Will jumped out to capture Lore as he began to flee the room but missed and hit the doors as they shut behind him. He pressed the command buttons beside them with no luck. "He's locked the doors, Captain. It'll take me a few moments to override the command…" he halted as he saw the heart wrenching scene before him. Data cradled the lifeless body of Heva in his arms, looking down at her with forlorn eyes. Blood fell from where the phaser blast cut through her left shoulder, her breath shallow and slow. Deanna quickly knelt beside them, scanning her with her tricorder. She breathed a sigh of relief and closed it. "She's still alive, she's just unconscious."
"I could have killed her…Lore almost made me kill her…" Data muttered down at Heva's calm face. His grip on her tightened and he glared up at the door Lore had just escaped from. Will was frantically pressing different command buttons trying to crack the lock Lore had on it. Data was about to get up to help him when Heva's hand gripped tightly around his forearm. Her eyes were wide, frightened and urgent. "Don't…let….him…" she forced through red teeth. "Get…to…his…ship…"
"Just lay back, Heva.." Data whispered to her, laying her back on Deanna's knee. Deanna gently caressed her hair, trying to calm her to no avail. Data reluctantly jumped up and began helping Will open the door, ready to sprint after Lore and stop him once and for all. Jean-Luc knelt beside Heva and gazed down at her pain ridden face. "Heva?" he said quietly. Heva's eyes snapped toward him. Her whole face contorted and she grabbed his uniform. "Captain…" she sputtered, blood splashing against his com badge. "I'm…sorry…" she groaned, gripping tighter on him, pulling him down.
"Heva, you've done nothing wrong at your own will. Just lie back-"
"No…GET IT OUT!" Heva cried, slapping her other hand to her forehead. She began scraping at her hairline and screamed at the top of her lungs. "I NEED TO GET IT OUT OF ME! I CAN STOP HIM!"
"Tell me how. Tell me how to get it out." Jean-Luc pleaded her. She gazed hard up at him and seemed to force her eyes down to his tricorder and phaser. "Scan between…both hemispheres of my brain…you should find a…signal being given to a…neural receiver between them…find the signal…frequency and set your phaser to….the corresponding level in order to sever the link…"
The Captain stared wide eyed down at Heva. Somehow, even with a strong mind control device implanted in her brain she could still find a way through it. "Hurry!" she urged. Jean-Luc quickly pulled out his tricorder and began scanning up and down her head until he found the signal beacon at the hairline above her forehead. He ran the tricorder down to the back of her neck and found where the command signals were being transmitted into her brain and calculated the frequency. He reached for his phaser and hesitated after he set it to the correct setting.
"I'm not sure I can do this…what if you die?" he said, perspiring as he held the phaser against him. A tear fell from her eye and she lurched forward, another surge of pain flooding through her head.
"That's the risk…you have to take…Captain…" she forced, coughing up another small amount of blood onto his uniform. She turned to Gaze over at Data, a longing look glazing her eyes. He looked back at her looking deathly frightened before continuing to work the door with Commander Riker.
"Just in case…" she reached down and pulled out a small phial. Inside was a mint green liquid that entranced the Captain as he took it. "I grabbed this as fast as I could…before Lore caught me and did this to me…it's the cure for the plague…give it to Beverly…tell her I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough…to get it to her sooner…"
Jean-Luc stared mystified at the small phial of antidote before shoving it in his pocket. "It isn't your fault, Commander…You're going to be fine now just lie still. I'm going to try my best to do this correctly so that we can take you back to the Enterprise." Heva nodded and lay back as Jean-Luc pointed the phaser at the very center of the top of her head. He tensed up and with one last breath, he fired.
Data stopped working as did Will and they looked on as Heva fell limp against Deanna's chest. The door behind them suddenly whooshed open revealing a long, dark corridor. Jean-Luc looked up at Data's worried face and nodded at him. "Go. Find Lore and stop him before he kills everyone in his path. We will take care of Heva. That's an order, Commander!" he finished, sensing Data's hesitation. With that, Data and Will rushed out of sight down the hall.