Twenty games of Pac-man later, Elle couldn't stop yawning. She realized, belatedly, that she hadn't slept in... a really long time. "Lt. Martine? I'd like to go to my room and sleep, please," she said.

The lt. was speaking with her boyfriend (fiance?) Lt. Tomlinson. Neither of them looked too happy at being interrupted. "Can you give us twenty minutes?" Tomlinson asked.

"Sure," Elle said, slouching into her seat. She scrolled through the list of games, looking for a puzzle or a crossword, something easy...

Elle glanced up, yawning so hard her jaw popped. There were a few diplomatic people in here besides the regular crew, mostly the attaches and the aides. Her gaze fell onto one of the Andorians and she froze.

It was him. That was the Orion in disguise.

Elle didn't know how she knew, but that was definitely Sir Stab-a-lot.

The spy raised his head and locked eyes with her, raising an imperious eyebrow.

Elle gulped and glanced away. She could feel his gaze on her, and she shuffled over to Lt. Martine. "Lt. um, can I go by myself? I remember the way."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." She had to get out of here. Elle was really, really bad at playing natural. She was always the first one out during a bluffing game.

"Very well," Lt. Martine said.

"Thanks. Good night!" With a final glance at Sir-Sow-Seeds-of-Discord, Elle ducked out of the Rec hall. She headed for the lift. "Deck, uh-" She'd forgotten. "Deck 5?" she guessed, remembering something about guest quarters from one of the episodes.

The lift dumped her out on Deck 5 and she headed to the nearest computer panel. "Guest quarters, Eleanor Wilcott," she said, poking at the info button.

"Deck 6, Section G," the computer replied.

Ugh. So close. "Thanks," Elle told the screen. She got back in the lift and went down one. "Okay. Now for section G."

She turned the corner and bumped into a solid chest. Down she went with a thunk. "Ow." She looked up-it was the spy. Her mouth went dry and she scrambled to her feet. "I, uh, sorry. Sorry."

He stepped neatly in front of her. "Who are you?"

"Nobody. Just a kid."

"Hm. A human child who finds Andorians repulsive, maybe? Or frightening?"

"No!" Elle protested.

"Then why do you stare?"

She gaped at him silently. "I, uh," she said, and her eyes traveled to his antennae. They weren't moving at all.

His eyes sharpened. "Oh, I see," he said. "You were also the one who got Ambassador Sarek out of the way, aren't you?"

Elle stayed silent. She watched his hand flick toward his belt. She turned on her heel and ran for it.

He bolted after her.

There was no one on this deck. Elle pelted down the hall, looking frantically for a lift.

The Orion was faster than her. He cornered her. "Who are you?" he demanded. "A telepath? A spy?"

"No, I, I just, I don't know anything," Elle said, pressing against the wall. Her hands shook as she stared at him. At the knife.

"No matter. You already know who I am," he said, and the blade flashed forward.

Elle jumped to the side to dodge but she wasn't fast enough-a sudden pain lanced through her side, and then another one. She fell to her knees and stared in horror at the blood gushing into her hands, soaking her clothes. Suddenly she felt cold. Freezing. Dimly she registered the Orion spy moving away.

Wait. There was... if she could reach a wall panel, a comm board... she raised herself up on her knees and choked back a cry of pain. Yup. There it was. Pain. Lots of pain. "Help!" she called, her vision greying. It hurt, like nothing had ever hurt before and she started to cry. "Help me!"

Someone came around the corner and gasped. "Great Bird!" Then there were hands over her wounds, putting painful pressure. "Call medical!" Soft hands brushed Elle's hair back. "Can you look at me? Stay awake, sweetheart."

"Andorian," Elle gasped, grunting as the pressure increased. "He stabbed me. The tall one. His, ugh, his antenna didn't move." She shivered.

"Okay, okay, just hold on, kiddo."

Sickbay was only one deck away-a med team, McCoy in the lead, came rushing down the hall. "Oh, you've got to be kidding," he said, and pulled out a hypospray as he kneeled beside her. "I thought I told you to stay out of trouble," he griped, his expression gentle.

"Nngh," Elle replied.

"Stay with me, kiddo."

She whimpered as she was moved onto the gurney and closed her eyes to keep the dizziness away as she was rushed down the hall. Before she knew it, Elle was on her side in a bio-bed. She faded in and out, the only thing keeping her from drowning in pain the sound of McCoy's voice barking orders.

"Elle, stay with me," Bones snapped, touching her cheek gently.

"The Andorian," Elle gasped out.

"Don't worry about that right now." Another hypospray. "BP's dropping. Prep for surgery, Christine, there's too much internal bleeding."

That was the last thing Elle heard, and then it went dark.

A/N: See y'all Thurs.