"Saavik."

The colored lights from the office's large data screens played along her dark, bowed head as she finished checking data on her terminal. Kirk gave her a warm look. "Go to the Adepts. We can handle everything here."

He was lying and they both knew it. The large screens all along the walls displayed their attempt to again crossmatch Hellguard's hybrids and a doctor who had the knowledge, skill, and opportunity to infect at least most of them.

No matches.

"It is unnecessary, Captain. Those with the most immediate need require the Adepts' aid more than I do. Discovering a means to safely remove such a deep level of conditioning will require some time. In addition, there is Mekhai, Arik, and Jdehn available to them. If I can be of some purpose, they will contact me." She tilted her head. "Are you informing me, sir, that you prefer I no longer work on the investigation?"

"Why would I think that?"

"Captain Spock and I have speculated that I may suffer from a subconscious suggestion to remove data that would lead to a solution."

That was a damn good point. They had no idea of how far her brainwashing extended, and the killer had ordered her to remove information before.

A good officer did what was necessary when lives were at stake, so Kirk mulled over yanking her from the project until Spock's voice slipped into his thoughts.

"As we have no information proving such a directive exists, I did not remove her. However, I am monitoring her work in the event such a problem occurs."

"Good idea."

Spock raised an eyebrow. "It was hers."

Kirk grinned, but it faded as he caught sight of the vitamin drink and protein biscuits next to her on a stand. The first marks of Phase III etched along her mouth, and undercut her eyes and cheekbones. McCoy had lectured her that she couldn't stop taking them even though the disease was basically brainwashing her to be ill. She was still sick and needed to fight off the starvation and dehydration from the phase.

And actually take them! I know you. Don't get lost in doing something and forget to eat!

She followed Kirk's gaze and frowned, probably remembering the same lecture. But she picked up the drink and swallowed most of what was left.

Ever since he heard the disease was psychosomatic, Kirk couldn't shake off their argument the other night about Spock forcing the meld on Valeris. He still thought it had been necessary, but he was haunted by the image of some vague figure reaching and pressing hard fingertips to her face, injecting her with the disease until she flung her head back and screamed.

One by one, healers' names went to red as they failed the crossmatching parameters, and then grayed out as the computer moved to the next name. Reams of names flew past on each screen.

She suddenly hesitated at her station, her head cocked to the side again as her mind latched on to something, then she keyed in the data. Across the way, Spock's eyebrows came up.

"What is it?" Kirk asked.

Instead of getting his answer, the hospital contacted them. Sajjan had tried removing the killing demon in her subconscious. She had failed and died. Her last words had been: I should never have been born.

A pall hung in the air before he replied, "Acknowledged. Kirk out." There was nothing more to say.

And then, on the large screen on his left, one name turned to gold. It had reached the minimum amount of crossmatches to target the first alert level. A bar slid down from the healer's name to the rows of hybrids and connected to one survivor's name, and then branched to another and then to another. Gold line after gold line stretched out as dates and times starting filling in underneath for when he had treated them.

"Saavik." Kirk breathed.

"I noticed his name was missing from the list. I included him to be thorough, despite his obvious alibi for the later attacks."

So this was what had caused she and Spock to look like that right before the hospital called. Kirk gave silent thanks for Vulcan efficiency. "He fits. He fits everything we've found out."

"Indeed." Spock came from around his station and stood behind Kirk's shoulder, in line with Saavik on his left. The screens surrounded their small triangle as the healer's name crossed the threshold point where it matched enough names to change to blue. So did all its matches, and the growing amount of color flickered over them.

The name in blue read Mal'Shik.

Mal'Shik! Mal'Shik who was one of the thirty-three survivors who Spock and Sarek had rescued from Hellguard. Mal'Shik who was Srre's half-brother. Mal'Shik who had been brilliant healer if his patients hadn't recoiled from having a half-Romulan touching them.

Mal'Shik whose specialty had been the mind.

"They said he would have been as great as Sorel, maybe even better," Kirk whispered. He suddenly punched his fist into his palm. "We've been chasing a dead man!"

Because Mal'Shik had died in Phase I before Kirk had even heard about the disease.

Saavik spoke up. "You asked me before, Captain, who would I first suspect as an enemy?"

Kirk replied, "And you said 'Besides each other'– I should have listened. We said whoever was responsible had to know about what the Romulans did on the colony. Who knows better than someone who was there?"

"Jdehn said something of a similar nature," Spock added. "I requested her list of anyone she knew to be anti-Romulan. She said she would have to included herself."

"And as a healer involved with Hellguard, he had access to all the report files. Not that he needed them. Everything points to him. Dasan couldn't be sure if he was picking the right person because it was Mal'Shik who came on the Aerfen. He could only pick someone who had a similar body type. It also explains why we couldn't find records for someone who traveled there. Spock, get Dasan an image of Mal'Shik, see if he can positively ID him!"

Spock had walked away while Kirk had been talking. "I am already in the process of doing so, Captain. As well as searching passenger records for all transports at that time."

"Good. Unless he used a false name, I'm betting you'll find it. Don't!" he suddenly ordered Saavik. She had been staring hard at the screen, trying to remember Mal'Shik coming on her ship, but Kirk didn't want her risking it. She might trigger whatever trap the young healer had waiting for her, like Sajjan and A'kornora. "Saavik, didn't you tell me that Mal'Shik tried melding with you once before?"

She pulled her eyes away from the screens – and her search for memories. "Yes, sir. He was examining me after the fal tor pan. Sorel, however, assigned him to other duties and did the meld himself."

"He saved your life." The vague figure in his nightmarish image took form: now he knew who had been the one to force a meld on her later on the Aerfen. Kirk was sure of it. "Mal'Shik probably meant to infect you then and would have if Sorel hadn't interrupted."

And if she was infected that long ago, she'd be dead now.

"He only managed to give you the disease right before he died," Kirk finished. "Even the fact that Phase II has no variations fits. At his age, he hadn't gone through– the experience himself. He only passed what he knew from his studies. My guess is he didn't treat female patients or he figured he had made his point and didn't bother with the differences."

Saavik admitted, "Male healers rarely treat female patients for pon farr and only if female healers are not available."

Kirk didn't bother asking why. It didn't matter now. What mattered was that he knew he had his enemy. "We can verify that along with Dasan's ID later. But he's the only one who fits all the points."

"Except one, Captain." Saavik pointed to three names on the data screens that remained unmatched with Mal'Shik. "He had died before Mekhai, Jdehn, and Arik were infected."

But that didn't throw off Kirk. "It shows he did have an accomplice. That's who infected the last three. And killed the people in the stasis chambers."

"As well as the new subconscious conditioning for the asphyxiation and kalifee v'rekor deaths."

We have another killer to find.

"We'll have to find some trace of when Mal'Shik would have been able to bring somebody else into his plan. Odds are it was after he infected you."

She paused to think a second and then her eyebrows went up. "Because no evidence exists that anyone else was involved prior to his death. No attacks were made other than those perpetrated by Mal'Shik himself."

"Exactly. So who would he have contact with back then. Sorel? He seems to be Mal'Shik's mentor, although then why didn't Sorel correct the variation problem in Phase II? No, wait! Srre. Srre's his brother and he said he joined the medical team because of the disease."

Spock, who had been content to listen to the other two bounce ideas back and forth, now nodded. "The timing does coincide. Srre failed at Gol because of his hostility towards his brother. He used this lesson to correct his wrong behavior towards Mal'Shik and the other survivors. Their reconciliation happened after Saavik was most likely infected. However, I must point out, Captain, Srre's statement of innocence was verified."

"Then he fooled the verifier."

Saavik said, "That is impossible, sir, even with a Vulcan's control of the body."

He answered her, deadpan, "We do the impossible all the time. Maybe Srre learned a technique at Gol or from Mal'Shik. Or..."

Kirk stared into lines of data on the screens, the way he studied so many tactical displays on the Enterprise. The way he could stare out into the nothingness in space and put together where the enemy lay and how they were going to attack.

"Mal'Shik attacks through the mind. Spock! He attacks through the mind."

Spock's eyebrow went up. "You suggest–"

"That he infected Srre! Not with the same kind of conditioning that he used in the disease, but something else. Something that makes him carry on where Mal'Shik left off, something makes him act like Mal'Shik! The one disease makes people die, but this one makes him kill! What about Mal'Shik's katra? Could Srre still be carrying it?"

"Negative, Captain." Saavik had answered and brought up Mal'Shik's file to the center screen. "Srre was not his katra bearer, he had chosen his sister. However, he later reversed his decision and did not choose to have his katra saved at all. It was lost at his death."

"Dammit. I thought we had it."

But Spock folded his hands behind his back. "Perhaps we do. Perhaps he chose to meld with someone privately."

"Wait." Kirk's eyes dashed around the floor as he tried to pull the something out of memory that had jerked at Spock's words. "That night at the restaurant, Amanda said something about Srre and Mal'Shik. That they reconciled. McCoy said it too, that Srre realized he was wrong and--" He snapped his fingers. "And went to see Mal'shik before he died."

Saavik turned away from the onscreen records. They couldn't give any more answers.. "We may have difficulty verifying if this happened."

"But we have enough to talk to Srre again. Is anyone still working on the medical team who was there when Mal'Shik had Phase III?"

Spock didn't have to look it up. "T'Ahiyya."

"Then let's talk to her and let's contact Commander Stron as soon as we hear back from Dasan on the Aerfen."

He started leaving the room, Spock felling into place next to him, but they both stopped when Saavik made no move to join them. She leaned over her terminal instead. "In the event we are correct, I have others I must contact."

Her face was set in hard lines.