In the episode Mirror, Mirror, part of the Enterprise crew is transported to an alternate universe where the ship is a vessel of a powerful Empire rather than the peaceful Federation. In this universe, officers rise through the ranks by killing their superiors, weapons are carried at all times, and methods of enforcing the will of the Empire are brutal and merciless. This version of Spock wears a Van Dyke beard and is a brutally efficient first officer, serving under a Captain Kirk who ascended to the command chair of the Enterprise by assassinating his predecessor, Christopher Pike. In the end, though, there is still much logic in even the darker version of Spock, for the James Kirk were familiar with convinces the bearded counterpart of his friend that the Empire is an illogical machine of power and is doomed to eventual self-destruction, a point with which the Vulcan agrees.
Aaron Smith is a writer who can't stick to one genre. He's written horror, mystery, fantasy, and espionage novels and short stories, including new tales of Sherlock Holmes. A lifelong fan of movies, comics, good books, obscure trivia, and the New York Yankees, he lives in northern New Jersey.
