“Aurichalchiemy, Jim, a specific Vulcan disease, and it’s mortal if not treated in time.”

“But you can cure it, can’t you, Bones?”

Dr. Mc Coy remaining silent, Mr. Spock took the floor to say : “There’s indeed a cure, Captain, and very simple. The patient just needs to drink a water rich in aurichalchium. We have several springs, on Vulcan, giving such a water, but apparently, this water presently, is not to be found elsewhere. Vulcan was provided in aurichalchium by a comet that hit the planet, millions years ago and the grade in aurichalchium wasn’t altered by the petroleum pollution. Aurichalchium is a very fragile mineral and disappears if it gets in contact with some substances as…”

“Please, Mr Spock”, the Captain interrupted, “don’t give me a lecture. Are you trying to say that we have to go back to Vulcan ?”

“No Captain, it would be ineffective. I have to be treated within three days or I’ll die and Vulcan can’t be reached in less that ten days.”

“So what ? Don’t tell me you haven’t any solution? Bones, you can’t leave Mr Spock die without trying anything?”

Captain Kirk was shaking frantically poor Dr Mc Coy: “Stop it, Jim. You’d better listen to Spock, he’s found something.”

Kirk turned back to Spock. “As a matter of fact, Captain, I found in the library that there was aurichalchium, in bygone days, in one place on Earth, Lake Tahoe. It came from a very ancient comet but it was destroyed by the 20th century’s pollution. The only solution for us is to go back in time. This will not be the first time for the Enterprise to attempt such a travel and I’m confident in our capacity in succeeding. I pointed year 1860 as the best date to realize our project. Earlier, the place would be too wild ; later, there is a risk. The destructive process on aurichalchium could have started.”

****************************************************************************************************************

« Captain’s log, Stardate 3169.12. We are presently entering into Earth orbit. We were in our way to planet 5 of Ursa Major when we had to change our course. Our First Officer, Mr Spock, contracted a Vulcan disease that has to be treated with a specific water containing aurichalchium, a very rare mineral, only to be found on Vulcan or on Earth before the petroleum pollution period. We’re attempting a travel back in time.”

« Captain’s log, Stardate 3169.13. I’m beaming down with Mr Spock, Dr Mc Coy, two crewmen and a bucket. It’s seven a.m. on Earth, so we don’t expect to meet anybody, but, as a precautionary measure, we’ve dressed up in cow-boy’s clothes. Mr Spock wears a Mexican poncho and a wide sombrero to hide his ears. As for Mc Coy, he’s so credible that you could swear to have watched him in an old western movie.”

“Five to beam down, Scotty.”

“As soon as I rematerialize, I feel that something is awfully wrong. Contrary to our expectations, we’re not alone on the Lake Tahoe’s banks. Not at all. There are three men riding beautiful horses and heading to the very place we spotted and they’re taking out their guns. It’s going to be difficult to explain our presence.”

****************************************************************

“Adam, Hoss, look at these strange men. What do you think they’re doing ? Where are their horses ?”

“I dunno, Joe, but we’ll soon find out. Keep ready with your guns, they might be dangerous.”

Having said so, Adam dismounted and approached the weird group : there was a man dressed as a Mexican but Adam could have sworn he was an Indian with his yellow/green complexion. The leader was obviously this man dressed in blue who, strangely, wasn’t wearing a hat. He was smiling at him and raising his left hand : “Hello”, he tried.

“Who are you ?”, Adam answered abruptly, “what are you doing on the Ponderosa ?”

“Sorry, Mister, what is the Ponderosa ?”

“It’s the place where you are and it’s our land. If you don’t know it, it’s a private property.”

“We apologize. We’re just passing through, we just want a bucket of water.”

Adam frowned. A bucket of water… Sounded like gold diggers.

“There’s no gold to be found in the lake. And what are you holding in your hands. Show me.” And he pointed his gun in a threatening way.

Wanting to show his goodwill, Kirk held out his phaser. Just at this moment, the phaser sizzled. Intrigued Adam caught the object so quickly that Kirk hadn’t the time to prevent it. Suddenly, a voice sounded out from the strange object.

“Enterprise to Captain. Anything wrong ?”

Startled, Adam looked at the little black box. Anticipating his reaction, Kirk shouted : “don’t touch this buttons, Mister, it’s…” He hadn’t the time to finish. Adam’s figure was suddenly hidden under a sparkling curtain and disappeared under his brothers’ horrified eyes.

Taking advantage of their surprise, Kirk ordered : “Phasers on stun”. The two crewmen shot : Hoss and Joe fell silently on the ground. Seizing Mc Coy’s phaser, Kirk called the ship : “Scotty ?”

“Hearing you, Captain”

“Where are you ?”

“In the transporter room, Captain”

“So, as you can certainly notice, we have an unwanted guest on the Enterprise.”

“Yup, Captain ! Come down, Mister », Scotty addressed to Adam who staid, paralyzed, on the transporter’s spot, staring wide-eyed, “we need the transporter to be freed”.

And as the young man’s didn’t react, he sent a crewman who took Adam’s hand and pulled him out of the spot. Thirty seconds after, the transporter glittered and five men appeared. The man that had been called Captain jumped alertly down and approached Adam.

“May I welcome you on the Enterprise ? My name is James T. Kirk and I’m the captain of this ship.”

“Ship ?” This was the only thing Adam managed to mumble.

“Sorry, it would be very long to explain and, for the moment, I’m quite busy. What you need to know, at present, is that you are in your future. The year, in accordance with Earth’s dating system, is 2 263 and you’re aboard a spaceship. Bones, take Mister, Mister… ?”

“Cartwright, Adam Cartwright.”

“Very pleased.” Then, turning to Dr Mc Coy, he added : “Take Mr Cartwright with you to sickbay and keep him there. No trespassing on the rest of the ship. And don’t forget Mr Spock. Mr Spock, I’ll see you on the bridge as soon as Dr Mc Coy will have released you.”

Whereupon, he strode out followed by the two crewmen.

******************************************************************

At the same moment, Hoss and Joe were rousing from their short lethargy. Immediately, they ran their eyes around them, looking for their brother and for the strangers who had sent them out. Very quickly, they had to yield to facts, they were alone, with their horses, on the lake Tahoe’s banks. Sport was there, wandering around with Chubb and Cochise.

“How long did we stay unconscious ?”, Hoss asked.

“I dunno, I’ve no watch, but looking at the sun, not a very long time.”

“Then, we have a chance to catch them. Come on Joe, we have to find their trail.”

Half an hour after, they were looking at each other, completely puzzled. They had spotted the boots traces, including Adam’s ones, at the place where the strangers had stood but no other tracks. If the men had moved, they had left no trail. Joe and Hoss had no indication about the direction they could have taken.

“What do you suggest ?” Joe asked.

“We go back to the Ponderosa, inform Pa and come back as soon as possible with enough hands to cover the surroundings.”

“But Hoss…”

“What ?”

“What do we do with Sport ?”

“We take it with us, you don’t want to leave it behind, do you ?”

“But what if Adam is hidden somewhere and needs his horse ?”

“Joe, Adam is with our assailants, he’s been abducted.”

“Are you sure ?”

“Dadburnit, Joe, can’t you reason ? Adam was riding with us, we meet a group of suspects, they knock us out and when we wake up we find no one. It’s obvious they have been flying away carrying Adam with them.”

“The problem is that, in my remembrance, things didn’t happen this way. Adam disappeared mysteriously and I still don’t know how they managed to knock us out, they didn’t touch us, they didn’t shoot us, they had no guns”.

“Well Joe, I’d the same impression as you but sure, it must be the concussion. If not, it makes no sense”

“All right ! Hurry up, Hoss, every minute lost gives them more chances to escape.”

*****************************************************************

Since the moment he had given his name to Captain Kirk, Adam hadn’t pronounced a word. His brain was bubbling. He had been led across wide corridors the surfaces of which were made of an unknown material. He had touched it under the quizzical eye of Mr Spock. He couldn’t determine where the light came from. They bumped into people strangely dressed, the men wearing black pants and curious shirts deprived of buttons, some were blue, others red. As for the women, they wore similar shirts but, his eyes got wider if it was possible, their skirts were so short that they hardly hide their bottom. Not that he found the sight unpleasant (most of the women he had seen were young and well shaped) but he couldn’t help feeling ill at ease. When they reached sickbay, Dr Mc Coy turned to him and Spock and said : “Now, we all take a shower and change our clothes. Afterwards, I’ll first take care of you, Spock and then, I’ll examine you, Mr Cartwright.”

“Excuse me” Adam replied, “but, first, what is a “shower” and, second, why do you have to examine me ? I’m not sick…”

It struck Spock and Mc Coy at the same time : in 1860, they didn’t have showers.

“Fascinating”, started Spock. “I’d overlooked that : at this time, they used to wash standing up in front of a basin or to have a bath from time to time. Most of the families had a bath once a month and it was the same tub for the whole family. The father started, then the mother, then…”

“Please, Spock”, Mc Coy, interrupted, “stop it, I’ll read the following episode of your historical report in my computer before going to bed. We’d better answer Mr Cartwright’s questions. A shower, is the modern way of cleaning, the water comes down on your body from… a kind of watering can. Help me Spock.”

“Well, we could say that the most approaching situation is a passage under a waterfall. The best way for full understanding is just to do it. There is a shower room, Mister, get into, strip off and press the button. The thermostat is set on the appropriate temperature.”

Bewildered, Adam obeyed. At this point, he was unable to think anymore. Adam enjoyed the shower. His restless mind, immediately, began to think about the best way to settle such a mechanism at the Ponderosa. Then, he held out his hand towards the place he had laid his clothes and found nothing except a black long-legs underwear, a black cotton undershirt and black socks. Having no choice, he put on what he had and went out of the shower room. The place was desert but he could hear the now familiar voices of Mr Spock and Dr Mc Coy in the next room so he pushed the door and entered. Mr Spock was lying on a very narrow bed and Dr Mc Coy was flying over Mr Spock’s body a small and buzzing device. Above Spock’s head, there was a panel with red spots going up and down or flickering. It lasted thirty seconds and then Dr Mc Coy allowed him to get up, saying : “It’s all right, Spock, the indicators are normal. The Lake Tahoe’s water was effectively containing enough aurichalchium to cure you.”

Then turning to Adam, he called out : “Come on, Mr Cartwright, the place is warm thanks to this green blooded, pointed eared Vulcan.”

Adam gave up the idea of resisting and lied down but not without asking : “I have two questions : first, where are my clothes and my gun, second, what is a green-blooded, pointed eared Vulcan”

“Very relevant questions”, Spock noticed. “As you surely already understood, I’m the green-blooded, pointed eared Vulcan. I’m not human. My species lives on a planet called Vulcan, located in this galaxy but out of the Milky Way, ten days from there at warp speed.”

“Warp speed ?”

“This ship can travel faster than light. We call that “warp speed”. But I think you could be interested to cover the gap between your century and ours. Doctor, do you think Miss Chapel could show Mr Cartwright how to use the computer ?”

“Sure ! While you were declaiming, I had the time to make my check-up. You’re in perfect health Mr Cartwright. Just open your mouth, I have to control your teeth.” Obediently, Adam showed his dentition.

“Perfect”, Mc Coy mumbled, “just a little scaling to do…”

Adam wriggled : “What is this, now ? Can’t you leave me alone and give me back my belongings ?”

“It’s nothing. Needs thirty seconds and it’s not painful. It will help you to keep your teeth until the end of your life. Miss Chapel ?”

A middle-aged woman, blue eyed and fair haired, with a curious hair dressing (it looked like a Babel tower laid on the top of her head, came in. She looked very gentle. At this moment, a whistling noise was heard.

“Bridge to sickbay, bridge to sickbay”.

Adam recognized the captain’s voice but however much he looked everywhere around the room, he couldn’t see anybody. Now prepared to believe what would have been unbelievable in his time, he guessed that the voice was coming from elsewhere. It reminded him of books he had read about ancient Egypt and the way priests used acoustic phenomenons to trick credulous people. Meanwhile, Mc Coy answered: “Hearing you, Jim.”

“At last, Bones. Are you ready ? I’m meeting you and Mr Spock in the conference room within three minutes.”

“On our way, Jim. Miss Chapel, I’m leaving Mr Cartwright to your cares. Make him a scaling and after, show him the computer”.

“Yessir !”

*****************************************************************

Ben poured himself a new cup of fresh coffee. He was in a delightful mood. Sometimes, it was good to be home alone. Last night, his boys had voiced the idea of getting up early and go to the lake for a diving and a fishing party and he had been happy to be able to give them a morning off. He had planned to turn to good account his own morning by tidying his desk. He was just wondering what he would do first when he heard a horses gallop. He opened the door, went out and turned pale : Hoss and Joe were rushing to him, pulling Sport behind them. He immediately knew that something dreadful had happened to Adam.

« It doesn’t make sense ! ».

For the third time, Ben was repeating the same sentence. He had spent a quarter of an hour questioning Hoss and Joe, crossing the information and trying to understand what could have happened, but after all this talking, the mystery was still as opaque as before. So he had decided to saddle Buck and go himself to the lake, hoping he would be able to find out some indications that Hoss and Joe would have overlooked. Not that he distrusted his second son : he knew that Hoss was quite as good at tracking as a Shoshone or a Paiute. But he had come back without an explanation and it had to be one. Joe and Hoss had followed him. At this stage, he didn’t think useful to get a posse.

They had been turning around the lake for hours without noticing anything else but the tracks of the men at the spot where Adam had disappeared. Standing up at the meeting point, Ben stared at Joe dismounting and shaking his head, which meant he hadn’t found anything. The gesture reminded him of another time, when they had been looking for Adam in the Mountain of the Dead : they had been searching unsuccessfully for three days but, at last, they had discovered him, wounded but alive. Remembering that, he regained hope.

“Let’s try again”, he said, “this time, Hoss, you go…”

*****************************************************************

“Look at him, Captain” Captain Kirk, Dr Mc Coy, Lieutenant de Salle and Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott had gathered around a giant screen in the conference room and were following Adam’s slightest actions.

“I do, Mr Spock and the more I watch him, the more I get the impression that I’ve already met him although I’m aware it’s impossible”

“Except if he’s to become famous, so you would have seen his portrait in some archives. But it’s very unlikely since I can’t remember an Adam Cartwright appearing in Earth’s history. Anyway, we will soon be enlightened about that  : I charged Mr Chekov to make a check about him. But I wanted to point that this man is a very amazing human. He almost acts as logically as a Vulcan would. ”

“Can you illustrate this surprising remark ?”, Mc Coy asked, sarcastically.

Apparently not noticing the hint  of mockery, Spock answered : “First, when nurse Chapel explained to him that he couldn’t wear his clothes, because they had to be disinfected, and offered him a tee-shirt, he asked for the meaning of the colours which demonstrates he’s smart enough to assume alone that the colours signify something. Then, he chose the blue when learning it was the one for scientific officers which proves he makes science more worthwhile than action or commanding. And he understood immediately the computer’s proper working.”

“Come on, Spock, that isn’t a feast. You speak of him as if he came from a time in which people were writing with goose feathers.”

“1860 isn’t so far from the goose feathers time, doctor” Spock answered very seriously. “Don’t you know that the first typewriter, if you except a test by Beach, in 1857, was invented by Shole and Densmore and became a success, in 1872, thanks to Remington…”

“Gentlemen”, Kirk interrupted, “please stop arguing, we’ve got no time for that. What is your point, Spock ?”

“I just think, Captain, that with a short training, we could adapt this man to our time. Just consider that : knowing he had a short time, he started by a summary of Earth history from 1860 to nowadays then he moved to Sciences history and he’s just asking the computer about travel in time. Rather logical ! I would willingly recruit him in my team”

“Negative, Spock, and you know why : there were two other men with him when we picked him up and they saw him disappear. We can’t interfere with the past, you know that.”

“This is nothing important, Captain, they will never find out what happened, so there will be no interference.”

“But it’s not human, Spock, this man has probably a family, a wife, maybe children. We can’t keep him. We have to bring him back to his time”

“But what about the knowledge he’s presently absorbing ?”, De Salle asked.

“It’s not the first time we have this problem, Lieutenant”, Kirk answered. “It happened previously with a man from the 20th century. We just brought him back a second before the moment we had picked him up and it cancelled in his mind all what he had seen and learnt, just as if it hadn’t existed.”

At this point, engineer Scott coughed : “Do you mean, Captain, that you intend to bring back this lad in his time, a few seconds before his arrival in the Enterprise ?”

“Absolutely, Scotty. Any worry.”

“Well, Captain, it needs a very delicate adjustment. We don’t master perfectly the travel back in time…”

“But Scotty, you did it before…”

“Yessir.” “So, you can do it again.”

“Yes, Captain, but I need three days to set the reversing device.”

“That’s why I suggested to keep Mr Cartwright with us” said Spock, arching a brow. “You know, Captain that we use a lot of energy to stay invisible and that travelling back in time is also very costly in dilithium. We will exhaust our stock if we have to stay in the 19th century for three days.”

Kirk glanced at him and then, pressed a button : “Mr Chekov ?”

“Hearrring you Captain” “Have you completed your research ?”

“Yes, Captain”

“And what’s the result ?”

“I send it on yourrr scrrreen, Captain. Mr Adam Cartwrrright didn’t play a leading part in his centurrry but he’s the ancestorrr of a verrry imporrrtant perrrson ”.

At this moment, a picture appeared : a woman who looked like Adam as if she were his twin sister.

“Mary Highstrong”, Kirk mumbled, “that’s why I had the feeling that I knew him.”

“The Canadian philosopher” Spock added, thinking aloud.

“Borrrn in 1865”, Chekov went on commenting with this indestructible Russian accent of his , “Clarrra Cartwrrright, Adam Cartwrrright’s daughter, marrried Mr Donat frrrom which Carrrol was borrrn in 1890. Carrrol Donat marrried Lewis Habe in 1910 and had to wait eleven yearrrs beforrre having a son, Michael, borrrn in 1921. Michael Habe had a daughter, Marrry, in 1947. Her grrrand-grrrand-grrand-grrand daughter, Marrry Highstrrrong, borrrn in 2090, wrrrote in 2146 the famous trrreaty about galaxisation, that launched the prrrocess leading to the Federrration’s foundation.”

“Thank you, Mr Chekov”, said Kirk, switching off the contact. Then turning towards Spock and Scotty, he declared : “Then, now, gentlemen, we have no choice : we have to bring back Adam Cartwright in his time to let him beget Clara Cartwright. If not, Mary Highstrong will not write her treaty and, changing the course of history, we disappear. You have to find a way to send him back to 1860, even if it’s not as precise as you could wish, and to reduce the deadline. I go back to the bridge. Bones, send Adam Cartwright there, I have to speak with him.”

Adam widened his eyes when, escorted by Mc Coy, he entered the Enterprise’s bridge. It was a circle-shaped platform. The Captain was sitting, in the centre, on a raised sit. At his right side, he caught sight of a beautiful black woman wearing a red and very short dress that allowed her thighs to appear while the part of her legs under the knee was hidden by high boots. “Strange suit”, he thought, “but not unpleasant”. She was manipulating wires, had a button in her ears and was repeating weird words: “Hailing frequencies opened.” She had one golden stripe on each sleeves, from what Adam deducted she was an officer. In front of the Captain but turning their back on him, were two men with yellow shirts and black collars, looking over a panel of buttons. Adam couldn’t see their faces. The Captain was himself wearing a yellow shirt with three leafy golden stripes on his sleeves.

Turning towards Adam, he noticed how much he was impressed by the young lady at the broadcasting station and smiled : “May I introduce you to Lieutenant Uhura, our transmissions officer, Mr Cartwright ?”

Adam and Uhura, simultaneously, gave a slight bow, then Adam approached the Captain who was carrying on with introductions. Indicating a tall man next to Uhura, he said “Lieutenant de Salle” and then, he pointed out the two men before him who turned their heads to greet the newcomer. One was as yellow faced as Hop-Sing but, somehow, Adam could feel he wasn’t Chinese : “Lieutenant Sulu”, Kirk introduced. The second one had bushy hair hiding his forehead : “Ensign Chekov” he added.

“Come here, Mr Cartwright”, Kirk invited the young man, “and have a look.”

He pressed a button on his armrest and a large screen in front of them, enlightened. The picture that appeared was amazing for Adam : the fund was black dotted with small lights, a star spangled sky, and in the middle, he could watch a giant glob,

“Earth !” he whispered, startled.

“Yes, Mr Cartwright, Earth, just as it is in 1860. It’s not a representation, it’s the real world, and you were, a few hours ago, in a microscopic point of this continent.”

Adam couldn’t wait longer : “And why am I here instead of there ?” he asked, abruptly.

“I have to apologize, you shouldn’t be here. We needed, in order to cure Mr Spock, a substance that can’t be found on Earth in the twenty-third century but is present in Lake Tahoe water, in your own century. We just wanted to draw a bucket of this water, and we got down at seven on the morning, thinking nobody would be there so early…”

“But we were there, my brothers and I…”

“And you touched my communicator, without knowing it, you pressed a button that connected me to my ship and the officer in charge thought he had to beam us up.”

“Beam ?” Kirk frowned, wondering how he could explain the thing. “We use, to travel from our ship to a planet, or the contrary, a device that functions with a beam of … kind of electricity… do you know what electricity is ?”

“Yes, I read Ampère’s works.”

The Captain smiled : he had been lucky, in his misfortune, to pick up a man who had a good education. It could have been worse… He went on in his explanation. “Let’s say that this electricity beam…”

“Shares our body in particles to cross Space and gathers them again when they meet their landing point, which, when you give a thought to it, is quite disturbing” Mc Coy ended.

“Bones, please, don’t destabilize Mr Cartwright.”

“That beats everything ! I’m the one who destabilizes Mr Cartwright !”

Adam chuckled : “Speaking of “beam”, seems Captain, that you see the mote in your neighbour’s eye but not the beam in your own. That, of course, is what Dr Mc Coy is thinking, not me.”

Kirk grinned, amused by Adam’s wit and admiring his ability to joke in such a situation. Just as he was noticing that, he saw Adam’s face turning serious.

“And now, Captain, can you tell me what you intend to do ?”

“Well, this isn’t simple, Mr Cartwright.”

“You can call me Adam. It’s a real mouthful, this Mr Cartwright.”

“All right, Adam. We have to take you back to your land.”

It was Adam’s turn to grin : “Good ! Could you order your men to give me back my clothes and… beam me down as soon as possible ?”

“Wait a minute. We can’t do it like that. If we just send you back now, you will remind what you’ve seen and learnt and you must not be allowed to do that. Knowing what you know, you could reverse the course of time and we would all disappear. To give you a slight idea of the problem, Mr Chekov, here present, made a research about your life to see if you had done something significant in history…”

“And ?”

“You didn’t but you’re the ancestor of a very important person.” Saying that, Kirk pressed another button. Mary Highstrong appeared. Adam gasped. It seemed to him that he was watching a mirror although his features were feminine and not masculine. “Your descendant” Kirk commented. “Her name is Mary Highstrong and she’s to write a philosophic treaty about The emergency of Galaxisation, in 2146, that will popularize the idea of federating the planets in order to reach to peace.”

“From what I learnt in your computer, it was a success.”

Kirk smirked : “You’re a good student, Mr huh, Adam. So you can see that we have no choice, we must bring you back because Mary Highstrong’s ancestor is your own daughter, Clara Cartwright.”

Adam’s face brightened : “I’m going to have a daughter… I’m going to become a father”. He hardly resisted the fancy of jumping up. Then, he came back to the present : “What’s your plan ?”

“We want to send you back a few seconds before your beaming up. So, what happened will be erased from your mind.”

Thinking of that, Adam felt a twinge of regret but very quickly, he overcame his disappointment. Better to come back home as ignorant as he was when he left, than to stay there and become a scientist. Now that he knew he would have a child, he thought that this child would have a mother and he was certain that he couldn’t make a child without being deeply in love with the mother. He felt very excited at this expectation.

“I’m in a hurry to go back, Captain.”

“Well, you’ll have to be patient, Adam, my chief engineer, Mr Scott, declared that he needed three days to adjust the reverse time device.”

“Three days !”

“Easy, easy. We can’t wait three days, otherwise, we’ll be short of energy and I’ve got to go to Ursa Major to make a new stock of dilithium, our source of energy. So they’re working on a way of doing what is needed in a shorter time.”

“Is there no dilithium on Earth in the twenty-third century.”

“There’s no dilithium extracted from Earth but, of course, we have supplies.” “So, why don’t you go back to your century first, get enough dilithium and come back to my century.”

Kirk’s face lighted up. “You’re right, Adam, why didn’t I think of that myself.” He pressed a new button. “Bridge to engine room. Mr Spock ?”

“Captain ?”

“Did you find a solution ?”

“Yes Captain. We’re going back to our own century first, then…”

Kirk interrupted : “All right, Spock, I know what you’re planning, Adam Cartwright had the same idea .”

“I told you, Captain, this man was very brilliant.”

Adam touched Kirk’s hand to prevent him from switching off. “One moment, Captain, I have a request.”

“What is it ?”

“Even if you have a solution about the energy’s supplies, I would like Mr Scott and Mr Spock to try to accelerate the process.”

“Why ? You can spend three days enjoying yourself and learning a lot. I’ll give you a new teacher, more accurate than Christine Chapel.”

“But during this time, my family is worrying and suffering”.

“They will not remember anything” Spock answered.

“Anyway, at this very moment they are living a nightmare.  I know my father and brothers.”

Kirk had this smile that, in accordance to Mc Coy, “could have melt the North Pole.” “You may be as logical as a Vulcan, Adam, but you’re definitely a Human. Scotty, Spock, do your best to go faster. And now, Adam, aren’t you hungry ?”

******************************************************************

Ben was slumped in the red chair, his rimmed eyes staring at nothing.

« Pa,” Joe implored, “please, do eat something, you can’t stay so long without eating”

“Yeah, Pa, there’s no point in it”, Hoss added, “you need to keep your strength. Hop-Sing is preparing a meal and you’d better take a bite.”

“We’ve done all what we could, we’ve gone through the whereabouts with a fine-tooth comb, we’ve asked for Roy’s help, we’ve scoured all the caverns…”

Ben raised his head towards Joe, his eyes blackening : “It’s not enough ! Do you hear me, son, it’s not enough.”

“What more can we do, Pa ?, Hoss commented, thinking aloud.

“We can go back to the lake to-morrow and start again what we did to-day but I don’t think it’ll be of some use.”

Ben stood up : “Listen to me Hoss. You too, Joe. I swear an oath to find Adam, dead or alive, but I’ll find him. To-morrow, I’ll go to town and send a telegram. I’m hiring the best detective in San Francisco. A man doesn’t disappear like that.”

And suddenly, he sank down again in the red chair, hid his head in his hands and began to weep. Joe and Hoss were at a loss to console him, especially since they were in the same sorrow as him.  After a while, Ben regained his self-control. Smiling across his tears, he apologized for his weakness and said : “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have lost my composure in front of you”

“It’s nothing, Pa, we understand”

“Sometimes, you find relief in crying…” Ben smiled more frankly. “You’re both were right. It’s stupid to starve. Let’s have our dinner.”

******************************************************************

The object of so much turmoil and tears was himself having dinner in the Enterprise’s dining-room, with Captain Kirk, Dr Mc Coy and Lieutenant Uhura. Kirk had left the con to Lieutenant De Salle. Adam surveyed the room : where did the food come from ?

Mc Coy led him to a panel and press a button : a screen appeared : “Now”, he explained, “you can see a list of the courses available. Select human food, you’d better not eat Vulcan food, you could not digest it. What would you like, meat, vegetables, fish, seafood…”

“Seafood ? You have seafood on a spaceship ? You can’t have seafood if you aren’t next to the sea !”

“As a matter of fact, we can. All the food aboard is deep-frozen or dried so you can keep it for years.”

“And this… deep-frozen or dried food is tasting good ?”

Mc Coy had this crooked smile that was familiar to him : “Just try.”

“There are a lot of courses, some words I don’t know. What is ratatouille ?”

“Mixed vegetables, aubergines, onions, tomatoes, zucchinis and red peppers fried together in olive oil. It’s a French recipe. Not bad at all ”

Adam opted for grilled lobster, fried potatoes, ratatouille (just to see) and a pineapple pie. Carrying it on a tray, he went to the table where the Captain was waiting for him. Mc Coy joined them and related Adam’s surprise at seeing seafood on a spaceship.

“So, Adam, what do you think ?”, the Captain asked,  after the first mouthful.

“May I be frank ?”

“You may not, you must”.

“Honestly, Captain, if this is the only kind of lobster you’ve been eating, you don’t know the real taste and consistency of lobster. Sometimes, when I go to San Francisco, I give myself a treat and I order lobster. It’s far better than this, even if this is eatable; but it’s not lobster.”

Mc Coy gave him a piece of his roast beef : “And what do you think of our meat ?”

Adam tested : “Same answer : you don ‘t know what beef can be.”

Uhura’s gentle voice raised  : “So, we would have lost as much as we suspected. Captain, since we have to go back to nineteenth century, couldn’t we catch some of this tasty food for us to get an idea ?”

Adam grinned : “I would be very pleased to offer you a choice of our products, steaks from our cattle, ham, eggs, milk, vegetables from our farm.”

A whistle sounded : “Bridge to Captain”

“Kirk here. Listening to you, Lieutenant”

“Commander Spock and Lieutenant-commander Scott are ready for the jump to twenty-third century, Captain. They’re just waiting for your order.”

“On my way, Lieutenant. Put the ship under yellow alert. Come with us, Adam, it will be interesting for you.”

Followed by Adam and Lieutenant Uhura, he headed for the lift. The yellow alert had set the ship in a turmoil of excitement. Crewmen and crewwomen had broken into a run and Adam was wondering where they were rushing to. On the bridge, on the contrary, the officers kept calm. Mr Spock was back to his post. Uhura reached her seat and made a sign to Adam for him to sit down beside her. “Hold the armrests”, she said, “hold it tight.” Just as she was saying that, Kirk pressed a button on his own armrest and asked : “Ready Scotty ?”.

“Ready, Captain”, the chief engineer’s nasal voice answered.

“Red alert” said Kirk and immediately, an air-raid siren began to sound. “Go” cried the Captain. The ship was suddenly shaken with strong vibrations. Uhura passed out, Adam struggled a while and then passed out himself. When he came back to life, he saw the Captain straightening up and helping Chekov to do the same.

Suddenly, Uhura’s devices whistle “Enterprise, identify”, Adam heard.

“Hailing frequencies opened”, Uhura informed . “Captain, Admiral Anderson on line”

“On screen, Lieutenant”, Kirk answered. And a bewildered Adam looking at the screen where, previously, Earth and Space could be seen, saw a giant black man appear and fill the window. He wore a red uniform and his sleeves were covered with golden stripes from the wrist to the elbow.

“Enterprise, what are you doing here, you were meant to be on Ursa Major’s fifth planet’s orbit.”

Kirk explained his presence and the necessity he was to stock up again in dilithium.

“All right”, the Admiral said, “but after, you change your course and go immediately to Neutral Zone. Romulans are threatening again.”

“But, sir, I’ve got to go back to nineteenth century before in order to bring back Mr Cartwright to his time.”

“Is it an absolute necessity ?”

“Yes sir ! Mr Cartwright is Mary Highstrong’s ancestor and he still hasn’t begot any child. His daughter who is to become Mary Highstrong’s great-great-great and so on grandmother will be born on 1865 and we picked him up in 1860. Besides, as soon as we will have done it, we can come back at this very minute here.”

“What are your odds of success ?”

Adam blemished. Unconsciously, he had taken for granted that there was no risk of failure.

Kirk turned to Spock who answered : “Approximately, 843.57 on 882, Sir.”

“All right, proceed. I’ll give you your instructions when you come back, Jim.”

“Yes,  Sir”

The screen came back to black and Earth appeared again. “Do you want to have a look on your country, Adam”, the Captain asked.

Adam nodded. Uhura made a zoom and the Glob came closer as if it was on the verge of colliding with the ship. The zoom went on and as if she was using a giant magnifying glass, Uhura pointed on America.

“Look, Adam”, the captain said, “on this bridge, you and I, we come from the same region, we’re American.”

“You mean we come from the same country”, Adam corrected.

“No. In our time, our country is Earth. The previous countries are nowadays regions. Chekov is an Earther as you and me, Uhura and De Salle too. But Uhura’s region is East Africa, Chekov’s one is Russia, De Salle’s one is Western Europ. The only foreigner, here is Mr Spock who’s coming from another planet.”

The picture of America, now was big enough to distinguish the States. “This is Iowa, my birth place”, Kirk went on, “but my roots are in Texas. My grandfather was a Texan and he used to say that our ancestors pioneered the American frontier. Now, here is your State, Nevada. The big town, here is Reno and twenty-three miles on the South is Virginia City. You’re lucky, since it’s a tourist place, it has been preserved from modern buildings and towers ”

Adam kept silent. He had assumed that his country would have been different four centuries later but he could not say he was charmed by the sight of this urbanized countryside. “Not enough trees, not enough grass, too many roads”, he thought. The sky was crowded with flying vehicles looking like giant ladybirds.

“I’m in a hurry to go back home”, he whispered.

Kirk heard him and looked at the man with some compassion. It had been a very hard day. “Would you like to have a rest, Adam ?” And, without waiting the answer, he turned to Uhura : “Lieutenant, would you agree to take Adam to his quarters ?”

The gracious Bantu young woman stood up and, with a delightful smile: “Come on Adam”, she said.

Adam bowed to the Captain. Their eyes met and a mutual comprehension could be read in both gazes. The Captain’s glance seemed to tell : “I noticed your interest for Nyota Uhura. Don’t know the nature of this interest, intellectual or physical or both, but I give you an opportunity to have a conversation with her.” Adam’s gaze was saying : “I need an hour or two for relaxing and having a quiet conversation with a person educated enough to answer all my questions and I’m intrigued by this black woman who is a starship officer and carries on being attractive to the male I am.”

Adam and his companion headed for the lift and disappeared from the bridge As he was following Uhura across the ship’s corridors, Adam was discovering the spaceship was as broad as a village and it occurred to him that he was far from seeing all the treasures she was concealing. He wondered how his father or his brothers would have reacted if they had beamed up the Enterprise instead of him. Sure, Joe would have been very excited. He would have tried all what he could, would have spoken to any woman he could have caught, more interested in people or devices than in the computers’ information. Hoss would have felt quickly very unhappy : no animals (maybe there were some but Adam hadn’t seen them), no tasty food, nothing familiar… As for Ben, Adam thought he would have appreciated Dr Mc Coy : this one was exactly the kind of man that Ben could chose as a friend. Gruffly but thoughtful, freethinker but efficient and trustworthy in his job. Probably, the sailor he had been would have respected the Captain but he wouldn’t have understood Mr Spock. As for Uhura…

His thoughts came back to his pretty companion as she stopped in front of a door. She just touched a square designed on the wall and the door opened alone. Adam asked her about the functioning.

“Magnetism” she just answered.

The room they came into was big enough to contain a bed, behind a partition, four seats and a round table. All along the walls, a low cupboard was running, on top of which several objects were laid down, a computer, a communicator, a vase with flowers that looked authentic (but he would soon find out that they were false), a box full of paper handkerchiefs, a writing pad and a pair of strange pens. In a corner, Uhura showed him a panel with several buttons. “One button per category”, she said, “one for food, one for drinks, one for clothes, one for toilet or beauty articles, one for leisure. Let’s have a drink. What do you want ?”

“Can I have a beer ?” Adam ventured.

“Andorian, Romulan, Aldorian ale ?”

“Haven’t you just… Earth beer.”

“Sure, we have, Irish, Belgian, Chinese…”

“An Irish one will do”.

Uhura ordered Adam’s beer and took a blue beverage for herself. Then, they sat down around the table. They staid a while just sipping, then Adam broke the silence.

“So, in your century, black people have the same rights as the white ?”

She grinned : “I suspected you would be surprised with that, as you must be, seeing a woman in an officer’s rank in Spacefleet.”

He nodded and added : “You can’t imagine how glad I am to learn that, at last, racism is over. In my century, there’s a lot of segregation, towards Indian people, towards black people. We’re on the verge of starting a civil war, I checked it on the computer.”

“The Secession war, I know. This is finished, nowadays, because Earthers have met people far more different from them. There’s no longer racism between Humans, we don’t bother anymore about the colour of the skin but there’s still racism. A few weeks ago, Captain Kirk had to move an officer because he proved to have mean feelings towards Mr Spock. Vulcans are extremely civilized, on some fields, far more than Humans, but they look very much like Romulans. Romulans are warriors and believe in strength and violence. Vulcans were similar, five thousand years ago but they worked on themselves until they became able to control all their emotions. Now, they’re driven only by logic, except once every seven years.”

Adam was intrigued : “What happens, every seven years?”

“They have to mate and they lose their control. I can’t tell a lot about it because I just saw once Mr Spock in this state and I wasn’t invited on Vulcan to attend the… wedding. Captain Kirk and Dr Mc Coy were the only ones to be allowed to beam down and they kept very discreet about what happened.”

She giggled : “I don’t know how we managed to come to such a subject. Better you tell me about you, your life, your family… Are you married ?”

They went on talking friendly for two hours, unconscious of the time passing when they heard a whistle

“Lieutenant Uhura. Report to bridge”

She answered the Captain request and then turned back to Adam : “Sorry, my duty’s calling me. Take advantage of it to have a rest. But you told me you were fond of opera. Before leaving, I want to program one for you.” She pushed a button and a wide screen appeared.

“You told me you heard about a new composer, new for you, Verdi.”

“Yes. Five years ago, I read an article about his opus, Rigoletto, that was performed in New-York. The article spoke very highly of it. I’m waiting for San Francisco’s Opera House to do a production of it but it still hasn’t come to this part of the territory.”

“Then, this evening, you will be able to watch Rigoletto. I’ll chose for you my favourite version. It’s a recording of a performance in the Roman theatre of Verone, in Italy, in the beginning of the twenty-first century. To me, nobody has outdone this performance. Leo Nucci is Rigoletto and Inva Mula is Gilda. Here is the libretto. Watch and enjoy it. See you later.”

A delighted Adam discovered the charm of video. He was so enthusiastic with the show that he found himself clapping as if he was, in flesh, on the theatre’s tiers, when he heard a buzz at the door. He immediately understood that this noise had replaced the knocking and, not knowing how to open the door, he shouted : “Come in !”

Entered Mc Coy : “Hey, you’re watching Rigoletto ? Nice stuff. It’s nearly finished. I came to suggest to you taking some exercise in our gymnasium. Unless you prefer to beam down on Earth in a place where you could ride.”

Adam made a denial sign : “I think it will be enough for me to beam down only once, when you’ll send me home. But yes, I’m not against the idea of moving my limbs.”

“All right ! Come with me and after, I’ll take you to the dining-room. No lobster, no beef, I just want you to taste some fried chicken, a recipe from Maryland. I’m sure you’ll like it.”

Just before leaving the room, Adam put his hand on Mc Coy’s arm : “Doctor, do you think they’re really able to send me back to my time ?”

Mc Coy stared at Adam with his sparkling beautiful blue eyes : “Listen to me, Adam : when Jim Kirk says he will do something, he always does it, whatever the cost can be. Besides, he’s just found another good reason to succeed in sending you back. Chekov, who is young and inexperienced, overlooked another part of your lineage. You’re not only Mary Highstrong ancestor, you’re also James Tiberius Kirk’s ancestor.”

“What ?”

“You’re second daughter, Elizabeth, will marry a Texan who’s Jim’s forefather. He’s just learned it and will surely join us as soon as possible to present you his respects”, Mc Coy concluded, laughing.

“Will you come now ?”

“Yessir.”, a thoughtful Adam answered.

Jim Kirk joined Adam and Mc Coy for dinner, obviously very excited now that he knew he was a direct descendant of the young Cartwright.

“How old are you, Adam, huh, Grand-Pa ?” Adam smirked: “Please, keep calling me Adam. I’m just thirty.”

“And I’m thirty-eight ! Don’t you think it’s funny ?”

“Of course, I do, son.”

Kirk smiled at him: “Tell me about my family.”

Adam spoke a long time, having a lot to say, specially about Ben : “He’s your forefather too and, if you’re a Captain, the fact you have Ben Cartwright’ blood flowing in your veins could have something to do with it.”

Kirk was agreeing when Spock and Scotty appeared in the dining-room.

“Good news, Sir”, the latter said. “I think we’ll be able to go back to nineteenth century, to-morrow morning.”

Adam sighed with relief. Not letting Kirk answer he shouted : “Oh, thank you Mr Scott. I think I’ll sleep better knowing that.” Then, he realized he should have left the word to the Captain and blushed : “Sorry, Captain”, he said sheepishly. “It’s all right, Adam ! Go to bed, now, seems to me you deserve it. See you to-morrow before the big dive.”

*****************************************************************

Ben finished hastily his chores and headed home. In the dining-room, Joe was waiting for him.

“Where’s Hoss ?”

“Outside”

“Outside ? But I didn’t see him.”

Ben turned green. Striding towards Joe, he said, his voice trembling : “Don’t tell me he disappeared too !”

“Calm down, Pa, he just rode to Paul Martin’s, in order to buy a potion that will help you to sleep.”

“I didn’t ask for anything of the kind”

“No, you didn’t but we think you can use a bit of it, and Hoss and me too.”

Ben sat down in front of the fire : “You’re probably right. I feel exhausted, Joe, and yet, I’m not sure I could sleep. Hope your brother will not be long.”

*****************************************************************

A whistle pierced Adam’s ears, awaking him. Uhura’s voice came to him : “Time to get up, Mr Cartwright, the Captain is expecting you on bridge within thirty minutes. Press the button “clothes”, your clothes are waiting for you”

Happy to find his casual clothes again, Adam hurried to be ready on time. It was nine o’clock when he appeared on the bridge. Spock and Mc Coy were there, speaking with the Captain, Lieutenant Uhura was sitting at her place, opening or switching the buttons on her panel. She glanced at him with a lovely smile.

“Good morning, Adam”, the Captain greeted him. “I just wanted to say good-bye, we’re going back to your time at nine thirty and you’ll beam down at ten.”

“Will I really forget everything I saw, heard or touched ?”

“Consciously, yes”, Mc Coy answered, “but in your subconscious, you’ll keep some sounds, some pictures. For example, if ever you can hear again Rigoletto, you’ll probably  have the feeling of having heard that before. You could be able to understand spontaneously a scientific phenomenon unknown in your time.”

Adam’s face enlightened : “Good !”

A new whistle : “Engineer-chief to bridge”

“Yes, Scotty ?”

“We’re ready, sir !”

“All right, red alert”

The air-raid siren sounded. Spock turned to Adam : “Sit down next to Lieutenant Uhura, Mr Cartwright and look at this red light, on the screen. When it will turn green, hold on your chair.”

“All right, I remember what it’s like”, Adam answered, taking his seat.

When the travel in time was over, Kirk shook Adam’s hand : “Good-bye, Grand-Pa”, he could not stop himself from saying. “Be a happy husband and a happy father.”

“Good-bye, son, try to be happy too and remember that work and career aren’t the only valuable things in life.”

“How right!” said Mc Coy.

“Fascinating ! So human ! For me, this advice is irrelevant…” Spock commented, raising an eyebrow.

“Robots can’t understand everything, Spock” Mc Coy said, derisively.

Kirk had a broad smile : “As you see, Adam, nothing changes.” Then, he nodded : “ I’ll remember. Lieutenant Uhura, take my ancestor to the transporter room.”

The gracious Bantu jumped out of her seat : “Follow me, Adam”

They reached quickly the transporter room : “I think we have a quarter of an hour spared.”

“And I think the Captain did it on purpose, just to let us a little time to say farewell.”

“How does a gentleman say farewell to a lady, in the nineteenth century ?”

“Forget about the nineteenth century. Let’ s do it in the twenty-third century way. I guess I’m allowed to more boldness”

And without waiting for the answer, he put his arms around her shoulders and kissed her lightly.

“Is that all right for the twenty-third century way ?”

“A little shy”

“I can do better” and the second kiss was deeper. Then, he withdrew. “I think it’s enough. At least, you, you’ll remember it and I hope it will be a good memory.”

She looked intensely at him : “It will, Adam. I will cherish it. In other circumstances, we could have been very good friends”

“ Only friends ?”

She had a light smile : “Maybe more. Farewell, Adam.”

“Farewell, pretty woman” and he jumped on the transporter. Just at this moment, Scotty appeared.

“Ready, sir ?” Scotty went to the checkpoint. He activated some gear levers and started to count : “ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, energize.”

*****************************************************************

Adam, Hoss and Joe were riding merrily. They enjoyed the morning air. A lovely day was starting and it was half a day-off. Approaching the lake, they got the impression that they heard somebody talking not far from them.  Joe went ahead, Adam following him. Hoss, behind them, suddenly caught sight of a glittering around his elder brother.

“Hey, Adam, what’s happening to you ?”

Adam turned his head. “What’s happening to me ? Nothing. Why do you ask ?”

Hoss was confused : “Never mind ! I thought I’d seen something, kind of a light. Probably the sun !”

Joe laughed : “Hurry up, Hoss, you need your bath. Some fresh water will help you.”

Adam interrupted : “Instead of diving in the lake, why should we not climb up the mountain and find a waterfall. I feel like having water flowing on my body.”

“Do you hear that, Hoss, big brother wants to have water flowing on his body.”

“Just that ?”

“Yes.”

“I think we can help him, don‘t you Joe ?”

Seeing Joe winking, Adam understood he’d better fly away. He kicked Sport’s sides and broke into a gallop.

Meanwhile, Ben was pouring himself a new cup of fresh coffee. He was in a delightful mood. Sometimes, it was good to be home alone. Last night, his boys had voiced the idea of getting up early and go to the lake for a diving and a fishing party and he had been happy to be able to give them a morning off. He had planned to turn to good account his own morning by tidying his desk and nothing would prevent him from doing it.

THE END