The Bester of Both Worlds, chapter nine

Londo awoke the next morning to the sound of a terrified scream coming from G'kar's quarters, and couldn't help but smile at his mischief making the previous night. G'kar did not have a shower in the conventional sense, so he had to improvise. His assistant Vir, who previously unbeknownst to him loved practical jokes, went and procured Centauri rainbow nits. They were harmless little insects, but were quite fun to use on unsuspecting practical jokers like G'kar. The tiny creatures had a very short life span off Centauri Prime, which was good in a way, since they would not spread to other areas of the space station. They were all dead by morning, with the exception of the ones that had burrowed into G'kar's skin. Londo had let the nits into a little port window next to the entrance to G'kar's quarters the previous night and was looking forward to getting even with this ninny. Perhaps now he would end this foolish human nonsense once and for all. He always thought that there was something devious about his diplomatic attaché. However, as a general rule, Londo liked deviousness. People like Vir kept life interesting, even though Babylon Five was a very interesting place, even more so with the addition of the human woman Clare Raymond. He was grateful to her, and thought he would miss her if she and Chekov went back to where they came from. G'kar's scream was loud enough to carry into the human section of the station, and Londo quite enjoyed it.

Ambassador Delenn heard the scream from G'kar as she was having breakfast. She wondered a little at Clare's question the previous afternoon, asking if Molari was having a bad hair day. It was like Clare had a premonition about her. She was the one who was having one now, still not used to having a full head of hair. Commander Ivanova had given her some shampoo the previous night and showed her how to use it, also giving her a conditioner to help with the inevitable frizzies. When she awoke this morning, though, a part of it was standing on end and completely unmanageable. She realized when she heard the scream from next door that her problem must be pretty minor in comparison. Smoothing it down the best she could, she stepped out of her quarters and quickly rang his door buzzer, asking him if he was all right. His aide Na'toth answered the door instead, looking very worried about him. The female Narn led her into his living area. She saw G'kar standing in front of a mirror with a shocked expression on his face, as if someone had poisoned him. Then, she noticed that he had turned pink, and his spots, which were previously a dark brown, were now a bright purple. His eyes had turned a weird shade of green. G'kar thought he had a deadly Narn disease. Needless to say, Dr. Franklin was quite amused when he used his scanner in his quarters. G'kar worriedly asked him how long he had to live and the doctor estimated another seventy years.

***

Roberta looked like she was in a daze. Seven was very concerned that the Ripper did something to her mind and decided to call Starfleet Temporal for a doctor for her. Offenhouse wondered if she had spoken literally or figuratively about the devil knowing her name. Seven knew that she was speaking literally. The entity had all the characteristics of being the prince of darkness, and he had dealt with him before. He was a murderer from the beginning of the world and he was an accuser of those he coerced into doing wrong, never taking responsibility for his own evil deeds. He and his minions also knew every person on Earth. Offenhouse and Seven both felt that he had no right to judge the last victim he killed. It took two to Tango, after all. Seven suspected that the entity had drained all of Roberta's fear from her, along with every other emotion. She needed to get her emotions back, so he decided to ask Temporal headquarters for a Vulcan. Having no emotions and going through life in a daze would not be good for his new agent, or any other human being. Offenhouse watched with interest as Supervisor 194 approached the large round metal "wall hanging" behind the leather sofa. Pressing a colorful button in the center of it, made to look like a simple decoration, he and Offenhouse watched as it slid to one side, revealing a viewing screen. Seven spoke in its direction.

"Starfleet Temporal medical, this is a green priority. I am Supervisor 194, code-named Gary Seven assigned to the latter part of the twentieth century on Earth."

"This is Temporal medical. What do you need, Mr. Seven?" An older woman had appeared on the screen, looking strangely familiar.

"Agent 258 is in need of a doctor, preferably a telepath or a Vulcan. The Ripper entity from 1974 has drained her of her emotions."

"We will send someone right away, 194." The woman said with a knowing smile. "Dr. McCoy of the Starship Enterprise in the twenty-third century is available. We will ask him to bring along First Officer Spock. We will contact them immediately and transport them to your apartment."

Offenhouse had put the two-way communications device that Roberta had dropped in his pocket and suddenly remembered it. He withdrew it and handed it to Seven as the supervisor pushed the button again and the wall decoration went back over the viewing screen. Seven was looking forward to seeing Spock and McCoy again. He thanked Ralph and then wondered where Roberta's servo was. Offenhouse, of course, did not even know what that was, so Seven had to explain that it looked like a fancy ballpoint pen. Roberta recalled in a monotone voice that she dropped it when she passed out in the drab hotel room. They had to get it back so nobody would get hurt. Seven also didn't want the device to fall into the wrong hands. Ralph offered to go back and get it, but Seven refused to let him go. His safety was Seven's responsibility. Going back himself to get it was also out of the question. It was too dangerous, and if the Ripper entity were to possess him, he might end up killing Roberta and not even know it. Then, he thought of Mr. Bester, and decided to offer him a trip back to his own universe in exchange for this little favor. He felt that Bester was the most logical choice to retrieve the device, being he wasn't from the twentieth century and the Ripper would probably not recognize him. At least he hoped it didn't.

***

Ambassador Delenn had finally informed Clare and Chekov about the newly revealed time portal deep inside Epsilon Three, the planet that Babylon Five was orbiting. It was then that Clare started to wonder if her husband Donald had been released from jail. Chekov asked her if she still remembered marrying him, and she said she did. He then told her that if she still remembered him as her husband, then everything must have turned out fine. The two were both intrigued by the idea of another Guardian time portal in this universe and wondered what it was like. Clare hoped that they didn't experience any more earthquakes.