The interesting thing about cars like this, in which something is literally erased from reality, is that it's completely victimless.
One cannot destroy that which never existed to begin with. From that perspective, I'd say Spock made the right call.
I mean, that’s easy to say, because we’re not attached to the Leif Ericsson class or anyone onboard.
But would the same argument be made if instead it was Bajor, or Kronos that disappeared from existence?
Well that's the thing - something can't really "disappear from existence," unless we're talking about something that did exist and was destroyed.
But if it never existed at all...well, there's literally nothing lost.
The exception to this would be if Kirk and his crew remembered the Cerritos existing before the time travel shenanigans.
But if it never existed at all…well, there’s literally nothing lost.
But from an objective, non-linear perspective, the USS Leif Ericson did exist, before it was erased. A temporal agent with a timeline map would be able to follow the ship across its own personal timeline, until the point where it abruptly ends because the timeline it is currently in caused it to be erased.
It's similar to the Federation and billions of Borg lives existing and not existing in First Contact, or any of the myriad times the Federation was erased by time travel, and then restored.
Even accepting this to be true, Spock sure wouldn't have any way of knowing, or any reason to care.
Where?
Spock just rolls with time travel ever since he went back, pretended he was his distant cousin, and saved his childhood self from venomous space wolves or whatever that was.
If the Leif Ericson class didn't exist, how could it be in the handbook??!
Asking the deep questions here.
T'Lyn thinks it may be the result of a temporal wake, while Boimler thinks this should be brought to the attention of the Department of Temporal Investigations.
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