§ § § - February 5, 1982
Lauren held her party on the Friday afternoon immediately prior to her birthday, as promised; the festivities were scheduled to begin at 4. The party was being held in the McCormick backyard; along with Camille, Leslie, Michiko, Myeko, Frida and Maureen, Lauren's parents and younger brother and sister were party guests as well. Since Lauren and Camille were cousins, Camille's parents and older brother came too.
When Leslie was fairly sure no one was looking, she slipped a slim envelope between two gifts in the stack that rested atop a varnished redwood picnic table. She'd felt a little conspicuous because everyone else had brought colorfully wrapped packages; but no one had said anything, even though Camille had given her a suspicious look when she'd seen Leslie arrive apparently empty-handed.
The party went along in the usual manner of birthday parties, until it was time to open presents. Lauren had worked through about half the stack before she came across Leslie's lonely little card. "This one's from Leslie," she announced for the benefit of all the guests, and glanced uncertainly once at the next gift in the pile before turning the card over and peeling away the flap.
Camille said, "Didn't see a present in there, did you, cuz?"
"Just the card," murmured Lauren, pulling said card out of the envelope. Leslie noticed Camille's mother and father both eyeing their daughter with disapproving frowns, and found herself stifling a satisfied smile. Camille really got on her nerves sometimes, and it was nice to see her squelched every so often.
Then Lauren let out a shriek, catching everyone's startled attention. "What's the matter?" asked someone.
"Oh my God, you'll never believe this," Lauren cried. "Leslie's giving me a fantasy for my birthday!"
Camille's face went slack with shock, and everyone else started babbling. Leslie felt herself turn red. She had hoped Lauren would like her present, but she really wasn't interested in all this extra attention. Fortunately Myeko bellowed over all the other voices, "So what is your fantasy anyway, Lauren?"
Most of the chatter died and Lauren looked around with a sheepish expression on her features. "Well, I haven't really thought about it," she said. "That doesn't matter though—Leslie thought of it for me. It says here that I can be part of the 'Star Trek' universe, as if it were real life."
There was more chatter, but as usual, Camille got the last word. "I sure hope you don't wind up wearing a red shirt," she said, and Leslie squinted at her, puzzled. What was that supposed to mean?
§ § § - February 27, 1982
As arranged, Lauren arrived at the main house at precisely ten o'clock that morning, escorted by Julie, who promptly left to get their other guests settled into their accommodations. Leslie let Lauren in and both girls sat down, eager to find out the details. Roarke had done most of the preparations for the fantasy, so Leslie had as little idea as Lauren of what lay in store. "Good morning, Lauren, and happy birthday," Roarke greeted her warmly. "Are you ready for your fantasy?"
Lauren hunched her shoulders and grinned, face slowly reddening. "I guess so, Mr. Roarke," she said. "So, am I really gonna be on the Enterprise?"
Roarke nodded. "Yes," he said, "at least temporarily, as a cadet." He saw Lauren's taken-aback expression and inquired, "Well, now, at your age, you could hardly expect to be anything other than a cadet, could you?"
Lauren considered this at some length, and finally smiled a little. "I guess not," she conceded a bit reluctantly. "It's true, I'm only seventeen. Actually, I'm really even too young to be a cadet. I just hope nobody else notices...well, at least not much."
Roarke smiled. "This is your fantasy, Lauren," he reminded her, "and your birthday gift; so rules can be bent—within reason, of course. You'll be sharing quarters with three other cadets."
"What kind of assignment will I have?" Lauren asked.
"Surely," Roarke said as if in disbelief, "you don't want to spoil the surprise of learning your assignment from none other than Captain James T. Kirk himself?" Lauren shook her head, turning red again, and Roarke sat back in his chair. His expression was perfectly serious, but Leslie could see the hint of a twinkle in his dark eyes. "Very well then," Roarke said. "Leslie, since you are the one who is granting Lauren her fantasy, I suggest you get her started."
"Oh," Leslie gulped. Up till now, except for choosing and scheduling the fantasies, Roarke had trusted her only with go-fer duties, and she had never even so much as helped to do research. She had seen Roarke play the occasional role in a fantasy, revealing his true identity only at the very end, and had a secret wish to do that herself; but Roarke seemed to think she was nowhere near ready for such a responsibility. When she had asked if she could be part of Lauren's fantasy, Roarke had refused, explaining in the face of her disappointment that Lauren was likely to recognize Leslie, even if she were in disguise, and the realism of the fantasy would thus be destroyed. Leslie hadn't quite understood this, but she had accepted it anyway. She was still in awe of her guardian and didn't have the temerity to press the issue. Now she stared at him. "You mean you want me to send her off?"
"Of course," Roarke said. "I trust you know what to do."
"But which door do I...?" Leslie began.
Tattoo turned his head to hide his amused grin, and Roarke's gaze grew mildly stern. "Leslie Susan, have you forgotten everything you've learned so far? I thought you were more observant than that."
Leslie's face grew hot with embarrassment. "N-no, I didn't forget," she said and stood up abruptly. She'd absorbed quite a lot over time; but she was so nervous at being appointed to get Lauren's fantasy started that her mind seemed to have gone completely blank. There was one room, just off the study, that often served as a time-travel portal; it was to this door that Leslie led her friend, opening it for her and ushering her inside. She was frankly rather relieved to close it behind her, shutting out Roarke and Tattoo so that they couldn't see her in case she made another stupid mistake.
"Wow," she heard Lauren exclaim, and turned away from the door to see her friend staring at a dressmaker's form wearing a bland, beige-colored uniform that consisted of a tunic and slacks. On a table beside the form lay something that looked like a ray gun and a sort of miniature walkie-talkie device. "Is that my uniform? And gosh, I even get a phaser and a communicator?" She stared at Leslie with something like awe. "This has gotta be the BEST birthday present I ever got in my life."
Leslie grinned. "Glad you like it. Okay, first of all, you have to change into the uniform."
Lauren reached for the uniform, then paused to stare at it. "It looks like it came from Star Trek: The Motion Picture, not the original series."
"Mr. Roarke said your fantasy is taking place exactly three hundred years in the future," Leslie told her, "so that means you're going to the year 2282. I remember hearing about the movie, and I guess that was supposed to be 2279...so you get the new uniform."
"I liked the old ones better," Lauren admitted frankly. "Oh well...at least I don't have to wear a red shirt." Leslie stared at her uncomprehendingly while Lauren, unaware, removed her own clothing and began to don the uniform. "Are there boots, too?" Lauren asked.
"Under the table," said Leslie. "What's all this stuff about red shirts?"
"Red shirts are security people," Lauren grunted, tugging the boots on as she spoke. "Geez, these things are really hard to get on. Are you sure they fit?" At that point the second boot slid snugly onto her foot, and she stood up straight, scooping up the phaser and communicator. "Okay, I'm ready!"
Leslie wanted to press her regarding the red-shirt issue, but she realized it would have to wait. She took a deep breath. "Okay," she said, "now you open that door over there, and walk through."
"Then what?" Lauren asked.
"You wait, that's what," Leslie said. "Good luck, Lauren. I sure hope you have a great time." She waited long enough to be sure Lauren went through the door, then retreated back to Roarke's study.
"How did you do?" Tattoo asked.
"Well, I got her started on her fantasy," Leslie told him. "I guess the rest is up to her."
"And so it is," said Roarke. "Don't worry, Leslie. You did fine. It's out of your hands now."