Part Four

It did not take Mary or Buck very long to find Alexandra Styles.

The simulation had provided Alex's character with a clinic on the far side of town on the rare instances she chose to take part in the program. Alex had made it abundantly clear on numerous occasions that she was an unwilling participant and mostly found herself here because Vin Tanner was the one person she did not have the ability to say no to. Mary smiled inwardly as she thought about the abrasive science officer attempting to blend in this environment. Even though Alex was more than capable of surviving in the rough and tumble existence of the Old West, she was incapable of doing so while constrained in the protocols of behavior expected of women during the period.

Corsets and women with Klingon upbringings did not mix well, Mary thought with another little smile.

They continued across town, marveling at the amount of detail in the program, so absent from the one they visited in the holodeck during their recreation hours. At first, they had assumed they were in the same program that Chris loved so much but as they moved through the town, it became increasingly clear that this was not the same. There was definition in what they were seeing that seemed far superior to anything that was capable of being produced in their holodeck and, yet it was impossible that it could not be anything but a product of a simulation. Mary found her senses being bombarded with smells and textures, of dry wind against her skin and the unmistakable feel of hot air that came with summer heat.

As she and Buck walked down the boardwalk, it felt odd to have so many different characters waving and saying hello to them as if they were truly apart of the town. Although Mary had seen some of the faces before, there was more to it now. Holodeck simulations were enhanced to such a point that its characters were amazingly real, but Mary was getting a sense of them that was absent before and though she knew it was impossible, it was disconcerting. The possibility that she could be wrong lingered in her mind because her psychic ability was weak at best. While she had impressions, there was nothing decisive she could place her finger on to allege that there was some mischief at foot, other than the obvious of course. Mary resolved herself to ask Vin if he could confirm what she suspected when they met at the rendezvous pint. As a full Vulcan, Vin's telepathic abilities would be able to detect abnormalities if he were to attempt a meld with any one of the characters in the simulation.

"Is it me or is this program a lot bigger than we remember?" Buck asked as they neared the outskirts of town. The collection of dusty buildings had thinned out the further out they went and in the near horizon, they could see the onset of the dry New Mexican terrain of which Four Corners was a part.

"Its a lot bigger." Mary confirmed. "I don't remember seeing a blacksmith or a school house and the Emporium looks way bigger than what was in our program."

"Yeah," Buck nodded in agreement as he looked at the building in question. Their Emporium was no larger than Gloria Potter's store, but the structure that was erected in its place was two to three stories high with bright red awnings and looked like something one would find in the big city not in a small town. " I noticed." He frowned deeply because Buck was getting one of those feelings that made him suspected that they had grossly underestimated the urgency of their situation.

"Maybe we can figure this out when we put all our heads together." Mary remarked. After all, did not the adage say that there was strength in numbers? Mary could not remember for certain, but she hated the fact that they were at the mercy of this program with no discernible way to escape it. What was happening to the world outside while they were languishing here?

"Maybe," Buck sighed as the clinic came into sight. He was not so certain that their combined efforts would yield an answer to the situation they now found themselves embroiled. Like the one in the original Magnificent Seven program, Alexandra Style's clinic was a dual storied building with the practice of the new doctor located on the lower floor and her residence above.

They were about to approach the clinic when suddenly; the front door swung open and Alexandra Styles strode through the passage before stopping short at the sight of them. Mary and Buck had to pause and look too because Alex did not at all look like her medical counterpart on this program was meant to. Unlike Mary who was dressed in more clothes than she could tolerate in this hot, stifling environment, Alex was clad in a blouse that could have been of the period and a pair of figure hugging dark pants. Judging by the cut of them, it appeared to be a garment that had been made for a man, but it fitted Alex anyway and the boots she wore were the kind of work worn by farmers, male and female alike.

"Just couldn't stand looking so pretty huh?" Buck said with a smirk as she reached them.

"Very funny," she retorted. "What the hell is going on here? Is this some kind of a joke! I'm in the middle of cataloging a month's work in stellar cartography and the next thing I know, I'm beamed into this holodeck and trapped in this program of all things, unable to get out!"

Mary and Buck exchanged a look before Mary remarked. "Didn't we do this already?" She asked with a little smile.

Buck grinned and turned back to Alex, "Alex, we're struck too, and we don't know what's going on any more than you do. The captain is here and so is Vin. We're operating under the assumption that every one of the senior bridge staff in on the holodeck at the moment. The computer won't even acknowledge the captain's authorization code."

"That's impossible," Alex said calming down immediately once she realized that this was not just someone's twisted idea of a joke but a rather serious problem. "Do you know the kind of programming expertise that is required to lock out the Captain's codes?"

"Yeah," Buck nodded. "We're talking about a Class 1- Advance here."

"You have a Class 1 don't you?" Mary said staring at Alex.

"Ezra and I are the only ones on board who do." The science officer nodded. "However, to reprogram the computer to let us out of here, we'd have to reach it and we can't while the program is still running."

"Alright," Buck spoke up deciding nothing could be done for the moment and the most prudent course of action was to find the others and meet at the rendezvous point. Whoever had brought them here must have a reason and Buck would prefer everyone in their line of sight when their abductors chose to escalate the parameters of their captivity. "Let's go find the others and get back to the Captain. I don't like the idea of us being separated like this."

"I don't blame you," Alex agreed as they started moving towards the Emporium which would be their next port of call. Undoubtedly, they were placed in the natural settings of the characters they were playing and thus they would find Julia Pemberton, the owner of only Emporium in Four Corners at her premises. "It the exits are disabled, it might mean the same for the safety protocols."

Mary looked at the duo sharply. "You mean we could die in here?"

"Yes," Buck said grimly. "If the safety protocols have been disabled and there is no reason to assume that they haven't been, if we get hurt, we're going to feel it."

"Oh wonderful," the protocol officer grumbled, becoming less impressed by this whole situation by the minute. "In that case when we get to the Emporium, I'm getting out of these stupid clothes. This dress is to restricting. If trouble comes I'm going to have to move quickly without being hindered by what I'm wearing. Honestly, I have no idea how women in this time survive under all these layers, in this heat."

"Tell me about it," Alex agreed, glancing instinctively at the pants she was wearing. "I can't even imagine how they moved."

"Oh come now," Buck found himself unable to keep from teasing just a little. "I think you ladies look mighty lovely in dresses." He gave Mary a long appreciating look before turning to Alex and offering the same innuendo filled gesture.

"Spoken like a man," Mary rolled her eyes while Alex smirked in his direction.

"Spoken like a chauvinist pig, more like it." Alex added after a second.

Buck started to chuckle, enjoying their annoyance and feeling a little bit of the devil surfacing inside of him. Slipping his arms around both their waists and pulling them close for a moment, he gave them both a satisfied smile and remarked, "you girls know that you're just loving this!"

"Oh give me a break!"

"Drop dead!"

Came two simultaneous replies as they broke free and swatted him across the head and jabbed him in the ribs in the same spirit of mischief he was having at their expense. Buck could not help himself and started to guffaw as they shook their heads, descending into the same mire of laughter after a few seconds because sometimes the only way to look at a bad situation was with a good dose of humor. The momentary bout of playfulness passed with the trio feeling a little more at ease with things as they stood.

However, it was not a moment to last.

The man was big and he was rotund but the cruelty in his eyes and the leer he gave Alex and Mary when he and his cronies appeared out of nowhere (literally) in front of them and blocking their forward was unmistakable. He had a beard and moustache and had a stink about him that could have been whiskey and tobacco. There were rings on his fingers, the kind that left marks against the skin when employed in the action of battery and as he and his men stood before them, Buck knew instinctively that they were in trouble.

"Hello Wilmington." He announced himself as his men spread out around the three Starfleet officers.

"Do I know you?" Buck asked, even though he was certain that this creature before him believed so because of his programming.

"You trying to be funny boy?" The man took a step forward in his long tuxedo coat, dust covering the dark fabric, even the tails that hung behind him. His eyes widened, and he stared at Buck with something that could only be described as half crazed mania.

"Listen pard..." Buck felt himself starting to lose patience with all this posturing. They had more important things to do than to attempt to play along with the fantasies of this world and this odious man that he was quickly losing patience with.

"That's Mister Wickes to you!" He roared and lashed out, his hand flying towards Buck who stopped it easily by catching the approaching fist in his own and halting its progress any further, not even allowing to connect with skin.

"I don't have time for this." Buck warned in a low voice. "Go away."

Wickes started to laugh and pull back his fist. "I didn't think you had that much balls Wilmington." He retreated a step back and cast his gaze at Alex and Mary consecutively. "Maybe you better start considering that you ain't the one whose liable to know what it is to make an enemy of me as much as these whores you have here." Wickes turned his gaze at Mary. "What do you think darling?" He asked derisively. "Think you might like to work off Wilmington's debt to me?'

"What debt?" Alex found her impatience escalating as much as Buck's, despite the man standing behind her with a gun.

"He took some whores from me, made 'em think they were real women who had a right to go where they pleased. Don't worry," he looked at Buck once again. "I found where you sent them and had my men take care of it. Don't look like anyone will be getting two bits worth from them again."

Buck's jaw clenched, reminding himself that this was a holodeck program. No matter how repulsive this creature might be, none of the words he spoke had any true weight because the characters of the Magnificent Seven program were fictional. Even if it were not, the events he was describing were four hundred years in the past and beyond Buck's ability to change no matter how loathsome Mr. Wickes might be and how provocative his words were to the first office of the Maverick.

"Well in that case," Buck retorted preparing to walk past. "I guess we're even."

"You cost me four whores," Wickes returned sharply, taking another step towards Mary. The protocol officer held her ground not prepared to be frightened by this repulsive specimen and prayed that he was merely a caricature of villains in the Old West. She hated to think that this animal had human shape in the past.

"I'm taking this one here," he gave Mary a menacing smile. "And your nigger." He said glancing at Alex. "With both on their backs, I might get my money back."

"Go to hell." Mary hissed in response before Buck could.

Wickes reacted swiftly with more speed than either Mary or Buck gave him credit and his ring-laden fist connected with her cheek with hard impact. Mary tumbled to the dirt, feeling her face flare in pain she tasted blood in her mouth where she had involuntarily bitten the inside of her cheek. The side of her face stung and she was half-aware of Buck moving forward before someone jammed a gun in his back and kept him from moving any further.

"You bastard!" Buck swore angrily, finding nothing that affronted him more than seeing a woman hit.

"Buck!" Mary managed to say before he did something they would all regret. "I'm okay!" She said quickly, aware that he would act and in doing so would get himself killed. Wickes was waiting for an excuse to kill him but at this moment, seemed content with posturing and toying with his victims first. She had seen men who craved power with such bloodthirsty delight during her years as a protocol officer in the diplomatic corps to know that Wickes was a sadistic brute. He wanted to torture Buck, not just physically but emotionally and hurting her and Alex was the way to do it.

"Listen to the gal," Wickes chuckled, exultant in his power at the subjugation of the enemy. "You're a smart one ain't ya honey?" He took another step towards Mary, who pulled back this time. "I'm looking forward to getting to know you a whole lot better." The glint in his eyes left no mistaking what were his intentions towards Mary if he could work his twisted will upon her.

Alex who had been quietly watching everything that was transpiring in the last few minutes felt herself revisited with images from her own past that were simply too close to home. Like Buck, Alex kept telling herself that this was simply an illusion of light and magnetic containment, that as repulsive as Mr. Wickes might appear, he was not real. He was a figment of their imaginations given life by the holodeck and thus hating him would be an expenditure of emotion that was pointless for he was not alive to appreciate it.

However, as she stood there watching Mary's face cut and bleeding from where he had struck her, watched his eyes take on that sinister expression Alex recognized all too well, she knew that none of what was logical mattered now. The blood that Mary had on her face was real. The memory of what this animal intended to do to her would be real and the agony she would endure for the rest of her life even though Mr. Wickes was a hologram would also be real and that was all that truly mattered to Alex. She knew personally what it was like to go through that kind of hell and now that the effects upon her psyche were starting to dissipate, she would spare herself reliving that nightmare by seeing Mary endure it.

"Okay," Alex let out a deep sigh. "I've just about had as much of this shit as I'm going to take."

Wickes started to turn towards her when Alex spun around so quickly that the cohort holding a gun to her did not pull the trigger, stunned that a woman could move that fast. He raised his hand to fire and when he did, Alex caught his arm and aimed it in the direction of the man closest to them. Without missing a beat, she forced him to pull the trigger and a single bullet escaped the barrel to slam hard into his companion's sternum. The man let out a short scream as he went down but Alex was far from done. Without pausing to catch a breath, she repeated the maneuver twice in a flurry of movement no one had expected.

Realizing his comrades were in danger, the man holding a gun on Buck became momentarily distracted and gave Buck the opening he needed. The first officer turned around and threw his fist into the man's face, while his other hand snatched the gun away. His would be killer staggered to the ground and Buck dropped onto his knee to shove the weapon into the man's throat as he struggled to shake off the disorientation of Buck's punch. The feel of cold metal against his skin did that more effectively than any disjointed effort on his part.

Meanwhile Alex had downed two of Wickes' men and was contending with the one she had been using as a shield and her shooter. He was struggling to break out of her grip when she slammed an elbow into the crook of his arm. A loud sickening crack ripped through the air as the sound of breaking bone sent shudders through those who heard it. The gun in his hand fell to the ground and the breakage was followed by a high piercing scream, cut short when Alex sent her palm into his throat and brought him down like a sack of potatoes.

Realizing that he would soon be in a position of weakness, Wickes immediately went for Mary but while he had caught the protocol officer unawares earlier, this time he had no such advantage. Although Mary was not a combat specialist like Alex, Vulcan tenets required all members of their race even by marriage, to learn how to protect themselves. Her husband, a former starship captain, absolutely insisted on it. She had more than enough skill to stop his advance.

Kicking out her leg, she connected first with his knee and took pleasure in the howl of pain he emitted when he was brought down. Mary got to her feet quickly enough and threw a high kick that connected with his chin and sent him sprawling. She could see a trail of blood in mid air as he fell backwards and was certain that some teeth had been loosened. Mary did not intend to let him recover and let him remain in the dirt long enough for her to press the heel of her boot in the hard rise of his Adam's apple. Wickes started to choke as Mary glared down at him and the man's eyes widened as he stared back at the protocol officer, trying to swallow when he realized he had seen killers with kinder eyes.

"Nothing to say Mr. Wickes?" Mary wiped the blood from her lips and her cheek, pushing her heel down harder against the man's throat and elicited a raspy cough when she asked her question. "I guess its not so easy when we can fight back is it?"

"Fuck you!" He gasped hoarsely. "I'll...kill...you!"

Mary pushed down her heel even further until his ability to speak dwindled to more bouts of gasping and choking.

"Mary..." Buck wondered whether she would kill him. It was not after all inconceivable, because Wickes was not alive to begin with but her committing the act was another thing entirely.

"For the duration of our stay in this place," Mary ignored the first officer and let the pressure of her heel so Mr. Wickes would be in the mind to pay attention to her words. "Stay away from us Mr. Wickes. Do not assume that we are as helpless as we look because I assure you we are not. Come after us again and you'll wish you had died at birth." She punctuated the seriousness of that threat by pushing down sharply, making him scream before pulling her foot away as he was reduced to a violent fit of coughing. He was too engaged in trying to regain his breath that he did not notice Buck motioning to the two women under his command that it was time they vacated the area.

Behind them, two of Wickes' men lay dead in the dirt. Their blood oozing into the streets and creating saturated puddles in the ground as they lay there motionlessly. The forth was clutching his injured arm and scrambling towards his employers, having no wish to face the three on his own and unprepared to leave his master who was in a state himself. Wickes was trying to sit up, his round face red from the lack of air, had tears rolling down his cheeks as he gasped loudly. For the moment at least, he was neither in the position or the health to be of inconvenience to them.

"That looks bad." Buck winced as he looked at Mary's bruised face. Chris was going to have a fit when he saw this, the first officer thought to himself.

"Its okay," she grumbled, flinching a little when she attempted to examine the injury herself. The side of her face where she had been hit was still tender and instinctively, she looked over her shoulder and saw Wickes still where he was and felt a certain amount of satisfaction knowing that she was responsible for his present state. "I'll live."

"I guess that answers our question about the holodeck's safety protocols." Buck said unhappily, knowing that Wickes would be back. The hatred that Buck had seen in his eyes, even though was programmed by a computer, was real and no less dangerous. Buck had no doubt that Wickes would have killed them all if Alex had not acted when she had. He supposed he was not surprised that she would, considering her past dealt with men like Wickes and his treatment of Mary would have undoubtedly opened a number of old wounds.

"Yes," Alex replied. "Mary, take this." She handed the protocol officer one of the guns she had retrieved from Wickes' man in the aftermath of their confrontation.

Mary took the weapon without question as Alex tucked hers into her pants since she did not possess a holster as Buck did. "Thanks." She studied the weapon closely. "I have a feeling that son of a bitch isn't done with us yet." She replied as they neared the steps of the Emporium.

She had seen enough men like Wickes in her time to know that he would not let the matter rest and injury to his pride was a crime he would not forgive unless those responsible were dead. "He'll be back, one way or another."

Unfortunately, neither Alex nor Buck could disagree with her on that point.