I pinned the badge back to my vest before I tapped it furiously. I ran down the corridor to the turbolift. "Computer, locate Dr. Nathaniel Adams," I ordered.

The computer chirped. "Dr. Nathaniel Adams is in the medical bay."

"Computer, locate Admiral Parrington."

"Admiral Parrington is also in the medical bay."

Great. Just great, I thought. By the Gods! How the hell did the old man fail to stop a shape shifter from taking over his life? Where in Tartarus was Methos' body? I hoped he hadn't been flushed out into space; it would be hell trying to explain why I would want to go out looking for a frozen corpse which could be anywhere out in space. Also, when did the shape shifter get on board the station?

So many questions, so many urges to beat them out of the shape shifter that took my oldest friend's shape.

I reached the turbolift and stepped inside. "Medical," I barked. As the turbolift began to ascend, I angrily punched the glass wall separating me from the black, empty space beyond. The force field on the outer side of the glass partition crackled where my fist landed, reminded me not to punch a hole through it. "Computer, who else is in the medical bay?" I asked.

"Captain Jules Kibar and Dr. Joel Kibar Elmwood."

I cursed long and hard in many languages before the turbolift reached Level 2. I tapped my Comm Badge, "Commander Harris to security!"

"Security here."

"A shape-shifter has impersonated Dr. Adams. He's in the medical bay."

"We’re on our way. Security out."

I stepped out of the turbolift and hurried down the hall to the rear entrance into the medical bay. The security team would take several minutes to get there, and there was no telling what could happen in the meantime.

Whatever happened to vampires? They were simple to deal with. You just "plunge and move on", to quote someone I once knew. Now, vamps had settled into the background, content to leave the rest of us to deal with the shape shifters, the Borg, the Breen, the Cardassians, the Jem'Hadar-every one of them.

I drew my phaser as I approached the main doors. I pressed up against the wall, straining to hear through them. I could hear the changeling talking, but I couldn't make out what he was saying.

I stepped forward and the door slid open. I hurried inside. I could see Joel lying on the ground, unconscious. Captain Kibar and Colonel Parrington sat side by side on a bio bed. The changeling posing as my oldest friend held a phaser on them.

"Drop the phaser," I ordered.

At the other end of the room, the medical bay's main doors slid open. Four security guards entered the room with phasers drawn. "Dr. Adams, drop the phaser, now!" Security Chief Gorn ordered the shape shifter.

The changeling glanced from us to the captain and the admiral. He growled in frustration before he began to change. Methos’ form disappeared, replaced by something without substance.

The changeling charged toward me. I ducked, shooting as I went down. The security officers also fired. Phaser blasts soared over my head. Each blast seamed to pass right through the shape-shifter, hitting bulkheads and bio beds instead.

It ran out the back door. I stood up and went after it, only to see it disappear into a vent before I could shoot.

Gorn appeared behind me. He tapped his badge. "Gorn to security! We’ve got a shape-shifter on board! Seal off all air locks and increase security everywhere in the station, security measure 9-2-Gorn-Delta." He turned to the three security guards that had come with him. "Take up positions around the infirmary."

"Aye, sir."

I holstered my phaser and turned to Captain Kibar, who was checking Joel’s pulse. "I can’t find a pulse," he said. He tapped his badge. "Kibar to Nurse Gray, report to the infirmary. And make sure you come with someone else so we’ll know it’s you!"

I glanced around the infirmary as everyone went to work. There was no sign of the real Methos. Just as I thought it, the Buzz blossomed in my mind. I glanced around, trying to pinpoint it, and realized it originated from his office.

I ran over to the door and quickly entered my access code to bypass the lock. I found Methos dead in his desk chair, apparently shot by a phaser.

"Harris? Anyone in there?" Gorn called through the door.

"Yes, the real Dr. Adams is."

"We'd better check to see if it is him-"

Gorn began to open the door. I hurriedly entered a second access code to keep the door locked. "The door's stuck!" I called back to him. "Give us a minute and we'll get it open again."

Behind me, I heard a deep intake of breath. Turning, I saw Methos' eyes open wide. "Alex?" he questioned me. He took in his ruined shirt. "Did you catch the bastard?"

I shook my head. "He got away. He's on the station somewhere. Put one of your spare jackets on already and go help Joel."

Methos did. He grabbed one of the vests he always kept around for situations like these. I got the door 'unstuck' and the two of us left the office. One tricorder scan and hypospray injection later, and Joel was stabilized and lying unconscious on a bio bed.

"I need to get to Ops," Parrington said. "Mr. Gorn, Commander Harris, Captain Kibar, please come with me."

Kibar glanced from the admiral's departing back to his unconscious half-brother. He followed the admiral and Gorn out of the medical bay with me right behind him.

"Don’t forget to destroy that old uniform," I whispered to Methos before I left. I spoke in Latin - the language was too old for universal translators to decipher. "And watch out for that shape-shifter."

"I don't plan on getting shot twice in the same day," Methos sarcastically replied.

Two dozen Ops personnel greeted us when we entered Operations. This room was basically one big circle at the top of the main body of the station. It contained everything needed to organize docking schedules to preparing a station lock-down in case we were invaded. The station itself had been for strictly scientific observation and study, once upon a time. After Starfleet acquisitioned it, they converted it as much as possible for its current use. This was, however, the first time we ever had to deal with an intruder.

"What have we got?" Admiral Parrington asked as soon as we stepped out of the turbolift.

"Sensors are picking the changeling up on Level 9, sir," Lieutenant Young reported.

"Seal off that level, move all personnel off of it."

"Already done, sir."

"Good."

"What’s on Level 9?" Captain Kibar asked me.

"Observation decks and storage compartments, mostly," I answered. "He’s going to try to find a way off of that level."

"At the moment, though, he’s not going anywhere," Parrington interrupted. "Gorn, get some teams done there with pulse rifles. Make sure they stay in groups of two at least, and make sure that they fire down corridors before entering them. We don’t want to take any chances."

"Aye, sir." Gorn headed for the turbolift.

"Sir, may I ask exactly what the changeling was planning to do?" I asked the admiral.

"A number of things, Harris," Captain Kibar replied. "If Dr. Elmwood hadn’t interrupted us, we would have been dead by now."

"Both of you? Why exactly? He couldn’t take both of your forms."

"He kept going on about rituals and spells," Parrington said. "He claimed that he could erase Captain Kibar completely from history before taking on my shape and assuming command here, where he could halt any repairs made to the ships that come here." He shook his head. "The changeling was insane."

"A changeling who believes in magic," I said. "Now I’ve heard everything."

Well, this wasn’t good. Starfleet didn't believe in the existence of magic, but I happened to know first-hand that it was very real. I’d never known a shape-shifter that studied magic, though. I wondered how good he was and hoped he wasn’t. Just in case, I muttered a Eighth Sense Spell under my breath. If any magic was performed on the station, I’d know about it immediately.

I needed to get down to Level 9, but there was no excuse I could give to the admiral. I’d just have to hope that Gorn and his men could handle the changeling by themselves.

The Security Chief’s voice rang out through the COMM system. "Gorn to Ops."

"This is Operations, go ahead," Parrington answered.

"We have reached Level 9. We’re splitting up now and beginning the search."

"Very well, Mr. Gorn. Ops-"

Suddenly, the entire station rocked on its axis. Everyone grabbed a hold of something and waited for the shaking to stop. "Report!" Parrington ordered.

"Sir, someone’s accessed the ambulance craft at the medical dock. They’ve just fired the phasers into the docking control room!"

"What? How?" Parrington asked.

I knew how. I could feel magic being used. I closed my eyes, concentrating on it more. The changeling was casting the spell, but I could feel that he was still on Level 9, which was on the opposite end of the station to the medical docking bay.

"Damage report," Parrington ordered.

"The medical bay has been sealed off, admiral," Lt. Young replied.

"There must be something in the medical bay he still wants," Kibar hypothesized.

Parrington opened a channel. "Ops to medical."

Suddenly, I felt a wave of magic ripple through the station, making me gasp. I leaned on the railing in front of me for support. Kibar glanced at me oddly.

I couldn’t concentrate enough to tell what the changeling was doing. The wave of energy was too much to handle. I hastily said the reversal-spell, not caring who heard me speak in Old German under my breath.

The feeling ceased and I straightened, breathing easily now. Other spell casters might have gotten off on feeling that wave of magical energy, but after experiencing Quickenings, magical waves weren’t all that stimulating.

"Medical bay to Ops. Dr. Adams has just disappeared."

I glanced around at everyone with a feeling of dread. That magical wave I’d felt-it had been strong enough to teleport something.

Before we could respond, another channel opened. "Gorn to Ops. The changeling was never here, sir. It was a hologram."

"Any ships departing, lieutenant?" Parrington asked Young.

"No, sir."

Parrington opened a station-wide channel. "This is Admiral Parrington. All Starfleet personnel from the station and the Excursion are to report to the weapons array." He closed the channel and turned to Captain Kibar. "We’ve got a changeling to find. I want all levels to be searched and every docking bay and air lock secured. All teams will search for Dr. Adams and the changeling. Commander Harris, Lt. Young, I want you to find out what the hell has been going on here. Captain Kibar, you’re with me. We’re going down to weapons."

The two of them headed for the turbolift. "Sir, request permission to come with you," I said.

"Permission denied. You’re engineering skills are needed to keep this station operable, commander."

Damn! I watched them enter the turbolift, fighting to keep from punching the nearest target in frustration. They didn’t know what they were up against, and I couldn’t help them. If I pressed the matter, I’d reveal too many secrets. One was that, unlike most of the people on the station, I’d fought a changeling before. The hitch was that it was during those secret missions Starfleet sent me on four years ago, so I couldn’t tell anyone about them or Starfleet would have my head, possibly literally. Two was that magic was real and that I knew a number of counter-spells and locator spells I could use to find the changeling, and the bad side to that was that if I admitted to it the admiral would think I was completely mad.

I went to the console next to Young's. Above us, the lights flickered. "Sir, non-essential systems keep shutting off and turning back on," Young told me.

"Are any of the other systems affected?"

"No, sir-wait. Sir, sensors are picking up some sort of energy form in Ops."

"Where?" I wished I still had that Eighth Sense spell, but I didn't want to risk being almost knocked down by another magic wave.

"Five meters ahead!"

The four security guards standing around the room drew their phasers. Lt. Young pointed at an empty spot in the center of the room, which was free of all consoles.

The Buzz hit me at the same time the air shimmered and swirled before turning into purple fog. It coalesced into Methos and the shape-shifter as they teleported in. The changeling had the almost-featureless face associated with its kind.

One of the changeling's arms had been shifted into a blade that was held to Methos' neck. The changeling's other arm kept Methos in place. "Expello!" the changeling cried.

Green light swept the guard's phasers out of their hands. "Hold your positions!" I shouted. Thankfully, the guards obeyed my orders.

"Release him!" I ordered the changeling.

"I don't think so," the changeling told me. He pressed the blade into Methos' neck, making my oldest friend grunt. "I should have known there were Old Ones here. The backgrounds the two of you constructed were pretty thorough for fakes."

Make him the first changeling I'd encountered that knew about Immortality also. And if one of them knew, it was likely that all of them knew. "I thought your mission involved taking over the admiral."

"That was my primary goal. My secondary goal has always been taking down the Long-lived Solids. It's just my luck that I would come across two of them at once."

While the changeling looked at me, I could see Methos muttering a chant under his breath. Suddenly, Methos cried, "Separate!"

Red light exploded, sending Methos and the changeling flying in opposite directions. Methos impacted with the right wall while the changeling hit the left. I could hear Methos' skull crack with a sickening sound even from seven meters away.

The changeling collided with an Ensign, taking him down. The people around me picked up phasers or drew their own, firing. However, each phaser reflected off a magical shield.

Damn, this guy was good. He was working his way to me, taking down officer after officer before any of us could move. "Everyone hold your fire! Hit the deck!"

Some lucky officers were able to comply. The rest were knocked unconscious. Thankfully, the changeling no longer had a blade, so no one was skewered.

I could see the changeling clearly now. He stopped eight feet away. He was furious. "Adams knows magic. What about you, Commander?"

I smiled a deadly smile. "Care to find out?"

The changeling seemed to consider this. "I see that I am outmatched. Goodbye, Commander Harris. I hope we meet again."

And suddenly, a pulse rifle appeared out of nowhere in the changeling's hand, and he was firing before I could even blink. The energy sphere hit me dead in the chest. My entire world exploded into pain before everything went black.

INCOMPLETE

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