Chapter
Six
Kline had no idea what had pushed
him to join the away-team…It had just taken him and not let go…He needed
absolutely to get onto that ship. Maybe it was his subconscious, in the back of
his mind he wanted—needed—to see his mirror double in person.
They materialized on deck 2 of the Dauntless,
the bridge was blocked by a secondary shield and they couldn't beam in
directly. Mantion had brought two of her security guard with her, and all of
them were armed with compression phaser rifles.
"Let's go." Kline pointed
towards a large door upon which was painted a strange symbol, possibly the
symbol of the
"We will have to use the
element of surprise." Mantion told the rest of the group like a teacher
lecturing a schoolroom. "They are superior in number, but they don't
expect us to come onto their bridge. And we have our phaser rifles…" She
patted the weapon she was holding at her side. "It shouldn’t be a
problem."
When the turbolift stopped and
the doors opened Mantion jumped out of the lift and fired precise stun shots at
the bridge officers of the Dauntless. Her fire was rapidly joined by the
firing of the rest of the away-team. Soon enough, all the bridge officers of
the Dauntless were incapacitated…
"We need to shut off the
auto-destruct system…" Sutter moved to the captain's chair and began
typing in some codes on the left armrest console. "If they constructed
this ship exactly like it was said on the plans, I should be able to stop the
auto-destruct sequence without needing the senior officer's personal
code."
"Speaking of senior
officers…" Kline said, scanning the stunned bodies of the Dauntless'
crew. "Where is Kline?"
The members of the away-team
regarded each other with looks that said: I don't know.
Suddenly, the voice of the onboard
computer said: "Warning, warp core shall go critical in ten minutes."
"What?" Sutter exclaimed.
"But the auto-destruct sequence is terminated!"
"It's him…" Kline said,
referring to his mirror double. "He's overloading the engines from
engineering itself."
"Damn…" One of the
security officers muttered.
Kline tapped his commbadge:
"Away-team to Valiant, come in please."
"Sutter here…Go ahead,
captain."
"We need to get down to
Engineering." He said. "Can you beam us there?"
Eskina's
voice cut in: "They've erected a rotating auxiliary shield around the
engineering section. It's getting more powerful by the minute…We won't be able
to beam you all over there…"
"Then beam me in."
Kline said.
"It's risky, captain…We're
not even sure you'll make it over there in one piece."
"Forget the risks, Greg. If
this ship explodes our doubles won't have any way of getting back to their
universe." Kline said. "Energize."
Mirror Sutter protested:
"Captain! Let me beam in after you."
"No." He said firmly.
"I don't want you to risk yourself…I'll manage."
She sighed as he began transporting…
* * *
The transporter cycle was longer
than usual, but Kline was happy to discover he was still in one piece when he
materialized in the Engineering section of the Dauntless.
Engineering was empty…There was no
one here…
Suddenly, he heard the familiar sound
of a phaser blast.
The red beam flew across engineering
and struck the phaser rifle he was holding, the component that made up the
structure of the weapons suddenly heated up and Kline reflexively dropped the
rifle before it burned his hand off.
"Nice shooting…" Kline
said aloud as he dove behind a console where he hoped he'd be shielded from his
aggressor's view.
"Thanks," Kline heard his
voice respond, almost like an echo.
"Why are you blowing up this
ship?" Kline asked.
"So that you don't get it…"
The mirror Kline said, Kline still couldn't locate his double.
"Logical…" Kline sighed.
"Why don't you tell me who you
really are?" The mirror Kline said.
Kline was scanning engineering for
something—anything—he could use as a weapon: "What do you mean?"
"You look like me…" The
mirror Kline said, still out of view. "But who are you?"
"I'm Captain Kline, your double
from this universe." Kline said, he had just
located a compartment for storing emergency hand phasers.
"This
universe?" The mirror Kline said. "Am I in a parallel
universe?"
"Exactly…" Kline
said. "That means that I'm you."
The mirror Kline laughed:
"You're not me." He said.
Kline dashed for the compartment,
grabbed a phaser and jumped behind another console. "I bet we're more
alike than you'd like to admit. Your dad was also David Kline, right?"
There was a brief hesitation, and
then the double said: "Yeah…David S. Kline."
"Was he also as much a pain in
the backside as he was in this universe?" Kline asked.
"Pretty much…" Kline heard
his double smile. "He was constantly following me everywhere, checking on
my friends, my enemies. Everyone…"
"That's exactly like me."
Kline said, somehow, the will to fight his double had escaped his mind.
"Once, when I came back from school in third grade, I found out he already
had learned everything about my new school friends… I had no idea how he did
it, but it was annoying…"
"Yeah…"
"I still loved him…He was my
dad, after all…But sometimes I hated him more than anything. But I still cried
when he died…"
"I didn't." The
mirror Kline said.
"How old were you when he
died?" Kline asked.
"Sixteen." The mirror
Kline said.
"Yeah, that's just like me. Did
he also die in a transporter malfunction?"
"No." The mirror Kline
said. "I killed him."
Kline's stomach turned upside
down…His double was a madman…
Suddenly, Kline saw movement from
the corner of his left eye and turned to see what was causing it.
The phaser blast flew across
engineering and hit Kline in the left thigh. He crumbled to the floor; his
phaser dropped as well and fell out of reach.
The mirror Kline advanced towards
his double: "I killed him…Because he annoyed me. You have annoyed me for
the last time, double…Or whoever you are…"
He aimed the rifle at Kline's head.
Kline closed his eyes…
He heard the phaser blast…
He heard his own voice scream in
agony…
But there was no pain…
He opened his eyes and saw something
he hadn't expected to see…His double was vaporizing before his very eyes…After
a split-second; the double was no longer there…Entirely vaporized…
Kline stared at the emptiness with
wide-eyes…
"Captain!"
Mantion ran to his side and checked the wound on his left thigh.
The mirror Sutter walked slowly
towards him, a look of satisfaction on her face.
"You're the one who fired?"
Kline said.
"Yeah…That bastard deserved it.
Actually, being vaporized was too good for him…If I could kill him a million
times for the million people of the planet that he destroyed. I would…It would
be the right punishment."
Kline nodded slowly: "Well…Thanks
for saving my life…"
She smiled: "Any time,
captain."
"How did you get here?" He
asked Mantion.
She smiled: "We took the
turbolift."
Kline returned the smile:
"Great thinking, commander…"
* * *
"The Dauntless is in
the right hands, now, Captain Kline. Thanks a lot." The mirror Sutter
smiled warmly on the viewscreen. "I don't think we'll see each other
again soon, so…Good bye."
"Take care, captain." Kline said.
"I hope that the return of the Dauntless to the resistance will
help you stop the
She nodded: "It probably
will, Captain. I can't thank you enough."
"Well…You should get
going." Kline said. "It's not that I don't enjoy your company, it's
just that the ion storm is moving on, and you need to get back home."
Mirror Sutter nodded: "See
you around, Captain." She turned to Sutter. "Take care,
Janna…I would hate to see anything happen to you."
"You too," Sutter smiled.
The mirror Sutter gave a final nod
and blinked off the viewscreen.
The Dauntless moved slowly at
impulse towards the green mass of the ion storm, a phaser beam was thrown from
one of the phaser banks of the ship. Then there was the familiar blinding flash
of light…And the Dauntless disappeared.
Kline let out a long breath:
"Well…I guess that ends our exciting day."
"That's good." Sutter
smiled. "It's time I get some sleep."
"Me too…" Kline said,
nodding. "But I think we should go back to our patrol route first."
"Aye," Burnel said.
"Course set."
"Engage at warp five."
Kline said; he walked to the command chair and dropped himself heavily into it.
"And try to stay clear of anything that might bring any more adventures
upon us…"
Burnel smiled: "I'll try…"