Chapter One
"Captain's Log, Stardate 6152.7. All is quiet along the Klingon border. The nearest planet is Halkan, a few light-years away. The Enterprise visited Halkan two years ago, and I hope the physical proximity to the planet does not summon bad memories for any of the four crew members involved in that incident..."
Captain James T. Kirk sat in his command chair, looking over the most recent news from Starfleet HQ on a padd. A class-J planet had been discovered in the Polaris system, the Lexington had avoided a nasty incident involving an escaped tribble, blah blah blah...Kirk stifled a yawn as he looked through the data. There is nothing going on out there, he mused. It seems quiet. Too quiet. And knowing our luck, something's bound to happen sooner or later...and more likely than not, it will be sooner...
Kirk glanced over at Spock and smiled as he saw that even the unshakable Vulcan was getting a little bored. The Vulcan was leaning back in his seldom-used chair, slender fingers dancing idly over the console as he ran yet another computer check. The science officer was barely looking at the buttons and switches he was manipulating, knowing the station like the back of his hand.
Kirk looked around the bridge, listening to the low murmuring voices as bored crewpersons chatted quietly amongst themselves. Without turning around, he could tell that Uhura was listening on the Rec Deck's annual pillow fight. Sulu and Chekov had called up the newest version of Starship Encounter on the central console: Klingons against Romulans, if he wasn't mistaken. Scotty was in back, reading yet another technical journal and muttering to himself.
Kirk smiled to himself. Now all they were missing was Bones-
As if he had been waiting for that exact moment, the turbolift doors swished open and Doctor McCoy stepped out of the 'lift. He looked around the bridge at the casual activities, and then at the back of Kirk's head. "I see you're finally slacking off a bit up here," he commented dryly, breaking the relative silence. "My kind of ship."
Kirk gave the floor a slight push with one boot, causing his chair to swivel around to face away from the viewscreen. "Why, Bones, I didn't know you cared."
"Damn straight," McCoy replied instantly, easily slipping into the lighthearted "practical joker" role he often had in non-combat situations. "About time you stopped going off on those crusades. I'd rather trade it all in for a mint julep."
A slight chorus of chuckling ran around the rim of the bridge. Everyone knew about McCoy's reluctance to share in the militaristic opinions of the rest of the crew.
Kirk grinned. "Well, I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that nothing is-"
The automatic Red Alert snapped on suddenly, and the wailing of the alarm drowned out whatever he was going to say. The ship's usual white light changed to blood red, and Kirk was already swiveling around in his chair quickly to face the viewscreen. "Report!" he snapped, all humor gone.
The ship shuddered noticeably, and each crewperson had to grab the edge of their console or seat to keep from being thrown around the bridge. "Phaser blast, Captain!" Sulu answered. "Unidentified ship approaching!"
"On screen!" Kirk ordered, and the viewscreen snapped on to show a familiar shape trailing behind the Enterprise.
"A Constitution-class ship?" McCoy blurted in disbelief. "Why would they be attacking us?"
Kirk was as confused as McCoy. "Uhura, open a channel to that ship."
"Channel open, sir." Uhura sounded distinctly nervous.
"This is Captain James T. Kirk of the starship Enterprise," Kirk said. "Identify yourselves! Why are you attacking?"
Silence from the comm. Another phaser blast struck the Enterprise, and during that small instant, the shields dropped.
A low hum began, and a flash of red and blue surrounded Kirk. In a few moments, he was gone completely.
"JIM!" McCoy shouted as he noticed Kirk's disappearance. "Spock, he's GONE!" Everyone stared in shock at the empty chair.
In the silence, Uhura touched her earpiece. "Mister Spock? The other ship is hailing us."
Spock slowly moved over to the captain's chair and, even more slowly, sat down in it. "Put it on the viewscreen, Lieutenant."
The viewscreen came on in a swirl of white. Spock's heart thundered, drowning out the gasps of shock and horror that went around the bridge. McCoy whispered a terrified obscenity.
The man in the center chair of the opposing ship grinned at them demonically, the movement causing a deep scar across his face to shift noticeably. It gave him the look of a devil on a rampage. His once-handsome features, now marred, gave him the appearance of a horrible, bloodthirsty dragon. Cold gold-green eyes burned holes in the viewscreen.
Uhura, McCoy, and Scotty had all gone perfectly silent as they stared at the fiend from their past. The villanous creature leaned forward in his chair. "This is Grand Admiral Tiberius speaking."
Spock finally found his voice. "Grand Admiral, we are a peaceful vessel. Please state your intentions."
The scarred man in the chair guffawed, as if what Spock had said was the biggest joke in the universe. Quieter laughs went around the other ship's bridge as their officers shared the dark humor. But Tiberius was laughing the hardest of all.
The Grand Admiral finally regained control of himself, still grinning evilly. "By the black suns, shadow-Spock, you haven't changed one bit. Still that sense of humor. I believe my intentions are perfectly clear." He rose from his tall-backed ebony command chair and took a few steps forward, moving with liquid grace that defied his appearance. He stopped after a few paces, when only his mutilated face was on the viewscreen. "Your captain stole a universe from me. And now, I'm here to do the same to him. Starting with you."
The mirror James Tiberius Kirk gave the order to fire.
