Chaos began to take over. The crowd was uneasy from the bombing the previous day, and the expression on Darren's face did nothing to help the situation.

Darren's eyes never broke contact with the man staring back at him. It was the same person - he was sure of it.

The band stopped playing, and the girls' voices trailed to a stop. Daniel tried to get Darren's attention, but soon gave up. He tried to follow Darren's gaze, but all he could see were hundred of eyes looking back towards the stage. He gave up trying to keep a stage presence going, and went over to Darren. He put his hand on Darren's shoulder, and still got no reaction. Daniel looked at Darren's face - his normally pale skin couldn't have been whiter.

"Darren, what's going on?" he asked

"It's him" he said, simply. He raised his arm and pointed towards the man. "That's him."

"What do you mean?" Daniel looked to where Darren was pointing, and saw a man staring back at Darren. "What does he have to do with anything?" Daniel turned back to Darren.

"The turbolift ... No! Wait!" Daniel looked and saw the man standing up. The man had started to work his way through the crowd toward the door. Darren finally made a move - he ran, jumped off the stage and attempted to follow the man to the door. The crowd was too thick and too confused to help, and by the time Darren made it to the door the man was long gone. He stood in the doorway, scanning the crowd, looking to see where the man had gone off too. He was soon joined by Daniel, Captain Picard, and Worf.

"Daz, what's happening to you?" Daniel's voice rose above the murmur of the crowd. "Who was that man?" Darren gave up looking, and turned to face the others.

"I don't know for sure who he is, but I saw him in a turbolift yesterday on the Enterprise."

"May I ask what this person looked like? Maybe he was on board with a group heading for this conference." Worf asked.

"Um, that's not going to be easy. He was completely covered by a cloak - all I could see were his eyes. It's the gaze that I remembered, rather than the features. Although ..."

"Lieutenant, we can't go very far with just a look from the eyes. Are you sure you don't remember anything else?" Picard asked. Darren's mind drifted back to the memories he had recalled during the brief performance, and the feeling in the pit of his stomach deepened. It was him getting shot, he knew that much. But how? The man didn't have a phaser, and Sam. How did he know the man standing there? His name, and that he wasn't the bad guy? So many questions, and so few answers. He did remember the eyes though - and it took a bit of debating within himself before he decided to mention it.

"Captain, this is going to sound really strange, and I'm not sure that I totally understand it myself, but something funny has been happening to me ever since the accident - the shooting - on Neith. I'm getting strange sensations, and strange memories, as though my life were happening not here, but sometime in the past. The people are the same, but the circumstances are different. I remember the shooting now in a different way than how it happened on Neith. I remember his eyes, and they triggered a memory that I didn't even know existed. I remember that man shooting me, and I also remember a strange, circular mark on his cheek." Darren briefly became lost in thought. "That mark, it almost looked like the moon..."

Picard said after a moment of thought, "Look at those people over there." He pointed into the crowd, indicating a group of people standing about 20 feet away from them. "Was the mark similiar to theirs?" Once Darren realized who he was pointing to, he stared. The feeling of recognition came over him again, and the memories that had just resurfaced became stronger and more real.

"Yes, that's right." Darren finally responded.

"Those people are known as the Pu'v. They entered the Federation three months ago, so you probably haven't heard much about them as yet. But, Lieutenant, should I assume that it is one of these Pu'v that are causing the problems? Can I trust these strange thoughts of yours?"

"Captain, I know it sounds strange, but they are memories - I do remember them. I can honestly say that I will recognize this man again if I see him, and now, with almost absolute certainty, I can say that he is a Pu'v."

"Alright, I'm going to believe you. Worf - I want every security officer planetside right now on the lookout for this man. There shouldn't have been any Pu'v on the ship at all in the past couple of days, and if its the same man, we may have a clue to our conspirator. Consider this top priority."

"Yes, Captain. I'll have my officers on it immediately." Worf left, and began giving out orders through his communicator.

"Lieutenant, I want you to talk with Counsellor Troi. I want some hard facts and I want them now." The Captain left then too, leaving Darren alone with Daniel.

Chapter 10

Back to Chapter 8
Back to Main Page