Chapter Text
It is illogical to believe in destiny; while very little is truly random, a multitude of factors govern the probability of each event.
Nero’s interference has wrought vast changes in the Federation, particularly within Starfleet. Military development has been prioritized over scientific exploration to an unfortunate degree. The Enterprise NCC-1701 is much different than the Enterprise on which he served, and was constructed later. Robert April was never a starship captain in this timeline—he served, instead, on a series of starbases and scientific outposts. Even if he had captained a ship of the line, it would not have been Enterprise, for she was commissioned after his retirement in this timeline. Christopher Pike, however, was still captain of the Enterprise, and was still Spock’s first Captain, however short lived that assignment. Number One never served on Enterprise; she was given her own ship sooner in this timeline, as Starfleet’s accelerated military build-up created a far greater call for officers than in the original timeline. Caitlin Berry, Philip Boyce, T’Pris—none of them served on the Enterprise, either.
And yet, when a grave threat to the Federation appeared, Enterprise was the only surviving ship to face it, prevailing against severe odds. And she was crewed by James Kirk, Spock, Leonard McCoy, Montgomery Scott, Hikaru Sulu, Nyota Uhura, and Pavel Chekov. If the Pavel Chekov was not the same Pavel with whom Spock had served (born four years earlier, although to the same parents), it still defied the laws of probability.
Believing in destiny is illogical. Yet it is an illogic which he had always permitted himself. It is gratifying to see his faith proven correct, once again.