The Ghosts Have Reappeared

[DrDMatthews 0]

Debbie lay awake, staring at the ceiling in her darkened bedroom. It was well after 0200 hours. Earlier in the evening, she'd been so tired, she had no doubt she would fall asleep the moment her head touched her pillow. But that was before her late night visit with Aidan during which he informed her about Reaent's new mission.

 

The ghost of the USS Cairo had reappeared.....again. And who could forget the small, hapless colony on New Rigel. Debbie found herself wondering what had become of them....the survivors of both the Cairo and New Rigel. Where were they now? What were they doing? Did they ever think of the ship and crew that rescued them? Did they ever wonder what became of Reaent?

 

But those were not the thoughts that kept her awake. Since returning to her quarters, Debbie was preoccupied with one, particular individual. He was among the Cairo's one hundred sixty-six fatalities....and the only one who was never identified.

 

The only member of the Cairo's crew who was still unaccounted for was their acting Chief Engineer. Lieutenant Richard Drew had been a last minute addition to the Cairo's roster. He transferred aboard just a couple of days prior to the ship's departure from Starbase 345. The Cairo's Chief Engineer, Lt. Jacob Facon, had taken ill shortly after the ship arrived at the Starbase. He was diagnosed with an extremely rare and fairly contagious disease known as Quillick Syndrome. He was placed in isolation in the base's Sickbay. Mr. Drew took over as the chief engineer until Lt. Facon was able to return to the ship.

 

There was only one problem. Cairo's new Chief Engineer was not Lt. Richard Drew.

 

After the disaster, Debbie and her team painstakingly identified the remains of all those killed when the ship was suddenly destroyed. In some cases, there wasn't much left which made the identification process slow and tedious. When all was said and done, there was only one body they were unable to identify. And it really wasn't a body. All that remained were a few bone fragments.

 

The only person missing was the chief engineer. Considering his close proximity to the source of the explosion, it was reasonable to assume he'd been incinerated. The few bones recovered would be all that remained of him. But it was still possible to confirm his identity through DNA comparison just as they had with everyone else.

 

The DNA found in the bone fragments did not match the DNA sample in Lt. Drew's personnel file. The Cairo's last minute replacement was not who he claimed to be. He was an impostor who had been able to board the ship with an almost perfectly replicated personnel file on record. The only flaw with the file was the incorrect DNA sample.

 

The error would have been noticed sooner or later but, in this case, it didn't matter. The Cairo was destroyed just minutes after leaving Starbase 345. They barely made it to the outer markers. And Reaent was right behind them....the first ship at the scene....and it was one of the most horrific scenes Debbie had ever witnessed.

 

Debbie's team never identified those bone fragments. They knew it wasn't the body of Richard Drew but even after an exhaustive search through the Federation's entire DNA database, they were unable to come up with a match. Then the remains were taken away by Fleet Intelligence. An investigation into the incident was launched then abruptly halted even before the experts had a chance to examine the wreckage. The Reaent's crew was strongly urged to forget what they had seen.

 

Debbie had carefully buried all of the unanswered questions deep in her subconscious. Four years after the incident, she rarely thought about Cairo or the mystery man who had probably been responsible for the ship's destruction.

 

But now, all the old, familiar questions came racing back. Who was the mystery man...the suicide terrorist who was responsible for the deaths of so many people? Who doctored Lt. Drew's personnel file? Whoever it was must have had a high level security clearance. That was the only way they could have gained the necessary access to alter the files. Were there other impostors scattered throughout the fleet....terrorists posing as bona fide officers and getting away with it because traitors within Starfleet were willing to doctor personnel files?

 

The questions were just as valid now as they had been four years ago. The more Debbie thought about it, the more pressing she found the need for answers. These people, whoever they were, had kept a low profile for years. Now, Reaent was about to stir things up. Once the hornets nest was disturbed, it was logical to assume someone would get stung. Who....where....and how badly was the real concern.