by Greg Cox
“Peculiar is the word for it, all right,” Janeway said. “And better you than me.”
At the moment, Seven was less concerned with the mechanics of the paradox than with the consequences of her choice back on Sarpeidon. “I hope you are not disappointed by the decision I made regarding the device.”
Janeway mulled it over, giving the issue the consideration it deserved, before answering.
“I can’t deny that part of me regrets losing that technology and a shortcut to home, but I respect that you had to follow your conscience. And who knows? You may have made the right call. From the sound of it, everything turned out exactly the way it was supposed to.”
“So it appears,” Seven said, wondering if that was why the Relativity had not, in fact, intervened in the situation. “Since my return, I have begun a survey of the historical records regarding James T. Kirk and his crew, in search of any significant changes to the time line.”
Janeway nodded. “And?”
“There do not appear to be any lasting deviations, nor any surviving records of my time aboard the Enterprise. ‘Doctor Annika Seven’ seems to have been thoroughly expunged from the historical record.”
“Probably just as well,” Janeway said. “I suspect I’d do the same in Kirk’s position.” She sounded relieved by Seven’s failure to detect any changes to history. “So you didn’t turn up anything odd in your research?”
Once again, Seven considered keeping silent, but decided against it.
“There was one unexpected discovery,” she admitted. “Lieutenant Elaine Bergstrom, the Starfleet security officer killed during the firefight on Yusub . . . it seems she was my grandmother, on the maternal side.”
Janeway’s eyes widened. “Your grandmother? But if she was killed before your mother was born . . .”
“There is no record of her dying on Yusub. Starfleet personnel records have her surviving until 2349, a year before I was born.” Seven regretted that she had no memory of the woman. “This does not coincide with what I witnessed on Yusub.”
“Another paradox?” Janeway speculated. “I admit I’m at a loss here. You had better page the Doctor. I’m definitely going to need something for this headache.” She leaned back against the biobed. “Still, it sounds like you had quite the adventure.”
“It was . . . memorable,” Seven conceded.
“I’ll bet. I definitely want to hear more about what James T. Kirk was like in the flesh.” She lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “So, did he really meet da Vinci?”
Thirty-six
Stardate 6122.5
“A most thoughtful and appropriate gift,” RoMusscu Dihana declared, warming to Santiago somewhat, “which speaks well of your Federation and its intentions.” The Yusubi chieftain opened the star chart to admire it once more. “You will have to show me where to find your respective homeworlds on this—”
“Watch out!” Kirk shouted, shoving her to one side. He drew his phaser and fired at the Orion sniper even as the would-be assassin rose from the silvery pool at the center of the oasis. A stun beam sent the sniper toppling back into the water. “Bergstrom! Multiple hostiles in the pool!”
“I see them, sir!” The redheaded security officer sprang into action, stepping between the startled diplomats and danger, while targeting the submerged Orions the moment they broke the surface. “Get back!” she warned Santiago and Hague. “And keep your heads down!”
“I don’t understand,” Dihana exclaimed, even as Yusubi bodyguards rushed to defend her. “What’s happening?”
“Orion raiders,” Kirk explained quickly, “working with Yusubi allies to disrupt the conclave.” His memory flashed back to what felt like several days ago. “There’s a ground vehicle, equipped with a transporter, hidden in a dune just beyond the tents.” He pointed in the right direction. “Over there!”
“We’ll find it,” a Yusubi warrior snarled. He shouted to his cohorts, leading them in a charge toward the dunes. “Root out those who would violate our sacred hospitality!”
Kirk wondered if the traitors lurking in their ranks would show their true colors or simply blend in with the defenders now that their plot had unraveled. He suspected that the smart ones would know better than to expose themselves.
Dihana gazed at him in wonder and confusion. No disruptor blast had claimed her life. “But how do you know these things?”
“It’s a long story,” Kirk said.
That was putting it was mildly. One minute, he had been buried alive on ancient Sarpeidon, wounded and bleeding beneath a stunned sithar and several tons of fallen snow and ice. A heartbeat later, he had found himself back on Yusub right where it all began. He had to assume that this meant that Seven had somehow succeeded in her quest, with unexpected results.
Good for her, he thought.
Lieutenant Jadello, still very much alive as well, lowered her phaser. “I think we’ve sent them running, sir, although we may have to fish a few stunned pirates out of the pool.”
“Nice shooting,” he commended her. “I must say, it’s good to see you in action.”
She gave him a puzzled look. “Sir?”
“Never mind, Lieutenant. Carry on.”
Santiago approached Kirk, looking equally baffled. “Kirk! What’s this all about? Did you have advance intelligence on this attack? Why wasn’t I informed?”
“Ask your aide,” Kirk said coldly.
“Me?” Hague fell back. He tugged nervously on his collar. “I’m sure I don’t know—”
Kirk blasted him with a stun beam. The exposed sleeper agent collapsed onto the sandy floor of the oasis. Santiago gaped at Kirk in shock.
“I’ll explain later,” the captain promised.
• • •
“Tell me, Spock. Does the name ‘Annika Seven’ mean anything to you?”
“Not that I recall, Captain. Should it?”
The Vulcan had beamed down to Yusub to assist in the cleanup operation, bringing with him enough Starfleet security personnel to discourage any further resistance on the part of the Orions and their allies. Kirk watched with satisfaction as his people, including Bergstrom, Jadello, and Tang, turned Habroz and his soggy assault team over to the Yusubi forces. Kirk noted that K’Mara was not among the captives; he guessed that the ruthless female pirate had just inherited command of the Navaar. He’d have to alert Starfleet to be on watch for her.
“I guess not,” Kirk said.
From what he could tell, Seven’s entire stay aboard the Enterprise had been erased from history, so that only he recalled it. Kirk wondered if that was because he had traveled back through time with Seven when she had finally completed her mission. That was the only explanation he could think of.
But her presence had not been without consequence. Thanks to that hiccup in time, he’d had a second chance to fix things on Yusub. Bergstrom was alive, Habroz was in custody, Hague had been exposed, the conclave was back on track, and, judging from the reaction of Dihana and the other chieftains, the Orions were not going to be welcome on Yusub much longer. All in all, a good day’s work, even if it had actually involved a lengthy trek through time and space.
Granted, he had arguably tampered with history, but from where he was standing, the future remained an undiscovered country. Changing the past is one thing, he reflected, but we shape the future with every choice we make.
He could live with that.
He watched as Bergstrom retrieved the idol from where she had dropped it in order to defend Santiago. “Excuse me, Lieutenant,” he called to her. “Please bring that over here for a moment.”
“Aye, sir.” She carried the idol to where Kirk and Spock were standing. “It seems to have survived the excitement, Captain. Shall I take it back to the Enterprise for you?”
“All in good time, Lieutenant.” He turned to Spock, whose tricorder was slung over his shoulder. “Do me a favor and scan this artifact for any unusual contents or readings.”
Spock arched an eyebrow
. “Captain?”
“Indulge me,” Kirk said.
Spock scanned the idol with the tricorder. “I am detecting nothing unusual. This object appears to be simply what it seems: a ceramic sculpture of questionable aesthetic merit.”
“I suspected as much,” Kirk said. Now that the fragments had been retrieved, they no longer existed in the time line. “Just checking.”
Spock regarded Kirk quizzically. “I confess, Captain, that I am puzzled by your seemingly prescient knowledge of events, as well as by your rather cryptic comments and behavior. Perhaps you would care to enlighten me?”
“I promise to give you the full story, Mister Spock, at the right moment.”
Off the record, of course.
“Which would be?” Spock asked.
“Sometime in the future,” Kirk replied. “When else?”
Acknowledgments
Because I wrote my one-and-only Star Trek: Voyager novel, The Black Shore, way back in the early days of the TV series, before Seven of Nine joined the crew, I’ve always regretted that I never had a chance to write everyone’s favorite Borg crew member—until now. But I would have never had this opportunity without the help and encouragement of various parties who deserve my full and appreciative thanks, including:
My editors, Ed Schlesinger and Margaret Clark, who helped guide this book from proposal to print. Truth to tell, it was Margaret who first suggested that it might be interesting to throw Seven of Nine and James T. Kirk together. Needless to say, I knew a good idea when I heard one.
John Van Citters at CBS and Paula Block, who offered valuable input on both the original proposal and the eventual manuscript.
My agent, Russell Galen, who, as always, kept the business side of things running smoothly.
My friends and colleagues, John Ordover, Marco Palmieri, Dayton Ward, Scott Pearson, and Christopher Bennett, who let me pick their brains when I required help with some sticky plot point or esoteric bit of Star Trek lore . . . or just needed to talk out various crazy theories concerning explosive rocks, duotone aliens, and other vital matters. And the late A. C. Crispin, whose previous novels, Star Trek—Yesterday’s Son and Star Trek—Time for Yesterday, about the planet Sarpeidon were required reading. She will be missed—and remembered.
Writers Max Ehrlich, Jean Lisette Aroeste, Oliver Crawford, and Lee Cronin for penning the three classic Original Series episodes that I mined heavily in this novel. All modern Star Trek fiction builds upon the vast edifice created by innumerable talents over the last forty-plus years, but these three episodes were of particular inspiration on this project—and gave me plenty of great material to work with.
And, of course, my girlfriend, Karen Palinko, and our four-legged family members—Henry, Sophie, and Lyla—who put up with me locking myself in my office for hours at time—and constantly watching Star Trek DVDs in my down time!
About the Author
Greg Cox is the author of numerous Star Trek novels and short stories, including The Weight of Worlds, The Rings of Time, To Reign in Hell, The Eugenics Wars (Volumes One and Two), The Q Continuum, Assignment: Eternity, and The Black Shore. He has also written the official novelizations of such films as Godzilla, Man of Steel, The Dark Knight Rises, Ghost Rider, Daredevil, Death Defying Acts, and the first three Underworld movies, as well as books and stories based on such popular series as Alias, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Farscape, The 4400, Leverage, Riese: Kingdom Falling, Roswell, Terminator, Warehouse 13, and Xena: Warrior Princess.
He has received two Scribe Awards from the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers. He lives in Oxford, Pennsylvania.
Visit him at: www.gregcox-author.com.
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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ISBN 978-1-4767-4949-5
ISBN 978-1-4767-4950-1 (ebook)
