensitive lights came on bright. Aanora moved over to the large windows above a couch.

"If you would like to program the lighting system so the light is not so bright, I would be happy to assist you with it," Spock said. "You can program your quarters to your specifications for comfort."

Aanora slipped the cloak off her shoulders and laid it on the couch before she turned to him. "Thank you, I would like that. I think something on your mind, Spock."

"Sarek sends his greetings to you. He was pleased to hear that you are still working in diplomacy."

Aanora's expression brightened into a broad smile, showing even white teeth. "How is Sarek? Where is Sarek now?"

"He is well. He resides on New Vulcan."

"New Vulcan? What does that mean, Spock? Vulcans are not colonizers."

"That is correct, Aanora. Five years ago, however, Vulcan was destroyed by a Romulan named Nero from a different timeline. He'd entered our time through a singularity in order to exact revenge on Vulcan and the Federation. Vulcan sent a message to Starfleet command and the Enterprise, along with a fleet of Federation starships, flew to Vulcan to stop him. We did not arrive in time to stop the destruction of Vulcan. We were able to save many, and most of the High Council, including Sarek, but billions of Vulcans perished." Spock stopped, surprised by the pain the memory still caused him.

Aanora studied him, shaking her head from side to side. "Why was Romulan Nero seeking revenge? Why Vulcan? A different timeline? What time was he from?"

"He came from a different future, one in which Romulus was destroyed when its star went supernova. The Federation had sent a Vulcan with the means to stop the supernova process but he did not arrive in time. Nero witnessed the supernova and the destruction of Romulus. He wanted the same for Vulcan. The Vulcan was able to stop the supernova process from destroying any more planets. The star's implosion formed a singularity. The Vulcan was pulled into it and Nero followed."

"I understand." Aanora stepped closer to Spock. "I am sorry for your profound loss, Spock. And for Sarek's profound loss. When you speak of Sarek, your voice has a softer quality, and deep respect. You know Sarek well. Related to him, yes?"

Spock walked toward the second room in the guest suite. "I will show you the rooms, and how to program the lights, and anything else you may need."

She followed him, her head cocked to the left, watching him closely.

"We have left the sitting area and this is your sleeping area. The door there," he said, pointing to a sliding door in the far beige wall, "leads to the bathing area."

"Spock."

He stopped and turned to Aanora. "Sarek is my father."

Aanora's face radiated joy. "Ah! I knew only of Sybok. Sarek bonded again?"

"He married a human woman from earth. I am half Vulcan and half human."

"A human he met on earth." She turned to the window in the wall over the bed. "I was on earth at the same time as Sarek, but I did not want to bother him. He was the Vulcan Ambassador."

"Were you working at Federation Headquarters?"

Her chiming laughter filled the room. "No, but I resided in San Francisco near Starfleet Academy. Then I heard Sarek had returned to Vulcan."

"Did you teach at Starfleet Academy?"

"No." She laughed again. "I lived an ordinary life during my years on earth. But I met many students who attended Starfleet Academy. Please tell me, Spock. Is Kirk related to George Kirk?"

Spock stared at her for a moment. "You knew George Kirk?" he said finally. "Married to Winona Kirk?"

"He married Winona?" Aanora clapped her hands in delight. "Ah, wonderful. I am so happy to hear that. How is he? Where is he?"

Spock shook his head. "When the Romulan Nero entered our time, the first starship he encountered was the U.S.S. Kelvin. George Kirk was the first officer on that ship. After Nero killed the Kelvin's captain, George Kirk took command and fought the Romulan in order to help the rest of the Kelvin's crew escape. He died when he rammed the Kelvin into Nero's ship."

Aanora's expression had become serious, the corners of her mouth turned down in a frown of sadness. "I am in sorrow to hear George no longer exists. He was a good friend. I knew him when he was at Starfleet Academy and when he met Winona, but I did not meet her. He often came into the coffee shop to study or to eat the lemon cake I made."

"You worked in a coffee shop? Why? You are a diplomat."

"I wanted to experience earth life as an ordinary person, not as a diplomat. I met many interesting people in that coffee shop." Aanora smiled.

Spock nodded. "Captain Kirk was born on a medical shuttle that had escaped from the Kelvin."

Aanora's eyebrows raised. "They did not know each other."

Spock nodded. "I think he would like to hear about – "

"Of course. Please do not tell him. I will in time."

"As you wish."

"Winona lives."

"Yes. She resides on earth."

Aanora took a deep breath. "Perhaps now you will help me program the lights here?"

Five

Sitting in the command chair on the Enterprise bridge, comfortable in his everyday uniform of gold shirt and black pants, Kirk reviewed a report on the computer tablet. He signed it and handed it to a waiting Ensign who hurried to the turbolift. When the turbolift doors opened, Spock stepped onto the bridge and the Ensign entered the lift. Spock strode over to the command chair.

Kirk looked up at him. "Report."

"Sarek remembers Aanora and holds her in high regard. He described the woman that we have on board. He was happy to hear that she was well and working again as a diplomat."

"Your father was happy?"

"He expressed his approval, Captain. I was simply attempting to describe his response in human vernacular."

Kirk smiled. "So, Aanora is the real deal. I wonder what Bones found out?"

"My father also expressed surprise that the Ferengis and the Orions would request arbitration for their dispute. Neither is known to – "

"- respect arbitration. Maybe you're right to be paranoid about it, Spock. I don't know. At least we found Aanora. Starfleet Command sent their congratulations for a job well done, and once we're finished with the Ferengis and Orions, they would like us to report to Starbase 23. We'll know soon enough if Damon Tal and the Orions show up at Planet Yliel for arbitration."

The turbolift doors snicked open and Dr. McCoy stepped onto the bridge. He joined Spock standing next to the command chair.

"It seems Aanora is already becoming quite popular with the crew," McCoy said. "I just heard from one of my doctors that she was in the crew lounge when a loud verbal altercation broke out between two crew members. My doctor didn't tell me who. He was too excited about how Aanora stepped between them, calmed them down, and had the two shaking hands within minutes. She told me that she is a non-violent being who works for peace."

As he listened, Kirk nodded. "Sarek confirmed her diplomatic status and apparently holds her in high regard. Is she human, Bones?"

"No. She presents no threat to us, however, from my perspective. She told me that she came from a different dimension than ours, a parallel universe. And by the way, she's over two hundred earth years old."

Kirk laughed. "She doesn't look that old."

"If she has come from a parallel universe, time here in this universe may affect her in a much different way," Spock said.

"Parallel universe. Time," Kirk said slowly, as if mentally examining an idea.

"I am certain that she worked with my father before Nero, before he invaded the past and created a new timeline. She lived on earth while my father was the Vulcan Ambassador there as well."

Kirk stared at Spock and McCoy for a moment. His expression changed from thoughtful to action. "OK, OK. At least we know that she is what she says she is." Kirk stood up from the command chair. "You have the com, Spock. I'm going to have a chat with Aanora."

Six

Kirk strode along a white Enterprise corridor, nodding to crew members as he passed, smiling to those he knew. He rounded a corner and stopped. Up ahead, a crew member sat on the floor in the middle of the corridor. He held his head. Kirk spotted blood on one of the crew member's hands. A whoosh of clothing passed Kirk from behind. Aanora rushed to the crew member. Kirk followed. Aanora knelt down next to the crewman, placing one hand on top of his head.

As Kirk stopped in front of them, he said, "What happened, Ensign? It's Carl Baker, isn't it?"

The crewman looked up. "Yes, sir, I'm Carl Baker. I don't know what happened, sir. One moment I was walking along this corridor, on my way to report for duty in Engineering, and the next I'm sitting here with a splitting headache."

"And blood on your hand, Ensign."

Baker looked at his bloody hand.

"Blood on his head, Kirk," Aanora said, showing him her bloody hand.

Baker started at the sound of Aanora's voice. He looked in surprise and wonder at her next to him.

Kirk stepped to a communication panel and tapped one of the buttons. "Sick Bay. We need an emergency medical team on Deck 9, Section 37."

Aanora said to Baker, "You remember people around you before this happened?"

Baker shook his head. "Not specific people. I passed other crew members while I was walking. But I don't recall anyone around me right before…."

Aanora placed her hand again on top of Baker's head. Kirk watched her close her eyes as if meditating. A moment later she opened her eyes. "I see." She rose. "You will be fine, Baker. Kirk, let us speak together."

Kirk walked with Aanora until they reached a cross corridor. They could still see Baker, as well as the activity in all the corridors leading into this section. He spotted the medical emergency team approaching. "Aanora, I was just on my way - "

"Kirk. I was able to access Baker's memory for the moment he was hurt. No one stood or passed near him. He was alone. Something hit him on the head."

"Something?"

Aanora frowned. "Something from another dimension. These breakthroughs do not happen without intention, Kirk."

The medical emergency team – a doctor and a nurse – stopped by them and Kirk pointed to Baker up the corridor. The doctor nodded and hurried to him.

"What kind of intention, Aanora?" Kirk said.

"Malicious. But who broke through? And with what?"

"I was on my way to talk with you."

Aanora turned a troubled face to him. "My quarters are near. We can speak there."

As they entered Aanora's quarters, Kirk said, "You're certain that something from another dimension hit Baker on the head?"

"Yes. We cannot know which dimension without seeing the breakthrough."

She removed her cloak and laid it on the couch. The light in the room shone at about 75 percent, casting shadows in the corners. She floated through the sleeping area and into her bathing area. He heard water flowing and he remembered that she'd had Baker's blood on her hand. She returned drying her hands with a towel.

"You have reports from Spock and Dr. McCoy, Kirk?"

He nodded. "You are from another dimension and have lived in our universe for 175 years, including time on earth. Are you able to return to your universe? Is travel between universes and times possible for humans?"

Aanora's emerald green eyes studied him as she sat down on the couch. Her attention focused on him affected him physically. He had the stomach-churning feeling that she was reading his mind somehow. He walked over to the couch but didn't sit down. He looked down at her, waiting.

She reached out and touched his hand lightly. "Rare to have breakthrough from another dimension unless directed intentionally, Kirk. What hit Ensign Baker's head came from another dimension but which?"

"How many are there?" Kirk sat next to Aanora on the couch.

She smiled. "I know not. I know of my home universe, this one we occupy, and four others. You wish to go to another universe?"

Kirk hesitated, his stomach feeling like a tight knot. "How can we stop breakthroughs without going to the dimension they come from to find out who is doing it?"

"I will help. But it is…possible sentient being responsible will come through."

"OK." Kirk frowned and took a deep breath. "What about time?"

"Time." Aanora's head dropped to the side a couple inches. "Each universe has own experience of time."

"OK. But what I'm thinking about is in this universe but on a different timeline."

"Different timeline is different universe." Aanora shook her head once. "Just tell me, Kirk."

"Almost thirty-two years ago, on the day I was born, a Romulan entered this universe through a singularity and changed the timeline."

"Yes, the Romulan Nero. Spock told me. This Nero created your timeline or universe you are in now."

"Does that other timeline still exist? A universe that continued into the future when Nero was born?"

He could see that she was thinking about what he'd asked, and he thought suddenly that she knew more about that other timeline, that other universe, than she had told them. Like the Old Spock had known.

"Why are you asking me these questions, Kirk? You think about the breakthrough against Baker?"

"I'm thinking," he said. But what was he thinking? Originally, he'd wanted to find Aanora to learn from an experienced and highly respected diplomat. The conditions of her existence and where she was from had opened up other possibilities he would never have imagined. He knew that he needed to know just how viable those other possibilities were, if he could take advantage of them. "I'm thinking about time travel, travel to another timeline, Aanora. Is it possible?"

"I see." She leaned back, relaxing into the couch. "To travel to past or future in same universe not possible. Nero entered singularity, and singularity act like wormhole between universes, and with his action he split off this time from the other timeline. My understanding from what Spock told me." She sighed. "But different universe? Possible. You want to know about the universe before Nero – if it continued and how it continued?"

He nodded. If it were a separate universe from the one he was in now, could he travel to it?

"Why? For what purpose, Kirk? You think maybe this is universe that breakthrough come from? Maybe someone there who knew Nero?"

"I don't know." He stood up and began pacing back and forth in front of the couch. "I guess it's as much a possibility as any other until we have more information. But I'm thinking of something else. I met the Vulcan that Nero was chasing, that also came through the singularity."

"Vulcan?"

He looked at her, thinking of the Old Spock, the Spock who'd saved his life on Vega, who'd known him in Old Spock's timeline, who'd told him that he'd known his father in that timeline. At the same time, he realized that he didn't want to tell her whom he'd met. His instinct told him that he needed to protect his Spock. Aanora didn't need to know.

"Yes. The Federation had sent a Vulcan to Romulus with the scientific means to stop the star from going super nova, but the Vulcan didn't arrive in time. Nero witnessed the destruction of Romulus when the star went super nova. He saw the Vulcan arrive and chased him into the singularity formed when the Vulcan attempted to stop the star's death. That was the Vulcan I met."

"I understand. You spoke with this Vulcan."

"He was in Starfleet once. He knew me in the other – his – universe."

Aanora's eyes widened in surprise. "He told you this?"

Kirk nodded. "Well, under the circumstances at the time…. Anyway, I asked him if I'd known my father in his universe and he said yes."

Aanora looked away from Kirk. "You wish to go to this universe to meet your father."

Kirk stood in front of her, thinking how absurd it sounded when she said it.

"Why, Kirk," she said so softly he almost didn't catch it.

Why. When he was a boy, he'd wanted to meet him to beat him up for leaving his mother, his brother and him. He'd thought he'd buried that anger until he'd met Christopher Pike. The dare to join Starfleet like his father Pike had issued him had challenged everything he'd thought about his father up to that point. Was he really like his father or different? At Starfleet Academy, he'd encountered George Kirk often, usually from a teacher who'd studied the last twelve minutes of the U.S.S. Kelvin as Pike had. He'd met a couple old teachers who had known his father, but not well. The anger re-surfaced when Nero had reappeared. Then he'd met the Old Spock. He'd thought a lot about what it must have been like for Spock to meet another version of himself that had come from another timeline. The Old Spock would not tell him about the Jim Kirk he'd known in his home timeline, or of what he knew of George Kirk in that timeline. Kirk just wanted some answers about who his father was, even in another timeline.

He turned back to Aanora. "I have questions."

"What have humans to offer the universe?" Her glittering green eyes remained on him.

"I'd put it a different way," he said.

"How?"

"What are we doing out here? Why did you join Starfleet and go to the Academy? Who are you?"

"A purpose." Aanora sighed. "What is the purpose of life? What is the purpose of experience? Why do what we do? Who are we to live?"

Yes, exactly, he thought. "I'd like to meet him, talk to him, get to know him. I've never known him." Anger burned his face. He controlled it. He didn't want her to refuse him because he was angry. He paced in front of her as she sat on the couch and watched him.

"You are a normal male human," Aanora announced. "One that has been deprived the experience of growing up with his father to guide him, with a father to rebel against, or with a father to befriend as an adult. Your anger about that is normal. You channeled it by joining Starfleet as your father did before you."

"Actually, I joined on a dare. Christopher Pike dared me to join. He was like a father to me. He believed in me."

Aanora's face lit up with a broad smile. "You know Christopher?"

Kirk stopped pacing, his stomach muscles clenched into a cold stone, and looked at her thinking that he really didn't want to be the one to tell her. "You knew Admiral Pike?" he said.

She nodded, her chiming laugh filled the room. "Long, long before he was Admiral. I knew him when he was cadet at Starfleet Academy. Now he is Admiral Christopher Pike." She sat for a moment, radiant, glowing, her attention focused in memory. "Has he a ship or is he at Starfleet Headquarters on earth?"

Kirk looked down at his feet, then out the windows at the stars. His chest tightened, and it was hard to breathe. The heavy words came one after another. "I'm sorry, Aanora, to tell you this. Admiral Pike was killed four years ago during an attack on Starfleet Headquarters by Khan Noonien Singh."

"Khan!" Aanora rose from the couch, her eyes wide. "Where is Khan now?"

He reached out and held her arms gently. "Returned to stasis. He'll sleep for a very, very long time, maybe never wake up. You knew him?"

"I knew of him." She frowned. "Christopher died?"

For the first time, Kirk sensed deep emotion coming from Aanora. Sorrow. He wanted to hold her, but he let go of her arms. "Yes. A terrible loss for all of us." He dared to look into her face.

To his astonishment, she was smiling and nodding. "A good man, Christopher Pike."

"A great man and friend. How did you meet him?"

"He came into coffee shop one day. He liked to study in coffee shop like many cadets. He drank plain black coffee and sometimes ate a cheese sandwich or a bagel. He loved banana chocolate chip muffins." She laughed, but there was no chiming joy in the sound. "He was my heart." She reached out and placed her right palm flat on his chest over his heart. "You want to meet your father."

Kirk nodded.

"This timeline you inhabit…." She gazed out the windows at the stars. "You are brave to ask me for this. We have only hours ago met."

"From what Mr. Spock told me, Sarek trusts you. What do I have to do to see my father?"

She was shaking her head. "You will see me but no one else will. When you wish to return, do this." She pinched the tip of her nose between her right thumb and forefinger. "I will retain contact with this time and place. Now. Are you certain?"

"Yes."

She placed her right palm on his forehead. "Close your eyes."

"Wait. What about the Jim Kirk in that timeline?"

"You will see him, too."

He hesitated for two seconds, then he closed his eyes.

Time Wrinkles

A bone-chilling cold enveloped his body and he shuddered. A deep silence pressed in on him from all directions, compressing his lungs. He felt nothing else – no movement, nothing. Then, the pressure released him like a fist opening.

With a deep gasp, Kirk opened his eyes. A stand of fragrant pine trees surrounded him. A cool breeze carried the scent of lake water on it. Above the trees, a seagull screamed. Through the trees, a clearing, and farther on, more fir, pine, aspen, and birch forest. The leaves on the aspen trees had turned a neon yellow. Aanora stepped away from him. She smiled.

"Jim! Jim? Where'd you get to?"

Aanora whispered, "His Jim explores in a different direction. He will think you are him."

"I'm here!" Kirk shouted. He examined the clothes on his body – red and black plaid wool jacket, a blue flannel shirt, blue jeans and brown boots – not his gold Starfleet uniform shirt and black pants.

The male voice had come from behind him. Kirk turned. A tall, lean man in his mid-60's weaved around the trees toward him. He wore a blue and green plaid flannel shirt with the sleeves turned up to the elbows, a brown leather vest, blue jeans, and rugged brown hiking boots. A shaft of sunlight through the trees illuminated him as he passed through it. Kirk noted dark blonde hair with gray at the temples, square jaw, small nose, and small eyes. Not his eyes. His mother had told him that he'd inherited her eyes. A photograph shimmered into his mind out of memory, a photo of his father that his mother had shown him when he was five? six? seven? and had angrily pushed away. The man approaching him was the man in that photo but older.

"Your mother didn't like it much that I wanted you all to myself. After all, it's rare that we're both on leave at the same time on earth. She's just as proud of you as I am, but she's not as interested in hearing about your life as captain of the U. S. S. Enterprise. I thought I saw you head in the other direction around the bay."

"I changed my mind," he said with a grin. "Mom always manages to find something to do to keep busy while we're gone, right? And Sam's home." He was guessing about his older brother Sam. The last time he'd heard from his mother, Sam had returned to earth to teach for a year at Princeton University. But that was his native universe.

His father gave him a puzzled look. "Didn't she tell you? Sam landed a research assignment on Deneva. He and Aurelan are leaving next week with the kids. They're packing up their things in Chicago."

Sam's married in this timeline? With children? Kirk smiled as his father stopped next to him and slapped him on the shoulder. He couldn't imagine Sam settled down enough to marry. His wife's name didn't sound familiar.

"Sam managed once again to wheedle a plum assignment," he said with a laugh.

"He's jealous of you," his father said, nodding his head for emphasis. "You're captain of Starfleet's flagship, exploring unknown space, seeing all kinds of planets, meeting all kinds of aliens. Sam's not interested in what I do, serving Starfleet as a Security Chief." His father squinted at him. "Why'd you join Starfleet anyway? I never saw that coming. This way. I know a place up high where we can see the full expanse of Lake Superior."

His father tramped off to the right and Kirk followed. Lake Superior. Northern Minnesota or northern Wisconsin, upper peninsula of Michigan. Not Iowa. His mother had not mentioned anything about his father liking to hike or where he may have gone hiking. He couldn't remember now why they'd lived in Iowa. He'd assumed that his father had grown up there. But maybe in this universe, his mother and father don't live in Iowa. They traversed the clearing and approached the forest line. A shadow passed over him and he looked up. In the sky above, Kirk spotted a hawk riding an updraft, hunting.

"Jim!"

He started. "What?"

"I don't remember you being such a dreamer."

"I've always been a dreamer," he said, stopping a couple yards from where his father stood just inside the forest line.

"You didn't answer my question."

"What question?"

His father laughed, shaking his head, crow's feet crinkling around his eyes. Kirk got the feeling that their conversations were often like this.

"The question, Jim, is – why'd you join Starfleet? I'm glad you did, but I thought your rebellious streak wouldn't fit in well with the Starfleet hierarchy and regulations."

"I thought you knew." Why was his father asking him the very question he wanted to ask him? He'd thought it would be harder to bring the conversation to this subject. "I joined because of you. To explore the stars. Why'd you join Starfleet?"

"Oh, yeah," his father said as he turned and began walking again. Was that a note of sarcasm in his voice? He couldn't tell. He didn't know this man well enough. If it were Bones McCoy, it would definitely have been sarcasm. Kirk trotted to catch up and walk next to him. "I guess I've never told you everything about that part. You know my parents served in Starfleet. Well, my father wanted me to be a lawyer or some other professional here on earth, but that turned out to be an unbearable idea to me. When I looked up at the night sky, I felt like the stars were calling me – I felt that I could make more of a contribution working in space than on earth. Somehow be a part of the Federation's mission of exploration and peace. And adventure, too. Your grandfather was disappointed. He knew a career in Starfleet offered opportunities and extreme danger. He tried to talk me into going to law school right up until the day I graduated from the Academy and received my first commission on the Alexandria. But wait a minute -" His father stopped and grabbed his arm.

Kirk could see Aanora beyond his father. She watched them. Kirk said, "You didn't want to find out what humans were doing in the universe? Why we exist? Do we actually have anything to contribute that's worthwhile or valuable? You know, what are we doing exploring the stars?"

His father studied him, his face, as if he'd never seen him before. He suddenly pulled Kirk to him in a fierce hug. When his father spoke, his voice sounded choked with emotion. "I'm proud of you, Jim. I'm proud to be your father, proud you found your way and that Starfleet gave you the direction you needed." He relaxed his grip on Kirk and stepped back, his hands still holding Kirk's arms. "As for the other questions, did I ever tell you about the woman I met when I was a cadet at the Academy?"

"Woman?" Caught off guard, shocked and discomfited by his father's emotion, Kirk's words stumbled out. "You said you dated, but no one really came close to Mom. Was there someone else?"

"No, no. Winona is my heart." Kirk stared at his father, again startled to his core. He'd heard Aanora say that about Christopher Pike – "He was my heart."

"Come on. The bluff is just up here." His father led the way into the forest, and Kirk realized they were following a hiking trail that sloped upward. His father didn't say anything more until they reached the top of a cliff overlooking Lake Superior. In his own timeline, he'd never seen this lake, had never been curious about what lay beyond Riverside, Iowa, until he met Uhura in that bar and then Christopher Pike. The lake stretched to the horizon, an inland sea. Far to the right, he spotted a ship.

"Hey, I didn't know that there were still ships on the lake." He pointed in the ship's direction. "Where is that one going?"

His father shaded his eyes with one hand in the dazzling lake's reflected sunlight. "Looks like it's sailing east, away from us. So I'd guess it's on its way to the Atlantic. Don't you remember going to Duluth and seeing the ships in the harbor there when you were young?"

Maybe the Jim Kirk in this timeline would remember that, but it hadn't happened to him. He felt the sting of jealousy for the other Jim Kirk's life. He'd grown up with this father who was so warm and open with his pride in him, his love. To hide his discomfort he said, "What woman?"

"Oh, yeah." His father laughed, a short exhalation that rumbled. "The existential questions. When I was a cadet - I think it was my third year - I found a coffee shop not far from the Academy campus. There was a waitress in that coffee shop, I think her name was Anna or Annie. The wisest human being I've ever met. Yeah, Annie. I used to entertain her with Irish blessings and sayings that I'd heard as a kid from my grandfather, and she loved that my father's name was Tiberius." His father brushed some brown leaves off a boulder and sat down facing the lake. Kirk sat cross-legged on the ground next to the boulder.

"She really liked the one – did I ever tell you this one? – 'May the wind always be at your back. May the sun shine warm on your face.' There's more to it, I think, but I don't remember. I haven't thought of that in a long time." He shook his head, his eyes on the lake. "Look, there's a hawk." He pointed to a bird soaring above the water.

Kirk said, "May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind always be at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, and rains fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the palm of His hand."

"Yes! That's it! Annie loved that. It's an old Irish blessing for luck, I think. I did tell you." His father looked down at him, grinning.

"Mom told me. She said it was a favorite of yours." This was a fact in his universe, and he had no idea if it were true in his father's. "Mom liked this song I heard at the Academy." He sang the only verse he remembered, but he'd never forget the melody, although he hadn't thought of it since the Academy.

"Bob Dylan!" His father tapped his shoulder. "That's a Bob Dylan song." And he sang in a rich baritone another verse to the same melody. The words wished for truth, lights, courage, and strength for the listener, and to remain forever young. His father smiled at him. "I couldn't say it any better, what my wish has always been for you. And to know Bob Dylan songs, of course."

As he shook his head in disbelief, Kirk studied his father's smiling face thinking how lucky the Jim Kirk of this universe was. For this moment, just one moment, he felt his father's pride in him, his love, but couldn't help wonder if his father had survived in his universe, if he would have felt the same about him.

His father grasped his shoulder and squeezed as his expression turned thoughtful. "Winona used to write all the Irish blessings down."

"She kept them. I saw them once." Looking down, Kirk noticed movement in the trees close to the lake shore. A man emerged from the trees, and he realized that it was this universe's Jim Kirk wearing a red and black plaid jacket, blue jeans and brown boots, the exact same clothes he was wearing. How had Aanora changed his clothes to match this universe's Jim Kirk's clothes? He didn't want his father to look down and see his Jim Kirk. Or for that Jim Kirk to look up. "Maybe we should start back?"

His father looked up at the pristine blue sky darkening to a dusty blue in the east, turned 180 degrees to check the sun's position approaching the western horizon. "You're right."

Kirk stood with his back to the lake in front of his father to prevent him from looking down at his Jim Kirk. His father took one last look at the lake, grunted as if in response to something the lake had said to him, then stepped back around the boulder to the hiking trail. Kirk followed him. He spotted Aanora about thirty yards down the trail, hovering next to a thick-trunked pine with dead lower branches. She stared at the pine's trunk. Kirk followed her gaze and saw two sapphire blue crystals or stones embedded in the trunk at about his height. But Aanora's alarmed expression indicated they were much more than stones to her. But why would blue stones alarm her?

"One day, I asked Annie if she knew why human beings existed in the universe," his father said, picking up his story. "At first, she laughed. But she wasn't laughing at me. It was like she took great pleasure in the question and that I had asked it." He glanced over his shoulder at Kirk. "Annie radiated this incredibly warm, soothing energy. I always felt better after talking with her, being in her presence, no matter what we talked about."

"Did she have an answer?" Kirk's eyes were on Aanora who examined the two stones in the pine tree bark. They had almost reached her.

"Yeah. She said, 'Why not?' At first, I didn't get what she was saying. And she wouldn't elaborate further. She just smiled, shrugged her shoulders, and said 'Why not?'"

"Why not human beings in the universe? Like random selection?"

"No, well, yes but no. You'd had to know her, I guess. I thought about it, and the next time I was in the coffee shop, I asked her if human beings existed in the universe for no other reason than simply to exist, what was the purpose of that existence?"

"Same question."

"Yeah, but this time she answered, 'Curiosity. Exploration. To experience and to learn.' Then she asked me if I had any non-human friends at the Academy, and if I'd talked with them about their life experiences."

They were feet away from Aanora on the hiking trail. Kirk could see the sapphire stones in the pine tree trunk clearly now. They looked like unmoving, dead, eyes.

His father continued. "She talked about the importance of putting myself in someone else's skin to understand the other person better. I remembered she laughed and told me that would be especially helpful with my diplomacy class that I wasn't doing very well in at the time. What I got from the whole conversation was that sentient beings, not only human beings but every sentient being, existed in the universe to experience life, to learn, and to share life and experience. And that true curiosity and imagination were crucial in diplomacy."

"What about the Klingons? I don't think they'd agree with that philosophy." Kirk reached out and touched Aanora's arm as he passed her. She glanced at him, nodded.

"Well, I wonder what would happen if Klingons and humans ever sat down and started talking about their lives? What was important to them, what their dreams were."

Kirk laughed. "That'll be the day. Klingons don't strike me as being interested in talking to us."

"But Klingons do have a belief system that organizes their society and their lives." His father had increased his pace going downhill and stopped to wait for Kirk to catch up. "Annie never said it, but I think she wanted me to ask what we all have in common with each other."

"You mean the purpose is to find the commonalities, not the differences?"

Up ahead and below, at what Kirk thought must be the beginning of the trail where he'd first met his father, a male voice was shouting, but he couldn't make out the words. His father heard it, too, and turned toward the sound.

"That's weird," his father said. He looked at Kirk. "You're here with me."

With a mental jolt, Kirk realized the shouting voice belonged to this universe's Jim Kirk, and at the same time, another realization made him reach out to his father, grasp his arm. It was too late to leave without his father knowing that he was not of his universe.

"Dad," the word felt strange in Kirk's mouth. "You've helped me more than you can possibly know. Thank you. You need to go down the trail without me now." Kirk let go of his father's arm and pinched the tip of his nose as Aanora had shown him. She was beside him, encircling him with her cloak.

His father frowned at him. "What's going - ?"

"Close your eyes," Aanora whispered in his ear.

Kirk looked at his father, his bewildered face as the bone-chilling cold cascaded over him. The silent pressure on his entire body returned. His lungs couldn't move. He thought this time he'd suffocate.

Deception

The cold pressure released and Kirk gasped for breath. When he opened his eyes, Aanora stood in front of him. They had returned to her quarters. He wore his Starfleet uniform again. A red light pulsed through the room. It took only a second for Kirk to register the meaning of that light.

"Something's wrong. I need to go to the bridge."

When he stepped off the turbolift onto the Enterprise's bridge, he found Spock sitting in the command chair and the bridge crew concentrated on their duties. The red light pulsed around the bridge. Tension crackled through the air.

"Ensign, have they targeted us?" Spock said in a stern voice.

"Report, Mr. Spock," Kirk said as he reached the command chair.

"We have arrived at the coordinates for the meeting with the Orion and the Ferengi, Captain. There is a Ferengi vessel located in the Neutral Zone and a Romulan Bird-of-Prey has fired on it," Spock said as he relinquished command to Kirk. "We have hailed both vessels. Neither has responded."

Kirk shifted his attention to the forward viewing screen. A Romulan Bird-of-Prey faced a tiny Ferengi vessel, an eagle facing down a tick. "How far inside the Neutral Zone are they?"

Lieutenant Sulu replied, "Fifty kilometers, sir."

"Kilometers? And the Romulans took exception to that? The Ferengi could have had a navigation malfunction and strayed into the Neutral Zone by mistake. Hail the Romulans, Lieutenant Uhura."

"I have been, Captain. They haven't – wait. Now they are replying, Captain."

"On screen."

The all too familiar angular lines of a Romulan face appeared on the forward viewing screen. Kirk's stomach lurched at the sight of it, the memory of Nero rising like bile in his mind. He wondered if he'd ever understand the duality of Romulan and Vulcan, two races that had descended from the same ancestors. He'd seen Spock lose control of his emotions, so he knew that the duality existed inside each Vulcan. But he wondered if the same duality – could there be logic and good? – existed inside each Romulan. This Romulan Commander stared at them with unusually large sapphire blue eyes that glittered. They reminded him of the sapphire blue stones embedded in the pine tree trunk in his father's universe, the stones Aanora had been staring at. And if they were emerald green instead of sapphire, they'd look exactly like Aanora's eyes.

"I'm James T. Kirk, Captain of the Federation starship U. S. S. Enterprise. How may we be of assistance?"

"I am Nelar, Commander of the Dagitar of the Romulan Star Empire. I appreciate your offer, Captain, but we have the situation under control. This Ferengi ship has not been able to explain to our satisfaction its presence in the Neutral Zone."

"Perhaps the Ferengi strayed into the Neutral Zone by mistake."

"That's what they claim."

"These things happen, Commander Nelar." Kirk felt a whisper of a breeze next to him. Aanora stood there, her hand on his arm, but her eyes focused on Nelar. Recognition lit her expression.

He thought of something his father had said, something about imagine being in someone else's skin to better understand them, their motivations and desires and life. He shifted in the command chair. Nelar had not responded. Kirk said, "Commander, the Federation respects the boundaries set by the Neutral Zone as does the Romulan Star Empire. The Ferengi are provisional members of the Federation, not full members. The Federation has found that dealing with the Ferengi and their technology requires patience, as I believe you have seen in this situation. They have much to learn. We need to give them room to learn."

Nelar nodded, a smile on his lips but not in his stone eyes. He stepped back, allowing the Enterprise bridge crew to see his resplendent Romulan Commander's uniform of bronze metallic material with its straight horizontal shoulders and long tunic. "You have reassured me, Captain Kirk, that we are in agreement about this straying Ferengi ship. I think we can deal with it on our own."

"Commander Nelar, I'd like to know your reason for being – "

The view screen went dark.

"Lieutenant?"

Uhura worked at her console. "Transmission ended by the Romulans, sir. The Ferengi ship is hailing us."

"On screen, Lieutenant."

Damon Tal appeared on the forward view screen. "Kirk! Do something! The Romulans fired on us!"

Kirk smiled. "It's OK, Damon Tal. I've spoken with the Romulan commander. What are you doing in the Neutral Zone, and where are the Orions?"

"We didn't know we were in the Neutral Zone. The border curves back and forth in this sector. As for the Orions, they have not arrived. I suspect they will not. I suspect – "

The view screen went dark at the same time that Sulu shouted, "Captain, the Romulans fired again! Direct hit on the Ferengi ship."

"What?" Kirk leaned forward in the command chair. "On screen!"

Mar'Qwart at Navigation said, "We're working on it. There's some sort of dampening field blocking – "

The view screen burst to life showing the Bird-of-Prey firing on the Ferengi ship which exploded into a massive fireball. Next to him, Aanora stepped forward lifting her arms in a curve as if holding a giant ball. At the same time, she intoned strange words that Kirk didn't understand.

"Captain," Sulu said. "The Bird-of-Prey is – disappearing, sir. The Narada never did that."

"The Narada was not a Bird-of-Prey, Mr. Sulu," Spock said.

On the forward view screen, Kirk watched the Bird-of-Prey shimmer and dissolve into space. To the right, the debris field from the Ferengi ship scattered for hundreds of kilometers into the Neutral Zone. His eyes rested on Aanora who continued to whisper strange words.

"He didn't have to do that," Kirk said, standing up from the command chair. "Hail the Romulan, Uhura." He reached down to punch the communication button on the command chair arm. "Scotty, status of shields."

"One hundred percent, Captain," came Mr. Scott's quick reply.

Spock's voice cut through the tension in the air. "The Romulans intended provocation, Captain."

Kirk looked at Spock. Their eyes met. After a moment, Kirk nodded. "How did they know the Ferengis would be here? How did they know we would be here?"

"Kirk." Aanora spoke softly but it sounded like a shout in his ear.

"Aanora, you don't need to be on the bridge. In fact, it might be better if you – "

She raised her hand, palm out. "The Romulan ship departs."

Kirk studied her. He knew she had abilities that went far beyond what a normal human possessed. "You sense them?"

"I see them."

Spock stepped up behind the command chair. "Their cloaking device has a flaw? A hole of some kind? Perhaps the engine emits visible waste from its processes?"

Kirk punched the comm link on his command chair again. "Mr. Scott. What can you tell me about the Romulan propulsion system? Is there a way we can track them when they're cloaked?"

"The Romulans have a cloaking device?" Scott's voice squeaked with excitement through the communications system. "Like the Suliban cloaking system? Hang on." Scott's silence lasted only seconds. "We can configure the sensors to pick up the ion trail the Bird-of-Prey's engines emit. I think."

"What do you mean, 'I think,' Scotty?"

"It's theoretical."

"We need the sensor capability and we need it now, Scotty. Spock?"

Spock had already started for the science station when he stopped, turned, and looked at Aanora. "I believe Aanora could help us, Captain."

Kirk studied Aanora. "Do you have the ability to give us a heading, Aanora?"

Aanora glided to stand at Sulu's controls. She opened her palms over the controls. "Yes, Kirk. I have given the helm what I know."

Sulu's hands flew over his console. "The heading is 356 mark 2, Captain. It looks like they're on their way to Starbase 23."

"Pursuit, Mr. Sulu." Kirk said and turned to Lt. Uhura at her station. "Shipwide, Lieutenant."

"You have it, sir."

Kirk turned back to the forward viewing screen which showed a black field of stars. "This is the captain. Battle stations. This is not a drill. Battle stations. We are in pursuit of a Romulan Bird-of-Prey that destroyed without provocation a defenseless Ferengi ship, and has entered Federation space."

When he turned, Kirk saw Spock and Aanora facing each other behind the command chair. "Aanora, what were you doing? Why did you raise your arms and speak those strange words? How can you see the Bird-of-Prey?"

"The Commander of that starship is not Romulan."

Spock's eyebrow rose. "Aanora, are you saying that Commander Nelar is disguised as a Romulan and the Romulan crew do not know?"

"He has taken the form of a Romulan."

"What is he?" Kirk said.

"He is as I am, Kirk," she said. "I saw his mark in the other timeline."

"What other timeline?" Spock asked, looking at Kirk.

"I'll tell you about it later, Spock. Nelar is from your native dimension, Aanora?"

"Yes."

"But," Kirk frowned.

"Captain," Spock said. "Where were you before? You were not in your quarters."

Aanora placed her hand close to Spock's arm without touching him, respecting the Vulcan physical boundary, but her eyes never left Kirk. "I think Nelar hurt Ensign Baker."

"He's responsible for incursions into our dimension? But how could he do that from another dimension and be the commander of a Romulan Bird-of-Prey now in this dimension?" Kirk said.

Spock looked from Aanora to Kirk. His facial expression remained neutral but his eyebrows had lowered over his eyes in concern. "Aanora, do you know Nelar? Why would he be in our universe commanding a starship?"

"I think the real question here, Spock," Kirk said, "is what does Nelar want?"

Aanora smiled. "Good, Kirk. No, Spock, I do not know Nelar in the sense that you mean. I know his eyes. They are a sign of mutation – I think that is the word. A change in form due to a natural occurrence or need. I have been away from my universe for a long time, both in terms of time there and here. Before I left, research into the mutation had begun. It was rare but disturbing because with it came a need for external power and control unnatural to my kind."

"A deviation," Spock said. "Could Nelar have left your universe in order to satisfy his need for power in ours, Aanora?"

The turbolift doors snicked open. Dr. McCoy entered the bridge and headed straight for Kirk. "What's going on, Jim? The Romulans have invaded Federation space?"

"One Bird-of-Prey, Bones. Headed for Starbase 23."

Uhura joined them. Sulu and Mar'Qwart turned their chairs to face the discussion that had been going on behind them. A moment later the turbolift opened again to disgorge Mr. Scott.

"You now have sensors, Captain." Scott said as he joined the group around Kirk.

"Excellent, Scotty. Mr. Sulu, has the Bird-of-Prey changed its course?" Kirk said.

Sulu checked his console. "No, sir."

"We need to stop it. Uhura, notify Starbase 23 that a Romulan Bird-of-Prey is heading toward it. And then notify Starfleet Command. Include the visual record from when we first arrived at the meeting coordinates to when the Bird-of-Prey cloaked. Thank you. Mr. Sulu, how long before we catch up with the Romulan?"

"I…" Sulu worked the helm controls. "It was there, Captain, but now it's gone."

"Interesting," Spock said. "Perhaps the cloaking capability has stages and it was only partially cloaked before. Now it's totally cloaked."

"I would love to get my hands on that cloaking device," Scotty said.

"Continue on course to Starbase 23, Mr. Sulu. Warp 2," Kirk said. "I don't like that we have another renegade Romulan in Federation space. Or a possible renegade from another dimension posing as a Romulan."

A heavy silence hung over the bridge crew. Although years had passed since Nero's incursion, none of them had forgotten.

"We have reached their last known position, sir," Sulu said.

"All stop." Kirk sat in the command chair. "Forward screen."

The forward viewing screen showed black space studded with stars. Kirk thought that some of those far stars were actually galaxies. Could Aanora have the power to travel to them as easily as she had travelled to a different universe?

"Captain." Sulu's voice held a warning. "Two ships. Rear starboard. Rear port. They appeared from nowhere, sir."

All eyes focused on the forward view screen as the stars in the center shimmered and disappeared. A Bird-of-Prey became visible.

"Are the two other ships Romulan?"

"Yes, sir. We're surrounded by Birds-of-Prey."

"They are hailing us, Captain," Uhura said.

"On screen."

Nelar's face filled the view screen. "That was easy. Thank you, Captain, for doing exactly what I wanted you to do," he said. "You are surrounded, Captain Kirk. Our weapons are superior. Surrender and you and your crew will be transported to the M class planet in this system. You have one earth hour to prepare your crew." The view screen went dark.

Silence on the bridge. Even Bones had nothing to say. Kirk stared at the Bird-of-Prey on the forward viewing screen, thinking this situation reminded him of something in his past. Could they summon reinforcements? Would there be any other Federation starships in this sector? What did this situation remind him of?

"Uhura?" Kirk said without taking his eyes off the forward viewing screen where the Romulan Bird-of-Prey seemed to hang in space with the stars.

"I don't know how they're doing it, sir, but they are jamming us on all frequencies."

"Spock?"

"It would appear the Romulans have the advantage, Captain."

"But they're not all Romulans. Nelar isn't Romulan. What does he want?"

"The Enterprise," Bones offered.

"I'm not about to just hand her over, Bones. Spock, what do we know about this system?"

"We are on its periphery, Captain. One star, 1.5 times the magnitude of earth's Sol. Ten planets, the fourth and fifth can sustain life. The fourth is the M class planet."

"Mar'Qwart, how close are we to Starbase 23?"

"Six hours at warp 5, Captain."

"Mr. Scott, I think we need a diversion."

"What kind of diversion?"

"Something that will give us the time to get out of this - " Kirk flashed on his disciplinary hearing before the entire Academy the hour before Starfleet received Vulcan's message that they were under attack by Nero. Kobayashi Maru. The Enterprise was in the same position but instead of commanding the starship charged with saving it, he was the trapped captain. He glanced at Spock, half-expecting the Vulcan to ask him if he was afraid.

"Something," Scotty said in a slow, thoughtful voice, "that will keep them busy while we make a run for it? Aye, I'll see what I can do." But Mr. Scott's eyes as they met Kirk's looked grim. He stepped over to the bridge's engineering station.

Kirk noticed Aanora standing still behind Sulu facing the front view screen. She was smiling. "Aanora, why are you smiling?"

She half-turned so her emerald green eyes could look him full in the face. "We now know what Nelar wants. This ship. What do you think, Kirk?"

He stared at her, a niggling feeling at the back of his neck. "To capture the Enterprise would be a huge accomplishment for any Romulan Commander. Is he following orders or is he operating on his own? And why, if Nelar isn't Romulan, is he acting like one?"

Spock nodded slowly. "In order to gain Romulan cooperation."

"What do Romulans expect a Federation captain to do?" Aanora said.

"I don't know. What do we know about Romulans?" Kirk addressed the entire bridge.

Aanora smiled.

Mar'Qwart said, "They have a strong military. Their government may be run by the military."

"They are devious," Sulu said. "And disciplined."

"Their language reveals them to be highly intelligent," Uhura said. "But their grammar is rigid in comparison to Vulcan grammar, for example. It fits a hierarchical culture."

Kirk listened, taking in the information, looking for a clue to what might give them an edge. He couldn't reconcile Nelar appearing as a Romulan with Nelar not being a Romulan. Why would Nelar want the Enterprise? For the Romulans to cooperate with him. To do what?

"If the Enterprise capture is to gain cooperation from Romulans, what does Nelar really want?" Kirk said slowly. "Let's find out. Hail them, Uhura."

Nelar replaced the Bird-of-Prey in space on the front view screen. He smiled, bowing his head briefly as if acknowledging an equal. "Have you made your preparations, Captain?"

Before Kirk could answer, Aanora whispered again, raising her arms and then fluttering her hands before her body. Nelar's sapphire eyes moved suddenly to her.

"You are on that ship!" Nelar said, his mouth moving into a sneer. "Captain Kirk, release the criminal Aanora to me, and I will allow you and your ship to leave in peace."

Kirk, stunned, looked away from the view screen and down at the panel on the arm of his command chair. He pressed one of the buttons. He smiled, and looked up again at Nelar. "Aanora is on my ship of her own free will, and she can leave or stay as she wishes. In our universe, she is a highly respected diplomat."

"Diplomat." Nelar spit out the word. "Aanora, if you wish to spare the Federation the loss of its starship and its crew, you will come with me."

"I doubt the Federation would want to lose you, Aanora," Kirk said. "We went to a lot of trouble to find you again."

Nelar's forehead furrowed as he frowned. "You sought her." His expression changed in an instant and he laughed. "I sent you to find her, Captain. The Ferengi and the Orions were working for me."

"What the devil?" Scotty said.

Sulu and Mar'Qwart exchanged a glance. Spock studied the forward view screen, one eyebrow raised.

Kirk's gaze remained on Aanora. He felt the tension in the air around him and knew he needed to stay focused, not react to Nelar's provocation. The Kobayashi Maru had not had a passenger like Aanora. Could she provide the diversion they needed?

Aanora smiled at Kirk, then surveyed the bridge. No one could have looked more unconcerned in that moment, as if she already knew the outcome.

"Of what crime is Aanora accused?" said Spock, stepping to the back of the command chair.

"A crime in our dimension, not yours," Nelar said. "We have our own justice system."

Kirk noticed the Romulan bridge crew, those he could see on the screen, were looking at each other in confusion. "And what do the Romulans think of you masquerading as one of them to commandeer a ship and illegally enter Federation space? Do they truly comprehend what they have done under your command?"

Aanora smiled at him and nodded. But then she turned to the view screen. "Nelar, leave those of this universe out of this. If you want me, you must capture me yourself." She disappeared.

Simultaneously, Nelar disappeared from the Bird-of-Prey's bridge.

The Enterprise rocked and bumped and rolled and spun with the violence of being hit over and over by a graviton wave. Dr. McCoy flew ten feet to the floor from where he had stood near the command chair. Anything unsecured went flying through the air, hitting heads or crashing into walls and floor. The bridge crew clung to their control panels. Those in chairs activated their seat restraints and silvery black belts snaked over their shoulders and down to lock under the seat arms.

"This turbulence, Captain," Scotty yelled from the bridge engineering station. "I can't do anything to stop the ship from - "

"Hang on, Scotty. What's causing this turbulence? Spock?"

Spock was bent over his science station console, reading the images on the monitor while gripping the console's edge. One hard toss nearly shook him loose and he dropped to his knees. He scrambled to climb into a nearby chair which rocked toward his science station. He activated the restraints on the chair then grabbed the science station console and pulled himself back to it. Spock glanced at Kirk. "The turbulence is as if waves of energy were colliding around us, Captain."

"Captain, we're being hailed by the Romulans," Uhura said.

"Thank you, Lieutenant. On screen." The turbulence rocked him against the restraining belts, bruising his shoulders and chest. Others on the bridge were doing the same thing in their chairs. When he looked at the view screen, he saw the Romulans were experiencing the same turbulence.

"Captain," the Romulan standing at the center of the Romulan bridge said. He held onto a buttress and his words came out in jerks. "I am Katang, second in command. We thought you had fired on us, but I see you are experiencing the turbulence."

"Katang, I suggest…now would be a good time for you and the two other Birds-of-Prey to leave. You were deceived into entering Federation space. We were also deceived. We will allow you to return to Romulan space and go in peace." He paused to see if his words had gotten through to the Romulan who was having difficulty maintaining a vertical position. "Are you able to maneuver your ship?"

Katang turned to his right and spoke quickly in Romulan. Kirk glanced back at Uhura who nodded. She could hear him. "He's telling them to tell the other two Romulan Birds-of-Prey to leave, Captain."

Kirk smiled as Katang turned back to the view screen. "Our ships are undamaged, Captain. We accept your offer and will depart now for Romulan space."

The view screen reverted to the image of the Bird-of-Prey in space, and they could see it being tossed around like a toy. Kirk imagined the other two Birds-of-Prey were doing the same thing. As they watched, the Bird-of-Prey managed to turn away from its position in front of the Enterprise and crawl away. The other two Romulan ships followed at a similar pace.

"Spock, source of the energy?"

"Unknown, Captain. I would speculate that what we are experiencing relates to the disappearances of Aanora and Nelar. The turbulence began with their disappearance."

Dr. McCoy was sitting on the floor not far from the command chair, bumping up and down. "It's like a couple of cats fighting."

"A rift between dimensions, Spock?"

The Vulcan frowned, his eyes focused inward. "We have insufficient data to make a specific determination, Captain."

"Oh, that's brilliant, Spock," McCoy said, his voice shaking with his body.

The ship convulsed as if hit by a massive wave and spun like a car rolling down a hill. Dr. McCoy went flying again, hitting first the ceiling then the floor a few seconds later where he grabbed the base of Sulu's helm control station and hung on. Mr. Scott also went flying, landing across the bridge from where he'd begun. Mar'Qwart grabbed him as he was flung up and held on. Spock, in a rolling chair, also went flying but not as far, weighed down by the chair. He managed to turn the chair so it landed on its side, avoiding serious injury.

What felt like hours was actually only minutes. Finally, the ship stopped moving and hung in space as if limp and dead. Lights flickered on the bridge then remained on. There were groans and curses as the bridge crew assessed the damage, both to the ship and themselves.

Kirk, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand, punched the comm link on his command chair. "All stations, report to your department heads." He punched it off. "Mr. Mar'Qwart, where are we?"

Mar'Qwart let go of Scotty, who slipped to the floor. "I don't know, sir. One moment." Mar'Qwart's paw-like hands flew over his console. "Sir. It looks like we have been flung halfway to Starbase 23 from where we were. Sir."

Kirk smiled. "Thank you. Scotty, are you all right? Bones?"

Mr. Scott used Mar'Qwart's console to pull himself into a standing position. "I dunno, but I doubt it's nothing a large bottle of Scotch won't take care of." He limped over to the bridge engineering section, rubbing the top of his head.

Dr. McCoy, on his hands and knees next to Sulu's helm control looked up at Kirk. "So this is your idea of fun, Jim?" He got to his feet. "I'll be bruised and sore for weeks but I don't think anything's broken. I'm going to Sick Bay to check on the rest of the crew unless someone needs me here." He looked around the bridge but no one spoke. "Fine. I think Starbase 23 sounds like a good idea, don't you?" he said pointedly to Kirk.

"Can't argue with that. Mr. Sulu, Starbase 23, please."

Uhura stepped down from communications. "Captain, what about Aanora?"

Departures

Kirk turned to Uhura. "She gave us the diversion we – and the Romulans – needed to escape that situation."

"She acted in a surprisingly undiplomatic way," Spock said. He stepped over to Uhura and briefly grasped her hand. "As you might have acted, Captain."

"Are you suggesting, Mr. Spock, that I've had some sort of influence on Aanora?"

"As she has had on you, sir."

Kirk stared at Spock. He could never tell when the Vulcan was joking. Spock wasn't smiling, not even when he looked down at Uhura next to him. He decided Spock was being serious. "Perhaps, Mr. Spock," he said.

"I have a course plotted to return to where we were, sir," Mar'Qwart said. "We could go back for her."

Kirk released his shoulder restraints and stood up, swaying a little. His head spun for a moment but then the floor felt solid again under his feet. "Thank you, Ensign, but I think Aanora will be able to find us wherever we choose to go. Right. It's Starbase 23." He turned to Spock. "Mr. Spock, I promised you an explanation. I'm hungry and could use a drink. Let's go have a talk. Mr. Sulu, you have the com." He headed for the turbolift. "We will be in the galley."

As they walked along the corridor to the galley, Kirk thought about what he was going to say. Spock would not be pleased. The Vulcan had had his own out-of-time experiences, however. Old Spock and he had enjoyed a close, warm friendship although Old Spock refused to tell his younger version much about his life. Spock had had his issues with his father also. He and Spock had been through Nero and Khan and Krall together, and he'd learned that it could be difficult to shock the Vulcan. He realized suddenly that he relied on Spock for just that characteristic, that ability to hold his emotions in check and view whatever was going on with a level of dispassion and objectivity Kirk found difficult to achieve. He was also the best science officer in Starfleet. Kirk felt certain that Spock would be documenting their experience with Aanora and thinking about its implications for a long time. But Spock would not be pleased that he'd left the ship without telling anyone.

When they were seated in the galley, Kirk with his club sandwich and beer and Spock with his Telarian tea, Kirk said, "When you couldn't find me in my quarters, I was with Aanora."

"Aanora was not in her quarters, either."

"I know. I asked Aanora to take me to the universe where my father was alive so I could meet and talk with him."

Spock grew so still, Kirk wondered if he were still breathing.

"I wanted to see what kind of a man he was." Kirk polished off the first half of his sandwich and took a swallow of beer.

"She agreed to take you?" Spock sounded like he didn't believe him.

"Yes, after we talked about it. I don't know how she knew, Spock, but she took me to a moment on earth when he was hiking with his Jim Kirk but they were separated. I didn't know he liked to hike or even liked the outdoors. He told me that his father had tried to talk him out of joining Starfleet even though both his parents served. He talked about Mom, about my brother Sam – who was married with children in that universe – and why he joined Starfleet." Kirk took another swallow of beer before starting in on the other half of his sandwich.

Spock spoke so softly Kirk almost didn't hear him. "He answered all your questions?"

Kirk shook his head, no. "While I was talking to him it was the strangest feeling. I never knew him, but here he was, sitting next to me, comfortable and relaxed and natural, talking about the Irish blessings he used to tell Mom. She wrote them down. She told me some of them when I was young. There was this…connection. My father in that universe loved Irish blessings just like my father in this universe. He just didn't have the time to tell her as many as he did in the other universe."

"Why did he join Starfleet?" Spock asked. He was staring into his Telarian tea.

Kirk chewed the bite of sandwich and swallowed before answering. "He wanted to explore the stars, and he believed in Starfleet's and the Federation's mission of peaceful exploration."

"I wonder why his Jim Kirk joined Starfleet?" Spock sipped his tea.

Kirk looked at his friend as he chewed another bite. "Old Spock never told me. I thought of asking him, but decided he probably wouldn't tell me. Like he wouldn't tell you about his life."

"You didn't meet his Jim Kirk?"

"No! I didn't want to meet him. I just wanted to meet my father. When it looked like his Jim was going to catch up with us, I signaled Aanora it was time to leave."

"Aanora was there the entire time?"

"Yes, but she gave us privacy. I don't think she heard anything we were talking about."

Spock nodded slowly. "She did not reveal herself to your father."

"No. If he'd seen her, he might have known that we weren't from his time." Kirk finished his sandwich just as a hail came over communications for him. Kirk rose from the table and went over to the communications panel. "Kirk."

"Captain," Mr. Sulu said. "You are wanted on the bridge."

Kirk glanced at Spock who had picked up their glasses and his sandwich plate to carry them over to the disposal unit. "On our way," Kirk said.

He and Spock stepped off the turbolift to find the bridge crew in high spirits, talking and laughing. The reason stood in the center of the bridge: Aanora. She was demonstrating something that appeared to be a kind of martial art. Kirk plopped down in the command chair.

"I had a feeling we'd see you again," he said to her with a smile.

Aanora bowed her head to him. "I needed a ride home to the Reederian 7 system."

The bridge erupted in laughter. Even Spock smiled, Kirk noticed.

"We're happy to give you a ride. What happened to Nelar?"

"He is safe back in his native universe and will not bother any other universes again."

Kirk heard the turbolift doors open and glanced back to see Bones enter the bridge. The doctor smiled when he saw Aanora, but he took up a position next to the command chair as Spock had.

"Mr. Sulu, how long would it take us to return Aanora to her home planet?"

"About two days at maximum warp, sir."

"Plot a course to the Reederian 7 system, Mr. Mar'Qwart. Let's take Aanora home." Kirk smiled. "Aanora, we experienced a lot of turbulence after you left us. Do you know anything about that?"

"The turbulence was caused by an opening between the two universes. Nelar tried to pull me into our native universe and I resisted." She smiled as if remembering a particularly pleasant experience. "Then I stopped resisting and we fell into the other universe. Elders were waiting for us. They knew of Nelar's escape. They took him. I learned from them that our scientists had discovered the cause of the mutation, but many of those affected by the mutation had refused treatment, including Nelar."

"They have a right to live as they are," Spock said.

"As your father taught me long ago, Spock." Aanora nodded. "The Elders struggled with what to do. They do not believe in having power and control over others."

"You chose to return to this universe," Kirk said in as even a tone as he could.

"It is my home now," Aanora said.

During the next 48 hours as they sped to the Reederian 7 system, Aanora spent most of her time in her quarters, and those on the Enterprise crew who wished to speak with her visited her there. Each had his or her own reason for the visit. Ensign Baker stopped by to thank her for her kindness when he'd been hit on the head in the corridor. He thought she may be able to explain what had happened to him, and she did. Friends visited her as well as lovers to seek her help in resolving their disputes. Dr. McCoy stopped by to check on her wellbeing.

"I am well, Doctor. Thank you for checking on me." Aanora gestured him into her quarters.

"No ill effects from your fight with Nelar?" Dr. McCoy stepped a few feet inside and stood facing her.

"None."

"No ill effects from being involved with us?"

Aanora laughed her wind chime laugh. "I have enjoyed every minute."

"Don't be a stranger." McCoy smiled, reaching out to take her hand.

"'Don't be a stranger'? What does this mean?"

"It means, visit often and stay long."

"Ah. The Federation now knows where I am. If they need me, they are welcome to send a ship. If it is the Enterprise, I will be especially pleased."

He kissed her hand and left.

Kirk stopped by at least once a day to see if she needed anything, and once he visited her for an hour before bed. He didn't ask her for another time trip to see his father. Instead, he talked with her about her experiences as a diplomat. Mr. Scott invited her to Engineering for a tour and to ask her about the Romulan cloaking capability. She claimed not to know how they achieved it but expressed confidence in Montgomery Scott's creative capabilities to figure it out. Uhura asked Aanora about her native language; when Aanora spoke a few words, Uhura said it sounded a little like Swahili, and Aanora asked her to teach her some phrases, successfully deflecting Uhura away from her native language and Uhura didn't even notice. Ensign Mar'Qwart stopped by to ask about time travel, and Mr. Sulu shared photos of his family with her, much to her delight.

Each time Spock stopped by, someone else was already with Aanora. It was when they were less than 6 hours away from the Reederian 7 system that he finally found her alone in her quarters.

"You are troubled, Spock."

"The Captain has told me about his visit to the universe where George Kirk is still alive. You did not want to see him yourself?"

"I saw him. But to speak with him? No. It was enough to see him."

"You heard what they talked about?"

"No. I understood that it was a private time between them."

"Have you told the Captain that you knew George Kirk?"

Aanora smiled at Spock sitting at the other end of the couch in her quarters. "I will tell him. In my own way. He needs to let go of his anger for his father before he will truly come into himself, his own potential. George would have been unhappy, I think, about the pain and distress that his death caused his family in this universe. I think Kirk saw how important his family is to George."

"Why did you take him to the other universe?"

"To help him understand."

Spock stared at Aanora for a long moment. "Have you told him that you also knew Christopher Pike?"

"Yes." She lowered her head to the side as if seeking a different vantage point to see him. "Spock, I have met many sentients in this universe. Now I can add Ferengi and Romulans, although I did not interact with them as I would wish. Vulcans have suffered a profound tragedy. I would be of service to them, if they should ever need my help. Please tell Sarek. Will you see him soon?"

Spock looked down at his folded hands in his lap. "I do not know, Aanora. New Vulcan is not in the sector of the galaxy we have been ordered to explore. But perhaps for my next leave." He stood. "Jim Kirk is my friend. I would – "

"His heart is stronger than you think."

"Entering the Reederian 7 system, Captain," Sulu announced.

"Thank you, Mr. Sulu." Kirk, sitting in the command chair, pressed the comm link on the armrest. "Bones, please bring Aanora to the bridge. We've arrived at the Reederian 7 system." He noticed Sulu and Mar'Qwart exchange a look. "Problem, Mr. Sulu?"

"No, sir. We were wondering about - "

"Saying good-bye? I want to say good-bye to her, too, Lieutenant. Standard orbit around the fourth planet."

"Aye, Captain."

Mr. Scott bounded out of the turbolift onto the bridge. "Captain, I was talking to Aanora the other day and – we're at Reederian 7 already?"

Kirk smiled. "Yes. Time to say good-bye."

The turbolift doors snicked open behind them. Bones and Aanora entered the bridge. Aanora floated to the Helm where she took Sulu's hand in hers and placed her other hand over his heart. She went to each of the bridge crew and did the same thing. At Spock, she raised her right hand in the traditional Vulcan salute. "Live long and prosper, Spock." He was uncharacteristically silent, but returned the salute. He followed her to the command chair, standing behind it while she took a position in front of it.

Kirk felt a sharp pain in his chest that made him catch his breath. He stood.

Aanora stepped to Kirk, so close that their noses nearly touched. What happened next happened so fast it was over before anyone could react, although Spock shouted, "Captain!" when he saw Aanora's right hand hold Kirk's head as if in a mind meld. The rest of the bridge crew were focused, as was Kirk, on the kiss. Aanora kissed his lips, gently, sweetly, and then dissolved away, leaving Kirk staring at empty air.

He didn't move.

Spock hurried to his side. "Captain, what did she do?"

Kirk's eyes had become unfocused, as if looking inward.

"Captain!"

Bones pulled out his tricorder to assess the Captain's condition. After sweeping over his body, he put a hand on Kirk's shoulder. "Jim?"

Kirk came back from far away in his mind, looked at Bones and smiled.

"What did she do, Jim?"

Kirk lowered his eyes, not looking at any of them. "She said, 'For you, Jim Kirk.' And then she kissed me."

"Yes, yes, Captain," Spock said. "And she held your head in position for a mind meld. What did she do?"

Kirk looked up, smiled a wistful smile. "She gave me her memories of my father."

Uhura gasped.

Kirk's eyes welled up. "Thank you, Annie."

Aanora's voice filled the air. "You are welcome, James T. Kirk, Captain of the USS Enterprise. 'May the wind always be at your back/May the warm rays of sun fall upon your path/May the hand of a friend always be near, May true be the hearts that love you.' And may destiny guide you to the party among the stars."

Her chiming laugh filled the air around them, loud at first and then it faded away.

Kirk looked around at his bridge crew, at Bones and at Spock. He smiled. "She learned that Irish blessing from my father years ago. Although I've never heard the part about the party among the stars."

"Some party," McCoy growled.

"Mr. Sulu," Kirk said as he returned to the command chair.

"Yes, sir?"

"Let's go find that party."

September 21, 2019

© C. C. Yager

C. C. Yager writes essays, fiction, and a blog in Minnesota. She has a BA in Music and often combines her knowledge of music with her writing as in her first novel, Perceval's Secret, the first of five novels in a series. Her blog "Anatomy of Perceval" can be found at .com.