Star Trek: Lower Decks just introduced a new version of Starfleet whose mission is to explore the multiverse. In Star Trek's Prime Universe, Starfleet's main directive is to explore strange new worlds and seek out new life and civilizations. Starfleet vessels like the USS Enterprise explore the galaxy in search of new alien species, hoping to learn more about its many wonders. But in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5, the USS Cerritos has a different mission: to close rifts that lead to alternate Star Trek timelines.
However, in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5, episode 9, "Fissure Quest," Section 31 has charged Captain William Boimler (Jack Quaid) with tracking down a rogue vessel disrupting the multiple realities of the Star Trek universe. Leading the Defiant Class starship Anaximander, Captain Boimler (Jack Quaid) and his crew of alt universe legacy characters from different Star Trek series find the surprising cause of "potholes" in the multiverse, and it involves a fascinating alternative Starfleet.
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When Captain Boimler and his crew are captured by Khwopians, they find themselves in a cell with the crew of the ship that has been causing the quantum fissures. Captain Lily Sloane (Alfre Woodard), who first appeared in Star Trek: First Contact, reveals that she and her crew have been exploring the multiverse using a Quantum Reality Drive. In Star Trek's Prime Universe, Sloane helped Zefram Cochrane (James Cromwell) develop Warp Drive, which allowed humanity to explore the galaxy, and eventually led to the creation of the United Federation of Planets.
In Lily Sloane's alternate reality, she and "Zef" developed a Quantum Reality Drive that allowed them to explore the multiverse. Captain Boimler has grown "sick of the [beep]-ing multiverse," and wants to get back to exploring previously unknown worlds. When he expresses this feeling to Sloane, she points out that exploring various realities has allowed her to better understand humanity and map out their "limitless" potential. Sloane and her crew have the same enthusiasm for their reality hopping as all of the best Starfleet officers do for their jobs.
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Their Quantum Reality Drive Causes An Unfortunate Side Effect
As a function of their Quantum Reality Drive, Captain Sloane's ship, the Beagle, has the ability to create quantum fissures in the fabric of reality and travel between dimensions. Sloane insists that they always close the fissures behind them, but she does not realize that their actions create a second rift elsewhere. When these rifts are left open, ships and beings from other universes sometimes slip through, causing problems in the Prime Universe. One of the Vulcans among Sloane's crew points out that they "had not accounted for the dissipation of additional energy," which led to the cause of these additional rifts.
Lieutenant Harry Kim (Garrett Wang) stole Lily Sloane's Beagle starship and sparked the multiverse's potential destruction.
Captain Sloane immediately apologizes and seems genuinely upset that her crew's actions caused others to be stranded outside of their realities. Sloane and her crew then offer to help Captain Boimler and his crew get home, and ultimately help prevent the destruction of Star Trek's multiverse. Star Trek: Lower Decks' "Fissure Quest" ended on a cliffhanger, but Captain Sloane and her crew have already helped save the day. If they find a way back to their own reality, Sloane will likely work with Zefram Cochrane to fix the problems caused by their Quantum Reality Drive so they can continue to explore the multiverse safely.
