Time Loop

"FUCK THAT HURT!" Enterprise cried as her nacelle was struck. She leaned sharply to starboard, pivoting 180 degrees. Her starboard nacelle flickered orange, the blue color fading away. The starship's heart tried to compensate for the loss of the critical artery. "Can't-can't hold!" She gasped. "Core breach is imminent." "Abandon ship!" Picard cried. "All hands abandon..." "JEAN LUC, I LOVE YOU!" Enterprise cried and then she was gone, the explosion of her core scattering her debris across space.

3 DAYS EARLIER

Enterprise was patrolling in the Typhon Expanse. She was the first starship to chart this unexplored region of space and she was excited. It was her first actual explorer mission in months! No diplomats, no conferences just the good old expanse of space with nothing to bother her. She was currently engaged with her crew in a poker game. They were playing on the holodeck so Enterprise's blonde haired program could play alongside them. "I bet 20." Dr. Crusher said. "Your 20, plus 50 more." Enterprise replied. "50?!" Worf cried incredulously. Enterprise smirked and the Klingon grumbled as he put his pieces in. "I'm in." Dr. Crusher said. "I will also join the bet." Data said as he dealt the next set of cards. "7, a possible strait for Enterprise and a flush Commander Riker. 2 still no help for the Klingon. 8, 9 for the dealer." "20." Dr. Crusher said. "Too rich for my blood." Data said as he folded. Enterprise once again was feeling lucky. "You're 20 and a hundred more." She said to Dr. Crusher. Worf looked at his cards. "Fold." He said. "200." Dr. Crusher said smiling. "300 more." Enterprise said. Riker stood back and watched this exchange, folding at this one. It was too rich for him. "She does not have a strait." Worf snorted. "Well we'll soon find out won't we?" Dr. Crusher said and Enterprise gulped at her look. "Your cards." She said. The starship sighed. "Taken." She said and Dr. Crusher laughed. Enterprise could feel her bank account shrinking already. "How'd you know I was bluffing?" She asked. "Just a feeling." Dr. Crusher replied. "Well better to be lucky than good." The starship hologram snorted. "You left hand twitches when you bluff." Dr. Crusher said. "Just kidding." Enterprise rolled her eyes.

Later, she was reversing modifications made to her deflector dish by Stellercartography when ahead of her appeared a highly localized temporal anomaly. "Why do I always get the temporal shit?!" She groaned to herself. "No, do not go near it. Do not even launch a probe into it." She tried to convince herself not to go exploring. Just go explore somewhere else but the temptation was too much for her to resist. "Sometimes I hate being me." She moaned, giving in and approaching. There was something emerging from the blue colored cloud, another starship. She was disorientated and did not appear to notice the other starship she was sailing straight for. Enterprise tried to move out of her way but found she couldn't move. "I AM REALLY BEGINNING TO HATE THESE TEMPORAL DISTORTIONS!" She cried. The other ship noticed her then but it was too late. Her nacelles struck Enterprise's starboard one. "FUCK THAT HURT!" The Galaxy-class cried as her nacelle was struck. She leaned sharply to starboard, pivoting 180 degrees as she vented drive plasma. Her starboard nacelle flickered orange, the blue color fading away. The starship's heart tried to compensate for the loss of the critical artery. "Can't-can't hold!" She gasped. "Core breach is imminent." "Abandon ship!" Picard cried. "All hands abandon..." "JEAN LUC, I LOVE YOU!" Enterprise cried and then she was gone, the explosion of her core scattering her debris across space.

3 DAYS EARLIER

Enterprise was patrolling in the Typhon Expanse. She was the first starship to chart this unexplored region of space and she was excited. It was her first actual explorer mission in months! No diplomats, no conferences just the good old expanse of space with nothing to bother her. She was currently engaged with her crew in a poker game. They were playing on the holodeck so Enterprise's blonde haired program could play alongside them. "8, Ace, 10, 4." Data said as he dealt them. Enterprise took each card she was given, eyeing each with careful consideration. Dr. Crusher however seemed to be focused on something else. "Is there something wrong doctor?" Worf asked. "No, I bet 10." She said but Enterprise wasn't convinced and watched Dr. Crusher carefully. The game continued. "10, dues, jack, 6." Data said. "20." Dr. Crusher said. "20 and raise it 50." Enterprise said then frowned at Dr. Crusher's look. "You're going to call my bluff aren't you?" She asked. Had she really been that obvious about it. "How did you know I was gonna call your bluff?" Dr. Crusher asked. "I just had a feeling." Enterprise replied. "So did I." Both woman were pondering this when the comms went off. "Dr. Crusher. La Forge needs you in sickbay." Dr. Crusher frowned and headed out.

As she heard the voices again, Dr. Crusher didn't try and go back to sleep again she went straight to Picard. He of course tried to play mother to the good doctor but Enterprise beat him to it. A cup of warm milk appeared out of the replicator. "Excelsior always made sure I had this whenever I had insomnia. I've tried to perfect it." She said. Dr. Crusher took a sip. "Mmm, nutmeg." She said and Enterprise grinned. "Knew you'd like it. Now, care to tell me, us what this is all about?" She asked. "I'd like to know the same thing." Picard agreed. "It was eerie." Dr. Crusher began. "When I touched the glass I felt the sensation all the more clearly. It felt like I'd done it all before." "Deja vu?" Enterprise asked. "That's interesting. When I was reading this book, I had the distinct feeling that I had read certain paragraphs before." Picard said, holding up a brown hardcover. "But I assumed that I'd read the book years ago and forgotten." "I've had this feeling for hours. And then the voices." "Perhaps this is nothing more than a sleepless night but I want to be sure. Have Geordie and Data run a shipwide diagnostic." Picard said.

"There's nothing wrong with the audio systems." Data reported. "10 people reported hearing voices at the same time I did." Dr. Crusher said. Enterprise frowned. This was getting stranger and stranger. She too was beginning to sense a deja vu feeling. The last sector she probed she already knew the results before they came in, as though she'd done it before. And the farther she traveled into the Expanse, the more intense the feeling got. Then she noticed something. "Captain, I'm getting unusual readings off my starboard bow." It was a highly localized temporal anomaly. "Why do I always get the temporal shit?!" She groaned to herself. "No, do not go near it. Do not even launch a probe into it." She tried to convince herself not to go exploring. Just go explore somewhere else but the temptation was too much for her to resist. "Sometimes I hate being me." She moaned, giving in and approaching. There was something emerging from the blue colored cloud, another starship. She was disorientated and did not appear to notice the other starship she was sailing straight for. Enterprise wide eyed as she stared at the other starship coming for her, tried to move out of her way but found she couldn't move. "I AM REALLY BEGINNING TO HATE THESE TEMPORAL DISTORTIONS!" She cried. The other ship noticed her then but it was too late. Her nacelles struck Enterprise's starboard one. "FUCK THAT HURT!" The Galaxy-class cried as her nacelle was struck. She leaned sharply to starboard, pivoting 180 degrees as she vented drive plasma. Her starboard nacelle flickered orange, the blue color fading away. The starship's heart tried to compensate for the loss of the critical artery. "Can't-can't hold!" She gasped. "Core breach is imminent." "Abandon ship!" Picard cried. "All hands abandon..." "JEAN LUC, I LOVE YOU!" Enterprise cried and then she was gone, the explosion of her core scattering her debris across space.

3 DAYS EARLIER

Enterprise was patrolling in the Typhon Expanse. She was the first starship to chart this unexplored region of space and she was excited. It was her first actual explorer mission in months! No diplomats, no conferences just the good old expanse of space with nothing to bother her. She was currently engaged with her crew in a poker game. They were playing on the holodeck so Enterprise's blonde haired program could play alongside them. Suddenly she paused. "Something wrong Enterprise?" Dr. Crusher asked. "I feel like I've done this before." She said. "Yeah last Tuesday night." Riker snorted. "No, I mean..." "I've been feeling that too." Dr. Crusher said. "Keep dealing Data." "8, ace..." "A queen, you're gonna give me a queen." Enterprise said. "And you're gonna get a four." She added to Riker. Sure enough she was right. Enterprise shook her head. "Odd." She said.

It was a bit on the early side but Enterprise somehow knew this meeting couldn't wait. "This is gonna sound pretty wild. Somehow we've entered into a temporal loop. We've been stuck in the same aspect of time and have been repeating it." Geordie said. "So this explains the deja vu." Troi asked. "Not exactly. Deja vu is where you think you've experienced an event before. We actually are." Enterprise said. "Our theory is this: each time the loop repeats it resets so each time we go through it we think its the first time." Geordie said. "What would've caused the loop to form?" Enterprise asked. "I have a hypothesis." Data said. "I have studied Dr. Crusher's recording of the voices. Most seem to be ordinary. 250 discussions of ship operations. 150 discussions of a personal nature..." "Your point mister data." Enterprise sighed. "There seems to be evidence of some sort of disaster." Data replied. "One severe enough to have Picard order all hands to abandon ship. I've managed to isolate three segments from the recording." He hit the playback button on the tricorder. "A distortion ahead captain." Commander Riker's voice. "Attempting to compensate." Data's voice. "All hands abandon ship! All hands abandon..." Picard's voice cut off abruptly in a massive explosion. Enterprise was silent as she contemplated this. "If I was close enough to a temporal distortion that might explain why we are stuck in this loop." She said. "But the only kind of explosion that could trigger that would be..." She broke off as it hit her. A starships' worst fear in space, the kind of death that would make a New Year's Day fireworks show look like an insignificant candle. A warp core breach. Basically the starship's volatile heart exploded and she took her crew with her. Picard gave the nearest bulkhead a pat. "We'll do everything we can to break free of this Enterprise, I promise. " He murmured. "I might have an idea that could help you with that captain." She replied.

Enterprise noticed something off her starboard bow. "Captain, I'm getting unusual readings off my starboard bow." It was a highly localized temporal anomaly. "Why do I always get the temporal shit?!" She groaned to herself. "No, do not go near it. Do not even launch a probe into it." She tried to convince herself not to go exploring. Just go explore somewhere else but the temptation was too much for her to resist. "Sometimes I hate being me." She moaned, giving in and approaching. There was something emerging from the blue colored cloud, another starship. She was disorientated and did not appear to notice the other starship she was sailing straight for. Enterprise wide eyed as she stared at the other starship coming for her, tried to move out of her way but found she couldn't move. "I AM REALLY BEGINNING TO HATE THESE TEMPORAL DISTORTIONS!" She cried. The other ship noticed her then but it was too late. Her nacelles struck Enterprise's starboard one. "FUCK THAT HURT!" The Galaxy-class cried as her nacelle was struck. She leaned sharply to starboard, pivoting 180 degrees as she vented drive plasma. Her starboard nacelle flickered orange, the blue color fading away. The starship's heart tried to compensate for the loss of the critical artery but Enterprise knew it wouldn't succeed. "So this is how it happens." She thought. "Can't-can't hold!" She gasped. "Core breach is imminent." "Abandon ship!" Picard cried. "All hands abandon..." "JEAN LUC, I LOVE YOU!" Enterprise cried and then she was gone, the explosion of her core scattering her debris across space.

3 DAYS EARLIER

The number three kept on appearing. It didn't make any sense to Enterprise. First it was in the poker game where she was sure that next card was going to be a four. Then there was the three plants in Dr. Crusher's room. The way people walked down the hallway in rows of three. Everything seemed to revolve around three. Something wasn't right. Among the sense of deja vu that Enterprise was feeling, the constant appearance of one number didn't sit well with the starship. She was a frontier explorer and had seen enough of deep space to know that when such repetition like that occurs, it usually means someone or something is trying to get a message through. And Enterprise felt the growing need to decipher that message. She sensed her life and all those aboard her depended on it.

The distortion was unexpected as it appeared off her starboard bow but Enterprise liked the unexpected. The Galaxy-class approached in time to see another starship emerge from it. She appeared disorientated and could not have seen Enterprise in front of her. Enterprise tried to move out of her way but found she was locked in place. Time could be a powerful weapon and right now that weapon was keeping Enterprise from doing the one thing that would save her life. "TEMPORAL DISTORTIONS ARE A BITCH!" She roared and it was then the little starship noticed her. But was too late, the two ships were going to collide. She heard Picard desperately try to find a solution to their situation. Riker suggested decompressing the shuttle bay while Data suggested using the tractor beam. Picard went with Data's suggestion and that's when Enterprise understood. "Decompressing the shuttle bay." She growled as she took control herself. The number 3 represented the number of pins on Riker's collar. Riker for Riker's suggestion, the shuttle bay. The other starship rode on the gust of air, missing her starboard nacelle by inches. Enterprise found she could move again and the distortion disappeared. The time loop had broken.

The other starship panted, circling around to face Enterprise as the larger Galaxy-class also turned about. "What, the hell were you thinking?!" She growled. "Don't you know to watch where you're going." "I-I'm sorry." The other starship, an old Soyuz-class was in near tears. "I-I only remember fighting a Klingon warbird and then this cloud appeared. I don't remember anything else. It disorientated me." She whimpered. "A Klingon in the Typhon Expanse?!" Enterprise cried. "Yes, I was ordered here to protect this sector from the Klingons who have been gearing up to attack it..." She broke off, gazing up at her larger companion and in awe of the shear size of her. "Where has Command been hiding you. If there are more ships of your class coming to the front the Klingons have no chance!" Enterprise frowned. "There is no war." She said. "We've been at peace with the Klingons for over 50 years." "But that's impossible! I saw them, I fought them only a few minutes AGO!" The Soyuz wailed. "What do you think the current year is?" Enterprise asked. Her smaller companion was all too aware of the implications of that question. She also knew her answer would be wrong but she nonetheless answered it. "It's Earth year 2278." She replied. "Um, by how much am I off?" She asked. Enterprise sighed. "If you get a reading from a Federation time beacon you will find that the current year is 2367." She replied. The little starship was stunned and double checked just to be sure. Sure enough, Enterprise was right. "How, wha..." She stammered. "It's alright Bozeman." Enterprise murmured soothingly. "The time you've entered into may be far different but it is certainly better than the one you came from. At least I like to think so." "You know my name so why don't you tell me yours." Bozeman's green eyes narrowed. Enterprise laughed. "And skip all the fun?" She asked. "Nah, I'll let you figure it out on your own." "Spoilsport!" Bozeman grumbled, falling in beside her as Enterprise lead the way out of the Expanse. "Excelsior's gonna give me one hell of a scolding. I was in that loop for 17 days with no contact." Enterprise grumbled. "Excelsior? That old bucket of bolts is still CMO?" Bozeman asked.

"That bucket of bolts can make your next checkup a living hell!" said a voice behind her. Bozeman yelped as Excelsior dropped out of warp, Hood, Ambassador, and Challenger right behind her. Challenger broke rank and embraced her sister. Enterprise grunted in surprise but quickly returned the affection, for the first time lowering her head so her name and registry became somewhat visible. Bozeman couldn't read past the first E though. "If this is the kind of greeting I'm gonna get then maybe I should disappear more often." Enterprise grinned. Excelsior was not amused. "17 days! 17 days Enterprise! What the fuck were you thinking?!" Enterprise shifted her grip on Challenger so she could face the CMO. "I uh, got caught in a time loop." Her excuse did not protect her from the swat she received as Excelsior delivered a strike across her back. "Ouch!" It hurt more than usual and Excelsior too was stunned, eyeing something on Enterprise's starboard nacelle. The Galaxy-class was prepared to separate to look. "No En, it's not serious. Just- wow." Excelsior breathed. "That's a nasty scar." Bozeman spoke up for the first time. She had her head lowered and didn't dare raise it. "That's what I meant by ruining the fun." Enterprise sighed. "You do that shit. I don't want that Bozeman, I'm just an explorer like anybody else. Don't change your attitude on my account." Bozeman raised her head more out of surprise than anything else. She met Enterprise's gentle blue gaze and noticed something she hadn't seen before. "You're blind in one eye." She said. Enterprise chuckled, impressed by her boldness. "An unfortunate incident. You'll be briefed on such matters once we reach a starbase." She replied. "Don't think you're getting out of this one so easily Enterprise. I still have your next checkup." Excelsior said as she sailed passed. Enterprise suppressed a shudder. She had no doubts Excelsior would exact her revenge when the flagship went in for her routine examinations.

Challenger leaned into her. "I was worried sick about you." She murmured. Enterprise licked the top of her head. "I'm sorry." She murmured. "With an Enterprise as a sister I should start to accept the possibility that you won't come back from a patrol." Challenger grumbled. "That possibility exists for all of us Challie, not just me." Enterprise said. "You're the bigger target." Challenger said, nacelle brushing a long scar on Enterprise's flank. It was an old scar from some distant battle. Enterprise could no longer recall which one or if it was even from this life. "As flagship I bear that responsibility and I would gladly bear yours as well." "We bear it together En. We're all explorers, we share the same tasks, the same missions, the same risks." Challenger said. "But it's my job to protect you. You're my fleet!" Enterprise cried. "Even flagships need someone to care for them once in a while." Challenger looked to Bozeman for support and the Soyuz-class' bold attitude returned. "Let us help you for once En. Ancients know no ship is more deserving a rest." "I can't rest until my mission is complete." Enterprise sighed. "But for now at least, I will try to relax." "That's all I ask." Challenger murmured, licking the top of Enterprise's head. The flagship purred, pressing against her sister as she rolled on her side. "There she is." Challenger said happily. "My little Sparrow." Enterprise blushed. "Sparrow?" Bozeman asked. "I was launched as Enterprise." Enterprise explained. "But built as USS Sparrow. I picked up the name later." Bozeman nodded. Her time's Enterprise had a similar thing happen to her. "Not one word." Enterprise hissed. "U-understood ma'am." Bozeman gulped. A name like that was personal and Bozeman knew better than to share it. She would respect Enterprise's privacy. Challenger groomed Enterprise as the flagship relaxed. She looked so comfy that Bozeman wished she had a berth of her own to stay in. "You're welcome to rest beside me." Enterprise murmured. Bozeman shook her head and backed off. Eyeing herself the little starship shuddered in disgust. Place her dirty hull up against the pristine underside of her flagship?! Enterprise cracked open an eye. "This old hull has seen far dirtier things than your crusty exterior, kid." She said. "I may look pristine but trust me, my underside is far from clean." Bozeman blushed as she caught the double meaning of the comment. "E-Enterprise!" She gasped. Enterprise A had often teased Bozeman with such jokes. She loved seeing the little starship blush. Apparently Enterprise D had the same thing going for her. No surprise, they were the same ship after all. Just different bodies. Still blushing madly, the Soyuz-class snuggled herself up against Enterprise's flank. The flagship purred, her tongue rasping over the top of her hull. Bozeman sighed and stretched out as she was cleaned. Challenger helped and soon the three clean starships were sprawled out next to each other in the berth.

Excelsior sailed passed as they were asleep and cooed at the cute sight. Enterprise looked adorable curled around Bozeman, her nacelles twitching in her sleep. Challenger's head rested across her back as the flagship snored quietly. The CMO allowed herself a smile as she decided not to make Enterprise's next checkup torture. Of course though she didn't need to tell the flagship that. Besides she liked making Enterprise squirm once in a while. It was good for her reflexes.