Having isolated the frequency at which the hypnotic signal was being sent; Doctor Andrianakis and the ships Chief Engineer Lyambo were both busy working on a device that could block that signal without interfering with the ability to hear other sounds.

Soon after the communication equipment had been wreaked the SRV James Binney had made an attempt to turn towards the USS Jaxartes.  Whoever was at the controls of the science vessel had potential being planning to ram the corvette.  Ensign Tholakath had quickly dealt with that possible threat by disabling the other ships engines, with carefully targeted phaser fire.  It now hung there at a slightly odd angle, scorch makes clearly visible and the occasional spark from one of the severed power connecters, all pointing towards the brief and completely one sided engagement.

As Andrianakis worked away, she could hear the voice of Helgeshran in her mind.

“Come to me, do not fight the inevitable.  You could be so much more, with my guidance.”

She felt a shiver run down her spine.  For now she was the only one who could hear the voice; she could also hear the fears and determination of the ship’s crew.  They were all like an open book to her right now, but the doctor did not probe the depths of their minds, simply feeling the emotions on the surface. It was both exhilarating and disturbing to know what others were thinking; Phoebe now had a better understanding of how a typical Betazoid felt, and it was something Albert Torf as a Betazoid himself had never experienced.  The memory of the engineer torture at the hands of the Devore, gave her renewed focus.

**********

Roughly two hours later she was back on the bridge handing each of the crew a small device that looked very much like a hearing aid and fitted in much the same way.  “These should interrupt the signal and prevent you falling under Helgeshran’s control again.”

“How many have you made?” Lieutenant Stuart asked, fitting hers in place.

“Just the ones you’re wearing, so far.” Andrianakis replied.  “Dinari is keeping an eye on the replicator, whilst it makes some more for the crew of the Binney.”

“Why aren’t you wearing one?” Ensign Cho pointed out.

“It’ll take more than one of these to keep him out of my head.” The doctor sighed.  She felt Jason’s hand gentle touch against the back of hers, reassuringly.  It was the same touch that had kept her grounded as her mind had wondered across time and space.  Had any of the former commanding officers of this vessel felt her presence as she’d bounced from one mind to the next.  Jason had never said anything about it, not in the past nor recently; so maybe it was only Commander Salan who’d been aware of her.

They both shared a connection, and it wasn’t just that their minds had been linked on two separate occasions.  No, it was that their paths had been set out long ago.  She had been born, created; Phoebe wasn’t sure which, in order to confront this entity and stop it conquering the known universe.  Salan had a purpose which was intertwined with hers and despite his effort to avoid it, had always ended up where he was meant to be.  She knew that even as the Vulcan slept in Sickbay, he still had a pivotal role to play in the confrontation to come.

**********

Lieutenant Devron stood in the Transporter room; along with Ensign’s Tholakath and Harris half an hour later; each of them checking their weapons.  The Cardassian noted that the Lieutenant was carrying the fairly old style of phaser from the Dominion War; which his Grandfather had left him after his death.  In fact Jason hadn’t used any other hand weapon since collecting it from Earth.  Tholakath himself, wasn’t that sentimental, but did understand what the device meant, as symbol and connection to the man he’d only got to know briefly.

Lyambo was standing at the Transporter Controls, running through a systems check, whilst waiting for the doctor to arrive with the Inhibitors.  When she did walk in, Jason held out his hand to take the case containing them off the doctor, but she kept the arm holding them down by her side.

“I’m coming with you.”  Andrianakis replied to his questioning gaze.

“It may be dangerous over there.” He announced. “The three of us can handle this.”

“I may need to make minute adjustments to the devices.” The doctor informed him.

“You didn’t need to alter anything on ours.” Jason stated, tapping his own Inhibitor.

“All your medical history is on file. I could set them all up in advance.” The Greek woman stated, stepping up on to one of the pads.  “Besides, what could possible happen.  I’ve deflected armour piercing rockets and thought a murder to death.”

Tholakath looked at the pair of them.  Some of the bizarre things that had gone on around the doctor had been explained; he’d also witness her ‘Q’ powers first hand.  But no one had said anything about her killing a guy by thinking about it.

“I’ll try not to get on your bad side.” Harris joked, straightening the strap on the Tricorder he was carrying over his shoulder.

Andrianakis closed her eyes and just shook her head.  It was almost impossible to get angry or annoyed with the young New Zealander; he just had that sort of personality. It would be quite infectious at times.  The rest joined her and Jason looked across at the Namibian Chief Engineer.

“Energise.”

**********

The four of them appeared in the glow of the transporter beam; in a corridor just outside the Bridge section of the James Binney.  When the double doors slide open; Devron and Harris fired their phasers, stunning the two scientists standing right behind those doors, with their backs still facing the new arrives.  As they fell, Tholakath stepped forward, striking a third in the chest with his own shot.

Jumping over the first two fallen scientists, the Starfleet Offices quickly dealt with a further two scientists.  Another man quickly held up his hands in surrender.  “Hey hold on!” He exclaimed Jason’s weapon pointing at the man’s chest.

“Are you the one that tried to warn us?” He asked the man, waving his free hand to indicate the seated individual could lower his arms.

“Aiden Scott, Quantum Physicist.” The man nodded in response.  “You’ve got another six of these weirdo’s to hunt down.”

“Chad, stay with Mister Scott here and guard the Bridge.” Jason tapped the Ensign on the shoulder.  “Doctor, how are your new patients?”

“The Inhibitors should work perfectly.” She smiled at him. “They’re going to wake up wondering what happened and why they are lying on the floor though.”

That part couldn’t be helped, trying to place the devices on anyone conscious and able to fight back, would have been impossible, potential dangerous.

“Ok let’s get this done, room by room and one deck at a time.” The Lieutenant announced.  “Stay close doc.”

Harris passed Devron the Tricorder, before he headed back out the doors.  The three of them moved around the ship, stunning another individual on deck 1 and a further three on the next deck.  The Tricorder had problems with some parts of the vessel, due to interference from some of the scientific equipment, but that only limited the range rather than preventing them from detecting things entirely.

With the ship thoroughly swept, they took a moment to relax and gather their thoughts; somewhere towards the aft end of deck 3 by some of the scientists quarters.

“That’s not right.” Andrianakis commented looking at the contents of the case she’d been carrying.

“What’s wrong?” Devron asked her, stepping closer to look.

“This case had 20 inhibitors in it.” She answered him. “If I’ve place one of them on each of the 11 scientists that need them; why have I only got 8 left?”

“Could you have dropped one Doctor?” Tholakath pondered.

“No, they are to secure in the case to come out of their own accord.” The doctor demonstrated.

“Surely they couldn’t have got the numbers wrong?” The Cardassian questioned.

“We need to get all these scientists in one place.” Devron announced.  “If there is someone here that shouldn’t be, we need to know who and why!”

The low stun setting on the phasers meant it didn’t take long for the first few individuals to start coming round.  As they were the ones on the Bridge, Ensign Harris and the Physicist Scott were able to explain what had happened to them.  There was a mixture of anger, confusion and fear amongst them and the other scientists aboard.  Lieutenant Devron had arranged for them all to gather in the main dining area, as this was one of the larger parts of the ship.  Rounding them all up and even carrying the last two who had yet the come round they all assembled together.

A couple of them shouted, demanding answers as the stood or sat around the dining area; Devron tried to calm them all and explain what was happening, without referring to the doctors abilities.  It was one comment totally out of the blue that threw everyone.

“Who’s he?” A woman in a lab coat in her early 40’s with reddish brown hair, pointed across the room, several eyes turned in the direction she’d indicated.

The man in question dove towards the doctor and grasped Andrianakis around the neck; with almost equal swiftness, Dervon had grabbed her wrist.  A blueish white glow engulfed the three individuals  as a transported beam whisked them away.  As the light faded; Jason’s phaser, the tricorder and his combadge along with that of the doctors all hit the deck.

“Dam!” Tholakath yelled.