Crisis Point
U.S.S. Enterprise-D, 2366.184, 1303 hours. He rose from his seat and looked out the view screen; there was a field of stars before him but no Borg ship in sight. He re-directed his attention to his helmsman. "Mr. Data, report."
"Captain, the anomaly created by the Borg appears to have pulled us into the Delta quadrant. I am now scanning for any signs of the ship."
"Good," Captain Picard replied. He turned to the console behind him. "Mr. Worf, what's our status?"
"The Enterprise is in standard working order, Sir. Weapons and shielding are operating at 98%. The Borg appear to have been too preoccupied with creating the anomaly to inflict any lasting damage."
"Yes, but why?" Jean-Luc asked of no one in particular. He walked toward the view screen. "Why create a singularity to carry you between quadrants? They weren't able to lose us so what was the point?"
"Sir," but whatever Commander Riker was about to say was cut short by Data.
"I have located the Borg ship approximately 15.6 kilometers off our port side and I believe I have uncovered their true intentions."
"Indeed?" Picard asked, one eyebrow raised.
"Yes. We have arrived in the Delta quadrant but it is not stardate 2366.184."
"It's not?"
The AI shook his head. "The current stardate is 2281.363."
Now he understood. This was no ordinary wormhole—this was a rift through time, giving the Borg the opportunity to come back and begin assimilating species before the Federation became aware of their presence or had the technology to combat them.
While he was thinking this Will leap to his feet. "Data, did you just say stardate 2281.363?"
"That is correct."
"Bring the Borg ship up on screen."
Jean-Luc walked over to stand beside him. "What is it, Number One?" he quietly asked.
"I'm not sure," Riker replied, "But I think that..."
The image of the Borg ship arrested his attention and Picard took a closer look. Another starship was obscured by the Borg cube while several smaller vessels were visible and clearly fleeing the scene. "The Borg appear to have engaged in battle with another ship from this time period," Data announced.
"Zero in on the hull of the other ship," Riker ordered.
Picard watched him quietly, waiting patiently for an explanation. He wasn't left waiting long. The ship was clearly of Federation design but it was the name on the hull that surprised him. "The Enterprise."
Will's lips were set in a hard, thin line. "Damn. I was hoping I'd mixed up the dates." He turned to look at the Captain. "Today is the day the first Enterprise went down during a routine survey mission. They reported that an unknown ship emerged from a black hole and shortly thereafter they were overpowered and had to abandon ship. Captain Kirk set the Enterprise on a collision course to destroy the enemy before it fled back into the anomaly. By the time help arrived three days later all traces of the encounter were gone."
"Yes, I remember," Jean-Luc replied. He watched the Borg ship tug the other Enterprise forward. "Mr. Worf, scan the other Enterprise; I want to know how many life forms are on-board."
"There are 15 life forms still aboard." The Klingon paused and consulted the data on his console. "Correction; a Class 3 shuttle has just disembarked, leaving 3 life forms still aboard."
"Continue to monitor their frequencies." He tapped the communicator on his lapel. "Mr. LaForge?"
The voice of the Chief Engineer quickly reached him. "Yes, Captain?"
"We have a situation developing. I want you to standby in the transporter room and prepare for an emergency beam out."
"Understood, Sir. LaForge out."
From behind him he heard Commander Riker speak up. "Captain, we can't interfere. The Prime Directive…"
"Those are our people out there, our predecessors, and I will not stand idly by when we have it in our power to help them! If we hadn't pursued the Borg…"
"If we hadn't pursued the Borg it's likely they still would've found their way here. We are the anomaly, Jean-Luc—not the Borg and not the other Enterprise. What we're witnessing here is history in the making. If we inject ourselves into the scene we may irreparably alter our own futures!" The Commander closed the distance between them. "This is not your fight and that ship is not your command," he added, gesturing to the other vessel.
"You're doing great, Selas," Se'tak encouraged. They cleared the Shuttle Bay and were now out in open space. He placed one hand over his brother's on the steering wheel to make a minor adjustment. "Just keep her level, that's it." Selas breathed deep and nodded, focusing on keeping the ship moving and in one piece all without the benefit of being able to see where they were going.
Overhead an alarm sounded and Se'tak looked up to see what it was. Without warning the shuttle stuttered and stopped before moving slowly in reverse.
They were caught in a tractor beam.
His stomach dropped and he could hear the other passenger's panicked screams. Oh holy frak.
Nyota hobbled over to Spock and checked for a pulse; it was weak but it was there. She turned him over and grabbed hold under his arms, dragging him along to the nearest escape pod a good 4-5 meters away. The musculature she'd been admiring just moments ago made him particularly dense and by the time she reached the pod Nyota was panting hard and sweating.
She palmed open the door and took a quick look inside. It'd be a tight fit but Spock was in no condition to pilot the pod once they were clear of the Enterprise. With great effort she heaved him upright and strapped him into the med-board along the wall, then she sat herself down and hit the eject button.
"2 more life forms have disembarked," Worf interrupted. "Scans show one human life form still aboard."
"Kirk," Picard muttered under his breath.
"How can you be so certain?" Riker countered. "All reports of this incident—not to mention history itself—show he escaped." The tractor beam focused on the other Enterprise was disengaged.
Jean-Luc glanced over at him. "It's him. A captain always goes down with his ship."
Data chose that moment to interject himself into the conversation. "While it is true that Captain Kirk did survive this encounter as far as we know, given his current circumstances I do not see how that could be achieved," he informed them. "He has just initiated a program which has cut off his own escape route."
"How do you mean, Data?" Will asked.
"The power needed to scramble the shielding and break the Borg tractor beam would bring all but the bare minimum of shipboard systems off-line—including transporter capabilities. The Captain will not be able to beam off the ship and, given his trajectory, he will not have enough time to clear the blast area were he to break away in one of the escape pods. I believe that—as the Captain put it—Captain Kirk intends to go down with his ship."
The realization of it all hit the Commander hard and had him sinking back into his chair running a hand down his face. "My G-d." They watched as precious seconds ticked by and Captain Kirk continued on his kamikaze course without any deviation. From his seat Riker looked up at him. "His death now would change the course of Federation history."
"Not to mention the Borg will have nearly a century's headstart on assimilating us all. No, William, I no longer think we're meant to be observers in this fight—I think that we were supposed to be here all along." Picard activated the comm. "Lieutenant, on my mark I want you to lock onto the life sign on the Federation vessel, bring it aboard, then transfer it immediately to one of the escaping shuttles. Do you understand?"
On the other end of the line they all heard LaForge snap into action. "Aye, Sir."
"Now!"
Se'tak and Selas pushed on the forward thrusters with all their might but they were still being pulled toward the enemy ship. Then, as suddenly as it happened, the beam broke and they lurched forward with alarming speed. "Watch out!" Se'tak cried, jerking the steering column hard to the left to avoid an oncoming escape pod. "Selas, ease up on the thrusters." His brother did as he was told and their ship beat a hasty retreat.
13...12...11...10... Jim swallowed hard and closed his eyes, willing the Enterprise to pick up speed. If this was how he was going to go out then he wanted to be sure and wreck this Borg son-of-a-bitch. He had 5 seconds left when the familiar tingle of a transporter beam pulled him away from certain death.
He'd never had a Hail Mary pass thrown so late in the game and it knocked the breath clean out of him.
When Jim next opened his eyes he saw that he'd materialized briefly in a transporter room whose design was familiar and yet unlike any he'd ever seen. He looked over to the control console and saw a young man standing there wearing a red Starfleet uniform and some kind of visor over his eyes. "Selas?"
The other man smiled. "No, Sir." Before Jim had a chance to question him further he dematerialized again, only to reappear in the cabin of one of his own shuttles.
"Captain?"
"How did you…?"
"Sir?"
Ignoring the others he moved for the cockpit and threw the door back. He didn't know who he was expecting to find at the helm but it certainly wasn't Spock and Uhura's kids.
"Uncle Jim!" Se'tak exclaimed, his troubled expression instantly lightening.
Selas smiled wide in his general direction while visibly sagging with relief. "It is good to see you."
"You have no idea, Buddy." Literally, he had no idea. He should've been dead right now and while he didn't know how or why he'd been saved he was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that he was still here. Jim took a second to just breathe but once he got his bearings he took a closer look at how the brothers were working the helm. Se'tak stood beside his brother and manned the thrusters with one arm, his left arm hanging limply at his side, while Selas steered. It was an unconventional arrangement, to be sure.
He strode over to the pilot's seat and strapped himself in. "How about you two transfer control back over here and let me take over? 'Tak, go ahead and take the jump seat."
"Yes, Sir!" They were only too happy to relinquish control and once they were settled he turned the shuttle around to get another look at the battlefield.
What they saw made Se'tak gasp. "Is that…is that our…?"
"Yep," he grimly replied. "It is."
Selas snaked a hand out so he could see what his brother was seeing. Through Se'tak's eyes he looked and saw their ship—their home—firmly embedded in the enemy vessel, destroying them both. Only the Enterprise's warp nacelles were visible and the right one was bent at an awkward angle, reminding him of a bird's broken wing. Explosions continued to rock the enemy ship and one spectacular blast drew his attention upward. Selas pointed off into the distance. "Who's that?"
"The Borg ship has been neutralized, Sir."
"Good." Jean-Luc finally re-took his seat.
Beside him, Riker spoke up. "Captain, you know we can't just leave that ship here. We…"
"I know, Number One. Mr. Worf, lock our tractor beam onto the ships and as much surrounding debris as you can. We'll bring it back with us through the anomaly and destroy it there lest we interfere anymore with the timeline."
"Understood." They all watched on screen as they slowly began tugging their baggage back toward the wormhole.
"Sir, one of the shuttles has turned around," Data announced. "It appears to be heading in our direction."
"The Captain again?" the Commander asked.
"I don't doubt it," he replied. "I heard him speak once at the Academy when I was a very young cadet. Even then he was everything they said he was and at that time he was in his early 90's."
"Oh? How do you mean?"
"He was a brilliant free-thinker with enough curiosity to kill a cat and a wild streak as long as my arm. After the tales he told I was amazed he'd survived that long and yet even after that he went on to live another 20 years. The man is a legend." Jean-Luc chuckled. "And to think, now we've had a hand in that legend's longevity."
"Indeed." Will looked out the view screen at the advancing shuttle. "Should we send out a warning buoy to stop him?"
"You could try." Now that the real danger was passed he let loose a light-hearted chuckle. "But I think the good captain will stop himself without being told."
Jim looked over where Selas was pointing and was surprised to see what looked like another Federation starship, it's design eerily similar to the ship he'd just lost.
He was itching to follow them, to find out who they were, where they were from, understand what just happened—and who knows, maybe a few years ago a much more reckless version of himself would've done just that without a second thought. But beside him sat his nephews, and in the cabin beyond that were another handful of crew members, and scattered outside were the shuttles and pods holding the rest of his family and crew, all looking to him to get them safely home. It was with that thought in mind that Jim stopped his pursuit and turned the little shuttle around. He also reasoned that the less he knew about the 2 rogue ships about to slip out of sight through the anomaly the less he'd have to conceal from the top brass.
The next hour was spent corralling the other pods and ships together, trading damage and casualty reports and waiting for help to arrive; he also set Se'tak's shoulder back into place and made him a makeshift sling. He knew Uhura sent a message out to HQ before everything went completely to hell—he only hoped they'd recognize how serious the situation was and send a rescue party out sooner rather than later. There were 418 souls drifting out here in the black, waiting for help.
New Shi'Kahr, New Vulcan, 2281.363, 0542 hours. She had spent the last 2.34 hours in deep meditation with her sa-mekh-al attempting to reach her pi'sa-kai. She had been on the verge of admitting defeat when she caught a glimpse of her brother's present situation. Se'tak was seated on one of the shuttles, sequestered in the back near a small viewport. His left arm was done up in a hastily constructed sling and he was staring out into the distance at a small, scattered field of debris. He was tired, worried and…heartsick?
T'Alora was so startled she broke all concentration and could glean nothing more. Why was her brother on a shuttle? Why was he injured? And above all, where were Mama, Sa-mekh and Selas?
She knew deep in her gut (which her Vulcan sensibilities tried hard to repress) that something was terribly wrong.
It would take all of T'Alora's connections and cunning but she would discover the truth and do everything in her power to secure her family's safety.
A/N: I may or may not have had Patrick Stewart's voice in my head the entire time I was writing this chapter. Could you tell, and did you have him in your head too? ; - P