Author's Note

A sincere thank you to Joe Lawyer for this chapter, he turned my draft into something really worth reading.

Review

Lord Asmodeus

At least he has no empathy for his foes, and while he doesn't like the Federation that much, he does care enough about other humans to kill for them. Which makes him a good Section 31 agent; he doesn't fully buy into the Federation propaganda. That was what I wanted him to be when I planned out this story.

As for the megalomania, I really, really don't want Augment Gothic to be another Khan.

Willboon

I will.

Takao-kun

Communist hippies. I so have to use that when he talks to some Starfleet types.

Maybe this Gothic could introduce some mechs and fighters to the Federation. The Starfleet types might at least make some prototypes simply to see if the technology works.

Also I had the idea of Augment Gothic making plans for a carrier type starship. Not one for carrying fighters, although it could be adapted for that role, but to carry shuttles and runabouts. The idea is that carrier goes to a system and then deploys all the smaller ships so they can scout out nearby systems and land on planets while the bigger ship keeps its distance.

Augment Gothic 8

The Flighty Temptress. Star Trek Verse.

While the aliens had a big head start on us, due to the much larger than normal sublight engines I had, my ship was much faster at impulse speeds than the craft the 'Collectors' were using. By the time my ship had escaped the planet's atmosphere and hit real space the alien ship hadn't even made it a quarter of the way to the still contracting, but wide open rift. Now that we were at full impulse it looked as if we would catch up to them before they were able to leave this universe.

"If they are attempting an escape, we do not have much time," T'Maz stated as she focused on my ship's sensor readouts. "The device must be our true focus; it poses a great threat to the Federation".

Her words were completely unnecessary as I knew exactly how dangerous such a machine could be, probably more than she did with my knowledge of just what was out there and what I'd seen in the shows.

"So we need to destroy that ship," I said. "We simply can't risk the device falling into the wrong hands".

Section 31 almost certainly wanted to keep the rift device for themselves, but it had been stolen once already and could be again, no matter what protections they put in place. The continued need for secrecy and obscurity meant that any enemy who didn't care about either would almost always prevail over the defenses in such a place.

"The enemy ship is almost in weapons' range," T'Maz then reported as she continued to read and manipulate the sensor output. I noticed that she was actively directing the scans of the vessel to help in this immediate fight, but to also have detailed sensor scans on the Collector vessel for later study by Section 31. I thought that was a very prudent decision. Unfortunately, my ship's sensors were nowhere near as good as those on a Starfleet ship, so they'd have to make do. If they found that annoying enough maybe they'd give me new ones for a future upgrade.

Our full speed dash towards the rift meant that I could now see the rip in space-time with the naked eye, however I had no time to admire its beauty as something was coming out of it. Many somethings. There were dozens of tiny vessels that moved in an erratic swarming fashion, just like the flight pattern of grouped insects, most heading for the 'Collector' ship itself, probably in order to defend it from us, I guessed. The rest, though, were heading directly for us.

"Enemy fighters within range, Gothic," T'Maz calmly told me, her words spoken in that calm professional tone which spoke of experience with situations like this.

She need not have bothered to tell me that, as I had already put on and activated the neural link headset that allowed me to fly the ship directly with my thoughts, rather than my hands. It was still a very odd experience, even now after I had done it a few times, to be connected to the ship in this manner. To explain it to another as if I only had a view screen inside my head would be doing it a disservice. The ship felt like my body, its sensors, were my senses, when it moved, it moved because I moved, and my mind was connected to the ship in such a way that it became an extension of my own body. It was as if I was swimming naked in the vastness of space, like I was a space born organism, the cosmos my natural playground. I had long suspected that this level of connectivity and interaction with the ship was only possible because of my augmented mind, anyone else might either have not have been able to take full advantage of the link, only experiencing it like having a personal viewscreen in their heads, or they'd be quickly overwhelmed by the alien input.

'Engaging Battle Mode'

That voice hadn't been the female one a person would normally hear from the computer onboard a Starfleet ship (in the shows that had been Majel Barrett, Gene Roddenberry's wife), it had a been a butch, male one. I'd have to change it to a sexy female voice in the future. However, I had no time to focus on that as I felt my ship begin to actively change through the neural interface. Since I hadn't commanded the ship to do this, it must have recognized from my thoughts that we were going into battle and thus engaged this battle mode automatically.

I couldn't actually see what was happening, as my full attention was focused on the oncoming alien fighters, but since I was linked to the ship I felt the changes as they were happening. The warp nacelles retracted and compressed in on themselves, as if to present less of a tempting target and the wings of my craft shifted to better cover them from weapons' fire. This was actually very useful since so much of this era's battle doctrine revolved around denying your enemy the possibility of escaping to warp. The warp nacelles of your targets were often the very first thing that was shot at. Once the nacelles were tucked in warp core power was automatically rerouted to the shields and the weapons. My little ship's teeth just got a whole lot sharper.

As this happened my vessel informed me, through the neural link, that we could no longer go to warp, but that our top impulse speed had actually increased from the newly available power, allowing us to race past the enemy fighters and catch up to the fleeing ship that contained the device. I'd have to spend some time figuring out all the ins and out of this 'battle mode' in a less dangerous situation, but for now I had more pressing things to do.

Since I had caught up to the fleeing craft, the defending fighters were peeling off to engage my craft. Like us, they knew how important the device was, and like us, they were willing to kill for it.

"Fighters approaching, they will be in range in 3...2...1..." I said aloud, to warn my passenger that we'd soon be engaged in evasive maneuvers and taking fire shortly.

The Flighty Temptress jolted slightly as it came under fire and its stronger shields took several hits. As soon as the alien weapons' fire lulled, I returned fire. Bright fluorescent green bolts of deadly energy from the dual disruptor cannons blasted an enemy fighter apart. Huh, two shots seemed to be overkill for these fighters.

"I recommend focusing all weapons' fire on the larger enemy vessel," T'Maz urged.

With my mind alone (and no hands on any of the controls since the link had been engaged), I commanded my ship to lock its weapons on the 'Collector' craft that contained the rift device. It was so close to finally being within maximum weapons' range, but suddenly it increased speed and put even more distance between us. They had to be taxing their engines to the limit, perhaps even doing irreparable damage to their ship just to get away from us.

"I'm seeing a dramatic increase in enemy fighters," T'Maz warned.

With the ship's sensors, my eyes were actually closed, I could 'see' dozens of fighters pouring out of the rift, the ship with the device obviously having called for help. I clenched and then unclenched my hands, preparing for the worst and regretting having so little time in this new life. There was simply no way we'd survive this many and the ship the device was on would make it to the rift with no one to stop them. Escaping to warp occurred to me, but there was too little time before they were upon us to disengage battle mode and jump into warp.

If only my ship had a few photon torpedoes in its arsenal! With their much greater speed, longer range, and explosive yield I could bridge this distance my disruptor canons simply couldn't and blow the 'Collector' ship up. The fighters I could then outrun, maybe, but as things were, we'd be blasted apart soon. If we survived this mission adding photon torpedoes to my ship's weapons array would be something that would be done immediately upon getting back to Earth. If the Federation wouldn't let me, I'd just buy them on the black market and install them myself. This galaxy was just too dangerous to not be loaded for bear at all times.

"What the hell are they doing?" I asked myself, not understanding what I was seeing.

I steadied myself in my seat and studied the scans coming into my mind carefully.

"They appear to be engaging in some kind of suicide mission," the agent besides me suggested.

She was right, this fresh wave of alien fighters were coming right at us; they weren't slowing down or even trying to shoot at us. As if that wasn't bad enough, there were more fighters behind us looking to ram us as well. Talk about overkill. The aliens were doing everything possible to make sure that the device got through the rift, including sacrificing themselves. In short, they were not screwing around.

"Shield strength down to 84– no, 80 percent," T'Maz reported.

I targeted and fired on a pair of oncoming alien craft. Given the relatively small size of these fighters, one shot seemed to be enough to destroy them. With the neural interface and my two disruptor canons, one on each wing, I could target each canon independently by partitioning my attention. A non-augmented mind would never be able to do that while also flying evasively. My disruptor fire flew unerringly, perfectly on target and the two fighters I was aiming at ruptured and broke apart with a blue and yellow flash. Instantly, I used the targeting interface to lock onto another couple of fighters and fired again, scoring two more kills. This repeated several times over.

Despite my best efforts and many destroyed fighters, I knew we were doomed. There were simply too many fighters, and very soon one of them would ram into my ship at full speed. There was no way my ship, even with its boosted shields, could withstand a direct collision at this speed with another vessel.

"Shield strength down to 55 percent," T'Maz calmly reported, even though she knew as well as I did that we were about to meet our end.

I expected it be over in a matter of seconds, as the enemy fighters were nearly on top of us. Only it never happened. Bright green bolts of energy passed closely by my vessel and blasted apart the aliens.

"It seems the Klingon Bird of Prey has come to our aid," the Section 31 agent reported, as if she was discussing the weather. "Perhaps it was not as damaged as we initially thought. Your risk assessment earlier in the mission was correct, landing the ship was the safer option".

Suddenly there was a massive explosion and I had to disconnect the neural interface as the sensor data was overwhelming. In future battles (and I'm sure there would be more) that could be a serious weakness, but I had a feeling that with more experience using the link it wouldn't be an issue.

"The Klingon vessel fired its torpedoes in the center of the enemy formation," T'Maz informed me. "There are only a few enemy craft remaining, however they are scattering".

For a moment my mind reeled from the fact that some Klingons had actually done something useful for us. Sure, it might have been better for them to have destroyed the 'Collector' ship carrying the device, but since I liked being alive I was immensely grateful that they had come and saved us instead.

I was just thinking that we should team up with the Klingons when the alien fighters came around and as one group rammed into the Bird of Prey head on. Their incredible speed meant that the warship was sheared into multiple pieces and quickly exploded, the last remaining enemy fighters going with it. Obviously the aliens had correctly decided that the Klingon warship was a much bigger threat to them then my smaller craft.

Even my Vulcan partner was shocked at what had just happened, but she didn't let it distract her for long, once again showing that she was a consummate professional. We were facing practically certain death just a minute ago and she was as calm as a cucumber.

"We need to set a pursuit course," T'Maz was now saying. "We must recover the device at all costs".

By now the ship carrying the device had made it through the rift, a quick review of my sensor records confirmed it.

"Wait...so, your 'plan,' is to go through a contracting tear in the fabric of space time so we can chase a vicious alien race we don't know anything about, except, that they now have a device which makes rips in the fabric of reality?" I asked.

That was both insane and very illogical.

"We will enter the rip in two minutes," the Vulcan said.

I still had things to say on this matter.

"We don't even know what's on the other side," I pointed out. "And we can't fight an entire race with my small ship. They could have a fleet waiting on the other side".

Granted, the Bird of Prey had done a fine job of taking out the remaining fighters in our universe, but there could be hundreds of ships on the other side of the rift. And they'd proven that they would kill themselves in order to destroy us.

"With that device the aliens could attack anywhere in the galaxy with little to no warning," T'Maz argued. "They could even attack Earth, your home".

Well, it wasn't my Earth, but I did live there and I did have a sweet friends with benefits relationship with the ridiculously hot 7 of 9. Plus billions of lives could be lost simply because I failed in this mission. I didn't care much for the fate of total strangers, but as it turned out, a little bit was just enough to make me go through with this farce.

Also, this rift would be gone in less than ten hours, so this truly might be the only opportunity we'd get to recover or destroy the device.

"All right, I'm taking us in," I said, now resigned to seeing this suicide mission through, for better or worse. I better get paid a ton for this bullshit.

(Line Break)

The Flighty Temptress. Alternate Universe.

Now that I was once more connected to my ship I could 'see' the planet below. Greenery was scarce, except near the equatorial regions, and most of the planet was a dull, reddish brown, exactly like the world we had just left. Meaning that this was likely an alternate version of the Star Trek verse just on the other side of the rift.

"It appears as if this is the same planet that the outpost was built upon," T'Maz stated, "only it is not".

I was sure that she found this whole alternate universe thing to be utterly fascinating, my focus was mostly on just surviving it.

"Have they spotted us?" I asked.

T'Maz's fingers danced across the controls as she brought up more information about the planet below.

"It does not appear so," she answered after a few moments study. "Perhaps the interference from the rift is keeping us hidden. In this universe the rift is much closer to the planet for some unknown reason".

My scanners also couldn't pick up any of their ships nearby, so it was certainly possible there was interference shielding us and them. I had no idea why the rift would be in a different place in this reality, though, but it hardly mattered, such things were for the Starfleet science types to endlessly debate over. We had a real mission that required our total focus.

"At the current rate of contraction the rip will close completely in approximately nine hours," the Section 31 agent then told me. "Whether or not we return in time does not matter; the device must be recovered or destroyed if we cannot return it safely to Federation space".

I fully intended to destroy the device, no matter what happened here, but there was no sense debating the issue right then. I'd just wreck the thing when the time came.

"I am detecting an outpost on the planet," T'Maz then informed me. "In the exact same location as the Vulcan one in our reality".

How curious.

"Okay, let's get down there," I said.

Using the neural link, I brought the ship smoothly down to the surface of the planet. I could only hope that the interference from the rift continued to keep us off their scanners.

(Line Break)

Unnamed L-Class Planet. Alternate Universe.

I clasped the weapon firmly in my hands. It was a Starfleet Phaser Rifle only somewhat different than the standard issue ones. It was long and sleek, with a compact handle, and unlike normal Starfleet Phaser Rifles, this weapon had a lot more options for when it came to making things dead, including a larger than normal power cell.

Right now I had it set on a single high-powered kill shot, hopefully that should prove capable of overpowering their bio armor and killing the 'Collector' warriors. It even had a scope that made targeting easy. However, the larger types that used claws had taken three shots to finally put down in past engagements, so we'd brought along spare power packs. God only knew how long this fight would last.

"The tower that nearly shot us down is up ahead," my fellow spy informed me quietly. "I highly doubt that we will able to leave this planet safely if that tower remains operational".

We had indeed been nearly shot down upon trying to land, their sensors obviously having detected the large atmospheric disturbance our entry had caused. I agreed with T'Maz, if the Collectors' anti-aircraft weapon wasn't taken out first then we would be trapped on this world, and worse, in this universe. That was something I wanted to avoid at all costs; who knew what new horrors awaited us among these semi-familiar stars.

"Well then, let's take it out," I said. "They only have the one tower".

Considering the value of what the aliens had taken, it seemed very odd to me that they had brought the device here of all places. The base in this reality was hardly a fortress. I could hazard a few guesses as to why they had done it this way, but right now I had much better things to worry about.

"That remains to be proven," T'Maz stated. "We were only fired upon by a single tower. However, there may be more".

In my view this attitude was why Vulcans never got invited to the really good parties.

"Anybody ever tell you that you can be a bit of a downer, T'Maz?" I asked.

The Vulcan studied her tricorder some more before replying.

"Yes," she said, completely unperturbed by what I had said. "Many of Section 31's human agents tell me that with great frequency."

Rather than discuss that any further I looked through my new rifle's long-range scope and eyed the weapon turret at the tower's peak. It was grey in color and obviously made of metal, very much unlike the other Collector technology we'd seen so far.

"It's a little too quiet around here," I whispered, as we began to make our way towards the tower. Suddenly feeling jumpy. "I don't like this".

T'Maz looked around and then nodded, perhaps just now noticing how strange it was.

"I would have to agree," she said just as quietly. "The silence is unnatural and quite unsettling".

There were no singing birds or chirping insects on this world's counterpart in our native universe, and there weren't any here either, but still, things were just a bit too peaceful.

"We are not alone," I muttered in a whisper, my eyes rapidly scanning my surroundings, but trying not to be appear alarmed or aware that we were being watched.

Suddenly a beam of deadly energy hit the ground beside my feet, making a small crater and shooting dirt in the air.

"Take cover!" T'Maz urged, quickly diving behind nearby cover.

The two of us had dived and crawled up behind large chunks of nearby rock. This was just it in time too as a second shot hit exactly where I had been standing a moment before. Thank goodness our attackers did not seem to have great aim like I did or else that first shot would have killed me. I had a feeling our sudden alertness had forced them to take the shot quicker than they had wanted to.

"Where'd that come from?" I asked quietly.

The Vulcan was crouched, peering cautiously around trying to determine where the shots had come from.

"The enemy appears to be cloaked," she said.

When I looked next I saw a slight distortion among the trees, a minor blur as something moved. My genetically enhanced eyes picking it out as artificial.

"They aren't cloaked," I corrected. "They're just blending in with the background well, some sort of adaptive camouflage".

Now that I knew exactly what to look for I looked again and immediately found that distinctive optical distortion. Now knowing the shooter's location, I took them down in a single high powered shot. The alien had been moving at the time and that had made it much easier to spot and kill.

Two more 'Collectors', these much easier to see then the camouflaged shooter, then appeared not far from where the sniper had fallen. I quickly took aim and fired again, my first shot hitting the creature's shoulder, causing it to be knocked to the ground. It quickly got back up only to die when my next shot hit it in the head and blew it apart. T'Maz was able to kill the other.

"Patrols you think? Or are they actively hunting us?" I wondered.

T'Maz once more had her trusty tricorder out.

"I am not detecting any life signs other than our own," she told me. "Perhaps they are masking them somehow".

That seemed to be a common trick regardless of what reality I was in.

"Since they have not yet swarmed us, that means that either they don't have great numbers to waste on such a costly tactic or they are unable to detect us," she posited.

We then went over to the dead aliens and I found the sniper whose head I had blown apart. T'Maz took out her tricorder and took detailed scans of both the weapon and the deceased alien for later study.

"The scope of this rifle is quite advanced, offering a very high-magnification and other options ideal for a sniper," she told me as I held up the sniper rifle for examination. "Like all the technology of these beings it is mostly biological, but with some machine parts and advanced cybernetic interfaces between those two technologies. Also, I think this weapon is 'healthier' then the weapon you took from the soldiers killed at the Outpost back in Federation space".

Her choice of worlds confused me.

"What do you mean by healthier?" I asked.

She needed a moment before she could answer me adequately.

"It is only a theory," she extemporized. "I would have to closely examine the bodies and technology the aliens left behind in our universe to be certain, but I suspect that our reality is somehow toxic or perhaps just incompatible with the biological components that are the foundation of their technology. Along those same lines, since they permanently graft their technology into and onto their own bodies, it could be toxic to them as well. This might explain why they also took living beings and machines from the outpost when they left. They do not just wish to study or reverse engineer the technology, they likely need these biological samples to adapt themselves to our universe should they intend to ultimately invade".

That sounded plausible to me. You had to wonder, though, if the Trek universe as a whole was toxic to these aliens, then invading seemed like a pretty bad idea. It was possible that they had taken the device simply to stop us from entering their reality, something we would have almost certainly done as well in their place, but these beings seemed intrinsically hostile as a race. They hadn't just attacked the outpost and taken the device to protect themselves, they'd viciously slaughtered many of the people living there in gruesome and horrible ways, and they'd driven people mad by exposing them to some unique toxins.

"Maybe it's the rift itself that are causing these issues, rather than our universe," I speculated. "You did say that it was causing interference with the scanners on my ship. Perhaps it has a stronger, more deleterious effect on biological material when technology has been infused inextricably with their biology".

That theory might also explain why their ships were so slow compared to mine, they'd been sick.

"We must find out more to prove or disprove these theories," T'Maz said. "If there is something that can affect all of their technology in a harmful way, it could be turned into a defense against them".

She then intensely scanned the dead alien.

"We have not previously encountered this variation of the aliens," T'Maz went on to say. "It's integrated armor seems to give it the ability to blend in with the background, making it almost invisible from a distance, even more so at night. A very useful tool for a sniper. I could not see this being even with my superior eyesight".

I hadn't seen it either, at least not until it moved, but my enhanced sight seemed to have picked it up better than hers once I knew what to look for.

"When it moves the camouflage blurs somewhat, a slight optical distortion," I explained. "Look for a blur after they take a shot and relocate to a new perch".

Like all good snipers these aliens didn't fire more than once or twice from the same location.

"Look at the long arms and legs on this creature," T'Maz instructed. "It has been modified. This alien has not been designed only to serve as a sniper, but likely also as a forward scout. It is well adapted for climbing rocky or uneven terrain".

This was genetic engineering on a level that could only be imagined in my time. Even I had only been altered so much, if you thought about it. I was still human, only all of my baseline human characteristics had been enhanced. In other words, if you put me side-by-side with a completely normal human there would be little to visually identify me specifically from the other guy as having been genetically engineered. My normal human form certainly hadn't been manipulated genetically to grant me additional fingers or longer limbs, etc. This thing, though, had been physically changed to serve a well-defined role from birth.

"Scout snipers, that's what we'll call them," I decided. "And speaking of scouting, we should really continue moving and check out that tower".

Being a Vulcan meant that T'Maz was really into the science stuff, but right now we had far more important things to do as we did have a time limit. I, for one, did not fancy having to start a new life for myself in another universe, yet again, once that rift closed and we were stuck in this universe. I'd done that once already and that was plenty for me.

(Line Break)

Unnamed L-Class Planet. Alternate Universe.

Through my rifle's scope I saw two 'Collectors' that were patrolling along some platforms just outside the tower that was our current objective. These were the soldier types. Like the other types we'd seen, they had armor, but it wasn't as tough as what some of the other aliens had. They also carried rifles without scopes, obviously intended for close to mid-range combat, unlike the scout sniper we'd just killed.

While gently placing a hand on the trigger equivalent of the 'Collector' sniper weapon I had just stolen, I aimed, waited for the perfect moment and then fired. The shot had gone through the heads of both the aliens when their pacing on the platform had lined them up perfectly. They immediately dropped to the ground dead and I was rather impressed by the power, range and accuracy of this alien weapon. I'd love to take it back to my ship and get some intense scans of it as it would make a great addition to my arsenal. Hopefully, in time, I'd be able to reverse engineer it and design a new housing that would be more comfortable for me to use regularly.

"Okay, let's head in," I then instructed, after ensuring that no other aliens were around. Surprisingly, the deaths of these two hadn't caused an alarm to sound. Maybe only firing my new sniper rifle once had helped in that regard.

It was a bit of a climb and while scrambling up the cliff side we saw another soldier type at the top. It screamed at us in alarm when it had randomly looked down and had seen us coming up the cliff. It brought its rifle to its shoulder trying to aim down the cliff face and pick us off only for me to climb up a bit faster and with one hand still securely on the cliff grabbed the rifle barrel and pulled hard. A shot went past my head and then the alien itself, along with its weapon, went falling down, right over the cliff. It made a satisfying splat when it hit the ground.

Once I had finished climbing up I saw the access door I'd spotted earlier while scouting out the tower, what I hadn't seen before was the strange looking device just above the entryway.

It was an oval-shaped piece of technology which swiveled slowly back and forth on a thin swing arm. A green light was coming out of it lighting the ground in front of the door. I figured it was a camera as well as some sort of scanner. Who knows how it worked though. It could be as sophisticated as a DNA scanner and if you were on the access list it opened the door. It could be connected to some internal security hub inside and a person would have to affirmatively grant entrance. Hell, it could even be weaponized for all I knew.

"I have an idea," I said to T'Maz, after puzzling out what to do for a few moments.

Raising my sidearm, I blew the camera up with a single high powered, long-range shot. To my surprise no alarm went off, even after 30 tense seconds of waiting, and no one appeared to be rushing to defend the tower. It was kind of bizarre actually.

"What was that supposed to accomplish?" my fellow spy inquired curiously.

I took the time to explain.

"It was supposed to set off an alarm," I answered hesitantly, still looking around for any response, pretty puzzled at this turn of events. "Which should have brought some of the aliens outside to defend the tower; that would have involved them opening the door and me mowing them down as a group".

Since that hadn't happened, I supposed we'd have to try something else.

"Help me with the door," I requested after another couple of minutes of nothing happening.

After T'Maz scanned the door further for any possible boobie traps and finding none, the door, rather anticlimactically, slid effortlessly open thanks to our combined strength. When we got inside we found ourselves in a dark room that had grey colored walls.

"I'm getting the distinct impression that the bug aliens didn't actually build this place themselves," I offered quietly to the sexy Vulcan.

She took out her tricorder and scanned the room.

"That seems likely," she told me. "The walls are made of a well-known material commonly used by the Federation when building such outposts. Also, this base is more than fifty years old and is showing signs of long disuse".

These aliens just got more and more confusing.

"Gothic, please look at this," T'Maz requested.

I turned and saw that the Vulcan had entered another room and in this chamber there was a very familiar symbol on the wall. It was 2D picture of the planet Earth with a sword driven down into it. I recognized it immediately, it was the symbol of the Terran Empire in the Mirror Universe that sometimes appeared in the shows. That empire was a sort of dark reflection of the Federation. Rather than alien races coming together in peace, working together for the betterment of all, the Terran Empire had conquered them all. The conquered races now serving humanity.

"It is clearly a human symbol, but it matches nothing I have ever seen before," T'Maz said. "You have seen it before, though, as you visibly reacted to it".

Now I couldn't lie, at least not totally. Telling a Section 31 operative I might have knowledge of the future of this universe, and an alternate reality, would see my mind dissected and ripped apart quicker than you could say 'for the good of the Federation'.

"I think I've seen it before, back in my time," I said truthfully. I had seen it before in my old dimension, on a couple of television shows.

T'Maz touched the symbol of the Terran Empire.

"Fascinating. Could this be from your home reality or just something similar?" the Vulcan wondered. "It is remotely possible that your people advanced along similar lines to the humans of my universe".

Now that was a worrying thought, but somehow I really doubted that. The shows clearly indicated that the Star Trek universe and this Mirror universe were connected somehow and so 'close' together, in terms of dimensions, that crossover between the two was possible through something as mundane as a transporter accident. My universe didn't have that 'closeness'.

"No idea," I said, and I really didn't.

I then left the room, eager to get away from this topic, and T'Maz followed as we headed up the tower. We found no other signs of life until we got to the top, which was good because my head was still full of thoughts about the Mirror Universe and just how badly I did not want to end up trapped within it. In my distracted state I was probably an easy target.

On the top level of the tower we found a 'Collector' bent over something. It appeared to be examining the computers and it didn't even seem to take note of our presence. This was one of the worker drone types I figured, since it was much smaller in size and its armor looked less sturdy, obviously not intended for any kind of real combat.

After pulling the trigger on my sidearm I watched as a bright red crimson beam of deadly energy screamed towards the alien and killed it. The creature let out a brief cry before it collapsed into a heap, slightly smoking. Its armor was definitely not up to the standards of the warrior types. Even with my weapon set on kill, I was half expecting it to take a few more shots to put it down for good.

"We are clear. Let us proceed," T'Maz said, only after getting several deep scans of this new 'worker' drone type.

I looked around.

"You think we have enough charges to do the job?" I asked.

The rotating anti-aircraft turret was mounted above us, so we had to blow the entire top floor, and thus the supports for the turret above, in order to ensure it collapsed down into the building itself and was destroyed. The tower wouldn't just tumble down, though, it would have been built to withstand attack from above and to support the weight of the turret. If the situation wasn't so fucked up and I had a bit more time, I'd have even considered dismantling the turret and stealing it for myself. When I built my future home or base I'd need powerful fixed defenses like a weapon turret to protect my fortress. It was too bad, it looked like the turret itself might have just fit in my cargo area.

"Our supply should be sufficient," T'Maz replied as she set the small explosives in place. "Watch the door as I work".

Mostly I just watched her magnificent ass flex and jiggle as her work involved a lot of bending over. It must have been my overactive imagination because I could have sworn she was swinging those hips way more than strictly necessary, like she knew I was watching and was trying to give me a show. Nah…

(Line Break)

Unnamed L-Class Planet. Alternate Universe.

As it turned out the anti-aircraft defense tower was connected to the outpost via a long dark tunnel. We were still travelling down that tunnel when the timer on T'Maz's tricorder beeped informing us that the tower had now blown up. The slight tremors we felt in the tunnel seemed to bear that out.

When we finally made it to the enemy base we entered a room at the end of the tunnel and found some storage boxes and an inactive console, like in a freaking video game. The room was essentially being used like a storage closet, even though the tunnel led outside the base to the tower. I doubted the aliens had ever even used the tunnel or even knew it was there! What was even more foolish was that they didn't have anyone guarding it either, even though it was an entrance to the whole facility.

This was yet another thing, in an already very long list, that made these 'Collectors' even more confusing and alien to me. These were clearly very advanced beings with advanced technology at their disposal, beings who were obviously ruthless and efficient in battle, but at the same time they were total idiots as well. Either that or they were so alien in their thinking that I simply could not understand their actions or motivations.

Once outside of the store room we found another long hallway and yet another door we were forced to open using our super human/Vulcan might. When the double doors slid apart, finally I saw a single soldier type bolt upright off the floor at the unexpected sight of us, his rifle propped up against a wall.

A single quick shot rang out and I killed yet another 'Collector.' I'd lost count of how many of these bug creatures I'd killed by now. For a race with such delightfully powerful weapons and tough armor, they weren't that hard to kill once you had done it a few times, or maybe I was just that awesome?

Then two more 'Collectors' burst into the room, obviously having heard my weapon's discharge, causing T'Maz and I to duck for cover behind a convenient metal crate. Soon both of the soldier types began firing. I rolled into the corridor between crates and quickly returned fire and killed them both quickly.

Next, T'Maz hacked a nearby console that unlocked all the doors in the base. As it turned out Terran Empire tech was pretty damn close to Federation stuff so she had no trouble at all using the local computers.

I knew we had to be close to the object of our quest as by all appearances the aliens were starting to put some real effort into killing us now. I was pretty sure that the 'Collector' we'd found alone in that room had been bait to draw us into a trap. That or we really had found one of the strange aliens taking a nap in an unfrequented room. With these guys it was impossible to know if they were being weirdly alien or just plain stupid.

"I have found the device," T'Maz reported urgently.

To keep up with her I had to run as she raced towards the room that contained the device. She was being reckless and that was very illogical, so I actually spent a moment or two wondering if she could be a Romulan double agent, but I dismissed that thought immediately as any spy clever enough to fool the whole of Section 31 would never drop their act around me. Although I did promise myself that I would keep an eye on her just in case I was wrong.

We found the cubic object that made rifts in space/time suspended in another energy field. It was being protected by guards and a powerful force field. It seemed that this time the aliens were being clever.

"We will need to overload those plasma transfusers in order to bring down the force field," T'Maz whispered.

The aliens didn't seem to know that we were here yet, so focused were they on the device, or maybe assured we'd be killed long before getting this far? Again, who knows. Luckily this meant the first move would be ours.

"Sounds good," I replied. "What's a plasma transfuser?"

I'd never heard of such a thing.

"Those pylons," T'Maz clarified shortly, obviously annoyed with what she thought was probably a very simple thing.

I would leave that to her.

"Let me handle the aliens," I said. "You deal with the plasma stuff.

A moment later the air was filled with the discharge of deadly energy. The 'Collectors' fired even as they rapidly decreased in number under my perfect aim and the swing of my sword, beheading several. I slaughtered them with relative ease, all things considered, since they simply weren't able to deal with a bloodthirsty augment moving rapidly in the middle of their group with a sword that could cut through even their armor.

"We can now recover the device," I heard T'Maz say, once the last alien died by my hand, "then we must leave".

I moved over to the Vulcan, having to step over several dead alien corpses and pools of weird looking blood fluid on the way.

"No, we have to destroy it," I said emphatically. "It's the only logical option".

T'Maz raised an eyebrow.

"Explain," she demanded.

I had an answer already prepared and was ready to debate the matter if need be.

"This device opened a rip in space/time and somehow these aliens came right through and took it," I said. "They did so quickly enough that it's safe to assume that they knew of the device all along, perhaps for a very long time, and that they know how to detect a rip when it opens. That means if it is ever used again then they will immediately know and enter your universe and try to obtain it again. I have a feeling the next time they'll be far more prepared and have more ships and soldiers ready, rather than the paltry few we saw today".

Seeing T'Maz appear thoughtful at this answer, I continued.

"They care nothing for their own lives or for us, so they will kill anyone who gets in their way in order to obtain it," I said. "And you can't study the device anywhere too well guarded because then the other powers in your universe will learn about it and possibly try to take it for themselves. And even if the Federation's enemies didn't learn of it, the aliens might send a fleet next time putting entire worlds in danger".

I wasn't done yet.

"If Section 31 truly wishes to protect the Federation then this device has to be destroyed, and besides, it's not like the Federation wants to expand into other realties. Sure, in time you might figure out how to access realities other than this one, but next time you might let in something even worse than these aliens. Something we just aren't ready for".

I could think of many other fictional universes that contained races much more dangerous than these 'Collectors'. It wasn't ridiculous to conclude that if the Star Trek universe was real, then that meant horrible places like the Warhammer 40K galaxy could be real as well.

"There is simply no good reason for us not to destroy the device here and now. To do otherwise risks catastrophe," I finished.

T'Maz pondered my words.

"Section 31 wanted this device returned intact," she said, obviously having reached a decision. "Therefore we must... bend the truth and say that we destroyed the device to prevent the aliens from using it to open a rift of their own. Which is true, on some level, but if asked we must say we did not have the chance to recover the device safely. In other words, we had no choice, but to destroy it".

There was no more time to debate the issue as more Collectors soon entered the room desperately trying to stop us. As we fled I fired a full powered shot at the device, which blew it up in a rather impressive display of fireworks. Ridiculously advanced technology really did not like being fired directly upon with energy weapons for some reason.

(Line Break)

The Flighty Temptress. Trek Universe.

"Fuck!" I swore as my ship went to warp. "We forgot about those people the aliens snatched".

Unfortunately for them I'd focused so much on our mission to recover the device that I failed to remember that several people from the science outpost in this universe had been taken alive by the 'Collectors'. There was still time to go back for them, but it would be dangerous as there had been more of the alien fighters showing up on the other side of the rip and it was still rapidly collapsing.

"I did not forget them," T'Maz said without any shame, as she continued to examine the alien weapon I'd picked up back at the Vulcan outpost. "I did not speak of it because saving them would have diverted us from our main task which was far more important".

That was unfortunately true, albeit extremely mercenary in attitude.

"But what about your father?" I asked. "What if he was one of the people taken?"

T'Maz wasn't worried.

"He was not," she told me. "I was able to contact him before we left the outpost. You did not notice since we were already heading for your ship".

Now that she mentioned it I did recall her falling behind as we raced towards the Flighty Temptress so that we could give chase to the Collector who had taken the Device. I really needed to pay more attention to the other people with me, even when hyper focused on a task.

"Even if my father had been taken, it would have not have changed my actions. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few," T'Maz explained. "By destroying the device we saved many more from being potentially harmed. It was the logical thing to do. He would have understood this and done the same in my place".

Again, that was probably true; it was just a little cold in my mind. If I could go back and do it all over again I would have probably tried to save those people, but not until after I had destroyed the device. Or perhaps not, it really depended on how much time it would have taken. The rip would be gone in a matter of hours after all.

"I must write and send a mission report to Agent Sloan," T'Maz was now saying. "Please memorize it before I send, in case he questions you as well on the subject of the device's destruction. I believe he will agree that we acted in the best interests of the Federation, and will not look too closely into the matter of us destroying the device, but only so long as the report leaves no doubt as to the true need for our actions".

That made sense to me, and I was glad she was going to write the report because I was quite distracted by the fact that I was more or less okay with having left all those people behind in the mirror universe. It bothered me a little, but not so much that I'd lose sleep over it.

I was pretty sure that in that my old life I would have been quite upset at this point and/or already on my way to enact a desperate, but likely futile, rescue mission. Perhaps being an augment had changed me in even more fundamental ways than I had originally thought.

"After I have transmitted my report perhaps we can have sex," T'Maz remarked casually. "If you are willing, of course".

I had a lot to think about at the moment, like the strange and sometimes incomprehensible actions of the 'Collectors,' the fact that some Klingons had actually saved my life, and ultimately whether I was going to return to Earth now or go back to Risa for some much needed pampering. I felt like I needed another couple of weeks of over-the-top debauchery to recover from all the shit that had just happened.

"Sure," I said to T'Maz with a small smile. "I like sex. I could definitely go for some sex".

She nodded upon hearing that.

"Good, then you would likely be willing to try several new positions I have read about in my research," she said. "While anal sex sounds potentially uncomfortable, I hope you will be agreeable to penetrating me in that manner at least once".

Somehow, I didn't think that that was going to be a problem.