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Table of Contents
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McCoy and Kirk spent a restful morning. The two went through the collection of antiques and personal belongings stored throughout the doctor's apartment. While they tried to find some of Kirk's clothing, McCoy filled him in on the major events of the last eight years. Eventually, the doctor's attempt at history, or even current events, proved grossly inadequate and the admiral sat down at the apartment's data terminal. He called up a number of historical files and as much as possible, without an active identification number, checked Starfleet records.
Kirk was still at the terminal when the apartment door chime sounded. He ignored the interruption. After all, it was McCoy's place, let him handle it.
Soon, the sound of voices in the next room began to reach the former captive's ears. At first it was no more than a low droning sound and then McCoy's distinctive voice began to rise in some type of excited discussion. James was just about to investigate, when Spock appeared.
Initially, Kirk was surprised by his friend's appearance. McCoy had explained that the ambassador was supposed to be on his way to the Klingon Empire to arrange medical aide and relief, plus continue negotiations on a trade agreement. Still, the Admiral was pleased to see the Vulcan. Their time together, so far, had been very brief.
Rising to greet his friend, Spock stopped him. "Please, sir, remain seated. Are you well?"
"Just fine, Spock. McCoy and Tavar feel that my performance at the party was due to 'too much too soon,' combined with a mix of fatigue and a lazy metabolism. Basically, I'm supposed to take it easy for the next few weeks. Actually, great, thank you. What brings you here? I thought you were supposed to be on your way to the Klingon home world."
"I had another task to perform first. The medical assistance is already en route and Admiral Karn has been kind enough to explain the reason for my lateness to the Klingon High Council. However, I must keep my visit brief. May I join you?"
"Of course, Spock. Please be seated, there's a lot I'd like to discuss --"
Spock's sudden change in facial expression caused James to stop mid-sentence and the Vulcan began to speak quietly and slowly. "Admiral... Jim, I wish to speak with you about a personal matter."
As soon as Spock began, James Kirk knew it was something important. It had been a long time since Spock had called him by his first name. "What is it?"
"I am going to tax your memory and perhaps even your patience. Regardless, I want you to hear me out."
Shutting down the terminal, Kirk turned to face Spock and give him his full attention. The Vulcan took a chair, drew it close and began. "Do you recall the details of our original encounter with the Guardian?"
The pained look on Kirk's face supplied Spock with the answer. Still he got a verbal response, albeit, rather subdued. "Yes, Spock, I remember. It was because of our difficulties that Starfleet made the Guardian's planet a quarantine world. Only a token scientific team has been allowed to visit, correct?"
"Indeed, entirely correct," The Vulcan moved the conversation ahead cautiously. "While visiting Earth's past, we encountered a young lady who turned out to be the focal point of our journey."
Kirk slumped visibly with the mention of the event, the barely whispered her name, "Edith Keeler."
"Yes, Edith Keeler, founder of the Twenty-First Street Mission and instrumental in establishing a number of charitable and aide organizations throughout the Twentieth Century."
Even in his stunned state the last few words made James Kirk sit up. He attempted to correct his friend's error. "But, Spock, she died."
"No, Jim, she did not. My evaluations and findings, at that time, were incorrect."
The Vulcan's admittance of error was overlooked by Kirk. All he heard was the impossible. "How? We both witnessed her death, so did McCoy. The time line was restored. The United States entered World War II, Germany was defeated and, later, the Federation was conceived."
Spock sighed, "I shall attempt to explain. When we saw Edith hit by the truck, we assumed she died, because that is what the data had led us to believe. My tricorder had registered the image of a newspaper article noting her death. Also, her activities in the peace movement and the meeting with the president never occurred. That, in itself, was proof to us she died. However, she did not. Remember, you restrained Doctor McCoy, therefore he never examined her and we left immediately following the incident."
Now Kirk was absorbed in the tale and completely forgot, temporarily at least, his own personal pain. "Okay, Spock, just what did happen?"
Continuing his story, Spock spoke in a level, quiet voice. "When Edith was hit, we left the area and returned to our room to recover our uniforms and my tricorder. I disassembled my crude computer lest it fall into the wrong hands. Then we went back to our point of entry to that time period and the Guardian returned us to our own time.
"When the accident took place, someone called for emergency assistance. At the accident site, Edith was declared dead. A local reporter seized on the story as potentially important. After all, Edith had already established herself as a notable member of the community. In fact, by that time she had already met with the mayor and was scheduled to meet the governor later that year.
"The story of her death made the next morning's edition of the Star Dispatch and the headline read 'Social Worker Killed.' That was it as far as the timeline was concerned. Because, due to the injuries she sustained, her work in the peace movement was postponed. Edith received several years of physical therapy. During that time, the mission fell into disuse. She stayed in New York and, after a lengthy recovery, she began assisting the refugees and displaced people. She started her work just prior to World War II and continued doing so until several years following the war. Her contributions in that capacity were nothing short of incredible. Thousands of lives were spared or made much better, due to her efforts.
"When hostilities broke out in Korea, she moved to San Francisco and started all over again. This time she assisted the refugees from Asia. She remained in San Francisco establishing herself as a major contributor to various self-help, charitable and peace organizations.
"When the Vietnam War began, she continued her work and became a motivating factor in the anti-war movement. Actually, until her death in 1978, she remained a major voice in all areas of peace and human rights. Her final project resulted in the extension of the Equal Rights Amendment ratification deadline."
Kirk shook his head in disbelief. "Fascinating, but I'm still not clear as to why the Guardian led us to believe Edith had to die."
"Again, my fault, I interpreted the newspaper headline literally, not checking for an error or other possibilities. I am truly sorry. Perhaps if you had known she survived, the incident would have been much easier for you. Essentially, our action, or rather inaction, restored history. Edith was prevented from establishing her peace movement until after World War II."
The Starfleet Admiral sat silent, absorbing all that he had heard, then another thought struck him. "You said we restored history, yet Edith still had her accident."
"Correct, because that accident was supposed to happen. We were part of history as it was meant to be. The reason Edith crossed the street was to speak to us. Her involvement with you and her fascination with our uniqueness is what caused her to cross the street in a less than safe manner. Furthermore, if we had not been there, she may not have evolved into her ultimate personality."
"Then we did alter history, Spock, or at the very least, we interfered with it. Why is everything as it should be? Shouldn't there be... some sort of... a difference?"
Spock was frustrated somewhat by his friend's lack of logical approach to the problem, but retained a calm and understanding approach to the conversation. "No, Jim, no difference. Edith was supposed to live. I can trace several historical events to her work. More importantly, there are over a dozen cases of historical or significant contributions by the refugees she helped or kept from dying. I checked that possibility after I recalled my failure previously to do the same regarding the Air Force pilot we brought aboard, remember? All of those contributions and achievements were through her efforts, either directly or indirectly. Edith was always supposed to live. She is part of history. We saw the original newspaper article and assumed it was correct. However, it was not. If you look at the paper from the following day, there is a correction and an apology on page ten. Also included is how a reporter was fired as a result of the incorrect story."
When Spock paused, Kirk injected a rather disappointed comment. "Since she did so much, we couldn't go back in time and bring her here --" He became quiet and didn't finish the thought. Then he stared at his old friend. A pained look marred the normally handsome face. "Spock, why did you bring this up now? What motivated you to look into all this after all these years?"
"A phone book." Spock was dead serious. "Mister Scott's souvenir from our time travel mission to retrieve the whales."
Confused, Kirk asked quietly, "A phone book?"
"When the engineer could not resolve the problem of constructing a water tank, he found the solution within the book. I believe there was some inside joke about the incident. You will have to ask the doctor."
The look on Kirk's face caused the Vulcan to refrain from further digression. Instead he continued with his original explanation. "After the Klingon Bird of Prey was raised from the bay, Mister Scott had the book restored and presented it to Doctor McCoy as a memento. It was the doctor who discovered the name of Edith Keeler and brought it to my attention.
"I became curious as to why her name would appear there and thought it was no more than a coincidence. However, I conducted extensive research just prior to and immediately following your rescue."
Now James Kirk knew he had found a major hole in the Vulcan's fascinating tale. "Wait a minute, Spock. You said she died in 1978, why would her name be in a telephone book published in the 1980's?"
"That is correct. Edith did die in 1978, but her daughter survived; her daughter and yours, Jim." Spock's voice was now filled with a tone of compassion that Kirk had never heard before.
That, combined with what he had just heard, moved James T. Kirk to tears. "Spock, are you... sure?"
"Eight and one half months from the time of Edith's accident, she gave birth to a baby. She listed the father as James Kirk, but gave her daughter the name of Edith Anne Keeler. The two were inseparable, Jim. The younger Edith followed in her mother's footsteps and did quite well in her own right. While in San Francisco, she assisted her mother in aiding Korean and Vietnamese refugees. She also became part of the peace organizations and was one of the founding members of the Berkley free speech movement. She was also able to elicit the participation of others in organizing many events in the years to come.
"Perhaps because of her mother being a single parent, she was more sensitive to the calls for quality day care, equal pay and other issues. When her mother died, Edith Anne discontinued using her middle name. So the name of Edith Keeler, in the phone book, was hers and not her mother's."
"Spock, what ever became of her?" The admiral had a hopeful look on his face, but his voice conveyed a slightly fatalistic tint.
"She remained involved in a number of projects, however the most remarkable of those was the relief work done in what was then the Soviet Union. The infamous nuclear accident in the town of Chernobyl left thousands of people homeless and desperately in need of assistance. She organized and led one of several groups of foreign aid efforts in that area. She helped to locate resources to provide all types of financial, medical, technical and personal assistance. It was a major milestone in the easing of tension, at least temporarily, between the east and west."
Kirk seemed preoccupied with something Spock had said, so the Vulcan paused and gave his friend an inquisitive look. "Is there a problem?"
"You said the nuclear accident at Chernobyl. If my memory is still intact, I remember a lot of deaths from radiation poisoning; true?"
"Very true, the result of repeated visits to the area."
Spock's pause said it all but Kirk had to be sure. "She died of radiation poisoning, correct?"
"She developed leukemia, a form of cancer most generally fatal at the time."
"So I lost them both, without a chance of seeing them. That's what you wanted to tell me, Spock? Frankly I would have rather not known --"
"No, Jim." Spock interrupted his friend's verbal assault. "Your daughter is here, now, very much alive."
James Kirk was nearly speechless, "What? How?"
"By obtaining the assistance of Captain Uhura, Mister Scott and Doctor Chapel; we used the Zhukov to travel back to the year 1988 and located the younger Edith in declining health. With the treatments administered by Doctor Chapel, she will be just fine. I am told there will be a period of recovery during which time Edith will require considerable rest --"
"She's here, now?" Kirk rose slowly as if in a trance.
Following his friend's lead, Spock stood. "Yes, Jim."
Moving out of the small room, Kirk entered McCoy's living room with a great deal of uncertainty. Not really sure of what to expect or exactly how he felt. He moved slowly and cautiously, until he stood behind the lady in question.
McCoy, seated opposite of Edith, spotted his friend. "Edith, I'd like you to meet a very special person, James T. Kirk."
The lady stood up immediately and turned to greet the man that was her father.
Continuing the introductions, McCoy spoke again. "Jim, this is Edith Keeler." The doctor was positively beaming.
Stopping just short of actually fainting, Kirk gasped at the face before him. If she wasn't the Edith Keeler he had known, she would have to be her daughter. The resemblance was nearly perfect. The only differences were subtle. Instead of the raven black hair and bright blue eyes, this Edith had her father's light brown hair and hazel eyes. Finally, with some difficulty, he spoke. "Edith, I'm James, your, uh, father." He continued to stumble over his words. "I, uh, didn't know that your mother, um... had survived or that you existed --"
As he began to completely lose his train of thought, McCoy offered his friend a bit of assistance in the form of an explanation. "It's okay, Jim. She's been told everything about our adventure in time. Chris and Nyota gave Edith a first rate briefing about the Guardian and our presence on Earth in 1931."
In his state of shock, he failed to notice the others in the room. Instead, tears began to form in Kirk's eyes as he took one step forward and reached out to touch Edith's hand.
Instead, she threw her arms around his neck and gave him a big hug, excited. "Father, you're just as mother described you!"
Words came hard to the emotionally overwhelmed officer. "I would have returned, had I known --"
Edith smiled warmly and broke the hug so she could study her father's face. "It's okay, I really do understand. Your friends have told me everything --"
As the two stumbled over their words and dealt with their emotions, McCoy caught the attention of the others and nodded towards the doorway. Realizing the doctor's intention, Spock, Uhura and Chapel filed out of the apartment and entered the courtyard outside, followed by a very pleased McCoy.
The small collection of friends gathered under one of the Spanish styled arches, out of the sun. There was a very noticeable silence, when Doctor Chapel began to sniffle a little. She looked up at McCoy and gave him a slight shrug. "I guess I'm just an old 'softy' after all."
"No need to apologize, Chris," Uhura said. "It got to me, too." She smiled at her friend and wiped a bit of moisture from her own eyes.
A quiet, "Ahem," brought everyone's attention to Spock. The Vulcan was obviously not comfortable with the flood of emotions permeating the area. "I must excuse myself, Doctor McCoy. I am already late for my mission with the Klingons. As I have previously stated, I shall return as soon as my schedule permits." Without any further conversation, the ambassador turned with a sweeping movement of his black robe. He then walked briskly across the courtyard and disappeared from sight.
"Still the same old Spock," Uhura said in a reflective mood.
"Not really, Nyota. That is a very different man, right, Doctor?" Christine was trying to regain her composure.
McCoy smiled and nodded in agreement. "Indeed, Doctor, a very different man."
Uhura shrugged off the rebuttal from the two surgeons and made a suggestion. "Do you two have any plans for lunch? I'm getting hungry."
"I know a great little restaurant a short walk from here," declared McCoy. "My treat!"
The trio walked off with smiles firmly etched on each face.
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© 2024 Brad McDonald / U.S.S. Kitty Hawk
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