Chapter Text
Darkness.
Then, the sounds of sparks and rumbling. Frantic bleeps from a flight computer. We are hearing the hallmarks of a Starfleet shuttle in distress, but far away, as distant as a dream. Muffled, as if from the end of a tube, panicked voices call out:
JANEWAY
(v.o.)
Ensign, stand by for emergency beam-out!
TORRES
(v.o.)
There’s too much interference from the anomaly! We can’t get a lock!
Then, in a less urgent tone, as if from a different dream:
LOCARNO
(v.o.)
Let it be just us for a while, okay?
INT. HARRY AND LIBBY’S BEDROOM - MORNING
KIM gasps, and his eyes shoot open. We are close in on his face. As we pull back, we see he is shirtless and under the covers of a large, luxurious bed with cream-colored sheets. Idyllic morning light streams in through a large window.
KIM is frozen in shock. He does not recognize his surroundings. Then:
LIBBY
Bad dream?
KIM bolts upright. He stares. Lying next to him in the bed is LIBBY, a beautiful human woman about his age.
KIM
…Libby?
LIBBY is also in sleeping wear and is stretching as she removes a sleeping mask. She seems a bit groggy, but cheerful.
LIBBY
Must have been a doozy. You were tossing and turning for a second there. You want the bathroom first?
This is all too much for KIM. He gawks at LIBBY, then at the rest of the bedroom.
KIM
I was… I was in a shuttlecraft. Voyager was…
LIBBY clocks how shaken up KIM is acting and scoots over.
LIBBY
Whoa. Hey. You alright?
KIM
I don’t know. Where am I?
LIBBY
Um. You’re in our bedroom.
KIM
Our bedroom?
LIBBY
Yeah. Are you okay?
KIM
No, I’m… this isn’t right.
LIBBY
Harry, you need to slow down and tell me what the hell is going on.
Close in on KIM’s face.
KIM
Something’s happened. I don’t know what, but… I’m not supposed to be here. I need to get back to Voyager.
FADE TO BLACK
TITLE SEQUENCE
EXT. SAN FRANCISCO - MORNING
Harry and Libby’s apartment building -- an odd, off-white, postmodern structure with wide windows and strange angles.
INT. APARTMENT - MORNING
LIBBY, fully dressed, stands behind the kitchen counter, nursing a cup of coffee and looking quite overwhelmed. KIM, clad only in a bathrobe, stands in the middle of the room, out of breath, as if he just finished talking rapidly.
There is a pause. Then:
LIBBY
So let me get this straight. You’re the operations officer on a starship.
KIM
The U.S.S. Voyager, yeah.
LIBBY
And your starship is lost on the other side of the galaxy, a million light years away.
KIM
Seventy thousand, but basically, yes.
LIBBY
And that was your reality for the past two years, right until you woke up this morning.
KIM
Yeah. I don’t know if this is an alternate timeline, or I’m in a dream state, or… I don’t know. This could be a simulation and you could be an alien spy, trying to get information out of me.
LIBBY, though still overwhelmed, smirks a little.
LIBBY
Do I seem like an alien spy?
KIM considers it. For the first time, a small smile appears on his face.
KIM
No. You’re too… Libby.
LIBBY
Damn straight. So wait, am I on this starship too?
KIM
No. Libby… we broke up.
LIBBY
What?!? When?
KIM
Right after graduation. You wanted to stay in the solar system, and I wanted to get an exploratory posting, and, well. We kind of had a big fight. Did that… happen here?
LIBBY
Yeah. I remember the fight. But Harry, we made up after.
KIM
We did?
LIBBY
Yeah. You decided to find a posting in the Engineering corps, here in San Fran.
KIM
Huh. Maybe that’s the divergence point in the two timelines. And maybe that spatial anomaly I was charting… did something. Some wires got crossed and I jumped a track. What’s the date?
LIBBY
March 3rd.
KIM
No, the stardate!
LIBBY
Harry, I’m not in Starfleet anymore. I don’t keep track of the stardate.
KIM
You… what? You quit?
LIBBY
Yeah, I’m a lunar geologist at Tycho University now, and I actually kind of have to get to work.
KIM
Seriously?
LIBBY
I’m supposed to be on the Moon in 20 minutes, Harry! I gotta get to the transporter!
KIM
Well, it’s nice to know that you’re still prioritizing your work over your boyfriend!
A horrible pause.
LIBBY
Wow.
KIM
I’m sorry.
LIBBY
You really are a different person than the Harry who fell asleep next to me.
KIM
Libby, I--
LIBBY
Harry. I love you and I am going to help you with this. But I have to get to work, and frankly, you do too. You’ve got that big presentation today.
KIM
What presentation?
LIBBY
Your new shuttle design? You’ve been talking about it all week.
KIM
I spent my week in the Delta Quadrant.
LIBBY
Right. Sorry. The point is, my Harry is really excited about it. It could be a huge step forward in his career, and if you mess it up for him, I’ll kick your ass. I’ll see you tonight, okay?
KIM just stares, dumbfounded. LIBBY walks out the front door of the apartment and shuts it.