oOo

Uhura's next stop was Engineering. If she wanted this to work, Scott would have to back up McCoy's "speculation" about the disappearance of her contraceptive implant. He would be harder for her to manipulate; the dour Scotsman had never made any of his weaknesses obvious, at least not to Uhura. This was the first time they'd been thrown together on a mission, and his time on the bridge was spent grudgingly at best. He'd never responded to any flirtation on Uhura's part, but she'd never tried very hard, either, had spent most of her time and energy fending off Sulu and focusing on Kirk. Spock she avoided warily, and Scott as third in command hadn't merited more than passing attention. Now, she regretted that lack; she hated going into a possible alliance knowing so little about her potential ally.

She glanced around, spotting him almost immediately. Without bothering to explain herself, she walked over and waited for him to notice her. He was busy, doing something or other with a hand-held welder or saw or some other boring tool she couldn't immediately identify. She received a few curious looks, but this crew appeared to be well trained in the art of minding their own business. Who knew, maybe her counterpart was in the habit of dropping in on Engineering in her spare time.

Scott finally looked up, clicking off the tool with a snap and dropping it on the nearest counter. "Aye?"

"Do you have a minute?" Uhura asked, not bothering to lower her voice. "I'm having a problem with some hardware changes I want to try out on the communications equipment. I could use your expertise. Are you off duty yet?"

"I'm never off duty, ye know that by now," Scott growled, but he followed when she turned and headed for the door. "But I think I can spare a few minutes. What's the problem?"

Describing the "problem" took them out of the hearing of the Engineering staff. Once in the corridor, she fell silent, trusting to Scott to find a quiet place for them to talk. He might not be someone she knew very well, but all members of theI.S.S. Enterprise crew were well versed in covert meetings, and could recognize a request for one when they heard it.

Scott herded her into an empty conference room, a small one, taking care to lock the door behind them. "Well? What is it?" he snapped. "Ye know I'm tryin' to get us home, so I haven't got time for any of yer little games. Spill it."

"I'm working on keeping the captain happy until you do get us home," she said bluntly, not bothering with flattery or flirtation. It was obvious neither would be effective. Not now, anyway. "I just need you to do one thing for me."

"And in return, I'll get what, exactly?" Scott demanded. He stood near the door, arms crossed, but he wasn't dismissing her request out of hand. Uhura was encouraged.

"Tell me what you want, and I'll do my best to get it for you." She took a deep breath. This was it; she had to lay her cards on the table in order to get him to cooperate. If he chose not to, if he decided to tell Kirk instead, then all her carefully laid plans would go for naught. "Look, we all want to get ahead. I think the best way for me to do that is to have something the captain wants." She moved closer as she spoke, but not close enough for him to view her as a threat.

Scott looked her up and down impassively. "Lass, I've no doubt ye've got somethin' he wants."

Uhura was disconcerted by his frank appraisal, accompanied as it was by a dead-pan delivery she wasn't sure how to read. "I mean something to bind us together in the long run, not just until we get back home. My contraceptive implant was destroyed somehow, during the transfer--"

"The hell it was!" Scott exploded. He grabbed her by the arms and shook her. Literally, as if she were a small child being reprimanded. "What kind of a fool are ye? As soon as the implant was removed ye became fertile, we all know how they work! He'll know ye planned this–"

"Not if you and McCoy back me up," she insisted, staring up at him, ignoring his painful grip on her arms. "He can say it's gone and he doesn't know how, and if Kirk asks, you can tell him you think it's something to do with the transfer. Just like our clothes were switched," she added. He'd stopped shaking her, but hadn't removed his hands from her arms. "You can convince him it has something to do with non-organic material not making the transfer across the two universes. You can speculate that my counterpart is now wearing my implant along with my uniform. He'll believe you; he knows you and I aren't allies and never have been."

Scott finally let her go, stepping back. Uhura rubbed her arms absently, never wavering in her gaze. "Ye still haven't told me what I get out of this," he finally said, and Uhura kept the smile of triumph from reaching her lips. "Ye get a hold on Kirk, I presume McCoy gets something he wants--or someone," he added, eyes narrowing. "That would be enough for him, a night with a woman who turned him down back home and no chance of setting Spock after him. What's in it for me?"

"Name it, and I'll see you get it. You'll get my full cooperation in any scheme you like, as long as it doesn't endanger my own plans or go against the Captain. What do you want?" she asked him again.

Scott stared at her for a long moment, then smiled. "I don't rightly know, lass. But when I do, I'll come to ye, here or back home. And if ye go back on yer word, I promise ye'll live to regret it."

"Fair enough," Uhura agreed, licking lips suddenly gone dry. She'd hoped he wanted something more specific, but the promise of future alliance was something she'd anticipated having to make. "Shall we seal the deal?" She held out her hand. He took it, then pulled her close for an unexpected kiss. She yielded without hesitation, returning the kiss in full measure--and with more enjoyment than she'd expected. Now that she knew Engineer Scott was susceptible to her charms, her confidence grew. This would work, and if Scott demanded more from her in the future than she could deliver, well, she'd worry about that later. Accidents could always be arranged.