Star Trek Coda

Chapter 4: Imzadi

USS ENTERPRISE-E, 2408

As they woke up, Jake and Ethan sat on the ground in the corridor of the ruined starship staring at each other, "what now?" asked Ethan.

Jack pondered, "There's nothing left here now. There's no point anymore."

"You don't say," replied Ethan.

"We have to fix it."

"Yeah that would be nice. But it's done. How do we fix all of this? Or any of it? There's nothing left to fix anymore."

Jack looked him in the eye, "there's a way we can go back."

Ethan stared at him incredulously, "I'm sorry Jacko, I'm really sorry your Dad's gone."

"You don't understand. There's a machine on this ship. My dad told me about it. We can travel back in time."

"Then why didn't Will do it?"

Jack sighed, "They decided it wasn't right."

"That's because it isn't," Ethan replied, "the past is set. We can't change it."

"I just lost my Dad!" screamed Jack, "why shouldn't we change it? How could we possibly make things worse?"

"It's not up to us to decide," said Ethan, ignoring the outburst, "It's just not right."

"Does it even matter what's right anymore?"

"You can't mean that," replied Ethan, "I know you too well."

Jack sighed, "yeah you're right. It does matter, and even now we can fuck up. But, I don't think it's wrong. I think it's worth it. I think having the power to end all this suffering makes us obligated to try. We don't have a choice."

"Jack! These people might have died, they might have had bad lives, but they had lives! They existed, they were real. How can we take that away from them? What about the rest of the universe? What about the impact it will have on them?"

"Come on Ethan – look at these people, do you think their life is worth living?"

"What gives us the right to decide Jack? I know you're grieving. I know you're in so much pain, but we can't do this because you lost someone."

"How dare you? You're right, it is about my Dad, but it's about every other Dad too. And every husband and every son. It's about every human being."

Ethan sighed, "It's not worth surviving if you're not worthy of survival."

His words were potent and they hit hard. Jack paused before he replied. "then maybe I won't survive? But the rest of the world, the rest of humankind, they will never know, and their conscience will be clean."

Ethan went to grab Jack's hand, but he pushed it away, "Jack, humanity fucked up, real bad. And a lot of people got hurt, a lot of races. This is the way of the universe. We pushed too far and the universe pushed back. It's life. It's about more than just humanity - it's about the rest of the galaxy too."

They looked each other, not sure what to say now. Even though they disagreed, they still shared so much respect for each other. Jack had always valued Ethan's wisdom, it was far beyond his years. His imzadi knew so much and thought so much. Jack finally responded, "I'm going to do it Ethan, with or without your help. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry Jack too, I love you, but I can't help you. Not this time." He cried as he uttered the words.

Jack grabbed his hand, "You know what I love about you? How true you are. I don't agree but I respect you and I admire you my Imzadi. You're a better man than me. But I have to do this. I can't stand by when I could do something."

Ethan squeezed Jack's hand, "And you know what I love about you Jack? That even when you do something I think is wrong, you're doing it for all the right reasons. I'll be there with you to the end even if I can't help. I do understand why you're doing this."

They got up and walked to the engine room. It was huge and alien. The boys had no idea what they were looking for. But then across the room, a small round object sitting atop a console stood out. Jack walked over to it, followed by Ethan. It could fit in the palm of his hand. Just as Will had described, it had a green button on the side. All he had to do was press it, everything else had been set decades ago. It felt so odd to him - how could it be this easy? Later he would regret ever thinking that.

He hesitated as he stared at it but his resolve was firm. He grabbed the device and wrapped Ethan in an embrace. They shared a passionate kiss and pulled their heads back. They looked each other in the eyes, no words were required for their last goodbye. "Remember me Jacko," Ethan said, as it dawned on Jack, if he was successful Ethan would never exist. It shattered his heart, but he was resolute - this was about so much more than him. What was a little more pain when he had already lost so much?

"I'm sorry," Jack said, "I'll never forgive myself," and he knew he never would.

Ethan knew there was no point talking him out of it. His lover's resolve was firm, "just do what you have to do. Don't be sorry," replied Ethan as he pulled Jake into a tight squeeze, "I'll always love you my Imzadi, no matter what universe, what future. We'll find each other."

They pulled apart, and Ethan stepped back. Jack put on his father's pin and pressed the button.

Thump, Ethan's body fell to the ground, lifeless as ricochets sounded across the room and beams of lights flashed. That wasn't supposed to happen! What had gone wrong, Jack thought. In the same moment, Jake's body started buzzing as an electric field formed around him. He panicked - he had only a second to act. He grabbed Ethan instinctively. In the same instant they both disappeared into the vastness of the universe.