The bridge of the USS Pulsar found itself the epicenter of a rather odd confluence of events. Ensign Corwin Adler was standing before his holographic Executive Officer, flanked by Commander Vernon Reid on his left and Lieutenant Commander Jakrin Holv to his right. The Emergency Command Hologram had his hands gripped loosely behind his back, his face much less dour than it had been the last two times the senior officers had been aboard.

“It’s good to see you, Captain,” the hologram said, his face not matching his tone.

“How… um… how’ve you been?” Adler asked, not entirely sure what his role was beyond being a body in the room.

“I am functioning at peak efficiency. I do, however, have a few things to say about the way our ship has been… commandeered over the last few days,” the ECH said in a voice that lowered toward a grumble as he spoke.

Corwin gave the hologram an awkward smile, “It’s all been for a good reason. I wouldn’t want them sending me and the crew out into… wherever we are… by ourselves. We didn’t have a choice with the Vaadwaur… But the station commander can put the right people in places to… to see that we all make it back where we belong.”

“Which is why we’re here now,” Reid spoke up. He gave Ensign Adler a firm pat on the shoulder. “Thank you for that wonderful segue. We’ve come up with a way that we think will get us out of the barrier that we ran afoul of when the Pulsar tried to leave the area. It’s experimental and the risks are not insignificant. But, as the Ensign already mentioned, we believe that we have the right people, or in this particular case, person to handle the mission.”

“I already hate the idea…” The ECH frowned as he shifted his stance and crossed his arms tightly to his chest. “But please… do continue.”

“We need someone who can pilot a shuttlecraft that has been outfitted with transphasic field emitters through the barrier. Because we adapted the technology from torpedo parts and a good share of guesswork on how to make something meant to explode not do that… there’s a chance that the shuttle will shift out of phase just fine… but not come back into normal space as intended,” Holv explained.

“And I am to assume that your broaching of this plan to me is some indirect way of asking me to be your test dummy, correct?” The frown on the hologram’s face deepened.

“Not a test dummy,” Adler countered. “You’re going to pilot a brand-new shuttle and… hopefully… help us… to get help.”

The ECH hummed as he considered the young man’s words.

Commander Reid seemed to take the pause in his protest as an opportunity. “We aren’t considering uploading your original program into the shuttle, just a copy of you from the point right before the transfer takes place. Our reason for selecting you, or rather, a version of you was because you alone can accomplish two goals at once. You’re an accomplished pilot, and you were given all of the knowledge and experience of a competent command officer who can execute a first contact mission to solicit help in escaping this confinement we’re in and hopefully get us back to where we belong.”

“See!” Corwin said with a big smile. “No one is trying to throw you into a dangerous situation you can’t come back from if something goes wrong. The you that’s been here on the Pulsar can still be here, and a version of you that is just as good but… um… isn’t you? They can pilot the ship but it would still be you that does it, so if everything goes right, it would still be because… you were… you?”

Adler looked less and less confident the longer he spoke, and yet somehow the ECH found his attempt to be persuasive in an awkwardly charming sort of way. The hologram let out a long sigh after giving the matter more thought.

“Fine. I will submit to this… unorthodox mission assignment. Or rather, I will volunteer my back-up self to the cause. As the Ensign tried to convey with his less than cohesive phrasing, if all goes well, the copy can be reintegrated into my holomatrix and none will be the wiser. If the mission is a failure, then we will have spared another crewmember the indignity of being torn apart by shoddy craftsmanship,” the ECH declared.

“Excellent,” Reid said with a relieved smile. “Now all we need to do is get the shuttle built.”

“I thought the whole point of asking me the way you did was so that the vessel could be launched right away. Do you mean to say that you’ve sought out a pilot before you even have a ship to fly? I believe you have an analogy to carts and horses that would be rather appropriate for this…” the hologram groused.

“Well… given your… colorful personality, we thought this would take longer,” Holv said with a casual shrug.

“Charming,” the ECH responded in a deadpan tone. “Which type of shuttle were you planning to use, so that I know what I’m getting my other self into?”

“Type-9,” Reid answered.

The hologram nodded thoughtfully. “At least it won’t be cramped.”

The Pulsar’s shuttlebay was cavernous, which felt like a waste of usable space given that it had sat empty until now. As the four former bridge occupants walked in, the form of Lieutenant Commander Lohrani Velori could be seen not far from the entrance, making some last-second adjustments to something on the craft’s nacelle. The exterior of the modified Type-9 shuttle looked almost identical to any other vessel of the series, though the addition of several emitter ports around the craft stood out to everyone seeing it for the first time.

“It’s… underwhelming,” the ECH commented dryly as they approached.

The Efrosian caught the comment and turned toward the hologram. “Is this our pilot?”

“It is,” Reid affirmed with a small nod.

Velori snorted. “Guess the engineers got lazy when they picked the pattern for them. Half a dozen of them, all with the same face. That can’t be confusing at all…”

“It’s… it’s really not that confusing. They all have unique personalities… kind of…” Corwin said, his voice softening a bit at the end.

“Better you than me, kid,” Lohrani said dismissively as she returned to her work.

“And here I thought our Engineer was surly,” the hologram said as he looked toward Adler.

“She’s… not that bad, really. We’ve just had lots of things to do around the station,” the Ensign remarked.

“You make it sound as if they’ve had you doing maintenance work around the station,” the ECH said with a small frown.

“Yep! I’ve been learning all sorts of things about good engineering practices. It’s been really fun to work with the teams of engineers on the station. I do get asked why I… have a red uniform on quite a bit though…” Corwin’s eyes started to sink down as he recounted his experiences.

“You’re the captain of a starship, of course you should wear the appropriate uniform. I’m rather disappointed to hear that you’re being thrown into the bowels of the station rather than being given proper instruction on the intricacies of being a command officer.” The hologram’s eyes moved purposefully toward Commander Reid as he spoke.

“But… I need to learn how to be an engineer too,” Adler protested. “I won’t command the Pulsar forever. If I don’t learn my real job when I have the chance, I’ll be just as lost as when I reported aboard the ship. I don’t want to go through that again…”

The ECH let out a small sigh of resignation. “Yes… I suppose there is some sense in that. I do hope that your tenure as our captain isn’t cut short for any reason. I rather enjoy providing you and our young cadets the guidance you need to grow into stellar future leaders.”

Reid and Holv exchanged a quiet look between themselves at the comment. The gesture passed unnoticed by the Ensign and his holographic Executive Officer.

“Alright, that should do it,” Velori announced, interrupting the awkward silence that was beginning to settle around the bay.

“Then I think it’s time to get our pilot ready,” the Bolian said with a small smirk.

Reid nodded and looked up slightly. “Computer, back up the Emergency Command Hologram’s personality matrix, and load the copied program onto the shuttlecraft.”

The ECH froze momentarily as the computer began the task of duplicating the complex program byte for byte. Several audible chirps and warbles could be heard from the comm system before the hologram resumed moving about normally.

“That was… uncomfortable…” the hologram complained.

A second later, a new but identical ECH solidified next to him. “Tell me about it. Except you aren’t the one that is about to be sacrificed in the name of technological advancement under duress.”

“Perhaps not physically, no. But philosophically speaking, you are me, and I am you. Your sacrifice is mine as well, should it come to pass,” the original hologram remarked.

“Save the debates on existence for later,” the Efrosian cut in with annoyance. “I’ll walk you through what you need to do to make the shift and then come back out of it. Come on.”

The duplicate hologram frowned at the abrasive interruption and let out a sigh as he looked toward Adler. “Very well. With your permission, captain.”

“Good luck!” Corwin said with a hopeful smile.

“Thank you,” the hologram said before turning toward the engineer. The two boarded the shuttle and the technical explanations began. The rest of the group remained where they were, watching through the window as Velori pointed to things and gave the hologram a rundown of how it all was supposed to operate. The original ECH folded his arms across his chest as he watched his duplicate nodding and likely asking clarifying questions.

Lohrani departed the shuttle after a few more minutes of discussion and approached the group. “Our pilot is ready to go.”

Reid nodded before tapping his commbadge, “Reid to Ops, the shuttle is ready for launch.”

“Acknowledged,” the voice of Commander Novak filled the room. “Station docking bay doors are open. Shuttle is cleared for launch.”

Reid turned to Ensign Adler, “Mister Adler, if you would.”

“Me?” Corwin asked nervously.

“He’s part of your crew, Ensign. It should come from you,” Vernon said, giving the young man an encouraging pat on the shoulder.

Adler nodded as he summoned his voice. “Computer, activate the shuttlebay forcefield and open bay doors.”

The warble of acknowledgement preceded the sharp snap of the forcefield coming online. Soon after, the mechanical clunk of the locking mechanism releasing filled the space. Once released, the doors quickly moved apart to reveal a view of open space as seen through the much larger docking bay of the station.

“Adler to…” the Ensign paused as he scanned the hull for the name that should be emblazoned somewhere. It took him a brief second to find it before he continued, “Burnell, you are cleared for launch. Depart when ready.”

“Understood, Captain,” the voice of the ECH within the shuttle called out. A second later, the hum of the shuttle’s nacelles charging up could be heard, followed by a small groan of metal being lifted from its resting position. The craft slowly moved forward, the crackle of a forcefield being pierced signaling the vessel’s departure from the bay. The five officers gathered together near the middle of the compartment and watched the craft grow ever smaller as it headed out of the station.

Within the cockpit of the shuttle, the hologram at the helm guided the craft along the course that the station had sent to the navigational computer prior to liftoff. It had the vessel leaving the docking bay before banking right, taking it toward the barrier while avoiding the large object suspected to be the craft responsible for generating the obstruction. The ECH increased the shuttle’s speed once it cleared the immediate area around Starbase 11 and was nearing half impulse when the proximity indicator began to sound.

“Engaging transphasic emitters,” the hologram announced to the open comms channel with the station’s Ops Center.

“Acknowledged. We will continue to monitor your situation, but further transmissions may be impossible.” The voice of one of the traffic controllers echoed in the cockpit.

“Good to know,” the ECH said dryly before keying in the sequence of commands that he’d been shown by Commander Velori. A static buzz rippled through the shuttle, causing the structure around the hologram to warp in a way that seemed alarming at first glance. He confirmed that the equipment was working, and the strange torsion he’d been seeing subsided not long after.

“Vessel has successfully made the shift,” the ECH said. His comment was greeted by static, just as the controller had warned might happen. With a small shrug, the hologram continued to steer the ship through the boundary line of the captive field. Several hundred meters later, he disengaged the phase shift and watched the room ripple in much the same way it had before.

Again, the effect only lasted a few seconds before everything stopped flexing in disturbing ways and the instruments confirmed a successful reentry into normal space. The hologram reached over and pressed the hailing command to report his progress.

“Shuttlecraft Burnell to Starbase 11, I have successfully…” the ECH began to explain before a blinding burst of white light cut his words off short, and brought a swift end to his escape attempt.

The crew gathered in the Operations Center had been watching as the shuttle passed beyond the line they had designated as the outer reaches of the bubble that seemed to envelop them. The shuttle’s hull rippled as it passed through and again after a short journey forward. The beginnings of celebration emerge before a sudden and violent explosion tore the shuttle apart from what appeared to be the cockpit. Gasps rang out as people registered what had happened.

“Report!” Commander Novak called out, snapping the crew out of their stunned positions.

“Scans aren’t able to penetrate the barrier,” one of the Operations officers reported. “Cause is unknown.”

A semi-metallic voice suddenly echoed somewhere behind Novak. “Your hubris is the cause.”

The sudden and unexpected noise caused Mira to spin around and take a step back, her eyes searching for its source. For a moment, nothing seemed out of place and no obvious answer to her silent question could be found. A ripple began to form in the empty air just under four meters from where she’d been standing. A hazy blue tear cut open a path from… somewhere, allowing a figure to step through, seamless black armor adorning and obscuring every feature on the person’s body. Despite the figure’s form being completely obscured, everyone in Ops could feel the aura of absolute authority the intruder exuded.

“Our earlier attempt at behavioral adjustment seems to have been ineffective. We will no longer trust that you will interpret what is expected of you and simply state it plainly. You are contained for a reason. You would do well to remain where you are until your expulsion from our reality. Compliance is not negotiable.”