Disclaimer: CBS/Paramount own Star Trek and all the characters established on the show. Only the original characters and story are mine, from which I make no money.

Author's Note: Terribly sorry for the delay. Real life combined with writer's block were the culprits. This is just a brief interlude, to get me back in the flow. The next chapter will be posted in a much more timely fashion.

The tall alien woman was clearly alarmed by the EMH's pronouncement. It was the first time she looked at all discomposed since Naomi had announced her presence in the room with Dr. Bashir and the EMH. Immediately after she glanced at the EMH, the alien turned her attention to her handheld device and obviously pushed a control. Mere moments after so doing, Dr. Bashir's eyes rolled back in his head and he lost consciousness so suddenly the EMH was caught off guard and was unable to catch Julian. He hit the floor with an audible thud.

Icheb whirled in place facing T'Phir, "Cut transmission." The Vulcan science officer did so without delay. He turned to Todd, "What just happened?"

Todd answered after only the slightest delay, "I think the alien took offense to the EMH's statement that there was some outside influence preventing his medications from taking effect."

"So, you definitely think the alien caused Dr. Bashir to loose consciousness?"

"I think so, it seems the most logical conclusion to me."

At this point Captain Ezri Dax exited the turbolift. She immediately looked to the viewscreen, obviously expecting to see her husband on CS12 up there. "Report."

Rather than explaining to her, he turned to T'Phir and had her replay the last moments of their communication with CS12. When the playback ended, she turned to her First Officer, "I assume that is when you ended the transmission?"

"Yes sir, Todd believes Dr. Bashir passed out as a direct result of the alien's actions."

"I concur. Have we modified the external sensors to scan the area for alien vessels?"

Icheb was stunned. This obvious action had not been done, he was so caught up in the drama unfolding on the station, he hadn't given a thought to how the alien got there, much less if there was a ship in the area.

Dax turned to the science officer, "T'Phir, would you please…"

Before the Captain could finish her sentence, the Vulcan responded, "Modifications under way, we should be able to scan the area…now." As she finished the command sequence, the attention of those on the bridge once again focused on the viewscreen. Before their eyes a ship appeared on the viewscreen. Dax asked the bridge at large, "Has anyone ever seen a ship like this before?"

Nobody answered her, a moment later T'Phir spoke, "I've checked the database, there is no match for the alien ship's configuration."

Dax replied, "Are you sure…of course you're sure, sorry." As she was speaking she was waving both of her hands in a conciliatory gesture, knowing it was unnecessary to question T'Phir's work. After quickly clearing her throat and regaining her composure she ordered, "Hail the EMH, please."

The viewscreen immediately switched to the quarantine room on Cold Station 12. The EMH was attending to Julian, who was once again stretched out on the bed. "Doctor, how is Julian?" Ezri tried not to let her concern seep into her voice.

The EMH looked up and turned so he was facing the video pickup. "Well, I'm not really sure what happened. He just collapsed." He seemed reluctant to elaborate. He seemed to have come to the conclusion his statement may have precipitated Dr. Bashir's collapse.

While the Captain was speaking to the CS12 EMH, Icheb had circled around to join T'Phir at her console. Naomi and Dr. Franklin joined him there. He spoke in a whisper in order to not interrupt the Captain's discussion, "What are the ship's capabilities?"

T'Phir responded in the same low voice, "It's fairly small; I doubt it could hold more than 50 beings the size of the alien woman." Here the science officer pointed to a schematic showing the outline of the alien ship displayed on her console, "I think these are weapon's ports, but I can't be sure. If so, they are of a type and origin with which I am unfamiliar. I can't determine anything about the ship's interior configuration, so it is almost impossible to determine the ship's main function."

Naomi spoke up at this point, "Well, that makes sense. It's obvious these aliens are accustomed to operating in secrecy. It would stand to reason that keeping themselves and their technology undetectable would be a high priority."

Dr. Franklin joined the discussion, "I don't know about the ship, but it seems clear to me the alien's main objective is scientific or medical research, using Dr. Bashir as a guinea pig, of sorts. It isn't the first time Starfleet ships and crews have been used as lab rats."

Naomi nodded her head in agreement, "Don't I know it."

This statement confused the science officer, "What do you mean Ensign Wildman?"

Before Naomi could answer, Todd spoke up, "Voyager was involved in one of the documented cases of a Starfleet crew being used as experiment subjects. However, weren't you very young at the time?"

Naomi's eyes flashed, "Trust me Doctor, no matter how young you are, if every inch of your skin itches that severely, you will remember."

Todd's face was full of curiosity, as always when the subject of Voyager came up. "Really, you remember it? What were the symptoms, was it just itching or was there…"

Icheb had to put a stop to this, "Todd…"

"What?"

"Not now."

The doctor's face showed embarrassment, "Right, sorry, I just can't help myself."

Naomi smiled her kindest smile at him, "Doctor, you can interrogate me later, I promise."

He returned her smile, "Thanks, you know I will."