Temporal Steele — Part 4
by
Chapter 10
"
"Now is not the time. We're on to something."
"We have a visitor," he said, managing to nibble on her ear and indicate the intruder's location at the same time. "Remember that holodeck characters are supposed to be unaware."
She glanced down the beach.
"
"Mr. Steele, what should we do?"
He murmured in her ear.
"What? Are you saying we should"
"Remember, Laura. Unaware."
"We can't do that!"
"If we don't, we have some fast talking to do. Are you ready to talk to the captain?"
"Maybe we should."
"And tell her what?"
She hesitated.
"We don't have any choice, Laura."
"Where's the panel?"
"Behind that palm tree."
"Let's do it."
Laura watched his face. She could sense the innuendo he was working on.
"Don't even say it."
"As you wish, Laura." He took her hand and led her behind a dune. They peered back toward the beach. As they expected, the Doctor had stopped. He stood there uncertainly, his cheeks turning slightly red.
Laura said, "He's either going to steel himself and head for the panel or transfer himself out of here."
"Then we better do it."
The Doctor took a deep breath and charged over the sand.
They were gone.
Chapter 11
"
"Doctor to the bridge."
"Doctor to anyone!"
"What's going on? Computer, locate Commander Chakotay."
A female voice informed him, "Unable to comply."
"Why?"
"You have been locked out."
"By whom?"
"Ensign Harry Kim," came the monotonic response.
"Ensign Kim? Is he awake?"
"Negative."
"Then how?"
"Please rephrase the question."
"Computer, if Ensign Kim is still unconscious, how can he have authorized locking me out?"
"Unknown."
"Computer, transfer my program to Sick Bay."
"Unable to comply."
"You mean I'm stuck here?"
"Please rephrase the question."
The Doctor sat down heavily on the dune.
Chapter 12
"
Medical instruments were being tossed haphazardly from behind a biobed. Laura stopped flinging hyposprays long enough to answer.
"It's not over here."
"Try the desk," Steele suggested between emptying the contents of a medkit and overturning a chair.
"Nothing. Now what?"
He stopped ransacking and thought for a moment.
"I don't know."
"I think we're working too hard."
"How so, Laura?"
"Computer, locate the mobile emitter."
Voyager's central computer replied, "The mobile emitter is in Engineering."
The detectives shared a look of despair.
"Why is it there?" she asked.
The computer answered, "The mobile emitter is being repaired."
"What is the status of the repairs?"
"Unknown."
"What is the nature of the repairs?"
"The mobile emitter's outer shell was damaged. It is being refabricated."
Laura addressed Steele.
"Does that mean what I think it means?"
"Laura, it sounds like our ticket to freedom is getting the proverbial fresh coat of paint."
"Computer, beam the mobile emitter to Sick Bay."
It materialized on the desk in front of them, without its cover.
"Computer, transfer our programs to the mobile emitter and mask its signal."
"Transfer complete," it responded.
"Well, Mr. Steele," Laura said, "as long as we stay within about fifty feet of each other, we can go anywhere we want."
"Personally, I'd like to go back to Maui. And be a lot closer than fifty feet."
"So would I, but we can't. We also can't stay here." She pointed at the door. "That's the only exit. What if someone comes here?"
"Someone's bound to come check on Harry when they can't transfer the Doctor. Where to this time?"
"How about a nice, quiet, deserted Jeffries tube?"
"Why, Laura, you're an incurable romantic," he said, only half sarcastically.
* * *
"I don't know," Tom responded. "He's not answering and the computer can't locate him."
"Torres to Chakotay."
"Go ahead."
"The mobile emitter is missing from Engineering. We were repairing it, but it isn't where I left it. The computer can't locate it."
"We can't locate the Doctor, either."
"Could he have left the ship?"
"I don't think so. He seems to be trapped in the holodeck."
Tom said, "I'd better get to Sick Bay and check on Harry."
"Good idea," said Chakotay. "B'Elanna, how are the torpedo modifications coming?"
"Just finished."
"Good. Tom, go to Sick Bay. B'Elanna, meet me on the bridge. Maybe we can rescue the Doctor from there."
Tom began walking to Sick Bay. His walk became a jog when he thought of how long Harry had been there unsupervised.
He entered Sick Bay and checked Harry's vital signs.
"Time to wake you up, Harry."
Tom reached for the tray, expecting to find it neatly lined with hyposprays. They were there, but they were out of place. He found the correct one and administered it, but Harry did not awaken. Tom changed the display so he could study his friend's brain activity.
At first, he did not see anything unusual. Then his eyes widened and he ran to the bridge.
* * *
"
Tom tried to catch his breath before answering, "Still unconscious, even after I tried to wake him. Captain, I think his brain patterns have been copied."
Captain Janeway indicated they should take the discussion into her Ready Room. Chakotay and B'Elanna followed.
"Tom, calm down. Why do you think Harry's neural patterns have been copied?"
"Captain, I was monitoring his brain activity in order to determine why I couldn't wake him." Tom brought up the medical records on the captain's desk terminal. "If you look at these points, you can see echoes. Evidence of copying."
"Maybe the Doctor was incapacitated to prevent us from finding this," Chakotay offered.
"What about the mobile emitter?" B'Elanna asked. "Could its disappearance have something to do with this?"
"What about the radiation? Is there a ship hiding out there, masked by the bursts?" Chakotay asked.
"The radiation."
"Captain?"
"Since we lost the Doctor, the radiation hasn't been attracted to the hull. Before that, it was coming and going every few minutes."
"B'Elanna, put the record onscreen," Chakotay ordered.
They all stared at it.
"Computer, display use records for Holodeck One," Tom said.
"Well, look at that," Captain Janeway intoned.
Tom spelled it out.
"The radiation dissipated every time we tried a new variant. Until the last time. When Harry and I went down to confirm our findings, the radiation blew him into the wall."
Chakotay finished, "Then when we went down, the door was jammed, the holodeck controls were offline, and the Doctor and his mobile emitter went missing."
"We've got to find that mobile emitter," said the captain. "Then we should get some answers. B'Elanna, scan for it, inside and outside the ship. Look for any anomalous signatures, masked life signs, anything."
"Aye, Captain," B'Elanna said, leading the group back onto the bridge.
She took her station and began the scans.
"Looks like Seven's got most of the sensors back online." A moment passed, then she announced, "I'm sorry, Captain. I'm not getting anything."
"Keep trying, B'Elanna."
"Yes, ma'am."
Voyager's Chief Engineer tried every combination she could think of. Then the console beeped.
"I've got something, Captain."
"Where?"
"Deck eight." She paused as she localized it. "Jeffries tube, but I can't get the exact location. I don't know if I've found a hypospray, the mobile emitter, or Jimmy Hoffa."
"Who?" asked the captain.
"No one, Captain. I guess I've been talking to Tom too much."
"Tuvok," Chakotay said, "take a security team. Good work, B'Elanna."
* * *
"
"Maui was much nicer," Laura agreed, trying not to bump her head on the ceiling as she crouched next to him.
"You said you were on to something." He patted the floor next to him. She sat.
"What do we know? The holodeck simulations and Seven's observations of us all pointed to arguments. The crew was about to break Voyager free and leave our corporeal selves in a fight. That was when our friends outside borrowed Harry's knowledge and turned us loose."
"So, we're not supposed to fight."
"I think it's more than that. According to the data, there was an incarnation or two where we did manage to behave in a civilized manner."
"What about the warp core? Our friends keep trying to use it, but they can't draw enough power without collapsing the field. Each time they do, the timeline jumps back a few minutes."
"They want it to go back farther!"
"How far, though, Laura? A day? A week?"
"How about three weeks?"
He appeared to be studying the floor.
"Or not, if you're just going to ignore me," she muttered.
"Computer, on my mark, transfer us back to the holodeck, transfer the Doctor here to his mobile emitter, and lock out everything external from the holodeck, not just changes."
"What are you doing?" cried Laura. Then she heard voices.
"
"Doctor," Tuvok said, lowering his phaser. "What are you doing here?"
Chapter 13
"
"Three weeks, eh?"
"You were listening."
"Always, Laura, whether you think I do or not."
Laura smiled and strolled down the beach, leaving him to trot after her.
"So what's the problem?" he asked. "We talk to the captain, find a power source, and resume our lives."
"That's the problem. You left after I told you I needed you."
"Which is precisely what we're correcting."
"Ok. But, what about the next time?"
"What next time?"
She kept walking.
"Laura."
She stopped.
"I could leave herewell, Los Angelestomorrow. So could you. But if you think I'm going to disappear, you're wrong. Even when I walked out that night, I didn't go far. In fact, I didn't go anywhere."
"You know, Mr. Steele, there's really only one way to find out."
"Laura?"
"We're holograms, right?"
"Right," he answered, confused.
"So we can try something before we allow our counterparts in the real world to be put in that situation."
He was taken aback, but he did not let that stop him.
"What do you have in mind?" he breathed, brushing a stray lock of hair from her face.
"The same thing you do, Mr. Steele, but not here."
He stopped stroking her hair.
"But Laura, the setting is perfect. It's a beautiful night."
"It is," she said, rolling her head back to take in the stars, "but"
"Yes?"
"Promise you won't run off?"
He resumed running his fingers through her hair.
"Yes."
"Well, Ithis isn't how I pictured this moment. We've never been to Hawaii."
"Take me anywhere, Laura."
"I always dreamt of a secluded cabin during a blizzard. No electricity, no clients, no phone"
"We've never been anywhere like that, either."
"True."
"But I like the idea."
"Can I ask you something?"
"Anything." He meant it.
"What were you going to say?"
"When?"
"Three weeks ago. I cut you off. I guess I didn't want to let you talk your way out." She huffed. "That worked well."
He shook his head.
"You remember. I finally get the courage to tell you Iyou started to say something."
"Oh, that."
"'Oh, that'? Tell me."
"You didn't want to hear it."
"I do now."
"How about you program that cabin first?"
"Then you'll tell me?"
He pretended to waver, then relented when she poked him in the ribs.
"Cabin, Laura."
She eyed him suspiciously, then turned away to head for the panel in the palm trees. He held on to her waist and came up behind her.
"You know, I'm never going to get there if you don't let me go."
He ignored her words, but not her body language.
"Mr. Steele."
He whispered in her ear, "Yes, Laura?"
"Tell me what you were going to say."
He swept her hair aside and caressed her neck.
"How do you know it's something you want to hear?"
He felt, rather than heard, her sigh.
"Why are you putting it off?"
"Tell me again what you said three weeks ago."
She said, "I need you."
He spun her around.
"Laura, I love you."
Her eyes closed as she let his words sink in.
"To hell with the cabin," she said as they fell back into the sand.