Archer sat at his desk going over T'Pol's report on what had happened.
He found her assessment of the craft most interesting. Its configuration didn't match anything in their database and the materials it was made of were either very common or so rare they had never come across any of them.
The end result was that they hadn't the faintest clue as to where the craft came from. And that, at the very least, likely meant it wasn't of Andorian origin.
Which raised another question; why hadn't they known there were three Andorians aboard when they scanned for biosigns?
There was a buzz at the door.
"Enter." He said, rubbing his eyes. He hadn't slept much that night.
"You wished to see me, Captain?" Asked Phlox, who seemed quite chipper - much to his own annoyance.
"I did. How are our guests?"
"Yes. Yes." Phlox nodded. "The male is currently stable, although he isn't quite out of the woods yet, as you humans might say."
"And the woman?"
Phlox sighed. "She's a difficult patient." He admitted.
"How so?" He was getting that feeling again.
"She doesn't much like medical instruments, it seems." He paused, handing Archer a data pad he had been holding behind his back. "And I believe I've figured out why."
Archer took the pad, feeling oddly vindicated. He knew something had been off about her.
"What am I looking at here?" He asked.
The pad depicted an outline of a humanoid. Male. On it were several dots placed about the body. Phlox pointed to them.
"I found several subdermal implants on the male. Several of them were damaged, but the others proved to be quite informative."
The look on his face told him he was quite pleased with his discovery.
"What are they?" Archer asked.
"Well, it seems they're designed to give out false readings."
"What do you mean? What kind of false readings? "
"Biological ones. With one of these, I could make sensors think you're a Klingon. It's quite remarkable actually. You see, what it does is..."
Archer thought of his earlier conundrum.
"Could these be used to *mask* biosigns?" He interrupted.
Phlox considered the idea for a moment. "Absolutely. Although, they couldn't make you *invisible* to sensors. There are always heat signatures and all sorts of other ways to detect biosigns-"
"But one could, say, make it difficult, if not impossible, to tell what species one is."
Phlox nodded. "Certainly."
Archer stared at the data pad.
"And you think the woman, Cey, has these as well."
"I've checked and she does."
"Do you think she wanted to hide them from you? She must have known you'd find them on her crewman."
Phlox nodded. "The thought did occur to me."
"Are we sure they're actually Andorian as they say they are? They could be Xindi for all we know." The idea angered him. Maybe they'd been fooled. He was glad he'd ordered so many security officers to keep an eye on them.
"Well," Phlox began.
There was a hesitancy in his demeanor that Archer often associated with concern. And to his annoyance, it seemed directed at him.
"Despite how the male appears, he's most definitely Andorian." He continued.
"But you said these devices mask biosigns." Archer said, holding up the pad. "Changes them."
Phlox nodded. "However, " he paused, seemingly contemplating how best to formulate the rest of his statement. "There are other ways to tell, other tests. Such as DNA sequencing." He said. "Which I have done."
He paused. "That having been said, I do believe I know why she didn't want to be examined."
Archer looked back up at him.
"She's not Andorian." He said. "She's not any species I know of."
Archer's brows furrowed. If she wasn't Xindi... "Why would she want to hide that?"
Phlox inhaled sharply. "Well, there was something unusual about her scans."
Archer offered him the pad. Phlox took a moment to call up the correct file. It was an image of the skeletal system of a female humanoid. One Cey Varo, he supposed.
"You see this here?" He asked, zooming in.
"Her face? Yes?"
"It's wrong."
"Wrong? What do you mean, wrong?"
"If you compare this to what she looks like..." Phlox paused, pointing to a few regions. "Look at the narrowness of her Mandible, the elongated Maxilla, the slightly protruding eyebrow region. Does this look like the woman you met?"
Archer wasn't sure. He was looking at bones right now, it was difficult to compare. "You did say they'd had cosmetic alterations."
Phlox nodded. "Yes. But what she looks like doesn't match this bone structure. According to this, she should have a longer face, narrower jaw..."
Archer looked back down at the pad and tried to picture the woman he'd met. She had had a rounder face. And she most certainly hadn't had protruding brows.
"How is this possible?" He asked.
Phlox shrugged. "I don't know."
"Have you asked her about this?"
Phlox shook his head. "No. I thought it would be best to let you know first, captain."
Archer nodded. "Good." He looked down at the pad again. "I think it's time I spoke to our guests."
