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Notes: Forgot to mention this story, even though has Chief O'Brien in an alternate universe, takes place sometime in the 4th season of DS9.
Captain O'Brien was walking through the corridors of the Yukon to see the other O'Brien. He passed by several other personnel before he got to his counterpart's quarters. He pushed a button right next to the door and heard a chime from the other side of the door, followed by a familiar "come".
Captain O'Brien walked in and saw Chief O'Brien looking over a monitor.
The chief thought it would be best to get up since the other person was a captain, even though it was technically him.
The captain waved a hand to let the chief sit down. "You don't have to do that, you know."
O'Brien shrugged. "Sorry, I'm used to saluting all officers, even those who may look like me. You may be me, but you're still a captain, and I'm still a senior chief petty officer. Got to salute all officers."
Captain O'Brien nodded. "What are you looking at?"
"I'm just looking over the history of me, or well you, so to speak," the chief responded. He wanted to find out all he could about this "Captain" O'Brien, his family, how'd he become a captain, even the name of his favorite drink. "Want anything to drink or eat?"
The captain shook his head, pulled up a chair, and sat at the opposite end of the chief. "So tell me a little about yourself."
Chief O'Brien stopped looking at the monitor, gazed at his other self for a moment, and thought about the question. "Well, let's see, I was born in Ireland in September, 2328, signed up for Starfleet against my father's wishes in 2346, and become an enlisted crewman."
Before the chief could go any further, the captain stopped his counterpart. "You said you signed up for Starfleet against your father's wishes. What did your father want you to do?"
The chief began to speak. "He wanted me to be a musician, specifically a concert cellist. He even sent a recording of me to the Aldebaran Music Academy. They actually wanted me to come to their school, but I declined and then signed up for Starfleet."
"Really?" Captain O'Brien said. "I tried playing the drums, but I was so bad my parents begged me to stop."
The chief and the captain laughed at the captain's experience.
"Well I never had my parents beg me to stop," the other O'Brien explained. "My father pushed me to practice at least once a day, and I hated it. However, even though I didn't go to the music academy, I still play the cello and even played in several concerts when I was on the Enterprise, but not anymore."
"Why not?" Captain O'Brien pondered.
"I guess since I moved to where I'm serving now, I've been so busy that I haven't had any time to practice or play in front of an audience."
The other O'Brien understood. "So then what happened?"
The chief began to shed some more light about him. "Well, I signed up for Starfleet and eventually my father was proud of me. The Federation was in a war with the Cardassians and…"
"The Cardassians were at war with you all?" Captain O'Brien was intrigued about that.
"Yes, why?"
The captain was surprised the other O'Brien was at war with the Cardassians. "It's just that on my side, the Cardassians are an ally to the Federation. My first officer is a Cardassian."
Chief O'Brien's raised a curious eyebrow. "Interesting. We don't have any Cardassians in the Federation or working as Starfleet officers." O'Brien continued his story. "Anyway, the Federation was at war with the Cardassians, and I was assigned to a starship called the Rutledge as an enlisted crewmember. I was on the front lines where we were facing several Cardassians down on a planet called Setlik III. I rigged a transporter, which I never did before, and the thirteen of us were beamed back on the Rutledge before they could take us prisoner. Next thing I knew I was given a petty officer rank and was promoted as the new tactical officer on the bridge."
Captain O'Brien continued to listen and look on as his counterpart told the history of himself.
"The biggest honor I had was when I was assigned to the new Federation flagship, the U.S.S. Enterprise, NCC 1701-D, under the command of a captain called Jean-Luc Picard. I was originally assigned as a relief helm officer, but by the next year I was the head transporter operator for the entire ship. Not a bad job, but it did get a little boring being stuck in a transporter room with little to do during the day. So I was on the Enterprise until three years ago when I promoted as the new chief of operations, or chief engineer, for the space station designated Deep Space Nine. That's where I've been ever since then."
"Deep Space Nine, how is life over there?" The Captain was curious.
"Not too bad. The station was originally called Terok Nor since it's a Cardassian station that was built by Bajoran slaves."
"Stop," the other O'Brien couldn't quite understand what the other one just said. "The Bajoran are slaves?"
"Not anymore," the chief continued. "There planet was taken over by the Cardassians, and they were forced to become slaves. Their planet pretty much lost all of its recourses during the Cardassian occupation. But the Bajorans rebelled, the Cardassians left, and the Federation came to DS9 in hopes of trying to help the Bajorans rebuild what they had lost."
The captain got up. "I can't believe it. The Bajorans were slaves and living under Cardassin rule?"
"Yeah. Is that so hard to believe?"
Captain O'Brien nodded. "In this universe, the Bajorans made Cardassians slaves after they took over Cardassian Prime. But just like your Bajorans, the Cardassians from my side rebelled and forced the Bajorans to leave. The Federation has been helping the Cardassians since, but we've also been fighting the Bajorans. They're a ruthless people. They once were peaceful, from what I was told."
"What happened to them?"
Captain O'Brien explained. "They were religious for a time, but most came to realize their religion, praying to some sort of gods called Prophets, wasn't getting them anywhere when a series of problems occurred such as a horrendous drought and a disease that killed almost one-third of their people. They asked their prophets for help but there wasn't a response. Once they realized they had no gods and that it was all made up, the people over threw the spiritual leader, called the Kai, and took matters into their own hands. This was about seventy years ago or so when those events took place. Twenty years later, they took over Cardassian Prime. A few years ago, they left the Cardassians when they got overpowered by them."
"And the Bajorans are attacking your Federation for what reasons now?" The chief wondered.
"The Bajorans got real aggressive in the years since they overthrew the Kai and have been an aggressive people ever since," Captain O'Brien explained. "Now they're ticked off more than ever since the Cardassians overthrew them and the Federation has been helping the Cardassians try to recover from the Bajoran occupation on their homeland. The Bajoran president, a woman named Kira Nerys, is a ruthless, cunning, yet smart woman who craves power and will do anything to achieve that power. The Federation has tried to have talks with her and her ambassadors, but nothing has really happened. Like President Kira, most of the Bajorans have become blinded by being so aggressive that they can't think straight and continue to attack anyone and wage war with anyone including the Federation. Even some of the Klingons are afraid of the Bajorans, and their whole culture is devoted to die with honor. Not that honorable when some of your own people are afraid of another power and avoided being attacked."
The chief's eyes lit up like Quark about to make a huge profit. "You said the Bajoran president is named Kira Nerys?"
Captain O'Brien nodded. "Yeah. Is she the head of the Bajorans where you're from?"
The chief shook his head. "No. She's actually the first officer of DS9."
"Really?" That was all the captain could say. "I guess your universe and my universe are completely different."
"Well, it's just that the events have changed a little," Chief O'Brien explained. "You got the same players, just casted in different roles."
The captain looked at the other O'Brien for a moment. "Well, since we've been talking this entire time, I can safely say I trust you even though it's weird seeing another version of myself that came from another reality."
"The feeling's mutual."
"I haven't had anything to eat," the captain continued. "Want to get something to eat at one of the mess halls and continue this conversation?"
The other O'Brien let out a small grin. "Of course."