I’ve been thinking about the events we experienced this past week, and I’ve got a theory. I can’t prove it, because I don’t have the power to test ideas within the time-space continuum, but I think it works, based upon what we know. I shared this theory with our resident android, Lieutenant Commander Data, and he found it fascinating, so it seems fair to share it here as well.
Ever since we were caught inside that “many Enterprises” quantum anomaly, various members of our crew have reported memories gained from alternate realities – realities of which we were, allegedly, a participant. One of the alternate memories that I – personally -- now have, is that of a mission aboard my runabout – a runabout I once owned, but do not possess in our current reality. In that memory, I, and others (also aboard runabouts), witnessed the USS Enterprise-D caught up in a temporal loop, a recursive temporal anomaly that always ended in the collision and complete destruction of the Enterprise. The only survivors were those of us sitting helplessly aboard the runabouts – outside the time loop. We must have witnessed the Enterprise explode at least a few dozen times, and each time, there was nothing we could do to interfere.
Eventually, the senior officer (with mission authority over all of the runabouts – three runabouts, I believe), became so frustrated, that he was determined to do something to try and stop the time loop, and save the Enterprise. All previous theories of action had failed, leaving the most dangerous option for last – an option none of the rest of us wanted to attempt. With frustration high, we reluctantly agreed with the senior officer, and prepared to pierce the time loop, in order to get a vital message to the crew of the Enterprise.
Unfortunately, that attempt seems to have failed miserably, and, I think, actually resulted in our runabouts getting caught up in the time loop as well. Only, instead of joining the established events of the loop, our interference caused the loop to reset, and the starting point of the loop reestablished itself years earlier – just after the launch of the Enterprise in 2363. Unfortunately, I think we’ve experienced this new years-long time loop many times over, and our recent 2363 experiences were the final restarting of that loop, as suggested by recent claims of déjà vu. Temporal theory suggests that we would only remember the most recent time in the loop, with, in our case, the déjà vu being our only indicator of having done this many times before.
Then came the “Devron Anomaly”, the second spatial anomaly to define our present status.
When we interfered with the Devron Anomaly (in the Devron System) – something we likely did many times before (while inside the time loop), this time, the temporal nature of the Devron Anomaly, broke the temporal nature of the time loop, and spit us out into normal space – thus ending the time loop. Our crew was now de-aged, and had lost our memories up until that point.
I think – and again, I can’t prove it – when we were spit out of the time loop, courtesy of the unpredictable Devron Anomaly, we were temporally attracted to the “many Enterprises” quantum anomaly 100 light years away. Presumably, when you’re at the mercy of time, the limitations of space don’t matter. In an instant, the Enterprise was transported to our present coordinates – near Cardassian space – in the year 2369. The Devron Anomaly gave up its hold on us, and the quantum anomaly we were attracted to, gained control instead. We briefly experienced the breakdown of quantum universe barriers, which was, apparently corrected by other ships in that alternate Enterprise fleet, and then the quantum anomaly disappeared, and lost its hold on us as well. By the looks of it, we now appear to be free from the grasp of all three anomalies.
So, here we are, back in real space, and real time. We are stationary, five light years from Cardassian space, and, apparently, now in the year 2369. I imagine Starfleet thinks we’ve been dead, or at least missing, for the last six years. Our entire crew is five years younger, and no one, except Captain Picard and myself, remember the past five years of real time (going back to 2358), but many of us have new memories that, apparently, come from other times and realities that, apparently, this ship experienced before getting caught in the time loop.
Confused? I can understand that. I, myself, am grateful to have studied Temporal Physics back at Starfleet Academy. Without those studies, I don’t think I would have been able to develop this theory. It stands up to what we know, though, and, unless something new comes along, throwing this concept in a different direction, our ship command staff seems content to take this as the prevailing theory.
Now, unfortunately, we have a new task to pursue -- acclimating to the reality of 2369 – whatever, and wherever, that may be.
-Lieutenant Sam Archer
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May 15, 2369 – (Devron Timeline 3.0)
Enterprise Station :: Public Affairs Office :: 2370