[snip]

As he settled at the console beside her, Tia looked at him with a sly grin. “So what’s so funny you are holding back sharing?” She raised a curious eyebrow wondering why he had that look on his face.

“I was just wondering, like Kord was, why you asked him down here, only to send him back to the Bridge again,” Glen answered. “Can’t you get through the whole day without seeing him once or twice?”

Tia at least blushed. “We’re about to tamper with time AND space. And I apologize. You are right. I shouldn’t have asked him down here. But I needed to see him because we don’t know in a couple hours what will happen, or who will still be here when it’s done. It was selfish, I know. And again, I’m sorry. I guess another part of me wanted you to see him as well. You were sending him to the bridge the same as me. And if things go awry, I don’t want the last memories we have to be ones we had hours or days ago.” She hung her head slightly realizing it was probably the most unprofessional thing she had done in her entire career. And it ashamed her.

Daniel did a final system’s check and then turned to Tia. “..I will head for the cargo bay to monitor the start up of the device. When indicated I will need a stable warp bubble output of warp 8, while the device is running. From there things will go quickly and smoothly, provided the power supply remains stable. Before I leave do you have any last minute questions?” he asked.

Tia shook her head. “I can’t think of anything. I guess we need to just get it over with, so to speak.” She took a deep breath and exhaled. “Warp 8 on your call, Sir.” She nodded to Daniel. “Give me your mark and I’ll start running her up. Will take a moment to get to Warp 8,” she laughed slightly. “Just don’t wait and say Now when you need it.” She nodded to the door. “Good luck, Daniel.” And she meant it.

”..It has certainly been an educational experience for me to meet your people. Take care..” He said then departing the engine room.

A few minutes later a comm call came over from Daniel =/\= Lieutenant Tia we are ready here. I have begun the sequence power up, awaiting steady power supply of warp 8 in a holding pattern before proceeding further..=/\= He said.

Now Glen was having second thoughts himself, even at this the eleventh hour. “Tia?” he asked, “I’ve told you exactly why this has to be done. It’s not for me, or for the two other crew in Sickbay, it’s not for the lasting fame of the USS Merrimack, but it’s for all of our history and future as we know it… but this is still a dangerous, uncertain thing we are going to attempt, and… well, I don’t know if I have the right to call it on my own… Maybe, what if I’m mistaken? Can I put everyone at risk just because I think I’m right?”

…but there was no longer time left for any change of heart. They both heard from the Bridge that Kord had already given Daniel the order to proceed. At this moment, down in the Cargo Hold, Daniel would be throwing the switch.

• Glen, CO

Tia took a heartbeat to look at the Captain. “This has to do with the entire universe, yes. And that is daunting. So don’t think on that. This on yourself, on those in medical. THAT’S who this is for. The others,” she shrugged, “I don’t want to think about.” She moved her hands over the console. “Instead of worrying about the fate of the Universe, let’s just worry about getting that backpack off of you. Can you live with that?” She smiled and tapped the comm. =^=Engineering to Bridge and Daniel, Warp initiated… Warp 2.... 3. 4… warp 5....=^= She would continue to count to Warp 8 and keep it there for as long as she could.

Looking at the Captain she smiled. “Just you and me and that backpack. Got it?” She winked and smiled.

They say that when you die you see your whole life flash before your eyes. In the next few moments Glen witnessed the life of the Merrimack as ghostly images of likely other timelines. He first saw the USS Merrimack NCC-2346 in dry dock being fitted out. He next saw the former CO Captain Bordeaux being murdered by Klingon assassins. He saw himself unpacking his boxes of belongings in his quarters. He saw a rogue Starfleet Admiral installed as Czar of the Romulan Empire. Then he saw himself being married to Andromeda du Astra. He had a family with four children and two cats. That fuzzy image cleared to reveal the Merrimack first surrounded, and then attacked by a fleet of other Starfleet ships, most of his crew lying dead, the ship left as a graveyard. A blue flash passed across the whole ship, interior and exterior, and eight Elder ships approached. He felt that pain of the Ancient worm inside his head once again. He felt that disorientation following memory loss again. He saw Dr. Cross kidnapped and tortured, her unborn child removed. He saw a fleet of Harvester ships approaching. The changing images began to speed up, and it was difficult to pick out individual events any longer. There were Orion ships in raiding campaigns, and renegade Starfleet, Klingon and Romulans working together. He saw the dolphinesque Bolay as rulers of the whole Quadrant, and humans everywhere, subjugated and working as their slaves underground. There was an image of a mammoth sized space station, in pristine condition but empty and abandoned. There was a class M world destroyed by a nuclear war that John felt he should some how have been able to prevent, and there were many kinds of ships from the future. He saw ‘Space Serpents’ attack the Merrimack from out of the ether, then disappear again as quickly as they had arrived. He saw Daniel flip the switch on the ‘machine’ followed by everything going dark. Then he saw the Merrimack destroyed again and again, in multiple different ways, before the images cleared once more to reveal her as a museum at Black Rock one hundred years in the future.

Glen woke as if from a dream. They were still here!!!

-Glen, CO