Benton sat in his place at the long table in the briefing room along with Captain Maruu and Commander Lataro. He had just finished a very long session with them explaining what had happened to him after he had touched the alien "mirror" in the alien lab.
The captain and first officer were having a hard time believing the story. To them it seemed much more likely that the entire experience was some sort of hallucination that Benton was suffering under due to certain traumatic experiences while on an away mission.
Maruu was saying, "Let me get this straight, Lieutenant." The captain paused to gather his thoughts. "When you touched this alleged 'mirror' in the alien lab you and the rest of the landing party were supposedly beamed to, you were transported somehow into a universe parallel to our own."
"Yes, sir."
"And that the 'Benton' we've been living with since then was your double from the parallel universe who had been transported here at the same time as you were transported there."
"Yes, sir."
"I see." Another pause on the captain's part. "And you returned to this universe from the parallel universe when your double once again activated the 'mirror' device which returned him to the parallel universe you were in." The captain looked to Benton for confirmation.
"That is correct, sir," said Benton.
Maruu looked towards Lataro. The Commander shrugged. Maruu rubbed his temples. He said, "Benton, you are a fine officer."
"Thank you, sir."
"Can you explain why there is no alien mirror device in the secure science lab?"
"No, sir."
"Or why there is no record of such a device ever being brought aboard from the last away mission?"
"No, sir," Benton had to admit.
The captain looked pained. "Then how can you realistically expect me to believe that in this parallel universe of yours, the entire Federation has been overrun by Kelvans all the way from the Andromeda galaxy! And that the same thing is about to happen in this universe?!"
Benton didn't know how to make them understand. Of course his story sounded insane! The mirror had somehow disappeared. There was no hard evidence. All they had was his word, and that wasn't proving to be enough."
Benton clasped his hands before him on the tabletop and looked at Lataro and Maruu in turn. He sighed contemplatively, and said, "I was there, sir. I saw it. It was horrible." Benton squinted his eyes in remembrance. "The Benton from the parallel universe was only here less than a day, but I spent more than fours years in the alternate reality! The Federation was beaten; the Klingon and Romulan Empires too. There was nothing left of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. Everything was in ruins. I can only imagine what the Gamma and Delta
Quadrants looked like." Benton trailed off, lost in his nightmare memories.
Maruu looked at Lataro again, somewhat at a loss. Lataro said, "Even assuming you did go to a parallel universe and what you've described is accurate, Benton, why would the same thing have to happen in this universe? What makes you think we're in danger? There's been no communication with the Kelvan Empire since their first arrival here two hundred years ago!"
"But don't you see, Commander, everything else in the two universes is the same! Agreed, there are small differences..."
"Such as the fact that I'm dead in this parallel universe," interrupted Maruu wryly.
"Yes, sir," said Benton. "That is one example. But all the big things were the same."
"Then why isn't the Federation under attack right now, in this universe?" asked Lataro.
"Well, as near as we can figure, time flows differently in the two universes. Sometimes, one day here is equal to one year there, and sometimes one whole year here means only one day there," said Benton. "The Kelvan attack could come at any time."
Lataro sighed and sat back in his chair. There were still too many unanswered questions for his liking, and there was the puzzle of this alleged "missing mirror". He looked at the Captain, and could tell the Captain felt the same.
Captain Maruu ended the debriefing session with, "Thank you, Lieutenant. We'll take your information under advisement. Dismissed."
"Yes, sir," said Benton. He stood and left the briefing room.
Benton returned to his quarters. Everything was as he had left it, more or less. The chair was not in quite the same spot, and the bed sheets looked like someone had been sitting on them. He looked into Spot's cage and saw exactly what he was expecting: no Spot.
"He'll be back when he gets hungry," said Benton, his mind was on bigger issues.