The Bester of Both Worlds, chapter 10
Ralph watched in fascination as Seven went to the large desk and manipulated the pen holder device that controlled the doors that concealed the safe-like transporter that he had emerged from. It had closed on its own when he had arrived, carrying poor Roberta. She still looked like she had been lobotomized, and was sitting on a burnt orange chair in front of the desk, staring blankly into space. He wondered how Seven knew that Roberta needed help and he explained to him that he had accidentally pressed the emergency beam-back signal on her communicator. As the doors to the hidden transporter parted, he noticed that the rather large computer was still visible and in operation. Ralph thought that the computer, although made to look like something from the sixties, was actually quite sophisticated for this era. It had voice recognition software and could hold a conversation with a human operator; something quite unheard of in the sixties, and even in his time. Computer technology of the late nineties was only beginning to use voice recognition software, but so far, it was only one-sided. He recalled that the sixties was an era of absolutely primitive computer technology by comparison. The computers of this era were huge, noisy, and cumbersome and were only used by big business and scientists. This particular one looked quite futuristic, even for a man of his time. They waited as the two Starfleet officers materialized in the alcove.
Spock was quite astonished to discover the identity of Agent 258, but contained his astonishment by simply raising an eyebrow. He told Mr. Seven that he hadn't mentioned that his agent was Roberta Lincoln, and Seven smiled and said that he didn't ask. Sighing softly, Spock had to agree with that. McCoy, of course, had heard of the young woman, and immediately withdrew a small device similar to the one that Ralph had seen Beverly Crusher use when he was first awakened in the twenty-fourth century. This one, on closer inspection, however, seemed a little less sophisticated, but at least it worked. The doctor knelt beside her and turned the small device on, waving it above her head. A few minutes later, he stood with a serious expression on his face. He recalled that her condition was very similar to that of someone named Simon Van Gelder.
"Miss Lincoln is suffering from a case of neural synapse damage, affecting the portion of her brain that regulates emotions."
"Interesting." Spock commented. "Miss Lincoln's condition is what Vulcans strive for all their lives."
McCoy smiled in amusement.
"You mean to tell us that Vulcans want to be mental vegetables, Spock?"
Ralph snickered and Seven looked heavenward. Spock sighed again.
"No, of course not, Doctor. We strive for complete control of emotions. You know that."
"Of course. I'm sorry, Spock. I couldn't resist. Actually, Miss Lincoln is hardly a mental vegetable. She is able to function at a basic level in this state. However, unlike Vulcans, humans need their emotions." The twenty-third century doctor withdrew another larger device. He spoke again. "As I recall, the Ripper sustained itself on the fear of other life forms. Why it chose to suck all of her emotions from her mind is a mystery." Those around him could not argue with that. The device was about six inches long, curved, with various lights and switches on it. He placed it on Roberta's forehead after removing her colorful seventies-style scarf and pressed a button.
"Can you help her, Doctor?" Ralph asked curiously, quite concerned for the young lady.
"Yes, Mr…?"
Seven suddenly realized that he forgot to introduce Ralph to the two gentlemen from the future. He quickly answered instead.
"This is Ralph Offenhouse, gentlemen. He is from the late nineteen-nineties. He had expressed an interest in returning to his own time via the Guardian of Forever, but there was an earthquake on that planet. He materialized here after a short and, no doubt, frightening excursion with Jack the Ripper in 1974."
McCoy's jaw dropped in astonishment at the mention of the Guardian and Jack the Ripper and Spock raised both eyebrows. Spock recalled the Enterprise computer mentioning the year 1974, when the Ripper had killed five women. Apparently, Roberta had almost been victim number six. They just had the nasty run-in with the aforementioned entity, which implicated Scotty as a murderer on Argelius II. McCoy quickly got over his surprise and explained that the device he had placed on Roberta's forehead was meant for brain trauma of her type. He still had it in his medikit, being it was also used for Scotty's concussion, suffered at the hands of a woman crewmember on board the Enterprise.
Isis, in human form, had gone to release Mr. Bester, who had agreed to go back to 1974 to retrieve the servo that Roberta had dropped when she was attacked by the Ripper entity. She felt that there was something very creepy about the way he was looking at her, but she just couldn't put her finger on it. As McCoy was healing Roberta's brain trauma, she and the psi cop stepped into the room, Isis discreetly keeping a servo trained on him in case he tried anything. It was Bester's turn to look astounded as he recognized the now unconscious girl as the one who had approached him in Kiev. McCoy had given her a sedative so that the device could work on the specific area of her brain that had been traumatized, and also so it would not be affected by any stray conscious thought. Spock and McCoy were also astonished at Bester's resemblance to Mr. Chekov, and asked who he was and what he was doing in the twentieth century. Bester, after introducing himself to the men from the future, and explaining that he and Chekov had somehow switched places, mentioned that if he still had his telepathic ability, he would be able to help Miss Lincoln. Isis hissed, and, in cat language, made the comment that he would probably help her to an early grave. Seven told her that that was very impolite, but he knew that her species was also telepathic, which is how he was able to communicate with her when she was in cat form. She had picked up on the fact that Bester was a killer in his universe, and was also a Satanist. Seven, not picking up on this, simply escorted the psi cop into the transporter and wished him good luck at quickly locating the servo and retrieving it.
***
Chekov finally got the chance to consult star maps, supplied by Commander Ivanova. He was not too surprised to discover that the planet Babylon Five was orbiting was in the exact location of the Guardian planet in his universe. Ivanova was quite surprised to learn that he knew how to read and decipher star maps, and he told her that he had been a navigator on board a starship called the Enterprise for several years, and knew a lot about star maps and space travel. He also mentioned that he was a little concerned that the people in this universe had not yet developed warp drive technology. True, the star gate they employed was very much like an artificial wormhole, but it was nothing like the technology he was used to. He thought of imparting the knowledge of warp drive to these people, but then thought better of it. It might be a violation of the Prime Directive. Chekov then thought of asking Molari why his people had wiped out an entire alien race that had been living on their planet, something, he felt, was an unconscionable thing to do. Molari told them that these Vulcanians were quite violent, and had tried to kill them. Chekov thought that didn't sound like the Vulcans at all, but more like the Romulans. There was one small difference between Romulans and Vulcans; the V-shaped formation on their foreheads. That description confirmed that the race Molari's people had wiped out were indeed the Romulans.