Date: Mon, 28 Mar 1994 21:07:23 -0700 Reply-To: Highlander TV show stories Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Michael Smith Subject: Treklander (ST:TNG/Highlander Crossover) Part 4 (There can be only one...These are the voyages...) T R E K L A N D E R Copyright 1994 John F. Moore III Part 4 FIRST OFFICER'S LOG: Stardate 48380.1 Embassador MacLoud is preparing to beam down to Clari III with his assistant and Ensign Julia Cathaway. I'm a little concerned as to why the only escort the Embassador wants is a recent Acadamy graduate who's not even associated with security. Richie had finally found Guinan in the Botanical Gardens. Of course Guinan Sensed him long before he approached but made no indications of it. "Hello Richard," she said without looking up from the plants she was studying. "I was wondering when you were going to show." "Hello Guinan." "You and your boss have made quite a stir on the ship. I don't suppose he's an immortal too?" `Uh-oh...I didn't want her finding out'. Richie maintained his cool, glad that Guinan was an Immortal and not a Betazoid like that Troi chick. For whatever reason Immortals seem to be full humans of Earth descent. If there were other Immortals, he had yet to encounter them. "Why do you say that?" he asked. "Mainly because the crew seems to be more aggrivated with him than you. But there are other reasons..." "Such as?" "Neither of you have any birth records within the lifetimes of any crewman on board, and Ensign Cathaway Sensed him..." "You mean there are FOUR Immortals on board." "Yeah...scary thought, eh? I had to reassure her that neither of you were gonna decapitate her. She really is a nice girl, if a little high- strung." "Mind if I ask--" "The late 1700's." "What?" "You were about to ask how old I was right?" Richie nodded in response. "I experienced the Awakening in the 1700s in the Southern US. My master beat me to death. I remained anonymous until Earth started space travel in earnest. It was then that I left Earth. My ship fell into a wormhole into deep space. It was there that I met my first alien, the last sur- vivor of a people that had been destroyed by the Borg. He died in my care some five months later, but I had learned much about his culture. Event- ually I found my way into Federation space and I met Picard. I claimed to be a member of the race the alien belonged to. And the rest is history. Now what about you and MacLoud?" "I was Awakened in the 1990s. I was hanging around with Mac back then too, along with his girlfriend Tessa. Tessa was shot to death by gang members. I was shot that day too. I've been travelling off and on with him ever since. "Mac I'm not too sure of. I know he's been around since the 1500s but he doesn't talk much about his Awakening. I know he's battled more Immortals before I met him than I've seen since hooking up with him. And what about Cathaway?" "I don't know much about her. She tends to avoid me, or any Immortal." MacLoud sat in his room staring at a picture when his door chimed. "Yes?" The door slid open as Cathaway entered. MacLoud stood. "Ah, Ensign. Come in, please." Cathaway looked nervous. MacLoud tried assuring her, "Come on, I don't bite, and I don't attack unless threatened." Cautiously, she entered. MacCloud could see her white-knuckled death- grip on her sword, expecting an ambush of some kind. Slowly, he put his hand, his sword hand, on hers and gently guided it to a nearby table. "We're all friends here, Cathaway...I promise I won't hurt you. Now put the sword down..." Something in MacLoud's voice calmed her enough that she released her grip on her sword. Breathing a sigh of relief, MacLoud backed away. "Would you like something to drink?" "Ummm...no thank you." MacLoud walked to the replicator. "2 Synthales" Two mugs of the liquid appeared and he brought both to Cathaway. "I said I wasn't thirsty, sir." "Stop with the formalities and the pretenses. I'm Duncan MacLoud of the clan MacLoud, not Embassador MacLoud. I'm an equal, not a superior. The only difference is that you think I'm going to trick you into a compromis- ing position so I can kill you and take your Quickening. To prove that I'm not going to, I'll let you choose the drink, that way if I've poisoned one you have a 50% chance of choosing the other one, and if I've poisoned both then we'll both recover at the same time and it won't make a difference. Now take the drink." Cathaway chose one and they both drank at the same time. When no ill effects occoured, Cathaway relaxed a little. "You're probably wondering why I asked you to join my little party planetside?" MacLoud asked. Cathaway nodded. "Well, I don't want any mortals endangering themselves needlessly, but we're relatively safe--" "Unless someone phasers us at maximum level," she said. "Well, there is that, and there's little I can do about it if they try, but other than that we're safe." Cathaway noticed the picture on the table next to where MacLoud was sitting. "Who's this? Another Immortal? A sweetheart, perhaps?" "No, it's someone I loved a long time ago. I did my best to save her life, but..." Cathaway turned to him. "I know the feeling. When I was on my training cruise, we were struck by an asteroid that got past our nav shields. The section where we were hit was the section where my fiancee and I were walking. The whole section went up in flames. I was Awakened that day. No one else survived the explosion. To this day I wish that I hadn't been cursed with Immortality." "I didn't know--it's hard falling in love with an Immortal knowing that you'll outlive her, possibly by centuries...but I can't imagine what it's like--" Cathaway turned to face him. She was crying. "That's right, MacLoud! You can't know the pain I endure every day, knowing that my Adam is dead because he wasn't born into this curse!" She grabbed her sword and ran out of MacLoud's room. =========================================================================