No Alternative to Love
Chapter 2. 'Primed' for Danger.
He sat at a desk at an undisclosed location. A location that few of the upper echelon of the military knew about, and those who knew of the location, none was really in touch with the truth of what he was doing there. Even the one who sat did not know what his official function was. All he knew for sure is that he had sweeping military powers and the power to make decisions for Earth as he saw fit. So much unofficial power had never sat in the body of one individual, and certainly not at the fingertips of one individual, in the entire history of the Federation.
He keyed in information on his PADD which was projected onto the large screen facing him. These bits of information were combined with coordinations, sightings, and rumors as Spock Prime's technological tentacles reached far into the galaxy gathering any and all information that he needed to protect the only home that he had left: Earth. He took a moment to reflect, tilting his chair back while regarding the screen.
'What right did he have to alter events in this timeline? Was it morally acceptable to change things that could, (no matter how careful he was), have an influence on the lives of others? Would his decisions have an effect on lives that were totally unexpected?'
A long life and recent experience had taught him that he was not omniscient, and that he was definitely capable of error. This admission would have been impossible for him earlier in his life. But even though he wasn't omniscient, he felt the weight of responsibility. Responsibility which came with the knowledge he possessed. He felt responsible to avert catastrophes that could be avoided. Catastrophes that he felt were unnecessary. He considered the 'changes' that he had already felt compelled to make. He had deployed ultraviolet satellites around Deneva and other planets to counter the destruction of the neural parasites, which had killed Jim Kirk's brother Sam, and wife Aurelan, in the other timeline, when and if they ever arrived. He had made sure medical supplies were delivered to colonies and planets that he knew would be experiencing plagues in the coming years. He had placed precautionary probes in the direction from which the Borg had first appeared. Ditto for the Space Amoeba which would be headed towards Starbase 6. He looked up at his display again, and the other problem he was now pondering. The Whale Probe's arrival wasn't imminent, but he wanted to reintroduce humpbacked whales immediately into the oceans of Earth, just in case of an aberration in the timeline. He would need input from Montgomery Scott. If he could somehow use Scott's advanced transport technology through time, it could be a viable solution to the problem without traveling back in time. After all, he knew the exact year, the time, and the frequency of the tags that George and Gracie were wearing.
As he pondered what to do about the gaseous cloud on Argus X, a light blinked in the upper corner of his display. He had programmed the computer to inform him of any time fluctuations, no matter how faint. This was a signal that he had been dreading ever since he had taken this job. He calibrated his instruments to isolate the time distortion. His heart sank. The results confirmed what he had been dreading. He did a quick triangulation on the time distortion, then used his broad security powers to access all surveillance devices in the general vicinity of the disturbance, for he had to be certain. The last time he had encountered a distortion of this kind, it had not only been a threat to the existence of Earth, but also to the continued existence of life everywhere in the universe: total annihilation.
Charlene Masters leaned back on the hood of her rented vehicle looking on impatiently at Lazarus as he rummaged through his spacecraft, carrying objects out that he apparently deemed essential. How he had talked her into giving him a lift to the nearest transport station was beyond her imagination, but there she sat, waiting. She had disassembled, 'Bird', and all of her other scientific material, and had packed everything carefully in her carryall. She was well-prepared for her journey back to the Academy.
As she waited, she had a chance to observe the man more closely as he moved in and out of his spacecraft, licking his fingers periodically at the remains of the sandwich that he had pawned off her. He wasn't bad-looking actually, she decided, perhaps a decade older than she was. He was tall, and he had a strong frame. His clothes were faded and worn, and his beard was slightly disheveled. But even then, he wasn't too bad. He definitely needed to bathe; however, and his hair looked oily and filthy. She was glad that he was out of her breathing space for the time being, because he also smelled. His teeth were white, straight, and surprisingly clean, (at least that). She had noticed this as he grinned at her each time he exited his craft. She wished that he would hurry up, and if he didn't, he would find himself walking to the nearest station. Finally, he seemed to be finished erecting whatever he had erected. From her engineering expertise, she imagined it was some type of energy field. She crossed her arms waiting for the culmination of his work. Gathering up his carryall, he walked over to Charlene, then turned towards his spacecraft, and hit a button on an unseen remote. She knew that something was going to happen, but she jumped nonetheless when his spacecraft disappeared.
'Nice trick,' she said, trying to sound unimpressed, but she was marvelling inside.
'Just hiding my craft from curious eyes…as if anybody in his or her right mind would come out here anyway,' he said teasingly, staring at her.
Charlene just glared at him, and motioned for him to get into the passenger seat. She climbed into the driver's seat. He remained quiet during their journey for which she was thankful. He grinned every time she glanced over at him knowing that she did not fully trust him yet. To say she didn't trust him was a gross understatement, and she was more than ready to get rid of her unwanted passenger. Arriving at the transport station, she checked in her vehicle, grabbed her carryall, and headed towards the area where a transport would take her back to the Academy. She was surprised to find Lazarus beside her. She would not allow him to unnerve her; however, because she was back in civilization now, and she felt protected. She chose to ignore him, pretending that he was a stranger. It was a long twenty minutes until the transport came. When it arrived, she noticed it was nearly empty. She took a seat next to the window, and he inevitably took the seat next to hers. She rolled her eyes continuing to ignore him...and his smell...as she looked out the window. They again rode in silence. She was completely confident that this game or whatever it was he was playing would end as soon as they reached the Academy.
She got off at the Academy station and wasn't too surprised to see him disembark also. She confidently strode toward the military shuttle that would take her on her final leg to the Academy entrance. Flashing her PADD, she was automatically identified and cleared. She confidently walked through the checkpoint thinking that she had finally shaken her nuisance, but somehow he had gotten through the checkpoint. She really didn't care, though. Even if he turned out to be an officer, which she seriously doubted, she knew that he could do nothing to her.
He finally broke the silence after again seating himself next to her.
'I've decided that you are being extremely unfriendly. You really should try to be more pleasant and smile.' He gave her his most engaging grin as an example.
'And you should try taking a shower,' Charlene said, at her coldest trying to ward him off.
He only grinned, not expecting anything less from her.
'That wasn't very nice. You have no idea of where or what I've been through on my spaceship.'
'I don't know where or when you've been, and neither do I care, but I'm sure that even there, they had soap...and water!'
'You're definitely not seeing me at my best.'
'From the looks of things, you could sink to further depths.'
'Oh, come on. Truce now. I told you my name, and yours?'
'Lene.' she lied, because she didn't want him looking her up. 'That's all you need to know since we won't be seeing each other again.'
'I seriously doubt that, Lene,' he said, cryptically. 'I have a feeling that are lives are intertwined,' he said, saying the last word seductively and grinned even more as he saw Charlene cringe. 'Our meeting was destiny, and I think you know it, too.'
Charlene had been doing some thinking on the shuttle, and she couldn't help but agree with him, (except the intertwined part). A time traveler! She shuttered at the implications. She knew how time worked. Time flowed, and it had rules like anything else. She didn't like it, but she knew that he was telling the truth. His stares were beginning to unnerve her. She could feel his eyes penetrate the side of her face. Somehow, she felt caring and warmth from his gaze. She had to be imagining things. They had just met each other.
'You sound like one of those cheap novels from the past. Is that where you've been, dreaming in the past?' she asked. 'Anyway, I don't share your opinions or feelings on the topic, and I think our meeting was purely coincidental,' Charlene countered, not revealing her true thoughts.
He didn't counter her this time, but pondered on the choice of her word, 'feelings'. With every fiber of his being, he knew that they would meet again. Gazing at her one last time, he regarded her smooth, brown skin, and the light flutter of her dark, long lashes. The fiery personality. The fine mind. She was beautiful. Perhaps it was her obvious innocence, bravery, or single-mindedness. He didn't know why. He finally lay his head back on his seat and closed his eyes.
The shuttle landed, and she disembarked, walked through the Academy gates never looking back, enjoying again the anonymity of being among thousands of Academy personnel. Lazarus smiled at her back as he followed her out. He walked up to the checkpoint, had some words with the security guard, and waited to be cleared. The guard scanned him, looked around discreetly, and let him in. He soon disappeared into a group of buildings.
It didn't take long for Spock Prime to locate Lazarus. He recognized his face immediately as his image showed up on a surveillance device at the transport station. What Spock Prime hadn't reckoned with was his companion. This was a highly unexpected, but not an improbable development. In retrospect, it was more probable than his meeting with Jim Kirk on Delta Vega. So history was not only righting itself in his life, but also in the lives of other. Spock Prime frowned. He sighed at what this pairing could mean, and thought back to the other timeline. The other individual was Charlene Masters, the engineer in charge of dilithium crystals on the Enterprise. As far as he could remember, Lazarus had only rendered Masters unconscious and had stolen the dilithium crystals that he had needed for his spacecraft. They had had no meaningful contact much less a relationship. He looked more closely at the beautiful, young face, which he had now isolated on his screen. He remembered her as having short hair, and not the wind-blown look that she know sported.
He widened the angle and regarded the interaction between the two. She seemed to be ignoring Lazarus, but the look on Lazarus' face indicated a relationship of some kind; he wasn't sure. If he were correct, this would pose a potential difficulty, because Masters could become directly involved. Interacting with humans throughout the years, he had learned to recognize the nuances of human emotions: spitefulness, jealousy, ambition, passion, and love. He had seldom seen this look, but he knew it intimately. It was the look of pure love. Spock ran Lazarus' image in his security program which released all information about him. 'Fascinating', Spock thought. He did a search on Charlene Masters, finding her location with ease. He paused and smiled a bit when he noticed with whom she was staying. So Nyota Uhura was her roommate. He hadn't had the opportunity to meet with her in this timeline yet. He wondered at the feeling of anticipation that crept into him as he rose from his desk. He pressed another button. Yes, she was in her room. His first visit would be with her, and then with Masters when she arrived.
Hopefully, you all liked this chapter. I enjoyed writing it. Please review! Thanks very much in advance!