Part Three

Even though he was convinced that everything in front of him was an illusion, Ezra Standish could not help but feel the reality of it even more potently than usual. He had been in holodeck programs before and he knew that their ability to seem real was unquestionable but even if he could not distinguish this place as being something conjured up by the make-believe abilities of the ship's computer and reality. As a security officer, he knew the extent of holographic programming. He could have focused on that field of expertise as a career choice in Starfleet if he had felt more comfortable specializing in security. Thus, it was not with the eye of a casual observer that he marveled at the superior programming that had fashioned this world around him. Whoever had been responsible for his presence here was no novice but rather someone with an inordinate amount of skill.

The last thing he remembered was preparing to replicate a dozen roses to present them to Julia Pemberton whom he had intended seeing immediately after their manufacture. For the past few weeks since the Accran invasion of the Maverick, his relationship with the Chief Engineer had almost ground to a complete halt. At first, he had endured it, out of guilt and of understanding that what had transpired between them needed time to resolve. However, the more time passed, the more evident it began that nothing was being resolved and if anything, their problem had placed such a sizeable gap between them that if he did not do something soon, he would lose her forever.

Ezra was too much in love with the titian hair beauty to let that happen. He had known from the minute that he had laid eyes on her, Julia was the one for him. Such clarity regarding matters of the heart was rare for him so he recognized the significance when visited by an epiphany as seeing her the first time had been. The Accrans, who were disembodied alien entities, had inhabited the bodies of the female members of the Maverick's crew when the receptacle of their consciousness had been brought on board the ship. To return to their home world, they were forced to take the ship and the creature inhabiting Julia's body was chosen to deal with the security officer. She seduced him into believing that he was making love to the woman who meant everything to him now when in truth, she was an alien entity assigned to keep him busy while the others of her kind invaded his ship.

After she had been freed of her captivity, Julia saw what he did as an act of betrayal even though she did not come out and say it. Although she assured him that she did not blame him for he could not have possibly known, Ezra was certain that she did blame him. After weeks of hoping the time apart would mend the broken bridges between them, Ezra decided enough was enough. He refused to let their relationship end this way and had concluded that decisive action was required. Ezra had planned to confront her because he could not stand being away from Julia any more. The void she left in his existence was more than he could stand, and Ezra was determined to make her understand that he had not betrayed her. However, as luck would have it, the moment he had summed up courage enough to act on that decision, he had been spirited away from his quarters to find himself in this place.

Ezra knew where he was of course.

He had visited the fictional town of Four Corners to recognize its surroundings almost immediately. He had materialized in the middle of a card game, in period costume and facing a group of holodeck opponents that looked at him with impatience as they waited for him to deal the cards in his hands. For a few seconds, the security officer simply sat before the group, trying to come to grips with what had just happened and accustom himself to his present circumstances. A sigh of relief finally escaped his companions at the table when he forced his fingers to work and began handing out the cards.

As a security officer trained in covert operations and tactical response, Ezra's lapse was brief and his ability to settle into character was equally swift. Even though he was taken by surprise, the nature of his work and his role on the Maverick made him recover faster than most. As he dealt the cards wearing an expression on his face that appeared to be perfect calm, no one would have guessed the flurry of thoughts moving through his head as he tried to understand how this had come to pass.

Ezra looked around the room, letting his eyes sweep across the hotel saloon where his character, the gambler who made up one of the Magnificent Seven was presently fleecing tourists to the town with games of chance. Although Ezra enjoyed the simulation as did the captain and all the other members of the senior staff who joined him in these escapes from reality, he was not happy at being placed here with no idea of how it had happened. He continued the charade as he continuing playing the game of poker with his opponents, all the while noticing everything. Those at the felt covered table took no offense at this since in his fancy clothes of fine tailored burgundy coat and crisp white shirt, there was no doubt that he was a professional gambler and noticing everything was a tool of the trade.

It did not take long for Ezra to realize that this program was not the program that he and the senior staff enjoyed themselves in on so many occasions. It was a copy but there were textures and details in this version that claimed it to be the far superior of the two. From the old men across the street, taking shade underneath the awning of Gloria Potter's store to the dog that was following a group of children down the street, the attention to the tiniest aspect of this town had not been ignored. He could see red ribbons in the braided hair of one of the young girls in the party. Even the scents were as realistic as the images before him. The smell of tobacco and whiskey, the dry heat against his cheek and even the way the wind blew outside, all looked so real.

"Computer," Ezra spoke out. "Halt program."

Nothing happened except the fact that his companions were staring at him as if he had said something in Swahili.

"What are you talking about Standish?" A particularly grizzled prospector type demanded in question.

Ezra ignored him and tried again, refusing to give up without another try. "Computer, arch."

"What's a computer?" Another opponent inquired, looking at his companions in bewilderment before facing Ezra again.

Once again, Ezra's expression revealed that he felt nothing odd about his statement even though inwardly, the security officer's worst fears were confirmed. He was trapped in this simulation and could not escape. "I am merely thinking out loud," he responded clearing his throat. He knew that as an excuse, it was rather weak but had no time or explanation for something more elaborate or plausible. "I apologize for the distraction."

"Well," the prospector rumbled, stroking his graying beard as he answered. "You gotta try better than that to distract us into losing."

"I assure you," Ezra offered him a little smile. "Should I resort to those kinds of tactics to secure my victory, you would not be able to resist."

A small ripple of laughter swept through the table and Ezra maintained the persona that was required for the program even though silently, he was thinking fast and hard about the rising urgency of this situation. If the exit protocols were down, did that also mean the safety protocols were disabled? As entertaining as the Magnificent Seven program was, it was also extremely dangerous and not something that ought to be visited without safety protocols in place. Ezra knew the story of the seven men who defended a small town in the West during the 1800's as well as the rest of his comrades who indulged in this program. The seven faced dangerous enemies and if the safety protocols were disengaged then Ezra would be facing those villains on equal footing. Simulation or not, they could die in here.

That was not a prospect he was looking forward to.

Fortunately, he did not have to face that uncomfortable possibility alone for no sooner than the realisation had crossed his mind, he saw the captain and Vin Tanner making their appearance in the establishment. At least, he hoped it was them. In this make-believe world, it was not beyond the realm of possibility that they could be holographic projections like everyone else in this place. Upon seeing Chris and Vin appear, Ezra found the perfect excuse to deal himself out of the game. Making a polite apology that was met with indifference because his opponents could not care less what he did, as long as it had nothing to do with their money, Ezra left the table to join the captain and Vin who had taken up position next to the bar.

"What is going on?" Ezra asked gingerly as he took his place at their side. He was still uncertain whom he was dealing with an allowed Chris to speak first about their situation.

"I don't know," Chris shook his head and answered. "But its not just you. Mary's here and so is Buck. Vin and I were on the bridge when we got taken."

"I see." Ezra let out a sigh of relief, not simply because he was not alone in his captivity but because Chris' mention of the bridge indicated that he was talking to the captain of the Maverick and not the gunslinger that was native to this program. "Do we have any idea how?"

"If it's a transporter beam, it's the fastest one I've ever seen." Vin remarked. "There was nothing to let us know it was coming, not even a hum or any shimmer. We blinked, and we were here."

"That's extremely disconcerting," Ezra remarked. "I had hoped it was one of our crewmen with a strange sense of humor and a monumental desire to spend some time in the brig."

"No, it wasn't Buck." Chris deadpanned. "We're operating under the assumption that the primary cast of characters have been brought to the holodeck to take part in the program."

"That means, the entire cast of the seven." Ezra nodded in understanding. "I believe the newspaper editor was also a part of the original literature, which may explain why Lieutenant Travis is here as well."

"We're not sure whether or not Julia and Alex are here," Vin volunteered. "Buck and Mary's has gone to look for them."

At the mention of Julia's name, Ezra stiffened a little even though his professionalism forced him to maintain his neutral expression. Ezra and Julia had not been in the same room for longer than a few minutes since things had gone wrong between them. Ezra found himself praying that she was not here as well because this was not the setting he wanted to make things right between them again. If Chris and Vin noticed Ezra's discomfiture, neither said anything about it, perfectly aware of the situation between the security chief and the chief engineer as well.

"We should get to the rest of our number and assume that whatever brought us here chooses not to make its move until then."

"Whatever brought us here?" Chris raised a brow at that idea. He had assumed that it was someone who had transported them to the holodeck not a something and, yet he had come across species with extraordinary powers of teleportation before to know that what Ezra's suggestion was not implausible. In fact, the truth was, Ezra was quite astute in assuming that this entire situation could have been precipitated by something entirely unknown.

"I have a bad feeling gentleman," Ezra swept his gaze across the room and before turning back to the captain. "I do not believe that this is our program."

"If not ours, whose?" Vin inquired quizzically, feeling a knot in his stomach when he thought that they might be in deeper trouble rather than simply being trapped in a holodeck program with no visible means of escape.

"I do not know," Ezra shook his head. "However, since the exit commands do not work, I fear the same may apply for the safety protocols as well."

"Aw hell…." Chris started to groan. He had forgotten all about that.

As the possibility of what all that might entail quickly sinking in, a new voice suddenly entered the mix of his thoughts and was immediately identified as some one he did not know.

"It's been a long time Larabee." The man's voice was a growl and Chris turned around to find himself facing a rather rotund behemoth with an eye patch and beaten and worn top hat, like the kind favored with formal fashions of four hundred years ago. He approached with a cadre of similarly disgruntled companions who took flanking position next to him as they filed into the room. As they did, the patrons of the saloon chose to so the exact opposite and following the stampede, the Maverick officers found themselves facing the new arrivals in what was almost classic stand off pose.

"Who is this guy?" Vin whispered in Chris' ear as the three stared at the group. There was no doubt in this mind that the situation was about to go from worrying to downright ugly in a matter of seconds.

"Beats me." Chris responded with a slight shrug.

"Well he certainly remembers you," Ezra retorted, wishing he had a phaser but had to be content with the weapon of his choice for his character, the six-shooter resting comfortably in its holster and the small derringer beneath his sleeve.

"Can I do something for you?" Chris asked coolly, even though the man's glare left no mistaking what he wanted.

"You can die Larabee." The man answered, almost spitting out the words when they left his lips. "I've waited for this day for a long time and now I aim to have my revenge."

"Mister, I don't even have a clue." Chris returned, not really in the mood for this. He was more interested in getting his people out of this holodeck simulation, not become actively involved in it programming.

"You say you don't even remember Top Hat Bob?" He hissed, almost outraged by the notion that the object of his hatred and vengeance did not even have the courtesy to remember who he was or how he had been wronged.

"Top Hat," Ezra nodded in understanding. "I see that is why you wear that…." He gestured to the man's hat. "Very clever."

His sarcasm was obvious.

"Top Hat, is it?" Chris looked at the man with clear disinterest. "I don't know who you and if I did anything to you, I'm sorry but I don't want to fight you."

"That ain't what I heard," Top Hat seemed to smile, his lips pulled back to show rotten teeth beneath his moustache. "I heard you're a killer and after all these years, I ain't about to fade away now that I got you in my sights. So, whether you remember me or not is really your problem cause I'm aiming to get my pound of flesh one way or another."

"I am quite amazed," Ezra spoke up and everyone turned to him for a moment. The tension, following those sharp and intense words dwindled somewhat as Top Hat regarded the southerner in his fancy clothes. "That you would even be able to quote Shylock."

Vin rolled his eyes and gave Ezra a look, which was about the only thing he could do because no more than a second later, Top Hat Bob went for his gun. All three men dove for cover behind the bar as a hail of bullets exploded from the discharge of several weapons at once. The projectiles lodged themselves into the wood of the counter and shattered the glasses stack neatly on the shelves behind it. Bottles shattered under the onslaught, sending glass shards in all directions and rain liquor around their ears.

"Smooth Ezra!" Vin shouted as he reached for his Winchester to fire back. The helm officer rolled onto his knees and poked his head over the edge of the counter to see Top Hat Bob and his men spreading out to varying points in the room. He used the edge to brace the rifle and pulled the trigger. An audible click followed but nothing else.

"What the hell!" He swore.

"You have to prime that thing first!" The security chief shouted with exasperation. "It's a lever action Winchester rifle!"

"But it always worked before!" Vin returned just as vehemently and hat to drop back under the cover of the bar when another bullet whizzed past his ear with such proximity, he was certain he felt its heat singe his hair.

"Just get down!" Chris barked and unsheathed his own weapon, glad that he was not using anything as complicated as a rifle and prepared to return fire. The peacemaker felt good in his hand and fitted easily into his palm as if he had used it all his life. Bullets were exploding in all directions; the lamps overhead had been obliterated by stray fire and Chris wondered momentarily which idiot was trying to shoot them by aiming at the ceiling. The floor was covered with fragments of glass, some having been shot at while others broken when Top Hat Bob's gang had upended tables to use them for cover.

He pulled the trigger of his gun, spinning the chamber around to achieve some sort of rapid firing action when suddenly, instead of discharging, the entire mechanism dropped onto the bar counter and rolled across its length before falling on the floor and disappearing amongst the debris. From behind the bar where Ezra was presently showing Vin how to prime his weapon, Chris heard a litany of words from the chief of security that was enough to make him blush.

He did not think that Ezra knew how to swear like that.

"Get your rear end back down here, Sir." Ezra grumbled and yanked Chris back to safety behind their hiding place.

"What just happened?" Chris said mystified, staring at the gun in a mixture of embarrassment and disbelief.

"Give me that!" Ezra snatched the gun away from his captain and pushed his own weapon into the man's hand. "You do not spin the chamber of these weapons like a spinning wheel captain, they tended to fall out!"

"It always worked in the program!" Chris returned, feeling even more foolish because he felt like a grandstanding teenager. This was the kind of thing that JD was caught doing not him!

"This isn't the program!" Ezra returned. "This is real…."

Even as he said those words, the anger in his voice disconnected and it drifted into revelation. Inadvertently in his anger, the security chief had stumbled upon the unbelievable truth. For a moment, all three men stared at each other because they knew he was right. They knew the reason they were unable to call up the exit to escape the program, or why the computer did not respond to anything, not even an authorization code from the commander of the ship, the one person whose voice it could deny nothing. It explained quite clearly why their weapons were behaving as they were and why the safety protocols had been disengaged.

Knowing what they faced made things simpler to deal with as far Chris was concerned. They had to get out of here and regroup. Somehow, they needed to understand how this could have happened. Chris stopped thinking of this situation as annoying because it was not that at all, anyone of them could die in this place if he did not start remembering that he was a starship captain. Chris looked around and decided that he was not going to waste their time shooting this out with Top Hat Bob, not at least until he understood why they had been brought here.

"Vin get me that bottle!" He ordered the helmsman.

The bottle in question was one of the few that had not been damaged during the shooting. The Vulcan scrambled across the floor, trying to avoid cutting his hands to ribbons over the spray of glass from the resulting damage to the shelves and the liquor bottles housed on them. Vin grabbed the bottle, removing his hand just as a bullet slammed into the place where his arm would have been. Wishing he could go over there and tear Top Hat Bob a new one, Vin reminded himself that he had been given an order by the Captain.

Handing the bottle to Chris, the captain reached into his pocket and found a handkerchief, wondering momentarily what a gunslinger was doing with such a piece of linen but shook the thought out of his head because he was grateful for it presence. Stuffing the length of material through the mouth of the long-necked bottle, Chris then retrieved the matches he knew was inside his coat because in his holodeck guise he always carried a cheroot with him.

"Captain," Ezra said with a smile. "I had no idea that you were so well versed with ancient weaponry, except for six shooters."

If looks could kill, the glare Chris gave the security officer would have turned the man to dust.

Once the Molotov Cocktail that Chris had concocted was well and truly on its way to becoming their only means of escaping this place without killing anyone, Chris flung it over the counter and heard it crash with a piercing explosion of sound.

"Now!" Chris ordered as they emerged from their hiding place and saw that the cocktail had done its word, spreading fire across the floor, finding fuel in the debris and giving Top Hat and his cohorts something else to occupy their time as the three men made for the display window. They did not stop for one moment, barely ahead of the bullets that Top Hat and his comrades managed to be sent at them despite the fire that was keeping them from doing more. Ezra allowed the derringer escape from his sleeve and using it as if he had been born to it, fired one bullet into the centre of the glass pane. It shattered spectacularly and immediately came down with a deafening roar as Chris, Vin and Ezra smashed through whatever minor fragments that remained after the small bullet from the derringer was done with it.

Their sudden appearance caused a cry of surprise and shock from those outside and deciding that he was in no mood for facing Top Hat Bob again, at least for the moment, Chris thought that it was probably best if they made themselves scarce for the moment. The villain was probably right behind them and that did not leave much time for decision making.

"Get to the jailhouse!" He ordered.

No one argued and immediately made strides towards the centre of local constabulary for the town of Four Corners.

Ezra glanced back long enough to see what effect their gunfight with Top Hat Bob and his gang had upon the saloon. The place was ablaze and almost every piece of furniture was destroyed. Everything glass was broken and what liquor bottles had remained intact would not do so when the fire reached them. Ezra let out a sigh as they made their way to the jailhouse, praying that they could escape this place.

Or else they were never letting him back in there again.