The Defiant cantered through space like a rudderless ocean-going ship on the high seas. Star lines on the viewscreen streaked by at odd angles, but Captain Ben Sisko was not overly concerned with the visual effects caused by the jerry-rigged cloaking device at warp speed. He stared past the phaser that was pointed at his head and into the eyes of a Bajoran woman who returned his gaze with a measure of desperation. A bead of sweat rolled down his scalp, brushing by the cold metal muzzle of the hand weapon and dripping onto the sleeve of his uniform. "What do you mean, I can save you?" he asked. His voice quavered a little with the knowledge that the Kira-replicant was quite determined to accomplish her mission. If killing him slotted into that category, so be it.

The Kira-replicant's eyes bored into his own, and it was one of the few times in his life when he felt truly uncomfortable. "We need you, Captain Sisko. The war is lost without you." She sighed, and her eyelids fluttered once. Was she uncertain about what she was doing? If Sisko had to overpower her for whatever reason, he needed to exploit that moment of distraction. "I don't know the whole story. They'll explain when we get there."

"Who are 'they'?" Sisko enquired, trying desperately to regain control of the situation. "And where are we going?"

"I don't know, exactly. Dax got the information and told me bits and pieces, but as far as I'm concerned, that's classified. We'll hit a dark-matter nebula in about fifteen minutes, at this speed." She paused, and the hand phaser shifted a little in her grasp. Sisko swallowed nervously. "Come to think of it, I'm not sure who 'they' are. We were given orders separately. You know, in case of a successful Borg boarding party or something."

At the flight controls, Jadzia Dax regarded the Kira-replicant. She had spun around when Sisko halted the countdown, and by her facial expression, the captain could tell that she had just experienced some form of epiphany. "It was all a ruse, wasn't it? Your arrival wasn't an accident. You're obviously not helpless refugees. Even the damaged runabout — "

"No!" the Kira-replicant barked, her head twisting sharply to face Dax. "The runabout was real. We were attacked as we fled DS-Nine. I lost three crew members in that attack, so don't you dare suggest that it wasn't real." The flash of anger returned to a simmer, then gradually faded. "But you are right, in part. Our arrival wasn't an accident. I don't know how we crossed over. Very perceptive, lieutenant."

"Colonel," Sisko tried. "The cloaking device, the computer lockouts, the helm…that was all your doing, yes?"

She hesitated. "Yes. And the others from my dimension."

"Will they be permanent?"

"No."

"Then…then how about you put the phaser away, and we can discuss this with the others?" He cracked a shaky smile for her benefit. "I would certainly feel a lot better about the situation."

The Kira-replicant paused and considered the offer. Then, with obvious effort, she stepped back from Sisko and let her arm fall to her side. Sisko let out a loud sigh and let his muscly frame relax as the tension of the last five minutes flowed away. He was, for the most part, as safe as one could be on a ship that was hurtling into an alternate universe crowded with Borg and ragtag Federation freedom fighters. Hmmm… he turned the ironic statement over in his mind for a split second before leaning over and cancelling the computer's search for cracking programs. Now he knew who the culprit was, it was a pointless effort anyway. The best thing to do was let the Defiant ferry them to their eventual destination, wherever that was going to be. "Thank-you," he said, wiping his forehead with one sleeve. "Call your companions, and we'll have a little conference."

It only took the Kira-replicant a few moments to page the other replicants with her comm badge. They emerged from one of the two hatch on the lateral bulkheads of the bridge. Worf looked suspicious and a little disgruntled, while Dax looked positively apologetic as she walked in through the hatch. "I'm so sorry, Benjamin," she got out, then she walked straight past and stood at the Kira-replicant's side. The three of them made for a resourceful trio. Sisko had to give them that. He nodded at Dax, then stumbled a little as the inertial dampeners failed to compensate for some kind of movement. One hand involuntarily gripped the side of his chair until the systems caught up and everything returned to normal. He shot a quizzical look at the Kira-replicant. "We've changed course," she explained. "That means we only have another forty minutes to go."

Sisko absorbed this new piece of information and fell back into his chair. The three replicants were straight in his line of sight. "Alright. This has gone far enough." He felt a glower work its way onto his face. "You don't know where we're headed, correct?" A second passed before the Dax-replicant shook her head. "You haven't got any idea of Borg movement in this sector?" Sisko asked.

"We've got some preliminary scans," she offered. "A few patrol routes…"

"But you can't guarantee the safety of my crew?"

"Not exactly…"

"Then I want you to turn us around and get us home."

The Dax-replicant looked to her companions for support, then, finding none, addressed Sisko directly. "It isn't that easy, Benjamin. The cracking program is almost entirely self-contained. I can't just call it up on the terminal and tell it to turn the Defiant around. I hate to tell you this, but we're stuck with a one-way ticket to wherever we're going." She paused, looking for some hint of forgiveness in the captain's face, but gave up when he sat unmoving. "Admiral Kev'ral designed it – he's a Klingon, so it's probably a brute-force program – and it was made to stand up to Borg countermeasures. I doubt the Defiant has anything that can stop it. No offence," she hastily amended when she saw a few indignant looks. "When we reach our destination, the program is designed to wipe itself out."

"By then," Sisko said pointedly, "it might be too late."

"The program is doing everything it can to keep you safe!" the Dax-replicant said, exasperated. Her eyes darted to a nearby console, and the glowing chronometer set into one corner. "We only have another half-hour or so before we get there. We need to focus on getting ready."

"Getting ready for what, exactly?" Sisko growled.

"I don't know!" she cried, the frustration and helplessness finally bursting through. "None of us know. We're just trying to find a way to save our lives, and yours. You'll understand when we get there…" she faltered momentarily, then seemed to brush it off and continue. "Just give us a chance, captain! That's all we want. I know it's a big risk, and if it goes down, then I'll take responsibility. But if it works…if it works, the free races of this galaxy might actually live to see another year. That's what's at stake here. The Borg have new weapons and equipment that we've only dreamed about before. It's up to us to stop them, and to do that, we're going to need your help. You're in with this now, like it or not."

Sisko watched her impassively for a moment, like a sculpture, eyes fixed on hers. Then he relented and allowed a quick nod to break the illusion of complete passiveness. It was as if he had only just realised the stakes in this game. He had come to accept the helplessness of their situation, but he was committed now. The replicants did have a legitimate case, in his eyes, at least. But something niggled in the back of his mind. Something wasn't quite right about helping an alternate universe with their problems. He would never choose to leave them helpless; that contradicted everything he felt towards survivors such as the Alliance. However, the implications of such an action, the consequences of fighting the Borg with this ragtag band, were astronomical.

"With only twenty-five minutes until our destination, I can't really tell you a lot," the Kira-replicant said, now composed. "We're being kept in the dark to avoid disclosure. You know what I mean, right?"

Benjamin steepled his fingers against his forehead and contemplated the replicants before him with as much impartiality as he could muster. "If you're assimilated," he realised, "you would be exposing vital information, so they tell you as little as possible."

"Something like that."

"I still don't understand how one ship, one man, will make the difference in this war."

"What do you mean?"

"To be blunt, Colonel, I don't appreciate the way you took over my ship to make a point," Sisko growled softly. "I will help you because it is a moral obligation, as well as my duty as a Starfleet officer. Now, I know about disclosure, but I want you to be as honest as possible with me. What are the chances that we're about to fly headlong into a battle?"

Worf, of the mirror universe, frowned in concentration. He seemed to be less of an expert in tactics than the Bajoran beside him, but was worth his considerable weight in gold when it came to brute force. "It is unlikely," he rumbled. "The Alliance will most likely send us to a facility where we can be debriefed. The Defiant will be assessed and our cracking programs removed before it will see any combat."

"Assessed?"

"We will not send a damaged ship into the fray, sir. And…you may have some technologies that will prove useful in the future. Technicians will take schematics, but there will be no disassembly of the ship or its systems."

Sisko absorbed this information. Some of the tension seemed to disappear with the knowledge that the Defiant would probably still exist by the next chime of the chronometer. He stood up and began to pace the length of the forward bulkhead of the bridge. Starlines whipped by on the large viewscreen, each one bringing them closer to their hidden destiny. The captain contemplated the blackness. Would this prove to be their last venture into the void? Was this the final chapter in the adventures of the Defiant and her stalwart crew? He couldn't answer those questions. Not yet. For now, he had to concentrate on finding out what the hell was going on. And to do that, they had to come out of warp and consult with these Alliance characters.

"Alright. Make yourselves useful," he blurted. "If we don't emerge near a friendly installation, though, I'll be turning us right around."