ST: Pandora "Passing"

Episode 1.4. "Passing"

Admiral Quinn stood up from his desk as Oren-De entered his office on Earth Stardock. The admiral glanced over to Commander Sulu, who acknowledged the nonverbal command with a nod and quickly ushered two officers he was speaking with out of the room. Oren-De glanced at the departing officers as the doors shut behind them, and it all caused him to wonder what this debriefing was really about. He suppressed his curiosity however, and stood at attention.

"Commander Oren-De reporting, sir. I was informed that you wished to see me."

Quinn nodded. "Yes, Commander. Please, have a seat. Can I get you anything to drink?"

Normally Oren-De would have politely refused, but all that he had had to deal with since rescuing the crew of the New Orleans was beginning to take it's toll on him. "Coffee, sir. Black."

"Excellent. Two coffees, black," said Quinn to his desktop replicator. On the side of the desk, two coffees in white mugs that bore the Starfleet insignia shimmered into being. The admiral passed one toward Oren-De, who accepted it gratefully.

"Thank you, sir," he said simply, and took a drink while he waited for the admiral to begin. While he had only been introduced to what Humans called 'coffee' during his time at the Academy, Oren-De had found it very similar to a Giiyen, a stimulating drink from Enhasa. In addition to being useful when a day was wearing long on him, coffee also provided him with a brief taste of home.

Quinn took a quick sip of his own drink before cutting to the chase. "As you now know, Starfleet JAG has taken custody of Lieutenant Calvin. I expect that his trial will begin quickly. As you also know, Lieutenant Matoya is being called as an expert witness in the case regarding his Borg... program. Until the trial is over, the Pandora is to remain here at Earth Stardock."

Oren-De gave a slight frown. "Acknowledged, sir. However... may I ask as to why the Pandora, along with the Kirk, was required to transport Lieutenant Matoya here?"

"Yes, it does seem wasteful, doesn't it," Quinn noted, taking another sip of his coffee. "We decided that, given your science officer's knowledge of the Borg, Calvin's program, and the lengths the Klingons have demonstrated they're willing to go to acquire both as demonstrated by their attack on the Kinet IV science outpost, it would be best that she and Calvin have an escort. The matter is sufficiently sensitive that Starfleet Intelligence insisted."

Oren-De nodded. He still didn't agree with the decision, but he was appreciative for the justification all the same. The admiral continued.

"As for why you're remaining here until the conclusion of the hearing, the reason is two-fold. Primarily, I don't want to waste even more manpower escorting your Matoya back to the Pandora after you've returned to the Klingon front. However, there is another matter that, given its sensitive nature, I wanted to speak with you about personally."

Admiral Quinn tapped a button his desk. "Crewman Donovan, bring Lieutenant Commander Lok in, please."

Oren-De looked over his shoulder toward the office's door in surprise as a young crewman escorted his first officer and Chief of Engineering, War'en Lok, in. The Trill, who seemed just as surprised as Oren-De, approached and stood at attention next to his captain's seat. Oren-De wondered if this had anything to do with the discussion he had had with War'en recently regarding Oren-De's treatment of the crew.

"I apologize for all the secrecy, but this seemed the most appropriate way to inform both of you of the current situation," Admiral Quinn began as he motioned to the monitor behind him. With another tap on his console, the monitor blinked to life with the dossier image of a Trill. He looked to be in his late middle-age, perhaps a little younger than Quinn. War'en immediately recognized the person on the screen, but he kept silent as the Admiral continued.

"This is Rear Admiral Izen Sadda, of the Starfleet Corps of Engineers. His chief project, on which he has been working since his days at the Academy, has been the adaptation of Borg technology to Starfleet designs. A great deal of his work has been key to the development of Starfleet's personal shield technology, as well as the development of the Federation's transwarp network."

War'en nodded. Oren-De glanced at his first officer before returning his attention back to Quinn, relieved that this apparently had nothing to do with his earlier discussions with War'en.

"These days, in addition to that work , he was also involved in analyzing the Borg technology we recovered from the ships that attacked the Vega colony."

War'en's's face became suspicious as he picked up on Quinn's language. "Excuse me, Admiral. He was working on this?"

The older Trill nodded gravely as he turned to look directly at War'en. "30 hours ago, Rear Admiral Sadda was killed in an accident. A magnetic lift malfunctioned and sped out of control. Sadda happened to be in front of it, and the lift crushed him against a wall. He died of massive internal injuries."

Oren-De was surprised to see War'en become incredibly pale in the face. Indeed, it was a terrible accident, but it seemed odd that simply being told about it would put his first officer at such unease. He looked back at Admiral Quinn in confusion. "Sir, while it is a loss for Starfleet that Rear Admiral Sadda died so suddenly, I don't understand what this has to do with myself and Mr. Lok."

Admiral Quinn was about to speak before War'en cut in.

"Read Admiral Sadda is... was... joined with a symbiont. Now that he's dead, I'm to be the next host."

Maggie and Will walked out of the room where the board of inquiry concerning Lieutenant Calvin had just finished its initial session. Even behind his visor, the look of irritation on the ensign's face was apparent.

"What was that!? His ship gets destroyed by an Undine dreadnaught and they want to court-martial him? How is that fair?"

Maggie was frowning in thought as she glanced back into the room they had come from.

"Well, to be fair, court-martial procedures are standard after the loss of a ship, and from what I've gathered, Lieutenant Calvin has had a pretty unusual month as a Starfleet captain. That said, this is definitely not what I was expecting when the JAG requested me as an expert witness."

"Yeah. Why did they request you, anyway?"

Maggie frowned deeper. "Sorry, but that's classified. At least, I think it is. Right now, the only thing I'm sure of is how annoyed I am that the JAG called me here just to testify in the court-martial of a child."

"That's not fair, Maggie. The guy has had a rough time of it."

"Then the club can throw him a welcome party," Maggie said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "All I know is that man's antics and behavior have cost me literally weeks of time that would have been better spent on more fruitful areas of research."

Will was about to respond when their comm badges let out a chirp, followed by Oren-De's voice. "Senior staff, please report to the Pandora's conference room at 1100 hours." There was a pause, and Oren-De's voice seemed to shift from its normal authoritative tone to one that was a bit more awkward. "... and apologies for interrupting your shore leave."

Maggie raised an eyebrow. "I wonder what that was about." Will wasn't sure if she meant the sudden request for a meeting or Oren-De's odd final statement.

Oren-De's message went to most of the Pandora's senior staff save for two people: War'en and Redwing. The two were in the middle of Yosemite National Park, a few hours to the northeast of Starfleet Headquarters in San Francisco. Surrounded by tall redwoods that stretched up to the clear blue sky, Redwing was looking at War'en in disbelief.

"... Sadda's dead?"

War'en nodded. "It sounds like it was a freak accident. He was crushed by a mag lift that went out of control. It happened almost 36 hours ago, so time is becoming a factor. I am reporting to Starfleet Medical a--"

"You can't be serious!"

War'en looked at Redwing in shock. "Of course I am. Red, this is something I'm bound to do."

"You're 30! Most Joinings are done when a Trill is in their early or mid 20s. It's too dangerous."

War'en shook his head. "I was still judged to be a fit host by the Symbiosis Commission when they reviewed the results of my last comprehensive physical. A physical you conducted, by the way."

Red looked at War'en in what almost looked liked desperation. Before he could grasp at another straw, War'en placed his hands gently on the other man's arms.

"Red... why are you so surprised by this? I told you when we started dating that I had been chosen as a Host for the Sadda symbiont."

The medical officer looked down from War'en's gaze. "I know. I know you told me, but... I didn't think it would actually happen. Rear Admiral Sadda was still on the young side, he had a couple good decades left him in before he'd even retire. I thought you'd pass out of the acceptable age range and another Host would be selected long before he died."

"Understandable. I'm pretty surprised too. But, even then, why are you against this? Being Joined is a great honor for me, you know that."

Red looked up at War'en in frustration. "A great honor!? Will it be a great honor when that thing takes over your personality? And don't tell me it won't, War. Don't think I haven't read Starfleet Medical's database on Trill Symbionts inside and out. I know damn well that once they put that thing in you that... you may not be you anymore."

"That only happens in a few cases..."

"And one of them involved the Sadda symbiont!" Red exclaimed, his voice raised. "Don't you get it, War!? You're asking me to let you march off and die! I can't do that!" His voice lowered as he stepped back from War'en. "I... I just can't. I'm sorry." With that, Red turned and began walking away.

"Red, wait!"

War'en began walking after him, but Red tapped his comm badge. "Dr. Redwing to Pandora, one to beam up."

War watched as the blue shimmer of a transporter beam whisked Red away, leaving War alone in the forest. He could still chase after him, but he'd gotten the message. Red wanted to be left alone.

War'en sat on the bed of his in-patient quarters at Starfleet Medical, looking over a padd. It was full of updates from the Pandora's Engineering staff, but he was finding it unusually difficult to focus on them. Instead, his mind kept going back to the argument that he and Red had had earlier that day.

"I know damn well that once they put that thing in you that... you may not be you anymore."

With a sigh, he stood up from the bed and walked over to a full-length mirror that was mounted on the opposite wall. He looked into his own eyes and held up a hand to his reflection. What if Red was right? What if the Sadda symbiont took over completely and he stopped being himself? Even if it didn't, some amount of change in his personality was inevitable. It was all a question of how much.

A chime from the door of his quarters interrupted his thoughts. "Come in," he called out as he turned toward the door. To his surprise, the door slid open to reveal Captain Oren-De and the senior staff of the Pandora... sans the chief medical officer. War'en was hurt to see that Red hadn't come with them, but he masked it as much as he could with a smile.

"I didn't expect to see you all here!"

Will, Maggie, and Talona entered first, followed by Oren-De and Shrel at slower pace. The latter two both looked somewhat awkward and it was readily apparent that this visit had not been their idea. Still, War'en appreciated it all the same. He was especially glad to see Oren-De, if only because it meant his captain had taken his earlier advice to heart.

"Why not?" exclaimed Maggie. "You're in the hospital, so of course you're going to get a visit from us. We'd have to be heartless not to come vis--ow!"

Maggie glared at Talona, who had not-so-subtly elbowed her in the side. Talona's smile took on a rather forced nature as she realized War'en had noticed, and quickly did the first thing she could think of: shove her gift in his face.

"Here! This is for you," she said, holding a flat box out to him. "It's from all of us."

War'en took the gift and caught a look of understanding sympathy from Talona. War'en nodded in return, then looked at the group. "Thanks. This... really means a lot to me that you're all here to visit me."

"No problem," Will said with a grin before he motioned toward the box. "Come on, go ahead an open it."

War'en undid the simple wrapping job and was surprised to find that the gift was a box of Trill chocolates. He stared at the gift in amazement then looked back up at the others. "Where did you get these? The ship doesn't have them in its replicator memory..."

"I remembered that there was a Trill restaurant in San Francisco on the Embarcadero. You told me about it shortly after I first came on board, when I mentioned how much I loved the city," Talona said with a grin. War'en nodded and placed the box on a bedside table.

The group exchanged nervous conversation for a half hour before a nurse arrived to announce that visiting hours were coming to an end.

"Well, the procedure is first thing tomorrow morning, so I guess this is good-bye. ... until after it, I mean."

Talona exchanged glances with Will as Maggie gave him a smile. "I look forward to hearing about it! I've never met a Joined Trill before."

War'en gave a weak smile as the group turned to leave. They were almost out of the room when War'en suddenly called out. "Hey, Talona? Could I ask you something really quickly?"

The staff looked at Talona, who looked back at War'en and nodded. The rest of the group continued on their way, leaving Talona and War'en alone.

"Talona... could I ask you a favor?"

"Of course, War'en. Anything."

"Can you talk to Red for me? I can't leave and we had an argument right before I came here. He's not too pleased about my Joining and... I was hoping to talk to him before the procedure tomorrow."

Talona studied War'en for a moment before nodding. "Sure. I'd be happy to."

"Thanks, Talona. I'll... see you tomorrow, I guess."

"... yeah. We'll all be here tomorrow when you're done."

She gave him another sympathetic smile before exiting his quarters. War'en turned back to his bed and picked up the box of Trill chocolates that they'd given him. They were an assortment, but they contained some of his favorites. He briefly wondered if they'd still be come tomorrow...

Talona appeared in a shimmer of blue light on a transporter pad within the Pandora. She gave the crewman operating the teleporter a friendly nod and quick hello before exiting the room.

"Computer, please locate Dr. Redwing."

"Dr. Redwing is currently located in the Medical Bay," the computer promptly responded. Talona nodded and made a beeline for the turbolift. As it took her down to her desired deck, she looked down at the floor and tried to get her thoughts in order. While she had promised War'en to speak to Red, she felt awkward mediating an argument that she hadn't even been privy to. On top of that, Talona hadn't really spoken with Red since he had overheard her complaining to the captain about how he and the rest of the crew had been treating her.

Before she knew it though, she found herself nearing the doors to the Medical Bay. Talona still didn't know exactly what she was going to say, but she hoped that it would come to her. She took a breath and entered. Upon seeing no one around, she looked around.

"Red? Do you have a moment?"

"In here!" came Red's voice from the side. Talona turned to see Red in his office, looking intensely at his computer monitor. She raised an eyebrow, but entered.

"Red, I wanted to talk to you about War'en."

"You're just in time! I found something I want you to help me with."

Talona blinked in surprise. "Wait, what? Red, what are you talking about?"

Red turned his display so that it faced Talona, who took a seat across from Red at his desk. She glanced at the readout and was surprised that it was a detailed entry on a type of magnetic lift. Talona looked back at Red in confusion and disbelief.

"Red, why are you looking up mag lifts? War'en is about to undergo a Joining and you didn't even come with us to wish him well!"

"Talona, will you please just read this!? Specifically the part about its safety features."

Talona gave Red an annoyed look as he completely sidestepped the question, but relented and began to read through the entry. If humoring him was the way to get him to talk, then she'd play along. After all, she had promised War'en. A few minutes passed before she read through the entire entry in its all of its boring detail. When she finally looked back at Red, he was looking at her expectantly.

"Well?"

"Well what? Red, I still don't know why you wanted me to read this."

Red let out a sigh and ran his hands through his hair, which was noticeably disheveled. "What did Captain Oren-De tell you all at the staff meeting earlier today, when he briefed you on War'en's Joining? Specifically, what did he tell you about what happened to the previous host?"

Talona tilted her head. "Not much. Just that the previous host had been Rear Admiral Sadda, and he'd been killed in an accident at Starfleet Engineering. Why?"

"The Rear Admiral was crushed to death by a mag lift that malfunctioned and sped out of control. Specifically, this kind of mag lift. War'en described it as a 'freak accident'."

"Sped out of control?" Talona replied skeptically. "Well, that would definitely be a freak accident. These mag lifts have a number of redundant hardware and software safeguards built into them to keep accidents like that from happening."

"What if... it weren't an accident?"

Talona looked up from the display at Red with a look of incredulity. "You mean tampering with it deliberately? It's possible, but..."

"But what?"

"... but I think you're grasping at straws, Red. I mean, if there was evidence of tampering, don't you think the investigation would have turned something up? On top of that, this didn't happen on some frontier world or on a starship in the middle of nowhere. This happened at the headquarters of Starfleet's Corp of Engineers. Successfully committing an act like that right under Starfleet's nose and getting away with it would be extremely difficult."

Red opened his mouth to protest, but Talona kept going before he could say anything. "Red, please! I know that you don't like that War'en is about to be Joined with a Symbiont, but this isn't helping! You're in denial and you're looking for someone to blame, even if it means looking for a scapegoat where none exists."

Red said nothing in response in first, but instead looked up as he began speaking to the computer. "Computer, please display the findings of the investigation into the death of Rear Admiral Sadda."

"Those files are currently sealed."

Talona let out a frustrated sigh. "Of course they're sealed. It's an ongoing investigation into the death of a Starfleet rear admiral!"

Red calmly issued another request. "Computer, under whose authority have those files been sealed?"

"That information is classified by Starfleet Intelligence. Proper authorization is required." Along with the computer's response, Red's display changed to show a similar typed message, along with the insignia of Starfleet Intelligence. Talona looked at the display in surprise.

"I thought the JAG office normally handled investigations."

"They do. Which means something about this isn't 'normal'."

Red tapped his combadge.

"Dr. Redwing to Lieutenant Matoya. Do you have a moment? I need to speak with you."

Maggie's voice came back, sounding rushed. "Sorry Red, I'm a little busy right now."

"Maggie, please. It's urgent, and it concerns War'en."

There was a rather long pause before Maggie finally responded. "Alright. Come meet me in Captain Oren-De's ready room. ... quickly."

Red and Talona exchanged quizzical glances. "The captain's ready room? What is this all about?" Talona wondered aloud.

"Only one way to find out," Red replied as he stood from his chair and proceeded out of the Medical Bay, with Talona close behind.

After they arrived on the bridge and passed through to the ready room, the doors opened to reveal Oren-De sitting in his usual seat with Maggie and another woman standing across his desk from him. The unfamiliar woman wore Starfleet command red and had long brown hair kept in a simple, straight style. When she turned to the two newcomers, Red noticed that the irises of her eyes were completely black.

A Betazoid, Red thought to himself. He and Talona stepped into the ready room. After the doors shut behind them, Oren-De looked at Talona and frowned.

"Ms. Roberts, I apologize, but the invitation was extended only to Dr. Redwing. You're dismissed."

"Captain," quickly interjected Redwing, "if this is about War'en, Talona has been privy to the information I have and helped me make sense of it."

Talona looked at Oren-De expectingly. Oren-De gave them both an annoyed frown and looked at the woman standing next to Maggie, who simply nodded. Oren-De cleared his throat and motioned to the woman next to Maggie.

"Dr. Redwing and Lieutenant Roberts, this is Captain Zwen Amana of Starfleet Intelligence. She is here on an... urgent matter," Oren-De said, looking at Red as he finished the introduction. Red and Talona simply nodded and looked at Captain Amana, who turned to them with a calm expression.

"A pleasure. I wish we had more time, but I must be brief and to the point. What information did you wish to discuss with Lieutenant Matoya concerning Lieutenant Commander Lok?"

Red looked at Amana's eyes again reflexively, reminding himself that he was dealing with a Betazoid, a species that could possess a range of telepathic talents and were most known for their ability to be walking lie detectors.

"I wanted to ask her if she could access the files on Rear Admiral Sadda's death, as they are sealed by Starfleet Intelligence."

Talona looked at Red in surprise. She had assumed Red was going to ask for Maggie's help in some other respect. If he wanted her to access Intelligence files... then... Talona looked over at Maggie, who was in the middle of shooting a rather angry look at Red. If Amana was aware of the emotions being thrown about the room, it didn't show on her face as she continued to question Red.

"Why did you want to access those files?"

"I think foul play was involved."

"What reason do you have to suspect that, Dr. Redwing?"

Red glanced at Talona, then looked back at Amana. "The mag lift that allegedly went out of control had a number of safeguards on it to keep it from doing so. Talona, who is an engineer, told me that it is extremely unlikely it would malfunction to that degree on it's own."

Amana nodded, her calm demeanor not breaking in the slightest. She studied Red for a moment before continuing. "Dr. Redwing... is it possible that your strong affection for Lieutenant Commander Lok is causing you to see causes that don't exist? After all, all you've done is demonstrate that the incident could be nothing more than a improbable accident. Not an impossible one."

Red felt impatient anger boil his blood, but he forced it down. "Yes... I have to admit that it's possible. However, if that were all it was... why is Intelligence sealing the files and not Starfleet Security or JAG?"

Captain Amana allowed herself a small smile before turning away from Red. "Ahhh... I told him not to do that and to let Security publicly take over the investigation. If you want to keep something secret, the worst thing you can do is put a 'Starfleet Intelligence' screen in front of it." Amana shook her head in what almost looked like amusement before turning back to Red and Talona.

"Alright. I'm going to brief you on the situation, but I am going to make myself clear on two points. First, what we discuss does not go beyond these doors. Second, that if you ever reveal another officer to be working for Intelligence again, Dr. Redwing, that you will be severely punished for it. Understood?"

Despite the fact that she still was the very essence of tranquil, Red received a very intense impression from the Betazoid. "Yes, ma'am," he said stiffly. Talona simply nodded again, looking anxious. Amana smiled.

"Excellent. Now, let me bring you up to speed. In short, you are correct. Starfleet Intelligence does have a number of reasons to believe that Rear Admiral Sadda was murdered, including evidence obtained from the magnetic lift that killed him. However, we also have reason to believe that he was murdered as part of a larger conspiracy. Recently, Starfleet and the Federation have experienced a number of suspicious setbacks regarding research efforts. One such setback was the murder of Rear Admiral Sadda, who was one of the most productive and brilliant members of Starfleet's Corps of Engineers. Another was a leak to the Klingon Empire that the science outpost on Kinet IV was studying, among other things, a possible method for cutting Borg drones off from the Collective."

Red looked over at Maggie, realizing why she had probably been brought in. After all, she had been the one at the Kinet IV outpost who had been heading up that very research project.

Talona took this moment to speak up. "Captain Amana, what makes you think these incidents are related to one conspiracy? The Federation has a number of enemies that would engage in such espionage. The Undine, the Romulans, the new Dominion, even that new Cardassian insurgency group. 'Research setbacks' is a nebulous thing to tie these incidents together."

"I agree," said Amana with a nod. "However, they do share a number of other commonalities that I'm not going to go into. I will say though that all of them have involved a number of suspicious communiques that used similar encryption techniques. At least one such communication was transmitted from Kinet IV, and another very limited local one was detected in the vicinity of the Starfleet Engineering facility where Rear Admiral Sadda was murdered just moments before the incident."

Captain Amana gave Red a sympathetic look before she continued. "Another such transmission was also intercepted shortly after Lieutenant Commander Lok was admitted to Starfleet Medical to prepare for his Joining. While we cannot be sure they are related, given the timing we cannot dismiss it. We believe that an attempt will be made on his life prior to the Joining."

Red felt a deep pit form in his stomach for the second time that day. He looked at Amana in shock. "What!? Why? They already killed Sadda, why do they need to kill War!?"

"The Sadda symbiont is very hard to gain access to since it is kept under strict environmental controls and security safeguards, as per agreements between Starfleet Medical and the Trill Symbiosis Commission. However, the new host is not usually given such security, since the ones afforded the symbiont are mainly there to protect it from procedural error. That means, if you wanted to eliminate the symbiont, going after the new host would be your be the easiest way. If the Lieutenant Commander is killed, it is highly unlikely that a new host could be identified and sent to Starfleet Medical in time to undergo the Joining before the symbiont dies. Even with current technology, there is still a limited amount of time that a symbiont can survive outside a host before succumbing to exposure."

"So you suspect that their goal is to eliminate the Sadda symbiont? Wouldn't killing its previous host already created the kind of disruption to R&D that these conspirators are aiming for?" asked Maggie, who had been uncharacteristically quiet.

"The Sadda symbiont has a history of retaining its knowledge, memories, and personality. We think that the conspirators want to eliminate any trace of the knowledge and abilities it may retain once Lieutenant Commander Lok becomes its new host."

Red remained silent. Talona piped up from her position next to him. "Well, that's a moot point now, right? Now that Intelligence knows about the threat, you've beefed up security."

Amana took a breath and looked at Talona. "Actually, we have deliberately opted to not use that approach. It would alert the conspirators that we know of their intentions."

"What!?" snapped Red as he looked at Amana. Oren-De shot Red a warning look, but he was blind to it. "You're using him as bait!?"

"Yes. However, that doesn't mean he isn't safe. His quarters at Starfleet Medical are being monitored. I will be alerted the second something is amiss."

"You're playing with his life! Does War even know about this!?"

This time it was Oren-De's turn to interject. "Yes, he does. In fact, he suggested it when he and I were informed of all of this by Admiral Quinn shortly before he reported to Starfleet Medical."

"... really? War didn't say anything."

"Most likely because I swore him to secrecy, the same way I've sworn you," said Captain Amana. "Trust me though. He desperately wanted to tell you."

Red's head sunk. The ready room was silent as all eyes fell on Red, who looked ashamed of himself. The silence was broken by a small beeping noise coming from Captain Amana's combadge. She immediately tapped it to shut it off.

"What was that?" asked Maggie.

For the first time, they all saw Captain Amana frown. "Something going amiss."

War'en walked out of the bathroom attached to his room in Starfleet Medical, pulling on a pair of black boxer briefs as he emerged from the steam. He ran his hands through his black hair and looked over at the mirror for the hundredth time that day. War'en wasn't a vain person by any stretch of the imagination, but the thought of tomorrow's Joining was causing him to look at it compulsively, as if trying desperately to imprint as much of a memory of who he was as possible.

This is stupid, he though to himself. Regardless of how much I change inside, my physical appearance will remain the same. Still, War continued looking at himself, and thinking about himself, Red, and the crew of the Pandora.

It was only when the door chime sounded that War'en was again divested from his thoughts. He felt his heart skip a beat as his thoughts instinctively flew to Red. Visiting hours are over, but maybe...

"Come in," he said, unable to keep the hope out of his voice. Unfortunately, much to his disappointment, the only person on the other side of the doors was middle-aged man wearing a Starfleet Medical uniform under a doctor's coat. He held a padd in one hand and looked down at it before speaking. "Lieutenant Commander War'en Lok?"

"Yes, that's me. Can I help you, doctor?"

The man stepped into the room, allowing War'en to see he was a Human with short black hair that was balding at the top. Wrinkles showed at the sides of his mouth and eyes when he smiled. "Oh no, but thank you for asking. I'm here to deliver a routine prep for your procedure tomorrow."

Meanwhile, back on the Pandora, Red was looking at Captain Amana as if she were insane. "What do you mean you can't call in a security detail to help him!?"

"It's for the same reason I didn't assign one to guard his quarters; it would scare off the intruder before we would be able to capture him. We have to assume that at least some of the conspirators are operating from within Starfleet, and that any communication or silent alarm I send to Starfleet Security will tip them off. I was going to handle this personally instead, however I didn't think a strike would happen this early. It's not even night there yet.

Amana thought for a moment before looking at Oren-De. "What security staff do you have on hand?"

Oren-De shook his head. "Not even enough for a single squad. I did announce 72 hours of shore leave at Sol Stardock, after all." He glanced in turn at his present senior staff before speaking again. "However... we do keep enough arms for a standard away team mission in the Transporter Room at all times, and every officer in this room has had standard weapons training."

Amana nodded. "That will have to do. Captain, lead us to the Transporter Room. Lieutenants, you are beaming down to Starfleet Medical with us. Be discreet and prepare for weapons fire. Let's move." The officers nodded and made their way quickly to the Transporter Room.

Back down at Starfleet Medical, War'en was looking at the physician quizzically. "What do you mean routine prep?"

"Oh, just an injection. It's given to all Trill the night before a Joining. It's a neuroregenerative drug that has been found to aid the process and speed recovery following the procedure. It's a recent medical development."

War'en raised an eyebrow. "Dr. Vox didn't mention anything that. I thought that was all going to happen tomorrow morning."

The man looked up in surprise. "Really? That's odd. He's usually pretty good about telling patients everything they need to know about the procedure. Well, he has been pretty busy lately. It must have slipped his mind."

"Right... yeah. Alright, let's get it over with."

The man smiled and approached War'en, raising a hypospray to War'en's neck. As he waited for the injection, War'en glanced at the mirror and saw himself, with the doctor standing next to him with the hypospray. Oddly enough, the scene reminded him on his last physical with Red a year ago on the Pandora.

War'en felt the hypospray inject the drug through his skin. He looked over at Red with mild annoyance.

"Was that really necessary? I was just sneezing a lot."

"It's just a standard antihistamine. I don't know why you're getting allergies on a starship, but you might want to check to make sure that all the hydroponics filters are working and not letting pollen fly all over the ship. That or one of your crewmates may have started wearing bad perfume."

War'en chuckled. "Will do. So, other than the sniffles, do I have a clean bill of health?"

Red nodded. "Yup! Good thing too. It's much easier to write up these reports to the Symbiosis Commission when everything is fine."

"Oh yeah. I'm surprised I'm still a candidate. I am 29..."

Red shrugged. "Who knows? That whole Commission's way of operating is so secret that you'd have better luck guessing when a Q is going to show up and turn you in a poodle. But... I guess they know what they're doing. Apparently the whole process has remain unchanged for centuries. The Commission actually banned any experimentation on it, for fear it would endanger the symbionts."

War'en suddenly stepped away from the doctor, just as the cool metal of the hypospray was touching his neck. "I'm sorry. I guess I'm a little nervous about this, doctor... um. What is your name again?"

"Dr. Smith," he said with his usual smile, though War'en could swear he now saw irritation underneath it.

"Sorry, Dr. Smith, but I'd really feel better if I could speak to Dr. Vox about this. Could you go get him?"

The man's smile started to fade. "He went home, so that won't be possible."

War'en took another step away, now stepping around so that he had a clearer shot at the door. With each passing moment, this felt more and more wrong.

"Well... how about the name of the drug then. I am an engineer, after all. I'd like to know what it is you're injecting me with. I just feel better after I've read up on it on the ship's computer."

"Lieutenant Commander, this is ridiculous," Dr. Smith said with growing frustration, stepping toward War'en and raising the hypospray. War'en took another step back and began moving toward the door.

"Alright, I really need to speak to someone about this. Do not inject me with that."

Dr. Smith continued to advance on War'en. "I know my rights as a patient! Do not inject me with that hypospray!" War'en backed up to the door and, much to his dismay, the door didn't open. He tapped the control panel next to it, but still it remained shut. He looked back at Dr. Smith, who was now upon him again.

"What the hell is this!?" War'en said with a mixture of anger and suspicion.

"Your sacrifice... for the Gnostics," replied Dr. Smith with a sick grin on his face as he closed in.

War'en looked past Dr. Smith's advancing form to the other side of the room. Next to the bed, underneath his discarded Starfleet uniform, was a phaser that he'd been given by Captain Amana. War'en wished he had gone for the phaser instead of trying to escape out of the room.

"Who are the Gnostics?" he asked, trying to keep his assailant talking.

"We seek the knowledge of the Nephilim, so that we may become one with them," responded Dr. Smith, whose voice had taken on a wavering tone that almost bordered on ecstasy. "We serve them in all that we do, and AS I DO NOW!"

Dr. Smith lunged again at War'en, raising the hypospray to his neck. War'en lept to the side away from the hypospray and, though he evaded the doctor's attack, he slammed into a wall that was just a few feet from the door. By this point, however, adrenaline was fueling War'en and helped keep him focused. He spun from the wall and sprinted for the pile of clothes next to the bed. The doctor, not to be deterred, turned after him and made a grab for his legs. Both War'en and the doctor crashed to the floor. The doctor raised the hypospray one more time and brought it down on War'en's leg. War'en felt the cold touch of the hypospray again his skin just as he pulled the phaser out from under the clothes and fired at the doctor, sending him into unconsciousness immediately.

The hypospray fell from the doctor's limp hand and clattered to the floor. War'en turned over and pulled himself into a sitting position against the bed, his breathing still fast and deep as he looked at Dr. Smith's still form. He only looked up from him when he heard voices come from the other side of the door a few moments later.

"I can't open the door!"

Red...?

"Step away. I have an override code," came a quieter voice that War'en could barely hear.

"Talona, Maggie, cover me after Captain Amana opens the door. Dr. Redwing, stand by and keep watch for anyone that approaches," ordered Oren-De.

"War'en? Are you alright in there?" sounded Red's voice again.

"I'm fine..." he said, but it came out much quieter than he had intended. I'm fine...

The door slid open and a phaser rifle poked through into the room. Oren-De slid out from the frame and made a quick visual pass of the room. Upon seeing that there were no live threats, he looked over at War'en. "Are you alright, Mr. Lok?"

War'en nodded and finally found his voice. "Yes, I'm fine. This was the only attacker", he said motioning to the prone form next to him.

Oren-De motioned back to the door for the others to come in. Red rushed into the room, followed by the others. He brought his medical tricorder to bear on War'en and let out a word of relief in Navajo. "No injuries. War'en, what did that guy try to do to you?"

"He tried injecting me with something in that hypospray," replied War'en, motioning to the discarded instrument.

Red frowned and gave it a once-over with his tricorder. His eyes went wide at the reading. Talona looked at him in concern. "Red? What's wrong?"

"This hypospray is filled with 1,5-dichlorotamiryx, more commonly known as DCT. It's an incredibly potent nuerotoxin that was developed by the Cardassians for use against species like the Vorta that are immune to most other poisons. Luckily the hypospray is still full, but if he had injected you with this War... there'd be nothing left of you now..."

Everyone looked at War'en in silence until Amana spoke up. "I'm glad that you're safe, Mr. Lok. I know that you have a difficult day ahead of you tomorrow, but I would like to debrief you as soon as possible."

War'en simply nodded. Red looked up at Amana from his position next to War'en. "It wouldn't be a good idea to place stress on him this close to the Joining. I... I should stay here to monitor his vitals."

Maggie and Talona exchanged looks at the weak excuse. Oren-De studied Red before looking over at Amana. "Dr. Redwing is an excellent physician. I think you should take his advice, if only to avoid a confrontation with Starfleet Medical when they find out you used one of their dormitories as a trap for an assassin."

Amana nodded with a small smile on her face. "I understand. Thank you for the advice, Commander Oren-De. However, I request the rest of you leave while I conduct the debriefing."

Maggie, Talona, and Oren-De nodded. They said their good-byes and good wishes to War'en, then took their leave. As Amana began to question War'en, Red looked at his tricorder and thanked the spirits that War'en was still with him.

A chime sounded in Oren-De's ready room, causing him to look up from his terminal. "Come in."

Captain Amana entered and Oren-De stood to greet her. Amana motioned for him to be at ease with a small smile before taking a seat herself. "Thank you again for your cooperation last night. Thanks to you and Mr. Lok, we have gained some very valuable information about an organization that could potentially be a great threat to the Federation if left unchecked. However, before I get to that... how is Mr. Lok?"

Oren-De glanced at his terminal. "Still undergoing the Joining. Several of my senior staff are waiting at Starfleet Medical and told me they would notify me once the procedure was complete."

"You're not going to wait with them?"

"No," replied Oren-De with a shake of his head. "It is not a... scenario in which I would be of much use. I intend to visit Mr. Lok once he is out of the operating room."

Amana nodded. "I understand. In that case, let me move on to the matter at hand so that I don't take up any more of your time. Computer, display all information regarding the Gnostics, authorization code 'xephyr epsilon neutron omega'." In response, the computer chirped an affirmative and the large display on one of the room's walls began filling with images and text.

"Thanks to last night's captures and subsequent interrogation, we now know for certain that one organization was behind the attack on your first officer and the murder of Rear Admiral Sadda. It also gave strong evidence that this same group is responsible for the leak of information from Kinet IV to the Klingon Empire that resulted in the attack on the science outpost."

"I'm sorry, you said 'captures'?"

A smile crossed Amana's face. "Yes, I will get to that in a moment. First, when I debriefed Mr. Lok, he informed me that the man who attacked him had called himself 'Dr. Smith' and that he had said that Mr. Lok's death was a sacrifice for 'the Gnostics' and that they served 'the Nephilim'. While I was debriefing Mr. Lok, I had my team do a check on this 'Dr. Smith'. Surprisingly, the name he gave Mr. Lok wasn't a pseudonym. Mr. Lok was attacked by Dr. Ignacio Smith, who has been stationed at Starfleet Medical for five years and serves as an emergency surgeon."

Oren-De looked at Amana in stunned surprise. "This was all perpetrated by someone within Starfleet."

"Correct... except that it wasn't just one person. The check on Dr. Smith involved going through all communications he received, which led us to Lieutenant Sally Chan, a security officer stationed at the Starfleet Corps of Engineers. She sent one of several encrypted transmissions that Dr. Smith received. The others were sent from sources that we're still pinning down. Interrogation of Dr. Smith and Lieutenant Chan have revealed that they are both members of an organization that calls itself 'the Gnostics' and confirmed the Gnostics serve some other group called 'the Nephilim'. Unfortunately, interrogation and investigation has yet to provide any additional information about the Gnostics or who the Nephilim are, exactly. However, Chan did admit to sabotaging the lift that killed Rear Admiral Sadda as well as sealing the door to Mr. Lok's quarters, and did so surprisingly quickly."

"Captain Amana, I'm unfamiliar with the terms 'Gnostic' and 'Nephilim'."

"They're terms from Human religious mythology and originate from two of its oldest recorded religions; Judaism and Christianity. From what I've read, 'Gnostic' is used to describe those who experience or possess divine knowledge, while 'Nephilim' were a group of angels that had fallen to Earth from the heavens."

Oren-De frowned. "I'm afraid I don't understand. There hasn't been an active religion in Enhasan society for nearly a millennium."

"Interesting. Well, as someone who not only comes from a deeply spiritual culture, but who also has studied groups like this as an intelligence officer, I can tell you we are most likely dealing with a clandestine cult; one that is proving to be possibly quite dangerous. They have already demonstrated a dogmatic zeal that makes them blind to the personal consequences of their actions. Additionally, we discovered that Dr. Smith and Lieutenant Chan have never met in person. Ever. Lie detection was quite clear on that point."

The frown on Oren-De's face deepened. "Someone else has not only succeeded in getting to Starfleet members and turning them, but has done so in a way such that it's highly decentralized. If they were able to get to officers on Earth, it is possible they've gotten to officers throughout the Federation."

"And possibly beyond, if the Undine are any indication of the possibility of conducting espionage within all the major galactic powers. Regardless, it is clear that the Gnostics have the potential to do great damage to Starfleet and the Federation. We need more information in order to neutralize the threat they pose. At the same time, Starfleet wishes to contain knowledge of this organization for now. With that in mind, I have been authorized to... augment... your standing mission, Commander."

Oren-De's eyebrow popped up quizzically. "Indeed?"

"The Pandora will still return to the Klingon front and its primary mission will still be to assist in all efforts to stymie aggressive moves by the Klingon Defense Force. However, you are now being given a secondary standing mission: to investigate any leads you may find regarding the Gnostics and the Nephilim. Starfleet is assigning a small number of ships across Federation space to this task, and the Pandora will cover the Klingon front. You are authorized to brief your senior staff. All others are on a need-to-know basis."

"Understood, Captain," Oren-De acknowledged with a nod. As he did, his combadge chirped to life. "Roberts to Captain Oren-De. I thought you might like to know that Mr. Lok's procedure is finished. The doctors inform us that it was a success, but he needs to remain at Starfleet Medical for a few days for recovery, monitoring, and testing."

"Understood, Ms. Roberts."

Amana stood and gave Oren-De a smile. "I'm glad to hear that. Please tell Mr. Lok that I greatly appreciate his service."

"I will, Captain," Oren-De said as he stood. Amana turned to leave and Oren-De looked at the display on his wall. Staring back at him were the faces of the two Gnostic Starfleet officers that had tried to kill his first officer. The Federation, and possibly his crew, now had one more enemy to deal with. It didn't help that something about the word 'Nephilim' gave him a very ill feeling.

((That's it for the 4th episode of Star Trek: Pandora! Stay tuned for the next episode, which will be the season finale!))