Spectre

by William Shatner

  "How could that be?" Teilani asked.

  "I do not know," Spock said. "And even if it is true, the explanation of that truth might always elude us."

  Kirk looked back at the screen and the Enterprise. There were enough mysteries in this universe for him to struggle with. He would leave the mirror universe to others. Janeway and T'Val would return to their war with all the technical information that Kirk could provide them. The mirror Spock would be treated for Bendii here, and given sanctuary until T'Val judged it was safe for him to return. And then, Kirk would return to his own life.

  "What are you thinking, James?"

  Kirk smiled at the woman with whom he had created life. "Will you marry me?" he asked.

  Teilani looked at him with eyes that saw into his soul. He could have no secrets from her and he was glad of it.

  "What are you going to do about that stump on Chal?"

  "Phaser it out of existence," Kirk promised. "I'll borrow one from Memlon's mother."

  Teilani laughed. The sweetest sound Kirk had heard in weeks.

  "And then what?" she asked. "After you've planted the clearing and built us a house?" She looked to the screen, past the ship and the storms, to where the stars waited. "What about . . . out there?"

  Kirk looked out as well, not through space, but through time.

  He could have no secrets from her. He could tell her no lies.

  "I don't know," he said. "Maybe I'll farm. Maybe we can breed that horse Jean-Luc sent me. And maybe, I'll buy a starship and we can find out how many other Chals are out there. You, me, and our son."

  "Or our daughter."

  "All our children," Kirk said with a smile, and he pulled her closer to him, so she could rest her head on his shoulder. "I don't know what I'll do, Teilani, or where I'll go. But what I do know, without question, without doubt, is that whatever waits for me, I'm going to face it with you."

  Teilani smiled at him, and in the love she shared with him, Kirk knew he had found what she had sent him out to discover.

  His place in the universe.

  It was not a world. Not a time. Not any physical place at all.

  Instead, it was every place and every time. As long as he was at her side.

  "I love you," she whispered, next to his cheek.

  "I love you," he whispered back.

  A perfect moment.

  And then an alarm blared on the bridge.

  Instantly Kirk and Teilani broke apart.

  "What is it?" Kirk demanded.

  "Weapons lock!" T'Val said.

  Janeway was on her feet, reading the tactical boards. "It's the Enterprise! All systems . . . they're coming back online."

  "What?" Kirk said. "How can that be possible?"

  "We're being hailed," T'Val called out.

  "Onscreen," Janeway said.

  All eyes went to the main screen as the image of the drifting Enterprise winked out, to be replaced by a transmission from that ship's bridge.

  It was fully staffed. All consoles lit and active.

  But none of that mattered.

  Because of the man who sat in her center chair.

  If there were gasps on the bridge of the Voyager, Kirk didn't hear them.

  If Teilani grabbed his arm in fear, he did not feel her grip.

  His heart thundered in his ears.

  His breath caught in his throat.

  Every thought in his mind was banished, replaced by a primal dread that lived deep in the darkness of his mind.

  Because when he looked at the man in the center chair—

  —the face he saw was his own.

  And that face laughed at him.

  "James T. Kirk," the man in the center chair said. "I've heard so much about you. I owe you . . . so much more."

  "They are powering phasers," T'Val said.

  Kirk struggled through his shock to find his voice. "Who . . . are you?" Though he already knew the answer.

  The man in the center chair leaned forward, and the smile that split his face was the grin of the devil.

  "You can call me . . . Tiberius."

  Kirk leaned against the helm console for support. "Why are you here?"

  His mirror counterpart answered as if it were the most obvious question ever asked. "You stole a universe from me, James. And now I'm here to do the same to you."

  "Never," Kirk said.

  "The choice is yours. Lower your shields and surrender. Or you will die. You have ten seconds to comply."

  Then the Emperor Tiberius sat back in the center chair of the Enterprise.

  The waiting began.

  James T. Kirk will return in

  Star Trek: Dark Victory

  For further information about William Shatner, science fiction, new technologies, and upcoming William Shatner books, log on to www.futurecall.com.

  About the Author

  WILLIAM SHATNER is the author of three previous Star Trek novels: Avenger, The Return, and The Ashes of Eden. In addition to his ongoing role as Captain James T. Kirk, he has also appeared in such hit plays as The World of Suzie Wong and A Shot in the Dark, in such notable films as The Brothers Karamazov and Judgment at Nuremberg, and on television in TJ. Hooker and Rescue 911. He is also the author of several other novels, including the popular TekWar novels, which inspired a hit television series. Shatner lives in Los Angeles.

  About the Collaborators

  JUDITH and GARFIELD REEVES-STEYENS collaborated with William Shatner on Avenger, The Return, and The Ashes of Eden, Their other Star Trek work includes three novels, as well as four behind-the-scenes books, among them The Art of Star Trek and The Continuing Mission, a lOth-anniversary tribute to Star Trek: The Next Generation. In addition to their other science fiction and thriller novels and scripts, the Reeves-Stevenses helped develop and were executive story editors for the cult-hit animated series Phantom 2040. In 1997, the Reeves-Stevenses journeyed to Antarctica to conduct research for their thriller novel Icefire.

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