Unscrupulous

Chapter Six

Rasmussen was a bit frustrated that he wasn't granted immediate access to Christopher, even after his repeated assurances that he meant him no harm. He was still at a loss as to how to proceed in his secret desire to steal some objects to take home with him, once Christopher had recovered. It wasn't going to be as easy as he was led to believe. After several minutes of pacing like a caged tiger in his guest quarters, he decided to use the Enterprise computer to find out more about Kirk and his crew. Two security guards had been posted outside his door, the captain still uneasy about his arrival. Rasmussen could hardly blame him, after Kirk explained that they all had a recent bad experience when a seemingly harmless man, frozen and revived from the twentieth century, turned out to be exactly the opposite.* Even though Rasmussen didn't appear to be very muscular, or mentally unbalanced, Kirk wasn't taking any chances. He told him to wait here in his guest quarters until Christopher was recovered and then he would be escorted to sickbay by the security men outside. As he approached the computer terminal tri-screen, the Q suddenly appeared directly in his path.

"Oh, hi Q. What are you doing here?"

"I came to help you in your quest to pilfer some items from Kirk's ship. Your ticket off this tub is Mr. Christopher. You two should get your heads together and steal the items together and share the profits of your ill-gotten gains once you return home. He is at this very moment plotting revenge against the leader of the so-called Men in Black, coming up with the same idea that has been in your little warped mind all this time."

"How do you know what has been on my mind?" Rasmussen asked, startled.

"You are easy to figure out, Rasmussen. You think like a Ferengi. Besides, we Qs can see right through people like you. Oh, don't worry. I don't hold grudges. I like you, Rasmussen, even though you tried to kill me and took the time ship on a joy ride to Picard's era. The truth is, I wanted you to do it. The problem with immortality is that it's boring. I rather enjoyed watching you trying to trick the crew of the Enterprise-D. I brought you to this era because stealing from Kirk will be a little bit easier."

"Spock is suspicious of me."

"As well he should be. However, you have a way of making people feel at ease. Turn on the charm. It will work with him. He's half human, you know."

"Are there Betazoids on this ship?"

"No, the rest of this motley little crew are human. You won't have any problems, as long as you try and avoid Spock. He's the most observant of the crew."

Suddenly, there was the sound of a transporter and a young man appeared behind Rasmussen in a cloud of blue smoke. The Q sighed in obvious exasperation as Rasmussen turned to see who it was who had just transported into his guest quarters. It was a good looking young man dressed in a twenty-third century yellow and black Starfleet uniform, and the Q noticed he had a servo in his hand. He had dark hair and spoke with a thick Russian accent.

"Hello, Q. I was told you were here and were up to no good."

"Speaking of problems! Chekov, you know very well that your captain isn't due to know about your secret assignment on twentieth century Earth for at least a year." The Q greeted contemptuously.

"You know this man, Q?" Rasmussen asked in astonishment.

"I think that's fairly obvious, Burl. Why have you beamed here, Chekov?"

"I have come to make sure you aren't up to your usual mischief, Q. Also, Supervisor 194 has asked me to come and bring Christopher back to his own time."

"No need, Mr...uh...Chekov. I have a time ship." Rasmussen said, staring at the young man in astonishment.

"It does not belong to either of you. It is my invention. Mr. Seven and I built it just in case his apartment transporter ever malfunctioned. The Q made off with it before we added the finishing touches. I have come to retrieve it and to take Mr. Christopher home."

"How are you going to do that without revealing what you do when you are off the Enterprise, Pavel?" The Q asked with an overconfident smirk. "Kirk isn't due to know about Seven for at least another year."

"Who is Mr. Seven?" Rasmussen asked, intrigued.

"Pavel's other employer, who often interferes with history. He's an intergalactic secret agent, sent to Earth to prevent mankind from destroying themselves before they finally develop into a peaceful culture."** The Q answered boldly.

"That is a lie! It is you who screws with the fabric of space and time!" The young man shouted in anger.

"Oh, don't get your panties in a twist and keep your voice down. You don't want security to discover you here. Lucky for you, I am here to make sure they don't. However, you are right."

"Why did you bring Christopher two hundred years into the future?"

"Just for fun, and I also have taken a liking to that pretty young nurse who is his descendant in sickbay. I want to do something nice for her."

"Nurse Chapel is related to Christopher?!" Chekov asked, his turn to be astonished.

"Yes, Pavel. She is his great great great granddaughter." Q answered, counting off the greats with his fingers in the air.

"I have a question, Q. I just heard from Supervisor 194 that Christopher doesn't want to go back to where he came from. How are you going to convince him to return?"

"Once he finds out that Blondie is his descendant, it will give him a reason to return home. Rasmussen can also convince him to go back in time by telling him about Mr. Seven. He's the one who spread the false rumor that NASA fired Mr. Christopher because of his supposed UFO sighting. I can easily transport him to Seven's apartment to get it all straightened out."

"Sounds like a brilliant plan, Mr. Q, but can you pull it off?" Rasmussen asked, astounded.

"Don't worry about a thing. Let Christopher and Rasmussen stay here on the Enterprise for a while, Chekov, until we can convince John to return home to where he belongs."

"Very well..." Chekov answered a little doubtfully, re-holstering his servo weapon. "I will go back and tell Seven that the situation is well in hand. Good day, gentlemen." With that, he pressed a device on his wrist and dissolved in the blue transporter smoke. Unknown to them, he transported himself onto the time ship and left with it.

*"Space Seed"

** "Assignment: Earth"