Peter Kirk, Chapter 3

The lizard and the "Vulcan" kept him company as he ate. They were very much impressed by the way he handled Quark. He began to feel a little more at ease and a little less self-conscious. He found out that his new acquaintance was only half Vulcan, but unlike his uncle's former first officer, embraced his Human half. Also, his mother had been a Vulcan and his father a Human. He was also a direct descendant of some sort of rock star from the twentieth century.

A crowd was starting to gather near the back of the establishment as Peter finished his dinner. He followed the two curiously as they made their way over to it.

"You are going to enjoy this, Mr. Kirk." Alice said. "Every once in a while, when they capture a few vohls, we have a race."

A Tellarite they seemed to know turned at their approach and explained further. "Vohls are vermin that occasionally infest this old bucket. By the way, when Captain Sisko brought tribbles back with him from the past, we had a hell of a time helping the captain find homes for all of them. Unfortunately, vohls aren't cute and they don't make good pets. They have one really redeeming characteristic, though. They can run really fast."

"What do they look like?" Peter asked, trying without much success to get a better look through the gathering crowd.

"Hairless rats." The Tellarite grunted.

"Yuck!" Peter responded. He noticed that several strange-looking people were approaching. Each was wearing some kind of metallic uniform and had a formation on their foreheads that looked remarkably like upturned spoons. "Who are they?"

"Cardassians." The Tellarite said in barely disguised disgust. "They are an evil bunch. They built this station seventy years ago when they took over and invaded Bajor, a nearby planet. They are like Klingons, only more primitive in their methods."

"Wonderful." Peter said, folding his arms across his chest. "What do the Bajorans look like?"

"Much more attractive than Cardassians—"

"Gavo!" Alice shot him a warning glance.

"Sorry, Commander, but it's true." He pointed with a furry paw to a woman with ridges on the bridge of her nose and an elaborate earring in her right ear. "That's a Bajoran."

"Place your bets!" A voice called out from beyond the crowd. A board had been set up and names had been given to the vohls. Peter grinned as he read them. There was "Warp Core Breach", "Cruising Cardassian", "Galloping Galaxy", "Athletic Andorian" and "Volatile Vulcan".

***

Peter still wondered how everyone knew who he was. He had only been on the station for three hours, and he really wasn't all that famous. Perhaps the attraction was his surname. The name "Kirk", even in his time, was irritatingly renowned. Peter was constantly being compared to his uncle, something he detested. Sometimes he wished people would just shut up and leave him alone. He happened to be unfortunate enough to be stuck with that moniker, and it seemed that people actually expected him to be like his infamous uncle. Perish the thought! What if the people on this station thought he was James Kirk? That would certainly explain some of the stares of the patrons of Quark's bar. Unfortunately, he did resemble his famous uncle. If they thought he was James Kirk, they were in for one hell of a disappointment.

"Not necessarily, sir." Interrupted a soft and pleasant voice. Peter looked up and saw a lovely Andorian female in a gray Starfleet uniform.

"You're a telepath." Peter stated a little irritably. It was not a question, but the woman nodded. Alice greeted her with affection.

"Forgive me for intruding upon your private thoughts, sir, and allow me to introduce myself. My name is Captain Tola. I command a starship named the Galileo Three. I am also an historian. I have always found your family most interesting."

"Have you now…." Peter responded a little uneasily, not quite sure what to make of her. He gestured towards an empty chair and she accepted, her movements graceful and fluid. "What interests you about my family, Captain?"

"My grandfather Shras knew your uncle to be a brave and honorable man. Grandfather met him when he was representing Andor on the way to the Babel conference."

"Brave, perhaps. Honorable? I wouldn't go that far."

"He saved many lives during his long career, sir."

"And destroyed many more! The Gamma Triangulans and the Hill People of Tyree's Planet weren't too thrilled with him!"

Tola winced. "Yes, those were two of the biggest mistakes that he made." She admitted sadly. She winced again because she read in his mind that his first cousin was murdered by a Klingon as a direct result of what happened on Gamma Trianguli VI.

"I see I made my point." Peter observed dryly.

"Yes, three quarters of the population of that planet were wiped out when their god machine was deactivated. They suffered severe weather changes and horrible epidemics. But…Peter…despite that error and the other one you mentioned, he saved your planet more than once and an entire star system before he died."

"You say he saved a star system? I thought he was killed by some cosmic str--!" He halted in shock. "Excuse me! I have to tell Cur—I mean Jadzia!" The phenomenon he encountered must have been the same one the Enterprise B met. It must have thrown his uncle forward in time.

"Who is Jadzia?" Tola asked as they watched Peter leap to his feet. He wasn't watching where he was going in his haste and collided with the Trill woman.

"Dax! That thing that overtook my shuttle must have somehow swept Uncle James to a future time!"

"Yes, I know, Peter. We don't have much time. That phenomenon is headed towards Deep Space Nine!"

***

Dax and Peter excused themselves and headed for the exit. Suddenly, they were stopped cold in their tracks by a brilliant flash of light. As it faded and their eyes adjusted, they found themselves in a darkened area by the entrance to Quark's bar. Correction, Dax thought, seeing a faded wall decoration, depicting the planet Earth with a bloody sword through it. Strains of a very old Earth song could be heard. It was live. Someone was singing in a throaty, sexy voice:

"Once upon a time, there was a tavern…where we used to raise a glass or two…"

They followed the source and both gasped. The twentieth century song was being sung with perfection by the Andorian woman Peter met earlier. He frowned, puzzled. Her uniform she had worn a moment before had been replaced by a slinky, low-cut midnight blue sequined gown. She was breathtaking. They stared along with her seemingly mesmerized audience, utterly transfixed.

"Incredible, isn't she?" Asked a man resembling the smiling Vulcan.

"Yes." Peter whispered, quite unable to keep his eyes off of her.

"She's the most famous entertainer in the quadrant…and I think I'm in love!"

After a couple more minutes, Peter tore his eyes away from the vision of loveliness and glanced back at the man who had spoken.

"Cooper?"

"Peter, he's not—" Dax started.

"The name is Furnier. Vincent Furnier, the Seventh. I don't believe we have met."

"Of course we—"

Dax elbowed him in the side and gave him a warning glance. He recovered quickly. "Uh…my name is Peter Kirk."

"Ah, are you a descendant of the greatest starship captain ever to command an Imperial craft?"

Imperial craft? Peter wondered, mystified. Then, he recalled a story about his uncle going to some sort of parallel universe, a story he always thought was a tall tale.

"No, not exactly." Peter answered carefully.

"Well, whoever you are, I'm the galaxy's best smuggler and thief, but I would trade it all for one night with Tola of Andor!"

"I believe it. She's gorgeous!" Peter whispered, watching her again as she finished the song and descended gracefully from the stage.

To Furnier's obvious delight and Peter's utter astonishment, and Dax's dismay, the Andorian woman glided over to them and smiled impishly.

"You would give up your life of pleasure just for one night with me? I am flattered."

"Don't you people ever get tired of intruding upon our universe?" Snapped another alien woman who looked exactly like Major Kira. She was wearing a skin-tight jumpsuit and a headpiece. She was being held, Dax observed, by two ugly Nausicans.

"It is not your universe any longer, 'Intendant'." Tola said her title contemptuously. She looked back at Furnier. "You have secured the station?"

"Yes, my love. At this rate, we will have our Terran Empire restored before the week is over."

"And you will, Vulcanian!" Roared another familiar voice. Peter and Dax whirled in astonishment, wonderment, and perplexity. "Or my name isn't James R. Kirk!"

"You're dead!" Peter blurted out, not noticing the strange middle initial.

"Obviously not, squirt. That pointy-eared bastard Spock thought he killed me. I just escaped from that blasted Nexus. That damned Vulcan made a fool out of me, pretending to be my loyal first officer. He's a traitor to the Terran Empire! Where is he? I'm going to slice his head off and feed it to a Klingon Targ when I get my ship back. I will restore our empire to its former glory !"

"There is no Terran Empire, Kirk!" The other Kira sneered.

"Silence that Bajoran mongrel!" The alternate Tola shouted angrily.

Furnier took out an agonizer and set it to its highest setting. As he placed it on the alternate Kira's neck, she screamed and collapsed.

"If she is dead, throw her worthless carcass out the airlock with the other garbage!" Furnier instructed coldly.