Cassie thought for a few moments about Dr. Crusher's suggestion. She could get back at Nikki for all the nasty things she had done, but right now, Cassie wanted to absorb all the newness of this condition. Although it had been nearly a week since the accident, she was still somewhat in shock.

"As fun as that sounds, Doctor," Cassie said, the smile fading from her already-invisible face, "I don't think I'll do that just yet. Maybe later."

"Whatever you decide, Ensign. Just take it easy for the next few days, and I'll be sure to let you know if Data and Geordi find out anything."

"Thank you, Doctor." The patient's tunic floated toward the door, then stopped. "Um, Doctor? I just though about something. Not everyone knows about me like this, right?"

"That's true..." Dr. Crusher began.

"Wouldn't it look strange for a uniform to be moving by itself through the ship?"

"You have a point, Cassie." The doctor pressed a button on her console. "Crusher to Transporter Room 3."

"Transporter Room 3 here. Go ahead, Doctor."

"I have a patient in Sickbay that needs to be transported to her quarters. Due to the sensitive nature of her condition, she cannot go there by normal means."

"Understood, Doctor," the young Transporter officer said. "Awaiting co-ordinates."

Cassie entered the co-ordinates of her quarters, then paused. "Oh, wait a sec, Doctor. Ensign Duncan to Ensign Ali."

Cassie waited for Nikki to respond. "Duncan to Ensign Ali." Still no response. "Hm. Guess she's not home."

Dr. Crusher picked up on Cassie's cautionary tone. "Computer. Locate Ensign Nicole Ali."

The computer chimed. "Ensign Nicole Ali is in Ten Forward," it responded.

"Guess you're all clear...Oh!" she said, embarrassed, realizing what she had just spoken. "Sorry, Cassie. Poor choice of words."

Cassie giggled, realizing what Dr. Crusher had just said. "No offense taken, Doctor. That was actually silly!"

"As for getting to your quarters...you wouldn't want to pop in on Nikki unannounced, would you?" Dr. Crusher asked.

"Not really, and I don't want to start any rumors of ghosts on the Enterprise," Cassie said.

"Okay, then. Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be." Cassie waited for the Transporter beam. Seconds later, the room began to glow in a bright silver-gold-green sparkle of the Transporter effect...

=======================================================================

Hours later, Cassie sat in her quarters, a towel wrapped around her. She had to take a shower after cleaning up the mess Nikki left behind. She hadn't quite gotten used to seeing nothing where her body should be. Sipping on a cup of hot cocoa, she took stock of her options and her condition.

Then, she had a thought. What if she were to leave her quarters? Could the computer locate her, even without her communicator? She thought about that as she went to the desktop computer interface. Programming parameter after parameter, she went through the whole spectrum, using all the different sensors available on the ship. And, except for the security sensors (which registered her communicator), none of the sensors could not locate her.

Well, she thought. Let's give this a trial run. 'Have fun', Dr. Crusher said. What better place than Ten Forward?

Shedding the towel, she watched as it dropped, fully expecting her body to reappear. And, for all the galaxy to see, she was naked. She was rather uncomfortable at this point, being somewhat self-conscious. Although she could feel the coolness of the artificially-generated atmosphere against her skin, she could not see herself at all in the mirror. She knew she was facing it, and could clearly see the objects behind her. Not a ripple or distortion at all. It was as if she never existed.

Cassie crossed the room toward the door...and smacked into it rather forcefully. Rubbing her forehead, she remembered that the sensors couldn't "see" her. She had to manually operate the door in order to leave.

Crew members walked to and fro, some going on duty, others coming off shift, others still working. Cassie avoided being crushed, stepped on, bumped into, from the hustle and bustle of standard ship's operations. Cassie finally made her way to Ten Forward, where she stood near the viewports. She listened intently into private conversations, making faces at everyone in the lounge, and giggling to herself, knowing that nobody could see her. One conversation between two lieutenants junior grade, whom she recognized as Lts. Amy Sherman and Naoko Shinaharu, caught her attention...

"Hey, didja hear about Ensign Duncan?"

"Yeah...I heard she was confined to Sickbay after that accident in the Jefferies' Tube."

"Oh, that's not what I was getting at...I heard about how she got that cute nickname."

Cassie bristled. This is how rumors start, she thought. I wish this accident had happened while I was at the Academy...then I could get at whoever pulled that prank on me!

"Really? Do tell!"

"Well, someone told me that she had gotten it because she was always 'ducking' her duties!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Get out! That's not what I heard!"

"What did you hear?"

"Well, when I was at DS9, it was going around that she'd always be 'ducking' into some officer's quarters, looking for..."

Cassie had quite enough. She was about to dump their drinks into their laps, but thought the better of that. Maybe I should have stayed in my quarters, she thought, as she headed for the door. Luckily, the door slid open as someone was coming in. She barely noticed who it was, as she had begun to cry.

All the way back to her quarters, she couldn't stop crying. All the bad memories, the constant teasing, the junior officers on this ship, the rumors...all had taken their toll on her. She collapsed on her bed, and cried herself to sleep.

=======================================================================

Days later, Cassie sat in the bridge conference room, with Geordi, Data, Worf, Commander Riker, Counselor Troi, Dr. Crusher, and Captain Picard. Cassie fidgeted a bit, trying to hide her nervousness. Picard reviewed a PADD that Geordi and Data had prepared for this meeting. They had a theory as to how Cassie had been turned invisible.

"This is our best guess, Captain," Geordi said, as he activated the conference room display screen. It showed an animation of the recent attack on the Enterprise as she entered Sector 2069.

"We have discovered certain wavelengths of particular matter in the blue scanning beam of the alien vessel," Data said, indicating their initial contact. "The yellow-green emission later contained these very same particulates." The animation showed the colors Data was describing.

Cassie adjusted her seat. Although it was comfortable, she was extremely nervous. She had never been on the bridge longer than a few minutes...

"It was at this point that Ensign Duncan had disconnected the defective module, and was getting the new one seated," Geordi said. The animation showed the first weapons fire upon the starship.

"Approximately 3.72 seconds later, Worf returned fire, just as the alien vessel fired their final burst, which also contained these particulates," Data concluded. "Apparently, our phaser energy accelerated some type of metaphasic energy in Ensign Duncan's body, which, when coupled with the alien particulates, rendered her invisible."

"How was that so?" Picard asked.

"Apparently, our phaser energy boosted the alien's phaser energy, so when it struck the ship, it caused the massive power outages and surges we suffered," Geordi speculated.

"Why wasn't the rest of the crew affected?" Riker asked.

"Ensign Duncan just happened to be in an unfortunate situation...right near several EPS power taps and junctions as the alien energy entered the ship," Geordi continued.

Cassie fidgeted again. At least no one was calling her "Duckie."

"Well, now that we know why it happened, the important question is: Can it be reversed?" Picard asked. It sounded more like an order.

Geordi turned to the uniform sitting near Counselor Troi. "That's hard to say, Captain. We still need to study the alien particulates first before we can formulate any theories as to how to reverse Ensign Duncan's predicament."

Cassie swallowed hard and bit her lip. She was trying her best not to cry.

Deanna sensed this and took her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

Picard was pensive for a few moments, absorbing all the information at hand. "All right. Let's take this one step at a time. Geordi, I want you and Data working on Ensign Duncan's problem, and find a way to reverse it. Doctor, I want you to help them. Ensign Duncan," he said, turning to address Cassie.

Cassie snapped to full attention. Her uniform was straight-laced and razor-sharp. "Yes sir?" she said.

"Ensign, we will find a way to return you to normal. Right now, I want you to keep this...your condition, to a minimum. I know there are a few crew members who know about your accident and the result, but I am asking you to keep this as private as possible. Can you do that?"

Cassie swallowed hard, again. "Um, my former roommate knows, sir. I'm sure she's told a lot of people by now...well, I wouldn't be surprised if the whole ship knows."

"Former roommate, Ensign?" Picard asked.

"Yes, sir," Cassie said. "Ensign Nicole Ali. She's been dating one of the bridge officers, and just a few days ago, she moved in with him."

"I see."

Cassie let out a breath. She was more nervous now than she ever was...the great Jean-Luc Picard, addressing her! Something like this was surely an ego-boost...under normal circumstances.

"Well, Ensign, since you were assigned double quarters, and your roomate is no longer occupying them with you, Commander Riker will assign you to single officers' quarters, under provision, of course," Picard finished.

Cassie understood what the captain meant. "Aye, sir," was all she could say.

=======================================================================

The door chimed.

Cassie jumped up. She wasn't expecting anyone to visit...then she checked the chronometer. Oh, crap! she thought. I have an appointment with Counselor Troi! I thought that was tomorrow!

"Come in," Cassie said, pulling on her uniform. It looked strange, seeing the bottom half moving around by itself, but Cassie had gotten used to seeing, or rather, not seeing, herself inside her clothes. The door chimed again.

"Come in!" she said firmly. The door slid open...

And the hallways of the Enterprise had turned to transparent aluminum. She could see through bulkheads and doors, through the hull, out into space, watching as raw power flowed unrestricted through crystal clear conduit. She could see computer information whizzing by at faster-than-light speeds through the clear waveguides. She walked in fluidic slow-motion past crew members, seemingly oblivious to their surroundings. The crew had a strange look...they seemed to be made of glass. Then she saw herself...her real self. Flesh and bone, the correct skin tones, her blonde hair pulled back into the ponytail she liked so much...

And then she woke up.

"Goddamn it!" she swore under her breath, punching the mattress and feeling tears run down her cheeks. She wrapped a robe around herself and went to the replicator. "Betazed Cocoa, hot," she said, sniffling and wiping the tears away. As she sipped the warm beverage, she was fascinated by the way the mug seemed to move on it's own. She also thought about the meeting on the bridge that morning. Data and Geordi better find the cure, she thought. I'd hate to live on Sorablegen...

=======================================================================

"Approaching the anomaly, Captain," Data said. From his post at the Ops position, he easily maneuvered the great starship with relative ease.

"Keep us within 100,000 kilometers of the fissure, Mr. Data, one quarter impulse," Picard said.

The ship slowed it's forward momentum, the android officer taking great care not to let the ship fall into the anomaly.

"Captain. I am detecting a large object from within the fissure," Worf said.

"What type of object?" Riker asked, beating Picard to the punch.

Worf checked the readings. "A round object, several thousand kilometers in diameter."

"Could it be a Dyson Sphere?" Picard asked.

Worf checked again. "No sir. It is too small," the Klingon officer said. "It appears to be a planetoid."

"Surface scans?" Picard asked.

Worf checked the sensors. "No, sir. There is too much gravimetric interference."

"Mr. Data, is it safe enough to send in a shuttlecraft?" Picard asked.

"No, sir," the android officer replied.

"What about a probe?"

"No, sir. The gravimetric distortions are too severe," Data said.

Picard weighed his options. He turned to the counselor and his first officer.

"I sense nothing from within the fissure, Captain," Troi said.

"I suggest extreme caution, Captain. We don't know what we're getting into," Riker said.

Picard weighed his options again. He turned to address the ship's crew.

"Attention, all hands. This is the captain..."

Everyone stopped whatever it was he or she was doing at that moment.

"It would appear we have found the anomaly the Running Brook discovered. As it is now, we cannot send in a shuttlecraft or probe to tell us what's on the other side."

Cassie listened intently to the Captain's announcement. Finally...something to do! She had been going out of her mind. Being temporarily relieved of duty was bad enough, but being unable to leave her quarters was unbearable.

"As of now, I am ordering damage control teams to standby. We will be going into the fissure momentarily. Picard out."

Damage control parties began mobilizing throughout the ship. The hallways and passages were a flurry of activity, as the Red Alert klaxons sounded. Geez, the captain means business, Cassie thought, as she looked out the window...

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