The rest of the day has Jim unable to truly relax, with the nightmarish awakening he experienced in the morning. But he puts in the effort, finishing the painting he started yesterday with only a few minor interruptions, flashbacks to watching the stars aboard the Enterprise and an earlier memory of playing tag with Sam and some other kids from Riverside. Trying to read goes a little less smoothly, especially when he accidentally dozes off and has a vicious nightmare about Tarsus IV, waking up in such a panic that it takes Hunter a good ten minutes to calm him down.

But as the day goes on, the flashbacks become less and less frequent, and those that do happen tend to be... not necessarily good, but certainly less traumatizing.

It's not until evening rolls around and he sets the book aside to see what's available for dinner that Jim realizes he hasn't slipped into the past in at least a couple hours.