Chapter 9

"He's coming out of warp, Sir," Sulu said from the helm as Jim was sitting in the Captain's chair.

"Follow him," Jim replied.

They had been following Kane for three days at warp, and finally they were about to see where he was going. As they dropped out of warp, they were only a day from Yorktown. They could see Kane's ship moving at high speed. "Don't let him get away from us!" Jim said. "We may only have minutes or seconds to get in there!"

Sulu increased speed to pace Kane's ship. Suddenly, Kane appeared on the viewscreen. "You cannot stop us!" he said. "And if you attempt to follow us into the Network, you will be destroyed!"

Jim glared at him. "Stop now!" he demanded. "You will not be allowed to spread tiberium throughout the universe!"

"You can't stop me, Admiral!"

"We'll see!"

The transmission ended, and the Enterprise continued their pursuit. "You think he knows something we don't?" Sulu asked.

"No," Anakin replied. "It's an idle threat. He doesn't want us to follow him in there."

As they pursued Kane, suddenly a rift opened in space, but it did not look like the rift they had traveled through before. "Well, here we go," Jim said as he gripped the arm rest on the Chair. He had never been so nervous sitting in that chair.

"The shuttle has been released, Admiral," Spock said.

"Good. They can get to Yorktown."

As the Enterprise neared the rift, it was a rough ride. "Keep it as steady as you can, Mister Sulu," Jim said.

"I wish this thing had manual controls," Anakin declared.

"You and me both," Sulu replied.

They entered the rift, and went to the left after Kane's ship, and then they entered what looked like a brain with glowing neurons. Jim stood up as he stared at it. But then Anakin stood up as he backed away from the helm. His eyes were glowing and he groaned as though he were in pain and he fell to the deck.

"Anakin!" Jim said and hurried over to him.

"Don't touch me," Anakin said and looked at Jim with glowing eyes.

"What's happening?"

Anakin was trembling. "I can feel the whole universe," he said. He suddenly looked out the viewport…

Qui-Gon Ginn sat meditating in the Room of a Thousand Fountains. His eyes suddenly opened. "Anakin," he said. He left the room and went to find Yoda, who sat on his usual perch.

Yoda looked at Qui-Gon as he walked in. "Felt it I did," Yoda said. "Alive Anakin is."

"But where has he been all this time?" Qui-Gon asked.

"In the other galaxy, I am guessing."

"But why? And why are we feeling his presence?"

"Hard to say. Concentrate we must. Need our help he may."

"Qui-Gon," Anakin said as he could feel his old Master in the Force. He looked at Jim. "I can touch the other galaxy."

"Can you talk to them? Can they help us?"

Anakin shook his head. "I don't know, but I can feel everything."

"What about the JahSepp? Can you communicate with them?"

Anakin closed his eyes. "I feel them," he said. "They're peaceful but they are confused about what is entering their network."

"Can you convey that we're trying to help them?"

Anakin smiled. "Yes, it's like a whole new way of communicating."

"Let them know what's happening."

Just then the green sparks that were the JahSepp surrounded the Enterprise. "Admiral!" Sulu said.

"It's okay," Anakin said. "They want to know why we're here." He concentrated in the Force. "They understand," he said after a moment.

"Are you letting them know the tiberium is dangerous?" Jim asked.

Anakin nodded without replying. "They understand, Admiral. They intend to stop Kane and use the tiberium themselves."

Jim scowled at that. "For what?"

"I don't know, but they know what it is."

"This whole situation is confusing."

The green sparks left the Enterprise and went after Kane's ship. "Follow them," Jim said.

Anakin stayed in the floor and reached out in the Force. He smiled as he could feel Qui-Gon's presence. "Admiral, Qui-Gon doesn't seem to be troubled," he said.

Qui-Gon could feel Anakin again. He smiled as he could sense that Anakin was much calmer in the Force than he had been before. He sent his approval as much as possible, and his confusion. Anakin smiled as he could feel Qui-Gon's approval. How he wanted to let Qui-Gon know about his family and he tried his best to convey that. Qui-Gon was surprised as he understood. Yoda also understood as he peered into the Force.

Jim stood looking out the viewport wondering what the JahSepp would do. "What do they intend to do?" he wondered out loud.

"I don't know," Sulu replied. He looked at Jim. "You think they'll kill them?"

Jim frowned. "Let's hope not, but they are in their territory."

"Could he ever be contained?"

"I don't know that either, but it doesn't seem like it unless we put him and all of Khan's crew into stasis together."

They watched as the JahSepp overtook Kane's ship. Jim's mouth dropped open as he saw the nacelles evaporate, stopping the ship. He thought he was feeling a little déjà vu. "Did you just see that?" Jim asked.

"Yes sir," Sulu replied. "They could have done that to us if not for Anakin, I suppose?"

"I'm sure they could."

They watched as the JahSepp entered Kane's ship. "What do you think they will do?" Solan asked.

Jim had not even realized Solan was standing beside him. "I don't know, but I wonder how we will get out of here too."

"I can get us out," Anakin said as he stood up.

Jim looked at him. "How?"

"The Force."

"Shouldn't we wait to see what happens?" Solan asked.

Jim looked out at Kane's ship which was simply sitting in space. "Maybe we should," he said. "I mean, what if he manages to escape from them?"

"How could he?" Sulu asked. "Look what they did to the ship."

"What if he tries to convince them that he is trying to help?"

"I don't think they would be easily fooled," Anakin said. "They're connected to the Force."

"Which side?"

"All of it. They even knew me."

Jim looked at him. "How?"

"They knew I was the chosen one somehow. I was able to contact Qui-Gon, and I think I felt Yoda there too."

"So, is everything okay there?"

Anakin nodded. "Yes."

Jim thought that was a flat answer, but he supposed it was good enough. "Still, let's just wait and see what happens."

As they watched, it seemed that nothing was happening, but then the JahSepp exited Kane's ship and surrounded it. Jim and the rest of the crew watched to see what would happen next. "Jim, I do not believe we can stop them if they decide to execute Kane and everyone on his ship," Spock said.

"I'm pretty sure we can't," Jim agreed. "Did you feel what Anakin felt?"

"Yes, but I'm sure not to the same extent."

"He said he could feel everything, even the other galaxy."

"He is stronger in the Force than most people."

While they watched, the JahSepp dispersed and Kane's ship was not there. "What just happened?" Jim asked.

Bones was standing beside Jim now. "Jim, if they can just disintegrate his ship like that, isn't it possible that they could do that to us too?" he asked. "What if they don't want to let us out of here? What if they don't want anyone to know their secret? What if that's why people come in but never come back out?"

Jim swallowed hard and looked at Bones. "You want all those answered in order?" he asked.

"I'm not kidding."

"Well, why do you have to ask the worst possible scenario that could happen?"

"Because it is his nature to do so," Spock said. "However, this time he has a point."

Jim only paused a moment. "Mister Sulu, turn us around," he said. "Anakin, can you find our way out?"

"Yes, Sir," Anakin replied. He sat down at the helm as Sulu turned the ship around.

"Are they coming after us?"

Anakin did not answer as he was concentrating on finding the gap that would lead them out of the mycelial network. However, the ship suddenly shuddered and came to a jolting halt. "What happened?" Jim asked.

"You know what happened!" Bones declared. "They've decided that they don't want us to leave this network and tell anyone else about this!"

"This is not the time to panic."

"When is the time? When we're floating dead in space?"

"Bones." Jim walked over to Anakin and Sulu. "What happened?"

"They've disabled the propulsion systems and the warp drive," Sulu said as he looked up at Jim. "We're not going anywhere."

Suddenly, the green sparks came into the ship onto the bridge. Jim stepped back as they became a swirl and formed into what looked like Darth Vader. Jim backed up even more then. Anakin had never seen Darth Vader, so he stood up. "Wait!" he said.

Bones stood beside Jim. "How do they know what Vader looks like?" Bones asked.

"I don't know," Jim replied.

"Just wait!" Anakin said. "Why are you doing this? We mean you no harm."

"You brought trouble into our network," the image replied.

"No. We tried to stop them. They came into this network, and we followed them in to try and help you."

"If not for you, they would not have entered."

"That's not true. They were planning this before we ever entered the picture. They were searching for information and freeing their leader on our planet."

"Why should we believe you?"

"Because it's the truth," Anakin said. "What did you do to them?"

"They will no longer plague the galaxy with their terrorism."

"So are they dead?"

"They are lost in the network."

Jim absorbed that a moment. "What do you mean they're lost in the network? You mean they're out there somewhere?"

"Yes."

"How can they live without a ship?"

"The network is living, and it is a safe haven for us. Humans are not supposed to be here."

"Then let us go. All we wanted was to stop them, but it looks like you've taken care of that. Can they escape?"

"No."

"We don't have a quarrel with you. Just let us leave."

"You do not make the rules here. We decide who can leave and who cannot. Why should we let you go?"

"Because we mean you no harm," Jim replied. "We are no threat."

"And yet you have powerful weapons on your ship. If you are no threat, why do you have weapons?"

"If we're threatened, we fight. Don't you?"

The Darth Vader image seemed to waver. "You will not ask us questions," he said. "You are the ones who invaded our realm."

"Stop," Anakin said. "We did not invade your realm. What kind of realm is this anyway? You're connected to all the universe. How is this possible?" Anakin stared at the Jah Sepp. He was feeling something completely different from them than before. "You're being influenced by something else."

"We cannot be influenced."

"But you are," Jim said. "You are being influence by a cybernetic being. His name is Cabal." He looked at Sulu. "How could he do this?"

"I'm just as puzzled as you are, Sir," Sulu replied.

"Somebody needs to get me some answers."

"We're cut off from Starfleet."

McNeil came onto the bridge next. "Who is this?" he asked.

"It's the Jah Sepp and Cabal all rolled into one, and how they got an image of Darth Vader, I do not know," Jim replied. "Do you know anything about this?"

"Not a thing."

"Well, we'll have to try and solve this with our wits."

"How do you do that against a computer program that can think?" Solan asked.

Jim did not know the answer to that question, but he realized Anakin was about to do something.

Anakin closed his eyes and he seemed to glow even brighter. "If you won't listen to reason and separate yourself from this evil being, you'll be destroyed with him," he declared. "You cannot win."

"This is our realm. We will disintegrate your ship around you."

"No you won't because we mean you no harm."

The image of Darth Vader seemed to waver even more. "You cannot win this, Anakin Skywalker!" Cabal said as he finally got in control.

"Talk about a dual personality," Bones said. "What are we going to do?"

"Stand back," Jim replied.

"What if they do disintegrate our ship around us?" Solan asked.

"Well, let's try to have a little confidence in Anakin."

They backed up as Anakin faced the intruder. He could feel Qui-Gon, Yoda…and now Obi-Wan, as well as other Jedi who knew he was reaching out to them for strength. He opened his eyes and looked at the Darth Vader image which he had no idea who it was. Jim thought he looked a lot like Ajah and Helek when they were at full power, although Anakin was not using electricity.

Anakin extended his palms toward the intruder and made a motion as though he were tearing something in two. The Darth Vader image screamed an electronic scream and the Jah Sepp swirled away from it. The swirl was so violent that it created a wind on the Bridge, but the Jah Sepp left the ship which catapulted the ship forward.

"Admiral, we're moving!" Sulu exclaimed. "I can't stop!"

"Scotty!" Jim exclaimed.

"It's not the engines moving us, Admiral!" Scotty replied.

"Then what is it?"

"Not sure."

"We're moving much faster than impulse," Sulu said.

They looked out the viewport at the swirling blue tunnel that looked almost like a warp field but not quite. It also looked like they were traveling through a giant brain. "Where are we going?" Jim asked.

Just as he asked that, the ship suddenly began spinning and they were travelling through one of the smaller tunnels. They soon spun out of the tunnel and then began drifting. Jim swallowed hard. "Where are we?" he asked as he felt like the ship was righted again.

Sulu was looking at the readings. "I don't know, Sir," he replied.

"What do you mean, you don't know?"

"The sensors are going crazy. I can't get any readings."

Jim pressed a button on his chair as he sat down. "Mister Scott, what's wrong with the sensors?" he asked.

"I don't know, Sir!" Scotty replied.

"Reconfigure the sensors."

Jim stood up and looked out the viewport at nothing but stars. "You can't detect any planets near here?" he asked.

"I can't get anything," Sulu replied.

"Then we'll do a visual. Turn the ship around."

The ship began turning and they watched to see what was out there. As they came about, they saw Saturn. Sulu looked at Jim. "Well, I guess that answers our question," he said.

"So, we're light years from where we went into that place, but what's wrong with the sensors?" Jim said.

Anakin was sitting in the floor. "We've definitely left that network," he said. "But something isn't right. Something is very wrong."

"What do you mean?" Jim asked.

"Some sort of weird sensation in the Force."

"Weird?"

"Weird is not good," Bones declared. "Definitely not good in this situation."

"He is correct, Jim," Spock added. "I too feel a strange sensation."

"Well, if we're this close to Earth, we should go there," Jim said.

"The Earth is not the same," Anakin said.

"What do you mean it's not the same?"

"Admiral, we're being hailed," Uhura said.

"On screen."

A woman appeared on the viewscreen. From the look on her face, they could see that she was surprised. "Jim Kirk," she said.

Now, it was Jim's turn to be shocked. Spock took a step forward. "Spock," she said.

Jim was thoroughly confused now. "Am I missing something?" he asked as he looked at Spock.

"Admiral, this is my sister, Michael Burnham," Spock said.

"Your what?"

"Admiral?" the woman said. "Well, Admiral Kirk, you are in danger. Do not try to go to Earth."

"Wait a minute," Jim said. "How do you know us? Where are we besides Saturn?"

"This is going to be hard for you to understand, but you're in the mirror universe. You have to come to our hidden base here."

Jim was stunned. "Admiral, we should trust her," Spock said.

"I agree," Anakin said.

Jim felt like he was on the outside of the loop. "Okay, so where do we need to go?" he asked.

"Come to Titan," Michael said. "You can land the ship here. Hurry."

"We don't have any sensors."

"I'll send you the frequency so you can find your way here."

Jim looked at Sulu who began moving his hands over the controls that he did so skillfully. "I've got it, Sir," he said.

"Well then take us to Titan," Jim replied.

Solan walked over to Jim. "It's the Terran Universe," he said.

"How do you know?" Jim asked.

"Remember when I studied all those files about the GDI and all that?"

"Yeah."

"Well, something about this was in all that. These were highly classified files."

"Solan, are you telling me you broke into the classified files of Starfleet?"

"Well…you told me to study everything."

"I'm not hearing this…where are we?"

"It's the Terran Universe," Solan repeated. "It's called the mirror universe, and…" He looked at Jim. "Everything that's good in our universe is evil in this one, and vice versa."

Jim absorbed that. "Everything?"

"Yes, Sir, everything, even you."

"I'm really confused now."

"It's confusing but it's true." Solan frowned. "We're in the mirror universe."

As Titan began to fill their viewscreen even more, Jim wondered just what they were about to get into and how they were going to get back home. He frowned as he thought of Carol and their children. How long would it be before he would see them again?

"Mister Sulu, hold this orbit," Jim said. "We don't want to get too close without knowing exactly what's going on here."

"Admiral, I assure you that you can trust her," Spock declared.

Jim scowled at that. "How do you know?"

Spock was silent a moment. "There are many things that I have been sworn to never speak of as well as anyone else in Starfleet."

"Well, it's time to speak of it because I want to know what's going on. This is your ship, but I'm your commanding officer and I want to know if this crew is in danger. I've learned of a whole lot of things that were not supposed to be talked about in the last few days."

Spock and everyone else could see that Jim was not going to take no for an answer. "As I said before, Admiral, she is my sister," Spock said.

"I didn't know you had a sister," Jim replied. "There is nothing on your record that says anything about a sister. Now, let's get on past this fact, and explain why I've never heard of this sister of yours."

"I suppose since we are in a very unusual situation, protocols and the Prime Directive are irrelevant."

"You can say that again. If someone had been talking long before now, we might not be in this mess."

"Michael was lost in the Terran universe years ago. Captain Lorca sabotaged the spore drive on her vessel in order to return to the Terran universe where he originally came from. She attempted to return to her vessel but was not in time and she was lost. We had no idea if she had survived until now."

"And why was this such a secret?"

"Jim, there are many things that you do not know about this universe. For example, it is called the Mirror universe for a reason. Anything in our own universe that is good would be evil in this universe, and vice versa, as Solan said."

Jim just stood there a moment. "Are you telling me that there's another version of us here somewhere that is…evil?" he asked.

"Yes, and if we have encountered Kane as evil in our universe and we defeated him, then what has happened in this universe?"

Jim was not sure how to respond to that. He looked out the viewport. "So I guess we need to talk to your sister and whoever is with her to find out, right?"

"It would be wise and beneficial."

"Get a shuttle ready. We'll go down there but the Enterprise is staying out here."

Jim looked out the viewport again as Spock left to get the shuttle ready. Solan and Bones walked up to him. "What are we in now, Jim?" Bones asked. "If we meet up with an evil you around here, we're liable to end up dead."

"Come on, Bones," Jim said. "Do you really think that's true?"

"Why don't you think so? You think Spock is lying?"

Jim scowled at that. He knew Spock was not lying. He had practically forced him to tell him the truth about the whole thing. "No. I wonder what the you in this universe will be like."

"Jim, this is no time for jokes. How are we supposed to ever get back home?"

"I don't know, but let's just hope this person knows something about that."

Solan frowned. "How do we get into these things?"

"I don't know, but wouldn't life be boring if we didn't?" Jim asked. "Let's get ready to go down there."

Jim went to his quarters. As he walked in, he saw some of the children's toys and some of Carol's clothes. He just stood there a moment feeling stunned. He shook his head. He could not think about that right now. He had to figure out how to get back home. He changed into his blue uniform that he liked to wear on away missions and then sat down on the bed as he stared out the portal. He was so used to at least talking to Carol before he went on missions. Now, he had no way of contacting her.

The door chime sounded. "Enter," Jim said.

Anakin was at the door. "Am I going on this trip with you?" he asked.

"Sure." Jim noticed that Anakin's eyes still glowed slightly. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'd never felt anything like that before. I could feel everything. I communicated with Qui-Gon in a way that I didn't know was possible, and he understood. They're not angry at all."

"You wanted to know that."

Anakin nodded. "I didn't want them to think I just abandoned them and never thought of them. He let me know everything is well there."

"That's good. So, maybe we made a difference."

"I suppose you did. I can't see you going anywhere without making a difference."

"Well, I hope we can make it out of here."

"So do I, Sir."

Jim realized Anakin had left his family behind as well, including a child he had never met. "I'm gonna do my best to get us back home," he said.

"And I'm gonna do everything I can to help," Anakin replied.

They left the room and headed for the shuttle bay. Solan joined them on the way. "What do you think we'll find down there?" Solan asked.

"I don't know," Jim replied. "But we're used to the unknown."

"Right. Do you think there's another…me here?"

"I'm sure there is." Jim scowled at that. "I'm not sure I want to meet an evil you."

Solan's mouth dropped open. "An evil me?" He considered that. "What would an evil me be doing?"

"I don't know. You're my bodyguard and a member of my crew. What do you think you would have done if you had gone down the wrong path?"

"I never thought of going down the wrong path. I don't know."

"I guess if we meet up with you, we'll find out."

Anakin suddenly stopped. "What about me?" he asked.

Jim stopped and looked at him. "Chances are, you wouldn't be here," he said.

"Chances? But you said this is a mirror universe. That means it would be a mirror of our own."

Jim remembered Darth Vader, and he thought it was ironic that the Jah Sepp created an image of him with Cabal. Anakin stepped closer to Jim. "You know something, don't you?" he asked.

"How could I know anything?" Jim asked.

"You know something. What are you thinking about?"

"It can't be here."

"You better tell me now because later won't be good. Remember how things have been kept secret?"

Jim frowned. "I do," he said. "Let's go to the ship and we'll talk about this."

They went on to the shuttle bay where Spock, Bones, Riley, Ajah, McNeil, and Uhura were waiting. "Admiral, Mac is trying to locate Cabal if he is still on the ship," Uhura said. "He and Scotty will keep us informed."

"Good."

"Helek is guarding him."

"Fine. Let's get going."

They boarded the ship, which Riley would be piloting. Anakin sat down across from Jim. "Now, tell me," Anakin said.

Bones looked at Jim. "Tell him what?" he asked.

"We're in a mirror universe, Bones," Jim said. "He wants to know about himself."

The look on Bones' face was enough to say he had not thought of that. Jim looked at Anakin. "We don't know who he was," Jim said. "But the image that Cabal and the Jah Sepp created on the Enterprise was…Darth Vader."

"Who's that?" Anakin asked.

"In your galaxy, the first time we went there, Darth Vader was the Emperor's right hand man. He was a Sith lord. No one told us who he had been before he turned to the dark side, but the boy, Luke Skywalker, was someone that Obi-Wan was very concerned about."

"Obi-Wan?"

"Yeah, he had said Vader was a pupil of his until he turned to evil, but he never said it was…you."

"But I was Qui-Gon's padawan."

"Right, because Bones saved his life."

Anakin's surprise and realization were evident. "Then, if Qui-Gon had died…but why?"

"We don't know. There's a big gap in what we know."

"Then you saved my life too. So if we see Darth Vader here, we're gonna know the truth."

"It doesn't matter. If you see him, just remember you're the opposite."

"He is correct," Spock said. "You should not let what could have been disturb you."

"I know that," Anakin replied. "But I can't see myself becoming something like that."

"I cannot see myself as evil. However, if we are trapped in this universe, we may see many things."

"I suppose we'll get through it together, right?"

"Correct. We must not let what we see affect us."

Jim was not sure he could abide by that if he saw an evil version of himself and Carol. Mirror. He did not want to have to witness that, but he would have to be strong. He looked out the portal as they neared Titan and they could see the landscape. They had no other way to escape than to find their way.