Chapter 7: A family tradition

When Jamie stood again in front of the Guardian of Forever she was relieved. But... "Is the timeline okay?" she asked, just to be sure, while letting her gaze wander over the ruins and up in the night sky. There was a small moving light. The Enterprise. B. Orbiting the planet.

"Everything is as it should be. You are again where you belong."

She nodded, clutched the PADD resting against her left thigh a little tighter and turned around to face the portal. "You're really sneaky, you know?"

"Meeting the older Spock would not have lead you to the revelations you needed", the Guardian explained. "And as someone once said: Sometimes when it seems that things are falling apart, they may actually be falling right into place."

Her face softened. "I know... now... If I asked you how everything will be turning out, would I get an answer?"

"I cannot reveal to you what is yet to come in your future."

Jamie chuckled. "That's what I thought..."

"But there is one thing I can say. You may know it by now... This reality developed very differently from that particular other one the older Spock came from. You are not someone's shadow. Not by far. Believe me. As I said: I can see everything. All that is, all that was and all that ever could be."

"Thank you for sending me to the younger Spock and my father", Jamie said softly. She wondered if that had been more than the Guardian actually was allowed to do, wondered if that counted as interfering. But she decided not to ask.

"Did I get back the moment I left?" she asked instead. The sky was suspiciously dark, as she realized now.

"No. It is right before dawn."

"What? Why?" Jamie sighed exasperated. Of course, she'd said to the Lieutenant in the transporter room that she didn't know how long she would be gone. But the whole night? Oh boy.

"There were things that needed to happen here before your return. You will see when you get back on your ship."

Jamie took a deep breath and touched the Starfleet insignia communicator on her uniform. "Kirk to Enterprise. I'm done here. Beam me up."

When Jamie Kirk vanished in the swirl of light the ancient portal powered down. The Guardian of Forever went back to sleep.

Captain Joanna McCoy was standing in the transporter room, when Commander Jamie Kirk materialized.

"So, a funny thing happened", the Captain began to speak as if it was a completely casual conversation over a cup of coffee. "My first officer, just like that, took off without an away team and beamed down on a strange planet and vanished the whole night. Apparently on a little trip through time..." She crossed her arms and looked sternly at Jamie. "Yeah, we found out what's down there. And Nyota told me about some letters Selek left behind."

Jamie shrugged while the Captain went on talking. She stepped down from the transporter pad, still letting rest the PADD against her left thigh.

"And all of a sudden the Enterprise is turned into grand central station. The Ambassadors Uhura and Spock arrived about an hour ago. Your parents are on their way, bringing half the fleet along with them. They were actually supposed to join the other half at Wolf 359 to engage the Borg, but when Jim heard in which star system we are he took command of the fleet and called it off. He said something about waiting a long time for this day. They'll be here in a few minutes, I guess... Spock said something similar, by the way, and Nyota made sure that all senior officers are waiting for us right now in the briefing room. Sulu is currently on Yorktown Base and sent a weird four-word-message for you. And while I was on my way here I got informed that my Dad called and wants us to call him back as soon as you're on the ship again. Apparently he was cursing about that Guardian-thing down there."

"What's the message?" Jamie asked coolly.

Joanna glared at her. "Really? That's your question now?" She rolled her eyes. "It says: Welcome home, Captain Cryptic."

Jamie just laughed.

"Are you going to tell me what the hell is happening or do I have it to make an order?" the Captain asked and pointed at the PADD in Jamie's hand. But there was also a slight amused smile on her lips.

When Jamie was about to answer the doors slid open and Nyota Uhura walked in. She wore a Vulcan robe and her hair was skillfully pinned up. "So, back from your trip to the past, Jamie?"

The Commander smiled. "You know everything, right?"

"Yes. I know and I remember. We all do. When you grew up and started to look like a particular visitor from our past, we realized that it was you and not another version of Jim Kirk. Spock confirmed it. We were expecting the day you would be in this star system and go to the Guardian of Forever."

Joanna watched them and started to understand.

Jamie couldn't suppress a slight grin. "It's a little bit funny, don't you think?"

"Going to the past was dangerous..." Nyota shook her head, then smiled again. "We were quite blind back then..." She and gestured both women to walk with her. "Come on, the senior officers are already waiting for us. I guess you have a lot to tell. Carol and Jim can beam directly there when they arrive."

The officers and visitors at the conference table had hanging their mouths open by the time Jamie finished her briefing about the Guardian of Forever, her trip to the past and the computer virus. Though - Admiral James T. Kirk was simply grinning. Admiral Carol Marcus-Kirk and Ambassador Nyota Uhura were smiling and Ambassador Spock nodded approvingly.

"So, basically, you want to reprogram the Borg... Isn't that a little bit like cheating?" one of the science officers asked with a wink. Of course, everyone got the reference.

Jamie grinned broadly. "Oh, no. But let's call it... a little family tradition." She looked to her father who was smiling very proudly at her.

Laughter filled the room.

"But isn't it a no-win scenario after all? Aren't we merely delaying the inevitable now?" another officer asked.

Jamie shook her head firmly. "All we need is time - even if it might be fifty or one hundred years. Time and trust in ourselves and the people who are yet to be born. When the Borg return in the far future, Starfleet will be prepared." Her lips cracked into a confident smile. " We always wanted to create better and stronger weapons. But fighting at this point of time is wrong. It's a long game. And we will win."

After the briefing Jamie and Spock stayed behind. He was standing at the window front and she stepped next to him.

"It must have been hard for you knowing all these things for all this time, not telling the others and waiting for today to happen."

He nodded. "I always knew that everything would turn out the right way. Because I know you and your family. I trust you."

"Yeah... but 25 years..."

They both went silent.

"I was quite lost...for a while..." she said finally.

Spock put a hand on her shoulder. "So you were. But when you remembered who you are and finally trusted yourself again, you changed the game... Above all else, to thine own self be true..."

Jamie smiled at the quote from Shakespeare.

"You found a way to achieve what many thought to be impossible after all those battles against the Borg. I am certain that your plan will work."

"It's kind of fun to do the impossible." She grinned. "Walt Disney. Perhaps we should make that the family motto."

Then Jamie took a deep breath and her face got serious again. "But don't worry. I know that there's still much work to do. And we need to get this virus somehow in their systems. That will be still a challenge... So, now that we're all on the same page we better get started."

The End