Standard Disclaimer: All characters and situations related to Star Trek are wholly owned by Paramount Pictures. All the characters from the "Magnificent Seven" TV series are property of Trilogy Entertainment, The Mirisch Group, MGM Worldwide.
Billy Travis hated being a child.
It was bad enough that he was a Vulcan child because every time he had fun, other Vulcan children would look at him as if he were some kind of misanthrope cast into their midst by the quirk of fate that was co-existence. His mother had once been a proper Vulcan wife with all the restraint and aloofness that seemed endemic to the breed. All that had changed when his father had died. Billy was aware that his memories of Syan of Vulcan were becoming vague. He remembered specific things like stories at bedtime, of struggling to always maintain a stiff upper lip no matter what the situation and then realising that his father truly cared and was able to show it despite the constraints of the non-emotive lifestyle required of all Vulcans.
Chris Larabee's entry into his life and more specifically, into his mother's, meant that suddenly being Vulcan was not an absolute for him and Billy liked being able to express his feelings. He even liked being called Billy instead of William; a practice initiated by the Captain and now so ingrained with everyone that even his mother called him that. His mother was not entirely certain she should abandon Billy's upbringing as a Vulcan although she was a little more vocal about allowing him to find his own way, that the path of his life should be one of his choosing and not of the expectation of class and creed. No doubt, his paternal grandparents may have reason to object.
In being given this freedom, Billy had chosen to have fun like other children his age and soon found that being Vulcan was something of a stumbling block. He was already half-Vulcan and that made him something of a curiosity among the others who claimed he could never truly be Vulcan. Unfortunately, displaying human tendencies seemed to cement that fact and Billy soon became excluded from things, though never outright. However, he could see the disapproval in their eyes as he approach them and Billy had recognised the look in adult Vulcans whenever Vin Tanner happened to be in the vicinity.
Deciding that if he could not join the Vulcan children, he would try to mingle with the human children. After all, if he was more like them, should he not find companionship with them? Unfortunately other than Lilith King, the human children did not appear to be any more accepting of him than the Vulcans before them. While the Vulcan children had branded him an outcast because he could not behave Vulcan, the human variety had based their disassociation on the fact that he looked Vulcan. Billy did not tell his mother about the situation, perfectly aware that it would sadden her to learn that her son was being treated in such a manner. As it was she was happy for the first time since his father had passed away and Billy suspected much of this had to do with the captain. He did not want her to become sad again because of him and thus he remained silent and suffered his plight alone.
Lilith on her part tried to be there for him all the time. Lilith, who was something of an outcast herself because she was terribly serious for one as young as she, did not think him either Vulcan or human. She treated him like Billy, a fact that he was eternally grateful for. She was his best friend in the world, no the universe.
Unfortunately, today the young lady in question was at home in bed with Rigellian small pox, a malady that required quarantine and other than a quick visit to wish her well during her convalescence, he could not see her until she was completely recovered. Billy had not realised what a big part of his life she had become until this enforced absence. Suddenly, his day had become longer and lonelier and though he tried hard not to miss her, he found that he could not. Worse yet, he found himself wishing he were not the blending of two worlds, wanting to be one or the other because it was too hard being apart of neither.
To occupy himself, he decided to spend some time with the senior staff whom were always happy to see him and did not have any difficulty seeing him as either Vulcan or human. To them, he was simply Billy Travis, young son of their protocol officer and thus not subject to the scrutiny that he was plagued upon by his peers. Unfortunately, he was soon to learn that adults tended to be just as restrictive with their time as children and almost everyone was either too busy or had little patience to deal with a young boy for very long.
With the Maverick on its way to the Antaria System where the indigenous race awaited the captain and his protocol officer to mediate a dispute that had lasted twenty-two years, his mother was busily readying herself for the task ahead. Billy had found her in front of a mountain of data pads for the last week as she endeavoured to study every treatise and text in regard to the long running war. The Antarians who had been embroiled in their civil war for over two decades and whose world was poised on the verge of deploying doomsday weapons that would make life extinct whatever its political affiliations had pulled back from this suicide course. Both factions had wisely agreed that a third party was required to mediate the situation before it was too late.
The stakes were of course high. The Antarians had made the necessary first step by agreeing to abide by whatever decision was afforded by the mediators. However, the mediators on their part had to forge a treaty that would meet the satisfaction of both warring sides or else, they would be the only ones who would remember the Antarians because after the final solution was implemented the race, as a species would no longer exist. His mother who would aid the captain from preventing this outcome had been almost totally engrossed her preparations so he did not bother to even ask if she would spend some time with him.
He decided to try Vin because next to his mother and Lilith, was the only other person who understood what it was he went through on a daily basis. However the helmsman was still on the bridge and would not be liberated from duty for some hours yet so Billy took to following the first officer Buck Wilmington for the rest of the morning. Buck did not seemed to mind his company except that Billy soon got bored of stopping and talking to every woman that happened along. Alexandra Styles was a little easier to approach and for a good hour or so, she showed him what she was doing in stellar cartography when they played the game of 'classify that planet.'
JD Dunne took away another hour of his day when the two sat down to play computer games in JD's quarters before the young ensign had to go back to his lengthy duty on the bridge. Julia Pemberton allowed him to remain in the bridge long enough to show Billy what a routine maintenance sweep of the warp core entailed before she was required to repair and EPS relay in one of the conduits that ran along the hull of the ship. Unfortunately, it was a task she deemed inappropriate for him to accompany her and he was soon ushered out again with nowhere to go. Ezra Standish was not exactly rude but Billy noticed that he was surlier than usual and though Ezra was normally happy to spend some time with him, it did not appear to be the case today. Thus he found himself making a brief visit with Josiah who had ten minutes between patients and Nathan who allowed him to hang around Sick Bay until he had to rush off to deliver a baby.
Chris was on the bridge so Billy did not even try. Besides, Billy thought with a smile, the captain has to be on the bridge. He has the most important job of all.
He had been wandering down the halls of Maverick looking bored indeed and rather disconsolate even though it had not occurred to him that he appeared a picture of melancholy when a friendly hand rested on his shoulder.
"Hello Billy."
Billy looked up and saw the lovely features of Transporter Chief Rain staring down at him with a smile on her lips. Billy liked Rain for she knew things that most of the others did not and there was something about her that looked a lot older than she really was. He knew that she was Trill and that Trills lived a very long time and made the people who carried them, know just as much as well.
"Hi Lieutenant Rain." He answered, responding to her smile a little but not much.
It did not take a genius to know that the boy was missing his best friend and with Mary involved in their preparations to mediate for the Antarians, Rain guessed the child was feeling a little lonely, as if the sad expression on his face was not a telling enough. In the lifetime of a symbiote, she had been a mother twice and a father three times and it gave her something of an insight about children, even ones as dispassionate at Billy Travis.
"Just call me Rain, sweetie." She said warmly. "What's the matter?"
"Nothing." He remarked quietly, not meeting her gaze.
"Nothing huh?" Rain remarked, hiding her sceptism. "Well, I suppose we all have one of those days when nothing is the matter but we still look like hell anyway." She joked and noted that had engendered a response, since he looked up at her curiously.
"I'm just bored." He confessed after they had walked a little more. Billy always liked speaking to her because she did not talk down to him like he was a child. In fact, sometimes, she sounded as if she understood him as well.
Rain was not surprised. The boy was half Vulcan and half human and if there was one thing that children from either race had in common, was the fact that they could both be equally cruel as each other. There were some problems she could not fix but others that were within her reach and while the question of acceptance among his peers fell beyond her capabilities, occupying his time certainly did not. "I tell you what," she looked at him. "I've got some things to do but how about you come find me in an hour or so at Holodeck 2 and I'll teach you how surf."
"Surf?" He asked, brightening up immediately. He had no idea what she was talking about but the idea that she was willing to spend the day with him to show him how to do it was cause enough for his spirits to lift.
"Yeah," she grinned, pleased to see that the suggestion had struck a chord. "It's this quaint Earther sport I discovered a few weeks ago. You ride a board on a wave. Its lots of fun. You want me to show you?"
Billy nodded happily, staring at the bronzed skinned beauty with a hint of adoration. He liked how she looked when she smiled at him and decided that he would like her to do it again more often.
"Alright then," Rain ruffled his hair, pleased that she was able to bring a smile to that almost cherubic face which had no business looking as sad as it had when she had first come across him. "I'll see you in an hour at Holodeck 2."
"Okay Rain." Billy replied as the turbo lift doors where they had paused, slid open and Rain stepped inside. She gave him a little wink before stepping inside the capsule that would take her to another part of the ship. As the doors slid close, sealing her inside to begin her journey, Billy guessed that he could understand why Nathan liked her so much.
She was fun.
One hour never seemed so long and finally, Billy decided to do one of his favourite things since coming on board the Maverick to live. He went to the quiet space of the Observation Deck and climbed onto the ledge that ran along the pexiglass. The space was wide enough to fit him easily and Billy leaned against the glass and watched the stars whizz past them as the ship travelled at high warp. Even though he was little more than six years old, he enjoyed living in space. It was so much more fun than living on Jupiter Station, where the view outside the window was nothing more than powerful swirls of gas, propelled by winds that swept across the unseen landscape at 250 miles an hour. On Jupiter, it was just not possible to see anything through those incredible winds and clouds of gas. no horizon in the distance and certainly no sky up above. While he did not know what claustrophobia was, Billy certainly felt it.
In space it was different.
When he looked out into the stars that travelled past the ship at incredible speeds thanks to the warp field that surrounded it, Billy did not feel like a hybrid Vulcan or that his life was not as perfect as he wanted to be. All that seemed insignificant when one looked outside the ship. It was impossible not to feel tiny, to feel one's problems equally minuscule when faced with the majesty of the cosmos. Some people believed that everyone was apart of the universe, of existence actually. When Billy stared in the wide expanse of the galaxy like this, he could well believe it too.
"Hello."
The voice came out of nowhere so abruptly, the young boy almost jumped out of his skin. Turning around, he looked at the intruder into his thoughts and found himself staring at young boy his age, with dark hair and inquiring hazel coloured eyes. He was dressed plainly in a jumpsuit worn by most children on board although Billy confessed that he did not recognise him.
"Hello." Billy answered uncertainly, wondering why a human boy would seek him out. They usually did not like to mix with him because in their games, he was smarter, faster and stronger than any of them. That had been reason enough to make him feel like a freak but the fact that he was Vulcan too, gave them all the justification to make him an outcast as well.
"You're a Vulcan." The boy stated.
Billy nodded. "I haven't seen you before, are you new to the ship?" The Vulcan asked in turned, deciding with each passing second that he had never seen this boy before. The boy was his age and even if they did not socialise, he would have nonetheless been aware of him from school at the very least.
"Yes," the new arrival answered. "I just arrived."
"From where?" Billy inquired.
"Far away." Was all he was prepared to say.
The boy studied Billy with his eyes. For a moment, Billy felt what Chris Larabee usually called gut instinct, surfacing inside him. Unfortunately it appeared in such a vague form that Billy did not know how to define it and so he let it pass, feeling the uneasiness dissolve inside his mind after a second of rumination on the matter. Besides, this boy was talking to him and Billy was somewhat curious to know what he wanted. Billy also wondered when he could have come on board, since it had been three weeks since the Maverick had been any place where passengers could be picked up and this boy would have missed a lot of school if he had been on board since then.
"What's your name?" Billy asked this time round, hoping to be met with a little more success than something of a monosyllabic response at every question.
For a moment, he did not answer and appeared as if he were deliberating whether or not he should impart that information upon his new acquaintance. However, noting that his pause was giving rise to further suspicion from the Vulcan child before him, he decided he had better speak.
"Quinn." He answered after a moment with a smile of satisfaction on his face that Billy could not fathom but felt it impolite to inquire after anyway.
"I'm Billy." The young Vulcan introduced himself accordingly since he had made the first overtures of inquiry.
"I know." Quinn replied. He seemed to be watching Billy as if waiting to take his cue to speak or respond from the Vulcan and Billy wondered if there was not perhaps something wrong with Quinn that made him a little slow.
"How do you know?" Billy asked once more, wishing his new friend would be a little forthcoming and not require information to be pried from his lips with a multitude of questions.
"I know things." Quinn responded and then looked outside the pexiglass window. Starlight filled his hazel eyes as he stared into the expanse of space moving past the ship. He was a little strange, Billy thought silently
"I'm not strange." The boy returned.
Billy's eyes widened in realisation that the boy was telepathic. "Are you Betazoid?" Billy inquired. He knew that there were a few Betazoids on board the Maverick.
The boy looked at him with some hint of confusion and uttered, "Betazoid, inhabitants of the planet Betazed, sometimes called Haven, located in Quadrant 23 of Gamma Ceti 5. They are telepathic."
"Yes," Billy found this entire situation becoming stranger by the minute. He nodded dumbfounded as he heard Quinn recite a wealth of information about Betazed, which he did not even know. The boy looked human and while Betazoids could be mistaken for such as well, Billy did not believe Quinn was from either species but he was terribly smart.
"I am not Betazoid. I am Quinn." He reaffirmed after his recital.
"What do you want?" Billy finally asked, starting to feel a little anxious because something about Quinn was making him nervous and once again that sensation that Chris Larabee coined so accurately, surfaced inside his stomach.
"You don't have to be afraid of me." Quinn stated with just a little bit of hurt in his voice. It was the first hint of feeling Billy had seen in his eyes other than curiosity. "I won't hurt you. I'm just bored."
Now that was something Billy could understand very well and the young Vulcan smiled at Quinn, a gesture that did much to alleviate the apprehension both of them felt. Billy began to empathise at how it must be for Quinn to feel boredom and not have anyone to share that with. It was obvious Quinn was also very different from other children his age and Billy could identify with his need to belong.
"I am sorry," Billy apologised. "Other children do not like me much either, except Lilith but she is sick today and that is why I am alone."
"Lilith?" Once again that curiosity emerged.
"Yes," Billy nodded. "She's my best friend."
"Am I your friend?" Quinn followed the question with another.
This time, Billy had to think about his answer. In truth, he had not known Quinn enough to say that they were friends but he could sympathise with Quinn's need to have a friend. After all, the insecurities Quinn felt were not new to him and Billy realised that he was in a position to treat Quinn with a lot more sympathy than was shown to him since his arrival on board the Maverick. He had always told himself that he would not be malicious and cruel like those other children and now was the opportunity to prove that he was true to his word. Hadn't Chris always said that when man had nothing left, didn't he still have his word?
"Yes," Billy offered Quinn a smile. "You're my friend too."
This seemed most agreeable to Quinn and once again he lapsed into silence as he waited for Billy to say something further. Billy in turn, realised that he would get no where with Quinn unless he took the initiative. Besides, Quinn had said he was bored and there was still a good hour to kill before he had to meet Rain to learn how to surf. Perhaps the transporter chief would be accommodating enough to teach them both.
"Want to play?" Billy suggested.
"Okay." Quinn nodded. "Where?"
Billy thought quickly and suddenly, felt himself struck with inspiration. He climbed off the ledge he had been sitting on and landed on the space next to Quinn. "Come on." He urged eagerly and both boys were soon hurrying down the corridor towards the turbo lift.
Their travels when it came to a close brought them to Holodeck 2 where Billy was to meet Rain in an hour. Fortune was with them for the room was unoccupied and thus they were able to spend the next half hour running through a series of programs stored inside the vast memory banks of the ship's computer. They began with fun locales such as Buck Wilmington's Jamaica program where there was nothing but stretches of ocean and to Billy's puzzlement, a bevy of scantily clad females walking across the white sands with not a male in sight. The young Vulcan could not imagine how Buck could find the program fun but nonetheless enjoyed the beach.
Using one of Nathan's programs, they went to New Orleans in the middle of Madi Gras where the entire city was a whirlpool of bright colours and sequined costumes. They followed the procession of light and dancers, revelling in the gaiety that took the breath away if one was well and truly in the mood for such exhilaration. Quinn seemed to enjoy himself and Billy had to admit that despite the quirks of his companion's personality, he was too. After New Orleans, they went to Borath, to the sacred Klingon city where Alexandra Styles perfected her hand to hand combat techniques. However, another aspect of the holy city was its famous temple where the clerics performed exhibitions regarding the historical battles of Klingon culture that was also interesting to watch.
There was not enough time for Billy to show all his favorite programs but he could not resist showing Quinn the one that ranked as his most favored in the selection. As the alien world of Borath dissolved around them, the dry, dusty surrounds of town from the old west replaced the Klingon city. Billy had been here on numerous occasions with his mother and Chris Larabee and he always enjoyed the thrill of watching his captain and his personal hero, taking on the persona of the hardened gunslinger whenever he stepped into this place.
"What is this place?" Quinn asked with fascination as he studied the buildings made of wood and mortar, their shutters and doors clattering with every gust of hot wind. There seemed to be dust on everything and it existed like a sedentary layer to entire place, including the people in the rugged terrain. Above head, he could feel the hot sun and see the inhabitants in their impractical clothes, impractical because of the weather, moving up and down the boardwalk going about their business.
"It is called Four Corners in the Old West," Billy remarked as he motioned Quinn to follow him as they hurried down the dirt street towards the building with the signed that read 'jail house'. "This is the Captain's favorite program," Billy answered as they hurried along. "When he comes here, all the senior staff does too."
"The Old West," Quinn mused for a moment and then replied. "Earth, the continental United States during the mid 1800's?"
Billy supposed that was a good an answer as any. "Yes," he nodded. "They're all cowboys but don't let Chris hear you say that because he doesn't like being called a cowboy." Billy informed dutifully before continuing with his explanation. "Sometimes Alex, my mother and Julia, they join too and they let me play."
"There's nothing happening." Quinn pointed out as he surveyed the place unable to deny he was being caught up with Billy's enthusiasm and wanted to see what the full applications of the program was like but not in this limited fashion.
"There will not be," Billy explained, "at least not until Chris and the others get here."
"But I want to see them now." Quinn insisted.
"You cannot," Billy retorted, wondering if Quinn knew anything about life on a starship at all. "They're all on duty."
Quinn frowned and cast his eyes across the expanse of the town, wanting to see the place livelier because it had well and truly sparked his interest. He had never come across anything like this in his short life and wanted to share the moment with his newfound friend.
"That doesn't matter. I'll make them come and then we can play." He said with a smile and snapped his fingers.
At that instant, Alexandra Styles who was in the process of a classifying a gaseous nebula containing thousands of stars, suddenly disappeared from the floor of stellar cartography. The officers around her merely gapped in astonishment as she vanished in a flash of light, leaving behind only the data pad she had been holding in her hand before it was free falling in the air. The device landed on the floor with a loud clatter and immediately sparked the excited conversation of those left behind as they tried to discern what had happened to the science officer.
Ezra Standish was standing over the replicator in his office, deciding that red roses were going to be the first step in repairing his fractured relationship with Julia Pemberton following the invasion of the ship by the aliens of Accra. He had just finished punching in the code for a dozen long stemmed roses, hoping that they would in some way help his case with the love of his life when he too disappeared from the room. His absence witnessed only by the roses that materialized at the same time he was swept away.
Buck Wilmington was going over his reports, wondering how being first officer could be so thrilling and so mind numbingly dull at the same time. He hated writing crew evaluation reports and wished something would come up to take him away from all this.
He got his wish.
Josiah Sanchez was in the middle of explaining to Inez Recillos that it was all right to feel the emotions of grief even though her fiancée's death was now some time in the past. The grieving process had no deadline and she would continue to feel badly until she stopped. Inez was about to question the validity of that when he dissolved before her like smoke, without even having the chance to hear that she was starting to wonder whether or not she had ever really loved Raphael as much as the idea of being in love.
JD Dunne who had just ended an exhausting shift because he had been reconfiguring the communications array of the Maverick had only two things in mind when he stumbled into his quarters for the day. One was to shower and clean the day's dirt off his skin. The other was to spend a few blissful hours asleep in his bed. Well one out of two was not bad.
Julia Pemberton was presently at EPS relay 32 on Deck 34, attempting to replace a burnt out coil. After much wrestling with a hydro-spanner to fit the fixings that needed to be loosened, she managed to pry the damaged coil out of its place. That success was short lived for she vanished soon after dropping the spanner and allowing fluid to pump out forth from the loosened relay and bleed onto the deck, creating a neon colored pool in her wake
Nathan Jackson who was poised to sever the umbilical chord on a new born infant dropped the surgical instrument he had in his hand for the task and disappeared in front of the startled new mother and the equally astonished nursing staff that was attending him during the birth. Fortunately, one of his junior physicians was able to step in to finish off the delivery by performing the final step of the birthing process and welcoming the child, one James Nathaniel Watson, the newest (and youngest) member of the crew to the Maverick.
Mary Travis had made an interesting discovery in one of Antaria's older texts that could offer an arguing point for the case of compromise between the two warring factions. She immediately jotted down the quote into her voluminous data pad and hoped that this was the key she needed to hammering out some kind of peace accord when she was carried away in a flash of light like so many others across the ship at this moment.
Vin Tanner was at helm control ruminating silently about Billy Travis and trying to think up of some activity they could do together to take the boy's mind off his troubles. Vin who knew intimately what it meant to be an outcast among one's own people, felt Billy's plight most empathetically and was pleased that for once, his experiences could benefit someone else. He had no time to ponder this further because he soon disappeared off the bridge.
Chris Larabee saw the flash of light in front of him as his helm officer disappeared off the bridge. The captain stood up instantly from his command chair, in readiness to respond to whatever force had taken his best friend, when suddenly he too vanished, not even hearing it when the intruder alert alarms began screaming all across his ship.
All it had taken was a blink of an eye and Chris Larabee was no longer on his bridge.
Though his eyes recognised his surroundings, his brain had trouble registering it for an instant. The setting was familiar of course, even if how he had suddenly arrived here eluded him when a moment, he had been on his bridge. Letting his gaze sweep across the room, Chris was more than acquainted with his new environment. He had visited this place on numerous occasions as Chris Larabee, gunslinger, as opposed to Captain Larabee. Clad entirely in black, from the sepulchre colored hat on his brow, to the jet duster covered in just a hint of dust and the pearl handled guns that hung around his hips, he looked every bit the part.
At present, he was in the saloon of the fictional town of Four Corners that existed only in the tales written about the Magnificent Seven and the holodeck setting for his favorite recreational program. The saloon was as authentic as programming could make it with a sultry bartender behind the bar who was serving drinks in small shot glasses,and patrons gathered around circular tables playing cards or being entertained by gaudily painted saloon girls. In the background, someone was playing the harpsichord, sending clunky music through the air. The atmosphere was lethargic which was not unusual because it was the afternoon and the sun that was radiating outside relentlessly had driven away the compulsion to get any work done or the need to leave the cool shade of the building.
Fortunately, he was not alone in his confusion.
Standing next to him at the bar, appearing just as bewildered by their change in circumstance was Vin Tanner. The helmsman was also wearing the clothes he normally did when engaging in this program. Vin's costume was most prolifically a coat made of hide. According to the times, Chris had deduced long ago that it was meant to be buffalo. In this universe, Vin was not his officer of the con but rather his trusted second and a formidable tracker. Vin was wearing a slouch hat, the kind that were meant to be popular with army scouts back in the days when combating Indians was a national pursuit. Vin always seemed to be wearing a different shirt and a multitude of colourful scarves against his hide pants.
"Chris." Vin found his voice to speak. "What the hell just happened?"
"I don't know," Chris answered automatically, his eyes fixed on the people in the saloon, wondering if they were what they seemed, holodeck recreations or the ones responsible for bringing Chris and Vin here. "We were on the bridge."
Suddenly footsteps were heard walking rapidly towards the batwing doors that served at the entrance to this place. The footsteps were short and not very loud but there was no doubt the person approaching was making great haste to reach the doors. A few eyes shifted towards the batwing doors in anticipation of the new arrival and instinctively, Chris dropped his hand to the pearl handled weapon at his hip. In this environment, it was a natural instinct and his mind though slow at first to accept where he was soon adapted his psyche to survive in this new environment.
The instinct was mirrored in Vin Tanner as well for the helmsman made similar motions towards the sawn off rifle he had sitting in the makeshift holster fashioned to hold that weapon, slung around his lean hips. Both men were reluctant to shoot, especially when this could all turn out to be some elaborate joke by one of their comrades, however, were it not, they wished to be ready for any unexpected danger. Although holodeck safety protocols would ensure that they would not be harmed, the mystery about this situation warranted the precaution.
The shadow of the new arrival proceeded the actual entry itself and when the figure did move into their line of sight, Chris found himself growing more and more convinced that this had to be someone's idea of a joke. Someone, he thought silently, who was going to be spending the next month, cleaning EPS conduits with a toothbrush. If he were a betting man, Chris would have placed all his money on the odds of that someone being Buck Wilmington.
Mary Travis stepped into the saloon and immediately found him with her gaze. Her blond hair was forced into a tight bun at the back of her head and she was dressed for the period in a dress with floral that covered her modesty appropriate for the era. She walked toward him, oblivious to the disapproving stares being sent in her direction by the patrons who felt it was not proper for a good Christian woman such as herself since they saw her as the character she played, to be in a saloon. Whenever Mary accompanied Chris to the program, she normally played the part of the feisty newspaper reporter.
"What the hell is going on?" She demanded upon reaching them, her cheeks flushed as she unashamedly revealed her displeasure. "Is this one your guys idea of a joke? I just got through sorting out more religious dogma then I care to wade through in my entire life and found the perfect point that will sort this Antarian situation out and I get beamed out of my quarters into my newspaper office!"
"Hold on Mary," Chris said quickly, trying to calm her down. She was rarely moved to this level of irritation but when she was, even the Captain of the Maverick was smart enough to take cover. "I didn't do this. In fact, me and Vin are just as pissed off since we were on duty on the bridge, when we were brought here."
"So you didn't deactivate the archway?" She looked at him, puzzlement and worry starting to seep into her skin and she suddenly felt very uneasy.
"Deactivate the arch?" Chris' eyes widened ever so slightly but in truth he was just as shocked as she was. "Vin." He said simply, still meeting her gaze.
The helmsman nodded and looked around, not wishing to be seen but decided what did it matter since they were being viewed by a bunch of images produced by light and magnetics and that the minute they stepped out of here, everything in this world would cease to exist anyway. "Computer, arch." He called out, waiting for the doors to slid open so that they could step out of this holodeck fantasy. However, seconds tumbled past with no evidence of an arch or anything remotely resembling a door appeared before them and eyes continued to stare at them in curiosity.
Vin glanced at Chris and then tried again. "Computer, exit." He spoke up.
Once again, the same inactivity followed and this time, Chris decided to take a turn. "Computer, command override, authorization, Captain Larabee."
"I think you had enough," the bartender behind the counter remarked as she walked past the three of them. Buck had programmed the simulation so that she would look like Inez Recillos, much to the woman's chagrin. Despite Inez' insistence though, Buck could not bring himself to change the lovely countenance as he put it of the bartender "Your drinks are getting to your head." She gave them a look of disapproval that did not look unlike the original.
Chris frowned and looked at the two officers with him. "Let's take this outside." He ordered.
Without looking behind him to see if they were following, Chris strode out of the saloon. Eyes followed him as he moved across the floor and he wondered how much of this had to do with their peculiar behavior a moment ago, or the imposing persona he was meant to have in this holodeck town. He supposed it was probably the latter since the reaction he garnered every time he made eye contact with someone other than Mary and Vin was met with quick about face. Chris put these concerns aside for the moment, more interested in learning for certain that the exit protocols for the holodeck was not as disabled as they appeared. While this had all the trappings of one of Buck's pranks, even the first officer knew better than to lock out the captain's access without a monumental death wish.
They stepped outside into the open air and immediately blinked as the noonday sun shone brightly in their eyes after the dim lighting inside the saloon. No one was watching them as they emerged even though everyone noticed their arrival. Chris Larabee was not someone whose gaze you held unless you had good reason for it. He could see that look in their faces as they turned away and went about their business.
"Chris!" Buck Wilmington called out as he hurried down the steps from one of the rickety structures that passed for buildings in this place. From the window, a brunette with wild tousled hair and not much on, waved after him.
"Come on back Buck!" She wailed. "You don't have to be in such a hurry now."
Chris, Mary and Vin could only watch as Buck Wilmington descended down the steps, one hand pulling up his britches, the other keeping a firm hold on the rest of his clothing . The expression on his face was not one of mischief as he was normally prone to displaying on occasions like this for the man had no concept of shame or embarrassment, but rather concern as marked by the frown he was wearing. Some of the townsfolk had started to laugh in amusement, with women bowing their heads and tittering to themselves while the men did not bother with such subtlety and openly guffawed. They were shaking their heads and laughing, telling themselves that this was just another Buck Wilmington moment.
"Chris," Buck fairly growled when he reached them. "I know you got a strange sense of humor but you mind warning me the next time you decide to pull one of your tricks?"
Chris, Vin and Mary exchanged glances before looking at Buck. "You didn't do this?" Chris asked, certain that this was Buck's ruse.
"No I didn't do this!" Buck retorted sharply, looking somewhat hurt that they would even consider that he would do something so stupid. "I was working on reports and the next time I knew, I was lying in bed next to that." He shifted his gaze at the window the brunette had retreated into after she had made her impassioned plea for his return.
"And this is bad how?" Mary replied with a completely straight face. "I was under the impression that finding yourself in the bed of a strange woman is not exactly a unique experience."
Despite the growing seriousness of the situation, Vin could not help but remark. "She got you there Buck."
"How would you like to be monitoring for gaseous anomalies for the next month, lieutenant." Buck returned irately.
Vin shrugged off the threat, knowing that it was just Buck's way of venting but having done so, he started to feel a little anxious realizing that the list of perpetrators who could carry out this ruse were starting to become uncomfortably short. JD simply did not have the nerve to transport them all here and program the computer to disregard Chris' authority. Aside from the fact that Chris would mostly likely resume the practice of keelhauling, JD had too much adoration for his captain to pull a prank like this.
Ezra on the other hand did have the expertise, not only in bypassing command recognition but also in transporting them here through the Maverick's formidable internal alarms to prevent such a that prevented an enemy ship from simply beaming crew away. However, Ezra had neither the disposition nor the emotional frame of mind for such mischief these days. The security chief was still nursing a broken heart following his splintered relationship with Julia Pemberton.
It could be transporter chief Rain, who Vin was getting along with famously because she had his own absurd sense of humor but once again, it came down to the obstacle of removing Chris' authorization. Only a command level officer could get away with it and although Alex was quite capable, she did not have the patience for tricks and would have selected another simulation because she did not like this one and tolerated it only for his sake. Josiah and Nathan were too sensible for such nonsense and Julia Pemberton fell under the same category as Ezra, too wounded to be in the mood for jokes.
"Okay," Mary spoke up. "This is starting to get creepy. Buck, we can't get out."
Buck stared at Chris. "What do you mean we can get out?"
"Like she says," Chris' scowl became deeper and his let his eyes move across the town and wondered who among the townsfolk was responsible for the situation he and his crew found themselves. "The arch doesn't respond to voice commands."
"Even your override?" Buck's eyes widened the more he was told.
"Even mine." Chris nodded unhappily.
"Are we the only ones here?" Buck asked once more.
"Its a safe bet that we aren't." Vin replied before Chris could. "Chris and I got taken at the same time and I'm pretty sure the same goes for Mary too. I think we all got swept out of where we were at the same time."
"Okay," Chris started to think about this a little more deeply. "Mary, where did you appear?" He turned to the blond and noted secretly to himself that he was issuing a standard order when they got out of here that she was never to wear her hair up whilst on his bridge.
"In my newspaper office." Mary remarked. "Remember, I play the intrepid news editor who tries to set the town on the road to lawlessness."
"That's right." Vin nodded. "Buck, was with a lady which is usually is in character, since he's the scoundrel remember?"
"And since we're always in the saloon together," Chris added in full agreement with Vin's hypothesizing. "That's where we appeared."
"So Josiah who is something of a preacher, will be in his church?" Mary ventured a guess.
"I think so." Chris nodded, becoming more and more confident that all his comrades were here, particularly those who indulged in the Magnificent Seven holodeck program. "Nathan ought to be at his infirmary, JD at his jailhouse since his the greenhorn sheriff and Ezra should be at one of the hotels, trying to con the locals out of their money."
"What about Alex and Julia?" Mary asked. "They're not the seven but their apart of the literature."
"True," Buck remarked and then pointed. "But remember, they were add in characters that came in later. They were not apart of the original literature that was created by the seven."
"Does it matter?" Vin looked at the first officer. "Besides, I've only got Alex to come to this program once time."
"Hell nobody forgot that." Buck rolled his eyes in sarcasm, remembering how much fun that had been. The science officer had made it clear that the only reason she was participating was because she had allowed herself to be talked into it by Vin and spent most of the time, complaining about the clothes and the backseat women were forced to take during this time.
"It wasn't that bad." Vin retorted but could not deny that even he had difficulty tolerating Alex's annoyance and he had learnt his lesson well and truly by then. She simply did not have the patience to be treated an anything less than an equal and thus whenever she joined him in this program, it was normally just the two of them and they spent it riding. In the end, Vin had to admit he liked it better that way.
"Yes it was." Both Mary and Chris said in unison. Vin gave them a look only to be met with a triumphant smirk on Buck's face.
"Alright," Chris spoke up a moment later, reminding everyone that jokes aside, they were still in very strange and tense situation. "Assuming that Alex and Julia are here, where would they be?" He asked.
"Julia is the emporium owner," Mary answered automatically.
"And Alex was supposed to be the new doctor." Vin offered.
"Alright then," Chris nodded, having something of a plan of action for the short term. At the moment, he was more concerned with making sure that all their number was complete before they attempted to figure out how they had come to be here and for that matter, how they were going to extricate themselves from their present situation. "Mary, you and Buck go find Alex and Julia. Vin and I will find Josiah, Nathan and JD. It shouldn't be that hard since this isn't a bustling metropolis and chances are, they will just as determined to find us as we are."
"Good idea," Buck replied, pleased that they had some kind of plan in motion, since his confusion over their entire situation was mounting. "If we get Julia here, she should be able to find out how we can access the holo-deck controls and get the exit back up."
"That's true," Mary said glancing at Chris before remembering something else. "Chris, we have to get out here, we're expected by the Antarians in a day. If we do not get there in time, we could be the reason for the genocide of their species."
Chris had not forgotten that at all. In fact, it was one of the primary reasons why he was so intent on getting them out of here. The Antarian crisis was sitting at razor's edge at the moment, with either side poised to take decisive action if mediation did not provide results. As it was, factions on either side, were pressing for any reason to justify abandoning the peace process and the absence of the mediating team required to bring that peace would serve their purpose well enough.
"I'm well aware of that Mary." Chris said with just a hint of tension in his voice for her to realise that despite their surroundings, he was still captain and their relationship had boundaries she could never cross for it to work.
"I'm sorry Chris," she responded, feeling a little ashamed to think that she considered he might forget about the Antarians when they were relying on both of them to prevent planetary mass destruction.
"Its alright," he answered, hand on her cheek as a gesture of forgiveness. "I'm worried about what's going to happen to them too."
Buck and Vin pulled back a moment, allowing the couple a quiet instant alone. Like most of the ship, Vin and Buck heartily approved of the relationship between Chris and Mary even if it was differing reasons. For Buck, he was happy to see that Chris was starting to let go of Sarah and Adam. It had taken him a long time to put the past behind him and start living his life without them. Mary with her own losses in her life seemed perfect because Chris had met someone who knew what it was like to a lose someone and he could in his own way could help her deal with her grief as Buck had once helped with his.
Vin had more simplistic reasons being that he liked Mary and Chris and seeing two people who meant so much to him, salve the wounds within each other gave Vin his own sense of pleasure. Chris Larabee was his best friend and he could read the captain's moods better than anyone, even Buck Wilmington could see the sadness that pervaded his eyes at times. Vin had more idea of how much weight Chris carried on his shoulders as captain and was happy that Mary could make that burden somewhat easier to bear.
When the tender interlude had passed, Chris turned back to the others in his party with the expression on his face that said clearly that he was ready to get back to working on their situation. "Alright, people, let's move like we got a purpose."
Transporter Chief Rain was unimpressed that she was forced to be late for her appointment with Billy Travis at Holo-deck 2. Although she had been running errands for the last hour, she had been more than confident that she would be able to keep her promise to Billy about teaching him how to surf. Unfortunately, at the 11th hour for these things only seemed to make their appearance then, she was called down to Transporter 3 which had been experiencing some strange power fluctuations. Since the nature of transporter travel was disassembling human atoms and reassembling them again, safety was of the utmost importance and a power fluctuation, though minor in its appearance was not acceptable in any shape of form.
Thus she had spent the last half an hour beneath the transporter console, checking every wire, relay and diode required to find the problem, which in the end turned out to be a damaged coil that took no more than a second to repair, once discovered. Rain had barely enough time to replace the damage section with a new part, dash back to her quarters in order to change before hurrying out again in order to reach Holo-deck 2. By the time she arrived at the place, she was out of breath and panting. On top of all the other problems that Billy must be experiencing being a Vulcan Human hybrid that made him the object of derision by other children his age, she did not mean to add her inability to keep a promise as another.
Rain cared genuinely and deeply for Billy Travis because he seemed so fragile, like something that ought to be put on a shelf and kept away from the ills of the world. She supposed she always had a soft spot for things left abandoned and although Billy had people in his life and a mother that adored him, Rain could see his loneliness still existed. She knew this gesture of holo-deck time together was a stopgap measure but she could think of no other that would suffice for the moment.
She was about to reach for the panel that activated the holodeck doors when suddenly; she heard red alert signals erupting all throughout the ship. Her heart leapt into her throat for a moment but the sudden burst of noise and was startled into jumping a little.
"All hands," the computerized voice echoed through the ship as Rain collected herself. "We have unauthorized transport. Repeat, we have unauthorized transport."
Rain's mind struggled to cope with the enormity of the statement. Someone had evidently bypassed all their security measures in place to keep just such a happenstance from occurring to spirit members of their crew away. She wondered who had been taken and found herself selflishly hoping that it was not Nathan, even though she admonished herself for such thinking a split second later. Unfortunately, the emergence of this crisis meant that she was going to have to break her promise to Billy after all, although he had lived on the Maverick long enough to know that red alert was nothing to be taken lightly. Pushing the button on the access panel, the doors to the holodeck slid open and she stepped inside the room, expecting to find Billy.
She did not find Billy or anyone else because Holo-deck 2 was empty.
Despite the fact that he was convinced that everything in front of him was an illusion, Ezra Standish could not help but feel the reality of it even more potently than usual. He had been in holodeck programs before and he knew that their ability to seem real was unquestionable but even if he could not distinguish this place as being something conjured up by the make believe abilities of the ship's computer and reality. As a security officer, he knew the extent of holographic programming. He could have focussed on that field of expertise as a career choice in Starfleet if he had felt more comfortable specialising in security. Thus, it was not with the eye of a casual observer that he marveled at the superior programming that had fashioned this world around him. Whoever had been responsible for his presence here was no novice but rather someone with an inordinate amount of skill.
The last thing he remembered was preparing to replicate a dozen roses in order to present them to Julia Pemberton whom he had intended seeing immediately after their manufacture. For the past few weeks since the Accran invasion of the Maverick, his relationship with the Chief Engineer had almost ground to a complete halt. At first, he had endured it, out of guilt and of understanding that what had transpired between them needed time to resolve. However, the more time passed, the more evident it began that nothing was being resolved and if anything their problem had placed such a sizeable gap between them that if he did not do something soon, he would lose her forever.
Ezra was too much in love with the titian hair beauty to let that happen. He had known from the minute that he had laid eyes on her, Julia was the one for him. Such clarity regarding matters of the heart was rare for him so he recognised the significance when visited by an epiphany as seeing her the first time had been. The Accrans, who were disembodied alien entities, had inhabited the bodies of the female members of the Maverick's crew when the receptacle of their consciousness had been brought on board the ship. In order to return to their home world, they were forced to take the ship and the creature inhabiting Julia's body was chosen to deal with the security officer. She seduced him into believing that he was making love to the woman who meant everything to him now when in truth, she was an alien entity assigned to keep him busy while the others of her kind invaded his ship.
After she had been freed of her captivity, Julia saw what he did as an act of betrayal even though she did not come out and say it. Although she assured him that she did not blame him for he could not have possibly known, Ezra was certain that she did blame him. After weeks of hoping the time apart would mend the broken bridges between them, Ezra decided enough was enough. He refused to let their relationship end this way and had come to the conclusion that decisive action was required. Ezra had planned to confront her because he could not stand being away from Julia any more. The void she left in his existence was more than he could stand and Ezra was determined to make her understand that he had not betrayed her. However, as luck would have it, the moment he had summed up courage enough to act on that decision, he had been spirited away from his quarters to find himself in this place.
Ezra knew where he was of course.
He had visited the fictional town of Four Corners to recognise its surroundings almost immediately. He had materialized in the middle of a card game, in period costume and facing a group of holodeck opponents that looked at him with impatience as they waited for him to deal the cards in his hands. For a few seconds, the security officer simply sat before the group, trying to come to grips with what had just happened and accustom himself to his present circumstances. A sigh of relief finally escaped his companions at the table when he forced his fingers to work and began handing out the cards.
As a security officer trained in covert operations and tactical response, Ezra's lapse was brief and his ability to settle into character was equally swift. Even though he was taken by surprise, the nature of his work and his role on the Maverick made him recover faster than most. As he dealt the cards wearing an expression on his face that appeared to be perfect calm, no one would have guessed the flurry of thoughts moving through his head as he tried to understand how this had come to pass.
Ezra looked around the room, letting his eyes sweep across the hotel saloon where his character, the gambler who made up one of the Magnificent Seven was presently fleecing tourists to the town with games of chance. Although Ezra enjoyed the simulation as did the captain and all the other members of the senior staff who joined him in these escapes from reality, he was not happy at being placed here with no idea of how it had happened. He continued the charade as he continuing playing the game of poker with his opponents, all the while noticing everything. Those at the felt covered table took no offense at this since in his fancy clothes of fine tailored burgundy coat and crisp white shirt, there was no doubt that he was a professional gambler and noticing everything was a tool of the trade.
It did not take long for Ezra to realise that this program was not the program that he and the senior staff enjoyed themselves in on so many occasions. It was a copy but there were textures and details in this version that claimed it to be the far superior of the two. From the old men across the street, taking shade underneath the awning of Gloria Potter's store to the dog that was following a group of children down the street, the attention to the tiniest aspect of this town had not been ignored. He could see red ribbons in the braided hair of one of the young girls in the party. Even the scents were as realistic as the images before him. The smell of tobacco and whiskey, the dry heat against his cheek and even the way the wind blew outside, all looked so real.
"Computer," Ezra spoke out. "Halt program."
Nothing happened except the fact that his companions were staring at him as if he had said something in Swahili.
"What are you talking about Standish?" A particularly grizzled prospector type demanded in question.
Ezra ignored him and tried again, refusing to give up without another try. "Computer, arch."
"What's a computer?" Another opponent inquired, looking at his companions in bewilderment before facing Ezra again.
Once again, Ezra's expression revealed that he felt nothing odd about his statement even though inwardly, the security officer's worst fears were confirmed. He was trapped in this simulation and could not escape. "I am merely thinking out loud," he responded clearing his throat. He knew that as an excuse, it was rather weak but had no time or explanation for something more elaborate or plausible. "I apologize for the distraction."
"Well," the prospector rumbled, stroking his graying beard as he answered. "You gotta try better than that to distract us into losing."
"I assure you," Ezra offered him a little smile. "Should I resort to those kinds of tactics in order to secure my victory, you would not be able to resist."
A small ripple of laughter swept through the table and Ezra maintained the persona that was required for the program even though silently, he was thinking fast and hard about the rising urgency of this situation. If the exit protocols were down, did that also mean the safety protocols were disabled? As entertaining as the Magnificent Seven program was, it was also extremely dangerous and not something that ought to be visited without safety protocols in place. Ezra knew the story of the seven men who defended a small town in the West during the 1800's as well as the rest of his comrades who indulged in this program. The seven faced dangerous enemies and if the safety protocols were disengaged then Ezra would be facing those villains on equal footing. Simulation or not, they could die in here.
That was not a prospect he was looking forward to.
Fortunately, he did not have to face that uncomfortable possibility alone for no sooner than the realisation had crossed his mind, he saw the captain and Vin Tanner making their appearance in the establishment. At least, he hoped it was them. In this make believe world, it was not beyond the realm of possibility that they could be holographic projections like everyone else in this place. Upon seeing Chris and Vin appear, Ezra found the perfect excuse to deal himself out of the game. Making a polite apologies that was met with indifference because his opponents could not care less what he did, as long as it had nothing to do with their money, Ezra left the table to join the captain and Vin who had taken up position next to the bar.
"What is going on?" Ezra asked gingerly as he took his place at their side. He was still uncertain whom he was dealing with an allowed Chris to speak first about their situation.
"I don't know," Chris shook his head and answered. "But its not just you. Mary's here and so is Buck. Vin and I were on the bridge when we got taken."
"I see." Ezra let out a sigh of relief, not simply because he was not alone in his captivity but because Chris' mention of the bridge indicated that he was talking to the captain of the Maverick and not the gunslinger that was native to this program. "Do we have any idea how?"
"If it's a transporter beam, it's the fastest one I've ever seen." Vin remarked. "There was nothing to let us know it was coming, not even a hum or any shimmer. We blinked and we were here."
"That's extremely disconcerting," Ezra remarked. "I had hoped it was one of our crewmen with a strange sense of humour and a monumental desire to spend some time in the brig."
"No, it wasn't Buck." Chris deadpanned. "We're operating under the assumption that the primary cast of characters have been brought to the holodeck to take part in the program."
"That means, the entire cast of the seven." Ezra nodded in understanding. "I believe the newspaper editor was also a part of the original literature, which may explain why Lieutenant Travis is here as well."
"We're not sure whether or not Julia and Alex are here," Vin volunteered. "Buck and Mary's has gone to look for them."
At the mention of Julia's name, Ezra stiffened a little even though his professionalism forced him to maintain his neutral expression. Ezra and Julia had not been in the same room for longer than a few minutes since things had gone wrong between them. Ezra found himself praying that she was not here as well because this was not the setting he wanted to make things right between them again. If Chris and Vin noticed Ezra's discomfiture, neither said anything about it, perfectly aware of the situation between the security chief and the chief engineer as well.
"We should get to the rest of our number and assume that whatever brought us here chooses not to make its move until then."
"Whatever brought us here?" Chris raised a brow at that idea. He had assumed that it was someone who had transported them to the holodeck not a something and yet he had come across species with extraordinary powers of teleportation before to know that what Ezra's suggestion was not implausible. In fact, the truth was, Ezra was quite astute in assuming that this entire situation could have been precipitated by something entirely unknown.
"I have a bad feeling gentlemen," Ezra swept his gaze across the room and before turning back to the captain. "I do not believe that this is our program."
"If not ours, whose?" Vin inquired quizzically, feeling a knot in his stomach when he thought that they might be in deeper trouble rather than simply being trapped in a holodeck program with no visible means of escape.
"I do not know," Ezra shook his head. "However, since the exit commands do not work, I fear the same may apply for the safety protocols as well."
"Aw hell...." Chris started to groan. He had forgotten all about that.
As the possibility of what all that might entail quickly sinking in, a new voice suddenly entered the mix of his thoughts and was immediately identified as some one he did not know.
"It's been a long time Larabee." The man's voice was a growl and Chris turned around to find himself facing a rather rotund behemoth with an eye patch and beaten and worn top hat, like the kind favored with formal fashions of four hundred years ago. He approached with a cadre of similarly disgruntled companions who took flanking position next to him as they filed into the room. As they did, the patrons of the saloon chose to so the exact opposite and following the stampede, the Maverick officers found themselves facing the new arrivals in what was almost classic stand off pose.
"Who is this guy?" Vin whispered in Chris' ear as the three stared at the group. There was no doubt in this mind that the situation was about to go from worrying to downright ugly in a matter of seconds.
"Beats me." Chris responded with a slight shrug.
"Well he certainly remembers you," Ezra retorted, wishing he had a phaser but had to be content with the weapon of his choice for his character, the six shooter resting comfortably in its holster and the small derringer beneath his sleeve.
"Can I do something for you?" Chris asked coolly, even though the man's glare left no mistaking what he wanted.
"You can die Larabee." The man answered, almost spitting out the words when they left his lips. "I've waited for this day for a long time and now I aim to have my revenge."
"Mister, I don't even have a clue." Chris returned, not really in the mood for this. He was more interested in getting his people out of this holodeck simulation, not become actively involved in it programming.
"You say you don't even remember Top Hat Bob?" He hissed, almost outraged by the notion that the object of his hatred and vengeance did not even have the courtesy to remember who he was or how he had been wronged.
"Top Hat," Ezra nodded in understanding. "I see that is why you wear that...." He gestured to the man's hat. "Very clever."
His sarcasm was obvious.
"Top Hat, is it?" Chris looked at the man with clear disinterest. "I don't know who you and if I did anything to you, I'm sorry but I don't want to fight you."
"That ain't what I heard," Top Hat seemed to smile, his lips pulled back to show rotten teeth beneath his moustache. "I heard you're a killer and after all these years, I ain't about to fade away now that I got you in my sights. So whether you remember me or not is really your problem cause I'm aiming to get my pound of flesh one way or another."
"I am quite amazed," Ezra spoke up and everyone turned to him for a moment. The tension, following those sharp and intense words dwindled somewhat as Top Hat regarded the southerner in his fancy clothes. "That you would even be able to quote Shylock."
Vin rolled his eyes and gave Ezra a look, which was about the only thing he could do because no more than a second later, Top Hat Bob went for his gun. All three men dove for cover behind the bar as a hail of bullets exploded from the discharge of several weapons at once. The projectiles lodged themselves into the wood of the counter and shattered the glasses stack neatly on the shelves behind it. Bottles shattered under the onslaught, sending glass shards in all directions and rain liquor around their ears.
"Smooth Ezra!" Vin shouted as he reached for his Winchester to fire back. The helm officer rolled onto his knees and poked his head over the edge of the counter to see Top Hat Bob and his men spreading out to varying points in the room. He used the edge to brace the rifle and pulled the trigger. An audible click followed but nothing else.
"What the hell!" He swore.
"You have to prime that thing first!" The security chief shouted with exasperation. "It's a lever action Winchester rifle!"
"But it always worked before!" Vin returned just as vehemently and hat to drop back under the cover of the bar when another bullet whizzed past his ear with such close proximity, he was certain he felt its heat singe his hair.
"Just get down!" Chris barked and unsheathed his own weapon, glad that he was not using anything as complicated as a rifle and prepared to return fire. The peacemaker felt good in his hand and fitted easily into his palm as if he had used it all his life. Bullets were exploding in all directions, the lamps overhead had been obliterated by stray fire and Chris wondered momentarily which idiot was trying to shoot them by aiming at the ceiling. The floor was covered with fragments of glass, some having been shot at while others broken when Top Hat Bob's gang had upended tables in order to use them for cover.
He pulled the trigger of his gun, spinning the chamber around in order to achieve some sort of rapid firing action when suddenly, instead of discharging, the entire mechanism dropped onto the bar counter and rolled across its length before falling down on the floor and disappearing amongst the debris. From behind the bar where Ezra was presently showing Vin how to prime his weapon, Chris heard a litany of words from the chief of security that was enough to make him blush.
He did not think that Ezra knew how to swear like that.
"Get your rear end back down here, Sir." Ezra grumbled and yanked Chris back to safety behind their hiding place.
"What just happened?" Chris said mystified, staring at the gun in a mixture of embarrassment and disbelief.
"Give me that!" Ezra snatched the gun away from his captain and pushed his own weapon into the man's hand. "You do not spin the chamber of these weapons like a spinning wheel captain, they had a tendency to fall out!"
"It always worked in the program!" Chris returned, feeling even more foolish because he felt like a grandstanding teenager. This was the kind of thing that JD was caught doing not him!
"This isn't the program!" Ezra returned. "This is real......."
Even as he said those words, the anger in his voice disconnected and it drifted into revelation. Inadvertently in his anger, the security chief had stumbled upon the unbelievable truth. For a moment, all three men stared at each other because they knew he was right. They knew the reason they were unable to call up the exit in order to escape the program, or why the computer did not respond to anything, not even an authorization code from the commander of the ship, the one person whose voice it could deny nothing. It explained quite clearly why their weapons were behaving as they were and why the safety protocols had been disengaged.
Knowing what they faced made things simpler to deal with as far Chris was concerned. They had to get out of here and regroup. Somehow, they needed to understand how this could have happened. Chris stopped thinking of this situation as annoying because it was not that at all, anyone of them could die in this place if he did not start remembering that he was a starship captain. Chris looked around and decided that he was not going to waste their time shooting this out with Top Hat Bob, not at least until he understood why they had been brought here.
"Vin get me that bottle!" He ordered the helmsman.
The bottle in question was one of the few that had not been damaged during the shooting. The Vulcan scrambled across the floor, trying to avoid cutting his hands to ribbons over the spray of glass from the resulting damage to the shelves and the liquor bottles housed on them. Vin grabbed the bottle, removing his hand just as a bullet slammed into the place where his arm would have been. Wishing he could go over there and tear Top Hat Bob a new one, Vin reminded himself that he had been given an order by the Captain.
Handing the bottle to Chris, the captain reached into his pocket and found a handkerchief, wondering momentarily what a gunslinger was doing with such a piece of linen but shook the thought out of his head because he was grateful for it presence. Stuffing the length of material through the mouth of the long necked bottle, Chris then retrieved the matches he knew was inside his coat because in his holodeck guise he always carried a cheroot with him.
"Captain," Ezra said with a smile. "I had no idea that you were so well versed with ancient weaponry, with the exception of six shooters."
If looks could kill, the glare Chris gave the security officer would have turned the man to dust.
Once the Molotov Cocktail that Chris had concocted was well and truly on its way to becoming their only means of escaping this place without killing anyone, Chris flung it over the counter and heard it crash with a piercing explosion of sound.
"Now!" Chris ordered as they emerged from their hiding place and saw that the cocktail had done its word, spreading fire across the floor, finding fuel in the debris and giving Top Hat and his cohorts something else to occupy their time as the three men made for the display window. They did not stop for one moment, barely ahead of the bullets that Top Hat and his comrades managed to sent at them despite the fire that was keeping them from doing more. Ezra allowed the derringer escape from his sleeve and using it as if he had been born to it, fired one bullet into the centre of the glass pane. It shattered spectacularly and immediately came down with a deafening roar as Chris, Vin and Ezra smashed through whatever minor fragments that still remained after the small bullet from the derringer was done with it.
Their sudden appearance caused a cry of surprise and shock from those outside and deciding that he was in no mood for facing Top Hat Bob again, at least for the moment, Chris thought that it was probably best if they made themselves scarce for the moment. The villain was probably right behind them and that did not leave much time for decision making.
"Get to the jailhouse!" He ordered.
No one argued and immediately made strides towards the centre of local constabulary for the town of Four Corners.
Ezra glanced back long enough to see what effect their gunfight with Top Hat Bob and his gang had upon the saloon. The place was ablaze and almost every piece of furniture was destroyed. Everything glass was broken and what liquor bottles had remained intact would not do so when the fire reached them. Ezra let out a sigh as they made their way to the jailhouse, praying that they could escape this place.
Or else they were never letting him back in there again.
It did not take Mary or Buck very long to find Alexandra Styles.
The simulation had provided Alex's character with a clinic on the far side of town on the rare instances she chose to take part in the program. Alex had made it abundantly clear on numerous occasions that she was an unwilling participant and mostly found herself here because Vin Tanner was the one person she did not have the ability to say no to. Mary smiled inwardly as she thought about the abrasive science officer attempting to blend in this environment. Even though Alex was more than capable of surviving in the rough and tumble existence of the Old West, she was incapable of doing so while constrained in the protocols of behaviour expected of women during the period.
Corsets and women with Klingon upbringings did not mix well, Mary thought with another little smile.
They continued across town, marveling at the amount of detail in the program, so absent from the one they visited in the holodeck during their recreation hours. At first, they had assumed they were in the same program that Chris loved so much but as they moved through the town, it became increasingly clear that this was not the same. There was definition in what they were seeing that seemed far superior to anything that was capable of being produced in their holodeck and yet it was impossible that it could not be anything but a product of a simulation. Mary found her senses being bombarded with smells and textures, of dry wind against her skin and the unmistakable feel of hot air that came with summer heat.
As she and Buck walked down the boardwalk, it felt odd to have so many different characters waving and saying hello to them as if they were truly apart of the town. Although Mary had seen some of the faces before, there was more to it now. Holodeck simulations were enhanced to such a point that its characters were amazingly real but Mary was getting a sense of them that was absent before and though she knew it was impossible, it was disconcerting. The possibility that she could be wrong lingered in her mind because her psychic ability was weak at best. While she had impressions, there was nothing decisive she could place her finger on to allege that there was some mischief at foot, other than the obvious of course. Mary resolved herself to ask Vin if he could confirm what she suspected when they met at the rendezvous pint. As a full Vulcan, Vin's telepathic abilities would be able to detect abnormalities if he were to attempt a meld with any one of the characters in the simulation.
"Is it me or is this program a lot bigger than we remember?" Buck asked as they neared the outskirts of town. The collection of dusty buildings had thinned out the further out they went and in the near horizon, they could see the onset of the dry New Mexican terrain of which Four Corners was a part.
"Its a lot bigger." Mary confirmed. "I don't remember seeing a blacksmith or a school house and the Emporium looks way bigger than what was in our program."
"Yeah," Buck nodded in agreement as he looked at the building in question. Their Emporium was no larger than Gloria Potter's store, but the structure that was erected in its place was two to three stories high with bright red awnings and looked like something one would find in the big city not in a small town. " I noticed." He frowned deeply because Buck was getting one of those feelings that made him suspected that they had grossly underestimated the urgency of their situation.
"Maybe we can figure this out when we put all our heads together." Mary remarked. After all, did not the old adage say that there was strength in numbers? Mary could not remember for certain but she hated the fact that they were at the mercy of this program with no discernible way to escape it. What was happening to the world outside while they were languishing here?
"Maybe," Buck sighed as the clinic came into sight. He was not so certain that their combined efforts would yield an answer to the situation they now found themselves embroiled. Like the one in the original Magnificent Seven program, Alexandra Style's clinic was a dual storied building with the practice of the new doctor located on the lower floor and her residence above.
They were about to approach the clinic when suddenly; the front door swung open and Alexandra Styles strode through the passage before stopping short at the sight of them. Mary and Buck had to pause and look too because Alex did not at all look like her medical counterpart on this program was meant to. Unlike Mary who was dressed in more clothes than she could tolerate in this hot, stifling environment, Alex was clad in a blouse that could have been of the period and a pair of figure hugging dark pants. Judging by the cut of them, it appeared to be a garment that had been made for a man but it fitted Alex anyway and the boots she wore were the kind of work worn by farmers, male and female alike.
"Just couldn't stand looking so pretty huh?" Buck said with a smirk as she reached them.
"Very funny," she retorted. "What the hell is going on here? Is this some kind of a joke! I'm in the middle of cataloging a month's work in stellar cartography and the next thing I know, I'm beamed into this holodeck and trapped in this program of all things, unable to get out!"
Mary and Buck exchanged a look before Mary remarked. "Didn't we do this already?" She asked with a little smile.
Buck grinned and turned back to Alex, "Alex, we're struck too and we don't know what's going on any more than you do. The captain is here and so is Vin. We're operating under the assumption that every one of the senior bridge staff in on the holodeck at the moment. The computer won't even acknowledge the captain's authorization code."
"That's impossible," Alex said calming down immediately once she realized that this was not just someone's twisted idea of a joke but a rather serious problem. "Do you know the kind of programming expertise that is required to lock out the Captain's codes?"
"Yeah," Buck nodded. "We're talking about a Class 1- Advance here."
"You have a Class 1 don't you?" Mary said staring at Alex.
"Ezra and I are the only ones on board who do." The science officer nodded. "However, to reprogram the computer to let us out of here, we'd have to reach it and we can't while the program is still running."
"Alright," Buck spoke up deciding nothing could be done for the moment and the most prudent course of action was to find the others and meet at the rendezvous point. Whoever had brought them here must have a reason and Buck would prefer to have everyone in their line of sight when their abductors chose to escalate the parameters of their captivity. "Let's go find the others and get back to the Captain. I don't like the idea of us being separated like this."
"I don't blame you," Alex agreed as they started moving towards the Emporium which would be their next port of call. Undoubtedly, they were placed in the natural settings of the characters they were playing and thus they would find Julia Pemberton, the owner of only Emporium in Four Corners at her premises. "It the exits are disabled, it might mean the same for the safety protocols."
Mary looked at the duo sharply. "You mean we could die in here?"
"Yes," Buck said grimly. "If the safety protocols have been disabled and there is no reason to assume that they haven't been, if we get hurt, we're going to feel it."
"Oh wonderful," the protocol officer grumbled, becoming less impressed by this whole situation by the minute. "In that case when we get to the Emporium, I'm getting out of these stupid clothes. This dress is to restricting. If trouble comes I'm going to have to move quickly without being hindered by what I'm wearing. Honestly, I have no idea how women in this time survive under all these layers, in this heat."
"Tell me about it," Alex agreed, glancing instinctively at the pants she was wearing. "I can't even imagine how they moved."
"Oh come now," Buck found himself unable to keep from teasing just a little. "I think you ladies look mighty lovely in dresses." He gave Mary a long appreciating look before turning to Alex and offering the same innuendo filled gesture.
"Spoken like a man," Mary rolled her eyes while Alex smirked in his direction.
"Spoken like a chauvinist pig, more like it." Alex added after a second.
Buck started to chuckle, enjoying their annoyance and feeling a little bit of the devil surfacing inside of him. Slipping his arms around both their waists and pulling them close for a moment, he gave them both a satisfied smile and remarked, "you girls know that you're just loving this!"
"Oh give me a break!"
"Drop dead!"
Came two simultaneous replies as they broke free and swatted him across the head and jabbed him in the ribs in the same spirit of mischief he was having at their expense. Buck could not help himself and started to guffaw as they shook their heads, descending into the same mire of laughter after a few seconds because sometimes the only way to look at a bad situation was with a good dose of humor. The momentary bout of playfulness passed with the trio feeling a little more at ease with things as they stood.
However, it was not a moment to last.
The man was big and he was rotund but the cruelty in his eyes and the leer he gave Alex and Mary when he and his cronies appeared out of nowhere (literally) in front of them and blocking their forward was unmistakable. He had a beard and moustache and had a stink about him that could have been whiskey and tobacco. There were rings on his fingers, the kind that left marks against the skin when employed in the action of battery and as he and his men stood before them, Buck knew instinctively that they were in trouble.
"Hello Wilmington." He announced himself as his men spread out around the three Starfleet officers.
"Do I know you?" Buck asked, even though he was certain that this creature before him believed so because of his programming.
"You trying to be funny boy?" The man took a step forward in his long tuxedo coat, dust covering the dark fabric, even the tails that hung behind him. His eyes widened and he stared at Buck with something that could only be described as half crazed mania.
"Listen pard..." Buck felt himself starting to lose patience with all this posturing. They had more important things to do than to attempt to play along with the fantasies of this world and in particular this odious man that he was quickly losing patience with.
"That's Mister Wickes to you!" He roared and lashed out, his hand flying towards Buck who stopped it easily by catching the approaching fist in his own and halting its progress any further, not even allowing to connect with skin.
"I don't have time for this." Buck warned in a low voice. "Go away."
Wickes started to laugh and pull back his fist. "I didn't think you had that much balls Wilmington." He retreated a step back and cast his gaze at Alex and Mary consecutively. "Maybe you better start considering that you ain't the one whose liable to know what it is to make an enemy of me as much as these whores you have here." Wickes turned his gaze at Mary. "What do you think darling?" He asked derisively. "Think you might like to work off Wilmington's debt to me?'
"What debt?" Alex found her impatience escalating as much as Buck's, despite the man standing behind her with a gun.
"He took some whores from me, made em think they were real women who had a right to go where they pleased. Don't worry," he looked at Buck once again. "I found where you sent them and had my men take care of it. Don't look like anyone will be getting two bits worth from them again."
Buck's jaw clenched, reminding himself that this was a holodeck program. No matter how repulsive this creature might be, none of the words he spoke had any true weight because the characters of the Magnificent Seven program were fictional. Even if it were not, the events he was describing were four hundred years in the past and beyond Buck's ability to change no matter how loathsome Mr Wickes might be and how provocative his words were to the first office of the Maverick.
"Well in that case," Buck retorted preparing to walk past. "I guess we're even."
"You cost me four whores," Wickes returned sharply, taking another step towards Mary. The protocol officer held her ground not prepared to be frightened by this repulsive specimen and prayed that he was merely a caricature of villains in the Old West. She hated to think that this animal actually had human shape in the past.
"I'm taking this one here," he gave Mary a menacing smile. "And your nigger." He said glancing at Alex. "With both of them on their backs, I might get my money back."
"Go to hell." Mary hissed in response before Buck could.
Wickes reacted swiftly with more speed than either Mary or Buck gave him credit and his ring-laden fist connected with her cheek with hard impact. Mary tumbled to the dirt, feeling her face flare in pain she tasted blood in her mouth where she had involuntarily bitten the inside of her cheek. The side of her face stung and she was half-aware of Buck moving forward before someone jammed a gun in his back and kept him from moving any further.
"You bastard!" Buck swore angrily, finding nothing that affronted him more than seeing a woman hit.
"Buck!" Mary managed to say before he did something they would all regret. "I'm okay!" She said quickly, aware that he would act and in doing so would get himself killed. Wickes was waiting for an excuse to kill him but at this moment, seemed content with posturing and toying with his victims first. She had seen men who craved power with such bloodthirsty delight during her years as a protocol officer in the diplomatic corps to know that Wickes was a sadistic brute. He wanted to torture Buck, not just physically but emotionally and hurting her and Alex was the way to do it.
"Listen to the gal," Wickes chuckled, exultant in his power at the subjugation of the enemy. "You're a smart one ain't ya honey?" He took another step towards Mary, who pulled back this time. "I'm looking forward to getting to know you a whole lot better." The glint in his eyes left no mistaking what were his intentions towards Mary if he was allowed to work his twisted will upon her.
Alex who had been quietly watching everything that was transpiring in the last few minutes felt herself revisited with images from her own past that were simply too close to home. Like Buck, Alex kept telling herself that this was simply an illusion of light and magnetic containment, that as repulsive as Mr Wickes might appear, he was not real. He was a figment of their imaginations given life by the holodeck and thus hating him would be an expenditure of emotion that was pointless for he was not alive to appreciate it.
However, as she stood there watching Mary's face cut and bleeding from where he had struck her, watched his eyes take on that sinister expression Alex recognized all too well, she knew that none of what was logical mattered at the moment. The blood that Mary had on her face was real. The memory of what this animal intended to do to her would be real and the agony she would endure for the rest of her life despite the fact that Mr Wickes was a hologram would also be real and that was all that truly mattered to Alex. She knew personally what it was like to go through that kind of hell and now that the effects upon her psyche were starting to dissipate, she would spare herself reliving that nightmare by seeing Mary endure it.
"Okay," Alex let out a deep sigh. "I've just about had as much of this shit as I'm going to take."
Wickes started to turn towards her when Alex spun around so quickly that the cohort holding a gun to her did not pull the trigger, stunned that a woman could move that fast. He raised his hand to fire and when he did, Alex caught his arm and aimed it in the direction of the man closest to them. Without missing a beat, she forced him to pull the trigger and a single bullet escaped the barrel to slam hard into his companion's sternum. The man let out a short scream as he went down but Alex was far from done. Without pausing to catch a breath, she repeated the maneuver twice in a flurry of movement no one had expected.
Realizing his comrades were in danger, the man holding a gun on Buck became momentarily distracted and gave Buck the opening he needed. The first officer turned around and threw his fist into the man's face, while his other hand snatched the gun away. His would be killer staggered to the ground and Buck dropped onto his knee to shove the weapon into the man's throat as he struggled to shake off the disorientation of Buck's punch. The feel of cold metal against his skin did that more effectively than any disjointed effort on his part.
Meanwhile Alex had downed two of Wickes' men and was contending with the one she had been using as a shield and her shooter. He was struggling to break out of her grip when she slammed an elbow into the crook of his arm. A loud sickening crack ripped through the air as the sound of breaking bone sent shudders through those who heard it. The gun in his hand fell to the ground and the breakage was followed by a high piercing scream, cut short when Alex sent her palm into his throat and brought him down like a sack of potatoes.
Realizing that he would soon be in a position of weakness, Wickes immediately went for Mary but while he had caught the protocol officer unawares earlier, this time he had no such advantage. Although Mary was not a combat specialist like Alex, Vulcan tenets required all members of their race even by marriage, to learn how to protect themselves. Her husband, a former starship captain, absolutely insisted on it. She had more than enough skill to stop his advance.
Kicking out her leg, she connected first with his knee and took pleasure in the howl of pain he emitted when he was brought down. Mary got to her feet quickly enough and threw a high kick that connected with his chin and sent him sprawling. She could see a trail of blood in mid air as he fell backwards and was certain that some teeth had been loosened. Mary did not intend to let him recover and let him remain in the dirt long enough for her to press the heel of her boot in the hard rise of his Adam's apple. Wickes started to choke as Mary glared down at him and the man's eyes widened as he stared back at the protocol officer, trying to swallow when he realized he had seen killers with kinder eyes.
"Nothing to say Mr Wickes?" Mary wiped the blood from her lips and her cheek, pushing her heel down harder against the man's throat and elicited a raspy cough when she asked her question. "I guess its not so easy when we can fight back is it?"
"Fuck you!" He gasped hoarsely. "I'll....kill...you!"
Mary pushed down her heel even further until his ability to speak dwindled to more bouts of gasping and choking.
"Mary...." Buck wondered whether she would kill him. It was not after all inconceivable, because Wickes was not really alive to begin with but her committing the act was another thing entirely.
"For the duration of our stay in this place," Mary ignored the first officer and let the pressure of her heel so Mr Wickes would be in the mind to pay attention to her words. "Stay away from us Mr Wickes. Do not assume that we are as helpless as we look because I assure you we are not. Come after us again and you'll wish you had died at birth." She punctuated the seriousness of that threat by pushing down sharply, making him scream before pulling her foot away as he was reduced to a violent fit of coughing. He was too engaged in trying to regain his breath that he did not notice Buck motioning to the two women under his command that it was time they vacated the area.
Behind them, two of Wickes' men lay dead in the dirt. Their blood oozing into the streets and creating saturated puddles in the ground as they lay there motionlessly. The forth was clutching his injured arm and scrambling towards his employers, having no wish to face the three on his own and unprepared to leave his master who was in a state himself. Wickes was trying to sit up, his round face red from the lack of air, had tears rolling down his cheeks as he gasped loudly. For the moment at least, he was neither in the position or the health to be of inconvenience to them.
"That looks bad." Buck winced as he looked at Mary's bruised face. Chris was going to have a fit when he saw this, the first officer thought to himself.
"Its okay," she grumbled, flinching a little when she attempted to examine the injury herself. The side of her face where she had been hit was still tender and instinctively, she looked over her shoulder and saw Wickes still where he was and felt a certain amount of satisfaction knowing that she was responsible for his present state. "I'll live."
"I guess that answers our question about the holodeck's safety protocols." Buck said unhappily, knowing that Wickes would be back. The hatred that Buck had seen in his eyes, even though was programmed by a computer, was real and no less dangerous. Buck had no doubt that Wickes would have killed them all if Alex had not acted when she had. He supposed he was not surprised that she would, considering her past dealt with men like Wickes and his treatment of Mary would have undoubtedly opened up a number of old wounds.
"Yes," Alex replied. "Mary, take this." She handed the protocol officer one of the guns she had retrieved from Wickes' man in the aftermath of their confrontation.
Mary took the weapon without question as Alex tucked hers into her pants since she did not possess a holster as Buck did. "Thanks." She studied the weapon closely. "I have a feeling that son of a bitch isn't done with us yet." She replied as they neared the steps of the Emporium.
She had seen enough men like Wickes in her time to know that he would not let the matter rest and injury to his pride was a crime he would not forgive unless those responsible were dead. "He'll be back, one way or another."
Unfortunately, neither Alex nor Buck could disagree with her on that point.
Josiah Sanchez was very confused.
The last thing he remembered was trying to deal with Lieutenant Anderson's issues with insecurity, particularly her concerns about not being able to draw the attention of those who mattered to her work. Josiah grimaced at how her therapist disappearing before her eyes while she was unburdening herself to him was going to play with her treatment. When he appeared in the walls of the church that was the natural environment of the preacher he played in the Magnificent Seven program, Josiah had thought that this was someone's idea of a joke. Although he loved spontaneity like the next man, the Counselor did not appreciate it when he was in session with a patient.
He had materialized before the pulpit and stood there for a few moments, trying to come to grips with the change in his situation, not at all happy by the fact that he had been removed from his patient and placed in this holodeck simulation without consent. At first Josiah had to admit that he attributed this bout of mischief making to the first office, since practical jokes seemed his habit. However, Josiah knew that despite the considered opinions of most, Buck did have limits and spiriting someone away without their consent would seem to fall under that category. Josiah had elected to postpone the debate at who had been responsible for his presence here for the moment, since he was eager to get back to Lieutenant Anderson who was probably deciding never to trust a Counselor again.
Unfortunately, when he asked the computer to produce the door way that would allow him escape from this world of shadow and light, held together by magnetic containment, nothing had happened. Outside he could still hear the sound of hoofs against gravel surfaces, people talking and going about their business and all the sounds and smells that cam with existence in a town in the Old West. Josiah tried several times to coax the uncooperative computer into letting him out of here before he realised that he was going nowhere. For a few minutes, he sat down on one of the pews inside the holy sanctuary to consider his thoughts.
There was no way he was getting out of here on his own. He was a Counselor and the science behind holographic projections was so beyond him that Josiah could not even put it into words. Yet, he was painfully aware that if he did not understand it, he would be going nowhere. He also considered whether he was alone here because if he was sent to the place occupied by the character he played in the simulation it would be logical to assume the others would have been subject to the same placements. If that were the case, then Julia Pemberton would also be here because she was also played one of the characters in the Magnificent Seven myth. Josiah knew if anyone could themselves from this fantasy world, it was the Chief Engineer of the Maverick and decided that he ought to go find her.
The Emporium her character owned was not far from his church and Josiah knew that Julia was probably as disorientated as he was and looking to find her way out of this simulated world, so he had better find her quickly. He did not want her to leave without him. Josiah stood up to leave when suddenly he saw a man standing at the main doors of the church. The man's sudden appearance made him jump a little and Josiah wondered how long he had been standing there.
"May I help you?" Josiah asked, wishing that the computer were recognizing commands so he could make the character disappear without his requiring to interact with hit.
"Mr Sanchez." The man said slowly. He was a young man, not much older than Vin Josiah estimated. He was handsome but there was something in his face that was inherently unappealing to look at for any length of time. His eyes, which were the most telling thing about him, were uncertain, yet calculating. Josiah knew that he was only a holographic recreation but whoever had designed the character had been a genius for Josiah could see a dozen neuroses simmering under those watery colored eyes.
"Yes." Josiah nodded, studying him closely now, tendrils of caution sneaking up his spine.
His visitor was dressed in a suit that was tweed and cut in the style of the day. He appeared neatly dressed despite the dust that seemed to coat everything in this place with a perennial layer of dust. He watched Josiah closely; placing him under almost as deep scrutiny as Josiah was observing him. For a moment, they appeared like two lions circling each other, waiting for the optimum moment to attack. "My name is Silas Poplar. I am a Pinkerton detective."
Josiah thought quickly, trying to remember what that name was supposed to mean. "What can I do for a Pinkerton detective?" Josiah answered evasively, hiding the fact that he had no idea what Poplar meant by that introduction.
"You travel to Vesta City two days ago." Poplar responded smoothly, his voice syrupy and yet seemed to drag across the ground like glass when he spoke.
Josiah supposed that Poplar must have been referring to the exploits of his character. "I did."
"May I inquire what you were doing there?" Poplar asked once again and suddenly a flash of insight told Josiah that he was being interrogated. He took on the tone that Ezra Standish did when the good natured personality of the happy go lucky gambler was wiped away with the needed point acuity of his security officer mindset.
"Nothing that is any of your concern unless you wish to tell me what this is all about." Josiah countered, suddenly realizing that he ought to be careful of what he said around this man. Until he could escape the program, Josiah was at the mercy of the scenario and the characters within it.
Poplar smiled but it was not one that indicated any humor or pleasure but rather the expression of an animal bearing its teeth before it lunged in for the kill. "Of course." Poplar replied politely. "There were two murders in Vesta City at the time of your stay, I believe you were involved."
Josiah showed no reaction. "Really?"
"You seemed unsurprised by that accusation," Poplar declared, his eyes narrowing in calculation. "How is that Mr Sanchez? Most men would react on some level."
"Are you a student of psycho analytical behavior?" Josiah looked at him with equal intensity.
"I cannot say that I am." The man gave him a look that showed his surprise that Josiah would even know what field of study meant to be able to ask him such a question.
"Than you are in no position to interpret human response are you?" The counselor returned. "I fortunately am an interested observer of human responses and my reaction is usually indicative of someone who has not committed the crime or on any level attached to him. That would explain my detachment would it not."
"It could mean that you could also be a good actor." Poplar returned, unprepared to be outdone by this preacher in this forgotten town, collecting dust with each breath of wind that happened by.
"And the same could be said of you." Josiah answered, in perfect control of the game they were playing and it was a game that they were currently engaged in, there was no doubt in his mind of that. Poplar was man who got by on intimidation and Josiah had been in the business of psychoanalysis far too long to not recognise the classic pattern of behavior the man was displaying.
"You've played a lot of games in your life have you not Mr Poplar?" The counselor asked softly, using the voice that lulled many patients into complacency. He began to circle Poplar as the man held still, somewhat trapped by the consistency of his words like all those who were supremely arrogant and felt some insular need to hear themselves spoken about as an object under glass. "I wager that you are very good at games that involved power and subjugation. You enjoy using your authority as a way to keep those you wish to dominate pinned down and unable to fight, perhaps fulfilling some inner need to be strong when once you were once not so and were the one trapped in amber, unable to move or scream."
Poplar's eyes flew open and he glared at Josiah with nothing less than hatred as the words bounced off his skin like rain. His breathing had become shallow and when he finally spoke, it was soft and uncertain, not at all like the strong, clear voice that had accused Josiah of murder a few minutes ago. "You're very good at fabrication Mr Sanchez," Poplar replied. "Perhaps that is how you lured your victims to you."
"Do you have any proof that I killed those women?" Josiah stared at him pointedly.
Poplar's bobbing Adam's apple answered for him before the words escaped his lips. "I will find some."
"Then until you do," the counselor started walking towards the door, "I'll be on my way."
He left Poplar in his church without waiting for a response. The man said nothing as Josiah made his departure even though the Counselor was certain that as long as he remained in this simulation in its present scenario with no means to alter its programming, his troubles with Mr Poplar was just beginning.
Josiah did not get very far towards the Emporium when he found himself pausing to join a crowd of people who were gathered in a side alley, rumbling with discontent as they stared at something he could not see. Although he knew he had no time for such lingering, Josiah could not keep himself from investigating. Whatever was happening, this fantasy world seemed to be the epicenter of it and he ought to be aware of everything if he was to navigate it safely. His approach immediately caused a swell of relief from the townsfolk who saw him not as the counselor he was but rather as one of the seven peacekeepers charged to protect their community.
He was met part way by Mr Wallis, owner of the hardware store and one of Four Corner's town leaders. The man's expression was grim and appeared as if his last meal had left a bad taste in his mouth. As Josiah and Wallis approached the thick of the crowd, they stepped away for him. Josiah knew immediately that whatever they saw had left its mark upon them and braced himself for the worst. Unfortunately, as they parted away and revealed what it was they had been gawking at so intensely, Josiah realised that he was wise to take such precautions.
Nathan Jackson was leaning over her and when Nathan looked over his shoulder at the his fellow crew mate, Josiah knew immediately it did not matter whether or not the creature before him was a hologram or flesh and blood, the doctor felt the death just as deeply. The woman over whom Nathan was kneeling was young and pretty, with light strands of blond hair that were splayed gently around her head as if the killer who had placed her in this resting place, had not wished her to appear disheveled.
She was no more than thirty, Josiah estimated, wearing a red dress with dainty white flowers printed upon its crimson backdrop. There were ribbons in her hair and Josiah ached wondering if they were holding those lovely locks in place for expediency or because she wanted to look becoming for someone. However, his observation of her appearance was soon forgotten when he saw how she had been placed in the middle of the street. Laid to rest by someone, who seemed almost reverent in his actions, she looked more like she was sleeping rather than dead. Where her eyes should have been staring lifelessly back at him, were two silver dollars, gleaming under the sun. Josiah swallowed thickly and searched for the cause of death.
It was soon made obvious by the ligature marks he spied around her throat.
"How long Nathan?" Josiah asked maintaining the charade before the onlookers, to whom she was someone they knew, someone they saw everyday. Holograms or not, their grief deserved to be respected.
"I can't say," Nathan shook his head. "A few hours."
The doctor made a few more quick examinations of the young woman before pushing himself to his feet. His postures was hunched and disturbed. It was the same manner he had when he had to inform someone that a loved one had died in his Sick Bay. The undertaker and his assistance soon arrived on the scene to take the body away for preparation and eventually burial.
"You've got to catch this man." Wallis turned to Josiah. "You've got to catch him! Our women won't feel safe until you do!"
Josiah cast a gaze at the ladies in the crowd who had seen the body, who knew the girl by the sorrow and fear in their eyes. Yes, they would indeed feel that way and rightly so. Everything Josiah could see about this crime indicated that this was not the action of someone who had just learnt to murder but rather someone that had honed his craft, probably through a process of trial and error and would hunt his fellow man like a hunter on safari. This would happen again and again until the perpetrator was stopped. For it was an obsession that could end no other way.
"We'll do what we can." Josiah assured him and then cast his gaze to the people around them. "Come on now, you've all seen enough. Let these good men here do what's proper for her." He gestured towards the undertaken who were trying to make their way through the bystanders to take the young woman away.
The crowd withdrew further as the undertaker prepared to remove the body. Some stayed a little longer, wishing to see the entire drama of the body being placed on the stretcher and being removed while others started to go shortly after Josiah had finished his speech, realizing that he was right. The sideshow was over. Josiah and Nathan looked at each other and waited until Wallis and everyone else had gone from the street before they would discuss the other matter at hand. Wallis returned to his hardware store while the undertakers, solemn in their duty and practiced after so many years of doing the same task over and over again, ferried the young woman away from the street where she had been left so heedlessly cast after her premature death.
Nathan's expression was particularly grey and Josiah wondered what reason was there for such hollowness in the man's eyes. As much as he hated seeing that girl dead, the truth of the matter was simply that she was not alive to begin with. She was a creation of the holodeck and if she died here, there would be no soul lost, just the termination of one character from the program.
"What the hell is going on here?" Nathan asked venomously once they were completely alone and could not be heard. "Who thinks it funny to drag me out of a delivery to be placed here, looking over that poor child."
"I don't know," Josiah retorted. "I had the same problem. One minute I was talking to Lieutenant Anderson, the next minute I'm here and the holodeck controls aren't working. I was on my way to find Julia when I saw you."
"Yeah," Nathan nodded having the same idea himself although he had not managed to act on his desire since he had materialized in front of a dead body. "Josiah," Nathan paused a moment trying to speak of something that had bothered him every since he examined the dead girl. "Do you remember much about the Magnificent Seven legend?"
"No," Josiah shook his head and answered. "Not really. I knew that they were seven gunfighters protecting a small frontier town and that there were varying characters, you know obligatory love interests of the day, that sort of thing but not the specifics."
"Oh." Nathan frowned as they resumed walking towards the Emporium since there was nothing to be done now that the young lady had been removed. "Its just that I do know something of the legend and I don't remember this story being apart of it."
"What about a Pinkerton detective named Poplar?" Josiah inquired, remembering his encounter with the odious man a short time ago that had given him some form of warnings about these murders. Josiah supposed that the discovery of a body in Four Corners would give fuel to the fire of Poplar's belief that he was somehow responsible for the deaths. The counselor sighed upon realizing he would soon get another visit from Poplar making more wild accusations.
Nathan thought for a moment, seeking for the name in his memory and shook his head when he could not. "I've never heard of him, why?"
"Well," Josiah frowned as he let his gaze sweep across the town. He noticed that the summer's day had disappeared behind thick grey clouds and in the distance, the wind was being stirred into frenzy as a dust storm appeared on the horizon preparing to put Four Corners in its path. "I had a visit from him when I showed up here and let me tell you he thinks I did the murders."
"What?" Nathan looked at him with astonishment, unable to even imagine such a thing. Josiah was one of the kindest men he knew, not only in deeds but also in nature. Even though Josiah appeared burly and rather formidable if taken at face value, the truth was, the counselor was a gentle giant who only engendered trust and respect from every person he had ever met. "That's crazy!" Nathan exclaimed in nothing less than outrage and disgust.
"I know that but I also think that he is something to be worried about." Josiah commented recalling quite clearly what he had seen in Poplar's eyes. Josiah had been a counselor for a long time and he had seen enough patients in his career to recognise the seeds or aberrant behavior. Poplar had all the symptoms of such dangerous "He thinks he's on a crusade and such men have to be watched carefully. No doubt Torquemada probably thought that he was really acting on god's word when he tortured all those people, interpreting the voices in his head which were probably his neuroses as a the Almighty speaking to him.
"You think he'll come after you even if he can't prove it?" Nathan looked at Josiah with growing concern.
"He looks like the kind that's about to slip over the edge. I believe that he has sociopath tendencies and if we are trapped in this simulation with no way out, then we have to deal with him in this environment."
"God." The doctor groaned realizing at that point how people of his racial distinction were regarded in this day and age. The idea of a doctor being black was almost unheard of and there were people and factions who were prepared to kill to make that a reality. "We better find Julia, quickly."
No sooner than Nathan had made that statement; Julia Pemberton appeared out of the front door of the Pemberton Emporium. The lady was dressed in lavender and looked every much the beauty that she was meant to be. Wearing the most expensive clothes in the fashion of the day, Julia breezed down the door and widened her emerald colored eyes with relief when she saw the two men before her. Raising her skirts in order to descend the steps, Julia took dainty steps down the painted wooden steps before stepping onto the street with them. She was clearly glad to see them by the smile on her face.
"Thank god, you guys are here!" Julia gushed. "I thought I was going crazy!"
"You got taken from where you were too?" Josiah asked, his theory that all the members of the bridge crew undergoing this same experience having been confirmed even more assuredly by the presence of Julia as well.
"Yes," she nodded. "I was in a maintenance shaft fixing a relay when I came here!"
"Have you also noticed that we can't access the holodeck controls?" Nathan remarked, hoping that the reason for her concern and relief at seeing them did not mean it was because she could find no way to escape their prison.
"Yes," Julia nodded with a frown. "I can't get anything to work. The computer won't accept any kind of voice command at all."
"So how do we get out?" Josiah asked gingerly, suddenly having this very bad feeling that the reason for Julia's anxiety was because she had not found the solution to the predicament and was just as hopelessly caught in this simulation as they were.
"If I can't access the computer to give me manual control, we'll have to rely on the outside getting us out." Julia gave them both an apologetic expression, wishing she could offer them better news.
"You mean we're stuck here until someone from the outside discovers we're stuck in here!" Nathan cried out with annoyance. "I can't be trapped in here indefinitely! I've got people to tend to! An entire ship who needs my help!"
"Hey," Julia retorted just as sharply, disliking the fact that she was as helpless as he was in this situation. Understanding the technology of this place was something she was a master at and yet she could do nothing to aid their situation. "I am not thrilled about this either. The Maverick is as much your ship as it is mind and while you save guard the crew, I do the same for the ship and I'm telling you we can't leave. The holodeck is a matter of perception and at the moment for me to find the manual control panel is impossible if the computer is compensating for my visual perception of the simulation. We could be standing right next to the thing but the computer will never let us near it because as far as its concerned, it has to maintain the illusion of Four Corners for us!"
"You know," Nathan threw his hand up in exasperation. "You hear about this stupid holodeck accidents and you think that its exaggeration but its not! This is dangerous! Do we even know that the safety protocols are on?"
Julia shrugged her shoulders in an answer and shook her head.
"Oh great!" The healer swore. "We could die in here!"
"Alright," Josiah spoke up before tempers became any more frayed. "Let's just calm down. Nathan, Julia," he gave them both the 'Josiah Sanchez special' coined by Chris Larabee to be the expression of disapproval that made even the captain embarrassed when he was being a pain in the ass to those around him. "You're friends. We need to work together to get out of here and we are not going to do this by climbing up the walls, am I right?"
"Yes Josiah." They both said in unison.
"Alright," Josiah sighed, using the same voice he used to use on his children when they were misbehaving. "Now, let's think about how we're going to get out of here."
From a distance, Silas Poplar watched.
He did not know the content of Josiah's conversation with the tall, black man and in truth he really did not care however; he did pay attention when she arrived. She was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen but then all the women he had ever graced with his touch were spectacular in their own way. Poplar watched the lovely woman with the fiery colored hair and the glittering emerald eyes with growing certainty that he simply had to have her. And it made it all the more convenient that Josiah knew her too for when the deed was done, Poplar would be able to make use of the relationship to his own ends.
He turned away, not wishing to be seen by them and slipped his hand into his pocket, where he felt the comforting cool sensation against his fingertips of a shiny, silver dollar.