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And right now his instincts were telling him that something was about to go very wrong if he didn’t figure out what was going on and stop it immediately.

Odd, two personal messages so hard on the heels of each other. Especially odd was Irene Hansen’s appearance. Even with the medical strides made by the Solids over the years, the Changeling knew that some mental illnesses remained untreatable.

But not very many.

His fingers drummed on the arm of his chair as his thoughts raced. Not very many at all. What were the odds that Irene Hansen had one of those diseases?

And what was it Campbell had said? “Weird,” she’d called it, and weird, indeed, it was. Hansen’s condition had taken Campbell by surprise, but Kim seemed fully aware of the situation, as had Seven of Nine.

They were still some time away from arriving at Loran II. He’d wanted to drag that time out, to try to come up with a plan, but nothing had materialized. Suddenly the thought struck him that he might be better off on the planet surface, safe from detection, with Moset and his creatures to protect him.

The thought of the entities Moset was creating thrilled him. Who needed to be part of a Great Link when one had beings like that under his command? Moset was a brilliant mind, but gullible, like all Solids were gullible. The Cardassian thought that the creatures he was hard at work perfecting would belong to him.

The Changeling almost snorted in derision. As if he’d hand over such a treasure trove to a scientist.

No, they were his, although Moset didn’t know it yet. They, and the scientist who had made them, would protect him.

“Lieutenant Tare,” he said, “increase speed to warp seven.”

“Aye, sir,” she replied, her fingers moving knowledgeably over the console.

As unobtrusively as possible, “Chakotay” touched his computer screen. The beaming face of the elderly woman he’d just spoken to appeared. She looked quite healthy, both physically and mentally.

He read her bio. There was no indication there of anything wrong with her.

Irene Hansen was just fine. And, come to think of it, how had she been able to so casually contact a starship engaged in a mission?

Kim had been the first one to react as if Hansen’s mental state was not unexpected. And Kim had been called down to sickbay, to be treated for Umari flu….

He searched the computer banks for information on the illness.

Nothing.

They were playing him. They knew something, and the two were playing him like—

“Captain?” Lyssa Campbell’s voice, puzzled, unsure.

“Yes, Lieutenant, what is it?” His mind was racing at light speed. He didn’t dare act until they had reached the planet. He was glad he’d instructed Tare to change speed.

“You asked me to monitor all incoming and outgoing messages.”

He wished he could form a tentacle of his arm and wrap it around her slender neck. Forcing himself to remain calm, he replied, “Yes, I did. What have you got?”

“It may be nothing, sir. I had a ghost earlier, this may just be more of the same.” She shook her blond head. “They really did a number on this ship.”

The Changeling decided that if he had the opportunity to do so without putting himself at risk, he would indeed kill Lyssa Campbell.

“Lieutenant, make your report.”

“Well, it looks like I’m detecting unauthorized activity. It’s as if—but that can’t be right.” Her brow furrowed.

“Chakotay” couldn’t take it any longer. He rose and strode to her station, pushing her out of the way firmly.

And that’s when he saw it.

Seven of Nine had sent a hidden message, encrypted and deeply embedded in the ordinary, everyday conversation she’d had with Chakotay about her “mentally ill” aunt.

A message that was now being decoded and read in sickbay. Where Harry Kim and Jarem Kaz were.

He was so furious that for a moment, he almost lost his form. It was with a monumental effort of will that he retained it, kept calm, forced himself to sound mildly curious.

“I see why you’re confused, Lieutenant. This is quite odd. Tare, how much longer till we reach Loran II?”

“About two minutes, sir.”

“Enter standard orbit