Episode 57: "The Search for Sophie"

A clone. Ensign Sophie Johnson had been a clone. For the past few weeks, that clone had moved around freely amongst the Gibraltar crew, reprogramming Lt.Cmdr. Weatherwax in the process, while gathering as much information as she could. All of that, without anyone noticing it.

It was a lot to take in for McMillan and his crew. Sure, they had gotten most of the ship's key systems back online again, after using spare parts of the cloned USS Gibraltar, but the fact that one of their own was still missing, had a devastating effect on morale. Especially on Mr. Weatherwax, who seemed more distracted than ever. McMillan knew that he and Johnson were close, but it would seem that they were closer than he had realised.

The second that all major systems had either been repaired, replaced or patched up, McMillan turned to Weatherwax. "We'll get her back." he told him. "But I need you to find out where she is, first."

When the Sophie-clone had been killed, Weatherwax had grabbed a device from the dead clone's arm. It was the same device Ensign Johnson wore all the time: some sort of 'omnitool', as she had called it. McMillan had determined that it functioned in a similar way as a tricorder, but Weatherwax knew much more about it than McMillan did. For the past few days, whenever he had some spare time, Weatherwax had been fiddling with that device.

"Yes Sir." Weatherwax answered. "I think I've got something, actually." He tapped in some commands on the console in the back of the Bridge, at which point data about a planet appeared on the small screen. "Ytira 3, Sir. According to the files on Sophie's omnitool, several messages were sent there, probably to inform the clone's boss of her progress."

McMillan nodded. "Alright. Good work, Lt.Cmdr." He turned to Lt. Desade, at the CONN. "Lieutenant. . . get us there, maximum warp."

Captain McMillan and his team beamed down on the planet surface. It was a calm, peaceful planet, and people were actually living here. Starfleet records never spoke of a population though... and science officer Verlaine quickly explained why. "Sir, as you know, after the autopsies we did on the clones, we found a specific signal emanating from the clones. Sort of an identification tag, if you will, so that whoever created it, knows which version of the clones they are." She paused, and held up her tricorder. "Sir, I'm reading the same kind of signal all around us, coming from the birds, the people... everywhere."

"You're saying. . ." McMillan started.

Ensign Kaori, the doctor who had joined the away team, nodded. "Yes Sir. According to our readings, everyone native to this planet, is a clone."

McMillan let out a soft sigh. "Alright. Let's proceed. . . but be careful." With so many clones around, it'd be difficult to free Ensign Johnson unnoticed.

Or not. "Sir, Sophie's omnitool points us directly to that cave there." Weatherwax said, pointing at the entrance to a cavern. McMillan grimaced: in holonovels, the evil genius' lair was often in a cave too.

The away team descended into the damp, dark and cold cavern. "It's chilly here, isn't it?" Commander Braveheart said, as he looked around.

"Only 4 degrees celcius, Sir." Said Ensign Kaori. "If Ensign Johnson has been here for five weeks already, then. . ."

But McMillan didn't want to hear it. "Let's not give up hope, folks. Keep on looking."

The away team did just that: going deeper and deeper into the cave. They passed interesting rock formations, that otherwise would have warranted a closer look. Nobody was focussed on exploration now though: the only goal they had, was to get their crewmember back.

 

 

It didn't take long for the away team to come to a rope, which they had to climb down. It was a good sign: it showed that someone had been here recently. They quickly continued, passing bat-like creatures and spiderwebs, after which they emerged into a large carved out hall, filled with all kinds of machinery.

"Sir, these must be the power generators." Ensign Debbydo stated. "I recommend we don't get hit by any of those energy discharges."

"There's something else going on." Commander Westland spoke up now, as she glanced more closely at the machinery. "I'm reading DNA readings. . . Sir, it's *our* DNA. This is another clone lab!"

"The main one, I suspect." Commander Braveheart said as he looked around. "No doubt the cloning process requires a lot of energy, and these generators give just that." He paused for a moment. "There's more though, but. . ."

At that moment, Captain McMillan walked up a set of stairs. "Ensign Johnson!" he exclaimed, as he saw the Ensign's motionless body laying on the floor. "Doctor Kaori, get up here immediately!"

Thankfully, Johnson wasn't dead. . . she'd just fallen unconscious. "Sir, this is odd," Kaori reported, "her symbiont is showing signs of rejection. We've got to get her to the Gibraltar as soon as possible."

McMillan nodded. "This is the Captain, calling the Gibraltar." he said, tapping his commbadge. "Beam us up please."

But alas, it wouldn't go that easily. =/\=Sorry Sir,=/\= came the response, =/\=But there's way too much interference. We can't seem to break through it.=/\=

"Captain. . ." McMillan turned around, only to see Ensign Johnson slowly waking up. "I knew you'd all come. The Creator underestimated you."

"Whoa, hold on, back up there." McMillan said, kneeling next to the Ensign. "The Creator?"

"He's the one who created all the clones, Sir." Johnson said in a soft voice. "He's also the one who captured me. Captain, he told me you were dead."

"He was close to being right, Ensign." McMillan said with a nod. "That's not for you to worry about now though. You get some rest, while we'll try to find a way out of here."

"No. . ." Johnson muttered. "I've got something to tell you. . . something important. . ."

McMillan glanced at Johnson, but then turned to Commander Braveheart. "Take a good look around, Commander. See if you can find the specific frequency of the interference these generators are sending out. If we get that frequency. . ."

"We can beam out of here." Braveheart finished. "Yes Sir."

 

As Braveheart and a small team moved out, McMillan turned to face Johnson again. "Now Ensign, take it easy. What did you want to tell me?"

"The Creator, Sir. . . he left." Johnson went on. "He's taken the cloned USS Pico, to attack DS19." She shuddered, probably from the cold, the injuries and the emotions. "Sir, the Station won't know what hit them."

McMillan bit his lip. "Thank you Ensign." he said, hoping that he wasn't showing a too severe reaction to this news. It was bad though. Very bad. If the Gibraltar couldn't stop the cloned Pico, then DS19 would be destroyed. "Now, you go and rest. . . we'll have you out of here in no time."

Captain McMillan quickly found Commander Braveheart. "Tell me you got a way out of here?" he asked.

"Weatherwax believes he's found the frequency Sir." Braveheart reported. "He's uploading it to the ship right now, with the help of Ensign Johnson's omnitool." The XO paused for a moment. "Sir, I've also done a scan of the lava flow that flows underneath this place. It's. . . well, it's not just lava, Sir. It seems to be the basic ingredients of the clones. This. . . Creator, of however he calls himself, couldn't have picked a better spot to created the clones. He's got the materials and the energy. We've got to shut this down, Sir."

McMillan nodded. "Alright. Once we beam up to the ship, we'll beam in some explosive devices, and bury this cave forever." He hoped that would be enough, but it was all they could do at the moment: they had a station to save, after all.

Less than half an hour later, explosive devices detonated in the cavern, destroying all the power generators. On board the Gibraltar, Ensign Johnson lay in Sickbay, with Lt.Cmdr. Weatherwax at her side. On the Bridge, McMillan gave the only order he could give right now. "Helm. Set a course to DS19. Maximum warp." The Gibraltar was coming home.