Disclaimer: CBS/Paramount own Star Trek and all the characters ever established on any of the shows or movies. Only the story and original characters are mine.

As soon as the Captain, Icheb, and Todd left the bridge, Naomi no longer had a legitimate excuse to be on the bridge. While she was walking toward the turbolift, the officer at conn spoke, "Ensign Wildman, make sure you let us know if any other invisible aliens are in the area."

She smiled, "Of course I will." When the turbolift doors closed in front of her, she giggled. The Lindbergh crew had accepted her among their ranks, the conn officer's teasing was proof. She knew enough about Starfleet and starships to know members of the crew only teased each other when they felt a sense of camaraderie. The most satisfying part was that the gentle jibe was completely unrelated to her relationship with Icheb.

Most of the teasing she had endured had been about her love life, it was a wonderful feeling to know her fellow officers were seeing past that, seeing her as an officer in her own right.

She returned to Stellar Cartography and after reporting on the adjustments she carried out on the bridge, went back to her usual workstation. Her neighbor Maria smiled, "So, how's your boyfriend? Is he pulling his hair out with the boredom of being idle in space?"

This question reacted on Naomi almost as severely as if she had been slapped. Nobody but those who were on the bridge knew about the aliens. The rest of the crew was under the false assumption that things were still fairly straightforward.

Naomi wasn't sure whether or not she was under orders to keep the alien presence under wraps, so she answered somewhat noncommittally, "Well, he's rather busy at the moment." She then turned to her console and started work.

Maria, on the other hand, stopped working, "Why is he busy?"

Naomi looked around to determine if their coworkers were occupied and whispered, "Well, you see, there's a situation."

"Why do I get the impression that is an understatement?"

"Perhaps, it seems unknown, and phase shifted aliens are doing scientific experiments on the captain's husband."

Maria shouted, "What?!" Everyone in Stellar Cartography stopped what they were doing and stared at Maria. She blushed, "Sorry everyone, don't mind me. We're just gossiping over here. There's nothing to worry about." She was so unconvincing that several people came over to her, asking what was wrong.

Naomi sighed, she was sure the easiest way to appease her coworkers was to tell them the truth. "Well, when I was up on the bridge just now, it was discovered aliens are using Dr. Bashir as a subject of medical experiments." The group around her grew as everyone in the department came over to hear the details.

Before she could elaborate, Slor, the head of her department, came over to the group. "May I ask what is transpiring here? Why aren't you working?"

Naomi's face became flushed, "Sorry sir, I've just been relating the events taking place on the bridge."

Slor's eyes narrowed, "What events?"

Naomi took a deep breath then began describing the entire sequence of events for her fellow stellar cartographers.

Dax spoke, "CS12, this is Captain Dax, are you transmitting on a secure channel?"

The confusion came through clear in the voice from Cold Station 12, "A secure channel? No Captain, I'm not, why?"

"Dax out." She abruptly closed the communication channel, and almost immediately tapped her commbadge. "Dax to T'Phir."

"Go ahead, Captain."

"Abort transfer of the EMH."

"I've already done so."

"Excellent, send an encrypted transmission on a secure channel to CS12 informing them of the situation. I'm on my way back to the bridge, when I arrive, I'll want to establish visual communications with the station. Make sure the sensors are adjusted to detect the presence of any of the aliens."

"Aye, Captain."

"Dax out." She faced Todd and Icheb, "It seems our conversation with the EMH will have to wait."

The two men followed their captain in silence. As they were walking down the corridor heading for a turbolift, Icheb was disturbed. Not only had he failed to scan for alien vessels in the area, he committed the fairly large mistake of not informing the station of the current crisis, not to mention that they would soon break quarantine by transferring the EMH to the Lindbergh. Icheb was so lost in his own thoughts, he barely registered they had entered the turbolift and were on their way to the bridge. The tasks he had neglected to perform were part of his job as First Officer, even more so since the captain's time and attention were centered on her husband and to a lesser degree her job.

Dax knew that as soon as the turbolift doors opened, T'Phir would have Cold Station 12 on the viewscreen, just as she ordered. One glance at the viewscreen confirmed her fears, there were two of the aliens in the operations center of the station. This would make her conversation with the station much more difficult. Without preamble she asked the Denobulan man on the 'screen, "Have you had time to read our transmission?"

"I have Captain."

"Doctor…?"

"Mettux."

"Doctor Mettux, I would like to apologize for not apprising you of the situation earlier. As you can imagine, things have been rather hectic over here."

Icheb felt another pang of guilt over his dereliction of duty.

Mettux gave Dax an exaggerated smile, "Quite understandable, I assure you. In looking over the medical report on Dr. Bashir, he is suffering the effects of the toxins to which he was exposed, is that correct?"

Dax looked over her shoulder to Todd, he answered Mettux' question, "That's correct."

Mettux looked slightly perplexed, "Interesting. In the last two hours, several of my coworkers have exhibited signs of artificial genetic stimulation. Until now, we were at a loss for an explanation as to the cause."

For the second time that day, everyone on the Lindbergh's bridge witnessed one of the tall purple aliens react to something said in a conversation between the ship and the station. The alien closest to Mettux had been studying his PADD, but when Mettux mentioned the afflictions of the members of CS12, the alien looked absolutely surprised. After which he and his companion disappeared in a transporter beam.

Dax spoke to the Denobulan doctor on the viewscreen, "Doctor Mettux, the two aliens who had been there with you, just transported out of your location."

"Why?"

"I can't be sure, but it seemed to me they were surprised to hear about the genetic anomalies your crew is experiencing." She looked around the bridge, "Did anyone else get that impression?" The response was instantaneous, everyone on the bridge nodded their heads in the affirmative.