Boldly going to ten forward

[spacefaring]

I'm not good at public speaking. [ Says the future President of the Federation of Planets. ] That's not me, not yet.

Not that this isn't exciting--the chance to explore strange new worlds, Starfleet's progress...the Galaxy class Enterprise. I'm just not sure it's such a great idea. I've seen too much of the future already, and I know how dangerous it can be, what can happen to history if the slightest thing is altered.

Still, if this Q that resides there is the same one that lives in your head, changing history is the least of our problems.

What is it you wanted me to say, anyway?

Hello?

Comments

[spacefaring]

I can't say I've had any better experiences in that respect than you. Picard was polite enough when I met him--maybe a little stuffy. But Data...there's something about the idea of a robot captaining a starship that unsettles me. Particularly when he bears such a resemblance to Arik Soong.

[ And that's an interesting point. He grimaces. ] Forgotten?

[tactical_alert]

The man who thought himself a father to all of those Augments? I suppose if he couldn't genetically create his version of human perfection, he'd just have to build it...

[But putting that unsettling thought aside:] Not all of us are captains and future admirals and presidents and diplomats, sir. My face is hardly one of the most familiar. Although the name does tend to ring some bells. A young woman named Chekov had a particularly enthusiastic response to me once. It's a mixed bag, to be sure. [Yes, he said woman Chekov. She was very bouncy about it.]

[spacefaring]

Right? I know what nightmares I'll be having tonight.

[ When and if he meets Chekov now he's going to think he's the alternate and not the other way around. But more pressing is the real topic here, and Archer takes on a far graver expression. ]

You're as much responsible for their version of Starfleet as I am. Starships wouldn't be run the way they are if not for many of the measures you yourself implemented.

[ See, this is why he's uncomfortable with the fame side of things. He prefers the bit where he's doing the job. ]

[tactical_alert]

I've heard a great deal about their alert system, force fields, weapons upgrades... Starfleet--well. The Federation, I suppose. They've come a long way from where we are now. [Whenever 'now', relatively, is. Time travel. It's getting to be normal.]

It's unsettling to be faced with the idea of reading up on your own history. Fortunately, that hasn't been an issue for me yet, and I've avoided asking anyone who might be in the know about my own personal future. I doubt that's covered extensively in their notes.

[spacefaring]

[ He wishes it was just that. It's hard to hear how important he is sometimes; it's an overwhelming responsibility. He knows where he retired to, when he died, that there were ships named after him. ]

Their computer seems to have everything in it but the minute details. There's a photonic version of the crew on their holodeck that it would be hard to tell apart from the originals--at least if you didn't know better.

[ It had been so unsettling he'd turned them all off. Holographic ghosts of his friends--dead friends, like ghosts never laid to rest. ]

[tactical_alert]

...I really would rather not know how their computers interpret our personalities. A visit to the ship might be nice when feeling homesick, but the people? You can't exactly replicate a person. Just a look. [He hopes.]