The Littlest Rogue, chapter 9
Gary Seven had been informed by Isis of the fact that Miss Torres had almost tried to put her hand through the wall in an effort to take out the force field to his security cell. He told her that he was very glad she didn't do it, being that she would have probably broken every bone in her hand. The walls to the cell were made of cast rhodinium, a substance harder than diamonds. He considered that Captain Janeway needed her crew to be able-bodied, and was glad that she didn't try it. He knew that if he should ever vacate this apartment, then the substance would have to be removed; being that it did not exist anywhere on twentieth century Earth. If he should let it remain, then there would be too many questions sometime in the future. He knew that alien conspiracy theories were starting to gain popularity even in the sixties; the Roswell incident being no exception.
Dinah Bester was calmer now, but still had the look of a very worried mother. As Miss O'Neil checked in with them via her servo communicator, Mrs. Bester had a shocked look on her face when she learned that Captain Lochley of Babylon Five had allowed her Psi Corps husband to go to Voyager to retrieve little Alice. She wondered what possessed the captain to let him go back, considering how ruthless and cunning he could be, even in his present state; not being able to use telepathy because of the sleeper drugs still in his system. She was now worried about the people on that ship in the future, knowing now how kind they had been to her child. Whatever Alfred was planning, it did not bode well for the Voyager crew or for little Alice. He had tried to kidnap their daughter on many occasions, and had traumatized the child mentally, telling her such terrible things such as her mother didn't love her and that if she didn't come with him willingly, he would make sure she would never see her again. To his credit, he never physically abused their little girl, but the mental abuse had taken its toll. Alice had a very good reason for fearing her father. He was vicious, evil and cruel. For this reason, Dinah had taught her how to play Hide and Seek, and how to avoid him when she knew that Alfred was going to try and kidnap her again. Giving her this skill kept her father from his attempted abductions, and also gave the child some self confidence and stability. Dinah loved her child very much, and did everything she could to make sure little Alice knew it.
Alfred had materialized on the Voyager Bridge, right behind Tom Paris and in front of Tuvok, who swiftly hit the intruder alert alarm, called the captain to the bridge, withdrew his phaser, quickly set it on stun, and aimed it at the new arrival. The stranger glared at him for a moment, obviously familiar with Vulcans and standard issue Starfleet firearms, raised his hands in surrender with a disarming smile, and announced that he was unarmed, pleading with him not to fire, and that he came in peace. Tuvok noticed that the older human intruder resembled someone famous from Starfleet history, but there was something very sinister about him. The Vulcan stepped down from his post and frisked the new arrival, not yet ready to believe that the man was unarmed. He was dressed all in black, with leather gloves on his hands, and on the lapel of his coat, there was a strange badge of some sort. In an inside pocket, Tuvok detected some papers. He asked to see them and the familiar looking dark-haired stranger graciously obliged, explaining that they were schematics for some sort of alien cybernetic implants and that he was here for two reasons: one, to retrieve his little daughter and the other, to enlist the help of their doctor to remove the supposed implants from some of his people. Satisfied that Mr. Bester was not carrying any firearms, Tuvok watched as the captain swiftly made her way on the bridge. She also had procured a phaser from the weapons locker, had it set on stun, and aimed it at him. Her eyes narrowed when she realized who it was.
"Is that really necessary, Captain?" Bester asked with a slick smile. She had an air of authority about her, and he made an educated guess that she was in command, noting also that she had more rank pips on her collar than anyone else in the room.
"I am afraid it is, Mr. Bester. Your reputation has preceded you. Come with me. Tuvok, I have him covered. Lower your weapon and please accompany us to the briefing room. Secure from general quarters."
"Acknowledged." The black Vulcan said simply, doing as he was told, shutting off the intruder alert alarm. He still eyed the new arrival warily, also sensing that this man was not as benevolent as he appeared. He knew that the man's little daughter was terrified of her father, and he could now see why. The man looked like he was a member of the ancient Gestapo, and despite his calm exterior, something evil was lurking just under the surface.
Little Alice and Miss Wildman were still in the holodeck, but Naomi had called up her favorite story book character, a creature named Flotter. Flotter was supposedly made of water, and had blue "skin". He was very friendly towards the two children, and, even though Alice could not sense anything from him, felt comfortable with him, despite his odd appearance. There were plenty of places to hide in this program, just in case her father tried to come and get her. Naomi told her new little friend that Captain Janeway would not let anything bad happen, and that if her father had any intentions of kidnapping her, he would have to get through the crew of Voyager first. Harry had stayed with the two little girls, under the captain's orders to make sure no harm came to either of them, and he readily agreed with Naomi's assertions. He also thought it was freaky that Alice's father looked exactly like an older version of Mr. Chekov, Alice projecting an image of her dad in his mind, complete with his sinister black psi cop uniform.
Bester was on his best behavior, and put on an exterior of benevolence in order to enlist the help of the chief medical officer and the representative of the Borg, who had joined them in the briefing room. He found her to be quite lovely and was surprised to find out that their chief medical officer was a hologram, and had given the schematics for the Shadow implants to him, explaining the situation on the space station in the other universe. For the time being, he would have to gain their trust, so they would let their guard down and also let him retrieve his daughter. The captain informed him that he had no jurisdiction in this universe, and that his child had the right to due process. In other words, he couldn't just grab her and make off with her. He knew even without his telepathy that the captain was wary of him, and had asked him why little Alice was so terrified of her own father. He said that he had that effect on many people, and that his little girl did not understand what he did for a living. He was, after all, a police officer, and that sometimes it was necessary to kill in self defense. He also assured them that no harm would come to Alice. She was, after all, his child, and certainly no ordinary rogue telepath. Janeway wondered how he treated adult rogue telepaths, but he did not say much about that, knowing that if he did, it would serve to incriminate him.
Garibaldi, after assuring Captain Lochley that he would not and could not kill Bester, because of the Asimov conditioning that Bester had implanted in his psyche, had asked to go into the other universe and rescue little Alice from her terrible father and bring her back to her mother. The captain had kept in contact with Delenn's friend Draal inside Epsilon Three, and explained that Mrs. Bester was on twentieth century Earth in Gary Seven's apartment. While he was there in the other universe, he would have to contact Miss O'Neil on the starship Voyager, who, he was told, was masquerading as a half alien woman engineer named Torres. He did not tell the captain that he intended to get his revenge on Mr. Bester. Even though he couldn't kill him, he could at least injure him, and then he would rescue the little girl and go back to the twentieth century with her and hand her back to her mother, after, of course, he disposed of Mr. Bester.
