B4FV 3.13 - In The Eye

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Go to Parts -- 1 & 2

Disclaimer
This episode was greatly inspired by the films "The Ring" and "Ringu" (first one is the US remake, second is the Japanese original btw, don't get me started by asking "why mention both, what's the difference?"). To be fair I tried to make this more of a parody than anything else. There was (and probably still will be) a skit of the films in Season Five's "Death Corridor", but as I had an empty slot in this season I figured I'd have another go at the horror genre.

Episode Synopsis
When a few members of the crew die in a mysterious way an investigation is soon underway, but they soon learn that something's are better left alone.

Special Guest Star
Desmond Harrington as Damien

Guest Stars
Adam Blaustein
Jake Wood
Johnny Shentall
Myleene Klass
Gareth Gates
Justin Timberlake

Written By
Marill

Written
3rd - 5th, 7th, 10th & 13th June 2005

Episode Based In
August 2372 (early season 3)

Last time on B4 Fifth Voyager
Captains Log: In other news Damien has been acting like a bigger a** than usual, and has been picking a fight with the writers on occasion. Also the crew have reported seeing a menacing intruder onboard recently, the Doctor reports that the amount of people hitting their heads against the wall and being knocked unconscious has increased. Chakotay believes it may be related.

"He called me a whore, that in his day girls like me were burned at the stake," one girl cried.

"Ok you mentioned that already," James groaned. "What did he look like?"

The two girls looked at each other. "His face was horribly scarred and he was old."

"No. He just appears out of nowhere, rambles on to the people nearby and disappears again," James replied. "It all started two days ago."

Tom and Chakotay both glanced in his direction, their eyes went alarmingly wide. The body lifted the sheet off with his other hand, he looked in their direction. In a croaky voice he just managed to spit out, "help me." Tom and Chakotay backed off a few metres, James managed to pull away his arm and backed off too.

"Ok so you think we're in a time loop, how does that help us?" Chakotay asked.

"Well the Enterprise only got out of it because they reverted what was causing it," Tom said.

"Matthews asking for help," Chakotay replied.

"So it's simple, all we have to do is stop him being murdered," James said.

"I don't know about you but the last few years for me have been the best of my life. I have you to thank for that," James said.

Jessie smiled, "yeah me too."

"Ok, if I can't do this now, I never will," James muttered. He turned his head back to face her. "Jess, I uh.. I'm in love with you."

"Not in a bad way, I think.. I just wasn't expecting it," Jessie said. Her face was turning a little red, "that's really sweet, thanks for telling me."

"It's a longshot but.." James said as he removed his arm from her shoulders. He used that hand to get a small box out of his pocket. "Jess, will you marry me?" Jessie's mouth dropped open in shock.

Meanwhile outside Chakotay's was doing the same. "I was right? Kathryn's not going to be happy about this."

"I feel bad enough that you told me how you felt, yet I couldn't do the same for you.. and now this," Jessie stuttered. "You know I've never been loved by anyone, and I've never loved anyone back. I don't understand it, so I really don't know if I love you back or not. I'm sorry, I'm just too messed up."

"I'm sorry, I really am. I just can't marry someone if I don't love them.. I'm not saying that I don't.." Jessie said.

Chakotay sighed and shook his head. He turned around to go back around the corner, and down the corridor. He got to the other turbolift, then pressed the button on the panel next to the door. The doors opened to reveal Matthews' body lying in the middle of the turbolift. "Save me," he said.

"Well if the murder happens at a different time, place and method despite your lack of contact, then maybe the murderer is looping too," B'Elanna said.

Chakotay nodded his head, "maybe, but you'd think the murder would happen earlier everytime to thwart any of our attempts but it doesn't."

"Well rhetorically, the murderer could be looping and changing his or her's strategy to throw you off," B'Elanna said.

"Have you ever fallen.. you know in love with anyone?" Jessie asked quietly.

Chakotay smiled, "I have yes."

"Uh huh," Jessie said. She put her feet up on the sofa to get comfortable. "Tell me, what's that like?"

"Where to start.. hmm, oh right. There are a few tell tale signs of love, I'll name a few. One, you can't stop thinking about them. Two, you want to be near them all the time. Three, you'd do nearly anything for them, even risk your own life to save theirs.. that sort of thing."

Jessie rushed in, she took a hold of his arm.

"James, can we talk?" she asked.

"Now? Security matter," James said, glancing between her and the door.

Something exploded on the upper level, everyone stopped what they were doing to look towards the source. Nobody could really see anything besides smoke.

James shuddered a little before turning back around. He walked over to stand in front of her, then looked up. "Something else is here."

Everyone who were looking up at the upper level, watched as a heavily burned body rolled across the glass floor near the core. It fell through the gap and landed right next to it.

"That's not.." James muttered. He knelt down beside the body, he pulled him onto his back. It was the crewmember B'Elanna talked to in the first loop. "Who is this?"

B'Elanna put a hand over her mouth, "that's Harrison."

Harrison opened his eyes, but only James reacted to it. "Please, save us," he whispered.

"No, Harrison was a victim.. I think our prime suspect is Chase," Chakotay replied.

"I'm surprised Chase hasn't spread the word everywhere, anyway. She was intent on getting revenge," Harrison said. "We arranged to meet here to talk it over, but she hasn't turned up. It was stupid of me to think she'd even try to listen."

James looked confused, "ok I thought I got it, but now my head's all muddled up. I figured that those two broke up because you and Chase got together, but if that were the case it would be Liam that would want revenge, not her."

Harrison turned his head back to him, "you're on the right track."

"Oh.. I get it," James said, looking a little uncomfortable. "It was you and Liam that hooked up, right.. sorry."

In: "Matthews and those two buddy's of his, Davids and Harrison, were committed to a mental institution at the same time when they were kids."

"They claimed to be seeing what they described as monsters, who kept attacking them for no reason," Tom said. "They continually got bruises, cuts.. which they claimed the monsters did to them but the doctors explanation was self harm."

"That wouldn't surprise me in the slightest. It would explain why we can never catch the murderer," Tom said. "A demon would probably be fast or something. Oh.."

In: "If we're right, then whatever is killing them might be causing the timeloop too and be aware of it."

James walked slowly over to where Harrison was. Again he shuddered, then he noticed the station next to Harrison's was doing things on it's own like someone was working on it. "Harrison, get away from there!" he yelled. Something hit him in the face and pushed him to the ground.

Harrison glanced across, "what, why?" The station next to his started beeping, "oh god." He backed away from the station, suddenly it exploded.

James pulled himself up a little. He looked around but saw nothing that could of hit him, but he could feel a cold presence all around him.

"Oh god, no.." Harrison stuttered as he looked around, and then focused his attention on James. "They're all around you."

"You can see them?" James said. He swung his fist in front of him, it did hit something. He kicked in another direction as his hand went to his back.. he pulled out the portable sword thing and moved it around in front of him.

B'Elanna shook her head, she followed him but not as fast. A body fell down from the upper level, and crashed next to the core. Tom's eyes widened as he stepped closer to him, he knelt down beside him and pulled him onto his back. It was James, with a nasty stab wound on his chest, not far from the neck.

"Tom," a familiar voice said.

Tom's eyes went wider as he slowly glanced back at James. He opened his eyes and turned his head towards him, "you can't see.."

"I just woke up this morning with a case of deja vu, and later I got a familiar feeling of somebody watching me," Harrison said.

"It's not Chase, don't you remember how they used to hurt us? They said we weren't suppose to see," Harrison said. He turned back to Chakotay and Tom. "They stopped hurting us when we left the hospital."

"Ok, so you must be seeing them again if they still want to hurt you," Tom said.

"Well something happened today because in every loop either you or Matthews are murdered," Chakotay said.

"Johnny, don't.." Matthews muttered, he tried to push Harrison out of the way. Harrison turned around to face him.

"No, I'm not letting them get you again," he said.

"Again, what are you talking about?" Matthews questioned. His eyes widened, he ducked bringing Harrison with him. Harrison glanced to his right, then pushed him to his left. He fell to the ground.

James turned around just in time to see a knife plunge into Harrison.

"How did you know?" James asked. Chakotay and Tom surrounded the two.

"Deja vu.. remember," Harrison mumbled.

"So are all of them looping too?" Tom asked. "Cos that would explain why things keep changing."

"No, Harrison said deja vu.. maybe he just has a feeling about it," James replied. "It's Chase, I know it is."

"You've got to stop this. Whatever happened, it's not worth their lives," Tom said.

Chase narrowed her eyes, "how can you say that when you don't even know." She walked closer, "they made a fool out of me."

Tom eyed the spanner briefly, "maybe so.." He quickly grabbed it as she moved closer. He swung it at her, it hit her in the leg making her stumble backwards. He used the wall to pull himself back up. She made her way over to him, before he could do anything she had put her hands around his neck. He raised the spanner and hit her over the head. Her grip loosened, then she fell to the ground with blood coming from her head.

"You killed her?" James said in amazement.

"Yeah, I'm not exactly proud of it you know," Tom muttered.

Harrison sighed, "the feeling of being watched is gone, and no attacks."

"There's a lot of stuff that doesn't make sense," James said. "One how come you guys came to life and asked us to help, and then the day rewound? And how come you could see the demons in the first place?"

And now the conclusion
Thirty years ago on a M-class planet:
A little nine year old girl stood in front of a tall tree, looking up the blossoming flowers on it's lower branches. Dry leaves dropped from the higher branches. A green one landed next to her, she held out her hand and it started to go back into the air. It gently flew into her hand.

"S'lare!" a young woman's voice called from the house nearby.

The girl turned away from the tree, "coming." The leaf crumbled in her hand then she ran towards the house.

Present day
Voyager, the FVDA quarters:
Damien was sitting on a sofa while watching the TV, and stuffing his face with popcorn.

"Ah this is the life, no annoying servants whining and complaining," he sighed.

A voice screamed in the next room, "aaaaagh, what's that!"

Damien groaned, "he must of looked in the mirror again."

"My god, it's horrible!" the voice screeched.

"You'd think he'd be used to it," Damien muttered.

The screaming turned even more girly than before, "mummy!"

Damien growled as he stood up. He started slamming his hand against the wall. "Keep it down you mummy's boy!"

"Sir? Oh my god, help meeeee!" the voice screamed. His scream ended abruptly which was followed by a loud thud.

"Finally," Damien sighed. Another scream made him roll his eyes. "Computer, raise the volume by three points."

"Aknowledged," the computer responded.

Not long later:
A huge swarm of crewmembers were standing outside the quarters, all chatting away.. some were holding drinks. One Security guy stood in front of the door looking nervous.

James and Tuvok walked down the corridor, towards them. "Since when do we jump at a FVDA death?" James asked.

"I do not know, crewman Parsons said this one was differently strange," Tuvok replied.

"Yes we know Justin is strange. The guy's immortal, he'll be ok by the time we get there you know," James said.

The two pushed their way through the swarm to get to the Security guy. "Parsons, report."

He turned to them, "oh Lieutenant sir. I apologise for this, as soon as they heard about his death, they swarmed to see. I cannot go back in or they'll get in too."

"You did the right thing," Tuvok said.

"I guess, but what's so different about him? He died just yesterday," James said.

Tuvok raised an eyebrow, "he did?"

James glanced away, "well some guy hit him over the head.. with a tray. I'm still trying to find suspects."

"Indeed," Tuvok said, looking suspicious.

"I'm warning you sir, it's not a pleasant sight in there," Parsons said. "There seemed to be a struggle as furniture was damaged and overturned. But he doesn't have any physical wounds."

"Interesting," Tuvok said.

"We know it's not a pleasant sight.. I've seen a clip of that video he did where there was clones of him. Now that's scarier than Janeway on fifty cups of coffee," James said.

"Indeed," Tuvok nodded in agreement.

"Eugh.. if it's worse than this, I do not want to see it," Parsons said. He stepped out of the way. James and Tuvok walked in to the quarters. Parsons quickly blocked the door again.

"Oh.. that is interesting," James commented, raising an eyebrow.

Tuvok managed to raise both of his.

The morgue:
James and Tuvok followed Matthews out of the office. "It's really strange, but what isn't on this ship, huh?" he said. They all stopped next to a body with a sheet covering it.

"What can you tell us?" Tuvok asked.

Matthews raised a PADD so he could read it. "The only wounds he sustained were an odd few bruises, but those couldn't of killed him. I believe they happened when he fell to the ground. He obviously died before the fall."

"So what did kill him?" Tuvok asked.

"His heart just stopped sir. I did an autopsy and there's no reason why it should of done so," Matthews replied. "Actually it seems like it happened a few times.."

"That will be his so called immortality kicking in," James said.

Matthews shrugged his shoulders, "obviously he ran out of lives."

"So what happened to him?" Tuvok questioned.

"Isn't it obvious, he must of looked in the mirror while getting changed," James replied. He lifted the cover to reveal Justin's traumatised, pale face. "Or he accidentally got a video of Janeway showering."

"Or his monitor screen got stuck on a late night Big Brother 'Live' show," Matthews said. "Seriously though, I've never seen anyone suffer a heart attack just because they were scared before."

"I take it that clown episode didn't happen in this series' timeline," Tuvok said.

"No thank god," James said.

"This wasn't a usual heart attack though, yes his readings show he died terrified but that doesn't explain the heart stopping," Matthews said.

James raised an eyebrow, "didn't he plug McDonalds once.. surely he ate too much of that stuff."

"Mr Taylor, please take this seriously," Tuvok muttered.

"Not if he had those new baguette things or the salads," Matthews said.

"Nah, he was taken in 2003.. they weren't around then, I think," James said.

Tuvok shook his head, "please get started on this investigation, I will be on the bridge." He headed towards the exit.

"It's always me," James muttered. "Anyway everyone knows those baguette things have fatty meat in them, or mayonnaise. It wouldn't surprise me if they coated the salads with meat juice."

Matthews sighed, "I guess, but his cholesterol levels were low. Something else did this."

"Lets hope it wasn't that damn clown after all. We really need some original episodes," James said.

An hour or so later, FVDA quarters:
The remaining FVDA crewmembers were having a little party. Music was playing in the background, everybody was either dancing or stuffing their faces.

"I can't believe it, who knew he just had lots of lives like a computer game," Gareth said.

Damien nodded, "if I knew that before, I would of hit him more times." He groaned as his stomach made a rumbling sound, "ugh I feel sick, what was in that cup cake?" He walked into the bathroom.

Myleene ran over to Johnny and his clone, "this is a wicked party, ey?"

"Yeah, it's b***hing," Johnny said.

Johnny Junior groaned, "would you stop it with that accent."

"Aaaw, somebody's cranky," Myleene giggled.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that squealers dead, but aren't you guys worried that whatever killed him is related?" Johnny Junior said.

"Don't be silly, he dies all the time.. just because he died properly doesn't mean the way he died had any meaning," Johnny said.

"Related? A family member killed him?" Myleene said. The two Johnny's stared blankly at her.

"Bimbo," Johnny Junior muttered. "Nobody's explained how it happened, aren't you worried?"

"No, he probably just found that video of Neelix streaking down the corridor that I found," Johnny replied. He shuddered and was forced to put down his cup cake. "Boy we sure found some screwy video files that day, didn't we?"

"I guess," Johnny Junior said. The TV behind him switched itself on, but it only showed static.

"Ugh that damn thing's been playing up for a week," Johnny grumbled. He walked over to it and switched it off.

"I don't blame it, showing something that dodgy probably made even it feel sick," Johnny Junior said.

Damien stepped out, holding his stomach. "All right, who made those cup cakes?"

Myleene raised her hand, "I did, nice aren't they?" Everybody put their own cup cakes down. Damien rushed back into the bathroom.

Meanwhile
The Security Office:
"Ok, why on earth was one of those guys watching that Pokémon movie?" James questioned as he worked on the computer. On it's screen there was a list of video files. "Well it could of been the sixth one.. that's the worst." He frowned as he read further down the list. "Why did they watch Deck two footage from a fortnight ago?"

Kathryn strolled in holding a cup of coffee. James didn't notice her, he played the video file. His eyes widened in panic, he pushed the computer to the side but it fell off the table and smashed on impact.

"Oh my.. what did it do?" Kathryn asked.

James jumped in shock as he turned to her, "don't do that.. especially after watching a horror movie."

"Horror movie? Ooh which one, I love scary movies," Kathryn giggled. She sat down on the chair opposite him.

"Oh just Neelix running down the corridor, waving his pants above his head and.. eugh.. and dancing," James replied, still with his eyes really wide. "What are you doing here?"

"I was just wondering if anyone else has reported anything strange recently," Kathryn replied.

"What besides Justin dying for no reason and the timeloop just over a week ago?" James said.

"Yes," Kathryn replied. "Oh you know what, never mind.. it's nothing."

"No, what is it?" James asked.

"It doesn't matter really, it's silly," Kathryn replied as she got out of her chair.

"No you scared me before, so sit," James muttered.

Kathryn stared blankly at him, she sat back down. "Chakotay mentioned those two men who were the victims in the timeloop, they had a feeling that something was watching them."

"Yeah.. are you getting it then?" James said.

Kathryn looked nervous, "no somebody else is.. lemme see, Harry yes."

"Ok well tell Harry that no one else has had this feeling for a week," James said. "When that girl died, the demons went back to wherever they came from."

"See, I told you it was silly," Kathryn said, smiling nervously. "So how's the mystery going?"

"Well I think I solved it," James replied. "Last week the FVDA people were watching a lot of video files, one was the Neelix streaking one. Justin must of accidentally played it a second time, and got so scared he died."

"Why would he? Nobody else died," Kathryn asked.

"I dunno, there is no other explanation. Nobody could of done this to him so it was obviously an accident. Unless Damien switched the video on from the next room," James replied.

"Damien? He was in the next room?" Kathryn questioned.

"Yeah, he was the one who found him," James replied. "I know I should question him but he's more of a pest than Tom."

Kathryn raised an eyebrow, "James.. you have to start being professional some time."

"Why, it's a punishment job," James said.

Kathryn smiled as she folded her arms on the desk, "you should think about taking it up properly. I think you're better at this than sharing that station with Jessie on the bridge. Frankly it doesn't need two people."

James pulled a face, "well actually.."

The intercom interrupted him: "Damien to Security.."

"Great, excuse me," James muttered. He tapped his commbadge. "Taylor here, what's the matter?"

In: "I think everyone at the party ate too much of Myleene's cup cakes.."

James pulled another face, "why tell me this?"

In: "That doctor creeps me out."

"Ok, so what do you mean then.. are they sick?" James asked.

In: "No I am.. I went into the bathroom to.."

"Yeah too much info," James said. Kathryn nodded her head.

In: "Eugh.. to be sick you imbecile.."

"Ok.." James muttered, not looking too happy.

In: "I heard something in the next room, so when I was finally able to go back into the main room, I found them all on the floor."

"Are you saying they're dead or just complaining too much?" James asked.

In: "Dead.. can I still keep these quarters?"

Kathryn smiled, "I see your concern for your crew is showing."

"Yeah um.. I'll be right there. Don't tell anyone else, we don't want a crowd like last time," James said. He climbed out of his chair while tapping his commbadge again.

"This is interesting," Kathryn muttered.

"What?" James said.

"All of the FVDA but Damien have died in the space of what, two weeks? Suspicious, no?" Kathryn said.

"He did say he wanted to get rid of them," James said. "Told you he must of played that video file for Justin." He stepped out of the room.

The FVDA's quarters:
Damien stood nearby the main door with his arms folded, he was trying to avoid looking at the mess on the floor. The mess was in fact Johnny, Myleene and Gareth lying on the ground with the same traumatised looks on their faces.. and lying completely still.

"Come on, come out.." he grumbled.

"It's coming.. coming.." Johnny Junior's voice stuttered.

"What's coming?" Damien asked.

The main door opened, James, Foster, Sid and Thompson walked in. Foster and Thompson's eyes widened in horror as they looked at the bodies. Sid just tilted his head to the side and pulled a face.

James sighed, "just like Justin."

"I know, why do I keep finding them?" Damien grumbled.

"Are they catatonic, or just dead?" Sid asked. Everyone ignored him.

"All right.. is there anything else you can tell me?" James asked.

Damien shrugged, "no I told you, I just came in and they were like this. Oh but Johnny's clone is hiding in that closet." He pointed at the cupboard in the corner next to the window.

"Foster, Sid.." James said. Sid ran over to the cupboard while Foster edged there, very slowly.

"He's still alive," Damien said.

"Oh.. thank god," Foster muttered, he joined Sid at the cupboard. He opened it. Johnny Junior sat in there, shaking madly with his arms around his legs.

"Who made you the boss anyway?" Thompson asked huffily.

"Tuvok, he told me to investigate," James replied.

Thompson clicked his fingers, "damn.. is this a good time to tell you that I'm allergic to uh.. dead bodies."

Damien raised an eyebrow, "so much for joining Security, it seems to me that the basic requirements are be a nutcase or a big wimp."

"Don't you fall into both of those categories?" James muttered, narrowing his eyes at him.

Foster pouted, then shook his head. He knelt down, "hey Johnny, it's ok. Nothing's going to hurt you."

"Yes, if something tries I'll jump in front of you, or behind depending on how it attacks," Sid said.

Johnny Junior looked at Foster then Sid, "it doesn't matter, it gets you no matter what."

"All right, what does?" Foster asked.

James looked around the room as he went over to the closest body, which was Gareth's. Thompson remained near the door with Damien.

"I'm sure I'll figure something out," Sid said.

Foster rolled his eyes, "what did this to them?"

James took out a tricorder and started to scan Gareth's body. "Foster it's ok, give him time.."

"Yeah good idea," Foster said. He glanced in Damien's direction. "Did he witness the whole thing?"

"No doubt," Damien replied.

"Then when he's recovered we'll have to talk to him again, he's the only one who knows what happened," Foster said.

James stood back up, "well we have a better idea already." Everyone but Johnny Junior glanced at him. "I detected telepathic activity, it was fading. No doubt Justin's was gone by the time he had the autopsy."

"Explain to me how telepathy stops someone's heart, and makes them die with weird looks on their faces," Thompson muttered. "And freaks out one of the victim's teenaged clone."

"I didn't say that I solved the whole mystery, idiot," James said.

"For now we should get them to the morgue, and Junior to Sickbay," Foster said.

"Good good," Damien said. He cleared his throat, "so can I join Security?" Everyone but Johnny turned to stare at him. "What, you can't get yogurts on this ship without a replicator, can you? Geeze I need the rations."

The Conference Room:
All of the senior staff had found themselves a place to sit around the table.

"So in conclusion, what has everyone learned?" Kathryn questioned. Chakotay stared at her impatiently, drumming his fingers.

"Chakotay's a number of things, like an idiot, lame brain, fat ape.." B'Elanna said, rolling her eyes.

Kathryn grinned, "exactly. Now onto more important business."

Tuvok nodded, "thank you Captain. The mysterious death.."

Kathryn slammed her hand on the table, "no no, the matter of the coffee. I can't even get decaf anymore, what's up with that?"

"I think four deaths in the space of a day is more important," Tom muttered.

"Exactly, even if it is those annoying celebrities who should of been dead centuries ago," Harry added on.

"All right fine, lets talk about that," Kathryn groaned.

"Each of the recent victims had telepathic activity in their brains," James said. "Also according to Damien, they all died screaming."

"So murder one then," Tom commented.

"Probably, maybe the last three wouldn't of died if Damien had checked on Justin when he heard him," Chakotay said.

"I think you're avoiding the obvious," B'Elanna muttered. "The only one around was Damien for all of the murders. The only witness is a scared teenager who wont talk. Damien did tell James he wanted rid of them all."

"Maybe but how did he do it exactly?" James asked.

Kes nodded her head, "I highly doubt Damien could of made their hearts stop with no contact or drugs. All of their tests came out clean, their hearts were perfectly healthy."

"What about the 'they were so scared' theory?" Harry asked.

"It's the closest theory we have, but what on earth could of scared them so much?" Chakotay replied. Everyone but Tuvok was about to say something. "No one say stupid videos of Neelix streaking or Janeway showering!"

Kathryn looked appalled, "what, that's not very nice.."

Jessie raised her hand a little, "what about a little program where they can see possible offspring of crewmembers, like say Neelix or Janeway."

Tom shuddered, "why would anyone abuse a program like that."

Kathryn glared at them both. Neelix was close to tears at this point.

"There's a program like that, I'll have to have a look at it," James said.

Tom grinned, "me too, I can see what a Tom and B'E.. er Bertha kid looks like." B'Elanna started glaring at him too.

Chakotay groaned, "we're going off track again. Can't we have one meeting where we don't?" Everyone but the ones glaring shook their heads.

"I'd have you know that my children would be beautiful," Kathryn muttered.

"What, even the boys?" Jessie giggled.

"No, girls would inherit my beauty and be strong like me.. the boys would be handsome like their dads, but would have to have my eyes and most of my personality," Kathryn said. Most of the room started sniggering.

Chakotay glanced at her with a smile, "that's nice of you to say." He then raised an eyebrow and frowned. "Wait, are you saying Peter Taylor is? Or are you saying he isn't and James unfortunately got his looks.." he whispered.

Kathryn shrugged and tried to look innocent, "he wasn't that bad looking."

Chakotay shuddered, "thanks for sharing."

Kathryn smiled at him, "I'm kidding, you're much better looking. Besides James looks more like me anyway, that's why he is easy on the eyes."

"What are you two talking about?" Tom asked. The two blushed.

"Nothing," they replied.

Sickbay:
The Doctor and James made their way out of the office, and over to Johnny Junior's biobed. "He's still a little shaken up but at least he's calmer than before," the Doctor said.

"Has he said anything to you yet?" James asked.

"Nothing relevant. He keeps muttering to himself 'not enough time' though," the Doctor replied.

"Right thanks," James said. The Doctor walked back towards his office. James stopped next to Johnny Junior. "The doc said you're ready to talk now."

He nodded, "it came.."

"What did?" James questioned.

"It came like it said it would," Johnny Junior stuttered. He slowly looked up, shaking a little. "Seven days."

"I'm sorry I don't understand. Something did this to them, what was it and where did it go?" James questioned.

"I don't know, I was hiding.." Johnny Junior replied. "I'd never seen anything like it before."

"You said it told you.." James said.

Johnny Junior nodded, "seven days ago. I only heard it."

"Did everyone else hear it?" James asked.

"I don't know, probably.. I watched it on my own," Johnny Junior replied.

"Watched what?" James asked.

"A video file Justin got a copy of, he saw it and showed it to the others, and then me," Johnny Junior replied.

"Do you know what it was under.. I did get access to a video list your quarters played in the last few weeks," James said.

Johnny Junior's eyes widened, "no you can't watch it."

"I don't get how a video file is linked to their deaths," James said.

"If you watch it you'll figure it out," Johnny Junior muttered. "I wouldn't though, it must be deleted. Please, you have to."

"All right fine, but what was the file's name?" James asked.

Johnny Junior shrugged, "I don't know."

"Ok last question I promise," James said. "Where did Justin get a copy?"

"That planet we stopped at for supplies last week," Johnny Junior replied. "Please just get rid of it, maybe then we'll be safe."

The Bridge:
"Affirmative. Mr Timberlake did join one of the teams that went to the surface. He got separated for an hour," Tuvok said.

"Something must of happened to him then. He probably was infected with a virus," Kathryn said.

Chakotay nodded, "it's a possibility. Some viruses can hide themselves pretty well."

"Ok but what about what Junior said? He mentioned that something got them," James said.

Jessie sighed, "yeah and you can't forget the fact that they died screaming, they looked terrified and Junior was traumatised because he witnessed it."

"Well it would help if the boy could tell us what happened exactly," Chakotay said.

"I don't think even he knows," James said. "And I'm sure he thinks he's next."

"What even gives him that idea?" Chakotay asked. "If it's because he's a FVDA then we know what's happened, Damien infected them with something and set up this alibi."

"We're not going to solve this by playing guessing games," Kathryn grumbled. "Chakotay and I will take two teams to the surface, we'll find out what we can."

"Somebody should keep an eye on Damien, just in case," Chakotay said.

Kathryn nodded, "agreed, he'll join a team."

"That wasn't what I meant," Chakotay muttered.

"The video file," James said quietly. Everyone looked at him. "Junior mentioned that all of them watched a file Justin got a copy of."

"And.. how will that help?" Chakotay questioned.

"It can't hurt to find it and delete any copies. Come on, we've had stranger things than that, right?" James replied.

"How will you know which one is the one he's talking about?" Kathryn asked.

"A few things.. it should say it's a copy for one thing," James replied.

Jessie narrowed her eyes at him, "just don't watch it.."

"I wont," James said. "For safety reasons I suggest after it's deleted, the computer systems should get a thorough virus scan."

"When I mentioned viruses, I didn't mean computer ones," Kathryn said.

"You can't seriously be suggesting that a video file infected with a virus killed him, are you?" Chakotay asked.

"No but it might of had something to do with it," James replied.

Jessie clicked her fingers, "ah ha.. the video file is probably home made, and the creators are not happy about it being distributed."

"Maybe," Kathryn muttered like she didn't mean it. "Fine, check the file and delete it."

"Um check the file? Does that mean watch it?" Jessie stuttered.

"No not really. We need to know more about it, we can't just delete it as soon as it's found," Kathryn said.

"I'll run it through a virus scan but that's all I'm really going to do," James said.

Chakotay shook his head, "this is ridiculous. Somebody let me know when a sane theory comes along." He walked away.

Later
The Security Office:
James was now working at the computer on the desk. On the screen there were a long list of video files. One of the files was selected. He narrowed his eyes as he read the name, which was just a bunch of symbols and accented letters.

"Computer, run a virus scan on the selected file."

The computer responded, "virus scan completed. There are no virus within this file. However there is a sector of the file that cannot be scanned."

"Great," James muttered. He keyed in a few commands, "scan again." He got up and headed over to the replicator.

The computer started to make a noise that sounded like a modem continuously trying to connect, and failing. He turned to stare at it after picking up a cup, then rushed back over to it. The noise stopped when he pressed one button.

"What the hell was that," he muttered, sitting back down. He pressed another button, a details page came up, but instead of the usual writing the screen started filling up with similar writing to the file name.

James looked at the top right hand corner of the screen, which was clear of letters. Instead a reflection of a girl stood far behind his own there. He quickly turned his chair around, but nothing was there. "Computer, how long is this file?"

"Thirty two point three seconds," the computer replied.

"Play the first ten.." James said.

In: "Parsens to Taylor."

He tapped his commbadge, "what is it now?"

Sickbay:
Tuvok, James and Parsens stood over Johnny Junior's stiff body, which was in a similar state to the other victims. "The Doctor went offline for ten minutes, when he came back he was like this," Parsens said.

"Who turned him off?" Tuvok asked.

"The computer seemed to do it on it's own," Parsens replied.

"I should of deleted it.. damn it," James muttered.

"Ensign, deleting that file couldn't of saved his life," Tuvok said.

James glanced at him briefly, "I wouldn't be so sure about that." He stepped back out.

The Transporter Room:
Kathryn and Chakotay stood with two teams, in front of the transporter pad.

"Why should I get him?" Kathryn moaned.

"Because you were the one who said he should come," Chakotay replied.

Damien smiled as he folded his arms, "they're arguing over me."

Jessie and Faye stared at him blankly. "Not in a good way you know," Jessie pointed out.

Damien's face dropped, "don't ruin it."

"Come on, I don't want to be late for lunch or I'll be too weak to do anything," Lee moaned.

"But when I picked you up you were eating eggs, beans and chips, besides you're eating now," Chakotay said.

Lee took a bite out of a burger, "that was my brunch, this is my lunch pre-appetiser."

"Wow, I thought James ate a lot," Jessie commented.

Danny developed a smirk on her face, "so uh.. what are we doing today? Getting supplies or begging to go through someone's space?"

"Actually we're going back to a planet to solve a murder mystery," Kathryn replied. "Well we think it's murder."

Lisa pulled a face, "eugh I don't want to do that."

"It's not like you have a choice," Kathryn muttered.

End of Part I

Part II

The planet:
The two teams rematerialised in the quietest part of a busy market place. "Ok split up," Kathryn said.

"Yes ma'am, come on," Chakotay said. Lisa, Lee and Danny followed him, Lee was snacking on another burger.

Jessie, Faye and Damien turned to stare at Kathryn. "Ahem," Faye muttered.

Kathryn glanced at them, "huh.. oh sorry, why don't we meet back here later." She ran off towards a market stall filled with coffee jars and other little things.

"Well where should we look first?" Jessie asked.

"Justin mentioned he got the video file from a rental store," Damien replied.

"Ok, where's that?" Faye asked.

"I don't know, I didn't hang with him," Damien replied, shaking his head. He walked away. The two followed him not looking too sure about it.

Chakotay's team meanwhile split up into two groups.

"Find the video store, why the hell do they have a store that sells files anyway," Danny muttered as she walked along the street with Lee by her side. Her eyes rested on a cosy little café on the corner. "Oh screw that," she said and headed towards it.

"But Danny, we're suppose to trace Justin's movements, we shouldn't take a.." Lee said, but then he noticed where she was heading. "Oh but lunch always comes first."

They both rushed into the café.

"We should try asking around while Danny and Lee find the store he went into," Chakotay said. He glanced to the right, then the left, both sides of him were clear so he stopped. "Lisa?" He turned back around and found her chatting to a tall dark man. She was clearly flirting with him, twirling her long hair in between her fingers. "Lisa!"

She turned her head, "what? I'm asking for info."

Chakotay marched over to her, "yeah right."

The man smiled, "I did see your friend actually miss. He wandered the market, visited a café down the street."

"How do you know this?" Chakotay asked.

"I remember he asked for directions, I was on my way there at the time," the man replied.

"Did he have anything with him?" Lisa asked, smiling sweetly at him.

"Yes, he had a little carrier bag," the man replied.

"Thanks, well at least we've got a head start on the others," Lisa said.

"Is he missing or something?" the man asked.

"No he died, we're investigating," Lisa replied.

Chakotay cleared his throat, "Lisa.. enough."

"Let me guess, heart stopped for no reason and no motive for murder?" the man questioned.

Chakotay and Lisa burst out laughing. "Oh that's a good one," Lisa giggled into her hand.

"Oh he was a pain in the a**, but yes you were right about the heart stopping. How did you.." Chakotay said.

"Wow, you two have been out of the loop for a while haven't you?" the man muttered. "Four people died last week because of the same thing. I thought everyone knew."

Chakotay groaned, "I see you can only successfully flirt with dumb guys." He turned back to the guy, "we're not from your planet, we don't even look like you."

The man raised an eyebrow, "I know, but your ship was here over a week ago, right? I'm surprised it wasn't even mentioned as the officials have been warning all visitors of an 'epidemic'."

"I wasn't told about this," Chakotay said.

"Tell us more about this uh.. 'epidemic'," Lisa said.

Meanwhile:
Jessie and Faye were standing at a video store's counter, while Damien was browsing through all the small boxes on the shelves.

"Yeah he was really ugly, shaved bald head, annoying voice," Jessie was saying.

The woman at the counter nodded, "yes I remember him. He rented a file just last week."

"Which one?" Faye asked. The woman pulled a puzzled face at her. "He kept going on and on about a movie he saw, and wouldn't tell us the title."

"That file was an old cast off, it didn't have a title," the woman said. "It was dropped off by some teens, I was skeptical about renting it without even seeing it first but what could I do?"

"He hasn't returned it huh, shame," Jessie said.

"No he did," the woman said with a smile. She turned around to pick a black box off one of the shelves behind her. She placed it onto the counter, "I don't see what the big deal about it is though."

"You saw it?" Jessie questioned.

Damien snorted as he walked over to them, "I bet it was a porn video, Justin was a bit dodgy."

"Yes I watched it. It was only thirty odd seconds long and seemed badly home made," the woman replied.

"See told you, it was probably his porn home movie of him getting off with a hologram," Damien commented.

Jessie and Faye looked disgusted. "Eew, I don't want to see that," Faye moaned.

"Like she said, it'll be over before you know what's hit you. Lucky hologram," Damien said. He pulled a face, "actually no it's not.. I hope he deleted it."

"I said a group of teens dropped it off, er.. sir," the woman muttered. "It wasn't porn, if it was I wouldn't still have it."

"Then what is it then?" Jessie asked.

"I'm not sure, it's probably an unfinished documentary for school or something," the woman replied.

"Hmm, we'll take it," Damien said.

"Uh.. why?" Jessie muttered.

Damien shrugged, "I don't know, maybe it'll help us solve what happened to Justina and the others."

"In thirty seconds of crappy film making? Right," Jessie said. "Look James has the idea that this actually responsible, so I don't think so."

"Oh if he told you that Janeway quit coffee voluntarily or Voyager flies on pixie dust, you'd believe him," Damien said.

"Would not," Jessie said with a pout.

Faye giggled, "pixie dust."

"Yeah um, we'll take it," Damien said.

"All right, but I'll give you a discount as it's short. One seventy," the woman said. She handed over the box to him, he glanced at Faye then Jessie.

"Money girls," he said.

"Ugh, I'm paying for my own funeral and gravestone here," Jessie muttered as she fished some alien currency out of her bag. She handed it to the woman.

"What kind of cheap funeral are you having?" Damien asked as he headed for the exit. Jessie pulled a face and followed him.

Faye giggled again, "pixie dust, that would be cool."

"I don't see why we had to get a second copy," Jessie muttered quietly.

Damien opened the exit door, "Slayer boy was going to delete it right, we're going to need it." He left the store, shortly followed by Jessie then Faye. As the door closed behind them the TV hanging up from the ceiling changed to show static.

The woman sighed as she looked up at it, "not again."

Meanwhile again:
Chakotay and Lisa walked into the corner café. They failed to notice Lee and Danny at one of the tables. The two were sitting on a sofa that was resting against a long divider, the counter was on the other side.

"Why do we have to come in here?" Lisa moaned.

"We need to find out more about this," Chakotay replied. He stopped next to the counter, behind it stood a young man washing a few glasses. "Excuse me."

The man looked surprised, "oh a customer? Um what can I get you sir?"

"Sorry we're just here for information," Chakotay replied.

"Oh I'm sorry, I've already spoken to security," the man stuttered. He turned away to put away some glasses.

"We're not apart of Security, we are investigating a supposed murder mystery," Chakotay said.

The man sighed and turned back, "I'll tell you what I told security yesterday, I only saw them, I don't know anything else."

"Oh dear, you saw the bodies," Lisa said in a sympathetic voice. She leaned on the counter, batting her eyelids, "that must of been so traumatising."

"Yes I guess it was," the man muttered uncomfortably. "That's why I don't want to talk about it. The guy who did find them wasn't so lucky."

Chakotay frowned, "what do you mean?"

The man sighed, "he's in hospital."

"Did you see the four teens before they died?" Lisa asked.

"We both did yes," the man replied. He made his way around the counter to stand next to them, then pointed at the divider. "They came in, asked for a few drinks round about closing time. Georg served them, I had to deal with supplies in the back. When I came back, he had already found them dead."

"That's weird, wasn't there anybody else around?" Chakotay muttered.

The man shrugged, "no, it was closing time remember. Look if you want to find out what happened, why don't you ask Georg."

"Which hospital is he in?" Lisa asked. "Oh and where exactly were they?"

The man again pointed at the divider, "the table behind that, which has a sofa in front of it. And Hishanten hospital on the hills." He walked away.

"Ok, if the guy who didn't find them and just caught a glimpse is this avoidy, what's the finder going to be like?" Lisa muttered.

"Something must of happened to him if he's in hospital. Or something happened after the incident," Chakotay said. "Maybe he can tell us something more."

"If you say so," Lisa groaned. She headed over to the divider, then leaned on it, "no wonder this place is deserted, I wouldn't wanna eat at a place where four kids dropped dead."

Danny looked up at her, "what did you say?"

Lisa looked confused, she looked down at Danny who was sitting on the sofa. "Oh, didn't see you there."

"Did you say kids died here?" Danny questioned.

"Um yeah.. right where you're sitting," Lisa replied.

Danny's eyes widened, she scrambled away from the table and got about a metre away from it. "They should have a sign or something."

"Oh supposably everybody knows about this," Chakotay muttered.

"Yep, they died the same way as our 'friends' did," Lisa said.

"Great, that's all you found out?" Danny said.

"So far yes, if everyone knows about this I'm sure the other team will have gotten more information," Chakotay said. "And we have a name of a potential witness."

"First name and location actually," Lisa said.

"Great, you two sort that out and I'll go back to the ship," Danny said.

"Mmm, that's good meat," Lee mumbled with a mouth full of food. He finished off a plate, and pushed it aside. "Ok, so dead kids huh."

Lisa pulled a face, "yeah, right there."

"So? Everyone dies," Lee muttered.

Danny put one hand on her hip, "hey, that was my lunch."

Lee shrugged, "what, you weren't going to eat it." Everyone groaned.

Voyager:
Kes sat down in front of the desk, then folded her arms on it. "How's it going?"

"I'm not sure," James muttered in response. "I found the file Junior was talking about but.."

"But it has no clues in it," Kes said.

"That's the thing, I don't know," James said. "I haven't watched it, I wasn't going to at first but when I was about to, I saw something."

Kes frowned, "like what?"

"Well it was a reflection of something that didn't seem to be there," James replied.

"Eugh, creepy," Kes muttered. "What do you think then?"

"Some people would say either a ghost or overactive imagination, I'm going with the second one," James replied.

"Really.. why?" Kes asked.

"Ok one, you really shouldn't see ghosts at all. Two, my head's been playing a lot of tricks on me lately," James replied.

"Yeah but all of the stuff you've hallucinated about, dreamt about that you've mentioned has been based on reality," Kes said.

"Maybe," James muttered. "This file is at the very least related to what happened. Whether it's just as simple as somebody not being happy about people watching it, or as strange and complicated as I dunno, a ghost or a virus hidden in the file, I've still got to find out."

"So you're going to watch it?" Kes questioned.

"I told Jess that I wouldn't, I'll probably just watch the beginning to get the gist of it," James replied.

"And then what?" Kes said.

"Then like Junior said, I'll be able to figure it out," James said.

"Lets say it is responsible, would that mean you'd only have a week to figure it out before it kills you?" Kes asked.

"Well then I'll be more determined to find out," James replied.

"What if it isn't? What do you expect to find?" Kes asked.

"I feel like I'm being interrogated, what's with all the questions?" James asked.

"I'm just curious," Kes replied.

James sat back in the chair, "ok so I'll let you know when I find anything else."

Kes sighed and did the same. "Ok."

"Actually I was going to watch it, I'd rather do that alone," James said.

"Ok but if it's the first one, it shouldn't be a problem fending off who made it," Kes said. "The second one, get to Sickbay in case you have a virus or uh.. I don't know."

"Believe me I don't know either. My experience with ghosts is leave them to it, and they'll go away," James said. Kes looked a little confused. "Don't ask."

"All right, maybe later," Kes sighed. She climbed out of her chair, then walked out.

James keyed in a few commands on the computer. "Computer, capture images from the current file every five seconds, then display one by one on the screen as a slideshow."

"Aknowledged," the computer responded. He took a drink from the coffee cup in his hand, watching the screen intently. "Image capturing complete."

The screen turned into static for five seconds. It then changed to a distorted black screen that looked like it was on a TV in bad reception area. An oval with a light blue glowing edge appeared in the dead centre.

Meanwhile:
Jessie, Faye and Damien were in the corner of a large library, inside a cubicle that had a large flatscreen TV attached to the wall.

"Oh come on girls, if I was really trying to kill you two w