Summary:
On the planet Ding'hes VII, a research team, lead by Commander Kane, was studying several strange crystals found on this planet, which seemed to be able to absorb matter. The team was surprised when they found the remains of hullplating, without any bodies. However, their surprise (and shock) grew, when they learned that Lt. Bor had been exposed to the Tiberium gas. The team decided to bring the Lt. back to the Station, to examine him.
The next day, however, they were shocked to find that Lt. Bor was missing..
And now, the continuation.
Chapter 4 - Metamorphosis
June 7, 2386, 01:30 - Din'ghes VII, Tiber Station
"Could I have a look at the sensor data from sickbay?" Kane asked when the two female officers had left.
"Of course," Krel said. "I'll transfer the data to this console." He walked to the console and seconds later they were looking at the recorded data.
"Strange… Really strange," said Kane a few minutes later. "Are you sure there is nothing wrong with the sensors in sickbay?"
"I've already ran a level 5 diagnostic on the systems in sickbay to check that myself; everything seems to be working perfectly."
Kane frowned. "Well, perhaps a more thorough check is necessary."
"I agree," Moebius said. "And at least we have something to do while we wait for a message from the away team."
Krel, Moebius and Kane walked to the sickbay and entered. Moebius followed Kane to the biobed that had been monitoring Lt. Bor, but Krel seemed to be looking at something else.
"That is impossible," he said, and both Moebius and Kane turned around to see what he was talking about. The Trill was looking at the vials that had contained the blood samples he had taken from the injured Andorian and everyone else in the outpost. Three of them were shattered and a green substance was oozing over the desk.
"What happened to them?" Moebius asked.
Krel picked up a tricorder and started scanning the substance. "The three shattered vials contained samples from Bor's blood, but nothing had changed for several hours, and this hadn't happened when Bor was still here." The Trill paused. "I have no idea what caused this..."
"I'll have a look at the sensors in the biobed," Kane said and picked up a tricorder himself, "while you figure out what caused that."
Several minutes later, Kane had finished the diagnostic of the biobed. "There is absolutely nothing wrong," he said and looked at the two civilians. "What about that... green stuff?"
Krel looked at his tricorder. "It is really odd... I am still picking up traces of Andorian DNA here, but there is also other DNA present."
"How is that possible?" Moebius asked. "A virus? Could the creature that attacked Bor have carried a virus of some sort?"
Krel shook his head. "This doesn't look like a virus..." The Trill looked at the tricorder again. "Bor's DNA seems to be rearranging itself... It's like the gasses he was exposed to, are causing mutations, but these do not appear to be random."
"And he has only been exposed to the atmosphere?" Moebius asked. "There was nothing in the samples I studied that was big enough to be a virus or even a prion."
"Bor didn't have any injuries, and the damage to his suit was not caused by the creature directly," Krel said. "It was ruptured by a crystal when the creature tried to drag him away."
Kane, who has been silent throughout the conversation suddenly spoke up. "You said Bor's DNA in that blood sample is being rearranged... What if that is also happening in Bor's body?"
"Well, if we don't find a way to reverse the process, Bor will most likely die..." Krel said. "I really need to study th..."
"That's not what I meant," said Kane. "What if that creature we think may have taken Bor, is Bor himself?" The Starfleet officer paused. "That would explain why sensors did not detect the creature entering, because no creature ever did try to enter the outpost. It, or Bor, only tried to get out."
"Is that possible?" Moebius asked, looking at Krel.
The doctor shrugged. "With the current data, I cannot explain what happened, but it is unlikely." He looked at the green substance on the desk. "It is possible though."
"Away team to Tiber Station, we have something on sensors," T'Pek's voice suddenly was heard.
"The away team! They have to know this," Moebius said and tapped his communicator. "Go ahead, lieutenant."
"We may have detected some movement one kilometer south of the outpost," the Vulcan science officer said. "We are going to take the shuttle closer, if our sensors are not working properly, we might be able to get visual confirmation."
"We think that the creature you're after might be Lieutenant Bor," Moebius said. "Dr. Krel is still working on it, but something may have caused him to mutate into the creature that we thought had taken Bor from sickbay."
"Even if it is not the lieutenant, it did break into the outpost and went to sickbay," Kane said. "It didn't attack anyone else."
There was a short pause before the Vulcan replied. "Should we attempt to capture the creature, Commander?"
Kane looked at Dr. Moebius. He nodded. "Yes Lieutenant," Kane said, "but be careful."
