Star Trek: Infiltration free porn video

Trapped in the body of Janice Lester, his real body destroyed, the Jim Kirk of the mirror universe is determined to get to the universe of the Federation to steal the body of their Jim Kirk. STAR TREK: INFILTRATION by BobH (c) 2014 Note: This is a sequel to, and contains spoilers for, 'Mirror Universe Turnabout' All characters herein are the property of Paramount Pictures - 1 - Fixing mirrors in front of treadmills has been standard practice in gymnasia since forever, and those in the gymnasium on board the ISS Enterprise were no exception. Most people running on them are happy with this arrangement; they like to watch themselves as they exercise. I don't, not anymore. I'm James T. Kirk, former captain of the starship Enterprise, but that's not who my reflection shows me. No, gazing back unhappily from my mirror is Janice Lester, a civilian, a tomb-raider, and a woman. The original Janice Lester swapped our bodies and fitted me with an undetectable 'bio-collar' that prevents me from telling anyone who I really am. She's dead now, killed by Spock when he decided to take command of the Enterprise. As a civilian, I have no official role aboard one of the Empire's military vessels. My continued presence on board is solely because Captain Spock tolerates it, and then only as long as I remain the concubine of Nyota Uhura, his personal yeoman. She has a file on Janice Lester's criminal activities that would find its way to the authorities should I ever try to leave her. Oh, and did I also mention that Uhura too used to be a man? Her name was Arthur Coleman. Like me she was mind- swapped by the real Janice Lester, who then destroyed Coleman's body with the original Uhura's mind in it. With this body being smaller and weaker than my old one, all this gym work is a lot harder than it used to be, but I'm determined to get as fit as I can. As with other areas where socializing occurs on the Enterprise it was also useful for picking up gossip as to where the ship was going and what it was up to, things I had once decided but was no longer even entitled to be informed about. "Any idea what the Captain was up to when he took a shuttle down to Aragon IV yesterday?" asked the redshirt running in place on the treadmill next to my own. "No, and so far as I can tell nor does anyone else," said his buddy on the next treadmill over, "what I do know is that that little side trip of his means we'll now have to travel through some uncharted systems to make our rendezvous with the Archangel next week." Ah yes, the ISS Archangel, sister ship to the Potemkin. Most of the crew believed we were meeting with her to transfer supplies - which we were - but there was another reason for it they did not know about, something which was top secret. As Captain Kirk I'd received orders concerning the latter a month ago. My plan to become a man again depended on what happens during that rendezvous so I had to make absolutely sure I was ready before then. My session on the treadmill was the final part of my morning exercise regime, so as soon as it was finished I grabbed a towel and headed out of the gym, towelling myself off as I made my way to the turbolift. I would shower when I got back to the quarters I now shared with Uhura. Arriving at our deck, I exited the turbolift and was making my way along the corridor when someone reached out from a side corridor and pulled me into it. He slammed me against the wall, winding me, and thrust his hand between my legs. "Been watching you for days," he said. "S'not fair for Uhura to have a fine lookin' woman like you when there's men on board with no women of their own." I recognised him as Kevin Riley from engineering. He had been drinking. "You shouldn't be doing this, Riley," I said, trying to struggle free of his grip and realising to my horror that I couldn't. "Why not," he said, leering, "who's going to stop me?" "That would me, laddie," said Mr Scott, looming up behind Riley, grabbing him by the shoulder, and throwing him aside. Riley bounced off the opposite wall and ended up in a heap on the floor. "Ye've been at the demon drink!" thundered Scotty. "You know I won't tolerate those under me drinking alcohol. Your agonizer, Lieutenant, if you please." He held his hand out to Riley, who now suddenly looked both very sober and very nervous. Meekly, he got to his feet, unclipped the agonizer from his belt, and handed it over to Scotty, who promptly pressed it to the other man's chest and activated it. Riley cried out, his face contorting as the pain drove him to his knees. I smiled with satisfaction at the sight. When I was a man again and once more captain of the Enterprise I was going to see to it that Riley spent several sessions in the agony booth. I was more shaken by his assault than I wanted to admit to myself, and my overwhelming instinct was to want to make him suffer for making me feel so vulnerable. "Thanks for the save, Mr Scott," I said when he lifted the agonizer from his now whimpering subordinate. "Thanks?! Thanks?!" he shouted, turning on me. "This as much your fault as his, lassie. Look at you in your harlot's clothing with all that flesh on display, inflaming men's passions and leading them astray!" 'Harlot's clothing'? I was wearing a sports bra, baggy leggings, a headband, gym shoes, and sweatbands on my wrists, so hardly anyone's idea of seductive clothing. Not that Scotty was amenable to reason by this point. Fanatically teetotal, the Enterprise's chief engineer was opposed to 'sin' in all its forms. "This ship is awash in alcohol and fornication!" he declared, his eyes glowing with the fervour of his disapproval. "I'm sure it is," I agreed, "but I really do have to go now. Bye, and thanks again!" I slipped away before Scotty could say anything. As soon as I was out of his sight I slumped against the corridor wall, trembling. Damn this body, damn it to Hades! I *hated* it!. I'd always been strong and I missed the confidence, the *swagger* that strength gave me. Uhura was on Spock's team and so, by extension, I enjoyed the protection she did, but that still hadn't prevented me from being groped and having my butt slapped. The men of the Enterprise seemed to feel entitled to do this, laughing at any protest I might make. When I was a man I'd also laughed at that stuff, seeing it as nothing more than harmless fun, but it wasn't as much fun when you were on the receiving end. Riley's assault, though, had been different. If Scotty hadn't come along, he'd have raped me. I touched my hand to the side of my mouth, surprised to find a small trickle of blood there. I'd snagged my lip on a tooth when Riley threw me against that wall and hadn't even noticed until now. It wasn't any sort of major injury, but I still decided to head down to sickbay to get it fixed. Unlike most of the crew, Christine Chapel wore her agonizer on her chest like a brooch. When I entered sickbay I found her leaning against a bed, depressing the agonizer's button and sending short, sharp shocks into herself. She stopped and slowly focussed her eyes on me, her breathing shallow. There was a film of sweat on her brow. "Jus' a little pick-me-up," she said, "helps...get me started in the morning." Nurse Chapel was the only person on board I knew of who used their agonizer for pleasure. "What can I do for you, Janice?" "It's my lip." "Ah, I see. Nothing a few seconds with a tissue regenerator won't fix. How did it happen?" I told her. "Yes, you need to watch out for Riley," she said. "He can be a mean drunk." "I thought being Uhura's woman and her being under the captain's protection would shield me more, but it hasn't stopped me from being groped." "Nothing will," said Christine, "that's part of a woman's lot. It stinks, but we just have to put up with it. It would be nice if more men learned to keep their hands to themselves, but I'm not holding my breath." "I hated feeling that helpless when Riley assaulted me. I know some moves but without the strength to back them up they're not much use against someone his size. I'm exercising a lot, slowly building my strength up, but I'm not there yet. I need an equalizer." Christine looked at me for a moment, then reached into a drawer. "I may have something," she said, pulling out a ring. "The men don't know about these and we don't want them finding out, so only use them in an emergency, like the situation with Riley." "What does it do?" I said, slipping it onto my right ring finger. "Put it close to an agonizer and it causes that agonizer to fire off a single short pulse. Since men wear them on their belts...well, let's just say this usually brings tears to their eyes. They assume it's an agonizer malfunction, and as long as the rings are used sparingly they'll be none the wiser. Too many reports of 'misfiring' agonizers and the game's up." "Thanks," I said, "are there any other guys I need to be careful of, besides Riley?" "There are *always* other guys, and on every ship the women compare notes. I'll give you a list of those you want to be careful never to be alone with in a turbolift...." This was a depressing introduction to the perils of being a woman and it made me even more determined to pursue my plan of finding my way across to that other universe and stealing the body of their Jim Kirk. Fortunately, I knew how to cross over. The transporter accident that breached the wall between our universes might have resulted in my first trip there, but my second visit was by choice. It had come about a couple of months ago, when I was chosen for a special mission.... - 2 - I rubbed the stubble on my chin thoughtfully as I considered my first officer's position. Spock had his orders. He wouldn't say anything but I knew he didn't like them. Until our two guests and I returned, he was required to maintain the Enterprise in geosynchronous orbit over the planet below, and no one else was permitted to enter the transporter room in the meantime no matter what happened. He was as in the dark about the nature of our secret mission as the rest of the crew. That had to rankle, particularly given the identity of one of my companions on that mission. "Have you set the coordinates, Lieutenant?" asked Sybok. "Almost, Science Minister," came the reply. Sybok had brought Lieutenant Cho along with him, and assigned her to stay in the transporter room during our absence. None of my own crew had a high enough security clearance to see us on our way, apparently. Then again, despite being captain of the Enterprise, I myself had only been given our destination with no indication yet as to why I had been chosen for this particular jaunt in the first place. Science Minister Sybok was a powerful member of the Council of Ministers that actually ran the Empire, so the fact that he had decided to take an active part in the mission was an indication of just how important he believed it to be. Still, I couldn't help wondering if he had chosen the Enterprise because Spock was his brother. Sybok was standing on a transporter pad beside me, as was his beautiful young assistant Kara Summers, the other person who'd come aboard with him. Both were wearing the same cumbersome harness as myself, high-tech devices without which the mission we were about to undertake would not be possible. "Transporting on my mark," said Cho, "three, two, one...." She flicked the switches, pushed the sliders up, and a second or two later we were dematerializing and beaming down to the world below. Just not the one in our universe. The first thing I noticed when we rematerialized was the biting cold. As well as being sixth planet from its sun and so at the far edge of that sun's habitable zone, Sigma Draconis VI was also currently experiencing a mini ice age. In this it was like its counterpart in our universe. The area where we'd landed was composed of largely uninteresting rock and dirt, with very little vegetation to speak of. "Let's get the equipment moving," said Sybok, manhandling the container that had been on the fourth pad and beamed down with us, sheathed in a harness of its own. Sybok's breath was misting on the air as he moved about, as was mine, but not Kara's. Sybok pressed a button on the side of the container - which was as tall as a man -and it rose several centimetres off the ground when the internal antigrav kicked in, thus enabling us to push it along without effort. Through all of this Kara had watched impassively. Where I was feeling the cold even through the insulation of my uniform she was showing no signs of discomfort. "I'm amazed those harnesses actually worked," I said. "They are impressive, aren't they?" said Sybok. "The finest scientists in the Empire labored over them trying to duplicate the transporter effect that took you and your subordinates to the universe of the Federation, to this universe. Three months ago they succeeded. This mission is a direct result of that success." "You still haven't told me what the mission is," I said, "what exactly it is we hope to accomplish on this freezing lump of rock." "All in good time, Captain, all in good time." Sybok led us over to a nearby cave. No sooner had we entered than a steel door closed down over the entrance, and the whole cave shook as it then started to descend. "An elevator!" I exclaimed, surprised. "So that's why we landed where we did, but where's it taking us?" "Beneath us lies a whole underground city. In our universe it exists only as ruins, but here it still lives even though its population has declined and now numbers little more than a hundred." "Dangerous?" "Hardly. A bunch of indolent pacifists whose subterranean existence has so far protected them from outside interference, living on the marvels created by their ancestors. And they are marvels. You can guess how we knew to look for them in our universe...." I nodded, fully aware of the amazing secret that lay behind the Empire's rapid expansion over the past century, a secret kept from everyone below the rank of starship captain. "We were able to learn a lot from the remains in our universe, and will learn even more from the functional technology in this one." The elevator came to a halt, the steel door slid upwards, and we found ourselves looking down a corridor and into the very surprised faces of several gaudily dressed men and women. Kara stepped forward and pressed a button on the large metal wristband she was wearing. I had assumed this was nothing more than an ostentatious piece of jewellery, one somewhat at odds with the starfleet uniform she was wearing, but it was obviously much more than that. In response to her action the men and women we'd surprised all crumpled to the floor. "Are they dead?" I asked. "Unconscious," replied Kara, the first time she had spoken since we left the ship, "as is everyone else in the city. They will stay that way until I release them." "Your device is *that* powerful?" I let out a low whistle. "We have to start issuing them to everyone in starfleet." "I'm afraid it's one-of-a-kind, Captain, as is Kara herself. It's keyed to her body and won't work for anyone else. As for copying it, the technology is so far beyond our own we wouldn't know where to start." "What do you mean when you say Kara is one-of-a-kind?" "Haven't you guessed yet?" chuckled Sybok, "Despite appearing human to even the most sophisticated scanners, Kara is in fact an android, the most advanced we've ever come across." "I was the last surviving sentient being on my homeworld when Sybok found me," said Kara, "and working for the Empire has given my existence meaning again after too many centuries when it had none. Kara was the name my creators gave me, but Sybok told me I would require a surname to fit into your society so I chose Summers because it was summer when he found me." "Enough talk," said Sybok, "time to get to the hall of the Thinker. We have a tight schedule to meet." The Thinker turned out to be a learning machine, similar to some prototypes I'd seen in the Empire but vastly more sophisticated. Kara stood before it, lowered its transparent dome over her head, and appeared to go into a trance. Sybok explained what she was doing. "Kara is uploading large amounts of data from her mind, including how to successfully remove and replace a humanoid brain, a skill only she possesses in all the galaxy." "Wait, what?" I said, non-plussed by this revelation. "All will soon become clear. Now help me get the unit set up." Sybok opened the container we'd brought with us. Inside were a couple of cases, but most of the space was taken up by a unit that looked like a featureless box with several hoses coming out of it, and a large dome on top. "We need to connect it to the equipment here so that it appears to be a part of the system. The hoses have no actual function but will further the illusion." I did as Sybok directed and we soon had the unit installed. We then stowed all the harnesses in the container and hid it away. As we finished so Kara lifted the dome from over her head. "It is done," she said. "Good, good, then make your way to the craft. You know what you have to do." "Yes, Sybok." "What craft would that be?" I asked when she had gone. "The only one of its kind we know of," said Sybok, "ion-powered, like the city." "Developing ionic-powered drives has been a goal of starfleet for decades. We must have it!" "And you will, Captain - just as soon as our little charade here has run its course. However, before that can happen you and I have to process the populace." "*All* of them?" "All of them. Between the two of us, and with the aid of some of these people's antigrav gurneys, we should just about manage it before Kara gets back." Processing the populace involved dividing them into three groups and using the Thinker to essentially brainwash them. One group of males were reduced to a primitive state, outfitted with furs and spears and made ready to be deposited on the surface. The remaining men were rendered subservient to the women, while the women were made dominant. Everyone had their intelligence reduced to that of children and false memories implanted. The templates for all this came from Kara's upload and the scenario I knew we had to follow. We then opened the cases that had been in the container. One held belts with large circular devices attached, the other copies of Kara's wristband. "They're non-functional," said Sybok, "but giving all the women one to wear disguises how unique Kara's is." "And these?" I said, holding one of the belts aloft. "Each contains one of our agonizers. These people don't administer painful punishment, but the scenario requires them to do so." Processing close to a hundred people took a lot of time and I was pretty exhausted by the end. We did however finish just before Kara's return, as Sybok had predicted we would. When Kara entered the chamber she was wearing the same clothing worn by the women of this world rather than her starfleet uniform and carrying a transparent sphere filled with a clear liquid. Floating in the liquid was a brain. "Whose is that?" I asked, almost afraid of the answer. "It belongs to my brother," said Sybok, "or, rather, to his counterpart in this universe. We knew where the Enterprise would be, so it was a simple matter to have Kara intercept it. Now my dear, if you would...?" Kara placed the sphere in the dome on top of the device we'd brought from our universe. It was a perfect fit. "The machine will feed sensations into Spock's brain to give him the illusion he's running the city's systems," said Sybok, "while all the time it's performing its true function." "You know that my counterpart and his crew will come here looking for Spock's brain, of course?" I said. "I'm counting on it. The plan won't work if they don't." * I studied my doppelganger on the screen with interest. Since we swapped universes last time we had never actually met, so my only experience of him was through the images the Enterprise's internal cameras had caught and via my later debriefing of those crewmembers who had interacted with him. He was physically identical to me, of course, but I was sure that I could take him in a fight. Our strength and our fighting skills would be about the same, but unlike him I had no qualms about killing. In fact, I enjoyed it. "I'll need a full report and analysis, of course, but what do you make of him?" asked Sybok, watching me thoughtfully. I'd been starting to wonder if Sybok had brought me along just to do physical labor, but this was my real purpose here. I was to observe and assess this other Captain Kirk to a degree that no one else could. "The man's a strutting popinjay," I said. Alarmingly, Sybok burst out laughing at this. "I imagine he'd say the same about you," he said, wiping tears from his eyes. I don't think I'll ever get used to the sight of a Vulcan expressing emotion as freely as Sybok does. It's extremely disconcerting. The two of us were sitting in a viewing room we'd located that gave us audiovisual coverage of everything happening in the chamber. We'd secreted ourselves in the room shortly before Kara woke the populace. A short while later a landing party had beamed down from the Enterprise. Several hours had then passed, and Sybok and I had watched as the other Kirk and his McCoy and Scott had entered, along with Kara and the body of their Spock, animated like some golem of old. They had soon discovered his brain was now housed in our machine, and had bought the story about it being dubbed the Controller and used to run the city. This was greatly helped by Kara, now their prisoner, who was turning in an impressive acting performance. She had just explained to them that while she had removed Spock's brain she could not restore it, that she was only given the necessary surgical skill in the first place by the Thinker. "How long does the knowledge last?" asked Kirk. "Three of your hours," replied Kara "It would be just enough time," said McCoy. "If you had the knowledge, could you restore what you've taken?" asked Kirk. "I would not," said Kara, defiantly. "You must help us. You must restore with that knowledge what you have taken." "No!" I was impressed. Kara was really selling this. "You must put back what you have taken." "I will not betray my people. The Controller will stay." "Jim, it worked for her. It might work for me." Finally, McCoy had taken the bait. "She is an alien," said the voice of Spock from somewhere out of the air. "The configurations of her brain are different. It could cause irreparable damage to your human brain, Doctor." "I'm a surgeon already. If I could learn these techniques, I might be able to retain them." "Captain, you might lose the doctor that way." "He might, but we're sure to lose you if I don't try." "I cannot allow you to jeopardise your life for me." "Spock, didn't you hear? I might be able to retain and bring these techniques to the world. Jim, isn't it worth that risk? Wouldn't you insist upon taking such a risk yourself?" Kirk had carefully listened to this argument between McCoy and the disembodied voice of Spock, weighing what each man said before arriving at his decision. I recognised his process; how could I not? "Go ahead, Doctor," he said. "Put the Teacher on." "No!" cried Kara, managing to sound genuinely alarmed at the idea. McCoy walked over to the device, and Kirk pulled the cowl down over his head. McCoy winced as knowledge flooded into his brain, clearly in pain, then fell to his knees. "Of course," he said, eyes wild, "of course! A child could do it! A child could do it!" Sybok and I both leaned forward in our chairs as McCoy began the task of restoring Spock's brain to his body. It was astonishing to watch. Scott spoke for all of us when he said: "I've never seen anything like it. He's operating at warp speed. I'd like a try at that teacher myself." "This is where it gets interesting," said Sybok. "Now we'll learn just how long humans in this universe can retain such uploaded knowledge." "That's the reason you set this whole thing up," I said, comprehension dawning. "One of the reasons," he agreed, nodding. "To get a meaningful result, McCoy had to volunteer to accept a download rather than having one forced upon him. This scenario ensures that he does so." "Then this was always an information gathering mission." "In large part. We need to learn as much as we can about these people without letting them know that's what we're doing and...ah. It's happening. McCoy is starting to falter." I looked back up at the screen as Sybok tapped some figures into a notepad. McCoy had been working away feverishly for well over an hour, but it was clear he was now in trouble. "Bones? Bones?" said Kirk. What a stupid nickname! I couldn't imagine referring to my McCoy that way. "All the ganglia, the nerves," said McCoy, looking and sounding spaced out. "There are a million of them. What am I supposed to do? What am I supposed to do?" "Bones, you can't stop now." "I'm trying to thread a needle with a sledgehammer. What am I supposed to do? I can't remember. I don't remember." "Bones?" "No one can restore a brain." "You could. A while ago it was child's play." Sitting beside me, Sybok leaned back and let out a satisfied sigh. "Well," he said, "it looks like the length of time the humans of this universe can hold a knowledge download is the same as the humans of ours. Taken together with all the other measurements we've made, I'm now prepared to report to the Council a 99.9% physical match between us." "Was that ever in question?" I asked, genuinely curious. "There were those who thought it might be, hence this test." I turned my attention back to the screen. "Is Spock going to die?" "I have no idea. Let's watch and find out." Spock survived. In the event, McCoy reconnected his speech center and Spock then gave the Doctor a running commentary on the effect each connection he made was having. It was a clever solution, and McCoy was able to finish up before the final vestiges of the knowledge transfer fled his mind. "Impressive," said Sybok, grudgingly. "These men of the Federation might one day make a more formidable opponent than we'd imagined." "No," I said, "they won't. If that day ever comes we'll easily crush them. We have weapons they don't, weapons they have no defense against. It would all be over in less than a week." * After Kirk and his men had beamed back up to their Enterprise, Sybok and I emerged from hiding and went directly to the chamber of the Controller, where Kara was waiting for us. The city's population were once again all unconscious. "That went exactly as planned," Sybok said to her, "well done." "Thank you. The holo-matrix of Spock's brain is ready and awaiting your inspection." "'Holo-matrix'?" I said. "The real prize," said Sybok. "Let me show you. Computer, activate holo- matrix." "Holo-matrix activated," said a mechanical voice. "Good. Hello, Spock, how are you feeling?" "I am somewhat puzzled to find myself still disembodied and running the systems of this city," came Spock's distinctive voice from out of the air. "Did the attempt to restore my brain to my body fail? Your voice sounds vaguely familiar...." "That will be all for now. Computer, de-activate holo-matrix." "Holo-matrix de-activated." "I don't understand," I said, "that was Spock, but I saw his crewmates rescue him." "Yes, but not before we made a perfect copy of his mind, of his soul if you believe in such things. That was the second, and most important function of the device that housed his brain. The intelligence in that holo-matrix believes itself to be Spock and is in every important respect as much the real Spock as the original. You grasp what this means, I'm sure." "To all intents and purposes we've captured a senior officer of the Federation," I said, "but he doesn't know he's a prisoner and neither do they. We can trick him into telling us everything we want to know about their military capabilities, all their secrets." "Precisely, and there's one final task we accomplished. It wasn't just surgical skills that were downloaded into McCoy's brain. No, we left a little something extra behind that should prove very useful if we ever have need of it." He sounded very satisfied, and why not? This had been a totally successful mission. Only one thing remained to do. "The ion drive," I said. "I will remove the elements we need from both the spacecraft and the power plant before we leave," said Kara, "disabling what we leave behind in such a way that nothing useful can be learned from it and any damage appears to be the result of systems failure. "What about the populace?" "There's enough stored energy to keep them going until the Federation returns with the experts the other Captain Kirk promised would help them adapt to life back on the surface. They will discover the ion drive and power plant have suffered tragic failures, of course." I frowned at this news. Had it been up to me I'd have wiped them out to forestall the small possibility of Federation scientists learning stuff from them we'd prefer them not to know. But then I'm a military man. Civilians like Sybok don't always have the stomach to do what should be done. It took us several hours to complete our clean-up work and to remove all trace of our presence here. I wrecked the Teacher beyond any hope of repair then used my phaser to vaporise all the stuff our container had originally contained, though not the container itself. We would need that to transport the ionic technology we were taking back to our universe. When we were done, we returned to the elevator that would take us to the surface and Kara rewoke the populace as we started to ascend. Donning our harnesses, we made our way to the spot where we had entered this world. "Not to belabor the obvious," I said, "but there's no starship in orbit overhead to beam us up." "Not in this universe, no," said Sybok, "but here's the really clever bit. Not every part of our harnesses made the transition to this universe. Special probes individually quantum entangled with elements of each harness were left behind and transported to this planet in our universe, burying themselves in the soil. As long as we stand on the same spot in this one, we can use that quantum entanglement to send a recall signal to our universe via those probes." He pressed a button on his own harness. "And when a transporter beam locks on those probes, that entanglement means we get pulled along too." He was right. I could feel the familiar tingle begin as my atoms were disassembled.... ....and then we were in the transporter room of my Enterprise. "Welcome back, Science Minister," said Lieutenant Cho. "Thank you, Cho. You may open the doors now. I'm sure my brother is already outside them." Sure enough, as soon as the doors whooshed open, there was Spock. I stepped out of my harness and off my transporter pad, and Lieutenant Cho took my place. "If you would be so kind, Captain." "Certainly," I said, operating the transporter controls and smiling as Sybok, Kara, Cho, and the container holding the ion tech and the holo- matrix, all dematerialized. The harnesses had been deactivated so this merely transported them to Sybok's own vessel, which had been shadowing the Enterprise since he first came aboard. If Spock was affronted by his brother taking off without saying hello he showed no sign of it. "A successful mission, Captain?" "Oh yes, Mr Spock, very successful indeed." He wanted details, I'm sure, but he knew not to ask for more than I was prepared - or, in this case, allowed - to give him. For myself, I found my thoughts turning back to my doppelganger, to that other, inferior James T. Kirk. One day we were going to meet face-to-face, man-to-man. It wasn't a meeting I expected both of us to survive. - 3 - Uhura was still sleeping when I woke the next morning, her naked body spooned up against my own as it always was, an arm draped over me. It was as if even in sleep she wanted to hold me to her, afraid I might run away and leave her all alone. I gently lifted the arm, not wanting to wake her, then slid out of bed and donned a robe. Waking up female no longer felt as strange as it had. I'd grown used to the weight of breasts on my chest, to the wider hips that gave me such a different walk, and even to being shorter. I'd also grown used to waking up next to Uhura. I stood there for a moment, smiling down at her and feeling something almost like regret. Yes, she had forced me into a position where I had no choice in becoming her woman, but I didn't hold that against her. In fact I admired how she had manipulated things to achieve that end. The sex was more enjoyable than I'd expected, too, and all she really wanted from me was affection. This was less than most people had demanded of me when I was still captain of the Enterprise and so had power. Now I had none. I leaned down and stroked her hair. She was so beautiful! It was a shame I was going to have to kill her. When I had a male body again and was once more captain of the Enterprise I could not command respect if anyone knew I had let myself get caught in a position where I was forced to become someone's concubine. I would have to make sure there was no way anyone could ever find out. Which was why Uhura would have to die. But not just yet. I was in no hurry to throw away one of the few good things I had so far found about being Janice Lester. Sighing, I made my way to the bathroom, going over my plans for the thousandth time as I showered and dressed. Today was the day we rendezvoused with the Archangel and, despite the unplanned adventures we'd been through over the past week, we would make our scheduled meeting on time. This was my one shot at the brass ring. If I blew it I had no idea how I was ever going to get to the other universe again. Uhura got up a little later and while she showered I called up breakfast. This was one of my regular tasks because as well as providing sexual services, being a yeoman's woman meant I also performed most of the functions of a housewife. As we sat together eating, Uhura checked out the latest shipboard news on the computer. "Top item is that all ships in the fleet have received a message from the First Minister," she said, reading from the screen, "reminding us the Emperor is about to celebrate a hundred and twelve years on the throne and...huh." "What?" "Captain Cartwright has been killed by a wild beast while leading a landing party exploring some newly discovered planet." "That was careless of him," I said. Cartwright had been captain of the Archangel. "Since we'll be returning to Earth before the Archangel, her new captain - Raoul Dominguez - has asked us to take possession of his body and store it in our hold until then. Captain Spock has agreed to do so." With Spock tied up in the secret meeting I knew he'd be having, Uhura would be spending most of the day memorizing starfleet communications protocols since he had insisted she should become as proficient in these as the original Uhura had been. This made sense. It would look odd if, in an emergency, she was called in to take over at Comms and had no idea what to do. Which is why, after we rendezvoused with the Archangel that afternoon, I was able to slip away while she was laboring over a problem the computer had set her. I made my way directly to the meeting room. Standing on guard outside were a couple of redshirts, one of whom had groped me two days earlier. He smirked when he saw me coming towards them, which was going to make what came next as much a pleasure as a necessity. As I reached them, apparently just walking by, I turned suddenly, and in rapid succession passed my ring over their agonizers. There was a brief crackling sound, and both men dropped as if they'd been pole-axed. I'd incapacitated them, but not for long. Moving to the door's security keypad, I quickly typed in an access code. Spock would have disabled all my official access codes as a matter of course, but I had set up several others against the possibility of my one day being shut out of the system. When the door whooshed open, I strode in with a confidence I was not actually feeling. Spock was sitting across a table from two men dressed in high-collared black suits; one looked to be south Asian, the other Scandinavian. From the orders I'd received about this meeting a month ago, I knew their names were Patel and Sorensen "Don't get up, gentlemen," I said, raising my hands, "I'm here to talk, not to fight." "Who is this woman?" demanded Patel "My name is Janice Lester," I said, "and for the past several years I've been working deep cover as a tomb raider under the personal authority of Admiral Rosen and reporting to James T. Kirk." "Admiral Rosen died when the ISS Santiago was destroyed three months ago." "I know, and Captain Spock eliminated Jim Kirk two weeks ago, so you see my problem." "You're claiming to be an off-the-books operative, but the only two men who could have vouched for you are dead. Convenient." "The very opposite of convenient, actually. I'm here to prove to you I'm who and what I claim to be." "And how do you propose to do that?" asked Sorensen. "By demonstrating knowledge I couldn't possibly have if I was a phoney. I'll begin with one word, a name: Defiant." The two guards had recovered sufficiently by now to angrily stagger into the room, one of them grabbing me roughly by the shoulder. "No, let her be," said Patel, "and wait outside unless we call you back in." Casting murderous glances my way, they reluctantly complied while I smiled sweetly at them. "How did you disable the guards, by the way?" asked Sorensen after they had left. "Special black-ops tech," I lied, "classified." "OK, let's hear you prove your claims..." I turned to Spock, who had said nothing but was frowning deeply. He knew I was lying, but his curiosity about what I was up to had so far prevented him from exposing me. "Captain Spock," I said, "you believe that we discovered the existence of a parallel universe, the universe of the Federation, when a transporter accident caused four members of the crew of the Enterprise to switch places with their counterparts from that other universe, correct?" "That is correct, Miss Lester." Ah, 'Miss Lester'. Reminding me of my place now. Very good. "Would it surprise you to learn we've known the Federation existed for more than a century." "It would, if true." "And the Tholians. What do you know of them?" "A crystalline race absorbed into the Empire thirty four years ago after we finally discovered a means of overcoming their energy web technology. Extremely belligerent, they had to be forced to submit to Empire rule, in the course of which they lost over ninety percent of their population and were reduced to a pre-technological state." "Almost immediately after the defeat of the Tholian Assembly, the Empire established a heavily armed starbase on the edge of the space they had claimed as their territory, which we've maintained ever since. Do you know why?" "I do not. Since the Tholians are now pre-technological, they no longer pose a threat that would warrant such an investment." "They don't. The reason that starbase is there can be found in the brief, ignoble reign of Empress Sato. Do you recall the story?" "I do. Hoshi Sato had command of a fleet of starships, whose power she threatened to use on Earth if she was not declared Empress. Her reign lasted one year, three months, and eleven days. At that point she lost control of her fleet and was overthrown within hours. Her head remained on a spike outside the imperial palace for several weeks afterwards." "That's the official story, the one taught in history class, but it's not the whole truth. Sato commanded not a fleet of starships but one. It was a Federation starship called the USS Defiant, and it was from a hundred years in the future." "Indeed," said Spock, raising an eyebrow. I had him now. "There's an area in what was Tholian territory where there are dimensional fractures in space. This must also hold true in the Federation's universe, too, because the Defiant tumbled through one of those fractures. None of the crew survived. It's because of those fractures we maintain the starbase. The powers that be worry about what else might come tumbling through one day. The Defiant was taken by the Tholians and later captured from them by Captain Jonathan Archer. Hoshi Sato was the Captain's woman. She poisoned Archer, took command of the Defiant, and used it to make herself Empress. Unfortunately for her, Sato trusted someone she shouldn't have, someone, who let her enemies on board, and the Defiant was captured. There was certainly no way Empire ships of the day could have taken it militarily. The capture of all that future technology was hugely significant in accelerating the technological advancement of the Empire, but of even greater significance were the mission logs contained in her computers. Some of these had been lost, but most were intact. They provided a road map laying out the dangers the Empire would encounter in the territories it was expanding into and, in most cases, how those dangers had been overcome. Every Federation starship also has copies of the mission logs of every other ship in the fleet, so this was an enormously important find." "A great treasure, indeed," said Spock. "The Empire doled out the information to its captains sparingly with most receiving only the logs that related to their own missions, and then usually only a few months in advance of when they would be needed. Unfortunately, among the missing mission logs was the one covering this Enterprise's first encounter with the crew of the other Enterprise. When Captain Kirk found himself on that starship along with Uhura, Scott, and McCoy he was caught out. Unprepared for the encounter, he initially thought he was the victim of some sort of subterfuge and so gave himself away. He and the others were then quickly imprisoned. A lost opportunity, alas." "Now that I am captain of the Enterprise, why have I not been given copies of those mission logs that relate to this ship?" asked Spock. "Because we're now past the point in time where the Defiant's logs end," said Sorensen. "From here on out we're in uncharted territory." "All you've proven so far, Miss Lester, is that you've gotten hold of some of the Empire's most closely guarded secrets," said Patel. "You could be a spy. How do you propose to prove that you're not?" I had expected this. "To do that will require the help of Captain Cartwright." "Captain Cartwright is dead." "No," I said, "he's not. If I had to guess I'd say he's in the ante room off this one, listening in on everything being said." There was a moment's pause, then the ante room door whooshed open and Captain Cartwright strode out. "The young lady appears to know just about everything, gentleman," he said, "but I have no idea how I'm supposed to prove she's not a spy." Lawrence Cartwright was tall, dark-skinned, and commanding. He was also one of my oldest friends in starfleet. "Knowing I could find myself in the situation I'm now in, Jim Kirk told me a bunch of stuff that only he and specific other people would know about, personal memories he had never shared with anyone else that would establish my bona fides by proving to those individuals I had his complete confidence. You and Jim Kirk knew each other a long time, Captain Cartwright. He said there was a particular story from when you were cadets that you had both sworn never to tell another soul. He then told me that tale and said that you should stop me when you were sure I knew the whole thing, that you wouldn't want the story getting out." "Go on," said Larry Cartwright, frowning. "OK. The story concerns two young cadets enjoying a furlough on Wrigley's Pleasure Planet, where they met a pair of young women named Faora and Alarna from Mars Colony. When the...." "No need to go any further," said Larry, looking alarmed as well he might. "You're who you say you are. No way Jim Kirk would have told you that story if you weren't." "Assuming for the moment you're who and what you claim to be, what is it you want, Miss Lester?" asked Patel. This was it. Time for the big lie. "The Empire doesn't believe the Federation has any spies over here," I said, "but we're still taking the precaution of faking Captain Cartwright's death just in case. In actual fact, the Enterprise is taking him to Earth where he will use a trans-dimensional harness to cross over into the other universe and infiltrate the Federation. You brought along a second harness that you were told was back-up in case the first one fails. It isn't. It's actually intended for me." "*You*?" said Sorensen, incredulously. "Why would we send you across?" "So I can go under deep cover again. This time not as a tomb raider, but as crewmember on their Enterprise." Patel stared at me long and hard. "This is too big a decision to make just based on your word alone," he said. "I need to seek confirmation from the Council." I showed no outward reaction, but my heart sank. They were calling my bluff, so that was it; game over. I had given it best shot. And I had failed. - 4 - "Are you sure you want an anaesthetic?" Nurse Chapel had asked. "Absolutely sure," I'd replied. "I'm not having cosmetic surgery without it." That was four days ago, and I was still getting used to my altered face. The changes weren't major, but then they didn't need to be. They were just enough so that while I still bore a passing resemblance to Janice Lester, no one would assume I was her. The long, straight, black hair also helped, as did the more pronounced midwestern twang I'd decided on and been practicing over and over until I could now adopt it at will. "I don't like it!" Uhura had said when she saw my new appearance for the first time in our quarters that night. "What, I'm not pretty enough for you now?" I replied, running the back of my finger gently down her cheek, and smiling at how this made her tremble. "No...I mean yes," she said, "it's just that you don't look like my Janice anymore. Can they fix it when this mission is over, put you back the way you were?" "Dr McCoy assures me the surgery can be easily reversed," I told her, which was good to know. Even if it wasn't one I planned on using, it was always wise to have as many options as possible available to you. "I know you can't tell me what the mission is, but why did they pick you for it? You're not even starfleet, and they've got no idea who you used to be so it can't be that." That was the big question. We had just entered Earth orbit. In a few minutes I would be in another universe. What a turn around from five days ago when I thought I had lost everything. Patel had put in a call to Science Minister Sybok, who at this stage of the project was in charge of all things relating to the other universe....and Sybok had confirmed that everything I'd told them was true and that I was to cross to the other universe with Larry Cartwright. Why had he done that? Why had he legitimized my lies? What game was he playing? Was this his own decision or had it been sanctioned by the Council, maybe even by the Emperor himself? I had no answers to these questions, and that worried me, but for now I had to put them out of my mind. For now I had to concentrate on the mission at hand and my plan to become Captain James T. Kirk once more. Larry and I were in the transporter room, our harnesses on, checking our equipment. A century of studying the Defiant's computers and technology had given us a lot of advantages over the Federation. We had long since cracked all their current encryption and codes, for example, and had sub-dermal communicators that would enable us to communicate with each other without starfleet knowing about it. "The timing on this is going to be very tight," I told him. "According to the Defiant computer records, the Enterprise was due to have spent most of the past two months being refitted prior to commencing the second part of its five year mission. Assuming nothing happened in the meantime to disrupt the schedule, it's due to set off on that voyage in two days. That doesn't give us a lot of leeway." "You've worked up a pretty good legend for 'Jenna Lawson' during the time you've been on board," said Larry, a 'legend' being a highly detailed fake identity, "and since I was recently promoted to Admiral over there I'll be able to get it into starfleet's database as soon as I'm in place." "Good," I said. "Did you get that vial of Draxian metaflu from Dr McCoy?" "Yes, but you haven't explained how an unpleasant but fairly harmless virus that passes through someone's system in a week is going to help you." "We know it's relatively harmless, but they don't, nor do they have any drugs that will touch it. When our target comes out in that alarming all-over rash and starts vomiting a lot, they'll have no choice in how they react. Since it's new to them, starfleet quarantine protocols will come into force." "Ah, I see. Very clever. You've really got it all thought out, haven't you?" "I'd better," I said. "I'm only going to get one shot at this, after all." The transporter room door whooshed open and Spock entered. He went directly to the control console. "It is time," he said. We mounted the transporter platform, where our baggage was already waiting for us on two of the pads, clad in harnesses. "Energizing," said Spock, rising the sliders.... ....and we materialized outside a log cabin, in some woods, in another universe. The cabin was Larry's - or rather his Federation counterpart's - and located several miles outside San Francisco. While we were able to mask our transport signature from Federation sensors, we couldn't guarantee we'd be unobserved if we had transported directly into the city itself, hence the choice of this relatively remote location. Plus, of course, should we want to get back to out own universe we could only do so from the spot where we arrived in this one. "Amazing!" said Larry. "We're actually in another universe." "Yes, it is," I said, "but the harnesses only enable individuals to cross over. We need to find a way of opening a portal between the universes that ships can pass through" "OK, let's get this stuff stowed in the cabin," said Larry, "then we have to get into the city so we can get the lay of the land and figure out how we're going to take out the Admiral and have me replace him." It was of course at that exact moment that Admiral Cartwright appeared from behind the cabin, carrying a pile of freshly chopped logs. The instant he saw his doppelganger standing there he knew it meant trouble. He was dropping the logs and reaching for his communicator almost before we could react. He was fast. I was faster. I downed him with a stun beam from my phaser as he flipped the communicator open. Leaving the Admiral unconscious where he lay, Larry and I silently circled around the cabin from opposite directions, phasers at the ready, concerned he might not be here alone. Luckily for us, it turned out that he was. Even more luckily, his flier was parked out back. "Fortune certainly smiled on us today," I said. "The Admiral being out here and us getting the drop on him like that has saved you and me a lot of trouble." "It's even better than that," said Larry, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "We expected to have to kill him then smuggle his body out here so we could vaporise him without having to worry about the sensors in the city that would pick up a phaser discharge. Instead we have a high value captive. Help me get a harness on him and we'll drag him out to our arrival spot. He's going on a one way trip to our universe." I wrote a note explaining the circumstances of his capture, Larry taped it to his chest, and then we did just that, watching as he dematerialized and was whisked away. "We'll extract valuable intelligence from him," said Larry. "The Empire already knows a vast amount about the Federation," I mused, "while they know almost nothing about us. You know what that makes them?" "What?" "Prey." Back in the cabin, Larry fired up the computer. "It's almost funny," he said, as a beam from the unit scanned his features, "that because we use secure biometrics for identity verification these days I'm able to easily access the starfleet database, whereas oldtime passwords would have been a problem. Being genetically identically to the other Lawrence Cartwright, I sail right past facial scanners and DNA sniffers." "Welcome, Admiral Cartwright," said a mechanical voice. "And we're in! Do you have Jenna Lawson's legend?" I handed him the datachip I'd prepared and he slid it into the relevant computer port. "Right, I'll leave you to make all the necessary connections and amendments," he said, getting up from his seat. "I need to take the flyer into the city and make sure a certain starfleet officer comes down with Draxian metaflu. I'll be back in a few hours." - 5 - "I can't believe how short the skirts are on female starfleet uniforms over here," I said, trying to pull the hem down further than it wanted to go. "This thing barely covers my backside." "Better get used to it," chuckled Larry, "because you're going to be spending most of your time in it from now on." Having spent the night in the cabin we were now preparing to take our leave of it. By the time Larry returned the previous evening I had my new identity firmly established across starfleet and all that was left for us both to do was get a good night's sleep, which we had. "I'd take you into the city if I could, but you're going to have to make do with a transit stop on the nearest highway. No one must be able to connect us, so we can't be seen together." Which is how I found myself on a transit shuttle an hour or so later when the orders I'd been expecting came through from starfleet. It had worked. I was in! I was instructed to report to Captain Kirk at the Starfleet Academy ballroom, which was a surprise, where he and several of his crew were helping Janice Lester and Arthur Coleman celebrate their wedding, an even bigger surprise. They had apparently gotten hitched before a Justice of the Peace earlier in the day, and not only had Jim Kirk supplied the bridal gown, he had also arranged this room for their party and given the bride away. Clearly, he and Janice Lester were close in this universe. When I got to the ballroom, most of those present were on the dance floor. Janice Rand had been the maid of honor and she now had Jamie Lisa in her arms, the pair gazing into each other's eyes as they slow-danced, while the bride and groom were dancing together a few feet away. It was strange seeing Janice Rand alive and well and looking so happy when I had strangled her counterpart to death in my universe. I was reflecting on this when I caught my first ever sight of my own counterpart in the flesh. "May I cut in?" said Jim Kirk, tapping Arthur Coleman on the shoulder. "Of course, Captain," replied Coleman. As Kirk took her husband's place, sliding his hands around Janice Lester's waist, I moved closer so that I could listen in on their conversation. Fortunately, they were by this point near the edge of the dance floor. "So, Janice, how does it feel to be Mrs Coleman?" Kirk asked. "Wonderful, but I'm keeping my own surname. This is the twenty-third century, after all." "Quite right, too." "How about you? Are you looking forward to getting back out there?" "Like you would not believe. I was born to be the captain of a starship. Adventuring out among the stars is where I belong." "I've got an adventure of my own coming up in nine months." "Nine....does that mean?" "Yes, I'm pregnant." "That was quick. I'm impressed." "I told you Arthur and I had a lot of lost time to make up for, and we have been." "Good for you," Kirk said, looking at her thoughtfully, "good, for you." When the next dance started up, Kirk relinquished Janice Lester to her husband and left the dance floor. That's when he spotted me. "Lieutenant Commander," he said, "you're not wearing your dress uniform." "No, sir," I replied, "I'm not a guest. Given that the Enterprise is due to leave for deep space tomorrow, I was ordered to report to you immediately. I'm Jenna Lawson, your replacement Security Chief." I tried not to stare, not to study every inch of that oh so familiar face, but it was hard. We were finally meeting in person, just not in the way I'd imagined we would. "Ah yes, a shame Giotto took ill," he said. "Good to have you with us, Lawson. Do you dance?" "What? A little, I guess...." "A little is enough," he said taking my hand and leading me onto the dance floor. He slid his free hand around my waist, I put mine on his shoulder, and we joined in with the dancing. It was odd not to be leading, odder still to be looking into my own true face. "So, Lieutenant Commander Jenna Lawson," he said, "tell me about your career." So I did, giving him details from my carefully constructed legend and answering the technical questions he put to me, the latter being easy for someone with my years of experience captaining a starship. Having an interview while being waltzed around a dance floor only added to how strange my day had so far been. When he was satisfied I knew my stuff, Kirk asked me what I thought of the bride's dress. I glanced across at Janice Lester. "Impressive use of silk and lace and fine embroidery," I said, "it's a stunning creation. Kudos to the designer." "Do you see yourself in one like it some day?" "I could certainly see my bride in it." "'Bride'? Then you're...." "Not sexually interested in men? No, sir." "Well, the crew of the Enterprise numbers four hundred and thirty. I'm sure you'll find no shortage of potential female partners." "I hope so. Thank you, sir." The dance ended, we nodded and smiled at each other, then we parted. I left soon afterwards and beamed up to the ship. The Enterprise might not be heading out until tomorrow, but as Jenna Lawson I had no actual residence of my own. Also, I was eager to get established, so I'd decided to go aboard tonight and sleep in my assigned quarters. My kit and carefully crafted 'personal effects' - brought across with me from my universe - had been beamed aboard earlier and were waiting for me there when I took possession of those quarters. Once inside, I sat down on the bed, looked around me, then threw my head back and laughed with relief. I had done it. I was in. The following day, when the Enterprise eased out of spacedock to begin the final two years of its five year mission, I was one of those on the bridge. My predecessor, Vince Giotto, had mostly stayed off the bridge, choosing to direct the day-to-day running of the redshirts from his office. Watching the Enterprise's bridge officers concentrating on their assigned tasks I couldn't help comparing them to their counterparts on my own ship. Save for the missing beard, Mr Spock seemed identical to the man I knew, the others not so much. My Sulu and Chekov were schemers who would stab you in the back at the first opportunity, whereas this pair seemed loyal, attentive, and frankly bland. Looking at Uhura I couldn't help but see the woman whose bed I had shared these past few weeks, rather than the promiscuous firebrand the original had been. Then there was Captain Kirk. Kirk puzzled me. He seemed not so much another version of me as someone playing at being me. It was very well done and most people wouldn't notice anything wrong with it, but it still felt like an impersonation. I had not expected this and was at a loss to explain it. Not that it ultimately mattered. As soon as I could figure out a way to do so I was getting us to Camus II. That was my priority. But it wasn't my only mission. I would also be learning everything I could about the Enterprise's operation and how it differed from ours. I might have my own agenda as well, but I was first and foremost a loyal servant of the Empire. I believed in the Prime Directive, which states that "all civilisations shall be made a part of the Empire using whatever force is necessary". The Emperor himself had created the directive, and it was the Emperor who had decided it should apply in this universe as well as our own. Admiral Cartwright and I were now in position. We were the first, but we wouldn't be the last. The infiltration of the Federation had begun. """"""""""""""""""" The End """"""""""""""""""" Note: I made mention of "the unplanned adventures" above because I had ideas for a couple of 'sidebar' tales that would have to fit in at that point. So this was just laying down a marker for if I decide to come back and write them later. Chronological order of stories to date (not the order in which I wrote them, but how they fit together): 1. The Final Fate of Janice Lester 2. Mirror Universe Turnabout 3. Interlude on Aragon IV 4. Infiltration 5. The Second Life of Janice Lester Since 'The Second Life of Janice Lester' is the bridging tale between the early stories and those set thirty years later (which I've yet to start) it will probably keep moving higher in number for a while yet as I write more early-set tales.