What if Shaun’s father recognizes me somehow?
“I suppose.” Fontana sounded skeptical. “Well, if nothing else, I guess you’ll be back in time for Rory’s birthday.”
He took her word for it. “Yes, that’s a definite plus,” he said, pretending to be excited by the prospect. Changing the subject, he tried to console O’Herlihy. “Look at it this way, Doctor. You’re going to get to see your wife and daughter a week early.”
“Yes, that’s true enough,” O’Herlihy said, rather less enthusiastically than one might expect. The man’s muted reaction struck Kirk as out of character; he chalked it up to the scientist’s understandable disappointment at not being allowed to complete his work. “It’s just such a waste,” O’Herlihy lamented. “Three months in transit, and all those years of planning and preparation, only to turn back early?” He slammed a fist into his palm. “What difference could a few more days make?”
Kirk couldn’t remember ever seeing O’Herlihy so agitated. He wondered if the stress of this tumultuous voyage was finally getting to the man. Perhaps it was just as well that they were calling the mission short.
“I’m sorry, Doctor,” he said firmly. “The decision is final.”
He turned his chair toward the navigation controls in order to review their new flight plans. NASA had needed to make adjustments to allow for the changing positions of both the ship and Earth. The impulse engines could make up the difference once they were under way.
Fontana unstrapped herself from her seat and came up behind him. For a second, Kirk feared another romantic overture, but he realized that was unlikely with O’Herlihy present. Still, it was also unlikely that he could avoid being alone with her for the next three months. He wondered how long he could resist her and if he really wanted to.
At times like this, a warp drive could come in handy.
“What about you?” he asked her casually. “You looking forward to seeing your dog again?” He was not about to mistake her pet for a child again. “I imagine Gus will give you quite the tail-wagging welcome when you get back.”
“Well done,” she said acidly. “You got his name right.”
An edge to her voice tipped him off that something was wrong, but he was still caught off-guard when she spun his chair away from the controls and locked her elbow around his neck, catching him in a choke hold. Gasping, he grabbed her arm and tried to tug it away from his throat. Despite months in zero gravity, her grip was formidably strong. Had she been working out that much, or had they both lost equal amounts of muscle tone?
“Don’t even think about touching those controls, mister!” she growled. “I don’t know who you are, but you are not Shaun Geoffrey Christopher!”
“Alice!” O’Herlihy reacted in shock. “What are you doing? Have you lost your mind?”
“This isn’t Shaun!” she insisted. “I know it sounds insane, but you’ve got to believe me!” Her legs floated in the air as she anchored herself to Kirk’s neck, squeezing hard. “Rory’s birthday is tomorrow. The real Shaun would know that!”
O’Herlihy hovered impotently, confused by Fontana’s accusations. “Shaun?”
Kirk realized that his cover was blown, unless he could convince O’Herlihy that Fontana was mistaken. He stopped struggling, reasoning that the real Shaun would want to talk to his crew, not fight them.
“Listen to me,” he wheezed, despite the pressure on his windpipe. “You’ve got this all wrong. I’m not an impostor!”
“Oh, yeah?” she taunted him. “Then tell me something only the real Shaun would know. Where was the first place we made love?”
Kirk had no idea. “Your place?”
“Nice try,” she said bitterly. She didn’t volunteer the correct answer, not that it mattered. Hurt and anger spilled from her voice. Obviously, she didn’t care who knew about their history now. “That probe did something to his brain, Marcus. That’s when this all started. I didn’t want to believe it, but…” She tightened her painful hold on his throat. “Who are you, and what did you do to Shaun?”
He wished he could tell her. She deserved the truth, but there was too much at stake. He couldn’t risk changing history by telling her the truth. Her broken heart was the price for preserving the future.
“My memory,” he squeaked. “I lost my memory, that’s all. I didn’t want you to know—”
“Bullshit!” She yanked his head back. “You’re not Shaun. You’re someone else!”
“Stop it, Alice!” O’Herlihy flew toward them. “You’re choking him!”
“Tough!” She loosened her grip slightly, just enough for Kirk to breathe. “Trust me, Marcus. We’re not talking mere amnesia here. Get me some restraints.”
O’Herlihy hesitated, clearly not sure what or whom to believe, despite Kirk’s obvious lapses in memory. “Talk to me, Shaun. Tell me she’s wrong.”
“I’m sorry, Doctor,” Kirk said, panting. “I should have told you the truth about the holes in my memory, but I was afraid you’d relieve me of command.”
“Liar!” Fontana said. “Don’t listen to him, Marcus. You must have noticed the change in him, too. You know Shaun. Is this him?”
“I don’t know.” The doctor wavered, trying to keep up. “What are you suggesting? Some manner of alien mind control?”
“You got a better explanation?” She appealed to the other man. “We can’t trust him, Marcus. That probe did something to him. Even if you don’t believe he’s someone else, you have to realize he’s not right in the head. He’s been lying to us for days. Hell, for all we know, he started the fire!”
“Not Zoe?”
“If only!” Fontana said. “God, do I wish I could lay this all on her, but I can’t!”
Kirk spied her reflection in the cockpit window. Her eyes gleamed wetly. “No,” he said hoarsely. “I was with you when the fire started, remember?”
“Big deal. You could have set a fuse or added some sort of slow-acting reactant to the chemical slurry.” She choked back a sob. “The restraints, Marcus? Please!”
“All right.” He surrendered. “Give me a minute.”
On a vessel where loose objects and utensils tended to drift freely unless tied down, there was no shortage of bungee cords and Velcro straps on hand. Under Fontana’s watchful gaze, the doctor bound Kirk’s wrists and ankles together, then undid the straps binding him to the pilot’s seat. Kirk did not put up a fight. This wasn’t like being taken prisoner by the Klingons or the Romulans. Fontana wasn’t wrong; he was an impostor who didn’t belong there. She was just doing her duty. And even if he could overpower the two astronauts somehow, what then? He could hardly hijack a historic NASA space mission!
At the moment, all he could do was keep his mouth closed and hope for the best.
Where are you, Spock? I could use a hand here.
Fontana yanked him roughly away from the flight controls and propelled him across the flight deck like a weightless sack of potatoes. He slammed into a hard steel bulkhead at the rear of the compartment. Dazed, he winced as she tethered him tightly to a ladder leading down to the mid-deck.
“No need to be so rough,” he said. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“You bet you’re not.” She pushed back to inspect her work. “So, you ready to talk yet?”
“I’m not sure what else I can say. You seem to have made up your mind… unfortunately.”
“Don’t make this about me. You’re the guilty party here.”