To them, we’ve been dead for a year. According to the crew of the USS Excalibur, we died as heroes, going above and beyond to collapse the now famous Devron Anomaly. There was even a marble memorial erected on the grounds of Starfleet Command, commemorating our sacrifice. And the senior crew that were to be assigned to us after our mission were reassigned to other ships instead. Commander Beverly Crusher, our intended Chief Medical Officer, is now the head of Starfleet Medical. Commander William Riker, our intended first officer, is serving aboard the USS Galaxy. Our other remaining crew have been scattered around the fleet. Heck, Starfleet even began constructing the next USS Enterprise – the USS Enterprise-E – a Nebula-class starship. Life went on. We were gone…. and now, here we are again, alive and well.
Yeah, there are going to be a lot of questions sent our way over the next few weeks. And what happens after that…. I don’t know. I’m sure we’ll be recommissioned into the fleet, and I’m sure Starfleet Command will send us out again – hopefully with most of our crew intact. We may be alive and well, but to everyone else, we’re not the same people who left Earth a year ago. We’re “back from the dead”, and that may be hard for many people to accept.
As for our de-aging, crew assessments have been largely completed here aboard the Enterprise. As a crew, we have de-aged an average of four years. Six young toddlers who were aboard when we left Earth, no longer exist. Other children have de-aged to infants. A few of our Ensigns are cadet-age again. Some of our crew plan to leave the ship for personal reasons, while others want to give up the Starfleet life altogether, and make the most of the years they get to “re-live”. I don’t blame them. Being able to re-live the last few years – to do things differently a second time – that’s a tantalizing opportunity.
Me? I’ll probably stick around. Officially, I’m “dead”, so I’ll have to renew my service commitment, but I don’t feel compelled to give up everything I’ve worked hard for, even if I am four years younger. I’m lucky – I can remember those four years. The rest of the crew cannot. For some reason, I was spared any memory loss, and, yet, I feel guilty – survivor’s guilt, I suppose. I see the challenges of others around me, and I am unable to share in their loss. I’ll get used to it – my faith will pull me through…. but I sure as heck don’t have to like it.
-Lieutenant Sam Archer
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May 23, 2364 -- (Original Devron Timeline)