Episode Six: "Broken"

This is my September episode of Temporal Wars. Also very much an anniversary salute to the franchise, from Captain Pike to Nero...

Star Trek Temporal Wars "Broken"

Excerpt from "Star Trek" 2009, written by Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman

Excerpt from Star Trek (TOS) "Where No Man Has Gone Before" written by Samuel A. Peeples

Gary Seven stepped into the darkness of his transporter alcove with Roberta at his side, and suddenly found himself standing at the entrance to Keeler Station, the research outpost that both guarded and studied the Guardian of Forever. A Vulcan woman wearing civilian garb approached him. "You are Mister Seven?"

Seven nodded, and indicated Roberta. "And my assistant, Miss Lincoln. We have a permit from the science council for a limited duration observation of Canopus Planet, in the 21st century." He showed her that they were both wearing arm bands. "Personal cloaks. We won't be visible to the indigenous species."

"Acknowledged." The Vulcan gave Lincoln a hard stare. "Be careful."

As they walked toward the Guardian, Lincoln turned to Seven. "Got some writing to do?"

Seven ignored her joke. "Guardian, show me Canopus Planet, from the start of the 21st century, old earth calendar." He watched as the smoky, shimmering images began to flow across the face of the Guardian. It showed mostly desert scenes with apparently peaceful, nomadic tribes. "Activate cloak, Miss Lincoln." He activated his just as she did. Then they stepped forward, across the threshold and into the past.

They found themselves in the middle of a barren desert. Seven pulled his servo from his breast pocket and activated it. Then he used it to scan the area. "No life forms in the area. Deactivate cloak." They both shimmered into existence, along with a small, disc-shaped craft.  He spoke into the servo. "Computer, lower ramp and activate systems."

A smooth ramp seemed to grow from the upper curve of the disc, sliding gracefully down to touch the sandy surface. "Flying saucer," Roberta commented. "Groovy."

"We don't have any time to lose, Miss Lincoln." Seven led her up the ramp and into the cramped  interior of the saucer. "We have an appointment in the 40 Eridani A system."

"40 Eridani A?"

"Vulcan. The local stardate is 2258.36," he explained as he settled into the small two-seat cockpit. "Based on interviews with Ambassador Sarek, the planet Vulcan will have been destroyed by 2258.75. Perhaps earlier." 

"Even though Sarek was reported to have died on Vulcan on stardate 45233.1," Roberta said.

"And I was on 29th century Vulcan last month," Seven countered. "We've just summarized the very need for Aegis. There are parties playing with space/time like it was a commodity to be traded and manipulated. Someone needs to counter that." The saucer recloaked and rose quietly into the sky. Once clear of the atmosphere it disappeared into warp.

The saucer dropped out of warp a day and a half later on the outskirts of 40 Eridani A with Seven seated next to Lincoln in the cockpit. "This doesn't make any sense," Seven said. They were already in the gravitational influence of a large moon of Vulcan. "According to our charts, there are no large Class M moons of Vulcan. Computer, identify this body."

"The moon has no designation," the computer answered immediately.

"Can you obtain a designation from any nearby monitor stations or subspace data-links?"

"Working." The computer was silent for a few seconds, then responded. "The moon is designated Delta Vega."

"But that's-"

"Impossible, yes," Seven answered. "Computer, query subspace data-links. Is there a planet designated Delta Vega located just inside the barrier at the edge of the galaxy?"

"Working." Another moment of silence. "Negative."

"Access official log, USS Enterprise, stardate 1313.1. Play back audio."

"Working." Then it played the log. "Stardate 1313.1. We're now approaching the planet Loeb 363. Course set for a standard orbit. This planet, completely uninhabited, is slightly smaller than Earth. Desolate, but rich in crystal and minerals. Kelso's task, transport down with a repair party, try to regenerate the main engines, save the ship. Our task, transport down a man I've known for fifteen years, and if we're successful, maroon him there."

"But that was Captain Pike's voice!" Lincoln said.

"Yes. Even though we know that Pike was off of the Enterprise by then, and Kirk was in command. And the planet shouldn't have Loeb 363. Somebody has been very active in our past, Miss Lincoln."

"Nero?"

"He could have been responsible for some of it. Perhaps he somehow affected James Kirk's entry in Starfleet. But this business of Delta Vega suddenly being an icy moon of Vulcan. No, that points to something else."

A yellow alert signal interrupted his thoughts. "Report, computer." 

"Subspace disturbance in the vicinity. Large number of craft coming out of warp."

"Maintain cloak and bring us within scanning range of the ships." The saucer moved out of range of the icy planet and towards the orbit of some of the inner planets whose orbits were bringing them into close proximity. Suddenly, a large number of white flashes could be seen. A fleet of Federation starships. They were unmistakably Star Fleet, but also with numerous subtle differences. Like an alternate universe version. They were immediately targeted by a huge black construct that came around from behind Vulcan. "That looks like a 24th century Romulan mining ship," Seven observed. "But it's been modified..." They were stunned into silence as the Romulan ship tore a swath through the much more primitive Starfleet vessels.

"We have to stop this!" Lincoln yelled. "They're being slaughtered!"

"The prime directive...," Seven muttered. "Damn it. Computer, can you lock a tractor onto the Romulan ship?"

"Negative. Distance must be-". The saucer suddenly rocked and was sent spinning.

"Report!"

"Debris impacted against our outer shields. Overload damage to displacement drive. One more such impact could impede ability to escape."

"Back us away from the combat area. Deploy exocomps to begin maintenance on displacement drive."

"You can't just leave them!"

"Roberta, this is not a combat ship. We aren't built to fight that thing out there. If we don't survive, we can't help anyone, and we'll be stranded here. This may sound very cold to you, but there are larger concerns here. Even larger than all of the people on those ships."

She knew in her heart that he was right, but she couldn't bring herself to acknowledge that. Instead, she folded her arms on front of her and closed her eyes.

"That's probably for the best," Seven said to himself. But he forced himself to watch anyway. The battle ended very quickly, leaving the mining ship hanging menacingly over Vulcan with a drill extended. "Wait. What's this?" Seven was watching a sensor readout. "There's another ship coming out of warp." He looked at Roberta, who was looking again. "I'm going to see if I can get a look at the registry."

"They're communicating..." Roberta muttered, looking at a blinking light on the console. 

"Thank you," he said gently. "Computer, give us the audio. And analyze the action being taken by that mining ship." The audio came through quickly.

"I'm Captain Christopher Pike. To whom am I speaking?"

"Hi Christopher, I'm Nero."

"You've declared war against the Federation. Withdraw, and I'll agree to arrange a conference with Romulan leadership at a neutral location."

"I do not speak for the Empire. We stand apart. As does your Vulcan crew member. Isn't that right, Spock?"

"Pardon me, I do not believe that you and I are acquainted."

"No, we're not. Not yet."

Seven switched off the audio. "I think we've heard enough. Computer, analysis of procedure being undertaken against Vulcan." 

"Formation of a micro-singularity at the heart of Vulcan."

"Oh my God," Seven muttered. "Roberta, we have to get out of here. We'll be destroyed."

"But--" Roberta spluttered. "We- we can't just leave, like its nothing. What kind of monster just flies away while billions are being killed?"

"Computer, get us out of the system, transwarp factor 8." Then he turned to her. "The kind of monster who has to choose between saving a few people from a doomed planet or not being able to warn others about a mad man who has declared war not just on the Federation, but the timeline. Your life, my life, trillions of lives. Nero has no reason to stop once he's finished with Vulcan. Earth is close by. Earth and every moment from now on. All of the people yet to be born and die. Your counterpart is there somewhere, as is mine. In an office somewhere, maybe in Chicago rather than New York, but the same two people. They need us to make sure that the warning goes out. We have to be able to continue our work. If we go into the middle of that now," he indicated the storm brewing even now inside Vulcan's core, "we reveal ourselves. We might get maybe twenty or thirty people off. Our null-space cargo hold isn't that big. But the point is, those twenty or thirty people will not save that planet or its population. And each one will know so much about the future, or a possible future, that they could pose as much a danger to us as Nero. I'm sorry. None of that will ever mean as much as condemning them to death, nor should it. You know what the Vulcans say. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. That is a horrible thing to us because it reduces lives and souls down to simple mathematics. But the ugly truth is that sometimes we don't have a choice. The trillions of lives at stake in this reality and perhaps others don't have a voice in this decision, so we have to be their voice. We have to make the horrible choice to save them. Hate me if you have to. Call me a monster. Quit Aegis if you want. I sometimes wish I could. But the job will still be there, needing to be done. Those lives will still be out there, needing to be saved."

"Go to hell."

The trip back to Canopus Planet, and eventually back to Aegis Headquarters in the 31st century was long, quiet, and uncomfortable for both.