"I can't believe how short the skirts are on female starfleet uniforms over here," I said, trying to pull the hem down further than it wanted to go. "This thing barely covers my backside."
"Better get used to it," chuckled Larry, "because you're going to be spending most of your time in it from now on."
Having spent the night in the cabin we were now preparing to take our leave of it. By the time Larry had returned the previous evening, I had my new identity firmly established across starfleet and all that was left for us both to do was get a good night's sleep, which we had.
"I'd take you into the city if I could, but you're going to have to make do with a transit stop on the nearest highway. No one must be able to connect us, so we can't be seen together."
Which is how I found myself on a transit shuttle an hour or so later when the orders I'd been expecting came through from starfleet. It had worked. I was in!
I was instructed to report to Captain Kirk at the Starfleet Academy ballroom, which was a surprise, where he and several of his crew were helping Janice Lester and Arthur Coleman celebrate their wedding, an even bigger surprise. They had apparently gotten hitched before a Justice of the Peace earlier in the day, and not only had Jim Kirk supplied the bridal gown, he had also arranged this room for their party and given the bride away. Clearly, he and Janice Lester were close in this universe.
When I got to the ballroom, most of those present were on the dance floor. Janice Rand had been the maid of honor and she now had Jamie Lisa in her arms, the pair gazing into each other's eyes as they slow-danced, while the bride and groom were dancing together a few feet away. It was strange seeing Janice Rand alive and well and looking so happy when I had strangled her counterpart to death in my universe. I was reflecting on this when I caught my first ever sight of my own counterpart in the flesh.
"May I cut in?" said Jim Kirk, tapping Arthur Coleman on the shoulder.
"Of course, Captain," replied Coleman.
As Kirk took her husband's place, sliding his hands around Janice Lester's waist, I moved closer so that I could listen in on their conversation. Fortunately, they were by this point near the edge of the dance floor.
"So, Janice, how does it feel to be Mrs Coleman?" Kirk asked.
"Wonderful, but I'm keeping my own surname. This is the twenty-third century, after all."
"Quite right, too."
"How about you? Are you looking forward to getting back out there?"
"Like you would not believe. I was born to be the captain of a starship. Adventuring out among the stars is where I belong."
"I've got an adventure of my own coming up in nine months."
"Nine...does that mean?"
"Yes, I'm pregnant."
"That was quick. I'm impressed."
"I told you Arthur and I had a lot of lost time to make up for, and we have been."
"Good for you," Kirk said, looking at her thoughtfully, "good, for you."
When the next dance started up, Kirk relinquished Janice Lester to her husband and left the dance floor. That's when he spotted me.
"Lieutenant Commander," he said, "you're not wearing your dress uniform."
"No, sir," I replied, "I'm not a guest. Given that the Enterprise is due to leave for deep space tomorrow, I was ordered to report to you immediately. I'm Jenna Lawson, your replacement Security Chief."
I tried not to stare, not to study every inch of that oh so familiar face, but it was hard. We were finally meeting in person, just not in the way I'd imagined we would.
"Ah yes, a shame Giotto took ill," he said. "Good to have you with us, Lawson. Do you dance?"
"What? A little, I guess..."
"A little is enough," he said taking my hand and leading me onto the dance floor. He slid his free hand around my waist, I put mine on his shoulder, and we joined in with the dancing. It was odd not to be leading, odder still to be looking into my own true face.
"So, Lieutenant Commander Jenna Lawson," he said, "tell me about your career."
So I did, giving him details from my carefully constructed legend and answering the technical questions he put to me, the latter being easy for someone with my years of experience captaining a starship. Having an interview while being waltzed around a dance floor only added to how strange my day had so far been. When he was satisfied I knew my stuff, Kirk asked me what I thought of the bride's dress. I glanced across at Janice Lester.
"Impressive use of silk and lace and fine embroidery," I said, "it's a stunning creation. Kudos to the designer."
"Do you see yourself in one like it some day?"
"I could certainly see my bride in it."
"'Bride'? Then you're..."
"Not sexually interested in men? No, sir."
"Well, the crew of the Enterprise numbers four hundred and thirty. I'm sure you'll find no shortage of potential female partners."
"I hope so. Thank you, sir."
The dance ended, we nodded and smiled at each other, then we parted. I left soon afterwards and beamed up to the ship. The Enterprise might not be heading out until tomorrow, but as Jenna Lawson I had no actual residence of my own. Also, I was eager to get established, so I'd decided to go aboard tonight and sleep in my assigned quarters. My kit and carefully crafted 'personal effects' - brought across with me from my universe - had been beamed aboard earlier and were waiting for me there when I took possession of those quarters. Once inside, I sat down on the bed, looked around me, then threw my head back and laughed with relief.
I had done it. I was in.
The following day, when the Enterprise eased out of spacedock to begin the final two years of its five year mission, I was one of those on the bridge. My predecessor, Vince Giotto, had mostly stayed off the bridge, choosing to direct the day-to-day running of the redshirts from his office. Watching the Enterprise's bridge officers concentrating on their assigned tasks I couldn't help comparing them to their counterparts on my own ship.
Save for the missing beard, Mr Spock seemed identical to the man I knew, the others not so much. My Sulu and Chekov were schemers who would stab you in the back at the first opportunity, whereas this pair seemed loyal, attentive, and frankly bland. Looking at Uhura I couldn't help but see the woman whose bed I had shared these past few weeks, rather than the promiscuous firebrand the original had been.
Then there was Captain Kirk.
Kirk puzzled me. He seemed not so much another version of me as someone playing at being me. It was very well done and most people wouldn't notice anything wrong with it, but it still felt like an impersonation. I had not expected this and was at a loss to explain it. Not that it ultimately mattered. As soon as I could figure out a way to do so I was getting us to Camus II. That was my priority. But it wasn't my only mission. I would also be learning everything I could about the Enterprise's operation and how it differed from ours.
I might have my own agenda as well, but I was first and foremost a loyal servant of the Empire. I believed in the Prime Directive, which states that "all civilisations shall be made a part of the Empire using whatever force is necessary". The Emperor himself had created the directive, and it was the Emperor who had decided it should apply in this universe as well as our own.
Admiral Cartwright and I were now in position. We were the first, but we wouldn't be the last.
The infiltration of the Federation had begun.
"""""""""""""""""
Notes:
I made mention of "the unplanned adventures" above because I had ideas for a couple of 'sidebar' tales that would have to fit in at that point. So this was just laying down a marker for if I decide to come back and write them later.
Chronological order of stories to date (not the order in which I wrote them, but how they fit together):
1. Spock's Brain: Before and After
2. Turnabout Intruder - part 2
3. Mirror Universe Turnabout
4. Interlude on Aragon IV
5. Infiltration
6. The Second Life of Janice Lester
Since 'The Second Life of Janice Lester' is the bridging tale between the early stories and those set thirty years later (which I've yet to start) it will probably keep moving higher in number for a while yet as I write more early-set tales.