I would like to have some reviews on this story. I'm enjoying writing it. miss37

Later, Jim walked to the medical bay where Tony Stark was now with Doctor McCoy. Jim walked in looking for Stark but did not see him. He walked further and found Bones. "Where's Stark?" he asked.

"He's being given guest quarters," Bones said.

"Oh. What do you think? Is he normal?"

"Not exactly. Then again, who is? He has that arc reactor thing in his chest to keep shrapnel out of his heart. It's an electromagnet, Jim. Who has ever heard of that? Plus, he has superhuman strength because of it and the suit."

"You think he's dangerous?"

"Doesn't seem to be."

"Well, I'm gonna go talk to him."

Jim left the medical bay and headed for the guest quarters, but he met Spock on the way. "So, where's our guest?" Jim asked.

"Room one-twelve," Spock answered.

"I'm going to talk to him. Let me know if anything weird happens."

"Yes, Admiral."

"By the way, what do you think of our guest?"

"He is quite…confident."

Jim scowled at that. "But not dangerous?"

"He does not appear to be."

"Good."

Jim walked on to the guest quarters and rang the door chime. He waited but did not hear anything. "Mister Stark, it's Admiral Kirk. I wanta speak with you." He waited but there was still no answer. "Computer override the lock on this door."

The door slid open, and Jim looked in. "Mister Stark!" he called. He could see there was no one in the room. "Computer, is there anyone in this room besides me?"

"Negative," the computer answered.

"Then where did our guest go?"

"Unknown."

Jim left the room and took out his communicator. "Spock, our guest has flown the coop," he said.

"Admiral?" Spock answered.

"Did you tell him he could roam the ship?"

"No."

"Where would he go?"

"I am not certain."

"Okay. I'll find him. Just take care of the Bridge."

Jim thought Stark had been interested in the engines and shields, so he hurried to Engineering. "Mister Scott!" he called.

"Yes, Admiral!" Scotty answered and came around the corner.

"Have you seen our guest down here?"

"Who would that be, Sir?"

"Tony Stark."

"No, Sir. I haven't seen anyone unfamiliar."

Jim sighed. "Where would he go?"

"I don't know, Sir. Is he dangerous?"

"I don't think so. I just wanta find him. Let me know if you see anyone, but he's not a prisoner."

Jim walked out of Engineering and looked down the corridor. He had no idea where to look for that guy. "Maybe he's hungry," he murmured to himself and went to the mess hall. There, he found Tony Stark sitting at a table eating.

Jim sat down in front of him. "This is delicious," Stark said as he took another bite of his food.

"I've been looking for you," Jim said.

"What? Was I supposed to stay in my room?"

"Well…not exactly, but you are a guest here, and you could get into something dangerous."

"I'm not a kid."

"That's not the point. You are a guest on this ship."

"I've never been on a ship like this."

"That's why you shouldn't be roaming around."

"I'm a technological genius. I am never lost in a world of technology."

Jim thought he could not make this guy nervous. "So, you work with technology?"

"I am the owner of Stark Industries. I invent things." He patted the glowing circle on his chest. "I invented this."

"Why?"

Stark paused a moment. "Because I didn't wanta walk around carrying a car battery."

Jim absorbed that. "A car battery?"

"Yeah. It powered the electromagnet."

"Wouldn't it be easier to just have the shrapnel removed?"

"Well, at the time, I had to have something, and removal wasn't an option."

"Right. Just what happened?"

"To make a long story short…I got hit by shrapnel, some was removed, and this was put in to stop it from entering my heart."

"And you got the suit then too?"

"I built a suit…kinda like a prototype. Of course, the one I have now is much more advanced."

"And you do what?"

"I stop bad guys."

"You're a vigilante?"

Stark took another bite of his food. "Some people call me that," he said. "But my number one goal is to do what others can't."

"So, you know how to adjust our shields so that we can thwart that guy's weapons?"

"Yeah, cause I invented some of the weapons."

"You invented the weapons?"

"That's what I do a lot of the time. I'm a weapons expert."

"Right. So, you could even enhance our weapons to stop him too, right?"

Stark considered that as he chewed another bite of his food. "Probably," he said. "But I would have to study your technology first."

Jim considered that. He wondered what Starfleet would say about that if they knew he was about to let some guy from the twentieth century study their weapons and shield system. He was sure they would be grumpy but they would have to figure out a way to stop Hammer. "So, what about that guy?" he asked. "What is he after?"

"Me," Stark answered. "He can't stand it because I can outdo him, and because we thwarted his plans to create a robot army…then again, his so-called partner betrayed him and…well, anyway, he doesn't like me because I'm a rival. I'm a better weapons maker than he is."

"Oh." Jim was silent a moment while Stark continued to eat. "Are you that hungry?"

"Starved."

"Well, I'll get the specifics that you need, and Scotty will help you, along with Spock."

"Great, but I don't usually have any help."

"This time you will."

"So, you still don't trust me."

"I'm getting there, but we still have to be cautious. You should understand that."

"I guess I do, but if I was going to do something violent to you, don't you think I would have done it while I had my suit on?"

Jim thought this guy had an answer for everything. "Alright. When you're done eating, we'll see what you know."

Jim got up from the table and took out his communicator. "Scotty," he said.

"Yes, Sir," Scotty answered. "I haven't seen anyone down here."

"Don't worry. I found him. I want you to have a schematic of the ship's weapons and shields ready for our guest. He's gonna help enhance everything to face this new threat."

"You're gonna let him see the specifics of the ship, Sir?"

"Yes. Just have it ready in the conference room."

"Yes, Sir."

Just then, Carol Marcus Kirk came into the mess hall. "Admiral," she said with a smile.

"Doctor Marcus," Jim replied, going along with her teasing. "I think we can use your help in this project with our guest there."

Carol looked at Tony Stark who was still sitting at the table. "I heard about him," she said. "Who is he?"

"Well, right now, we're gonna let him figure out how to equip the ship to fight off our new threat."

They walked over to the table. Tony looked up at them, focusing on Carol. "Mister Stark, this is Doctor Carol Marcus Kirk," Jim said. "She's our weapons expert here."

"Really?" Stark asked as he stood up. "And we'll be working together?"

"Most likely."

"It'll be my pleasure," Stark said without taking his eyes off Carol.

Jim scowled at that as he took Carol's hand. "If you're ready, come with me," he said.

They went to the conference room where Scotty and Spock were waiting. Stark looked at the schematics they had. "I need to study these," he said. "If I can have them in my guest room and my suit there."

"You can't make adjustments to the ship without Scotty," Jim informed him.

"I don't intend to," Stark replied. "I'll just tell him what to do and he can do it, but it'll take time. I have to know details. By the way, do you have any place where this can be displayed like a…hologram?"

Jim looked at Carol and then at Stark again. "Well, we have the holodeck," he said.

Stark was intrigued. "The holodeck? What's that?"

Jim scowled at that question. "It's a big hologram display. You can create stories, live in them…whatever."

Stark looked completely fascinated. "I'd like to see it."

"Fine. I suppose this can be transferred there. Right, Scotty?"

"Yes, Admiral," Scotty answered.

"Let's get it done then."

When Stark walked into the holodeck, he was ecstatic. "You mean, all of this is…how do you use it? Can it do anything I want?"

"Just about…yeah," Jim said. "Right, Scotty?"

"It has no limits other than the database and what someone tells it to do," Scotty replied.

"So, I could create my shop," Stark said with enthusiasm.

"Admiral, I believe we may have created a proverbial monster," Spock said. "And I am not sure Starfleet would agree with sharing technology with someone from the past."

"We're not sharing it," Jim said. "He's trying to help us." He was more concerned with that new villain than with the Prime Directive. "I guess anyone would be fascinated with this. Scotty, give him full use of the holodeck so he can work." He looked at Stark. "Let me know if you have any breakthroughs or let Scotty know if you need anything."

Stark smiled. "So, how do I work this thing?" he asked.

"Scotty will inform you."

"Great!"

Jim, Spock, and Carol left the holodeck. "Admiral, are you certain that this person is trustworthy enough to give this access?" Spock asked.

"Relax, Spock," Jim said. "He's harmless. If he had wanted to kill us or take over the ship, he could have already done it."

"He's right," Carol agreed. "Besides, I don't think he has any malice."

Jim looked at her. "You like him because he flirted with you, don't you?"

Carol laughed. "I saw that bit of jealousy."

"Let's not talk about that. Just stop letting him flirt with you."

"I didn't let him. He just did. I guess he thinks I'm attractive."

"Well, that's easy to see. Any idiot could see that. I'm just anxious to see what our new friend can do to the ship. After all, this ship has had so many upgrades, it's even more advanced than it was when we got it."

That evening, Jim went to the holodeck. When he walked in, he wondered just what place he was looking at. It definitely looked like it was a workshop, but it had several computer screens and holograms. One giant hologram of the enterprise schematics hovered over one wall. There were several cars sitting on one side of the room beneath windows, and there was also a hallway that seemed to lead out, but Jim could not see where it led. However, in the middle of the room, studying the Enterprise data, was Tony Stark.

"Good evening," Stark said.

"So, where are we?" Jim asked.

"This…is my workshop, at my house."

"Really? So, what is all this?" Jim walked over to the cars. "Nice cars."

"You ever driven a car? Or do you just drive space ships?"

Jim smiled slightly. "I've driven a car before…once."

"Once? You don't like to feel the wind blowing through your hair?"

"I used to have a motorcycle. What is all this?"

"I'm working. I feel at home now."

"You got anything figured out yet?"

Tony considered that. "I have. But I haven't figured out how to integrate it into your ship yet," he said. "I'm working on that though."

"You think you can do it?"

"Absolutely. Just need a little more time. You heard any more about Hammer?"

"No. No one has reported any strange ships or anyone trying to take over the universe."

Stark chuckled at that. "Hammer couldn't take over his own company, much less the universe. He might cause some havoc though. If he thinks he can take over something like this ship, or if he thinks he can join with someone else who knows this area so he can find me. Maybe they have a grudge against you."

Jim frowned. He could think of plenty of people who would be interested in that especially if they thought Hammer could help them achieve their goal. "There are some."

"Then we have to get ready before they all get together. Hammer could convince a mouse to attack a cat if he could convince it that the cat had no teeth."

Jim thought that sounded like something Bones would say. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm analyzing the frequency of your shields, your weapons, Hammer's shields, and his weapons, and I'm going to reconfigure the shields on this ship so that the weapons on Hammer's ship cannot penetrate them or shut them down, and I'm going to reconfigure your weapons so that they can stop Hammer's ship."

"You think you can figure out all that right here?"

Tony looked at him. "Yeah."

"Well…good. How much longer do you think it'll take?"

"A few hours. Jarvis, what do you think?"

"Approximately five hours after you finish with your analysis," a male voice answered, which had an English accent.

"Who's that?" Jim asked.

"My butler," Tony answered. "Just A Rather Very Intelligent System."

Jim thought Tony Stark was rather odd. "Okay."

"Why don't you say hi?"

"Hello, Jarvis."

"Hello, Sir," Jarvis answered. "I am pleased to meet you…Admiral Kirk."

"Oh, so he knows my name?"

"Of course," Tony said. "He has connected to your system in order to analyze everything."

"Why do I get the feeling that you're doing more here than you've told us?" Jim asked.

"I don't know."

Jim watched what Stark was doing while he was having this conversation. "Are you working on it while you talk?" he asked.

"Absolutely," Stark replied. "I always keep up with everything that's going on around me."

"Right. And you don't mind if someone watches?"

"It's your ship. Just don't ask too many questions because I don't like to get into complicated explanations although I know what I'm doing."

Jim thought he could understand that. He hated trying to explain something he was doing to someone else because he thought the words never came out right enough to make the other person understand anyway. He had learned quite a lot about explaining things to children since he had two of his own now. He watched as Tony Stark figured out the calculations to reconfigure everything. When he had it done, he helped Scotty do the reconfigurations on the shields, and Carol to do the reconfigurations on the weapons. This time, however, Carol let him know that she was married, much to his disappointment.

Once everything was done, Stark went to his own quarters. He paced around and looked out the portals at the warp field. He had never heard of a warp field, but it was fascinating. He had studied some very interesting stuff while he had the ship's dynamics in his possession. Jarvis had also kept all that information. He would just have to study it more when he got back to his own time. He hated being still and having nothing to do. He did not sleep much and tried to stay busy so he would not think about…no, he would not think about that. He certainly did not want to have one of his anxiety attacks on this ship around a bunch of strangers.

Stark left the room and looked both ways in the corridor. They could at least let him do something. He really did not like being in space, especially when he had nothing to do. He would just find that admiral. He did not know where he would be unless he was on the Bridge. He wandered down the corridor and came to the medical bay. He remembered that it was not that far from the Bridge, so he went on until he found it.

Spock sat in the captain's chair studying the readouts of their new technology. Stark walked over to him. "Mister Stark," Spock said. "I was studying the new technology that you have added to the ship. It is quite remarkable."

"Thanks," Stark replied "Hey, where's Admiral Kirk?"

"I am not certain at the moment. Did you need something?"

"Yeah. I need something to do. Can I use the holodeck again?"

"I do not see a problem with that."

"Thanks. I'd like to work on my suit."

Tony left the Bridge wondering why he had to feel so anxious. He retrieved his suit from his quarters and went to the holodeck. He was also tired of feeling claustrophobic in his own suit. He would just work on whatever he could while he waited to see what these others would do.