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Captain's Log, Supplemental; The Archer has arrived on the other side of the Wormhole and we are en route to an uncharted star system. So far, there have been no problems, and I don't expect that there will be. Although if my career in Starfleet has taught me anything, it is that the unexpected is more often than not what you end up with.

Corey walked into the Mess Hall, still looking at a padd and shaking his head. These Junior Officers they had working down in Engineering were nothing as fine as his crew aboard the Excelsior. Communication was almost nonexistent and he was left wondering if Ensign Shultz had truly studied Engineering at the Academy.

"Uh oh." said Counselor Ajaro, sitting at the bar. "Looks like someone doesn't know the meaning of 'off duty.'"

Corey glanced up at her and smiled. "For Senior Officers, there's no such thing as 'off duty.'"

"He's right." grunted Morgim. "We must always be alert and ready."

Ajaro sighed. "You two are hopeless. Lt. Commander...Aster, I believe it was?"

Corey nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

"Well, Mr. Aster,"said Ajaro, "I am Counselor Ajaro. This is Lt. Commander Morgim, Chief Tactical Officer. And as Ship's Counselor, I hereby order you to drop that padd and to come have a drink."

Corey sighed, but smiled. "Understood, ma'am."

"So you set out corrupting another promising young officer." said Morgim. "Do you always get your way?"

Ajaro thought for a moment. "Not always...but frequently."

"...so Andy and I had to, down on our knees, tell these two burly Nausicansthat Starfleet was dung on their shoes."

Corey's head whipped around as he heard an all-too familiar voice. Sure enough, at a table not far away, sat Lt. Ro with Ensign Icheb. Nevin glanced at him and he quickly looked down at this drink. "Oh god, it starts." Corey muttered.

"What starts?" Ajaro asked curiously.

Corey just shook his head and comtinued staring at his drink.

Ajaro looked at Nevin and then back at Corey. Immediately, a small smile began tugging at her lips. "Are you, by chance, familiar with that rather handsome young Lieutenant?" she asked.

Corey's mouth worked wordlessly for a few moments before he downed his drink and admitted, "We've...met."

Ajaro sighed. "Barkeep, another round for my friend here. Why don't you start from the beginning?"

"I am surprised that you complied with the Nausican's demands." said Icheb.

Nevin shrugged. "Well we didn't have much choice, unless we wanted to spend the next week in Sickbay. But we got them back."

"How?" Icheb asked.

Nevin broke into a wide grin. "We found their ship and beamed a few Tribbles into their Cargo Hold."

Nevin was supremely glad that he was growing more comfortable around Icheb. Those first few minutes of meeting him had been almost disastrous. And speaking of disaster, Nevin glanced at the bar just as Corey hastily looked away. Just ignore him. Nevin told himself and focused his attention back on Icheb.

"So, the long and short of it is, he most likely never wants to see me again." Corey said, polishing off a third synthale.

"Well have you tried simply apologizing?" Ajaro asked.

Corey shook his head. "No. But I don't think it would make any difference. I said some really hurtful things to him. I just wish I could go back and undo it all."

Morgim shook his head. "I will never understand the concept you pink-skins seem to have of 'relationships.' On my world, mating is for the sake of populating the species. That is all."

"You're telling me that the idea of a life partner is completely foreign to Reptilians?" Ajaro demanded.

"Of course not!" said Morgim. "When we mate, we mate for life. But there is none of this talk of...feelings."

Corey grunted. "Maybe it's better that way."

"All Senior Staff, report to the Bridge." said Commander S'Val's voice over the comm.

Corey sighed. "Told you Senior Officers are never off duty."

"We are entering high orbit of the planet, Captain." reported the Helmsman.

The Captain nodded. "Seven, what are we looking at down on the planet?"

"It is Class M, Captain." Seven reported from the Science Station. "No sentient lifesigns, although Sensors are detecting signs that an advanced society may have inhabited the planet at one time."

"I wonder what happened to them." Counselor Ajaro said.

"Most likely the Dominion wiped them out." Corey said from the Engineering Station at the back of the bridge.

"Carefully, Commander." Dr. Lusignon said, standing next to the Tactical Station. "Do not forget, the Dominion are our allies now."

All of a sudden, the Ops station began beeping. "Captain," reported the Ops Officer, "We are being hailed."

Ra'Thann narrowed his eyes. "By who?"

"Unknown, sir. I can't pinpoint the location, but it is definitely coming from somewhere within ten kilometers off our forward bow." the Officer reported.

"Mr. Morgim, are you detecting any signs of a cloaked vessel?" S'Val asked.

"Negative, Commander." Morgim reported. "No tachyon emissions, no engine trail, nothing."

Ra'Thann stood and pulled down the front of his tunic. "Very well, then. Put whoever it is on screen." The Captain waited to see what image popped up, but after a few moments, nothing appeared. "What's the holdup, Ensign?" he asked.

"I...I don't know, sir." the Ops officer said. "I opened the channel, but there was no message."

Suddenly, the lights dimmed and went red and klaxons began blaring all across the bridge.

"Report!" Ra'Thann shouted.

"Sensors registering impacts all over the ship, Captain!" Morgim said.

"Impacts?" Corey repeated incredulously. "Then why haven't we felt anything?"

"Damage?" Ra'Thann asked.

"Reports from all sections coming in now, sir." Ops reported. "Sir...All sections report situation normal."

"Confirmed, sir." said Corey. "There isn't even a scratch on our paint."

Ra'Thann rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Computer, cancel Red Alert. Mr. Aster, Run a level one diagnostic on the sensors and the communications array."

"It won't make any difference!" said a cheerful voice. Suddenly, particles of green light began appearing all across the bridge. They bounced across consoles and stations, gradually migrating to the center of the bridge.

"What the hell-" Ra'Thann began to say, but then with a bright flash, the particles all came together and formed into a humanoid shape. It appeared to be a child with pale skin and wild black hair, dressed entirely in leaves. Its eyes were entirely black. "Tada!" it said.

Morgim drew his phaser and tapped his comm badge. "Intruder alert! Security team to the bridge!"

The child glanced at him and smiled, revealing slightly pointed teeth. With a flash, the phaser turned into a handful of wildflowers.

Ra'Thann stood slowly. "You're a Q, aren't you?" he demanded.

The child stuck out its tongue and blew a loud raspberry. "Q? Q rhymes with 'spew.' My name doesn't rhyme with 'spew,' so it must not be Q."

"Well if you are not a Q, then who and what are you?" asked S'Val, clearly irritated with the being's childish behavior.

The child jumped up from its spot, flipped over Ra'Thann's head and landed in the Captain's chair. "I'm a lot of things for a lot of different occasions. But today, I am youth and I am joy. But no matter what form I take, you can call me Aeternus. As for what I want with you, I want to play a game."

Ra'Thann stared at him. "A game?"

Aeternus nodded. "Yup. A puzzle game. You've got 24 hours to solve my puzzle. I gave you the first three pieces a little bit ago. You've gotta find the rest."

"And what happens if we don't solve this 'puzzle' within three days?" asked Seven, seeming about as amused as S'Val.

Aeternus grinned. "I make you into one of my puzzles. Have fun!" With a final flash, it vanished.

"Alright, people." said Ra'Thann as the Senior Staff sat gathered in the conference room. "We need to brainstorm. I don't know what he meant by making us into one of his puzzles, but I don't imagine it can be good for us. What are our clues?"

"They can only be the phantom transmission and the collision alert." said Corey.

"Aeternus said there were three clues." reminded Ajaro.

"I believe I may have the third." said Dr. Lusignon. "At the same time as the collision alarms went off, twenty crewmen in various parts of the ship reported feelings of nausea and disorientation."

"With no discernable cause, I presume." said Ra'Thann.

"None that we can detect. Physically, all twenty are perfectly healthy. Shall I keep them in Sickbay?"

Ra'Thann shook his head. "No. I see no reason to confine twenty perfectly able Crewmen. But I want and further reports of those symptoms forwarded immediately to me. For now, let's analyze the other clues. Suggestions?"

"Is it possible that there is an interphase cloaked vessel orbiting the planet?" asked Morgim.

"A ship that's out of phase wouldn't be able to hail us and it certainly wouldn't set off our collision alarms." said Corey. "Nevertheless, it's the best theory we've got."

Ra'Thann nodded. "Very well. Mr. Aster, join Seven in the Astrometrics Lab. I want you to look up every piece of information we have on Interphase. I also want you to analyze the exact points of "impact" registered by the ship. We've only got 24 hours to solve this little puzzle, people. Dismissed."

Nevin stepped into the Astrometrics Lab and immediately ground to a halt. "Cor-Er-I mean Commander Aster, what...uh are you doing here?"

Corey sighed. "The Captain ordered me to work with Science on figuring out Aeternus' puzzle."

"Great." Nevin muttered.

At that moment, Seven and Icheb strode in. "Lt. Ro," Seven began immediately, "you will work with Commander Aster on analyzing the perceived hull impacts. Ensign Icheb and I will go over the data on Interphase."

"With all due respect, Ma.am," said Nevin, shouldn't I be the one to go over the data?"

Seven pursed her lips. "Lieutenant, Icheb and I are able to assimilate and analyze data at a faster rate than you. Do you have a problem working with Commander Aster?"

Nevin opened his mouth, but then shut it again. "No ma'am." he muttered.

Seven nodded. "Very well. Get to work."

Icheb gave Aster a curious look before turning away to help Seven.

Without a spare word, Corey brought up an image of the Archer on the main viewer. Highlighted across its forward hull were various red dots. "Here are the exact locations of each registered impact." He typed in another command and the ship rotated. On the rear hull were now as many yellow dots. "These are separate impacts registered by sensors a fraction of a second after the initial ones."

"Exit wounds." mused Nevin.

"What's an...'exit wound?'" asked Corey.

"Well," said Nevin, "as you probably know, in most societies, projectile weapons predated energy weapons. Well, sometimes, when a person was shot, the projectile passed straight through the body and emerged from the other side. On both Earth and Bajor, this was called an exit wound."

Corey scratched his chin thoughtfully. "So you're suggesting that whatever the sensors registered as hitting us passed straight through us and came out the other side?"

"Exactly!" said Nevin.

"So we have something to work with." said Corey. "But what about the...Wait a second!" He tapped his commbadge. "Aster to Sickbay."

"Lusignon here."

"Doctor, could you transmit the locations of all those affected by the nausea at the time when it happened to Astrometrics?"

"Give me just a moment, Commander...There. You should have it."

Aster checked his consol. "Got it. Thanks, Doctor."

He worked for a few moments, typing commands into his consol. A moment later, blue dots appeared within the model of the ship.

"There. As I thought."

"What?" Nevin asked.

"Well, the blue dots represent the exact location of each of the afflicted crewmen at the time of the impacts."

Nevin smiled. "Of course! They're all lined up between the impacts and the exit wounds!"

"You have something?" asked Seven, walking over to them with Icheb.

"Yes." said Aster, quickly explaining their findings.

"Fascinating." said Seven. "We have completed our assimilation of the data. We have discovered several notable instances involving interphasing. The first occurred on Stardate 45892.4 when Lt. Commander Geordi LaForge and Ensign Ro Laren were taken out of phase by an accident aboard a Romulan vessel."

"Laren told me about that." said Nevin. "But she didn't mention anything about nausea."

"Another occurred on Stardate 47457.1" continued Seven, "when the USS Enterprise recovered an interphasic device from the USS Pegasus."

"But again, no mentions of nausea." said Corey.

"Voyager encountered interphasic technology on two occasions." said Icheb. "First, when the Srivani conducted medical experiments on the crew, they used interphase cloaking to move about the ship. Second was when-"

"Wait a minute," said Corey, "Back to the first one. With the Srivani conducting medical experiments on Voyager's crew, there must have been a lot of reports filed by the Doctor. Can we access those?"

"Perhaps." said Seven. "Computer, access Starfleet Medical Records, USS Voyager, Stardate 51244.3."

"162 entries found." reported the Computer.

"Computer," said Nevin, "Filter out all entries not containing complaints of nausea or disorientation."

"Processing...142 entries found."

"Now we're getting somewhere!" said Corey. He brought up one specific entry.

"Lt. Roberta Luke." said Seven. "The one death which came of the event. she reported nausea and disorientation before her full symptoms occurred."

Corey brought up another file. "Commander Chakotay. Again, reports of nausea and disorientation."

Suddenly, Nevin's eyes lit up. "That's it!" he exclaimed. "The Srivani couldn't have done to the crew whatever they did in full interphase cloak. They would have just passed straight through. They would have had to bring themselves back into phase just enough to be able to interact with the crew and still remain invisible. The feelings of nausea may have been caused by separate matter attempting to occupy the same space for a brief time!"

"So it's possible that Lt. Morgim was right." said Corey. "It is possible that there is an interphased ship out there, but that it isn't entirely out of phase with us. So, when it passed through us, the sensors detected impacts on the hull and those crewmen in the path of the interphased parts got feelings of nausea."

"But what about the transmission?" asked Icheb.

"Well," said Nevin, "since they are slightly in phase with us, it is possible that they tried to hail us, but that when we opened the channel, we still couldn't see them. But maybe..."

He suddenly spun and began typing at a consol.

"What are you doing?" asked Corey.

"I have a theory." said Nevin. "Based on the assumption that the other ship is orbiting the planet opposite of our path, I'm comparing the time we got the transmission, the time we were 'hit,' and the amount of time it took the ship to pass through us, to extrapolate when we might cross paths with the ship again."

"How will that help us?" asked Icheb.

"Hold on a second." he tapped his commbadge. "Lt. Ro to Tactical."

"Morgim here." came the CTO's gruff voice.

"Commander, I need you to go over the scans we took when we registered the impacts."

"I've gone over them a dozen times. Nothing unusual registered on sensors."

"I know, "said Nevin, "but this wouldn't necessarily register as unusual. I need you to see if Chroniton levels were elevated at all during that time."

Morgim sighed irritably, but said, "Checking...Chroniton levels were elevated by .12 percent at the time."

"Alright," said Nevin, "what about a few minutes later?"

"Hold on...Approximately five minutes later, Chroniton levels were back to normal."

Nevin grinned. "Thanks, Commander."

"What does that mean?" asked Corey.

"Well," said Nevin, "naturally occurring Chronitons can spike without warning, but it takes at least twenty minutes for them to decay. But artificial Chronitons, such as those produced by cloaking devices, fade very quickly. Interphase cloaks are no different. Now, when my sister and Commander LaForge were phased out, they got themselves noticed by passing through as many objects as they could, thus creating highly elevated Chroniton levels. Then Commander Data used the Enterprise's anyon emitters to clear out the Chronitons and bring Laren and LaForge back into phase. So we could use the same method to reveal the ship the next time it comes our way which should be in about ten hours. We'd just have to modify the Deflector to emit high levels of anyons."

"Then there's the catch." said Corey. "We're only going to have one shot at this. We've only got fifteen hours left before our time is up.

"Then, to coin an old Earth term, we had better make it count." said Seven. "Good job, Lt. Ro. I will inform the Captain of this. You are dismissed until the time comes to make our attempt."

"I don't know about you but I'm starving." said Nevin to Icheb as they left Astrometrics. "Wanna go grab something to eat in the Mess Hall?"

"I am a little hungry." said Icheb. "Would you like to join us, Commander Aster?"

Corey glanced at Nevin. "Uh...No thanks. I..uh...I think I'm gonna get a little sleep. See you in ten hours."