Star Trek The Original Series From History's Shadow (39 page)

The young woman shrugged. “This was all her idea.”

“Well, I don’t like it,” McCoy said. When Abrenn turned to regard him, the doctor added, “What’s to say they don’t just throw her in a prison cell once they’ve got their hands on her? Or worse?”

“You know nothing about my people, Doctor,” Abrenn said.

McCoy grunted, unimpressed. “Then you need to work on your first impressions.”

“Enough,” Kirk snapped before turning to Gejalik. “You don’t have to do this.”

Releasing a small sigh, the Certoss replied, “I believe I do, Captain. Almost everything I did during the time I lived on your world was in defense of mine. At least, that is what I believed. It is obvious that whatever alterations have occurred to the time stream, the mission I was given is no longer relevant, and I am all that remains of a world that no longer exists. However, if going with Colonel Abrenn can allay any fears he feels I represent to his world, then I am still acting to protect the Certoss people. I am still fulfilling my duty.” She
paused, glancing to Minister Ocherab, who smiled and nodded. “Please allow me that privilege.”

Ocherab said, “Gejalik’s courage inspires us all. It would be my privilege to escort her wherever the colonel wishes her to go.”

Nodding, Abrenn drew himself to his full height, and when he spoke, his voice was more subdued. “I believe that will be satisfactory.” He turned to Kirk. “Captain, I accept your offer of assistance with repairing my ship. If you will allow me to contact my second-in-command, I will see to it that you are extended every cooperation.”

“My people will help you any way they can,” Kirk replied. “As for this situation, what about a compromise? Everything can be done here aboard the
Enterprise
. I’m willing to act as an intermediary. We all can work through this problem together.”

Abrenn eyed him with wariness. “You would do that, after all that has transpired?”

“Yes,” Kirk said. “As for your actions against my ship, they’ll certainly raise some eyebrows back at Starfleet Command, but if you agree to what I’ve proposed, I’d offer mitigating testimony on your behalf.”

Casting his eyes toward the hangar deck, Abrenn for the first time seemed uncertain. “I do not know what to say.”

“Say yes,” McCoy offered.

After a moment, the Tandaran nodded. “Very well. I agree to your terms, Captain.”

“Excellent,” Kirk said, smiling.

After issuing orders to Spock for the repair teams to continue with their preparations to beam over to the Tandaran vessel, to McCoy to prepare for any medical situations that might need his attention, and for Commander Giotto to
escort Abrenn to guest quarters—under guard, for the moment—Kirk turned his attention to Gejalik. “That was a very brave thing you volunteered to do.”

“I appreciate your support, Captain,” replied the Certoss.

Minister Ocherab added, “As do I.”

“Well, we’re not done yet, but I think we’re off to a good start.” Kirk looked to Lincoln. “Miss Lincoln, I can’t thank you enough for your help. You provided a rather
unique
perspective on this issue.”

Sticking out her lower lip, Lincoln blew out her breath so that it lifted her blond bangs from her forehead. “It was looking crazy there for a while, but you pulled it off.”

“We couldn’t have done it without you,” Kirk said. It would take him a week to write up a report detailing the day’s events, and at this point he had no idea what he might say.

“What will happen now?” Mestral asked.

Kirk shrugged. “I have no idea.” To Lincoln, he asked, “Any thoughts on that?”

“Believe it or not,” she replied, “there are still some loose ends that need tying up. Back in my own time, I mean.”

Trying to envision the effort necessary to track an alien working in secret, and hiding anywhere on Earth, boggled Kirk’s mind. “I don’t know how you do something like that.”

Lincoln smirked. “Well, I was hoping you might do me a small favor. Or, three.”

FULL CIRCLE

THIRTY-FOUR

New York City

July 10, 1969

The bath would be luxurious, Roberta Lincoln decided as she watched the tub fill. After a long day spent entrenched in the latest modules of study mandated for her by Gary Seven as part of her ongoing apprenticeship, her mind had all but turned to mush. Her back and shoulders ached from hours of sitting at her desk, and her thoughts were awash in the ceaseless stream of facts and figures presented to her in unrelenting, rapid-fire fashion by the Beta 5, the advanced computer system that was the major technological ally to Seven and Roberta as they carried out their work.

As was often the case at the end of days spent in this fashion, she felt it all to be a bit overwhelming for a girl who barely had finished high school. Though she at first had protested the extended coursework Seven had assigned to her, she knew that it was but one part of the rigorous, comprehensive training her mysterious employer felt was necessary if she were to function in able fashion as his partner. And all of this was in addition to the other work she was expected to complete, such as reviewing news broadcasts, intelligence briefings, and other material that was part and parcel of her job.

My job,
she mused.
Yeah. Just another day at the office.

Sitting in her bathrobe on the edge of the tub, Roberta once again chuckled at her own feeble attempts to think of what she did here as just some other vocation; an assignment to be carried out while occupying space in a cramped cubicle in some nondescript office building, proceeding through a set list of tasks while perusing spreadsheets or interoffice memos. After all, saving the world on a more or less regular basis from humanity’s own shortsightedness—to say nothing of the occasional alien interloper—was not something that easily boiled down to a handful of sentences on a résumé. Not for the first time, Roberta pondered what her lot in life might have been if she had continued on in her role as the bright-eyed, naïve secretary she had been just a year ago, working for what she believed to be a pair of encyclopedia research consultants?

The road not taken, and all that.

One thing Roberta did not miss was her cramped apartment in the Village. As part of her “employment” with him, Seven had seen to it that she was provided living space here in the same building as their offices; an adjoining apartment with easy, inconspicuous access to the workspace. Her first night here had been an eye-opening experience upon realizing just how damned quiet it was in the soundproof suite twelve stories above the bustling New York street life. With an expansive library in which to immerse herself—and that was before accessing the vast storehouse of information comprising the Beta 5 computer’s rather comprehensive database—and with her tea and her rather large bathtub, which was almost done filling, she had almost everything she needed to make the stresses of the day fade away.

Well,
she mused, smiling at her own impish thought,
that cute delivery guy they sometimes send over might not be such a bad thing
.

As for Gary Seven—who occupied the apartment on the other side of their joint offices along with Isis, his mysterious shape-changing alien companion who spent a great deal of her time occupying the form of a black cat—presently he was off-world, having been summoned there by his own superiors for reasons he had not shared with her. After a year in his employ, Roberta still knew almost nothing about the Aegis or details of their interest in Earth and its inhabitants. Seven had explained some things to her, promising to continue providing her with more information as circumstances warranted and her training and knowledge level increased. Though she resented the implication that he viewed her as incapable of processing the full truth behind his benefactors and their motives, Roberta had come to realize that Seven in fact was acting in her best interests by keeping some things from her, and thereby minimizing any potential damage she might do—even by accident—as a consequence of the special secrets she and Seven shared.

I still wish he could’ve taken me along for the ride
.

Despite her still being a “rookie,” she had accompanied Gary Seven off-world on a couple of occasions, and what eye-opening experiences those had been. As for the work they did here on Earth, their missions had taken them all over the globe, and in recent months Seven had been letting her take the lead, asking her to develop their plans for dealing with this investigation or that intervention. She knew he was testing her, of course, judging her ability to examine a situation from all possible angles and devise the appropriate course of action, or even to determine that the best option was to take no action. A hunch teased her, telling her that Seven was preparing her for her first solo mission. She was not sure if she was ready for such responsibility, but she had learned to trust
Seven’s judgment and was confident he would not send her alone on a mission until he was satisfied that she was ready.

“What’s the worst that could happen?” she asked no one as she turned off the tub’s faucet and stuck her hand in the water to check its temperature. “I blow up the planet?”

Well, hopefully not tonight.

From where it lay on the vanity next to her hairbrushes, Roberta’s servo vibrated and emitted a short, lyrical string of electronic tones that she recognized as a communications signal sent from the Beta 5 computer.

“Really?” she asked, eyeing the servo with disdain. Casting a longing glance over her shoulder at the inviting tub, she grunted in irritation as she tightened her bathrobe before swiping the servo from the countertop and padding her way out of the bathroom. The entrance to the office suite from her apartment was concealed at the back of her walk-in closet, and she used the servo to unlock and open the hidden door. A moment later she was stepping into Gary Seven’s expansive, tastefully decorated office.

“Computer on,” she said, crossing the office toward the set of inlaid bookcases occupying most of the wall in front of Seven’s desk. In response to her command, the entire wall swung outward, revealing the sophisticated master control console for the Beta 5 computer. The console activated as it pivoted into view, its central viewing screen flaring to life. “What’s going on?”

“
There is an unscheduled activation of communications protocols,
” replied the Beta 5 in its usual haughty, high-pitched voice. “
Program is not a standard component of my software
.”

Roberta scowled at that. “What? Are you saying someone’s trying to get into your systems from outside?” So far
as she knew, the advanced supercomputer was supposed to be immune from any sort of remote infiltration, with the obvious exception of Gary Seven’s Aegis superiors. “Could it be Gary?”

“
Negative. Program initiation occurred within my own framework. I am executing a diagnostic procedure
.” Several moments passed while the computer worked on its own, leaving Roberta to stare at the array of status monitors and other indicators. Finally, it said, “
I have located the program source. It is an encrypted software protocol in an archival directory of my secondary memory core. Program has not been accessed since its installation on June 13, 1968
.”

“Who put it there?” Roberta asked. “Seven?”

“
There is nothing to indicate this program was created or installed by Supervisor 194
,” said the Beta 5. “
Data found in my archives suggests another, possibly unauthorized source. I find no record of this protocol’s installation or execution
.” It fell silent for a moment, its inner mechanisms processing as it continued to investigate this apparent breach. “
Additional data recovered from protected archives. On March 29, 1968, my sensors were used to scan a vessel in orbit above Earth. Five days later, two individuals were transported from here to that spacecraft
.”

“Five days?” Roberta frowned. “The
Enterprise
wasn’t here five days later. It returned to its own time.”

“
Affirmative
.”

“Are you saying someone transported from here to the
Enterprise,
three hundred years in the future? You’re talking about Gary and Isis, right?”

“
Negative
.
Life-forms in question were a Vulcan male and a Certoss female
.”

That made Roberta’s eyes widen in surprise. “Certoss? Are you sure?”

“
Affirmative. Sensor and bio-scan readings verified
.”

It had been a year—going back to that same day she and Gary Seven had encountered the
Enterprise,
as a matter of fact—since she last had heard that term. Seven had briefed her on some aspects of the trio of enigmatic Certoss aliens pursued by his predecessors and her former employers, Elizabeth Anderson and Ryan Vitali. They had been killed while pursuing one of the Certoss agents, who also had died during that incident, leaving his two companions missing.

“How did one of those . . . whatever the heck they are . . . get in here and into your systems?” Roberta asked.

“
Unknown. Unauthorized party likely possessed sufficient engineering and computer application knowledge to bypass my security protocols. All record of their activity has been purged from my security oversight files
.” As the Beta 5 spoke, Roberta sensed that the computer seemed almost embarrassed at having to explain its role in this odd situation. “
Review of data management processes shows a subspace message transmitted to the planet Certoss Ajahlan, along with subsequent attempt to delete all evidence of this activity from my protected archives. When that action failed, links from the archives to the main system were severed as part of installed software protocol. I only became aware of the discrepancy due to this program’s current execution
.”

“The Certoss contacted its own planet?”

“
No two-way communication; only the single transmission
.”