Episode 32: "The Clone"

One of a person's prized posessions is his individuality. Captain RoBobby McMillan always believed so, anyway. The ability to be yourself, to know that, despite the infinite amount of lifeforms in this complexe and amazing galaxy, there was only *one* person who'd he address as 'me'. Himself. He was unique. Everyone was unique. With their own minds, their own thoughts, their own failures, their own qualities.

That was why the Borg were such a major threat. With the Borg, there were no individuals. Just drones with a hive mind. McMillan knew from experience what that was like: he had been assimilated by the Borg two years ago. Luckily, his crew had come to rescue him before it was too late. Nevertheless, he still had nightmares about the entire time he spent in the Collective.

Right now, Captain McMillan felt as if he was back in the Collective again. He couldn't read anyone else's minds, but his sense of individuality was gone. Behind the Sickbay forcefield lay a man who looked exactly like him, talked exactly like him, felt and thought exactly like him. On that biobed lay. . . a clone.

As the forcefield dropped to allow him in with his clone, Captain McMillan pondered about how he had gotten to this point. A few hours ago, the USS Gibraltar had responded to a distress call. It appeared to be Federation in origin, but was located on a planet that no Federation ship had ever been to. Well, except the science vessel Flemming, but it had to turn around just when they were to scan that world. 'Called back for refit', the reason had been. Looking back, McMillan wondered if this wasn't to prevent the Flemming from discovering what the Gibraltar had discovered down there... a crashed shuttle, and a Borg outpost!

The outpost had been deserted. Not even the Borg alcoves were in use. And yet, power had been running for quite a while. In what appeared to be a Federation stasis pod - Federation, not Borg! - the Gibraltar crew found a man. The very man who now lay on the biobed. Captain McMillan's clone.

An argument followed, and questions were asked. Who was this clone, why was he created, did he pose a threat? XO Fearguis and Security Chief Westland believed that it might be best to refrain from taking this clone on board, but how could McMillan resist? He wanted answers! He had been violated: someone had taken his DNA and accellerated that DNA's growth. From tests conducted just now on board the Gibraltar, it seemed that whoever had created that clone, had done more than that: they had created and *upgraded* RoBobby McMillan. Titanium skeleton, internal Borg implants... this clone might look and talk like the original, but it was much better, in many ways.

The forcefield got turned back on behind him as Captain McMillan walked towards his clone. It turned towards him, and for a moment, both men just looked at each other. It was weird, seeing his own eyes stare back at him. "I don't believe this." the clone finally spoke up. "Are... are you a clone?"

McMillan shook his head, allowing a faint smile to appear on his face. Life could be so cruel and ironic at times. "No." he said in response. "I'm afraid you are."

"What is the last thing you remember?" Fearguis, the Gibraltar's XO, asked the clone.

"I... I was lured into an ambush," the clone answered. "By the Borg. I remember them beaming me up, into one of their assimilation chambers, and. . ."

A shudder ran down McMillan's spine, and he could tell that the clone was feeling a similar experience. The memories of his assimilation still haunted him at times.

"The Borg must have taken my DNA at that time." McMillan said to his XO. That still didn't explain the presence of a Federation stasis pod there.

As he turned back to his clone, McMillan wondered what would happen now. Fearguis obviously saw the clone as a security threat, and McMillan knew his XO was probably right. But try as he might, he couldn't see his clone as anything else than 'another me'. It was impossible to keep an emotional distance from this, even though he knew that as CO, he probably should.

"Can I get out now?"

The question from the clone made McMillan sigh. The clone probably felt the same was that McMillan did, with the exception that McMillan could just walk away... the clone was still held for observation. "I'm sorry." he said, looking in his identical eyes. "Not until we are certain that you aren't a threat. I'm sure that if our positions were reversed, you'd do the same thing."

The irony of this wasn't lost on the clone. "Probably."

McMillan swallowed. He pitied the clone, for he understood how he was feeling. McMillan would feel the same way, if he had been trapped behind a forcefield, on a biobed, like that. "I'll come back to check on you later." he said, knowing he had to get out, away from this clone. If he'd stay longer, he might give in to his own feelings, and let his clone out. And while that *felt* right, he knew he couldn't take the risk. Not right now.

As the forcefield dropped, and he walked out, McMillan wondered who created the clone... and why. No matter what though, he swore to himself... he would find out.