BBKUS

I like the thinking with the math, but remember, that's when the nexus is near Earth. If they encounter it at another point in its orbit, the 39.1 year rule is not important.

A couple of notes on the nexus.

1. Since someone can exit the nexus at any time and place, then echo or not, from the point of view of someone outside the nexus, at any time or place, anyone who was ever in the nexus, is in the nexus, even after they leave. So basically, there is another Kirk in there, just as real and original as the Kirk that died. That goes for Picard, Guinan, Soran, and anyone else.

Picard ran into the Guinan echo, and simply didn't run into the real Guinan.

But there would have been another problem, which echo-Guinan touched upon briefly. She couldn't exit the nexus because another version of her existed outside the nexus. We saw what happens when someone exits the nexus at a point during his lifetime--the version of that person that was outside of the nexus ceases to exist. We learned this because there were not two Picards fighting Soran alongside Kirk. For Picard, it wasn't that big of a deal, he only lost a few short moments of his life, and the latter version retains those moments in his memory. But Guinan would have lost a full century.

Kirk left the nexus at a point AFTER he went in, so he had no issues.

As long as Kirk doesn't leave the nexus during his lifetime, he's ok. That doesn't mean he can't leave in Archer's time and travel forward, or leave post-Generations and live his life.

But as long as the nexus exists, there are literally an infinite number of Kirks and Picards in there, each equal and original. You wouldn't want another Picard to exit since it would basically erase the Picard that captained the Enterprise E.

2. Even if you don't buy what I said above, when Kirk and Picard stopped Soran, then Picard and Soran never went into the nexus. Therefore, a version of Kirk never left the nexus and is still in there, never having met Picard. And that version of Kirk is equal and original to the one that died.

No matter how you slice it, the nexus can work for Kirk.

I think it's a safe bet that I prefer Kirk. Picard is fine, but Kirk is my favorite.

Of course, I would like to see them on screen together again, this time without one of them getting killed.