Sirius ends up where?

After a long moment, the Captain nodded. "That is a very strange story." She paused and then asked curiously, "What is your name?"

Sirius had, going against every normal impulse to hide himself, had decided to throw himself on the mercy of the situation. This was mostly because the environment showed a far, far different level of Muggle technology than anything he had ever seen before. This was not the world he had come from. And so he decided to be honest.

"My name is Sirius Black."

The woman nodded. "Okay, Mr. Black. Next question: Where and when were you born?"

Sirius answered cheerfully, "London, St. Mungo's Hospital; 3 November, 1959."

The woman appeared surprised. She answered, "Thank you." She then looked off to nowhere and said, "Computer." There was a chirp. "Check all Earth databases for Sirius Black, Born Earth date 3 November 1959."

There was a pause and then after a long moment a pleasant but unemotional voice answered, "No records found."

The Captain looked back at Sirius. "What date did you leave Earth?" she asked.

Sirius answered, "18 June 1996."

She considered that. She then asked another question. "What do you know of the Eugenics Wars?"

Sirius was confused. "Eugenics wars? Do you mean the blood war?"

"What were the blood war?"

"The war in the Wizarding word between Voldemort and the Ministry."

Janeway shook her head. "No. Not the same thing. The Eugenics Wars were started by Lt. Greene and led to people who had been genetically modified attempting to control the world. They began in 1990."

Sirius was confused. "No. There was nothing like that. Not that I heard of."

She nodded. "Well, Mr. Black. I do believe that we will need to verify your story. Because as far as this world goes: This is 2373. You are on the Starship Voyager. We are 67,000 Light Years from Earth and it will take us another 67 years or so, if nothing changes, to get back there. You are in the body of Lon Suder. Lon Suder was shot days ago when assisting us to retake our ship from those who had stolen it. The wounds he suffered should have been fatal. However, when the body survived unexpectedly, we thought he had survived. However, it seems that that … consciousness, that person, did die. And the only reason I believe that you are not lying is that your accent and mannerisms are so foreign that even Mr. Sudor would not have run into it. Much of the British Isles were destroyed during the Eugenics Wars, though Scotland survived. I have knowledge of languages and dialect and yours is natural – I can tell. Similar accents do exist but none quite exactly the same. The closest is the French – Jean Luc Picard sounds similar to you and he comes from La Barre, France."

"What?" Sirius asked. "The French sound like this now? Those ponces were always derisive of English speakers. They would never take on the accent."

She nodded. "I do believe we will need to speak extensively. But at the moment, the Doctor's going to do an in-depth scan, much more detailed than normal, to see if there are any physical indications that you speak the truth."

Sirius snorted. "I don't know. If my soul has somehow come into a different body, there's no way a healer would be able to tell."

The woman smiled. "Let's see anyway."

Sirius sighed. "Okay then." He turned to the Doctor. "Okay, Doctor." He paused. "What's your name by the way?" he asked curiously.

The man said, "I am referred to as Doctor. Although I act as the Chief Medical Officer, I am in fact a hologram, the Emergency Medical Hologram to be accurate. I have never been given or taken a name."

"What's a hologram?" he asked the Captain.

She started to speak and then stopped herself. "That's something for later. For right now, just treat him as your … as your healer." She had noted his terminology.

Sirius shrugged. "Alright." He said to the doctor, "I'll hereby name you: Doctor Parminus Pomphrey. After the school mediwitch, Poppy, who took care of me and my mates at Hogwarts and still takes care of my godson, Harry. Although she's bossy and dictatorial at times, she's far more skilled than any other healer I've met and doesn't abide anyone interfering with her infirmary. This will remind me not to be too much trouble for you." He said the last bit with some humor.

The Doctor looked less than amused. "I would appreciate it."

"You got it, Doc Parm." He grinned at the man.

The Doctor looked at the Captain and rolled his eyes. The Captain looked like she was trying to retain her serious look but wanted to laugh. "Doctor, go ahead."

"Of course."

Sirius sighed and lay back down on the bed. "Okay, Doctor Pomphrey. Do your thing." He prepared for whatever this scanning thing was – it sounded like diagnostic spells and he could deal with that.

The Doctor started by pushing some buttons on the mass of buttons on the wall. He then pulled out his little mini-wand and picked up his little machine. He gave orders to the machine and had it do various other things which he did not understand.

It all sounded like nonsense to him.

At one point, he started "hearing" thoughts again and had to, once again, close his eys and concentrate on his occlumency. Once he had done he opened his eyes and said, "Okay, Doctor. Something is odd."

"What do you find odd?" the man asked as he paused in his actions.

"Somehow, if I start paying attention to the environment, I start hearing thoughts from people nearby. It takes me a moment to get my mental shields back into place. But I will need to spend a couple of hours meditating to repair my shields so I don't have to actively hold them."

The Doctor turned. "Mr. Tuvok. I believe we need your assistance."

The man with the ears walked up. "How can I help?" he asked stoically.

Sirius talked before the Doctor could. "Can I ask a question without offending you?" The man nodded. "What's with the ears? You look like a tall elf to me."

The man replied, "I am a Vulcan." When that didn't cause a reaction he said, "I was born on the planet Vulcan. We are a different species than Human."

Sirius was less surprised than they expected. "Oh. That makes sense."

Tuvok commented, "Another species other than Human does not surprise you."

Sirius gave a slight shrug (as much as he could lying down). "Not really. In my world, we had Goblins and House Elves. Another species isn't that strange to me."

"I see," the man said. "Very well. Now. You need my assistance?"

It took some time to sort through, including Sirius seeing that he was not in a Human body, but eventually they sorted it out. At the end Sirius got his main question answered: His new plumbing and wedding tackle were virtually identical: He could still have sex like a Human man.

The Captain seemed amused by his relief when he commented on it.

Finally, the Doctor was done. "I have completed my scans."

The Captain asked, "What can you tell us?"

"Mr. Sudor, or Mr. Black as he now seems to be, reads virtually identically to what should be expected with a healthy Betazoid of his age and Mr. Sudor's background, with one exception."

"And that is?" Sirius wanted to know as much as the Captain did.

"There seems to be an additional energy running through his body. While the nature of it eludes me – there is no corresponding record in the Starfleet medical database – it has one significant effect: His body exudes an electro-magnetic field. It isn't very powerful, but it would, in some circumstances, interfere with primitive electronics."

"Will it affect anything on Voyager?" she asked.

"No. At least that is my supposition. Virtually any equipment on the ship would be shielded against such things or not susceptible. Very much like hardened electronics of the twentieth century. It should have no effect. He would have to be in the warp drive to create an effect on that. All in all, I would give him a clean bill of health."

The Captain nodded. "Thank you, Doctor." She turned to Sirius. "Do you know what this extra energy field is?"

Sirius, who had sat up, shrugged. "Probably my magic. I'm surprised he can read that. Muggles, non-Magicals, from my world can't."

The Captain nodded. "I would like to request one more thing. But only of both you and Mr. Tuvok are willing." Sirius looked interested. So the Captain explained. "The man who used to have that body, Mr. Sudor, was in the midst of being rehabilitated from having violent impulses – he was under house arrest and being helped by Lt. Commander Tuvok. I would like him to verify that you are, in fact, mentally a different person. If you are willing."

Sirius asked for an explanation. Tuvok explained and expressed his willingness.

Sirius sighed. "Well, I am willing. But first I should warn you: I spent twelve years in Azkaban, which is a place filled with what you would call demons. I was sent there for a crime I didn't commit. But it had an effect on my mental shields. I escaped to protect my godson two years ago – two years for me. But I am still suffering some effects. It's a work in progress. But, considering I am now of a race of mentalists, it's probably advisable. But this is not a pleasant idea."

"So you are willing?" she asked.

"Yes," he sighed. He looked at Tuvok. "Go ahead, Mr. Vulcan." For some reason, that caused the Captain to suppress another smile.

The Vulcan did some weird thing and put his fingers on his face. "My mind to your mind. Your thoughts to my thoughts …."

Sirius concentrated on sensing what was going on. Through chance, this technique interacted quite well with his occlumency. In fact, as soon as he thought about it, all of the knowledge he had on occlumency and ligilemency passed through the mental link. Sirius' interest in mental shields also brought Tovok's knowledge of Vulcan and Betazoid techniques through.

Even as Tuvok reviewed Sirius' own memories, Sirius began seeing Tuvok's memories. Unlike Tuvok, who looked as though a detached observer, Sirius could actually immerse himself a bit if he wanted. Wizarding mental techniques were a little different than Vulcan techniques. Betazoid techniques were, according to what Sirius now knew, more similar.

However, Sirius could retain his separateness. In fact, Sirius could actually pause and ask for permission to look at different memories. At the speed of thought, this occurred in a microsecond. But it was a distinct process.

Sirius could sense Tuvok's curiosity – apparently his Wizarding techniques were distinctly different enough to make it interesting for the man.

Captain Janeway and the Doctor were getting worried. Unlike interactions with others, this meld seemed to be taking far longer than normal. "Doctor? What can you tell me?"

The Doctor read his tricorder. "According to what I can see, the two are fine. There are no signs that there is anything wrong. In fact, the readings show an almost controlled level of increase in synaptic activity compared to other melds I have monitored."

"What do you mean?" she asked curiously.

The doctor considered that. "Vulcan mind melds tend to cause a synchronization in synaptic patterns. And they also tend to increase synaptic intensity greatly. However, this meld, while it has shown an increase in activity, it has not caused continuous synchronization. It's as though they are running a mental marathon together rather than a mental sprint. It seems to be less taxing on an immediate basis and should be safer – as long as the meld doesn't last hours."

After twenty minutes the two stirred. They opened their eyes and Tuvok dropped his hands from Sirius' face.

"Fascinating." Tuvok looked curiously at Sirius.

The Captain was a bit worried. "What is it?"

Tuvok paused and then said, "Mr. Black has spoken nothing but the truth. There is no trace of Mr. Sudor's consciousness. The mental pattern now present is completely foreign. Mr. Black's mental pattern is quite distinctly different."

"So Mr. Sudor did die."

Tuvok nodded. "That does seem to be the case."

"I see." She sighed. "I am sorry to hear that. I will make an announcement to the crew and we will have a memorial service."

"That would be appropriate."

"But what was so fascinating?" the Captain repeated.

"Mr. Black has knowledge of mental skills that are, in a word, unique." He turned and looked at the Captain. "Vulcan techniques create a oneness which is most … intense in its completeness. It takes significant discipline to separate properly and completely – this is why Vulcans have to train so diligently. Mr. Black, however, has the ability to reinforce the separateness of the two minds. His magic, in fact, has a direct effect. I would suspect that Wizards and Witches have a significantly greater mental stability than those without magic. Mental instability in his people is likely due to what is called Dark magic or extreme abuse, which would create something called an obscurial. Mr. Black, as a young child, rejected such things though his family was steeped in such techniques. He is mentally and, likely, physically less susceptible to damage due to the magic which runs through him. But this was not what I found fascinating."

The Captain recognized what would be considered extreme enthusiasm – but only if you understood Vulcans. He bit down her amusement as she put him back on point. "Okay. So what is fascinating?"

Tuvok got back on point. "While I saw much of Mr. Black's life, he also could see my memories. Because he was able to keep his mind separate, he was able to discern areas of mental trauma in my own mind resulting from previous melds in trying circumstances. He could then show me these areas. The incident with Mr. Suder left what Mr. Black perceived as a tear in my memories. The incident with Belanna Torres also left some damage. Mr. Black, using the techniques from his world and his magic, assisted me in repairing what could immediately be found. Without these techniques, accumulated damage could have resulted in neurological degeneration in the future which would have required specific treatment, not available in the Delta quadrant. Mr. Black has likely saved me from significant future harm."

Both the Captain and the Doctor were surprised. Sirius sat there with a grin. "That is fascinating. And quite helpful." She looked at Sirius. "Thank you for assisting my officer."

Sirius nodded. "It wasn't a problem. We should probably do it again. But not until both he and I spend a few hours meditating. I now understand a little of what's happening with this Betazoid brain. I've got to get that under control first. And he's got to map out the fixes in his mind. But we can look again for any more damage after that. He can check for anything I miss in my mind as well."

She looked at Tuvok. "Is that safe?"

Tovok replied with confidence. "Quite safe."

The Captain considered that. "Very well. Mr. Tuvok. Please assist Mr. Black with his quarters, facilities, and how he can obtain food and drink. Until you both are pronounced completely healthy mentally as well as physically, you will complete all melds under the Doctor's supervision. At that point, we can decide how Mr. Black can integrate into the crew. As he is functionally a person from twentieth century Earth, there will be much he will need to learn."

Sirius barked a laugh. "More than you think. My people lived primitively compared to Muggles. I don't understand electricity, or technology. It all sounds like Eqyptian to me."

"Egyptian? Don't you mean Greek? 'It all sounds like Greek to me' is the normal phrase."

Sirius grinned. "The problem with that is that I know some Greek, as well as Latin – comes from learning Magical spells. I also know a little French, Italian, and Spanish. Egyptian is the language I don't have any clue on."

"I see," the Captain replied with some amusement.