Goddess on the mountain top
Burning like a silver flame
The summit of beauty and love
And Venus was her name
– Bananarama (Venus (Reprise))
=/\=
Boris was breathless by the time he'd jogged into Carmen's office, "Carmen, I must apologize …" he began, but she cut him off.
"I am being named as your co-respondent?!" she yelled, "So your wife thinks you and I are having an affair?!"
"I am so sorry; I take full responsibility for this."
"You're darned right you do. Now what the hell is this all about?"
"Carmen, I," he sighed, "the, the charge is not without merit."
"It is from my end."
"It is shameful, what I have done," he said, "I have been having an affair, yes. But it ended a few months ago."
"May I ask with whom?" she said, holding her head. She was beginning to get a corker of a migraine.
"Marisol Castillo."
"And she's not here. That's just great!" Carmen started to pace around her office, "You know what this means, don't you?"
"I –"
"Don't you?!"
"I don't, I am sorry," he was getting bewildered.
She made a Herculean effort to calm down. "Do you know how my predecessor lost his position?" he didn't answer, so she filled in the details. "He was having a gay affair. The Commission would not have cared quite so much about it being homosexual, except that Ray was doing it with a Federation secretary. So not only was he splitting his focus, his paramour was as well, so there was Federation pressure to make him go away. And your wife, as you are well aware, her brother is high up in the Federation."
"Yes, Todd is being talked about for the next round of major elections."
"Oh, then this is even more perfect," she said sarcastically, "they aren't going to want any distractions. And this is a big, fat distraction. Therefore, they will push me out. That will be directly after I am forced to push you out."
"And Marisol?"
"I'll be forced to keep her," Carmen said, "for I need a departmental doctor, and if I can her, it'll look like I'm trying to deflect away interest in myself. It's quite a lovely position she's placed herself into. You and I would be gone, in disgrace, and she retains her job."
"You cannot do anything?"
"I doubt it. And then there's the damned Varg-i-yeh. We are supposed to be on the front lines of that little war – which by the looks of it won't be such a little war at all, once they get here. Plus there are our friends in the Perfectionist Movement. Any new department leader not promoted from within is going to be overwhelmed. And then God help us all."
"I had no idea it would be so bad," he said.
"Boris, this is the very antithesis of respect. I, if you had problems in your marriage, oh God, why the hell did you have to do it all here, under my very nose?"
"I –"
She didn't have the time to answer him as the alarms went off again, signaling another change in time.
Tom and Rick got back and could hear the alarms going off. They rushed to Carmen's office, and were surprised to find Boris there.
"We found the first change," Rick said, "I'm assuming the alarms are for some other changes."
"Yes," Carmen said blankly, "what, uh, what is it that you found?"
"There's a tombstone at the old Beckett place on Lafa II," Tom said, "it's dated May twentieth, 2192."
"So?"
"The name on the headstone is mine," Rick said, "They were sending us a message. There's something going on in the mirror. We were thinking we'd go, as I know the people who most likely sent us the message, and Tom is free to go to the mirror."
"All right," Carmen said, "but wait until we have a handle on these latest changes. You may end up with more than one assignment."
Boris was listening to a Communicator call. "Yes, I'll be right there," he said, "Yarin out."
"Trouble?" Rick asked.
"Levi says Otra is having problems recovering from her visions," Boris said.
"The changes must be huge," Carmen concluded, "I'll call a meeting. Despite all of the other things going on, we've still got a job to do here."
Otra was lying on the floor of her office. Levi was holding her head but she continued to convulse. Boris rushed in. "I can handle things from here," he said.
"No, I'll stay," Levi said.
"You sure?"
Levi just nodded.
"Very well," Boris looked down at Otra, "Can you hear me? Can you tell me what day it is?"
"Avalanche… first contact … Borg," she gasped.
"That's really bad, isn't it?" Levi asked.
They assembled in Conference room six again, except for Marisol.
Marisol had been busy. Helen had underestimated just how much it would take to get the diversionary missions done – they always did a few extras in order to throw the Commission off the track. Marisol had been available, and so she was tapped to go to 1957. It was a mission where she had to kill a few people. She always liked those.
As Boris held Otra's head and injected her in the arm with cordrazine, he thought of how to get out of his predicament. And he kept coming up with but one solution.
Otra finally came around. "Where am I?"
"You couldn't stop seeing visions," Levi explained.
"The changes are enormous," Otra said, "I have to tell Carmen."
"Tell everyone in the meeting," Boris said, "Levi, can you take her? I have something I must do."
"Sure." They departed.
Boris walked over to his office. "Computer, locate Marisol Castillo."
"Marisol Castillo is in Transporter Room four. She has just beamed in."
"Ah, good," he said, and then dictated a note and sent it before heading there, double time.
She was walking out of that Transporter Room and he fell in step with her. "Nice of you to visit us," he said, "I take it you enjoyed your visit on Kronos?"
"Very much," she said, smiling at him.
"And you told my wife nothing?"
"We had a lovely conversation," Marisol yawned, "I'm really overworked. You'll need to take over for me in lots of ways."
"To be sure," he said, "but first, may I take you somewhere?"
"I don't believe you have those privileges anymore," she said, "we stopped being bed buddies months ago."
"I know," he said, "but perhaps I can convince you." They were close. Just a few more steps. He knew he could physically overpower her. He had done so before, but it had been in the context of foreplay. This time, he had a far different endgame in mind.
"You can't convince me," she sneered, "I never liked you and God knows I never loved you. So cut the crap, Boris."
"Funny you should be evoking the deity," he said, smiling malevolently as he turned a lever.
In the Adrenaline's main control room, they saw a red light flash, indicating an open air lock.
=/\=
She's got it
Yeah, baby, she's got it
I'm your Venus, I'm your fire
At your desire
Well, I'm your Venus, I'm your fire
At your desire
– Bananarama (Venus (Reprise))