CHAPTER TEN:
Earth
Captain's Log, Stardate 57129.4
It has been two days since Nika was discovered. Since that time I have had several meetings with my older self. He continues to urge me to visit his ship and see the state that it is in. I'm quite certain that the ship is in very bad shape after spending so much time in a time loop. I'm not sure why I need to see it. I have agreed to transport to his ship along with Lieutenant Dodds and Commander Munro.
I have as yet made no decision as to Nika's fate. If it weren't for my desire to adhere to Starfleet regulation I would simply have him killed. Without that luxury I am at a loss as to how to deal with him and his ability. I do not like being forced into helping him by a threat of terrorism. I will make my decision soon.
JR shivered as he stood on the transfer pad in the transporter room with away team and his older self assembled around him. Was he ready to see what the future might have in store for his life? He thought about all that his older self had told him about the future he'd come from. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose so many crew members. He'd gotten to know almost everyone on the ship during their time in Andromeda. Losing even one of them would hurt. Losing Chad would be too much to bear. Chad was the one person that he could talk to about the reality of their situation. If he lost Chad he didn't know what he would do.
"Energize, Mr. Miller," he said as calmly as he could.
This was the first time he'd left his ship since they'd left Andromeda. He only hoped that he wasn't making a mistake. He hated to think about it, but the thought that Nika could have gotten to him at some point after the time loop began wouldn't leave his mind. What if the older version of himself was a traitor? What if leaving the ship was a trap?
They materialized on the other ship to face a young man in a pristine red and black Starfleet uniform. He smiled at them and then his eyes took on a haunted look as he looked at Seven and Axum. JR wondered if he should have warned the away team about the crew of the aged ship. It was too late though. He realized that as Seven and Axum looked back at the young man who had to be their son. He looked like Seven but had Axum's cranial ridges and hair color. He smiled at them and JR was sure that he was their son. The pips on his uniform indicated that he was a Commander. That would make him the elder Captain Kirk's First Officer.
"Mother, Father," he said. "Welcome to our Lexus."
Seven looked at JR for a moment before nodding at her future son. They stood there for a long moment, saying nothing. Each of them had many things running through their minds as they looked around the transporter room. It was clear that repairs had been made countless times and JR was having a hard time identifying the materials that had been used to make the repairs.
"Forgive the appearance of the transporter room," said the elder captain. "We've had to make do with whatever materials we had available for repairs over the years. I'm sure you'll each find that this ship is nothing like it used to be."
He took them through the corridors and JR was confused when they passed the turbo lift and headed for the Jeffries tubes instead. His older self explained that the turbo lifts had been shut down for years without the necessary parts to fix them. They climbed through the Jeffries tubes to get to Deck One and the Bridge, giving JR a lot of time to think about what was going on. He wasn't convinced that this wasn't a trap but he knew that it was too late to do anything about it. He knew that if he was going to get out of it he had to think on his feet.
"Captain," said Telsia, getting up from her chair as they came onto the Bridge.
"Telsia, I've brought guests," said the older Captain Kirk.
"I see," she said, smiling at them. "It's good to see you again, Seven."
"Why don't you join us in my ready room," he said. "I'm sure our guests would like some answers."
"Understood," she replied, turning to walk across the Bridge.
Once inside the ready room JR looked around at everything. There were holes in the carpet and the tables were held up by strange things that JR couldn't identify. They filed into the room and stood around in a circle. The aged Captain offered them seats but JR decided to stay on his feet. He wasn't sure why but he had the strangest feeling that nothing about the ship was actually real.
"I don't know exactly why you brought us here, Captain," he said. "How is this supposed to help me make my decision?"
"I brought you here to see the state of this ship," said his older self. "I wanted you to see the danger that you and your crew are in. If Nika is allowed to put your ship in that time loop this is what is going to happen."
"And how are we supposed to make sure that he doesn't put the ship in a time loop?" JR asked. "Short of killing him there is no real guarantee."
"I'm not suggesting that you kill anyone," said the older Captain. "Grant him asylum."
"That is illogical," said Seven. "Granting him asylum keeps him on Lexus. That leaves the ship and the crew vulnerable to his abilities indefinitely. Taking him to Earth puts more lives at risk."
"Sending him back to Ocampa wouldn't be a wise choice either," said Axum. "That's what starts the time loop according to the elder."
"Yes," said the older Captain. "That's what started the time loop for us."
"Well then we'd better figure out a way to get Nika off the ship and keep us from being stuck in a time loop," said JR.
"What about another ship?" asked Chad. "We could send him on his way on another ship and that would solve his problem and ours."
"Where would get another ship?" JR asked. "We're light years from any other planet."
"We could modify a shuttle," said Seven. "It would take a few days but I'm certain that with the proper modifications he could reach the closest planet."
"A shuttle would be a good idea, but how far would he get?" Chad asked. "They aren't designed for long term space flight."
"JR, you've got to make a decision soon," said the elder Captain. "You can't keep Nika sedated forever. He's going to wake up and when he does he'll instigate the time loop."
"There are preparations that have to be made," said JR. He turned to Seven. "How soon can you have the shuttle modified?"
"It would take approximately two hours," she replied.
"That's too long," said the elder Captain. "You have to do it faster."
"Captain, I understand that you're trying to help us, but we can't do anything any faster," said JR. "Get on it, Seven."
"Aye, Captain," she replied. "Axum."
"JR, I'm telling you that two hours is too long," said the elder Captain. "You've got to do something fast."
"All right," sighed JR. He'd had enough. He had to know what was really going on. That nagging feeling that his older self was being far less truthful than he let on wouldn't go away. "What's really going on here? I mean if Nika really wants to stay off Ocampa and get away from his people then I would think that he'd wait happily while Seven and Axum modify the shuttle to take him to the closest planet."
"You don't know him the way I do, JR," said the elder Captain. "He won't wait that long for your decision."
"How do you know that?" JR asked, trying hard to be stealthy as he tapped his phaser to set it to its highest setting as he spoke. That feeling that the older version of himself wasn't what he appeared to be was only getting stronger with each attempt that was made to get them to grant asylum to Nika. "What is it that you're not telling us?"
The the whole ship seemed to change before their eyes. The holes in the carpet had disappeared that the tables were back to normal. On the floor lay an older version of Chad. The older Captain was on his knees with Chad in his arms. They were speaking but JR and the others couldn't hear what they were saying at first but after a few seconds they could hear them loud and clear.
"It hurts, JR," said Chad. "Make it stop hurting."
"Don't you die on me, Chad," the older JR said.
"It hurts," he repeated.
"Chad, you have to hang on," said the Captain. "I promised to get you home."
"It hurts," Chad said. "I'm sorry, JR. It just hurts so bad."
"Stop this!" cried JR, turning in a complete circle to look at everyone. "Stop this right now."
The ship changed again. This time they were standing in Astrometrics. A boy no older than ten was crying as he looked up at the older Captain who looked younger still. Again they couldn't hear what was being said at first. But soon they could hear them and JR was more convinced than ever that this was Nika's doing.
"Your mother and father loved you very much Anikan," said the Captain.
"Why couldn't we get them out?" Anikan asked in an anguished voice.
"We lost the turbo lift controls," explained the Captain. "I'm so sorry, Anikan."
"They were in there when it happened?" the boy asked, looking up at the Captain with tear filled eyes.
"I'm sorry, Anikan," replied the Captain before the ship changed again and they were standing in Sickbay. The doctor was working frantically on Alex and saying things that made JR shiver. Then the elder Captain was there and he was looking right at JR.
"This is what is going to happen if you don't grant Nika asylum," he said. "All of this will happen to your crew if you don't do it, JR. Can you live with this on your shoulders?"
Something in the older captain's eyes told JR exactly what he needed to know. This wasn't an aged version on his ship. The crew was in no real danger at the moment. This was all a trick; a warning of things that could happen. This was Nika. There was no older version of himself. Everything they were seeing was exactly what Nika wanted them to see. He didn't know how it was possible but he finally knew that it was the truth. Chad was right. The only way to ensure the safety of the ship and the crew was to kill Nika. JR didn't like the idea but he knew that it had to be done. He drew his phaser as fast as he could. Understanding swam into the eyes of the facade that was his older self, and the man drew his own phaser. JR was quicker though and he fired before Nika could even level the weapon at him. It was set to its highest setting and the aged Captain was gone in a matter of seconds.
Then they were all standing in the Senior Conference Room. JR looked around at everyone and noticed that the aged Captain Kirk and Chad were no longer among them. Instead it was as if they'd traveled back in time to the moment that he'd asked the doctor to sedate Nika. Nika wasn't there though. JR was just about to ask everyone what had happened when the doctor spoke.
"Yes, Captain," said The Doctor. He instructed the computer to prepare his hypo spray and then it materialized in his hand. He turned to look for his patient and then turned back to JR. "Where is he?"
JR turned to Seven and Axum and found them both staring at The Doctor. He'd gambled with all of their lives and he was happy to see that it had paid off. He didn't like the fact that he'd had to kill Nika, but at least he knew the crew was safe from his abilities. At least they weren't going to spend the next fifty years in a black void.
"Captain, what happened?" asked The Doctor, looking at him strangely.
"I'm not exactly sure," he replied. "I do know that Nika is no longer a threat to us."
They spent very little time talking about what had happened. Like JR the others wanted to put it behind them and get back to their stations. JR wanted to get them home more than ever now. He had no idea what other surprises were waiting for them. The faster he got the ship back to Earth the better.
"Kirk to Engineering," he said, tapping his com badge.
"Chang here, Captain," came the voice of Austin Chang in response.
"I want the slip drive ready to go," he said. "We're going to push it to the limit, Mr. Chang."
"Aye, Sir," said Chang.
They made their way back to their stations. JR took his seat on the bridge and looked at the crew around him. He wanted to get them home. He knew that there would be a lot of questions that would have to be answered when they got there. The least of which was the existence of the crew of clones. He'd deal with that gladly if it meant standing on Earth again.
"Mr. Dodds," he said. "Resume course. Maximum warp."
"Aye, Sir," said Chad, and JR could hear the happiness in his best friend's voice.
"Engage," he said with a smile.
He thought of everything that had happened to them since they'd found themselves stranded in Andromeda. They'd faced the Borg, hostile Starfleet officers, a species of cybernetic friends that had helped them in ways that JR would never be able to show his gratitude for and then they'd faced the Borg to get back to the Milky Way. Once that had been achieved they'd settled a dispute between the Ocampa and the Kazon. That had nearly cost them their lives in the long run, but it was all worth it. He thought about how badly he wanted to be a real Starfleet Captain. Could anyone really tell him that he wasn't now?
Then he realized that the ship wasn't moving again. No one was. He looked around the bridge and sighed in both fear and anger. Had Nika lived? Was he responsible for this? Then he saw Chad turn to look at him with wide eyes. Everyone else was silent. It was as if they were frozen in place.
"What's going on, JR?" Chad asked.
"I'm not sure," he replied just as the young man they'd both seen all over the ship appeared on the bridge.
"I've decided to end this experiment," said the young man. "You nearly died. I can't let my father keep doing this to you."
He was dressed in a Starfleet uniform without pips. His face was stern as he looked at JR. JR was amazed that he was actually speaking to them. He'd been disappearing on them every time they'd tried to talk to him in the past. What was different now? Who was this guy?
"I'm going to send you home," said the young man. "This has become far too dangerous for you."
"What are you talking about?" JR asked. "Who are you?"
"Surely you know who did this to you," said the young man with a puzzled look in his eyes.
"Q did this to us," said Chad as he came to stand beside JR.
"Yes," said the young man. "Q is my father. He decided to run an experiment and see how long it would take the two of you to give up and beg for help. You didn't though. You never faltered. The danger continued to mount and still you stood up to it and faced it like real officers. So I've decided to end this and send you home."
"You can do that?" Chad asked, and JR could hear the hope in his voice. "You can send us home?"
"Not to your own time," said the young man. "I can send you back to Earth right now though. The time will still have passed, but you'll be home."
"Not so fast, Junior," said another man as he appeared on the bridge. This one they knew from the secret files in JR's computer. This was Q, the man who had done this to them. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Just what I said," replied Junior as he turned to face his father. "This has gone on far too long, and I'm going to send them home."
"How dare you?" his father asked. "They will get home on their own. They're so close."
"Yes, but what other disasters do you have planned for them along the way?" Junior asked. "How much longer can they fight and survive?"
"You meddled with the Ocampa and Kazon," accused Q.
"I had to," replied Junior. "They were getting nowhere with them. You made them too angry and put too much hatred in their hearts."
"The Ocampa and Kazon already hated each other," said Q.
"Yes, but the Ocampa weren't ready to come to the surface," said Junior. "The only reason they knew how to fly those ships is because you made it so."
"These boys made it through my last test," said Q.
"Yes, by killing Nika," said Junior. "What they don't know is that Nika never even existed. It was you the whole time, Dad. I'm sending them home before you actually kill them."
JR and Chad stood stunned as they witnessed this argument. Nika had been Q in disguise? Q had been responsible for the Ocampa and Kazon fighting? This was all too much to take in, and yet there was so much more that they hadn't even learned. Junior had said that he was going to send them home. Would Q allow him to do this?
"I've long since grown tired of your meddling," said Q. "I'll send them back to their precious Earth, but you're going with them, Junior. Since you care so much about what happens to them you can be one of them again."
He waived his arm and then Q was gone. The crew came to life again as the ship came out of slipstream and to a complete stop in front of another Starfleet ship. Junior looked at them for a moment before walking over to stand near the railing. JR was almost too stunned by him to understand what had happened.
"They're hailing us," said Chad.
"On screen," replied JR in a dazed voice.
"This is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Federation Starship Enterprise," said the older man on the screen.
"This is Captain James R. Kirk of the Federation Starship Lexus," JR heard himself say.
"Welcome home, boys," said Picard with a huge smile on his face. "We've been looking for you."
"JR, that's Earth!" cried Chad, turning to face his friend. "We're orbiting Earth!"
JR just smiled at his friend. He knew exactly what had happened. They were finally home.
THE LEXUS CHRONICLES