"Come in."

"Good morning, Jean-Luc. Sleep well?"

Jean-Luc smiled at his guest, "Good morning."

"Today I've got something in mind for you", said Beverly with a mischievous smile on her face, as she approached the replicator. "Wait 'till you try it."

"Oh, now I'm concerned." Picard's smile broadened, earning him a look from the doctor.

"Ye of little faith. Just try it." Beverly placed a red bowl in front of her captain.

"What is it?", he asked, spying the contents. They moved.

"Come on, don't be picky. It'll give you a good kick to start the day." Her smile had turned into a grin.

Picard eyed the bowl, then turned to the doctor, who sat sprawled in her usual spot on his couch. "I- "

"Bridge to Captain Picard."

"Go ahead, Number One."

"Sir, you'd better get up here."

"On my way, Picard out."

He looked at the woman whose plan to probably poison him had failed. "Saved by the bell."

She answered with an impish smirk.

ooOoo

"Sir, we've picked up an automated signal from a Federation shuttlecraft."

Picard furrowed his eyebrows. "From a shuttlecraft? But we're the only manned Federation vessel out here."

"Apparently not, sir."

The captain approached the conn. "Any insight on its mother ship?"

"No, sir", Data replied. "However, sensors indicate there is at least one life-form aboard the shuttle. It is humanoid."

"Perhaps someone to answer our questions. Open hailing frequencies, Mr. Worf."

"Communication is not possible, sir. The shuttle is without power."

Picard sat down in the command chair. "Set course to intercept."

ooOoo

"We are closing in on the shuttlecraft, sir."

"Thank you, Lieutenant. On screen." Picard got up, an imperceptible line on his brow. The viewscreen showed the drifting, powerless shuttle. "Lock on tractor beam, bring her in."

The captain exchanged a look with his first officer. "Number One."

Riker picked up on his cue, "Mr. Worf, you're with me." He tapped his combadge, "Dr. Crusher, you're needed in Shuttle Bay 2."

"I've been monitoring, I'm on my way."

ooOoo

Riker and Worf crossed the doors to the Shuttle Bay just as the shuttle was touching down shakily. "Well, that's a Federation shuttlecraft, all right."

Worf drew out his phaser and set it on stun. "Yet, there are no Federation bases or vessels in this area."

Riker circled the shuttle, pensive. At last, he spoke out, "NCC-1701-D. USS Enterprise, Shuttlecraft 05." He looked up, a hand going to his chin. At the far side of the Shuttle Bay, an identical craft was almost staring at him, challenging him to defy the truth. "NCC-1701-D, USS Enterprise, Shuttlecraft 05."

Worf picked up on his colleague's astonishment. "How is this possible?"

The doors to the Shuttle Bay suddenly swished open, and Doctor Beverly Crusher gracefully glided in followed by three members of her staff, a medical tricorder already in her hand.

The two men acknowledged her and moved to the hatch, medical team in tow. As soon as the hatch swung open, the sound of a tricorder crashing on the ground filled the room, followed by an audible gasp. Beverly took two steps backwards, bumping on the anti-grav unit that had been brought down from Sickbay.

Riker looked from Beverly to the inside of the shuttle, "What? How- ". An unconscious Beverly Crusher was sprawled on her back on the deck of the shuttlecraft, a nasty gash on her temple. Her hair was matted, and the shuttle was freezing cold. Riker quickly recovered and hit his combadge. "Riker to Bridge."

"What is it, Number One?"

"Captain, I think you should come down here. Bring Commander Data."

"Acknowledged, Bridge out."

He turned to the stunned Beverly, whose team had already entered the shuttle. "Condition?"

Beverly snapped out of her shock, feeling a headache coming in full force. She followed her staff inside the craft and scanned the woman with the tricorder. Shakily, she answered, "Uhm, the life signs are very confusing. Her heartbeat is strong, but the pulse is off. She must've taken a bad blow to the head, but there's no internal bleeding."

"Can you revive her?" Concern showed on Riker's face.

"I think I should get her to Sickbay."

Just as the three nurses were wheeling the patient out, Picard and Data entered the Shuttle Bay. The captain looked at the unconscious woman, whispering, "Beverly?" He looked up and did a double take. "Beverly?"

Since Crusher didn't appear to be forthcoming with information, Riker took charge of the situation. "We can't explain it, sir. We opened the shuttlecraft and there she was, lying on the deck."

"Excuse me, sir." Beverly followed her staff, her face set in stone.

Picard watched her go with an unreadable expression, then turned to Data and instructed, "Mr. Data, I need to know what's on the shuttle's logs."

"Aye, sir." Data entered the aft section. "Captain, I will need help from Commander La Forge. Both primary and reserve power has been drained from the shuttle, I will have to connect to the Enterprise in order to activate the shuttle's systems."

"Make it so."

"Captain, it looks like the shuttle has been damaged by an anti-matter explosion." Riker run his hand on the damaged side of the craft. "It must have been just out of range."

"I see, thank you Number One. I'll be in Sickbay."

Picard exited into the corridor, but before he could enter the turbolift he sensed a quiet presence behind him.

"Captain, is everything all right?"

He turned around and found Deanna Troi staring at him with her dark and penetrating eyes.

"Follow me, Counselor." Together they rode the turbolift to Sickbay, while Picard brought the counselor up to speed on the recent developments.

When the doors to Sickbay swished open, they found Beverly hard at work around their new mysterious patient. She had been laid on the main biobed, and nurse Ogawa was checking her vitals.

"Report, Doctor." Picard approached the biobed and looked at the injured woman. Her head wound had been treated and she was resting, however there were dark circles under her eyes and her normally shining hair had turned to a pale orange. Her even more prominent cheekbones prompted a disturbing feeling to settle in the captain's gut.

"I've stabilized her vital signs and treated her injuries. I've hooked her up on intravenous feeding for the next twelve hours, she'd been bordering on starvation. She's lucky we found her when we did... She will have to wake up on her own." The doctor moved to the far wall to check on a monitor. "I've also taken a sample of her DNA to compare it to my own, the results of the test should come back shortly."

Picard watched Beverly work, conscious that she had not once raised her eyes to meet his while she briefed him. "Have you found anything that might explain… this?"

Beverly shook her head. "I can't explain it either. Once the test is complete, we'll know more." Her eyes briefly laid on the other woman's face.

Deanna took a step forward. "Beverly, will you join me in your office for a minute?"

The doctor raised her eyes to meet those of her friend and sighed inwardly. "Of course."

As soon as Beverly sat down in her chair, Deanna questioned her. "Beverly, are you all right?"

This time, Beverly openly sighed. "Deanna, I'm fine." At her friend's sceptical look, she added, "Look, it's obviously very weird and I can't explain it. It's not everyday that you come face to face with a person that looks exactly like you."

Deanna slowly sat down in the chair in front of the desk. "Beverly, it's not that she looks exactly like you… She is you."

"What do you mean?"

"It's a weird feeling, I've never felt anything quite like this before. But she is as much Beverly Crusher as you are." She quickly added, "Beyond that, there is very little I can be sure of, but I'm sure about this."

Just then Alyssa Ogawa knocked on the transparent window of the office. "Doctor, the results are back."

"Thank you, Alyssa." Beverly rose, the counselor following on her heel.

As the doctor approached the screen, Picard unconsciously turned towards the still, prone form. Her skin looked dry and ashen. Beverly turned around. "It is Beverly Crusher, all right."

The captain's eyes shot up and his hand flew to his combadge. "Picard to Data. Have you managed to download the logs?"

"Yes, Captain. We will be transmitting them to your ready room in one minute and thirty seconds."

"Thank you, Mr. Data. Picard out."

Picard turned to the doctor. "Doctor, if you're finished here, you're with me."

Beverly simply nodded and followed the captain out of Sickbay, her lab coat flapping behind her.

ooOoo

Their trip to the bridge was quiet. Beverly looked in front of her while the captain eyed her sideways, trying to gauge her feelings.

"Jean-Luc."

"Sorry."

Together they rode the turbolift in silence.