Disclaimer: Star Trek and all associated characters and situations are the property of CBS studios. Star Trek Online is the creation of Cryptic and Perfect World. All are here used by myself for entertainment purposes only, without permission or intent to profit.

Author's Note: I am aware that, officially, the isomagnetic disintegrator does have an area-of-effect stun setting. However, it seems bizarre to me that one could be hit non-lethally with a sci-fi bazooka, so for that reason and for reasons of story, mine has no stun setting. Inspiration for its effect on the holodeck comes from a scene in the Voyager episode "The Killing Game," where an artillery strike has a similar effect. I'm assuming here that the biogenic field the Undine use to hide from sensors is something controlled at will, since the Undine-Emma beams off the freighter just fine in chapter 7, but not so much here. This would also make their disguise forms more effective.

Edit: Stardates have been recalculated with the help of the TNG Stardate Calculator available on TrekGuide .com in order to provide more consistent Stardates across multiple stories. This does, however, make the Stardates here slightly out of sync with those used in the game's lore.


Into the Maze

USS Nautilus, First Officer Antori Drel's Log, Stardate 79796.7:

Two days ago, the Ferengi freighter Sopolkin was lost with all hands in a protostellar nebula, despite the best efforts of Lieutenant Emma Frost and Ensign Carlin Agran to rescue the crew using one of our shuttles. Now, Ensign Agran has woken me up in the middle of the night to tell me she believes she has new evidence about what happened on the Sopolkin and wants me to meet her in the holodeck. Ordinarily, I wouldn't mind meeting a young lady like Carlin Agran on the holodeck late at night, but this is business, not pleasure, and it sounds insane.—Computer, delete last sentence.

Commander Antori Drel made his way down the corridor, trying to straighten his uniform with one hand and rub sleep out of his eyes with the other. Suddenly, his communicator went off again. Carlin's voice came over again, but sounding much more urgent than before. "Agran to Drel!"

He removed his hand from his eyes and tapped his combadge. "Drel here. I'm already on my way to the holodeck, Ensign, you don't have to call-"

But Carlin interrupted him, her voice fearful and her breathing heavy. That alone was enough to send alarm bells ringing in Antori's head. What she said was another thing entirely. "Sir, I have evidence that Lieutenant Emma Frost has been replaced by a shapeshifting member of Species 8472."

Antori stopped in his tracks. He was familiar with all the most dangerous species Starfleet had encountered over the years, and Species 8472 definitely topped that list, beating out even the Borg. "What evidence?" he asked.

"There's no time for that!" said Carlin, sounding panicked. He heard footfalls in the background, then heavy breathing. A moment later, Carlin returned. "Sir, the alien posing as Emma Frost has transformed and is pursuing me in the holodeck. I don't know how much longer I can evade it. It's confessed to killing the crew of the Sopolkin and taking the place of their captain, as well as killing and replacing Emma Frost. There's evidence in the medical computer, records from a cell residue analysis I performed on samples taken from the body of one of the Ferengi crew members. There's also a simulation of the freighter's destruction that proves that it wasn't an accident. You have to get this evidence to the Captain immediately, in case I don't make it…"

Antori shook his head and broke into a run. "Hold on, Carlin! We're not going to let you die. I'm coming for you!" He tapped his combadge again. "Drel to Security! I want three full teams in armed with phaser rifles and photon grenades to meet me on the holodeck, post haste!" There was a startled, "yes, sir!" in reply. Drel ignored it, closing the channel. The teams were good, but if he didn't do something for Carlin soon, she wouldn't live to see them arrive.

"Computer, how many lifesigns are there in the holodeck?" he asked.

"Unable to establish accurate readings," the computer responded. "A biogenic field is interfering with the internal sensors in that section."

"Is Ensign Agran's combadge still active?"

"Affirmative. Ensign Carlin Agran is in the holodeck."

"And Lieutenant Frost?"

"Lieutenant Emma Frost is in the holodeck," said the computer.

If there was any truth to what Carlin had said about Emma Frost, then Carlin was in grave danger. Antori doubled his pace, dashing into a turbolift. "Deck Three, Holodeck!" He took a moment to catch his breath while the turbolift descended. "Computer, is there a program running on the holodeck?"

"Affirmative."

"What program is it?"

"Program is untitled," said the computer. "Program was created at 23:55 today by Ensign Carlin Agran. Program contains zero characters and one environment."

23:55, just after she called me the first time, Antori thought. "Describe the environment."

"Environment consists of a maze 500 meters square by 4 meters tall, completely enclosed in walls of neutronium alloy. Maze structure was randomly generated and was last modified by Ensign Carlin Agran 12.6 seconds ago."

"Modified? How?"

"Latest modification was the walling-off of the passageway directly behind Ensign Carlin Agran," said the computer.

Drel let out a slow whistle. "Clever girl," he said. Neutronium was the most resilient substance known to science and if Carlin could use the holodeck to manipulate a maze of the stuff to keep it between herself and the pursuing alien, she had a chance. But there was one weakness in her plan that she hadn't—and, really, couldn't—address. "Computer, lock Lieutenant Emma Frost out of the holodeck controls. Restrict verbal command access to myself and Ensign Carlin Agran. Authorization: Drel-five-beta-three-oh-one."

"Authorization confirmed."

The computer chimed, and the turbolift doors opened at the same time. Antori Drel rushed out, down the hall, and through the double doors to the holodeck.

He found himself in a blank corridor of the maze, with the walls, floor, and ceiling all made of the same black metal, neutronium. Somewhere in this maze, Ensign Carlin Agran was fleeing for her life from one of the most dangerous aliens Starfleet had ever encountered. Antori would need a weapon if he was to save her, and her maze gave him an idea. "Computer, disengage the safety protocols."

"Warning, safety protocols offline," the computer said.

Antori nodded. With the safety protocols disengaged, any holographic weapon he used would do damage just like the real thing: which meant his potential arsenal was limited only by the computer's database, and what he could realistically wield in combat. "Computer, one isomagnetic disintegrator." The silver shoulder-mounted anti-vehicle weapon shimmered into existence at his feet. He picked it up and hefted it into position. Antori had never fired something this big in combat before in real life. But when your only limit is your imagination, he thought, go big or go home!

Thus armed, he started into the maze. "Carlin!" he shouted. "Carlin Agran! Where are you?"

"Commander Drel! Is that you?" a voice shouted from somewhere ahead and to the right, though echoes off of the walls made the source difficult to pinpoint.

"Yes, it's me," said Antori. "Carlin, where are you?"

"I'm over here!" the voice said, this time definitely seeming to come from somewhere to the left.

"No! I'm here!" said the voice, from the right this time. "Don't listen to her. She's using my voice to trick you!"

Antori looked first one way, then the other, but he could see nothing but walls. "Computer, delete walls," he said, readying his weapon in case he needed to make a quick shot to defend himself or Ensign Agran. The walls shimmered out of existence and he saw Carlin, startled, staring right at him from a position ahead and to the left. He tracked the disintegrator to the right, toward the source of the other voice and saw…another Ensign Carlin Agran, staring back at him.

The Carlins stared at each other and stepped back, wearing twin expressions of horror. The one on the right turned to Antori. "Commander Drel, the alien is a shapeshifter. It's taking my form to try to trick you."

"It's true," said the other Carlin, "but she's the alien." She pointed to the Carlin on the right.

"Look, I'm the real Carlin," said the one on the right. "I answered you first, while she was too busy shape-shifting into me."

"I was too startled to answer, when I heard her answering first," said the one on the left. She glanced from the other Carlin to Antori and back again. "Look, there should be a simple way to tell us apart. When the alien took Emma Frost's form, it got subtle details of memory and personality wrong."

"It didn't remember that I get airsick in shuttles," said Carlin on the right.

"It forgot that Emma told me to use her first name instead of her rank," said Carlin on the left.

"Even in the form of Captain Pozel it gave itself away by not caring about the 125th Rule of Acquisition when Lieutenant Frost quoted it," the one on the right added.

"So, all I need to do is ask each of you for something only the real Carlin Agran would know," Antori said, looking back and forth between the two of them.

Carlin on the left shrugged. "Or you could stun us both and play it safe."

Antori hefted the isomagnetic disintegrator. "This doesn't have a stun setting."

"I knew that," said Carlin on the right. "See, the alien's slipping already!"

"No, I didn't know that. You're slipping," said the one on the left. "I've never had any cause to study heavy weapons."

"You mean you've never had a chance, being an alien at all…whereas I am familiar enough with Starfleet technology to realize the mistake," said the one on the right.

"We're getting nowhere like this," said Antori. He sighed. "Let's try something different. How about most embarrassing secret?"

Both Carlin's studied their feet. The one on the right answered first. "I hate shuttle rides," she confessed.

"You knew that because I told you I get airsick in them when you were pretending to be Emma," said the one on the left.

Antori shifted his aim to her. "Fine, your turn."

She took a step back, then closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she was looking right at Antori. "Jorel Quinn is my father," she said softly.

"Quinn?" Drel repeated. "As in Rear Admiral Jorel Quinn?"

She nodded.

"Of course he's my father," said Carlin on the right. "I love him to death!"

But Carlin on the left clenched her fists, trembling as a tear slid down her cheek. "Yes, he's my father, but I hate him," she said. "He abandoned me and my mother as soon as he knew she was pregnant."

"It's not like that!" said the other Carlin.

"Check his record," said the Carlin on the left, pulling her hair over her shoulder, and none too gently.

Drel looked from one Carlin to the other, shifting his aim between the two. "Computer, access biographical records on Rear Admiral Jorel Quinn, Starfleet Command."

"Access established," the computer said.

"List known offspring," he ordered.

The computer beeped negatively. "There are no entries matching search parameters in specified file."

"I could have told you he likes to keep family private," said Carlin on the right.

"You'd be lying," said Carlin on the left.

"There's private, and then there's completely off the record," said Drel. "Big difference." He shifted his aim to the Carlin on the right.

Her eyes went wide. "That's it? You've decided to kill me just because the computer can't find my name in his biography? Are you really ready to risk killing the wrong person over that?"

Antori shook his head. "No," he admitted. "But there is one other thing we could try. Computer: is Lieutenant Emma Frost's combadge still active?"

"Affirmative. Lieutenant Emma Frost is in the holodeck."

Drel smiled. "You know what that means? It means one of you isn't wearing the right combadge. The imposter is still wearing the combadge stolen from Emma Frost." Both Carlin's eyes went wide with the sudden realization. The one on the left looked expectantly at the other one. The one on the right just stared, stunned.

"Computer, lock on to Lieutenant Emma Frost's combadge and beam it into space, three kilometers off our starboard bow," said Drel.

The Carlin on the right made a strangled noise, but the transporter was already humming. The air around her shimmered, but when the transporter's glow faded, she was still standing there. The only thing missing was her combadge.

"I guess the alien's biogenic field kept the transporter from beaming it out with the combadge," said the other Carlin, the real one.

"Doesn't matter," said Antori, pointing the disintegrator at the imposter's chest. "You're out of uniform 'ensign.'" He squeezed the trigger.

With the safety protocols disengaged, the blast from a holographic isomagnetic disintegrator should have been enough to crack the hull of a shuttle. As it was, it blew out half a dozen holoemitters and sent the imposter flying across the deck. It landed in a smoking heap, but even as it fell it was changing, shifting and stretching until it was no longer a young Trill medical officer, but a monstrously large three-legged alien. Thick yellow-green blood flowed from its chest. But it did not lie still. It roared and immediately started struggling to its feet.

Drel fired again, but as the bolt passed through the damaged part of the holodeck it fizzled and vanished. It never reached the target.

"Drel! Over here!" Carlin shouted, holding out her hands. She was on the other side of the damaged section and had a clear shot.

Antori tossed her the weapon. She caught it easily, shouldered it while going down on one knee, and fired after only a moment's pause to aim. She's a natural, Antori thought, and she never looked so beautiful.

The blast blew out another section of holo-emitters and knocked the alien back off its feet with another smoking hole in its abdomen. It started to rise again immediately, but this time it was a struggle. Of course, this time, neither Antori nor Carlin would be able to fire on it again.

But they didn't need to. Just then, the holodeck doors opened and Captain Sokar burst in followed by three full squads of heavily armed security personnel. There was no need to tell them what to target. They leveled their phasers at the imposing alien and fired. The alien staggered under the barrage, but it did not go down. "Photon grenades, now!" Sokar ordered. A dozen photon grenades flew out. The explosion was deafening and it shorted out the entire holodeck, but when the smoke cleared the alien's body was torn apart, lying still.

"Captain Sokar, excellent timing," said Antori.

The Vulcan nodded. "When I heard you had called for three heavily armed security teams to the holodeck in the middle of the night, I surmised the situation was urgent and that my presence would be required." He surveyed the ruined holodeck, eyes coming to rest on the corpse of the alien. "Now, would you and Ensign Agran mind explaining how this came to be in my holodeck?"

Carlin laughed nervously, shoulders slumping with exhaustion. "It's a long story," she said.