Inversion
Author's Note: This is my first Star Trek fan fiction, and before I begin, let me say that I have only ever watched Enterprise and Voyager. If I make a mistake, please correct me. I'm not quite as into this as some folks who probably know how high Shran is. This takes place during the episode E2 of Enterprise. You may see other folks from our world head into the Mirror Universe as well.
I heard the best joke on YouTube about this- the Mirror Universe is what happens when Bush won the elections...:P
Chapter One Reversals
"Keep firing!" Those were the last words Lorian said before the Enterprise was hit again. A tremendous explosion blasted out a panel from the side of the wall. To the half-Vulcan, it seemed the floor rose up to meet him as he blacked out.
Through a darkened haze of semi-consciousness, he could hear Karyn shouting, "They're clear!"
The Enterprise faded in and out briefly, apparently struggling to retain its integrity and place. T'Pol closed her eyes. What might it feel like to be chronologically ripped apart? Then the ship faded back in with a permanency that no one could question, groaning slightly. Outside the ship, particle beams blurred as they neared the Enterprise before passing through harmlessly. The ship itself became indiscernible amidst a group of mirror images as temporal disturbances raged outside. The ship settled into place as Lorian staggered upright, hearing Karyn's voice again.
"Impulse manifold damaged! We're going through the passage!" Lorian's head jerked up at this as he stumbled to the impulse controls. A spray of sparks shot from the console and it darkened. Lorian swore.
"Is the corridor destabilizing?" he asked, forehead pounding. Karyn shook her head in the affirmative. Lorian's face went carefully blank.
"What do we do now? We can't mess with the timeline- I think we proved that ourselves. We can't warn ourselves again."
Time passed, and the lights in the bridge gradually began to come on as systems came online. Lorian sat in his chair in exhaustion, watching an ETA timer count down. It passed zero, continuing on. All hands braced for the expected rumble of expulsion, but it never came.
"Possible explanations?" he asked. Karyn shifted. "T'Pol might know-"
"In fact, I do." said the Vulcan, opening a channel. Lorian answered it, listening intently. "We've destabilized the corridor again, but we have no guarantee that we're going back to the same spot. Our particle wake was different. In this case, we seem to be going into the future."
"Is that worse or better?" asked Karyn offhandedly. No one on the bridge answered her as the ship plowed on.
Several hours passed, and the Enterprise shook occasionally with the rigors of space-time travel. Now and then, there would be cause for serious alarm, but Lorian, an engineer's son, quickly got everything under control each time. It was ten hours after the expected time of arrival when the ship was spat out, the blue glow behind them fading. The ship rattled and groaned, then settled in place. Lorian was up immediately. "Location? Time?"
"We're somewhere off of Rigel X, if scanners are correct." answered Gemar, the Denobulan tactical officer. While Phlox had died long ago, Gemar had taken the spot vacated by Travis Mayweather while his sister, Marel, took sickbay. Lorian quickly ordered 'all' stop for repairs- these were completed shortly after. The Enterprise went forward on half impulse, but they'd only been moving for a short time when they were stopped and hailed.
"Put it onscreen." ordered Lorian. The screen flickered, then everyone stepped back as Shran's visage filled the screen. He surveyed the bridge briefly, and then began to speak.
"State your business here, before we open fire, pink-skins!" Lorian stepped forward, his mind uncomprehending.
"Shran? Didn't you die long ago?" he asked. The Andorian faced him, looking at him with- was that hatred? Not answering the question, he burst out angrily,
"No, but I should have! Commander Trip...I should kill you right now!"
"I am not Trip Tucker!" shouted Lorian, moving forward again. "My name is Lorian Tucker, son of Trip and T'Pol! Why are you yelling so- weren't you and Trip friends? This is the Enterprise- you remember, don't you?"
"Oh, I remember the Enterprise." said Shran bitterly. "The ship that nearly destroyed the Kumari, the ship that killed my wife-to-be! No, Lorian, I was never a friend of your father, the despicable worm! Were it not for him, my fiancée might be alive right now!" The Andorian turned and cut the channel with a brusque gesture. Karyn looked up.
"The Kumari is charging weapons."
"Put all power to hull plating, stand down weapons!" ordered Lorian. "Gemar, take us in closer. Maybe we can reason with him."
The moments ticked by as everyone waited for the jolt. It didn't come- instead, a beeping noise began to sound from the communications console. Serina, who'd taken over Hoshi's station, answered it. Shran came onscreen again.
"Why aren't you firing, pink-skin? Put up a fight!"
"I told you," began Lorian evenly, "I'm not here to start a fight. I just want to know what's going on." Shran breathed heavily for a moment, and then Karyn spoke.
"The Kumari is lowering her defenses and deactivating weapons."
"All right, pink skin. You're alive for a bit longer. I want to come aboard and see if you're who you really are. Any false play and the Kumari-"
"I understand, Commander." said Lorian. With that, he cut the communication.
It was some time later when Shran beamed aboard with two guards behind him. All showed signs of a hard life, scars and frayed clothing telling the story. One guard and Shran had phase-pistol scorch marks on their shirts. Shran stepped forwards.
"Alright, pink-skin. Let's see your proof."
"Our computer logs can tell the story." replied Lorian, and he provided the pass code for the ship's databases. Shran sat down at one of the terminals and began to pull up files. As timed passed, his face, illuminated and pale, changed. From anger to sadness, his face displayed the full range of emotions- then went blank as he brusquely terminated the computer. Standing up, he nodded shortly
"Everything seems to be in order...Lorian. We'll let you through. You'll find things are quite a bit different here."
The Enterprise drifted through a large aperture in the rock face of a planetary mountain. As the starship drifted through, a titanium door sealed shut behind them. Hangar lights flickered on, illuminating the massive space that the rebels used as their docking port.
It was eerily empty, except for the Kumari and three other vessels, along with two Vulcan cruisers. Shran jerked his head in response to Lorian's unasked question- "We lost the rest of our ships in a battle awhile ago."
With the crew having disembarked except for a scratch party, Lorian followed Shran to what appeared to be a meeting room of sorts. Shran looked at the half-Vulcan, taking in his features for the first time. He didn't ask questions about his heritage though- his question was more down-to-earth.
"Do you mind if I share your database with my officers?"
"Not at all." answered Lorian, and he looked about the room, sparsely furnished with only the bare essentials. He guessed this group had no money to spend on novelties.
Shran pressed a button on the desk, and soon after, members of all species began to trickle in. Vulcans, Andorians, Tellerites, and many others. Lorian even spotted some Orions and a few Xindi. They sat- he sat. Shran folded his hands and gestured to Lorian.
"Please, welcome Lorian, captain of the starship Enterprise." When murmurs began to shoot through the assembled people and several reached for weapons, Shran's antennae moved forward aggressively. "No, not the Enterprise you're thinking off...this ship is not the ISS Enterprise." There was some relief in the room, before Gral of the Tellerites spoke up.
"But then what nationality is it?"
"Starfleet." replied Lorian easily. The growling in the room started before Shran took a PADD and waved it towards one screen. Instantly, information began to scroll across it.
"He is from Starfleet - but not the one we know. I had a chance to read his computer database, and he and his crew are from a separate universe...a parallel universe. One where there is no empire- where we are treated as equals. In exchange for this information, it's only fair we tell him what goes on here in return."
"Things are different here than in your universe," explained Shran as the others went to examine the data. "There was no Federation. Earth's 'first contact' with the Vulcans amounted to a party of raiders, lead by Zefram Cochrane, swarming the Vulcan ship and seizing it to further themselves. Earth became the center of an empire- the Terran Empire. They enslaved all the species in your Federation, even species such as the Orions. We're a rebel group- but we can't hold up for long. They got a new ship somehow...it destroyed three of our ships within two minutes."
Lorian shook his head. "Nothing from our universe can do that." he said. "The firepower must be immense!"
"Not only that," added Shran miserably, "but by now, it's over Earth. They could make a fleet of Defiant-like ships- and that'd be the end of us. But that ship is from your world." Shran slid a PADD over the table, displaying the Defiant. The UES on the front was unmistakable- the emblem of the United Earth fleet.