Chapter Text
Maya had wasted so much time searching, and still the missing eel was nowhere to be found. She couldn’t stay here and search forever, her hour was nearly up and Katya would be back soon. For a moment, she paused to consider the risks and rewards of her options. If she stayed and searched, it was only a chance she might find what she was looking for, but she would also risk incurring Katya’s rage and suffering whatever consequences she would deem appropriate. If she left before finding the eel, she shuddered to think what might happen with a Ceti eel at large somewhere in the ship. It could wreak havoc on its own, and if it fell into the wrong hands.
No…no, she had to get out of here. Katya would probably kill her for what she did to her Terran counterpart. Maya grabbed the jar that held the one accounted for eel and rushed out of sickbay. She was practically running through the corridors , at one point taking a wrong turn before she remembered that La’an was staying in the Terran La’an’s quarters. Once she stood outside La’an’s door she rang the chime and tried desperately to calm herself down. She forced herself to take deep, slow breaths, but she still felt like every inch of her body was on fire.
“La’an!” She called. She thought she would be able to speak calmly, but she sounded frantic and panicked. “It’s Maya, please, we need to talk. I’ve ruined everything…again.”
“Come in,” La’an replied. When the door opened, La’an stood just on the other side. She took the jar from Maya’s hands and held it up to get a better look. La’an narrowed her eyes to see that there was only one eel inside, but she said nothing about it. “We have an advantage now, it might not be so bad as you think.”
Maya sat on the bed and slumped forward to hold her head in her hands. “You shouldn’t have trusted me.” She shook her head. “Terrible things happen to everyone who trusts me, and it’s usually my fault.”
“I’m not entertaining that kind of talk.” La’an had given up on trying to sound gentle and encouraging. She stood in front of Maya with her hands clasped behind her back. “If there’s a problem, I only want to know what happened so we can come up with a solution.”
Even though her head felt like a lead weight and forming words felt like she was trying to break through a solid wall, Maya lifted her head to answer. “T’Ralia’s dead.”
The color ran from La’an’s face. She grabbed a chair and dragged it over so she could sit across from Maya, leaning forward and resting her hands on her knees. “That…is deeply concerning.” Now she was soft and gentle again. “But that wasn’t your fault.”
“They know I’m not the other Maya, and they took her out of the brig.”
La’an held a hand over her mouth and looked away. That small gesture was enough to hit Maya with another wave of panic. Their plan was unraveling, and even though La’an kept her composure, she was clearly concerned. “Who’s ‘they?’”
“Katya and the man who killed T’Ralia…I think he was a pilot. I don’t remember his name.”
La’an nodded. “Do you know if they suspect me?”
Maya shook her head. “No idea…maybe.” She hung her head again, and again, the words just didn’t want to form. “La’an, I did something very wrong.”
La’an leaned forward and put a hand on Maya’s shoulder. “If it was done to defend your life or to stop the coup, it might be justifiable.”
“I’m going to be responsible for her death, the other Maya.” She stopped and took a few deep breaths, trying to gather up the thoughts that swirled in fragments around her. “She’s got a Certi eel in her head now.” Maya sprang to her feet and began to pace the room. “And I don’t know why I feel so torn up inside about it, when using them in the first place was my idea, when I helped you infect Suzette Ling with one.”
La’an took a deep breath. “There’s nothing wrong with having complicated feelings. I can’t imagine how difficult that must have been to do, but I think in spite of what went wrong we may still have an advantage. If we control both Suzette and the other Maya, we may well be able to control the augments.”
“I thought I was better than this, I was trying to be better, but I think all I’ve learned is that there is still this deep, terrible instinct that I have to seize every advantage without giving a damn about the consequences or ethics.”
“Maya, calm down.” La’an stood up too and walked to Maya’s side. She placed another gentle hand on Maya’s shoulder, but Maya pulled away. “Our methods have been a little more brutal that I would like, but that’s what we must do in order to keep up with these people.”
“It’s more than that, La’an, it’s so much more than that.” Maya shook her head. “It’s something that’s always been deep inside me, just like it was in my brother, and my father, and is probably in you too.”
“Maya!” La’an shouted, loud and suddenly enough that Maya froze and stared wide eyed. “I’m sorry.” She took a little breath before abruptly changing the topic. “I noticed…there is only one Ceti eel in the jar you brought back.”
Maya said nothing. She walked silently back to the bed, sat down and hung her head again. When she spoke,it was barely above a whisper. “I lost it.”
“You what?”
“I lost it!” She tilted her head back up and looked La’an right in the eyes. “I made an idiotic mistake, I lost it, and I have no idea where in the ship it might be crawling around by now.”
La’an looked away and sighed before she sat beside Maya. “Well, that complicates matters, but as long as we can reach Terra Prime, we can still stop the coup and set everything back in order.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Maya looked down again. “Nothing we do here will help the Terrans in the long run.”
“Is that really what you think? Spock dismantled a fascist empire, and you think preserving his work won’t make a difference?”
“I know it won’t.” Maya sight, pausing to think of how to describe what she had seen without sounding like she was out of her mind. “Q showed me what happens if Spock lives. The Terrans will be conquered and enslaved.”
La’an sat in silent thought. “I’ve had another encounter with Q as well. He’s playing mind games, trying to manipulate us. There’s a certain outcome he wants, and he’s not above cheating to see it come to pass. The vision he showed you may not be true, and even if it was…” She paused again, considering her words. “I don’t want to get into too many details, but I’ve seen firsthand that things that were meant to happen, important points of the timeline, tend to happen regardless of interference. It could be that the Terrans could end up at the same outcome regardless. Saving Spock at least buys them a few years of peace and egality before the fall.”
Maya tried to force herself to smile, but she was given a sudden start when the door slid open. No chime, no asking permission, just Katya standing on the other side of the door holding something behind her back and her eyes narrowed.
La’an roseto her feet. “That door was locked!”
Katya shrugged. “Your security systems are easy to bypass, and the code was only four digits.”
“You have a lot of nerve to barge in on an admiral.”
“Are you an admiral, though?” Katya teased as she walked inside. “I mean, maybe you are in your world, but you don’t actually hold any authority in the Terran empire, do you?”
“Bold of you to challenge my authority.” With a few fast, long strides La’an closed the distance between the two of them. Katya was almost as tall as La’an, but La’an had a broader frame and had the more impressive presence.
“I know what you did to Maya,” Katya accused. She puffed out her chest and tried to be just as intimidating right back at La’an before she revealed what she had been concealing behind her back: a jar containing the missing Ceti eel. “And I’m going to find you what you did with the real La’an as well.”
La’an acted quickly, grabbing Katya by the shoulders. She turned Katya around and pulled her in close so she could wrap her arms around Katya to restrain her, and as they struggled Katya dropped the jar to the ground. While La’an was unmatched in technique and experienced, Katya had speed, strength, and youth on her side. She managed to wiggle down and out of La’an’s hold and began to run out of the open door. La’an and Maya chased after her, but neither could match her speed. Maya, however, took matters into her own hands. She snatched the phaser off of La’an’s belt, aimed it at Katya and fired. For the second time, Maya saw her lover die, this time by her own hand.
“La’an…” she whispered as she lowered her weapon. She never took her eyes off the spot where Katya had stood the moment before she was vaporized. “What have I done?”
“You did what you had to do.”
La’an’s communicator chimed. She took it off of her belt and flipped it open. “Bridge to Admiral Noonien-Sigh.”
“Go ahead.”
“We’ve arrived in orbit over Terra Prime sooner than expected.”
“Good. Have the transporter room prepare to beam Maya and myself back to my home. We will be there shortly.”
“Understood.”
“Noonien-Singh out.” She gave Maya a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry. We’ll have time to mourn later. We’ve got a coup to stop.”
On the way to the transporter room, Maya tried to tell herself that this nightmare would be over soon. For all of their setbacks, things were mostly on track, and their challenges about this ship were behind them. When the doors to the transporter room slid open, however, what Maya saw made her feel as if she was kicked in the stomach.
La’an and Maya expected to see only the transporter operator, but instead they were greeted by the augments, almost all of them. Suzette Ling, the Terran Maya, and (of course) Katya were notably absent. A young man had a phaser drawn and aimed at Maya and La’an, who held their hands up in surrender.
“It must be frustrating, to know how close you were to succeeding in your little plan.” He began as he walked closer. Even though he spoke to both women, he gave more of his attention to Maya. “I might have liked to take revenge for what you did to Suzette and the real Maya, but before you broke Suzette’s mind she did offer us some valuable advice: that we can’t hope to control the Terran Empire without the allegiance of someone who already holds influence within the Empire.”
“It’s hard to argue with a phaser pointed at your head.” La’an conceded. “We will comply.”
Maya gave La’an a sharp look, and La’an responded with an even sharper one.
“Very good. If we are successful, maybe we can find a reason to spare your lives. To the transporter pads, our associates on Terra Prime will be waiting” La’an and Maya followed this order, hands still up in surrender. The young man turned to speak to the transporter technician. “Astrid and I will beam down with these two, and then you can send down the rest of them.”
La’an’s home–in either universe–was not meant to hold so many people. Her accommodations were comfortable for one person living alone and suitable for two people who didn’t have many belongings or the need for spacious living quarters. Now fourteen people were crammed in the small main room: La’an and Maya, eight augments, and the four co-conspirators.
Even in tight, crowded quarters Erica Ortegas managed to find enough room to pace the floor, her brow furrowed and resting her chin thoughtfully on her hand. “I still don’t buy any of this crap.” She addressed the entire room, but looked to Sulu more than anyone else present. “So there’s a whole nother universe, and La’an and the kid are imposters…from a whole nother universe.”
“If it helps, Erica,” Uhura began. She sat at the table with La’an, M’Benga, and Sulu. Everyone else stood or sat on the floor. “I’ve been to the other universe, traded places with my double, and was treated like a criminal. I can’t help but wonder what she was up to over here.” She glared at Sulu. “Because once everything was set right, this one was convinced I wanted to sleep with him.” Sulu pursed his lips, and M’Benga stifled a chuckle.
“Fine!” Ortegas threw up her hands in defeat. “I don’t buy it, but I’ll go along with it. We definitely need La’an, we maybe need the kid, and so long as we’re getting rid of them in the end I guess it doesn’t make much difference.” She looked to her co-conspirators. “So. We only have a few days, how are the preparations going?”
“I can get the biometrics I need from the augments before I leave tonight and have their credentials ready to go early tomorrow” Uhura replied.
“And after she’s done with that I plan to stay late to discuss strategy.” M’Benga added. “I want to do it as cleanly as possible. My original plan was for the augments to provide support while La’an quietly slipped into Spock’s office to kill him herself, but I’m not sure this woman can be trusted to carry out such a task.”
“We have a few more days, more than enough time to adapt if you put your mind to it.” Sulu replied.
“Well, there’s a lot of work to do. La’an. Sulu and I need to speak to you. Privately.” She jerked her head toward the bedroom door. “M’Benga too, it won’t take long.”
“Ortegas, are you sure?” Sulu asked.
“Trust me, we need him.” Ortegas answered as she began to walk toward the bedroom. Sulu and M’Benga followed behind, with La’an trailing behind. Everyone’s eyes were on in her, and instead of her usual proud posture she slumped her shoulders. La’an felt small in a way she hadn’t felt since she was a young child.
The door closed behind her, and Ortegas took command of the situation. “Computer, soundproof the room.”
“The room is soundproofed. Soundproofing will remain in effect until disabled.” Even in this brutal universe, the computer’s voice was bright and cheery.
“Have a seat at the desk,” Ortegas commanded, and La’an complied, though she moved slowly and maintained eye contact with Ortegas the entire time.
“I’ll admit, we don’t have much information about what exactly happened aboard the Portland.” Sulu crossed the room to stand on the opposite side of the desk from La’an. ”But what we do know is that Captain Albrecht and the real Admiral Noonien-Singh treated you with respect and hospitality, when they would have been well within their rights to kill you on sight. And how did you repay that hospitality? By creating chaos! The ISS Portland is on its fourth captain since the real La’an left Terra Prime, including a short stint with a pro-reform Vulcan in command of the ship. I also heard from Awais, the young man who’s made himself the augments’ new leader, that you killed three of them too.”
La’an took a deep breath. She was going to have to try to talk truth and reason to someone whose mind was already made up. “”We had no hand in the assassinations onboard the Portland, I assure you any hostility was present before we were. And the only augment either of us killed was Katya. The other two were still alive.”
“Put out of their misery as soon as the others knew what you did to break their minds.” Ortegas added.
“Your actions must have consequences, La’an.” Sulu continued. “We’ve determined that you need a reminder that will stay with you every day of the rest of your life, short though it may be. We don’t plan on keeping you around after you become emperor.”
“No one told me about that.” M’Benga interrupted. “What happens after you kill her?”
“Either Sulu or I become Emperor, depending on who wins the inevitable fight,” Ortegas answered with a shrug.”
M’Benga shook his head and chuckled. “Right.”
“La’an.” Sulu went on, looking La’an in the eye. “Place your right hand on the table.”
She realized what he intended to do and was gripped with self-presevation induced panic. She stood up, pushed the chair out of the way, and backed away. “No…absolutely not1”
M’Benga came up behind her and took hold of her shoulders to hold her still and force her back into the chair while Ortegas yanked her arm from her side and held it down on the desk’s surface. She never stopped fighting back even as Sulu drew a massive knife and with one swift blow severed her hand at the wrist.
Fiery pain surge through La’an’s body, and she screamed with such force that tears streamed “down her eyes and her throat went raw. She only dared to look down at the desk for a moment, just long enough to see the sickening, bloody, gap between her wrist and hand.
“Don’t let her bleed too long,” Ortegas advised M’Benga. “Remember, we need her alive."