You were on the way to headquarters for your duty roster since the Enterprise 1701 crew was stuck unless reassigned. You were a lieutenant in Engineering about to be thrown through a loop. You proceeded to enter the elevator at the wrong moment and end up disappearing. You were the question of the century about to be solved 100 years later on the USS Enterprise NCC 1701-D.
The main staff was on the bridge at the time waiting for their arrival at Quadra Sigma to help the survivors of a methane explosion. Then, Q suddenly made his appearance on the bridge. Unwantingly with him was you, the mystery of the century that no one could figure out. The question everyone had asked was ‘where did you go?’ and no one knew until now. Except, no one noticed you on the side of the bridge when Q was the focus of the crew. You of course had no clue what was occurring and wanted to ask the man closest who happened to be a Commander if this culture was the same as the one you came from.
Q then pronounced his ‘government’s’ wish to discuss the opinion the Q continuum has of humanity. The man you believe to be the Captain says they can discuss it after helping people of Quadra Sigma, but Q tries to negotiate in his way to get them to stop and listen. Q then announces your presence to the crew in hope of grabbing their attention and boy does it. Commander Riker, who was closest, turned and bore you down as if to enforce what Q stated.
“What is your name, Lieutenant?” the Commander asks looking over your outdated outfit.
“I am Lieutenant (f/n) (l/n), sir. May I ask where I am?” you answer hesitating between sentences and looking around the room at the difference that was very obvious. “And why there is a Klingon on the bridge when they were attacking us not too long ago?”
The Commander looked at you as if you were speaking in binary code instead of English. He then looked over to the supposed Captain who was looking just as confused. Looking around, you noticed no one else was in the correct colour outfit and was looking at you like a ghost. You shuffled uncomfortably until the ‘admiral’ stole the attention with a cough.
The ‘admiral’ smirked smugly asking, “Will you listen to me now?”
The Captain was brought back to the now and replied just as harsh as before, “No. We have a mission and dying people to save on Quadra Sigma. Let us go Q and we will discuss it when we have the time.”
“Your kind is always dying and suffering. Besides, time doesn’t work right now, so we have the time now.” Q smirked and changed into your type of captain uniform.
You caught your ground and ventured over to the Captain and held your hand out, “I believe I am under your command for now Captain?”
The older man focused on you, took your hand and filled in, “Picard, Captain Picard. You are on the USS Enterprise 1701-D. The year is 2364.”
It was your turn to look at him in disbelief and said, “Is this a test sir? I don’t remember being transported. I was just. Did you say USS Enterprise 1701-D? That can’t be right. USS Enterprise 1701 is being remade after her neck got snapped and crashed on Altamid when we received a distress call. I was just in Yorktown about to receive orders. Is this where I am supposed to recreate the Enterprise parts? Also, the year is 2263 not 2364.”
The crew around pitied you knowing it couldn’t be that easy coming from a century in the past with no clue of what happened. Except Data had noticed a difference between your story and the records, so he spoke up after noticing no one else was going to talk.
“Lieutenant (l/n),” you turned to face the man who spoke, “you said the year was 2263. The USS Enterprise 1701 was launched in 2266 not 2263 for it was still in the making. There is no planet that we know as Altamid and where is this Yorktown? Additionally, your outfit is not standard uniform on any ship at any time.”
“Excuse me Lieutenant Commander, if I may comment.” you stopped looking for permission from the superior officer. “I was on the USS Enterprise when it started its’ mission to save Vulcan from Nero’s attack in 2258 and 2259. I was there when we had to defeat Khan in 2259 and 2260. That was the year my Captain died and came back from the dead with Khan’s blood. I was there when we crashed onto Altamid and was kept in a camp slowly dying one by one while a previous Captain killed us off for not having the item my Captain was trying to give to a warring faction as a peace offering. The year is 2263. I was there when the one person who had the information was killed after having it pried from her for her fellow shipmates. I was there when this occurred and I definitely know that Captain Kirk, Commander Spock, and the rest of the crew are the ones who brought the Enterprise out of space dock to stop Nero in the year 2258. Captain Pike was taken and Kirk was given command in 2258. That was what happened ask anyone.”
You turned hoping to get support and saw confusion instead. You backed away towards the side railing in which you arrived on. You made sure to stay away from the Klingon that shouldn’t be on the bridge wearing a uniform of a Starfleet command or helm officer. The Captain was wearing an engineering, operations or security uniform which confused you further.
The Captain motioned for you to approach and you followed him into his ready room with Data following after. You sat down after being told to and were ready to burst.
“Lieutenant, according to our history books, the USS Enterprise 1701 was launched in 2265 with Captain Kirk as her only Captain, no Pike. Khan was fought in 2285 and Spock was the one who died and returned, not Kirk.” the Captain explained it in a soft voice but you were dead stuck on your story.
“Sir, what I don’t understand is why I am here. I’m just an engineer,” you asked not expecting an answer.
“We don’t know that ourselves Lieutenant. For us, you have been missing since the Enterprise’s first year out in space mysteriously gone missing from the ship in the middle of nowhere.” The Captain continued still answering you. “Lieutenant Commander Data will be in charge of helping you integrate with your time here once our mission is done since you never return in history at least for us.”
You back down and nod asking where you should go for now. The Captain asks Wesley Crusher to show you around while he deals with Q and Quadra Sigma. You followed the acting ensign into the smaller turbolift and to a Ten Forward. You were brought to the table most hidden and brought a glass of water. You thanked him and waited there while he left for his duties. You expected Data to pick you up from there when he was done and that is what he did, three days later. You had mainly sat there the three days and waited for the very pale man to introduce you to ‘modern’ life and times.
You noticed that the Lieutenant Commander didn’t use contractions and spoke logically like Spock. You found it refreshing in a homey sort of way. Data spoke about the possibility of you being from an alternate timeline’s past. You thought about it trying to determine what the difference was that changed it all. Nero. Nero was the difference. According to the computer, Nero was a Romulan from this time era not a figure of the past that destroyed Vulcan. You kept that to yourself along with the rest of the differences such as ages, places and peoples.
You did ask, “Why is there a Klingon on board? Are we not enemies? They did try to kill us just last-. Never mind, that didn’t happen. Can I see a picture of your Kirk and crew?”
Data handed over a padd with the information and you almost dropped it from utter refusal and whispered, “They look so old.”
Data looked confused this time and asked, “They are only 58 years of age or older.”
You gave him a slight disbelieving stare before looking at the photo saying, “Chekov was 17 when he joined the Enterprise against Nero. Kirk was 25 and Spock was 28. Need I go on? They look so old here and so unlike my friends.”
No matter how difficult the years were for you, you passed Starfleet Academy’s test to see if you were fit for duty and continued in Engineering. You were friends with Geordi and Data and all you wanted was to see your old crew again. Despite that want, you stayed in the now and helped your dear friend adjust to having emotions after never having them before. That was how the rest of your life was spent, in an alternate reality future helping an android feel emotions.
