Fondly remembered as the lightest, more comedic entries in Star Trek’s film offerings, The Voyage Home is the story of an alien probe coming to Earth to talk to it’s whale pen pal, a little bit miffed that they’ve not had a letter in a while. In the 21st century, those pen pals – Humpback Whales – had been hunted to extinction. Meanwhile, Kirk and his disgraced crew were on the way home to stand trial and through some time warp shenanigans, take a stolen Bird of Prey back to the 20th century, kidnap some whales, and take them to the 23rd century to save the day.
The charges against Kirk were a fairly big deal. Previously Kirk had stolen a soon to be retired Enterprise, went against orders and along with support from his long standing command crew barged their way into restricted space in the hopes of recovering Spocks body. At the time they were unaware Spocks body had been reborn by Genesis, or that some rogue Klingons were on their way to steal the technology which made things more complicated.
In the end they recovered Spocks body, reconnected with his ‘katra’, but in the mix destroyed the stolen Enterprise, killed a Klingon commander and commandeered his ship. So it wasn’t just Starfleet who wanted his head, it was the Klingons as well. The only saving grace for Kirk was that on his way back to Earth, he accidentally got to save the planet which had his massive punishment become a mild slap on the wrist as he was ‘demoted’ from desk job down to Starship Captain and gifted a brand new Enterprise to replace the one he blew up.
So what if that probe never made it’s way to Earth, if the whales were never extinct and kept chatting over the centuries, and the (former) Enterprise crew didn’t have their chance to be heroes on the way home….
In a world in which Admiral Kirk leads his crew to Earth without a distraction, the story of the legendary crew would likely come to an abrupt end. By this point in time Kirks a man with a reputation, but his glory days far behind him. Settled into the Admiralty, with only two very brief stints in command of a starship since he gave up the chair, the situation isn’t one he can run from this time.
Aside from disobeying orders, stealing and then causing the destruction of the Enterprise, and being somewhat responsible for sabotaging the USS Excelsior, Kirk’s actions may have saved Spock and given him a second chance at life, but it also became a political nightmare for the Federation. What had become known as the Genesis planet wasn’t the dream Carol Marcus thought it would be. The unstable result of the Genesis device being used had created a whole new planet, but was also a deadly weapon. Klingons in the mix, even if they weren’t leading heroes of the empire, had given an excuse for tensions to rise yet again.
Without a whale related emergency. Kirk would arrive at Earth to hear the music. And that music would likely be his curtain call. Punishment such as demotion or a custodial sentence may have been enough. But to appease the Klingons and highlightt he severity of the situation, Kirk, with his best days behind him, would surely be made an example of. Dishonourable discharge. The Admiral becomes the civilian and whatever else may come, the Klingons would stand down while Starfleet made a statement to their own to stay in line.
Kirk wasn’t the only party involved. He may be responsible for his crew, but they also joined his quest willingly. McCoy had to be dragged back to Starfleet. With his reluctance to be there combined with losing the person who’d convinced him to stay, he’d have an easy out to settle down into a quaint country practice. Scotty would likely also be on the way out, not only for his direct part in sabotaging the Excelsior, but in being a relic already refusing to accept the next steps. At best, a teaching role may be in his future but much like Kirk, Captian Scott would likely be at the end of his career.
Uhura and Chekov might accept demotion, but likely play along to settle into lesser roles while Sulu’s career would take the biggest hit with his career aspirations derailing his path to the captains chair. Though with the crew scattered and disbanded, moving into new lives for better or worse, it’s Spock’s fate that carries the biggest question.
In a world where the dead has literally risen from the grave, Spock’s future isn’t as certain as it was in The Voyage Home. At the end of the film, he stood proudly back in uniform as he readjusted to his old self. But without Kirk and McCoy bringing balance, and no Enterprise to define his later Starfleet career, he’d be a man of two worlds who may not walk the same path as he had before.
In the timeline we all know, Kirk get bumped down to Captain and given the Enterprise-A. The A’s final mission was one that would have the most effect if those events never take place. In the year 2293, the Enterprise A and it’s crew were getting ready for riding into the sunset when the Klingon moon Praxis – a valued resource of the empire – exploded. The explosion caused a ripple effect that changed the future of the Federation and the quadrant.
As the son of Ambassador Sarek, and having the luck of a peace-loving Klingon Chancellor on his side, Spock was able to negotiate for peace using Kirk and the legend of the Enterprise as the olive branch. But without the Whales, there is no Captain Kirk. There is no Enterprise. And while branches can be plucked from any tree, even if they’d sent someone else in their place, the combination of the Enterprise crew and Excelsior for support may not have foiled the conspiracy to re-engage in open warfare.
If Kirk and Spock as a combination aren’t there to stop the conspiracy, there’s no Khitomer Accords to bring peace between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. And maybe, just maybe, that brings us a little closer to the world Jean Luc Picard was living in during Yesterdays Enterprise with Admiral Cartwright getting the war he so desperately wanted.
There’s other outcomes and problems to consider, of course. But if there’s no whales to save, no probe to reason with and no legacy made for Kirk or the Enterprise, the future of the Federation – and of Star Trek itself – would be very different.
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