Chapter 56:

[Earlier in the Delphic Expanse]

Captain Renée Picard ordered, "Astrometrics."

The Astrometrics officer answered, "Yes sir"

Picard asked, "Status of gravimetric mapping?"

Astrometrics answered, "Intersecting lines partially mapped. We'd need to comb through space to find the central hubs. Some areas detected that are too dense to dodge anomalies."

Picard answered, "Thank you. We'll use drones when we need to approach the spheres. In Canon it was state that there were 78 spheres. We are talking to the Xindi first before doing a more thorough mapping."

[Earlier during the trip to the Expanse]

Captain Picard did an educational series based on Enterprise Season 3 for the crews, "Quick answers, except what they show about the Xindi. Why is each episode irrelevent to our mission, and/or what general lessons can we learn? Season 3 episode 1, The Xindi. Trellium-D mining facility."

A Vulcan answered, "It is not in our mission parameters to purchase Trellium-D. However, I must point out that if the reasoning is that we do not wish to do business with a mining facility using slavery, it would be hypercritical, since we do purchase Trellium-D from the Orions who purchase from similar if not the same facility."

Picard answered, "Very good answer. We all need to think critically of our orders and not blindly assume that they are well founded."

"Anomaly. Enterprise is damaged by subspace anomalies and boarded by pirates."

A Human answered, "We have Trellium-D shielding and are also dodging every anomaly. In the episode shields would not have helped because their shields, such as they had them, were offline due to the anomalies. Lesson is that an automated anti-boarding infrastructure, which we do have, is essential."

"Extinction. Landing party infected by a mutagenic virus, then chased by decontaminators."

A Kaferian answered, "Encounter suits are needed until an environment can be shown to be nonhazardous. We wouldn't make that mistake, nor be caught off-guard by a hostile force, even if that force sees itself as doing a galactic service by preventing the spread of an infection."

"Raijiin. Enterprise rescues a slave who is a Xindi agent trying to get biodata on humans for the building of a Xindi bioweapon."

An Andorian answered, "Rescuing a slave would be a complication beyond the scope of our mission. If done anyway, anti-boarding protocols should have stopped hostile actions by a guest of the ship. Attempts to use mind control should be detected by magic on board the ship."

"Impulse. Vulcans gone crazy and violent."

A Vulcan answered, "As we are now aware of the Vulcan vulnerability to Trellium-D, all species are now shielded from it since others might have more subtle effects from exposure. Assuming that the effects were unknown, and therefore happened anyway, protocols for assisting a vessel in apparent distress are more careful than shown in that episode."

"Exile. Wizard tries to convince a crew member with latent magic to stay to his planet of lone exile, as his assistant."

A Human magical answered, "Difficult. Since useful information was offered, it would be incorrect to say that visiting the wizard would be beyond the scope of the mission. We would have a protocol to check for mind control and perhaps do a little better than in that episode."

"The Shipment. Arborial-Xindi are mining a mineral needed for a planet destroying weapon."

A Tellarite said, "Part of the mission. Finding the destination of the material would be relevant, just as in the episode. We fool ourselves to think we would do better."

Twilight. Alternate future of Xindi destroying Earth and most Humans elsewhere."

A Human answered, "Alliance star systems must prevent ships from approaching too close to a target. How close do they need to be to be a threat. Is stopping ships at the equivalent to Jupiter orbit enough? Could a speeding ship get past barriers? Could a weapon similar to that shown, be carried in cargo that would be transferred to a shuttle? What about the vortex shown in later episodes. Perhaps magical shielding is needed for planets."

"North Star. Lost Humans from the 1860s."

A Human answered, "Part of mission. Will involve difficult diplomacy with the lost Humans."

"Similitude. Accident and simbiot to clone parts needed."

A Denobulan answered, "Above all of our pay grades. There needs to be Alliance rules about this sort of treatment, not something for a Denobulan doctor to decide on his own. I personally think it should not be allowed."

"Carpenter Street. Xindi go to Earth's past to gather Human DNA for their bioweapon."

A Human answered, "Time travel won't work in our timeline. However, gathering DNA for a bioweapon might be something the Xindi will do. We have magical and technological countermeasures against diseases already, but are they enough?"

"Chosen Realm. Pirates take over the Enterprise."

A Tellarite answered, "Already answered. Rescuing a ship in distress and then as guests they take over. Automatic system needs to prevent this. Even existing crew, perhaps under mind control, perhaps actually shape-shifters, perhaps insane, perhaps mutineers, can be a threat. Countermeasure are needed, including the information security of what and who controls those countermeasures."

"Proving Ground. Andorians to the rescue, but have ulterior motives."

An Andorian answers, "Lesson is that Andorians are the smartest members of the Alliance. Note at the time, there was a personal connection between Andorians and Humans, but not an alliance. Vulcans were considered adversaries of Andoria, but not by the Humans.

I suppose I should also add that monitoring what not fully trusted helpers were doing with ship controls was well handled by the Humans in that epsisode. They carefully monitored while appearing to not prevent what was essentially sabotage on the part of Andorians helping the Earth vessel."

Captain Renée Picard said, "Most of the rest are relevant to learning about the Xindi, which is a different learning session, so just other lessons from the episode. Strategem. Interrogation of Xindi director of planet destroying weapons."

A Human magical answered, "Ingenious. A very limited wipe of recent memories, with physical illusions to get the subject to reveal information. No magical illusions to detect or dispel."

"Harbinger. Mysterious rescued alien who didn't want to be rescued. Issues between crew."

A Vulcan answered, "Emotional crew members argue over who is responsible for training crew in combat methods. The decision in our timeline to have Starfleet Marines with separate training and organization than other crew members is similar to that of Enterprise Season 3. Perhaps similar emotional conflicts should be expected. Another lession is that approaching an unstable area of space to tow an object is perhaps better done with a drone than a starship with crew aboard.

Finally, ships need to detect that type of dimensional traveler and provide the plasma feedback pulse that worked in this episode. We might encounter the sphere builders in this timeline."

"Doctor's Orders. All crew except the Donobulan put in comas to survive a hazardous area of space."

A Tellarite said, "Absurd. That hazard is unacceptable. Shielding that works or change the mission, unless the ship was otherwise going to be destroyed unless going through that area of space."

"Hatchery. Insectoid -Xindi eggs."

A Human answered, "Yes another mind control episode, this time by liquid. Environmental suits would have prevented it. They took them off their helmets when they detected a breathable atmosphere. It does however show a vulnerability. If the Captain is influenced by mind control, there needs to be ways to detect and mitigate."

Captain Picard added, "In that episode, the MACOs were later put back on duty and it was regarded as if problem solved. If it were me under mind control, which is as simple as being exposed to Insectoid-Xindi eggs, and I later recovered and was restored to command, I would respond differently. I would have everyone who followed by questionable orders interrogated, and all those who should have been suspicious but who followed ny orders anyway without trying to verify their legitimacy, put in the brig until they could be retrained in how to deal with a similar situation.

The survival of their home planet was at stake in this mission, strict adherence to the chain of command was not a higher priority than Earth. If I give questionable orders I expect the fleet doctors to investigate. If I give nonsensical orders I would expect to be at least temporarily relieved of command. If I and the top people reporting to me all starting giving nonsensical orders, the same skepticism should apply."

"Azati Prime. Fighting the Xindi."

An Andorian exclaimed, "Wait a minute. When did Degra, the Xindi planet killing weapon expert, get freed from Enterprise custody? Oh, right, at the end of Strategem. Why did Archer release him? The Humans of that timeline were too stupid to survive, at least not without Andorians helping them.

Then before Enterprise fires on a Xindi station that could prevent the success of the mission the Vulcan indicates her disagreement. Great logic there."

"Damage. From fighting the Xindi."

A Tellarite said, "Damage control procedures seem fairly competent. I am not agreeing with conducting piracy against a neutral vessel. I can agree with preemptive attacks against future enemies, but attacking a non-adversary just because they have something needed is wrong."

I also find in that timeline, the Humans, and later the Federation punitive to those they wronged. After stealing the warp coil from an Illyrian ship, the Humans decide that the Illyrians have illegal blood due to genetic augmentation. They forbid Human and Illyrian hybrids. They refuse them membership in the Federation or individually to join Starfleet. They even forbid using Illyrian medical technology."

"The Forgotten. Diplomacy with the Xindi."

A Human said "Very little is not related to the Xindi. However, the damage control requiring crew to be near hazardous conditions could perhaps be improved with more robotics. Another possibility is to magically repair, or to have magically shrunken replacements for parts of the ship"

"E Squared. Subspace corridors. Time travel."

A Vulcan said, "Most of this episode is irrelevant due to time travel. One technical note is that a Human Vulcan hybrid could be created by one Denobulan doctor. Also, yet another example of guests engaging in piracy."

"The Council. Diplomacy with the Xindi."

A Vulcan said, "I note that the Xindi fire as soon as it is clear that there will be a fight, while the Starfleet ship in Canon generally lets the enemy fire at them for several seconds before responding."

"Countdown. Try to disarm Xindi weapon."

A Human answered, "At least they used grenades when fighting within a ship.

I would like to know how those subspace vortexes work, and whether they exist now. Can they get close to Earth bypassing its defenses? A spoiler for the next episode state that they can arrive at 2 million kilometers from Earth. That is well within the area that is assumed to be protected from enemy ships. It is indicated that perhaps even closer would have been possible, but cause the attacking ship to be vulnerable. Therefore blocking these subspace vortexes becomes essential.

We also know that some parts of Canon that are inconsistent would not be present in our timeline. These vortexes never appear again in Canon except what the Borg create with transwarp technology. It is inconsistent that it would continue to exist and not be used. Perhaps the destruction of the spheres also destroyed these vortexes.

In the next episode, the vortex appeared to be used after the spheres were mostly destroyed, but perhaps it took a little time for that to take effect, and perhaps was the cause of the unexpected time and alternate timeline travel during its use."

"Zero Hour. Deal with Xindi weapon and spheres."

The Ions said, "A ship with considerable power was needed in a place hazardous to hominid life. Options for our fleet would include emptying a starship and using it as a drone. However, if sentient guidance were to be needed then Ions could perhaps be immune to the hazards and could perhaps operate the ship.

We are disappointed with this timeline making use of the trope of cascading failure of an entire network initiated by destroying one node. Nevertheless we can conduct the same attack."

[Diplomatic mission to the Xindi]

Renée Picard addressed the Xindi, "What we are going to say, and the videos we are going to show you probably cause you to believe that we are either insane or lying or deluded. What is relevant to Xindi is that we believe in what we are saying and will act on it. At least that fact should be considered in your decisions.

Among our population are some who have some ability to predict the future. Beyond that we have detailed video from a timeline that has already been changed. It has given us much useful information even if it is no longer our future.

Remember this meeting is being broadcast to Xindi. In that alternate history, in approximately two Xindi years, but possibly a Xindi year earlier or later, the Reptilians and Insectoids will blow up the planet, using explosives along eight vulnerable seismic fault lines. Populations would be evacuated, except for none of the Avians, who would become extinct. While Avian-Xindi are presently also on other worlds, we do not have details about how they became extinct, except to assume that they were hunted down."

Scenes from the Enterprise episode The Shipment were shown. Gralik, an Arborial-Xindi explained, "In a final desperate act, the Insectoids and Reptilians, detonated massive explosions beneath the eight largest seismic fissures."

The Insectoid-Xindi representative said, "This is an outrageous lie, probably to turn the other Xindi against us."

The Reptilian-Xindi added, "We concur."

The Avian said, "The Reptilians and Insectoids own the deep underground. Digging them out would be difficult. However we have scanning technology. We appreciate this warning. Assuming we verify its truth, what would you want in exchange?"

Renée Picard "I will give far more context and information, but simply what I want is for the Reptilians and Insectoids to be kept under control so that they are not in a position to destroy my own home world. In that history, they attempted to do so in approximately 124 Earth years. There were several timelines we saw, in one that they succeeded, they also destroyed every other Human habitation that they could find.

As I said before, you might not believe our evidence, but you should believe that we believe it and will act on it. We want to save your planet, our planets, and also to rid the spheres from this region of space."

After receiving a notification, Renée Picard said, "I am relaying a message received from Xindus"

An Avian-Xindi announced, "Message to all Xindi. Avians have taken control over spaceflight from Xindus. In the case of planetary explosion, Avians will be evacuated, while Reptilians and Insectoids will be prevented from leaving the planet. Aquatics, Primates, and Arboreals will not be prevented from leaving."

Renée Picard said, "Now I will describe the context. Just as we have some abilities to see future timelines, so does a species that exists in a different dimension that are the sphere builders."

A montage of scenes from season 3 of Enterprise were shown, including the sphere builders warnings about Earth, and them being revealed to be the sphere builders and Humans actually saving the Xindi in the long term by destroying the spheres.

The Avian representative said, "The crux of the matter is are you lying? Are you lying about what the sphere builders said? If not, were the sphere builders actually telling the truth?"

The Reptilian representative asked, "Can I please contact my government? For convenience, I'll call in the clear."

Renée Picard answered, "You already are broadcasting in the clear. If they want to reply openly, we await their message." After receiving a notification added, "The Reptilian government is now addressing us."

"This is Reptilian headquarters. We in fact received a communication from the species called by the Alliance of Civilizations, the sphere builders. Their message was consistent with what was shown in the Alliance video, but more immediate about how the Alliance was on their way to destroy us and the Insectoids in alliance with the Avians."

Renée Picard said, "This time they are not that far from the truth. We will not rest until your two groups are defanged. We do not seek your extinction, only the credible assurance of your future peaceful actions.

The important question for you to consider is if they are in fact the sphere builders. If yes, do the spheres represent a threat to existing life in this region and in an expanding region? If yes to both, then common cause against the sphere builders makes sense."

The Avian replied, "Long term threat or not, we face a short term threat of extinction. For the moment we have deterrence by not letting the two groups that might explode the planet, off of the planet. That is not a long term solution. We require a full inspection of the planet and a creation of a Xindi council that will ensure mutual survival and peace between us.

One scenario the Alliance has not even considered, is what if a united Xindi at peace with itself decides that the Alliance represents a mortal threat and proceeds with the attacks you predicted?"

Renée Picard answered, "The threat of destroying planets is something that our alliance will seek to prevent. Technical means of defense should provide the lack of confidence in success of such an attack, while knowing that retaliation is probably likely to succeed. Another method is simply by growing the alliance to encompass former enemies. We already include civilizations that nearly went to war with each other. If you were part of our alliance, we would hope that you would find yourself surrounded by allies and therefore not need to think of your neighbors as threats. One challenge to your membership would be to not think like an empire. There will be no taking over of neighbors, only offers to join our Alliance, or collective defense against those who insist on fighting against us.

The Alliance is only one possibility. In the timeline we know of, in about 500 years, the Xindi were part of an organization very similar to the Alliance.

In the short term, we plan to destroy the spheres. We expect desperate defenses by the sphere builders. We hope for cooperation from Xindi in this conflict. We expect the sphere builders to try to turn you against us. We hope that you will see the long term flaw in the plan of believing their promises."

The Aquatic said, "It would seem we are in an impasse on several levels. We can agree with the destruction of the spheres. We can also then observe the reactions of the species that contacted the Reptilians. If they defend the spheres, we know they are our enemy.

We do not approve of destroying Xindus, or Earth for that matter, unless it was truly to prevent our own destruction."

The Insectoid spoke next, "We note that earlier the Avian said it would be difficult to dig us out of our underground, not impossible. We need a deterrent against our own destruction. In another timeline we apparently used that deterrent in a quote, desperate move. We do not deny this. The capability of destroying Xindus would be present before any military operation to destroy us could be completed.

Speaking to the Alliance. Under what circumstance would you be convinced that we do not need to be wiped out?"

Renée Picard answered, "Our people has known prophecy and has found a unique danger of it, which is called the self fulfilling prophecy. Our peoples would not have been in deadly conflict in other timelines, except due to prophecy, even deliberately false ones. Once that idea is placed that the other seeks to destroy you, then seeking to destroy them first seems justified. So the question is how to deescalate from this threat?"

The Arborial said, "Fellow Xindi. While we do not have a council or voting, something that we perhaps should remedy, let us see if we can all agree to the following. Xindi discussions should resume on Talking Island, and with only Xindi present. With the Alliance, it would seem we can all agree with the goal of eliminating the spheres. Let us provide information about the spheres and ask to accompany the Alliance fleet."

The Primate answered, "Agreed. However, the Alliance will justifiably fear that Xindi ships or orbservers will instead try to sabotage their mission and help the sphere builders."

The Aquatic answered, "Agreed. Add sufficient safeguards to ensure cooperation against the spheres."

The Insectoid answered, "Agreed."

The Reptilian answered, "Agreed. The reaction of the species that contacted us will help determine if they are in fact the sphere builders."

The Avian answered, "Then we are all agreed."

Renée Picard answered, "We will return in 12 Xindi days. Perhaps at that time you can answer us together as a planet, we can start our mission against the spheres, and we can start to address the suspicions we have towards each others future actions."