Prologue
"The stardate was twenty-two, thirty-three point zero four," he began, eyes on his hands as he recollected his thoughts. "The USS Kelvin had been on a routine mission when it encountered an anomaly in space. What they thought was a lightning storm was actually a black hole…and from it emerged a hostile Romulan ship. The captain of the Kelvin was then murdered and the ship attacked, killing a large number of crewmembers….luckily, if one chooses to see it as luck, the acting captain of the Kelvin, George Kirk, was able evacuate the rest of the ship, saving hundreds of lives, including that of his wife and newborn son, however… it was at the sacrifice of his own…"
Christopher Pike paused, giving a moment to the troubling memory, before he continued, "But, on that day, something else unexpectedly came through the black hole. You. One of the shuttles saw you floating in space. Unconscious, cocooned in some high-energy bubble. They brought you on board and then here, to Starfleet Academy in San Francisco. They examined you as best they could and no one knew what to make of you. But they kept you hidden while you…slept. They monitored you. Studied you. Hoping one day you would wake up…"
Pike's expression and tone of voice changed then, it was calmer, friendlier, hoping it would put the young girl at ease. "I was assigned to watch over you from time to time while I was researching my dissertation on the Kelvin. And I've been keeping an eye on you ever since…the current star date is twenty-two, fifty-three point four two. It's been twenty-two years since we found you…and I know this may be a lot to take in at once, so if there's anything you need…"
Buffy looked up, her face void of any expression, and he was still amazed at how she hadn't aged a single day since they found her floating in space.
It was cold in this room. The atmosphere, the colors, the lighting. Sterile. As most hospital rooms usually are. Buffy never liked hospital rooms and she was sitting in one with a man she just met. A man with blue eyes and graying hair; and despite all the questions she was aching to ask, only one came out of her mouth.
"What's a stardate?"
***Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Star Trek, and/or any of the related characters and material. The characters were created by Joss Whedon and Gene Roddenberry and owned by 20th Century Studios (The Walt Disney Company) and Paramount. This story is intended for entertainment purposes only. I am not making any profit from this story. All rights of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Star Trek belong to 20th Century Studios (The Walt Disney Company) and Paramount.