Dark Reflections

Posted on Fri Apr 30th, 2021 @ 3:37pm by Captain Shran dh'Klar & Commander Jonathan Grayson & Commander Samantha Howard & Lieutenant Commander Estella Stratton & Lieutenant Michael Stonebridge & Lieutenant JG James Phoenix
Edited on on Fri Apr 30th, 2021 @ 3:39pm

Mission: A Dark Looking Glass
Location: USS Washington/DS9

Shran looked over the motley crew, each of them looking familiar, his officers, and yet they were dressed in somewhat tattered clothing and had a different look about them, a different presence.

Sam dropped into a defensive posture, something in her gut told her this was wrong - all so very wrong. Everything was clean, the uniforms, the operations centre, even the air was clean. She raised her weapon and aimed it at the blue-skinned man who seemed to be in control.

Jon reached a hand out to Sam to lower her phaser even as he kept his eyes on Shran. "Hold it Sam. Look. That's Shran!" He exclaimed

"It's not OUR Shran... this is wrong Jon... where's the alliance flag? Where's the filth, the dirt, the starving people in the corners?" She challenged him, frightened to her core.

Sam was right of course, it wasn't the Shran they knew but it was Shran. "Why don't we ask Sam? Rather than pointing a phaser at him."

"Because..."Her voice trailed off as the weapon was lowered, still, she couldn't bring herself to power it down entirely. She looked at Jon for guidance.

"Ease down Sam. Let's get some answers before you decide to shoot him." Jon said half-seriously.

Shran's eyes narrowed as he took in every detail. It was obvious that these were not his officers, but what happened wasn't so easy to explain. But he had an idea of what it was, especially since they were on DS9. "I think we need to have a sit down," he said aloud, his eyes never leaving the duplicates.

" I still want to shoot him, where's the alliance? Where is our Shran?" Sam hissed under her breath as they were ushered into the briefing room. Her hand was still on her weapon.

"Everyone relax. I don't know how or why, but you are obviously from the other universe" Shran said calmly. "Let's go have a sit-down and see if we can figure things out." Shran remained cautious. The reports on this other universe had been interesting reading, but now he was dealing with it first hand. And based on the reports things were chaotic in that universe. The Samantha duplicate had mentioned the Alliance. Which Alliance was she speaking of, Terran or Klingon-Cardassian? Shran had a lot of questions with few answers to this point.

Sam begrudgingly followed Shran and Jon into the briefing room, still cautious and untrusting. What this Shran had said made sense - this was a mirror universe, but how had they ended up here? Every here seemed to get along, no one was starving, people weren't being shot where they stood for minor indiscretions. Perhaps this was a better place to be. Then again, the Intendant had used elaborate ploys before, was this another one of them? Sam kept her trap shut and tried to glean as much information as she could from her surroundings.

Estella followed the others into the briefing room. The Counselor's thoughts mirroring those of her crewmates. Something was off. The absence of the Alliance flag was more than a little concerning. Their appearances too... were unsettling. Shran's suggestion of another, a mirror universe only added to her unease. Like the others, she was anxious to find out.

Shran allowed the duplicates to walk into the wardroom first, followed by Cmdr Kira before entering himself. It was amazing how much they looked like their counterparts, and yet they were obviously different. He could see they were wary of him, though he wasn't sure why, and they all seemed very nervous about Cmdr Kira, though as he recalled, her counterpart in the other universe was some sort of despot known as the Intendant who until the defeat of the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance served as a brutal taskmaster that enslaved humans and other races. But all of this was strange to him. The last report regarding the other universe had the Terrans winning their freedom after forcing a surrender from the head of the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance, who was ironically enough Ambassador Worf. Shran needed to get certain details if he was going to try to put this puzzle together.

"I know we are all a bit confused at this moment, but if we talk openly about this, I think we might begin to put this puzzle together. Now, what can you tell me about what was happening prior to you being transported here?"

Sam looked at Shran wearily but know there had to be some kind of begrudging acceptance that this was their lot for the time being until things got sorted out.

"We were in a shuttle coming back to the station, there was thing hinky going on with the engines, an antimatter leak was eminent so we engaged the transporter - annnnd ended up here" Sam explained.

"What Sam forgot to mention is we were also in the mist of an ion storm when we activated the transporter." Jon added.

"What does an ion storm have to do with it?" Sam retorted? Her usually reserved nature of her Starfleet counterpart missing entirely.

Shran's antennae twitched and began to raise ever so slightly. "Ion storm, antimatter leaks, transporter accidents, fairly sure this was another unplanned crossing. But since it was unplanned, we'll need to do some work to figure out how to send you back and bring my people home." He looked at the duplicates closely, "It would seem two of your people like being rather quiet. Any reason why?"

James had been very quite until now. As a mercenary, he knew something wasn't right. He scanned everyone else's expressions and it appeared they were just as confused or scared as he was. He decided to answer Shran. "Why should we speak?" James was suspicious. "How can we trust that this is not some elaborate plan to capture us?" he questioned. This seemed too much of a coincidence to him. Especially with the state that things were in his universe. But then again, he was used to this. After all, he spent most of his life on the run.

Sam nodded in agreement, giving dagger eyes to the Starfleet officers in the room. She was itching to fight, itching to run.

Estella, who was usually quiet and observant was even more so. However, it hadn't been just Sam's hand that had gone to her phaser. She had done likewise, albeit, more slowly as she had not drawn hers. Rather warred internally as to whether or not she should. One wrong move though, and that could have quickly changed. Her eyes narrowed slightly as her gaze flitted between Sam, James, and Shran.

Stonebridge remained silent. He was glancing towards his comrades and seemed to be watching Shran and the others closely, but he still refused to speak.

Shran could see how tense things were becoming. Paranoia, aggressiveness, survival, duplicity, these were what those in the Mirror Universe must deal with daily. Though they might look like his officers, his friends and colleagues, these people were not the people he knew and he had to find a way to keep things calm. "I understand why you all might feel like this is some sort of trap. My knowledge of your universe is limited, but from what I know it makes perfect sense for you to feel this way. My understanding is that Terrans have had things rough for some time since the fall of your Empire, and your recent freedom from the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance might have been something that you are still getting used to. The wars and general harshness you know isn't what you'll find here. My thoughts are for my people here to begin studying this situation in an attempt to find a way to return you to your own universe. I suspect my people, your duplicates are in your universe right now and likely wish to find a way back as well, most likely working with that leader of yours, I believe his name is Mr. Smiley."