Epilogue
Bashir had successfully lied and bluffed his way through his debriefing with the Department of Temporal Investigations; if Dax suspected that more had gone on than he admitted, she hadn't given him away, and he had managed to come up with a plausible explanation for the tear in his field kit.
Now he sat in front of a computer terminal, speed-reading through ancient records of the Texas Rangers in the old Earth country of America. He had no concrete idea what he was looking for, and wasn't even sure he would recognize it if he found it.
Francis Gage had apparently had a long and illustrious career with the Rangers; even with the words flashing by at a speed that would have been a blur to unenhanced Terran eyes, he had already been at this for nearly an hour when something caught his eye. "Computer, halt; reverse at quarter speed."
Even he hadn't been able to read any amount of detail at the previous speed; what he had seen had been only a vague impression, and it took five minutes to re-turn to it at the slower rate. But just when he had begun to think he had imagined the name he recognized, there it was on the screen — Cochran.
Pausing the scanning program, he read the record through, learning that Ranger Gage had singlehandedly saved the life of five-year-old Ezekiel Cochran, some years after the incident with the bear.
That couldn't be coincidence, Bashir's mind insisted. "Computer, cross reference descendants of Ezekiel Cochran."
"Working."
Bashir drummed his fingers on the console as he waited, though it was only a matter of seconds before the results appeared.
A smile spread across Bashir's face as he saw instantly what he had been looking for. Ezekiel's son was Zephram Cochrane, inventor of the warp drive, without whom Starfleet and the Federation as they knew it wouldn't exist.
So, Tairvaul had been right, he mused in satisfaction; he had always been meant to save Gage's life.
THE END
A/N: Of course, the main reason this couldn't have happened is that Walker, Texas Ranger, and Deep Space Nine aren't on the same timeline in the first place; the divergence was in the 1960s, when anything past that was written as speculative history backstory for Original Series Star Trek. But I had fun with this anyway! Barbie
I proofread all my stories at least once before posting, but if you see any mistakes I might have missed, please let me know!
Please note that I have only minimal internet access, and may not have time to respond to all reviews/messages. (But they are much appreciated, even if you're reading this story long after I originally post it!) If you have questions regarding my Deep Space Nine alternate history, check my profile first to see if they're answered there. Thanks for your understanding! Barbie