Chapter 6: Breakthrough

Oddly, the morning on the Enterprise went on as normal as if Jamie Kirk wasn't even on board. Thank heavens, she thought, when she was wandered through the decks. With official permission, of course. Finally, she stood in front of an empty computer lab and decided to take the opportunity.

"Okay..." she said to herself when she sat down at a computer console and pulled up the files of the Enterprise's last missions. Well, at least as far as they were accessible without any command codes. She might perhaps guess them, for she knew her father's preferences regarding passwords or might even be able to hack in, but she still wanted to keep everything as low key as possible.

So, Jamie watched a few security cam feeds and after that she sat down on the floor and looked into the unending deep space. That always helped her thinking. Now, however, her mind went blank...

After some time the stood up and took a PADD. She made sure it was empty and programmed it with some codes to prevent anyone from this time to be able to access or read it. Then she started with some basics - she wrote down encounters with the Borg and made some kind of a mind map with places, weaponry and all she could think of what might help.

When Jamie was done, she connected the PADD in a read only way to a station with a holographic generator. Before she activated it she locked the room. No one was to walk in and accidentally see knowledge from and about the future.

And then, there it was... An elaborate swirl of all what she knew about the Borg and prior attempts to defeat them. With her hands she shifted the projected notes around her...

...studied them...

...made corrections...

...or additions...

...rearranged the blocks...

...but she always shook her head.

Every battle had severe losses. People were assimilated or died. Ships, colonies or space stations were mostly destroyed.

In 2263 James Kirk and his crew first had first encountered the Borg while the Enterprise-A was under construction and he had captained the USS Endeavour. They had tried to assimilate Spock - but had failed due to his unique hybrid physiology. For several years after that no other Borg cube was seen in Federation space. Weapon's experts worked on ways to fight them, but when they finally showed up again, all improved or new weapons were no use. Because the Borg had also evolved. For many years there was kind of a status quo. The Borg attacked, were forced back by great cost, and returned a few years later. Currently in Jamie's time another return was in progress. But this time the Borg were stronger than ever before. Starfleet Command feared they would succeed in invading and assimilating Earth and even an evacuation was in discussion.

Jamie's thoughts wandered to the letters Ambassador Spock had left. They had gotten temporarily lost when the Enterprise had crash landed on Altamid. Many belongings of crewmembers had been salvaged years later. The chest with the letters had been amongst those things. Two had been damaged - one of them being the letter about the Borg. The Elder Spock had originally addressed it to the year 2364 - one year before the Enterprise-D would encounter the Borg - but some of the officers, who found the envelopes, had recognized the word Borg. So Starfleet Command read that letter. Ambassador Spock didn't go into much details, but he described the enemies and emphasized their dangerousness. There were a few remarks and warnings that might have been able to save lives - if the confrontations would have been as they were in the other timeline. Not in this though, not with the Borg showing up so much earlier.

But - the way Spock wrote implied that his timeline's Starfleet was able to win against the Borg in the end. They protected and saved the Alpha Quadrant. So, it was possible. Jamie had so hoped to be able to ask Ambassador Spock and talk him into telling her how they did it.

But here she was. On her own.

Jamie pondered about her conversations with this time's Spock. She even considered for a moment to call him and show him her mind map - but decided against it. This was way too much knowledge about the future.

Was it as the young Spock surmised? Could a fresh perspective help? Here and now nobody knew about the Borg. But this was the past. Less efficient weapons and shields. No way to defeat the Borg. How could she find the way to win here? Also, every piece of information about them here could and would change future events.

Jamie let her gaze wander. The holographic words started to blur before her tired eyes. She crossed her arms and closed her eyes. She sighed, turned to the window and started to look into the vast darkness again.

And then it suddenly hit her.

"We were going about it all wrong", she muttered to herself and stepped back in the middle of the holographic projection. "Oh... how stupid..."

Now she saw it. Crystal clear. All the Starfleet experts - and she herself - had always only thought about better and stronger weapons and shields. For years they were hell bent on finding the ultimate way to win.

"What if it's not the time for that?" she whispered to herself. "It's all too early." Yes, the first encounter was in this timeline 2263 and not 2365 as in the Ambassador's.

Every battle in this timeline ended with losses, and yet some kind of status quo. So... "What if we get a... timeout?"

Jamie's eyes suddenly lightened up. Her hands flew around throwing aside all notes about weapons. She augmented her notes about the collective mind of the Borg and what she knew about their computer systems. Which wasn't very much. But enough to know that everything was heavily protected. An approach would have to be very careful and aim at something non vital in order to get through and not be detected.

And there it was - a plan formed in Jamie's mind. She went to the computer and pulled up a basic pattern for a computer virus from the Enterprise's database. She copied it to the password protected PADD and started her work.

If someone were to call this a weapon, it would be one far less than ordinary. Jamie Kirk was now designing a computer virus to make the Borg simply forget about the Federation and Starfleet. Well, at least for a while.

First step: Finish the programming.

Second step: Getting it in a Borg cube's system in her own time. Tricky.

Third step: Wait until the virus would be spreaded through the whole collective, thereby partially rebooting it and making them think they didn't yet came to the Alpha Quadrant. Then destroy all Borg ships in the Alpha Quadrant to ensure that clean slate. Okay, that last part would be also tricky...

As a result Starfleet could go on to find a way to defeat the Borg in the far future when they would eventually and inevitably learn about the Federation. Again.

It was a risky plan, of course. But it would work. Jamie was sure about that. Her self-confidence was back. She smiled and typed faster.

Commander Jamie Kirk was very good with computers, but she knew she would have to get a few people to check her work over when she was back in her own time. She'd also need the latest intel on Borg technology when she was home. But after hours of programming and even skipping lunch she was done with what she could put together with the limited resources she had. The PADD in her hands contained the virus that would help them win in the long run.

She slowly looked up. "I would like to say goodbye to them."

I will open the portal when you are ready, the voice of the Guardian of Forever sounded in her head.

When Jamie entered the mess hall of the Enterprise with the PADD in her right hand, it was almost exactly 24 hours after her arrival on the ship. She saw the senior staff at the same table as the day before, pulled up a chair and sat down.

"I wanted to say goodbye."

She received surprised looks. And the Captain's gaze wandered to the PADD.

"You found what you were looking for", he remarked.

"Yeah", she smiled. "Talking to Spock and you helped a lot. I understand now why I ended up here... And I got an idea and worked something out." Jamie pointed to the PADD. "Hope you don't mind that I'm taking this PADD with me."

Jim Kirk smiled approvingly. "Wanna tell us about it?"

"Sorry, it..." She chose her words carefully. "... would be too early... here. Certain... things have to happen first..." Jamie smiled again. "But don't worry, I've got you covered. I just can't tell you more."

"And there's Captain Cryptic again", Sulu threw in and saluted playfully.

Everyone laughed, except Spock of course.

Jamie smiled brightly and rose from the chair. "Thanks again for your help." She picked up the PADD and held it with both arms against her upper body. "I'll see you around."

Jim Kirk returned the smile. "Good look with everything."

"Guardian", Jamie called, still smiling at the officers. Behind her, across the mess hall, suddenly a whirling energy portal formed. She turned around slowly and walked into the time vortex. It vanished a few seconds later.