The vision returned to the ISS Enterprise, in 2267. Travis Mayweather blinked for several seconds and steadied himself. "What the hell just happened?" he asked no one. He looked down. He even had on a different uniform. He had no way of knowing this, but it was Sulu's uni. "Huh. Suddenly I'm a Lieutenant. Awright!"

A few redshirts walked by. "Who the hell are you?" asked one of them.

"Mayweather, uh, just assigned here."

"A Lieutenant?" asked one of the redshirts.

"Yes," Travis intoned, "a Lieutenant." He bounced up on his heels briefly, proud of his sudden and unexpectedly odd promotion.

The intercom came on. "All hands, this is Ensign Chekov. The captain and his landing party are back on board. That is all."

Mayweather figured out how to get to the transporter room and, as he watched, Spock escorted a rather surprised-looking Kirk as the three other members of the landing party trailed behind, with the one woman at the back. Spock didn't seem to notice Mayweather but Uhura, one fine-looking woman, did. Travis looked her up and down, and his eyes did not linger on her face. "Niiiice," he came closer. "I'm Travis, baby."

Uhura gulped when she saw him. She tugged on the back of one of her companions' sleeves. "Scotty!" she hissed in a stage whisper. "What do I do?"

Scotty and McCoy looked back at her and the doctor shrugged. "When in Rome …." He then realized what was happening. He stopped for a moment and turned back. "We don't have time for this."

"What are you gonna do about it, Old Man?" Travis's tone was one of contempt.

"Laddie, ya might wanna reconsider yer actions here," Scotty interposed himself between Travis and the rest of them.

"Enough," Kirk stated firmly. "We're busy." They went back to walking.

Uhura glared and then stopped for a second. "Lieutenant Uhura, Mister."

"An attitude, huh?" pressed Travis, still following along and still leering. "You got a stick where the sun don't shine? Let me remove that for ya, baby."

"Miss Uhura!" called the captain, "Let's stay together! Mister Spock, I think the doctor and Mister Scott can take their leaves now. I'd like to explore my options when it comes to the Halkans."

"Options, Captain?" The Vulcan eyebrow was raised slightly.

"Options, Mister Spock. Let's see if we can get what we want without destroying these people."

"Worlds that fail to comply with the Empire's wishes are destroyed. Terror must be maintained, else the Empire crumbles."

Kirk noticed the young man standing nearby and looking, perhaps, for something to do. "What's your name, Lieutenant?"

"Mayweather, sir." He grinned at Uhura. She put a hand on Scotty's arm.

"Come along with us to the Bridge, Mister, uh, Mayweather, is it?" Kirk inquired after watching the exchange.

"Yes, sir."

"Yes, well, come along, then." Uhura shot him a look, so Kirk added, "I'd like you where I can see you."

As they walked, Spock interjected, "Captain, might I remind you that this is highly irregular?"

"What is, Mister Spock?"

"Most unconventional – a new, unknown and untested person on the Bridge – and the Halkans, too, I might add."

"You might add that, yes," Kirk smiled. "But let's go anyway."

=/\=

Otra's vision changed, and she saw the Defiant again. A wall chronometer display slid by with the date – January 16th of 2155.

The turbolift doors swished open, and Sulu found himself on the Bridge. Archer got up from the command chair immediately. "Who the hell are you?"

The pilot's chair was occupied by a slight woman with a complexion that was the color of coffee with cream. She looked up as the stranger arrived. "I'm the pilot," Sulu announced. The woman shrugged and, when he leaned over her and grabbed the front of her uniform roughly, she got up.

"Sit your skinny ass back down, Pike!" Archer commanded the woman. He addressed the newcomer, "What'd ya do with Mayweather?" Hoshi looked up, too, and eyed the new guy.

"Who?" asked Sulu.

"He was sent down to get to Engineering," Archer explained impatiently, getting in Sulu's face. "But now you're suddenly here, and it's funny, but you're a Sergeant, too. And here," he grabbed Sulu's sleeve, "T. Mayweather?" he read off the uni patch. "Hoshi, check for Mayweather's bio signs, his communicator, anything. Reed, help her."

"Bloody hell," Reed muttered, complaining under his breath as he walked over to Hoshi's station. "I still say a good flogging's in order."

"Well?" Archer asked Sulu.

"I have no idea what you're going on about. Whoever Mayweather is, we've never met."

"So why the hell are you wearing his clothes?" Archer's patience, thin at best, was very nearly gone.

"Maybe I look better in them. But," Sulu waved at Archer dismissively, "It's not like I know any of you, either." His eyes swept across the Bridge. "But some of you, I can tell already, I'd like to know … better." He glanced down at the console at the pilot's station. "Troubles?"

"There isn't enough power coming into steering and navigation," Pike explained. She looked at him. "The helm doesn't respond as quickly as it should. That's why Mayweather went to Engineering in the first place. At least, that's my understanding."

"She's right," Archer allowed, "Engineering needs to coax out more power."

"No, they don't need to," Sulu stated decisively. "Tell you what, Captain."

"Oh?"

"If I can fly this boat, without having to squeeze out more power to navigation, you'll make me the main pilot, right?"

"Sir!" Pike was a bit indignant.

"Out of the way, Shelby," Archer commanded her. "Let's see how Mister, uh, what was your name again?"

"I never said it. But it's Hikaru Sulu."

"Let's see," Archer declared, "how Sulu here does. And Reed?"

"Sir?"

"Where the hell is Mayweather?"

"He seems to be completely off the ship."

"Hoshi?" asked Archer.

"I can't find him, either," she confirmed. "He might even be dead."

"Well, Mister Sulu," said the captain, "if you can do what you say, I might even have another job for you. How's second in the MACOs sound?"

"Second?" Sulu asked.

"First is Hayes," Hoshi explained, looking Sulu up and down. "The Old Man." Her tone was dismissive.

"I'll think about it," Sulu said, sitting down. He looked over the controls. In a few minutes, they were on their way. "Well?"

"I'd say you've got the main pilot's job," Archer said. "Pike, you're on the night shift, so get out." Pike glared at them all and then left.

"What about Travis?" Hoshi asked. She wrung her hands for a second, betraying a bit of feeling, but only a miniscule amount.

Archer leered at her. "Travis who?"

=/\=

The vision returned to the ISS Enterprise, but the action had shifted to the Bridge. Uhura checked their orders as Spock checked his instruments and also, surreptitiously and unsuccessfully, searched for current records of anyone named Mayweather in the Terran Starfleet database. Travis stood toward the back, a sentry, just behind the captain's chair. "Open a channel to the Halkans," commanded the captain.

"Go ahead," Uhura answered.

"We'd like your dilithium," stated the captain.

"And I'm sure you'll take it by force," replied the Halkan representative.

"You have one day to comply; Kirk out." The captain looked at them all. "I'll be in my quarters. Contact me if the Halkans surrender." He beckoned to Travis. "Come along. I bet these hallways are a bit hazardous." They departed.

"Most interesting," Spock speculated. "It would appear that his recent visit to the Halkan home world has enacted a change in the captain's mental state. Miss Uhura?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Are you, the doctor and Mister Scott similarly afflicted?"

"I can't speak for them, sir."

"Then speak for yourself. Are you loyal?"

She gulped. "I am pledged to the Enterprise, sir."

=/\=

Kirk entered his quarters alone, with Mayweather just outside the door, keeping watch. Kirk found a woman stretched out on the bed. "I must've fallen asleep," the curvy brunette explained.

"Oh?"

"I heard you were actually merciful to the Halkans," she said, "It's so unlike you! I bet you're scheming."

"I … have a lot on my mind," he explained.

She got up and kissed him. "Are you too distracted? Too stressed? Let Marlena help with that."

Kirk smiled at her. "Tempting as your offer is, I …." He removed her arms from his neck as his personal communicator chirped. "Excuse me." He flipped the device open. "Kirk here."

"Cap'n," it was Scotty, "the doctor 'n I've figured out the problem. We might be able to get it solved."

"Let's talk in Sick Bay," Kirk suggested, "Kirk out." He turned to Marlena. "I'm sorry, but I have to take care of this."

"And apologizing, too! It's so unlike you. But," she sighed slightly, "sure." He left.

After he had gone, she touched a few spots on a panel hidden in the wall. "The Tantalus Field! Oh, if they only knew how the great Jim Kirk got his power. An unknown alien scientist and a plundered laboratory with this delicious invention! It's quite a useful little device." She turned a few knobs and zeroed in on various people. There was Kirk. There was Mister Spock. There was the bodyguard with Kirk, a dark-skinned Lieutenant who was wholly unfamiliar to her. And there was a female Vulcan Science technician, too. "So many choices," Marlena yawned a little, "so little time."

=/\=

In Sick Bay, Kirk conferred with Scotty and Doctor McCoy. "So you're saying that we're in a parallel universe," Kirk stated, "How do we get back?"

"We can create an opposing power surge in the transporter's circuits," Scotty explained, "It'd be a kind o' reversal of how we got here. But our disruption of the energy circuits will be noticed. I take it that it's monitored somewhere?"

"This place seems like it'd have a secret police," McCoy concurred, "I bet it's monitored on the Bridge. Either you or Uhura will need to create a distraction, Jim."

"For how long?" asked the captain.

"Five minutes, maybe. But Cap'n," Scotty added, "time's a-wastin'. The window of opportunity for returning, it's shutting, and it's shutting fast. We need to act very quickly."

"How quickly?"

"We need to be gone in less than half an hour."

"Go and do what you need to," Kirk commanded, "and we'll reconnoiter in Sick Bay. Then we'll all leave together. I'll go and get Uhura. See you in Sick Bay in ten minutes." He left.

=/\=

Otra's vision returned to the Defiant, but it was later. The day shift was over, and Sulu was walking out of the Bridge. "If you're here and Mayweather's gone," it was Hoshi speaking, "you should commandeer his quarters. They're pretty nice."

"So you've seen the inside."

"I have."

"Well," Sulu concurred, "I probably should."

"I'll take you there." She sauntered on ahead of him, hips shaking in an exaggerated fashion. When they arrived and the door had closed, she turned to him. "That's not the only thing of his that you get."

"Oh?"

She took off her top. When Sulu made no move to touch her, Hoshi came closer, smiling a venomous smile. "Shy, Sulu? I wouldn't have thought."

"Not exactly," he explained.

"Well?"

"Let's just say, you're not my type."

"There aren't a lotta women," Hoshi said, "and you won't find anyone hotter than me." She didn't mention T'Pol or Jenn Crossman.

"Women can be fun at times," he allowed, "but not tonight."

"Then go talk to Jennings or maybe Haber," she suggested haughtily. She grabbed her top and put it back on. "However," Hoshi added, "there is the matter of Archer. See, I am the Captain's Woman. I have influence and I can get to him."

"Get to him? You mean to influence him, or to plunge a dagger in him at the most opportune moment?"

Hoshi grinned at him. "I leave your interpretation of my statement – and my actions – to your own fertile imagination." She went to the door and the sensor tripped. It slid open. "You won't wanna turn down this offer."

=/\=

Otra's vision returned to the ISS Enterprise. On the Bridge, Kirk eyed Uhura. They could see a panel at the pilot's station. It started to flash a little. He nodded, and Uhura started to cough. She got up and walked over to Spock's station, still coughing. "Mister … Spock!" She collapsed onto him as the remainder of the Bridge crew watched.

The Vulcan eyebrow was arched. "Lieutenant, you should go to Sick Bay."

"Yes, sir." The panel was still flashing. She coughed several more times.

As Spock looked up, Kirk began coughing, too. "Maybe we picked up something when we were on the surface," he offered. He coughed a few more times, for good measure.

"Captain, you, too, should go to Sick Bay," Spock suggested.

The flashing had stopped. "Good idea," Kirk said. He and Uhura departed.

Spock thought for a moment. "Mister Chekov, take command." When the order was acknowledged, he, too, departed.

=/\=

Before Spock could get to Sick Bay, he ran into the female Vulcan Science technician. "When can I see you?" she inquired.

"You are seeing me now."

"You know what I mean." She looked him up and down. "I shall be your Captain's Woman, and more."

"Soon," he stated, "Soon." He clicked open his communicator. "Mister Chekov, I shall require your assistance. Bring a Security team and rendezvous with me at Sick Bay; Spock out." He strode over to Sick Bay and she followed. And, unseen by them, Marlena was behind her.

When the doors to Sick Bay swished open, they found Kirk, McCoy, Mister Scott and Uhura in there. "Ah, the entire landing party," Spock stated. "It has been most curious to me, but now I know. It is confirmed. You are from a parallel dimension, another universe."

"Is this true?" It was Marlena doing the asking. They all turned to the sound of her voice.

"Yes," Kirk confirmed.

"Then take me with you," Marlena asked.

The female Vulcan agreed. "Yes, take her!"

"I, we can't," Kirk explained. "We only have power balanced for four."

The door swished open again. It was Travis. "Captain! Security's coming! There must be a good fifty of them!"

"That would be Mister Chekov," Spock stated. "Captain, you cannot leave. I have been working under your counterpart for years. I have no desire to return to serving under him. And I suspect that Lieutenant Moreau here is tired of being under him as well."

Scotty exclaimed, "The power's only balanced for four! And time is runnin' out!"

Kirk looked at Mayweather with pleading eyes. "Help us, Travis."

"What's in it for me?"

"Just help us, blast you!" McCoy yelled angrily.

"Those!" The female Vulcan Science technician pointed, and Travis followed her gesture. "They will take everything from you if given half the chance!" And, she did not add, they were the most logical to remove if she was going to realize her own ambitions. Eliminating Spock and the current Captain's Woman would cripple Kirk, and to get rid of Marlena Moreau meant getting her onto that transporter pad. The engineer would be needed for operating the device, possibly, and this softer version of Kirk would have to go, too. She sensed that he would be harder to get rid of if his Communications Officer was gone. And as for the doctor? Mayweather was already annoyed with him. He – Mayweather – would prove easy to manipulate. And then, if she wanted to, she could go even further – perhaps the Emperor himself would be interested?

It was a quick two shots, and McCoy and Spock were both vaporized on the spot. "Well?" Travis yelled, turning his phaser in their general direction. "Get out if you're going!"

Kirk, Scotty and Uhura all stared for a moment and then ran to the transporter, with Marlena right after them and Security hot on their heels. Once they got there, Scotty breathed, "Like I told you, the power's balanced for four. I dinna have the time to recalculate it, and we're down to less'n five minutes!"

Marlena looked at them and begged, "Then let me be your fourth. Please. Security is coming and it's going to be chaos here." Kirk nodded, and the four of them transported, crossing over to the 21 centimeter radiation band universe.

Back in Sick Bay, Travis was left with the female Vulcan Science technician. "You can have power," she explained, "There is no logical reason why you cannot."

"Huh." He smiled, and then grabbed her around her small waist. "I suppose I can. I never thought about that before, not even with Hoshi. How can I ever thank you, uh …?"

She looked into his eyes meaningfully. "Make me your Captain's Woman. My name is T'Pring."