From his own perspective, Captain McCallister had travelled just over six months into his past. His tricorder told him straight away what stardate it was and his heart skipped a beat. He knew it too well.

Omega. 

The current mission that the Odyssey was on in this time frame was the one he had regretted undertaking. Though he never had a choice. Standing on deck eight, he knew that this was it. He knew that this was the point where he would successfully saved the Gradin Belt from being succumbed to the devastation brought on by numerous Omega molecules while on the other hand he would lose the finest first officer he had the opportunity to have. 

“Sir, you okay?” Jen asked as he finished the last of the modifications to the systems he had just worked on. 

Looking down at the Trill operations officer, he just nodded. “Is that the last one?” He asked. 

“Besides those quarters,” Jen said pointing to the door. “Then we’re done here and there’s only one more time frame to deal with.”

“Give me the gear and get yourself through the time barrier back to the temporal observatory.” McCallister ordered after he stared at the door they were near.

“But sir, I thought we said for this last one we’d get it done together?” Jen asked as he stood up. 

“Let me have this one, Lukiz.” McCallister ordered. “I won’t be too long.”

Noticing who’s quarters they were, Jen just nodded and handed the gear over. “Okay sir, but if you’re not back in ten minutes, then I’m coming back.”

“Agreed.” McCallister said as he watched Jen walk through the nearby barrier and disappear from sight. Turning to the door, he placed the override clearance in and the doors parted. Stepping in he allowed the doors to close behind him. As they did they revealed the name of the occupier.

CMDR CAMBIL BEXA & FAMILY

Looking around the room, McCallister turned on the lights and made his way across towards the final panel. Entering his former first officer’s quarters and making the adjustments needed, McCallister found the whole experience extremely weird. In his own time frame, these quarters had been vacated for some time and only recently had his current first officer and chief of boat requested to move into them with their new family. Before the surge had hit, McCallister had planned to grant the request. Gazing around the main living room, memories of being here with his own family as well as the Cambils came flooding in. All of them were good memories. Be it various dinners or even playing a range of games. The time spent here was cherished. It was here where he and Bexa had become close colleagues and eventually close friends. As he injected the serum into the final bio-neural gel pack, McCallister started to wonder if he should have shared with Cambil the whole secret of the Omega Directive. Then he shook his head. He reminded himself that he had no choice. Omega was deadly and the knowledge of its existence was a threat to the whole galaxy. He had no choice. 

Finishing off his work, he placed the cover over the open panel he had worked on and checked his tricorder. Their plan was almost complete. The doors to the quarters then opened and he immediately regretted looking up and over his shoulder to see who was standing there in the doorway.

Bexa. 

Gulping he placed his scanner away as she stared at him. Tears had streamed down her face and instantly he recognised her look. This was the point in time when she had resigned, they had shared some insults with one another (not one of his proudest moments and something he had never shared with anyone, including his wife) and she had stormed out of his ready room to use the private turbolift away from everyone else’s sight. 

“James, what the hell are you doing here?” She demanded after pushing back a tear with the back of her index finger.

Coming clean instantly, he knew what he had to say. “It’s not what you think this is.” He then tapped his camouflage emitter and instantly his appearance changed to show the new uniform that Starfleet had introduced for the start of the twenty fifth century. 

Surprised at the revelation, Cambil walked two more steps to allow the door behind her to close. “Holographic trickery, really James?” She said after taking in a breath or two. “What did you do? Rig a site-to-site transporter and beam down to throw more insults at me?”

“No, that’s not what’s happening here.” McCallister said instantly as he shook his head and stepped forward to close the gap between her. “Bexa, you need to understand, I’m not your James McCallister.”

    “Then tell me why the hell I shouldn’t call security down here?” Cambil countered back with. “Who are you then if you’re not my McCallister?”

“I am,” McCallister replied, “but from your perspective I’m a future version.”

“Future?” She repeated. “Are you some sort of time traveller now? Is that what that whole mission was about? Is that why you can’t tell me? Is it because of the temporal prime directive?” She stormed further and across to her drinks cabinet and proceeded to pour herself a strong glass of Alderbaran whiskey into a glass. She took hold of it and turned her back to him. “You know what James, in the time I have known you, I have never heard such utter rubbish come out of your mouth.” She took a swig from the glass before pointing her finger at him, the same one that held her glass. “You have some nerve what you have put me under.”

“I know, I know but I need you to understand that the mission you think I was on had nothing to do with the temporal prime directive but as past me has told you, it has to do with another classified directive.” He paused as he took his breath. “But this one, the one I am on is protected by the temporal prime directive.”

“By the Prophets, help me!” She screamed as she threw the glass across the room. Storming over to him, she instantly pushed him over. “You really think I am that foolish!” She shouted. “I gave up my career because of your utter nonsense.”

Stumbling to the floor, as he hadn’t expected her to act like that, McCallister looked up from where he was on the floor. “Bexa, please calm down.” He said, raising his hands up to her. “I get, you’re angry with me. You have every right to be, but I am telling you the truth.”

“The same truth you shared with me as to what you were up to while I had to delay the Kraylor and lie to them?” Cambil spat out. Her anger had been built up inside her and it was all coming out now. There was no need for her to hide it anymore. Officially she was no longer his first officer or part of Starfleet. She could say what she wanted without any issue. “I told you before James, I won’t have anything to do with it.” In that instant she pulled her combadge off and threw it across the room. “Now get out of here!”

Standing up slowly, he brushed himself down and realised that he had truly hurt her. “I come from six months into your future, I am trying to prevent an accident from happening which results in the ship being splintered across the space-time continuum. Trent dies trying to save all of us and for some reason beyond my control Karyn ends up being responsible for it all. It’s a possibility that I’ll end up losing her as well.” He looked at her, tears were forming in her eyes. “As I’ve already told you today, my past self that is, I never wanted to hurt you. Never. You have been my trusted right hand for so long that I need you by my side, even if it’s just for one more mission. Please Bexa, I can’t bear to lose Karyn or Tremt.”

Shaking her head at him, Cambil jabbed her finger at him in the air. “How the hell am I supposed to trust you?”

“If you don’t believe me, then follow me outside and you can step across a time barrier with me.” McCallister answered. He handed her the hypospray, “Take this and you’ll be safe. I promise you.”

“How’d I know that’s not some poison and you’re not trying to kill me?” Cambil queried. 

“I’m many things Bexa, but a murderer is not one of them.” He assured her. 

Standing there for a moment, Cambil looked him up and down. She took the hypospray, injected herself with it and then proceeded to nod once at him. McCallister smirked slightly as he led them out of her quarters and towards the time barrier. 

“Trust me.” He said as he took her hand and they stepped through the barrier together.