Star Trek Enterprise Bk. 02 - Inherit Ch. 04

After two days they were no closer to finding the Xindi ship that had abducted their crewman then they were when it happened. In fact they had seen no evidence of the Xindi at all. Captain Archer was quickly finding himself in the unenviable position of having to add Lt. D'Arcy's name to the list of casualties. That file was becoming longer and longer as time went on and there was no harder job for a captain than telling a family that their loved one wasn't coming back. Each time he felt helpless and consumed with guilt as he listened to the broken-hearted cries, the screams of shock and anguish followed by the endless 'why's' that he was powerless to answer. Danaë had no family to contact, but her loss was still felt by the crew, and by him.

Archer had sat down before his computer at least a dozen times, but he just couldn't pull the trigger and close out her file. His reluctance had not gone unnoticed by those closest to him either and even T'Pol advised him that it was only logical to assume that she had been killed. Unfortunately logic and reasoning cannot force a heart to listen. Before he was willing to write her off as dead he wanted some kind of proof. The last thing he wanted to do was leave a crewman languishing in a Xindi prison enduring God knows what.

Silently he stared at her file on his computer, unable to make himself change the status. He just wasn't ready to let her go. He was staring at the screen watching the cursor blink in anticipation when Lt. Reed suddenly reported a small pod suddenly appearing just aft on the port side. Glad for the distraction and momentary reprieve from the task at hand, Archer returned to the bridge and ordered a scan of the vessel. The technology came back as Xindi, more specifically reptilian, with only a single occupant on board and the bio scans showed it was human.

Using the grappler, they pulled the pod on board and into the launch bay. Cmdr. Tucker and Lt. Reed were both on hand as the hatch came open and they discovered Danaë looking up at them with wide-eyes. Slowly she climbed out of the pod and looked around the bay, taking it all in. Through the human's memories it could recall the details of the Enterprise as well as sense a familiarity with the two men who greeted her so warmly. They obviously knew her, yet she stared at them as though they were strangers.

"I never thought I'd see you again," Trip said, smiling at her.

"Cmdr. Tucker," she said, drawing the name from Danaë's memory and matching it to the face before her. "I... I didn't think I would get away."

"How did you escape?" Malcolm asked.

"Lieutenant... Reed," she affirmed to herself softly as she stared at the other man with Cmdr. Tucker. "They... they wanted to get information on the ship and thought I could supply it to them since I had been able to crack their system on Dyfed. Before they could question me, they were called back for a council meeting. The guard got distracted and I managed to escape," she answered, carefully repeating exactly what the reptilians had told her to say.

"A reptilian guard was distracted? How?" Reed asked. It wasn't that he thought Danaë couldn't distract a guard or seize the perfect moment to get free, it was just that her story seemed to be full of generalities and lacking in important details. Normally in a situation like this the lieutenant would never hesitate to give a full unabridged explanation. Any of it could be useful in learning how to defeat the Xindi, but far from elaborating she seemed confused by his question.

"Does... does it matter?" The yamanu had no idea what it was supposed to say. All it could do was think of the words it had been taught. "The guard got distracted and I managed to escape," it repeated perfectly.

Lt. Reed was about to ask her another question when the door to the cargo hold opened and Captain Archer came in. A look of joy and relief emblazoned on his face as he saw his crewman back safe and sound. Like the others, he had expected to see Danaë just as alleviated as the rest of them, more so in fact. Instead she just stared at him as though he were a stranger. There was not even a hint of recognition in her eyes. The parasite had no idea who this human was until it reached its hair-thin tentacles into its host's memory and found him. What it did notice was a change of emotions in the human it inhabited when it saw Archer. Feelings that were different from what it experienced when looking at the two others. The one's called Lt. reed and Cmdr. Tucker had brought a feeling of familiarity, rapport and camaraderie. This man seemed to conjure feelings in her host that were deeper... something the yamanu couldn't quite understand.

"You had us worried, lieutenant," he said, baffled by her complete change in demeanor. He kept waiting for her cold indifferent look to change to one of warm acknowledgement, but it didn't. Instead the creature controlling Lt. D'Arcy began to recite it's well rehearsed explanation in anticipation that the captain would ask the same questions that the others had.

"They wanted to get information on the ship and thought I could supply it to them since I had been able to crack their system on Dyfed. Before they could question me very much, they were called back for a council meeting. The guard got distracted and I managed to escape." Both Reed and Trip looked at each other. It was the same vague response she had given before, even the words were exactly the same.

Suspicious, Lt. Reed took a scanner from his pocket and moving behind her, he ran a quick bio scan of their newly found crewmen. It was far from in-depth but the results came back confirming it to be Danaë. Still, there was something about her that was strange and different, even if he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Were you interrogated?" Archer asked.

"Interrogated?" At this she looked confused.

"Did they hurt you in any way?" the captain continued. Before she could attempt to understand the questions, Cmdr. Tucker jumped in with one of his own.

"Does the escape pod have the capability of opening a subspace vortex?"

"I still want to know how you got past the guard and managed to steal the pod without anyone stopping you." Lt. Reed added. Feeling inundated and uncertain of what to say and do, Danaë's eyes grew wide and fear clouded her face. She started to back away, afraid and overwhelmed by what was happening. Archer had never seen Danaë so nervous or apprehensive over a few questions, but he could see that she was ready to bolt. None of them were going to hurt her and she, of all people, should have known that. Even so, the captain had no idea what she had been through on the Xindi ship or how it could have affected her mental state. Hoping to easy her fear, he immediately intervened and ended the questions.

"It's okay lieutenant. You're safe," he assured her. "Why don't you report to Dr. Phlox so he can make sure that you're okay."

"That's not necessary," she quickly answered, trying to hide her fear. The last thing it wanted was to be discovered. "They... They never had a chance to do anything to me."

"I still would prefer it..."

"Tomorrow," she offered. "Right now I just want to lay down and rest in my quarters."

"Tomorrow," he echoed in agreement. "After Dr. Phlox has said you're okay then we can go over what happened on the Xindi ship in detail." She nodded then hurried out of the bay. Alone with the captain, Trip and Malcolm immediately began to voice their concerns

"Before you got here, captain, we asked her how she escaped and she told us the exact story she told you." Trip asserted. "It was perfect, word for word. No deviation, nothing, like it was rehearsed."

"She didn't know who we were either. It was like she had been briefed on what we looked like, but had never heard or seen us before." Archer too had noticed that something about her didn't seem right and was glad to know that it wasn't his imagination.

"I ran a preliminary bio scan while she was talking to you and it shows that she is Lt. D'Arcy," Reed explained.

"Then why isn't she acting like herself?" Trip asked.

"I don't want to jump to any conclusions yet. We have no idea what happened to her on that ship. She said she was going to see Dr. Phlox tomorrow and hopefully we'll get to the bottom of this," The captain suggested. "In the meantime let's keep an eye on her."

Momentarily satisfied, the three men went their separate ways. They were all troubled by Danaë's behavior, but none more than Archer. He had only spoken to her a few short minutes but it had been long enough for him to notice a difference. Although she claimed that the Xindi did nothing to her, he couldn't help but wonder. Perhaps they had done something to her neurologically and she simply couldn't remember it. There was something in the way she looked at him that bothered him. The first time she had ever laid eyes on him there had been recognition there. Now there was only a mixture of confusion and emptiness. The Dana ë he knew had no issues with self-assurance, now she was hesitant and nervous. He hoped that she would be more herself in the morning.

Safely away from the barrage of questions, the yamanu walked down the corridor trying to remember exactly where Danaë's quarters were. The parasite was starting to get turned around and a bit confused when it was greeted by a wonderful aroma coming down the corridor. Until then she hadn't realized just how hungry her host was and it eagerly followed the smell into the mess hall. The chef had put out the evening's supper in a buffet line and although the yamanu didn't know what any of it was, it all smelled good. Seeing the other crewmen grabbing plates, she got one too and followed the line filling it with lo mein, egg rolls, wantons, crab rangoons and a bowl of egg drop soup. She took it to a table and began to eat. It tasted even better than it smelled. The creature in Danaë's brain had never experienced flavors like this. Unaware of human manners it used it's hands to eat and couldn't shovel it in fast enough. After a moment it realized it was being watched and looked up to see a woman staring in shock from a table across the way. Thinking for a moment the yamanu realized this was the communications officer, Hoshi.

"Is something the matter?" it asked Hoshi, nervously.

"I have never seen you eat like that."

"Oh? Um..." it stammered, confused as to what she should do. Watching Hoshi's face take on a look of bewilderment, the yamanu suddenly became very aware that it's performance as Lt. D'Arcy was not very good and all it wanted was to be alone and so it could collect itself. Grabbing the plate the usurper quickly left the mess hall and started going over the directions in its host's mind so it could find her quarters. Right from the mess hall then an immediate left, continue to the end of the corridor then turn right, turn left at the next intersection and continue to the end then turn right. Take the fourth right then the first left. It will be the second door on the left. The yamanu pressed the button and quickly went inside, shutting the door behind her.

Hoshi left the mess hall shortly after, still stunned by Danaë's animalistic eating. She had heard about the lieutenant's return, but never imagined she would change so drastically or put on as nauseating a display as what she had witnessed back there. Seeing the captain on the bridge, she began to tell him about the unusual behavior she had seen, then told him something else she had picked up on. Always a student of language and dialects, she had once asked Danaë about her accent since it had certain inflections and characteristics of an English pronunciation but with softer and subtle differences. The lieutenant explained that her speech was probably influenced by her father who did have a distinctive accent as well as the many other cultures she had grown up around. Talking to Lt. D'Arcy just now in the mess hall she had noticed that her accent had become inconsistent and lacked integration, like an actor pretending. Archer made a note and assured Hoshi that she was not the first to notice something was off about the lieutenant.

Finally alone in Danaë's quarters the yamanu stared at its host's face in the mirror. What had ever made the Xindi think that it could pull this off? They should have given her more time to learn about this human and acquaint herself with all her memories so she could recall each and every person she knew on this ship as well as her mannerisms. The reptilians had only been interested in whether it could tap into this female's knowledge of the ship, its computer systems and whether it would be able to understand it well enough to do what they wanted. Didn't they understand that in order to pull this off it would have to make the other humans believe it was the real 'Danaë'? Taking a deep breath it repeated to itself that it could do this. It had to pull this off. All it needed was another twenty-four hours. It laid down on the bed and closed its eyes wishing that the hours would pass quickly so it would be able to get out here before it got caught. Before long it had drifted off to sleep, all its worries silenced for a while.

When it finally woke up again the yamanu's confidence had returned. It watched the others in the mess hall and was careful not to take too much and to eat slowly using utensils rather than fingers. What the usurper was less sure about was keeping up the act of being this human. It's best bet was to make sure that it saw as little of the others as possible. It started to return to its host's quarters when it passed the captain on his way to breakfast.

"Lt. D'Arcy," he called out, but she didn't answer. "Lt. D'Arcy." This time his voice was a bit sharper. The yamanu suddenly realized that she was the lieutenant in question and stopped. Seeing Archer again once more brought back those strong emotional feelings that seemed so baffling.

"Wearing your hair down, lieutenant? That's not like you," he observed. Danaë had always worn her hair bound at the nape of her neck in an elaborate chignon, not loose. Confused, the yamanu reached up and felt one of the long curly blonde locks.

"It's not?" she asked before the yamanu realized its mistake. "I mean, it's not. I was just trying something new." This response was less than convincing, even to herself. Concerned, Archer pulled her aside where he could speak to her quietly.

"Lieutenant, what exactly happened to you on that Xindi ship?" He was trying to be understanding since more than likely she had endured harsh treatment by her captors, but this was bizarre. It was as though it wasn't her at all. Almost all of the personality and characteristics that made her who she was seemed to be missing. He knew Reed's preliminary scan showed that it was Danaë, but his gut instinct kept telling him that somehow it wasn't. "You have not been yourself since you returned. If something happened on the Xindi ship then I want to know and we need to get you help."

"NO, no, no... I just forgot that's all."

"You forgot?" The captain responded in utter disbelief. Who forgets how they regularly style their hair? Danaë Picard was an extremely intelligent woman who might forget where she left a pencil once in a while, but not the way she had worn her hair every day for at least the last year. "Lieutenant, have you seen Dr. Phlox yet?"

"No... but I will... later," she answered, trying to dispel the suspicion that was clearly written all over his face. "They... they really didn't do anything to me. They... uh... they never had a chance, like I said. They wanted to get information on the ship and thought I could supply it to them since I had been able to crack their system on Dyfed. Before they could question me very much, they were called back for a council meeting. The guard got distracted and I managed to escape."

"So you said before," he answered coldly. It was the same empty words repeated perfectly. Now he was certain this wasn't Danaë, but who was it and how could they have fooled the scans? The yamanu could see how his eyebrows furrowed, the way he set his jaw and the doubt in his eyes. He wasn't believing it anymore. It couldn't understand, what was it doing wrong? It had memorized the statement perfectly and repeated it to the humans exactly as instructed.

"Just make sure you see the doctor today. That's an order lieutenant, or I will take you there myself." Archer's instinct was to drag her there immediately, but Malcolm Reed's bio scans gave him just enough doubt that he wanted to give her one more chance to keep her word.

The yamanu watched as the captain walked away then wasted no time getting back to Danaë's quarters. Here it felt safe from discovery. Sitting down at the desk it reached into its host's pocket and took out a small rectangular clear disk. It stared at the tiny memory device and traced the edges with a finger. Hard to believe that something so small could be so dangerous. Carefully it inserted the disk into the computer, then using it's host's skills the usurper began to format the program so it would be compatible with human technology. It's eyes grew wide as the screen came alive. On the disk was a virus designed to be nearly fool proof. All it had to do was install it into the main computer then from her PADD it could remotely give the command for it to start and one by one the systems would overload until the warp core itself burst, tearing the ship apart. Done right, it would only take minutes so the yamanu would have to be safely away from the ship before initiating the sequence.

At the thought of destroying these creatures the alien parasite was far from happy. There was so much it could learn from them. Just to spend a few more days studying them would be ideal, but it knew that was impossible. It's orders were clear, destroy them, or be destroyed. The choice was simple.

Once the disk was formatted and ready the yamanu slipped it back into its host's pocket then left Danaë's quarters and took the lift to D-deck. Passing a few crewmen that seemed to know her, it silently gave a quick nod and smile, but was careful not to engage them. It followed the corridor around until it came to the core control processor. The yamanu took a deep breath as it stepped up to one of the consoles and inserted the disk into the bank. Instantly it began to read the program, but before the full installation could occur authorization was needed from the three highest ranking officers, Archer, T'Pol and Cmdr. Tucker.

This was not the obstacle it should have been. After Danaë had used her modified tricorder to piggyback on the Andorian sensors, the lieutenant had not given it back to Archer. The yamanu brought it out of its host's other pocket and carefully plugged it into the computer. It then selected the appropriate authorization codes and pressed 'enter'.

Due to the complexity of the program it was two hours before it was fully installed. When it was done the usurper smiled at how so smoothly it had all gone. Almost too smoothly. Concerned that something might have been missed, she quickly went back over it to make sure. There were no mistakes. Almost ready, it thought. The chain reaction would be spectacular. Everything was going as planned.

Knowing it would need supplies such as food and water, she went past the mess hall on her way back to her quarters. Lunch was over and the galley staff was just beginning to set up for dinner so there was almost no one around. Still, it was afraid of being stopped and questioned by one of her host's crewmates, so it hurried to gather bottled water, snacks and food rations. When it felt it had enough the usurper started to head back to the lieutenant's quarters, only to notice for the first time that there was an escape pod directly across from the door. This will be easy, it thought with a smile.