Trials 04 Shadow's Trial

by Terri Zavaleta

  was not prepared for a sudden onslaught of patients---"

  "Doctor," the commander said patiently. "The ship was apparently

  probed by some kind of energy beam of unknown origin. How severe are

  the injuries?"

  The doctor snapped his tricorder closed. "As far as I can tell from

  the preliminary scans, they are merely unconscious. Asleep if you

  will. There does seem to be some minor irritation of the optic nerve

  in each patient. They should awaken momentarily and I will perform

  more detailed scans."

  "How many people were affected?" Chakotay asked.

  The doctor made a gesture indicating the crowd. "This would seem to be

  it. Approximately fifteen percent of the crew. The effects ranged from

  a momentary dizziness to complete loss of consciousness. The lack of

  uniformity of symptoms is most interesting."

  "The light was bright enough to irritate my eyes, but I didn't feel

  dizzy," Chakotay reported. "Tuvok and Harry Kim and the others on the

  bridge seemed to be unaffected as well."

  The doctor seemed intrigued. "Hmmmm. Fascinating. I'll take that into

  consideration as well when developing a theory on the comparative

  severity of the symptoms. Now if you'll excuse me, Commander---"

  "Of course," the first officer said. "I would like for you to have

  your report ready for a staff meeting---say in one hour?"

  "Yes, yes," the doctor muttered impatiently as he centered his

  attention on his patients once more.

  Chakotay returned to the bridge to see what Ensign Kim and Lt. Tuvok

  had come up with.

  ********

  Lt. Paris was the first to regain consciousness. "Owwwwwwww." The

  sound was nasal, long, and drawn out.

  "Is that in the nature of an editorial comment or are you in pain?"

  The holodoctor's snippy tone confirmed Tom's first guess as to his

  present location. "Sickbay. Again," he sighed heavily.

  "Yes, Mr. Paris---Tom," he corrected himself. "Now can you give me

  more specific information? How do you feel?"

  "I can't see," he complained.

  The doctor sighed with exaggerated patience. "It might be helpful if

  you would open your eyes."

  The lieutenant's eyes fluttered open briefly before he quickly

  squeezed them shut again at the intrusion of the dim lights overhead.

  "Owwwwwwww." His tone, volume, and the nasal, whining quality of his

  voice were exactly the same as his prior complaint.

  "You said that before. It is not informative. Please define the exact

  nature of the problem."

  Tom squinted his eyes to slits so he could peer up at the relentlessly

  pragmatic EMH who was bending over him. "Spots. In front of my eyes.

  Lots of colored spots. That keep moving. And my eyes feel dry."

  "Anything else?" The doctor sounded as if he were making a shopping

  list as he entered the information onto his padd.

  "Head hurts."

  "Keep your eyes closed for a few moments. Your optic nerves are a bit

  irritated from exposure to bright light. This will help."

  Tom felt the hypospray hiss into his neck. His headache began to ease

  almost immediately.

  "Don't rub your eyes!" the doctor barked.

  "I'm not," Tom began, but then realized he wasn't being addressed as

  he heard the EMH move away from him toward another biobed a few feet

  to his left. From the noise level he was now alert enough to notice,

  he was not the only sufferer in Sickbay this time. His eyes barely

  open, he turned his head to see who was in the bed to his right.

  It was Malista!

  "I didn't even drink anything," she whimpered. "I don't deserve this."

  The doctor came to her side and ran the scanner over her.

  "Yeah, it does feel like a hangover, Doc," Paris agreed, suddenly

  recognizing why this feeling was so familiar, though it had been a

  while since he'd been in this condition. "A really bad hangover.

  Except without the nausea. Well, maybe a little nausea from the

  dizziness. Yeah, like a hangover, but without the bad taste in the

  mouth."

  "Hmm. I'll make a note of that."

  "Tom?"

  "Yeah, Sis?"

  "You too?"

  "What happened?"

  "You can discuss that later," Doc interrupted. "You have a staff

  meeting in less than one hour. Lie still, be quiet, rest your eyes,

  and wait for the medication to take effect."

  For the first time since he'd been activated, the doctor didn't get an

  argument from the crew. It was a most satisfying experience. One he'd

  like to repeat. Often.

  *********************

  The briefing room seemed crowded. In addition to the Senior Staff, the

  other crewmembers who had been most harshly affected by the probe's

  beam had been invited to attend. Additional chairs had been brought

  in, but limitations of space led to a feeling of being packed into a

  small room. Jenny Delaney was also present, at the doctor's request,

  though she'd been only mildly affected by the probe. She seated

  herself to one side, where she would be out of the way, but able to

  keep an eye on her twin sister.

  "Doctor?" Captain Janeway said, yielding the floor to the EMH who was

  giving his report via the viewscreen.

  "As far as I have been able to ascertain the only pattern to the

  distribution of the severity of the symptoms is that there is no

  pattern." The Doctor seemed to be as displeased with that vagueness as

  the captain was.

  "No pattern at all?" Janeway asked.

  "None that I've been able to detect. As Mr. Kim has stated there were

  twenty probes altogether, scattered throughout the ship. There was no

  perceptible pattern concerning location in the ship. I ran scans of

  all those who were not affected at all and compared them to scans of

  those who were affected most severely. There was no correlation. This

  probe, whatever it was, seems to have acted at random."

  "Was there a pattern among the---" Janeway hesitated to use the word

  'victims'. "Among those affected?"

  The doctor frowned. He did not deal well with frustration. "All three

  groups, those who lost consciousness, those who became dizzy, and

  those who were not affected are made up of a cross section of the

  ship's crew. The one factor that remained consistent is that only full

  humans were affected. Since the majority of the crew is human, that is

  hardly helpful information."

  Janeway looked at the end of the table where the six crewmen who'd

  been most strongly affected by the probe were seated side by side.

  "And these six, Doctor? What do these six have in common that caused a

  common severe reaction?"

  All eyes studied The Six: Tom Paris, Malista Shadow, Megan Delaney,

  Janine Lamont, Ethan Simms, and Sven Haldersen. The Six blinked back

  at them.

  Tom Paris spoke with cool derision, "May I say as one of 'The Six'

  that an hour later, my eyes *still* feel dry and I'm *still* seeing

  colored spots dancing around? And my head *still* hurts. Just not

  quite as much as before."

  The other five gingerly nodded their agreement with his assessment.

  They all looke
d sapped of energy and drawn by the pain they'd

  experienced---were experiencing.

  Janeway scrutinized them. "Three blondes---two male, one female. One

  brunette, female. Two redheads, one male, one female. Five Starfleet,

  one Maquis. Ethan and Malista were in Engineering on Deck 11, Sven was

  in the messhall on Deck 2, Tom was on the bridge, Janine was in the

  shuttlebay, and Megan was in the holodeck on Deck 6. You're right. I

  am not detecting a pattern here, Doctor."

  The doctor cleared his throat, a human mannerism he'd adopted to

  enable him to regain control of a conversation. "There is one

  fascinating discrepancy, Captain."

  "Yes, Doctor?"

  "The fact that Lieutenant Megan Delaney is among the six rendered

  unconscious, while her sister, Lieutenant Jennifer Delaney is not,"

  the EMH announced triumphantly.

  "And your point is?" Chakotay asked.

  "Commander, they are identical twins. *Identical.* This means they

  have an identical genetic makeup. Any stimulus that acts on the two of

  them, should produce an equal response or lack of response in both

  women. However, in this case, for some reason, it did not. Megan

  Delaney was rendered unconscious by the probe, while Jennifer Delaney

  became disoriented, but did not lose consciousness."

  "Why?" Harry Kim asked.

  The doctor's face fell. "I don't know. But it is fascinating."

  "Perhaps the stimulus was not uniformly felt throughout the ship?"

  Tuvok hypothesized.

  While the doctor and Tuvok debated that point, Harry Kim threw an

  encouraging wink towards Shadow. She smiled wearily. One hand was

  massaging her temple. Paris was seated next to her and holding her

  other hand. He looked pale and drawn. It was hard to tell who was

  comforting whom. Perhaps it was mutual.

  Harry's eyes began to wander, following his mind. He looked at the

  six, then at the others in the room. He and Chakotay hadn't been

  affected at all. Why? He focused on the Delaneys. The Doc seemed to

  think they might hold the key to the puzzle.

  Harry sat up straighter. There was something different. It was

  strange, but today---They didn't look---quite so identical? He didn't

  understand why he thought so, but didn't try to rein in his

  imagination. He was onto something here. Now if he could just figure

  out what it was.

  His eyes returned to the six. Tom, Malista, Megan, Janine, Ethan, and

  Sven. What did they have in common? According to the doctor, nothing.

  Not something common to all six of them. So what if it was something

  not common to all six? 'That could take years to figure out. You can't

  prove a negative,' Harry told himself.

  As if magnetized, his gaze returned to Malista. Her pretty green eyes

  were bloodshot. They must be painful. That light had been a bright

  white, possibly hot. Green eyes. Like emeralds.

  'Hmm. Ethan has green eyes, but not the same shade of green,' Harry

  thought. He shook his head. 'That couldn't be it. Tom's eyes are blue.

  And so are Sven's. And Janine's.'

  He looked at Megan. Her eyes are blue. He turned his head to catch a

  glimpse of Jenny Delaney, feeling foolish for even looking. Her eyes

  were---gray. Slate gray. Not blue.

  Harry couldn't believe what he was seeing. His head jerked back toward

  Megan. Definitely blue eyes. Why?

  "Mr. Kim?" It was the captain. She'd noticed his abstraction and

  sudden alertness and wanted to recall his attention or to obtain an

  explanation.

  "Captain, she's out of uniform!" Harry pointed to Jenny Delaney.

  Everyone in the conference room stared first at Kim, then at Jenny.

  "I'm off duty," she offered confusedly. "I was in the holodeck. My

  sister had just joined me there."

  Harry got to his feet, his excitement wouldn't let him sit still.

  "But, Jenny, you're wearing a gray shirt."

  "Yes? What about it?" Jenny's tone implied she was humoring a raving

  lunatic.

  "Your eyes are gray. Megan is in uniform. Her blue uniform. Her eyes

  are blue," Harry announced. He paced quickly around the table to stand

  behind the six. "Look, Captain. I think I know why these six." As he

  spoke he touched each one on the shoulder. "Tom---blue eyes.

  Malista---green eyes. Megan---blue eyes. Janine---blue eyes.

  Ethan---green eyes. Sven---blue eyes. And Jenny Delaney---the twin

  whose reaction didn't match her sister's---gray eyes. Like yours,

  Captain. You and Jenny were affected the same way by the probe."

  "Eye color? Is that possible, Doctor?" Janeway asked.

  The doctor looked stunned. "I did scans down to the genotype

  level---and the pattern is as superficial as eye color?"

  "But is it possible?"

  "Those with dark eyes weren't affected at all," Harry theorized.

  "Think about it! On the bridge, the humans not affected were Chakotay,

  Ayala, and I. We have dark brown eyes. Hudson was in Engineering,

  standing right next to Ethan. Not affected. He has brown eyes."

  "But these six aren't the only ones with light colored eyes," Torres

  protested.

  "And those are probably the ones who were dizzy. The captain and

  Jenny---gray eyes," Harry added as he returned to his seat. "Who else

  got dizzy?"

  "Lieutenants Salaka and Nicoletti and Carey, among others," the doctor

  replied. He checked the medical files on his desk. "Hazel eyes. They

  could be considered light colored eyes."

  "I'll bet if you check, you'll find that the only humans not affected

  are the ones with the darkest eyes," Kim offered.

  "An interesting theory, Ensign," Tuvok commented.

  "More than that. He may be right," the EMH declared. "The difference

  in eye color stems from the absence or presence of melanin. It's

  possible that the amount of melanin present in dark eyes blocked

  whatever effect the probe had on those whose eyes have less melanin."

  Paris tried to smooth away the frown between his eyebrows as he

  concentrated. "So you're saying we six have less melanin in our

  eyes---so our eyes didn't block out---whatever."

  "Colored spots?" Chakotay said. "Paris, did you say you were seeing

  colored spots before your eyes?"

  Paris squinted at him. "I don't remember. Yes. I guess so." He closed

  one eye, then opened it again. "Yeah. They're colored, all right. The

  light was colored. Why wouldn't the spots be colored too?"

  "Because the light was white," the first officer announced. "Even our

  instruments read it as a pure white light beam. No color."

  "That could just be the effect of the dazzling brightness," Janeway

  offered.

  "No," Malista said. "When I saw it, the probe wasn't white. It was

  green. The light was green and blue."

  "I would have said blue and green," Sven Haldersen disagreed. "It was

  more blue."

  "Captain, I would like to run more tests---" the EMH began.

  "Oh, no," Paris groaned. He closed his eyes, then opened one

  sad-looking eye toward the captain. "Back to Sickbay?"

  "Back to Sickbay," she retorted unsympathetically. "I want to know

  what that probe was doing. We need to kno
w its purpose, and if

  possible find a way to prevent such an occurrence again."

  Harry walked to the end of the table once more and helped Malista and

  Tom to their feet. The Six trudged wearily back to Sickbay for more

  tests. Harry and the rest of the Senior Officers returned to the

  bridge to resume their search for answers.

  *************************

  Ensign George Natwick was not on duty during Beta shift, but he was in

  the Security Office anyway, accessing computer records. Ensigns Simms

  and Hudson, who were on duty, caught him at it. Technically, it wasn't

  a violation of regulations. Not exactly. But it was close enough to

  give the pair some leverage in dealing with him and finding out what

  he was up to.

  Hudson smiled politely and insincerely. "What are you doing in the

  personnel and security files, George?"

  For a moment, the two didn't think he would answer. To his own

  surprise, Natwick replied, "Helping out a friend."

  Hudson and Simms swapped looks. Simms got there first. "What friend?"

  The big ensign clenched his jaw stubbornly.

  Another look at Hudson. Simms ventured, "Malista?"