Cey stood next to Sor's bed. He was asleep. Sedated. She had been reluctant in allowing it, but the doctor had insisted it necessary in order for his body to recover properly.
She relented, but suspected that the main reason for keeping him sedated lay more in security than medicine.
She only hoped Sor would forgive her. She knew what Andorian pride was like and knew he would rather have suffered while he recovered than have slept through it. He would think it made him look weak - regardless of how untrue that was.
She pushed back his hair, revealing the small nubs of antennae that were beginning to grow back. They were proof of just how strong he and Thelano had been. In order to maintain their cover, they had constantly had to use measures to keep them fromsw regrowing.
They had routinely cut them down and used some sort of medical device to hamper their re-growth. The risk, as she understood it, was great that they'd never grow back fully. It was a lot to ask. They were, without a doubt, a credit to the Imperial Guard. To Andorians.
Glancing up, she eyed the guards as they once again changed shift. She'd been watching them for the past day. Two inside, two outside.
Each looked at her with curiosity. And suspicion. None had been willing to talk to her. It was obvious she was being treated with extreme caution, mistrust even.
She rubbed absent-mindedly at the subdermal implant in her left wrist. The doctor had insisted on a thorough check-up to make sure he hadn't missed anything after his foul-up with Sor.
The check-up had included many scans and she was certain it was only a matter of time before an irate Archer would walk through that door demanding answers to any number of peculiarities.
She sighed, wishing she had run into the Guard before the Pink Skins. This wasn't how she had wanted to deal with the humans of the Earth ship.
The sickbay doors opened. One glance at the look on Archer's face and she knew she had been right.
"Captain." She greeted unenthusiastically.
He wasn't alone. He was followed by the doctor and was flanked by the security officer and a new face - a Vulcan.
"Explain this." He said, holding a pad before her.
"What?" She asked. "No introductions?"
The look on his face said he wasn't amused, but he introduced each of his crewmates in turn. Then once again, he held out the pad before her.
She took it casually from his hand, her expression carefully neutral. She had expected the hostility, but she still found it irritating.
Examining the displayed image, she found herself surprised. There were two images side by side. On the left was a skeletal representation of herself, the location of most of her sub-dermal implants marked. The right side was of her face. Her skull, to be exact.
She had had no doubt that they'd find the sub-dermal implants. Although they had been carefully tailored to subvert most sensors and scans, the lacerations she and Sor had sustained during the attack had most certainly damaged them. But this. This she hadn't expected.
"Huh." She muttered to herself. "So that's what I look like."
Archer visibly bristled.
She sighed. "I wasn't actively hiding anything, Captain." It was difficult to keep the condescension out of her voice.
"Actively." Archer repeated. His eyes narrowed, accusingly.
She rolled hers. "Oh, come now, Captain. What did you want me to say? Should I have simply *handed* you Andorian secrets?"
The Vulcan looked perplexed. "If you didn't wish for us to learn of Andorian secrets, why allow Phlox to examine you in the first place?"
*Typical Vulcan 'logic'.* She thought. Always over-thought and presumptuous.
"The doctor, Phlox, had already discovered the implants." She said. "I couldn't have hidden that if I'd tried. Not if I wanted Sor to live. And as for this." She briefly lifted the pad she'd been holding. "I never expected you to see that."
She handed it to the doctor who took another look at it. He seemed pleased with himself.
"I admit, there are similarities to Vulcan and - what I assume to be - your natural bone structure." He said.
She raised a brow and shook her head. "Not enough, apparently." If she had known he would be so observant... She resisted the urge to rub at her temples.
Archer was staring at her, expectant. "The discrepancy." He said.
She sighed. She knew what he was referring to. This was not a subject that would ease tensions.
"This," she gestured vaguely at her face, "is an illusion." She could already see the confused looks on their faces. "You see me as a Vulcan because that's the image I'm projecting."
"Projecting how?" The Vulcan asked.
She sighed, already knowing how the Vulcan would react. "Magic." She said.
"There's no such thing as magic."
Cey waved the comment off. "Fine. Then think of it this way. I have the ability to influence how you see me."
She had had this conversation before. She knew what would inevitably follow.
"Wait." Began the security officer - Reed, was it? "Are you saying you can manipulate our minds?"
"Technically." She said, reluctantly. "But only how you see me."
That was a lie of course; she was a rather talented illusionist. But knowing as much wouldn't put them at ease.
"I don't much like the sound of that, Captain." He said.
"Neither do I." Archer agreed.
"You know." The doctor spoke up. "I'm reminded of the Earth creature with a similar ability. The Chameleon. It changes its color to blend in with its surroundings and to avoid becoming prey. Quite remarkable actually. And it's not the only creature of its kind. Countless planets have something similar. In fact, on Donobula..."
"This is different, Phlox." Archer interrupted.
The doctor raised an eyebrow. "I suppose on some level that's true."
"Look." She said. "I know this ability of mine seems threatening. It's why I don't advertise it." She sighed, agitated. This conversation always took so much time and rarely ended favorably for her. "I don't expect you to trust me. But your being caught up on *me* is just distracting from what's actually important."
"And what is that?" Archer asked.
"The Xindi."
Archer looked to Sor.
She nodded. "My job, our job, was infiltration and information gathering."
Archer's gaze traveled back to her.
"You expect us to believe that you and two Andorians infiltrated the Xindi?" The security officer questioned.
"Yes. And we succeeded."
"You know where their home world is then." Archer said.
She shook her head. "It was a research base. Nowhere near any of their planets. It seems they don't like to wage war where they sleep." She scoffed.
"We were on our way to rendezvous with an Andorian ship when we were attacked. We fled and wound up deeper in the expanse than intended. It was luck finding you, Captain, but it was always my intention to inevitably do so."
Archer's look said he was unconvinced. "Assuming that's true, I somehow find it difficult to believe the Andorians would willingly share their intel with us."
"Not without strings attached." The security officer agreed.
She shrugged. "I don't know what the Andorians intend to do with the information. But I never intended to ask them for permission to share it with you." She smirked. "I'm not a member of the Guard, Captain. What they *wish* is none of my concern."
"Then what is it that *you* want in return?"
She found the accusation oddly insulting. "Nothing."
"I find that hard to believe." Said the Vulcan. "From what I understand, you are a mercenary. Why would you have undertaken such a dangerous mission just to receive nothing for it in return?"
Archer spoke up. "I have to agree. Why would you help us?"
The question caught her off guard. The answer was long and involved, and far too personal.
Her voice was much quieter when she finally spoke, but she didn't bother to try and hide the bitterness she felt. "It wasn't just humans that were killed that day, Captain."
The room went deafeningly quiet.
Cey glanced at them, then away. She took a deep breath and turned to the doctor.
Holding out her left forearm to him, she pointed to a spot a couple of centimeters above the wrist. "I'll need you to remove the sub-dermal implant located here."
The doctor nodded. "Certainly."
She turned back to Archer. "It contains all the information I gathered. As I said, It's yours."