It took them a day and a half to reach the Arimur system. By that time Heva still hadn't awoken, but her condition improved. Once Beverly was aboard, they set a course to rendezvous with the Taurus, the Opal, the Cygnus, and the Aphrodite. Though neither vessel had sent word of their status in the interception of Lore's vessel, Picard was confident that they had at least found him and were in the process of taking him into custody. He only prayed that the rest of the crew shared that assurance.
Beverly stood beside Heva's bed in less than ten minutes scanning her and administering tests. Eventually she discovered that her left arm was broken, her right clavicle was fractured and she also had three broken fingers. After reporting to the Captain that she would be performing surgery, she immediately set to work.
The task was grueling and tiresome, but it was finished in only a few hours. Heva was laid back on the same bio bed she started out on as carefully as possible. Her arm and fingers were bandaged and her right arm put in a sling for the sake of her clavicle. It was hours before she finally awoke. Beverly alerted the Captain and soon, both him and Data stood alongside her bed.
When Data entered sick bay, he paused and looked into Heva's eyes. They were tired, weary, and if he wasn't mistaken…a bit frightened. He rushed toward her as though she were a magnet and took her hand gingerly in his. She winced slightly and he let go, a worried look coming over his face. "No, it's ok Data." Heva cooed soothingly. "It's just a scratch, I swear." she chuckled only to cough violently for a few moments afterward. Picard and Beverly stood on the other side of the bed beaming down at her. "How are you feeling, Heva?" Jean-Luc asked her.
Heva's eyes met with Picard's and a strange sensation fell over him. Here she was, looking up at him like she had many times but something told him there was a new Heva behind those sapphire eyes. He hid these feelings as best he could with a smile of relief to replace them as he stared down at her. "I'm weathered, but not beaten." she replied with a joking grin. Beside the Captain, Beverly scanned Heva's arm and fingers. "Your breaks are healing nicely." she reported. Heva nodded and sat up a little farther against the angled back of the bed.
"When will I be able to return to duty?" she asked, hopeful. Beverly clicked her tongue and shook her head. "Not for a couple of weeks yet. Don't worry though, all of the research we have has been transferred to my computer and the science team is hard at work with what we have so far. We should have a cure for the plague in only a manner of days."
"Speaking of the virus," Picard added. "Did you have a chance to find some sort of cure or an inkling of one aboard the ship?"
Heva stared off into space and they all waited patiently. Her eyes glazed over and her expression became disturbingly blank. Picard wondered if anyone else noticed this the way he did.
"No." she answered flatly. "I didn't find anything that suggested Lore possessed a cure. I was mostly put to work on the virus itself. The precaution of a mask and gloves was given to me…I was separating it into different canisters to be administered in different systems." "Yes," Data said. "We figured out how Lore was distributing the virus, there is no need to explain it." Heva's face suddenly fell and grew grim. She looked up at the Captain and suddenly asked "What is to become of Lore if he's captured?"
Data figured that this question presented Heva's hope for a strict punishment lying in wait for his twin. He barely tightened his grip on her hand and replied. "Once he is apprehended, Lore will more than likely be disassembled rather than tried. Since he wasn't before and was accidentally awoken, aiding him in escape after our last encounter, now would be an opportune time since he has wrought such destruction."
What came out of Heva next was both unexpected and shocking to everyone. She ripped her hand out of Data's, her eyes widening with an expression of anger. "NO! That can't happen!" She cried out. Beverly lightly pushed her back to make her lay down. Heva barely complied, however she calmed herself and looked deeply into the Captain's eyes. Now he was sure that something was wrong once the words following were uttered. "We can't destroy Lore. He must not be touched. I will not allow it."
Data stared in disbelief at Heva. He somehow felt as though she was a stranger now. Her face was so calm, yet her eyes were wild. And here she sat, defending Lore as though he was someone she cared for deeply. "Heva…" he said hesitant. She turned to him, her eyes never blinking while he spoke. "Lore nearly killed you. He has already killed countless people and plans to kill many more. He must be stopped…but you sit here saying that this should not happen…why?" "Because I want him to stay alive. He needs to stay alive." Heva replied, her voice like ice making the room feel dark and the air freeze. The three officers stared at one another. Data stood and leaned down to kiss Heva only to have her turn away from him. Pain entered and took a tight hold on Data as he stood back up and left the room without another word. Picard looked after him and then back at Beverly. Heva didn't look at them, only stared out the window across the room while they spoke in whispers, thinking she couldn't hear them.
"I want you to have Deanna meet me in my quarters…keep a very close eye on Heva and update me every hour on the hour." Picard mumbled. Beverly nodded, gazing with concern at the woman that seemed to replace her friend on the bio bed.
Deanna sat across from the Captain only fifteen minutes after all of them left sick bay. She didn't need to hear the Captain say a word before knowing there was something incredibly wrong. "I sense a strong feeling of worry and fear in you, Captain." she said upon entering his quarters. Picard merely nodded in reply. His eyes never left the stars beyond the glass. They peered back at him with a false glimmer of reassurance, making him feel worse inside.
"Heva woke up. But I fear that she isn't right in the mind after whatever happened on that ship. When we told her what was to become of Lore upon his capture she grew frantic, saying that he was to be left alone and that she wouldn't let him be disassembled. Data is very upset, as am I. He has every right to be; defending Lore like that and then ignoring him…it's very unlike her." He stopped here, feeling he'd made his point. Deanna stood silent, her mind attempting to grasp a fragment of Heva's in order to better understand the situation. Once she found it, she examined it and stood to cross the room while she spoke.
"I would diagnose this as Stockholm Syndrome, being that all of the symptoms are there; dependency, anxiety, anger at the prospect of Lore being destroyed…However Heva is still there. I think that this is just a repercussion of her imprisonment and torture. Lore makes her think of Data, so right now with her weakened state of mind she is confusing them. Lore means Data, Data means Lore. So when Data tried to show her affection, she ignored him the way she would intend to do to Lore. When she asked about Lore, she originally meant to ask if Data was alright. Her mind is scrambled, she just needs time to rest." Picard's face was blank. "Are you sure?" he asked. Deanna could tell that he didn't completely believe this.
"I'm certain, Captain. If there were something else hidden there…I'm positive I would have felt it."
"Good." the Captain replied. "I will let Data and the Doctor know. I just hope you're one hundred percent correct about this."
In just a couple of days after she woke up, Heva was able to leave sick bay and rest in her quarters. She received visits from both Data and the Captain many times during the day, which comforted her in a way. At the moment, her and Data were laying together on the bed. She lay her head on his stomach, letting him stroke her hair.
"I have to report back to duty soon." Data whispered sadly. He felt Heva's head nod against his stomach and she sat up. She bowed her head and shut her eyes tightly like she was in pain. He stood and rounded the bed to kneel before her. "Are you alright?" he asked timidly.
Heva nodded. "Yah." she forced a smile. "Just a head ache. That's all."
"Well, let me heal it for you." Data said leaning up to plant a soft kiss against her forehead. Heva savored the kiss at first, then threw her body backward crying out in frightened surprise. She held a hand over her forehead protecting herself and Data stared in shock at her. Just a few seconds afterward Heva lowered her arm and sighed deeply. "I'm so sorry, Data…I guess that this mind scramble I've got will take a while to go away…" She frowned and picked Data's hand up to place it against her cheek. He nodded in understanding just as he was being called to the bridge.
He gave her warm forehead one last peck and rubbed Heva's cheek. "You get some rest. I do not want you straining yourself. Remember that you must take your medication in one half an hour and another two hours after that."
"Yes, yes, yes." Heva groaned. "I know. I'll be fine. Just go to work, ok?" she smiled and rubbed the side of Data's leg just before he left, softly grinning one last time before the door closed behind him.
Heva shut her eyes again, attempting to make the pain in her head go away. The harder she tried, the more intense the pain became. She finally decided to go to sick bay. A headache was somewhat abnormal but she was sure Beverly would have something for it. Before Heva could stand to leave, her head was thrown roughly backward and she cried out as a searing pain stung like a blow from a baseball bat across her forehead. She twisted around on the bed as the feeling grew hotter and hotter, making her go blind. Her eyes watered and although it caused even more pain, she threw her hands over them and screamed louder when another searing jolt consumed her brain. At long last, it was over. Heva's eyes opened and she was calm. Her lips curled to form a side grin and she pushed herself off the bed. Her eyes scanned the room and fell upon an empty corner. Still smiling, she approached it and reached a hand out, patting the air like a blind man feeling for a wall,
Her hand finally fell flat in midair, making a thump. Her hand crawled across the invisible canister to find the control keys. She pressed a pinky to one of the buttons revealing a container filled with the Arimur virus. Her eyes widened and filled with a crazed joy as she stared gleefully down at her hidden cargo.
"Step one is over, my love." she said to herself, stroking the sleek steel surface of the container. She laughed out loud and put the cloak back up on the canister before turning away to leave the room.