Sloan felt very weak; for the last days, he had woken up in the infirmary only to doze off minutes later, while the doctors repaired his broken body. He moved his left hand's fingers freely but his new legs still did not answer him. His mind was foggy, he suspected it was due to the painkillers that allowed him to rest.
He looked around, realizing that the sickbay was different from the last time he had been awake. He was now in a separated room, isolated from the rest of sick bay. Before, he had always watched the medical personel working around, now, he noticed a security officer was his only company. He surmised they were back in Starbase 217.
He was alive and away from the Romulans; he supposed he should be grateful, but if once surviving had been his first priority, now that he was safe, he had other pressing matters.
"Where is the other me?" he asked the officer in a croaked voice; he noticed how dry his mouth was. He had not eaten or drank for days, probably; he could not tell how much time had passed.
The guard just stared bankly at him, and frowned slightly. Sloan had to wonder if the officer was aware of the existance of his clone; he forced his mind to think clearly and concluded the man was probably assigned to the base and only had orders to watch him.
"Am I a prisoner?" he inquired this time, his voice hard, trying to hide certain anguish. He had his eyes on the security officer, and if his mind were not so clouded, he would be already assesing the situation, thinking of a escape route.
His only companion did not answer this time either, and Sloan decided it was not worth to ask more questions. His gaze surveilled the room dispasionately and returned his attention back to his recovered fingers. He was feeling tired. Sloan closed his eyes.
At that moment he heard the door and his eyes fluttered open. He had expected another doctor or nurse, but instead Ba'el went in, followed by a commander he recognized from the Intelliegence Division. Sloan studied every officer in the division and then decided who could prove useful to his organization; when reviewing the man now in front of him, he had decided againts him. The commander was not one to simphatize with his ways; he was not surprised Saavik had chosen him to conduct his interrogation along with her aide.
"You aren't a prisoner, not yet," he puntualized as greeting, admitting clearly he had been monitoring him.
Sloan willed his foggy mind to focus, but it refused.
"The person you refered to, the other you, is dead, but he clarified many issues before passing away." The commander had neared his bed and taken a seat beside him. The position was not very intimidating, but still, unable to move, Sloan could only feel trapped. Ba'el stood near the door, watching him, and a flicker of her former rage shone in her eyes, mixed with... pity? He could not be sure in his state of mind.
"How?" he asked hoarsely; it was his dry throat betraying him; he did not feel any emotion towards the clone, just curiosity.
"Koval killed him," Ba'el replied curtly. The last he remembered, it was his clone the one pointing Koval with a gun and threatening the Romulan's life.
"I can actually disclose you what the man known as Luther Sloan revelealed to us," the commander said, probing his mind with his eyes.
"I am Luther Sloan," he retorted harshly.
The officer only nodded, "Yes, you are, and so was he. Do you want to learn who you really are?"
He could not know the other Sloan had heard that same anoying question before.
It was an outrageous one and fury raised inside of him. The interrogation was not unfolding as he had ever expected. "I know who I am! Do you want me to tell you who you are?!" he tried to get up, but his healing body refused to obey him.
The intelligence commander was shaking his head. "You don't." His voice was strangely soft. "Let me tell you." And he stood up and ordered the computer to start a recording.
A figure like himself formed in the room. He recognized the background, Koval's place, and the clothes the man wore. It was his clone. Koval was also there, his teeth gritted. Admiral Saavik's voice was heard. Inwardly, Sloan gulped down and listened intently.
Fury consumed him. "It's just an outrageous lie," he sentenced when the recording was over. The rage that burned inside of him fueled his mind and he could think clearer every passing second. "You're just believing the Romulans' lies."
He tried once more to stand, so he could convey his words better, but again he was unable to move; that only infuriated him more, but as always, he tried to remain cool.
"Don't you see what they are doing?" he asked the Starfleet officers. "That Koval, the chairman of Tal Shiar, has been my tool for years. I have used him, I have kept him under control, for the benefit of the Federation. And now he's trying to get rid of me, of me and of the best agency the Federation has!" He raised his voice in his last sentence.
The two officers just looked back at him and could not hide their surprise at his defense. Sloan had difficulty understanding how they could actually believe what Koval and the clone said.
"He..", the operative explained pointing at the place where once Koval's image had been projected, "has created that clone of me and all that unbeliable story just to destroy me."
But he could see in the officers' eyes that they did not believe him.
"So you are Luther Sloan, head of Section 31, Federation citizen, and you on your free will and with no outer interference leaded such agency, and all its missions and projects?" Ba'el asked, her voice neutral.
That was exactly what he meant. That story of him being just one of many clones doing just what Koval planned on him was ridiculous. "Yes," he affirmed. For a milisecond he thought that at least Saavik's aide had finally undestood.
"So you willingly and being very aware of our laws, created a bioengineering research center?"
"Ah," Sloan sighed, disappointed, "so that's all that interests you." He quieted for a moment, looking down; when he focused his gaze on Ba'el again, her eyes were as fierce as ever. "But you will never understand. I am a much better person thanks to bioengineering. The ban is a huge mistake, and all I have done has only served the Federation better."
"All you have done has only served Koval," the other officer sentenced.
"It's the truth," again he noticed the softnes, the pity hidden under those words. "You were created by Koval to serve his means. He has only manipulated you since you were awoken in that facility you thought to build by yourself."
If stares could kill, certainly the Intelligence officer would be already dead. Sloan, realizing he could not convince them of the truth at that moment, switched strategies.
"And if what you say is true, what are you accusing me of? If I was truly manipulated from the start, since the very moment I left Pidgeon Prime – in no way he would consider himself just a newly born clone -, which are the charges againts me?"
"We haven't made any charges againts you," the Intelligence commander clarified.
But Ba'el added swiftly, "Yet."
"But don't you see I am the victim here?" It was not really a plea.
At the other side of sick bay, Saavik watched them. His question penetrated the deepness of her mind. Sloan did not believe that words, he was still convinced that he was the true and only Luther Sloan, but it was a valid question anyway. She looked at the anguish of her past and could understand.
She turned at the man by her side and asked, "Do you considere yourself a victim, Doctor?"
Bashir, startled by the sudden question, answered too quickly, "No, ma'am."
But he was also thinking of Pidgeon Prime, and of his parents. He was reliving those dark days when he had discovered the truth about himself, and how he had felt cheated. He remembered lively thinking his parents had not wanted him, the real him, and had made him a different person. Againts ethics, againts the law, against him. They never asked his consent.
He had been a victim, but a victim who had benefited from the experiments. He had stopped pitying himself a long time ago and had embraced who he was.
And he could also understand why Sloan refused now to accept who he really was. Julian contemplated the furious man, who once had played him so well. He looked at the Vulcan admiral again. She was still staring at him with her dark impenetrable eyes. Julian could not comprehend the real reasons why she had asked the question. He shared wih her his afterthought, "I guess nobody likes being a victim."
Saavik just nodded and turned to look back at the man known as Luther Sloan. Sometimes the victims disguised themselves as aggressors to protect themselves, and the aggressors pretended to be victims. Sometimes the difference between predator and prey was not so clear after all. She remember asking Spock once, many years ago, "Shal we discuss all the crimes done to me? Shall we discuse all the crimes I have done?"
At that moment, Sloan stopped defending himself. He quieted, laid his head on the matress and closed his eyes. For the first time, he looked defeated.