The Return of Charlie Evans-Chapt 5
Yeoman Rand was still studying her double.
"I don't know…." She said. "The captain is pretty perceptive."
"Yes, he is." Said Janice Number Two. "Don't worry about a thing, Janice. Everything will be all right. Kirk won't even know you are gone. He thinks the business with Charlie is over, right? Let him go on thinking that. I certainly won't tell him I'm not you."
"Doctor Noel?" Rand addressed the psychiatrist worriedly.
"Don't fret. I won't tell him anything. After all, it will be like you never left anyway."
"All right, it's settled then. Thank you for your cooperation, Doctor." Amanda said. With that, the real Janice and the Q vanished in a flash of light, much to the psychiatrist's astonishment.
Moments later, Rand found herself in a large room filled with machinery. There were people working at stations around the room. One of them turned and stood to greet them. She was of a race Rand had never seen before. The young woman had long light brown hair. Her face was quite human-like, except for one minor difference. Ridges lined the bridge of her nose. The yeoman then caught sight of the newly arrived Starfleet officers at the other end of the room. She then gasped and turned a little pale when she saw a Klingon, curiously peering over the shoulder of a young human woman. Tola sensed her fear and concern and stepped forward.
"Welcome to Thasus and the twenty-fourth century, Yeoman Rand. I am Lieutenant Tola of the Enterprise-D, and this is our away team."
"And the Klingon in the Starfleet uniform?" Rand asked warily.
"That is Lieutenant Worf, the Enterprise-D's head of security. The Klingons and the Federation have been at peace for about thirty years."
Rand decided it was best to try and avoid eye contact with Worf and to concentrate on the matter at hand.
"Let's get down to business then. Miss Rodgers, are you in charge here?"
"Oh, heavens no. I work for an intergalactic agency that is headed up by a human male named Gary Seven. The woman that Worf was standing behind is his assistant, Roberta Lincoln. I must warn you, Yeoman. You must keep his existence a secret from the original Enterprise crew. If you do not, history might be changed. Captain Kirk and the Enterprise crew are not due to meet them yet. Mr. Seven will be here shortly to oversee our journey. Sito?" She addressed the alien girl Rand saw earlier. "Miss Sito is a Bajoran we rescued from a Cardassian Gul who was taking her back to his world to be a sex slave."
Riker and Data appeared to be quite astonished. Will stepped forward.
"Sito, we thought you were dead! How did you escape?"
"First, sir, it is very good to see you and Mr. Data. They sent my shuttle out by remote control with an explosive rigged to go off as soon as it reached the Federation border. Of course, Captain Picard couldn't enter Cardassian space to make sure I was really dead."
"Who are the Cardassians?" Rand asked. "Who is Picard?"
"It would take too long to explain, Miss Rand," Rodgers answered, "but I can tell you that Sito's world was invaded by them. Sito will be going with us. She and Charlie have become friends. Now, allow me to introduce the Enterprise-D's landing party. The gentleman with the beard and mustache is Commander Riker, the first officer. The funny-looking fellow with the golden eyes is Lt. Commander Data. He's an android. You have already met Tola. The others names are Tate and Vickers."
Each of the officers nodded as their names were mentioned. Rand's mind tried feverishly to remember who they all were. She thought Data looked unfinished. Androids in her time were much more human in appearance.
"There will be a quiz on their names later on, Yeoman." Tola joked. She knew the yeoman was a little confused, however, since time was at a premium, she could not explain everything to the twenty-third century yeoman. "We extraterrestrials will have to stay here and help mind the machinery. I have a feeling that where Charles is, no one has ever seen an alien before."
"Quite correct, Lieutenant" Amanda said graciously.
"If that's the case," Rand asked thoughtfully, "What are we going to do about Sito?"
"A little painless cosmetic surgery." Rodgers answered playfully. She waved a hand and Sito's ridges vanished.
In the twenty-third century, McCoy was concerned. Yeoman Janice Rand was not quite herself lately. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something was different about her. She was the same as she always had been, but…different. Maybe it was his imagination, or maybe he was working too hard. After all, just because there was something to the way Spock was acting towards his Pon-Farr a month ago, didn't mean that there was something wrong with the yeoman. He sighed. He couldn't get the feeling out of his head. Rand seemed a little more business-like lately; in fact, downright Spockish. She also seemed a lot calmer and collected than her usual bubbly vivacious self. He watched her curiously as she entered the bridge from his usual spot behind the captain's chair. She went to the controls at the engineering section without looking back at anyone, knelt, and opened the service duct underneath the console. She held a tool for close work in her hand and began working on fine tuning the console. They had been having trouble lately with a tiny short, and Scott has assigned her to look for the trouble and correct it. McCoy was unaware that Kirk knew that he was staring at her until the captain spoke.
"What's the matter, Bones?" The captain asked, puzzled by his undue interest in his yeoman.
"Oh…nothing, Captain."
"Come on, Doctor. I know you better than that. What's on your mind?"
"Do you have a moment, Jim? I need to talk to you in private."
"Of course." James Kirk rose from his chair and looked at Spock, who was studying readouts from his hooded viewer. "Mr. Spock, you have the con for a few minutes. I will be in Briefing Room One."
"Acknowledged" The Vulcan said affably. He, too, had a distinct impression that there was something strange about Rand. Like McCoy, he could not figure out what it was.
The two remained silent in the turbo lift, but, as soon as the doors parted, McCoy could no longer keep his concerns to himself.
"Jim, have you noticed that Rand has been acting strangely?"
"No, not really." The captain answered as they stepped into the briefing room. He studied the doctor's expression for a moment. "Is that what this is about?"
"Yes. Ever since she had that talk with Counselor Noel, she has not been the same."
"Explain."
"I can't . There is something different about her. Something I can't quite put into words."
"Bones, I don't have time for this. Now, unless there is a medical concern about Janice—she isn't pregnant, is she?"
"Gosh, no! At least…I don't think she is. I would have to examine her to make sure, but I know she isn't involved with someone at present. I don't know, Jim. Maybe I'm working too hard."
"Come to think of it" Kirk thought hard for a moment. "She has been quite unemotional lately. Maybe it's a phase. She might be trying to emulate Spock—you know, like Chekov."
"Yes, that could be it." McCoy smiled. "I will ask Noel. She knows more about what's going on with your yeoman than either of us. It could be that she is trying to be a little less high-strung. Thank you, Captain. I will let you know what Noel says."