Daniel had watched Darren's conversation with the Captain in silence. He knew that Darren wasn't himself, but he hadn't realized the true extent of the problem. He had so many questions, he struggled to get his thoughts in order.

"Darren" he finally spoke. "What sort of memories have you had? Are they all about the shooting?"

"Daniel, I am really confused right now. I know that I was shot by that man, but not on Neith, and not by a phaser. I do have other memories - about Colby especially, but I can't really explain them - they're almost more like sensations and feelings than words or actions. It's almost like..." Darren trailed off.

"Like what, Daz?" Daniel prompted. Darren started again.

"The one feeling that seems to be overriding everything else is that I don't belong here. My whole life, this whole life, isn't right."

"Darren, I think Captain Picard is right - you should talk to Counsellor Troi. You can't really go on like this, I mean, look at what's just happened. This whole performance has fallen apart. It's not fair to keep this dragging on - not to me, to Colby, to the band, and most importantly, to yourself."

"Yeah, I know. Look, tell the band that I'll talk to them tomorrow. I'm going to go back to the ship, and see if I can't get some of these things sorted out." He tapped his communicator, and said "Hayes to Enterprise. One to beam up". He felt the transporter beam envelop him and watched Daniel's face dissolve in front of him. The next thing he knew, he was standing on a transporter platform, back on board the Enterprise.

The man's name was Mut. He was a member of the Pu'v, but was part of a sect determined to stay away and out of the Federation. He had been working with the Montu for almost two months, and their plan was almost complete. By this time the next day, Ambassadors from every race at the so-called peace conference would be dead, and chaos would follow. There was only one thing standing in his way - Lieutenant Darren Hayes. It had been a mistake allowing himself to be seen in the turbolift. Thank goodness for transporters. The message had obviously not done the trick either. And then tonight - at the conference. He was sure that Hayes had recognized him. He was lucky to get out of there virtually unseen. He had to be more careful from now on. It was also time for more drastic action. He couldn't have Hayes figuring out the plan. He was going to have to do away with him, once and for all.

It was still early evening when Darren beamed back. He returned to his quarters and got changed. He knew he should contact the Counsellor, but he wasn't up to it yet - he wanted to get himself somewhat sorted out before he had to try and explain it all to someone else. He sat on the edge of his bed, and glanced around the room. His eyes came to rest on his viewer - the message was still on the screen. He got up and re-read the message. What did it mean? It had to be connected - but how? Certain phrases began to stand out - "We stare each other down". That worked - he and the man had made secure eye contact at least twice, three times if you counted the shooting. "You're a magic time reversal clock". His memories seemed to involve a different period and place in time, but how could the writer know that? Other messages got to Darren in a different way - "you're never safe 'till you see the dawn", "I'm gonna crash into your world", "have to die to leave my world". Darren suddenly felt the sensation of being watched, and quickly looked around his quarters. He was still alone, but he felt like he was being suffocated. "Listen to the hunter becoming hunted". Wasn't Darren like the hunter? Trying to find the conspirator? But was he actually becoming hunted? The last line irked him most of all - "All hope of salvage is now devoid" - he still had a chance, right? Darren was still here, the conspirator was still at large - the story was far from over.

Chapter 11

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