"Mirror Image, Part 2" was a Star Trek Online short story by Christine Thompson, appearing in Star Trek Magazine #172 UK/#45 US US in May 2013. It was the sixth of 20 stories set in the STO continuity that were published in Star Trek Magazine between 2012 and 2016, the sixth of ten by Christine Thompson, and the sixth of 16 collected in Titan Magazines' STO omnibus: The Short Story Collection in 2022. In this story, Captain Va'Kel Shon of the USS Enterprise-F traveled into an iteration of the mirror universe to rescue his dead wife's counterpart. Continuing from Mirror Image, Part 1, it concluded a two-part story.
Description
- Shon must help his double return to the Mirror Universe.
Summary
Aboard the USS Morgan, Shon shuts off the intercom in Jak Trem's office so that he can talk privately with his imprisoned mirror counterpart Val Shon. Outside, Counselor Phillipa Matthias suggests to Jak that radiation interference from the class Y planet they're orbiting could be affecting the audio. Seeing from her captain's body language that she need to help, Matthias subtly blocks Jak's view of the office through the viewscreen. Using emergency transport units modified by Kirayoshi O'Brien, the two Shons beam to the mirror universe, materializing aboard Val's ship, the freighter
. On Val's orders they warp to Dewa III, where Tholians are holding Tress Shra and other captured personnel from the
. Val confesses that he owes Tress a debt since she once saved him from being killed. Masking their sensor profile as a Yridian freighter hauling a shipment of kelbonite, they con the Tholians into permitting them to complete the delivery. They begin transporting everything in their cargo hold to the delivery site, which gives them a minute to infiltrate the facility and start searching for the missing personnel before they're noticed. The two Shons beam into a corridor, locate humanoid lifesigns with a tricorder, then prepare to strike. Opening a hatch, they rush Tholian guards. Val detonates two flash grenades to disorient the guards, but also temporarily snow-blinds Shon, who hadn't expected the blasts to be so intense. Val continues attacking as a diversion so Shon can search for Tress.
Shon locates the captured workers, who direct him toward a cargo transporter to make their escape. As they all head toward the pads, Shon and Tress spot each other. Tress says the rest of their crew were taken to Nukara, and they make their escape to Dust Devil. Tress can tell Shon isn't Val – aside from his Starfleet uniform and trauma-haunted eyes, Shon rescued everyone, whereas Val would only have saved Tress. She reveals that recent mirror universe incursions were induced by James O'Brien. Shon thanks Tress. Before he activates his emergency transport unit to return to the prime universe, he tells her that Val's unit will only let him return to Dust Devil.
Materializing back in Jak's office aboard the USS Morgan, Shon opens the door to speak with Matthias. He says every second of his trip was worth it, and asks the counselor if they can talk on the way back.
References
Characters
- Phillipa Matthias • Va'Kel Shon • Val Shon • Tress Shra (mirror) • Jak Trem
- Referenced only
- James O'Brien • Kirayoshi O'Brien • Miles O'Brien • Jorel Quinn • Sama • Tress Shra
Starships and vehicles
- Dust Devil•ISS Maximus• USS Morgan (Nova-class science vessel) • (captain's yacht) • unnamed Tholian starships
- Referenced only
- USS Enterprise-F (Odyssey-class star cruiser) • Katar•Selkirk
Locations
- Dewa (Dewa III) • Nukara (Nukara Prime)
- Referenced only
- Andoria (Northern Wastes)
Races and cultures
States and organizations
Science and classification
- biobed • cargo transporter • class Y planet • combadge • coordinates • defense grid • demon planet • emergency transport unit • engine • environmental suit • escape transporter • flash grenade • hail • holoscreen • maximum warp • multidimensional transporter • plasma pistol • pressure hatch • scanner • sensor • shields • standard orbit • stun • transporter • transporter pad • tricorder • universal translator • voice modulator • warp core • weapon
Occupations and titles
Other references
- antenna • beam • bridge • cargo hold • corridor • court martial • crater • decade • engineering • hour • humanoid • kelbonite • lava • lifesign • metal • minute • orbit • pocket • prime universe • second • snow • Starfleet uniform (2386-2409) • tekasite • thermonic radiation • Tholian silk • transporter booth • trilithium • uniform • vegetation • year
Appendices
Related media
STO - Under Siege mission: "Tholian Incursion" – Details the occupation of Nukara Prime in the prime universe, an event which was still happening in the mirror universe during this story.
Background
Tress Shra was shown being shot at by a Tholian in an image from the omnibus reprint, but this did not happen in the story.
Images
Connections
Timeline
| published order | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous story: Mirror Image, Part 1 |
STO short stories | Next story: Chief, Part 1 |
| Previous story: Mirror Image, Part 1 |
Stories by: Christine Thompson |
Next story: Dove |
Publication history
- 7 May 2013
- First printed in Star Trek Magazine #172 UK/#45 US. (Titan Magazines)
- 8 November 2022
- Reprinted in The Short Story Collection omnibus. (Titan Magazines)