Naruto: Infinity Divide

Q

Blanket Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Star Trek

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

This chapter is a lynchpin in several ways. Enjoy!

Port = Left

Starboard = Right

[ ] Signifies a foreign language

…

Last time:

T'Lyra Tolaris was standing about ten meters away from the malformed killing machine that had killed and eaten one of her crewmates. The thing was injured badly from Shelly's phaser shot and it was staring hungrily at T'Lyra's head because it wanted to eat her brain to suck up the endorphins to kill the pain in its shoulder. The young Vulcan woman was in a Ponn-ifla stance to ward off a physical attack, but she didn't have a chance of winning realistically. The creature's bones were a mass of spikes and blades that looked razor sharp.

Thinking calmly of different scenarios T'Lyra felt the adrenaline rushing as the more primitive part of her brain pumped masses of chemicals into her body for fight or flight. Locking her brown eyes with the strangely innocent looking blue eyes of the monster; T'Lyra heard the Marines racing up to pincer the creature but knew it would be too late for her…Apparently sensing the same thing; the beast lunged as it called out for food. Ten meters were crossed in the blink of an eye as the berserker leapt at T'lyra at speeds too fast to follow.

Edgar and the Marines saw the beast's gaping maw opening to consume T'Lyra's head before they could react. Lieutenant Shores watched in slow motion as he saw they were too late. Then T'Lyra's eyes ignited like stars at the speed of thought and the berserker's head and upper body exploded backwards in a shower of gore. T'Lyra whispered, "Sipor taught me some cruel lessons, but I learned them well…"

The young Vulcan woman slid down to her knees in mental exhaustion and before she knew it, T'Lyra was waking up in sickbay with a headache with Naruto beside her bed. His fingers were interlaced with hers affectionately as he watched over her. His eyes were closed, and he said mentally; 'You did well my love. You slew the dragon before anyone else could be hurt. I am so very proud of you my Wildflower Princess…On another note I am so sorry you had to go through that. I love you T'Lyra.'

'And I love you Naruto.' she mentally replied. 'I am worn out.'

The blonde mentally nodded. 'Then sleep well my love. I will be here when you awake…'

…

Chapter 54

Stardate Unknown, NX-1602 U.S.S. Wolverine, Sickbay

Naruto watched as they moved the two female aliens into more secure areas in sickbay. After what happen with the male and T'Lyra's brush with death the blonde hybrid was appalled to the degree that he was considering throwing them out the nearest airlock. 'Is this what lives inside that void? Supplies may not be worth it.' The Bridge Staff was very divided on what to do about the situation. Naturally, Naruto would listen to his staff but ultimately the decision was his and his alone. 'This place already cost us one member of my crew. That's one too many.'

He felt T'Lyra waking up as she gently squeezed his hand. She gave him a mental smile and said, 'You think too loud as usual my mate.'

The blonde felt himself relax at T'Lyra's warm presence. 'It is difficult to make a decision at this juncture; -I'

"RED ALERT! CAPTAIN TO BRIDGE!" rang Shizuka's voice over the comm.

Naruto squeezed his brunette mate's hand and she nodded. He punched the comm panel on the wall and said, "This is Captain M'Fau; I am on my way." Then the blonde dashed to the bridge.

…

Bridge

Naruto came off the turbolift at a trot. He saw multiple solar sailed ships closing at sublight speed from the void. They were firing volleys of orange laser beams at the Wolverine which was effortlessly avoiding the lasers on impulse power alone. Shizuka was easily anticipating their erstwhile enemy's maneuvers. Naruto estimated his First Officer was about twenty steps ahead in this one-sided game of fools. Rafi snorted and said, "Their missile volleys are even less effective than their lasers! They can barely reach .8 of light speed."

Shizuka had a bloodthirsty smile on her face and she said, "They fired on us first. Federation doctrine states that we can return fire at will."

Edgar Shores growled, "The bastards cost Randall Bailey his life. Time for some payback."

Naruto watched as the crew toyed with the sublight ships. Everyone but M'rella and Alison seemed to be having a blast. The blonde said authoritatively, "You all seem to be having fun without the Captain being on the bridge."

Samui was the first to pivot around a freeze at Naruto's less than thrilled exclamation.

…Then the whole bridge crew turned to face him in fear. Naruto ordered, "Lieutenant Rafi! Continue evasive maneuvering. Everyone else stand down…And turn off that bloody noise! Go to yellow alert. We are in no danger unless we sit still!" He rounded on Shizuka and said, "First Officer Shizuka Nadeshiko; explain this situation and what exactly you are doing!"

The Earth raised Vulcan gulped. She'd never seen Naruto angry in the slightest; let alone at her. She stood up out of the command chair and said, "Sir! Sixteen hostile vessels ordered our surrender and opened fire before we responded. Under Federation General Order-"

"Why didn't you just leave?" asked Naruto calmly. "We could have disengaged at will…"

"…Bailey sir…He was torn to pieces…" said Shizuka hanging her head.

The blonde Captain sighed, sat down in his chair and asked, "Mister Shores, what is our current weapons status?"

"All phasers are charged to capacity and both photons are on standby with standard loads."

Naruto gave Shores a withering look as if to say 'Photons? Really…?!'

The Vulcan hybrid pivoted to face M'rella and asked kindly, "Has a universal peace message been sent out?"

M'rella relaxed a tiny bit and said, "Aye sir. It was sent out the moment they appeared. Shortly thereafter they demanded our surrender and opened fire with everything they had." The Caitian said; "They just sent another audio message sir."

"Let's hear it." replied Naruto.

"Surrender now and prepare to be boarded you cowards! You can only dodge us for so long!" said a baritone voice over the speakers.

Naruto nodded and ordered, "Give me a tactical." The screen showed the sixteen sailing vessels in a semi-circle formation with a large just asteroid beyond them. The blonde motioned to Alison Fairbanks who was looking very worried, and he said, "Scan that large asteroid and see if it has any inhabitants."

A few seconds later; Alison replied, "The asteroid is devoid of any life."

"Mister Shores; fire a single photon torpedo and destroy that asteroid." ordered Naruto.

"Aye sir." said Lieutenant Shores. "Firing now."

A second later; a single blazing photon torpedo vaporized the asteroid without any effort at all…and the solar sailors abruptly stopped firing.

"Put me on communications M'rella." said Naruto.

"Ready sir." acknowledged the beautiful Caitian with a smile.

The blonde hybrid said in a commanding voice, "This is Captain Naruto M'Fau of the United Federation Starship U.S.S. Wolverine. We of the Federation are always delighted to meet new life forms and new civilizations. If you do not cease fire and withdraw at once, you will be reduced to cosmic dust without delay. Respond please."

"…"

"…"

"…Th-This is Admiral Cattol. I'm sure we will make great allies Captain! The Children of Light welcome you to the Noble Ring System!" replied a terrified voice.

Naruto replied, "Wonderful. We are glad this misunderstanding has been cleared up. U.S.S Wolverine out." Then the blonde said, "Rafi; thrusters at station keeping. Maintain yellow alert until our new acquaintances depart."

...

"Personal Log of Captain Naruto M'Fau; Stardate undetermined. Warrant Officer Randall Bailey's Funeral was today. I have never conducted such a ceremony before, and I hope to never do it again. While no one blames me I cannot help but feel I could have prevented his death somehow. His remains were fired into space as of 08:00 this morning in a photon torpedo shell."

"We have travelled a safe distance from the Noble Ring System and are evaluating the situation. Doctor Wilson and the medical staff are examining the two aliens aboard with the greatest of care and have kept them deeply sedated. I have ordered heavy security as well. After the loss of Mister Bailey, I have ordered security cages in sick bay for such situations. These normally aren't on Federation Starships except for prison transports or bases but we have the materials, so I ordered them to be constructed. Safeguarding the lives of the crew of the Wolverine is one of my foremost duties."

"On a more personal note; the fact I nearly lost my mate T'Lyra to that monster makes me want to beam the other two out into space. I am patiently awaiting the medical staff's conclusions…"

…

Sickbay

Ino Yamanaka opened her eyes. She had entered the subconscious mind of the dark blue haired alien and found that the woman's mindset was malevolent. The blonde Betazoid was a pacifist by nature but the creature that was sleeping peacefully in the sickbay bed was so sickening that she wanted to get it off the Wolverine as quickly as possible. As she exited the secured medical room Doctor Wilson asked; "What did you see Ino? You look shaken."

Ino answered, "I saw the embodiment of evil. That creature is vile beyond comprehension. It needs to be destroyed."

Shelly raised her eyebrows at Ino's declaration. "What do you mean Ino? Surely there is something-"

"No Shelly." replied Ino. "That this is programmed to kill. It lives to kill. It loves to kill. From what I can tell the thing's pleasure centers are stimulated when it murders. I've never been so revolted in my life by a subconscious. Other than self-preservation; it has no other function than taking life. I feel sick even thinking about what I saw in that thing's head. I need a drink..."

…

Bridge

Several hours later, M'rella was monitoring the space waves when her ears perked up. She said, "Captain Naruto; we have an incoming subspace transmission from within the Noble Ring System. It's coming from the planet not connected to the light beam network. It seems to be automatic and repeating."

"On screen M'rella." replied Naruto.

Two ancient looking humanoids appeared on screen. They were gray haired and had the same tall; pointed ears of the two alien women they had aboard the Wolverine. "…And our children have declared war upon us. The right to succession was going splendidly until the children turned against us. We are transmitting the data now…"

The crew saw the screen go static and the message began again. M'rella asked, "Shall I respond sir? I believe this may have been sent in response to our universal peace message."

Naruto watched the massage repeat once more and said, "Try to contact the source directly."

M'rella tried three times before she got a response. It also seemed to be automatic. "It's a high-density code sir. I'm recording it to decipher."

…

Officer's Staff Room

It was days later that Maya Ayasugi and Alison Fairbanks had a translated synopsis written up. The entire staff was there to listen and determine what the Noble Ring System was all about. Doctor Fairbanks explained; "A very advanced civilization built the Noble Ring System thousands of millennia ago before the recorded history of the people who wrote this history. We know nothing about them other than they evolved somehow and left. The older race was referred to as the 'Old Gods.' The people that wrote this recorded history called themselves the 'New Gods' and ruled over the Noble Ring System's populace with an iron fist."

Alison continued. "The so called 'New Gods' believed it was their manifest destiny to somehow follow their predecessors into deep space and after 120,000 years of ruling over the system they set about evolving themselves into a higher state of being artificially until they reached the 'pinnacle of being' (in their own words) after about 10,000 years. Then they found that they were at a genetic plateau and couldn't evolve themselves any further. Apparently, their society stagnated virtually to the point of crystallization and they started genetically engineering simpler life forms using themselves as templates… Each world in the system was at a different point in evolution but was granted the same level of technology. All six of the planets had rudimentary space flight and contacted each other quickly. Then they broke out into a six-way war for resources."

There was a small murmur among the staff and Ayasugi picked up where Alison left off. "There are several hundred accounts of these various wars between the planets and the 'New Gods' started treating these wars as games and entertainment. They promised their evolutionary 'children' access to the secrets of their seventh world to anyone who could unite the entire system under one banner. This intensified the wars and the different worlds started cloning and genetically engineering themselves into more effective combatants. The three aliens we brought aboard the Wolverine are examples of extremely advanced bio-weapon engineering."

Maya shook her head and sighed. "The net result of this was catastrophic to the planetary inhabitants and eventually they united against the 'New Gods' and bombarded the seventh world until it was uninhabitable. That was at least 2,000 years ago and the transmission we received was recorded then. Apparently, it auto-sends whenever it receives a subspace transmission."

"…And at some point since the destruction of the seventh planet the other six worlds broke out into war again…" finished Alison.

Ino said, "That would explain the psyches of unbridled hatred and rage I sensed from our two guests. From birth to death, they are fighting in a war."

"Then logically the Noble Ring System should be avoided at all costs." said Naruto. "We will get our supplies elsewhere."

Doctor Wilson asked, "What about our two guests?"

Naruto's tone turned dark. "We terminate them painlessly via transporter dispersal. They wouldn't have survived their ship breaking up if we hadn't interfered to begin with."

Ino sagged a bit in her chair and mumbled, "Thank God…"

Captain M'Fau asked, "Does anyone disagree with this decision? Speak freely." All were silent. "Then the order is given." stated Naruto. "We will terminate the two bioweapons on board and lay in a course for known space. That is all."

…

"Personal Log of Chief Medical Officer Shelly Wilson; Stardate unknown. Captain Naruto beamed the two bioweapons out into space at maximum dispersal today and I for one am glad that they are gone forever. I never thought I'd see the day when I would condone the equivalent of an execution, but everyone is on the same page. We could not afford to keep them aboard due to the danger they presented. For someone like our pacifistic Counselor Ino Yamanaka to show such relief at the passing of those weapons is telling."

…

The Noble Ring system was left behind the U.S.S. Wolverine as quickly as possible as they headed towards Lyran Space. After three weeks of travelling at near maximum warp the fast cruiser came upon something unusual; a lone heavy freighter stopped dead in space and apparently adrift. Naruto came out of his ready room as they closed on the smaller vessel. "Report." The blonde said as he sat down in his command chair.

Shizuka turned to face Naruto and said, "The freighter has positively been identified as a Lyran one. It's marked as Survey Vessel 19 on the hull. It has minimal power readings but no life forms aboard."

"Have there been any responses to our hails?" asked the blonde Vulcan.

M'rella shook her head. "Negative Captain. There is no sign of any communications."

Alison looked up from her sciences console and said, "The ship is abandoned. There are no signs of life. The emergency life support is active though. We could board the ship without trouble."

"This is odd. Why is the ship abandoned?" asked Samui. "The escape pods are all launched."

Naruto pondered a moment and said, "We'll send an away team over in survival suits. If there is anything hostile, I want everyone protected. Kloene, Doctor Hammond, and M'rella will be joining me. Mister Shores, I want you coming as well. Commander Nadeshiko, you have the bridge."

The small away team beamed over to the freighter's bridge twenty minutes later…

…

Lyran Survey Vessel 19, Bridge

Captain Naruto and the others appeared on the bridge with their phasers ready but unexpectedly there were no signs of bodies or anything but a fine layer of dust. Putting their phasers away, Naruto went to the Captain's chair and found the ship's batteries were fully charged and that the emergency lighting was fully functional. Everyone searched the various stations and M'rella found the communications console.

"I found the last log entry Captain Naruto." said the Caitain beauty. "It's dated two months ago."

"Can you translate it?" asked Naruto.

"Aye sir." replied the communications officer. "Beginning playback now."

…

"Final Log Entry: Captain Pekosh speaking. Our engineer has determined the cause of our warp failure is one of our dilithium crystals has shattered. The breakdown we suffered at warp 2 damaged the impulse engines as well and we do not have any means to power the ship except for batteries. We have signaled another survey ship but will run out of oxygen before they arrive. As a result, we are going to use the escape pods to drift towards our rescuers. We should be able to survive six months in the pods. Hopefully we will be able to recover Survey Vessel 19 later. Until then, smooth sailing old girl…"

…

Kloene said, "I've confirmed the damage to the engines Captain. This ship is dead in the water."

Gregory Hammond said, "It seems that the Lyran's loss is our gain."

Naruto had a gleam in his eye. "You are correct Doctor Hammond. I believe Lyran equipment and supplies could help our needs immensely. M'rella, contact the Wolverine and inform them we are going to salvage Survey Vessel 19 starting with her long-range communications equipment."

"Aye, aye sir!" said M'rella with a smile. "Signaling the Wolverine now."

…

NX-1602 U.S.S. Wolverine

For a furious week the entire crew of the U.S.S. Wolverine stripped the carcass of Survey Vessel 19 for anything remotely of use. There were foodstuffs aboard the survey ship but it was primarily meat given the Lyrans were meat eating felinoids. The real prize was a single special sensor and both short and long communications gear which were used to replace the damaged equipment on the Wolverine. With the good came bad though…

The Science Staff that weren't involved in the repair work were working on deciphering the survey ship's log entries and data. Doctor Fairbanks was the first to pick up things that were amiss when she translated the Stardates they were now receiving on Lyran frequencies. Alison turned to Shizuka who was in command of the bridge of the Wolverine at the time. "The current Stardate is 2283.270. It was Stardate 2274.335 when we vanished through space time." said the redhead. "We were shot nine years forward through time …Not good."

Shizuka's eyes widened. "What do you think could have happened in the last nine years while we were gone?"

…

Officer's Staff Room

"…A war happened. The Lyran Star Empire and Kzinti Hegemony went at it (again) in August of 2278." reported Maya Ayasugi to the staff. "This was the beginning of what is called The General War."

Shar asked, "The General War Ayasugi?"

"It's a war that covers most of known space." explained Maya. "Basically, what I'm reporting here is the headlines from the Lyran broadcasts to Survey Vessel 19 over the last few years."

"Please proceed Ayasugi." said Naruto. "It appears that things went badly starting four years after we vanished."

Maya nodded. "They did. In short order, in January 2279 Klingons joined the Lyran assault on the Kzintis and in October 2279 Hydran Kingdom attacked Lyrans and Klingons to support their Kzinti allies."

Shizuka growled, "It sounds like the Four Powers War all over again."

"The difference is the Hydrans lost this time." explained Ayasugi. "The Hydran Capitol fell a year later in 2280."

There was a murmur throughout the staff room.

Samui asked "So what happened next?"

Maya sighed. "It got worse. In August of 2281 Klingon Empire invaded the United Federation of Planets… The Federation was holding their own and then the Romulan Star Empire also invaded the Federation in January of 2283. Ultimately the Klingons and Romulans are negotiating a peace treaty with the United Federation of Planets to demilitarize and over half of the Federation's territory will be ceded to Romulan and Klingon control… According to what I have the treaty is to be signed in December…"

Naruto stroked his chin. "Then the Hydran Territories are lost. The Kzinti Territories are losing, and the Federation is negotiating a total surrender."

"That's correct sir." replied Ayasugi. A map of known territories came up and she said, "We are currently deep, deep behind enemy lines with no safe borders to pass through and our people are losing..."

"Then we go north and bust through Lyran Territory into what's left of Kzinti Territory." said Shizuka. "From there we link up with the Kzintis and go home."

Doctor Wilson asked, "Are you serious Nadeshiko?! We're talking about playing hide and seek with the Lyrans for months at best or a running battle through enemy territory for years at worst! I for one do not want to die in a suicide run."

"Isn't there a way to go around hostile territory?" asked Ino.

Samui replied, "Going north around the Lyrans towards the core would take us into unknown territory…"

"…And going south around Klingon and occupied Hydran territory would lead us right into the great barrier at the Galactic Edge which could destroy us." added Rafi helpfully.

Alison asked, "Why don't we just jump backwards through time and avoid this whole mess?"

Naruto tapped his finger on the table and said, "Assuming we could avoid time paradoxes; time travel could be a viable option. Unfortunately, we don't have a calculable starting point."

"I believe that a theoretical starting point could be calculated." said Alison.

The blonde and the redhead started taking in abstract math that had everyone else's heads spinning. Finally, the two scientists said "Two months." in perfect unison.

"Two months?" asked Shelly Wilson warily.

Alison stated, "We go back in time before this war started with no risk of time paradoxes and zip home along the borders as originally planned. Within our calculations we figure in a two-month margin for error which is completely acceptable."

"…Tell me you aren't planning to go back and change time before any of this can happen." said a female voice none of them recognized. "You can't possibly believe you can prevent the war."

Naruto pivoted to an unassuming woman in a red shirted Starfleet Uniform with dusty blonde hair. The blonde Vulcan asked politely, "And who might you be Miss?"

The woman smiled and said, "Q."

…

Captain's Ready Room

"…You are the last of the Tkon; Naruto M'Fau. It is little wonder that some members of the Q continuum are curious about you." said Q. "You may be destined to do great things." She motioned to the star chart that showed the Federation and known space. "If you were to go back nine years, do you seriously think that you could prevent the General War from occurring?"

The blonde Vulcan shook his head. "Even if we went back further the war appears to be inevitable. However, we could intervene and at least warn the Federation so the war doesn't follow the same path."

Q smiled rather sinisterly. "Do you think it will be that easy? You just flip a switch, and everything is made right? What if you make a mistake and things only get worse?"

Naruto's blue eyes glowed slightly with chakra. "It is a calculated risk."

"Then you are willing to gamble on the fate of the entire United Federation of Planets' future just with one insignificant speck you call Wolverine?" asked Q.

"Yes." answered the half Vulcan with absolute conviction.

"If you are that confident, I'll give you five years to make it right." said Q. "I'll wager that you can't pull it off."

Q raised her hand in a position to snap her fingers and said "Good luck Captain Naruto M'Fau. You will need it." She snapped and everything went black…

…

Stardate 2278.223, 40 Eridani A System, Planet Vulcan, City of ShiKahr, T'ara and Sovar's house

Talok M'Fau (Age 16) was sitting and watching the latest news broadcast. She had blossomed into a gorgeous young woman and was the spitting image of her Mother T'Ara. Talok looked rather bored as she watched the holovision. "Tonight's news; August 13, 2278: the Lyran Star Empire has invaded the Kzinti Hegemony. The racial hatred between these two peoples is legendary so perhaps this war was inevitable. Federation Diplomats are…"

Siegfried Schrodinger M'Fau (Age 11) came racing into the room and turned off the holovision set. He had grown into a beautiful boy with long, straight platinum blonde hair that was braided in a low tail. His ice blue eyes glittered with his parents' intelligence. He said, "Aunt Talok; do you sense a presence? It seems familiar to me, but I don't know why."

Talok closed her Onyx eyes and whispered, "…Naruto…"

"What?" asked Siegfried puzzled.

His Aunt said, "Not you Siegfried Naruto; your Father, big brother Naruto. How can this be…?"

…

Sol III System, Planet Earth Orbit, NX-1602 U.S.S. Wolverine

Naruto saw that the mysterious Q was gone and quickly came onto the bridge which was filled with chatter. Shizuka turned to him happily and said, "Naruto! The Stardate is 2278.223 and we are orbiting planet Earth. We've made it home!"

The blonde Captain sat in his command chair in relief. 'Now our work truly begins…' he thought. "M'rella; contact Starfleet Command, Priority One. There is much to be discussed."

M'rella nodded and said, "We have an incoming transmission from the Commanding Officer, Starfleet Command Fleet Admiral Heihachiro Nogura; Captain Naruto."

'Oh boy, here we go…' thought the command crew.

"Put him through." said Naruto.

The commanding glare of Fleet Admiral Nogura loomed over the bridge crew of the fast cruiser and after staring for a few seconds until Naruto said, "This is Commanding Officer Naruto M'fau of the starship NX-1602 U.S.S. Wolverine reporting for duty Fleet Admiral Nogura."

The Fleet Admiral nodded and "Welcome home Wolverine. The General Staff and I are most curious as to your whereabouts during the last four years. Nogura out."

As the screen went blank and Spacedock 1 signaled them with docking instructions; Shar said drolly, "That wasn't the hero's welcome I was hoping for."

Samui replied; "At least they didn't open fire on us."

"Heads up people." said Rafi. "Life just got much more difficult."

As they entered spacedock they were directed to the berth beside a sistership they did not know about, NCC-1603 U.S.S. Stingray. It was the second fast cruiser built and they were sent via light signals; "Welcome home noble voyager!"

…

An hour later Fleet Admiral Nogura and his staff came aboard in their brand-new crimson dress uniforms*① to give a full military inspection. It was brutal. Not a single thing was considered right, and the weary crew of the Wolverine was dressed down repeatedly for every possible thing the Admiral's staff could think of. After three horrible hours of being badmouthed and talked down to, Naruto was sitting alone in his ready room wondering about the possibilities of becoming a spiritualist like his Father Sovar.

Admiral Nogura and his staff stormed off the ship without a single good thing to say other than the blonde Vulcan was to report to Nogura's Office to give a full verbal report of what had transpired since the Wolverine vanished in the battle with the Cai four years ago.

…

Stardate 2278.224, Starbase 1, Admiral Nogura's staff room

The next day Naruto was in his older styled dress uniform facing a proverbial firing squad as accusations flew wildly among his superiors about the Wolverine's whereabouts ranging from theft to AWOL to Naruto's personal favorite, joyriding. After thirty minutes of savage criticism the blonde Vulcan had enough and said in a tone that overwhelmed the din; "If the Staff will stop these illogical, pointless and unsubstantiated accusations then I will explain the situation as to the location of NX-1602 U.S.S. Wolverine to everyone's satisfaction."

"You have a lot of gall Mister!" thundered Nogura.

Naruto frowned ever so slightly and said, "I also have the truth."

…It took six hours to explain the hell the U.S.S. Wolverine and her crew had been through in enough detail that the Admiral's Staff was shocked and horrified at the possible future of the Federation. Naruto closed his explanation with; "The future is in your hands Fleet Admiral Nogura. Let history be the judge of your actions regarding the U.S.S. Wolverine and what she discovered."

Naruto was (surprisingly) told he was free to return to the Wolverine without escort. It was then he was intercepted by Rear Admiral Lance Cartwright who said in a friendly way, "I find it hard to believe I'm saying this, but I believe you impressed the Fleet Admiral, Captain Naruto. Would you care to join me for a drink? There were some questions I had that are off the record if you don't mind."

The blonde's azure blue eyes locked with Admiral Cartwright's brown ones, and he said, "Of course sir. What can I do for Section 31?"

Cartwright smiled knowingly and replied; "You are well informed Captain. Well, that makes my life much easier. Let's talk in my private office…"

…

POSTSCRIPT:

*①: These are the standard crimson Starfleet Uniforms that came into service in 2278 and were seen in the original Star Trek Movies II-VI.

This chapter is a turning point as the General War is beginning. I don't plan to turn the story into a war chronicle just yet, so we'll see a lot of catching up between characters and their families over the next few chapters as well as some cloak and dagger with Section 31. See you next time. Blue out. 10/4/23