A shrill scream split the air. "Mom! MOM!" Naomi cried.

Samantha ran into her daughter's room. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"There's something in my room," Naomi sobbed.

"What do you mean? What's in your room?"

"A monster."

"Sweetheart, you're too old to believe in monsters anymore," Samantha told her. She pulled Naomi close and rubbed her back soothingly.

"But it was real!" Naomi said. "I saw it! It was a flying snake thing!"

"Well there's nothing here now. Why don't you go back to sleep?"

"What if the monster comes back?" Naomi asked, lying back down.

Samantha tucked her daughter in to bed. "Just tell it to go away," she said. Giving Naomi a final kiss on the forehead, Samantha turned the lights out again and left the room.

In the darkness, two glowing crimson eyes appeared.

Naomi gulped. "Go away," she whispered. "Go away!"

The eyes blinked but did not disappear.


"Report!" Janeway ordered as she exited the turbolift.

"I am at a loss, Captain," Tuvok said, rising from her chair. "There are no ships nearby. All systems appear functional. There is nothing readily apparent that would have triggered a red alert."

"So you're saying that we got out of bed at four in the morning because the ship decided to play a prank on us?" Chakotay asked.

"That seems as likely an explanation as any," Tuvok said.

"Alright. I'm going to Engineering," Janeway said. "Now that I'm up, I'm up for good."

This was just great. First another restless night filled with nightmares, and now the ship's computer acting up. Would she ever get a break?

Engineering was a buzz of activity when Janeway arrived. Torres darted around the room, bellowing orders and checking monitors.

"B'Elanna." Janeway flagged down the engineer. "Do you know what caused the red alert yet?"

"No ma'am, but I'm going to check a few things if you want to lend a hand." Leading the way into a Jefferies tube junction, Torres slung her engineering kit over her shoulder and began to descend the ladder into the bowels of the ship. Janeway moved to follow, but jerked back with a start as soon as she touched the first ladder rung. It felt like ice.

"Is it just me or is it a little cold in here?" she asked.

"Seems fine to me," came B'Elanna's reply.

A shiver ran through Janeway's body. "Guess it's just me then," she murmured to herself. She grabbed onto the still-icy ladder and followed Torres down.

"I've checked almost everything I can think of that might be causing our problem," Torres explained as they climbed, "but so far everything checks out. It doesn't look like a system malfunction, but the computer core is the last thing on my list so if that checks out, I'll be at a loss."

B'Elanna said something else then, but Janeway didn't catch it. "What was that?" she asked.

"I said the computer core is the last thing I need to check—"

"No, after that."

"I didn't say anything after that."

I guess I'm hearing things, she thought.

They reached the computer core at last. The size of its metallic frame was unimpressive considering its importance to the rest of the ship's systems. Torres set her engineering kit on the floor and opened a panel to reveal a set of flashing green lights. She pulled out a tricorder and began scanning. "Everything seems okay."

A sudden movement out of the corner of her eye caught Janeway's attention, and she turned towards it. Nothing was there. She shook her head and turned her attention back to Torres.

"I'm still going to run a diagnostic while I'm here. Something's not right and I need to find it."

Another movement caught Janeway's eye. Again, she turned. Again, there was nothing.

"—could be causing the problem. What do you think, Captain?"

"What?" Janeway turned back to Torres.

"I said the only thing I can think of that might be causing the problem is…"

Another violent shiver ran through Janeway.

"Are you alright, Captain?"

"Fine. You were saying?"

"I said that… Are you sure you're alright, Captain? You're still shivering. I can handle this if you want to—"

"I said I'm fine."

Something touched the back of Janeway's neck. Something cold and smooth. Clapping her hand over the spot where it touched her, she spun around to find the source of the sensation. She found nothing.

"Captain?" B'Elanna sounded concerned.

Captain, a different voice hissed. Captain…

It's just my mind playing tricks, she thought. It's just in my mind.

Captain…

"Captain!" B'Elanna grabbed Janeway's shoulders and shook her back to reality. "I think you should go to sickbay. You don't seem yourself."

"No, I'm… I'm fine. I just… just a little sleep deprived. I need to go back to bed."

She turned and began to ascend the ladder, leaving a concerned engineer behind.

As soon as she was out of sight, B'Elanna tapped her commbadge. "Torres to Chakotay. I need to talk to you."