An Honest Discussion

Posted on Wed Jan 7th, 2026 @ 2:08am by Commodore Wilkan Targaryen & Lieutenant Commander Sora Bernadotte

2,778 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Distress - Short Treks
Location: Sora's Quarters, USS Enterprise
Timeline: 2439-08-12, 12:30

"So, keep that in mind when you make a new one for me, please," Sora said to the person on the other end of the call, concluding the discussion about the issues she had run into with the override when she tried to use it on Enterprise.

It had been an eventful day, that much was for certain. First, the appearance of the strange reading on sensors, followed by the loss of contact with DS47. The recapture of the station and discovery of a dangerous new enemy, the takeover of both Defiant and Enterprise herself - and the daring mission to stop both ships from flying directly into a star. That, of course, would soon be followed by the relevant meetings and debriefings to determine what had happened, and how it could be prevented in future. Unfortunately, they were no closer to finding answers to many of the questions that had come up during the day.

As soon as she was off duty, Sora had all but ran to her quarters, in order to spend a decadently long time in the shower - luckily, her quarters were equipped with showers that were able to dispense actual water - before finally falling down into one of her armchairs, dressed in a fluffy, comfortable, and very pink bathrobe, a triple scotch in her hand. She had decided to call her hacker/programmer friend back on Earth to report on the success of the override code, as well as the slight issues with it, and of course to order a replacement copy for the one now in the possession of Commodore Targaryen.

"You mentioned that Sayori was on the mission as well, how did she do? In your opinion as her superior officer, I mean," her friend disrupted Sora's thoughts.

The Lieutenant Commander smiled. "Admirably. Considering that this was her first away mission with Enterprise, and the rather difficult situation she faced, I think she exceeded all expectations. You did good with her, Shizune. Oh, and she finally figured out that we know each other."

"About time," Shizune replied with a laugh. "Well, you can let her know that Hansha and I are very proud of her. You have to come by the Shanghai next time you're on Earth, both of you. Your sister said she's planning to visit as well, now that the Republic has finally agreed to let her retire from full active duty."

"I will do. With all the TI work, and the sudden transfer to Enterprise here in the Gamma, I've not even had time to speak to the CO about leave. But I will, promise. You all look after yourselves. I'll talk to you soon."

With the call ended, Sora reached for Myrtenaster, which was leaning against the side of the armchair in its sheath. Even though she had not needed to use the rapier in combat, she still decided to give it a clean before returning it to its stand.

It was then that the door chime sounded.

Sora raised her eyebrow at the sound. Who'd come see her at this hour? Only one way to find out. "Enter!"

Commodore Wilkan Targaryen stepped into the Quarters of Lieutenant Commander Berndotte, quickly assessing that she was holding a rapier. He smirked, "Not planning to use that on me I hope." It wasn't a question, more like a comment.

Sora nodded a greeting. "Evening, Commodore. Myrtenaster has not tasted blood on our little outing today, and I don't intend to change that. Still, might as well give her a clean." She indicated the other armchair, as she had a feeling what this was going to be about. "Please, do take a seat. Can I offer you a drink?"

"I appreciate the offer, and that Myrtenaster's not planning to taste blood today," Enterprise's Commander quickly answered. "I know you haven't been aboard for long but looks like you're settling in pretty well. I'm glad that you're so at home here." He commented, looking around the room quickly.

"I'm getting there," Sora answered, returning the rapier to its sheath and leaning it against the chair again. "There are a few things missing that are still in storage with some friends on Earth." She tilted her head towards the bass guitar in its stand in the corner. "That one's a replicated copy. Works fine, but the original was handmade. A gift from my sister." She took a sip from her drink. "You sure you don't want one? It's authentic, none of that synthohol nonsense."

He motioned, "I'll pass, this time, but there's a lot of authentic things these days aboard this ship." He tossed the chip from earlier onto the table, "I recognize this more than you probably think. So, who made this one? You mentioned Japan, so I assume this is Shizune Nakai's handiwork."

Sora couldn't help but laugh. "I take it Shizune has a bit of a reputation nowadays, then? Of course it is. So, given that you know of her proclivities beyond running that little teahouse of hers, I am a little surprised that you have her daughter on your crew. Shizune tells me that Sayori has quite a bit of a knack for this kind of thing, too. No doubt thanks to her mother's teachings."

"Who's to say that isn't the exact reason she's on this ship, Commander?" Enterprise's Commander pivoted the comment. "We are all, in one way or another, victims of our parentage. Some of us more than others. For some that brings benefits and rewards that others wouldn't have access to. For others... well sins of the father. Did you really think that I didn't know you were from the mirror universe?"

The Terran raised an eyebrow in feigned shock. "Me? From another universe? Now that's utterly ridiculous, what would make you think that?" After a moment's silence, she broke out laughing. "Yeah, I didn't believe myself there, either. Commander Sora Svanirsdottir, Executive Officer, Imperial Starship Asha. At your service. How'd you know? Most of my personnel file is heavily redacted, after all. Benefits of an assignment with TI and all that."

"Let's just say I know someone from your history," Wilkan explained, revealing a bit of his own age in the process, "Her Most Imperial Majesty, Mother of the Fatherland, Overlord of Vulcan, Dominus of Qo'noS, Regina Andor, Philippa Georgiou Augustus Iaponius Centarius. You aren't old enough for the Tian An Men to have picked you up after having been transferred over by Saru aboard the ISS Enterprise following Emperor Spock's death, so I'm assuming either there's more Terrans in this reality than I realized earlier, or you're from a later transference. Not that it matters much, all that I expect is that you follow the Starfleet way and you're not going to have any problems from me. Well that and not trying to kill me to advance in rank."

"That's quite the history lesson right there," Sora replied. "But no. I was born long after all that happened. A few years after your Dominion War, and the Empire's war against the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance. Excuse me for a moment," she added, as she stood and moved to the bedroom area of her quarters, closing the door behind her. A few minutes later, she returned, her bathrobe swapped for most of her usual uniform - a skirted variant of the working uniform worn by the crew of Enterprise, except for the jacket. Instead, she was wearing a cropped black jacket with a red band below the shoulders, and shoulderboards indicating the rank of a Commander. Pinned to her chest was a combadge showing the insignia of the Terran Empire.

"Like I said. Commander Sora, XO, ISS Asha. My last posting before I crossed over. Before you ask, that ship was destroyed. It's how I crossed over." Sora sat back down and took another sip from her drink. "The year was 2407. Imperial Command had finally figured out that we were part of a planned rebellion against the Emperor. Captain Vermillion had learned that ISS Defiant and ISS Voyager had been dispatched to apprehend us. Which, in Terran parlance, means eliminate. So, she ordered us into the Badlands, with hopes of meeting up with some of the rebels based out there, similar to your universe's Maquis. We had arranged contact with one of their leaders, Tuvok, who was sending some ships to meet us. But, Defiant caught up at the same time. In the battle that followed, Asha was destroyed, but before she went up in flames, the Captain ordered us to evacuate by transporting over to one of the rebel ships."

She chuckled. "I think you've heard what can happen when you try to transport in an ion storm. I ended up on this side of the boundary, on a cargo ship, surrounded by some very, very confused Ferengi. I convinced them to drop me off at DS9, where I finally learned that I had not only been transported to a different universe, but also slipped forward in time. By thirty years. From there came endless debriefings, until I was finally allowed to join Starfleet. I took the surname Bernadotte, from one of my ancestors, and was commissioned as a Lieutenant Commander in Temporal Investigations, specifically looking into crossovers from the Empire. And then I was suddenly transferred here." With a shrug, Sora concluded her tale. "That's the story, or, well, a summary of it anyway."

"That's quite a tale, Commander," and the Enterprise's Captain meant every word. "To lose thirty years, that's a nightmare. To be transported to a galaxy that's not your own, that's a catastrophe. I'm amazed you never tried to go back, even with the thirty years difference, to try to find out what happened to your people. It sounds like you and I may be familiar with different alternate universes though. The one I'm familiar with had a fallen Terran Empire, one in which the Klingons and Cardassians allied during the Betreka Nebula Incident and instead launched an invasion of the Empire. They succeeded and destroyed it. A rebellion did occur in our 2370s, they did manage to retake Terok Nor, but from there I'm not aware of what exactly happened. All I know about that, really, comes from drunken stories during the Dominion War."

"How many more of your people are there in this reality? Are you the only one or are there others from the Asha?"

Sora shook her head. "From what I've learned through my work with TI, that timeline you describe has been overwritten, so to speak, with one where the Empire was in fact not destroyed, only weakened, and with concerted efforts led from Terra and Terok Nor, the Alliance were able to be pushed back. Strange how changes in the timeline integrate seamlessly in some instances, and not at all in others. But no, I am the only person from Asha who crossed over. As for why I never tried to go back, it's simple. Crossing over had always been Plan B in case the rebellion failed. With the timeslip, there was no telling what I would be going back to, and I would most certainly be a wanted traitor. No reason to go back. I do know of two other Terrans in this universe, however. One being my elder sister, whose timeline is really rather confusing, thanks to her being quite the time traveller. Until recently, she was an active duty officer with the Romulan Republic, though I have been told they've finally let her retire. The other one is actually Shizune's counterpart, who once served on my sister's ship as commander of their MACO detachment. It's a very long story as to how those two came to be in this universe. Don't know if you've ever heard the story of the RRW Ourainavassa. Or IRW as it was once known."

She leaned back in her chair and sighed. "I've acclimated well into this timeline. Well enough, anyway. My sister and the two Shizunes definitely helped with that. And, as I think you've seen, I'm good at my job. I'm too nice to be a Terran anyway," she added with a chuckle.

"Well you haven't tried to kill me yet so that makes you nicer than about 90% of the other Terrans I've met," he shrugged, "although you did - technically - try to steal my ship earlier."

"Now that is quite the technicality," she replied with another chuckle. "It wasn't really your ship at the time, after all. I was trying to steal it back from whatever had taken it over. I would have given it back, of course. That leads me to a question, though. Grand Admiral Targaryen. Well, when I knew him, he was just Admiral Targaryen. He was the one who sent Defiant and Voyager after Asha, actually."

"I'm surprised he didn't send the Enterprise. In 2407 it would've probably been your reality's Enterprise-F, maybe the Enterprise-G, there's so many alternates it's hard to keep track. So then how does that make you feel about serving under me? With my counterpart being responsible for the destruction of your former ship and crew? I'm not entirely certain I'd be too comfortable with that," the Commodore probed.

Sora shrugged. "I don't care, really. We all knew what we were getting ourselves into. From what Freya told me, some of the Asha crew survived, ended up becoming pirates and mercenaries. We went against the Empire, the moment we made that choice, we signed our own execution orders. Personally, I'm surprised it took him that long to find us. As for why he didn't send Enterprise, simple. Asha wasn't the lead ship of the plot, so he saw no point risking his own flagship. I do wonder if he ever found out who the actual leader of the rebellion was, though. How come you know so much about him?"

"I don't," he was being honest, "it's all supposition based upon my own career, since things tend to stay similar between realities. Although, back then, I was Captain of the Sulaco and happily not a flag officer in this reality."

"Impressive guess then," the Terran replied with a smirk. "Now, with all that out of the way and cleared up, let me assure you. The Empire, that universe, it's in the past, literally and figuratively. My loyalty is to this ship and her crew, and the cause they serve. The Federation is a much better place to be, in any case. The only family I have left alive is here, too, after all."

At that, the communications panel chimed, indicating an incoming call. A glance at the display revealed who was calling, leading Sora to laugh. "Speak of the devil. An incoming call from Subadmiral Freya Mannerheim. Shizune probably called her about our little adventure today. Fancy a chat with another Terran, or shall I tell her I'm busy and call back later?"

"Actually, I need to get back to the Bridge," Wilkan answered as he stood. "While I gave the away team the afternoon off, I'm not as fortunate. Good work today, just make sure not to use that little toy of yours on my ship unless you have my say so," he said it with a disarming grin, but he meant it.

Sora shrugged. "Don't get the ship taken over by some weird virus again and I won't have to," she replied with a laugh. "Thank you for coming by and being open to this honest discussion. I knew it had to come sooner or later. Sir." Almost as an afterthought, she added, "Please don't go around telling the rest of the crew where I'm from. No need to make working with them more difficult than it has to. I'd rather this be my secret to share."

"While I have no desire to share anyone's secrets, Commander, remember you did just reveal it to a whole bunch of people yourself. You may want to speak with each of them about it too to make sure they keep the secret for you. Plus, I'd prefer it myself because there's too much paperwork involved when you have a Terran serving on your ship. I don't need that much scrutiny these days. I cause enough on my own."

"If a moment presents itself, I will," Sora replied. She glanced at the comms console, showing that the call had now been listed as missed. "I better let you get back to your duties, sir. I have a call to return, I suppose," she added, taking off the Terran uniform jacket. "I hope the rest of the day is much less exciting than it has been so far."

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