Ever since it was announced Star Trek was coming back to TV, fans have been wondering when the new series would be set. While many hoped it would take place after Capt. Janeway and her crew made it back to Earth from their seven-year journey stranded in the Borg-infested Delta Quadrant at the end of Star Trek: Voyager, it looks like we’re actually going back in time.

In fact, it would seem the voyages of the starship Discovery (NCC-1031) will take place before Kirk, Spock and the crew of the Enterprise started on their five-year mission to seek out new life and new civilizations and boldly go where no one has gone before in the Alpha Quadrant.

Speaking to Ain’t It Cool News, showrunner Bryan Fuller revealed there was an important clue in the teaser released during this year’s San Diego Comic-Con. “There’s a big clue in the number of the ship that indicates when we’re set,” Fuller said.

The site believes the events of Star Trek: Discovery take place before Star Trek: The Original Series because the Discovery’s registry number (NCC-1031) is lower than that of the Enterprise (NCC-1701).

The NCC class was used for starships that were in service with Starfleet after 2161, meaning after the events of Star Trek: Enterprise (featuring the Enterprise NX-01). The series took place between 2151 and 2155 and was set a hundred years before TOS kicks off in 2266 (although the events of the first pilot with Capt. Christopher Pike at the helm, “The Cage,” took place in 2254).

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The site also asked Fuller if Starfleet’s secret black ops organization called Section 31 (which we saw in Enterprise, Deep Space Nine and the Kelvin timeline's Into Darkness) would also factor in the new series, since the Discovery has the number 31 at the end of its registry number.

Fuller said: “There are aspects of our first season that, depending on how well versed you are in that mythology, you could either read into it a connection, or not.”

Pretty mysterious, don’t you think? Star Trek: Discovery will stream on CBS All Access and Netflix (except for the U.S. and Canada, boo!) in January of 2017.

(via Ain’t It Cool)