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Captain's Log Stardate: 348011.23

The Raptor, for once, has been assigned a non-combat mission. We have been sent to the planet Regellias IV to pick up a survey team. They have been evaluating Regellias' candidacy for terra-forming. The team has lived on this world for six months and are eagerly awaiting extraction because, even though the planet is fairly distant from it's primary star, the rotation is very slow. But, due to the planet's unusual mass, the atmosphere is capable of sustaining life on the light side. However, with six months of darkness, I can hardly imagine why anyone would want to live there. However, that's not my call.

* * *

"Commander, we are so very grateful that you are here," Doctor Penn, a middle-aged Catarian, said gratefully as various crew members of the Raptor worked on helping the surveyors pack up their equipment and temporary shelters.

"Believe me, it's not a problem," Harry said with a smile. "It's a welcome break from our usual assignments." He looked across the vast valley the settlement was perched on. In the distance, he could see the slow approach of darkness. "Starfleet has been pretty busy. We were the only ship not doing anything and just the right size to handle the job."

"This ship, I take it, isn't a science vessel," Doctor Penn said inquiringly. "The dispatch wasn't very clear on the details."

Harry laughed. "Hardly, It's a destroyer type escort vessel. But, it's fast, so we'll get you home in no time."

Doctor Penn hmmed, "You don't seem to be the type of man fit to command such a ship. I've dealt with some people like that before, and none of them would have found the darkness approaching as fascinating as you have."

"I will admit it is intriguing," Harry smiled. "It's not something you seem every day."

"You truly are a man out of his element," Doctor Penn chuckled.

There was a crash behind them and some shouting. Harry turned to see that some of the crates had fallen down and had pinned one of his crew members to the ground. He quickly rushed over.

"What happened?" He asked as Jakar also arrived.

"I don't know, sir! The magnetic coupler failed and they fell on Arovan," a crewman said.

"I...I think...my leg...is broken!" The Altairian pinned under the crate yelped.

"Just hold on, we'll get this off of you. Help will be here soon," Harry said as he hit his combadge and went to lift the crate. "Doctor Okan to transporter room, we have a man down," he said as Jakar followed his lead. "On three."

Harry counted off and as they lifted two more crew members drug Arovan out from under the crate. His uniform was stained yellow from a strange mineral that had been on the ground. Harry checked Arovan's leg. It clearly was broken, maybe worse. There was green Altairian blood seeping into the ground.

"How bad is it, sir?" Arovan asked with a choke in his voice.

"Doctor Okan is waiting for you on the Raptor," Harry said calmly. "It's not too bad," he said reassuringly, even though it looked real bad. "He'll fix you up and you'll be climbing mountains on the holodeck again in no time, ok?"

Arovan nodded, trying not to cry out from the pain.

"Commander, we have a lock ready for energizing," Ensign Jax said over the combadge.

"Roger that. Energize!" Harry said. Not soon after, Ensign Arovan disappeared in a swirl of transporter energy.

* * *

"What th' hell?" Sonya yelped as she looked at the readings.

"What is it?" Doctor Okan asked.

"Somethin' wrong with the readin'. I'm gonna to try ta re-buffer th' signal through th' secondary filters. There must of been some contamination or somethin'," the dark furred echidna with the braided hair said quietly as her fingers danced over the controls. "I think that got it."

Ensign Arovan finally materialized on the pad.

Doctor Okan started to scan him. "His leg is broken in two places. Is it safe to use the transporter?"

"I thought I ran a decontamination cycle," Sonya said. "You'd better use a stretcher, an' make sure he sends that uniform ta get decontaminated immediately."

"We'll take care of it. I'm more concerned about his leg at the moment," Doctor Okan snorted as two orderlies came in and helped the injured Altairian onto a stretcher.

"Is everything ok up there?" Harry asked. "We're ready to start beaming the first wave of containers up to you."

"Just a slight glitch in th' transporter, sir. I'll have it seen ta in a moment or two," Sonya said, opening up a wall panel and pulling out a couple of tools. "Nothin' ta worry about."

* * *

"Well, don't keep us waiting for too long, Ms. Jax," Harry said.

Suddenly, Harry felt a pair of paws on his pant leg and something wet and warm flick at his hand.

"You little scamp! Get back here!" O'mara called, running towards him. Harry looked down and saw some small furry little quadruped that resembled some sort of walking mop. The strange yellow mineral was now smeared all over his leg.

"Sorry commander," O'mara groaned. "He got away from me when he heard the commotion over here! Is everything ok?"

Harry picked up the small animal, which panted happily, and held it at arms link. "Just a freak accident. Ensign Arovan got hurt, but we sent him to the ship." He handed the animal back to O'mara. "You know that is a specimen is to be taken back for study and observation, not your personal pet, Lieutenant?"

He handed it back and it started to lick her face enthusiastically. "I know, but he's so friendly...and so damn cute!" O'mara said apologetically. "I'll try to be more careful."

Doctor Penn came up and petted the creature on the head. "Well, I don't mind. Skippy here is going to be very important to our plans for terraforming this world. As long as we are with your crew, Mrs. O'mara can pay him a visit."

"Just don't let him run around the ship," Harry said.

"Commander, this is Jax," Sonya's voice came over the combadge. "If you want to beam up now, I think it will be just fine."

"Very well," Harry said. "Doctor, if you don't mind, I've got a few errands I need to take care of back on my ship. I'll see you onboard."

Doctor Penn nodded understandingly. "Understood. Again, thanks for coming to get us."

Harry nodded as he brushed off the paw prints from his uniform as best he could.

"You are very welcome. Martinez to Raptor, energize!"

"Goddess damn it all! There it goes again!" Harry heard Sonya shout as he reappeared on the transporter pad on the Raptor.

Harry felt a bit dizzy and disoriented as he finally became solid again.

"Are you ok, sir?" Sonya asked with concern.

"I think so," Harry said, still feeling a bit dizzy. "What happened?"

"Some damn anomaly I'm having trouble tracking down in th' transporter subsystems," Sonya said. "I thought I had it nailed down, but I'd suggest you go to sickbay and get checked out, just ta be safe, sir." She shrugged. "At th' moment, I'm not sure I can trust this damn thing."

"I trust you'll figure it out," Harry said.

"If I don't, someone will," she growled. "Jax to Engineering! Chief! Can ye' send someone up here? I've got some strange readings all over th' board."

"Ok," Fara's voice replied. "I'll send someone up. It's not like we're doing anything else at the moment."

"Much appreciated," Sonya said, scooping up her tool kit, walking over to in front of the transporter and pulling up a floor grating. "I'm gonna probably be under it, so have them holler when they get up here."

"Roger that," Fara replied.

She lifted the grating on its hinge, propped it open and sat her tools down in the hole. She then sat on the floor and lowered herself down into the inner workings of the transporter. A few moments passed before the transporter came to life again. A form began to emerge among the swirling particulate matter. The machine shut down once again and a duplicate Harry stood there on the pad. He looked tense and glanced warily around the room, as if he was suspicious of it. He looked down and saw the open access panel.

"Hello?" Sonya's voice called out from under the food. "Who's up there?"

Harry said nothing and quickly exited through the starboard doors and disappeared down the corridor as Knackt arrived from the opposite door carrying a tool kit.

Sonya poked her head up. "Did you see someone in here fooling around?" She asked.

"Lady, I ain't seen anything doing anything! I just got here," Knackt said, annoyed.

"I could've sworn I heard someone movin' around up here and the damn pattern integrators firing," Sonya said.

"Well la-de-frickin-dah! That's just fine, but I'm not here to fix imaginary problems toots." Knackt grumbled. "Where do I need to start?"

===============================

Title: "Enemy Me"

IDP 2009, 2010

TOS tribute Story "The Enemy Within"

By: Vakash Darkbane

Edited: Saurex Conoway

===============================

Harry entered sickbay and again he felt dizzy. He wasn't sure why, but he knew it wasn't normal. Nurse Twila caught him as he stumbled. "Commander! Are you ok?"

"I'm not sure," he admitted. "I just got back from the surface and I haven't felt quite right since."

"I'll get Doctor Okan as soon as I can," Twila said, sitting him down in a chair. "He's occupied fixing up Mr. Arovan."

Harry nodded as she grabbed a medical tricorder and scanned him.

"Hmm...nothing abnormal...pulse, heart rate, metabolism...all normal," she said. "I'll have to do some deeper scans, sir."

"Whatever you need to do, but can I get a glass of water or aspirin or something?" Harry asked nicely.

Twila thought it over. "Yeah, I don't see why that would hurt. Sit tight."

Moments later, she came back with a bit more complicated rig, resembling a strange sort of strange hat rack with a computer control panel attached to it, along with the water and the aspirin. "Now, don't move. I'll get a deeper scan, ok?"

Harry nodded after he popped the aspirin and waited for it to kick in.

"Will Ensign Arovan be ok?" He asked.

"Doctor Okan is confident he can mend the injury," Twila said as she set up the machine. "In fact, he should be done with him in another few minutes."

Harry smiled. "Any good news on this ship is a blessing."

Nurse Twila nodded in agreement as she activated the scanner and a soft red light washed over him a few times. Twila looked at the readings.

"Commander, I am not finding anything wrong with you. The best I can tell is you might be suffering from some mild fatigue. Have you been staying up late with paperwork or anything else you could think of?"

"I'm just tired," Harry shrugged.

"Well, sir, I don't know what else to suggest then maybe you go to your quarters and take a nap and let the aspirin do its work." Twila shrugged. "If you have any further issues, you know where to find us."

* * *

Harry entered his quarters feeling quite restricted and bound by his uniform. He quickly changed into a variant, with an open jacket that felt way more comfortable and a bit brighter in color. He left the old one laying in the middle of the room. He was suddenly craving something to drink and the first thing that popped into his mind was maybe a nice cool drink of brandy. Not replicated, but something hard that would sting and give him a nice buzz...maybe something to eat as well.

He riffled through his drawers, seeing if he had stashed anything, but then he remembered that he hadn't. After emptying the contents of all the drawers of his dresser, closet and cabinet, he didn't feel like cleaning it up either.

He left his quarters and started to head for the nearest turbo-lift, when he saw himself step out of it. He immediately back-tracked past his quarters, towards a head down the hall head and dove inside it. He stayed close to the inside of the room, enough that the doors stayed open and he could see down the hall.

He watched his double lean up against the wall and grimace. Terri-Lu exited the bridge and started talking to him. However, he didn't pay attention to what she was saying. She was wearing the skirted variant of her uniform and his eyes played across her legs, her graceful form, as she talked to his other self.

The booze was still at the forefront of his mind, but it was being overtaken by a far more carnal craving. That would have to wait, for now.

Terri handed the other Harry something and he stepped back into the head and let the door shut so he wouldn't be seen. After a moment or two, he leaned back out and saw the hallway was clear again. He looked at the control panel to his quarters and saw it was now saying do not disturb and the doors were locked.

Not wanting to stick around much longer, he went to an access way and climbed deeper into the ship.

* * *

Harry stared in horror at the condition his quarters were in. He knew he was sometimes a bit messy, but this was just uncalled for. A uniform on the floor, his drawers left open, the place just in general disorder.

"Computer? Has anyone been in my quarters other than myself?"

"Negative," the computer replied.

Maybe he did make the mess? With the damn headache, even through the pain killer, was making him disorientated. He walked over to the wall panel and hit the com switch. "Martinez to bridge."

"Rivas here, sir."

"I'm not feeling too hot. Do you think you can handle things for awhile Don?"

"Not a problem, sir," Rivas said. "Is it anything we should be concerned about?"

"I just feel ill. Sickbay told me to get some rest, so that's what I'm going to do."

Rivas chuckled. "Not a problem, sir. I don't think there will be any problems in this sector of the galaxy."

"I hope so," Harry sighed, closing the channel.

He grumbled and made his way to the bed, where he plopped down and quickly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Harry entered sickbay and saw Doctor Okan putting away his equipment. Ensign Arovan was slowly getting up from the table.

"Commander!" The Altairian said as he came in. "Doc Okan got me fixed up!"

"Well, not totally. It'll be a week or two before you can go play on the holodeck, but you can go back to duty tomorrow," Doctor Okan said, "after some rest."

"Whatever," Harry said disinterestedly. He really didn't care.

"Sir?" Arovan said, a bit confused with a hurt look on his face.

"Ensign, get the hell out of my face or you'll be finding yourself another assignment," Harry snapped at him.

Arovan looked shocked, and a bit hurt, but merely nodded and got to his feet unsteadily.

"Just take it easy," Doctor Okan said, helping him get to moving again. "That leg's going to be a little slow, just keep walking on it."

"Yeah...ok," the Altairian said, leaving sickbay.

"Harry? Just what the hell was that about?" Doctor Okan said, glaring at him. "It was an accident, he didn't--"

"Shut it!" Harry growled at him. "Booze...now! You have it I need it."

"Harry, I can't give you that," Doctor Okan frowned, going into a rigid stance. "Twila already told me she gave you a good dose of aspirin."

Harry rushed forward and grabbed Doctor Okan by the shirt collar and slammed him into the wall. "I don't care! Give it to me now, or I'll take it from you!" He growled drawing his fist back.

"Commander!" Nurse Twila cried, seeing this as she entered the room.

"Stay out of this!" Harry snapped at her.

Twila looked confusedly at Doctor Okan. "Should I call security?"

"No, nurse," Doctor Okan said. His face was a mixture of shock and confusion. "Ok Harry...fine...let go of me. Let go of me damn it!"

Harry growled, but released him. Okan walked over to one of his cabinets and pulled out a blue glass bottle wrapped in rope. "Here, now take it and get the hell out of my sickbay!" The doctor snarled, thrusting the bottle as hard as he could into Harry's outstretched hand.

Harry popped the cork out and took a long swig.

"And you can bet your ass this is the last time, that's for damn sure," Okan glared at him.

Harry held it up with a wicked grin. "Then I'll be sure to enjoy it! Later losers!"

He cackled, making an overly dramatic bow before exiting.

"Doctor?" Twila said, confused.

"I have no idea, nurse. I've never seen him act like that before," Doctor Okan said, bewildered, adjusting his tunic and smoothing it out.

"But, he was fine a while ago," she frowned, "save for a case of fatigue. He was definitely more lively just then."

"Hmm...well we'd better have another look at those scans," Doctor Okan muttered.

* * *

Later

Jax and Knackt had given the transporter on Deck 1 a thorough diagnostic. Sonya had gone down to Deck 4 to start the transport of the cargo up into the Raptor's cargo holds. So far, things had gone smoothly. Several crates of the surveyor's supplies were already lining the magnetic cargo racks and the small bay was quite busy with people setting things in place and moving them from bay to bay. The Raptor's limited, but adequate, storage space was slowly being gobbled up.

"Doctor Penn," Sonya said, hitting a com switch. "We're ready ta' start transportin' biological samples if ya wish."

"Understood! Give us a moment and we'll get the first one loaded onto the pad," Doctor Penn acknowledged.

Fara entered the cargo bay and stepped up to the control console. "Is everything working ok?"

"So far," Sonya shrugged. "It hasn't hiccupped...yet."

"We'll keep your fingers crossed," Fara said.

"What about that dirt that Arovan had on him?" Sonya asked.

"I had the lab boys look at it and they said it's similar to rust," Fara replied. "There were a few unknown elements in it, but nothing that could be seen as toxic or harmful."

"Well, whatever it is, it's harmful ta' th' transporter," Sonya grumbled. "I've been having 'em use air guns ta' blow the shit off before they send it up to prevent any further hiccups."

"The sample is ready," Doctor Penn's voice said.

"Ok, how many?"

"Just one. It's sort of our pet," Doctor Penn chuckled. "This won't startle it, will it?"

"No more than it does you or I," Sonya said. "Energizin'!"

The small little carry case began to appear and suddenly an alarm went off on the control panel.

"See! There it goes again," Sonya growled, quickly adjusting the equipment setting. "Jax ta' surface! I thought ya told me you've been blowing that dust off what you send!"

"Well, we have been! What's wrong now?" Doctor Penn asked.

Sonya shut off the switch and went to work readjusting the beams. "Fara, can ya gimme a little help?"

Fara nodded and started to assist her after a few seconds.

"I think that got it," Fara said, looking up at the pad. On the transporter pad, two carry cases materialized. From one, several vicious yaps and snarls were heard and the other was quiet.

Sonya and Fara exchanged looks, walked over to the cases, and peeked inside. In the quiet one, the small little creature was relaxed and wagged its tail in a friendly manner. The other snarled and slammed into the bars in a maddened rage.

"Jax ta' surface. Confirm how many samples ya transported please."

"Just one...why? Is Skippy ok?" Doctor Penn asked.

"I would say yes...but we have two of 'em up here now," Sonya said.

"Very funny...we only sent one," Doctor Penn chuckled.

"Ah crap," Sonya sighed.

Fara hit her combadge. "Phoenix to bridge. We've got a serious problem down here. We've just had one hell of a transporter malfunction."

"What kind of malfunction?" Rivas asked.

"You'll have to come down here and see for yourself. I'd suggest we get the shuttles fired up and start using them instead."

"That'll cause a massive delay," Rivas stated solemnly.

"Just tell 'em to stay away from some type of yellow dust if they can avoid it. Whatever it is, it's playin' hell with our systems." Jax reported.

"What exactly is it doing?" Rivas asked.

"Sir, ya wouldn't believe me unless ya saw it for yourself," Sonya replied.

* * *

Harry was enjoying his drink, finishing off the last swig of it voraciously and then tossing the bottle to the side of the corridor. He wiped his mouth. Now he was good and drunk, but he was bored. He needed something to do. Lots of tempting possibilities flew through his mind.

However, his train of thought was interrupted when he ran into Kai Remmick coming the other way. Harry himself, had strayed too far into the other side of the corridor. The two collided with a dull thud.

"Sorry, sir! I should have watched where I was going," Kai said sheepishly, quickly picking up his case he had dropped.

"You should be sorry," Harry growled. "You should pay more respect to your Captain!"

"Sir?"

"Maybe you need to be taught a lesson!" Harry said, pulling back and catching Kai with a haymaker to the muzzle,

Kai stumbled back against the wall when Harry kneed him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. Harry brought his hands together and slammed them down on his head, sending him to the ground.

"What...did...I..." Kai whimpered, gasping for air, stunned by the sudden violence as waves of pain pulsed through his mind.

Harry gave him a swift kick to the ribs, eliciting a very small yelp from the Catarian.

"Watch where you're going next time," Harry growled, heading down the corridor.

* * *

Rivas sighed. He had just gotten comfortable in the big chair. "Ok, I'll be down in a moment," he said, getting up and heading for the exit.

"Sir," Terri said, holding up a finger.

"Yes?"

"Sir, you won't believe this, but someone just reported they spotted the Captain, drunk and acting strangely, on Deck 3. Also, Lt. Remmick is reporting that he was just assaulted by the Captain."

"What?" Rivas growled, raising an eyebrow. "That doesn't sound right. He called in sick about an hour ago. He should be in bed."

"I think it's strange too, but they swear it was him," Terri said.

"What the hell! Can't we ever have a normal day?" Rivas sighed. "I got to head down to the transporter room. I'll swing by his quarters after."

Terri nodded. "Should I alert security?"

"I think I can handle him. I can't imagine the commander attacking anyone," Rivas said, shaking his head. "See if you can't locate the security camera footage of it."

"I'll try, sir. The system has been a bit laggy lately. It may be several minutes," Terri said apologetically.

"That's fine Lieutenant. If this ship wasn't having some sort of a problem, it wouldn't be a full day." Rivas replied idly. He started to leave and the door opened.

"Is the Commander here?" Okan growled.

"No, but I was just going to see him, Doctor," Rivas said, curious as to why Okan looked a bit flustered. "Is there a problem?"

"Yeah, he came to sickbay and strong armed me," Doctor Okan glared. "I don't know what is going on and I've been too damn busy with the current project to really get around to reporting it."

Rivas sighed and ran a hand through his head fur. "Ok, now this is really weird. We just got a report he assaulted Lt. Remmick on Deck 3. I was getting ready to go see what the problem is."

"Well, where is he now?" Doctor Okan groused.

"He's supposed to be in his quarters. I was heading there myself first on my way down to Deck 5."

"Fine. Lead the way."

They headed up the corridor and Rivas hit the com switch. "Commander? May I speak with you?"

They heard a yawn on the speaker. "Sure. I just woke back up. Give me a second."

After a few minutes, the lock light shut off and they stepped inside. Harry was sitting on his couch, enjoying a sandwich. "Is something wrong gentlemen?"

"Yeah, you ought to have your damned head--" Okan started snarling at him.

"Doctor!" Rivas cut him off. "Sir, Doctor Okan tells me you had an altercation today."

Harry gave them a quizzical look. "I went to sickbay with a headache. Your nurse gave me an aspirin and told me to get some rest. I've been here since then."

"Well, where is my damn Pernian Brandy then?" Doctor Okan growled.

Harry lifted a brow and set his food on the coffee table in front of him. "I haven't had a drink since...you know, I don't know! It's been a while."

"Don't lie to me! You just came down to sickbay, no more than a couple hours ago, and flat out demanded I give it to you!"

"We also have a report that you were drunk and assaulted one of the crew," Rivas said.

Harry laughed nervously. "Gentlemen...is this some sort of a joke? I don't see what the point of this is, but what are you two up to? I'm sober as a judge, Doctor."

"Oh yeah? We'll see about that," Okan said, upholstering his tricorder, popping out the scanner and giving Harry a scan. His brow crinkled. "I don't understand. Your blood alcohol content...is zero...."

"Computer! Has Commander Martinez been in this room since the last time he contacted the bridge?" Rivas snapped.

The computer made a few beeps and then replied. "AFFIRMATIVE."

"Has he been anywhere else on the ship?" Rivas asked.

Again a few strange beeps. "NEGATIVE."

"I don't understand," Okan said. "Arovan and Twila both saw him in sickbay when he got rough with me."

"Well, I assure you I have been resting and enjoying my lunch while planning on returning to duty." Harry replied.

"I am at a total loss," Okan muttered.

"Everything going ok with the extraction?" Harry asked.

"We've been having some transporter difficulties. I was getting ready to head down to Deck 4 to investigate. If they can't get it working, I'll start sending shuttles down to the surface. If you wouldn't mind, I would like you to come with me, sir," Rivas replied.

"Sure," Harry shrugged. "As long as it will keep me out of trouble, let's go."

"I'm going too," Doctor Okan spoke up, following them out of Harry's quarters.

* * *

That brandy was good, Harry thought as he climbed back up to Deck 1, his head abuzz with alcohol. He spotted Terri Lu's name on her quarters and headed towards them. He was wary of going near the bridge. There was too much to do there and it was boring. There were so many other fun things to do on this ship. Of course, he had wondered how come his little "rampage" hadn't brought security down on him. He surmised he must be invisible or something and that the ship's sensors couldn't track him. He cackled as he opened the door to Terri's quarters and stepped inside. As he did, he heard the door to his own open and saw Lt. Cmdr Rivas, his double and Doctor Okan step out into the hall.

After this little venture, he decided to stay off this deck when he was done. It was getting too risky being this close to the other Harry. Harry moved away from the door and pawed through Terri's few possessions. There was a picture of her pet back on station and one with her and his navigator at what appeared to be an amusement park. He growled at that one and knocked it over. A few old style books were lined along a small shelf in the room, as well as a few other knick knacks. If he was going to get what he sought, he was just going to have to wait for her to return. He took a seat on her bed and waited.

* * *

Cargo Bay 4, Deck 4

"I don't understand it! We had one ta start with an' ended up with two!" Sonya said, frustrated.

Harry was holding the docile Skippy in his arms. "This is strange," he said, petting it.

Doctor Okan shook his head. "They are identical, right down to the cellular level, complete copies, however; this one is as mellow as you can get and the other one, well, he tried to bite me through the damn bars."

"One calm and docile," Harry said. "The other....enraged, primal, vicious."

"I am not liking where this is going," Rivas groaned.

"It would explain my alleged behavior," Harry said calmly.

"What should we do with the crazed one sir?" Sonya asked.

"Don't hurt it," Harry said. "Make sure it gets something to eat though."

"I ain't feeding that damn thing! I like my hand where it is!" Sonya protested. "I'll shoot it with a stun blast first--"

Harry turned to her, horrified. "Ensign! That would be cruel!"

"Commander? I think the strange mineral that small animal is covered in may have something to do with this," Fara suggested. "I'll have the lab techs look them both over and give you a full report."

"This creature touched me before I beamed up. Perhaps the same thing happened to me?" Harry asked. "One docile, calm, friendly, the other a shade of itself, angry, frightened, primal."

"If that did happen, sir, that thing could look just like you," Rivas noted. "It would be hard to tell you apart, at least physically, if something similar had happened to you."

"We've also noticed that the sensors are havin' trouble locking onto th' nasty little one," Sonya said. "I know it's there, but th' computer is havin' trouble seein' it."

"The plot thickens," Fara chuckled.

Harry nodded in agreement. "I'll stay with Commander Rivas until we figure out what exactly is going on," he said gently, handing the animal to Fara. "Doctor, I suggest you get Ms. O'mara up here on the double, use the shuttles as planned, and figure out just what is going on here, if you don't mind?"

Okan nodded in agreement.

"Fara? I know you don't have to be told what your job is."

"Find out what happened with the transporter?" She confirmed.

"You got it," Harry smiled pleasantly. "By the way Chief, your hair is starting to look very nice."

Fara blushed, quickly turning away. Her hair had grown out and she was starting to have bangs, but it was still a well kept crop of blond, silky head fur.

"Er...thanks?" She stammered, "I'll...uh... get right on it."

"Ok, now, I know something isn't right," Okan said. "You've never been that nice to Fara."

Harry looked at him, puzzled, and shrugged. "If there is another copy of me on this ship, like that animal," he said, motioning to the crate issuing forth snarls and growls, "that could be a problem."

"It's possible," Rivas replied. "However, we should probably state it in a less alarming manner. We don't need to cause panic in the middle of the extraction operation."

"That's what I meant," Harry replied. "I'll take care of it. Let's go to the bridge."

* * *

"Query Rejected?" Terri snarled. She leaned forward and smacked the panel. The computer only squawked at her in protest. "You damn thing! I'll reject your query! Now what's your problem?"

"Problem?" Land chuckled from the Helm as Terri began opening up the console's panels. At the moment, they were the only two on the bridge.

"Yeah, I don't know what is up with the computer lately! It hasn't been the same since the damn Epsilon Three tests," Terri growled. She made a few adjustments to the hardware. "There! That should do it." She queued up her data request a second time and the terminal made a "WAAAA!" sound and promptly deactivated.

"That didn't sound too good," Land frowned.

"You know what," Terri said, thumbing a call button to call the relief officer and taking her earwig off, tossing it onto her chair "I'm taking a break! That is just one time too many for me today."

"What? Are you just leaving me here by myself? Aren't you supposed to be in the big chair right now?"

"Jack, sweety," Terri glared, "I am not in the mood to be toyed with either."

"Yes ma'am," he gulped, turning to face the screen again.

Soon, Lt. Perry arrived.

"Can you handle things up here? I need to take a little break and I'll get the damn station back up and running when I return." Terri said.

"Sure," the Cornerian female replied, "I think I can handle it. How soon till Commander Rivas gets back?"

"It should be soon," Terri said, getting up. "If you'll excuse me."

She exited the bridge. Not soon after Harry and Rivas arrived.

"Sir!" Perry said smartly as they arrived.

"Where is Lieutenant Lu?" Rivas asked.

"We're experiencing technical difficulties, so she went on break." Perry said apologetically.

"That's fine," Harry said with a small smile. "Take the tactical position until Jakar gets back from the surface," he said to Rivas.

Harry walked up to the captain's chair and sat in it. "There was something I needed...to check on...what was it?" He wondered.

"The intruder, sir," Rivas said patiently.

"Yes...that's right," Harry said, scowling.

He hit the ship wide com and suddenly found himself at a loss of words. He flicked it off. "First of all....we should probably..."

Rivas looked at him oddly.

"The shuttles...if there is an intruder..." Harry's words drifted off, looking like he was struggling. "We want armed guards, right? Making sure...."

"Commander, I'll take care of it," Rivas said, a bit concerned. "Are you feeling well?"

"I don't...know," Harry said with a frustrated look. Just then, an alarm sounded.

"Bridge emergency, Deck 1, send OMpphfff--" They heard Ensign Arovan's voice scream over the com before it went quiet.

"Yellow Alert! Security to Deck 1 immediately!" Harry said, flipping the com switch and heading out the door with Rivas trailing behind him.

* * *

Fortunately, Terri didn't have too far to go. She stepped into her quarters and noticed that the lights were still on. She figured she must have forgotten to deactivate them when she left earlier in the day.

A shower would be good--a nice hot shower. She could at least calm down and think that way. She unzipped her top and tossed the over shirt onto her bed. She started to remove the under shirt when suddenly she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up and she spun around.

"Commander? What are you doing here?" She asked, startled when she found Harry lurking behind her.

"I wanted...to talk to you about...that...report," Harry slurred, leering at her.

"Well, you could have said something!" She scolded as she tugged her undershirt back down.

"I wanted privacy...'cause it's important," Harry grinned.

"Privacy?" Terri frowned. "Why?"

Harry stepped forward and grasped her arm. "We should spend more time together, Terri," he said, "we should stop pretending that it's just...a professional thing."

"Um...not now..." She said, picking up on the inflection. "I have a steady guy at the moment."

"So what?" Harry snapped, having seized both of her arms and squeezing them tightly.

"Sir, stop it! You are hurting me!" Terri winced.

He shoved her suddenly against the wall, nearly knocking the air out of her.

"I said STOP!" She barked, lunging her head forward and nailing him right on the snout.

Harry yelped as blood gushed from his nose. He quickly recovered, tackling her and knocking her to the ground. They went down hard, knocking over the small table. Terri nearly knocked herself out as her head glanced off the edge of the table. They tussled for a bit. He was tearing at her clothing and groping her viciously, like an animal, until she finally put a well placed knee into his groin. He went limp and she used an escape maneuver she learned from Jakar; she quickly spun her body and caught him upside the head with the heel of her boot. That got him off of her, but as she got to her feet he was on her again with a solid impact of a fist to the side of her head then again and again.

Terri was dazed and she lashed out with the claws on her fingers catching him right across the face while the room sparkled with stars. She couldn't get her left eye open and that side of her face just felt brutalized. She was hurt, badly, and couldn't fight with the world being all bleary. She headed for the door as Harry howled in bloodied frustration at the four deep gouges running across his face.

The door parted and she spotted ensign Arovan just passing the door.

"HELP!" She screamed at the top of her lungs as she felt Harry's hand grab her leg and jerk it from underneath her, causing her to slam face first into the deck plating. "HELP ME! PLEASE!"

She groaned as Harry hopped on top of her and punched her again, causing her to lose consciousness.

The Altairian saw Harry, and the state Terri was in, and immediately ran for a com switch down the hall and started to call for security. Harry leapt over Terri, charging down the hall. Once he spotted Arovan, he tackled him and Arovan's head connected with the wall. Arovan's face cracked the black touch panel. He groaned as he started to fall down and Harry pummeled him until green blood flowed steadily from his face and the Altairian stopped twitching.

Harry winced. After its repeated use as a weapon, his fist had been battered pretty badly. He heard footsteps from down the hall and growled as he got up, heading the opposite direction, diving down an access ladder.

* * *

Jakar, Harry and Rivas quickly arrived at the scene.

"What happened here?" Harry asked.

"Don't know sir. We found them like this," The security crewman replied, checking Terri's pulse while the other checked on Arovan. "Ms. Lu is still alive."

The other security officer nodded affirmative to the other.

"Quickly," Harry said, "try to find who did this. I'll wait here until Doctor Okan arrives."

As they got up to try to locate the perpetrator, Doctor Okan arrived via turbolift.

"What in the blazes happened up here?" He demanded, scanning Terri and Arovan.

"I don't know," Harry said, "we came as soon as we heard the alarm."

"Damn it," Okan grumbled, "they're both in bad shape!" He hit his combadge. "Twila! Lock onto Lt. Lu and Ensign Arovan, they're both in critical condition. Three for transport to sickbay, immediately!"

"Yes Doctor," came the reply.

"Let me guess, you again?" Okan snapped at Harry.

Rivas spoke up. "The Captain was with me on the bridge the whole time. We should alert the crew--"

Okan, Terri and Arovan all dissolved in a transporter haze as they were sent to sickbay.

"We will search the ship for the other...you," Jakar said to Harry. "You men, follow me," he said to the other security officers before they disappeared down the corridor.

"Why would anyone do this?" Harry fretted, wringing his hands.

"Commander?" Rivas prompted patiently.

"What?" Harry snapped, looking crestfallen.

"We have an intruder on board. We need to take care of that first," Rivas said as patiently as he could.

Harry glared at him. "You're right," he sighed as he walked over to the wall panel. "I'm sorry...I don't know what's...wrong with me." He said warily. "Let me just..."

"I'll handle it," Rivas said, a bit annoyed, walking up to the wall panel.

"No..." Harry pouted shakely. "It's my responsibility. I'll do it."

Rivas walked up to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Commander, I don't know what's wrong with you, but if you, no offence, don't get your shit together and take command of this situation, then you have no business being in command."

"I need to warn the crew, before..." Harry muttered, sounding almost on the verge of tears, "before anything else...terrible..."

"Sir, I understand, but if you are going to continue like this I will have to remove you from command. You are the captain of this ship, now start acting like one."

Harry flinched as if he had been punched. "You're right! I'll take care of it now. Thank you Don, and if you see me slipping again...."

"Oh, believe me, sir, I will cut you right off," Rivas replied with a sly smile.

What is wrong with me? Harry thought as he walked over to the wall com panel. If what happened to that animal happened to me, am I going to become docile and placid? What parts of me are in this duplicate?

* * *

Harry had managed to make his way to Deck 3 and found some unoccupied quarters. Fortunately, everyone was at their stations with the alert being sounded. The quarters were a "double-decker", designed for two people to share. The space was slightly messy due to the fact that the occupants had to rush out.

He looked in the mirror and winced at the pain in his face and hand. His knuckles were split open, his nose was bleeding profusely, and blood seeped from the deep scratches in the side of his face.

That bitch put up a good fight, he thought. He hadn't planned on that. That annoying crewman had taken a bit of effort to bring down too. Altairians were physically stronger, but if you beat on anything's head hard enough, it would go down.

He grabbed a towel and tried to staunch the bleeding while he dug out a med kit he found, scattering its contents all over the room and tried to patch himself up.

"Attention all hands, this is your Captain," Harry's voice said over the com and the image of the imposter appeared on a video terminal in the quarters. "There is an intruder on board who resembles me in every way. Please approach him with caution, as he has already assaulted members of this crew and should be considered dangerous."

"Captain?" Harry growled. "I'm the Captain, not you!"

"All crew members are ordered to have hand phasers set to stun only. I repeat, stun force. This imposter must be captured alive and unharmed. I want security details posted at the shuttle bay to assist the survey team and our shuttle crews in helping them unload. If you don't see me with Commander Rivas, do not...hesitate to fire. That is all."

"I AM THE CAPTAIN, NOT YOU!" Harry screamed at the monitor, knocking the computer off the table. "I'm the Captain," he roared, stomping the machine into pieces.

How dare that imposter take my place, he thought. He was going to take care of that soon enough. He was aware there was some mildly important nonsense occurring on the surface of the planet. The Raptor, being small as it was, would have its security teams stretched pretty thin with the load of civilians they had picked up.

He would have to find a way to rectify all of this...lunacy. For now though, he would have to wait. In the meantime, he needed to do something about his injuries. He found the dermal regenerator from the medkit and started working on the wounds on his face. Once those were gone, the rest could be taken care of more easily. Looking the part, he figured, would make everything else a little easier.

* * *

Captain's Log: Supplemental

We are now absolutely certain there is an intruder onboard the ship. I have ordered security teams to be placed around the survey team to prevent them from panicking as we continue to ferry them up from the surface using the shuttles. Lt. Lu has been revived and, although she has been badly hurt by my duplicate, she is willing to talk to us.

Myself, I am starting to lose focus. It's becoming hard to make decisions, to concentrate on my duty, as it were. I think that in this duplicate, as with the small animal from the planet below, some parts of myself are missing. Although this aggressive duplicate seems to possess every negative aspect of my personality, without anything to control it. I have most of the security crew looking for him, as it is of utmost importance that we find him and restrain him.

In the meantime, Lt. O'mara is back from the surface. I am having her work with Ensign Jax in trying to figure out what exactly happened with the transporter. Due to recent events, I am not surprised if this is similar to what happened to Tara on Algion Prime. However, this double of me is running amok on...my ship...

* * *

"That's all I know..." Terri said quietly. "I tore him up pretty good, so he's going to need some medical attention."

Doctor Okan nodded. Most of her injuries had been treatable. She just looked very puffy and bruised at this point. Fortunately, nothing had been broken. She had a mild concussion and had a small device on her head that was currently tending to that.

"How's Arovan?" Terri asked.

"He'll recover. His injuries are a tad more serious than yours, I am sorry to say," Doctor Okan replied. "He's alive and resting right now. You are both very lucky."

Terri nodded. "I hope he'll recover."

Just then Harry and Rivas entered the sickbay.

"Get the hell away from me!" Terri hissed at Harry, scooting up on the bed.

"Lieutenant, at ease," Rivas said, "I'll explain."

"Explain? Hell, I'm gonna put your ass through the ringer!" Terri growled, trying to get up from the biobed as Twila and Okan restrained her. "And then, I'm going to get up and re-injure you. All. Over. Again!" Terri roared, fighting Okan and Twila in an ongoing attempt to attack Harry. "That's before I sick Starfleet on you!"

The hiss of a hypo was heard and Terri suddenly went slack, staring vacantly at a point behind everyone.

"Doctor!" Harry gasped.

"It's only a mild sedative, Commander," Doctor Okan said disappointedly. "I'm not happy with it, but she was about to brutalize you, sir."

"Is she going to understand us?"

"What's...to...understand?" Terri giggled.

Okan shrugged. "More than likely, but right now she's on cloud nine."

"The lights in here are pretty doc," Terri burbled.

Harry walked up to her. "Terri? The man who attacked you was not me. He's a duplicate. There's been a transporter accident. It made a duplicate of me and he's on the ship. That's the one who attacked you."

"Oh?" Terri said, looking surprised in a drunken way. "Then we're fine. You're a nice guy...sir...but...that other one? Kick his ass." She giggled.

"Mild?" Harry wondered, looking at Okan.

Okan scanned her. "Well, yes, but it's more potent with her physiology then I expected. She'll be fine...once it wears off."

"The duplicate looks just like me, doesn't he, Terri?" Harry asked.

"Yup! Everything is just like you." She paused and then started to laugh. "Except..."

"Except what?"

"He had your other uniform and I clawed him good here," she said, smacking the side of Harry's face playfully.

Harry winced and pulled back, rubbing the side of his face. "Tell security," he said to Rivas as Terri giggled some more. She suddenly rolled on her side and dozed off, blissfully asleep.

"I saw him too," Arovan groaned, sitting up from the adjacent bed. "If what you say is true, then he was here earlier."

"How much earlier?" Rivas asked.

"Shortly after I beamed up from the planet, sir," Arovan replied.

"Which would have been after I came up," Harry said. "I remember feeling dizzy."

"The transporter records did show an anomalous transport shortly after your arrival on ship," Rivas concluded.

"Ensign," Harry said, "I suggest you stay here and help the doctor keep an eye on Mrs. Lu. I don't want either of you returning to duty until this situation is resolved."

Arovan nodded. "I can do that. What will you do when you find him?"

"We will deal with him," Harry replied. "Doctor, keep an eye on the door. If you see me approach without Commander Rivas, stun me."

Doctor Okan smirked. "Oh believe me, I will!"

* * *

Harry had gotten himself cleaned up as well as he could. He found some makeup to cover up the bruises and reset his nose. He had discarded his uniform and changed into one he replicated that matched the imposter's. When he poked his head out into the hall, he heard footsteps and he paused. It was a security officer, a Cornerian canine with enlisted marks on his collar.

"Crewman," Harry said.

"Captain? What are you doing here?" He asked. "Where's Commander Rivas?"

"We think we found one of his hideouts in here," Harry said. "Commander Rivas is needing some assistance with the tricorder scans. If you would step in please."

"Sure," the security man said as he stepped inside the quarters.

As soon as the door shut, and before the crewman could react, Harry quickly knocked him out. With the canine unconscious, he quickly bound him up with shreds of his old uniform and took his phaser.

Now that he was armed, he could now take care of business. He smirked, locking the quarters as he left. All he had to do now was make his way to engineering without being seen.

* * *

"Captain," O'mara said, running up to them as they exited the sickbay.

"Yes?" Harry asked.

"I have some good news," O'mara said, smoothing her feathers. "I've managed to isolate the anomaly in the transporter system that you requested."

"Were you able to retrieve the transporter records from the archives...of the Phoenix?"

"Yes. I'm shocked we were able to recover an original copy of your pattern. I am actually running simulations now," O'mara said, a bit flustered. "I am not quite sure what you are wanting me to accomplish here, sir."

"You saw the two animals?" Rivas asked.

O'mara nodded.

"We believe the same thing has happened to the Captain, however; his doppelganger is on this ship somewhere. He's eluding our searches at the moment." Rivas growled.

"Try to find a way to duplicate the accident...a way to recombine the two animals, if you can," Harry said and then quickly added, "without hurting them."

O'mara whistled. "Wow, um ok..." She looked unsure. "I'll see what I can do. You aren't exactly giving me something easy here."

"Have you analyzed the strange dust Arovan was covered in?" Harry asked.

"Working on it. It has some strange crystalline properties and actually contains a minor trace of radiation, non-lethal of course, but enough to mess with the transporter's subsystems," O'mara replied.

"So, call me crazy, but why didn't the transporter create a duplicate of Ensign Arovan?" Rivas spoke up.

"From what Jax and I can tell, the contamination that caused the accident didn't happen until after his transport." O'mara explained quickly. "We've checked the transporter records and they back that up."

"Talk to Doctor Penn when he comes aboard, perhaps his people have some further research that you could use," Harry said. "I'm trusting you'll do your best."

"Phoenix to bridge and security!" Fara's voice said over his combadge. "We have an intruder in engineering!"

Rivas and Harry exchanged looks and quickly took off down the corridor.

It didn't take too long for them to arrive, Fara was standing outside of the main doors and her crew was scattered throughout the corridor. Jakar and a few security officers arrived from the other side of the corridor.

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"Well, someone looking just like you ran in there and started demanding we turn the ship over to him." Fara growled. "He started waving a phaser about and took potshots at us. That's when I evacuated engineering."

"Are you sure he's in there?" Rivas asked.

Fara nodded. "Yeah, I had the computer seal the whole section off and lock out all the consoles. He's in there all right. Oh yeah, one other thing, he had a pretty nasty set of scars across his face. That's what tipped me off. It looked like he just waved a derma plaster on his face to fix them."

"That would be our intruder," Rivas hmphed.

"Sir, do you want us to go in there and capture him?" Jakar asked.

"No," Harry said, "I'll deal with this. Don, you come in with me."

"Are you sure, Captain?" Jakar grunted.

"Stay out here and make sure he doesn't get past you," Harry said. "Come on," he said to Rivas as he entered his access code. The doors parted and they stepped inside.

Engineering was eerily quiet as they entered. All the consoles were shut down and only the steady soft thrum of the warp core could be heard throughout the main control room. Rivas drew his phaser and scanned the room as Harry walked into the core room. He found a few phaser scours in the bulkheads from the intruder and carefully looked around. Rivas entered from the side corridor and signaled it was clear as he went to check the other side.

Harry heard a sound behind him and spun around. His double had climbed down from the upper deck and was approaching him, looking a bit confused and weary.

"Give me my ship!" He snapped.

Harry slowly held up his hands. "I won't hurt you. Put the weapon down, please."

"Give me my ship damnit!" The duplicate snarled, brandishing the phaser at him. "I'm Harry Martinez! You are not Harry Martinez!"

"What are you going to do, kill me?" Harry asked.

The double looked unsure and then angry again. "The computers won't let me on. Give me control, now!" He demanded.

"I refuse," Harry said calmly.

The other Harry looked confused once more.

"I'll kill you." He said with a wry grin crossing his face.

"You can't kill me because I am you...we are a part of the same person," Harry said, keeping his hands out to his sides.

"You are not me," the duplicate insisted, starting to circle him. Harry turned with him as he did so.

"Yes, I am. There was a transporter accident," Harry explained slowly. "What do you remember from before?"

The other Harry furrowed his brow in thought. "Nothing! Just...darkness. Then I was free to take my ship!" He smirked again.

"You were a part of me. There was an accident, and you were separated," Harry said calmly.

"I don't like you," the duplicate growled. "I remember you! You never let me have fun!"

"Then get rid of me," Harry challenged.

The duplicate thrust the phaser towards him, but hesitated again. If Harry didn't know better, he looked down right terrified.

"You can't do it, can you?"

"Shut up!" The duplicate snapped. "I'll kill you!"

"You can't kill me because you need me," Harry said as they continued to circle. "We can go back to the way we were, so you don't have to be afraid again."

Suddenly the duplicate looked nauseous. He grasped his head in pain. Harry quickly moved in and struck the weapon, knocking it out of this duplicate's hand. The duplicate yelped in surprise and lunged towards Harry. The whine of a phaser pierced the stillness and the duplicate fell into Harry's arms, limp and unconscious.

"I really hope I shot the right one," said Rivas, approaching a bit warily.

"You did," Harry assured him. "Please tell me--"

. "He's only stunned," Rivas said, cutting him off and holstering his weapon before helping him carry the unconscious duplicate.

Harry nodded. "Let's get him to sickbay."

* * *

Commanders Log: Supplemental

Science Officer O'mara, with the help of doctor Penn, has thoroughly examined the strange yellow mineral. They may have isolated the factor that caused the transporter accident. Ms. Phoenix has reported that they are reaching a solution and are preparing a test run on the transporter. In the meantime, my duplicate is restrained in sickbay. This mirror image of myself is a dark reflection of my own personality. He seems afraid, angry, and irrational. I am concerned that his health may not be the best either. Doctor Okan is currently examining him and I am afraid the news will not be good.

* * *

A Few Hours Later

"It's the same as before, with your friend Commander Torress. Except for a few minor readings, he is the same as you Captain," Doctor Okan replied. "It's remarkable that a transporter duplication of this magnitude can happen twice. However, there is bad news."

"That being?" Harry asked.

"His metabolic rate is through the roof. His body is almost running in overdrive, blood pressure is volatile at best...I'm having to keep him sedated because at this rate his body will give out in a matter of hours."

"Are you saying he's going to die?" Harry asked.

Doctor Okan nodded. "Like I said, I'm not sure how long, but it doesn't look good, sir."

"Anything that you can do for him?" Harry asked.

"I'm doing all I can, Captain," Okan said sincerely. He scanned Harry with a device and then frowned at the readings. "This isn't good either..."

"What?"

"Your readings are too low. Have you been feeling a bit poor lately?"

"Very tired," Harry admitted, "but it's been a long day."

Doctor Okan scowled. "This isn't good. At this rate, you'll both die, Captain."

"What? Why?" Harry asked, surprised.

Doctor Okan shrugged. "I don't understand it myself, but you are showing the same decay, just in the other direction. Your metabolic rate has slowed down and, at the current rate of drop, you won't last much longer then he will." Okan scratched his head. "It's almost as if both halves can't survive without the other...I'm sorry sir."

Harry was quiet as he thought about it before he finally asked. "Can I see him?"

Doctor Okan nodded. Harry went into the ward room and saw his duplicate restrained in the bed. He seemed calmer, but he was tugging on the restraints, looking displeased. His face had been properly treated and healed. The wound wasn't even noticeable now.

"What do you want?" It asked.

"How are you feeling?" Harry asked.

The duplicate laughed at him and then winced. "I am hurting. Why do you care? Release me!"

"I can't do that," Harry apologized. "Doctor Okan needs to keep you here, because you are dying...we both are."

"So?" The duplicate smirked. He then groaned, again in pain, and suddenly went quiet.

Doctor Okan came in and scanned him again. He shook his head and injected something into the duplicate.

"He's not getting any better," Okan noted, "if you are going to do something, I suggest you hurry up."

"Captain Martinez," O'mara's voice said over the speaker. "I think we're ready to do a test run if you could come down to the transporter room. We might need Doctor Okan as well. We'll need to sedate the duplicate creature."

"Understood. We'll be down shortly," Harry said.

"Head on down there," Doctor Okan said. "I'll have to grab my kit and I'll be down after you."

They arrived in the transporter room where Fara, Jax and O'mara were waiting.

"Ah, Doctor, good, you're here," Sonya said, walking over to a top opening storage container where snarls and barks could be heard from inside of it. "I'll grab the little monster and you get in there and dope him up, ok?"

Doctor Okan nodded. "What exactly are we attempting here?"

"We're going to try to merge the two creatures back into one using the patterns from the buffer and the data the colonists provided us," O'mara replied. "I'm hoping it will work, but I'm not sure. I've never done anything like this before! Actually...I don't think anyone has."

"We need th' wild one ta be asleep when we put him on the pad. I'm afraid he'll eat th' other one," Sonya said.

"It should work," Fara said. "I've gotten all the parts swapped out and we purged the buffers. Hell, I even swapped out the emitter collector from the deflector room!"

"I've gone over all th' calculations myself," Sonya said, opening up the crate. "I grew up working on these damn things an' as far as I can tell, it should work. Ready, doc?" She asked, slipping on a heavily insulated glove.

Doctor Okan nodded as he drew out a hypo-spray and slid in a cartridge. Sonya sat motionless for a few seconds with her hand poised. With a lightning quick movement, she shot her arm in and the creature yelped in fear as she got a hold of it.

"Now!" She hissed at Doctor Okan over the cacophony of snarls and yips.

Doctor Okan quickly leaned in and a yelp followed the simultaneous release of a hypo. Soon the yelping quieted down. Sonya reached in and scooped up the duplicated creature and set it gently on the pad. It was conscious, but looked very drowsy.

"Get th' other one, 'chelle," Sonya said to O'mara.

O'mara walked over to the small pet carrier and picked up the other creature and pet it affectionately. It yipped and jumped up in her arms to lick her face. "I really don't like doing this. I don't want him to get hurt."

"I don't like it either," Harry said, "but the situation is more dire then you know."

O'mara looked at him quizzically and then placed the creature on the pad beside its duplicate. Sonya walked over the transporter control console.

"Ready for transport," she announced.

Harry suddenly felt a bit weak and leaned against the wall. "Energize..." he said quietly.

The transporter hummed to life and the two animals disappeared in a swirl of particulate matter.

"Initiating pattern buffer re-sequencing," Fara announced, making some adjustments.

"Reintegrating stored buffer image into pattern buffer," Sonya said, also making some adjustments. "Initiating pattern re-sequencing protocols."

O'mara looked at her datapad and made a few entries. "Adjust buffer Theta 389c by five percent and adjust the flux modulator by twelve percent."

"Working on it," Fara said. "Got it!"

"Patterns seem ta be integrated. I have only one object in th' buffer now,'' Sonya said. "Here goes nothin'...re-energizin'!"

The transporter made a high pitched hum and the particles reappeared, slowly forming into the creature again. It wasn't moving.

"Transport complete," Sonya said quietly.

"Doctor?" Harry said as Doctor Okan walked over and scanned it.

"It's dead," Doctor Okan announced, closing the tricorder as it made the tell-tail whining sound.

O'mara gasped and rushed forward. "What happened?" She asked as she scooped up the dead animal in her arms.

Doctor Okan looked at his tricorder. "Cardiomyopathy, based on the adrenaline and damage to the heart. It was frightened to death. The strain of being taken apart and put back together was probably too much for the poor thing."

"I'm sorry O'mara," Harry said, "I really am."

She nodded sullenly, forlornly stroking the dead animal's coat.

"Except for that minor thing, it seems to be working," Fara said encouragingly. "There were no errors in the recombination sequence."

"I have ta agree. It succeeded for th' most part." Sonya sighed.

"So, what are we going to do now, Harry?" Doctor Okan asked.

"It was an animal," Harry said pensively, "it couldn't think, so of course it was frightened. I can control my thoughts and my fears."

"Yes, but what about your other self," Doctor Okan asked. "What if he freaks out during the process? You'll end up just like that poor animal."

"He's me. He may be my darker parts, but he can think as well...obviously he evaded us quite well." Harry said, suddenly feeling great fatigue. "I can talk to him...maybe he'll listen."

"And if he doesn't? What then? You'll die Harry," Doctor Okan said to him.

"It's the same possible outcome, either way," Harry grunted as he leaned on the bulkhead for support. "We're running out of time." He winced, grasping at his head. "I've made my choice. Let's get to sickbay."

A few moments later, they arrived in sickbay. Doctor Okan immediately headed for his lab.

"Just wait here," he said to Harry, "I'm going to try to whip up something that should keep him conscious, but take some of the fight out of him,"

"Sounds like a plan doctor," Harry replied.

"Are you going to be ok here by yourself? Most of my staff is performing decontamination on the research team at the moment."

"Yes, I'll be fine," Harry said. "I'll call if I need anything." He walked into the ward room where his double was. The other Harry glared at him as he entered the room.

"Where have you been?" He asked.

"I may have a way to save us both...it's dangerous," Harry replied.

"Oh? What is that?" The double asked.

"We can use the transporter and hopefully bring us back together."

"I don't want to go back," the double growled. "You can't make me go back!"

He winced again and then screamed in agony.

"The pain is only going to get worse...we're both going to die. I don't want you to die." Harry paused to let his increasingly tired brain catch up. "I need you...like you need me."

The duplicate started laughing. "You are going to be really upset then," he cackled.

"Why?" Harry asked.

"I'm out of my restraints!" The other Harry cried, suddenly rolling up, slipping free of his restraints and lunging at his double, knocking him to the ground. They jostled for a bit, the aggressive double slamming him every time he could and Harry doing his best to fend him off.

The other Harry got the upper hand and subdued him. He quickly grabbed the unconscious Harry's duty jacket, pips, and swapped it with his own. Once this was done, he quickly dove out into the hall. He ran for a little bit, but didn't get too far before he again felt dizzy and disoriented. He stopped, caught his breath and then climbed up a few more decks.

* * *

Harry's eyes snapped open and he saw Doctor Okan leaning over him. Doctor Okan was speaking to him, but the words were unfamiliar until his senses came back.

"Captain! What happened?"

Harry sat up groggily. Despite the beating he had taken, it was only combining with the other agonies he was experiencing as his body slowly shut down.

"He...escaped," Harry muttered.

"Can you stand up?" Doctor Okan asked.

"Is that a good idea?" He heard Rivas ask from somewhere outside his blurred vision.

"I've already treated his injuries, Commander. Aside from whatever else he is experiencing, he should be fine, although for how long...I don't know," Okan said, rather perturbed.

With Doctor Okan's help Harry got back to his feet slowly.

"Yeah, he looks like he's just rainbows and sunshine doctor," Rivas grunted, hitting his combadge. "Rivas to Jakar, the double is on the loose again. We've got the other one down here in sickbay."

"Understood. I'll have the security teams get him tracked down," Jakar replied over the com, sounding less than enthused about this situation.

Doctor Okan scanned Harry again and frowned at the readings.

"Jakar if I may," Okan said after tapping his own combadge, "try to avoid stunning him."

"Why?" Jakar said, clearly annoyed.

"It will probably kill him, and we need him alive."

"Fine, I'll take him down myself if I have to," Jakar grunted. "Anything else?"

"No," Okan replied, "just try not to hurt him too badly."

The channel suddenly closed.

* * *

"Captain?" He heard a familiar voice say in front of him.

It was Terri. Of all people, why was she here? She still looked puffy from their prior encounter, but Doctor Okan had managed to patch her up well. But, she thought he was the other one. He'd have to put on his best poker face.

"Are you ok?" She asked a bit warily, her hand hovering over the phaser at her hip.

"Yes, Lieutenant I'm fine. It's just been a long day," he said, forcing a smile.

"What are you doing?" She asked, slowly inching towards a com unit. "Where's Commander Rivas?"

"I'm heading up to the transporter room. Ms. Phoenix tells me there may be a way to reverse the accident," he said, trying to sound sincere. "This little nightmare is almost over. I hope that this little incident hasn't hurt our friendship. You just missed Rivas."

"Uh huh," Terri said, still keeping her hand near her hip and inching closer to the wall panel.

Harry tried to think of something, anything, to stall her. "Lieutenant, I just want you to know that I appreciate all you do for me," he said, his forced smile continuing through a new wave of pain. "You do a lot for me Terri, I need to take you out to dinner one of these nights to thank you."

Terri seemed to hesitate at that. He could read a shadow of doubt now forming in her mind. She smiled slightly and blushed a little. "You don't have too, Harry, but that would be nice. I could use a treat after today."

Harry nodded. "Well, I need to get going," he said, heading down the corridor and climbing up the ladder.

"Lu to Jakar." Terri said, hitting her combadge as Harry disappeared around the corner. "He's heading your way."

He sighed once he was out of sight, glad that she bought his lie. He felt tired again and leaned against the bulkhead to catch his breath.

"Don't move," he heard Jakar's voice.

He looked up and saw Jakar in the corridor with a phaser aimed at him.

"Jakar? What's the big idea..." he started when suddenly he saw the other Harry and Doctor Okan exit the turbo-lift behind Jakar. He looked for an escape path and saw more security come around the other end of the hall.

"Please don't fight," Harry said, looking rather ill.

"You won't take me! I won't let you!" The duplicate snarled, but he was feeling equally poor.

"Listen to me, damn it!" Harry groaned, pushing past Jakar. "We are going to die! You need to go back to where you belong...back as part of me."

"NO! Never!"

"Look at you! Listen to yourself," Harry said sternly. "That fear you are feeling, that uncertainty? You want to control it, but you can't. I don't have that fear because I have the means of not letting it control me, whereas you don't!"

"Stay back!" The other Harry howled, but there was a bit of a sob in his voice, the kind a frightened child would make.

"I told you we needed each other. I can make it stop. You just have to listen to me."

"I'll kill you!" The duplicate wailed, lunging at him. Harry stepped to the side and backhanded him full force across the face. The double howled in pain and began to sob uncontrollably. "I don't want to be scared, I don't want to die..." he cried over and over again as he crumpled to the floor.

"Stop that," Harry said, helping him up and embracing him. "Calm down, please, just listen to me...calm down."

"I don't want to die," the duplicate snuffled.

Harry nodded to Doctor Okan, who walked up with a hypo and tranquilized the duplicate. He whipped out his tricorder and took a quick reading, shaking his head.

"It's now or never, Captain," he said.

Harry nodded and motioned for Jakar to help carry his duplicate, who was now quietly blubbering to himself. They walked into the transporter room and Jakar helped Harry and his duplicate onto the transporter pad.

"Are we ready?" Harry asked Sonya, Fara and O'mara.

"Ready, sir," O'mara said, activating her program again.

"Good luck, Harry," Fara said.

Harry nodded. "Energize!"

Words could hardly describe what Harry felt as the transporter room dissolved from his sight. All of his duplicate thoughts, memories and feelings suddenly merged with him and he felt as if he was literally being torn apart. He held his double tight, until he couldn't feel the sensation anymore. An incredible disorientation and pain overcame him. He felt as if he was experiencing it double fold, but he kept thinking. It was all he could do. He remembered the fate of the animal who went through the same thing and he tried to control his fears. Gradually his control increased over what seemed like a span of ages. Then, after feeling like he was stretched infinitely and then snapped back to his original form, he felt himself re-materializing.

"Transport complete," he heard Sonya report.

"Captain?" Doctor Okan asked, scanning him.

"I'm...fine," Harry said, smirking slightly. "I feel like my old self again."

"Sir, what happened in the stream, with the other you?" O'mara asked.

"I don't know," Harry admitted. He could already feel his strength coming back. "But, he's back where he belongs," he added, tapping his head.

* * *

Commander's Log 348011.24

The Raptor is returning the survey team back to Starbase 200 as planned. To say that the day's events haven't been an enlightening glimpse into my own psyche would be lying. To see one's own urges and fears manifested outside the control of the mind, allowed to run unrestrained, has let me grow to understand a part of myself that is part of my mind, quieted and controlled by discipline. I find it ironic that both halves of myself could not live without the other and were reluctant to destroy each other once they were separated. If anything, I'm sure this incident will definitely be one for study in the future, for the fields psychology and transporter physics.

Harry finished his log and signed off on it, handing it to Terri.

"So, Captain, I have to ask you something," Terri said.

"Yes, Lieutenant?"

"Well, earlier, your double, whom I sure was just trying to cover his tail, offered to take me out to dinner in appreciation for all I do for you," she said quietly. "Do you remember that?"

"Vaguely," Harry said, "I remember something like that...."

Land chuckled a little with his back to them.

"I was maybe thinking of somewhere that may cost a few extra credits, if you catch my drift," Terri said idly, scribbling something down on the datapad. "I think a dinner or two here, maybe a couple for Jack and I as well, may cover all I had to go through today."

She turned the pad around and Harry read the name. He made a slight whistle.

"Aya," he grunted, "that's quite the treat, Lieutenant."

"I think it's only fair," Terri said, "all things considered."

"You know what, for you? Anything," Harry said, smiling.

"That's what I thought," Terri smirked professionally as she took the pad back. "Let's make it lunch, they have a really good soufflé on the lunch menu."

"Can I come too?" Land asked.

"You'll get your chance," Terri said, "but you can butt out on the first one, since it's his apology to me."

Land spun in his chair. "Hey! That's not fair! I don't make nearly what he does! I'd take you anytime if I had half his credit haul every month!"

"Well, consider it a suggestion for the next time you screw up," Terri winked before sauntering back to her station. "You can always save up."

Harry twirled his finger to indicate Land to return to his station. "Steady as she goes, Mr. Land."

A small chuckle went around the bridge.

Everyone seemed relieved to have the Harry they knew back in one piece. Harry sighed and settled back into his command chair, sipping his coffee and watching the screen as the stars streaked by.

The End