Disclaimer: I still own nothing but the original characters and the story.

Todd was back in his office which was just off the main room in Sickbay, reviewing the records of Voyager's encounter with the Srivani. He was so engrossed in his work he didn't hear Threm enter his office, not until Threm cleared his throat in an exaggerated manner. Todd looked up from his computer and when he saw the visitor was his husband who was holding what was obviously a plate of food, he smiled, "Hey you, what's up?"

Threm set the plate down on the desk, then walked around the desk and kissed Todd on the cheek. After which he perched himself on the corner of the desk. "I thought you might like a bite to eat. I knew you'd be working and you would, most likely, forget to eat. I was right wasn't I? You haven't had anything to eat yet have you?"

Todd took the cover off the plate and breathed in the aroma of the pasta dish, "You know me too well, now that I think about it, I'm starving. This looks delicious, thanks."

"Should I leave and let you eat in peace?"

Todd reached out with his hand, the one not holding the fork, and placed it on Threm's leg, "No, please stay and chat while I eat, did you already eat?"

"Hours ago, is there something specific about which you would like to chat?"

Between bites Todd answered, "Nothing specific, I just would enjoy spending a little time with you, my love."

Threm wanted Todd to be able to concentrate on his meal so he started talking, "I must say, my engineers are going batty down in Engineering. With nothing to do, they're just sitting around twiddling their thumbs. One can only run routine diagnostics so many times before it becomes redundant.

"You're lucky that this particular situation requires your type of work, keeps you busy, which is nice. Much better too busy than bored, don't you find it so?"

Since Todd had just stuffed a huge bite of pasta into his mouth, he just nodded.

Threm continued, but changed the subject, "I heard some juicy gossip in Engineering today, from Ensign Melody…"

Todd, though continuing to eat, sat up a bit straighter, he always enjoyed a good bit of gossip.

"Melody says that she caught Icheb and Ensign Wildman asleep on the couch in their quarters. Naomi was supposedly still on Icheb's lap. What do you think of that?"

Todd swallowed and took a sip of water, "I think it's true. Icheb came by Sickbay to get some relief for his shoulder, Naomi had fallen asleep in his lap, and he fell asleep while holding her."

Threm looked at his beloved and assumed an air of mock indignation, "Why am I only hearing about this now?"

"Been busy, haven't I?"

At exact moment, the couple's conversation was interrupted by Dr. Franklin's commbadge chirping. "Dr. Franklin report to the Bridge please."

"I'm on my way Icheb." Todd stood up, grateful that he got to eat most of his meal. After wiping his mouth with his napkin, he wrapped Threm in a big hug, "Thanks so much, you take such good care of me. I love you."

Threm returned the hug, "I love you too, but you need to get going. I'll take care of all this," indicating the leavings of the doctor's meal.

"Thanks, see you later."

Ezri took a few deep calming breaths, "Hugh, keep on eye on her, I'll be right back." Without even waiting for a response from her Security Chief, she walked onto the Bridge, "Icheb, where's Dr. Franklin?"

"He went down to sickbay to do some research on deactivating the genetic tags used by the Srivani."

"Call him to the bridge please. Once he arrives, I'll want to see the two of you in my ready room. The leader of the aliens from the station, the first group we discovered that is, is in there." Again, without waiting for a response, she headed back into her ready room.

Upon reentering her ready room, she paused before sitting behind her desk, "Maluse, please, have a seat." It was the first welcoming gesture she had made to the alien intruder. She felt it was an extremely generous act, considering what the alien and her team were doing to her husband.

The two of them, with Lieutenant Irving serving as observer, sat in a very strained silence until the door chime sounded. "Enter. Commander Icheb, Dr. Franklin, this is Maluse. Please pull up some chairs and have a seat."

It took only moments for the men to get seated and they waited in silence for their Captain to explain what was going on. She took another calming breath, "Maluse here is from Adigeon Prime, she tells me that her team just became aware of the Srivani presence here at CS12. Once they did a little research into the Srivani, her people were shocked to learn that the Srivani were willing to allow their test subjects die."

Maluse looked from Icheb to Todd, "Gentlemen, you must understand, we do not approve of their methods. We would never allow one of our subjects to perish as a result of our work."

Todd didn't even attempt to disguise his disdain, "But you do engage in experiments on sentient beings, don't you?" He would normally expect Dax to, if not outright reprimand him for his rudeness to a visiting alien, he at least expected to be on the receiving end of one of her patented glares. She did neither; it was an indication of how very angry she was with the woman who was sitting in her ready room.

Maluse was calm when she answered, "That's true, we do carry out covert research on a select few individuals, but that fact was something of which they, the subjects, have been aware."

This remark stunned everyone in the room, even Hugh Irving was unsuccessful in keeping the shock from showing on his face. It was Dax who voiced the question they all wanted to pose. "Excuse me, did you just say the subjects of your experiments KNEW they were being subjected to these tests?"

Maluse was still completely calm, "Of course they knew, it was in their original contract."

Ezri was quickly running out of patience with this woman, "Contract, what are you talking about?"

"When Dr. Bashir's parents brought him Adigeon Prime for accelerated critical neural pathway formation, his parents had to sign consent forms and other legal documents. One of these forms held the information that beings who undergo genetic manipulation would be subject to tests to determine the efficacy of the procedure throughout the rest of their lives." Maluse imparted this information with the air of someone who was commenting on the weather, as if the information was commonplace and not important.

Todd finally spoke up, "Were his parents made aware of this specific information? Was it pointed out to them as they were signing all these 'forms'?"

Maluse spoke directly to Todd in a manner which suggested he was a slow child who had just asked a question the answer to which should have been obvious, even to a slow witted person, "Our administrators aren't in the habit of reading forms aloud to patients or their rightful representatives, it is incumbent upon the one signing the form to read and understand it."

"So the answer to my question would be no, correct? I am certain that particular clause of the contract is buried deep in the middle of a ton of tedious verbiage, isn't it? You don't really want the people signing the forms to read all the small print, do you? And besides, Dr. Bashir was a child when the procedure was performed and would have no idea this was part of the deal, would he?"

Maluse remained unruffled, "We assume the parents inform their children of the terms of the procedure. I really think, however, that all this is off topic. I came to discuss the Srivani threat and prevent, if possible, any deaths among their subjects."

Todd's doctor instincts took over, saving lives was more important than bawling out this woman about the way her species conducted their business. "I have reviewed previous records and know how to deactivate their genetic tags, but I'd only feel safe doing so after they were no longer around. Does anyone have any ideas as to how we are going to get them to vacate the area and leave the crew of CS12 alone?"

The four sitting around the desk were startled when Hugh Irving spoke, they had forgotten he was in the room, "We could ask them to leave." Once he had everyone's attention, he continued, "I mean, have we even tried talking to them or getting their attention at all?"

It was Todd who responded to the man's reasonable suggestion, "That's true, but the Srivani don't take it at all well when they are discovered. When Voyager discovered them, the Srivani threatened to 'terminate' all the subjects."

Hugh was shocked, "Well, that's not good; we don't want that, do we?"

Ezri shook her head, "No, we don't want that at all."

Everyone in the room was quiet and still for a minute, all were thinking about how they were going to accomplish the difficult task of driving the Srivani back to their home territory in the Delta Quadrant. As much as Ezri disliked Maluse and what she was doing, she had to admit, to herself anyway, that it was good to have an ally well versed in the art of covert medical research. If she could truly count on Maluse as an ally that is.

"Captain, we're being hailed, by the Srivani." T'Phir's voice emanating from Ezri's commbadge was the epitome of Vulcan composure.

Dax, Icheb, Todd, Maluse, and Hugh stepped onto the bridge, to see on the viewscreen one of the Srivani researchers was waiting patiently for her hail to be answered. Ezri and Icheb went directly to their seats, accompanied by Todd who stood beside Icheb. Hugh gently, but firmly, escorted Maluse to the back of the bridge where he could keep her under constant supervision.

"This is Captain Dax," was all she said, she wanted the alien to explain what they were up to, and she wasn't going to give the Srivani any assistance in doing so.

"Captain Dax, I'm Alkar with Srivani Research Command, I know you are aware of our presence and likely know our purpose here. I just wanted to let you know, my people and I have consulted and decided we will be evacuating the area immediately and going back to our home world."

Dax waited a moment to see if the alien had anything else to add, when it became apparent that she didn't Dax spoke calmly, "That's nice, and I'd really like to believe you. But I'm sure you can understand, given the brief history between our two peoples, I don't believe a word you say."

"Naturally, that would be your attitude. What can I say to convince of our sincerity?"

Todd was the one to answer that particular question, "You couldn't say anything to convince us of your sincerity; but you could disable your genetic markers and leave the area immediately. That would go a long way toward backing up your statement."

"Consider it done mister…excuse me, what's your name?"

"I'm Doctor Franklin, Chief Medical Officer on the Lindbergh."

"Well, Dr. Franklin, we are currently in the process of disabling our genetic devices and will be vacating the area shortly."

Dax asked the woman, "Not that we don't appreciate it, but why? When everything our information tells us is your people are tenacious in your drive to continue your experiments. Even to the point of threatening to kill a ship full of people if they were uncooperative."

Alkar's reaction was immediate, she was surprised they knew so much. "How did you…no matter. What you must understand is this, Research Command, which is our ruling body, much as your Federation is your ruling body, sent us on this mission to this remote section of the galaxy without clear instructions for how to get back home. The only conclusion we could, and did, reach was they really were not concerned for our safety, our whereabouts, or the research we were to conduct, they didn't seem concerned about us in any way whatsoever. We find that most distressing and frankly untenable. Therefore, we took a vote and decided this research isn't worth the possibility of our being trapped here forever. We intend to go back to the transwarp conduit to the Delta Quadrant and use it to get home."

Dax blinked, "Fine, you do that. Just keep in mind we'll be monitoring your every move."

Alkar nodded her head curtly, "Understood." With that word the transmission was ended.

Maluse seemed relieved, "Good, now that's settled, I'll just be getting back to my ship."

Ezri swung around to face the woman, "Oh, I don't think so. Mr. Irving, bring Maluse back to my ready room, now." The Security Chief grabbed the woman who was much taller and broader than the human man, by her upper arm and guided her back to the Captain's ready room.

The woman from Adigeon Prime was clearly confused, "Captain, what is the meaning of this? The Srivani have settled the matter and will no longer be a threat to you or the crew on Cold Station 12. Why am I being detained?"

"You're joking, right? You and your team have treated my husband like a laboratory specimen…"

"Which, as I told you, was part of the contract when he underwent the genetic procedure as a child."

Ezri sighed, "You really don't get it, do you? You and your team are no different than the Srivani."

Maluse was clearly outraged, "How can you possibly say that? We would never jeopardize our subject's life."

"No, but you think nothing of subjecting them to extreme pain and suffering. How could you possibly know if subjecting Julian to all those pathogens wouldn't be fatal? Why did you do that in the first place?"

"To see how his genetically superior metabolism coped with the problem. To see how well his immune system fought off the diseases."

"Well, I hope you got all the data you need, because your experiments are over as of right now."

"You can't…"

"The hell I can't. If I have to I'll transport everyone on your ship to our brig, but this ends right now." She turned to Hugh, "Irving, please inform the transporter operator to prepare to transport everyone on that ship directly to the brig."

"You wouldn't…"

"Wouldn't I?" Ezri's stare was so steady and intense, Maluse physically backed away from it.

"T'Phir to Captain Dax." The communication from the bridge eased the tension a bit, but Ezri tapped her commbadge without breaking eye contact with Maluse.

"Go ahead."

"Captain, Dr. Franklin, and the staff on CS12 have verified the Srivani's genetic tags have been deactivated and the Srivani are leaving the area. It seems they are keeping to their side of the bargain."

"Good, let them withdraw, but monitor them until they are out of sensor range."

"Aye, aye."

"Dax out."

Ezri had carried on her conversation with T'Phir without releasing Maluse from her stare. "Now, if you are smart, you will return to your ship, but first you will promise me that you will vacate the area as quickly as the Srivani did. Also, you will cease any and all experiments on your former patients. Do you agree?"

Maluse hesitated for a moment too long. Dax looked at her Security Chief, it was enough. Maluse relented, "Yes, I agree. We'll leave the station as soon as I get back to my ship."

"Good, but just in case, have no doubt; I will be alerting Starfleet of this incident and of your practice of conducting covert experiments on your former patients. I'm sure they'll alert the governments of any world whose population may have used your services. Mr. Irving, escort our guest to the transporter room."

The trio left the ready room and as they stepped onto the bridge, making sure Maluse heard, Dax spoke to her Science Officer, "T'Phir, the ship from Adigeon Prime will be leaving shortly. In case they don't, tell the transporter operator to maintain a lock on their biosigns. Once they begin to withdraw, monitor them as you did the Srivani."