Subject: FRONTIER: Which Side Is The Mirror?

SD 71025

> She motioned after the last known direction of the 'Tchariani. 
>Ramsay just gave everyone on his team an I'll-go-with-that shrug and
>ran after m-Caroline.

Keanu, Teri and Ishara met up with their counterparts. They stood and 
looked at each other for a long moment. "So now what?" asked the 
m-Teri Blake.

"There were two groups of 'Tchariani so we may want to split up and 
go find the other group," answered Teri Blake.

Ramsay agreed to this plan, so they headed east. Keanu was beside 
himself as they walked through the forest. "Didn't think you would be 
talking to yourself this morning did you?" said m-Keanu to himself. 

"Damn right," said Keanu, "So whats it like where you come from? Do 
you have a wife and family?" Keanu continued.

"My universe is just like this one except, I'm the second officer on 
my Frontier. And yes I do have a wife, but no children," the other 
Keanu relied.

"Who are you married to?" Keanu asked.

"I'm his wife," said the alternate Ishara before m-Keanu could answer.

Keanu looked at Ishara, they were wearing the same tight, revealing 
but practical bodysuits they were very... revealing. 

Keanu whispered so only Keanu could hear him. "I can see why." 

The other Keanu grinned, "Yeah, she's a picture ain't she?"

Teri looked at her other self. "So what are you on your ship?"

Teri looked at her other self. "Why do you want to know?"

Teri looked at her other self. "Just interested, we may be together 
for some time, it would pass the time."

The other Teri thought about what she had said, "If you must know, I'm 
Keanu's personal bodyguard." She stopped for a second adjusting the 
chain-mail skirt she was wearing. "What do you do?"

"I'm an engineer, but I've been assigned to Ops. What made you become 
a security guard?" Teri asked.

"I was an engineer as well, but Keanu was looking for a new bodyguard
after his last disappointed him. He wanted me, so he killed my lover
and took me. In my universe that made me his. Keanu has a reputation 
for getting what he wants where I come from. He is kind and loving to
me. If I don't protect him who will? Not Ishara - getting married to
Exec's bodyguard was not a clever idea. Besides, if anything happened
to Keanu, that oversized, overbearing ape Patrick has expressed an
interest to take me for himself. I think he prefers the captain and 
she has shown an interest in him, but he's made it clear to me that
he's willing to accept second-best in that respect. And Angus would
probably support any claim that his pet made. And let's face it, who'd
stop him?" Teri looked horrified. "That's the norm in my universe,
promotion and mates are secured through assassinating your
competitors." m-Teri fell silent.

Teri looked pale, "Who was your lover?" she asked.


ANGUS ANGUS & CO.

The two Angus's, Patricks and Leanas were trailing behind Ramsay's 
group as they trudged through the ever-densening forest.  

"But it's not right!" Patrick protested. "You should be promoted 
according to your abilities, not how many people you've killed."

m-Patrick was unbowed, "Surely you can argue that how many people 
you've killed *is* a test of not only ability but resourcefulness and 
initiative."

Patrick turned away in disgust. "I can't believe how you can be so 
cold," he said, the fury evident in his voice.

"You'd better get used to it, after all, we're two sides of the same 
coin. I'm just who you would've been in different circumstances." 
replied m-Patrick.

Patrick spun round to face his double, "That's not true! *I* have a 
sense of justice, *I* have morals!  I'm not like you at all!" it was 
apparent that he was on the verge of lashing out.

m-Patrick raised his hands in a calming gesture, "Take it easy bro', 
you're gonna burst a blood vessel at this rate."

Patrick snorted and turned away from the other.

Leana had followed the conversation closely, she had observed that the
only noticable difference between the two was that the Patrick she 
knew had a long scar running from his forehead to his jaw that the 
alternate Patrick lacked.  She was interested in the hierarchy of 
power aboard the other ship so she decided to ask the questions that 
were on her mind, "So what exactly does the security officer *do*?"

It was m-Angus who answered, "It's a similar role to the chief 
security officers aboard your own ships, however we have the 
additional duty of representing the best interests of the Empire. 
Making sure that all the correct decisions are made and so on."

"So where does that put you in the power structure?" she asked.

"Beside the captain," he replied. "She has complete power in the 
running of the ship but I can overrule her authority if I believe 
that what she is doing is not in the best interests of the Empire. I
don't often countermand her, and it really pisses her when I do, and
our relationship is tenuous at best, personally, I don't think she
likes me."

Leana looked at m-Patrick, "I've heard that you have a... more than a 
working relationship with Caroline."

m-Patrick nodded.

"So when her and Angus were 'at each others throats', if you'll 
excuse the phrase, how come you were sticking up for him and not her? 
Surely if you want to impress her you'd do that by protecting her, not
pointing a sword at her?"

m-Patrick flung his arm around m-Angus' shoulders, "I've been this 
mans bodyguard for longer than I've known Caroline, and when it comes 
to the crunch it's with him that my loyalties lie. Leana, you may 
have noticed, is less than sure about hers. Rumour has it in fact that
the captain's thinking twice about renewing her contract as her 
personal security chief."

Leana spotted the euphemism immediately and blanched slightly, "You 
mean she's going to...?" she looked towards her alternate self as if 
making sure she was still alive.

"Not quite," replied m-Angus, "I've made it quite clear to the captain
that I'll not be pleased if anything happens to my girl, and Caroline 
has more sense that to cross me like that. I can be *very* violent 
when I'm angry, even Mr. 'beat the hell out of them first and ask 
questions later' Simony considers me a bit of a sadist. Basically, if 
she hurts Leana, her head's on the block and she knows it."

Eventually they noticed that it was getting dark and they caught up 
with Ramsay's group who had stopped to camp for the night.

Fires had been lit and sentries had been arranged.  Caroline had 
noticed that the two Houstons were missing but they had decided to put
off a search until the next day, anyway, they could probably take care
of themselves.


KEANU AND THE OTHERS

Keanu looked around and found that the two Teri's had fallen behind.
"We better wait for them," Keanu said to Keanu. The group stopped, 
Teri and m-Teri quickly caught up with them. 

"It's getting dark, we should find shelter for the night," Ishara 
said. "There looks like a clearing up ahead, we should stop there."
The group entered the clearing, there was a ring of rocks in the 
middle, ashes still smoking.

"Whoever was here sure left in a hurry," Keanu said examining the 
area around the smouldering ashes. "Look at this." Keanu had found a
small pouch. "It looks like it contains some kind of food." 

m-Keanu put his hand to the ground, "It's still warm, whoever was 
here must have left moments before we arrived." He pointed at the two 
Isharas. "Go have a look around, but don't go far." Ishara looked at 
Keanu for confirmation, he nodded to her, she nodded back and the two 
disappeared into the undergrowth.

"Come on, lets get some food for the fire," Keanu suggested. When the 
Isharas got back, the two Teris were squatting around a small fire 
talking to each other.

"There is no sign of anyone, no tracks, but we found a path leading 
east," reported Ishara.

"It's getting too dark to check-out now, we'll do it in the morning. 
You better get some sleep. Teri and Keanu will you take first watch?"
Keanu asked the two alternate crew members. 

"Yes, we will, change shift in three hours, agreed?" asked m-Keanu.

"Okay, wake us up in three hours," Keanu said starting to feel the 
cold night air. He moved closer to the fire, *It's going to be a long 
night,* he thought.

Keanu slept a little over the three hours, Teri went on watch with him
as the other two got some sleep. Keanu saw Teri shivering, "You 
cold?" he asked.

"Yeah, a little," she replied with a smile.

Keanu moved closer to her. "Do you mind?" he asked putting his arm 
around her.

"No, in fact, I thought you would never ask." She put her arms around 
him. Keanu felt the warmth of her body against him, even through his 
cold clothes this felt good, very good. She leaned her head on his 
shoulder and closed her eyes.


AT THE OTHER CAMP

m-Angus and m-Patrick were both on the first watch and Angus was 
feeling the chill penetrating even through his thick plaid, Leana was 
hardly dressed for this weather and she was shivering in his arms. He 
unwrapped part of the plaid and put it around her shoulders, holding 
her closer than before.  Even the fire that they'd built wasn't 
keeping the cold out of the air and Angus found it impossible to 
sleep.

Leana looked up at him, her eyes bright in the oppressive ruddy-orange
glow of the fire, "What do you think we're here for?" she asked.

With the suddeness with which they had been caught in the fight Angus 
hadn't given any thought to *why* Q had put them in this situation, 
records showed that anything Q did, he did for a reason. He couldn't 
think of any reason so he answered, "I don't know. I guess we'll find 
out eventually but until then I don't think we have much choice but to
play along."

"If he's making the night *this* cold you'd think he could at least 
have given us something decent to wear."

"Maybe we're supposed to improvise," Angus suggested.

"Sounds good to me," she replied, wriggling into a more comfortable 
position on top of him. It was then that she noticed something a 
little odd. "Angus?"

"What?"

"I thought Will was married to Caroline."

"He is. What is it?"

"Look over there."

Angus moved to a better position and peered in the direction she was 
pointing. He rubbed his eyes and looked again... no, there was no 
doubt about it. The captain seemed to be getting just a little bit 
intimate with Braun. "It's a good thing his wife isn't here," declared
Angus, "she'd kill him."

"Doesn't it strike you as being unusual - happily married, then 
*that*?"

"It's probably the stress he's under.  After all, he has next to no 
experience of being in command and now he's in charge of a covert 
mission while his wife is about to give birth. It can't be easy." he 
turned away and closed his eyes, "Far be it from me to comment on the 
affairs of a married man, it's something I've never had to cope with."

"Yet," added Leana.

Angus smiled, "Are you intending to do something about it?" he asked.

"Was that a question or an offer?" she replied.

"Well which would you prefer?"

"Do I have to answer that right now?" she purred, idly toying with the
broach on Angus' plaid.

"I dare say we can leave it until tomorrow," he said then kissed her 
lightly on the lips before adding, "And I have a feeling it's going to
be a *long* night."


SAMPTER/CAROLINE/FESTORE CAMP

Sampter was huddled up in a small camp with her double, m-Caroline 
and the two Festores. She looked around, glancing briefly at Sykes. 
Then she froze, looked back at him. Ensuring that she still wasn't 
invading his privacy, Ruth followed his gaze to where Ramsay and Braun
were sharing a small fire... and other things. She realised abruptly 
that Neil's expression was one of outright jealousy and hatred. 
Brushing against his mind for the briefest time she could, Ruth 
ascertained that it was the captain who drove him to such a display. 
The puzzle fell into place - Katie was the one who had taken Neil's 
heart from her, and now she was trying her luck with Ramsay.

She controlled her anger, shelved it, concentrated on merely trying to
pick up on Braun's thoughts.

Ruth waited, silently surprised, nothing forthcoming. She applied 
herself more powerfully, but to no avail. It was as though Katie was 
not even there. Sampter tugged at her sleepy double's form.

"What is it... morning yet?" the groggy voice said.

Ruth waited patiently for her to wake up a little, then asked, "What 
do you know about Katie Braun?"

m-Sampter looked at her suspiciously, then replied, "Not a lot, why?"

"I can't get anything from her, not even surface impressions. It's as 
though she's not there," Ruth whispered anxiously.

m-Ruth looked at her curiously, then tried it. And tried again. The 
effort was visible on her face. "You're right. Now that is something."

"A zero-esper? Is it possible?" suggested Ruth.

"Seems like it. You won't get a damn thing from her. Now, was there a 
point to this or can I go back to sleep now?"

Ruth looked at her with a cautionary expression, then linked mentally 
to her mirror to divulge the story as secretly as she could. 
Understanding loomed in the other Ruth's eyes.

"I think I have an idea of what you're dealing with here," she said 
after a time.


                       Respectfully submitted:

                           Allan MacLennan
                 [Lt.] Angus Murray, Tac/CSO FRONTIER

                             Dale Forster
                  [Lt.] Keanu Maren, CEO FRONTIER

                            Sam M. Edwards
                  [Captain] Will Ramsay, CO FRONTIER
                 [Cmdr] Caroline Ramsay, XO FRONTIER
               [LtCmdr] Joanna Houston, aXO/tCMO FRONTIER


          "Put your faith in God and keep your powder dry."
                           Oliver Cromwell

                 "Evil is easy, and has many forms."
                                Pascal

  "The next time you go over my head, I'll have yours on a platter."
                       Commander Benjamin Sisko


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