Commander Charles "Trip" Tucker III wound his way hurriedly through the corridors of the Enterprise, carrying a large equipment case in both hands. He finally reached the Armoury but then stopped short when the door failed to open in response to him pressing the control. Surprised, he pressed the manual override, but it still refused the budge – then, he remembered that it was in lockdown, so he tapped the buzzer. He heard a loud clang from inside, and then a female voice shouted from within.

"Who is it?"

"It's me, Trip," he called back, through the metal door, impatiently; "I got those additional components you asked for!"

"What's the password?"

"Brogan, open the damn door or I'll jettison these relays out the nearest airlock!"

The door swished open and to Trip's surprise, it was Reed who had opened it, not Brogan.

"Hey," Trip greeted him, "you look like crap."

"Ask him how he guessed the password so quick!" came Brogan's voice; from the sounds of things she was somewhere up on the gantry.

"You'll have to excuse Lieutenant Brogan, she's completely insane," Reed said, straight-faced, as he took the case, "thanks, Trip. How are the system checks going?"

"Slowly but we're almost done," Trip yawned and stretched, "so far we haven't found a single faulty relay, so it looks as though the problem is confined to the Armoury. How are you guys gettin' on?"

"When you were here before," Brogan began singing, somewhere above them, "Couldn't look you in the eye... you're just like an angel, your skin makes me cry..."

Reed gestured tiredly at the Armoury behind him, and Trip winced in sympathy. It was still in complete disarray – Archer had told Trip his orders, and asking two people to rebuild an entire weapons system from the ground up was no easy task; the last time they'd done it they'd had the whole of the Armoury and Engineering crews behind them. For Reed and Brogan to do it on their own was going to be no easy task.

"You float like a feather in a beautiful world..." Brogan was still in full voice, eliciting a smile from Trip despite the seriousness of the situation, "And I wish I was special... You're so fuckin' special... But I'm a creep, I'm a weirdo. What the hell am I doing here? I don't belong here..."

"Believe it or not you do belong here, but you're definitely a weirdo!" Trip shouted back, in his best 'helpful' tone.

"Ah! That's where I'm going wrong then!" Brogan yelled, with a giggle, from high above somewhere.

"It looks worse than it is," Reed was obviously trying to sound optimistic, while getting the conversation back on track, "the torpedo launchers are pretty much done, it's just the phase cannons, the intermix relays, the targeting array and the tactical scanners to do..." He trailed off, and then added; "Of course, I haven't checked the Bridge controls yet, but that will have to wait."

"Once we've done with the system checks I'll be down to lend a hand," Trip promised, "We'll get this sorted, Malcolm, I promise."

"Thanks Trip."

"Look, you guys have been at this for hours – Jon won't mind if you take a break and get some sleep, you look like you could use some."

"I'd love to, but I just can't sleep knowing the phase cannons are offline," Reed raised a small smile and shook his head, "we can keep going for a little while yet... I'd best get on. Thanks again for these..."

Trip nodded and stepped back; Reed also took a step backwards, allowing the door to close. He turned, and deposited the case on the floor, opening it and taking out a relay circuit. Out of a rapidly-forming habit, he scanned it to verify it was working properly, before he climbed on top of the torpedo tube to install it in the mess of circuitry hanging out of the open bulkhead.

"Mal," Brogan's voice sounded above him from the gantry, "I've finished repolarising the ion buffers so the plasma flow should be within acceptable safety parameters. Do you mind if I run to the galley and grab another flask of tea and something to eat? I'm famished."

"Only if you bring me something back," Reed told her, without looking back from his task, "just a quick snack or something. I still want to see if I can get the phase cannons back online within the next three or four hours..."

"All work and no play..." Brogan slid down the ladder and landed lightly on the deck, "Anything in particular?"

"Just a sandwich or something will do," Reed replied, distantly, still focussed on what he was doing.

"Won't be long, then. See you in a bit."

Reed heard the door open and then seal closed again, as he reconnected the last few wires and fixed the relay into place. He double-checked the wiring once more, and then re-sealed the bulkhead. Crawling into the torpedo tube, he verified that the power was running at adequate levels through all of the systems, scanning for any anomalous readings as he went. Satisfied all was well, he set to work on the second torpedo tube. He worked doggedly for some time before he gradually realised that the silence in the Armoury was becoming noticeable – Brogan had been gone for some time. He shrugged to himself; they had been working for some fourteen hours straight, he could not complain if she was taking her time in the Mess Hall. He was about to squirm underneath one of the consoles when the communications system bleeped.

"Sickbay to Lieutenant Reed, please respond."

"Now what?" he groaned, under his breath, getting to his feet again.

He crossed over to the wall console and flicked the switch.

"Reed here, go ahead."

"Lieutenant, would you please report to Sickbay immediately?"

"Doctor, I can't really leave the Armoury right now," Reed tried to keep the irritation out of his exhausted tone, "is there something you need?"

"It is a matter of urgency," something in Phlox's tone stirred Reed's security instincts, despite his tiredness, "I cannot discuss it over an open com channel..."

"I'm on my way," he thumbed the channel closed, and, giving the Armoury one last, forlorn look, he headed out of the door, making sure to lock the door with a security code. He just hoped Brogan could remember the four digit password when she got back.

Taking a deep breath, Reed broke into a run; the Armoury was situated on Deck F while Sickbay was only one level up on Deck E. He managed to catch the turbo-lift and then sprinted the remaining distance to the medical suite, not even slightly out of breath. He ducked through the doors, glancing quickly around; Phlox was nowhere to be seen, though one of the beds towards the back of the room was curtained off.

"Doctor?" Reed called, uncertainly, "you wanted to see me?"

"Ah!" Phlox appeared from behind the curtain, "Lieutenant, thank you for coming. Captain Archer should be here any moment..."

As if on cue, the sickbay doors swished open once more, and Archer hurried in, finger-combing his hair into place; Reed could not help but wonder what time it was, as it appeared that the Captain had been peremptorily roused from slumber.

"What's happened, doc?" Archer asked, glancing at Reed in mutual confusion, "What's going on?"

"Captain," Phlox's voice took on an uncharacteristically grave tone, "I am afraid that I must report that a member of the crew has been assaulted."

"Assaulted?" Archer repeated, shock plastered across his expressive features, "Who? What happened?"

"I am not clear on the circumstances of the assault," Phlox replied, softly, glancing back at the curtained-off bed, "but it seems to have been extremely vicious and apparently unprovoked..."

Dread suddenly seized Reed's chest, and a shiver ran down his spine. He had a feeling that he knew the answer to the question he was about to ask.

"Doctor," he manage to force himself to speak beyond the knot in his throat; "who was assaulted?"

There was sympathy in Phlox's gaze as he turned to the Tactical Officer; "I am afraid that it was Lieutenant Brogan."

Reed heard Archer's gasp and felt the Captain's hand grip his shoulder; strong, firm and supportive. He took a deep breath; "Is she-?"

"She will recover, but it will take time," Phlox held out his hand, "she was apparently attacked from behind – this was attached to the back of her neck..."

Phlox held out his hand, revealing a small, silver-black tube, only a few centimetres long. To both the doctor and Archer's astonishment, Reed snarled a venomous curse, lunged forward and snatched the device from Phlox's outstretched palm.

"This?" Reed held the device up between his thumb and forefinger, a thread of rage lending an abnormal quiver to his voice, "This was used on Brogan?"

"Yes," Phlox frowned, quizzically, "I have never seen anything like it before... it appears to be some kind of neural disruptor."

"You have seen one of these before, I take it?" Archer was eyeing his Tactical Officer warily; he had never before seen Malcolm Reed look so angry before.

"Yes," Reed spat, gripping the tiny device tightly in one fist, and then took a deep, calming breath, explaining; "it's an interrogative device, used to inflict severe pain on the subject. At its highest setting it can induce an intense neural shock designed to incapacitate the victim instantaneously. Kate – Lieutenant Brogan – can I see her?"

"I'm afraid she's in an induced coma for the meanwhile," Phlox shook his head, "I believe she will make a full recovery but she will need some time. You can see her tomorrow."

"We need to investigate the circumstances of the attack," Archer said, authoritatively, "Malcolm, I know you've got a lot on your plate at the moment..."

"I'll see to it, Captain," Reed cut in, firmly; "I will see to this personally... where did the attack take place? Were there any witnesses?"

"Deck E, in the outer corridor outside the Mess Hall, around by the emergency escape pods airlock," Phlox supplied, quickly, "it seems Lieutenant Brogan may have been lured to a quieter corridor; a passing crewman heard a noise and came around to find her unconscious by the lifeboat hatch. There was nobody else in sight and Crewman Faraday stayed at the scene until I arrived."

"Why wasn't I summoned immediately?" Reed queried, staring at the device in his palm "the area should have been cordoned off for a thorough security sweep... any trace forensic evidence is likely lost now."

"The device was not discovered until we got to sickbay," Phlox replied, calmly, sensing no recrimination in Reed's sharp tone, merely the concern of an officer for his junior; "at first I thought Lieutenant Brogan had merely suffered some minor illness or collapse, it was not immediately obvious that a, ah, crime might have been committed."

"Crime," Archer repeated the word, grimacing as if it left a sour taste in his mouth, "on my ship... Malcolm, you said you'd seen a device like this and you know exactly what it is. Where have you seen these used before?"

"It is a weapon, Captain," Reed said, darkly, "that I have only ever seen used by high-ranking Section 31 Agents. We have an infiltrator on board and whoever it is means to cause us serious harm."