Act Two, Scene One

[Nightmares Echo]

A simple soft hum, it was the sound the filled the otherwise quiet Lab. Everyone was allowed a few hours of extra rest before returning to duty, allowing them to recover from their Leave. The tune, it was old forgotten by most on Trill...but it was a memory of a sound that has always been then, or seemed like it had always been there. Anytime Increase was alone, or lost deep in a project the melody would slip free. Often times this little time caused him to focus deeply, and with the hum....it almost seems like he enters a trance.

Because the ship was still in transition of crew members, and his staff allowed to rest before returning to work....most of Lab 4 was shut down, minus the work station Increase had open. Been the PADD in hand and data base of the ship. His eyes danced between the two, along with his fingers over the buttons on both devices like they were moving with the music.

It had been a few hours, lost in the trance he lost focus on everything around him....and Commander V'rols words went unnoticed. Which is never good to ignore your commanding officer. Between the screens, what one can be seen are images of Jem'Hadar Soldiers, and off to the side was detailed history of them. He was mostly just reading...history. Everything from recent news to the first reports of them appearing to Star Fleet.

[aipsylon]

V'rol waited a pair of seconds for him to notice and reply before walking over next to him and speaking with no sign of any irritation. "Chief Amadaeus, Traditionally on Vulcan as well as Trill it is considered incourteous to call someone over and then engage in other activities. If they detain you, however, I will come back at another time. When will be appropriate?"

He held the PADD against his chest as he glanced over what the Chief was working on, and listened to the music for just a moment. Once he was done with that he would look in the Chief's direction, his face a blank slate as it always was. Simply seeming to wait for the reason he had been called down to the science lab to be given.

[Nightmares Echo]

The Commander was there before he had realized it. So deep in his study...the word 'Traditionally' is what broke him of his trance. A slow in hale came as he spoke plain and calmly "Apologizes Commander V'rol. Old habits die hard." He chuckles softly, and mostly to himself. Hands and body shifted as he put down his PADD and a few buttons later he displayed the meeting that Increase got a recording of and the messages with Doctor Bashir. "Sir...since I have been given this recording and having a talk with a close friend on the matter...I think this person, 1) is no longer dead, saying she may have been dead and returned her to life...2) She was never dead in the first place and the CMO's report of the time was a Lie...both of those lead me to saying next, that I think she is either 1) Without memory of her previous life and is doing things unknowing of who she is, 2) She is brain washed and doing things she think is right or.." a moments pause came before he spoke "..she is some sort of secret agent trying to use her background to get information to someone."

He takes another breath "I come to this after talking to Bashir. He said someone from Command came and took all of his Records on her." After pointing and presenting all that he had to V'rol he turns to face the Vulcan with a deep respect yet a stern tone in his voice "Doctor Bashir is a close friend, and I would like to further include him on the research on this...we just need to release our files to him. That, and if he is working on this with us and the woman some how...shows up on DS9 we have eyes there already." He doesn't voice it, but Increase really doesn't know many people on the ship yet. So having a familiar voice to bounce ideas and thoughts off of is welcomed.

"Your thoughts, sir."

[Vertroue]

Arriving back to the Thunderchild, Erica knew she had work to do. She knew that she needed to get a hold of the Captain and brief him on what happened with The Gul, but all she could think about was the manner in how that interview went down. Going to her quarters, she needed a chance to just be alone. Turning off any but emergency calls she takes a shower trying to wash away the feel of water The Gul had done to the Major. After 15 minutes of standing there she knew she had to push on until the cycle came up for rest again.

Getting out of the shower and putting on a clean clothing, Erica pulls her thoughts together and started going through the messages she had on her terminal. Sending the ones needing attention others on her staff could handle, she selected the few remaining that needed her personal attention.

Reading through the findings on some of the queries that she had placed in regards to the questions that had been asked of her by the Captain before the interview. Many of the results were in, and after reading and rereading the ones from Dr. Bell she placed a call for him to meet her in her office for a quick briefing within next 10 minutes. The results of Dr. Bells review regarding the DNA samples from the captain, Major MacConnell and Soena were all very troubling to say the least.

Taking this time to change into a Starfleet uniform, Erica transfers her notes to a datapad and head to her office. There she finds the doctor waiting on her, Erica opens the door to him.

"Please sit Dr. Bell." Motioning to one of the leather chairs in the room Dr. McCoy brings up the files from Dr. Bell's research. Dr. McCoy sat there at her desk going over them yet again as Dr. Bell sat across from her. He was nervous and his emotions ran high. It was almost distracting for her as she continued to read.

She took in a deep breath, "This is remarkable work, Dr. Bell" she said. The man was clearly gifted at what he did even if he had the social skills of a cactus. "I think the senior staff needs to know this information" she added as she slowly rose up. "I also think it would serve you well to give this presentation to them."

He shook his head, "I...." he said as his eyes shifted, "I don't think so. I just don't know how to talk to them" he added.

She smiled, "Don't worry Doctor, I will be there with you." Normally Dr. Bell would have very limited social contact with the crew as he was in charged vast medical labs of the Thunderchild. While his follow laboratory techs have learned to coup with him, other crew members view him as standoff. Something Dr. McCoy wanted to help him with. She could not deny what he was able to do. In just a few short hours he had been able to do something that would have normally taken a lab twice the size of what the Thunderchild had days if not weeks to do.

She tapped her com-badge, "Dr. McCoy to the Captain" she said softly and waited for a reply. "Could you please summon the senior staff for a briefing? Dr. Bell would like to give you his findings." She said with a soft smile to the older Doctor next to her. "We will meet you in your ready room." She closed the link as she transferred her files to the Captain's Ready Room. She and Dr. Bell headed off for the briefing. Once the senior staff was formed, she allowed Dr. Bell to give his presentation.

Dr. Motya Bell was a small build of a man. He wore his Starfleet uniform well and his features were pleasing to the eye. But he had carried that almost nerdy aura about him as he stepped forward and spoke. "Thank you Dr. McCoy for inviting me to help you out on this remarkable project" he said looking at Dr. McCoy. He then turned his attention back to Captain Campbell, "and sir, I promise that my findings while shocking are accurate."


He paused and took a deep breath, "I must ask Sir, that you hold all of your questions till I am finished." He stepped forward and handed a data pad over to the Captain and added with a smile, "but I know it will be hard for you. So I have supplied a data pad so you can take notes so that you can ask me your questions at the end of my presentation." It was clear why Dr. Bell was not Chief Medical Officer. While the man was extremely intelligent, he lacked people skills. The kind of skills that Dr. McCoy had more than enough of.


Dr. Bell walked over to a terminal and activated it. "So we will break this down in to three separate parts. First we will look in to your own genetic makeup and history. Next we will dive in to your not so distant relative, Major Maura MacConnell. And lastly, we will spy in to the world of the all mysterious Lance Corporal Seona Melville. But before we begin, I have to tell you Sir. Before you ask, why are we only learning of this now? Normally the level of these screenings are time consuming and take up a considerable level of man power to complete. I personally had to call in a number of favors to get what we have now. These level of screenings are only done when there is reason to do them. And sadly there just hasn't been any reason to complete them on the three of you till now." He paused and brought up the first display of a genome.


"SO....." he said dragging out the ‘oh’ sound. It was clear that he didn't have experience in speaking before people, let alone superiors. "I will begin with saying this. You have a mother and father. And they are who you think they are." he said then paused to make sure he worded that right. "Yes, your parents are who you remember them to be. Yes you were also tested positive for Krussk Syndrome. I was able to pull your medical reports of the blood tests while you were still in your mother's womb. There was a second opinion and a referral within those medical reports that indicated that abortion was being considered. However as you can tell that didn't happen."


He brought up a new image but did little to explain this one just like he failed to explain the last one. "What I found was that your genome was over written after birth. From what I can tell, there is no pattern to what these over writes were supposed to do. I have dug in to a number of simulations only to have my simulated Captain Campbell die between age ten to twelve. So I can't guess to why they are there. Now I did discover that you share common markers with both MacConnell sisters, your parents and with an unknown subject. Don't worry, this unknown subject only accounts for fourteen percent of your genome."


"Now this is where it gets really cool. So you share markers with your mom, which would be expected. But you also share markers that would indicate that Major MacConnell is your mother. But it doesn't stop there. She also share markers with you that would make her your father, sister and cousin. Sounds crazy? Yeah I know. But these markers are not conclusive. One set of markers you share, we would expect to see those similar markers further down your genome shared also. However that is not the case." He sped through the image showing off the different markers but not explaining anything about the.


Winded, he paused to take a breath before continuing. "Now, allow us to look at Major MacConnell. As you know, she is your not so distant relative. But what you don't know is that she had no parents. I know, the reports called her an orphan." He said laughing as he found something humorous about all of this.


"And that couldn't possibly be closer to the truth. I have never seen this before. But her genome clearly shows no common markers for any mother or father. Her genome does have links to yours and this unknown subject, and there is genetic material to fill in gaps in the genome. But these gaps were not filled by a single mother or father like we have. She shares forty percent of her genome with you and twenty percent with this same unknown subject. I was not able to confirm any markers from your mother or father. But they may be there at very small margins. I guess you would be the closest thing to a father, mother and sibling that she might have. Well beyond her sister. Now, she too had Krussk Syndrome. IN FACT!"


"Her strain of this genetic disease was completely identical to your own. I can't explain this, or give reason why anyone would do this. But it appeared as if your strain was cloned and the Major was infected with it. But if this is true, than it happened before her birth. Now her genome has markers that seemed to be able to fight the disease. Simulations shows that her body was much more resilient to fighting off your strain of the disease. But like our simulated Captain Campbell, our simulated Major MacConnell also died around age thirteen."


He paused to shift through his slides that he had neglected to change. He started to get frustrated over the fact that he lost his place in his slides. Finally Dr. McCoy stepped up and turned off the terminal, "you are doing fine. Just keep going."


He nodded and turned to face the captain, "So Corporal Seona Melville, like her sister has no parent within her genome. And shares markers with you and her sister as well as this unknown subject. In fact she shares nearly forty five percent of her genetic markers with this unknown subject. She doesn't share your infection with Krussk Syndrome. I did notice that where her genome shares markers with yours and her sister's, it was from Seona's over writing on to your genome. Again, I can't explain why this was done. I can only tell you it was done."


"There is a couple of notes that I should share. Maura's genome showed a heavy influence in the same area as would be expected from Betazoids. So I can verify that Maura was most likely telepathically strong. While Seona shares the same level of influence in these markers, it is not as strong or heavy. There is a likely hood that she might be telepathic, but more so kind of like an empath. Also, both sister's Starfleet Medical files as well as sections of your own were sealed by the orders of an Admiral L'tus. So this is the strange thing about it. I could find no trace of this Admiral serving in Starfleet or why these files were sealed. The information I have given you today comes from friends who owned be favors. LOTS of favors." He finished and allowed Dr. McCoy to step forward.

"Thank you Dr. Bell. Captain," Also looking to the rest in the room."Before we start on some of the other question you had for me, do you have any for Dr. Bell?"

[a magical taco]

Beyond the windows, the rain outside pounded filling the room with a steady drum sound. The wind howled causing the old wooden shutters of this farm house to rattle. A sudden flash of lighting illuminated the small room with a ghostly white aura. The lighting was followed shortly by a clap of thunder that jolted the room causing the artificial lights to flicker. A faint cry from a young girl who was startled by the thunder could be heard just under the sounds of the beeping from a number of medical machines. Outside, the storm raged as a timeless struggle for survival was being fought inside the room. Strangely enough, it was a struggle that was common and took place almost monthly. Drifting over the room hung the specter of death who was an all too familiar visitor to this room. The thunder clapped once more as the lights flickered. The view changed as if the observer drifted around and above the room like some unseen specter.

Within the room, the lights were dim as a deep steady thumping sound pulsated with the rhythm of a very weak heart beating. Despite the most modern medical equipment available to a Federation medical team that was scattered around, the room gave the appearance of a lowly simple farm house. In the center of the room were two large medical beds with enough space between them for doctors to move freely. While one bed was recently vacated, the other held a small framed girl around the age of nine or ten. She wore a medical gown and a mask over her face that helped her weakened body breath. The lights flickered once more casting shadows high in to the vaulted ceiling. Her eyes drifted over the shadows as she struggled with each new breath. A doctor injected the girl with a hypo making breath that much easier for the girl.

A female doctor nodded to the girl as the girl seemed to have a bit easier time breathing. The doctor was dressed in a bright blue surgical gown. At the head of the bed stood a holographic doctor running his hands over the controls of the bed. At a far wall, a second holographic doctor monitored a medical device and called out the vital signs of the patient. A new clap of thunder caused the lights to flicker and the pair of holograms to also flicker. It was a timeless struggle between mortal doctors and death. A struggle that currently had no clear outcome. Would Death leave tonight with his prize or once more be driven back by the science of mortals once more.

Sitting in a far corner a much younger girl not half the age of the girl on the bed rested her head between her legs. Her head shook with fear as she heard the storm outside and watched the struggle within the room. She pulled her knees up tightly with her little arms as she whimpered under the sounds of the thunder. Her voice filled with fear and sadness as she whispered, "please don't be real........please wake up......"

Comforting the younger girl, a boy rested his arm around her and pulled her in tightly. Dressed in a medical gown like the girl on the bed, he looked back to the twin beds. He held the little girl tightly as he tried to calm her.

A forth doctor rushed in from a side room carrying a medical kit. He spoke as he rested it on the empty bed and pulled out medicine. His voice was filled with concern, "We have to rush the girl to Edinburgh's medical facility" Realizing the other doctor wasn't paying attention he took her arm, "Selina, my god, the girl is dying."

The female doctor looked up and snapped, "No I can stabilize her." She jerked her arm free and then snapped the medicine from his grip.

Turning her head, the older girl looked over at the pair in the corner. She reached up with her weakened hand and pulled off the mask. "Seona.....its okay....." she said coughing and added, "I....will be fine...."

Seona looked up with tears in her eyes, "Please...."

"shhhhhh" the boy said comforting the girl. "It will be okay. You'll see. My mom will save her" he said drawing the girls attention while gazing in to her soft eyes. Her bright eyes filled with tears as he felt her pain. He knew that things were getting harder with each new treatment. He was old enough to understand the nature of the struggle.

"Captain...." The voice of Dr. McCoy echoed across the room. For a moment the image seemed to be real then once more it was nothing more than a ghost in the back of his mind. Once more, "Captain?" Dr. McCoy said as her voice snapped Captain Campbell back to reality. He looked around his ready room to notice everyone watching him. Dr. Bell looked as nervous as he did when he started speaking. He must of appeared confused or distracted cause once more Dr. McCoy spoke up, "Captain did you have any questions?"

Captain Campbell looked down to his data pad and saw that at one point he had typed out the following passage. "Don't be pushed by your fears. Be led by your dreams" he couldn't tell what it meant or why he typed it. The images faded back to the dark corners of his mind like specters of yesterday. His eyes fell to his hands and noted that they were trembling. He closed his fist to regained his control as he took in a deep breath. He slowly let it out.

[a magical taco]

"Doctor Bell, what else can you tell us about this unknown subject, surely the available information can tell us something about the individual" he was still struggling to keep his voice calm, though be doubted anyone other than a Vulcan would notice.

[aipsylon]

V'rol listened to the chief he went through what he had to say, processing the logic of each statement before speaking. The first thing he noted was that he had failed to indicate who he was referring to, but that could be accounted for easily. "Chief Amadeus, in your eagerness to communicate information I believe you have over summarized the information to little more than potential conclusions. I understand that you spoke with Doctor Bashir, a close associate of yours, on DS9. During this conversation you spoke of a female individual whose records were confiscated. Whose records are you referring to? As for Dr. Bashir, did he give any specific information on who took the information specifically?
What was the information taken? Finally, do you have any other supporting evidence for the conclusions you drew?"

V'rol watched carefully what the chief did when the questions were asked, his tone that same plain flat wording, waiting for a response to each before continuing on to the next inquiry.

[Nightmares Echo]

Blinks for a moment, taking in the rather plainness of the Vulcan. He takes a moment to straight his shirt. The tone of his feature left that excited teen look to something a bit more serious. "Apologies Sir. Everything concerning the female, is Senona. When refering to what was taken, Bashir said that Officals from Admiral tates office came to take all records of the Women. After Starfleet Medical submitted a request for all the same information." He puases a moment "I have the Star Date thst request was made if required."

He took a moment to let his attention drift off to the side, at one of the turned off terminals near by. A breath came and as a soft smike graced his lips attention returned to V'rol "These are thoeries I am working at the moment. I am reporting, that i am movibg forward wuth looking into these possibilities. I am requesting any and all infornation on Senona so i may further my inquery, as well share said information with a trusted friend and fellow Star Fleet officer, to further figure assist me in this." He takes a moment to watch the Vulcan.

[Vertroue]

OOC Narrator Edit: With the permission of the player, the above duplicate post was deleted. This post is the IC action/statements.

---

Dr. Bell seemed to be grasping at explaining to the Captain. Dr. McCoy smiled to him gently.

Bolstered by Dr. McCoy, Dr. Bell took a deep breath.

"I believe I already explained that." He looks confused for a moment but continuing on. "To the first question, nothing in Fleet database or any of the ones that owed me favors matched the genome sequence. To the following question, the unknown subject doing what they did to push that genome on multiple people at different times...That goes beyond what we as doctors should be doing to our patients. Especially ones that can't say no to what we do to them."

[aipsylon]

"Chief Amadeus, I find it unlikely that your conclusions are accurate. The Evidence you have reported suggests a cover-up far more than mind control. Logic dictates both that the simplest solution is correct most frequently, and that the most efficient means of investigation is to focus on the most likely explanation. As for further investigation, I am currently running an investigation of events surrounding her. To prevent overlap of investigations that will harm both investigations, I will require that you report to me all intended courses of investigation as well as their results."