This is my very first fanfiction... or any literary work written start to end... be gentle, generous, encouraging... I admit its not really any good. Maybe more bad than good. But I had fun writing it so I hope you have some measure of fun reading it if you can tolerate doing so. Mistakes of spelling and grammar are a work in progress as is learning to use the site. Thank you for your patience... or at least trying to be polite about it.
Chapter 3: The Grave
O'Brien and Bashir stumbled through the door of O'Brien's new home. Giggling a bit all the way. Their evening had been cut short when the pub closed without them noticing. The pub owner having a soft spot for Starfleet since the Dominion war let them ramble on only telling them to turn off the lights behind them as he left for home. It was the 24th century after all. After fiddling with the door lock they both landed in the living room of the new home which was built sometime in the late 1930s. Humanity's love of the antique kept it standing… now more than four hundred years old with not many adaptations to it.
O'Brien and Bashir sat on the couch for a moment. They both looked at each other. O'Brien snorted out, "I think you have had a bit to drink." Bashir with the best innocent expression he could muster, "Have I? I thought you did?" "Thank you I will have something to drink. Will you?" "Perfect!"
O'Brien staggered up walking to the replicator that being a civilian replicator could replicate alcohol staggering back with two glasses and a tall bottle of Irish Whiskey sitting down. Looking at the two glasses giggling as Bashir started to giggling with him as O'Brien tossed the glasses across the room as they smashed onto the floor as he popped the top of the bottle taking a swig before passing it to Bashir.
O'Brien let out, "Its good to be home!" "I don't want you to be home.""What!?" "I'm happy for your new position but I miss you on… the station." "Well yeah. But you know how it is. Wife likes it here. She can do her work better here. Molly has more friends. Its a better job. Hey save some for me." O'Brien leaned over snatching the bottle."Hey! Thats. Thats what I miss. You snatching bottles from my hand like a true friend. How can you snatch my bottle all the way from here?" "What?" "Can I be home then?" "My home is your home. Friend." "You are the best friend a man could ask for."
O'Brien started to sing: "And did those feet in ancient time…!" Bashir joined in, "Walk upon Englands mountains green...!"
Keiko stood leaning against the doorway in her night robe watching the display with Molly peeking behind Keiko's robe. Keiko with a smirk on her face looking across both of them,"Hello boys. I suppose I shouldn't ask where you two have been."
O'Brien looked quite guilty as he struggled to stand up, "Hello. I. We lost track of time. Look Bashir is here early." "You two will never grow up will you? Well I dont want you back in the bed with me like that so you can just stay out here. But don't complain when you two are suffering from lack of rest tomorrow."
O'Brien stood thinking about what his wife just said, "That means I'm not in trouble?"
Keiko smiled slightly before she leaned on the door frame before walking back, "Goodnight Miles." "Goodnight honey. I love you. You're the greatest." Keiko walked Molly back sighing with a bit of a half-laugh. O'Brien tried to sit down but slipped to the floor, "Where were we?"
Bashir and O'Brien together in unison sing "Jerusalem".
The next day Bashir and O'Brien with less excited but still pleasant chitchat sat at the table having breakfast. Molly was sharing her excitement of doing Halloween, something that Deep Space Nine didn't have. Bashir was thinking about it had only been a few months since O'Brien had come to Earth. Only a few months before that the Dominion war was still unfinished and unsure. It seemed like it had been years and years. How time plays tricks on the mind.
O'Brien interrupted Bashir's stupor,"Bashir did you hear me?" "Sorry what?" "I said in the office I have something I want to show you." "Oh right."
O'Brien walked up the stairs going into the office which had a nice view, he looked around the office which was still mostly unpacked, but the desk was clearly already much in use.
O'Brien took out a large pad laying it on the table, "Here it is. I was thinking the best way to get a look at Sloan's body is to transport it. But as you know Earth, Starfleet, and everyone else has transport inhibitors and sensors that makes transport a bit difficult. I doubt anyone would understand why we want Sloan's body for a look." "Right. I could just say I needed to confirm something." "And leave a record for Section 31?" Bashir thought about it, "Thats true I suppose." "The Academy transports all over the planet almost all the time, when in session or not, and for the most part I have noticed the Earth authorities barely blink an eye about it." Bashir interjected, "I am sure a dead body would raise a few flags." "Exactly. So what we will do is setup our own transporter network that way we can fool the system into not correctly registering what we are transporting. To do that we need to setup a transport enhancer at the grave site." Bashir smiled impressed, "That is really quite devious. I am glad you are on the side of good." "I must of picked it up from you" O'Brien and Bashir walking down the stairs as O'Brien shouted they would be at the campus. They walked out the front door to wait for a bus they summoned to come by.
At the Academy Starfleet Medical grounds which Bashir knew his way around quite well from being there found their way into one of the labs. After O'Brien had disabled the security system Bashir started to setup the lab to examine Sloan's body. O'Brien took the time to setup the transporter system. Bashir after about an hour had gathered an array of equipment periodically showing off some of the teaching tools that they used from a skeleton to that Bashir teased was a test gone horribly wrong of transporting someone's skeleton out of them while still alive and O'Brien telling the skeleton he would be glad to take him to the Alamo with them when they were done.
"Alright its all setup. I have the transport enhancer." Bashir playing behind the skeleton, "I've turned to bones while waiting."
O'Brien smirked and chuckled as they headed to the transporter room beaming to Buffalo, New York where the body had been interned. After a quick bus to the cemetery they walked through searching, O'Brien said he came at night and thought he had found it, apparently it was someone else's grave marker. But sure enough O'Brien found it again.
"Here it is. This is the one I found." "You sure? I mean surer than the last sure?" "Sure I'm sure." O'Brien snickered in self-satisfaction.
O'Brien set the device low to the ground taking some leaves to cover it as he took out a tricorder to scan the grave. "Low passive scan first. We don't want to set-off any devices waiting for us.""Right. He held his tricorder waiting for the okay." "Thats funny. Nothing. I would of left something." "Well. If thats my cue." He took out the medical tricorder scanning the grave. "His body is remarkably intact despite the time that has past. But quite dead." "Anything unusual?": "From the scan it all appears to be there. The device in the cranium. The surgical opening I made to get a better scan of the device. It all appears to be what I remember. But I need better equipment and to get my hands on him to be sure sure." "Well. Lets go. Back to the lab." O'Brien looked at the grave stone as a chill crossed over him. Like maybe Sloan really was gone. That his spirit was watching him somehow. Bashir looked at the grave with a similar chill like they were somehow being watched by Sloan's spirit.
O'Brien let out, "Creepy." "Its almost like hes watching us even still." "Thats even more creepy. I felt the same way." "You said it back to the lab."
O'Brien and Bashir walked out back to where they transported in back to the Academy making their way to the lab. O'Brien was imagining the corps sitting up and looking at them after the transport was complete. Completely ridiculous sure or why it would be scary is beyond him but there was just something about graves that could stir the imagination.
O'Brien tapped the panel, "Ready when you are." Bashir thought this wasn't too illegal yet, perhaps they should stop now, but why come this far and stop? "Go ahead."
O'Brien tapped a few panels as the swirling energy on the medical lab biobed appeared the body of sloan.
Bashir got busily to work, O'Brien mostly just nodded along to whatever Bashir was saying as he pulled up records and other equipment as needed, hour or so past with Bashir finally throwing his hands up in the air and then back to his sides.
Bashir finally let out "I was really hoping this long shot would do it. But its him. Down to every last detail far as I can tell. The device in his cranium is missing its operating system far as I can tell which is a bit odd. It also matches the obviously phony medical file I found that claimed it was to regulate a rare genetic brain disorder which I didn't detect during my first autopsy but it seems to be there now at least mildly." "Hard to believe that after all that the man went through he died at our hands." "Wait. All the man went through." "Sorry? What?" Bashir's mind was fathoming something truly out there, "Thats it. I need a tomographic imaging scanner with multiphasic resolution." O'Brien raised an eyebrow, "A what?" "There should be one in one of the science labs. Can you move it here?" "Depends. What does it look like? Also what are you thinking?""Its a very long shot but its worth a try. I will show you where it is."
A little bit later in a swirling array of energy a tomographic imaging scanner with multiphasic resolution materialized in the lab. Bashir got to work using it scanning Sloan's body which this scanner emitted a sort of soft white plasma that covered the body.
O'Brien trying to grasp what he was told, "So you are saying that its him but not." "I will tell you in a few seconds. Ahah! Its not phased correctly." "Meaning?" "Don't you know what this means? This is a clone of Sloan." "What!?" "The USS Enterprise years back encountered a near perfect clone of their Commander William Riker. When…" "Yeah I was there for it. The second transporter beam got deflected off the energy storm which caused a second Riker to appear. They both came from a substantial and recent pattern of matter so in my determination they were both real as the other, not a clone."
Bashir continues, "Right! But when the second Riker, who came to be called Thomas Riker, was brought to Starfleet Medical for examination they found that his body had a very very slight phase difference than other matter, which even Will Riker didn't have, it was discovered that the manner of duplication from the energy storm that provided the quasi-matter that the transporter uses for the incidental second signal to form the second Riker left like an imprint on him." O'Brien found it far fetched, "Really? So this Sloan?" "Yes! It has a very slight phase distortion that only this sort of device would detect." "Amazing. But why?" "Thats a good question. Why." "Is it possible this could of happened any other way?" "No way that is on file."
Both men looked at the body on the table, the autopsy presumably complete, the sinking feeling that they were again at a dead end. It seems Sloan did once again play a trick on the Grim Reaper and right in front of Bashir again. Bashir was impressed, mystified, and very slightly and coldly offended that once again he had been fooled by Sloan, the worst part was that he did this in large part to convince himself that he hadn't been.
Somewhere far away Sloan sat at his desk, cover in pads of work, that he diligently read not taking time to enjoy the little ironies or comedy that the universe threw up time to time. The pad entitled Bashir and O'Brien Investigation had an update, Sloan smiled rolling his eyes, but his smile soon started to fade as he read, he sat the pad down staring at the ceiling. "Well Doctor. You won't give up will you?"
