Chapter Two:
Welcome to Four Corners

 

At least they thought it was a space station.

Its size implied nothing else, but it looked nothing like a station and reminded Alex of a four-tiered cake she had once seen at a wedding. The only thing missing was the figures perched at the very top, looking ready to take the plunge off the side into matrimony. The external hull was a pale amber colour, making Alex think it was constructed of copper, not the stronger stuff that was necessary for a prolonged existence in a vacuum. There was nothing to indicate how it managed to maintain its stationary orbit in space because it was nowhere near a spatial body of any kind to utilise its gravitational field. Nor were there any windows or hatches to reveal how one would enter the place.

It looked like a sculpture in space.

Recalling what happened the last time they encountered a mysterious object in space with similar properties, Alex had no intention of going anywhere near the thing until they knew more about it. Still, there was a timeless beauty about the structure, be it a station, ship or even city. It had been designed to be more than functional, and the aesthetic reminded Alex a little of Vulcan architecture, all curves in the colour of Seleya’s rich sand.

“Can the computer identify it?”

All eyes including her own were fixed on the image before them. In reality, the Maverick was still three minutes away from the station, but the glimpse afforded by their long-range sensors was undoubtedly striking. At her question, the brief silence that fell over all of them vanished, and the bridge was mobilised for action once more. Charlotte was the first to react because Alex’s question gave her the jump start to get going again. Her fingers ran over the console as she instructed the main computer to identify what they were seeing.

“No,” Charlotte answered after a moment, frowning at the lack of information appearing on the screen before her. “We have nothing like it on record.”

“We’re approaching the...” Jewel paused attempting to coin a term that fit before giving up and going for the obvious, “station now.”

“All stop,” Nora added, following Alex’s orders to bring the Maverick to a stop within 500 kilometres from the station.

The viewer now revealed the object, not as a distant scan, but rather its actual likeness took up the entire screen by its immense size. Even from Maverick’s current position, the station was enormous. Up close, the hull’s smooth finish was visible, with no signs of seams or joins where the hull plating was attached to the superstructure. It looked as if it was moulded out of a solid block of metal.

“I’m reading a neutronium-type alloy in the outer hull.”

“Neutronium?” Alex blinked. “Starship phasers won’t be enough to penetrate that. Nora, pull us back another 500 kilometres, I don’t want to be too close to that thing until we know what it is.”

“Is anyone alive on it?” Mary inquired.

Alex exchanged glanced with Charlotte and Kate at the question. “Scan for life signs.”

Charlotte nodded and obeyed immediately. A second later, she looked up shaking her head. “Not that our sensors are able to detect but neutronium is extremely dense. It could be interfering with our ability to scan them accurately.”

“Damn,” Alex cursed, knowing she had no choice in her next course of action. “Okay, its time to get the Captain up here. This situation just went over my pay grade.”

Loathed as Alex was to do it, she could not avoid notifying the Captain any longer. Knowing how much he needed the relaxation before their diplomatic mission on Kreetassa, she wanted him to enjoy his sojourn on the holodeck playing his favourite program. Then Alex remembered the only thing Chris Larabee liked more than playing the Man in Black, was unravelling a mystery. The object, space station, whatever it was out there, certainly qualified.

Mary let out a sigh of relief and then felt immediately guilty for wishing to see Chris Larabee in his command chair instead of Alex. For reasons that needed no explanation, Chris’s presence as master of the Maverick, was comforting during times of crisis. She had no doubt Alex felt the same and knew the third-ranking officer’s hesitation in calling the Captain back to the bridge was due to her affection for him, and not any desire to remain in command.

Alex was about to reach for her combadge when suddenly, the ship in the process of withdrawing from the station, suddenly came to a jolting halt. Alex almost fell out of her chair as the ship registered the interference and yellow alert warning lights began flashing across the bridge. Mary instinctively dug her nails into the armrests of her chair to keep from falling out of it, while across the bridge the rest of the officers on deck braced themselves against any solid surface to avoid being unseated or knocked off their feet.

“What the hell was that?” Alex demanded. “Did we just get snagged by a tractor beam?”

Both Charlotte and Kate were checking their stations furiously, their eyes scanning the readings to determine what had just happened to them. Multiple alerts were screaming across the ship, the sensors registering the jolt even if it could not explain why. Meanwhile, the view screen ahead revealed their lack of motion. The station remained the same size and the stars around it was still as a picture. At the Con, Alex saw Nora wrestling with the controls, her hands moving deftly over the helm station trying to get them moving again.
“It’s not a tractor beam,” Kate answered first, her expression revealing her concern as well as her bewilderment. “There’s no evidence of anything like that coming from the station.”

“Well we’re not caught in flypaper, something’s got us,” Alex grumbled and tapped her badge. “Captain, please report to the bridge immediately.”

Displaying similar puzzlement was Charlotte whose green eyes were scanning the displays on her console and was being presented with data she did not like. “I’m not picking up anything to explain why we’re stuck like this. I...I don’t understand it.”

“Several tonnes of starship doesn’t just stop moving,” Alex returned promptly and thought quickly. “Try broadening your search patterns for any non-standard types of radiation, including spatial phenomena like cosmic strings or micro-singularities. Kate, raise our shields. If what’s got us in its grip is coming from there, this could be the beginning of the hostilities.”

“Aye Commander,” Kate nodded once, agreeing with that suggestion wholeheartedly and started raising the shields.

“Anything?” Alex returned her attention to Charlotte.

“Nothing yet,” Charlotte shook her head, frustration mounting on her face as the answer to their predicament remained elusive.

“Alex,” Mary spoke up, but her voice was hushed. “Why isn’t the Captain answering?”

Alex tensed immediately.

She had been so busy issuing orders, trying to determine the cause of their situation; she had not noticed the Captain had yet to respond to her summons. Mary’s statement now struck her with the force of a locomotive because the protocol officer was absolutely correct. Chris Larabee should have responded to her call, if not already on his way to the bridge. Now that Alex thought about it, she realised he would have contacted the bridge immediately after feeling the jolt. The fact he had yet to do so, even with the ship on yellow alert, was not only completely out of character for him, but it was also unbelievable.

It wasn’t just the Captain.  Alex’s mind quickly grasped the magnitude of the problem. Buck and Ezra would also be raising the bridge if Chris had not.

All eyes were fixed on Alex as she tapped her com badge once more.

“Captain Larabee, please respond immediately.”

There was no answer.

*****

TEN MINUTES EARLIER

When the neck of his bottle of Red Eye exploded, leaving the body intact and fragments of glass scattered across the stained bar counter, Chris decided this was the ‘something’ Buck Wilmington had indicated. Outside the walls of the saloon, there was a hell of a ruckus brewing as riders on horseback, shot up the town, their loud and drunken hollering rising above the random burst of gunfire, throwing the quiet community into pandemonium.

More bursts of gunfire exploded across the interior of the saloon, sending people scurrying for cover. Some took refuge behind the wooden columns, others dove under tables or just hit the ground. Never one to waste good whisky, Chris filled up an unbroken shot glass and threw back the drink before heading out to investigate. He never realised how unruly the town of Four Corners had been before the arrival of the Seven. In the latter scenarios played by them, the place seemed calmer. Even if this was a holodeck simulation, he did not like this chaos in a town for whom he had developed quite an affection .

Stepping out into the boardwalk, he took a puff of the cheroot the Man in Black always seemed to have, seeing the men riding through town, raising nine kinds of hell astride their horses. They were repeatedly firing into the crowd, riding on a liquor high intending to cause a stir, more than actual harm. Trouble was, drunken men were terrible shots.

“Town always this lively?” He asked of the old man nursing his bottle against the front facade of the saloon.

The old man jumped when a bullet struck the barrel next to where he was sitting before he answered. “Trail herd from Texas, all liquored up. Got in the mood for a lynching.”

As he made that statement, Chris shifted his gaze to a group of men who were coming down the steps from what he knew to be the healer’s infirmary. His gut clenched when he realised it was Nathan they had in their sights for their act of murder. Even though it was a simulation, Chris would always have a knee jerk reaction to seeing any of his staff in danger.

For now, however, his Chief Medical Officer was playing his part in the staged drama, struggling to break free as he was dragged down the steps with a rope around his neck in ominous preparation for the death they had in mind for him. When Nathan’s eyes met Chris’s from across the dusty street, the doctor flashed the Captain a grin and a thumbs up, showing Chris he was getting into the spirit of the game and expecting the Man in Black to come to his rescue.

“Where’s the law?” Chris asked, wondering why the town didn’t have a lawman. In the scenarios they played, JD Dunne always played the part of the Sherrif. There had been no mention of what happened to his predecessor. A community this large had to have one, right?

The old man gestured to two riders fleeing the town for the desert. “Marshall and his deputy,” the man said and then snorted. “That isn’t even his horse.”

Chris watched as Nathan was wrestled onto a wagon and driven away, no doubt to Boot Hill where these things often ended up. Following the buckboard via the boardwalk, he noted the townsfolk doing little to stop this injustice. If anything, they were doing their level best to avoid noticing it at all. The captain had to wonder if it was because they were programmed to ignore the situation, allowing the players in the holodeck drama to have their fun, or were they really that indifferent to such a crime taking place before them.

Suddenly, a woman stepped out onto the street and for a moment, Chris thought Mary had decided to join them in the game and remembered she was spending some quality time with her son, and away from his jackassery. Though she bore Mary’s likeness, no doubt according to Buck’s specifications, the plucky newswoman who intended on standing up to the lynch mob, was a hologram and not his protocol officer and lover.

She was carrying a double-barrel shotgun which was clearly too much for her to handle, but the character (like Mary) was incredibly brave and righteous. She held her ground against them, for all the good it would do and tried to reason with men in no mind to listen to anything but the mob mentality they were gripped in, determined to see it reach its bloody conclusion.

“Stop right there!”

The fear in her face was evident and unfortunately for her, the men she was facing down, knew it.

“Step aside lady,” the leader of this bunch of thugs warned.

Not to be daunted, the woman held her ground and Chris had to admire her for that, even though he had a rough idea how this was going to play out, especially if the situation required the Man in Black and the rest of the seven to intervene.

“We don’t hang men around here for no reason!”

Chris smiled at that, thinking her hologram counterpart was very much like the woman he loved and once again, felt a pang of guilt at behaving like such an ass over a situation she had no control over. He hadn’t had a chance to apologise to her before entering the holodeck, opting to give her a little space before he made his act of contrition.

“He killed a good man. Said he was a doctor, but he let him die!”

The Texan’s outraged explanation returned Chris to the moment, and he noted Vin standing on the boardwalk, watching the proceedings with dislike. Was that a fucking broom? Chris’s eyes widened in surprise at the tool in the helmsman’s grip. Had the tracker started out as a janitor in this story? Where was his hat? His buckskin coat? In later scenarios, the tracker was never without his favourite jacket. Chris almost smiled at the man’s unfortunate circumstances when he heard Nathan shouting back.

“Hey, I didn’t say I was a doctor!”

Chris smirked. Try as he might, there was no concealing Nathan Jackson was anything but a highly educated, and skilled doctor and surgeon even in his speech, which was not period specific. Still, Nathan was clearly enjoying playing the part of the helpless victim (for now) and would take great satisfaction giving these men their comeuppance when Chris got things rolling

“Nathan didn’t kill your boss, gangrene did,” the newswoman raised the barrel of the shotgun higher, an indication she was not going to let them pass.

“You ought to be grateful we're getting rid of this quack. Ain't no darkie doctors, and there never will be.”

The captain’s jaw tightened at those words. Even four hundred years from when such ugliness had its day, hearing such comments engendered a visceral hatred in a man was raised with the principles of ‘Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combination’. IDIC, as it was known, was the cornerstone of Federation ideology and being reminded of the time in humanity’s history, when distinctions of one’s worth came down to such petty differences, made Chris’s stomach heave in disgust.

“You’re not hanging that man!” She refused to give up, even though everyone could see she was really not able to stop them. Her eyes showed she did not have the strength to pull the trigger and if she did, she was still outnumbered.

“I said get out of my way!”

The leader kicked out his foot and knocked her to the ground as the shotgun discharged impotently. Another one of the Texans rushed in to disarm her. Seeing even a holographic version of Mary treated this way was enough for Chris to mark the man for a good bullet later on. As it was, she was still struggling to get to her feet when the wagon continued towards Boot Hill, brushing off the temporary delay to get back on track.

“Are you people just going to let this happen?”

The backs turned on her was answer enough.

Chris was about to make his move when he heard an angry voice hollering across the street, and stifled a little smile when he saw Vin stepping out of the hardware store carrying a rifle, one not too different from the mare’s leg the character would eventually carry. The only difference between the two being the length of the barrel which had yet to be sawn off.

“You walk off with that rifle, you’re fired!”

Vin who already had a Texan accent because of his upbringing, gave the man a little look before responding with his usual laconic drawl. “Hell, I’m probably gonna get myself killed, ain’t gotta worry about a new job too.”

This did make Chris chuckled and as Vin’s eyes lifted, caught the Captain’s gaze. Both men nodded at each other, ready to begin the program and stepped out onto the street. The two of them met up in the middle, walking purposefully through the town of Four Corners, oblivious to the thunder of hoofbeats behind them. This time, not coming from the hooligans roaming town but the stagecoach making its arrival in Four Corners.

“What the hell were you doing in there?” Chris had to ask as they got their guns ready for the ensuing gunfight.

“I had a job apparently,” Vin shrugged as he slung the rifle over his shoulder.

“Pushing a broom?” The Captain’s brow arched in amusement. “You?”

Vin bristle and shot him a glare. “What’s that supposed to mean?

“It means, weren’t you the one who almost got thrown out of your quarters by your wife for leaving clothes all over the floor?”

“Shaddap Larabee,” Vin snorted. When they were in this place, in these clothes, their Starfleet rank was non-existent. Here they were the gunslinger and the tracker, as well as the best friends that they were.

Chris laughed a little harder and then faced front again. Up ahead, the short fence surrounding the cemetery where the healer was about to meet his untimely end approached. Nathan was still looking as he was enjoying this whole thing, even though four hundred years ago, he might not have taken the situation as lightly. Standing on top of a wagon, the noose around his neck, Nathan knew he would soon be delivered and the holodeck safeties would never let any harm come to him.

“Wonder where the others are?” Vin inquired, scanning the area and seeing the stagecoach continuing its journey out of town.

“According to the storyline,” Chris remarked, having not investigated too much of the tale because he wanted to be surprised, “they’re around here somewhere.”

A small crowd had formed to watch the execution taking place. Nathan was scanning the area, searching the sea of faces for someone familiar when he spotted Chris and Vin. For the first time, the doctor appeared a little relieved by their presence, possibly because the taunts of the men hell-bent on hanging him might be starting to strike home a little closer than he liked. Behind Chris and Vin, Nathan saw JD hurrying up the street, racing to them to avoid missing out on the action.

Suddenly the floor beneath them shuddered. The jolt was violent enough for both men to feel it through their boots and almost stumble slightly. On the wagon Nathan was standing, the healer almost lost his footing before he was steadied by one of his captors, who had no intention of letting him die until they were ready for him to do so. JD had stopped running and was staring at them with a look of open=mouthed surprise.

Meanwhile, the holodeck characters noticed none of this.

“What the hell was that?” Vin spoke first, familiar enough with his ship to know something had just struck the Maverick.

“Computer, halt program!” Chris barked, ignoring Vin’s question because all he could think about right now, was the danger his ship might potentially be facing. Why hadn’t Alex called? The woman knew better than to delay notifying him if there was any threat to the Maverick.

His demand for the computer to halt the program went unheard. It continued to run, with the annoying laugh of the Texans’ leader reaching across the cemetery. Chris and Vin exchanged alarmed glances when they realised nothing was freezing as it was supposed to do when the captain had given the holodeck computer the command to stop.

“Computer, halt program,” Chris repeated, his alarm rising another notch. The last time this happened, they were trapped by Q and all the safeties had been disabled. If this was a repeat of that situation, they were in a hell of a lot of trouble. However, Chris knew for a fact this was not Q. Billy still played with Quinn, Q’s son. This much Chris knew and that meant the Maverick had been free from Q’s shenanigans.

When that second demand went unanswered, Vin gave it a try. “Computer, arch.”

If the simulation wasn’t functioning properly they had to get out of here. If the Maverick was under attack, they needed to be on the bridge, although like Chris, Vin wondered why Alex had not raised the alarm before a possible threat became a very real one.

Nothing happened.

“Aw hell.”

Suddenly Chris and Vin realised, as they watched Nathan about to be strung up, they had a bigger problem then not just being able to get out of the holodeck.

 

After failing to contact any of the senior staff in Holodeck One and confirming all seven men were still on board the Maverick, Alex finally reached the unpleasant conclusion Chris Larabee hadn’t checked in with the bridge because he simply couldn’t. The could be no other explanation for his continued silence. It was a running joke among the senior staff on the Maverick, Chris went into the shower with his combadge and would have had it surgically grafted to his person if Nathan allowed it. The very idea he would ignore a summons to the bridge following an alert was not only preposterous but rather ominous in light of their present difficulties.

With the mysterious space station having no interest in them beyond holding them in position like a fly trapped in amber, Alex concluded their out of touch crew members was the only reason for it. The last time anyone had taken the Captain or any staff off the ship, it was due to the handiwork of the Q, but the Q entity had promised to avoid bedevilling the crew of the Maverick since his son Quinn considered Billy Travis a playmate. Of course, it could be the C’Kaia who had a personal grudge against the Captain but they had the firepower to obliterate the ship and simply take Chris, not waste their time with snares.

No, this was not the work of either Q or the C’Kaia. The culprit was the station before them, the one they could not escape.

“Charlotte, you have the Con,” Alex said, gratefully vacating Chris Larabee’s chair, feeling it much too big for her all of a sudden. Gesturing at Mary to follow her, she headed towards the turbo lift, knowing the woman would be as worried about the Captain as she would be about Vin if left behind on the bridge. “Kate, continue to monitor that thing,” she glanced at the station on the viewer. “I want to know the minute anything changes. We’re going to the holodeck.”

“Aye Commander,” Kate nodded.

Mary offered Alex a look of gratitude, hating nothing more than having to stay behind when the others faced danger. On previous occasions, she would be next to Chris offering him her support, but now it was he who might be in danger and Mary couldn’t stand sitting on the sidelines. As Alex led the way to the turbo lift, Mary saw her tapping her combadge. She guessed whatever was going on down in Holodeck One, they needed expert help.

“Julia, this is Alex, I need you to meet me down at Holodeck One.”

The doors parted when Julia’s voice responded. “What’s happening? Where’s the Captain?”

The Chief Engineer of the Maverick was herself trying to determine the nature of the trap her ship was presently ensnared and had expected the Captain to either demand for answers or solutions to their predicament. Upon hearing Alex’s request for her to report to the Holodeck, Julia realised the Captain’s silence might have darker reasons because she remembered where Ezra had been intending to spend the afternoon.
“I think he and the rest of the senior staff are trapped in the holodeck,” Alex explained as the doors to the turbo lift slid close sealing them inside and ferrying them to their destination. Yet even as she answered Julia, Alex knew the problem was much larger than they knew because short of death, nothing would prevent Chris Larabee from responding to a summons from the bridge. Nothing.

“How?”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Alex answered, exchanging a glance with Mary. “But I’m going to say it’s got to do with the reason we’re snagged in place.”

There was a brief pause before Julia’s voice returned. “I’m on my way.”

*****

The minute Mary Travis stepped onto the level of the Maverick where the holodecks were located, she felt it.

It immediately enveloped her like the coils of a python and made Mary feel as if she were trapped in a crowded room, with bodies pressed against her. Except this was in her mind. She could feel them in her head, the presence of an alien consciousness pushing hard against her defences. As she stepped out of the turbo lift, she was affected immediately but saw the science officer next to her, oblivious to the mental invasion Mary could feel clawing at her like invisible wraiths.

Being married to a Vulcan had forced Mary to develop her own psi ability during the meld between husband and wife. While her telepathic powers wouldn’t even match that of a Vulcan child, exposure to the meld made her sensitive to telepathic interference as well as feeling a mental connection to the people she had a deep emotional connection.

During the battle of Sector 001, Mary had known instantly when Syan had died fighting the Borg. She felt the final moment of pain and shock, before everything he was, even his katra, went black and was lost to the solar winds. After meeting Chris Larabee, her growing affection for the Captain of the Maverick had allowed her to find him on the vast C’Kaia ship when the alien insects had abducted him. Right now, she could sense nothing of him and it filled her with dread.

“Alex,” she said when she managed to compose herself. “We’re not alone.”

The science officer stopped in mid-step and turned to her sharply. “What do you mean?”

“I mean,” Mary’s eyes darted around the hallway emptied by their status at yellow alert and repeated herself. “We’re not alone.”

Alex followed suit, glancing up and down the hallways before facing Mary again, needing more clarity on the woman’s statement. If there was an intruder alert, she needed to know immediately to raise the alarm. “Mary, what do you mean?”

“I mean I can feel an alien presence on board,” Mary explained and tried to focus her thoughts so she could give Alex a better answer. Her eyes rested on the door to the holodeck. “In there.”

Alex’s chest tightened because that would mean the Captain was not just trapped in the holodeck, he and the others, Vin her mind thought immediately, might be captured.

“Are you sure?”

However, even as she asked the question, Alex knew Mary wouldn’t mention it unless she was anything but convinced of this fact. On previous occasions, Mary’s psi ability had proved useful in being able to detect telepathic influences. As one who was married to a Vulcan, she knew the bonding process could awaken the ability in humans, albeit in a limited fashion. It was Mary who helped Vin gain some discipline with his own abilities because his upbringing had kept him from learning what was taught to every Vulcan from childhood.

“Nevermind,” Alex said quickly. “Of course you are. You’re sensing them in the holodeck?”

“Sensing what?” Julia Pemberton announced her arrival with Rain walking alongside her, having just emerged from the turbo lift. Alex was about to question why Rain was present when she remembered Julia and Rain had intended on making modifications to improve transporter functions when the trouble had begun.

“I’ll explain later,” Alex replied, feeling the need to get into the holodeck more urgent than ever in light of Mary’s revelation. Pressing the panel, she waited for the doors to slide open.

Nothing happened.

“Try it again,” Mary urged, growing more anxious by the door’s lack of cooperation.

Like Alex, Julia and Rain tensed at the door’s refusal to part. When Alex leaned forward and tapped the panel and once again, there was no response. Alex swept her gaze over her comrade’s faces and then spoke once more. “Computer, open the door to Holodeck One, authorisation Commander, Styles Alexandra.”

The door refused to move.

“That can’t happen,” Julia declared bewildered. “Let me try.”

The engineer immediately stepped forward and pressed the button once more before receiving the same result. However, unlike Alex, she was not satisfied by that an immediately retrieved a tool she called a ‘sonic’ for some unknown reason, and began working on the panel next to the door controls.

“Okay, what’s going on?” Rain demanded while Julia worked. The Trill transporter chief had been compelled to come down after learning there was trouble with the holodeck where Nathan was presently engaged in the Magnificent Seven program with his friends.

“The Captain isn’t answering his hails, “Alex explained. “None of them are.”

“That’s not good,” Rain frowned. “You think they’re hurt?”

Rain who was a delightfully wicked prankster with an inappropriate sense of humour was all serious now and Alex could see just how worried she was about Nathan.

“Mary thinks we have guests on board,” Alex revealed. “They might have something to do with why the Captain and the others are on silent running.”

“How is that possible?” Rain gasped. “The only way it could be done is through transportation and no one, I mean no one can get through my security protocols. I’ve programmed any pattern attempting to get through our measures to be diverted into a secured buffer. It’s where I store the collective works of Kenny G and Justin Bieber.”

“Oh my God,” Mary made a face. “That’s against the Khitomer Accord.”

Alex shook her head, ignoring the two for the moment because she was more interested in Julia’s progress with the door, although Rain’s method of torture was certainly cruel by her reckoning.

“Julia? How are you doing?”

“Almost there.”

By now the panel was a tangle of wire and exposed chips, brightly illuminated with a luminescent glow. Her fingers moved deftly as she wielded the tool over the circuitry and no more than a second after uttering those words, the door slid open suddenly, startling all three of the officers at its abruptness.

“Good job,” Alex complimented and then added. “Can you keep it open. I don’t want it sealing us in if they’re in trouble in there. I want the exit open indefinitely.”

“No problem,” Julia said tinkering a little more to comply with the order. After a second, she looked up at the science officer and temporary commander of the Maverick. “It’s done.”

“Okay,” Alex nodded as she looked ahead to the world awaiting her on the other side of the doorway. “Let’s go.”

*****

Judging by the position of the sun in the simulated sky, it was noon in the town of Four Corners.

All four women had visited the place at one time or another, with Mary and Julia participating more frequently than Alex and Rain. Rain found her tolerance of the program marginal, mostly because the Old West to an advanced society like the Trill thought the time period a notch above primitive and Alex disliked any setting where the conventions of the day gave men a great deal of power over women. Considering her history, Alex could never find such a situation nostalgic or acceptable. Of course, she did not voice it to Vin because she knew he loved being here with the Captain and his friends, and would never dampen his enthusiasm with that revelation.

Nothing appeared out of place with the simulation revealing just another day in Four Corners, except the town did appear a little rougher than they remembered. The community they had seen was bustling and vibrant, but then Alex recalled this particular scenario was based on the town at the onset of the Seven’s arrival, so it might be wilder than before. A dusty wind swept across the wooden buildings, clattering the window shutters and assailing sign posts hanging from awnings. The sand carried on the wind had scoured the paint of most structures, turning the colours from contrasting to watery. As always, the air carried the scent of animal manure, cheap liquor and dry hay.

“Everything seems fine,” Julia remarked, giving the place a once over before making sure the arch was still in place, allowing them their escape if needed. The townsfolk seemed to take no notice of it as they passed by, even though their movements were directed strategically around it. “Maybe their combadges are malfunctioning in here.”

“I swear, if I find out if they’ve taken off their combadges so they can carouse with saloon girls or worse, their shower preferences are going to be set for icy cold, all month.” Rain grumbled.

Alex stifled a little smile, remembering Ezra’s experience after being foolish enough to tamper with the customised settings Rain had put on her transporter system. The Security Chief had learned his lesson well.

“It’s nothing like that,” Mary said firmly, her expression devoid of any amusement. She could sense the alien presence in here as if Four Corners was the epicentre of their concentration. “The alien presence I’m feeling, its in here, all around us.”

“Alright,” Alex said to her companions. “We’re not going to make any threatening moves until we learn more about the situation. Right now, our primary goal is to find the Captain and the others and get them out of here. We’ll deal with the intruders once we’ve appraised the Captain of what’s going on.”

“Works for me,” Julia nodded in agreement.

Rain did not answer, because she was too concerned with the looks they were getting from the townsfolk. Some had paused to stare, others were whispering softly to themselves, shooting reproachful stares at the four new arrivals. It took Rain a minute to understand why. Looking down at herself and the other officers present, she realised they were four women dressed in what was essentially men’s clothing.

“Hey we’re sticking out like sore thumbs without dresses,” Rain pointed out. “We need to look demure and helpless. Somebody, pretend to get the vapours.”

“That’s not funny,” Alex growled and once again cursed this program and its antiquated ideas of gender equality. “Let’s just find the Captain and get out of here.”

“Good idea,” Mary agreed, searching the landscape before her and ignoring the looks of reproach and amusement being sent in their direction. “Where could Chris and the others be?”

Alex, Julia and Rain stared at each other before answering in perfect unison. “Saloon.”

*****

In the saloon they would later recognise as the Standish Tavern when the gambler of the group bought the place, they found the Captain, Vin and Nathan. Once again, the premises seemed rougher, with several windows recently broken, if the glass on the floor was any indication. There seemed to be dust everywhere and Alex realised this was so because it wasn’t Inez behind the bar. Buck had programmed Inez’s likeness as the bartender to this establishment and like her real-life counterpart, the holographic Inez was just as fastidious and kept the place as hygienic as possible in this day and age.

“Where is this friend of yours?” Vin was asking Chris Larabee while they stood at the bar.

“I think he’s holed up with some woman at the hotel across the street,” the Captain replied.

“Chris!” Mary didn’t stand on ceremony upon seeing the Captain in his Man in Black persona. “Are you alright?”

All three men turned around and stared at the women who were standing in front of them.

Chris Larabee regarded the woman in front of him, raked his eyes over her from top to bottom before answering. “We said, we weren’t interested in talking ma’am. Now I suggest you go put on some decent clothes. This ain’t the place to be dressed the way you are.”

Mary stared. “What?”

“Captain,” Alex ignored the Captain’s attempt at a joke, “we have a situation. You need to get to the bridge immediately.”

“You know these ladies Chris?” Nathan asked.

“Never seen them before,” Chris replied, shaking his head bewildered.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Rain exploded. “Nathan if this is your idea of a joke, you will be sleeping on a couch tonight.”

“Rain,” Alex slapped a hand on her shoulder. “Captain Larabee, you are needed on the bridge.” She said those word slowly, meeting his intense gaze and realising she liked it even less now. The man could cut a person to the bone with that glare and this was no exception. She had resisted the urge to look at Vin because if she did, the truth was going to be damning. An ugly suspicion had started to dawn on her and she needed Chris’s next answer to be sure.

“How do you know my name?” Nathan stared at Rain. “And what’s a couch?”

“Ain’t been a soldier in years,” Chris Larabee drawled. “And last I looked, there isn’t a bridge for miles.”

“Oh God,” Mary groaned and started to rub the bridge of her nose. “They don’t remember...”

“You mean these men actually think they’re apart of the program?” Julia burst out.

“Are you ladies alright?” Nathan asked concerned since everything these women were saying was gibberish. “You sound like you might have got a bit of heatstroke. Maybe we need to get you someplace away from the sun. Come on up to my Infirmary and I’ll give...”

“You finish that sentence and I will knock you on your ass!” Rain snapped and then saw a gasp ripple through the crowd, undoubtedly because it was not proper for a lady to speak that way, especially when they were in a saloon where no decent woman ought to be.

“Ladies, I think we’re done,” Chris stood up from his stool and this time, he looked positively menacing as the Man in Black, where before he had just seemed imposing. “I don’t know or care what this is about, but we’d appreciate it if you left us to our drinking. Now.”

He was intimidating enough for Rain to take a step back although she saw the confusion on Nathan’s face by her hostility. Rain retreated behind Mary as if the Protocol Officer was a magic ward against the power of Chris Larabee’s fearsome persona.

“Okay,” she whispered quietly. “You talk to him.”

Mary knew it was pointless. He was staring at them with the cold eyes of a killer, who had no idea who they were or what they meant to him. He didn’t even know himself and Mary knew the alien entities having taken control of their holodeck was the reason for it. However, for her own sake, she had to try.

“Chris,” she said in a calmer tone. “We’re not your enemies. We’re trying to help you.”

“Then be a help. Leave.”

“Vin,” Alex said finally, turning to the tracker who was trying not to look at her, as if doing so was difficult to do. “Do you know who I am?”

Vin Tanner looked at the woman before him, with her golden skin and her lovely brown eyes and wanted to say she was the prettiest girl he’d ever seen but he suspected that was not the answer she was looking for. “Can’t say that I do. We know each other ma’am?”

Alex felt herself running a finger over the wedding band on her hand and was almost tempted to give him the truth, but realise if the situation was as bad as it appeared, then that complication would not serve them right now.

“No,” she said quietly. “Not at all.”

It felt positively surreal to be in this room and be sitting in the Captain’s chair.

Alex was certain a retributory bolt of lightning was going to come out of nowhere and strike her dead for daring to invade Chris Larabee’s undisputed domain. In fact, she wondered how many of her fellow officers seated around the table of the conference room felt the same way. Following their rather disastrous attempt to remove the Captain and the senior officers from the Holodeck, Alex had immediately convened a meeting to discuss what was to be done next.

Seated in the room was Mary and Julia, representing what remained of the senior staff. Rain, Charlotte and Kate were also present. After their failure to convince Chris, Vin or Nathan to leave the holodeck, Alex knew the situation was far more serious than they had first envisioned. With the unseen alien presence trapping the minds of the Captain and the men of the senior staff in the personas of the Magnificent Seven characters, getting them off the holodeck was no longer a simple matter of extraction.

“I can’t believe we had to leave them in there,” Julia shook her head in frustration. They had not encountered Ezra during their time in Four Corners, but she imagined if they did find him, he would be in the same condition as the Captain. It was bad enough Chris Larabee had turned into an extremely hostile gunslinger with a fast draw and an even shorter temper. Ezra if he reverted to the persona of the Gambler, would be an unscrupulous operator whose only love was money and scams.

“We didn’t have a choice,” Mary sighed, empathising with her emotions. It had been difficult to look at Chris and know she was nothing to him. Worse yet, the menace he’d always exuded as the Gunslinger had evolved into downright scary and she still winced at how fearful she had been in his presence. “I don’t think it was a coincidence we had trouble trying to access the holodeck. If we try to remove them by force, there’s no telling what could happen.”

“We could get Doctor Li Pong to tranquilise them,” Charlotte suggested. “Keep them under until we figure out what’s going on.”

“No,” Alex shook her head, having considered that option. “Right now, they’re only confining their influence to the men in the holodeck, if we start taking provocative action before we understand what they’re after, there’s no reason to assume they won’t try to take the rest of the ship as well.”

After their experiences with the Undaia some month ago, where all of the women on board the Maverick had been controlled by an ancient alien race, none of the women present, wanted a repeat of that outcome.

“Exactly,” Rain agreed with Alex’s assessment of the situation as much as she loathed to admit it. She wanted to get Nathan out of there but he was trapped in the mindset of the Healer and dragging him out of the holodeck and its Old West setting to the 24th century, would be traumatic to say the least. “If they can trap a galaxy class starship, I‘d hate to see what they would do if we really ticked them off.”

“Then we go over there.”

All eyes turned to Kate, who until now had remained silent.

“There, as in the space station, or whatever that is?” Mary stared at her.

“That’s correct,” Kate nodded. The set of her jaw indicated she was absolutely serious.

“We have no idea what that thing is. Right now, we’re assuming its a space station, what if it's something worse?” Charlotte countered.

“How much worse could it be?” Kate met Alex’s eyes because at the moment the Science Officer was the master of the Maverick and ultimately any decision to go would rest with her. “We’re caught. We know it and they know it. Even if we can get the Captain and the others back, we still have to break free of this tractor beam or force field they’ve got us snagged in. So no matter how it goes, we have to get over there to find out what they’ve done to us.”

“She’s right,” Alex agreed with her succinct assessment of the situation. “This all started when we got near that object. Whatever is happening to our people, it started there. The solution to both our problems is on that whatever it is.”

Alex wished more than anything Buck Wilmington was here. The First Officer knew how to offer alternatives so they could find the best solution and right now, Alex needed that counsel badly. Unfortunately, Buck was caught in the same trap as the Captain and all the others. As much as she worried for Vin, she also worried for the shameless womaniser who somehow managed to become the big brother she never had but always needed.

“In that case,” Mary spoke up. “I volunteer to go.”

“You?” Julia stared at her in surprise. Mary almost never went on missions unless there was a diplomatic component involved. As a Protocol Officer, there was no need. “Why?”

“Because Mary’s the only one who can sense these aliens,” Alex answered before the Protocol Officer could. “If she goes over there, she might be able to find them. We won’t.”

Mary offered Alex a little smile of gratitude and offered a further explanation beyond her very personal one. “Whoever they are, they’re powerful enough to slice through Vin’s mental shields to take control of his mind. I’ve got some sensitivity but little more than that so, they may not consider me a threat.”

“We don’t even know how to get you on board,” Charlotte countered. “We can’t even scan it.”

Even before Charlotte mentioned the obstacle of the neutronium hull they were unable to scan, Alex was silent considering the question. While she might be out of her depth in command, Alex’s strength was in providing answers to Chris Larabee when he needed it. He often claimed she was the best science officer in the fleet. For his sake, she hoped he wasn’t wrong. Focussing her thoughts amidst the chatter of voices around her, she searched for an idea until finally, inspiration struck.

“Julia, can you rig a torpedo to discharge chronoton particles? ”

“Chronoton particles?” Julia stared at her at the unusual request. Chronoton particles were a quirk of sub-atomic fields, known to cause erratic behaviour in warp reactors but good for little else. “What good would that do? Oh!” Her green eyes widened as it dawned on her what Alex was suggesting.

“What?” Mary threw quick glances at both women for an explanation.

“That’s good commander,” Charlotte remarked with a little smile once she unravelled the request. “That’s very good.”

“What’s very good?” Mary demanded impatiently.

“If we hit that thing with a beam of chronoton particles, it would cause a localised shift in the hull’s atomic frequency. “Rain explained, revealing the result of such a torpedo hit.

“You see,” Charlotte took up the narration, “all matter in this universe operates on a specific atomic frequency. If that frequency changes even in the slightest, matter would be out of phase with the rest of the universe and lose its molecular cohesion, and when that happens...”

“We can scan it.” Kate declared with a grin.

“We can do more than that,” Rain added excitedly. “It also means we can get a transporter beam through.”

Mary felt a surge of relief and knew if Chris was here, he would be the first to compliment the Science Officer on her idea. It was often said Alex was the smartest human on board the Maverick,. At moments like this, Mary was pleased to see her prove it. “How long will this take to do?”

“An hour or two,” Julia gave her answer to both Mary and Alex. “I’ll get my team working on it right away.”

“Good,” Alex nodded. “Charlotte, in the meantime, continue trying to isolate what they’re using to keep us trapped like this.”

“Aye Commander,” Charlotte nodded.

Alex swept her gaze across the faces around the table before addressing her officers collectively.

“Depending on what our scans reveal after we deploy the chronoton torpedo, I want a small team to beam over to that station. Mary, you are to make contact with the aliens if you can. Julia, you need to go with her, find out what kind of technology they are using to keep us trapped. Kate, you and another member of the security team will go with them. The second you feel the situation warrants it, you are to beam back here immediately. Is that clear?”

“Aye Commander,” Kate answered and her expression showed her determination to ensure none of those under her watch was harmed in any way.

“Charlotte, I’ll need you to take the Conn.”

“Me?” Charlotte stared at Alex mystified. “Where are you going to be?”

“On Holodeck One,” she sighed, not relishing the idea of seeing Vin when he had no idea what they were to each other. “I’m going back in there. Those aliens have our Captain and the senior staff, I want to know why.”

*****

This time when Alex entered Holodeck One, she was alone.

Before she stepped through the arch leaving the Maverick behind, Alex studied the scenario of this particular adventure of the Seven’s and had a rough idea of what to expect. The initial tale involved the Magnificent Seven saving a community formed by runaway slaves and displaced indigenous tribes, being terrorised by a mad Confederate general. While this provided the framework for the story, the true substance of it was the formation of the Seven into a brotherhood.

When Alex and the rest of the Maverick’s female officers encountered the Captain, Vin and Nathan at the saloon, the first scene which had the Gunslinger and the Tracker rescuing the Healer from a lynching. The next scene to be played ought to be the Seven being approached by the community leader’s needing help but with the program running continuously, the whole plot was being played out in real-time, which meant when Alex stepped into Four Corners, it was night.

Rain would be joining her later, since the Transporter Chief’s rather incendiary first meeting with Nathan complicated matters if she reappeared now. Instead, the Healer was intended to have a token love interest in this narrative, which gave Rain the perfect opportunity to insert herself later with an explanation that would hopefully quash any questions about her earlier presence.

This time, Alex entered the Holodeck dressed more appropriately for the time period, although there was no way in hell she was wearing corsets or a skirt, not when she was dealing with men who were under an alien influence. While the Gunslinger would eventually display some heroic tendencies, the truth of it was, at this stage in the Magnificent Seven’s timeline, he was a dangerous shootist with a hair-trigger temper who had difficulty tolerating anyone getting into his business.

Considering she had to convince the man he was the Captain of a starship, four hundred years in the future, that was about as getting into his business as one could get.

Instead, Alex wore black jeans, a white open-necked shirt, with a leather vest and a bolero hat. Forgoing ladies shoes, she settled on a comfortable pair of workman’s boots, the kind favoured by farm hands and concealed herself in a long suede coat of burgundy leather. Since it covered most of her, it kept the rest of her clothing from offending the delicate sensibilities of the folk in this era. More importantly, it concealed the Smith and Wesson No.3 on her hip even though it was the phaser she had secreted in the saddle bag slung over her shoulder, along with a tricorder, that was going to be her weapon of choice. Particularly, the stun setting.

Looking over her shoulder, she was comforted by the arch, locked into remaining open just in case the aliens decided to trap her in here with the rest of the men. She had no idea why only the senior staff had been taken over but she wanted a quick exit if needed. Meanwhile, The townsfolk of this simulated reality seemed oblivious to the doorway, that revealed the empty corridor beyond. In light of the crisis, Alex had ordered the deck and more importantly, the other holodecks off limits until the crisis was over.

Facing front, she brushed her fingertips against her wedding ring now hanging from her neck with a length of gold chain, to remind her what was at stake here.

Her appearance did raise a few eyebrows as she made her way through town, as a woman in pants always did, but this was mostly curiosity than outright reproach or suspicion. She headed towards the nearest hotel to rent a room to leave her saddle bag for the night. The narrative revealed the Seven would not be making their fateful ride to the Seminole Village until morning. While Alex had no intention of staying that long, she had to play within the limits of the storyline.

Sweeping her gaze across the town, she noted how different it looked. When she had come here with Vin on the few occasions he managed to convince her to join him for one of the Seven’s adventures, the town had been thriving. It was typical of any frontier town but there was a sense of kinetic progress. Right now, the town appeared rather dismal, especially with so many windows broken and bullet holes riddling walls and in signs hanging from awnings. To her surprise, Alex found she was rather angered by this. Holographic or not, Four Corners deserved better.

Recognising one of the locals, a man called Virgil Watson, who owned the hardware store, Alex strolled over to him as he was sweeping the dust off his porch although, in this community, it would be like trying to sweep the sand off the beach.

“Good evening,” she greeted politely.

Virgil straightened up and eyed her curiously, but made no mention at her less than lady-like appearance. The Territory was filled with all kinds of strange folk. Why should she be any different? Besides, her accent indicated she wasn’t from around here.

“Good evening.”

“What happened here?” Alex indicated the damage across town with a quick glance at his broken window.

“Oh that,” the man frowned unhappily as if he was suddenly reminded of the unpleasantness earlier in the day. “Bunch of drunk Texans blew into town earlier this morning and shot up the place,” he shook his head in disgust. “Almost lynched our local healer. Nothing good came out of that except the damn fools got themselves killed, God rest their souls.”

Drunk Texans? She thought and then remembered the scenario of the Healer’s lynching included about a band of ruffians giving the town trouble at the onset of the program.

“At least no one else got hurt,” she sympathised.

“Yeah,” the man nodded. “Young man I had working for me, worst store clerk I ever hired, and a gunslinger named Larabee put a stop to it.”

Store clerk? Oh, Vin would have just loved that.

“Good to hear,” she commented and then asked further. “I don’t suppose you know where I could find Buck Wilmington? He’s pretty tall, wears a heavy brown coat and a moustache you can’t miss, and...” Alex groaned inwardly at being forced to say this, “he’s really popular with women.”

“Oh him!” Virgil’s face lit up in recognition and Alex rolled her eyes in annoyance at that description actually working.

“Yeah, I think I saw him headed towards Digger Dave’s Saloon over there.” He gestured to one of the bars on the main street. Clunky piano music could be heard behind its swing doors, and the light from inside the place was a strobe against the darkened boardwalk. “Now you seem like a nice young lady, even if you are dressed a little peculiar. I wouldn’t waste my time with a tomcat like that.”

“Believe me, I know,” Alex laughed at the advice which she thought was kind of sweet. Even if Mr Watson was just a hologram, Alex decided she liked him. “Don’t worry, I just have some business with him. Besides,” she felt the ring against her collarbone, “I’m spoken for.”

Damn it, she swore inwardly, she was starting to like this program. If they ever got out of this, Vin was never going to let her forget it.

*****

As it turned out, she didn’t have to look very far to find Buck Wilmington.

Alex had long considered Buck to be one of the finest first officers in the fleet. Aside from having a command style that was instantaneously approachable, Buck was sharper than most people gave him credit because he disarmed them with his affable charm. When the Captain was being his acerbic best, Buck was there to blunt the edge of the man’s temper. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind, the success of the Maverick in the field had as much to do with Buck Wilmington as it did Chris Larabee.

However, when it came to finding female company, with the exception of James T Kirk, Buck Wilmington had no equal.

Stepping out of the Gem Hotel where she had just acquired lodgings, she was about to cross the street when suddenly, someone came up alongside her, exuding animal magnetism (so he thought) with a typically smarmy greeting.

“Now what’s a pretty thing like you walking the streets at night, all by your lonesome?”

Alex broke into a smile, hating to admit that even if the big, dumb jerk had no idea who she was or for that matter, who he was, it was good to see him. Alex turned to him and broke into a smile. “Boy, am I glad to see you. Come on, we’ve gotta talk.”

“Well I’m all for that,” Buck grinned and immediately slid an arm around her waist.

“Just take it easy!” She shoved him in the ribs. “Put it back in your pants! I’ve got something serious to say. Come on,” she looked around for someplace they could have a conversation in private. “Is there someplace we can talk privately?”

Before he opened his mouth, Alex cut him off. “If you say your bedroom, I will slap you.”

Buck straightened up and stared at the strange woman with her pretty skin and full lips and raised a brow. “Gotta say, you’re kind of blowing hot and cold here.”

Alex shook her head in exasperation when it suddenly occurred to her he might actually follow her to the arch if she led him there. Among the seven, even in their current personas, Alex knew Buck was the one she would most likely succeed in reaching because the man was always open to listening. He was never judgemental and had the unerring ability to give people the benefit of the doubt. If she could get him on side, or convince him this was a simulated reality, at best, she’d get the First Officer of the Maverick back, at worst, an ally in all this.

Even though it went against her own rule about not taking provocative action, Alex knew this was a risk she had to take, not just for the benefits but also to see what would happen.

“Nevermind,” she took him by the arm, “I got a place.”

“Now you’re talking,” he grinned at her and Alex resisted the urge to poke him in the ribs again. “So what’s your name honey? You seem to know mine.”

“Alex.”

“That’s a boy’s name.”

“Alexandra,” Alex frowned, towing him down the main street towards the arch he could see. “But I prefer Alex.”

“So Alex, what’s a nice girl like you doing in town? Four Corners ain’t the place for a lady.”

He didn’t seem to care where he was being led, Alex realised, as long as he was being led somewhere by her. No doubt, he was entertaining ideas of hot sex or God knows what else. Then again, his persona in this program was not unlike Buck Wilmington the Starfleet officer, which was why he probably liked this program so much. So far, he seemed to be suffering no ill effects of her attempting to lead him there.

“I was looking for you.”

“Now I’m flattered,” he said curiously, “but I’m pretty sure we ain’t never met. “

“Oh we’ve met,” Alex stated. “We’re friends.”

“I think you’re mistaking me for someone else,” Buck returned smoothly, never one to be fazed by anything. “Although I don’t mind making new friends,” Once again, he tried putting an arm around her.

Alex rolled her eyes and didn’t bother to remove it, mostly because she could see the arch directly ahead of them. Besides, once she got him through the doorway, back to the Maverick, she was certain the last thing on his mind would be sex. Okay, maybe the second last thing. This was after all Buck Wilmington.

Buck for his part, didn’t notice the strange portal in the middle of the street, aware only that he was being directed somewhere by an exotic looking woman he wouldn’t mind spending the evening with. She smelled nice and had pretty hair. True, he wasn’t exactly sure what race she was, because even though she was coloured, she didn’t look like a negro and she wasn’t an Indian either. Then again, her accent sounded like she was from England or someplace like that. It had a definite Eastern quality about it. Either way, he liked how it sounded in his ears.

“What the hell...”

All thoughts about bedding the woman before him vanished when he saw the door in front of him. As he peered into the portal in the middle of the street, his eyes widened in shock and something that felt like light pouring through a freshly made bullet hole in a darkened room, penetrated his mind. It was also the last thought he had before everything went black.

“BUCK!” Alex uttered a fearful cry when the big man next to her went down like a heavy sack. His long legs collapsed beneath him and he hit the dirt. Alex had barely time to grab him by the arm before he fell flat on his face. Managing to hold him up, she faced front and saw the arch beckoning her with an almost siren song until she realised if she took him through there, if she took any of the seven through there, the same thing would happen to them.

Using all the strength she could muster, Alex hauled Buck away from the arch, hoping the proximity would restore him. It didn’t. He was almost a dead weight and only her Starfleet trained endurance allowed her to get him as far as she did. Finally lowering him to the ground, she cursed loudly, guessing what was needed to help him. It was an action she loathed to take but she had no choice. She cared about this big, dumb idiot as much as her husband and she wasn’t going to let anything happen to him.

“Computer, deactivate arch.”

The computer complied immediately. The arch vanished, with no one except her the wiser. Beneath her, she heard a groan and dropped her gaze back to Buck’s face. He was half-lying against her body when his eyelids fluttered open and he looked up at her.

“Now that’s a pretty sight to wake up to,” he managed a weak smile. “What the hell just happened to me?”

Alex swore inwardly at the aliens who had just told her most pointedly, what would happen if she attempted to interfere with their plans. “Nothing you need to worry about right now.”

Except she may now be trapped in here with them.

“Ma’am? Do you need some help?”

It did not surprise Alex in the least when she looked over her shoulder to see the offer for help had come from none other than JD Dunne. He was wearing the usual costume of the Eastern greenhorn who had come West to be taken under the wing of the remaining six gunmen making up the Magnificent Seven. Although Alex would never say it to his face, JD always seemed to her like a little boy playing cowboys and Indians, but never did that feel more apparent than right this minute. Perhaps because this was the first outing of the seven, or because on this occasion, JD really believed he was the novice gunfighter he was.

Reminding herself, this was not the junior lieutenant and navigator of the Maverick, but a young man fresh from the city chasing dreams, Alex was about to respond when Buck who was now sitting up, shook off his disoriented state and beat her to it.

“Goddamnit boy, that is one ugly hat.”

Alex almost smacked him in exasperation.

JD however, took great exception to the disparagement of his headwear, especially after he had been trying to lend his assistance. Spine stiffening in need to defend himself, he reacted in the typical fashion of any young man trying to prove himself to someone older and far more seasoned than he.

“Bat Masterson wore this hat,” he said defensively.

“Who?” Alex blurted out before she could stop herself and guessed by the horror on his face; this was not the best statement to make. It was the same face displayed by the Captain every time she referred to his Man in Black character as a ‘cowboy’.

“You don’t know who Bat Masterson is?” The boy stared at her as if she had no idea who Jesus was. “Bat Masterson is famous! He’s on newspapers everywhere! He’s a famous writer, a buffalo hunter, Indian fighter, gunfighter and, and he was a sheriff in Dodge City!”

“All that?” Alex glanced at Buck sceptically because it seemed rather far fetched that one individual was capable of accomplishing so much. It reeked of self-promotion.

“So he says,” Buck snorted, perfectly aware of men who had become legends because of tall tales. Being a lawman himself in Kansas, Buck knew how easy it was for a story to become embellished, particularly for the benefit of Eastern newspapers and young boys like this kid had been. No doubt, the tales of Bat’s exploits had sent him to the Territory, chasing the dream of being a gunfighter, when it was most likely going to land him an early grave.

“Let me guess,” Buck stood up, almost entirely recovered from that bizarre spell a moment ago to eye the young man down. At his full height, Buck stood almost a head taller than JD and felt as imposing as he looked. “You learned to ride in Prep School? Then you read some dime store novel about Kit Carson. Got you all fired up and made you come out West to try your hand as a gunfighter. Is that about right?”

“Buck,” Alex interjected reproachfully, disliking how harsh Buck was in his assessment, especially when the hurt she saw reflected in JD’s eyes implied the first officer was more accurate than he knew. Right or wrong, there was no reason to humiliate JD, even if he was playing a character on the holodeck. “Don’t be mean.”

“Best be mean than letting him get killed because he don’t know any better,” Buck returned, and Alex realised Buck was not trying to hurt the young man but to save him from himself. “This here is the Territory. You think a set of irons and Bat Masterson’s hat is gonna make you a gunslinger? It ain’t. Boot Hill is full of boys like you who came here thinking the same thing. Go home before you become one of them.”

As much as Alex wanted to agree with him and if this were reality, she would have supported his desire to save JD from himself but this simulated world was a fiction and Buck’s turn for the worse also drove home to her, the holodeck safeties were disabled. If anyone of them got hurt in here, they could die. She also knew in the lore of the Magnificent Seven, the Scoundrel and the Kid would come to mean a great deal to each other, even with this unceremonious beginning. Besides, it was a safer proposition if JD remained with them for now.

“Buck,” she tugged at his arm. “Maybe what they didn’t have was you.”

“What?” The ladies’ man stared at her blankly. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I mean.,” Alex met his blue eyes. “Those boys didn’t have someone like you looking out for them. Maybe if he did...”

“I don’t need looking...

“Quiet kid,” Buck snapped JD into silence before facing her. “The adults are talking.”

“Buck, you’re riding off tomorrow with your friend Larabee right?”

Buck’s eyes widened in surprise. “How do you know that?”

“Let’s just say I have a special insight into the troubles the Seminoles are having,” she explained as best she could without angering any alien consciousness who might punish him for her revelations. “He’s going to follow you all down there, probably get himself killed in the process. Now, you can let that happen, or you can keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.”

“Why should I care?” Buck countered, casting a glance at the young man who looked like an accident waiting to happen, or at least get killed defending that dumb hat.

“Because that’s who you are,” she said with a little smile. “You care. That’s the best thing about you. Doesn’t matter who it is, you always seem to know what people need and how to help them. Right now, he needs you.”

Buck stared at her strangely. “You’re crazy. You know that? You’re positively insane.”

“But am I wrong?”

Buck opened his mouth to argue, but before he could deny it, he realised she was right. He’d been young once, alone, with no one to help him find his way in the world. Buck stumbled into the army, and that taught him life lessons that remained on his psyche and blooded him in more ways than one. He was already wise to the ways of the world, being born in a whorehouse made him no other way, but he had not realised how cruel it could be.

Buck shot JD a look and let out a snort of exasperation. “First of all,” Buck said striding over to the kid. “Get rid of that damn, stupid hat!”

*****

A short time later, they arrived at the saloon where Chris and Vin were presently drinking. Nathan was nowhere to be seen, and Alex guessed he was probably at his Infirmary. Memorising the narrative before entering the holodeck, Alex knew Josiah would be at the site of what would end up being his church. Ezra was hiding out until it was safe to emerge after his latest con had put him in the sights of some rather angry cattlemen.

Her arrival caused a mild stir, mainly because women did not come to the saloon and those who did were either saloon girls or whores. What she was wearing made her neither of those, and they stared at her trying to make out what she was. Self-conscious as hell, she took a step closer to Buck and found he did the same, warning the others off with a threatening glare to mind their manners. Whatever the reality, Alex decided Buck Wilmington had no patience with men who would attempt to harm a lady.

“What’s going on Buck?” Chris asked suspiciously as he studied the boy and the woman flanking his old friend. He recognised both from earlier encounters during the day, and the impression they had made was not a good one. The fact that they were here with Buck did not bode well at all.

“I figured we needed all the help we can get,” Buck glanced at JD. “Kid’s raw, but he’s good with a gun. Best he come with us and learn how to fight proper, instead of getting shot to pieces by the first varmint who sees his hat.”

JD flashed Buck a scowl before facing Chris. “I promise Mr Larabee, I can ride, and I can shoot. I know how to fight. If I get killed it will be no one’s fault but my own but let me try.”

“No,” Chris’s answer was almost reflex. “Go home.”

JDs deflated expression made Alex fume and decided she didn’t much care for the Man in Black. Perhaps she was too accustomed to the Captain who would never shoot down a junior officer in any way, for of a lack of experience. Reminding herself this was not his fault. He was playing the caricature of a western gunslinger in the mould of Clint Eastwood or even Gary Cooper, she waited for Buck to speak.

“Come on Chris,” Buck said with a look of infinite patience. “We both know he ain’t gonna do that and the next time we see him will be in Boot Hill.”

“That ain’t my problem,” Chris spoke, avoiding making eye contact with JD.

Deciding to brave the Larabee glare and at this moment, she was more accustomed to it than any of the men present, save Buck, Alex made herself heard. “Mr Larabee, you need him.”

She did not look at Vin as she addressed Chris.

“The Seminoles don’t know everything. You’re not facing twenty men; you’re facing a good deal more. This isn’t the only village he’s terrorised.” Before coming here, she had manufactured a plausible story to give them as to why she knew the things she did. “He’s been doing this all over the Territory, and he rarely leaves anyone to tell the tale. You’ve got what? Six guns at the moment? You don’t have enough men to fight them, let alone protect a village full of women and children. Anderson’s soldiers are all seasoned men. You need all the help you can get.”

“This boy isn’t up for it,” Chris stated, not liking the fact the woman had a point.

“I am...” JD started to protest.

Chris silenced him with a look before facing Alex again. “And how do you know about Anderson?”

“Let’s just say I’ve been present at the aftermath of one of his raids and I know what he plans to do. The man’s half-mad from being a renegade for so long which makes him unpredictable. He has more men than you do and he’ll sacrifice as many of them as necessary to get what he wants.”

Vin Tanner had been keeping counsel to himself ever since she walked into the saloon and just like the morning; he hadn’t been able to stop looking at her. Now she was back; he was trying to think straight, trying to figure her out. He wasn’t the kind to trust easily but every instinct he had told him she was no danger to them. He just couldn’t explain why.

“Didn’t you think Chris was someone else this morning?” Vin asked her.

Alex met his gaze briefly and then looked away, not wishing to make eye contact for too long or else her emotions would be naked on her face, and she couldn’t afford that right now. Buck’s near death earlier told her that the holodeck safeties were off, which meant any of them could die in here.

“I did, and that was my mistake. Your friend looks a lot like someone I know, a Captain James Curran with the Navy. What I’m telling you about Anderson isn’t. You need him and me.”

Chris’s eyes flashed in understanding. “Not a chance in hell.”

“I’m going,” Alex stated. “I can go with you or I can follow you. Take your pick.”

“There’s going to be enough women and children needing protecting,” Chris glared at this strange woman who might be providing accurate intelligence but not the source. The whole thing felt wrong. “We don’t need another one getting underfoot.”

Alex controlled her temper, reminding herself this misogynistic nonsense was a sign of the times. “I don’t get underfoot of anyone, and I shoot and fight just as well as any man present. I’m not carrying a gun as a fashion accessory; I know how to use it.”

“Use it someplace else,” Chris stood up from his bar stool. “You’re not coming with us.”

“Pard,” Vin spoke up. “She knows a lot about Anderson. It could be handy if things get rough.”

“For all we know, she could be his piece of tail.” Chris bit back, and Alex had to keep herself from flattening the arrogant son of a bitch right there.

Buck groaned inwardly, seeing just how much offence the lady had taken at the comment and quickly interjected before that balled fist he saw at her side flew in Chris’s direction. Not that he worried about his old friend, but rather how the ornery gunslinger would react to that.

“I’ll take responsibility for her,” Buck said before things escalated.

Alex fumed at the notion of anyone having to take responsibility for her, but knew it was best she remained silent and let these cavemen hash it out.

“That’s not the point,” Chris countered, glaring at Buck for putting him in this position. If he turned Buck down, he risked losing one of his guns, and if he didn’t, they’d have to deal with a woman, not to mention a greenhorn kid who would get himself killed at the first sign of trouble. Buck was too good in a fight to risk losing. Damn it.

“They’re both your responsibility,” Chris growled.

“Thank you, Mr Larabee!” JD exploded. “You won’t regret it!”

“Just make sure you’re ready to ride in the morning.” Chris ignored JD’s jubilation, his eyes still locked on Alex, trying to dissect her with hawk-like scrutiny.

For once, however, Alex did not notice the Man in Black’s hard glare. She was having conniptions.

Ride? Oh hell. She couldn’t ride! Whenever she came on the holodeck with Vin, they always rode double. It was the same at the ranch in Texas! Rebuking herself silently for never learning, mostly because she was wary of any method of transport having a mind of its own, it seemed like a severe oversight considering she was married to a Texan, even if he was born Vulcan.

Putting on her best face, she noted Vin was staring at her, wearing that same infuriating smile he wore when he knew exactly what was going on in her head.

“You gotta horse?” Vin asked.

“I’ll get one,” Alex answered, trying not to hide the fact she didn’t know the first thing about getting one. “Right?” She glanced at Buck.

“Sure,” Buck nodded, wondering where the hell they were gonna get one at this hour of the night. “If not she can ride with me.”

“No,” Chris shook her head. “She gets a horse, or she gets left behind.”

Alex was about to argue the point when Vin spoke up. “She can ride with me.” Grinning at Buck, he added. “So you don’t get distracted.”

For the hundredth time today, Alex cursed this stupid program.

*****

The surgery on the torpedo took a record amount of time, thanks to Julia and Chanu working on the thing themselves, modifying the torpedo’s firing mechanism to deliver the yield of chronoton particles Alex needed to create a flux in the alien hull’s atomic frequency. By now, the entire ship knew they were facing a crisis, with the Captain and the senior officers trapped on the holodeck with alien entities with exceptional mental abilities.

“Engineering to Bridge,” Julia contacted Mary, eager to begin because she had so far tried not to think about Ezra or what might be happening to him in the program. She had wanted to go with Alex into the holodeck but knew she would be of more use accompanying Mary on the Away Mission. If they were to free Ezra from the grip of these aliens, they needed to know what they were up against.

“Bridge,” Mary who for the moment was the only Senior Officer left, answered from her customary seat, noticing the empty captain’s chair more acutely than ever. “What’s your status?”

“We’ve completed the modifications to the torpedo, we’ll be ready to deploy at your mark.”

“Alright, standby. We’re notifying Alex now.”

“Standing by,” Julia answered and Mary noted the lack of singsong quality to her voice that spoke much about her mood for the day.

Glancing at Jewel at comm, Mary nodded her permission to recall the Maverick’s second officer, aware Alex would want to be present when the torpedo was launched. The young ensign made contact long enough with the elegant Protocol Officer to acknowledge the order before tapping the display in front of her.

“Commander Styles, please come in.”

As Alex was engaging with their mind-controlled captain and bridge officers, the combadge would emit a soft, discreet chirp to notify her she was needed. A few seconds ticked by without an answer from their science officer and Mary exchanged quick glances with both Charlotte and Kate, not at all liking the delay.

“Jewel, try her again.” Mary’s voice was now taut.

Jewel nodded quickly and repeated herself. “Commander Styles, please come in.”

With the holodeck doors open, they should have been able to remain in contact. However, the continued silence made it clear this was not the case.

“I’ll get down there,” Kate offered.

“No,” Mary shook her head and felt her stomach clenching in anguish. It wasn’t fair, these weren’t her decisions to make and understood now why Alex had so disliked being in charge. How on Earth did Chris do this every day? “If she’s under the influence like the rest of the bridge staff, there’s no point. The problem is not in the holodeck. It’s there.” She faced the mysterious object on the view screen before them, looming large off their starboard bow and had them trapped in place like a bug on flypaper. “We need to go ahead as planned. Get ready to launch that torpedo so we can find a way on board that station.”

“We can’t just leave her down there,” Kate exclaimed, feeling torn by the need to follow orders and her duty to her commanding officers. In the absence of the Captain and Buck Wilmington, Alex was the next in the chain of command.

“We’re not,” Charlotte shot her a look, because she could see how difficult it was for Mary to make the logical choice. “We’ll carry out Commander Styles’s plan to board that station. In the meantime, I’ll tell Rain what’s happened. She was going to enter the holodeck to join the Commander. If we have to surgically implant a transponder on her, we’ll do it so we don’t lose her like we’ve lost everyone else.”

Kate swallowed thickly. She knew what the Chief would insist upon if he were here. Ezra Standish would demand they storm the holodeck and pull everyone out, alien influence or not but Mary and Charlotte was right, there were too many unknowns to act rashly. Extracting them all could result in the situation worsening. As much as she hated to admit it, they were going to have to play this one by ear.

It seemed for now at least, Commander Styles was on her own.

The knock on her door woke Alex immediately.

She sat up abruptly forgetting for a moment where she was. Even as the annoying rapping continued, she sat staring bewildered by her strange surroundings until she remembered with a sudden start she was currently occupying a room at the Gem Hotel. Outside, the waking light of dawn was pouring through the pale curtains, bringing enough breeze into the room to take the edge off the New Mexico heat. Not at all a morning person, she fought the urge to fling a pillow at the door when the awareness of her situation sharpened into focus and her shoulders slumped.

Oh right, she sighed. I’m in that goddamn program.

Rolling across the mattress on the steel framed bed, her feet touched the creaky wooden floorboards before she stomped towards the door. She hadn’t meant to fall asleep for so long and was tempted to retrieve the communicator stashed in her coat when the pounding on the door strained her patience by its insistent knocking. Running her fingers through her unruly dark hair, she twisted the doorknob and pulled it open with more force than she intended, uttering a growl in the process.

“What?”

Vin Tanner stared at the woman for a moment, his normally laconic expression shaken briefly by what she was wearing. It was utterly indecent of course, but also entirely tantalising. She was clad in some kind of a vest that barely covered her body, displaying tawny limbs while wearing pants that looked like something worn by Chinese workers on the railroad. It hung off her hips, allowing him to see her belly button. For a second, Vin wanted nothing more than to chart that glorious golden skin with his fingertips.

Christ, he wanted her and he couldn’t understand why. He was usually more restrained when it came to women but the pull towards her had been so strong, he had risked his new friend’s wrath by volunteering to let her ride with him. Remembering his manners, he averted his eyes but not before catching a glimpse of the gold ring hanging from her neck with a chain. A wedding ring? For a second, Vin could not help but fixate on it, thinking it didn’t feel right for her to be wearing it that way. It should have been on her finger.

For some reason, it bothered him that it wasn’t.

Her surprise at seeing him waned when she saw the strange look in his eyes and wondered what the hell was wrong with him until she realised she was dressed in nothing but a t-shirt and a pair of drawstring pyjama pants. Her tolerance for this program had its limits and Alex was certainly not wearing what passed for nightwear or for that matter underthings in this day and age. However, she did realise in his current persona, Vin was sporting 19th-century sensibilities and this much exposure might be more than he could take.

“Ma’am,” he greeted once he collected himself.

Alex looked around for a robe and the closest thing she could manage was her coat. Covering her shoulders, she faced him again, remembering she couldn’t think of herself as his wife but his commanding officer. She needed to be focused if she was to extricate him and the others from this mental trap they found themselves. Not that this was at all easy to do when she had to ride with him today, to say nothing about how uncomfortable sleeping without him had been. After spending almost every night of their married life in the same bed, she had felt his absence acutely.

“What are you doing here?” She stared at him in puzzlement.

“Chris wants to get going first thing,” he stood his ground by the doorway, not expecting an invitation. It wasn’t proper. “Thought we’d better get a move on early.”

“What makes you think I need a ride? I could have gotten a horse last night.”

Could have, but didn’t, Alex thought guiltily. Despite their efforts, Yosemite didn’t have an animal to spare and Alex had been somewhat grateful for this because she couldn’t ride to save her life and certainly not enough to keep up with experienced riders. The Man in Black was already disgruntled enough at having to take her with them. His patience would not survive the knowledge she couldn’t ride on top of that.

“Cause you can’t ride.”

Vin said this with such utter confidence Alex almost slugged him.

The feeling quickly faded when she considered whether the mental control the aliens exerted over him had its limits. During the consummation of their relationship, Vin established a meld with her, further strengthened by their mating bond. It allowed them to communicate on a very basic level when in close proximity. He could feel her thoughts and emotions just as she was able to project them. Was the alien influence able to disconnect that link between them? What would be the result if he remembered her? Would they harm him as they tried to harm Buck?

For now, however, that smug look had to be addressed for womankind everywhere.

“I can ride.”

“Sure you can,” he replied with complete disbelief.

Vin knew panic when he saw it and what registered on her face last evening was panic. He suspected she couldn’t ride, not even a little bit. However, she was willing to risk it to keep up with them. Everything in his gut continued to tell him she could be trusted but Vin had to wonder what was so important she would resort to lying to be kept from being left behind.

Alex bristled in annoyance because he knew she was lying and was taking great amusement from it.

“Just wait downstairs!”

“Yes ma’am,” he tipped his hat and was grinning when he heard her slam the door behind him.

*****

Chris Larabee was not having a good morning.

Aside from waking up with a hangover that would raise the dead, he realised he had a day’s ride with men he barely knew, save Buck and the buffalo hunter he met the day before, that included a greenhorn kid and a woman. A woman! How the fuck had he allowed this to happen when all he had been interested in when he rode into this dusty town, was a drink and a comfortable bed for the night? He hadn’t intended to stay in...what was it called...Four Corners?

He’d been on his way to Lincoln County, chasing work as a hired gun when he chose to pause at this town, barely visible on the flat horizon through the dusty winds scarifying the landscape. Now he was about to ride into a fight that would most likely get him killed, which he didn’t mind really. Chris had been looking for ways to die that didn’t involve him eating a bullet which he had since decided was the coward’s way out. Still, if the woman was right and there were large numbers waiting for them, Chris didn’t intend to take the others with him.

The buffalo hunter was someone he took an instant liking to, which in his case was a rarity and even though he didn’t like to mention it, he owed Buck a great deal. While he didn’t know Nathan, the healer seemed a good sort, someone Chris could respect. He hadn’t counted on the kid joining them but Buck’s need to play protector had kicked in and Chris knew just how determined the man could be when he was going to save someone from themselves. JD Dunne didn’t know it, but once Buck Wilmington took you under his wing, it was permanent.

That left the woman.

Watching her ride double with Vin as they approached the small group gathered at Yosemite’s livery, Chris’s eyes narrowed in dislike at her presence among them. He didn’t like the way she had pushed in on this job. Worse yet, he couldn’t get a read on her, which always made him ornery as hell. He was at his most acerbic when he was suspicious and this woman, this Alexandra Styles screamed alarm bells in his head he usually silenced with a gun.

Of course, he couldn’t do that now.

Not when Buck had vouched for her. Buck seldom put a woman in danger by foolishness, even if he was attracted to her. Chris supposed he could have refused but Buck and then Vin, seemed to think allowing her to come along might help them and he didn’t want to strain old friendships and new bonds by being obstinate. Still, something about her felt wrong and it was stoking his simmering annoyance into white-hot anger not being able to guess what that was.

“Couldn’t find a horse?” Chris shot Buck an accusing glare, recalling how the big man had promised he’d find the woman a ride when they were discussing the subject the night before.

“Yosemite didn’t have one.” Buck shrugged as he looked up at Chris from where he was saddling Beavis.

Buck could see Chris was pissier than all hell and had answered quickly before he was subjected to another argument about Alex joining them. Normally he was the first to concede to Chris’s demands, but on this occasion, his gut told him to risk Chris’s wrath and trust Alex Styles. If nothing else, he wanted to solve the mystery that was she.

“Besides, what does it matter? Seems like your buffalo hunter is happy to give the lady a lift.”

Chris soured even more because he too had noticed the way Vin regarded the lady. “Maybe a little bit more than that.”

He didn’t know Vin Tanner for very long. Twenty-four hours in fact, but Chris felt the bond with the younger man almost immediately. It was almost as if Vin could read his thoughts as easily as he could guess what was on Vi

*****

n’s mind. Right now, Chris had the impression Vin wasn’t used to being around people and even less around women. He didn’t like the idea of this Alex taking advantage of Vin’s naivete. After all, she was a beautiful woman and Vin could just be inexperienced enough to fall under her sway.

“I wouldn’t worry,” Buck shrugged, seeing the suspicion in Chris’s eyes and knew perfectly well where his mind had gone. Chris saw enemies everywhere. Before Sarah and Adam’s death it had been the natural caution of a man accustomed to violence, but since then, it had become almost paranoia. “She’s married.”

That did surprise Chris. “She is?”

Chris’s annoyance flared again, this time directed at Buck. Why would a married woman join them unless she had a personal stake in getting rid of Anderson? He was missing something, something important and it was driving him crazy not being able to figure out what it was. Once again, he wondered how she knew so much about Anderson and questioned whether her allegiance would shift when the shooting started. Chris made a silent promise if she turned on them, he’d put a bullet in her himself.

Woman or not.

“Yeah,” Buck nodded. “Didn’t say much about him, except he ain’t in the picture no more.”

“That why you helping her?” When it came to the opposite sex, Chris knew Buck didn’t let a little thing like a husband get in the way.

Buck’s shoulders pulled back and covered the expression of hurt crossing his face at his judgement being questioned. Sure he could get distracted, but he knew better than to let a fox into the hen house. Then again, the deep friendship he and Chris shared was no more, it was lying in the ashes of a fire, for a sin he would never be able to atone for even if he lived a thousand years.

“Not for me,” Buck spoke after a moment. “I got the distinct feeling whomever he was, she ain’t done mourning for him. You know what that’s like don’t you?”

Chris opened his mouth to speak but decided against it. Hell, he supposed he deserved that, having not missed the hurt in Buck’s eyes earlier. He should have known better than to question Buck’s motives for letting her ride with them. Chances are, he was just as duped as Vin obviously was by this woman.

“Mr Larabee, thank you for letting me ride with you. I promise you won’t regret it!” JD Dunne interrupted Chris’s thoughts with his arrival and his excited greeting. “I know I seem green but I’m here and ready to listen and to fight.”

Behind him, also on horseback, Chris saw Nathan smiling. The boy’s enthusiasm made Chris wonder if he was that eager when he was a kid and then realised he probably was. Hell, they all were. Being young was all about being dumb in getting into some older man’s face, unaware that enthusiasm only served as a reminder of how much time had passed and how close the end was coming.

“Just keep your mouth shut and listen,” Chris said coldly. “Stay close to Buck and try not to get him killed.”

JD nodded quickly, his smile a little diminished by that cold response. “Yes, Sir.”

When he rode to the hitching post to water his horse, Nathan’s own mount drifted by Chris’s. “Boy’s mighty excited to be here. Don’t pay him no mind.”

“I don’t want his excitement to get him killed,” Chris snipped. The young Easterner looked too soft in Chris’s opinion, but Buck’s insistence JD come along meant he was going to learn the hard way whether or not he was cut out for life in the Territory. “Or anyone else for that matter.”

“He’ll be fine,” Buck said staring at JD, wondering if he wasn’t getting caught up in Miss Alex’s words about their relationship. The smarter thing would be to keep him here, not go riding out to face unspoken numbers. “He’s just a dumb kid we can save from Boot Hill. If all goes well and he doesn’t get his head blown off, he’ll see what a real fight is like. Way I see it, it’s worth the inconvenience if the first bit of lead going his way scares him shitless enough to send him running home to momma and his fancy eastern life.”

“Buck, that’s a life lesson he may not survive.” Nathan pointed out, not liking that one bit at all. He was taking to JD who talked to him with respect and stared at him in admiration. It was something in short supply for a black man in this day and age.

“Without us, he’s going to get killed anyway,” Buck shrugged. “At least this way he’s got a fighting chance.” Although there was no way in hell Buck was going to let that happen. Not while there was breath in his body.

“We ready to go?” Vin asked when he and his riding companion reached Chris.

“Yeah,” Chris nodded, his eyes meeting Alex’s and telling her in no uncertain terms, she was treading on thin ice. He didn’t like the idea of her being here and he wasn’t about to hide it.

She was a commander in Starfleet who had faced down Klingons and the Jem’Hadar in battle, but she still flinched like just about everyone on the receiving end of the Larabee glare. The only person on board and Alex was starting to think in existence, who was immune to that hard stare was the Vulcan she felt the need to cling too a little closer after Chris’s merciless eyes fixed on her.

Before any comment could be made, the clip-clop of approaching hoofs made them all turn. Alex let out a sigh of relief at the sight of another familiar face. Ezra Standish was riding up on his horse, wearing the complete regalia of the Gambler, with burgundy coat and frilled shirt. The man appeared to be clutching a newspaper in his hand as he rode to meet them.

“Well at least he’s in one piece,” Vin said to Chris, studying the gambler as he approached them.

“His kind always land on his feet,” Chris drawled. “Probably at the expense of someone else.”

“Then why let him come?” Nathan asked still disliking the man’s initial reaction to him. He’d put up with that kind of contempt all his life, he was doing it no more now that he was a free man. Besides, not only was this gambler representative of ideas that should have died in the war, he was dishonest, which made him no good in the healer’s experience.

“Because,” Chris threw Nathan a glance. “He’s good with the gun and he’s desperate enough to need five dollars.”

Considering the friendships formed in the later scenarios of the Magnificent Seven program, Alex was rather baffled by Nathan’s attitude towards Ezra. The doctor was one of the most compassionate people she knew. He’d crawl over glass in the middle of a firefight just to get to someone who needed help. She couldn’t imagine him possessing such vitriol for anyone without cause. What on Earth had Ezra done to earn Nathan’s displeasure?

On the Maverick, Alex and Ezra often found themselves on the same side of an argument whenever it came to the safety of the ship and its crew. They were both pessimists who always considered the worst case scenario because that was the best way to guard against it. Seeing Ezra made her question whether or not it was worth the risk trying to reach him because beneath the alien’s influence was one of the sharpest minds she knew.

“You made it,” Chris said to Ezra.

Ezra flashed his trademark grin, the one that could be shit-eating as well as charming at the same time. Buck always claimed that smirk usually meant you were about to lose your money and he was always right. Alex called it his ‘crocodile smile’. Whatever it was, there was nothing but smugness in it as he looked at Chris.

“Well I couldn't stay away now,” he remarked, making a show of raising the paper to read it. “Once I found I would be riding with a genuine celebrity.”

Chris was about to ask Ezra what the hell he meant by that when the words the man was begining to read registered.

“....the streets ran red with the blood of twenty men yesterday as new resident and notorious gunslinger, Chris Larabee, turned our quiet town into a shooting gallery.”

Alex winced at the description and was really glad Mary was nowhere near this simulation. It was hard enough to tolerate Vin looking at her like a stranger, she couldn’t imagine how Mary would feel seeing the cold fury sparking in Chris’s eyes aimed at her. As the storm broke out on Chris’s face, he snatched the paper from Ezra’s hands and rode off, wearing an expression that would scare the living daylights out of Romulans and Dominion foes.

“Was it something I said?” Ezra asked sweetly, perfectly aware of what he had done before his attention fixed on Alex. “I was not aware we were allowed to travel with recreation. Alas, I only brought a deck of cards.”

“Recreation?” JD had to ask even though the rest of the men caught Ezra’s meaning immediately.

“The lady is travelling with us,” Buck said coldly, not at all liking the inference. “We need her.”

“Clearly,” Ezra replied, eyeing Alex with a look that made her spine stiffen and her fists ball up. “I suppose if one has non-discriminating taste, she might serve as ample comfort for our journey through the wilderness.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Alex demanded, staring at him hard because if he was implying what she thought he was, not even being under an alien influence was going to save him from a fat lip.

“He didn’t mean anything by it,” Vin shushed Alex into silence although he got Ezra’s meaning and was not happy about it either. To his surprise, instead of fussing, she took him at his word and fell silent.

“He meant that you ain’t white Miss,” Nathan stated bluntly, his contempt for Ezra showing clearly.

“Wh....” Alex started to say and then winced. Of course. If this simulation made Ezra think he really was a 19th-century gambler from the American south, post the Civil War, he would reflect the bigotry of the time. “Oh.”

“I said nothing of the sort,” Ezra cut in quickly as Alex’s expression hardened at Nathan’s revelation. “I merely meant she’s not the usual calibre of courtesans one is accustomed to seeing out here in the Territory.”

“She is going to knock you on your ass if you don’t stop talking to her like she isn’t here.” Alex bit back sharply.

A ripple of amusement moved through the men present and Vin looked over his shoulder, giving Alex a glance that sat somewhere between admiration and annoyance before facing the rest of his comrades. “That’s enough. We ain’t gotta like each other, but we got a job to do. Miss Alex here knows Colonel Anderson, that’s the only reason she’s here.”

Alex fell silent, reminding herself she needed to play this out to see what the aliens were intending to do. Clearly, they wanted the program to continue its narrative but she was at a loss at why Ezra’s personality had been altered. During the few times, she joined Vin on the holodeck in this program, there had never been any mention of the gambler’s unsavoury ideas. Why now? Why refer to it once and then never speak of it again? It made no sense. It never even emerged as a plot point in the later simulations.

“Of course,” Ezra said once again flashing that charming facade, but this time Alex knew it was just that, a facade. “I meant no offence.”

As always Buck played the mediator and spoke up to push everyone past the momentary tension. God knew there would be enough of that when Chris came back. “So is this all of us?”

“All except Josiah,” Nathan spoke up, shooting Ezra a final look of contempt before putting the matter aside for now.

“Who's he?” JD asked, eager to get riding on this adventure he’d embarked upon. Already the group assembled seemed pretty interesting, even the lady with the strange clothing. Besides, he got what Buck was trying to do and had spoken up to help dissipate the tension swirling around them like dark currents.

“A preacher I know,” Nathan explained. “He said he might come or not.”

“A preacher and a gunfighter” JD burst out. “That sounds cool.”

“Boy,” Buck swatted JD across the back of his head, sending the bowler flying to the ground. “Stop talking like that or you’re gonna end up being the first one shot.”

Crows

If there was one place Mary Travis never wished to find herself, it was in Chris Larabee’s place on the bridge.

Other than Julia, she was the most senior command officer left on the Maverick, and the idea her decisions might ultimately affect a thousand people was terrifying. She could well understand why Alex had been so reluctant to take command when the Captain and the rest of the senior staff were compromised by whatever forces were controlling the holodeck. So far, their efforts to reach Alex had failed, and with the only option storming the place to retrieve her, Mary knew the way forward was to go ahead with Alex’s plan of getting on board that mysterious station.

Even now, it hung in the space before the Maverick, its vise-like grip still keeping the galaxy class starship in place, while it continued to reveal nothing of its intentions. Jewel’s repeated attempts at hailing and Charlotte’s efforts to penetrate the hull with conventional scans had been fruitless. Kate’s suggestion had been to fire phasers, but even Mary knew that was a bad idea. Until they knew what was happening to Chris and the others, or for that matter, why it was happening, caution was needed.

“Mary,” Julia’s voice spoke over the comms, “the torpedo is ready.”

“Thank you,” Mary nodded. She was already prepared to head to the transporter room at a moment’s notice, as no doubt Julia was down in Engineering. Kate had chosen Lt. Opa Loka, a former Bajoran resistance fighter who had joined Starfleet, to accompany them and the lady was now waiting in Transporter Room One the instant their Away mission was given leave to proceed. “Monitor the situation and standby for orders.”

“Standing by,” Julia’s usually chipper voice was lacking its spark and Mary knew it was because she was worried for Ezra. As the Chief of Security, he was often in the front line of all danger and the most likely to be killed in any engagement. While it was a reality all security officers accepted, most of all Ezra, Mary had a feeling it was not something Julia was reconciled entirely with.

Mary turned to Kate and Charlotte, trying to project the confidence she did not feel. She was a diplomatic officer for God’s sake! She was so far over her head, she was practically in another quadrant. “Kate, ready the torpedo to fire. Charlotte, start scanning as soon as it’s deployed.”

“Aye Sir,” Charlotte answered promptly, remembering what Alex’s instructions had been without needing to hear Mary say them. She could tell the protocol officer felt just as overwhelmed as she was about being in charge of the Maverick and did not wish to burden the lady any more than she had to.

“Lieutenant, the torpedo is ready on your mark.”

Mary nodded and faced front, swallowing thickly as she uttered the words she never thought she’d ever have to say. “Fire.”

“Firing torpedo,” Kate announced and a low whine echoed through the Maverick, signaling the launch.

On the viewscreen, the torpedo which Mary often thought resembled an amber star hurtling through space, struck the hull of the mysterious alien object along the broadest face of its shell. Instead of causing destruction and plasma fire, its effect was a spread of green energy that rippled across the alien hull, the way a pond might appear after someone tossed a pebble into it. As the wave of green energy expanded outwards, the hull suddenly shimmered with translucence as the chronoton particles did exactly what Alex had predicted.

“It’s working!” Nora exclaimed excitedly from her station at the helm. “The hull’s phasing!”

“Charlotte,” Mary turned sharply to the woman. “How long will it last?”

“Indefinitely or until they figure out flooding the space with high-intensity radiation will dissipate the particles. In any case, we better hurry. I’m scanning it now.”

“Kate, make sure our phasers are on standby and Nora, prepare for evasive action if they react to what we just did.”

“Aye Sir,” the young officer replied, and Mary tried not to be startled when she realized Nora called her Sir.

“I’m reading an oxygen atmosphere, but life signs are inconclusive.”

“Inconclusive?” Kate asked because if that station was filled with people, she had to know to adjust her security precautions accordingly.

“It's difficult to say, they’re diverse. Too diverse to be of any one species.”

“Then why haven’t they returned any of our hails?” Jewel wondered.

“Doesn’t matter,” Mary stood up. “Is it safe to transport?”

“I’m reading structural features that indicate there are at least 23 decks that would be suitable for transport, but I can’t give you any more information than that.”

Mary frowned at the information, but it was better than nothing. They would have to take the risk. For Chris and the others, she simply had no choice. “Transporter Room One, are you monitoring the situation?”

“Yes, I am,” Rain answered, “I can transport the Away Team through. There’s a central hub which I think would be the safest bet.”

“Alright then,” Mary rose to her feet and looked at Kate. “Let’s do this.”

*****

There were moments in life that transcended perfection. It was as if in one singular instance there were no questions, no doubts, and everything one ever wished for was revealed in a perfect second of enlightenment. When Vin Tanner looked across the street at the Man in Black, he knew without understanding how, his place would always be at this man’s side, shoulder to shoulder, standing against whatever life attempted to throw at them.

And behind him, with her heart pressed against his back, would be her.

When she climbed on the back of Peso and wrapped her arms around his waist, Vin was struck with another moment of clarity, that this was where she would always be. Riding double with him on his horse, with the future ahead. Even though she tried hard not to show how much she was affected by their closeness, Vin could see it in her eyes because she held him not as an unwilling passenger, but like a lover. He couldn’t understand how this connection between them had come to be, but it was there, and he couldn’t deny it any more than she could hide it.

After Chris returned to the group, pissy as all hell after his encounter with the newspaper editor, Vin immediately reached the conclusion it was best to head out quickly and keep the man from stewing. He was getting used to Chris’s short fuse, getting a sense of what was off limits and what he was open to discussing. Alex had kept quiet, guessing accurately she aggravated Chris Larabee to no end by her presence and the only way he’d tolerate her was by making herself invisible.

Not that this was entirely easy to do. She was awfully pretty, and a woman like that on the trail with a group of men was bound to cause trouble. Vin wondered if that was why Chris was so against her coming along, to avoid splintering their somewhat fragile group before they could reach the village. In any case, Vin made a promise to keep her out of trouble, and he suspected, Buck was doing the same thing, although to Vin’s surprise, it wasn’t out of any interest in bedding the woman but something a little more chivalrous.

Leaving Four Corners, Alex puzzled at just where they were going to get Josiah. While she had studied the basic structure of the story, the seven coming together to protect the town of Four Corners against the renegade Colonel Anderson, there was little covering how those meetings actually unfolded. As far as she knew, Josiah was always found in his small church at the edge of town, since his character was based on being a defrocked priest with difficulty turning the other cheek.

“Where are we going?” Alex finally broke down and asked Vin as they left the town behind them and headed into the flat, desert plain that seemed to surround parts of Four Corners, depending on what the storyline needed the terrain to be.

“Going to see if Nathan’s friend is coming with us,” Vin answered good-naturedly, liking how she leaned in close and asked her question. He could smell her perfume in his lungs and her soft breath against the back of his neck.

“Out here?” She asked looking around. It was nothing but dry, flat land for miles ahead, interspersed with shrubs at suitable gaps and what was left of an old building, more or less collapsed in the nearby distance.

“Guess so,” Vin shrugged. “You okay back there?”

“Yeah,” she nodded, still scanning the area with distaste. “I’m good.”

“How come you don’t know how to ride?”

“Because you do it....” she caught herself and realized what he was asking her. “I just never learned.” She answered dismissively.

At first, Vin thought she was being sarcastic before she caught herself, but he saw no traces of it on her face, just chagrin at having to come up with a different answer. Maybe this was what Chris sensed and felt so uncomfortable about, the fact she was hiding things, though Vin sensed no danger from her, just mystery. What was it she couldn’t say? Knowing better than to press, Vin let it go, and they continued riding.

To Alex’s surprise, they arrived at the ruin that used to be a building with four walls, now reduced to barely one and a pile of rocks. Emerging from it was Josiah Sanchez, looking nothing like the big-hearted, wise Counsellor she knew and more like the preacher turned grizzled lawman of the program. He was wearing a Mexican serape and covered the bandanna across his forehead with a large, battered open-crown cowboy hat. He appeared ready to ride.

“Why did you change your mind?” Nathan who oddly enough had spent most of the journey riding alongside Ezra trading hostile glares was first to address the counselor turned preacher.

"Crows."

Alex blinked? Crows?

“What crows?” Nathan and the rest of the group instinctively scanned the sky for any signs of the creatures. Other than a few buzzards circling the sky with disappointment, there was no sign of any winged members of the Corvidae family in attendance.

“Sign,” Josiah said quietly as if that would explain everything.

It didn’t.

“What does that mean?” Nathan questioned as Josiah mounted his horse.

“Death.”

Alex was starting to wonder if Josiah had heatstroke.

“Whose?” By now the healer was humoring him, guessing no answers of any kind was forthcoming but was compelled to ask as if it was necessary to complete this circle of confusion.

“Probably mine.”

At this point, Ezra (it was always Ezra), could no longer hold back his amusement by this odd and somewhat baffling conversation. “Well, well, a sense of humor. I look forward to many lively conversations.”

That was one way to put it. It appeared Josiah could be just as infuriating as a defrocked preacher as he was as a Counsellor was he was steering you to a conclusion you needed to reach. She wondered about the crows and knew in many cultures crows were considered psychopomps, capable of ferrying souls from one destination to another. In Native American culture, the crow was not the harbinger of death as many believed but of fire.

“What about all this?” Nathan continued asking.

Josiah cast a glance at the collection of bricks and rubble that had once been the foundation and walls of this ruined Spanish church, in the middle of nowhere before facing front. “These stones will still be here,” he paused and added, “if I get back.”

As he rode ahead, he neared Vin. The tracker extended a hand and Josiah took it.

“We could always use another good man,” Vin said with a little smile, liking Josiah immediately. He didn’t feel the need to blather on incessantly which in Vin’s world spoke to a man who knew how to listen and watch, instead of reacting.

“Not so good,” Josiah shrugged, “but I can fight.”

As the two men sat astride their mounts and rode forward, Josiah seemed to notice Alex for the first time. The preacher regarded her with curiosity, which was not surprising. This entire scenario was not crafted for an eighth wheel, let alone a woman.

“Ma’am,” he tipped his hat at her. “This your girl?”

Alex felt Vin stiffen at the question while she resisted the urge to blush. Blush for fuck’s sake! She hated this program.

“Nah,” Vin recovered quickly and noted the spread of color over her cheeks. “This here is Alex. She seems to know the men we’re gonna be facing.”

“Miss Alex,” Josiah greeted. “Dangerous place for a woman to be.”

“I can take care of myself,” Alex answered good-naturedly, incapable of ever being terse with Josiah. This man’s big heart was the reason the Maverick’s crew functioned as well as it did. He was a kind, compassionate soul who only did the best for those under his charge, herself included.

“Just can’t ride worth a damn,” Vin couldn’t resist commenting.

Alex almost shoved him off the horse.

*****

They rode for several hours across a dry, flat terrain that soon became grassland and woodlands with juniper trees, true mountain mahogany, sage bush, and yarrow. Alex had to compliment the kid who designed this program because the detail was extraordinary. Overhead, the sky shone a brilliant blue and the sun though hot, and the wind, arid and coarse was not uncomfortable. If it wasn’t for the present situation, she could have been forgiven for thinking she and Vin were taking one of their holodeck rides.

Eventually, they paused by the river to water their horses and to gain some respite from the aches that came with an extended ride. The Man in Black stood apart as always, staring into the distance. Alex knew that part of the reason Chris Larabee identified so heavily with the character was because he too had lost a family, in this case to a fire. Getting to her feet, she knew she was going to have to deal with him. Underneath all that control, was her Captain and Alex simply refused to believe, there wasn’t some part of him who didn’t still remember that.

Chris drew in the smoke from his cheroot taking a moment to savor it as he studied the slight gorge the river ran through. Riparian shrubs skirted the edge, giving enemies good cover for an ambush. Not that he believed they were out there. The buffalo hunter seemed to know what to look for, as did himself and Buck. No one was out there, no one that mattered anyway.
He heard her approach and shifted his gaze just enough to acknowledge her arrival before facing front again, his shoulders stiffening at the intrusion. He didn’t like her, didn’t want her presence here, and he certainly did not like the influence she was wielding over Buck and Vin. Especially Vin.

“You should stretch your legs,” he said shortly. “We’ve got a few more hours to ride if we’re going to make it there by nightfall. We ain’t slowing down on account of you.”

“You won’t have to,” Alex said simply, standing next to him and staring into the landscape beyond as he was doing. “I know you’re not happy I’m here but you need to understand, I have to be here with you. If you left me behind, I would have followed you, one way or another.”

Chris straightened up and shot her a look. “Why?”

Alex let out a heavy breath, “I can’t tell you that and believe me I would like to, but I saw what happened when I tried to explain, and that’s a risk I’m not taking with any life, especially yours.”

She made no sense, but then she was a woman. It was rare to find one that didn’t prattle on about nonsense. He’d married one but Sarah had been far and few between. “You expect me to accept that when you could turn on me at any time.”

Alex swore under her breath. “Jesus and I thought you were difficult when you ....”

“What does that mean?” Chris eyed her sharply.

Alex sucked in her breath, “I can’t explain, I simply can’t because it has to do with more than just your life, it has to do with the lives of a thousand people who count on you being safe. Now I know nothing I’m saying makes any sense to you, I get that, but somewhere beneath all that black, you’ve got the best instincts of any person I have ever met. You can size up a situation and come up with an answer just in time to save all our asses just based on your gut. I need you to use that and trust me. I am not here to harm anyone of you, and I’m ready to die before I let that happen.”

It was insane. She was insane.

Yet, that instinct which she claimed he possessed felt the sincerity of her words.

“Where’s your husband?”

Alex stiffened, not expecting the question. “He’s in trouble, and I’m here because I have to help him.” It was the best answer she could give him without instinctively glancing at Vin. “Helping you with Anderson will allow me to help him.”

“Then you better tell Vin that,” Chris said crisply, “because he’s awful sweet on you and I don’t want to see him getting hurt.”

“Believe me, it's not my first choice to ride with him,” Alex admitted and then realized, Chris Larabee was the one person she could make this admission to. “I can’t ride.”

“Well, that ain’t much of a surprise.” Chris gave her a smile that looked more like a sneer. “How come?”

“Look you want me to fight and shoot, I can do that,” Alex grumbled. “Riding was just not one thing I ever had to learn.”

“Alright,” Chris said with a nod. “Then you’re riding with me, and you stay away from Vin because if you hurt him,” his eyes gleamed with menace. “I don’t care what my gut says, I’ll shoot you myself.”

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