Suspicions Part 3
by Zlanna

	The small group of senior officers stood in the Enterprise's morgue,
preparing for Crusher's autopsy report, the covered corpse of Ensign
Kramer laid out before them. "No one was present at the time Kramer
fell?" Captain Picard asked Commander Riker.

	The First Officer forced himself to relive the moments before and
after Kramer's death. "No. I heard his scream and ran to where he was
supposed to be stationed.  I found him at the base of the cliff. I
assumed he fell."

	"Sounds like an accident to me." Troi agreed.

	"Actually." Riker said, remembering Kramer's last words, "he
protested my sending him through the transporter to sickbay, then he
said 'accident'. At least that's what I think he said, he had trouble
speaking."

	"No wonder. Both lungs were punctured in the fall." Crusher said.

	Data studied the autopsy report contained on the padd in his hand.
"In light of his injuries it is surprising he was conscious at all."

	"Did he say anything else?" Picard was studying Riker giving the
Commander the impression the Captain knew something he didn't about
Kramer's death.

	"Well," the First Officer said carefully, trying to be precise, "he
said 'I. Did it'." He died just after that. I assumed he was referring
to his attempt to climb to the top of the cliff. Or maybe he meant it
was his fault that he fell."

	Picard turned to Crusher and gave her a slight nod. The doctor
cleared her throat and began, "The cause of death was multiple internal
trauma. Nearly every bone was broken.  But the most surprising result of
the autopsy was the discovery of a metallic device embedded at the base
of Ensign Kramer's cranium. I should have caught it when we did the
initial medical checks after returning to our time, but I discounted the
slight irregularity in the synaptic pattern thinking it was normal for
Kramer."

	"A metallic device?" Riker repeated.

	"Yes, Commander." Crusher pulled up the chart on a view monitor,
"comparisons show that this small device is a miniaturized version of
the Borg neural network relay system that we found..."

	"The Borg?" Riker interrupted as he leaned forward inspecting the
monitor. "A Borg spy?" he turned toward Picard, his bewilderment
evident. Already the implications of the autopsy findings were beginning
to dawn on him.

	"Apparently so, Number One." Riker could feel the heat of
embarrassment warm his face as Picard continued, "Commander, it is
imperative that we know what assignments Ensign Kramer was working on
prior to his death." Riker raised his eyes to Picard and in a quiet
whisper he said, "he volunteered to work on our Borg offensive
strategies as part of his tactical studies. I okayed the assignment."
The color drained from Riker's face as he continued more to himself than
to anyone present, "I assigned a Borg spy to help devise the
Federation's Borg offensive strategies."

	Picard placed a hand of Riker's shoulder. "There is no way you could
have known Commander. No way any of us could have known. It appears we
underestimated the Borg's ability to adapt. The Borg have assimilated
Romulans, Cardassians, humans, all races quite skilled in espionage. It
is, I suppose, only logical that they would have learned the value of
undercover operations."

	Riker struggled to recall if he had missed some sign of Kramer's
assimilation. Had there been a change in personality? Kramer had been
quieter, but then the everyone on board the Enterprise was in mourning
for their fallen crew mates. Just a walk down the corridor confronted
you with signs of the Borg takeover of the ship. Ten-forward was lined
with Borg cubicles stretching from the floor to the ceiling and
Starfleet refused to let Picard restore the ship until Federation
scientists had a chance to study the Borg technology. Had then been any
other clues? He ran through a mental checklist of actions they had taken
since their return. "Data," he said, "I had requested an internal sensor
sweep to verify there were no Borg survivors on the ship."

	"The sweep was made Commander, the results came back negative," the
android answered. "There was, of course, no way the computers could have
identified the miniaturized implants as Borg devices since it is an
unknown technology to the sensor program."

	"Right." Riker ran a hand through his hair, feeling he was missing
something else, "But why didn't the program report there were unknown
devices on board. And how about the Borg data transmitter frequency? Why
didn't the sweep pick that up?"

	Data tilted his head to the side for a brief moment, "Unknown."
Swinging a terminal around, Data's finger began to fly over the panel.
"It seems that someone has reprogrammed the internal intruder detection
systems."

	"Who?" Picard asked.

	"Ensign Kramer." Data answered.

	Riker leaned over the android's shoulder straining to see the
results of the computer inquiry. "Can you update the program to search
the Enterprise for any remaining Borg spies?"

	"Yes, I will do so immediately."

	Doctor Crusher had been listening quietly, but now she joined in,
"We could also check the updated crew medical records for the
irregularity that we now know exists."

	Riker swallowed hard and forced himself to offer a suggestion,
"Maybe it would be a good idea if you and Geordi checked out your
programming too, Data."

	"Just a minute, Commander, that was out of line." Picard protested,
the venom of his tone stinging Riker more than his words. "Commander
Data did more than anyone else to save the Enterprise from the Borg."

	"I realize that Captain, but still" Riker began.

	"Still it is a reasonable precaution Captain, " Data said, "given
that I was a hostage of the Borg and given the discovery of this new
technology."

	"I have absolute confidence in you Data." Picard insisted.

	"I appreciate that Captain, but I am happy to run the diagnostic
routine. Now that I know the Borg are capable of creating spies, I would
rest easier knowing that I am not an unsuspecting Trojan horse."

	"Very well, Data." Picard turned to his First Officer. "When do you
think Kramer was assimilated?"

	"He was on board the Enterprise during the battle with the Borg; I
would assume he was altered then. And he was sent to Earth in the escape
pods. He must not have had a chance to assimilate anyone on Earth or our
history would have been changed when we returned to our time." Riker
said.

	"He wouldn't have had any reason to assimilate any human in the
past." Crusher said, "after all he was trying to stop us."

	"Which means he would probably have tried to assimilate one of the
Enterprise crew."

	"But who?" Crusher asked.

	Data looked up from the terminal where he had been working.
"Internal sensors indicate no detection of a Borg transmission, nor of
the brain pattern irregularity Doctor Crusher found on Ensign Kramer."

	"The brain pattern irregularity may appear differently among
non-human species. I should run a physical check on all non-humans on
board the ship." Crusher said.

	"I agree. Make it so." Picard said. "How long will it take you to
complete the physical check?"

	"Working round the clock, about thirty hours." Crusher answered. "It
is possible that Kramer didn't have time to assimilate anyone else. We
have only been in our time for a few hours."

	"I'm returning to Sinomia. I want to talk to the away team. See if
any of them noticed anything unusual about Kramer. Maybe we can learn
what he was up to after he was assimilated. Walters was Kramer's
roommate. I'll check him out first."

	"I'll go with you," Counselor Troi said, but first, I want to get
something to eat. Eight hours of meetings today and the Sinomians never
offered me any food."

	The entire day? That's strange. I thought they prided themselves on
their hospitality." Riker said.

	"Well, obviously their reputation was undeserved." Troi replied as
they left for ten-forward. "I can't imagine a more inhospitable race."

	***

To be continued...

Please hit Back button to return to the Index.