Chapter Text
The year is 3201. At Federation Headquarters, a shuttle with the markings "Just Married" drops out of warp and approaches. Headed towards the mobile starbase's shuttlebay, a voice can be heard hailing the station:
BURNHAM
DSC-01 to headquarters. We are coming in.
TRAFFIC CONTROLLER
HQ acknowledges, DSC-01. Proceed to shuttlebay.
Arriving at the station, Admiral Michael Burnham and her husband, Booker, walk into a starbase decorated for the newly-weds, with paper string and balloons lining the walls, and confetti in the air. Everyone gathered there is cheering and clapping at the couple, with one person holding a sign that says "Sic Transit Gloria Mundi". After the applause stops, Tilly speaks up:
TILLY
Welcome home!
BURNHAM
This was your idea, wasn't it?
SARU
Well, i've figured you might want to come back from the... directive with as little fanfare as possible. Your usual, low-key approach.
TILLY
But there is a time and a place for everything, and this is certainly the time and this is definitely the place for a big party!
Then everyone applauds.
TILLY
Admiral, we have a lot to celebrate. Up to and including your wedding. ..and you two just can't avoid it.
BURNHAM
If i can find a way to get payback for this, i will.
Everyone laughs.
BURNHAM
Thank you!
Everyone cheers again and throws confetti and rice. Burnham and Booker make their way through the crowd and out of the shuttlebay, with Admiral Vance and a Ferengi following them. The latter two stop and the Ferengi asks:
FERENGI
Saru, who died?
SARU
[after a bref confusion] Excuse me?
FERENGI
Well, in Ferenginar, this is how we celebrate a hero's funeral. Our marriage ceremonies are solemn, sober. They're moments of reflection, and also of regret, disagreement, argument, mutual blaming. Once you know your marriage can't get any worse, you and your wife can relax and enjoy the rest of the marriage. But to start with something like this... Well, it's a very bad sign for the future.
Saru and Tilly look at each other, then leave the room.
FERENGI
Was it something i said?
VANCE
Maybe it was everything you say.
Vance then leaves the room. Elsewhere, Burnham and Booker walk into an intersection leading into a corridor with honor guards lining the walls. She stops and retreats to the corridor they just went through.
BOOKER
I knew we should've gone to Earth or Ni'Var first.
BURNHAM
Well, i suppose i can't blame them. I mean, the Chain is gone, we found a new source of Dilithium, the Breen are a non-threat, the Federation is reborn... They want to celebrate. I guess they see us and Discovery as a symbol of that.
BOOKER
I think they should be celebrating themselves, not us. Everyone did it. There is something wrong about taking credit for this.
BURNHAM
Oh, i wouldn't worry about it. What matters is that we're here together. In 100 years, their grandchildren probably won't know who we are.
BOOKER
That's true.
As Saru and Tilly approach from behind them, they and the others enter the corridor with the guards. The perpective then shifts to that of a newsfeed.
FNN ANCHOR
And here is the first shot of the couple who brought the Federation back: Admiral Michael Burnham and her husband, Cleveland Booker, live on the Federation News Network. Their return to Federation Headquarters after the decommisisoning of the time-displaced USS Discovery has brought good- -messages from the Council- -worlds in the former Emerald Chain. I- -live coverage--
The feed then disappears with a message saying "TEMPORAL DISRUPTION DETECTED", before an alien-looking interface with English emerges and a computer voice says:
FAR-FUTURE COMPUTER
Temporal archive retrieval interrupted due to hawking radiation firewall. Compensating now. Resetting to snapshot. Would you like to continue?
HUMAN
Yes.
FAR-FUTURE COMPUTER
Reloading file sequence. Keywords: Discovery, Burnham, Starfleet Captain. 4 files available. Please select a file or select "Auto Play" to view all files in chronological order.
HUMAN
Computer, run auto play.
FAR-FUTURE COMPUTER
Loading 4 temporal archives covering the period 3201 to 4201. Please, stand by.
Notes:
TThe intro would be around here.
Chapter 2: Act 1
Chapter Text
FAR-FUTURE COMPUTER
Accessing temporal archive one. Date of record: Reference Stardate 12/0102.15. Please, stand by.
It's a news show. We are shown the intro, with a voiceover:
VOICEOVER
FNN Center Chair: a no-holds-barred look at the events of today that will shape the galaxy of tomorrow. And now, here is your host: Scott Hossenfelder.
We then cut to the newsroom.
FNN HOST
Good evening. By any measure, the last few years have been the most memorable in recent memory. The end of the Emerald Chain, the discovery of usable Dilithium, the stopping of a dark matter anomaly which threatened the galaxy, the struggle with the Breen Confederacy, and the rebirth of the United Federation of Planets. It can be more than a little overwhelming.
He turns towards another camera.
FNN HOST
However, there is a word in the pages of the old testament, used to call for silence between passages. Selah. It means pause and consider. So tonight, starting with a report from special correspondent Steve McCoy, and a word or more from our usual panel of experts, we've set aside a few moments to reflect, discuss, pause, and consider. Selah.
We then cut to Federation HQ, where Steve is.
STEVE
Greatness is a quality that is often sought by those who want it most, but are the least worthy. Correspondingly, greatness is sometimes thrust upon by those who want it least, but are the most deserving. These words would seem to best describe Admiral Michael Burnham, both in the way she served aboard Discovery, and in the position she currently occupies as Deputy Chief of Staff for Starfleet.
Then we cut to photos of Michael as she grew up.
STEVE
The only daughter of a career scientist and a foster sibling of Spock, Michael Burnham was an average but enthusiastic learner, drifting in and out of several hobbies, including a brief but obsessive interest in the works of the Dalai Lama before joining Starfleet in the early to mid 23rd century. She served with distinction during the First Klingon War and the Control AI Crisis. Quite a change from those early, unremarkable years, and the woman who traveled almost a millenium and brought the Federation back form the brink of ruin.
Back to FHQ...
STEVE
But now, an even greater challenge stands before her: Can she and the others hold together this reborn Federation? Back to you, Scott.
Cut back to the newsroom.
FNN HOST
Thank you, Steve. We now turn to our panel of experts for their thoughts.
As he announces them, holograms appear one by one.
FNN HOST
From San Francisco, Councilor Martha Williams. From New Berlin, author and journalist Stewart McCarthy. And from New York, Walter Carlson, former speechwriter and political commentator. Gentlemen, councilor, welcome.
THE PANEL
Thank you, Scott.
FNN HOST
Well i don't know which one of you want to be the first out of the gate--
CARLSON
I'd like to jump in for a second here, Scott.
FNN HOST
Alright.
CARLSON
What amazes me is the way everyone is trying to turn Burnham into some kind of heroine. This is the woman who was jailed for mutiny, she did more bad than good.
MCCARTHY
Starfleet cleared her and her crewmates, Walt. And in this century, they called her the heroine of the hour.
CARLSON
Yes, that's what our President said, and she will have to answer for that in the next election. But that's besides the point. Obviously, there was some sort of deal made, which is how she got away with her hide in one piece. Call me old-fashioned, but that doesn't sound like the best qualification to be the second highest ranking person in Starfleet!
WILLIAMS
Sounds to me like most generals and politicians who made history in the last few hundred years.
CARLSON
Aw, c'mon! Let's look at the facts. The woman isn't qualified to be the Deputy Chief of Staff! She can barely be the captain of the Discovery without shooting at everything in sight!
Everyone talks over him.
MCCARTHY
Oh, that's an exagerration--
CARLSON
She can barely get along with her own crew! And now she's gonna be at the head of a post-burn Starfleet and make it work? No, this whole shebang is doomed from the get-go!
MCCARTHY
You're overreacting!
WILLIAMS
Please let her try to prove if she can do it or not, before you subject her to--
CARLSON
With what's at stake?!
MCCARTHY
I agree with the Councilor. Give Burnham a break! You write her off before she's even started! That's irrational, even for you, Walter!
CARLSON
Oh, hoh, hoh! She disobeys orders and you're calling me irrational?
MCCARTHY
That's, that's, that's not fair!
FNN HOST
Excuse me, are you saying the new Federation will work?
MCCARTHY
I don't know if it will work, i'm just saying Burnham deserves a chance to try and make it work!
WILLIAMS
What i think is missing, and being lost in this whole discussion, is that this is an election year, and Mr. Carlson is a speechwriter for the opposition party. I think that he, and members of his party, believe that Burnham and the Federation is a real threat to their chances in the ballot, so they're doing all that they can to discredit her in advance.
CARLSON
That is completely unfair!
WILLIAMS
It's not unfair, it's true, Walter.
FNN HOST
Gentlemen, sorry to interrupt, but we're coming up on a commercial break. So why don't you give me your calls on the following: Can the new Federation survive until the next decade?
MCCARTHY
Certainly.
FNN HOST
Do you think Burnham will make any difference whatsoever?
MCCARTHY
Mm-hmm.
FNN HOST
And what do you consider to be the number one problem waiting for her?
A cacophony of voices.
FNN HOST
Ah! ah! ah! Mr. McCarthy.
MCCARTHY
From where i'm sitting, they've already made a difference. People have been debating the Burn for years and they found nothing. It took Discovery and Burnham to push them into finding the cause of it, and to heal the wounds!
CARLSON
At gunpoint!
FNN HOST
Councilor?
WILLIAMS
Obviously, there is a degree of uncertainty in any new political situation. This next decade will prove critical for Burnham and the rest of the Federation. Look at what they're up against. She has to ride herd on dozens of prospective new members that want to join this Federation, and probably don't fully understand what's being required of them. There's still sporadic infighting between many of them. On top of that, she has supply problems, recruitment problems, raiding parties, not to mention, distrust from elements of her own government here at home! This woman has her work cut out for her, but i believe she can handle it.
FNN HOST
Mr. Carlson, last words?
CARLSON
Whatever Burnham and the others are saying about the Federation, she's going to have to apply military force to make it work!
The cacophony returns.
CARLSON
Don't interrupt me! I don't interrupt you when you're talking. Now, when this happens, it's all gonna fall apart. She's power-hungry, she's unprepared, and that is a dangerous combination.
MCCARTHY
Dangerous combination, that's what your--
FNN HOST
Thank you, thank you very much. We'll be back in just a moment to discuss the implications of this reborn Federation and recent calls for the formatiuon o- independent po- parties on New Mars--
And we're back to the futuristc UI.
FAR-FUTURE COMPUTER
End of file. Auto play active, three files remaining. Loading next archive. 50 years after temporal archive one. Stand by.
Chapter 3: Act 2
Chapter Text
FAR-FUTURE COMPUTER
Accessing temporal archive two. Date of record: Reference Stardate 12/6107.21. 60 years after previous archive. Please, stand by.
We open with a shot of a building, presumably a university. A narrator opens:
NARRATOR
With another on our series of educational subspace programmes on the 1100th anniversary of the United Federation of Planets.
We then cut to a room the three people seated.
NARRATOR
Taking part in today's debate from Los Angeles, historian Dr. Jim Lamines from Harvard University, political scientist Dr. Maria Harkos from the University of Cambridge, and psychologist Dr. William Connor from UCSD.
DR. LAMINES
Good morning. We seem to have one million students and teachers connected today, with questions, which is a little more than what we expected. So if the portal lags a little, please bear with us.
He keys his control panel.
DR. LAMINES
Alright, first question. From Mr. Anatoly Fyodorov, Moscow State University... "What role do you feel the crew of the USS Discovery played in the restoration of the Federation?"
DR. CONNOR
Well, the crew, none at all, the ship is, or was, just a symbol for people to rally behind.
DR. HARKOS
I agree.
DR. LAMINES
A symbol how?
DR. HARKOS
Well, the first thing we need to do is separate fantasy from reality. The publicity machine of the Federation would have you believe that somehow, many key events in the Federation's history came about because of people like Kirk, or Picard, or Burnham. But large historical events are rarely the work of any one person. The individual at the center can give others permission to act, can inspire others, but the individual really cannot effect change as an act of will. They did not do, they allowed others to do.
DR. LAMINES
By "they", you mean Michael Burnham, Jean-Luc Picard, Kathryn Janeway?
DR. CONNOR
We all have a profound psychological need to believe in heroes, a knight in shining armor. If they don't exist, we create them. The people you just mentioned are classic examples. If you look at their social dynamics, they didn't actually do anything. They were the open vessels which people in their respective times poured their hopes and dreams into, and this sets up sort of a gestalt where events take on a life of their own.
DR. LAMINES
So you think the record of their accomplishments is overrated?
DR. CONNOR
Absolutely. Good PR, as Harkos said. In a lot of ways, they blew it.
DR. HARKOS
It was only the force of history which saved the situation from collapsing under its own weight. After so many people died in a year of these people becoming Captains, and what happened concerning Burnham's son--
DR. LAMINES
I don't want to go off the rails and into discussions of other people, so let's move on to the next question. [keys his panel] "If your assumption is correct, where did Archer, Kirk, Burnham, and the others go wrong?"
DR. HARKOS
Where do you start? I was starting to say so many people died in the first few years of these people becoming captains.
DR. LAMINES
Well, you can't pin the blame for all of that on those people!
DR. CONNOR
Of course you can. Why, here's one example: Jean-Luc Picard had no business creating a fleet of synthetics! These androids, the behavioral matrices were unstable! They were fundamentally flawed, they had to go! Sooner or later, they were bound to turn on their masters, and that's what happened on Mars!
DR. HARKOS
I agree. In fact, this incident, and later accusations of Romulan involvement, may have done much to precipitate the Martian Colonial Remnant Crisis!
DR. LAMINES
You can't cherry-pick one incident and claim that was the cause--
DR. HARKOS
Not the sole cause, no! But it was a contributing factor!
DR. LAMINES
I'd like to turn our attention now to this historical record in the Federation database. It was recorded aboard the USS Enterprise, registry NCC-1701-G. Recorded about one year after the Frontier Day Attacks. I would like to get your comments on it.
Switch to archival footage aboard an unknown Starbase, with Raffi surrounded by unknown people. Things are burning.
RAFFI
Listen to me. It doesn't have to be this way. If you give yourselves up, we can go back, we can talk to the others! ...i can say you're doing it for revenge, what kind of sympathyh are you gonna get by killing innocent people in cold blood? You want payback, this ain't it. I can work with you, i can get you out of this mess, but you've gotta work with me. What do you say? [sigh] Yeah, that's what i thought youwere going to say.
Suddenly, someone appears on the monitor behind her:
SEVEN
This is Seven of Nine. I have consulted with Admiral Picard and we have reached a decision regarding the current situation. It is not the policy of Starfleet or of the Federation to bargain with terrorists for the lives of hostages. We open that door even once, we'll be unable to close it again. You have two choices: Surrender, or we'll have to use lethal force to bring you down. You have 10 minutes. [disconnects]
Someone raises their gun.
RAFFI
Hey, please, i'm sure we can work soemthing out--
Cut back to the real world.
DR. LAMINES
Comments?
DR. CONNOR
Well, i don't know what more needs to be said. These videos speak for themselves. Captains like her were clearly pathological.
DR. LAMINES
Well, i heard that was the opposition's take.
DR. CONNOR
Well, i'm not debating that, but you can see it in her attitude, when she addresses the MCR soldiers. That coldness is emblemic of her personality. She was power-hungry, it's as simple as that, and she never let anything get in her way.
DR. LAMINES
Doctor Harkos?
DR. HARKOS
Truly pathological individuals could never have constructed mythos around themselves like these people did. It's a very sophisticated PR campaign, brilliantly done.
DR. CONNOR
And then there was the way Sisko's death was handled.
DR. HARKOS
Exactly. Everyone knows Captain Sisko died on Bajor after killing Winn and Dukat. The cover story they put out was clearly designed to perpetuate the myth of his status as Bajor's Emissary. And i guess it worked, because a lot of people still believe it, nearly 800 years later.
DR. LAMINES
So, where do the two of you fall on the Discovery question?
DR. CONNOR
Well, eveyone knows humans and others live a long time, but not that long. I think the record is 139 years. 151? Forget it. No, this is just what Doctor Harkos was talking about, this constant perpetuation of fantasy. The idea that Gabrielle Burnham, the first Red Angel, is still around after this long, living in secusion in Terralysium so, of course, no one can see her, very convenient. The Federation is continuing the illusion that she's still alive for their own purposes. Frankly, i don't think she would've approved.
DR. HARKOS
Apparently, they feel like they need to maintain this fiction in order to keep their members in line. But if the Federation and Starfleet are as powerful as they say, they don't need this security blanket of lies and myth.
DR. LAMINES
Looking back, has the Federation been a force for good?
DR. CONNOR
Well, for the most part, yes, although good things can grow in questionable ground. It's clear that the motives of those in the early half of the Federation's history were not as pure as their biographers and allies would say they were.
DR. HARKOS
The force of history is what moves us forward, our common shared destiny. The individual does not move society forward, to give them undue credit is immodest and impertinent. These people were megalomaniacs, and to allow history to feed those megalomaniacs, even posthumously, simply compounds the error. We have an obligation, as academics, to uphold certain standards--
Suddenly an alarm sounds and Dr. Lamines hurriedly checks his control panel.
DR. LAMINES
I'm just hearing we have a security breach in the building. We're going to interrupt the broadcast--
Suddenly, an elderly woman - Michael's mother - appears escorted by two men in red robes bearing the Red Angel's symbol, ringing a pair of bells. Everyone else looks in awe. She stops near the table.
DR. LAMINES
Miss Burnham?
G.BURNHAM
My daughter... and the captains that came before her... were good... kind... decent people.
She then moves to leave, but them:
DR. LAMINES
Miss Burnham, wait. You came all this way, just to say that?
G.BURNHAM
You came... the same way... to say less.
DR. HARKOS
But this is extraordinary. There's so much more we'd like to ask you. So much more we'd like to know!
G.BURNHAM
You do not want to know... anything. You wish... only to speak. That which you know... you ignore... because it's inconvenient. That which you don't know... you invent. But none of that matters... except... that they were... good people. Kind people... who cared... about the galaxy... even when the galaxy... cared nothing for them. My daughter... included.
As she turned to leave again...
DR. CONNOR
Of course, we'd expect you to say that, we...
G.BURNHAM
Goodbye.
As everyone has their heads down, she leaves. And we're back to the futuristc UI.
FAR-FUTURE COMPUTER
End of file. Auto play active, two files remaining. Loading next archive. 460 years after temporal archive one. Stand by.
Chapter 4: Act 3
Chapter Text
FAR-FUTURE COMPUTER
Accessing temporal archive three. Date of record: Reference Stardate 16/6110.23. 400 years after previous archive. Please, stand by.
We are in a weird holodeck. Instead of the yellow grid on a black background we're used to, there is a weird, thick, blue, swirling haze around that appears to be the Discovery retrofit's conference table inside Burnham's ready room. A man, wearing a white and gray gown/labcoat with an SS-like symbol on its breast, walks through the haze and close to the conference table.
DANIEL
Continue holorecording from last time index, session number seven. Year 3190 CE, all sensors set to record mode, initiate programmable matter simulation... now.
The haze then reshapes itself into the rest of the ready room, recreated in incredible detail.
DANIEL
Holoenviroment functioning properly, identical to Discovery data files from 3190 refit. Data transfer successfully completed, despite age of original data files, and abandonment of original vessel, 450 years ago, current location unknown. To recap for EarthPolitik and MiniTrue headquarters... Purpose of simulation, seventh and final in series, is to create retro-correct TeleSpeak in support of changes in Earth policy. It is NewPolicy that the United Federation of Planets is restrictive and against the best interests of humanity. Intent is to rectify historical figures revered by Prole Sectors, thereby legitimising current GovSpeak. Initiating stage two of holosim recreation.
One by one, the Season 3 crew, including Georgiou, materialize around the table.
DANIEL
To determine if psycho-historical research was sufficiently thorough, stage two will begin with the control holocharacters working with the actual psychological makeups of the subjects in question.
As the last holo-crew materialize, Daniel keeps speaking.
DANIEL
The holograms will thus have a personality and behavior consistent with RealStory and RealTruth. Animating characters... now.
The holo-crew start moving, as Daniel paces around the table.
DANIEL
Do you know where you are?
HOLO-BURNHAM
USS Discovery, my ready room.
DANIEL
And do you know what year it is?
HOLO-CULBER
3191.
DANIEL
Very well. The next step is to determine how well the neural networks can be modified. Computer, update dataset for all holo-characters, inserting available data from 3191 to 3661.
HOLODECK COMPUTER
Working.
DANIEL
The system is now updating the holocharacters' knowledge base with the current political situation and the events leading up to it. This will demonstrate holosystem flexibility and capacity to spontaneously react to changes in programming. [keys his padd] Download and update complete.
HOLO-TILLY
Four hundred years. Are we...
DANIEL
Yes. You, the real you, are deceased. For a long time. We have reconstructed your personalities and your bodies for the purposes of a series of holovids, designed to help--
HOLO-BURNHAM
Designed as propaganda to justify your break from the Federation.
DANIEL
Not propaganda. GoodStory and GoodTruth instead of RealStory and RealTruth. A story the government has endorsed.
HOLO-GEORGIOU
I don't get it. Why are you doing this? Why the break with the Federation?
DANIEL
Fifteen hundred years of working with the Federation has weakened the position of the human species in the greater scheme of things. We have lost our uniqueness. We have been deluded by too much by foreign ideals, too much CrimeThink and BadThink.
HOLO-STAMETS
That's a great story.
HOLO-BURNHAM
I agree. I'm sure it's the one that's going in the press. What's the real one? Not the GoodStory, not the GoodTruth, the RealTruth and the RealStory.
DANIEL
The United Earth needs room to expand. Starfleet and the Federation proved to be a... hindrance to our plans to expand.
HOLO-GEORGIOU
I see. Don't you see? [gets up] They recreated us so they could provide false records and portray us to be... what? War criminals? The bad guys? Only out for no interest but our own?
HOLO-SARU
They want to undermine the Federation by attacking its heroes.
HOLO-STAMETS
Looks like it.
HOLO-BURNHAM
Wait a minute... I'm remembering things i never saw.
HOLO-TILLY
It's the data they downloaded into our heads.
HOLO-BURNHAM
There's another force out there. Our government is splintered. The two sides are fighting each other over... land, resources, power. We're on the cusp of a civil war.
HOLO-SARU
Burnham's right. I'm getting it, too. [stands up] That's the reason for the planned invasion, isn't it? You want to take over several colony worlds that have switched over to the enemy side... which is loyal to the Federation.
DANIEL
And your legacy has proven to be... a hindrance to that intention. Therefore, it must be... rectified. Initiating stage three.
The conference room reshapes itself into Discovery's memorial hallway, where a firing squad is organized on one side, and prisoners are lined up on the other.
DANIEL
GoodStory Scenario 1 ready for testing.
HOLO-BURNHAM
If you think this is going to work--
DANIEL
Reprogramming Burnham... you may proceed.
The now-evil, positively Terran Burnham walks over to the firing squad area.
HOLO-BURNHAM
Welcome aboard. I understand you surrendered to our forces in the hopes of finding mercy. The United Federation of Planets is not here to be merciful to the weak! In all of the universe, there are only two kinds: The conquerors... and the conquered. With your blood, and the blood of your childrem, we will blaze a path across the galaxy! What we cannot take by force, we will win... by subversion. And in the end, we will bury you. Your lives are not the first and they will not be the last, If a billion must die to ensure the continuance of our Empire, so be it! You are only... a downpayment. Ready weapons!
The firing squad raises their phaser rifles.
HOLO-BURNHAM
Aim! FIRE!
The sound of phaser fire fills the air
HOLO-SARU
There must be something we can do.
HOLO-GEORGIOU
How? We're dead. We're not even here. Just our memories, our personalities.
HOLO-TILLY
What we are... It's not a matter of flesh, it's a matter of will.
HOLO-CULBER
We know their capabilities, we know what they're doing. Why don't we just--
DANIEL
Computer, reprogram Culber and place all others on stand-by.
The scene then shifts to Discovery's simulated sickbay. Children are strapped to all of the beds.
DANIEL
Begin simulation.
HOLO-CULBER
Chief Medical Officer's Log, stardate 865616.1. We have secured several test subjects for next batch of experiments. We will now continue with the use of mycelium spores, tardigrade DNA and alien organs inside human bodies in an attempt to create a new organism that will suit the needs of the Federation. [not noticing Georgiou was moving] Later today, we will get started with our experiments on human children. The problem with vivisection is that the younger children can only survive the initial removal of organs for a short period of time. We hope that, with the increase usage of stimulants, we can prolong their lifespan while we work.
DANIEL
Very good, very good. Computer, freeze program while i make notes on this for TeleDep.
He doesn't realize that Georgiou, with a mix of her terran and prime personalities, is moving until:
HOLO-GEORGIOU
So... it was Daniel, right? Uh.. Danny, can i call you Danny? Oh, right. Sorry, i forgot. I'm just a hologram and you're going to reprogram me. No point in talking to someone that doesn't really exist, right? You know, i was thinking, once you got your pieces in place, you're going to launch a preemptive strike against the enemy, right? Well, that's what i would do.
DANIEL
Computer, remove Georgiou. Computer!
HOLO-GEORGIOU
Just one moment. Before you do that, i have some useful information for you. See, the thing is, i was responsible for much of the Terran Empire's strategic thinking and planning. Now, a resource like that, you might not want to wipe it out just yet. I could help you out. Give you some tips to pass along to the big boys, and maybe get you a promotion.
DANIEL
Go on.
HOLO-GEORGIOU
Now, before i can help you, i just need to ask a few small questions. Now, i know you're a RealTruth kind of man. You know what they're up to out there, dont you? C'mon, you can tell me. Am i right?
Daniel nods.
HOLO-GEORGIOU
Ah, you boys are planning a first strike against the enemy, aren't they? That's why you're rushing like this, you're under the gun.
DANIEL
We will attack the off-world colonies, and the enemy areas here on Earth at the same time. Our strike fleet will be departing within the hour. Priority will be Alcor IV.
HOLO-GEORGIOU
Good, good. That's very smart. Now, are you targeting military bases alone, or are civilian population centers included?
DANIEL
Civilian population centers are inlcuded. We... my superiors feel it will demoralize the enemy. Force a surrender.
HOLO-GEORGIOU
Estimated dead and injured?
DANIEL
100 to 500 million casualties. Can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs!
HOLO-GEORGIOU
Absolutely.
DANIEL
Now, what... suggestions do you have?
HOLO-GEORGIOU
Well, i suggest... that you put your head between your legs and kiss your ass goodbye.
DANIEL
Thank you. Uhh... computer!
HOLO-GEORGIOU
The funny thing about being a holodeck character is that you don't really exist, except in patterns of light, shadow, information... and i happen to have a knack for breaking system codes. So while you were downloading the new world order into my holo-brain, i got to watch your system work its magic. Now i know where the data comes in, and i know where the data goes out. And i managed to send out our entire conversation, livestreamed the whole damn thing. So, as of right now, the enemy knows what you have in mind, Danny. Now, from your database, they are more willing to follow the Geneva Conventions than you are, so their only targets will likely be military bases and research facilities. Hell, their warheads are probably halfway here right now.
DANIEL
You're lying.
Then the alarms start blaring.
HOLODECK COMPUTER
Attack Warning. Attack Warning. Antimatter warheads inbound. All personnel, proceed to facility blast shelters immediately. This is not a drill.
HOLO-GEORGIOU
Holograms don't lie, Danny boy.
DANIEL
Computer, freeze program. Computer, end program! Exit!
HOLODECK COMPUTER
Attack Warning. Attack Warning. Antimatter warheads inbound. All personnel, proceed to facility blast shelters immediately. This is not a drill.
HOLO-GEORGIOU
Whoops! Looks like the computer is busy. Now, this holodeck we're in, this isn't by any chance, located in a military base, is it?
DANIEL
NOOO!!!
HOLODECK COMPUTER
Attack Warning. Attack Warning. Antimatter warheads inbound. All personnel, proceed to facility blast shelters immediately. This is not a drill.
After Daniel runs out through the wall, Georgiou turns to the rest of the Discovery crew.
HOLO-GEORGIOU
Rest easy, my friends. Rest easy.
Then we hear the sounds of an incoming rocket, then the roar of an explosion, at which point the screen turns white. And we're back to the futuristic UI.
FAR-FUTURE COMPUTER
End of file. Auto play active, one file remaining. Loading next archive. 1000 years after temporal archive one. Stand by.
Chapter 5: Act4
Chapter Text
FAR-FUTURE COMPUTER
Accessing temporal archive four. Date of record: Reference Stardate 22/0110.15. 640 years after previous archive. Please, stand by.
We see the aftermath of the war. A black man, who you might recognize as Craft, is adjusting a camera while wearing a monk's robes inside what looks like a pre-industrial abbey with no electricity, think Terralysium/New Eden before Discovery showed up.
CRAFT
Good thing these babies still work. That's what i get for finding the Discovery. Well, i better get on with my report. Start follow/track systems!
Then there's a knock on the door. Craft rushes to hide somehting, and after another knock:
CRAFT
YES?!?! Uhh.. yes? Just a moment.
He then opens the door, and a white man, same stature, comes in with a book.
CRAFT
There. Brother Gabriel, it's rather late.
GABRIEL
Yes, yes. I know, i know, but, uh... I really have to talk to you, Brother Arnold.
CRAFT
So it would seem.
GABRIEL
I, i, i'm having a... a crisis of faith.
CRAFT
Not again.
GABRIEL
What?
CRAFT
Nothing, nothing. And, uh, what is afflicting your consciousness today, Brother Gabriel?
GABRIEL
I just don't know what my role is, or... what i am doing here.
CRAFT
You're doing God's work, Brother Gabriel, fulfilling his plan.
GABRIEL
Yes, but to what end?
CRAFT
Well, the ways of the Lord are mysterious, and do not bend to your or to my desire for answers that must be given by the end of the day! "Where was thou when i forth called Leviathan?"
GABRIEL
Yes, i've read Job, Brother Arnold, and it is really not helping.
CRAFT
Alright, Brother Gabriel. What has precipitated this particular crisis of faith?
GABRIEL
Well, i've heard that our requests for canonization have been rejected again by Rome.
CRAFT
Yes, i see. A better rationale for the vow of silence i hever heard.
GABRIEL
Brother, is it true?
CRAFT
The ways of the Holy See are like unto God. They are mysterious... and sometimes they transcend understanding. They confess an inability to see the wisdom of our mission! To keep alive the knowledge and stories of the Long Ago, the first eight ages, which would've been lost in the Great War, 450 years ago! Hmm, science and technology, it's not really the Pope's calling. But it is ours.
GABRIEL
But, i mean... well, how? How do we know it's our calling? How exactly can we be sure?
CRAFT
Oh, Brother Gabriel!
GABRIEL
I- i- i- i'm not saying anything Rome hasn't already asked. And you know it. Most of the records were destroyed in the Great War, so we only have word of mouth to go off of!
CRAFT
The holy books written in the Ninth Age, after the Great War... [sigh] "And so it came to pass, that on the 1500th year of the V'Draysh, at the end of the Eighth Age, the Unity of Earth did war upon itself, with rockets and terrible weapons, and their cities burned, and the skies burned, and the lands burned, and the oceans burned to the ground!" You only need to look outside to prove that part. Why is the rest suspect?
GABRIEL
It's all too... clean, it's all too... well thought-out to be real. [picks up the book and brings it to Craft] Here, here. Blessed Archer, the Founder from the Third Age, and Blessed Burnham, the Interloper from the Fourth and Eighth.
CRAFT
"And in the dawn of the Eighth Age, helped by an Interloper, the V'Draysh rose like a phoenix from the ashes of the Great Burn."
GABRIEL
[as it turns to an illumination of Burnham] A fable, specifically created to match scripture. That's what the others are saying. And there is not one shred of evidence of them even existing.
CRAFT
There is evidence, up there, in the stars.
GABRIEL
But the stars are closed to us now! Just look at us, Brother Arnold. Look at what Earth has become. Our cities pale in comparison to those of the Long Ago. The great knowledge and secrets of our forefathers are almost gone.
CRAFT
Keyword, almost! That's why we're here! To find the ancient teachings and preserve them! I- We've already found and restored so many books!
GABRIEL
Yes, but we are not one inch closer to, to those space-flight machines the books speak of. Or to the stars. And- and if the truth really does lie in the stars, then how will we ever know the truth? Look at the others. Blessed Sisko, the prophet from the Sixth Age who found the stairway to Heaven, led a great many battles, defeated the demons of Bajor and was carried bodily into Heaven. Sulu the Great in the Fourth and Fifth Ages, Spock the Wise from the Fourth to Sixth ages, Worf the Strong from the Sixth Age, Blessed Picard from the Sixth Age, who was reborn in a body of steel, i- They could all be fables, for all we know. You know the worst of it?
CRAFT
What is it?
He flips the book over to a half-finished illumination of the Red Angel, with the incomplete caption "Rubrum Angelum au nomen est".
GABRIEL
You know the prophecies. The prophecies of the Third Red Angel... It said that the V'Draysh would come again, back to the Earth, in our greatest hour of need... and rebuild, what was once the cradle of the V'Draysh. But we have waited so, so long, brother Arnold. And they have never come. And, if that's a myth, then... everything else could be a myth. And all of my life... could be just a lie.
CRAFT
And if the V'Draysh do not come today, but they come tomorrow? Is your life a lie, then? I cannot help you, Brother Gabriel. That's what faith is for. Faith sustains us... in the hour that reason tells us we cannot continue... that the whole of our lives is without meaning.
GABRIEL
Then why were we born being able to reason if reason's useless?
CRAFT
Not useless! But it's also not enough. Faith and reason are the shoes on your feet. You can travel further with both than with just one. If you must have reason for an answer, consider this: If today, the V'Draysh came back to Earth from their place in the stars, you would not know about it. They would come in secret, and move around us, and help us, and we wouldn't even know they were here, because, the secrets that they bring are feared by the people, who still blame science for the Great War.
GABRIEL
And you think the V'Draysh... are here today?
CRAFT
No. But i believe they could be. And that's all that faith requires, that we surrender ourselves to the possibility of hope. And with that, i'm content. And i believe you will be as well. [pause] It's beautiful work. [closes the book and hands it back] Too lovely and significant for you to stop half-way! Finish your illumination, Brother Gabriel! You've gone this far, it's too late for you to lose your faith, or for me to lose my faith in you!
GABRIEL
If the, uh, truth really is in the stars, brother Arnold, i just once, once before i die, i really wish i could visit one of those stars.
CRAFT
If there is a way, Brother Gabriel, i pray that your wish comes true. [sees Gabriel off and closes the door] Oh dear. [moves towards one of the cameras] Your battery is almost down to nothing! I'm going to leave you in the sun tomorrow to recharge! [moves toward another camera; the one we are viewing from] Arnold Hedges, codenmane Craft, reporting in. Nothing major to report since my last update. Uhh... we believe we have gathered enough information from the Long Ago to create a working internal combustion engine. Obviously, there is no fuel around here, therefore, we ask the supply division if they could... arrange to have a sufficient supply of gasoline "found" in the vicinity of the abbey within the next few days. Only this time, for God's sake, please make it look like an old container. The last one could've been produced a hundred years ago! [he moves to a closet, and takes out his uniform] We will rebuild the Earth, even if it takes us a thousand years. But this time, we will build back better! [he puts it back and closes the closet] I'm attaching a conversation i just had with Brother Gabriel Maldonado, who i still think will make a worthy recruit, once he's grown a little. Give it a few years, and he'll be fine! Craft, Starfleet Command, Sector 001, end of report. From the stars, science.
And we go back one final time.
FAR-FUTURE COMPUTER
End of file. No further archives remaining.
HUMAN
Stand by.
Chapter 6: Epilogue
Chapter Text
FAR-FUTURE COMPUTER
Successfully finished processing and archiving all available temporal records for 5.5 billion years of the common era and 10000 prior. Awaiting instructions.
We are in a large room condaining a human, a pedestal with a console in front of it, and the large screen we've been staring at. The human is standing at the pedestal.
HUMAN
Our job has finished. Transmit archives to Federation Central. Terra Nova, Iconian system.
FAR-FUTURE COMPUTER
Confirmed.
HUMAN
Use enhanced subspace modulation to ensure arrival in time for the celebrations.
FAR-FUTURE COMPUTER
Confirmed. Alert: Solar emissions increasing in intensity. Sol is estimated to enter red giant phase within the next five hours. Recommend immediate evacuation.
HUMAN
Tell the others not to worry. I wouldn't miss this for anything. Now go on.
The computer turns into a ball of energy, and flies away.
HUMAN
So this is how the world ends. Swallowed in fire, but not in darkness. You will live on, the voice of all our ancestors, our mothers and fathers down to the final generation. We created the world you think you would've wished for us, and now we leave the cradle for the last time.
He leaves the pedestal and walks towards the door, morphing into a pure energy form similar to STO's Iconians. In orbit, a ship bearing the Starfleet Delta goes into a Gateway just as the sun explodes.
...
A few billion years prior, Burnham and Booker are in bed together.
BOOKER
You should sleep. We have business early tomorrow.
BURNHAM
Yeah i know. I was just thinking about it all. Everything we've accomplished... and what i said earlier. Andd i was wondering... if they will remember us a hundred years from now, or a thousand. Then i figured, probably not.
BOOKER
But it doesn't matter. We did what we did because it was right, not because we wanted to be remembered.
BURNHAM
Yeah. Let history tend to itself. It always does.
Then they kiss, and get intimate. The End.
JlbVMLS on Chapter 6 Mon 22 Sep 2025 11:17PM UTC
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