The Littlest Rogue, Chapter 11
As Scarlet and Alice materialized inside Gary Seven's safe-like transporter, their first sight was that of a very familiar-looking man, who appeared to be in an old-fashioned twentieth century wheelchair. He was seated to their left, facing the concealed computer. Little Alice thought that it was her father, screamed in fright, and tried to hide. Just as a precaution, Scarlet withdrew her servo and aimed it at him. He smiled weakly, and using his newly acquired telepathic ability, told her who he was and that he was unarmed. She lowered the weapon, realizing that he was no threat no anyone. Alice's mother flew to her little girl's side, telling her telepathically that it was her father's double, recovered enough from his injuries he had sustained at the hands of Alfred Bester to be released from the Federation star base hospital, but still not well enough to come back to work. Scarlet read in his mind that he was only there for a visit, recalling now about how worried they had all been about him. Both Roberta and Captain Chekov looked at the child with compassion. Pavel felt very sorry that he scared her, and quite understood her reaction. Alice, after getting over her initial fright, soon came to realize that the man named Chekov was not there to hurt her. Gary Seven explained to Alice and her mother that he was in an old-fashioned wheelchair, just in case they were observed by a denizen of the twentieth century. Pavel explained that he would still have to undergo some physical and speech therapy and it would be some time before he would regain his strength. He smiled wanly again, saying telepathically that he never thought he would see the day when it would be a pleasure to meet anyone who was part Klingon. They all knew that Lieutenant Torres would have quite a tale to tell when she returned to the twenty-fourth century.
Dinah held her little one close, who was still crying.
"Baby, it's all right. You are safe now. Mommy's here. Don't be afraid. That's your father's double. His name is Pavel Chekov and he's not mean." Dinah gave her another hug and kissed her gently on her forehead. "Oh, honey, please don't do that to Mommy again! I love you, my little sugar plum."
Alice looked up in her eyes and smiled, wiping her tears with her hands.
"Do you forgive dotter Franklin now, Mommy?"
Dinah and the others smiled in amusement. Tears of joy were in her eyes.
"Of course, my little telepath."
Scarlet left their side and sat wearily on the brown leather couch. Mr. Seven noticed and told her that she still had some unfinished business with Mr. Bester and Captain Janeway. She had to go back to the starship and thank the captain for Mrs. Bester. Dinah glanced at her again.
"Thank you so much for bringing my baby back, Miss O'Neil. Thank you also for conveying my appreciation for Captain Janeway and her crew for taking such good care of her. I hope Alfred isn't going to cause trouble for you or for them."
"Knowing Alfred the way we do, he probably will. I read in Mr. Kim's mind that he was planning a little deception for him. In order to pull it off successfully, a telepath has to be there to insure that Bester still has his abilities curtailed by the sleeper drugs. The ensign didn't want to tell the captain that Alice and I had left, so it just might work."
Dinah looked back down at Alice, who was now looking back at Captain Chekov shyly, still astounded at his uncanny resemblance to her wicked father. He smiled back at her gently, apologizing telepathically again for scaring her, and knowing with his newly acquired telepathy what Mr. Kim was planning, and thought it was brilliant.
"Honey, I have some good news. Your mean old father will never bother us again. I asked Mr. Seven if it would be all right if we both stayed here in this universe. He had no objections. We can now go anywhere we want and we will never be bothered by the Psi Corps again."
Lt. Torres arrived in the Voyager's holodeck just in time to find out what Ensign Kim was planning. The young man had asked Naomi to go back to her quarters so she wouldn't get hurt, and just in case Bester got his telepathic abilities back early. Naomi, although a little disappointed that her new friend was probably gone for good, complied. She found that it was also not much fun to play alone in the holodeck with just the story book characters and the crew of Voyager for company. Garibaldi was very much impressed with how mature the young child was. He noticed that she was part alien. It was possible that her alien half was responsible for her quicker maturation process. She seemed quite grown up for one so young. Ensign Kim smiled at him and told him that she was nothing compared to the holographic doctor's former assistant, Kes. She had been from a species called the Ocampa, and looked like an adult, even though she was only a couple of years old. Garibaldi learned with amazement that her species lifespan only averaged nine years.
Unknown to Torres, Scarlet had decided to maintain her masquerade as the chief engineer. She also had no desire to inform the captain or crew just yet that she wasn't Torres. She had re-appeared in the briefing room, and did a very convincing job of pretending to be the chief engineer. Bester and the other were still conversing about the cybernetic devices and Scarlet felt that she should make sure that Bester stayed put long enough for her counterpart to help Mr. Kim come up with a good facsimile of little Alice. By now, Bester seemed a little agitated and out of sorts, obviously expecting to win the captain's trust long enough to retrieve his little rogue and bring her back to the Psi Corps. Scarlet, in her disguise as Torres, smiled a little. She was very glad to know that the child was now forever out of his reach. It was also lucky for her that he still could not read her thoughts.
Garibaldi, before leaving Babylon Five, had been given a time travel stabilizer by Zathros, modified so it would bring both him and Bester back to their own universe. The former chief of security found it very ironic and somewhat amusing that he was Bester's only ticket home. Before Bester had stepped into the newly discovered Guardian portal, neither it nor Zathros had given thought to how the Psi cop was going to get back to their universe, so eager were they to get him out of their hair for a while.