Frontera, 2392

The mirror was an old one, an antique from Earth that Krang had brought back for her after his last business trip there. What he'd been doing, Chrissie didn't quite know. No doubt it was some top-secret security meeting that he wasn't allowed to talk about – one of those 'If I told you, I'd have to kill you' sort of things. Chrissie scoffed at that thought. As if Krang would ever harm her; even the idea of it was ridiculous. The occasional bruise, maybe, when things got a little… heated, but… She stopped that train of thought right where it was. There was no point in getting hot and bothered, because he was away again, Qo'noS this time for a meeting with the Operations Master and wouldn't be back until the weekend. It was just a hot flush, she told herself, knowing full well that it wasn't. The hormone replacement implant that T'Lia had prescribed when she'd finally plucked up the courage to go and talk to her about the problem, had put a stop to those.

Aware that she was flushing, she turned her attention back to the mirror. She'd hung it above a little vanity table in their bedroom that contained the feminine items she used on a day-to-day basis. A matching set of hairbrushes, a jewellery box – an old one which revealed a little plastic ballerina in a gauzy tutu, which played a tinkly tune which drove Krang mad. Someone (and Chrissie could not for the life of her remember who it was, it was so long ago) bought it as a gift for her eldest daughter, who quite predictably had hated it, although she'd hidden her disappointment and thanked the gift giver politely – Even as a child, Fina had never been into the whole 'pink princess' thing, and why they'd thought she would like something so overtly girly, Chrisie would never know. Nor had any of her younger girls shown any interest. If it wasn't a computer, Kara didn't want to know, and Kallie, for all her sparkling effervescence, would rather practice with a bat'leth than play with dolls. Whatever the reason, the unwanted gift had ended up in Chrissie's room and she would admit that, maybe because she'd had something similar as a child, she rather liked it.

There were perfume bottles as well, and some makeup, although she rarely used that. Krang always insisted that she didn't need it and in all honesty, it was never going to hide the lines around her eyes. Wrinkles. There, she'd said it, even if only in the privacy of her own mind. Not that he cared about them. He'd laughed when she'd voiced her worries, pointing to the intricate pattern of ridges that graced his own forehead. He had far more than she did, he'd pointed out, and she'd told him crossly that head ridges didn't count, and somehow that had turned to… oh damn! Here she went again…

The mirror. Almost but not quite baroque in style, it was quite large, oval in shape, the trim on its ornately carved frame painted with faded gold accents. It had been a thoughtful and very unexpected gift. It hadn't been Christmas or her birthday; he'd just seen it in a shop window, remembered her admiring a similar one in a magazine, and got it for her. She smiled; that big scary Klingon she'd married all those years ago could still be romantic when he wanted to.

Chrissie looked into the mirror and her smile faded. What did he see in her anyway? She was no warrior woman with toned muscles and sexy armour. She was useless at fighting and could barely defend herself. She did not consider herself ugly, but nor was she particularly pretty by either Klingon or human standards. She might have been once, but any beauty she'd once been able to claim had long since faded, and no matter how many times she reminded herself that Krang thought her beautiful, she could not bring herself to believe it. There was no grey in her hair, or at least, none that was visible but that was more to do with the regular hairdressing appointments than nature. Picking up the smaller of the two brushes, she pulled its bristles through her hair and pulled it back from her face, securing it at the nape of her neck in a messy bun only for half of it to fall out as soon as she let go.

Annoyed with herself, she scowled, muttering something rude, a Klingon curse word that she'd picked up from her husband and was strong enough that it would make him stop and raise a surprised eyebrow if he were here to hear it, but he wasn't, and luckily neither were any of the children. Her reflection scowled back at her. Something wasn't quite right about that, and she blinked in surprise before deciding she was being silly and imagining things. Of course it hadn't scowled back, it had simply reflected her actions. The reflection blinked as well, just the tiniest fraction of a second later than it should.

Watching her reflection carefully, she undid her bun and resecured it. It behaved exactly as it was supposed to, mirroring her actions perfectly and she breathed a sigh of relief. A nanosecond later, so did her reflection.

Wondering if she was going ever-so-slightly insane, Chrissie reached out to touch the mirror. Her hand touched the glass and as it made contact, the world tilted sideways.

Just a teaser for a story I am currently playing with. I was supposed to be working on a new, original novel, but I found I wasn't quite ready to say goodbye to Krang and Chrissie and the world of Starbase 24. This will be a supernatural story, exploring a whole realm of maybe's and might-have-been's.