SECTION 22

With the Vulcans occupied by whatever happened upstairs, you are able to slip aboard the ship completely unnoticed. You take a seat in the cockpit and quickly familiarize yourself with the controls. Fortunately, there’s nothing here that looks unusual. You send a signal to open the facility’s massive bay door and start up the engines.

You’re on the move before the Vulcans realize what is happening, and you send the ship zipping out of the doors as soon as they are open wide enough to squeeze through. You have no idea how long it will take the Vulcans to scramble any kind of pursuit, but you aren’t waiting around to find out. You send the ship into high warp the moment it is safe to do so.

The next couple of days pass uneventfully as you speed toward Hobus. You spend most of the time in the rear compartment, where the large sphere of red matter that will stop the supernova is stored, familiarizing yourself with the system you will need to use when you arrive.

You sleep in the chair in the cockpit as best you can, but this would have been uncomfortable when you were in your forties. Now that you’re in your seventies, it’s borderline torturous. Have the Vulcans never heard of ergonomics?

You have actually drifted off to sleep when you are jolted awake by an alarm. It takes you several seconds to focus your eyes and figure out what the ship is yelling at you about.

It’s the proximity alarm.

A ship is closing in. Starfleet by the look of it.

They have a tractor beam on you before you can even raise your shields.

Moments later, two Starfleet officers beam into the rear of the cockpit, phasers at the ready. You spin your chair around to face them. They both seem genuinely startled to see you. You obviously aren’t what they were expecting.

“Um…hello…ma’am. I’m Lieutenant Commander Cobris. This is Lieutenant Engre. USS Greenwich. Do you know why we stopped you today?”

“I’m sure you have your reasons, but I have a supernova to stop,” you reply. “Now if you would be so kind as to let me get back on my way.”

“I’m afraid we can’t do that. This ship was reported stolen, and we have orders to return it to Vulcan.”

“It’s just going to come right back here again,” you said. “I’m already most of the way there. I can…”

You can what? It was on the tip of your tongue. Now you can’t remember.

Hobus!

Oh no. The tachyon treatment must be wearing off. You’ve got to get them off of the ship and continue on to Hobus.

Why are you on a ship?

“Ma’am, are you okay?”

“Where am I? What am I doing on this ship?”

“It’s okay, ma’am. We’re going to take care of you. But we need to get this ship back to its rightful owner. It sounds like he has something really important to do, and this is going to make him late already.”

All thoughts of Hobus and stopping the supernova is gone. You’re fully part of the new timeline. And you just want to know how you ended up back in time and if anyone can give you a lift back to your house in the 26th Century.

THE END

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