Author's note: This chapter (as well as the previous one) contains a little reference to Doctor Who. I couldn't resist... Maybe you recognize it...

SPOILER: In the comics telling the story after STB Kirk and his crew have an encounter with the Borg. For my story I mixed the part with the Narada in.

Chapter 2: Surprises

Everything was wrong. Jamie Kirk appeared in a ship's corridor. The Enterprise's corridor near the mess hall to be exact. She recognized it instantly.

"Oh no... Why did you send me here?" She watched out to not be seen. She leaned against a wall in a junction and closed her eyes for a second to think about her next steps. And to brace herself. "This isn't where I wanted to be", she whispered.

No. But this is where you need to be, she suddenly heard the Guardian's voice in her head.

Jamie rolled her eyes at the cryptic words, took a deep breath and began to walk. She was thankful that no one was around and searched for an empty room or lab with a computer console.

"Oh no...", she repeated when she saw the stardate on a screen. "This can't be..." She looked up and shot a glare at the invisible Guardian of Forever. "The older Spock is already dead. He died two days ago. Why I am here? I need to speak to him. You sent me to the wrong time!" she hissed sharply in a low voice. "I need his knowledge and advice."

You will find what you need, the Guardian's voice simply said.

"Will I?"

Silence.

"Great..." she muttered exasperated and looked around as if she could find the Guardian by that. "Come on. Tell me why you sent me here! The timeline is screwed up and Spock was the only one who knew our enemies. I really need to get to a time when he was still alive. And the date... I must not be here! In a few days the Enterprise will dock at Yorktown... and be destroyed at Altamid. I must not be involved!"

Silence.

"Guardian? Dammit..."

Jamie snorted and went to the door. Carefully she looked if anybody was in the corridor. She contemplated her options and came to only one conclusion: Hiding was pointless. After all, the crew - or at least part of them - knew about time travel and alternative realities. They shouldn't be too much surprised to meet her.

So, she started walking to the mess hall. Due to the time of day, maybe Commander Spock would be there and it shouldn't be crowded too much. She didn't dare to ask the computer about his location, because it might alert security. Perhaps the young Spock could help her in some way.

When she entered the mess hall her gaze wandered around.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me..." Jamie said loud - maybe too loud - and put her hands on her hips when she saw the table where the bridge officers, Leonard McCoy and Montgomery Scott were eating together.

Their heads flew around at the unexpected exclamation. Others too. And the room fell suddenly very silent. Nobody talked or moved.

Then, from the side a man with a red uniform shirt took a few steps into Jamie's direction. "Who are you? How did you get on this ship? What are your intentions?" he barked.

Hands still on her hips she tilted her head and looked at him. "Jamie Kirk. Ancient portal on some dusty planet. It's complicated", she gave back coolly and straight forward.

"Oh, not again!" Captain James Tiberius Kirk exclaimed and left the table. Commander Spock and Doctor McCoy followed him while Lieutenant Uhura, Ensign Chekov, Lieutenant Sulu and Scotty remained sitting. "Another me from a parallel reality? I just hope you're not from some evil universe."

Jamie blinked at him in surprise. Parallel universe? Oh boy. They assumed she was from an alternate reality. "Not evil. Promise."

"How many female Kirks are running around out there?" McCoy said folding his arms and shaking his head.

Jamie sighed. This was an absolute mess. Dammit. But she decided to not correct them. Though she wasn't sure if this was a good idea.

"Did you get here accidentally or by purpose?" Spock inquired.

"Sort of both." Okay, breathe, she told herself.

"Care to elaborate?" Captain Kirk asked.

But before she could answer him, Spock made a remark. "Are you not the Captain of your Enterprise?"

Now the others saw it too. Her uniform wasn't only different to theirs by design - she also had Commander's bars on her sleeves.

"No. I am a Commander."

Spock surveyed her and raised an eyebrow. "You answers are quite vague", he pointed out.

Jamie held his gaze and crossed her arms. "Do we have to talk in front of the whole crew?"

"Briefing room", Captain Kirk gestured to the bridge crew and the visitor.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck... Jamie thought while walking with the Captain and the senior officers. Perhaps she was going about everything all wrong. Perhaps she shouldn't have walked in like that. Perhaps she should tell that she wasn't from a parallel reality.

Nobody said a word until they reached the briefing room and sat down. Kirk was at the head of the table, Jamie on his right, Spock on the left side. McCoy and Uhura took the places next to Spock, Sulu and Chekov next to the visitor.

Before Jamie could think about it twice she was already talking. "I'm here because I need help. Some very specific advice. Where I come from..." She now chose her words very carefully. "... we are facing some very dangerous enemies..." Oh what the hell, they might as well know it, she thought, they will meet them soon. "They're called the Borg..."

Confused looks.

She sighed and closed her eyes for a few seconds. "I really wasn't planning on turning up here..."

"So, where did you want to go?" Kirk asked.

"New Vulcan."

"You wanted to meet Ambassador Spock." Uhura wasn't the only one to conclude this, but the first to speak.

"I know he knew of them. And I hoped to meet him on New Vulcan. But something went wrong. Obviously..." She needed to be careful. They didn't know yet, that the Ambassador had just died. The younger Spock would get the message in a few days.

"Isn't he alive anymore where you come from?" McCoy asked.

Jamie shook her head. "He's long gone." Not the whole truth, but not a lie either.

"Long range communications are currently down for repairs and we need to keep our schedule", the Captain said. "But we'll dock at Yorktown base in two days. Either communications are up again prior to our arrival or you can contact the Ambassador on the station."

"I'm afraid, I can't promise anything", Scotty added. "We took quite a hit on those systems on our last mission. We don't have the spare parts and are currently trying to macgyver something."

Jamie nodded slowly. Of course she had already known that contacting Vulcan would not be possible.

"What are the Borg?" Sulu began to speak.

"A dangerous race of cybernetic people with a collective mind and very advanced ships and weapons. They assimilate other species and make them a part of this collective. They..."

The others looked at her curiously and wondered why she was so reluctant, why she was so different than James Kirk.

Jamie sighed. "Where I come from... not everyone on the Narada died", she suddenly said in a firm voice and everyone looked shocked at her. "Physics can be tricky... The combination of red matter and a supernova sent the Narada and the Jellyfish from the year 2387 into the past, but the explosion of red matter, the warp core of the Narada and the Enterprise's warp core on the other hand... Well, the event horizon from which the Enterprise barely escaped wasn't a simple black hole - it was an instable wormhole through space. But not time."

Silence overtook the room.

Jamie stood up, crossed her arms and walked a few steps to the opposite end of the conference table. She pressed her lips together. "The Enterprise damaged the Narada pretty good. But the ship wasn't completely destroyed. The wreckage was thrown into the Delta Quadrant. Right in front of some Borg ship."

"Oh boy..." Sulu muttered.

Jim Kirk and Spock looked at each other in disbelief, then at Jamie. She simply nodded sadly.

"What happened then?" Uhura asked carefully.

"The Borg assimilated the surviving few Romulans and the technology from the future. They gained knowledge they should never have gotten. And the worst part - they learned about the Federation."

"They attacked", Jim Kirk concluded.

"It... took them a while to get to Federation space... but yes, they did. We are currently fighting the Borg. When I left they were heading to Earth. Part of our fleet is slowing them down, but..."

The officers at the table went pale.

Jamie sat down again. "Has the Ambassador deposited instructions for a case like this?"

"Didn't yours?" the Captain asked confused.

"Sort of..." she answered, vaguely of course. "I thought... I hoped... I could ask him for his help."

"On my last visit to New Vulcan he gave me a chest for safekeeping", Spock began to speak. "I could show it to you if you accompany me to my quarters. Perhaps there is something helpful inside. I was to hold on to it and not open it until some point in the future. But he never mentioned an exact timeframe." He looked at Jim Kirk. "With the Captain's permission?"

Kirk nodded and made a gesture. "Yeah, why not. Go ahead. I guess there's no time to lose."

"If I am successful, I will be pulled back right in the moment I left", Jamie explained. "At least I hope I will."

Spock rose and Jamie followed him.

"And just another completely ordinary day on the Enterprise..." McCoy muttered rolling his eyes when the door closed behind them.

Jamie walked with Spock silently. He didn't speak a word, but she felt his eyes upon her repeatedly. When they entered his quarters she remained standing in the middle of the room while he was fetching the things of the Ambassador. Spock brought a small plain metal chest and put it onto the table next to Jamie.

"You are not another version of James Kirk, are you?" he suddenly asked. Though it sounded a little more than a statement than a question.

"What?" she replied surprised. And a little shocked.

Spock tilted his head. "You look a lot like him, but I can see also a striking resemblance to your mother."

She remained silent. Of course Spock would figure it out.

"And you kept all your answers very vague."

Jamie held his gaze. "I never lied."

"No, but you didn't tell the truth either. You let assumptions go on."

"The threat of the Borg is the truth and very real", she retorted in a stern voice.

Spock nodded. "I believe you. We would not be here if I did not." He gestured to the metal box on the table. "And thankfully the others think the events you were telling about are happening in another reality."

Silence overtook the room again.

"Is Jamie your real name?"

"Yes. I am really Jamie Kirk."

"The daughter of James Tiberius Kirk and Carol Marcus. From the future. About 25 years I would estimate", Spock said calmly.

She held his gaze again and her lips cracked into a slight smile. "Yes."