- 9 -

I'd demanded to know what was going on on Camus II, but instead of telling me there and then Spock called a meeting where, he assured me, everything would be explained.

"You just need to remain patient a little longer and all will become clear."

And what a meeting it was. First, Kate Shaw brought in mirror-Spock and mirror-Uhura, who actually gasped on seeing me, her hand going to her mouth. I had no opportunity to enquire why because seconds later, before introductions could even be made, in walked Bones McCoy with...my wife?

"Janice?" said Janice Rand, coming over to me. "What are you doing here, sweetie?"

"I could ask you the same question," I said as we hugged.

"Janice Rand is here because I wanted a neutral observer I trusted with me when I came to inspect this infernal place on behalf of the Surgeon-General's office," said Bones. "After some persuading she agreed to accompany me."

"I wasn't his first choice, and I wouldn't have told you I was going to Camus II even if I was allowed to," Janice said to me. "I was worried it would trigger painful memories for you."

"And Dr Lester is here at my request," said Spock, covering for me. "As the person who found the alien bodyswapping device and first uncovered its secrets, I believed it possible she could provide further insights into its operation."

I saw Kate Shaw raise an eyebrow at this, but she said nothing.

Mirror-Uhura had been staring at me since her arrival, bursting to let something out. Now she did.

"You swapped bodies with your Jim Kirk!" she said. "Just as happened in our universe."

"Interesting," said mirror-Spock, regarding me through narrowed eyes, weighing me up.

I was intrigued by this news about their Jim Kirk and had questions about his fate, but for now there were more important ones I needed answers to. I turned to Spock.

"It's time you explained what's going on in this facility. Don't leave anything out."

"Very well. It began eight years ago at Khitomer. After the Enterprise and her crew foiled the attempt by dissident Klingons, Vulcans, Romulans, and humans led by Admiral Cartwright to sabotage the peace conference, I was approached by Starfleet Intelligence who wished to know what my plans were now that the Enterprise was to be decommissioned. It had been my intention to become a diplomat. They convinced me to delay this."

"Why?"

"They believed that though the ring-leaders had been rounded up the conspiracy went far deeper, that there were still those in Starfleet and elsewhere actively opposed to peace. They gave this group the code name 'Ares', and wanted me to take charge of rooting it out. I agreed with their assessment and accepted the task. I chose Camus II as the logical place to establish my command, then had covert Starfleet Intelligence officers placed on every ship in the fleet in order to do so. Lieutenant Commander Shaw was that officer on the USS Spencer. At the time they recruited me, neither Starfleet Intelligence nor I realised that behind Ares was another entity with an agenda of its own."

"The Empire?"

"Exactly so," said mirror-Spock. "The Empire invented a means of sending people across to this universe in ones and twos to infiltrate Starfleet. When their agent had a counterpart here that counterpart would be killed and the agent would take his place. When they didn't, those already here would establish new identities for them. The first two agents sent over were Lawrence Cartwright and Jenna Lawson. Having replaced the real admiral, Cartwright had Ms Lawson assigned to your USS Enterprise, where I'm told she later perished in an accident. Meanwhile, Cartwright founded Ares."

"So he killed the real Admiral Cartwright?"

"No, in that instance they were able to smuggle him back to my universe, where he was killed by Khan."

"Khan? You mean Khan Noonien Singh?"

"Yes. In my universe he is the Emperor. Although my brother, First Minister Sybok, was in charge of the infiltration program, it would be many years before I learned how extensive it was."

"Why?"

"Sybok was secretly a Vulcan separatist. He was eventually betrayed and executed. As his brother I naturally came under suspicion as well. We had never been close and I had not known of his political leanings, so there was nothing to find. Nonetheless, from that point on my ship and I were given missions that kept us well away from the center of power. A few months ago I was contacted by someone who supplied me with a pair of the harnesses used to cross between our universes and a complete list of Empire agents who had been sent here in the past three decades. It would have been unwise to attempt to cross between Earths, so my wife and I used the harnesses to cross between Vulcans."

"Your...wife?" I said, staring at mirror-Uhura.

She inclined her head and gave a little smile.

"News of their arrival on Vulcan was relayed to me," said Spock. "I arranged for them to be sent here to Camus II, where I personally debriefed them. As soon as I understood the magnitude of the threat to the Federation, I had Lawrence Cartwright brought here from the penal planet where he was serving his sentence so that I could interrogate him further, and Khan's brainwashing device sent from Nevada."

"How did you convince Starfleet Command to go along with this?" I asked. "Why would they accept the word of someone from the mirror universe?"

"All the Empire's agents over here have sub-dermal communicators that enable them to communicate with each other without Starfleet knowing about it," said Spock. "Their covert communications were riding on personal communications carrier beams, lost in all the chatter."

I snapped my fingers.

"Ah, so *that's* the 'operational reason' why ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore private communication channels have been suspended for the past few months!"

"That is correct," said mirror-Spock. "The sub-dermal communicators were undetectable by the Federation until I supplied the means to do so. This enabled Starfleet to confirm the veracity of the list I supplied."

"The size of that list and the names on it caused a great deal of concern," said my Spock. "After three decades of infiltration, more than half of Starfleet ship's captains and their senior officers were Empire sleeper agents. To arrest them all and relieve them of their duties would have left Starfleet gravely vulnerable."

"So instead you had Khan's damned device shipped here, set up bogus training sessions, then brainwashed them into believing they'd always been loyal servants of the Federation!" said McCoy, not even trying to hide the outrage in his voice.

"What else would you have had us do, doctor?" asked Spock. "This was the only solution to the problem that did not leave the Federation dangerously unprotected. We are not using the device to completely overwrite personalities as Khan did, just to alter loyalties."

"That's more than enough! What you believe is a core part of who you are!"

"There were ten sleeper agents on the USS Trafalgar," said Janice Rand, "including the captain, first officer, transporter chief, and chief engineer."

Bones looked at Janice with disappointment in his eyes.

"My god, have you all forgotten your history?" he cried "When Khan used that device on his enemies we called it a war crime, and rightly so. If it was a war crime when he used it then it's a war crime when we do. And don't talk to me about 'situational ethics' either. Situational ethics be damned. Something can't be both a war crime when others do it and acceptable when we do, it just can't. Federation exceptionalism doesn't exempt us from the norms of civilised conduct."

"These people are spies, not enemy combatants, Bo... doctor," I said, "and almost every society with a martial tradition has always treated soldiers and spies differently. Also, for there to be a war crime don't we actually have to be at war first?"

"Lee Forrest was one of the sleeper agents," said Kate Shaw. "He wasn't only my captain, he was my friend. I introduced him to his wife, and I'm godparent to their twin daughters. I'm still having a hard time getting my head around the idea that this man who's been a loyal Starfleet officer for the past fifteen years, with a distinguished service record, would have turned on Starfleet the instant the Emperor ordered him to. Yet I have to believe it, because his name was on the list and he has a sub-dermal communicator. Khan's machine has changed things so that he's now the loyal Starfleet officer we all believed him to be. If the alternative is imprisonment, his daughters losing their father, and his family being disgraced, I'm OK with that."

"The point is moot now anyway, doctor," said Spock. "The device has been sabotaged and is no longer operational."

"Sorry about that," I said, sheepishly.

"Don't be," said McCoy, firmly. "You did the right thing, Janice. And now, if no one has any objections, I'd like to check on the prisoners you're still holding to ensure they're being treated properly."

"As you wish, doctor. Ms Shaw, please accompany Dr McCoy and see that he comes to no harm."

"Yes, sir," said Kate.

The pair turned and left. For a moment there was silence in the room.

"A passionate man, your Dr McCoy," said mirror-Spock.

"Indeed," said Spock. "In that as in so many other ways, the good doctor is unfortunately all too human."