Unscrupulous
Chapter 8
When Chekov docked the shuttle craft in the Enterprise shuttle bay, he tensed up a little when the captain ordered him to the briefing room. It was not that it was unexpected, but he still could not come up with a plausible explanation of his appearance in Rasmussen's quarters. He had thought of claiming that it was his counterpart brother from the alternate universe, but doubted that either Kirk or Spock would buy it. Why would Piotr care what happens in this universe? He had his own problems with the Bajorans gunning for him and people always wanting to assassinate him and take his place on the ISS Enterprise as Captain. No, Pavel had to be honest, even though he was concerned that Kirk would learn too much about the future and about his clandestine activities while not aboard the Enterprise. He was also worried about Kirk learning the code name of Supervisor 194, which the Q had blurted out, much to his chagrin. Kirk was not due to know about him yet, and foreknowledge of Gary Seven or the Q might cause problems in the time line. It was true, however, that the Enterprise crew had already encountered a Q who called himself Trelane. Trelane was a small impudent child disguised as an adult. Immature Qs like him were mere annoyances, but the one who appeared in Rasmussen's quarters was no child. There was something very scary about him. Chekov still was having a difficult time believing that Nurse Chapel was Christopher's descendant. It intrigued him, however, so he decided to be the one who would tell Christopher about the head nurse of the Enterprise being a relative of his. Knowledge of this just might be the incentive to get John to reconsider his decision to stay in the twenty-third century. If he were to stay, then Christine might cease to exist. Being rather fond of her, Chekov did not want that to happen. Also, Chekov knew just by looking at Rasmussen that his heart wasn't really into the idea of returning Christopher back to his own century, and now that the time pod was in a secure location in area 51 in the twentieth century, the mission that Rasmussen was assigned by the Q would be next to impossible for him to carry out. Chekov realized that he was Rasmussen's and Christopher's only hope of ever returning to their own time periods, unless the Q intervened. There was also something very shady about Rasmussen, although Pavel couldn't figure out what that was. There was something very unsavory about the man, so he decided to keep an eye on him to make sure he didn't cause any trouble. Chekov also knew that it would take some convincing on his part to get Christopher to return to the twenty-first century. He had his work cut out for him.
Unknown to Chekov, during the time it had taken for him to return from Wrigley's pleasure planet in the shuttle, the two men from the past had already developed a rudimentary friendship. Rasmussen and Christopher had been given a brief tour of the ship, during which Rasmussen had already palmed one of McCoy's medical scanners and had also pocketed a hand phaser while touring the armory. A crewman named Leslie was doing routine maintenance on the ship's arsenal, making sure all the weapons were in good working order. The crewman didn't notice Rasmussen taking the phaser, but Christopher did. He then smiled, now coming up with the same idea Rasmussen did on the Enterprise-D. He would also steal a few items, return to his own time, and "invent" one a year. In so doing, he would probably become a very rich man, and it would be sweet revenge against NASA for firing him. The first item he took was a tricorder. Someone had been careless and had left the device in Christopher's closet in his guest quarters. He wasn't sure that he should tell Kirk about his discovery, but now thought better of it. While he was changing into a Starfleet uniform, he found the device in his closet. He then decided to ask Kirk for a duffel bag so he could store his pajamas and some personal items he had been given while recovering in sickbay. He had been given a cordless shaver that looked remarkably like the hand phaser he observed Rasmussen palm. While he wasn't looking, he picked his pocket and exchanged the shaver for the phaser. He also considered that if he returned to the twenty-first century, he would gun down those responsible for his unjust dismissal. Christopher had also been given some civilian clothing, for he couldn't very well appear on twenty-first century Earth in a Starfleet uniform. Someone might think he was an escapee from a loony bin or an obsessed Trekkie. By the time Chekov had stepped into the briefing room, both men had already decided to go back to their own time periods. Unknown to Rasmussen, the Q, who had remained invisible during the tour, had swept all the pilfered items into John's duffel bag, not wanting Rasmussen to have them. He thought it would be more fun to watch a primitive like John Christopher try to figure out what to do with the items than it would be for Rasmussen. He also knew that Christopher had better technical knowledge than Rasmussen, even though he was from a more primitive era. According to the Q, Rasmussen really wasn't too bright. Also, only one man would be needed to ensure the safety of the time line and also to ensure that Christine Chapel would not be wiped from existence. If it all worked out, then she would not be the head nurse of the Enterprise, but would enjoy the easy life of an heiress. The Q rather liked that idea, even though it would mean a big change on the good ship Enterprise. He knew that it would leave a gaping hole in the fabric of space and time to take Chapel off the ship, but at least she would be alive and it would give Nyota Uhura a chance to develop feelings for Spock. That also intrigued the Q, considering that in the current time line, the communications officer couldn't stand him.
As he stepped into the briefing room, Kirk ordered him to take a seat. He complied, and looked over at the two men from the past. Kirk introduced him and Rasmussen said they had already met.
Meeting his captain's gaze, he then explained that he had indeed transported into Rasmussen's quarters, on a mission to convince Christopher to return to the twenty-first century. Kirk smiled.
"He has already decided to return, Mr. Chekov. Spock had informed him that if he didn't, then Miss Chapel would cease to exist."
"So he already knows that she is his descendant?"
"Affirmative, Mr. Chekov." Spock answered. "Your job working for Earth's MIB intrigues me. I would appreciate learning more."
"Unfortunately, sir, I am not at liberty to divulge very much. The safety of Earth's time line is at stake." Pavel took a small pen-like device out of a pocket of the civilian clothing he was still wearing. "This device is called a servo. When I press a button on it, it will transport Mr. Christopher and Mr. Rasmussen anywhere they want to go." In actuality it suddenly occurred to Chekov that he could wipe everyone's short term memories of encountering the two men from the past and their knowledge of the Q or Mr. Seven with the servo. It would also wipe Kirk's and Spock's memories of knowing that he worked for the MIB so that there would be no problems later when Kirk actually encountered Supervisor 194.
"Indeed, " Spock responded, intrigued. He turned to the two men from the past. "Are you gentlemen ready to return from whence you came?"
Christopher smiled craftily.
"I am. Are you, Burlinghoff?"
The other man nodded. With a cunning little smile of his own, Chekov pressed the button.