Star Trek: Nexus

In the dead of night, deep in the boggy swamp of a remote Class P planet in the Delta Quadrant, Neil, Veirik, Heluna, and Ensign Thomas tread carefully through the murky waters on their away mission. Their objective: investigate strange human life signs emanating from the area. The air was thick with moisture, the faint sounds of wildlife echoing in the distance, adding to the eerie atmosphere.

Veirik flashed his light towards the ground, revealing the writhing movement of dozens of large, salamander-like creatures. Each was up to a meter long, their tan and dark-spotted bodies slithering through the shallow water. The creatures swam with surprising grace for their size, their skin glistening under the beams of light.

"Those are…" Heluna whispered, her voice trailing off in confusion, "Humans?"

"Or... very close to it," Neil replied, equally puzzled as he crouched down to get a better look. His mind raced to connect what he was seeing with the life signs they'd been tracking. This couldn't be right.

As if disturbed by the beams of their flashlights, the salamanders scurried and splashed deeper into the swamp, their movements erratic and quick. The team stood silently for a moment, the weight of their discovery hanging in the air.

"What the heck is going on here?" Ensign Thomas muttered, his tricorder beeping frantically. "There's literally hundreds of them in the area—thousands in the surrounding region."

Neil tapped his combadge, his face still frozen in shock. "Nexus, are you getting these readings?"

—

Back on the bridge of the Nexus, the tension of confusion and bewilderment filled the air. Dr. Nolan Rivas was busily typing at his console, his face furrowed with confusion as the crew watched the feed from Neil's combadge on the main viewscreen.

"Yes, Commander," Captain Anzyl Praxas replied, leaning forward in his chair, his gaze fixed on the strange sight. "We see what you're seeing. Just as confused as you are."

Nolan's voice suddenly cut through the quiet bridge, full of alarm. "Captain! These genetic readings are... peculiar."

Anzyl's eyes narrowed. "Define 'peculiar,' Doctor."

"The team's tricorders are sending back unusual genetic data," Nolan said, his voice quickening with excitement and bewilderment. "The scans show these salamander-like beings are, in fact, human. Or rather, they share human DNA. Not just any humans either—they appear to be the descendants of Admiral Kathryn Janeway and... Captain Tom Paris."

The bridge crew fell silent, eyes wide in disbelief. Anzyl turned toward Nolan, his face a mixture of shock and curiosity. "Did you say Janeway and Paris?"

Keten, seated at the operations console, perked up and turned toward the captain. "I know what's going on here, sir!" he exclaimed, his fingers flying across the computer console.

Anzyl leaned back in his chair, intrigued. "You have the room, Mr. Keten. Don't leave us hanging. Let me guess—Voyager?"

Keten nodded enthusiastically, pulling up a detailed file onto the main viewscreen. "Exactly, Captain. Stardate 49373. Lt. Tom Paris attempted to break the transwarp barrier by going to Warp 10."

Anzyl's expression grew somber as he recalled the historical event. "Right. Paris succeeded. His name was added to the history books alongside Orville Wright, Neil Armstrong, and Zefram Cochrane. That mission mapped out a significant portion of the Delta Quadrant."

Keten continued, his fingers tapping on his console. "But there was a significant side effect. Paris and Captain Janeway's bodies began to rapidly 'evolve' into an entirely different form of life. They mutated into... well..." He motioned to the viewscreen displaying the writhing salamanders. "These creatures."

Neil's voice crackled through the comms. "A salamander?" His camera focused on one of the creatures as it swam deeper into the swamp.

Keten nodded solemnly. "The Doctor aboard Voyager was able to revert both Paris and Janeway back to their original human forms using an anti-proton radiation therapy, but it appears they left behind offspring—offspring that continued to evolve in this environment."

Anzyl sighed, shaking his head in disbelief. "The things that happened aboard Voyager… it's like that ship was cursed with the strangest luck in Starfleet."

Neil's voice came back through the comms, calm but firm. "So now that we know there aren't any actual humans here, Captain, what do you advise? These life forms… they don't seem hostile, just… different."

Anzyl paused for a moment, thinking carefully. "We return to the ship," he finally said, the weight of the decision clear in his voice. "Whether we like it or not, those 'humans' are now part of this planet's ecosystem. The Prime Directive applies. We don't interfere." His tone was resolute, but there was a clear note of sympathy for the creatures.

He turned toward Nolan and Lusaalli, issuing his next orders. "Dr. Rivas, take detailed scans of the ecosystem. Make sure every trace of this society is logged into the Federation database for future reference. Ensign Lusaalli, resume our course to Kobali Prime once the away team is aboard."

Lusaalli nodded crisply. "Aye, sir. Course laid in."

"Captain," Eroga chimed in from the comms console. "Away team is aboard, sir."

Anzyl leaned back in his chair and straightened his uniform, a familiar motion that helped him center himself. "Ensign, do the thing."

Lusaalli grinned slightly at the captain's informal command. "Aye, sir. Engaging warp drive."

The USS Nexus's warp nacelles hummed to life, and in a brilliant flash of light, the starship warped away from the system, leaving the strange, amphibious human descendants to evolve and thrive in their own way.

No one aboard the Nexus would ever know what would become of that strange society—whether they would continue to evolve, whether they would gain sentience, or whether they would forever remain as they were. It was a mystery that would remain for hundreds, perhaps thousands of generations, and a testament to the strange and unpredictable nature of life in the galaxy.