Chapter Six

Jason awoke in the brig, with a pounding headache, and an uncontrollable thirst. Groaning, he reached out automatically, and found a glass of ice cold water. It was halfway to his lips when he realised that, for more than one reason, he shouldn't have been able to do that.
"You're awake then, Captain." A voice boomed out.
"Shh." He winced. "Not so bloody loud."
"Sorry." The voice didn't sound remotely sorry, nor did it sound any quieter. "I'm sure your headache will pass. Drink the water, that'll help."
Jason did as he was told, doing his best to cast off the waves of pain and nausea that ran through his body whenever the voice spoke. Slowly sipping the water, he began to feel slightly better. He opened his eyes wider, and looked around. 'Still in the brig, then. What happened in the court?' Looking around more, he saw the source of the voice that had caused him pain, mere seconds ago. "Admiral?"
Quinn nodded. "You gave us all quite a scare, Jason."
"Us all being everyone except Captain Hill and Admiral T'Valt, you mean?"
Quinn smiled slightly. "Captain Hill is quite concerned about you. And Admiral T'Valt has…seen the errors of his ways. He won't be re-joining us, if the inquest continues."
Jason blinked. "If the inquest continues?"
Quinn sat down opposite him, and rested his hands on his knees. "Captain, what's the last thing you remember from the court?"
He cast his mind back. "I was telling you about Sammy's past with his parents, and then I woke up here." He paused. "Did Captain Hill shoot me again, or something? I feel like I've been Stunned."
Quinn shook his head. "No, when I said she was quite concerned, I meant it. I've placed her on a temporary leave of absence, following her…well, she hasn't taken the last 48 hours well."
'48 hours?' "How long have I been out of things?"
"Oh, nearly a full day." The Admiral said conversationally. "Time enough for me to call some of my friends in the Fleet, and make some inquiries, to confirm what I've suspected."
"Which is?"
Quinn looked at him sternly. "Captain, are you familiar with a group called The Cabal?"
Jason was aware of getting to his feet, and then…

He woke up, in the brig again. Quinn remained in the position he was in before, but Sammy had appeared out of nowhere. "He's waking up, Admiral."
"Good. I had a feeling this might happen." He sounded regretful.
"Sorry, sir, I must have slipped and hit my head." Jason frowned. "You were going to tell me how long I'd been unconscious?"
Quinn nodded. "As I suspected." He looked at Jason. "Captain, you were unconscious for a full day, and then, a little while ago, you passed out again for two hours. You have some sort of mental block over the time you don't recall. I said a particular word, and you attempted to attack me."
"Attack you?" Jason was shocked. "Sir, I'd never…you can't believe I'm one of those Undine things."
"Oh, I don't. Sadly for you, I believe you're something much, much more dangerous."
"Uhh…like what?"
Quinn gestured to Sammy, who approached his friend sadly, and hit him with a hypospray full of…something. "This'll help, Jay." He said softly, then moved away quickly. He and Quinn moved behind the brig entrance, and brought the forcefield up. "I'm sorry, Captain." Quinn said. "This is for your own good."
"I'm not a danger to you, sir!"
"No, but you're a danger to yourself. That's how Section 31 programmed you."

Jason froze. Part of him, a large part, was screaming at him to black out again, but something stopped him. 'The drugs, I suppose.' He thought to himself, distractedly. "I've never heard of Section 31, sir."
"No? Then you don't remember screaming 'Bravo Romeo One, Sigma Golf One'?"
"X-Ray Uniform One." Jason whispered. "What…what does that mean?"
"Standard identifier code amongst Section 31 personnel. A cry for help from a deep cover operative in distress. Seemingly nonsensical code that means 'My life and my secrets are in danger. Help me'."
"But…I'm not a deep cover anything." Jason pleaded with them, looking to Sammy. "Sammy, man, you've got to help me. I don't know what's going on. I've been accused of killing myself, of being an alien shape-shifter from Fluidic space, and now I'm a spy? I just want to go home."
Sammy started to say something, then stopped, looking at Quinn, who nodded. "Jay-Mac…nobody said anything about Fluidic space."
Jason stared at his best friend. "Then how did I know that the Undine are from there? Before yesterday, I'd never heard of them."
Quinn looked at him. "Captain Whyrens, please tell me everything you know about Species 8472."
"Species 8472, also known as the Undine and the Groundskeepers. First encountered by the USS Voyager in 2373, after the Borg had discovered Fluidic space via Species 8470 and attempted to assimilate the Undine. Some time later…"

Jason continued to reel off information, by rote, about the Undine for some time after this. Then, Quinn moved him onto discussing the Omega molecule, and fleet actions for the last four years. All classified, all restricted information…and all pouring out of Jason like water.

When he'd finished, Jason sat back down, stunned. "What was that?"
"That," Quinn provided, "Was partly what was done to you. Now, although I don't know the true identity of whoever was found killed on Earth, I think you do. Please tell me everything you know about Section 31."

Jason opened his mouth to protest, but different words came out. "Article 14, Section 31 of the United Earth Starfleet charter states that certain rules of conduct can be bent in times of extreme crisis. Based on this, the organisation known as Section 31 came into being. Founded in the 20th Century beginning at the encounter of three time travelling Ferengi at Roswell, New Mexico, it was ratified in the 22nd Century. Section 31 operates to protect the good of Starfleet and the Federation from attacks, both external and internal. When the Federation truly began, a similar group using the same name was created as an external and autonomous group of Starfleet Intelligence holding discretionary powers in non-specific matters. Operations of Section 31 include the assassination of old Earth president John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the kidnapping of the NX-01 Enterprises' CMO to assist the Klingons, the attempted sabotage of the Romulan Warp 7 test drive, the accidental destruction of Subspace in the Lantaru sector, the assassination of Klingon Chancellor Gorkon, the public discrediting of Romulan Senator Cretak, and the creation of a virus designed to wipe out the Founders. " Jason took a breath. "There is a group of people known to oppose Section 31, known as the Kirk Cabal. Started by then-Captain James Tiberius Kirk in 2268, the Kirk Cabal charged itself with identified and neutralising all elements and operatives of Section 31, which led to Operation: Intersect."
Sammy blinked. "Intersect? What's that?"
Jason frowned. "Operation Intersect is based on an old technological experiment from the early 21st century, specifically the intelligence agencies of the United States of America. Uploading all vital and pertinent information directly into an agents' mind, the true level of intelligence stored by such an agent would be hidden from all forms of torture and interrogation techniques, only coming to the surface when certain trigger words or stimuli are presented. First Section 31 work with Operation Intersect was carried out with Section Sub-Commander Sloane…"
Quinn pondered this, and muttered to himself as Jason continued. "We always thought that there was some way that Section 31 agents were slipping past us."
"We?" Sammy glanced at him.
"The Cabal. I'm a member."
"So, do you know how to help Jason?"
Quinn shook his head. "I'm sorry, son. The only way we can help him is to find out who did this to him, and get them to reverse it."
"That'll never happen."

Quinn and Sammy turned to look back at Jason, who looked at them with scorn. "You think you've detained me, and you're going to stop me?" He chuckled mirthlessly. "You have no idea what you're doing, old man."
Quinn grimaced. "Who are you?"
"Me? I'm Captain Jason Whyrens."
"No, who are you? Are you an embedded personality?"
"Maybe I'm the real personality, did you consider that, Jorel?" Jason stood, and walked towards the edge of the forcefield. "Maybe the idiot whom you've come to know as me is the fake personality, whilst I've been trapped in my body, watching him make mistake after mistake."
"Like what?" Sammy asked.
"Trusting that bitch, Hill, for one." Jason shook his head. "I told him not to trust her, but he was such a good pawn of Starfleet, he ignored me." He eyed Quinn. "She's part of your Cabal, isn't she, Jorel?"
"That's classified information."
"Oh, please. Doing secret work on the Daikatana? A ship that is mostly crewed by Cabal members, apart from that fool T'Valt? It's obvious who she works for. I knew had to get back to report that little tidbit to my superiors, so I arranged for my body to suffer a shock, allowing me access to the transceiver lodged in my cerebrum. Sadly, the other personality took control, and I couldn't do anything to warn my handler."
Quinn shook his head. "I cannot believe you're the real personality of Captain Whyrens."
"He isn't." Sammy said, sadly. "I know my best friend. This isn't him."
Jason laughed. "Oh, really? You know your best friend. You know everyone and everything, the proud, wise Doctor…and you're still that little boy crying in the night, waking up screaming because his daddy touched him."
"Shut up."
"The little boy who hides his pain behind humour and joking, never really sure where he fits in in this perfect world, because he was never shown love like normal people. You maladjusted freak. I took pity on you before, Edwards, and now that's all I can feel towards you. Pity." Jason shook his head. "You're pathetic."
"Shut up!"
Quinn put a hand on the Doctors shoulder. "Doctor Edwards, he's just trying to hurt you. He knows we can get him out of your friend, and he wants to prevent that, even if it means killing the host body."
"Yes, Sammy, that's all I'm trying to do." Jason mocked. "Get rid of me. If you can."
Sammy pushed his face up as close as he dared to the forcefield. "I will, you son of a bitch. I'll get my best friend back if it kills you. And I hope it does."
"Try it, then." Jason stared at him defiantly.

I did the right thing.

I served on the Daikatana for months, earning my rise in rank. When I was approached by the ships XO about secret work for the good of the Federation, I said yes immediately. I didn't do it for honour or glory (and considering the nature of the job I did, I didn't get any, anyway) but because I've always prided myself on doing the right thing. If someone says to you 'You can do one thing which will make people's lives better, but nobody will ever know', you'd still do it. I know I did. And that one thing became two, which became three, and four, and…I lost count how many times I saved Federation lives and civilisation as we know it, on the whole. But it's a lot, believe me. The Kirk Cabal was doing good things, and putting things right where Section 31 meddled. We fought a dirty fight, and I learned how to do things that they never taught me at the academy. It made me a stronger person for it, tougher and less fragile, as I had to be when I was fighting a war against the enemy – when the enemy could be anyone and anywhere I looked.

Eventually, though, I had had enough of fighting the good fight, and I just wanted my life back. I was given my own ship, and save for a few missions here and there that helped out the Cabal, I was a regular officer, leading regular men and women on a regular starship. I didn't have to worry about preventing assassinations, and did have to worry about routine deskwork. That's when I met Tahiri, who came onto the Fizzgig with me. Not a member of Section 31 or the Kirk Cabal, a regular officer, like I wanted to be, who became a good friend.

A good friend like Jason was turning into, before…well, you know what I found out. He was a murderer, an assassin, and somehow he'd taken the form of the real Jason Whyrens. So, who was it down in the brig right now? An Undine? A Founder? An advanced scout for some unknown shape changing race, looking to destabilise things for their own end? I didn't know, and worse yet, the Cabal didn't know either. That worried me more. The Cabal had intelligence operatives everywhere, at every level of the Fleet, and with representatives from nearly every race in the Federation – for them to not know something of this magnitude…it honestly frightened me. Worse yet, not only could I not tell, neither could Doctor Edwards. The man who was the best friend of the person replaced by a shapeshifter, and he couldn't tell the two apart? No, that didn't make sense, unless he was in on it, too.
Also, Corspa can detect things outside of what humans can, including the bioelectrical field of non-human life forms. And Ensign Anson, with the VISOR, can too. Why didn't they notice it? Another thing, too…if Jason was an infiltrator, why would he have done that practical joke with the pirates? Or encouraged joking about the size of the Fizzgig?

None of this added up at all. And why was Admiral Quinn down there with him now? I was the investigator here, wasn't I?
'Because,' a little voice in my head told me, 'You're emotionally compromised.'
Don't be stupid. I'm not compromised, I'm above that.
'Are you so sure?'
Of course I'm sure. I'm better than that, stronger than it.
'You spent a day investigating what happened on Earth, with the three bodies. Why didn't you go and ask Jason for his side of the story?'
He couldn't be trusted, that's why.
'Are you sure he was the one who couldn't be trusted, here?'
What's that supposed to mean?
'You're the genius. Can't you figure it out?'
I scowled at the voice, which was starting to sound more and more like Corspa.
'You had a duty to perform, and you failed.'
How did I fail? I perceived a clear and immediate threat to the vessel and her crew. I apprehended the suspect using non-lethal means, and he's standing trial.
'Not as an Officer, Katharine. You failed your duty as a friend. You owed it to Jason to find out the truth, from his point of view, and you didn't do it.'
I sat down, hard. Is that why I haven't gone to see him?
'Let me ask you this – how do you feel about what you've done?'
I did the right thing.
'Did you? Did you really? You've just examined the evidence from the crew: you've seen how he acted around his fellow officers, around his closest friend, and around you. Can you honestly tell me you think he's a spy, or a murderer?'
He acted strangely when I told him the doorpanel shock was an accident!
'Don't make excuses. It wasn't an accident, and you know it. You lied to him – so maybe he was just detecting your lie.'
But he had no reason to doubt me!
'He thought you were after his command. And, the first chance you got, you shot him and took it, giving him plenty of reason to doubt you now, wouldn't you say?'
Yes.
'And don't evade the question. You're a spy, and you've met plenty of murderers. Do you think he's one of them? Has he shown any concrete, hard evidence to support the notion that he could kill in cold blood, and then carry on with life as normal?'
…No.
'So. How do you feel?'
I drew my knees up to my chest, as I felt tears start to run down my cheeks.
Ashamed.
'He put his trust, his faith, in you. And you shot him, without warning, instead of hearing him out. That's not what a good First Officer does, and not what a good friend does.'
I know.
'So. How're you going to fix it?'

The voice left me alone after that, and I was grateful for it. But some part of me kept insisting that I did the right thing.

Didn't I?

"Oh, look, the Pink Skin has a visitor." Captain Whyrens…Corspa couldn't bear to think of this thing as 'Jason', crooned at her. "That is what your people call my kind, isn't it? 'Pink Skin'?"
Corspa shrugged. "I wouldn't know, I was raised to not use racial slurs."
"Pity, I was so looking forward to some banter."
"Whatever."
Whyrens looked incredulous. "'Whatever'? Where's the respect due your Captain?"
"You're not my Captain."
"No? Don't you Andorians have a saying? 'A man is no more than the sum of his memories, a culture no more than the sum of its history'? If a man is no more than the sum of his memories, and the memories I share with my…lesser personality are the same – indeed, I have more memories than him, as I recall my induction into Section 31 – then we are the same man. Unless, of course, your people are as flawed as they are ugly."
Corspa raised an eyebrow. "Ah, attacking my personal image now?"
"Whatever works, my dear." Whyrens smirked, then continued. "As I was saying, assuming the Andorian adage is true, then I am your Captain, and should be afforded all due deference."
"I can't imagine my Captain using the term 'all due deference'."
"He's squandered our intelligence, our keenly refined intellect, on trivial pursuits as…playing dress up on the bridge. Now, if I had control of my body, as was my plan…well, anyone who hinted at piracy would have been fired out of the torpedo tube."
"My Captain would never issue a threat like that."
"He's weak." Corspa turned to leave, so Whyrens added, "Like your boyfriend's weak."
Corspa turned around, slowly. "Oh, yes. I heard about what you said to Sammy when he was in here earlier."
Whyrens grinned. "Doesn't that just make you mad?"
"Furious."
"So, little girl…what're you going to do about it?"

Corspa matched Whyrens' smile with one of her own, and lowered the forcefield.

Sammy grimaced as he inspected the unconscious form in front of him. Lacerations, bruising, a shattered nose, a dislocated shoulder, broken arm, four cracked ribs and a punctured lung. He looked up at the perpetrator of this violent act. "Remind me to never make you angry."
"Just pick up your dirty socks after you, sweetheart." Corspa smiled sweetly.
Sammy shook his head, and got to work repairing the extensive damage the head of security had inflicted on the body of his best friend. "What did he say to you to get you riled up, anyway?"
"You don't need to know."
He shook his head. "I need to know for the report."
"Okay, you don't want to know."
He snorted, and grabbed the protoplaser. "Whatever it was, you didn't have to go all Ushaan on him."
Corspa merely smiled. "Hey, you're learning about my culture!"
"Makes sense to, I don't want to offend you by giving you the wrong sort of gift for our anniversary."
"We're going to have an anniversary?"
"I…well…" Sammy concentrated on his work more, to prevent having to look up at Corspa.
"Anyway, Captain Whyrens said some…un-nice things about you."
"Ah." Sammy finished up his work. "You didn't have to defend me."
"I know. I wanted to."
Sammy looked up at her. "Well…thank you. But I could have done this to him myself."
Corspa snickered. "Yeah, right."
"I could have!"
"Uh-huh."
He shook his head, and nodded to the security guards. "Right, I'm going to revive him. Stand ready."
When he saw the guards had levelled their phasers at the motionless body, Sammy pressed a hypo against Whyrens' neck, and injected him.
"Well…that was certainly a new experience." Whyrens said, opening his eyes. "I've never been quite so thoroughly pummelled by a girl before."
"Woman." Sammy corrected.
Whyrens grinned up at him. "All fixed, Doctor?"
"Yes. You can return to your cell, now, Captain."
Whyrens sat up, and allowed himself to be restrained at the wrists. "Very good. I'm pleased to see that someone here," He shot a dirty look at Corspa, "Still retains the respect for his Captain." Seeing the Andorian shake her head in disgust, Whyrens continued. "I am, after all, the king of this community."
"Deposed king, perhaps." Corspa couldn't stop herself.
"A deposed king is still a king, Ensign. Bereft of his crown, he still has his noble bearing and command of his men. And women." He added as an afterthought. "You know, maybe I'll spare your life after all, when I destroy this ship to hide the evidence that I'm here. Section 31 could use someone with your fists."
"Never. I'll take my chances on the Fizzgig."
"So be it, then." He tested the manacles, found them to be depressingly secure, then nodded at his guards. "Well, come on then, Nameless Drones. Let's go join an Away Team so you can be brutally murdered and I can escape."

The guards escorted him out of Sickbay, and down the hall towards the brig. As they were passing the shuttlebay doors, Captain Hill caught up with them. "Jason? Wait!"
Whyrens eyes went wide, as he saw the physical state of the woman who had shot him. 'Red eyes, pinkish nose…she's been crying. About me? How touching.'
"I'd like a moment with the Captain, men." She was saying to the guards.
"Just one moment, then, Captain." The burlier of the guards stated, as they stepped a few feet away, to give them privacy.
"Oh, Jay, I'm so sorry. I should never have doubted you. I can't believe you're a murderer."
"Kat…" He whispered back. "They…they found me guilty."
"What?"
Whyrens nodded sadly. "There wasn't enough evidence to contradict what you'd said in court, so they found me guilty, and they're taking me to….to be executed."
"No! No, they can't!"
The guards stepped back into position. "We have to go now, ma'am."
"You can't take him! I order you to let him go."
The other guard looked sorry. "Ma'am, our orders come from Admiral Quinn himself."
He pushed Whyrens gently in the back. "Let's go."
Whyrens hung his head, until they disappeared around a corner from Kat. Then, he allowed himself one tiny smile, as he heard the sobbing start.