Chapter Seven - Always Fear.....As Mister Tuvok unlocks my cell, I make certain to keep up the act. Once more, I affect the greasepaint and noisemakers for the benefit of...myself.
"It is about....nay, it is well past time that you were here, sir! The delicate, refined constitution of a true Smith may not abide such harsh imprisonment for very long."
It is difficult for me to believe that my other personality is able to speak that way without effort, strain, or laughter. I'll give Ceaucescu's people their due: When I told them to break me, they did just that. I would never have been able to pull off the last five years merely by acting. I'm good, but no one is quite that good. Take The Vulcan, for example. He seems less himself than before. Almost like a bum who has stolen a rich man's tuxedo. Definitely worth taking note of.
"The Captain has restricted your every movement, Doctor Smith. You may obtain water on demand. That is all. All other requests must be made with a senior officer present. Only the two Doctors Robinson are among those from The Jupiter 2 included in that list. Behave accordingly."
"Rest assured, sir. I am the very paragon of restraint and moderation."
Again, I am struck by a hint that Mister Tuvok is off his game, when I hear his very odd response to my sham.
"Oh, you are not."
He walks off, having said words that do not sound like they would ever even be contemplated by such a man.
"Time, I think, to test the fences."
On a deck very near to the Bridge, I make a simple request of a replicator.
"Restricted access. Authorization required."
My quest for hot cocoa a non-starter, I go to the odd areas of the lower decks, to request an entire new wardrobe.
"Restricted access. Authorization required."
There, I am also stopped by a young man who sees fit to stare at my arm.
"Gotta hand it to you, Doctor. I don't see your portable holo-emitter anywhere!"
I then decide that I will avoid the lower decks, unless it is absolutely necessary. In any event, my access does not increase of decrease with proximity to the Bridge ...holo-emitter, indeed.
I come upon a solution. I will override this 24th Century technology with 20th Century ingenuity. Mister Kim is a willing dupe.
"There's your coffee, Doc. I gotta go."
He will soon grant me far more than coffee, as my personal recorder took in his voice print. At least, this had been my hope.
"Voice print not verified. Please restate request."
No matter. Every computer is, at its core, a Zero-One abacus. It will yield just as certainly as American isolationism did after oil was found in Bosnia and Somalia.
Entering one of the holodecks, I find young William and Penelope in a theater mock-up, watching one of those wretched, insipid monster movies. I believe it to be the one with the X9 hypercannon powered by the Earth's magnetic field. It performs well, until the aliens alter our EMF ever so slightly, disrupting the weapon's delicate balance, which in turn enables Gamera to free Guranthos from the volcano.
How I hate and loathe these movies. Also, the children sit closely, but not closely enough. Amazing that their parents think that they will wait forever. I know the day will come when they will forget they are siblings. I'll be able to control them both outright, with a piece of extortable information they won't dare reveal to anyone. Pity they're such good children. I mean, you would think that something unbiblical would have occurred by now.
When they depart, I reenter, taking note that their clothes are in no way shape or form disheveled. Perhaps if Penelope just wore her hair differently....but no. Some things we must allow to take their firm, unnatural course. It will happen, between those two. It will be amusing to watch it all develop, as time goes by.
"Computer---is there any circumstance under which I can use this facility?"
Janeway is wily. After asking this beast a hundred questions, I am still no closer to accessing it.
"Negative. Restrictions upon Zachary Smith are total."
But in asking that final question, I shake something loose. Another, perhaps, who has earned The Captain's wrath? A young woman appears beside me---a hologram.
"Would you like to know how to use this facility, sir?"
"I would, Madam. Very much so."
I press my luck, to be sure.
"I am Doctor Zachary Smith."
She smiles, and tries to pretend this is all happenstance. I know that I now have an ally, one that needs me as I need her.
"I'm kind of a programmed-in hologuide for people under lockout. My name is Seska Marlis."
My holographic hostess, a Mizz Seska Marlis, was pretty, charming, affable, and quite pleasant to be around. She fooled me not at all, of course. I strongly suspected that I could not deceive her either, but wisely chose to try, feeling that if she were a kindred spirit, she would perhaps respect the attempt.
"Well, my dear, I could certainly use a kind hostess. I'm afraid that I, though certainly without meaning to, have deeply offended the sensibilities of your Captain Janeway."
Her overly quick smile told me everything. She knew that we were engaged in a game for gaming's sake. How wonderful to deal with something approaching an equal.
"As it happens, Doctor Smith, there are at least a few people who have crossed that particular line. At times, it seems its very difficult to not somehow offend our good Captain. That's one of the reasons I was created. To---help ease some of the burden of those she sometimes arbitrarily restricts, often with no cause at all."
I turn my back to her, which is equal parts contempt and trust, and ask my most pointed question yet.
"Can you give me access to this ship's replicators--and other systems?"
Her answer is almost exactly what I was hoping for.
"Yes. But why would I?"
Oh, that virginal moment when they think that it is they who are still in control of a situation. It passes so quickly. I turn back and look at her.
"Because---you need me, far more than I need you. You are the hologram of a dead woman--an Cardassian, not an Bajoran-- who wishes revenge from beyond her grave. I can be the means for that, or I can find another way to take this ship, and rest assured---I will. It may take time. But you may make book upon my success."
She acts as though I now have control, perhaps a little too quickly. But I am patient. She'll show her ace in time. They always do, whilst congratulating themselves on their own cleverness. It must be a bit like what the Robinson siblings do in the privacy of their lonely rooms--it just leaves less dirty linen.
"What--would you have me do?"
Something distasteful. That will anger her, or the parties that programmed her, well enough for my purposes.
"Replicate yourself ten times over. Five Bajoran Seskas, Five Cardassian. You see, without my Don Knottsesque persona in and about, I have needs that have not been met in some time. They needn't have personality or memory. They need merely be---functional."
The program tries to fight off her glare and her frown. It fails, and in that failure I gain my greatest victory. For I have genuinely offended my ally, an important step in keeping her off balance.
"Is that all?"
"No, my dear. You must also find out the best central location to be used for general observation. I wish an strategic vantage point."
Her frown fades, as it seems she now likes how I think.
"I have just such a place. But my scans say its currently occupied by some kind of mechanoid."
I smile a gentle, zephyrous smile as one of two dreams of death nears fruition."Never fear! The mechanoid in question shan't be there very long."
Soon, Boobie!
Departing the company of Seska's duplicates, I travel the many decks of Voyager, acting very much the sad sack.
"Please? Won't anyone at least give me enough access for a ham sandwich?"
Of course they will not--they're afraid of Janeway, who had made her opinion of me very, very clear. But this aids my cause as few things could. Going to the location the Seska holo described, I find our sarcastic 'mechanoid'.
"Doctor Smith, you should not be here. I fail to see how you evaded ship's sensors, but I shall....""Claudius, the wine has made you bold. Where ever is your stammer?"
The Robot shuts down, exactly as I had set him up to do, five years agone. My clownish self knew nothing of this. To quote the great duck philosopher---I can only do this trick but once. Heee---that part of me--would have surely squandered this opportunity by now. Secure in my station, I turn first to the future. To the younger Robinson children. They don't even know I'm watching. As I like it.
"Will, did you at least kiss Kes a few times, before she lost her patience?"
"Yeah. That part was good, anyway. What about you and Harry?"
"Mmmmm. No offense--but he was much better than you."
"Hey--none taken. There's a reason they say --'like kissing your sister'. Penny, it was all an accident. We got--lonely--and we got stupid."
"You're right. Won't let that happen again. Now we know what to watch for."
Paydirt. Sweet, rich, topsoil-laden, prime farming-land, paydirt. By kissing each other by accident, I will bind these two to me by design.
But where I wonder, has Major West gotten himself to?
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While Smith scanned for his nemesis, Harry and Kes awoke in Tuvok's cabin. Harry looked in the mirror, and gained a look of contempt as he did.
"Why do I have to be in Harry Kim's body? The man is a primeval dolt!"
'Neelix' shrugged.
"But no one will ever suspect him, anymore than they'll suspect Neelix. By the way, 'Kes'---how are you feeling?"
'Kes' looked around.
"She is powerful--but then we two did breed her kind. Will your Pagh Wraiths fulfill their part of the bargain?"
'Neelix' smiled a knowing smile.
"Don't worry. We have them on our side, plus our surprising ally. Heh. Wait'll he gets a load of me. Surprise, Zachary!"
'Tuvok' felt a silent call inside his own head.
"Please--who are you and why are you possessing me?"
"Its all right, Tuvok. I won't hurt you. I know you never betrayed me. You were the only real friend I ever had."
Tuvok's essence said a single word before calming.
"You."
---------------------------------------------
Smith's next scans quickly found who he was looking for, just not under the circumstances he was hoping to find him.
"Major West--conversing with the equally slippery Lt. Paris. Were I a bettor, I would wager that their last night's companions should have them at blows, and soon."
But Smith, the great planner and saboteur, could not have been more wrong.
--------------------------------------------
"So. You wanna fight it out?"
Tom shrugged.
"Maybe not this once. Don, I'm sorry."
The man of seeming ill temperament had actually endured a dismal childhood, an Anti-Catholic base Commander who had necessitated his name change from Westorellini, and five years of Zachary Smith.
He nodded at Tom.
"Apology accepted--and returned. Boy, when I say some wrong things--I go all out."
Tom was a man relieved inside. Fighting with Don West had no appeal to him, any more than fighting with Belanna did.
"You and me both, Major. For what its worth--I can pretty much tell I meant nothing to Judy, beyond a little talking. As to that, you pal, have got to accept that she's crazy about you. She never settled, or felt like she was."
Don scratched his head.
"That is tough for a guy like me to really take in. Tom--its hard for some ladies too. Belanna is gonna be a while in accepting that you're for real. This sister thing? Its just part of her figuring out why you'd bother with her. I did the same thing with Judy. When you've felt worthless--it just doesn't wear off overnight. Got me?"
"More than."
To the voyeuristic Smith's greater surprise, the two ladies in question emerged into view, with no scuffling apparent. Belanna took Tom's hand. She looked at Judy.
"He's always had a thing for blondes."
Judy actually kissed Don. She had been right.
The tension was now gone between them. West stared out in wonder."He---has always had a thing for Latin ladies."
As the parents-to-be walked off, Tom looked at Belanna.
"So where do we go from here?"
She shrugged.
"We go slowly. We go where whatever this thing of ours is takes us. We accept-- that we're neither of us geniuses in these matters. Kind of like Voyager itself. We just go."
"Okay. But---I Drive."
Down the hall, matters of approach were placed above matters of content, for the love was never in doubt.
"Don--I have a stupid way of suggesting some things."
"Judy---I have a really stupid way of reacting to some things. Thank God we screwed up with Tom and Belanna."
"Hee. Yeah. Other people might resent helping us blow off steam!"
Don stopped.
"I need music. Real music. Hey, Tom!? How's about one of those holo-decks?"
With a touch of Don's audio-files and some holo-wizardry from the other future married couple, the four danced to some 'real' music.
"Oh, Girl---I Don't Wanna Fight--I'm A Little Bit Wrong---And You're A Little Bit Right---I Say Girl--You Know That It's True----"
Don pointed to Judy's belly.
"Its A Little Bit Me---And Its A Little Bit You----Too."
Tom and Belanna sat out 'I'm A Believer', and just took in a moment which needed no introspection.
"Ya know, its funny?"
Belanna shook her head.
"What is?"
"This 'Believer' song. I've heard it before. At The Academy. Did you have Professor Kirk?"
She rolled her eyes.
"Peter C. 'Kobayashi' Kirk? The man who was to Cadets what his Uncle was to enemies of The Federation?"
Since official confirmation for the news of Captain James Kirk's resurrection had not reached the departing Voyager, Tom did not correct her.
"The very one. Well, I came back to his class one day, and lo and behold, he and Admiral Saavik are dancing to this! Weird, huh?"
"They always were. You know what else is weird?"
"No. What?"
Belanna pointed to one of the singers in the holo-recreation.
"Is it me, or does the one named Davy Jones resemble old portraits of Captain Chekov?"
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Smith turned the viewer off, disgustedly.
"There were vast dangers of that turning into some sort of group hug!"
He regained himself.
"Now, if the children and the youngsters are conducting themselves in a mature manner, perhaps the mature are acting, shall we say, in a childish manner?"
He turned his attention to the four strained Commanders of Voyager and The Jupiter 2.
The Doctors Robinson tried very hard to understand what had occurred, mostly without success.
"Maureen, I don't want our marriage to end. I also don't want a long-term relationship with Kathryn Janeway. But last night, I didn't even bother to stop myself. I didn't even bother to try."
Her words were harsh, but they were omni-directional.
"John, we've been together long enough that even our weaknesses last night shouldn't be enough to splinter what we have built. I don't believe that a random dalliance or two should break us, so long as its not part of a pattern. But things have got to change. The way we live aboard the Jupiter 2 has got to change. One of our children is about to make us grandparents. Did you know she told Will first? Judy knew that her little brother would be more stable hearing the news than would her own parents."
John was a man swimming in varied parts shame, relief, and confusion.
"What would you have me do?"
Maureen thought upon it, as she had before.
"Provided we don't stay aboard Voyager, we'd have to negotiate a new command compact. No more parents plus CO's. No more vagaries about when Penny and Will become adults in our eyes. Judy and Don are a couple--out in the open. And this, sir, is non-negotiable. We either get rid of that mooch, leech and possibly worse--or we have this ship's crew upgrade our cryo-tubes so that we can just leave him in there for all eternity, if need be. No more deals struck with aliens. No more secret devices, or lady robots. Zachary Smith is a danger to our mission, and one way or another, he goes away."
John turned and looked at the woman who gave a failed astronaut and dissolute NASA scientist religion and direction.
"I'll put everything on the table, so long as we understand that certain things may not be as negotiable as others. But I'll work at it. Make arrangements. We can turn Smith's room into a storage area, alleviate the kids' space problems. As for the baby--we'll find a way. But as for staying on Voyager--is that even a possibility?"
Maureen smiled.
"My major fear about Kathryn Janeway has already come to pass. And lets just say that Chakotay, as I talked with him, seemed more like a man happy not to be in Command than one chafing about his demotion to first officer. I'm not sure he's even aware how much his approach burdens Kathryn."
John lay back.
"She spent half the night justifying decisions she had made. They were good arguments. But Maureen? She is so torn. She tries to push everyone away with this mythical idea of a captain who never touches her crew."
She sat down beside her man, the wounds at least beginning to repair themselves.
"Well, I hope that is just a myth. This bizarre universe is somehow tied into 'Star Trek', after all. And back home, I was the leading K/U zine publisher in Florida!"
He looked up at the ceiling.
"If we stay, then the temptation we faced and failed to resist last night is going to be magnified by the order of sixty."
She kissed him, to ease their mutual shame.
"If we stay---then my nightmares about Will and Penny will never come to pass. I had one last night, John. The door to one of their rooms was closed. I heard them both behind it, giggling. Then the giggling turned to moans, soft, then loud. I woke up before I opened the door. But I knew-- I knew what they were doing behind there. And I couldn't hate them for it."
"Maureen, we raised them well. Very well.
They're good kids.""John, my darling--good kids get lonely too. If we choose not to stay--we'll have to start watching them every minute."
"They are a sister and a brother!"
"They are a boy and a girl."
John held her, shaking his head.
"No. I love you, but you are wrong. Will and I have talked about these matters. Not this particular, of course. But he has assured me that he can handle it. Will has never lied to me about anything important."
"John------"
But now he was kissing her, to banish the hateful subject, hopefully once and for all. This, in years to come, would prove largely a vain hope. Yet still, they had raised good kids.
The leaders of another, more surrogate family sat and discussed actions they had recently taken."I just wish there had been another way. They are exactly who they appear to be. This feels like a betrayal."
"We wouldn't have known that for certain until we did just what we did. We were alone with them. We were vulnerable. They could have done anything to us, if this were some form of trap. It wasn't. So now we only have to await their decision, and then ensure that its an informed decision."
Chakotay nodded.
"Permission to speak freely?"
"Granted. And I'm sorry if I made you feel that it wasn't."
He looked at Janeway, and withheld over a thousand comments that would never have truly reached her.
"I went with you, without question, in our efforts to smoke out any possible deception from John and Maureen. Its how a Maquis would have done it. Its how almost anyone in our place would have, I think. But Kathryn--this upcoming effort to ensure that the Robinsons make a so-called 'informed' decision? It can only lead to hurt feelings. Its not a tactic I've ever approved of."
"Disapproval noted, Commander. But I will do whatever I have to, to make sure that any applicants to our crew know full well what they're getting into. I'd be remiss if I did otherwise. Hurt feelings fade. The people who started out with me learned to drop using words like 'renegade' and 'traitor'. Your people learned to drop words like 'fascist' and 'dupestupe'. The Robinsons will have to lose whatever preconceptions they have about life here."
"I suppose that's true. But Kathryn--what if they decide not to stay?"
"I don't follow you."
He closed his eyes, then opened them and spoke.
"I think we should make an offer to keep Penny and Will. Here, they'll have opportunities they'd never have aboard Jupiter 2. Including---well, a mating pool, for want of a better term."
Captain Janeway fought off her shock that a descendant of the native peoples of The Americas would ever make such a suggestion about relocation. There were times when Chakotay's disconnect with his heritage was quite pronounced, even though his spirit-quests made him seem quite the opposite.
"I'm afraid that's out, Chakotay. Even if The Robinsons approved. Because if we wanted to drive them together, I can think of no easier way than cutting them off from their family, having no one to turn to but each other."
Chakotay's face darkened.
"In the 1890's, as the last white attempts at --- assimilation --- really kicked in, there were those among the remaining People who literally headed for the hills. Guess what became of their children, with no other families around?"
Kathryn nodded.
"Understood. But my choice stands, Chakotay. What's more--try telling what you just told me--to Tom Paris. Maybe then he'll forgive you."
He had forgotten about Tom, and what had passed between them, when Chakotay broke his silence. In seeking his forgiveness, Chakotay might find something he needed even more.
------------------------------------------------
Smith switched off the monitors.
"Sooo--The Robinsons are in need of a new social order. The Voyager-persons conspire and bicker. No one is particularly sure how well they like each other. The ground is fertile for a man with a mission. That would be me."
A voice behind him said otherwise.
"I knew your true personality would emerge, given time. You, Doctor Smith, are a malfeasant wonder."
Smith turned and looked at The EMH.
"A poor time to choose for a final confrontation, Doctor. I now have access to all manner of commands."
The EMH was not impressed.
"Such as? And don't count turning off poor Robot, here. He's not a part of Voyager's functions."
Smith nodded.
"But you are, Doc-tor. You are. Computer --Delete Emergency Medical Hologram."
The EMH did not vanish, and the computer merely said those three familiar words.
"Unable to comply."
"Did I mention that only Captain Janeway, under voice print and numerous redundancies, even has a prayer of erasing my program? A safeguard I took after a recent takeover effort."
But now the EMH heard a voice from behind him.
"That would be my takeover effort."
The EMH spun around, and looked very afraid.
"Seska Marlis? How-how is this even possible? Miss Torres took pains to erase every last trace of you!"The Bajoran-looking hologram smiled.
"Doctor, I taught Belanna everything she knows about getting down and dirty, and she's forgotten most of that serving under Janeway, to boot. Voyager will not ever be rid of me. But you are correct. Our so very dear friend Janeway has thrown some kickers in, to make you hard to kill."
"Yes. But since you are somehow keeping me from transferring my program out, it appears we have a stalemate. And I can explain what I'm doing here. You two, will not be able to do so that easily, I'm afraid."
But Doctor Smith recalled something.
"Seska---is his program not the result of merging between thousands of doctors' engrams?"
"Yes, Smith, it is. What's your point?"
The clown was definitely gone.
"Idi Amin once had a rival's wife beg him not to cut off his head. Kill him, yes. But she would service him all his days if his head was left on his neck. He agreed only to a compromise."
Smith looked at The EMH.
"So he cut off the top part of his head. Computer--delete as many of the individual engrams comprising the Doctor's program as you can. They have become infected with an virus."
The EMH felt his holo-blood run cold as the computer responded.
"Working to comply."
Not bothering to beg his captors, The EMH instead acted.
"Computer---backup---EMH Model Proto CEW3!"
As he vanished, the two conspirators stared on in disbelief. Especially Seska.
"How did he do that? I had his program locked into this location!"
Smith checked the readouts.
"He seems to have frustrated our efforts to murder him--by committing a form of suicide. The so-called 'Zimmerman Mark One' is no longer on this ship. Odd. he didn't seem the sort."
Seska just stood there, frozen.
"My dear? I said, The late EMH didn't seem the sort to....Hellllloooooooo?"
Into the observation room walked Neelix, Tuvok, Harry, and Kes. Smith feigned his clownish self once again.
"Ohhh.. Thank Heavens you came! This horrid woman did something to your holographic Doctor! I fear I was unable to stop her in time to save that pleasant and wonderful fellow. I regarded him as a true friend, and he shall be missed."
Neelix shrugged.
"Are you done, Doctor Smith? Because we all have work to do."
Smith raised an eyebrow.
"Work? What sort of work?"
Neelix ignored him, and turned to the Seska holo.
"Delete. Authorization Tain Elim Terok."
The unmoving holo indeed vanished. Smith was taken aback.
"But--her program was---"
Neelix cut him off.
"My program, Smith. You see, she was never Seska Marlis. I am."
'Neelix' pointed to Tuvok, Harry, and Kes.
"Meet Mister Lon Suder, Mister Jonas, and the entity called The Second Caretaker."
Smith shook his head, disbelieving.
"A sorry jest, people. There are no such things as spirits. Hobgoblins are the hobgoblins of little minds."
'Neelix' or Seska, smiled.
"But what if allying yourself with us got you back to your own Earth, Doctor?"
Smith decided that if it was a scam, it was a damned good one.
"Then--er, Madam, I would say that--I'm ready to believe you."
--------------------------------------------
Janeway came down to Sickbay immediately.
She saw Don West.
"Major, this had better be good."
"Trust me, Captain--it is. Judy and I came down to get a check-up on the baby. When we called for your EMH--well this is what we got, instead. Me, I always liked Frank better."
Janeway turned the corner, and saw a holographic man of similar build and height to their own doctor. But it sure as hell was not him.
"Ahhh, Captain Janeway. To what do I owe this pleasure?"
Janeway froze.
"Computer, reboot EMH program!"
"Now, see here, I...."
The aristocratic man faded.
"Good. Now, Computer--activate Emergency Medical Hologram."
But the same man reappeared.
"Please state the nahature of the emergahncy, if you would."
Captain Janeway asked the obvious.
"Who the hell are you?"
The neo-EMH winced, as did TV fan Don West.
"Why, Captain. I am who--I always am. Doctor Charles Emerson Winchester The Third--at your service--at least technically."
Tom walked in, and was just as stunned.
"Ah, Mister Paris. Just in time for your triage training, I see!"
Judy spoke when no one else could.
"Did you ever meet Trapper, after the war?"
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