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In the Mirror Darker

Hoshi Sato knew she had it all. She'd played all the cards right and now she would be Empress. She looked into the mirror. How delicious it all was. Yes, one could say she slept her way to this position but that would not be giving her enough credit. She'd simply made sure she was in the right place at the right time.

Who would have thought that being with Jonathan Archer would provide either the right place or time? He was always just to the side, never taking the initiative, at least that's

what Forrest thought. When Archer had first taken over, Hoshi had let both captains believe that they had her loyalty. It was a tough position to play but from the way things had worked out, she'd obviously played it right.

Now she had given an ultimatum to the Empire. They would accept her as their Empress or they would be destroyed, and she would simply become the Empress. Jonathan Archer was right about that. This ship was that powerful. Whoever held it and used it unhesitatingly would control everything. She was that person.

She laughed inwardly, cruelly. It was such a wonderful memory, seeing Jonathan's face as Travis took her in his arms. Watching him as he realized that she had taken everything from him, that he would soon die from the poison she had placed in his celebratory champagne. He was such a fool, so easy to take down. She'd felt nothing but loathing as Reed had launched the torpedo holding his lifeless body into the sun.

Hoshi had been amazed that Reed had actually survived. Somehow the man had lived when she knew for a fact that he had many enemies that would have danced in the corridors when he died. But he hadn't and she knew he had skills she could use.

Three days had gone by and now the former Emperor had realized that he wasn't dealing with a stupid concubine of starship captain. He had made the mistake of sending his personal armada out to destroy the Defiant. Hoshi had made short order of their engines and weapons, stopping shy of destroying them. After all, they would soon be her armada. She figured, though, that using the Defiant's transporter to take the Emperor's family captive had played a role in his quick capitulation. She had just received the hail from the surface from the palace. She left her ready room and entered the bridge.

"Open the channel." Hoshi smiled. This would be good.

"Empress Sato." It was the Emperor's First Minister.

"Finally. About time you realized that I'm not playing games here."

"Yes, of course. The Emperor has decided that abdication is the preferred choice. He asks that you allow him to retire to a planet in the Vega system. Certainly, that would be enough out of the way for your purposes."

"That may be a possibility after he has transferred all governmental power to me in the Senate Chambers. I don't want any of the petty bureaucrats to feel that the transfer of power was handled outside protocol."

"Of course, Empress. We can set the transfer to take place tomorrow at 0900. Will that be acceptable?"

This was too good. "Yes, I think that would work out just fine." She knew the ceremony would be broadcast across the Empire. Everyone would know that things were certainly changing. "Ah…Minister Thompson, the Emperor knows that should anything go awry, his family will be tortured and eventually killed?"

"Yes, Empress. He is well aware of that. It is the primary reason he is willing to abdicate."

"Then I will see you at 0900 tomorrow. Until then." Hoshi indicated that the transmission should be cut and the screen went dark.

ENTMUMUMUENT

Empress Sato's form, along with her contingent of bodyguards, materialized in the Senate Chambers of the Empire at exactly 0900. She was dressed in simple but elegant clothing, of a quality befitting an Empress. She noted the throne had been replaced by a smaller but more elegant one that would not swallow up her smaller form. So too had the crown been sized to fit her. They had followed her instructions to the letter. It was a good sign.

Immediately, the ceremony had started, with the abdicating Emperor making his final statements and asking for mercy from the new Empress. There were the oaths of alliance from the Senators, and there was the beginning of the crowning ceremony.

It was during the oaths of alliance that Hoshi started to notice a pattern. She knew that Jonathan Archer had some friends in the Senate. As each senator stood and made his oath, she realized that his friends were not present. At first she figured it was a simple protest by those who knew they would be relieved after the ceremony. But when the crowning ceremony started the situation became clear.

The large video screen in the chambers, which had been showing the proceedings that were being broadcast from the chambers suddenly changed. Jonathan Archer's smiling and quite living visage suddenly appeared. Hoshi gasped and then blurted out "You're dead….I saw you die."

"Looks can be deceiving, like those birth control pills you had in your personal effects. Except they weren't contraceptives at all. They were Talasian sedatives, a poison to humans that could not be traced. It was fortunate I identified them before our final celebration. Having the antidote with me proved quite advantageous. It's amazing that even with the antidote, a Thalasian sedative will simulate death in a human for a few hours." Jonathan's face suddenly turned dark and hard. "Yourdeath, however, will not be simulated at all. Major Reed, fire on the Senate Chambers now."

Hoshi started to run toward the exit. She heard the explosion in the split second before she and the rest of the inhabitants of the Senate Chambers simply ceased to exist. She knew in that moment that Jonathan Archer would indeed be Emperor.

ENTMUMUMUENT

Jonathan thought back to the last few days. He had made his plans after having Hoshi's possessions checked with the equivalent of a fine tooth comb. He'd had all substances of hers analyzed, including her shampoo and perfume. One couldn't be too careful and he knew that Hoshi Sato was smart and could be quite devious. Finding the Talasian sedative had confirmed his suspicions.

He figured that giving Hoshi free rein at the start would allow any unforeseen threat to his coup to be discovered at absolutely no threat to him. After all, everyone thought he was dead. Having the false reports of the extent of Major Reed's injuries circulated had also been a great strategy. Major Reed's shooting the empty torpedo supposedly carrying his dead body into the sun had sealed any speculation of who was in charge of the situation.

The only thing that had really shocked him had been Travis's betrayal. He'd been the young pilot's mentor and had truly believed that loyalty had meant something to him. Well, he owed Major Reed a person to practice his new torture techniques on. Travis would work just fine.

His bigger concern was with the Vulcans and their recent spearheading of the uprising. This had to be stopped. He considered what to do and decided that using forced mind melds to identify those Vulcans who were disloyal to the Empire would be the first order of business. Those who would be disloyal would be executed. It would decimate a large percentage of the population of Vulcan but would insure that those remaining would be loyal subjects.

He smiled. "That other Jonathan Archer—the one who belonged to the same alternate universe as the Defiant—may have made a significant contribution to that ridiculously peaceful "Federation," but he was no emperor. It was too bad that he had to destroy that database. It was too dangerous an idea for people in the Empire to believe there was another possibility. No, better that he only had what he'd read in his head and nothing to mar his glorious reign.

Long Live Emperor Archer the First.