Through the Mirror Darkly

[Cleo Mavendorf]

WARNING: This story will contain adult material. There will be violence, sexual themes and situations nudity, strong language and perhaps even death. You have been warned.

Somewhere in the mirror universe:

The brig of the ISS Leyte Gulf was dimly lit. The force fields that sealed each cell were off save one. Inside the lone active cell a woman hung suspended by her arms, her toes a good three inches off the metal deck plates. She was nude...her captors having stripped her before interrogating her and placing her here.

Her body bore the markings from the interrogation...bruises and a few small cuts mostly. Her head hung down and forward, long dark hair falling across her face...hiding the smashed nose and blackened eyes and split lip. She had told them nothing..spit in their faces and remained defiant until a solid blow to her nose had broken it and rendered her unconscious.

A Borg drone entered the brig and walked to the cell door...stopping and examining the captive. The drones implants scanned the captive...noting heart rate, respiration rate and brainwave activity...all indicating the captive was really unconscious. After a moment of watching the drone deactivated the force field and entered the cell. It examined the captive closely...a hand reaching out to touch the captives hip. "Amazing"it said aloud.

Three of Seven, who had until recently been a slave to Empress Kali-Ma Singh also known as Five of Twelve from her time as a member of the Collective was excited by this captive as she had not been ever in her life. She had a unique opportunity...to repay the cruelty inflicted on her by the Empress..to make her suffer as she herself had suffered.

But...was it the correct thing to do? This captive was NOT the Empress. No matter that she looked, sounded, and smelled like her. The captive's chronometric reading showed beyond a doubt that she was not of this universe...and taking revenge on her would be a hollow victory for Three...the Empress...she was the one Three truly wanted hanging in chains here...to break her physically and mentally was Three's fondest dream.

Which left the question of what to do with this captive? With the Empress missing the ship had been taken over by Ch' Bargth...he made it clear he wanted the captive executed as a spy. He was afraid to do so since she looked like the Empress and the Empress' supporters had vetoed the idea...and Ch'Barth knew his power was not consolodated enough to test them...yet. A small idea had formed in Three's mind.

What if? What if Three could replace the Empress...with this captive...after altering and modifying it so that it followed Three's directives? Three could take control of the Empress' fleet by proxy...execute that bastard Ch'Bargth...and perhaps challenge Shacklford for control of the Empire itself...after all...the Empire was in a state of upheaval and having the woman who was acknowledged as a direct descendant of Emperor Singh could stabilize the Empire...Shackleford had so feared this eventuality that he had handed the Empress over to the Borg for assimilation...all that had done was delay her by a few years..and grant her more power.

Three pulled her hand back and smiled slightly...yes...this could work....it would require careful conditioning of the captive's mind...but this could work. She turned and exited the cell, her footfalls echoing through the brig the only sound until she exited.

Commodore Cleopatra Mavendorf hung in the chains that secured her, oblivious to the fate planned for her...for now.

[Cleo Mavendorf]

Starbase 39:

Three of Seven sat on the fringe of the grouping of ship's captains as the discussed the battle for Kinkaid Station...she listened...taking mental notes of some of the more interesting points on tactics. While she was herself now a ship captain, having been frocked to the rank of Captain and given command of the Excelsior Class refit USS Vicksburg...she had little to add to the conversation.

Her mind was mostly on her strategy to try and convince the Fleet Command to allow her to attempt a rescue of Commodore Mavendorf. She had a plan of sorts...but much of it was going to depend on what they found when they crossed the dimensional barrier...where the Commodore was at there...IF she was still alive...an unpleasant possibility Three did not want to think on much.

Three again turned her thoughts to Mavendorf's dimensional twin...the self proclaimed Empress Singh...several interrogations had yeilded little beyond her name and the fact that she was more than ready to attempt to physically attack her captors at any opportunity.

Three allowed a small sigh of frustration to escape her...she really needed to get things moving...but until she could get a word with Admiral Shackleford...there was little she could do. She frowned as something occurred to her...the Commodore had been very close friends with Captains P'Rett and Talbot...perhaps she could speak with them and see if they would lend their support to the rescue mission?

She hurried to a com station and opened a channel "Captain Three of Seven for Captain P'rett...priority one message...eyes only"

She transmitted the message and prepared a second "Captain Three of Seven for Captain Talbot...priority one...eyes only"

TBC

[VADM pRett]

"All stations, secure from Red Alert. Begin damage assessment and get repair crews to critical areas." p'Rett's antennae writhed slowly, the only outward sign of post-battle excitement. The Phalanx had encountered, and destroyed, yet another of the Borg incursions. The fleet make-up was rarely the same, and never the same ships twice. Not every ship survived the encounter.

"Captain, picking up a subspace communication from the Vicksburg, from...Captain Three of Seven." Commander Bitoer tried to keep the confusion and questioning tone from her voice, but a little seeped through. "It's marked 'Private' and 'Eyes Only," sir."

Quickly standing, the stern Andorian glanced at Commander Tyln. "The bridge is yours, Commander. Let me know if anything life-threatening comes up, otherwise, do not disturb me."

With that, he strode purposefully into his Ready Room, activating the comm console as he was settling into his chair. He spoke his security code in Andorian, and the message decrypted and began to play.

[Cleo Mavendorf]

"Captain P'rett..it is my unfortunate duty to inform you that Comodore Mavendorf has been replaced by a Mirror Universe double." Three spoke in her usual calm and precise tone as a bit of video showed a woman appearing to bear a strong resemblance to Commodore Mavendorf...aside from the blonde hair and Borg implants that was..."I have been given command of the USS Vicksburg and it is my intention to petition the Fleet Command for permission to mount a retrieval operation as soon as possible."

Three paused for a moment before looking directly into the video pick up "If the Command denies my request...I plan to go anyway. Cleo was your friend...I'm hoping that your friendship will motivate you to assist me...or at least destroy this communication should you decide to not assist."

She closed her eyes for a moment "Either way please contact me at your soonest opportunity. Thank you for your time Captain...Three of Seven out."

[VADM pRett]

Bor'annus watched the comm screen intently, taking in everything the liberated Borg human was telling him.

Three closed her eyes for a moment. "Either way please contact me at your soonest opportunity. Thank you for your time Captain...Three of Seven out."

He let the frozen image remain on the console as he allowed his eyes to go unfocused a bit. Thoughts went through his head of the times he had served under and alongside the Commodore; he'd been fortunate to go from one excellent commanding officer to another. Mavendorf's style, while uniquely her own, did mesh with well with his.

Where do my duties lie? I swore to protect the Federation and uphold her principles, like so many others before me. What is the weight of one person against the multitudes of the UFP? A long, slow sigh. Even more importantly, what is the value and weight of the debt I owe to her.

His eyes focused briefly on the various medals and recognition awards he had in his ready room. None were frivolous.

To be worthy of what these tokens represent, there really is only one answer I can give her.

"p'Rett to Bitoer."

[Bitoer here, Captain.]

"I'll have a response going out, encrypted, to the Vicksburg shortly."

[Aye, sir.]

"Captain Three, the Andorians and Humans have a long history together, as do the Commodore and I. I will absolutely support an effort to get approval for a rescue mission. With or without their approval, I'm with you all the way. p'Rett out."

[Captain Talbot]

Charles was back on the bridge of the Challenger overseeing the final upgrades of the refit, when the on duty comm officer looked at at him,

"Sir, subspace message coming in from the Vicksburg sir, Priority One, Eyes Only." Charles looked over,

"I'll take it in my ready room", he replied. "Aye sir". He walked into the ready room and went to the replicator, "raktajino, iced, with extra cream", then sat down and activated the terminal on his desk. The screen came to life and there was Three of Seven, Commodore Mavendorf's number one.

[Cleo Mavendorf]

"Captain Talbot..it is my unfortunate duty to inform you that Comodore Mavendorf has been replaced by a Mirror Universe double." Three spoke in her usual calm and precise tone as a bit of video showed a woman appearing to bear a strong resemblance to Commodore Mavendorf...aside from the blonde hair and Borg implants that was..."I have been given command of the USS Vicksburg and it is my intention to petition the Fleet Command for permission to mount a retrieval operation as soon as possible."

Three paused for a moment before looking directly into the video pick up "If the Command denies my request...I plan to go anyway. I know she considered you one of her closest friends...I'm hoping that your friendship will motivate you to assist me...or at least destroy this communication should you decide to not assist."

She paused for a moment "Either way please contact me at your soonest opportunity. Thank you for your time Captain...Three of Seven out."

[Captain Talbot]

The screen went dark, and Charles sat there deep in thought, staring at it in disbelief. He went through a wide range of emotions, shock, over what he just heard, rage, at the fact that one of his closest friends and comrade at arms was replaced by a mirror copy and fear, for the commodore's well being.

This could not be allowed. He remembered all the missions he and the commodore had fought side by side, covering each other as well as the teams the were with. The pride he felt as Cleo advanced in the ranks, this would not be allowed. Tapping the terminal again, "computer, open a secure channel to the USS Vicksburg, priority one, eyes only."

"Channel open and secure," came the reply.

"Captain Three, this is captain Talbot. Whether command authorizes the op or not, you have my full support. My ship and my crew are ready and able to lend any assistance required to bring the commodore home safe and sound, Talbot out."

[Cleo Mavendorf]

Three had received the replies from Talbot and P'Rett and was contemplating her next move. At the Moment she was in the ready room of the Vicksburg going through a stack of reports on the ships general state of readiness...she sighed as she scanned the report confirming that "Empress" Singh had been successfully transferred to the Vicksburg's brig. She had no real idea what else to do with the woman.

She was violent, but also very calculating and clever...aside from the violent part she was not surprised...the Commodore was also quite clever and very calculating when it came time for a battle. Three realized that the Commodore also had a capacity for violence...though it was usually not seen unless she was involved in a ground battle...seeing this version and her willingness to engage in violence at the drop of a hat was...disturbing.

Three gave a mental sigh and shelved the issue of the Empress for now. She had other things to attend to if she was going to make her appointment with Admiral Shackleford tomorrow at Earth Space Dock. She picked up another PADD and began to read when a voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Hello Three...it's time we talked."

Three actually started and looked around the room...no one was here but she had quite clearly heard Cleo's voice.

"It took me longer than I expected to find and break the encryptions on the Borg carrier waves in this universe...so my appollogies for not speaking to you before now."

Three blinked in shock...she had never heard of anyone ever breaking into the Borg's vast subspace communications systems...but apparently the Empress had just done so. Three...and all other former Borg...could still hear whispers of communications from the collective when they were near active Borg...most could tune it out.

"Don't be so shocked Three...I was far more than a common drone when I was a part of the Collective...I have talents you cannot imagine."

"You might be surprised by my imagination." Three thought back dryly

"I suppose I would...my Three is far different from you...but that isn't what I wish to discuss right now."

"What is it you wish to discuss then...thus far your behavior has suggested you only wish to inflict harm on anyone possible in order to escape." Three asked with a mental frown.

"I wish to discuss how you can help me return to my own world."

"You have my attention."

[Cleo Mavendorf]

Mirror Universe: Conference room aboard ISS Leyte Gulf

Three of Seven strode into the conference room, nodding slightly to the assembled officers before taking her seat. After giving her a glare for being late Captain Ch'Bargth began speaking "As you are all aware the Empress was replaced during a routine transport with a double from that...other...universe. Interrogation has yielded little information we can use at this time so I am proposing we move forward with operations...and execute the duplicate as she is of no use to us."

There was silence for a moment before Three raised the phaser pistol she had readied out of view under the table and fired. Ch'Bargth had just enough time to look shocked before he disintigrated.

"Now that we've dispensed with the shortsighted views of the late Captain Ch'Bargth...I will tell you all what we ARE going to do." Three spoke calmly and forcefully.

"Granted the disappearance of the Empress sets back our plans...but we can deal with that easily enough...the double presents us with an opportunity...a chance to place an Empress on the throne who does as we tell her...all we have to do is apply the right...conditioning."

There were several nods of agreement as the assembled officers took in what Three was proposing.

"We turn the double over to the Borg...allow them to modify her...both cosmetically so she resembles the Empress perfectly...and mentally...so she will do our bidding." Three explained.

There were more nods of agreement...and a couple of shudders of revulsion as well...but no one spoke out against the plan.

"I'm glad we are in agreement then...I will contact the Borg immediately and make arrangements for the transfer of the double...and see what sort of trade they wish to negotiate for their services."

Three stood and holstered her phaser pistol, turned and strode from the room, leaving behind a group of thoroughly shocked...and now scheming officers.

[Cleo Mavendorf]

ESD Stardate 102611

Three sat in a chair in the waiting room outside Admiral Shackleford's office. Outwardly she seemed calm and composed..almost bored even...inwardly...well...she had never felt this much anxiety since her return from the Collective. If her petition was denied she was going to commit career suicide and possibly treason.

"Admiral Shackleford is ready to see you Captain." The bright and cheery young Lieutenant who served as the Admiral's aide said. Three stood and nodded a polite thanks and went through the door.

As the door closed behind her Three took in the office and the man inside. It was not a large office...it was comfortably furnished and there were several trophies from past battles displayed on the walls. Admiral Shackleford himself was tall, muscular and fit...with close cropped hair and a neatly trimmed beard. He looked every bit the senior Starfleet Officer he was.

"Three of Seven reporting sir." Three snapped off a precise salute as she came to a halt exactly two paces from the Admiral's desk.

Morgan Shackleford returned the salute, his eyes moving across the former Borg and taking in details...her uniform was correct, hair carefully styled to partially hide the borg implants on her face...her posture was perfect and her face absolutely blank...that was the detail that set his mind working...he had met Three on several occasions...and she had always been relaxed though not very talkative...not unusual for a former Borg to be a bit silent...but her face had always been lively and animated. "At ease Captain...what can I do for you today?"

"I'd like to speak to you regarding Commodore Mavendorf Sir." Three replied as she relaxed her stance slightly.

"Please speak then." Morgan replied with a nod...he wasn't sure where she was going with this...he was certain he had all the available information on the incident where Cleo had been replaced, but perhaps she had some news.

"I have formulated a proposal for your consideration sir." Three said as she reached behind her back and slipped the PADD she had tucked into her belt out and set it on the desk. "I believe that a rescue mission stands a better than even chance of succeeding if it is mounted immediately."

Morgan didn't immediately reply. He picked up the PADD and began to review the data on it...he was impressed...she had her facts and figures right...but it all hinged on Cleo still being on the Mirror version of the Leyte Gulf. After a moment he looked up at her "Our Leyte Gulf was destroyed...what makes you think the Mirror version wasn't?"

"Empress Singh has stated that she was on a routine diplomatic mission at the time of the incident...logically there would be no reason for it to have been destroyed...though the longer we wait to mount the expedition the chances of it's destruction increase exponentially." Three replied

"And this Empress? She has agreed to assist? Why?"

"She wishes to return to her own dimension and reclaim the throne...apparently the Mirror Universe isn't as stable politically as we had thought...she is leading a revolt against the current Emperor."

Morgan shook his head, Cleo was possibly the LEAST politically oriented officers in the fleet..to hear her duplicate was actively leading a revolt was a bit...surreal. He sighed and looked up to meet Three's eyes "All right...now tell me WHY you want to try this."

"The Commodore rescued me from the Collective...she has by my last count rescued over four hundred former Borg from enslavement in the Collective...and she has killed easily ten times the number she has saved because she couldn't save them...she has never willingly left anyone behind...even if it means she had to kill them to spare them a life of enslavement in the Collective...I cannot in good conscience not try to retrieve her...I owe her that much and more." Three didn't blink or look away during her reply.

Morgan sat back in his chair as he regarded the former Borg. She was right. Cleo never left anyone to the Borg. She hated them with a quiet intensity that few understood. Honor demanded that she be not left behind now...but regulations left little room for honor sometimes. But regulations often had loopholes.

"Permission granted." Shackleford said finally "Captain P'Rett will be in charge of the task force...you will report to him during this investigation of the subspace anomolie of unknown origin...the mission is now officially classified Omega Black."

Three felt her knees give slightly in relief...she caught herself and snapped off a salute "Aye aye sir, Omega Black acknowledged."

"Dismissed." Morgan watched her leave his office..then he waited a few moments after the door closed before he activated his computer console "Priority One message for Admiral Fortin from Admiral Shackleford.." he began to speak

[Cleo Mavendorf]

Location: CLASSIFIED

Three sat in the command chair on the bridge of the Vicksburg...to all appearances she was reading something on a PADD...but her attention was on the woman seated in what would normally be the ship's counselors chair. Two security officers stood behind the Empress with phasers in hand and set to maximum stun, but the woman ignored them. She held herself proudly as she sat watching the main view screen. Three inwardly shook her head. so alike...yet so different...it was disconcerting.

"You haven't told me how you plan to cross the dimensional barrier." The Empress spoke in Three's mind

"No I have not." Three replied mentally "You do not have need of that knowledge and i will not be providing you with a means to return here."

"What makes you think I have any interest in this place?" The Empress asked "I wish only to return home and take what is rightfully mine."

"So you say." Three replied "But I would be remiss in my duties if I did not consider the possiblity that you have plans for later conquest in this dimension."

"My...you ARE a clever one." The Empress gave a mental laugh "Makes me wonder how much more clever my Three is than she lets on."

Three didn't reply, she looked up and spoke "Escort our guest to the ready room and then open a channel to Captain P'Rett please."

The Empress laughed softly as she stood and walked to the door to the ready room, her security escort following her. After the door closed behind her the screen shifted to a view of Captain P'Rett in his chair on his bridge.

"We have reached the position to initiate the pulse Sir." Three informed him.

"Very good Captain Three...you may execute when ready." P'Rett replied.

"Number One...initiate the nadian pulse on my mark."

"Aye sir."

"Three...two..one...MARK!"

The Vicksburg's main deflector dish released a pulse of nadian energy and after a moment a tear in the fabric of space appeared.

"We have a tear in the fabric of space Captain." her XO reported.

"Set course into the tear." Three ordered.

Three starships turned and began to move toward the glowing red tear...the picked up speed and as one entered the tear...it flashed brightly for a moment then vanished

[Cleo Mavendorf]

Cleo Mavendorf was unconscious. Since her capture she had spent a lot of time in this state. Three had ordered her sedated whenever she was not being interrogated. Her dreams of home and her mother faded as blinding light flooded her eyes as she came awake...the drugs in her system making her reactions slow and clumsy. She blinked and closed her eyes against the glare, a soft groan escaping her.

"This is the subject you wish modified?" a harsh male voice with metallic tones spoke.

"Yes. Cosmetically she needs to match Four of Thirty of Tetiary Unimatrix Beta Four Sixty." Three's voice replied. Cleo wondered what Three was talking about, it wasn't making sense to her and her mind was still reeling from the drugs.

"It will be modified to your listed specifications." the male voice spoke again "Though we cannot gaurantee the mental modifications...organics are sometimes fragile and unpredictable."

Cleo opened her eyes and tried to make sense of things. She was strapped to a gurney of some sort..and there were several Borg standing around her...and surgical equipment..."Three? Where are we?"

"Ah you are finally awake." Three said as her face came into Cleo's view. "This is goodbye Commodore...when next we speak your modifications will be complete."

As her mind cleared Cleo remembered her recent past...she paled as she realized what was happening "Please...no...don't let them have me."

"It's not so bad." Three smirked "You won't remember this life once they finish with you."

Cleo screamed as a laser cutter activated and began to lower towards her face.

[Cleo Mavendorf]

Bridge USS Vicksburg

Three spoke without looking at the Woman seated in what was normally the ship's Counselors seat "So how are we going to find your Leyte Gulf?"

The Empress smiled without humor "There is a subspace tracking device in my quarters."

Three raised an eyebrow "It is active now?"

A slight head shake "No...but I can activate it remotely"

"Please do so then." Three shifted her gaze to the other woman

"I will require use of the ship's communication console." The Empress' look was one of complete calm making her face hard to read.

Three hesitated, trying to decide if this was some sort of trickery...but in the end she realized she had no real choice...if they were to find the Leyte Gulf...they needed this woman's help "Permission granted."

The Empress stood and moved to the ship's communications console...the Lieutenant manning the console vacated the chair without comment and the Empress took a seat. She began entering a string of commands and after nearly a minute she looked back to Three "Done...it will depend on how far away they are as to how long it takes the beacon to activate. Once it does does we can plot their location."

Three nodded slightly "Very good. Do all the ships in your Empire have such devices?"

The Empress laughed "OF course they do...but once you leave I'll redesign them so your people cannot activate them...as a precaution of course...I don't believe Starfleet has plans to invade us...but I got where I am by not overlooking most possibilities."

Three didn't reply.

"Ah...there we are...it's active now...I'll plot the coordinates for you now." The Empress spoke as she transferred coordinates onto an overlay of the galaxy..."Hmmm...now why are they there of all places?"

"Three examined the overlay and frowned "Starbase 82?"

"Yes..." The Empress replied thoughtfully "Unimatrix seven five zero dot four subsystem alpha one one three."

Three paled slightly "So they took that starbase here as well?"

The Empress shook her head "Oh no...we provided it to them for research work."

Three shuddered "You...work with them?"

"The Empress smiled "Our war with them came to a draw...a peace of sorts was worked out...and certain...concessions...were made by both sides....now they provide us with research and data on cybernetic advances."

Three forced the nausea she was feeling not to show "And what do you provide to them?"

"We provide them subjects for assimilation." The Empress replied casually "Their organic parts do wear out over time."

Three was sickened by what she was hearing "So why would your ship be there?"

The Empress laughed "Isn't it obvious?"

"Three shook her head "Not to me no"

"They are going to alter your Mavendorf to match me...and probably use her as a puppet in my place...damned clever of my Three...Ch'Bargh isn't this clever...she must have deposed him already....seems I may have underestimated her...no matter...we will stop this easily enough once we get there."

Three fought down the rising panic she felt...one thing she knew about the Commodore...she hated the Borg and feared assimilation more than death "Open a channel to the Challenger and the Phalanx." She ordered as the Empress vacated the Communications console.

"Channel open Captain."

"This is Three...we have a location on the Leyte Gulf...it's at Starbase 82."

[Cleo Mavendorf]

Starbase 82

The three Federation ships dropped out of warp in a bright flash of light...immediately forming a wedge and turning toward the base itself. Several Borg probes and a pair of spheres changed course and moved to intercept them. Phaser fire arced from the Federation ships, concentrating on one Borg vessel at a time. The Borg returned fire...attempting to disable shields so they could beam parties aboard to begin the assimilation process.

On the Bridge of the Vicksburg Three monitored the vessels systems and ordered adjustments as needed. "Fire torpedoes to coordinates Ahpla seven zero two Gamma three five nine."

A volley of Quantum torpedoes ripped into the nearest sphere, the probes having been quickly destroyed by the concentrated fire of the three ships already. The Challenger and Phalanx poured phaser fire into the same location and the Sphere erupted in a corona of an exploding warp core.

"Captain! I have the Leyte Gulf on sensors!" The tactical officer reported.

"Onscreen. Relay her coordinates to Phalanx and Challenger." Three ordered.

The main screen shifted view to show the familiar form of a Soverign Class cruiser moving away from the starbase itself.

"Intercept course, full impulse." Three ordered just as the ship flashed away into warp. "Go to warp! Follow them!"