Unscrupulous

Chapter Four

The Enterprise was on yellow alert because of the sudden appearance of the mysterious alien craft. Kirk, still in sickbay and mystified by the appearance of a much older version of John Christopher, strode to the nearest wall intercom as the klaxon sounded. Spock had left Lt. DeSalle in charge of the bridge. He considered him a logical choice, for he was a natural leader and a capable helmsman, who seemed used to dealing with the unknown.

"Bridge, this is the captain. What's with the yellow alert?"

"DeSalle here, sir. We have encountered some kind of alien ship. It's not answering to Uhura's hails."

"I will be right there. Take no provocative actions and have Uhura keep trying to hail them in all known languages and frequencies."

"Aye, sir." DeSalle tried to keep from sounding nervous. He was not as confident as the first officer thought he was, but knew how to keep a calm exterior in tense situations. This sudden appearance rattled him, but he did not let it show. Also, considering that whoever or whatever was aboard that alien ship could he hostile, he wasn't the only person on the bridge who was nervous. Bailey at navigation was trying valiantly to not show that he was scared. He was still a little embarrassed by the way he had acted the last time they encountered an unknown alien craft, the lone occupant using a gruesome- looking puppet and empty threats to find out more about them.*

Kirk switched the com channel to security.

"Security, this is the captain. I want a guard posted in sickbay immediately to protect Mr. Christopher from a possible alien threat. Also, post a couple of guards to the bridge."

"Security chief Humbolt, here, sir. Johnson and Garrovick are on their way to the bridge. I will post Lt. Joseph to sickbay."

"Very good. Kirk out."

DeSalle was inwardly glad that Captain Kirk would soon be on the bridge. First contact situations always made him anxious. He glanced at Bailey.

"Bailey, have you tried to scan the interior of that craft?"

"Yes, sir. Sensors won't penetrate the hull. The ship is made of something that deflects communication signals."

"Sir!" Uhura interrupted excitedly. "They are finally answering our hails! In English!"

"Put them on screen." DeSalle ordered as Kirk entered the bridge. Garrovick and Johnson trailed behind him. They took a stance of readiness at the bridge doors. They all watched in astonishment as the face of a human being appeared on the main viewing screen. DeSalle kept his eyes on the image as he relinquished the captain's chair to Kirk. Bailey breathed a little sigh of relief as Sulu looked at him with amusement. The image of a middle-aged balding man appeared on the main viewing screen.

"Hello, Captain Kirk." The occupant of the alien craft greeted with a smile. "I didn't mean to startle all of you, but I am with Starfleet Temporal. They are testing this new ship technology, which was given to us by an advanced culture from the twenty-ninth century. Is Mr. Christopher all right? We have been quite concerned about him."

Kirk sighed. He had dealt with Starfleet Temporal before. He didn't like the way they made such a big deal out of all his time travel excursions.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Burlingoff Rasmusson, sir." The occupant of the time ship answered smoothly. "Mr. Christopher was about to be abducted from his bed in the twenty-first century by a bunch of Greys. They were about to dissect him, but we caught them and transported him to your ship before they could harm him. We figured he would be transported to one of our secret bases on twentieth century Earth, but something went awry with our time transporter. I am here to take him back home. May I come aboard?" Rasmussen was inwardly quite proud of his made-up story and he could see the people on the Enterprise bought it.

"Yes, of course. Stand by." Kirk flipped the switch to the transporter room. "Transporter room, lock onto the alien ship's occupant and beam him aboard."

"Sir, this is Kyle. We are unable to lock onto his coordinates. Something is interfering with the signal."

"I heard that." Rasmussen interrupted softly. "I have a transporter device of my own. I will beam directly to your bridge."

"Never mind, Kyle." Kirk said, watching with astonishment as the man who called himself Rasmussen materialized right in front of him. The two security guards at the bridge entrance tensed up and took their phasers out of their holsters and set them on stun.

Rasmussen smiled, noticing them. "I am unarmed and not here to hurt anybody, sir. I am just here to rescue Mr. Christopher. As you know, he doesn't belong here. Where is he?"

"He's in sickbay, recovering from a suicide attempt, Mr. Rasmussen."

"Oh, yes, of course. It is a pity that he would try to take his own life. We at Starfleet Temporal have been trying to figure out why he did that for years. I am an historian, sir. I am one of many who are employed by Starfleet Temporal. My specialty is the late twentieth century and early twenty-first."

Spock had just stepped onto the bridge and he raised an eyebrow.

"Indeed. That is interesting, considering that the reason was obvious. Whoever was in charge of Earth's men in black had him fired from his job after he exercised his right of free speech by telling the media about his supposed encounter with a UFO."

Rasmussen thought quickly.

"We at Starfleet Temporal believe there was another reason why Christopher tried to off himself. May I see him?"

"After he recovers, sir. Sir..." Kirk added, becoming a little concerned that the man who called himself Rasmussen had been the lone occupant of the time ship, if that is what it was. "I'm curious. How are you going to get back to your ship once you have completed your rescue mission here?"

"My ship's computer has a fail-safe device built into it which will beam me and Christopher back with my orders."

"I wish we had something like that on this ship. It would have come in handy on Omicron Ceti Three.** Spock, bring Nurse Chapel up here with a medical tricorder. I want to see if this gentleman is human." Kirk paused, looking at the new arrival curiously. "I hope you don't mind., sir, but it's not every day that a stranger just beams onto our bridge."

"Oh, no, not at all, Captain. However, I can assure you that I am quite human."

"I'm glad you don't mind if we verify that." Kirk responded, watching as McCoy's head nurse entered the bridge. As she did, Rasmussen smiled again. To him, she was very beautiful. He watched her as she scanned him.

"He's human, sir."

"Thank you, Miss Chapel. Will you do the honors and escort our new arrival to guest quarters? Garrovick, accompany them. Make sure that our new arrival behaves himself."

*"The Corbomite Maneuver"

** "This Side of Paradise"