Preface

The following novel is a sequel to my book "Reality: The Borg War", which detailed the account of how I ended up where I am today. For those of you who didn't read that account, allow me to summarize.

My name is Michael Thorne Allen. I was born in the year 1981, in the thriving metropolis of Dayton, Ohio. I grew up there, went to college there, and eventually ended up living my adult life there, working as a salesman in a men's clothing store.

That is, until the day I left.

I was taken from my place in time – from my very universe – to a place that had before only existed in two places: my television set and my imagination. The universe of Star Trek, which as it turned out was a real place, became my new residence.

I know; it sounds like a bad fan fiction story, doesn't it? That's what I thought, too. But it was real, and I learned in very short order just how real. We – that is, myself and about four thousand other "Trekkies" from my universe – had been brought to their reality to help them in a battle against the Borg, the Federation's (and indeed perhaps the Universe's) most feared enemies. To say the very least, it was an epic struggle. Billions died, and among them was my best friend, Jerry Foster.

Jerry and I had grown up together, and were brought into this new reality at the same time. We even served aboard the same starship. But in one of the final battles against the Borg, he was prematurely denied the right to further existence.

Ultimately, the war is permanently etched into my mind; it is a dark place that I sometimes go to in order to remind myself that there is a price to be paid for everything. This is not to say that everything about the war left a bad taste in my mouth. I had many adventures along the way, some of which were (in retrospect, of course) quite fun.

To say nothing of the fact that I ended up falling in love.

Anyway, the point is that after all was said and done, and we had defeated the Borg, I was given the choice of remaining in the service of Starfleet as the captain of my ship, the Ascension. Naturally, I said yes to this offer, and have been a captain ever since. That was many, many years ago now. I sit here, having just barely completed the book about my first mission, and feel the urge to go on. I feel like everyone back home (that is, you the readers) ought to know about the things that have happened in my life. It has certainly not been a dull one since I came here. For the sake of your patience, I think that I'll try to make the continuing stories read a bit less like a report and a bit more like a novel (Julie used to call me the biggest self-critic she'd ever known).

The only question is where to take up the line at. After all, the first several months after the war was over were nothing but dull. Starfleet, while granting me a continuation of my captaincy, certainly did not entrust my ship with very many important missions for a while. Rather, they sent us on routine survey missions. These were brutally long, which had the added effect of giving me the time I needed to complete my holodeck Academy training. In a word, it was boring, and certainly not worth talking about.

Ah, but perhaps it would be best to start shortly after that, with the incident I like to call the "Mirage of Lights". Yes, I think that will do very well. I hope you will enjoy the tale.

--- M.A. San Francisco, Earth 2345