From rob4654@webtv.net Wed Mar 31 10:40:27 1999
Premise : Just don't show this to Harlan Ellison.....
Kirk looked more sullen than Spock had ever seen. Ever.
"So, he has to die? Conspiracy or no?"
"Captain, that evidence has always been under debate. But the fact
remains, his death makes the Soviet KGB very anxious to prove they were
not behind it. This sharing of information in turn leads to several
renegades on either side of the Iron Curtain being brought low by shared
intelligence, especially in the 1970's."
"So, despite the man's bad back, McCoy's shouting out at just the
right moment saves him? Is that so bad a thing, Spock? Think of all the
good he will do. The hearts he will lift. More, if there is a
conspiracy, he can live to expose it. Save Dr. King--his own
brother--who knows, maybe even Lennon."
"Captain, his mindset is still that of a man who sees World War III as
inevitable. While he does keep this nation out of the Vietnam Conflict,
as a result, America is never humbled as to the limits of military
might. In 1979, the battle is joined in Afghanistan. The result----"
Kirk needed to say only one word.
"Armageddon."
Spock shook his head.
"Armageddon is merely a hill in Israel, where I once visited the
Meggido Kibbutz with my mother. A poor term for the death of a world-and
the Federation."
So Kirk and Spock looked over those streets of Dallas, looking for
signs of McCoy's emergence in the days prior to the 22nd. There was one
obvious place they did not look.
In a book repository, an insane man struggled with one under the
influence of 23rd-Century narcotics. Despite Oswald's obsession, McCoy
was on a crusade. He seized and struck Oswald with his own gun, knocking
him out. McCoy bound him.
"Not this time, ANIMAL!"
Still not together, McCoy positioned himself by the window, his addled
mind intending to snipe the assassin in the grassy knoll, if there was
one. His captive made a surprising plea.
"Please, whoever you are! I'm not Lee Harvey Oswald! I'm a time
traveller. My name is Doctor Sam Beckett. If I'm not free, we'll never
find out who really kills Kennedy."
McCoy laughed.
"If you are a time traveller, ignore JFK and consider WJC--next time,
don't inhale!"
"WJC? You're a time traveller, too. Why?"
He was still gone, mentally.
"A Nation died, here. People held the South responsible. Blamed the
Eastern power elite. Blamed industrial concerns in the West. He lives,
it all flows in a smooth line. Then, I'll find him, tell him to keep it
in his pants, and everything will be alright."
As an invisible presence helped 'Oswald' to undo his bonds, Kirk and
Spock burst in. McCoy held them at gunpoint.
"You look like my friends. But I can't be sure."
"Bones, give me the gun."
"No, Jim. The grassy knoll. I'm going to pepper it. I've seen him. The
real killer. Arrogant cuss. Chain smoker. Now things are made right."
'Oswald' was now free.
"That's my line, friend."
As they struggled for the rifle, Spock nerve-pinched them both. He then
saw Kirk make for the window. As his friend's mouth opened, Spock went
to repeat his motion, but Kirk was ready. As they struggled, though, the
fateful shots rang out, and a panicked Oswald, no longer claiming to be
a time traveller, fled. Outside, a newly-posessed Secret Service Agent
saved the life of The First Lady. President Kennedy, though, was dead.
In a sewer grating below Elm Street on Dealey Plaza, a man without
conscience looked proudly out on the Nightmare he had crafted, then took
another whiff of yet another cigarette.
Spock saw the disgusted look on Kirk's face. McCoy was beginning to
stir, the effects of the drug wearing off.
"Damn it, Spock! Suppose that had been Surak?"
Spock seemed as close to human tears as Kirk had ever seen him.
"Then, Jim, I would have counted on you to hold me back."
As they exited the Guardian of Forever, Kirk barely took in its offer
of future journeys. He heard Scotty's question.
"Sir, where were you? You were only gone a minute."
Kirk whipped out his communicator.
"Where were we, Scotty? 'Don't Let It Be Forgot...That Once There Was A
Spot...A Fleeting Whisp Of Glory...That Was Known As...Camelot.'"
One final pause.
"Let's Get The Hell Out Of Here."
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