Lt. Commander Barker was heading for the holographic research lab to look at the hologram the crew had recovered whilst he had been trapped on the holodeck by Darwin. The Captain had finally defeated the hologram in a fight to the death and the crew had managed to escape the black hole that had threatened to destroy the ship.

I was now early morning and Chu had been to his quarters, removed the tattered clothes he'd been wearing, took a long sonic shower, had a bite to eat and changed back in his uniform.

From what Shale and Junora had said, Chu had an idea who he was about to meet. From the description, the hologram sounded like a ghost from his past, one he had hoped never to see again. In his hand he held a comm badge, taken from the ship that the hologram had arrived on.

The doors to the lab opened and Chu walked inside and saw Ensign Jackson stood talking to another Ensign, who had his back to the door. Chu couldn't see who it was until Ensign Jackson acknowledged Chu's arrival. The Ensign turned around to see the visitor and got the shock of his life.

"YOU." ASHER said loudly.

"Hello red eyes." Chu replied. "I see you've done well for yourself."

"You two know each other ?" Jackson asked.

"Our paths have crossed." Chu replied. "And I'd guess that my services aren't needed are they Ash ?."

"No, I guess not." ASHER replied. "There is one thing you could do for me though ?" He said, tapping his left breast twice."

"Lost your little toy have we ?" Chu remarked, understanding exactly what ASHER was implying. "We'll have to see if we can't find it."

"So it's been a long time ?" ASHER remarked.

"Nearly four years." Chu replied. "The last time I saw you was at the hearing."

"So it was." ASHER replied. "Although I was surprised at your presence there. I'd never thought you'd be my Judas."

"I had no choice, I was ordered to attend as an expert in holographic systems. And what I said at the hearing was my honest opinion, I thought that allowing you your independence was a risk. Who knows what Preserver programming is still embedded in your matrix. You could go out and wreck every computer system in the Federation and not be conscious of your actions." Chu explained.

"I understand your reasons, but I thought you were my friend, then you go and stab me in the back." ASHER said.

"I am and let's face it what Commander Data said made sense as well. He convinced the board to let you have your freedom and look where it's taken you. You completed the Academy and now you're a Starfleet Ensign and the pilot of a scout ship." Chu continued.

ASHER was quiet for a moment. "Well actually, the ship's just borrowed." He explained.

"Borrowed ?" Chu exclaimed.

"Well I sort of found out about the wormhole that had been discovered and decided to take a closer look. Initial scans showed that it could lead to the mirror universe." ASHER explained.

"You and the mirror universe." Chu remarked. "So you decided to 'borrow' a ship and take a closer look."

"That sounds about right." ASHER replied. "Whilst I was scanning the wormhole, it jumped towards me and I ended up here."

"ASHER wormholes do not jump." Chu stated.

"Well this one did. One minute I was fifty thousand kilometres away, the next I was ten. I got sucked in and ended up here." ASHER explained.

"This wormhole just gets stranger and stranger. From this side it appears to be an ordinary black hole, we've already almost lost the ship to it." Chu remarked.

"What about my toy ?" ASHER asked.

"You mean this." Chu replied, examining the device in his hand. "I see you've got a new emitter."

"Yes, Herman gave it to me just before I left Jupiter station. It's got a sub-space interface, I now don't have to rely on having to carry a portable transmitter." ASHER explained.

Chu passed the comm badge over to ASHER who took it and placed it on his chest. For a second ASHER faded out and then reappeared.

"So shall we take a look at the Interphase's sensor logs." ASHER announced, heading for the door.

Jackson just stood staring at the hologram as he walked out of the door and into the corridor. Chu followed, putting his hand under Jackson's chin and closing his open mouth.

"I'll explain everything later." Chu said. "The shuttlebay is this way." He shouted down the corridor.

ASHER stopped and turned round. "I knew that, I was just looking for the bathroom to freshen up."

"I see your sense of humour is still intact." Chu remarked as ASHER reached him. "It's just a pity there's no emotion to it. One day, we're going to have to extract that Vulcan inside you."