Question for the authors of "Coda"

[Satellite of Love]

Hello, everyone - I have a question about Star Trek Coda that's been on my mind for some time.

Now, from what I understand about "Coda", the Devidian invasion of the multiverse is collapsing whole, entire timeline/universes, universes that are unstable because they're "splinter timelines" that have diverged in some way from the "Prime Timeline" and that the Devidians are gorging themselves on the bioneural energy of all life in the collapsing universe and that the invasion of the First Splinter universe takes place in 2387.

My question is thus: does this happen to all the doomed universes in their year 2387 or can it happen to any universe at anytime, say, for example - a splinter timeline/universe whose current year is 2339?

Thanks for reading and hopefully answering my question.

 

[Agony_Boothb]

I might add why the Enterprise travelling back to 2063 was chosen as the divergence point when it's obvious that the prime and first splinter timelines would have been diverging much, much earlier.

 

[David cgc]

The Devidian attack can take place in any calendar year. The first novel had several vignettes where the Devidians devoured alternate timelines before and after 2387.

 

[The Wormhole]

Also, the fact that we see the crew of Relativity fighting the Devidians in book 1 pretty much proves they can attack in any era of any timeline.

 

[James Swallow]

My question is thus: does this happen to all the doomed universes in their year 2387 or can it happen to any universe at anytime, say, for example - a splinter timeline/universe whose current year is 2339?

So the thing about the Devidians as we characterized them in the Coda trilogy is that they're "atemporal" - they've developed to a point where they exist outside of what we'd consider normal space-time, and from that realm (which Dave Mack christened inter-time) they can prey on pretty much any branching timeline at any point they choose. As far back as their original appearance in TNG they were time-travelling across the centuries with ease, so this is an evolution of that ability.

(Also, this is my first post here and i'm a huge fan of TrekLit for a very long time - my first Trek book was the Price & Fate of the Phoenix Bantam books.)

Welcome! (My first Trek novel was The Entropy Effect by Vonda McIntyre.)

 

[F. King Daniel]

I might add why the Enterprise travelling back to 2063 was chosen as the divergence point when it's obvious that the prime and first splinter timelines would have been diverging much, much earlier.

I see it the same way as the Kelvin timeline. The official divergence point is 2233, but (give or take in this era of "visual reboot" where the TOS Enterprise always looked the way it does in SNW and whatnot) there are things which aren't explained by that. Ditto the First Splinter officially diverging at FC, but with stuff going much further back.

 

[Satellite of Love]

So the thing about the Devidians as we characterized them in the Coda trilogy is that they're "atemporal" - they've developed to a point where they exist outside of what we'd consider normal space-time, and from that realm (which Dave Mack christened inter-time) they can prey on pretty much any branching timeline at any point they choose. As far back as their original appearance in TNG they were time-travelling across the centuries with ease, so this is an evolution of that ability.



Welcome! (My first Trek novel was The Entropy Effect by Vonda McIntyre.)

Thank you (and the rest) for the answers. I think my question has been quite answered. If I have any more questions, i'll let you all know.

 

[Corran Horn]

I see it the same way as the Kelvin timeline. The official divergence point is 2233, but (give or take in this era of "visual reboot" where the TOS Enterprise always looked the way it does in SNW and whatnot) there are things which aren't explained by that. Ditto the First Splinter officially diverging at FC, but with stuff going much further back.

This is somewhat covered in the text.

"The second consequence of the fracture was the creation of this unstable quantum branch, the First Splinter timeline. Generally intact, though susceptible to the occasional temporal glitch, it later spawned innumerable branching quantum timelines of its own--each more unstable than its parent."
​

That can cover everything (and nothing) odd within.

 

[Satellite of Love]

This is somewhat covered in the text.

"The second consequence of the fracture was the creation of this unstable quantum branch, the First Splinter timeline. Generally intact, though susceptible to the occasional temporal glitch, it later spawned innumerable branching quantum timelines of its own--each more unstable than its parent."
​

That can cover everything (and nothing) odd within.

Kinda makes you wonder just how many branches and splinters that are/were out there that the Devidians chowed down on while making their way through the multiverse.

The whole concept to me, is just so unbelievably staggering in its scope!

 

[F. King Daniel]

Kinda makes you wonder just how many branches and splinters that are/were out there that the Devidians chowed down on while making their way through the multiverse.

The whole concept to me, is just so unbelievably staggering in its scope!

When numbers get that big they become kind of meaningless though. Beyond the scope of human comprehension. Half of infinity is still infinity.

 

[Satellite of Love]

When numbers get that big they become kind of meaningless though. Beyond the scope of human comprehension. Half of infinity is still infinity.

Indeed so. But at least those universes where the Nazis won WW2, the Terran Empire is still around, the Borg have overrun the Federation and the Khan Victorious universes all met their end at the hands of the Devidians.