Author's note: According to Memory Alpha David Marcus was born around 2261. STID was set around 2259 and STB in 2263. But Kirk Prime became Captain of the Enterprise in 2265. Jim and Carol were involved in the early 2260s while he was first officer on another starship. There's even a comic that shows part of their relationship, that he learned about David and that Carol wanted to raise him on her own.

Chapter 4: The letter

Jamie was lying wide awake on the bed in one of the guest quarters. Her mind didn't come at peace. There was too much spinning around in her head.

"Computer, lights at 30 percent", she said finally, pulled the blanket away and sat up cross legged. She reached out for the bedside table and took some folded pieces of paper. It was the letter from the older Spock. The one she had gotten a few weeks ago. She had carried it in a pocket of her uniform, but didn't want to tell the younger Spock about it.

Jamie unfolded the sheets and read the words she already almost knew by heart.

Dear daughter or son of James T. Kirk,

certainly, this letter will be a surprise to you, but I am sure that your parents or my younger self will have told you about me.

Writing this was no easy decision for I swore to myself not to interfere in this timeline. Or not too much, as I have to say now. After a while on New Vulcan I decided to leave some letters for the future. There were things I could not get off my mind.

I write to you now, because I came to the conclusion that you should know about yourself in the other timeline. Or more precisely: About someone who was never born in this reality. I am actually not sure if "the other you" is the appropriate term. Maybe it is not at all. Maybe "sibling" would be a better word.

His name was David Marcus. He was born in 2261 when his parents, James Kirk and Carol Marcus, had separated. I think they still - and always - loved each other, but the timing was unfortunate and ill-fated. In my timeline they were not meant to be a couple. So, Carol Marcus never got married to James Kirk. She raised her son alone and he became a scientist like his mother. Together they worked on a project that made them cross paths with Admiral Kirk in the year 2285. I think it to be best not to go into details for I don't know, if your mother will be working on the same project in this reality... What then happened to the three of them was devastating. There was a conflict with enemies of the Federation. They tried to get the project and David got killed when he tried to save a woman's life. He was 24 at that time.

His age at the time of his death is the reason why you get this letter after your 25th birthday. I fear that these lines will emotionally affect you. And I very much apologize for that. It is not my intention, I assure you that. I did not want you to worry about what I am telling you with this letter while growing up and being 24. I did not want you to fear that something could happen to you at his age. I only want you to know that there was a David Marcus, that he was a very good and caring man and especially that he deserves you knowing about him.

But I must admit that it may also be a little bit selfish of me to write this letter. My life is ending soon and, to my knowledge, your mother is not pregnant yet. I know your mother and father are in a relationship and I am sure there will be a child. But I will not see you be born or grow up. Though David did not live to celebrate his 25th birthday I am certain that you will. In the years I am living in this reality now, I realized that for James T. Kirk and his friends and family the path deviates from my reality. In a good way. In a way that makes me very confident that a bright future lies ahead for you and your family. And I know that you will grow up to be become a strong and unique person. You will contribute to shape the future of the Federation, no matter which carrier path you will choose.

Yours,
Selek (Spock)

Jamie sighed. It was really no bad letter. Strange maybe, but not bad. She knew that and told herself repeatedly.

After a while of staring at the words on the paper, she put the letter away and lay down again. She wondered if it would have been easier if she'd never gotten that letter. She wondered what exactly made her feel the way she was feeling. The fact that there should have been a David and not a Jamie? After all, that was what she'd told the young Spock... Or was she, kind of, mourning an older brother she'd never had? In theory, he - both of them - could have been existed in this reality, for she was born in 2263. But no... if Nero had not killed George Kirk, there would not have been an alternative reality. And she would have never been born. David and herself were, in a manner of speaking, parts of the price to pay for the changes in the timeline. Not to mention the countless lives Nero extinguished.

Jamie was staring at the ceiling again. Her mind was racing. When her thoughts finally let go the letter for now thinking about the Borg kept her further awake. And she thought about the other letters from Spock she knew. The one about the Guardian of Forever, for example. It had warned about the dangers of stepping through. But it had given her the idea to meet the Ambassador and ask him for help. A risky idea...

"Kirk to Brain, please shut up and let me sleep..." she murmured some time later, turned on her left side and drew her blanket higher.