Thanks so much for taking the time to read the story and share your thoughts. It honestly means more than you might imagine. The level of detail you picked up on, especially with those canon references, is genuinely appreciated. You’re already ahead of my friends and family, most of whom haven’t made it past chapter one of any of the 20+ books I’ve self-published under various pseudonyms.
As for your observations, they are great catches, both of them.
First, regarding the 600 million figure, yes, that was an intentional reinterpretation. I flipped the First Contact line from “600 million dead” to “600 million survived” to give it more emotional weight. For a character like Trescha, the burden of billions lost versus millions hits differently, and I wanted that weight to influence her decisions and her sense of guilt. That said, I completely understand how that might have caused confusion, so thank you for pointing it out.
Second, you’re absolutely right about Khan vs. Soong. That wasn’t a mistake; it was a character-driven choice. In Trescha’s eyes, the Soong legacy, especially as portrayed in Picard with figures like Kore Soong, represents a broader and more enduring thread of tampering with humanity’s future. She has a real distaste for what she calls “Krisper-kids” (CRISPR-enhanced humans), and having spent so many years isolated aboard the Enterprise-E, I imagined she might have fixated more on Soong’s name and his association with the Augments than on Khan’s.
Combine that with her affinity for Klingons, the genetic damage caused by the virus that infected their species, and the Augment pathogens that were intended to provoke a war with them, and her perspective starts to make a bit more personal sense. It may not be perfectly aligned with canon, but it is emotionally honest to the character. And who’s to say a Soong wasn’t involved in the Singh project? Okay, yes, that is a stretch, but part of your job as the reader is to suspend disbelief and allow me, the writer, to take a few literary liberties. Besides, it helps establish possible relationship issues with Kore if this storyline moves forward.
Something I probably should have made clearer is that each chapter is intentionally set in a different timeline, including the one Trescha originally came from. This structure gives me, as the writer, a little breathing room to explore alternate interpretations and events that deviate from established canon. Alternate timelines allowTrescha to interact with events that are slightly, or significantly, different from canonical sources. That framing was deliberate, though I admit it may not have come across as clearly as intended. This concept was intentionally subtle up to the Lemons and Limes chapter. After that, I started to explore strange new timelines.
Lastly, I’ll freely admit I could have just messed up. After all, I’m a hobbyist, not a franchise writer. The Enterprise Initiative came together in just under 28 days after simmering in the back of my brain for nearly eight years. A 91K-word novel that will never be allowed to be published, built entirely on passion and a long-standing love for Trek.
So yes, there are bound to be rough edges, and like Mariner-Lemon said, “It’s like we’re trapped in some 20th-century TV show where the writers forgot what happened five episodes ago and just prayed no one would notice!”
Honestly, I deeply appreciate thoughtful readers like you who take the time to engage.
Thanks again for the feedback. I’m putting the finishing touches on a Buck Rogers meets Star Trek time-travel story I hope to release before the contest deadline. Hopefully, you’ll find that one just as entertaining.
