StarDate 48649.9 Picard looked down through the twisted wreckage of the scaffolding into the face of James Kirk. He could see the life draining away from behind the powerful hazel eyes. The injured man was struggling not to give in to the immense pain that his wounds had to be causing. Picard desperately wanted to do something, anything to help, but he knew in his heart that the man was wounded mortally. There was nothing that could be done. "It was fun." The words came with a small smile, its owner content that he had indeed come forth once more to make a difference. Then, the smile was replaced for the briefest of moments with a look of confusion, as though Kirk was finally, ultimately realizing that the end was near. "Oh my...." he whispered. From an oddly detached viewpoint, Kirk watched himself in fascination as he uttered those final words, then die as Jean-Luc Picard looked on helplessly. Picard, captain of the Enterprise. Not his Enterprise, but that was a fact of little importance. Nothing was a fact of importance anymore. Suddenly, the scene was lost as everything was drowned in a blinding light. He thought he could feel his body...no...his very existence begin to dissolve. So, this is death. No, it wasn't. The light faded, blackness replacing it. But, it wasn't the same sort of blackness one experienced when the lights are suddenly turned off. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but there was something different. Of course, he shouldn't be able to put his finger on anything. He shouldn't even have fingers. While he was at it, he realized that he shouldn't be realizing any of this. Am I dead, or what? He could feel his fingers, and the rest of his body for that matter. His hands brushed the material of his uniform jacket. Over the smooth finish of his belt buckle. Where am I? He attempted to take a step forward, was surprised to discover that he could. But where to go, in this unending darkness? However, the darkness was fading. Shapes began to form around him, color washing over the objects as they acquired substance. He watched a long, polished table with three high-back chairs coalesce into existence. Tapestries lined stone walls. He turned to see a set of large, wooden double doors. He had been here before. Many years ago, he and Spock had traveled to a world and stood in this room. Organia. Even as the thought echoed in his mind, three indistinct points of light formed over the chairs behind the table. They grew in size and the illumination became brighter with each passing second. Kirk had to raise his hand to shield his eyes from the glare. They had taken on human shapes now. The intensely bright light had begun to dim. The shapes took on facial features, hair, clothing. Finally, the light faded altogether, leaving three elderly gentlemen, dressed in simple robes. Of course, Kirk immediately recognized them: Ayelborne, Claymare and Trefayne. Ayelborne, the "man" that Kirk remembered as being the leader of the group, spoke first. "Greetings, Captain Kirk." Jim finally found his voice. "Hello. It's been a long time." "For you, perhaps. Time is irrelevant to us. However, it is comforting to know that you have not forgotten." Kirk actually smiled at that. "Hardly, sir. Our last meeting had a profound and lasting effect on me. It seems that your vision of the Federation and the Klingons coming together to work in peace has come true." Trefayne spoke now. "Not quite, Captain. While it is true that you have made remarkable progress in the years since our last encounter, there is still a long way to go. There will still be much bloodshed before your two peoples ultimately unite in final peace. You know this to be true. You knew it at Khitomer, yet it didn't stop you." "What do you mean?" The Organian's smile widened slightly. "At the time of the initial peace initiative that had been started by Chancellor Gorkon, you still harbored intense prejudice toward the Klingons. Yet despite that, you put the interests of the Federation first, thereby accomplishing a landmark achievement in your history. It is not by any means the final peace that they continued to seek for many years afterward, but it was an important first step." Kirk felt his heart sink slightly, despite Trefayne's words. After all this time, after all the killing and destruction, the Federation and the Klingon Empire still would not see the futility of it all for many years after his historically recorded death aboard the Enterprise-B. Now a question formed in his mind, as confusion over his present situation began to set in. "Why I am I here? The last thing I remember is Veridian Three. The scaffolding broke, and I fell. I remember looking up and seeing Picard. He told me that we had stopped Soran. But I don't remember anything after that. What happened?" Claymare spoke for the first time. "We brought you here from that moment in time. As far as the universe is concerned, the next instant has not occurred yet. The simplest way to explain it would be to say that we are occupying a space between one second and the next." This did nothing for Jim's confusion. "But, why?" Ayelborne rose from his chair and made his way around the long, polished table, speaking has he walked. "We are curious, Captain. Why did you elect to aid Captain Picard, after finally finding peace with yourself? No starships. No duty. Simply eternal happiness. Yet, you gave all of that up in order to help Picard. Why?" "Don't you know?" The Organian shook his head as he stopped before Kirk. "We are not mind readers, Captain. We do not know what motivates other beings to decide upon possible courses of action." Kirk shrugged, shook his head. "There were innocent lives at stake. Millions of lives. I had to do something. It's a decision I've had to make more times than I can remember, and I'd do it again without hesitation. What difference does it make?" Trefayne raised a hand. "Your actions and inactions do make a difference, Captain, just as they always have. They made adifference at Veridian Three. Picard failed in his first attempt to stop Soran. He was taken into the Nexus, where he managed to find you. Only with your help was he able to save those millions of people." Claymare nodded in agreement. "Your sense of duty has always been the primary driving force in your life. Duty to others before duty to yourself. You gave up many chances to live in peace and contentment throughout your life, in order to serve others. Look back at your accomplishments. What do you see?" "Just like you said, I was doing my duty. Any Starfleet officer worthy of the uniform would have done the same thing under the circumstances. No, anyone with that kind of moral conviction would have done it." "Possibly, James." Ayelborne smiled slightly. A flash of light....... .... Captain's Log - StarDate 3135.1. Effective immediately, I resign my commission and relinquish command of this vessel to First Officer Spock, who has been given orders to direct the Enterprise to the nearest starbase. There, a new captain waits to assume command. "What is this?" Kirk stood alongside Ayelborne on what he immediately recognized as the upper deck of the bridge of the Enterprise, but an Enterprise from the past. Ayelborne nodded his head in the direction of the command well, where a young, very tired looking Captain James Kirk sat in the captain's chair, a young Mister Spock at his side. "That is you. We have traveled back to the early days of your career as captain of the Enterprise." Kirk shook his head. "No. That's not possible. I never made that log entry about my resignation." He watched as a younger version of himself stood up from the command chair and moved to the turbolift, stopping only momentarily to look back at his first officer. "Mister Spock, would you please ask Doctor McCoy to come to my cabin when he has a moment?" The Vulcan nodded. "Certainly, sir." Captain Kirk disappeared into the turbolift, and the doors closed behind him. Ayelborne looked at Kirk again. "What we are watching, James, is a telling of how events might have occurred." Jim was searching his memory, trying to attach some significance to the stardate he had just heard his younger self speak into the log recorder. It only took a moment. His eyes shot up to look at the viewscreen and the pale gold planet depicted on it. His jaw went slack in horrible remembrance. No. The Guardian. McCoy and the hypo. Edith. Pain that had been buried for years came welling up in one single rush, tearing the heart from his chest. He fought for the last shreds of emotional control, now under assault from memories he hadn't dared dredge up in many, many years. He'd fooled himself into thinking that he'd made peace with himself about this. But now, it was starting all over again. "But, that's not how it happened. I admit, I was devastated when Edith died, but I realized that her death saved millions of lives in the course of history. I remember thinking very seriously about resignation, but I never once made a move to act on that thought." Ayelborne smiled. "This was a turning point in your life, James. In the history you remember, your sense of duty overpowered the personal grief that you were feeling. You forced your feelings away, deciding instead to focus on your professional responsibilities, when you could just as easily have ended it all and resigned. We are witnessing simply another way that history might have unfolded." Kirk turned to face the bridge turbolift doors. But, they weren't on the bridge anymore. Now, they stood in the corner of what he recognized as his cabin from the old Enterprise. He saw his younger self, lying on the small bunk. God, those beds really were small back then. The young Captain Kirk lay with his right arm draped across his face, hiding his eyes. Jim could guess what thoughts drifted through his younger self's mind. He turned to his Organian companion. "Now what?" By way of reply, the door chime sounded. Captain Kirk called out to the door, "Come." The familiar whoosh as the door opened to admit Leonard McCoy. The older Kirk studied his longtime friend as he was then: blue tunic with Lieutenant Commander's stripes; brown hair with none of the gray that would dominate it in later years; the sour expression that had become a trademark of the perpetually disgruntled chief medical officer of the Enterprise. The doctor made his way, without invitation, to a chair in the corner of the sleeping area. He then proceeded to study his commanding officer with that expression Jim had come to know only too well. Finally, he spoke. "Spock tells me that you've resigned your commission." The younger Kirk drew his arm from his face. "That's right." He continued to stare at the ceiling, avoiding the doctor's gaze. McCoy pressed, "You want to tell me why?" The young captain exhaled audibly. "I've decided that I don't want this life, Bones. I'm tired of losing." McCoy frowned. "Losing? Jim, you made a decision that saved uncounted billions of lives and promised us our future, the future as we know it. If you had allowed Edith to live, everything we know and understand would be gone. It's as simple as that. I can only guess what having to make that decision did to you. But, what you did was for the greater good. It's who you are and it's what you do. You made a decision and you won, for all of us. Under the circumstances, I think Edith would understand." Kirk shook his head. "How many men and women have died since I took command of this ship? I remember each and every one of them, their names, their faces. Some of the most important people in my life are among them, Bones. Sam, Aurelan, Gary. Edith was just the latest addition to a list that's already too long." McCoy's expression grew thoughtful. "Resigning won't help them, Jim. It won't prevent it from happening again." Kirk sat up in his bunk. "No, but at least I don't have to stand by, helpless, and watch as the people I love most die in front of me." Ayelborne turned to face the older Kirk. "These feelings began when your friend Gary Mitchell died. A small pang of doubt formed, and continued to grow as time went along. Finally, with Edith Keeler's death, the feelings had grown to such intensity that Captain Kirk decides to abandon starship command and return to Earth, never to journey into space again." "Why?" "You simply did not wish to reopen old emotional wounds, James. You return to your parents' farm in Iowa and become heavily involved with Agro-Engineering." Jim couldn't believe it.. "What happens to the rest of the crew? Who takes my place as Enterprise captain?" The Organian began to wander about the cabin. Strangely enough, Jim could see his younger self and McCoy talking, yet he heard no voices. It was like watching a video playback, without benefit of audio. Ayelborne, however, could be heard most clearly. "A longtime friend of yours, Captain Robert Wesley, took command of the Enterprise, as a personal request from you that is honored by Starfleet Command. He foregoes a promotion to Commodore in order to take the assignment, and things go quite smoothly, for a time." The sound of that didn't comfort Kirk. "Why? What happens?" Again, the light........ ....... Captain's Log - StarDate 5031.8. Chief Engineer Scott temporarily in command. The Enterprise is deep in Romulan space and is surrounded by Romulan warships. We have just received a report from the Romulan Commander that Captain Wesley was killed by Mister Spock, apparently in self-defense. I am standing by, awaiting orders from Mister Spock. The weight resting on Montgomery Scott's shoulders was enormous. He felt utterly helpless: his ship, surrounded by the enemy, waiting to become a prize of the Romulan Praetor; the Captain, dead; Mister Spock, a possible collaborator. This willna look good in the official log, he mused, in a vain attempt to humor himself. Kirk and Ayelborne watched as Scotty struggled through the duties of command that had been laid upon him. The engineer grappled with his feelings in order to be the emotional rock that his shipmates could look to. "The cloaking device." Kirk remembered. "Spock and I came up with a plan to steal one from a Romulan ship. We faked my death, and I had McCoy surgically alter me to look like a Romulan. Then, I beamed onto the Romulan ship, took the cloaking device and had Scotty install it on the Enterprise. We barely got away." Ayelborne nodded. "That is how you remember it." Suddenly, they were in SickBay. Scotty was staring, dumbfounded, at a Romulan centurion that bore a striking resemblance to Captain Wesley. He wore a Starfleet uniform, but it was there that the similarities began to end. "What's it all about?" the engineer was asking. "Those two Romulans, are they still aboard?" Wesley asked by way of reply. The Scotsman nodded, "Aye, they're in the brig, sir." Wesley merely smiled slightly at the awestruck engineer. "I'll need a Romulan uniform." Scotty smiled back as realization dawned. "Aye, sir. It'll be a pleasure." They watched as Scotty made his way from the Sickbay, leaving Wesley, McCoy and Nurse Chapel alone. "Bob, do you really think you have a chance to pull this off?" The captain shrugged. "We're the best chance the Federation has at this point, Leonard." That one sentence made Kirk realize just how different this reality was: the absence of the familiar 'Bones' nickname that only he had used. He admitted, to himself, to being morbidly interested in the 'images' Ayelborne was showing him. Images, because he could think of no other way to describe what he was watching. Because of this, he became less and less surprised when the scene suddenly shifted. He hardly reacted at all when the SickBay disappeared, to be replaced by a long, dimly-lit corridor. He dredged the location from his memories. We're on the Romulan ship, he realized. He made his way, along with Ayelborne, down the hallway until they came to a door. The large, reinforced hatch bore some marking that Kirk could not read, but nonetheless recognized. It was behind this door that the cloaking device was located. They didn't have to wait long. Wesley, complete with centurion's uniform, moved with a purposeful stride up the corridor. Kirk suddenly realized that there was no guard to confront the imposter, as when he himself had acted out this scenario. The captain made his way, unimpeded, through the hatch. Ayelborne looked to Kirk for a fleeting second, then motioned for him to follow as he stepped through the wall. Now, they were inside the chamber as well. They watched as Wesley studied the various consoles and devices, trying to determine which of them was the cloaking device. "We didn't know what it looked like." Kirk was telling the Organian when Wesley was suddenly interrupted by a Romulan officer. "Centurion, are you authorized in this area? I do not recognize you." Wesley replied with clipped tones. "There is an intruder aboard. He may be after the cloaking device." The centurion's eyes flickered to momentarily hold on the device at the center of the room, the strange, orb-like contraption with power conduits running from it to various control consoles. That was all the time Wesley needed. He silenced any further challenge from the Romulan with a swift chop to the neck. Kirk noticed Ayelborne as the Organian grimaced slightly at the brief exhibition of violence. As Wesley went to work disconnecting the cloaking device from its control mount, Ayelborne moved to examine several of the consoles. As the Enterprise captain severed one of the connections, a status light on one of the consoles changed from a dim blue to a bright, blinking red. Ayelborne pointed to it. "He has set off a silent alarm. They will be here momentarily." Kirk swung to watch the entrance to the chamber, as well as the side door that the now unconscious guard had used. His eyes kept swinging from the doors to Wesley and back. The captain was still in the process of removing the device. "Come on, Bob. Hurry!" The rational portion of his mind knew that Wesley could not hear him, but he couldn't help the panic he was beginning to feel. Finally, Wesley pulled the cloaking device free from its control station. Holding it under one arm, he reached into a pocket of the centurion uniform for his communicator. "Wesley to Enterprise." Before the reply came, the door to the corridor suddenly snapped open, and Romulan centurions flooded through the door. Immediately, Wesley dove for the small side door, yelling into his communicator, "Beam me back, now!" Kirk could only watch, helpless, as the guards poured through the hatch after the captain. Helpless, as the first centurion raised his disruptor and fired. Helpless, as the disruptor bolt took Wesley full in the chest. He fell to the floor, just as the transporter beam claimed him. "Oh my God." was all Kirk could get out before the breath tightened in his chest. Then, they were in the Enterprise transporter room, as a horrified Ensign Kyle watched the form of Captain Wesley materialize on the transporter platform. Slamming the intercomm button, he yelled, "Medical emergency in the transporter room!" Then, he raced to the inert form of his captain, aghast at the ugly wound in Wesley's chest. "Does he live?" Kirk wanted to know. Ayelborne merely watched, stone-faced, as McCoy and a trauma unit entered the transporter room at a full run, followed by Scotty. The doctor wasted no time opening his medi-kit and began inspecting the captain's wound. Scotty picked up the cloaking device that lay on the platform next to the captain, then asked, "Doctor, is there anything I can do?" McCoy shook his head. "I don't even know if there's anything that I can do." The engineer looked sadly at his captain, before duty was remembered. "I need to figure out how to install this beastie, or we're all dead." Turning to Kyle, he asked, "Have ye got a lock on Mister Spock, lad?" The transporter chief nodded. "Yes, sir." "Well then, when I give ye the word, bring him back." With that, he was out into the corridor, headed for Engineering. Kirk, in the meantime, had moved to watch over McCoy's shoulder, knowing that he was not visible to the other occupants of the room. In fact, one of the medical technicians actually walked through his body. As he looked on, several of the indicators on McCoy's medical tricorder went from a steady blink to a constant light. Finally, the doctor shut the device off. "It's too late, he's dead." With that, Kirk noticed that all sound in the room faded, until nothing could be heard, except the voice of Ayelborne. "Captain Wesley died obtaining the device, which Mister Scott was able to install on the Enterprise. They retrieved Mister Spock, and escaped from the Romulan ships." Jim had barely heard any of the Organian's words. He stood transfixed as McCoy and his orderlies hoisted the body of Bob Wesley onto a stretcher and covered it with a sheet. "That's enough. I don't want to see any more of this." Ayelborne shook his head sadly. "I am sorry James, but we are not finished." The light... ...............StarDate 8128.7 "Admiral, scanning an energy source on Reliant. It's a pattern I've never seen before." Kirk and Ayelborne now stood in front of the main viewscreen of the Enterprise bridge. They watched as David Marcus and an admiral that Kirk did not immediately recognize moved to stand behind Captain Spock, who was still intently studying his sensor displays. The captain immediately recognized where and when they were. After all, David had only visited the Enterprise once. After a few seconds, David spoke. "It's the Genesis Wave! He's on a build-up to detonation!" The unknown, yet strangely familiar admiral looked up. "How soon?" "We encoded four minutes." The admiral straightened, deep in thought. Finally, "We can beam aboard and stop it." David held him back by the arm, shaking his head. "You can't." Kirk stood helpless as yet another painful memory from his past was dredged up, distorted and played out before him. He watched as the admiral moved to the center seat, thumbing the chair's intercomm switch. "Stocker to Engineering. Mister Scott, it is vital that you bring the warp engines back on-line immediately." Stocker? "Him again?" Kirk was dumbstruck. However, not so stunned that he noticed Admiral Stocker's poise and self-control in the face of certain destruction. Quite unlike the last time Jim had had the opportunity to observe the man in a stressful situation. When there was no response from the engine room, Stocker turned to face Spock again. But, the Vulcan wasn't there. "He's gone to repair the engines. He sacrificed himself to save the ship." Jim remembered soberly. It had been a painful experience, watching his closest friend die while he stood by, powerless to help. Then they were in Engineering, observing as Scotty and McCoy stood and watched the radiation-scarred Vulcan on the other side of the transparent wall surrounding the warp core. Spock's skin had been badly burned, and had begun to peel from his face. Green blood flowed from dozens of wounds. He was dying, again. Only this time, Kirk wasn't there in his friend's last moments. "What happens to Spock's katra?" The Organian waved an arm to indicate McCoy. "He succeeds in transferring his katra to your friend. Doctor McCoy begins to suffer the same symptoms of insanity that plagued him before. Only this time, there is no one to return to the Genesis planet and retrieve Spock's body, so that it and his soul can be rejoined. When Genesis self-destructs, Spock's body is lost." "And McCoy?" "Sarek takes him to Vulcan, and Spock's katra is removed from his mind and placed in the Hall of Ancient Thought. The doctor suffers no lasting ill-effects from the incident, but he retires from active service. Shortly thereafter, the Enterprise is decommissioned, and her crew is reassigned." Kirk watched as Spock slowly sank to the floor of the sealed compartment, the last breath of life leaving his body. The memory of Spock's death was still very clear in the captain's mind, even though the miracle of the Genesis planet would eventually aid in the restoration of the Vulcan. At the time that Kirk had launched his daring plan to take the Enterprise and retrieve Spock's body, he had no idea that the Vulcan would be reborn by the awesome powers unleashed by the Genesis torpedo. That had merely been what Kirk considered to be a gesture of mercy from a benevolent deity. But not this time. This time, there would be no Admiral Kirk to lead his command crew to hijack the Enterprise and set out on the mission to retrieve Spock's body from the Genesis Planet. There would be no second chance at life for the Vulcan, which made watching him die a second time even more painful than the first. "So, that's it." he said simply, finally. "No. I'm afraid not." Once more, the light. * * * * * StarDate 8390.4 "This is the President of the United Federation of Planets. Do not approach Earth." They stood amidst the chaos that enveloped the Central Command Center at Starfleet Headquarters in San Francisco. Alarms were flashing. Readouts were displaying jumbled arrays of data. Repair technicians were fastening shoring struts to the large bay windows. Outside, rain and lightning dominated the view. The probe. The council President had positioned himself in front of a subspace communications relay. His message was being broadcast to every ship and planet in the Federation. Kirk could see the strain in the older man's eyes as he relayed the imminent destruction of Earth to the rest of the Federation, not to mention anyone in the galaxy who could pick up the signal. "The transmissions of an orbiting probe, directed at our oceans, have almost completely ionized our atmosphere. The planet cannot survive unless a way can be found to answer the call of the probe." Kirk remembered when he had heard this message the first time, aboard the Klingon scout ship, returning to Earth to stand trial. "Save your energy. Save yourselves. Avoid the planet Earth at all costs. Farewell." The President severed the connection and rose from his chair. Jim and Ayelborne watched as he joined Admiral Cartwright and Ambassador Sarek. The Klingon ambassador, Kamarag, was also present with his entourage. Kirk and his crew would not stand trial in this reality. There was no Klingon Bird of Prey on its way to Earth. There was no Spock to deduce the probe's intent and develop a course of action. There would be no humpback whales from the twentieth century. There was no way to stop the probe. The earth would die. "No." was all Kirk could say. At that moment, a horrendous shriek of rending metal assaulted his ears. The support struts holding the windows caved in under the massive pressure of water and wind. Glass shards were strewn everywhere. The personnel manning the command center fought to keep their positions as water and debris were hurled across the massive room. Computer displays throughout the chamber exploded, starting fires which were instantly quelled by the incoming water. As all this happened, more alarms were added to the din. Unaffected by it all, Kirk watched, and listened to the screams. Sarek pointed to the window. "Look!" A massive wave was gathering strength and headed for shore. Hundreds of feet high, it blocked out what little light remained. There was no time to evacuate, or even to brace for the impact. The wave hit, and the command center was instantly underwater. There were no bulkheads to shun the water away. No power to the emergency force fields designed for just such an incident. Powerless to help, Kirk was forced to watch as, one by one, the command center staff drowned. Though the chamber was completely underwater, he and Ayelborne were dry. Of course, we're not really here, are we? Ayelborne watched, his expression pained from witnessing the destruction and death. "The probe will continue its assault on the earth's atmosphere, rendering the planet sterile. It will then create an entirely new ecosystem, to its own specifications. The Federation Council and Starfleet Command will be relocated to Vulcan. There, they will begin anew." Kirk now saw the earth, from orbit. He watched as the probe manipulated the clouds and oceans of his homeworld, cleansing it of all life. Time seemed to accelerate. The whirls of water moved faster and faster. The glowing orb that was suspended from the belly of the probe glowed brighter, turned more rapidly. Then, it stopped. Gradually, the oceans subsided. The planet calmed. A dead planet. "STOP IT!" He watched as the rotating, glowing sphere retracted into the body of the probe. Then, it drifted out of orbit, headed for the far reaches of the galaxy from which it had come. It faded from his view. Then, so did everything else. StarDate 48649.9 Picard looked down through the twisted wreckage of the scaffolding into the face of James Kirk. He could see the life draining away from behind the powerful hazel eyes. The injured man was struggling not to give in to the immense pain that his wounds had to be causing. Picard desperately wanted to do something, anything to help, but he knew in his heart that the man was wounded mortally. There was nothing that could be done. "It was fun." The words came with a small smile, its owner content that he had indeed come forth once more to make a difference. Then, the smile was replaced for the briefest of moments with a look of confusion, as though Kirk was finally, ultimately realizing that the end was near. But just as suddenly as it had disappeared, the tiny smile of satisfaction returned. "Oh my...." he whispered, and then his body went limp, his eyes closing forever. Picard watched Kirk's body relax for the final time, profound sorrow threatening to envelope him. Though the man had come forth to triumph one final time, the legend had not been enough to save him. But, just as the emotions were on the verge of overcoming him, a strange sense of ease caught him momentarily. Kirk had died doing what he had always done: throwing caution to the winds in the defense of others. It was what had made him a legend, therefore it was a fitting end for a legend. His sacrifice would inspire Picard and others to continue the tradition of proud service, even now as starships ventured farther and farther into uncharted space, boldly going where none had dare go before. James Kirk was dead. But the Adventure continues. FINI