Chapter 8
Qui statuit aliquid parte inaudita altera, aequum licet statuerit. One who passes sentence
on something without having heard the other part isn't juste, even if the sentence is
juste.
(Seneca Philosophus, Medea. Cf. audietur et altera pars.)
The sample showed trace amounts of tricolate and dethacol, which was exactly what
Bashir was looking for. Tricolate and dethacol decayed gradually, even when in inactive
blood. Based on the average rate of decay and the amount in the sample, he determined
that the drugs were administered the exact day Vicki Ann was in Starfleet medical for her
concussion and broken ankle. He had hit pay dirt.
Sid smiled to himself when he received the report stating that Victorianna Troi had been
'kidnaped' by two very familiar civilians, according to the local police. He looked at the
surveillance pictures and laughed. The two 'civilians' were Dr. Julian Bashir and Lt. Ezri Dax.
He had known that if Bashir got his hands on the reports about Rigalia IV that he would go
looking for his friend. He had played right into their hand. Now, all they needed to do was
get Troi back into Starfleet. He bet that Bashir would be making a call to Starfleet
Headquarters in the next few days, blaming them for Troi's condition. He needn't worry;
she would be fine, as soon as the tricolate and dethacol were out of her system. After
that, all Lt. Dax would need to do would be to assist Troi in her recovery. Once the drugs
are out of her system, the implant will cease to operate and cloak itself for a few days, to
avoid suspicion. Once Troi makes a 'full' recovery, the implant will resume operation and
she will be theirs again, only a Starfleet officer as well.
Ezri walked into the infirmary for a counseling session with Vicki Ann. Julian was in his
office. She wanted to check on him and make sure he hadn't overworked himself. He was
sitting at the computer. "What are you doing?" she asked.
"I'm comparing Vicki Ann's medical records from birth to determine when exactly she was
genetically engineered so that we can find out who was responsible," he replied.
"What have you found out?"
"Well, up until age 15, her records look normal. She applied to the Academy that year.
Then, she was in a horseback riding accident and was in self-healing a coma for almost a
month due to her injuries. The brain was damaged, mostly the telepathic lobe, so her body
responded by inducing coma. I'm guessing that's when it happened."
Ezri gasped. "Julian, are you saying that someone did this without her or her parents
knowledge?"
Julian nodded. "I'm calling up the rest of the hospital records now." He looked at the
records as they popped up on the screen. "Something isn't right here. These records don't
look right."
"In what way?"
"These records show none of the injuries from the accident. There is no indication that she
had any broken bones, which she did. As a matter of fact, she broke her leg, three ribs
and had a fractured wrist."
"You mean that someone forged these records?"
"Exactly."
"Where was the hospital?"
"Betazed. This doesn't make sense, Ezri. If someone tried this to cover it up, but did such
a messy job of it, maybe they wanted to be found out."
"Either that, or they didn't depend on a genetically engineered person looking for it." Ezri
shook her head. "Who would do something like this?"
Julian shook his head. "I don't know."
Ezri's eyes lit up as if she'd had a sudden insight. "Julian, how long after her application to
the academy did this 'accident' occur?"
"Two months."
"So whoever did this would have seen by then that Vicki Ann had a good chance of
getting in."
"What are you suggesting?"
"That whoever did this knew that Vicki Ann was going to get into the Academy and
wanted make sure she would become the best in Starfleet."
"Why?"
"You tell me."
"So that she could get kicked out of Starfleet and join Section 31!" Julian exclaimed. "Oh,
my God. I can't believe Section 31 would sink that low. Thank goodness Vicki Ann was in a
coma when the treatments were administered, otherwise, it would have been extremely
painful at her age."
"Her intelligence tests were above average to begin with. How much was it increase?"
"Well, in high school, she was in the top 20% of her class. She was Valedictorian at the
Academy. I'd say at least fifty points."
"Why didn't anyone pick this up?"
"The simple act of forging the previous test scores. I seriously doubt that the Leonards
ever knew Vicki Ann's exact score. They probably just knew it was close to genius and let
her go her own way, learn her own way."
"How did they explain her doing so much better?"
"They probably attributed it her studying more."
"Wow," Ezri sighed. "If Section 31 did all this, then can you imagine how far this must go
back? They might even have been watching her since she was a child."
Julian nodded. "Her uncle was in Starfleet. Vicki Ann told me that ever since she knew
what Starfleet was, she wanted to be in it."
"They must have wanted her awfully bad in order to go to all this trouble."
"Like I said, she's a talented doctor who lost everything and is angry at Starfleet. She's in
the perfect position for their propaganda."
"Doctor, the Admiral is very busy right now. Can this wait?"
the young ensign asked Julian.
"No, it can't wait! I've got a woman here who's barely hanging onto her sanity and it's the
Admiral's fault!" Julian replied.
The doctor's harsh tone seemed to frighten the ensign. "I'll see what I can do." The screen
flashed back to the Federation symbol and a moment later, the Admiral's face appeared.
Julian managed a smile, although it had been so long since had done so, he thought the
muscles in his face ached when he did it. "Admiral, I apologize for the inconvenience, but I
would really like to speak to you about Victorianna Troi."
"What about her?"
"Section 31 seems to have done a number on her and-."
The admiral interrupted Julian. "She's no longer our problem, doctor."
"She's a Federation citizen, dammit! And that makes her our problem."
"She gave up Federation citizenship when she joined Section 31."
"That's what I wanted to speak to you about. It appears that when Vicki Ann was at
Starfleet Medical being treated for a concussion and a broken ankle, that an implant of
some sort was placed in her brain and her system was pumped with tricolate and dethacol.
Therefore, she was not in her right mind when she joined Section 31."
"I find that hard to believe, doctor. Those drugs would have shown up on any scan and my
records show that she was treated not only by Starfleet Medical before she entered
Section 31, but also on the Enterprise."
"The implant blocks the scans of the drugs."
"Well, then why did you pick it up on your scans?"
"The implant appears to be malfunctioning. It seems, Admiral, that a member of Section
31did this to her at Starfleet Medical. Most likely, more than one person was involved.
Now, unless you would like Lwaxana Troi, or shall I say Ambassador Troi, contacting you
and blaming you for her daughter's condition, I suggest you reinstate her and make her
your problem again."
"Doctor, I believe that is blackmail."
"No, it's not. That is exactly what will happen. Believe me, I know Lwaxana and when she
finds out about this, she will not be happy. With the help of Deanna and a few of Vicki
Ann's friends, we may be able to convince Lwaxana not to press charges against Starfleet
Medical for attempted murder and negligence, not to mention malpractice!"
"Attempted murder!"
"Yes, the dosages Vicki Ann received would have been lethal to her had she not been
genetically engineered."
"But, doctor, there is the issue of her genetic engineering."
"I have uncovered evidence that proves that her engineering was done without her
knowledge while she was hospitalized twenty-one years ago."
"By whom?"
"I believe that Section 31 did it to try and turn her into the perfect operative."
The admiral frowned. "Alright, doctor. You win. But, I want you to personally vouch for her
behavior. And as punishment for joining Section 31, despite the drugs, she will be reduced
in rank to Lt. Commander and will serve a one year probation period under your supervision
on DS9. After that year is over, she may seek a transfer. Is everything understood,
doctor?"
Julian had to keep himself from beaming. "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."
The admiral managed a smile. "You're welcome."
"Diagnosis?" Julian asked Ezri. They were having a very quick dinner in his office while Vicki
Ann was visiting with Deanna, Riker, Beverly and Picard.
Ezri sighed and shook her head. "I don't know. She's suffering from
post-traumatic-stress-disorder. She really believes that it happened and I don't know
whether it did and she killed your clone or whether it was all in her head."
"Care for some assistance?" a familiar voice asked from behind them.
Julian turned. "Q!"
"Don't worry, doctor. I'm here to help," Q replied, as he leaned against Julian's desk.
"In what way?"
"You need to figure out whether what Vicki Ann experienced is real or imagined. I can help
with that."
"How?"
Q snapped his fingers and Julian collapsed.
"Julian!" Ezri exclaimed, running over to him.
"Don't worry, Dax. He's fine."
Ezri wasn't so sure. "What have you done to him?"
"Nothing. He has simply gone into Vicki Ann's mind to witness first hand, what happened in
Section 31."
"Julian! Vicki Ann's collapsed!" Riker shouted from the other room.
Ezri ran in and explained what had happened, while Dr. Crusher monitored Vicki Ann and
Julian's condition.
Qui statuit aliquid parte inaudita altera, aequum licet statuerit. One who passes sentence
on something without having heard the other part isn't juste, even if the sentence is
juste.
(Seneca Philosophus, Medea. Cf. audietur et altera pars.)
The sample showed trace amounts of tricolate and dethacol, which was exactly what
Bashir was looking for. Tricolate and dethacol decayed gradually, even when in inactive
blood. Based on the average rate of decay and the amount in the sample, he determined
that the drugs were administered the exact day Vicki Ann was in Starfleet medical for her
concussion and broken ankle. He had hit pay dirt.
Sid smiled to himself when he received the report stating that Victorianna Troi had been
'kidnaped' by two very familiar civilians, according to the local police. He looked at the
surveillance pictures and laughed. The two 'civilians' were Dr. Julian Bashir and Lt. Ezri Dax.
He had known that if Bashir got his hands on the reports about Rigalia IV that he would go
looking for his friend. He had played right into their hand. Now, all they needed to do was
get Troi back into Starfleet. He bet that Bashir would be making a call to Starfleet
Headquarters in the next few days, blaming them for Troi's condition. He needn't worry;
she would be fine, as soon as the tricolate and dethacol were out of her system. After
that, all Lt. Dax would need to do would be to assist Troi in her recovery. Once the drugs
are out of her system, the implant will cease to operate and cloak itself for a few days, to
avoid suspicion. Once Troi makes a 'full' recovery, the implant will resume operation and
she will be theirs again, only a Starfleet officer as well.
Ezri walked into the infirmary for a counseling session with Vicki Ann. Julian was in his
office. She wanted to check on him and make sure he hadn't overworked himself. He was
sitting at the computer. "What are you doing?" she asked.
"I'm comparing Vicki Ann's medical records from birth to determine when exactly she was
genetically engineered so that we can find out who was responsible," he replied.
"What have you found out?"
"Well, up until age 15, her records look normal. She applied to the Academy that year.
Then, she was in a horseback riding accident and was in self-healing a coma for almost a
month due to her injuries. The brain was damaged, mostly the telepathic lobe, so her body
responded by inducing coma. I'm guessing that's when it happened."
Ezri gasped. "Julian, are you saying that someone did this without her or her parents
knowledge?"
Julian nodded. "I'm calling up the rest of the hospital records now." He looked at the
records as they popped up on the screen. "Something isn't right here. These records don't
look right."
"In what way?"
"These records show none of the injuries from the accident. There is no indication that she
had any broken bones, which she did. As a matter of fact, she broke her leg, three ribs
and had a fractured wrist."
"You mean that someone forged these records?"
"Exactly."
"Where was the hospital?"
"Betazed. This doesn't make sense, Ezri. If someone tried this to cover it up, but did such
a messy job of it, maybe they wanted to be found out."
"Either that, or they didn't depend on a genetically engineered person looking for it." Ezri
shook her head. "Who would do something like this?"
Julian shook his head. "I don't know."
Ezri's eyes lit up as if she'd had a sudden insight. "Julian, how long after her application to
the academy did this 'accident' occur?"
"Two months."
"So whoever did this would have seen by then that Vicki Ann had a good chance of
getting in."
"What are you suggesting?"
"That whoever did this knew that Vicki Ann was going to get into the Academy and
wanted make sure she would become the best in Starfleet."
"Why?"
"You tell me."
"So that she could get kicked out of Starfleet and join Section 31!" Julian exclaimed. "Oh,
my God. I can't believe Section 31 would sink that low. Thank goodness Vicki Ann was in a
coma when the treatments were administered, otherwise, it would have been extremely
painful at her age."
"Her intelligence tests were above average to begin with. How much was it increase?"
"Well, in high school, she was in the top 20% of her class. She was Valedictorian at the
Academy. I'd say at least fifty points."
"Why didn't anyone pick this up?"
"The simple act of forging the previous test scores. I seriously doubt that the Leonards
ever knew Vicki Ann's exact score. They probably just knew it was close to genius and let
her go her own way, learn her own way."
"How did they explain her doing so much better?"
"They probably attributed it her studying more."
"Wow," Ezri sighed. "If Section 31 did all this, then can you imagine how far this must go
back? They might even have been watching her since she was a child."
Julian nodded. "Her uncle was in Starfleet. Vicki Ann told me that ever since she knew
what Starfleet was, she wanted to be in it."
"They must have wanted her awfully bad in order to go to all this trouble."
"Like I said, she's a talented doctor who lost everything and is angry at Starfleet. She's in
the perfect position for their propaganda."
"Doctor, the Admiral is very busy right now. Can this wait?"
the young ensign asked Julian.
"No, it can't wait! I've got a woman here who's barely hanging onto her sanity and it's the
Admiral's fault!" Julian replied.
The doctor's harsh tone seemed to frighten the ensign. "I'll see what I can do." The screen
flashed back to the Federation symbol and a moment later, the Admiral's face appeared.
Julian managed a smile, although it had been so long since had done so, he thought the
muscles in his face ached when he did it. "Admiral, I apologize for the inconvenience, but I
would really like to speak to you about Victorianna Troi."
"What about her?"
"Section 31 seems to have done a number on her and-."
The admiral interrupted Julian. "She's no longer our problem, doctor."
"She's a Federation citizen, dammit! And that makes her our problem."
"She gave up Federation citizenship when she joined Section 31."
"That's what I wanted to speak to you about. It appears that when Vicki Ann was at
Starfleet Medical being treated for a concussion and a broken ankle, that an implant of
some sort was placed in her brain and her system was pumped with tricolate and dethacol.
Therefore, she was not in her right mind when she joined Section 31."
"I find that hard to believe, doctor. Those drugs would have shown up on any scan and my
records show that she was treated not only by Starfleet Medical before she entered
Section 31, but also on the Enterprise."
"The implant blocks the scans of the drugs."
"Well, then why did you pick it up on your scans?"
"The implant appears to be malfunctioning. It seems, Admiral, that a member of Section
31did this to her at Starfleet Medical. Most likely, more than one person was involved.
Now, unless you would like Lwaxana Troi, or shall I say Ambassador Troi, contacting you
and blaming you for her daughter's condition, I suggest you reinstate her and make her
your problem again."
"Doctor, I believe that is blackmail."
"No, it's not. That is exactly what will happen. Believe me, I know Lwaxana and when she
finds out about this, she will not be happy. With the help of Deanna and a few of Vicki
Ann's friends, we may be able to convince Lwaxana not to press charges against Starfleet
Medical for attempted murder and negligence, not to mention malpractice!"
"Attempted murder!"
"Yes, the dosages Vicki Ann received would have been lethal to her had she not been
genetically engineered."
"But, doctor, there is the issue of her genetic engineering."
"I have uncovered evidence that proves that her engineering was done without her
knowledge while she was hospitalized twenty-one years ago."
"By whom?"
"I believe that Section 31 did it to try and turn her into the perfect operative."
The admiral frowned. "Alright, doctor. You win. But, I want you to personally vouch for her
behavior. And as punishment for joining Section 31, despite the drugs, she will be reduced
in rank to Lt. Commander and will serve a one year probation period under your supervision
on DS9. After that year is over, she may seek a transfer. Is everything understood,
doctor?"
Julian had to keep himself from beaming. "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."
The admiral managed a smile. "You're welcome."
"Diagnosis?" Julian asked Ezri. They were having a very quick dinner in his office while Vicki
Ann was visiting with Deanna, Riker, Beverly and Picard.
Ezri sighed and shook her head. "I don't know. She's suffering from
post-traumatic-stress-disorder. She really believes that it happened and I don't know
whether it did and she killed your clone or whether it was all in her head."
"Care for some assistance?" a familiar voice asked from behind them.
Julian turned. "Q!"
"Don't worry, doctor. I'm here to help," Q replied, as he leaned against Julian's desk.
"In what way?"
"You need to figure out whether what Vicki Ann experienced is real or imagined. I can help
with that."
"How?"
Q snapped his fingers and Julian collapsed.
"Julian!" Ezri exclaimed, running over to him.
"Don't worry, Dax. He's fine."
Ezri wasn't so sure. "What have you done to him?"
"Nothing. He has simply gone into Vicki Ann's mind to witness first hand, what happened in
Section 31."
"Julian! Vicki Ann's collapsed!" Riker shouted from the other room.
Ezri ran in and explained what had happened, while Dr. Crusher monitored Vicki Ann and
Julian's condition.