Things aren't always what they seem.

"Why do I keep feeling like I don't belong here?" It was a simple question but yet, there were so many roads to travel in my search for the answer. And, I was definitely the last person to ask that question. After all, It wouldn't do for a Starfleet admiral to doubt herself when the going got interesting.

Then again, my meteoric rise to admiral was an interesting thing all in its self.

I was aboard Earth Spacedock, leaning on the rail that bordered on the stairs that lead to the office of CINC Starfleet, Admiral Jorel Quinn. I was watching beings of nearly all shapes and sizes in Starfleet uniforms walking to and from, busy with all sorts of regular things you would expect at a place like this. And yet, they too looked out of place to me. For some odd reason I actually expected them to cower in front of me or at least try to avoid being the center of my attention…

The fact that those beings weren't cowering in front of me annoyed me, but it didn't annoy me as much as the fact that we had had to bring the USS Huallaga back to spacedock for repairs after yet another encounter with a Borg incursion. This little stop over prevented me from getting back out there, and I didn't really like having to visit Admiral Quinn either.

My comm badge chirped. "The Admiral will see you now."

I banished the thoughts about cowering space station staff to the farthest and deepest reaches of my mind and headed through the entrance that would bring me to the Admiral's office. I didn't catch the security guards coming to attention nor did I hear the clattering of the small waterfall that ran off his office back wall. Like a borg drone I headed left on autopilot and practically ignored everybody else that was seemingly occupied by the daily operations that Starfleet conducted through this office.

I also spotted Ambassador Sugihara. He was outside of Quinn's office and already in deep conversation with a couple of captains and somebody I recognized as the Deferi ambassador. I actually pitied the guy, the Deferi still had a lot of troubles with the Breen and yet Starfleet was slowely but surely getting a grip on things in the Orellius sector, I thought we could do more. It didn't help all that much either that the joint alliance of the Federation, Klingon and Romulan Republic forces had failed to prevent the Iconians from destroying the Preserver archive on Lae'nas III.

Quinn's own office had only one occupant. The man himself. There was a small stack of pads on his desk, and the admiral was alternating between studying the pad and looking at something on his terminal. For a brief moment, I thought I noticed a flash of worry appear on his features but, those worried features disappeared just as soon as he noticed me.

The door hushed shut behind me. It made me feel more then a little trapped.

"Good to see you Jenn, please take a seat."

I sat down on the left seat, wondering why he wanted to see me.

"Tell me, how is the Sojourner class doing?"

I gave him some details on my last run in with the Borg and how the ship performed. Then I added a few things which had come up in the after action reports from the command crew. Admiral Quinn then nodded and made a few cursory notes on the pad he had been holding. He then picked up another padd from the stack and handed it to me, with a question "I take it you remember the Mirror universe?"

Unwillingly I shivered "The Mirror universe are literally our polar opposites, in everything. Where we seek peaceful cooperation, they conquer.." I didn't finish the rest as I noticed Quinn had raised a hand

"Yes, I know all that. We've had a few skirmishes with Mirror universe forces in the Badlands recently, and as a result of that we've gained a few more samples of their technology. Technology we can adapt to our use."

A brief flash of an earlier encounter rushed through my head, it was a ship that had looked like the Galaxy class I had been commanding then, only it was a lot more powerful, and had proceeded for a while to kick the living crap out of my ship before we turned things around and destroyed the Mirror Galaxy class….

While I had the flashback on my own little mirror incursion I missed the rest of the Admiral's explanation. I only caught "Therefore your ship will receive a couple of weapon upgrades in the form of Mirror Universe phasers."

The chill that I had felt running down my spine now turned into a freeze. Where they really equipping the Huallaga with Mirror Universe weaponry? I reached over to receive a padd from the admiral. A quick glance showed them to be weapon specifics and other assorted technical details. Next up was a data package that included orders and a patrol route

I glanced up from my reading. "Orellius sector, sir?"

"Correct. With things in the Delta quadrant stabilizing and the Iconian situation resolved we can afford to shift our focus elsewhere for now."

I nodded my understanding. "Then in that case, by your leave sir?"

A nod from the admiral and the door hissing open meant I was on my way back to my ship, not feeling relieved at all. I didn't even notice the Admiral staring at me as I left his office.

The beeping of the padd on top of the stack caught Admiral Quinn's attention just as soon as Admiral Jenn Torvan had left his visual range. He activated the padd and almost wished he hadn't.

"Drake..." Quinn didn't really feel like talking to the operative.

"Admiral Quinn..what if I told you Admiral Jenn Torvan is more then a little skeptical about her assignment to the Orellius sector block?"

"And why is that, Drake? Because of something you guys…. "

Quinn never finished the sentence. There was something in Drake's attitude that made him stop.

"Only quite recently we've become aware of something….."

to be continued.