SB ASSAILANT MISSION 2.1 Reflections

[Deleted]

Back on the Copenhagen, Paul Drew had been moving fast, it had taken little time to lock out the main controls from everyone but himself, and with a ship full now of junior officers, no one was going to stand in his way. That annoying Abren had come close, but Drew had made sure he didn’t survive that little away mission, it was just a shame he didn’t have time to deal with Tedak in the same manner.

Keying in the final commands, Drew could feel the ecstasy of the moment, after months of hard work, years of torment he would have his revenge, Norat would regret leaving him for dead all those years before, Magellan and his self-righteous would finally be his un-doing, and that fake ghost Drew, who for so long now had been such an important part of his plans, giving him the perfect access to Starfleet’s systems. It had been difficult, Assailants staff had almost captured him before, but he had framed that stupid fool Drolem Simeth, and now finally he had reached this moment, this wonderful glorious moment, soon everyone would be dead, Magellan, Noart, his counterpart, everyone…

[Deleted]

T'Val sat frozen beside Magellan's body, knowing there was nothing she could do for him. ~you betrayed him~ part of her mind screamed at her. ~it is for the best~ the other part joined in. Cradling him in her arms, she gave in to her grief, but was distrubed at Norat's approach.

"Transfer him," Norat demanded.

She looked up at him through tear-filled eyes, and fired a look of pure hatred at him. Yet she knew he ought to get transferred soon, or Lin would die. Close by, Magellan's queen sat keening, but she hadn't gone between, to join Magellan in death. ~she's joined to Lin!~ T'Val realised.

At last, she nodded, motioning for Norat's guards to gather up Magellan's body. "Respectfully!" she snapped at them, "I will not have him treated with disrespect, even in death he should be honoured."

When they were back aboard Norat's shuttle, she ushered the guards in and motioned for Norat to place himself on another biobed. Carefully, and with precision, she removed the Lin symbiont from the pouch, and placed it within Norat - who by now was sedated. Guards kept close watch on her all the time, but she was oblivious to them. She worked fast, concentrating on getting the job done on time, as there was little time to lose.

At last, she scanned Norat, and was pleased - but also saddened - to see that the transfer had been completed successfully. When she had assured herself of the symbiont's wellbeing, she turned back to the body that had been her beloved Magellan. "I want him washed and dressed in his best uniform," she ordered, "and then he shall be buried on Qualinost. His name shall be remembered by both Alliance and Empire."

She heard sounds behind her, and turned to find Norat sitting up, a troubled look on his face. "How do you feel," she asked, not even trying to keep the emotion out of her voice. She had loved both men, and she had still one of the brothers left, yet she wondered if he would have her. THere was nowhere else to go for her. The little queen firelizard had stopped keening, and was now sitting beside Norat, chirping questioningly.


Meanwhile, Tedak and Saarok were still hidden in the bushes, trying to remain undiscovered. There were many guards walking about, and even after the little group of people had walked on, they stayed hidden until well after darkness had set in.

"I think it's safe to continue our journey now," Tedak whispered, turning on the flashlight he had managed to find in the wreckage to a low intensity of light. Suddenly, he saw something which looked like bootprints that were deep enough to have been caused by extra pressure on the person wearing the boots. For example, a person carrying another person. But the prints were wearing out, telling both men that it was a very old boot print.

"Old boot prints," Saarok mentioned casually, "could be months old. However, these are not ordinary bootprints, they are deep ones."

"I quite agree," Tedak said, raising his hand to light up the path ahead, "and they go in that direction. I see no harm in following them. It is night, the likelihood that we will be discovered now is very nihil."

The two men carried on, Tedak leaning on his pipe with one arm, and Saarok supporting him on the other side. Suddenly, Tedak had an idea. "Nut knows Drew, so does your Aeris. We could send them ahead to search for the admiral." He whistled softly and his little brown came hovering before him. "Find Drew," Tedak told him, closing his eyes to give the brown a clear picture of the admiral. He then saw Saarok do the same with his blue and gold.

Minutes later, the golden creature returned, but the brown hadn't returned yet. "Must be still searching, or lost his way," Tedak muttered. While the brown was very smart, he was also prone to losing his way when flying straight.

"Aeris has found Drew," Saarok reported, then pointed, "we must follow this trail."

After what seemed like hours of walking, both men finally arrived at a large complex. With ease, The Vulcan diplomat disabled the two guards at the entrance, and they went in, using the golden firelizard as their guide. They found Drew lying on a stretcher in a cell, all on his own. He looked battered and bruised, and by the looks of it he had broken a few bones as well.

"Admiral," Tedak whispered urgently, "admiral wake up, we must go!" He shook the human gently, but persistently, and was relieved to find the man still alive. Drew was groaning softly, trying to bat them away and murmuring incoherently. "We must leave," Tedak urged Saarok, "assist me."

[Magellan Lin]

Norat lay prone upon the narrow bench in the shuttlecraft. T Val stood alongside him, tears still rolled down her cheeks. He knew then that he had been played for a fool. He wouldnt not take such betrayl lightly. This universe was hard enough without the woman he loved...loved? betraying him. No matter, once the operation was over he would kill her and return his fight to the Alliance. The humans and allies maybe holding their own against the Cardassians and klingons, but with the knowledge locked within Lin he would have the power to end the war forever.
There was a moment of pain as T Val made the first incision, over time an unjoined trills pouch often healed over, it had long sinced served a purpose and in the unjoined was wholly redundant. Norat had experienced greater agony when incarcerated on Terok Nor, little could be worse. It was an irony that so many of those freedom fighters lacked so little backbone, bashir, O'brien, all of them helped turned the tide, overthow the yoke of oppression but had then cowed away from the power that the Terrans and their allies would have by all rights. Vulcans, Trill, Human and Bajoran were obviously superior to the primitive Klingons and Cardassians. It was their right to rule the universe and with Lin he would.
What had once been a sibling rivalry had become a matter of interstellar politics and peace, the piece of a renewed empire - with him at its head.

The sensation was indescribable as the lin symbiont, an amorphous slug like creature, repulsive as it was elegant, was slid into the pouch. Instinctivly it bound to him. Thin tendrils instantly made a thousand connections, connections that if severed would spell death for the host. The sensation spread as the symbiosis continued.
Slowly like the contentment sleep brings the meld began, two minds becoming one... becoming one.
The horror, the pain the abject, overwhelming pain. The agony ripped though Norats soul. He thought he could handle any pain any loss, any sorrow, but this was unbearable. He lost consciousness.

An hour later Norat recovered enough to leave the deep sleep, bent over him was T'Val.
"The joining was hard on you both" she said softly, her tears had stopped, but theirs tracks still showed like furrows through the dirt on her face. Despite it all it made her look even more beautiful, like fine antique porcelain, delicate and... Norat shook his head before the realisation hit him. He had never found physical attraction for T Val, only the strength in her, the power and his ability or so he had thought to dominate her. This... this new view... it was how Magellan had viewed her.
"How do you feel?"
Norat swung his legs over the side of the bench and sat up.
"Groggy and a little overwhelmed." he replied his voice shaky
"I can imagine it would be, you passed out."
"Yes...It was... a shock. I felt his death. Magellans, all of them. Each of their deaths, it was... no -one no one should ever feel that. It is sacred."
T Val looked at him slightly askew, this was not like the Norat she knew.
"5 Deaths is a heavy burden" Norat continued "And only 2 were natural, Lin is a remarkable creature, it has quite a capacity for survival."
"Well you get what you deserve." T Val said bitterly,
"Yes I did rather didnt I." Norat replied, his remembered then his pledge to kill T val when he was joined, but now the urge was gone. He understood why she did what she did. He understood a whole lot more.
"So get what you wanted" T Val asked,
Of course, Norat realised, how could he forget. The very reason why possessing Lin was so important. Quickly he searched through the memories for Kramin. Very quickly he found the information he wanted, the only record of it left in the universe, this one memory. This one scrap of identity held the key to unquestionable...power? Yes power, that was without question and in that very same moment he reached the same conclusion as Magellan had as Toya had, as every host of lin had, the that power bore the mark of evil, the power to wreak havoc with the universe, with time, with space, with the mechanics of everything, Omega was powerful and far too powerful for anyone person to possess, no one ever must ever know its secrets.
The realisation that he and Magellan were closer than he belived possible nearly brought him to his knees. He had slain his own brother, in envy and jealous, for the knowledge that would now become a burden. He understood the darkness Magellan had carried after the joining. It was the knowledge that he had the potential to ruin lives, it was why Magellan had rebelled, it could never become a tool of the Empire nor the Alliance.
Now too that life was lost to Norat.
He bent to look at his comm badge. Solemnly he tore it from his chest and removed the admirals pips from his collar.
"What are you doing?" T Val asked,
"You may not believe this but I see now. I understand it all. I am still Norat, I am still what I was, but now I am more. I understand more than you could possibly imagine my dear."
"That is good" she answered warily blatantly unsure if this was the case.
"MY life as it was is over, I am reborn, I m no longer Norat , I am Norat Lin."
"A subtle difference I m sure" T Val spat.
Norat stood and ran the back of his hand along her cheek, in the manner that Magellan did.
"Help me. It is not safe for me here, Magellan was right I must leave, we all must leave. Let us return to the colonist and find that way to the Gamma Quadrant"
"Colonists?"
"Ah yes I used to call them the Rebels. But no more, we must become colonists. This quadrant is lost to pain and revenge, there is hope out there, hope that we can build on and nurture. I dont expect you to trust me, I don't think I trust myself"
"We shall see, but perhaps we should first commandeer your ship."
"No. My first officer will never accept me now. He has probably already taken over presuming me dead. No we need to find these Federationers they maybe the key. What Magellan didnt know is what I knew of them. They helped liberate Terok Nor, they helped begin this struggle for 'freedom'. I ve in fact met the Captain of that other ship before, I knew him as he was in this universe, I well like all good Imperial officers betrayed him, as did my brother a long time ago. As I understand it often the people of the Alternative universe are the diametric opposite of this, which means, well I hope it means that their Drew is a man of compassion and wisdom. We must seek him and get his help."
"Perhaps" T Val replied, "I still dont trust you, but its a start."

OOC: Got a bit carried away here lol. Anywho lets have a start at rounding up.

[Deleted]

-- Somewhere over the rainbow - Building Complex --

After Tedak asked him to help, Saarok dropped a pad he was reading and helped Tedak raise Drew to his feet. And then the group very slowly, as all three of them were injured in someway, made way first out of the room where they found Drew, then out of the building complex in which the room was located in.

As they were moving towards the Woods Saarok was thinking, who exactly captured Drew, it couldn't have been the people who got him since they asked him about the location of the Copenhagen and then again it would be logical to conclude that if they already had Drew it would be much easier to get out of Drew what they wanted to know then out of him. Something just did not add up.

-- Somewhere over the rainbow - woods --

When they arrived at a place that appeared shielded from prying eyes they lowered Drew on the ground and attempted to wake him.

"He does not look good", Saarok noted

"Indeed he needs a doctor", Tedak added

Just as that was said Drew slowly began returning to the real world. Drew slowly moved his head from left to right and blinked his eyes attempting to realize where he was.

<Drew>

"Admiral", Saarok said

"Admiral, how are you feeling?"

<Drew>

"Do you remember who it was that captured you?", Saarok asked

<Drew>

After hearing out everything that Drew was able to remember and tell them. Saarok turned to Tedak and said:

"We need to get to the Copenhagen."

<Tedak, Drew>

[Deleted]

Drew had the strangest sensation that he was moving, but that wasn’t possible, he hadn’t moved for months, fear filled him, he couldn’t bare another “session” with his counterpart.

Something bright was starting to shine into his eyes, he could hear distant voices, calling out to him, he had the oddest feeling that if he just listened to those voices everything would be ok, his suffering would finally end. Is this death? He thought to himself.

“Must…warn…need to… get back.”

Suddenly his eyes shot open, he was in a forest of some kind, one that looked familiar to him, he saw now that the bright light was a golden sun.

“Where?” he crocked.

“Admiral,” a voice Drew recognised as Ambassador Saarok said, coming closer, “Admiral, how are you feeling?”

“I have felt better Ambassador,” Drew said slowly, “Anna would love to get me to sickbay.”

“Anna?” Tedak, said clearly confused, “Who is Anna?”

“I believe Anna was the name of the Admiral’s former First Officer,” Saarok answered, “clearly he is very confused.”

“Do you remember who it was that captured you?”

“It was him,” Drew answered, his voice shaking slightly, “he made me tell him things, made me give him my codes.”

“Who did?” Tedak asked, stepping forward.

“My counterpart,” Drew said slowly, “I thought he was dead, but he wasn’t he came for, took his revenge…”

There was an eerie silence as Tedak and Saarok wondered what horrors the man before them had faced.

“It is ok Admiral, we shall return to the Copenhagen, we can find a way to return to Assailant.”

“Copenhagen?” Drew asked confused, “Assailant?”

“Yes Admiral,” Tedak answered, “The Copenhagen is your ship, and you are also assigned to Starbase Assailant as Chief of Base Operations.”

“My current posting is at Starfleet Academy,” Drew answered, “or at least it was, until he found me.”
Saarok and Tedak both raised an eyebrow in alarm.

“Admiral, do you know who we are?” Saarok finally asked.

“You I know as Ambassador Saarok,” Drew answered, “but I am afraid I don’t know your friend here,” he pointed to Tedak as he spoke.

Saarok turned very slowly to Tedak, and said in a quiet voice, “logic would seem to detect that the Admiral was captured long before reaching Assailant, it is possible the man we have known as been his counterpart all along.”

“I have to agree with you,” Drew said, surprising both Tedak and Saarok, who clearly didn’t think Drew could hear them, “and if my counterpart is indeed in command of a Starfleet ship, we need to stop him, before he does something dreadful.”

Saarok nodded his head in agreement, “We need to get to the Copenhagen.”

But no one answered Saarok as at that moment, a transporter beam claimed them all.

With shock they found themselves in the Copenhagen’s transporter room, next to them stood Norat, and T’Val both clearly as confused, led on the floor was the body of Magellan.

And at the transporter pad, with a mad grin on his face stood Paul Drew.

[Deleted]

“Welcome my friends,” Drew’s counterpart said, stepping down from the console, he had a phaser in his hand, clearly set on kill, “before I took my revenge on you all, I wanted you to know who it was, who beat you.”

“Paul!” Norat exclaimed, “Your alive?”

“Disappointed?” Drew asked, walking right up to face Norat, “I survived your betrayal Norat my old friend, and now you will suffer.”

Slowly, Drew circled his captives, reaching Tedak and Saarok he smiled an evil grin.

“I see you have discovered my secret Ambassadors.”

“I suggest you stand down Mr. Drew,” Saarok said calmly, “This ship is full of loyal Starfleet Officers.”

“Officers loyal to me,” Drew told him with an chuckle, “I ordered all crew confined to quarters, don’t want them getting in the way do we?”

“Once they know who you are, they wont be so loyal,” Tedak told him bitterly, “They will stop you.”

“And tell me my dear Ambassador Tedak, how will they know if you and they are all dead?”

There was silence in the transporter room, as everyone took in Drew’s statement he was clearly mad, and mad man were certainly capable of mass murder.

“As we speak,” Drew continued, “the auto-destruct sequence is running, in ten minutes this ship, and this entire planet will be destroyed, and you along with it.”

“You wont kill yourself,” T’Val said, speaking for the first time.

“T’Val, you know me better than that,” Drew answered, walking up and stroking her face, “You know I always get my way.”

T’Val pulled herself back from Drew’s grip, and tried to spit in his face, but before she could, Drew slapped her hard across the face, causing her to fall to the deck.

“I wont miss you T’Val,” he said coldly, walking back towards the transporter controls, “my dear friends, I so wish I could stay and die with you, but alas, I have a shuttle waiting for me in orbit.”

And then he was gone, leaving the entire crew of the Copenhagen, and the planet she rested on to die.

“Admiral,” Tedak said urgently, addressing the real Drew, who was led on the floor next to Magellan’s cold body, “Admiral, you must enter your codes and stop the destruct sequence, or we will all die.”

Drew looked up at her confused, tried to pull himself up but failed, urgently, Tedak and Saarok helped him to his feet.

“Admiral, the codes,” Saarok prompted, “Address the computer.”

[Magellan Lin]

Drew, the 'real' drew lay prone upon the floor. He still seemed too sensless to be of any help.
"If that is the Drew I knew even with the command codes I doubt we could disarm the warp core with them."
"And who are you" Tedak spat, eying T Val warily,
"I am someone in the same boat as you" Norat replied "We re all stuck on this mudball and some of us have more at stake"
"Well we just cant stand here and do nothing" T Val stated,
"Indeed, there maybe a way out... Either of you two know anything about Warp Cores?"
Saarok looked up,
"I know a little"
"Good. Go to the Engine room, erect a dampening field around it, and then arange three pattern enhancers around it. You" he pointed at Tedak "can come with me."
"Me? and where would that be?"
"Back to my ship"
"No you said yourself you cant go back" T Val replied,
"That was just a guess, my FO may not have taken over."
"And then what?" Tedak asked,
"Then we use our transporters to beam the core in to space. See simple"
"We'll see" T val rumbled,
"Are you armed" Norat asked Tedak
"Errr No"
T Val pulled a disruptor from apocket and handed it to him,
Tedak took it cautiously.
"Right lets go. Admiral Norat to ______ ( cant remember ships name lol) Three to beam up."
In a haze of light Norat, T Val and Tedak disappeared to reappear in teh cramped transporter room on the ship in orbit.
They were faced by two security guards, weapons drawn.
"Admiral Norat..." One of them Stammered, "We were told you were dead."
"Well I m not"
"Err I see but... well, Commander..."
"Let me guess my dear FO, Commander Keztrek has taken command"
"Err yes sir, she has control of your agoniser and has ordered any boarders to be repelled"
Norat looked at T Val who had already sidled round slightly,
"Then you better repel us" Norat shouted leveling his weapon and firing.

[Deleted]

--Somewhere over the rainbow - USS Copenhagen -> Transporter room--

After Tedak, T'Val and Norat transported of the Copenhagen, Saarok was left in the transporter room with Drew half aware lying on the floor. Saarok did not know how much time was left before the explosion, but he could not simply leave Drew lying there on the floor. He picked him up and placed him on the transporter pad. Then he walked over to the transporter room console and activated a site to site transport, transporting Drew to sickbay.

=/\=Saarok to sickbay=/\=

=/\=Computer activate the EMH=/\=

=/\=Please state the nature of the medical emergency=/\=, came over the comm. line

=/\=Doctor I have just transported a patient to sickbay, take care of him, Saarok out=/\=

=/\=I will do what I can, doctor out=/\=

After that was dealt with. Saarok went out of the transport room and went towards engineering.

--Somewhere over the rainbow - USS Copenhagen -> Main Engineering--

When he reached the engineering door they did not open. He pressed a few keys on the door panel but nothing happened.

=/\=Computer open main engineering door=/\=

=/\=Doors locked, please specify access code=/\=

=/\=Authorization Saarok alpha 1-1-9 omega=/\=

=/\=Voice authorization not accepted, doors sealed by Rear Admiral Paul Drew=/\=

The doors wouldn't open so easily. Saarok looked around and remembered seeing some tools somewhere along the corridor he used to get here. He went back to the place where he saw the tools. When he found them he grabbed a few items and went back to the door.

He removed a panel next to the door and changed the place of a few isolinear chips. And entered his access code.

=/\=Manual override engaged=/\=

Came the answer from the computer. Then he took the handle which is used for manual opening of the doors and opened them. When he entered engineering he saw that it was deserted. It would appear that "Drew" was telling the truth when he said that he locked everyone in their quarters. Saarok went over to the main engineering console and began to type a series of commands; it would appear that there was no way to stop the self destruct sequence. So Norat's plan was the only way.

=/\=Computer raise level 10 forcefield around the warp core, authorization Saarok alpha 1-1-9 omega=/\=

=/\=Forcefield activated=/\=

Came the response. As Saarok moved away to go and find some pattern enhancers. There was not much time left. He hoped, there was that hope again, but he had to live with it for now, that Norat would succeed with his part of the plan.

[Deleted]

T'Val silently walked around the security guard, while Norat distracted him. Tedak eyed her warily, not trusting her for one moment even though she had handed him her disruptor. T'Val was quite aware of the Romulan's distrust, and she didn't trust him either. However, her firelizard obeyed his, which told her something. Also, the man behaved rather oddly about her, despite his apparent distrust. Could it be that this man was involved with her counterpart from his universe? She should ask him later, when this was over.

She waited patiently and silently, until Norat's barely detectable nod. Only then did she reach out and clamp her left hand on the guard's shoulder, squeezing in the proper place and the guard sank to the deck. "He'll be out for several hours, but I suggest we tie him up and gag him," she suggested, and went about looking for a rope. She deftly tied him up, securely knotting the rope so that he could not wiggle himself free, then ripped a large piece off his uniform and gagged him.

"Now he will not betray our presence," she said smugly, giving Norat a radiant smile.

[Magellan Lin]

"Excellent" Norat replied with a wolfish grin, "You" he pointed a finger at Tedak. "Help T Val guard this room. I need time to reconfigure the transporter I also have a little plan up my sleeve."
Tedak scowled but followed T Val to teh doorway.
"It wont take long for Keztrek to wonder whats happening, when she does she ll send everyone down here to get us"
"I see. Is life in the Empire always so cut throat"
T Val looked at him cock eyed,
"Of course, how else would you run an empire"
"Oh I dont know, perhaps by Compassion, unity, democracy"
T Val laughed,
"Oh your funny. Especially for a romulan."

Norat busied himself with the transporter it was amazing how much the other lives contributed to him, gave him new insight, new strength.
"I hope that Vulcan of yours has done what I asked" Norat commented to Tedak,
"Saarok is unique and capable character I have complete faith in him"

True to his words Saarok aboard the Copenhagen had just put the last enhancer in place and switched it on All three throbbed in unision.

"Okay here we go" Norat said, "Computer, bring offline the warp containment field."
"Authorisation is required"
"Norat Alpha-beta 2 niner"
"Command Codes accepted"
"Excellent" Norat grinned "I knew Kez wouldnt have thought to change them yet. Computer confirm field termination."
"Confirmed"
"Very well, Computer lock on to these co-ordinates. Beam it to these, simultaneuously beam this to there... and execute."
with a typical whine the warp core vanished from the Copenhagen as did the one from the_____. They both rematerialised in opposite places.
"There hows that for a trick. We have about 30 seconds so I suggest you get over here"
"I agree" T Val noted firing down the corridor, "Kez's people are here."
"Move" Tedak grunted also taking a shot and pushing T Val toward s the transporter. He felled one attacker and then sure there was time joined the other two on teh pad.
"Computer Transport us to these co-ordinates and initate full lockdown on my mark. Mark"
In a haze they vanished reapperaing on the Copenhagen.
"Did it work?" Tedak asked
"I think so" Norat grinned "Right about now that warp core will put an end to any probs up in orbit. Now lets see about how we can perhaps use this vessel to get our people out of here"

Okay this is starting the wrap up, all we need now is a way for Andy, Tedak and Saarok to negotiate with Norat not to take the Copenhagen to take his people to the Gamma Qaudrant. then get yourselve home

[Deleted]

-- Somewhere over the rainbow - USS Copenhagen --

After Saarok arranged the pattern enhancers around the warp core of the USS Copenhagen, he stepped away from the warp core and a few moments later he could see the blue-ish light of the transporter beam encompassing the warp core and then disappearing again leaving the appearance that nothing changed behind it. He went to the warp core control panel and saw that in fact it was a different warp core, most likely the one of the 'USS _______' which was the ship of Norat.

After that was done he went out from the transporter room in order to meet up with Norat, Tedak and T'Val when they beam back to the Copenhagen. After a few minutes he arrived to the transporter room he saw that Norat and the team were already there.

"I presume you were successful in your mission", Saarok asked him

"If i wasn't we'd already be dead"; Norat responded

"Perhaps you would like to join me in sickbay where, hopefully admiral Drew, from our space, might be able to tell us something about the other Drew that has just escaped."; Saarok said

"I would have nothing against finding out what exactly it is that Drew is planning"; Norat responded as the group went towards sickbay

<Tag all>

[Deleted]

“Please sit down,” the EMH demanded angrily, pushing Drew back down on the bio bed for the seventh time since his arrival, “how you expect to recover if you do not rest I don’t know,” the hologram continued, “going months without proper food or water, a man of your years should know better, wh…” the EMH never finished his sentence, as he dissolved into nothingness.

“That’s better,” Drew muttered to himself, when he had first come to sickbay, the EMH had been a great help, and had quickly treated his physical injuries, now Drew just felt very tired, and very confused, not a good combination for dealing with any Doctor, let alone a computer one.

Pushing himself back up, Drew did a quick look around the now deserted sickbay, he couldn’t really remember much from when he was brought here, but he could see clearly now that it was indeed a state of the art Starfleet faculty. One of the new designs that the Engineering and Medical Corps had been working on.

Catching his reflection in a nearby holo mirror, Drew was shocked at his own appearance. His face was thin, and withdrawn, and he looked like he had lost at least three stone, his hair was now almost completely grey. His uniform was covered in dirt, ripped in several places, and his rank and Starfleet insignia were missing.

Suddenly the sickbay doors whisked opened, and several people quickly filled in, all of them had a look of urgency on their faces.

“Admiral, how are you feeling?” asked Saarok, the only person Drew actually knew, although he got the impression that everyone else in the room knew him.

“Better than I was,” Drew said in a husky voice, his throat was still very dry, “Ambassador what’s going on?”

“We were rather hoping you could tell us that,” Saarok said calmly, “Logic, states that you yourself were abducted by your own counterpart from this universe.”

“For once, logic states it right,” Drew, said slowly, now standing up, “I have been in that cell you find me in for months.”

“Indeed, we concluded as much,” Tedak said, stepping forward, “It would appear that the Drew Saarok, myself and all of Starbase Assailant have known was your counterpart.”

Drew nodded his head in agreement, which didn’t hurt as much as he thought it was.

“The question we have for you,” the Trill Drew didn’t know said, stepping forward also “is do you know what your counter plans to do?”

“You mean besides kill us all?” Drew answered, “He never really gave me much detail about what he was planning, just that we would all pay dearly.”

There was a silence in the room, as everyone tried to think desperately what course of action would be needed next, finally it was Drew who broke the silence.
“You say my counterpart escaped on a shuttle?” he prompted Saarok.

“That is what he told us,” Saarok replied, “We saw him transport out.”

“Then, lets get this ship back up where she belongs, and track him down,” Drew said, walking towards the doors, but he had to stop in the corridor, to his embarrassment he didn’t know the way to the bridge.

“To your right Admiral,” Tedak said helpfully, “We do have one other problem however.”

“Indeed,” Saarok agreed, “your counterpart as locked out the main computer.”

“What do you think the chances are he hasn’t changed my personal codes?” Drew asked the two Ambassadors.

“There is only one way to find out,” Tedak said.

“Computer, restore all command functions, authorisation Drew Alpha Alpha Two.”

“Authorisation denied, command codes invalid.”

“Computer, this is Rear Admiral Paul Drew, emergency fleet situation, request command be transferred to myself.”

“Admiral?” Saarok asked confused.

“Starfleet has a backup system in case the senior crew of a ship die in battle,” Drew explained, “senior officers from other ships can come aboard and assume temporary command until the ship reaches Starbase, the computer will grant us limited controls so that we can reach Starfleet.”

“Will that include tactical controls?” Norat asked.

“Phasers only,” Drew told him, as the entire group walked out onto the Copenhagen’s bridge, “but it should be enough to take on a shuttle.”

Minutes later, the Copenhagen was again in space, Saarok and Tedak were back at their usual stations, and Drew was in the centre seat, Norat and T’Val were deep in conversation at the rear of the bridge.

“We allow them to capture Drew,” Norat was saying in a whisper, “and then we take this ship for ourselves, we can deposit this crew on the planet below.”

“An excellent plan,” T’Val said with a dark smile, looking over at Tedak, “More than some of them deserve.”

[Magellan Lin]

Drew quickly familiarised himself with the bridge and was helped even more when the rest of the crew were let out of confinement. Saarok explained to them the situation and they eyed Drew warily as if in disbelief.
It was odd they all seemed to know him but not him them.
"Okay lets get a system check." Drew noted once they were in orbit.
Together the surviving senior staff examined the state of the Copenhagen, it wasnt in too bad shape but wasnt exactly battle ready.
"We need to find Drew.. the other Me that is" Paul noted "Begin long range scans"
An officer at teh science console looked up,
" I m picking up an ion trail from a shuttlecraft, it left the planet 15 minutes ago."
"That ll be him." Norat noted,
"Undoubtedly, Im surprised he made it this easy"
"Yes not his style at all" Norat agreed suddenly aware of the common ground between the two of them.
"Plot an intercept course"
"Aye sir"

The Copenhagen swung in low and fast upon the shuttlecraft, quickly a flash of light ran out catching the craft in a powerful tractor beam.
"Okay then beam him aboard"
"Why not just destroy it" T Val commented coldly to Tedaks disgust and dismay,
"He should be brought to Justice" he replied,
"Pah" T Val grunted.
"Hang on sir" The science officer called, "Theres no one aboard. It looks like it was all just a trick. An autopilot and faked lifesigns."
"Thats him alright sneaky as hell" Norat growled.
"Then I guess we'll have to do this now" T Val grinned pulling out her disruptor "We ll take this ship"
Everyone froze, T Val had positioned herself to cover the whole room.
"Take this ship? I ve only just got it" Drew replied dryly
"T Val" Norat stated simply, "Lower your weapon. This isnt the right way."
T Val looked at him cautiously.
"Its what I as Norat would have done yes. But I m Norat Lin now. And his weaknesses are mine now. He may have said he d take the ship by force but he wouldnt."
Saarok rubbed his leg where Magellan had shot him skeptically.
"But we need it. How else can we get to the Gamma Quadrant, to the promised land. A place to be free of the Empire and the Alliance."
Norat shook his head.
"Thats the wrong way. Magellans way was wrong. We cant keep running, look what it did to him, to all of them, they are nothing. If we want to achieve peace then we need to fight for it. Show them that its worth it. What do you say? Let us return to Qualinost and from there really undermine them. Show them the Empire can never beat the Alliance in the way its trying now."
He walked round to stand squarely in front of T Val
"Put down the disruptor, if not for me then for Magellan"

[Deleted]

T'Val hesitated and stood motionless, pointing the disruptor directly at Norat's heart, after passing her aim over the other people present. Her bronze firelizard chirped in alarm and came swooping down to grab the disruptor from her hands, but four other firelizards barred his way. She peered over the barrel of the weapon, but her hands were trembling; would she kill the person she loved, the only person she had left to live for?

At last she let the weapon slide from her hands, and it clattered to the deck loudly. "I cannot shoot you," she said flatly, letting her gaze wander over Drew, Saarok and Tedak, "you do not belong in this universe." Almost ashamed, she looked up at Norat Lin. "Would you allow me to go with you?" she asked, "we will fight as Magellan had fought, we will do it for your brother, and for a better universe."

She turned to Drew. "We shall be beaming down to Qualinost, and leave you to be on your way to your own universe," she added, though hatred filled her eyes as she gazed upon them, "do not come back here. Next time I will kill you all."

[Deleted]

“Well, I am glad that’s over,” Drew said dryly as Norat and T’Val were escorted to the transporter room, “not one of the most enjoyable missions I have taken part in.” He slumped back into his command chair, briefly closed his eyes, now all the excitement was over, he was starting to the feel effects of his long imprisonment.

“Admiral,” Saarok said cautiously, “how are we to proceed?”

“We find a way home,” Drew said simply.

“And how do we do that?” Tedak asked, “We do not fully understand how we arrived here.”

“My guess would be the nebula would be a good place to start,” Drew answered, “you could have been brought here by a subspace anomaly.”

“Sir?” a young science officer, whose name Drew didn’t know spoke up nervously.

“Yes Ensign?” Drew asked, turning to face the young man.

“I have been reviewing the sensor logs Sir, and I think I might have a way to get us back home.”

A smile spread across Drew’s face, “Well, Ensign don’t keep us in suspense.”

A few minutes later, the Copenhagen was heading back for the nebula where it had all started, expect this time there was no hostile ship patrolling the area.

There was a buzz of excitement amongst the bridge crew, as at long last they were faced with the possibility of getting home, what had only meant to be a one week mission, and turned into one that seemed to last a life time.

“So, you believe we got pulled into because of something Norat’s ship did,” Drew said, running through the Science Officer’s plan one last time, “and that if we repeat the process, we should be able to re-open the rift?”

“Yes Admiral,” the officer answered, “it is my belief that there is an wormhole in the area, connecting our two universes.”

“And we never detected this before because?”

“I believe the exit point on our end isn’t pertinent, I believe it either changes location regularly, or only opens at certain times.”

“Right, but if we go through it now, we will come back out near Assailant?” Drew asked, for the time being trying to forget about all the science involved.

“Yes sir.”

“Well in that case, take us in,” Drew said, resting back in his chair, “full impulse power.”
The Copenhagen shook violently as it re-entered the nebula, and as a blue beam shot out from its deflector dish, a massive wormhole opened before it, pulling the small ship close.

“Report!” Drew yelled, as the lights on the bridge went on and off, and the deck felt as it was trying to knock each crewmember to the floor.

“We are entering the wormhole,” Lt. Smith at the helm reported, “Estimating three minutes until we exit.”

There was one last almighty shake of the deck plates, that this time did knock everyone to the floor, and then all was quiet.

“Did we make it?” Drew asked, climbing back up to his seat.

“Affirmative,” Smith replied, “Sensors, indicate we are back in our universe.”

“In that case, open a channel to Assailant, put us through to whoever is in command over there.”

<TAG Just about everyone>

[Deleted]

As the ship finally made way back into normal space Saarok was glad, glad? There was an emotion again, he had to remain focused till he can do something to settle his emotions and put them under control. He returned back to reality right after he focused on something other then emotions.

"Ay sir"; he heard

It took him a moment to remember than Drew ordered the lt. to call SB Assailant.

"This is cmdr. Zoillip(I think that’s the name lol?), welcome back admiral Drew", the man said

Drew looked at the man who obviously knew him and then he remembered he had seen him once before, before he was captured.

"It is good to be back."; Drew responded

"When you are near enough to the Starbase Assailant control will take over the navi-computer and initiate docking procedures.", the man added

"Understood, Copenhagen out"; came the answer

Then Drew looked at the lt. at the helm,

"Well what are you waiting for let's go", he said

"Yes sir"; the man said and continued towards Assailant in a few minutes they were going to be close enough to dock.

Saarok was looking at the scans, and the wormhole, something needed to be done about it to prevent other ships to accidentally end up in the mirror universe, he thought. As the ship initiated docking procedures and shook a little.