The Kelvin Timeline Must Die

Posted on Tue Feb 5th, 2019 @ 12:54am by Commander Rita Paris & Captain Enalia Telvan & Lieutenant Commander Sonak & Alden Engstrom XIII

Mission: Earthly Visitation
Location: Earth, Nowheresville, Ohio
Timeline: 2396 following DTI:OHIO

"We must restore spacetime... and put an end to this tangent universe," Sonak intoned gravely.

"Well... I wasn't going to mention that part." Langstrom huffed slightly as she tucked her clipboard back away. "I've often been berated for being inconsiderate and telling people their entire existence would unravel in around twelve hundred years, give or take... Fascinating, but I'd rather live much longer before seeing the end of space-time."

Turning to Rita, Enalia spoke softly, one hand on the lost navigator's back. "I know this is a whole heck of a lot to take in and I won't pretend to even understand half of it, but are you... Okay-ish? How are you feeling? Do you need something to drink?"

“Double dirty martini, three olives?” Paris wisecracked, her voice warbling a bit to deny her attempt at blowing off the offer. “I’m not… erased from existence isn’t my optimal outcome, so that’s a little worrisome. But… yeah. I guess this is… something that has to be done. If we don’t close our old reality down it will eventually endanger this one, so…” the time-tossed traveler shook her head.

"It’s just so hard to swallow that all of those people, all of those lives have to end in order to save this universe. Seems like it’s stepping over the bones of the dead to save the living, you know?” Rita’s big blue eyes were shining with restrained tears. “I’m trying not to think about murdering all of those people, whose lives are just as valid and real in my mind as their own. After all, Sonak and I were born there, grew up there, and fell in love there. We had friends and relatives and shipmates there, a hundred years or so in the past… but according to the professor there is no current history. So it’s like a finite bubble, I guess. It’s… it’s a lot to take in, knowing I’m the harbinger of doom for my entire universe, you know?”

While she was trying her best to put a brave face on it, this wasn’t the ‘everybody lives and let lives’ solution Paris consistently strove toward, and her own survival against that of a universe was a bit much. Yes, it would eventually collapse on its own, but the universe was going to die out eventually here, too. It wasn’t having the plug pulled because one escapee was threatening to destroy it by amassing catastrophic energies.

“Isn’t there some way to save both universes? I understand the logic, I do, but isn’t there a better way? We’re Starfleet, surely we can find a way to coexist with the kelvin timeline where we both get to live?” It was simple and naïve, but Rita had to try, even if she was grasping at straws. The guilt of being the cause of the death of a universe was far more than she felt she could bear, so there had to be a better way. “Can’t we just isolate ourselves from it instead, seal up that tear or something?”

The spotted captain looked for the nearest replicator and finding it, programmed in the requested drink and brought it back to Rita without any questions. "It's synthohol, but hopefully it helps."

Professor Langstrom sighed heavily and hung her head, trying to think of a compromise. "Then think of it this way. When you finish a book and close it, do those characters cease to exist? No. You have observed them. You know they exist. They will always and have always existed. We're just removing the quantum and temporal energy behind that existence. The book still exists, however the only way to observe it is by rereading it. There is no holonovel or transporter that can take you there. Just a book and a memory of the observation."

“That’ll help a bit ma’am, thank you.” Eyeing the apparently immortal scientist whose views of the cosmos were nowhere near Rita’s own, she gulped down the entire cocktail, grasped the plastic sword and consumed the olives on one long string, handing them back to the Captain.

“Sonak? Isn’t there any other way?” Rita pleaded. Logic, she knew, was irrefutable. But if there was a way, Sonak would find it. Of this she had no doubt- however, given all of the information he had presented, it was clear that the resolution he had proposed was the best way to insure the safety of this reality, and possibly their own personal existences as well. But she had to try to save those lives, because the career Starfleet officer simply could not accept that verdict without trying to find another way, a compromise… some way that did not involve that catastrophic loss of life and history.

The Vulcan scientist looked straight at the Human navigator.

"You are being emotional, not logical. This alternate universe, those you call people over there, are but shadows of this universe. Had it not been for this universe's Spock's blunder and failure to correct it, they would have never been. They are but artificially made illusions of this reality. And now, that dream is threatening to obliterate reality... starting with you. Even moreso, the backlash of this aberration is possibly what caused our true lives here to be no more, in favor of this unreal existence we believe to have been ours. We are ending a dream to preserve reality."

He stood straight before her and his tone became formal.

"Commander; we are Starfleet officers. We have sworn an oath to lay down our lives for the preservation of the Federation's ideals. And, in the words of captain Jean-Luc Picard; this ideal states that our first duty is to the truth, be it scientific truth, historical truth or personal truth; it is the founding principle upon which Starfleet is based. If we fail in this, we do not deserve the uniform."

Then, in an unprecedented public gesture, he took her hands in his own and gazed deeply into her eyes.

"The universe we come from... it is a lie. Lies must be challenged."

Searching his enigmatic eyes, the calm logic of Sonak's mind flowed with Rita's own emotional turbulence, the two blending to enlighten and inform. While her objections were humanitarian, Kirk did not weep for the unborn when he let Edith Keeler die to save the future. With her insight into the kolinahr's mind and his thoughts, the chrononaut saw the calculations, understood the enormity of the threat she represented, and could see the scientist's reasoning why the accidentally created splinter universe from which they had originated had to be destroyed to save the prime, original timeline. The people there and their lives and experiences were no less valid to her, but if they allowed the Kelvin timeline to survive, it would likely unzip not only this reality, but adjacent realities in a cascading effect that would likely do untold damage on a cosmic scale. Billions of lives would be lost as universes were rent asunder.

All because Rita Paris was the sentimental sort, who desperately believed in peaceful coexistence.

Still she clung to him, the hand of the last kolinahr of Vulcan, sole repository of a world’s wisdom and philosophy, who now was no longer the last, nor alone. Their bond enabled her to explore her questions, see the percentages of probability and comprehend the entire problem, as well as see the most likely solution. She saw the distinct yet very real chance that she and he might be erased from existence. But she had no fear, because in his vast and incalculable mind, she saw the simple truth that outweighed any of her objections.

The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

I understand, now. Thank you, t’hy’la. What would I ever do without you? she joked, but they both knew the answer.

Releasing the warm, dry hands of the greatest mind of the age, Paris turned to face the assemblage, once more the portrait of cocky confidence.

“All right, then. So what do we have to do to save the multiverse?”

Sonak's answer was as simple as it was deep in consequences.

"It is rather obvious; we have to go back in time... and stop it from ever happening."

"Wait... what... we're actually deliberately going to cause a... ohhh, that's why we might not exist anymore, right. Okay... okay, time travel in the other direction. Sure, how hard can it be? So do we have special suits for this, or are we going to do that slingshot thing?" Rita was a bit excited if they were going to actually try that with a starship.

"Both of you will be in a chrono-lock corridor while an agent does the traveling, just in case," added the Professor. "Someone else will be going back, while you guide them."

"I'll go," Enalia volunteered immediately.

"Captain?!?" Now it was Paris' turn to grasp the shoulder of the captain of the Hera and steer her to one side. "You have... responsibilities to the ship, to the Commodore. You're too important to risk on a mission like this.... hell, I don't even know what kind of mission this is other than time traveling, but-"

The crimson wrapped Trill flashed her most confident smile. "Well, from what I gather I'll have to go back, prevent Spock from using the red matter and creating that blackhole which created your shard dimension. Ideally, I assume that means preventing the creation of the red matter in the first place. Since the destruction of Romulus was prevented by collapsing the supernova as soon as it started... It should be a walk in the park."

"You're really going to do this?" Rita peered into the eyes of the spotted starship captain, looking past the piratical bravado. "You're gonna travel back in time and change history to save the universe... to try to save me?"

"If I were in your boots I know you'd do the same. So yes. It's part of my code." Enalia was dead serious on that answer.

The pretty pilot's face scrunched up in consternation. "Given the life I lead, I don't know if 'you'd do it' is really much of a watermark, ma'am," Rita commented dryly. "So do you have a plan?"

"Then return the favor when my tribunal comes to bear," Enalia added with a scoff. "As for a plan... I'm hoping the DTI people have one. They have the experience, after all."

"But... Since Sonak knows all the details and has been through this whole ordeal logically... I'm betting the easiest way to do it would be to mind meld with him then go back and mind meld with Spock. Somehow." Enalia tugged down on her uniform top and glanced around. She'd never crossed minds like that before, but she imagined it wouldn't be much different from being joined. After all, she was constantly two minds in one so how hard could it be?

"Wait, so basically..." Paris started putting it all together. "Old Spock knew everything that happened. Sonak held old Spock's katra, so he knows what Spock knew, from Spock's perspective. Sonak could mind meld with you, compartmentalize an entire warning for Spock, essentially from Spock, and you become the spacetime carrier pigeon with the message?"

"A little more than I knew... But even better. Yes, that's exactly it." Enalia turned to Sonak, knowing he could easily hear the whole conversation. "Do you concur Lieutenant? Are you willing to mind meld with a Joined Trill?"

All the while, Sonak was listening, his eyes and face as blank as if he had been made of wax. When Telvan spoke directly to him, he shook his head.

"With all due respect, Captain, that question is irrelevant."

One glance towards Langstrom was enough for her to nod and allow him to reveal what they had previously discussed; what he was implying. And so, for the benefit of the other officers of the Hera, he explained the result of his thinking.

"Trying to stop the Hobus catastrophe from happening would be a violation of the Temporal Prime Directive. This event happened in this universe and was not the result of spacetime tampering. Therefore, it is a legitimate part of this timeline. It must not be altered. Spock must make his attempt to swallow the subspace supernova with red matter and both he and Nero must go through the wormhole briefly created by it."

Before they could ask what was the alternative,he showed on a nearby console a graph of the temporal spacetime divergence and how it changed as he further explained.

"The point of divergence that created our alternate reality starts here; when the Narada emerged earlier in the past and met one ship; the USS Kelvin. That is the moment where we must intervene. Then, Nero, his ship and his crew must be prevented from risking altering the timeline... and Spock, when he emerged in the modified reality, here, twenty years later."

He looked at Rita and Enalia in turn.

"Commander, Captain; we must make sure the Kelvin never encounters the Narada and continues on it's way to Earth, for James Kirk to be born there... and be raised by his father. We must remove the Narada and it's people from this time period. And we must insure Spock returns."

“Soooo… since the DTI so casually pointed out they already stopped the Hobus supernova, how do we remove the Narada and it's crew from that time period and make sure that Spock comes home?” Rita asked plaintively. People often misunderstood the bond that existed between them, and assumed that with regular mind melds, the human woman of average intelligence knew what the brilliant kolinahr scientist knew. Which wasn’t exactly true. While Sonak shared much with her, his mind was a vast storehouse of information and calculation ability, whereas hers was quite small by comparison. He chose to show her aspects and elements of his mind when they connected, but the difference in their intellects made full sharing at every encounter impractical as her mind could not hold the vastness of his own as well as her own thoughts and memories.

Thus in moments like this, those aware of the telepathic and empathic bond they shared were often confused by her still asking questions. But Sonak knew his emotional mate well, and he knew that she needed to be able to parse the information in her own time, often aloud. Thus she still had questions as the plan developed.

Sonak thought for a moment before replying.

"I am not privy to the actual effort made to stop the Hobus catastrophe itself from happening. If it was done through a time altering action, then we are ourselves currently living in an alternate timeline; a violation of the Temporal Prime Directive... unless it was done to correct a previous time altering event that would have been the cause this catastrophe in the first place. That I have not been made aware of either. In any event, it is obvious this did not change the actual emergence of the artificial reality, since you are still affected by it. Therefore, my original proposal stands; prevent the Narada-Kelvin encounter and remove both Nero and Spock from that time period to prevent it from existing."

The Professor and Agent Engstrom traded looks with each other before nodding. Langstrom set aside her clipboard and leaned against one of the desks before speaking. "An Iconian gateway was discovered by the Tal Shiar in the Hobus system and they thought they could get it working. Several years later, they found out too late that it was trapped and... Boom. It caused a supernova in the system's star, which then caused a chain reaction in the Romulan star. As for what we did to prevent the destruction of Romulus..."

Pulling out what looked suspiciously like a pack of Lucky Seven smokes, the mousey Professor continued. "After Spock and Nero were sucked into the black hole, we went back in time and used a device that Captain Picard found on Risa and had to pretend he had destroyed called the Tox Uthot to collapse the supernova before it triggered the Romulan system's destruction."

She pulled one of the cigarettes free and stuck the rest of the back back in her lab coat before continuing. "I believe the mind meld can still work... But to warn Spock to alter his red matter calculations so that the wormhole is smaller and the Narada is crushed as it's pulled through while the jellyfish passes through unscathed. Of course, being a moral being, he'd probably never go for that..."

Sonak's eyebrow rose up.

"Professor Langstrom; are we to understand here that the DTI violated the Temporal Prime Directive and deliberately caused a timeline alteration... and is now proposing to do yet another one?"

"Apparently, without the Romulan Republic, the Temporal accords never get signed at New Khitomer..." Langstrom pointed one finger at Sonak. And we did that under recommendation by Temporal Agents so don't get me started about the needs of the many, ok? There are parts of the Temporal Prime Directive that apply to us that we don't know about, you know. We just have six articles of it."

The Vulcan nodded.

"The logical conclusion from your statement is that the Hobus catastrophe indeed involved a previous violation of the timeline; one that called for a direct intervention to correct it and of which the details have not been forwarded... again to preserve the timeline according to the Directive."

Satisfied with the explanation, he then frowned.

"If that is so, then there is no red matter experiment to stop a subspace supernova that never happened. Spock would not steal the jellyfish and it's red matter container and use it to open a time rift. Henceforth, the alternate reality created by the catastrophe should not exist. Yet, it is still there, tugging at Commander Paris through the quantum spectrum according to your analysis. This is not logical."

"Because we collapsed the supernova after it began but before it triggered a cascade to the Romulan sun. Apparently Spock still had to get lost for some reason." Langstrom waved the cigarette in the air as she spoke. "Because wibbly wobbly timey wimey..."

The Vulcan again lifted an eyebrow at the strange phrasing of the woman then looked more closely at the temporal graph.

"So, if I understand you correctly, the temporal correction was made before the Iconian-projected supernova reached the Romulan star system but after Spock's attempt to stop it; thus saving the Empire's homeworld but still having the Narada and the Jellyfish displacement."

He nodded to her and then looked at his superior officers of the Hera.

"I agree that the most logical course of action then would be to intercept Spock before he uses the red matter and open his wormhole and convince him that his effort are unnecessary... and with fatal consequences both big and small. If we do so, the Narada will therefore be prevented also from going back in time and, witnessing Romulus and Remus being saved, Nero will not loose his mind and plan to destroy Vulcan. The alternate reality will not be created and both this reality... and Commander Paris... will be saved."

Having observed the verbal sparring as the logic of the situation was wrested out of it, Rita figured it was time to weigh in again. "Hello, hey, Rita Paris? Might end the universe? Must admit, kinda curious about our plan to send someone back in time to stop Spock. How exactly do we accomplish this sending back, and I know it's probably a trivial detail, but how do they return?"

The Professor grinned as she tossed the cigarette in the trash. "Well, last time we sent ourselves a probe with a report... But I think we're going to have to use the time ship we've been working on. It seats one and I hope you're a good pilot. Still want to do that mind meld thing too?"

"Send me!" Rita Paris volunteered. "Unless... what happens when I try to move chronally here because dragging all of that trans-chrono dimensional displaced energy behind me as I move counter to the timestream would..." The Professor had been nodding along as Rita figured out that might unravel not only space but time itself. Lowering her head, Rita quietly retracted her volunteer status.

"Yeah, I'm definitely the one going back," Enalia confirmed with a grin.

"I get to do all the shrieking and the captain gets to do the fun stuff. Eh, not that much has really changed in 130 years," Paris nodded thoughtfully, crossing her arms to stroke her chin. "Sonak, are you amenable to the plan of melding minds to place a message within the Captain's mind to let Spock convince Spock not to do it?"

"I would need a moment to prepare," Sonak answered. "However, I must point out that, since I already hold the echo of Spock's katra and mind-melding power, that I have well-honed piloting skills and actual time travel experience, I should be the one to go back. A starship captain is too valuable to risk on such a mission when a perfectly qualified junior officer is available and willing. Choosing anyone else would be illogical."

"First off, you still have to stay here in the vault so you won't risk vanishing. As for why I'm going, consider it Captain's Prerogative." Enalia was dead set on this and no longer grinning. This wasn't something she could ask of anyone else if she has the skills to pull of. Besides, it wasn't like she hadn't done this sort of thing on accident on the Hera before. "I know the risks. This isn't my first trip through time. As for the mind meld, take your time. You won't be melding with one person - it'll be with Enalia Artan the host, Telvan the symbiont, and had I any prior hosts, them as well. Which is kind of like a constant Trill mind meld in a way."

"Indeed, this shall be an interesting experience," the Vulcan agreed."Very well; I shall be ready in four minutes."

And so saying, Sonak went to a quiet corner of the room, joining his fingers before his brow and closing his eyes.

"Okay, the 'we gotta stay in the chronal lock chamber' is a convincing argument ma'am," Paris observed, "although I think Sonak has a point. He can navigate in time on the fly if needed and I suspect Spock would more readily agree to meld with him. Which brings up my question, which is how are you going to convince Spock to meld minds with you, Captain?"

"Simple logic." Enalia was back with her confident half grin. "I'm going to tell Ambassador Spock something that will make him go 'Fascinating...' then tell him that I have very little time and that it would expedite the saving of the universe if he did so."

Shaking her head, Rita’s face wore a wry smirk. “All right, fine… you go do the dangerous thing and we’ll wait here and hope for the best.” Being the ones accustomed to taking chances and pulling dangerous stunts, being sidelined for their own good sat well with neither Rita nor Sonak. But the spotted captain was insistent, and her logic was sound. Thus leading Rita to sigh and lay a hand on the trill woman’s shoulder.

“This is a pretty incredible thing you’re doing for us here. So that means you have to make it back in one piece so that you can brag about it, right?” Rita tried to make the tone light, but seeing the captain endanger herself for the sake of her first officer was not easy for her, and she felt helpless. “Promise me you’ll be careful, and that you’ll make it back okay. You’ve never broken a promise to me before, so if you promise me I’ll believe you, Enalia.”

Dead serious, Enalia held up one pinky before her, hooked it into one of Rita's and shook on it. "Rita, I pinky promise I'll come back safely and tell you all about it."

"And if you do not, Captain, we will come after you... or if need be, before you," Sonak then stated as he came back to them. "I am ready."

Enalia turned to face off with the slightly taller Vulcan and nodded, ready to temporarily add another mind to her sense of self. "By your lead then."

The Vulcan invited her too sit before him. Remaining standing, he rubbed his hands slowly together, like a surgeon scrubbing in slow motion, his eyes of steel boring into her. Then, just as deliberately, he placed one hand, then the other, on her skull and face, fingers spread out in almost painful angles to touch specific nerve centers of her head.

Just as slowly, he began to turn around her, his hands crawling smoothly over her cranium, leaning closely towards her as if he wanted to whisper something in her ear.

Three minds where connected in a complete fusion where they shared not only thoughts but memories, feelings, everything that was of the mind but also what the mind experienced of the body; the symbiont, the Trill woman and the Vulcan man. All of this would fade to the level of a dream once contact would be broken; but not the deliberate thoughts the laser-focused mind of Sonak imprinted within the joined consciousnesses of Enalia Telvan.

For several minutes, there was no sound except for their breathing. When he completed an entire circle around her, he stopped then removed his hands slowly from her. STanding straight, his hands went to his back.

"It is done. What the katra of Spock shared with me, I have shared with you... both. And you also have my own thoughts and memories about my original artificial reality and the causes and consequences of it... and also the calculations to program a ship computer to slingshot a warp capable ship back to our present spacetime, using the star of the Romulan system where you will be heading; in case something goes wrong with your retrieval."

He looked at her and added:

"When you will achieve contact with Ambassador Spock, there is one thing you could do to ensure he accepts contact and the idea of mind-melding with you; ask him this: How do you feel?"

"Fascinating," Enalia replied simply as she stood back up. She had always wondered what it would feel like having a prior host and she surmised that that might be the closest she would ever experience to it. She knew Sonak knew a lot of her innermost secrets now, but being raised the way she was, thankfully she had a lot of mental discipline already so it didn't seem he had any trouble with the meld that she could discern. On top of that, they don't let weak minded people Join with Symbionts, so there was that.

Professor Langstrom chose that time to unveil a metalic blue arrowhead shaped shuttle not much larger than a type nine shuttle at in a shuttlebay just adjacent to the lab they were currently in. "And here's your ride. The interface shouldn't be too dissimilar from what you're used to. Flight controls are both manual and T-CARS based. Top warp speed is 8.9. The temporal wormhole controls are on your left. The computer is designed to automatically administer dovaline after each jump to counteract the radiation. As for the injection point, there's an ideal point, just past Jupiter already programmed in."

"Wait, so the plan is to slingshot around... what, Jupiter? Then chase after Spock, who will be what, on Vulcan, en route to Romulus, how does that work? Do we even have a target date and locale?" Paris was genuinely confused. The explanations were coming, but it seemed like other people were on a page of the script she hadn't ready. "I guess I dozed off and missed a few details. Anyone mind catching the slow kid up on the plan? Because if my captain is risking life, limb and the timeline I'd like to know what's supposed to happen."

Langstrom tapped at a panel running temporal injection calculations. "Actually, this system creates a temporal wormhole for nine to thirteen minutes just big enough for the ship to get through that links one point in spacetime to another. Once she gets back the reactor will be fully drained though, so we'll have to pick her up. We can only pack so much dilithium in there, you know."

"Wait, this thing generates spacetime wormholes?!?" To the girl from the era of rocker switches and dials to pilot a starship, the concept of generating wormholes in space and time was not at all something she viewed as casual. She had an inkling of what it took to time travel, and this was far beyond any technology she'd heard of in this century. "Also, question tsill stands- I understand the insertion point now, but when is she catching up with Ambassador Spock?"

"We've targeted a point inside the neutral zone where he stops for nine minutes." Finished with her calculations, Langstrom sent them to the shuttle and turned to Enalia. "All yours, Captain."

"Then I will take my leave." Turning to the door of the shuttlebay, Enalia steeled herself. This would be another of those insane adventures she'd never forget. But Rita Paris caught her arm before she left.

"Take this with you, Captain," Paris requested, handing Enalia the stylized ancient delta comm badge unique to the officer that owned it. "For luck, because you have to come back to return it to me. You have to. Understand?"

It was clear that with all of the stress of the day Rita was worn a bit thin, but she needed to somehow reassure herself the in trying to save her, Enalia Artan nee Telvan would not be lost herself. Over the course of time, Rita Paris had lost everyone she had ever cared about, save Sonak, who'd had to chase her down to reunite with her. But loss took its toll on her, and now she worried she might never see her friend on this most dangerous of missions.

Enalia grinned her patented piratical grin as she took the badge and tacked it to her uniform next to her normal comm badge. "I'll keep it right here close to my heart, just like my promise."