- 13 -
McCoy pressed his hypospray to Kate Shaw's arm, injecting something that would counter the effects of the sedative he'd administered earlier. Almost immediately she began to revive, becoming groggily aware they were in the cave on Camus II that housed the bodyswapping machine. Around them lay the smashed remains of several recording devices.
"Help me get the Lieutenant Commander into position," said Lawrence Cartwright, an order McCoy was compelled to obey.
As soon as she was standing on one of the two pads, McCoy flicked the switch that froze her in place. Kate was paralysed now. She would be unable to move until the process was over. Cartwright stepped onto the other pad.
"Let's do this," he said, feeling apprehensive but determined to do what needed to be done.
No sooner had McCoy pressed a switch on a console next to the machine, than Cartwright felt an awful tugging sensation all through his body, as if something was being ripped from it. There was a brief moment when he seemed to be looking through two pairs of eyes, then he was looking through only one pair.
"It's done," said McCoy.
Cartwright raised a slender hand to his face, marvelling at how smooth the skin was, how white. He ran his fingers over the unfamiliar contours of his new face, while with his other hand he tentatively squeezed his firm young breasts. Even knowing it was going to happen, it was still stunning to realize he was now a woman in her twenties. This was going to require some serious adjustment on his part!
McCoy pressed another button on the console and, freed from the paralysis that had held her in place, Kate Shaw toppled forward. She steadied herself against the side of the device, so drained she was barely able to move. That was when she first caught sight of her aged, dark-skinned hand.
"Wh..what..?" she croaked.
Then she raised her eyes to see someone looking at her in fascination. It took a second for it to register this was her own body.
"No!" she cried, eyes widening in horror.
Cartwright grinned.
"Yes!" he replied, raising her phaser and firing.
It wasn't set to vaporize only to kill, which it did. Kate Shaw died instantly.
Cartwright looked down dispassionately at what had until a few minutes ago been his body, before stepping over it to get to McCoy. He placed a hand on the doctor's shoulder.
"Prepare a lethal dose of something guaranteed to kill - I'll let you decide what - and load it into your medical hypospray. Return to the cells, free Jill Finn, and give this to her. Tell her she is to use it to kill this facility's medic, Doctor Abdullah on my orders. After doing so you will go to my cell, sit down, and stay there. You will be unable to speak or to move unless I return and tell you otherwise. Ordinarily this is the point where I'd instruct you to forget everything you've done, but I *want* you to remember. Now go."
When McCoy had gone, Cartwright ran his hands down over his new body. Having the energy of youth again was glorious and he felt amazing, but damn those female curves were going to take some getting used to! Still, there would be time to worry about that stuff after he had completed his mission.
Slapping the phaser to his thigh, he set off for Director Spock's office and his appointment with murder. Emperor Spock was his primary target, but if all went well he should be able to kill the others in the room and any guards, too. After destroying all recording devices and with no one left to identify him as the killer he could then slip away, join the crew of the USS Spencer, and depart this planet with no one aware he wasn't the real Kate Shaw.
At first Cartwright was uncertain of his gait. Walk as he always had and he might seem mannish, but swing his hips even a little too much and it would look 'swishy'. Eventually he realised it was better to just relax and let this body's 'muscle memory' take over.
When he reached the Director's quarters there was a guard stationed outside. Not surprising given the room now contained the Empire's new Emperor, and so about as important a dignitary as had ever set foot on this rock. Fortunately Cartwright recognised the guard from the time he had brought his meals to his cell.
"Good afternoon, Murphy," he said.
The guard snapped to attention.
"Lieutenant Commander," he said, opening the door.
Inside, Cartwright found Director Spock, Emperor Spock and his wife, and two middle-aged women. One of these he recognised as an older version of Janice Lester aka Jenna Lawson, the woman he had travelled to this universe with decades ago, which meant the other had to be Janice Rand.
"Dr McCoy not with you?" said Lester, frowning at him.
"The doctor was feeling tired and returned to his room to lie down," replied Cartwright, smoothly.
They seemed to accept this and returned to their conversation. As soon as no one was looking at him, Cartwright drew his phaser and fired it at Emperor Spock.
The beam never hit him.
At the last second Janice Lester threw herself between him and the Emperor, taking its full force.
"Janice!" screamed Janice Rand, lunging for Cartwright before her wife's body had even hit the ground. She, too, took the full force of his phaser. He swung it around to target the Emperor again, but it was too late. He felt someone pinch the nerve cluster near the base of his neck and then he went down, unconscious.