The Littlest Rogue-
Chapter 25
After Roberta had sufficiently recovered physically from her ordeal with Alfred Bester, Pavel Chekov conveyed his thanks to the chief medical officer of the Constellation and to the alien captain for their kindness. Pavel had been in contact with Mr. Seven intermittently when Roberta was still unconscious, and had informed him of what had happened. It had been two days since Roberta and Pavel were beamed up to the Constellation, and Miss Lincoln appeared to still be a little insecure and unsteady on her feet, even though she insisted that she was all right. Chekov had wanted to meet with the Andorian captain before their departure, but knew Roberta was not yet ready to meet someone that, to her, would be so alien in appearance. She had already been frightened enough during the past few days, and he knew that she wanted to go back to her century to recuperate mentally as well as physically. The Vulcan doctor suggested that Miss Lincoln could stay in sickbay while he met with their captain, and after a few assurances that Pavel would return shortly so she could finally go home, he left her in the capable hands of the chief medical officer, who decided to call for the assistance of their very human ship's counselor, a woman named Courtney Mudd, to keep her patient comfortable while she waited for his return, being that it was now time to undertake their real mission to render medical aid to the Vaalians. The Q made another brief appearance, telling the captain that he had made it appear that the Constellation had established orbit in the conventional way, so as not to startle the natives. At first, Roberta objected to seeing the counselor, knowing that in her time, people who went to see "shrinks" as she called them were subjected to ridicule at best and stigmatized at worst. She soon got the impression, however, that in the century she was in, there was no stigma attached to seeking professional help, and that meeting with this counselor would be strictly confidential, and would certainly not get back to Seven or anyone she knew in the twentieth century. With help from her necklace that she had received from the infatuated Q, she was able to sense that they were telling her the truth. She began to feel a little more at ease, and the counselor put her further at ease when she told her of her family history. Roberta was laughing at the exploits of Counselor Mudd's paternal grandfather as Chekov returned. Soon, Seven had beamed them back after Roberta said her goodbyes to the ship's counselor, learning with delight a bit later that her friend Pavel had actually known Harcourt Fenton Mudd, and that he was every bit the lovable scoundrel that Counselor Mudd had described.
It was night when they finally beamed back to Seven's apartment. Supervisor 194 took one look at Roberta and knew she had been through a horrific experience. She looked weak and tired as he gave her a gentle hug. He was very glad that she was alive, but was also concerned for her obvious stress-induced mental condition. Dr. Akemar had prescribed the multivitamin stokaline in pill form, instructing her to take one every morning until she felt strong enough to return to work as an intergalactic agent. Mr. Seven had agreed to give her a week of medical rest leave so she could recuperate, telling her to not be surprised if a Starfleet temporal medical officer should appear in her brownstone apartment. At the moment, Roberta was just happy to be back in her century.
Pavel accompanied her to her door as she unlocked it and let herself in, looking on with, to her, undue concern as she sank into an easy chair facing her TV. She closed her eyes for a few minutes, and then glanced back up at him with a worried expression.
"What's wrong, Roberta?"
"I have a feeling that I haven't seen the last of that creep Bester."
"I hope you are wrong, my dear. Will you be able to sleep tonight?"
She thought about that for a moment. Would she be able to sleep after all she had been through? Or, like the old song went, would she have to sleep with one eye open and one foot upon the floor? She was then reminded that she had that bottle of McCoy's red pills. Would she dare take one, knowing that there was a possibility, however slim, that Bester should appear again? Pavel was reading her thoughts, of course. "You still have your necklace to protect you, you know." He reminded her gently. He got up and locked the door for her and she smiled apprehensively, recalling the last time she had locked a door. It hadn't done a bit of good. Of course, now it was different. She was the only one with a key. However, there was the possibility that Bester could beam in like Seven. Pavel brought the pills to her with a glass of water, kissed her gently on the forehead, and activated his beam-back signal on his servo. She watched him disappear in the blue transporter haze, set the glass down, changed into her pajamas and took a red pill as she climbed into her bed.
The next morning came quickly, and Roberta awakened to the smell of breakfast cooking. Apparently, someone was in her apartment and she became a little apprehensive. Feeling much stronger than she was the previous night, she downed a stokaline pill anyway and put on her slippers, suddenly realizing that one of her robes had been draped over her green wing-backed chair for her. Puzzled, she took it and put it on as she cautiously stepped into her kitchen. With relief and a bit of cautious optimism, she recognized the would-be home invaders. Her new friend Scarlet was cooking eggs on the stove while the younger version of Pavel, wearing his yellow and black Starfleet uniform, looked up from the morning paper and greeted her with a smile. There was something different about him, and at first, Roberta could not figure out what it was. Then, she realized that his hair was much shorter than it usually was. He spoke to her gently…a little too gently for her comfort, even though he had a perfect Russian accent.
"Good morning, star shine. The Earth says hello."
"It's about time you got up, sleepyhead." Scarlet said casually, using a spatula to lift the eggs out of her frying pan and putting them on a blue willow plate. "How are you feeling today? Seven asked us to check on you."
"I thought a Starfleet doctor was going to do that." Roberta said suspiciously.
"There were none available for now," O'Neil answered, placing a plate of food in front of her. The younger version of Pavel set his paper down and pulled out a dining room chair for her. "I see you noticed Pavel's hair. He cut it so the people in this era wouldn't think he was the fifth Beatle."
"Birds were trying to build nests in it." Pavel explained. O'Neil chuckled.
"I see." Roberta responded, still wary. She sat down as the toast popped. Pavel buttered a piece for her and set it on her plate. She took a bite. It was very good.
"Mr. Seven told us what happened. I'm glad you are all right."
"Thanks. What are you two doing here, besides fixing me breakfast?"
"I came to tell you that I met my older evil double, Roberta. He asked me to tell you that he's really sorry for hurting you."
"He's sorry? I don't buy it."
"He's changed, Roberta." O'Neil said gently, sitting across from her with her own plate of food. "The Q and my father have been punishing him by making him relive the last moments of his victims' lives. His repentance is genuine. As a telepath, I can tell." She glanced at the young Chekov, who nodded in agreement. After they finished breakfast, they did the dishes for her and bid her adieu. As they dematerialized, Roberta heard Scarlet say "Good job, Mr. Bester." She fainted.