When the Doctor seeks 'The' Doctor Pt2

Posted on Wed Aug 27th, 2025 @ 2:53pm by Commodore Finchley Kerr & Captain Kevin, Lord Kilbane of Sanquhar & Lieutenant Commander Shr'Nesh Karadis & Commander Milani & Lieutenant Commander Dex

Mission: Delivering on the undeliverable.
Location: USS Thall/Alternate universe
Timeline: Current.

Just then Doctor Mora rounded the corner, "I take it the Commodore is still on the bridge?" he said in his acerbic way, hypo in his hand. "and what has happened to our CMO? we thought she was treating him. I am very confused." he said as he wandered off down the corridor.

Finnigan nodded to Mora that the CO was indeed still on the bridge. Once he'd wandered off, Karadis looked at Milani, "I too want to know where Shon is and why she's not treating Kerr, so I will 'advise' you contact her and ask her to come and visit you. Of course, as the Commodore has said, I will need to sit in on the visit, but I can't say I'll always be paying attention to what you're both talking about" she finished, raising her eyebrows.

Finnigan now spoke, "I need to get back to the bridge, I've been away a little while and I don't want the Commodore to become suspicious", and he left.

Milani nodded her thanks to Karadis. "No time like the present I say." They walked to her quarters and entered. "Please come in and make yourself at home," Milani walked into her bedroom and took her uniform off putting on a pair of slacks and a blue loose top. Walking out she went to her replicator. " Frumian tea large and hot and a gingerbread biscuit. Anything for you?" she looked at Karadis and smiled.

Sat on the sofa, Karadis thought to herself ~I'll do anything for you~, but then shook herself mentally, she couldn't let Milani see how much she desired her, and replied "Apple juice and a slice of lemon cake please". She rose from the sofa and walked over to Milani and stood behind her, admiring her firm behind in the slacks she was wearing.

"So, what are you going to say to Shon?" Karadis asked.

Milani handed the apple juice and cake to Karadis and joined her on the sofa. It felt good to be next to her, sharing her space and taking in her particular smell. A well of desire rose in Milani but she brushed it aside. "I'm going to come right out and ask her what is going on, there must be an answer to this." she turned to face Karadis. "Has the Commodore ever acted like this before?"

"What, be an arrogant arsehole?" Karadis asked, "Yes, plenty of times unfortunately, but this time's different. He's cock sure of himself at the best of times, but this is a whole new level of cock sureness even for him. There's an aura of...finality...like he's so sure that he won't be put off what he's doing. Personally, I think the only way to get to the bottom of this is for you to be direct with Shon as you said. I mean, those two were made for each other, but he's driving a wedge in there and she's got to put a stop to that, get him back to how he was before. If I were to guess, she has a plan or at least an idea on how to do that, you just have to wheedle it out of her."

Milani sipped her tea. "Trouble with Shon is that it will be difficult to get anything out of her pertaining to his condition. I know she will be taking this hard." She tapped her comm. "Milani to Shon, would you like some tea in my quarters? I have been sent here by the Commodore and am unable to come to you."

Shon, despite herself and her meditation had been crying. So many questions were running around in her head. Despite her care there was something terribly wrong with him. "I'll be there Milani give me a minute." She looked at the bulkhead. "you may be an arse Finchley Kerr but you are my arse and I love you." she said.

Arriving at Milani's quarters she pressed the chime. On entering she looked at Karadis and Milani together on the couch. they looked made for each other and, for a moment she thought that they might, at last have gotten together. "So are we meeting like naughty schoolchildren or mutineers?"

"No, and yes" Karadis replied, "though truth be told, it's more like an intervention mutiny rather than a make someone 'walk the plank' one."

She stood up and walked over to one of the other chairs in the room, motioning for Shon to take her place on the sofa. "You two need to talk, and just pretend that I'm not here."

"This is difficult" Shon said, "divulging his medical problems. I thought last night had helped, I developed a sedative that works on his neural synapses directly related to that thing in his abdomen. He's is having some sort of mental crisis, this morning he accused me of being a Romulan agent and told me to get out. I was no longer the CMO or treating him. As we get nearer our destination he is getting worse. It is almost as if someone is controlling him." Then her worst fears asserted themselves and she began to cry. "I love him more than anything and he acts like he hates me."

Milani leant over her and hugged her. "There there Shon, everything will be alright."

Getting her sobs under control she managed to ask..." why...why are you in your ...quarters?"

"I was relieved of duty and told to stay in my quarters." she nodded at Karadis. "My guard," she said smiling.

"Oh," said Shon her cheeks growing a slight shade of red. "I thought, er well I'm not sure what I thought. Karadis have you noticed the change in him?"

"Yes, I have" Karadis replied, "he's acting more like a tyrant than being deci..." and she stopped talking, her eyes suddenly going wide. "Wait a minute" and she looked at Shon, "When we set off for Romulan space, we'd been told that the there had been an ion storm two days before on the route we'd take to get there."

She stood up and began pacing back and forth, "There's something about all of this that seems vaguely familiar, something that had happened before to another Starfleet vessel. The crew encountered an ion storm during a beam back from somewhere and...", she looked at both Shon and Milani, "the crew encountered people acting just like the Commodore is now. Have either of you heard of this, if you do, can you recall what ship it was?"

Shon looked bewildered whilst Milani seemed to be trying to recall, "Shon it is a magnetic storm which contains ionically charged particles moving at at least thousands of kilometers per hour."

"Are you saying this is not Finchley?" Shon countered confused. "I have performed every scan I can on him and it's him. Apart from that capsule lodged inside him and the random induction particles in his brain......now wait a minute, some of those particles contain ions, all our brains do, but they would be susceptible to ......"

"Hold on everyone, remember the stories of alternate universe travel?" Said Milani interrupting Shon.

Karadis walked across to Milani's computer console, "May I?" she asked her.

Milani smiled, "Of course Karadis." She moved aside but still within the scent of her.

Karadis sat and entered some key words in the Starfleet historical database records section. Soon she was scrolling through the records on show, and after about a minute she shouted "AHA!"

She began skimming through the record onscreen and as she did she said, "It was a Captain Kirk...along with a few of his crew...they tried to beam back to the ship...there was an ion storm...they materialised in what was called a 'Mirror universe'...run by an organisation called the Terran Empire...Kirk and his crew were amazed at how ruthless those in that universe were, how tyrannical their set up was...and how those in power acted..."

She looked at Shon and Milani, "Sound like someone who's acting like that now and who's not a million miles away from us here on the ship?"

Shon grimaced, "Just Finchley, how do we know there is not more of them, and why this wild goose chase to Romulus? If I can get to sickbay I can replicate an instrument that could show the dynamic
anti-parallel strands of the phosphate helix, something that only humans of this universe have. You would have to get it near enough to him Karadis? We have to find our Finchley!" she sipped her tea and said to herself, "then why was he so tender and loving last night, it was the Finchley I know.

Milani spoke. "Karadis does it say how they got here?"

Karadis scanned the report again, "It appears to have been a transporter issue during their attempt to beam back to the Enterprise during an ion storm, that's all it mentions on them getting here."

She turned to Shon, "Were you awake the whole time last night Shon, did you sleep at all?"

"I was awake all night, i was so worried about him I just stayed up watching him. I didn't see anything strange, the ship seemed quiet, then this morning he was so completely opposite the man I know."

Karadis tapped her COMM badge, "Karadis to McCrudden, in the last twenty four hours, have there been any special anomalies recorded?"

There was a moments pause then McCrudden replied, "Yes Commander, we passed through a very small ion cloud, it caused a little bit of a short out to some of the main systems, nothing too critical though and we rectified it within minutes."

"What systems were affected?" Karadis asked.

"Let me see, the turbolifts were down, the anti-matter matrix went offline and the transporters shorted momentarily, but as I said, all of the systems were fixed within minutes" McCrudden replied.

"Thank you Chief, Karadis out" the Klingon answered, closing the link.

She turned to Shon and Milani, "That's something we have to consider, the anti-matter matrix went offline, thus allowing more ions into the system, and, at the same time, the transporters basically 'hiccupped'. Now, I'm no expert at quantum theory, but my best guess would be that the combination of the system short and the transporter shorting 'may' have allowed an opening to the parallel universe, however short. What if that's affected the Commodore or this thing inside him?"

Shon sat up, "the only way I can tell is by getting him into my sickbay and as he has removed me from my position....wait a minute he cannot do that. Under Federation Medical Law 330 sub section 2g. No ranking officer can remove a Chief Medical Officer unless authorised to do so by two Ranking Admirals one of whom must be a Medical Officer. However we have to be very sure of what we are doing, but we have to think of the well being of the crew." She stopped and looked at both of them, "Well?" she asked.

"The flaw with that is SFI doesn't operate under Federation legislation, it has it's own legislation" Karadis replied, "but, there may be another way round the problem...I mean, situation. However, 'if' we're going to do this, I need your word, both of you, that you won't become involved in the aftermath, you'll let the chips fall where they may, agreed?"

Shon nodded filled with the need to get her Finchley back. "I will do anything." she said.

Milani stood, "Well I have not been here as long as all of you but I feel part of a family. We stick together, sort our own problems out and look out for each other. She suddenly put her arms around Karadis and whispered, "anything". For a moment she lingered her lips against the Klingon woman's face then she released her and gave Shon a quick hug. "The chips fall where they may."

Karadis wanted the hug to last longer, she had almost instinctively hugged Milani back but stopped herself, knowing now was not the time for showing feelings, she had to stay in the moment. "Right, we're heading for the bridge and when we get there, let me do the talking, and under no circumstances are you act or react till I say."

Shon and Milani nodded together and followed Karadis.

She nodded, and made for the doors. Within minutes the were on the bridge and when they got there, Karadis removed her phaser from it's holster and aimed it at Finchley. "Commodore Kerr, you will relinquish command of this vessel to Captain Kilbane and report to Sickbay...now!"

Finchley calmly looked at Karadis then replied, "And if I don't Commander, what then, you'll fire on me?"

"I don't want to have to cause you any harm Commodore, but you're clearly not yourself and you need to stand down and receive the medical attention Commander Dex was trying to give you."

Finchley looked behind Karadis and saw Shon and Milani standing there, "Ah, let me guess, the three Amigo's, here to right some tragic wrong you think has taken place. Well, let me say this, now that this scenario has begun I can clearly see where some loyalty's lie, and it's not with the rightful Commander of this vessel."

He stood up, raising his arms aloft "I'm Finchley Kerr, your superior officer, the man who can make you or break you all. You..." and he swept his arm in an arc to encompass Karadis, Shon and Milani, "...you're nothing, merely a footnote in the great book that is my career. What, you think you can walk onto my bridge and give me orders...oh please, don't flatter yourself, I can have any one of the officers or crew around here kill you where you stand, they do my bidding because they fear me!"

Kilbane stood up from his station, "Karadis, think about what your saying and doing. I have no desire to take over command of the ship like this, it's mutiny."

Finchley laughed and said, "There you have it, and from some nobody like Kevin Kil..." he then turned to Kilbane, "Oh forgive me, Kevin, Lord Kilbane of Sanquhar...I mean, come on Lord Kilbane, really, as if you're some kind of nobleman."

Kilbane looked at Karadis after Finchley spoke, "Have at him Karadis, take him down."

Karadis looked at Finchley, "Sir, I'm giving you one last chance to stand down and go to Sickbay with Commander Dex."

"No" Finchley simply replied.

"The I regret to do this" Karadis replied, and fired her phaser. She watched as Finchley crumpled and fell at the foot of the command chair. She turned to Shon and Milani, "Get him to Sickbay, NOW!"

Shon rushed to him pressing her comm and said "three to beam to sickbay emergency as they disappeared into the sparkle of the beam.

Turning to Kilbane, Karadis said, "The bridge is yours...Sir."

[Sickbay]

"Help me get him up onto the bed Milani!" Shon asked as they lifted him on. "Computer erect a level four forcefield around this bay and commence observational readings every fifteen minutes." Shon began to direct her radiation scans as she prepared her anaesthetic." One thing we need to be sure of is that he is asleep, at least for a while."

"Yes Shon I think that would be best." she gave a small nervous laugh. Shon began to undress him as Milani turned away. Shon dressed him in a gown and went back to her anaesthetics. Now she was in physician mode she found it easier and could sideline her emotional feelings for him. "do you want to return to the Bridge Milani?" Shon asked, "There is no real need for you to stay here."

Milani nodded, "well so long as you will be safe?"

Shon had already turned away knee deep in scans. "Prepare for surgery." she asked a nurse, 'we are going to have a look at this thing inside him."

[Bridge]

Kilbane had walked across and gingerly sat in the Command chair. He looked at Karadis and said, "You do realise that Bird could have you arrested for mutiny, and I'm also implicated by association by just sitting in this chair."

"Look Kilbane, you know that wasn't the CO we both know" Karadis replied, "That was someone else, not physically, but mentally, he would never react the way he did if it was the real Kerr, he would have gone to Sickbay when Shon first suggested it. Therefore, we have to assume something has happened to him, and with us heading toward Romulan space, would you have allowed him to carry on in Command acting as he was?"

"No, I suppose not" Kilbane replied, "but we still need the report from Shon to confirm something was wrong with him."

[Sickbay]

The results of the scans and blood workups had disturbed Shon. whatever they showed the main thing shouted that this person here was a mix of Finchley and someone else. She knew that this was the most challenging problem they had faced. She looked down at him lying there, still on the surgical biobed. His face unlined at last she moved a shock of hair from his forehead and her fingers gently caressed his face. The sedation had given him the appearance of a younger man, before the cares of life and the challenges of command had changed him, and she wished she had known him then.

She looked at the results of his blood panels and sighed, at least they were beginning to show that there was something very wrong with the man lying on the bed. His genetic markers initially looked
correct, looked like Finchley Kerr but, digging deeper the Sanger sequencing had shown an overly that Shon did not recognise. the adenine sequence, present in every human was missing and there was nothing that proved it had ever been there.

Milani paced outside the medical forcefield looking at Shon and the nurses moving about. She had never felt so helpless and useless. Every few minutes she wanted to ask Shon what, if anything she had found wrong with him but she knew that that was exactly what the chief Medical Officer did not need. she sighed. Of course Shon would impart any information she needed to in a timely manner but it did not stop her pacing.

[Bridge]

Kilbane stood up from the Command chair, he still didn't feel comfortable with what had happened, and he certainly didn't want to have the 'centre seat', that was never in his plans...not that he actually had any plans.

"I'm going down to Sickbay to find out what's going on, Karadis, you have the CONN" he said, moving off towards the turbolift. Karadis watched him go as she moved over to the 'big chair'. She stood beside it, didn't sit in it, that wasn't her place, that was Kerr's place, she would just look out for it.

Kilbane stepped into the turbolift and ordered it to take him to Sickbay. His mind was racing, they were deep into Romulan held territory, the CO was acting out of character massively and they still had to find the Romulan doctor who put the damned digestion inhibitor into Finchley. He made his way into Sickbay a minute after exiting the turbolift and saw Milani pacing back and forth, that wasn't a good sign. However, his focus had to be on what Shon had learned, so he walked over to the wall and pressed the COMM badge, "It's Kilbane, what have you found?"

Shon saw him enter and knew he was not going to like the answer. "I will not bother you with the medical science but so far I have discovered that this is not our Commodore Kerr, the trouble is that there are certain parts of his brain that are from our Finchley. It is as though he has been overwritten by someone else. There are also some other problems. Our Commodore broke his right arm when he was twelve. It was a bad break necessitating surgery. There is no sign of this on his scans.

In my professional opinion this man is not, in essence our Commander but, the worrying thing is in order to do this they must have or have had the real Finchley Kerr. I am about to perform exploratory surgery on this digestive inhibitor. The person this is told me the inhibitor would explode if tampered with, whether this was just a ploy to stop me having a deeper look at it I do not know but I think I do need to."

Milani stood, stunned at this news looking at Kilbane, "So our plan is what? it must be something to do with the Romulans." she turned to see Shon beginning surgery so there was to be no help in that direction.

"The doctor will need to do what she see's as her duty and find out what, or if, she can do anything about the inhibitor" Kilbane replied, "We'll have to trust her..." ~Ha, trust her, that'll be the day~ he thought to himself. "As for us, our priority is to find this Romulan doctor, but before that, we have to wait on our doctor getting in touch with her contact. There is one other thing Milani, though I'm the Senior ranking crew member on the ship after the Commodore, I've never sought to take command of the Thall, it's not in my nature. Therefor I'll be doing some research along with Karadis into this ion situation so you'll be in charge of the running of the ship whilst the Commodore is incapacitated."

"Very Well Captain." Milani acknowledged. "I will go to the bridge now and, I am sure the Doctor will inform me of her findings" she smiled and nodded leaving quickly.


Shon did not know that Kilbane had arrived or, that Milani had gone. Her focus was on the surgery. The dissection had gone well and she could now see the object. "Computer record medical scans and notes pertaining to this surgery. Anatomy looks normal up until the terminal ilium. There is a smooth spherical object embedded at the ileocecal junction of the Ileum and Cecum. the object is 10 centimetres in diameter. It is made of an unknown substance. It appears to be attached to the mesenteric artery and the vagus nerve."

Shon stopped and took a deep breath, she still felt the effects of the injuries she had sustained in the last mission. "I am going to try to cut the distal end free." she made a small cut sealing the bleeding as the object came free. "Now the proximal end." She began to slowly excise it when the discordant sound of an alarm went off. "the vagus nerve is showing some excitation. 2cc's opalazine please." the nurse administered the medication.

[Bridge]

Milani arrived on the Bridge and noted Karadis standing by the chair. for a second she was flooded by an emotion of...what she was not sure but she had never felt it before. shaking it aside she said, " report Lieutenant commander?"

"Course is steady Sir, we're still awaiting the co-ordinates of our final destination from the doctor" Karadis reported, looking at Milani. She cut quite the figure when she was in full 'on duty' mode, and Karadis would use that later.

"Long range scans have detected no other ships, however, the closer we get to Romulus, the bigger the chances are we will" she concluded.

Milan smiled broadly at her and nodded, "thank you." she said as she sat in the not unfamiliar chair which no longer held any mystery for her. "The doctor will let us know as soon as she knows anything and Captain Kilbane is in sickbay currently." Milani knew how worried Karadis would be. She turned her attention to the bridge crew, Helm report?"

[sickbay]

Another alarm began as Finchley's heart went into fibrillation. "Twenty CC's of procainamide." she announced calmly as her own heart was in her mouth. She rested the half removed capsule back into its resting place and the alarms ceased. "Unable to remove capsule fully, hold on.....there appears to be a number on the underside of the capsule is alphanumeric the script appears to be......federation zero one zero two alpha and some sort of barcode." She turned to look at Kilbane who, obviously heard what she had been recording. "It also has several Romulan characters."

"Shut down your recording Doctor" Kilbane replied, "This isn't a request, that's a direct order. By all means carry on with the surgery you're doing 'if' you believe it will help the Commodore, but you're not to mention anything about the code or the bar code. I'll be checking on whether or not you continue recording, and if you do, you'll open yourself up to a Court Marshall. Keep me informed of any further progress with the Commodore, I'll be with Karadis in the CO's Ready Room."

With that he turned on his heels and quickly left Sickbay.

Shon nodded in acquiescence knowing the severity of what she said. Turning back to her patient she placed the capsule back in it's pocket and closed him up. "I am going to put the Commodore into stasis." she advised her nursing crew. It's is the safest place for him at the moment." It took her an hour to do so and set her parameters, eventually she stepped out. "Inform me of any changes in the stasis module," picking up her padd she headed for the CO ready room. She felt faint and sick about her discoveries and had more to tell them. Nodding at Milani she pressed the chime.

Inside the Ready Room, Kilbane and Karadis were deep in discussion when the chime sounded. Karadis looked up instantly and began moving towards the door, unsheathing her d'k tagh.

"Easy there Karadis" Kilbane said, then looking at the doors he called out, "Enter!"

Shon walked in and saw Karadis, "Woah it's only me...but I can understand your nervousness. she threw the padd on the table and walked to the replicator, "one very large Vulcan idia root tea with extra root." she tapped her fingers whilst her drink was being replicated then she sat down. "I'm sorry but I need this. My body is still recovering from our last dice with destiny." she took a sip and closed her eyes for a second. "Well our Commodore is not our Finchley. Yes he is human with DNA from our Finchley but Finchley's old childhood injury is not there, neither is his correct dentition. This thing inside him is tethered by a small bio explosive charge coded to someone else's DNA. I think there is something inside that capsule that someone else wants." Shon sat sipping her tea and looking at them.

"Well if he's not 'our' Commodore Kerr, where is he then?" Karadis asked, barely able to comprehend what she was hearing.

Shon's smile belied her frustration and pain at the thought of Finchley's life in someone else's hands for Surak knew what reason. She lent forward elbows on the table. "I do not have a silver ball," she said somewhat harshly, " I am presuming he is a prisoner somewhere whilst this 'imposter' delivers this message. I think this imposter is so connected to Finch...the Commodore I think he, it, might be from the alternate universe. We are the only ship and crew that can get this to Romulus hence taking hostage my Finchley, splicing his DNA into one of them so, at least he looks and to all intents and purposes is MY Finchley and would pass cursory medical scans. We never would have found out if the DNA had not became incompatible with the host hence the garbage he came out with."

Shon stood up and began to pace. I also think that once this message is delivered to whoever, the host body will self destruct maybe causing death and or damage so we will be blamed and leaving my Finchley out or time." she pounded her fist on the table. "DAMNIT NOW DO YOU UNDERSTAND." upset, tired, in pain and frightened she sat down and began to cry."

"Pull yourself together Doctor, crying about this won't get the Commodore back!" Kilbane shouted at Shon. He himself stood and began pacing the room, "I get that you're tired and still in pain from your injuries from the last mission, but we're all tired, and some of the crew may not have physical injuries from 'that' mission, but instead be mentally injured, it took a lot out of all of us. Now, getting back to the situation at hand, we have to assume that our Commodore and the mirror version 'both' had the digestion inhibitor in them. Ours because of what the Romulans did to him, the mirror one possibly as a punishment for something they did in their universe, it has to tie in. For me, the only time the Commodore was alone was right at the end of the last mission when he killed the three Romulans in the shack, and when he came back through the portal. Now, we're going to have to work from that point onwards right up till today to find out if he was on his own at any moment whereby the 'crossover' could have taken place. Think, the two of you, was he left alone at any point, like in Sickbay, in his quarters, in his Ready Room or the Briefing Room, if he wasn't, then we're quite literally stuffed."

"He was alone in our quarters quite a lot when we returned from the mission. Funny you should ask that, we went to bed quite normally and the next morning he began by accusing me of being a Romulan agent."

"Ok, my thoughts on this are that we need to know when those times were, and how often did the Thall interact with any build up of ions whilst we've been on course for Romulus, is there any corelation in times?" Karadis replied.

Kilbane turned to Shon, "Right try and think of the times he was alone in your quarters, I'll get McCrudden to work out if we've been through any ion build ups whilst in flight, we'll meet back here in two hours, see what we come up with."

Shon nodded "are we going to inform Milani of what we suspect?" she asked.

"For the moment, no, we need her to concentrate on getting us safely to Romulus" Kilbane replied, "Which reminds me, you need to get in contact with your Romulan 'friend' and get us the co-ordinates for meeting her. Once we have that meeting information, and the information on ion interaction from McCrudden and your own recollections on when Kerr was alone, we can corollate what to do next."

Shon left the briefing room nodding to Milani as she passed by. Reaching their quarters by way of a quick check on the body in stasis in sickbay she replicated more tea and sat down at the desk. After a few inputs she connected. "Pel, thank you, we are about twelve hours from Romulan space how are we going to do this?"

The petite Romulan woman smiled. "Shon, I was hoping you would contact me soon. There has been an increase in Tal Shiar activity in and around the Senate at the moment making things difficult, know anything about that?"

"No, nothing." Shon said her face deadpan.

Very well, I will meet you in a shuttle one light year from Romulan space on a planet named T'var, it's an L class planet so I will be in orbit on the dark side. I will take you to my home on Saron where I will prepare your papers, then on to Romulus. I will be there in twelve hours there will be no more communication until I see you, don't be late, or early, patrols have also increased."

"Thank you again Pel. See you soon." Shon smiled and cut the communication. It took her another thirty minutes to work out the times they had been alone in their quarters. She also spent a few minutes scanning for ion signatures but there were none. Not that there would be any, too much time had elapsed. Finishing her tea she left for the ready room. She smiled at Milani once again noting the quizzical look she was given. Pressing the chime she waited.

Kilbane called for the person to enter, and as the doors opened, he saw Shon walk in. Karadis stood behind Kilbane's chair, phaser drawn though her hand was down by her side.

"Well?" she demanded of Shon.

Shon came in quietly and sat down dismissing Karadis aggressive stance. "I checked our quarters for any Ion contamination. I found non but they dissipate so quickly. Our 'guest' is still happily in stasis and my Romulan contact is a little rattled. There has been an increase in the movements of the Tal Shiar and patrols in the last twenty four hours. She will meet us in orbit of a planet called T'var in twelve hours. The Thall can stay on the dark side of the planet and wait. She will take us to her home on Saron and from there to Romulus. any questions?"

"Yes, you were asked how frequently the Commodore was alone in your quarters" Kilbane replied, "and you haven't furnished us with an answer. That you found no ion contamination which is good, but as you say, they dissipate very quickly. Did you get any hint as to why there's an increase in Tal Shiar movements and also in Romulan patrols? Can you trust this Romulan, after all, she knows who you are and who you work for?"

"There is no need to be so aggressive Captain" Shon said, "You make me sound like a child. Yes the Commodore was alone in our quarters four times once when I was there but asleep. As for the increase in the Tal Shiar patrols no, she could not offer anything as to why this was happening. As for my contact she is risking herself greatly by doing this. Do I trust her one hundred percent then no, but I only trust a few people like that." Shon leaned forward. "As I say I have had several dealings with her and she has not let me down. I do not see how we can do otherwise being in the situation we are now in."

Kilbane leaned forward as well, "My aggression comes from the seriousness of the situation Commander, and the fact we're relying on a contact only you have met but you don't trust, if you have a problem with that, then file an official complaint with SFIHQ."

Karadis stepped around the desk to where Shon was seated, "I suggest you don't take that attitude with Captain Kilbane, Commander, he's trying his best to make something out of all of this. We have a Commodore who's not the actual Commodore, increased Tal Shiar movement and also an increase in patrols in Romulan space. Add in we're about to meet a Romulan who knows you were a spy, have her take us somewhere where we've no idea what's waiting for us and then onto Romulus itself. Plus there's us also trying to find this mysterious Romulan doctor who implanted the digestion inhibitor in the 'real' Commodore Kerr. We than have to find the 'real' Commodore Kerr and persuade the Romulan doctor to remove the inhibitor. I think you can understand why Kilbane's a little on edge."

Shon's hand hit the table, "We are all on edge, the man I love is not the man I love. I have done my absolute best." Shon stood up in front of Karadis invading her personal space on purpose. "If you can do better Lieutenant Commander then do so, I would be more than happy to entertain some other plan. If it had not been for my medical expertise we would not have discovered the extent of and the fact that the person in stasis is not the Commodore....." Shon stood silently her fists balling in her palms. At that moment she would eagerly have fought Karadis even though she knew she would loose.

Karadis saw the rage in Shon's face and her balling her fists, "Come on the Doctor, hit me, if you think it'll make you feel better. Just a warning though, if you do, you had better be a fast runner because I'll kill you if you don't."

"THAT'S ENOUGH KARADIS, STAND DOWN!" Kilbane yelled, standing up from his seat, "This isn't getting us anywhere, get out, both of you! Commander Dex, take Milani to one side and tell her what's happening, give her the co-ordinates of the meeting place then...get on with your duties."

Karadis looked at Kilbane, "The others were right about you, you're weak and you always will be, you're a fool!" and with that she left.

Kilbane sat back down in his chair. This was all going horribly wrong, everyone was on edge, tempers were short and nerves were frayed...if only Bird were there, he'd know what to do...if only...then he had an idea, but would it work?

For a moment Shon wanted to go that far, to hit Karadis her rage was so strong, possibly her Vulcan side would carry her through. She thought for a minute about the two people she had killed when her Vulcan rage had overtaken her and a wash of shame poured over her. She approached Milani, "I need to speak to you, alone Commander."

Milani looked perturbed. "Are you sure, I do not want to leave the bridge at this time."

"This is mission sensitive information, Captain Kilbane's orders."

Milani nodded and indicate the Lieutenant at the science console, "Parker take the conn, if anything, ANYTHING changes inform me."

She followed Shon off the Bridge and into a side alcove. There Shon told her everything, including where they were going and why. After Shon had finished Milani was quiet. "So you thought I was not to be trusted with any of this?" she said in a quiet voice.

Shon sighed her anger finally leaving her. "Milani. it was not my call, I trust you implicitly but I am not in command. Captain Kilbane wishes you to take the ship to T'var an L class planet just this side of Romulan space we will be met on the dark side of the planet. We have been told Romulan patrols have been increased so I would not be surprised if the odd Romulan ship drifts into the neutral zone."

Milani nodded and made to leave, "Milani, Mil..." Shon said as Milani did not look back . Shon shrugged and proceeded back to her quarters. Sitting at her console she punched her code into the computer. "Access the Romulan net, code alpha quorum 84."

Kilbane left the room and walked across to Milani, "Commander Dex will have told you by now what's happening. Listen, it's not that I didn't trust you by leaving it till now for you to know, there's just so many pieces to this particular puzzle and needed to get a lot of information together before we could do so. I needed you focused on the job at hand, getting us safely towards Romulan space and the meeting point with this Romulan that Dr Dex is aquainted with, I didn't want you distracted."

With that, he nodded and headed towards the turbolift, once inside he said, "Sickbay."

Soon he was entering the medical facility and asked to be shown where the stasis chamber was that Finchley was in. He was guided over to it, then left alone. Kilbane was still weighing up the pro's and con's of his idea, he was still on the fence, not sure which side he would eventually come down on.

Shon was deep inside the Romulan net, her codes had not yet been rescinded and that in itself was a worry, however in order to track her they would have to chase her signal across four segments, however entering by the backdoor she was sure she could not be tracked. The information on the latest troop movements was interesting and, with her previous knowledge it looked to her like a split amongst some of the Senate, namely Senator Radek a hardliner and Senator B'lor who wanted Romulans to seek out other races for trade. "So that's it!" she said out loud.

The T'al Shiar network code was a lot harder to break but she knew she could do it as she had done several times before. It took her an hour but finally she entered. Only a few moments later her eyebrows raised "Surak be damned" she exclaimed. Tapping her combadge she asked" Computer where is Captain Kilbane?"

"Captain Kilbane is in Sickbay."

Shon backed out closing each link with several blind alleys. Finally she set off to find him.

In Sickbay, Kilbane was still contemplating what to do. He heard the doors open and saw Shon walking in and heading straight towards him.

"Captain, I am glad I found you, I have been doing some research on the Romulan supranet and the Tal Shiar network. I do not often go I there as my codes are difficult to use and....anyway There may be some problems between the Senate and the Tal Shiar. For a long time now the Tal Shiar have been wanting to gain the upper hand in the Senate. Getting rid of the Senators that oppose them and placing those favourable to them in post. However two months ago a well loved Senator Dorak was found dead at his home, with evidence that led directly to the Tal Shiar. This evidence was made known to the Senate. Currently there is no direct conflict, but each side is rattling their sabres so to speak. That, I think is why there is increased traffic from Romulus."

Shon noticed he was by the stasis unit. "Can I help you in any way Captain?" she asked softly noting the tired lines on his face.

"Nobody can help me Shon, I'm way past redemption" Kilbane answered wearily, "This is going to be my swansong, I'm getting out one way or another."

He turned back and looked into the stasis chamber and pointed, "When I first met Bird...the real one I mean...he was an SFI Lieutenant, full of dreams of making the Federation a safer place, capturing the bad guys and seeing them tried, convicted and sentenced. I got caught up in his fervour, saw the dreams he had and began making them my own. Slowly, as time went by and our missions took on more and more difficulty and danger, those dreams died, as did our desire for true justice. I don't know exactly when it happened, but SFIHQ began making us into a kill squad, one that operated on it's own terms, we did whatever it took to get the job done and there was no comeback. Now...we almost operate independently, still under the auspices of SFIHQ, but they hand us the missions and then allow us to do whatever it takes, so long as the jobs done. I sold my soul for him, and now, there's nothing left of what I was, I'm simply a killing machine, devoid of empathy or compassion and I've had enough."

He sighed and continued, "The Tal Shiar making a power move doesn't surprise me, what does it that it's taken them so long to do it. The fact that there's increased patrols is their way of blocking anyone getting in and out of Romulus, they can control everything. I'm surprised that your Romulan friend can get out to this planet we're going to, she must have some kind of special dispensation to be able to do this, and that makes me nervous. Also the point that she's taking us back to Romulus, we'll be virtually alone, no back up, but, that can also be an advantage for us."

He looked at the stasis chamber again, "I know he's a fake, but there's something inside him still that makes him think like the real Finchley Kerr, we need him for this mission, I don't think we can complete it on our own."

Shon nodded, "I can understand all your worries but at some stage there has to be some sort of leap of faith. I have been thinking about our stasis friend, and I think we need to let him deliver whatever it is inside him to whoever but we have to ensure we get our Commodore back, get ourselves safely in and out of this mess we are flying in to. I would not use Pel unless I had faith in her, she hates the Tal Shiar I know that but Romulans are duplicitous by nature don't you think?"

"Romulans, Kilngons, Cardassians, even the Federation, aren't we all guilty of that one way or another" Kilbane said, "We need him out of stasis and up and about, he'll be the one who can get us through all of this, even if he does go off the deep end at times. He thinks like Finchley and he has his instincts as well and that's what we need right now. Can you do it, can you deliver him in a state where he'll be able to function like the real Finchley Kerr?"

Shon thought for a moment. "Yes I think I can, he would have to have some sedation but I could activate some of the pyramidal synapses and nano cortical fibres to bring our Finchley to the fore. It's not going to be a hundred percent, he may still go off on a rant so I should be with him. When do you want to do this?"

"As soon as possible Doctor" Kilbane replied, "If you can get him as near to how he was before he went into stasis, even with the rants, that will do, he'll still have the basic knowledge and tactical wit of Kerr, that's what we need."

"I don' know how long I can put up with him hating me though?" Shon laughed. "Very well it will take me about an hour or so, so long as there is no trouble with the surgery, where will you be?."

"In my quarters writing a letter" Kilbane replied, "and thank you Shon" he added. He walked away, looking like the troubles of the universe were on his shoulders, which in the current climate of the mission wasn't far from the truth.

As she prepared to take the Finchley double out of stasis Shon began to doubt if she could do what was needed to bring him within their control, and yet bring out some of the latent memories that her Finchley had. Shon was desperate to find him and her mind began to race as she prepared for the surgery. Where was he, was he even alive, was he in pain, tortured, was he thinking about her? So many thoughts ran through her brain yet, she knew she had to concentrate. She walked to the replicator in the office and took a double espresso from it. She had give Dr Mora and the nurses on shift a break so she was alone. Downing the drink she walked out feeling a little more ready.

"Computer lock the doors to sickbay code gamma delta four, encode this lock to my voice." She heard the doors swish shut leaving her alone with him as she prepared everything she would need and activated the stasis pod which slid out silently. She looked at the serene unlined face that was Finchley yet was not. "Computer play Vulcan etudes number three by S'har Eval." The sweet sounds of the Vulcan harp began to echo around as the sound of the stasis pod changing harmonics seemed to compliment the music. The transparent lid slid back and she injected a sedative. She rolled him over until he was lying on his back and began the delicate neurosurgery.

It took Shon over an hour to complete and she stood back strangely satisfied. She then took a small control chip and inserted it into the base of his foramen magnum. This was an after thought giving the user some control over his brain functions. Once he had begun to recover she changed to a fine sedation slipping a hypo of it into her pocket just in case.

"Minimum sedation achieved, waking patient" the stasis pod stated.

"Computer discontinue music," she said. touching him gently on the shoulder, knowing that due to the sedation he might react violently. "Finchley, Finchley, it's Shon, wake up, you have work to do." she could not help herself and bent over to kiss his cheek.

His eye's flickered open, he was on his back looking up at Shon. Trying to sit up, he found himself a little woozy and lay back down again, "Whappened...wha...whe...you.." he began trying to ask, but the words just wouldn't come out the way he wanted them to.

"Dis...ths...am..." and he raised his arm to try and grab Shon, but his co-ordination was way off and it just waved in mid air.

"Nee...ter...ki...you...wha...ha...don..." and his arm fell back on the bed.

Shon smiled, dialled a small amount of stimulant and applied it to his neck supporting him. "Finchley, it's me, Shon, you're ill but you will be okay. I'll be with you."

"Ill?" he managed to ask, "What...ill?"

Despite her feelings Shon felt sorry. "Finchley you have been ill, you have been working too hard and you collapsed. I had to perform some surgery, you might find you become a little.....emotional so I may have to give you medication from time to time. Now, would you like me to take you to Captain Kilbane, he wants to let you know what has been happening whilst you have been unwell?"

Finchley laughed weakly, "Kilbane...knows...wha...happening...thas...frst...yes...hel...me" Finchley replied, holding out his hand.

"Okay, let me give you a little something. She pressed another small amount of stimulant into him and kissed him on the cheek feeling a sense of deja vu. Taking his hand she gave the Command to unlock the door, "How do you feel now, would you rather return to our quarters?"

"No...Kilbane...nee...to know...wha...he...does" Finchley replied, his speech now returning to almost normal. After a long struggle out of Sickbay, the two of them arrived at Kilbane's quarters and the chime was rung. There was no reply from inside and Finchley was puzzled, he pressed the chime, still no reply. Looking at Shon he said, "Medical...override..."

"He said he would be here," she said as the doors slid open. the room was lit. "Captain...Kilbane?" Shon called.

The lights were on inside Kilbane's quarters, but there was silence from within. "KILBANE!" he called out as loudly as he could, but there was no reply. Finchley limped inside, but there was no-one there. Finchley looked around, then saw an envelope on the table in the middle of the room. He made it over and picked up the envelope and saw it had 'To (Mocking) Bird' written on it. He tore the envelope open and began reading the hand written letter inside, and as he read he said, "No, no, no, no , NOOOOOO!", and he dropped himself heavily onto the sofa.

Shon sat down beside him hypo in hand "Finchley, what is it?"

"Two years ago, SFI set up a programme to see if it was possible to make a stable link with the alternative universe" Finchley replied, "Kilbane had volunteered to work on it with McCrudden, but there were problems from the get go, the link couldn't be made stable enough. I though they had both let it go, but it appears they've both been working on it in their spare time without telling me. Kilbane mentioned that they'd had a breakthrough, and though it's not a stable link, it works long enough to get a few people through. That idiots told me in this letter that I'm not me, the real me, that Finchley Kerr is 'possibly' in the alternative universe and he's going looking for them. I mean, how can he say that I'm not me, I am me, I'm here, I know you and the other crew members, I can remember the missions we've been on, so how is the 'real' me...not actually me?"

"Oh Finchley," Shon moved closer to him. "I know it seems strange, confusing and frightening but no, you are not the real Finchley, at least not my Finchley. Over the last few days you have been behaving erratically, aggressive towards me and to the crew. I thought you were ill and performed some scans which showed nothing, but, then you got worse, much worse. I put you in stasis and took some of your brain tissue. Even though you have some of his memories you are not him, try to understand we need to find out where you belong and get our Finchley back?"

He stood up, his strength now returning, a look of confusion on his face, "So where have I come from and how did I get here, the last thing I remember before waking up is being on the bridge and Karadis being very angry about something?"

Shon did not want to confuse him any more so she skipped round it. "You were telling of a mission you were on and what went wrong. The...time was very difficult for you and some of what you said upset Karadis."

"At the moment that's all inconsequential, stopping Kilbane from doing what's he's doing is the priority" Finchley replied.

"Computer, what's the location of Captain Kilbane?" he asked.

==^==Captain Kilbane is in Main Engineering==^==

"He's got a head start on us Shon, he needs to be stopped" Finchley said looking at Shon.

==^==Information update, Captain Kilbane is no longer in Main Engineering==^==

"Where is he then?" Finchley asked.

==^==Captain Kilbane is no longer onboard the USS Thall==^==

Finchley looked at Shon, "You're quicker than I am, get to Main Engineering, find out what's happened."

Shon nodded, "Don't go anywhere....please Finchley." the last thing she wanted to do was leave him. In his state of mind Surak knows what he might do. She left running along the corridor and then into the turbolift to main engineering. Several crew looked at her as she rushed in. "Have you seen Captain Kilbane?" she asked.

"Yes Doctor he came in and......" the Lieutenant looked confused. "He was right there Doctor, just a minute ago."

"Exactly where Shon asked.

"I think by the auxiliary power console doctor."

She moved over to the panel and felt something move through her body feeling like a current. for a moment she felt disoriented. Looking down she saw what looked like scorch marks on the deck. "Damn it" she said out loud noting what looked like co ordinates on the panel. "Whatever any of you do do not come over here, you may be injured." They looked surprised but nodded. "I will return." Shon said heading back to Finchley.

As Shon came back into Kilbane's quarters, Finchley looked at her asked, "Did you manage to find anything out about where Kilbane is?"

"I think I might have, he was there, no one saw him leave. He was at the auxiliary power console, when I stepped over there I felt something. There has been a power transfer from the transporter to that console and there were signs of residual ions, I think...he's gone...... somewhere, transported and I do not think he will be feeling very well when he gets wherever he was going." she looked at him "Have you any Idea what this means Finchley?"

"I think I do, but I need to get to Main Engineering where he was and try to work out what he was doing, help me get there please" Finchley replied.

Shon nodded and brought out a hypo from her pocket. "This might give you an extra boost, it's a Shon special." she injected him hoping it would give him more energy and clear his head. " Lean on me." she said as he stood, she put her arm around his waist and his arm across her neck. "Right, come on then let's go."

It took a little while for them to get to Main Engineering, but once there, Finchley spoke with the Lieutenant Shon had earlier. He relayed the same information to him that he had to Shon before, and Finchley looked over to the console that Kilbane had been at.

Looking at Shon he said, "It's very strange that Kilbane used the auxiliary power console instead of the main console. To me that implies he didn't want anyone to know what he was doing, I think we should run a diagnostic, see if anything's been altered on the console in any way."

"Do you want me to do it or shall I ask McCrudden?" Shon asked.

"If you're able to, I'd rather you did it" Finchley replied, "For the moment, the less people know about this the better."

Shon nodded, I understand, I will do my best." For a moment her hand rested over his and she felt such love, such longing for there to be nothing between them. No missions, no ill health, no pain....she cleared her head and took an engineering tricorder from a shelf. "Right," turning it on she scanned the console. The tricorder did not alert them to any unusual readings then Shon had an idea, "I am getting a very small trace of Ions on the ....wait yes it was cross connected to the transporter?"

"If Kilbane's cross connected this console to the transporter, he's not doing a site to site transport because he would just use his COMM badge to do that" Finchley said, "Think damn it...think" he said to himself. "So what have we got, and auxiliary power console, a link to the transporter and ion..." and then it hit him, "I know what that stupid idiots done, he's tried to transport over to the alternate universe...he's gone looking for me" he finished, looking at Shon.

"I thought about that...we have to follow him don't we?" she looked up at him.

Finchley took Shon's hand in his, "Well, in order to sort the problem's that 'your' Finchley has, which are the same as mine, we'll have to go and find him and Kilbane, then find a way back for you all so you can then find this Romulan doctor. It won't be easy, because I've no idea if we'll transport to the same location as Kilbane or end up somewhere completely different."

" You make it sound so easy," she gave a half laugh. "There must be someway we can narrow it down. There should be a pattern in the transporter buffer?"

"You'd only get patterns in the transporter buffer if they subject being transported caused a transporter loop" Finchley replied, "but, there will be residual ion matter showing up and we could try and follow that...kind of like following a trail of breadcrumbs. If we can match them to the specific frequency modulators that Kilbane used, then there's no reason why we wouldn't end up at the same place, or near to, as he did."

"Well that is what we will have to do then," she said in rather a braver voice than she felt inside. "We can set up the tricorder to cycle through the pattern buffer and activate when it finds ions. But I worry about your fitness to go through the process. I don't want you hurt." Shon opened her medical tricorder and scanned him. "There is no change in your condition, how do you feel?" she asked.

"My health doesn't matter Shon, what matters is that you want your Finchley back" he replied, "If I can facilitate that, then that's what counts. However, I countenance against doing this alone, we have no idea what we'll find on the other side, so I would suggest we have help...Karadis and Finnigan go with us,"

Shon nodded, "That would leave Milani in Command. Perhaps you should speak to her after your last conversation relieving her of duty? The ship is in danger the nearer we get to Romulus. I suggest we reconvene in your ready room?"

"Actually, there's something I need to know" Finchley said, then he called out, "McCrudden, here, now!"

The wizened Chief Engineer, suddenly appeared as if he'd stepped out from behind the console, "What the hell do you want, I'm busy?!"

"What, no 'Sir', or 'Commodore...just 'What the hell do you want'..." Finchley replied.

"Look you tinpot dictator" McCrudden answered, "Either tell me what you want or fuck off back to the bridge out the way, I don't have time for your bullshit!"

"Charming as always" Finchley replied, "Ok, here's my question. If we go into the alternate universe, when we return, will we return to this precise time line or will it be a different time line?"

"If you're able to recreate the same circumstances there as when you leave here, then you ought to return here what will seem like seconds after you originally left" McCrudden replied, "Can I get back to work now?"

"Yes, you may go" Finchley answered.

He looked at Shon, "I guess there's no time like the present then, I think we should have Karadis, Finnigan and Milani join us here and we can all go."

"But who will look after the ship?" she said looking at the back of the vanishing McCrudden. Then as an aside she said "You always let that man give you too little respect Finchley." The minute she said that she realised this man before her was turning into her Finchley.

"The ship will be fine, 'if' what McCrudden says is true, then we'll come back here literally moments after we just left" Finchley replied, "then we can carry on with the mission to try and find the Romulan doctor. As for McCrudden, yes, he's crude and at times offensive, but he's a brilliant Chief Engineer, so I let his bad attitude slide...at times. Now, we don't have time to call a meeting, we need Karadis, Finnigan and Milani here now. Why don't you call call them and say I need them all down in Main Engineering ASAP."

Not wasting any more time Shon tapped her comm, "Commander Millani, Lieutenant Commander Karadis, Finnegan report to main engineering at the double." Finnegan appeared from behind the core as though he had been waiting. It took a couple of minutes before Milani appeared looking bemused at the sight of the three of them and especially the Commodore. "sir?" she said questioningly.

"I apologise Commander, I wasn't myself earlier, you're reinstated to your duties" Finchley answered. At that point, Karadis appeared. "You look like hell" she said to Finchley rather bluntly. He in turn decided now was not the time to get into a verbal sparing bout with the Klingon so just said, "Thank you Karadis, it's always good to get a straight forward, objective view point on proceedings."

He looked round at the assembled crew, "Ok, I don't have time to fully explain what's happening, suffice to say we're going looking for me, 'your' version of me anyway. We'll be crossing over to the alternate universe, going after Kilbane. If anyone wants to back out, do so now, no questions will be asked."

Milani looked a little shocked at the information he had just given her but nodded. "Everyone has a phaser?" she asked.

"I shan't take one" Finchley replied, "it's technology from this universe and I've no idea how it would impact on the alternate universe if it were to fall into the wrong hands."

Shon nodded, "Well there is no time like the present," She checked her medical tricorder, she would need it when they found their Finchley. "Can I ask a question?" she said looking at Finchley. "What will happen to you when we find my...our Finchley?"

"I'll take his place, regardless of the situation" Finchley replied, "You want your Finchley back, and I'm the only one who looks and sounds like him, so it'll be a swap."

Finchley looked at everyone and said, "Whatever happens over there, no matter how dire the consequences for me, you cannot try to stop it, you're primary goal is to get your version of me out and back here, ok."

He looked back at Shon again, "Ok, can you set up the auxiliary power console to how Kilbane had, then it's a case of hoping for the best that we all get over there in one piece."

Shon nodded, " Milani can you run a resonance scan on the recycler, keep it tight, that will give us a more accurate destination parameter?" Milani nodded, took out her tricorder and began her cycling scan. "Right everyone, gather together, I would suggest holding or touching each other in the vain hope we don't get split up." She worked for a few minutes her lips pursed. 'There might be some disorientation for a few moments, right here we go, Milani good work." Shon joined them on the small transporter. Just before the transport began she took Finchley's hand in her own.

Then, the same room came into view but it looked different somehow, weapons where the first thing Shon noted as her dizziness cleared. "Are we all here?" she whispered. Milani nodded and vomited. Shon injected her with a nausea suppressor and the tall First Officer smiled gratefully.

Finnigan 'harrrummmppphhhhed', "Can someone help me down" he said, looking over the edge of the grill high up in the wall that he had somehow ended up in. Karadis looked at him, "You'd be no good as an escape artist" she replied, walking over and holding her hands up above her head, "Place your feet in my hands and I'll lower you down."

Once down, Finnigan thanked her then looked at Finchley, "Is any of this familiar?"

"Oh yes, all of this is familiar" he replied, "The thing is, is this where Kilbane ended up?" he added, looking at Shon.

"As far as I can tell it is exactly where he came in." she scanned Finchley, "you're showing some neural excitation, I think it was the transport but let me know if you feel....different." she said. "I'm surprised there is no on here, not even a technician." She shivered, "this place gives me the heebie jeebies."

"If the transporters aren't in use, then perhaps the maintenance has already been done" Finchley replied. ISS ships differ to Starfleet ships, you keep a technician here all the time, here, there's a rota system unless there's a call for the transporters to be used quickly.

Just then, the doors to the room opened and a technician walked in. He stopped abruptly at the sight of Finchley and he raised his hand and put it across his chest on a Roman-esc type of salute, "Hail Commodore Kerr, I wasn't informed that you would be here, is there something you need?"

Finchley returned the salute and replied, "No, I was showing these technicians our transporter room as they require upgrades to their own. We're finished now, you may carry on your work" and once again he gave the salute and gestured for everyone to leave the room, he himself walking out last.

Out in the corridor, he looked at Milani and Shon, "We need a way of tracking Kilbane, any suggestions?"

"Perhaps Shon can use her medical tricorder?" Milani asked.

"If I had had time to prepare I might have been able to, however I can track his bio signs just not from more than one hundred yards. However......he carries a particular enzyme socortil that, ...yes" she said. "Here it is, unless there is anyone else who has this enzyme I can track him, but it's not showing up. I hope to Surak he is on board, of course if there is somewhere on this vessel which is shielded then it would not pick the enzyme up." she concluded rather hurriedly concluding that she had been rabbiting on.

"Your Kilbane is a loyal subject" Finchley said, "venturing here to see if his Commodore is still alive."

Karadis laughed in amusement, "Loyal subject...I must remember that one."

"Regardless of how he's described, we need to get to Kilbane before he does something stupid" Finnigan said.

"Doing something stupid is Kilbane's speciality, you ought to know that Finnigan" Karadis replied, "after all, it was him who fucked up your coup attempt, remember."

"Yes...I remember" Finnigan replied coldly, "something I need to discuss with him, that put our plans back two years, but we're close to carrying it out n...", then he remembered where he was and who he was with, "we can discuss this later...if there 'is' a later."

Shon frowned, "I'd like to hear about those plans Mr Finnegan?" she said. "does it have something to do with this mission?" she asked coldly.

Finnigan turned to face Shon, "It has nothing to do with this mission, and if you know what's good for you, you'll keep your nose out of my business, capiche'..." he ended, staring hard at her.

Even in his current state of health, Finchley walked across to Finnigan and grabbed him by the balls and twisted them really hard and pulled down viciously. Finnigan screamed loudly and hit the deck, squirming in pain. Finchley wasn't finished though, he raised his heel and brought it down hard on Finnigan's head each time he spoke a word to emphasise his meaning, "Don't...you...ever...speak...to...her...like...that...again...or...I'll...kill...you...do...you...understand?"

By this point Finnigan was in a real state, blood soaking down from his nose, ears and mouth. He managed to nod his head, so Finchley left him be and turned to walk away, stopped, and walked back. He drew back his foot and hammered it with full forth between Finnigan's legs, then bent down and whispered, "You're very lucky we need you for this rescue, but rest assured I will tell your Finchley Kerr how you spoke to Shon, I'm sure he'll want a word with you as well."

Finnigan screamed again, this time in a higher pitch than before and curled up in a foetal position.

Finchley stood up, and turned to Shon, "The one place he might be that's shielded is Security, he'll try to find out where your Finchley is, this way" he said, limping down the corridor.

Shon nodded giving the injured Finnigan a quick med scan. "You have a low level head injury. Let me know if you feel worse." She stopped again and looked at him. "I'm sorry Finnigan." she said as she stood and followed Finchley already triangulating her tricorder for the enzyme. Her phaser felt heavy on her side and the feeling of wanting to feel the familiar relief of it in her hand grew. The corridor seemed, at a cursory glance, the same but she noticed subtle differences. The lighting had a slight red tinge and every few yards the walls displayed a sword, unsheathed piercing a planet. She stood aside as crew members saluted Finchley and gave lustful looks at Milani.

Entering security an officer stood smartly and threw his arm out in salute. "All hail to the Empire Commodore," he said loudly.

Finchley loosely returned the salute and answered "Yes, the Empire", to which the security officer clearly found strange.

"Has anyone been in here recently asking where Commo...I mean I am?" Finchley continued.

"Yes Commodore, Captain Kilbane came in not long ago asking where you were" the officer answered, "I told him you were in your quarters, I take it he didn't come there to meet you?"

Finchley had to think quickly, "No...eh, no he didn't, what's why I'm asking you if anyone has asked where I was."

"Should I put out an alert for Captain Kilbane Sir?" the officer asked.

"No, he won't have gone far, I'll find him" Finchley replied, "Carry on."

The officer saluted Finchley again and he in turn tried a little harder with his return salute. Turning to leave, he felt as though the officers eyes were burrowing into the back of his head, but he couldn't afford to turn round and look at him so he kept on walking.

Whilst Finchley had been conversing with the security officer, Karadis had gotten close to Shon and whispered, "You apologised to Finnigan for what Finchley did to him, don't ever do that again, you have no idea what Finnigan has done or what he's still trying to do, steer clear of him, we don't want you involved."

"I understand Karadis but I am a physician and, as such care when people are injured" she whispered and turned away.

"A problem Shon?" Milani asked, having seen Karadis approach her.

Shon was about to answer when her tricorder buzzed in her palm. "Commodore I have a another fix on Kilbane follow me."

Finchley watched as Shon took off up the corridor, he knew he wouldn't be able to keep pace with her but tried to stumble along as best he could. Karadis, who had been right behind him, saw he was struggling then decided to do something about it. Crouching down, she basically fireman lifted Finchley over her shoulder and carried on walking after Shon. Though Karadis had spoken to Shon about Finnigan and not getting involved with him, she had a sneaking suspicion Shon wouldn't let this go, and somewhere down the line, consequences would be had.

Shon moved down the corridor her scanner working overtime as Milani took up the rear. Something was going on, something deep involving Finnegan, something that might fracture the team and she was worried. Karadis and Shon was upmost in her mind as well as surviving this new place they were in.

Shon turned and seeing the sight of Karadis carrying Finchley her breath caught in her mouth. She stopped and walked back to them. Injecting Finchley in the neck she said "this should help for a little while, it's not far now." The were now in the lower decks of the ship and saw very few people. The atmosphere became heavier, darker and then, screams, the screams of someone in the agony of being ripped apart. Shon put her hand up. "Here, he's here." she whispered.

TBC