Once they were clued in on the disturbing details surrounding the Arimur Plague, the senior officers of the Enterprise lingered on a single thought: "How did this begin?"
"Perhaps the weapon systems were merely installed for removing any obstacles that came in the way of this person's plan, whatever it may be, rather than using it as a catalyst for spreading this thing." Riker suggested.
The others in the room considered this with looks and thoughts that mirrored that of someone sentenced to death. Nothing made sense. Nobody knew where to run. The moment they were in held no solution and everything around them turned black.
"Mr. La Forge, I already asked this of Doctor Crusher but do you think there would be a way to somehow…attach the bacterium to a photon torpedo?" Picard asked.
Geordi shook his head. "No. Photon torpedoes aren't exactly something you can touch and pick up, so attaching something that can spread over solid surfaces isn't possible. The only way to use them to aide in the spread would be to let the plague spread in the air on a small area of the planet and fire on that exact spot. With that method though it wouldn't spread nearly as far as it has been."
"So we are back to square one." Worf grunted in frustration.
"With the information we've got we should be able to come up with another theory. Hopefully one that can tell us a way to stop this thing. I want all of you to get back to your stations. Geordi and Data I want you to research any possibilities that you can and report to me the minute any kind of hypothesis pops up. Dismissed."
For a moment, no one stood. All eyes were focused on Deanna. Her face was white and her eyes stared fearfully into nothingness.
"Deanna? What is it?"
A moment in forever passed before she finally uttered an answer. "It's Heva…"
"What is it? Is she all right?" Data asked for the Captain.
"She's terrified and very confused. I was already feeling things from her but the strength of her fear is increasing. She's still very much alive but whoever she is with is someone she is desperately afraid of. But something is puzzling me…the person she's fearful of is someone she believes she knows and at the same time she doesn't know him…"
"Do you think she's close?" Geordi asked.
All Deanna had to do was nod before the entire room emptied in only a few seconds. Worf, Will, and the Captain sped to the bridge to scan the area while Geordi and Data went to do the duties assigned to them. Data was reluctant only due to the possibility that Heva was close by. For now, though, he had to trust in his colleagues to find her.

"Welcome, Commander. I'm glad to see you've awoken. I do apologize for the accommodations. I know they aren't what you're used to, but you will have to make do."
It was simply uncanny; even his voice was like Data's. But Heva knew that although his appearance was identical, this was definitely not Data. It was not only the eyes, but the smile that gave his façade away. While its intention pretended to give her reassurance, the underlying essence of malice frightened her and made her adrenaline begin to run rampant.
"Who the fuck are you?" Heva demanded coldly.
In a split second his smile faded to a blank, evil stare. The man stood and walked toward her slowly. Despite her fear she decided to stand her ground. This however proved to be the wrong decision. When he reached her, he stood and studied her face for a moment before his hand collided into her face throwing her off guard and down onto the ground. The force behind his strike blinded her momentarily from tears of pain. This didn't stop her from growling angrily and scraping to stand. She rose her fist and swung as hard as she could only to have it caught in the air.
This merely made Heva more irate and she pulled hard against the vice grip around her wrist. Her opponent's expression filled with rage at her struggle and his free hand struck her in the chest sending her backward onto the floor once again. As she gasped for air he knelt beside her, grabbed her by the chin and turned her head so that he could look directly into her now bleary eyes.
"I wouldn't be so rude if I were you. I could snap your neck in two with a flick of my wrist if I wanted to. So you'd best be careful with your choice of words and the tone in which you use them." His voice garnished that final sentence with a chillingly joyful sounding tone that made the color in Heva's face fade.
Her captor freed her chin and turned to walk back to the helm. She stared after him. Part of her suspected that she'd been thrown into an alternate dimension in which her gentle, caring lover was replaced by an abusive, demeaning, and cruel man. The other knew, but didn't want to accept, that this was reality. A tear escaped and raced halfway down her face before she caught it and after wiping it away, stood. The man at the helm turned to face her, a look of demented satisfaction on his face.
Heva wanted badly to attempt to fight back again knowing full well it wouldn't affect him, not even in the slightest degree. So she stood there staring back at him trying to keep her face devoid of any feeling. Instead, she sighed, rolled her shoulders back, and asked her question again.
"Who are you?" It still had a defiant bite, but not as badly as the prior version had been. This seemed to satisfy him. He stood with his hands behind his back, which relieved Heva only slightly, and walked to stand in front of her again. All was silent. That wicked half smile returned and he shook his head a couple of times as he gazed down at her. His eyes looked Heva up and down, scanning every inch of her. A long time passed then he brought one hand out from behind his back. Heva winced away.
"I won't hit you again." He whispered. The icy sting of this would be comforting phrase sent a shiver up Heva's spine and her feet somehow became glued to the ground. No matter how hard she tried, nothing in her body would move. She stood vulnerable to the fangs of the viper now and even if she could, there would be nowhere to run. As though he'd read her mind, his hand moved forward. His fingers laced through a few strands of hair that covered one half of Heva's face and moved them behind her ear. After pausing there, his hand slipped back to rest on her cheek. He brought his other hand out and it snaked up into her hair to sit on the back of her head. Heva began to tremble and his thumb slowly began to rub back and forth on her cheek, that smile still pasted on his lips.
Every bone in Heva's body screamed out loud. But she stood silent. There was no voice left to use. It was as if everything inside of her had shut down and there was no way to restart it. She was trapped here.
Suddenly, he began to lean in closer. Heva's heart pounded hard against her chest and she prayed inside her head that she would wake up soon.
This just couldn't be. It was a nightmare and nothing more. It would all be over soon. It had to be.
His cheek rubbed against hers and she felt his cold lips against her earlobe. She shut her eyes tightly, desperately begging in silence for it to stop. And, just as she was getting close to finally convincing herself that this was all just a horrible dream, he whispered an answer slowly into her ear:
"My name is Lore."