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Switched

Chapter 33

Sitting on a sofa in The Timebird, Kathryn gazed into a mug of warm milky chocolate that Dawson had replicated for her. Her father was re-charging the ship's self-transport system and Cayla was still unconscious.

"Ever since I was told about the switch," Kathryn said quietly, "I've imagined all kinds of ways that it could have happened. But not once have I imagined that I did it."

As she spoke, her father returned from the bridge. "It has to be, Kathryn," he said. "But I'm sorry you got involved in this. I'm sorry I am."

Kathryn looked up at him. "If you say it has to be," she replied, " I trust that. And based on that trust I've done this. But can you tell me why? Can you tell me why I've just had to rob two women of their child? I need to know."

Slowly, Edward sat beside her and locked his hands together tensely. "Think back to a rainy summer day when you were thirteen years old. Do you remember what happened when I took you to Rylan Dock to show you a shuttle I was working on?"

"Yes. I got bitten by a venomous alien fly that had escaped one of the research labs. My arm swelled up and I got very sick very quickly."

"That's right. Well, Will...Dawson here...was the doctor who tried to treat you. Because this fly was alien, and only recently discovered, our scientists had not yet developed an anti-venom. You were deteriorating fast and the only way Will could save you was to put you in stasis while he, and our top scientists, tried to develop a counter to the poison."

Dawson continued. "Your father was prepared to donate any body part that you should need. So, as well as doing tests on you I did tests on him. It was while I was doing those tests that I discovered you were not his biological child. Stunned, I checked your DNA against Gretchen Janeway's and found you were not her child either. But before I had a chance to tell your father, one of our scientists developed an anti-venom and you recovered. I didn't make a note of what I'd found on your medical profile because I wanted to speak to your father about it first."

"When he did," Edward went on, "I told him to keep this knowledge to himself. I didn't want anyone to know, even your mother." Tears filled his eyes. "You've always been the apple of my eye, Kathryn. My goldenbird. I couldn't bear the thought of losing you. I was terrified that your real parents would want you back if all this came out. How could we do it? How could we hand you over after thirteen years? I couldn't have done it. I'd rather have died. So I persuaded Will to keep quiet, to never breathe a word of this to anyone."

"And I didn't," Dawson said. "I kept it to myself. But the knowledge haunted me and for my own sanity's sake I had to do some research into what had happened. I hoped I could find some peace...that if I found out the real Janeway baby was well and happy I wouldn't feel so wrong about keeping the secret. But my research lead me to the knowledge that you were one of a twin and instead of peace I found greater torment. How could I keep twins from knowing each other? I have cousins who are identical twins and they've always been exceptionally close. For weeks I worried about this until in the end I decided to take action. I didn't want to break my word to your father, or to be responsible for tearing you away from your family if the courts decided you should go to live with the Brentons, so I decided to stop things at the start."

Pieces of the puzzle started to fall into place now. "Let me guess," Kathryn said, putting down her now empty mug. "You decided to use this ship to go back in time and unswitch us?"

"Yes," he replied. "I figured that if you were raised by your natural parents from the start, no one would get hurt. But I knew as a doctor there was no way I would get access to the ship. I needed someone who did have access and, as a shuttle designer, your father did. So I told him everything I'd found out...about you being a twin...and how by using this ship we could fix things."

"I didn't want to know at first," Edward said, "but when Will made me see how selfish I was being, I agreed to the plan."

"So that night we stayed behind late," Dawson went on, " and used this ship to go back to the night you were born. This night."

"Our plan was simple," Edward said. "We knew the switch had to take place sometime between 11pm, when my baby was taken to special care, and 11:48pm, when her...your...medical profile was drawn up. So the plan was for me to stay there that whole time. I'd be allowed in, as a father, and by being there, keeping a constant eye on my baby, the switch wouldn't happen. I knew that my younger-self wouldn't come because I'd left the hospital not long after the birth to tell everyone in person the good news. Neither did I think anyone would notice I was thirteen years older as my hair had been gray for years." He paused. "And it worked. The nurse let me in and I stayed until the doctor had finished drawing up the medical profile of all new babies. When she left, I asked to see my baby's medical profile and checked it against the one I had stored in my tricorder. It was different. Our mission had been successful. We'd prevented the switch."

"We thought that by doing so," Dawson explained, "the future we came from would be erased and us along with it. But we weren't erased. We continued to exist."

"So we thought that maybe our understanding of temporal mechanics was wrong," Edward went on, "that changing something in the past didn't make a new future just an alternative timeline. Not knowing what else to do, we made a return transport to 2345 and hoped we would end up in our original timeline. But when we got to 2345 there was no 2345. Earth was nothing more than a barren desert. We thought maybe we'd transported to the wrong year, to some point in Earth's distant future, but were told by a man claiming to be a time-police-officer that all life on Earth had been destroyed in 2335 due to a temporal disaster caused by a man called Annorax in 2377. He said this temporal explosion had obliterated almost all life in the Alpha, Delta and Gamma quadrant. He also said the disaster was a direct consequence of our temporal incursion and we had to undo whatever we had done."

"We figured that as a result of what we'd done," Dawson said, "someone who was meant to stop this Annorax, or change the course of his life so he didn't end up causing this temporal explosion in 2377, was either not born or lived a different life. So we went back to 2332 to undo what we'd done. We waited for ourselves to arrive from the future, thinking we...they...had to come, but they didn't. They never came. We could only conclude that's because their future...2345...was wiped from existence by the disaster. So, thinking we'd restored our timeline by not interfering with the switch, we went back to 2345."

"But when we got there," Edward continued, "everything was the same. Earth was still desecrated. We didn't understand it because we hadn't done anything to interfere with the events of our original timeline. Then the time-officer returned, wanting to know what went wrong, and when we told him we didn't know because we hadn't done anything to interfere with our timeline, he said it might not be a case of what we hadn't done but what we should have done. That's when it occurred to me that maybe we were stuck in a temporal loop, that it was our place to do the very thing we originally came to prevent...and that was to switch you."

"So we went back in time again," Dawson added, "and here we are."

"There really was no alternative, Kathryn," her father said. "We had to do this."

"I can see that," Kathryn answered quietly. The ins and outs of temporal mechanics she had long given up understanding, but this case seemed clear cut. Without the switch, Earth would be destroyed.

"And if it means anything," her father continued, "I'm not sorry. I'm sorry that it had to be done, that I had to switch my own child, but I'm not sorry that I got to be your father. I meant what I said earlier. You're my child. I've loved you for thirteen years and I still love you. Knowing another couple gave life to you doesn't make me love you less." Tears filled his eyes. "But if this changes how you feel about your mother and I, I understand."

"No," Kathryn replied, tears in her own eyes. "I couldn't have wished for better parents. If I had to choose a childhood I would choose mine every time. I have no regrets. I just wish it hadn't been my place to make the switch. I wish it really had been an accident. In my life, in my career, I've been faced with all kinds of difficult situations but this was definitely the hardest." She paused. "It hurt so much when I found out I wasn't your real daughter. I can't put into words how much it hurt. But what hurt most was the thought that your feelings towards me would have changed if you'd known." A tear escaped her eye. "But you'd known for so long. All those years you'd known."

"Your mother," Edward said. "Does she know?"

"Yes, I told her. Everything's in the open now. When Lacey...your biological daughter...gets back from deep space they're going to meet."

Curiosity lit up in Edward's eyes. "Deep space? Then she's in Starfleet?"

"No. Her husband."

"I see." A sad shadow fell over his face. "Is she happy?"

"Yes," Kathryn answered. "I think she is. Cayla, my twin, is the only unhappy one. And while she's had a rough deal, there's no denying that she's made things harder for herself. She's become so bitter and self-punishing. No doubt Lacey's been through hard times too, like all of us, but I don't think she'd want to live someone else's life. She's done alright for herself and has two grown up children." Kathryn paused. "But I shouldn't be telling you all this...temporal prime directive." Infinite pain suddenly filled her eyes "But there is something...something that happens that..."

Her father silenced her with a finger to her lips. "I can see in your eyes, Kathryn, that I'm not going to be around in 2378. I knew that the first time you looked at me. But whatever happens to me, whenever it happens, I don't want to know. Whatever happens is a part of your history, is a part of our present, and is a part of my future. What must be will be. And what has happened here shows that quite clearly. Dawson and I came back to change something but changing something doesn't always make things better. Your mother always says that everything happens for a reason and the older I get the more I believe it. More things depend on a single destiny than you or I can ever comprehend."

A tear ran down Kathryn's cheek. "I've missed you, Daddy. So much."

Her father took her hand in his. "I'll always be with you, Kathryn. I'll always live on in your heart." He then gazed at her, absorbing every detail. "You've grown into a fine woman, my goldenbird. You're smart and brave and very beautiful. I'm so proud of you." He smiled and gestured to the ring on her wedding finger. "And I see that you're caught. I'm glad. Life can be a lonely road to trek alone. But I hope he's worthy of you."

"If anything," Kathryn answered, "I'm not worthy of him." She paused. "And I want you to know that we're having a baby. A little girl. We've named her Minessa."

Joy filled Edward's eyes. "Then you're...pregnant?"

Kathryn nodded.

"Oh Kathryn," he said, drawing her close, "that's fantastic."

Kathryn returned his embrace and cherished his long absent closeness.

Dawson got to his feet. "I'll give you two some time alone."

"No," Edward said, drawing away. "The longer we're together, the more we talk, the more we risk contaminating the timeline. We've done what we had to do, now it's time for us all to go home."

Kathryn looked over at Cayla. "When we get back, I don't know how I'm going to explain the missing time-ship. I don't think 'temporal prime directive' will be enough of a..." She turned suddenly to Dawson as a realization dawned on her. "But security of the ship is your responsibility. You gave me the access code to Rylan Dock and..." she reached into a deep pocket and pulled out her padd, "you gave me this." Quickly, she switched it on and searched through it. "There may be something here, something that will tell us how to bring everything full circle." And sure enough there was. "A file," she said. "There are two files. An access code and something else." She opened up the file and found it contained a riddle. "C 2 B Classified. TB 2 B lost 2 day. Case 2 remain C." Kathryn's sharp brain pondered the riddle for a few moments then solved it. "I've got it," she said. "Case to be classified. Timebird to be lost today. Case to remain classified." She paused as she absorbed the implication. "So it's been expected. For 33 years it's been expected that Cayla would steal the ship and it would be destroyed."

"As I said," Edward replied. "A temporal loop. And as I said earlier, this ship can only self-transport 2 or 3 more times before disintegrating. When we get back to 2345, we will have used 2 self-transports. So, if no one uses it for 33 years, when your twin tries to use it in 2378 it will get you here but disintegrate on rematerialization."

"Making everything come full-circle," Kathryn said.

"Yes. A perfect loop." Edward then got to his feet. "So, let's turn the wheel. Let's get you back to 2378." He turned briefly to Dawson. "Will, put Cayla on a med-trolley. I'll set up transport. Kathryn, come with me. I'll need the exact date and time."

Kathryn followed her father onto the bridge and Edward began to set up temporal transport.

"Year set," he said. "Date?"

"May 11th."

"Time?"

"I'm not sure what time it was exactly when Cayla transported us, but I'd guess about 6:30am Pacific time."

"Then I'll make it 7am, just to be on the safe side." He worked the console for a moment, and then left it. "Transport set," he said. "It will take a while to process our request." He then closed the gap between himself and Kathryn. "And I have a request to make of you. Don't ever tell your mother about this. Let her think the switch was an accident. It's kinder to let her think that. Promise me."

There was such desperation in her father's eyes that Kathryn couldn't refuse his plea. "I promise," she said.

Relief filled Edward's eyes and he put his hand on her shoulder. "The transport will happen automatically...as I'm sure you know. Let's go back to the lounge."

When they got back to the lounge, Cayla was lying upon a silver med-trolley.

"We may land with a bump," Edward said to Dawson, "due to structural stress. You'd better strap her down."

Dawson did as he said and Kathryn questioned. "This ship was obviously designed for temporal transports so why do the transports harm it?"

"Because at some point before we acquired this vessel it was damaged," Edward said. "Perhaps during the Arizonian crash. This ship has only ever been used once officially, just to see how it worked, and that was only after weeks of assessment to determine if it was safe. I was part of the team who made the assessment and we didn't detect any obvious damage. It wasn't until we transported from 2345 for a second time that I realized there was a problem. If I was a 38th century engineer then no doubt I'd be able to fix it, but as I'm not, I'm afraid I haven't a clue what the problem is. I know the effect, and can predict the outcome, but I don't know the cause."

A computerized voice spoke.

"Temporal transport in 30 seconds."

Edward gestured to the sofa. "We'd better sit down."

Kathryn sat beside her father and Dawson sat near Cayla.

"Temporal transport in 20 seconds."

Edward reached for Kathryn's hand and held it in hers.

"Temporal transport in 10 seconds."

Kathryn silently counted away the seconds and waited for the siren on zero, but there was no siren. All she heard was a bleep. Then green light engulfed them and they dematerialized.

END OF CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Note on this chapter: Annorax was a character in the season 4 double episode Year of Hell. He had created a time-ship so he could change history to advantage his people, but in the process he had erased his beloved wife from history. In order to get her back, he was trying to restore history by erasing various civilizations. Janeway and her crew got caught up in his enterprise and suffered a 'year of hell'. Janeway eventually restored history by destroying his time-ship. As a result, Annorax's wife was restored and 'the year of hell' timeline never happened. Had Janeway not stopped Annorax in 2374 (i.e. because she was living a different life as Lacey Brenton) then he would have gone on erasing civilizations. In this story, he goes on to create a temporal disaster in 2377 that obliterates life in most of the galaxy in 2335 (i.e. temporal shockwave).