Unscrupulous

Chapter Nine

Rasmussen and Christopher looked on in intense curiosity and astonishment as Chekov caused Kirk and Spock to freeze as if both were statues. As the young man pushed a few more buttons on his servo device, he explained to them that he was implanting a false memory in his superior's minds of the two being whisked off the ship by the Metrons, who were instrumental in helping Kirk make a peace treaty with the Gorns a year before he was assigned to the ship. Chekov had also erased Kirk's and Spock's memories of his involvement with Earth's MIB forces and the existence of Gary Seven. It had also occurred to Chekov that wiping Kirk's and Spock's memories of Rasmussen and Christopher being on the ship would cause problems later on in sickbay, for McCoy and Chapel would probably not be believed when or if they insisted that the two men from the past had been on the ship. So, he kept the memories of their guests being on the Enterprise intact.

"Will this thing hurt them?" Christopher asked, indicating the servo, a little concerned. After all, the captain and first officer had been nothing but cordial to him. He eventually realized that whoever or whatever the Q was, the being who had appeared in his guest quarters was the one responsible for transporting him to the Enterprise and that Kirk and Spock had nothing to do with him being there.

"Not at all. They are not being harmed. I suspended them in time so that I could explain a couple of things." After an adjustment on his servo, he looked at John. "Mr. Christopher, as you know by now, you were brought here by the Q being for some unknown reason. This crew is not supposed to know about these powerful beings yet, even though they have already met one without knowing it. My mission is to return you two to your own respective time periods." Chekov then turned to Rasmussen. "Sir, Mr. Seven told me that you have taken some items from this ship and are hiding them among your belongings. It would be unwise for you to take them with you to the past. To do so could be disastrous." It had not occurred to either Chekov or Seven to use surveillance on Christopher, for he was not considered a security threat, but just a victim of circumstance.

"How could he know?" Rasmussen asked, startled. However, he had no intention of letting this young man take the items back that he had stolen.

"He has advanced surveillance technology and your temporal reputation made it necessary to monitor your activities. Everything you did before you met me was recorded in the time pod's computers." Once more, the young Russian glanced down at his servo and adjusted it to stun Rasmussen if necessary. He pointed it at him. "Let's go to your quarters and retrieve the items."

"Look!" Rasmussen responded, raising his hands in surrender. "If I am going back to my own century, I will need a way to support myself until I am back on my feet financially. If you use your fancy gadget on me, you won't find the items I took. I have them hidden well."

None of them heard the Q laughing in amusement at the last statement, nor were they aware of his presence.

"There is another way to help you re-integrate yourself into your era. I could replicate the money you need. There is no reason to steal from us."

"A tempting offer, Mr. Chekov, one that I will accept on one condition. You can have the items back as long as you don't replicate counterfeit currency."

"I'm not Harry Mudd." Chekov said with a smile. "My mind is not as devious as yours. The currency will be genuine." He paused for a few seconds, then continued. "If I remember correctly, twenty-second century US currency resembled twenty-first century Canadian money."

Christopher smiled.

"You are right, Mr. Chekov. Canadian money in my era was plastic and looked like Monopoly money."

"What's Monopoly?"

"A twentieth century board game." Rasmussen answered. He then smiled as well. "I bet the Ferengi would love to learn how to play that. They would have a great old time. I also know that the US government adopted the look and feel of Canadian currency after many failed attempts to prevent counterfeiting. Eventually, there was little differences between Monopoly money and the currency I dealt with in the twenty-second century. Chekov, I will need lots of it...at least twenty-five thousand US dollars."

"Not a problem. Come with me, gentlemen."

Christopher glanced back at Kirk and Spock, who were still in suspended animation.

"Are they going to stay like that?"

"Yes, until you two are back to where and when you belong. Let's get a move on."

"One more question, Mr. Chekov." Christopher added. "How are you going to get us off the ship? I don't believe what you told Kirk and Spock about that little gadget you are holding."

"It does have the capability of transporting you two back to your own respective eras, but I have a better idea. I have a hidden time transporter in my quarters. I can transport you one at a time with the servo, but because I cannot afford to trust either of you, I will have to use the other one in my quarters. Let's go. I don't want to keep my superior officers in suspended animation for too long. It's a new feature that Seven just added to the device and it will take some time to get used to."

The two men from the past followed him out of the briefing room and then to Rasmussen's quarters. En route, they noticed that the entire Enterprise crew had also been suspended in time. Chekov, who had not known that this would happen, merely shrugged and smiled. The doors to Rasmussen's guest quarters parted with the customary swish and the man bent down, took out his duffel bag, opened it and then realized that the items were gone. Furiously, he stood and grabbed Pavel's servo, twisting it out of his grasp. He pointed it at him, and Pavel drew in a startled breath when he realized that the servo was now set to kill.

"All right, damn you! Where are they?!"

"Honestly, Rasmussen, I don't know!" Chekov answered, a little frightened, his hands in the air. "Someone must have been here and taken the items, probably security. It could also be that Spock got wind that you pilfered the items and took them as well. Please, take it easy! You have nothing to lose."

"Rasmussen, don't come all unglued about this." Christopher added anxiously. "Give the kid's weapon back to him. There is no need for violence. If I were you, I would be happy to get the twenty-five thousand bucks that he offered you."

"If you give me back my servo, I will give you another five thousand. Thirty thousand dollars is a year's salary, isn't it?"

Rasmussen calmed down a little and sighed. "Yes, I suppose it is. All right. It's a deal. Here is your little gadget."

The two other men breathed a sigh of relief as Chekov was handed his servo. He adjusted it back to the stun setting. They made their way to the nearest replicator in the main rec room and waited as Rasmussen's money was being made. Then, they all stepped into Chekov's hidden transporter and dematerialized.