Karissa awake to the sound of Ryan's voice still singing the song that he had
undoubtably written for her. She could hardly move. Slowly, she pushed herself
to sitting, realizing she was still in her swim suit and that, she still worn
the Bajoran earring. Of course, she figured it might be awhile before she even
wanted to take it off. Brushing the hair from her face, she realized that she
hadn't set an alarm, and as of late, she had been needing to.
"Computer, end music selection," she said a bit sadly.
Immediately Ryan's voice faded.
"Computer, what time is it?" she asked, as a mild wave of nausea hit her. She had been trying to stand up.
<10:46 hours> came the reply.
She groaned. She was not feeling very good and now she was late for work. As she looked around her quarters have a hard time getting going, she spied Ming's letter. Another wave of nausea hit her, but she was able to quel it by not moving around for a time. There was no way she could go into work like this. She grabbed her commbadge and tapped it.
"Commander Bentara to Ensign Jin," she said.
"Ensign Jin, here, Commander."
"Dinara, I need you to cover my appointments today . . . I'm not feeling so well . . ." Karissa explained.
"Are you okay?" Dinara asked with concern.
"I think I'll be fine . . . but I will definitely need to take a sickday today."
"Don't worry about it!" Dinara said. "I'll handle things. You just
rest." "Thanks. Bentara out."
She sighed and sat down in her chair. Part of her wanted to go to sickbay, but there just was no way . . . She couldn't do it. Then, she spied Ming's envelope. She did want to talk to him anyway, she reasoned. Maybe he could figure out what was wrong and she wouldn't have to go to sikbay at all! With that thought, she slowly stood up and headed to the shower.
Ming was busy in the laboratory working
on his private research for Karissa. He'd managed to isolate from the ventilation
system a compound that was likely to be the pheromone emitted by Karissa during
heat. It was a highly complex molecule with a molecular weight of around 5,000;
replicating enough to use in a clinical test would be very complicated work.
Molecules of that size typically had thousands of isomers--and only one of those
isomers would be the right compound! He was about to enter the relevant data
into the computer when Karissa entered.
"Karissa! I'm glad you're here! I've got some good news for you!"
Ming said, then he noticed her appearance. She looked postively gray and drawn,
and didn't seem entirely steady on her feet. "Are you okay?" he asked.
"I don't know," she replied, "I'm not feeling so good today." She had kept the nausea at bay until she had started walking. It had gotten progressively worse the farther she went. But she hadn't turned back. "I originally came here to talk about your gift," she said, forcing a smile, "But I think I would appreciate it more if you could run a tricorder over me and see what's wrong . . ." Another wave of nausea hit with a severe wave of dizziness. The room felt like it was going to spin.
Ming reached for a tricorder. While his general purpose tricorder lacked the specialized programming of the medical tricorder, it would at least give him an idea of what was happening. He noticed that she appeared queasy and grabbed a large beaker from the lab bench. "Here--use this if you think you need it," he said, very concerned. *The texts said there would be no ill effects from the catnip, and I figured her human characteristics would mute its influence! I didn't want it to go this badly!* he thought.
Ming scanned her with the tricorder and noted something very peculiar. "Karissa, have you been behaving differently at all lately?" he asked, as he got Karissa a glass of water.
She thought about it as she took a breath to stop the whirl of her head. "Actually, I guess . . ." she replied. "My sleep schedule has completely changed," she answered. "I am use to getting about four hours of sleep at night. Suddenly I'm sleeping for 6 to 10 hours a night and that's not like me . . . And then . . . I have been . . . more emotional lately . . ." she said blushing and looking away. "But that could just be due to the things going on in my life . . ." she replied.
"Karissa, I don't know how to tell you this, but I'm reading four distinct DNA signatures in your body. That can only mean one thing: you're pregnant!" Ming said--at once overjoyed and concerned.
"Pregnant??" she said. The look in her eyes said it all. She was shocked.
"Yes. That's the only explanation I can come up with consistent with what I'm seeing. You are carrying three babies; all with different fathers, from what I can tell."
"I can't be! I have never gotten pregnant before!" she said, in denial, yet putting the pieces together in her own mind. Oh god, what was she going to do, she thought. If she were pregnant . . . how was she going to tell William . . . how was she going to tell Ryan . . .Her mind was reeling . . . three babies / Three different fathers . . .They had each sired one . . . One of three babies . . . her babies . . . She sighed deeply. A mixture of emotion coursing through her.
"The fathers are Ryan, Will....and me," Ming said. Inside his emotions were very distorted: on one hand, he was proud that he was a father--that his family name would be preserved--and that Karissa was the mother. On the other hand, he was only just beginning to get a handle on his situation with Karissa, and beginning to form a new relationship with someone he found even more exciting. *How do I explain this?* he thought. *To my family, to Ciara, to anyone!!!*
"I promise you I will take full responsibility for my child," Ming said. "Whatever I can do for you and for the baby, you have only to ask. I want to do the honorable thing, Karissa."
"And you're sure that each of you fathered a child?" she asked. Tears were starting to sting her eyes. She wanted children. She was happy to be given this chance . . . but this had turned into a bigger mess. That night was never going to die out . . . How would Ryan take this news. How would Will? This had gone from a simple one-night stand into pain and complications . . . and she didn't want to hurt anyone else. And especially she didn't want to hurt her futuer children.
"I'm sure," Ming said. "The DNA signatures of each of the children are a combination of yours, my own, and theirs. There's no question."
"Ming, I never expected anything from any of you past that night. I know you feel responsibilities toward me because of your child . . . But I'm not going to ask anything from you except your friendship . . . I want you to be happy with Ciara . . . I don't want to complicate your life or anyone else's any further." Tears stung her eyes and she couldn't stop them. "God, what a mess . . ." she cried quietly.
He continued. "As an officer, and more importantly as a man, I have a responsibility for my actions. I will take responsibility for my child--and if either of the others do not wish to claim responsibility for his child, I will help you as much as I can there, too," Ming said seriously--as serious as Karissa had yet seen him involving anything outside the lab. "As for Ciara, well, if that's something she can't accept then perhaps she's not the right one for me."
"Responsibility or not, I do appreciate the offer . . . " she said, but as her mind turned to Ryan, she added, "But I can't let you give up your life because of this . . . No one is going to make a sacrifice for my mistake . . . " Would they all have to pay a price for that night, she thought sadly. She wiped away tears from her eyes as they fell. "And Ciara will accept whatever decision you make regarding your child . . . But don't give up anything, please . . . I couldn't bare that . . ."
"Oh, I'm not giving up anything!" Ming said. "I don't know how much you know about my culture, but to Chinese children mean everything! It is the fulfillment of our existence to be able to produce children of our own! Particularly after what happened during the Communist era, when people were forced--" Ming began, then noticed some interesting readings on his tricorder. "That's odd...your DNA--it appears as though the feline sequences were grafted onto human DNA in discrete, mathematically regular intervals!"
Her mind had been so focused on how she was going to break the news to Ryan and Will, that his words has scarely penetrated her. But that last part immediately grabbed her attention. "What?" she asked, startled. "What do you mean?"
"It appears as though your DNA has been altered. I had suspected originally that one or more of your ancestors was felinoid, which would explain the feline DNA. But this DNA is far too regular for that! There are no signs of genetic drift or radiation damage beyond that which one would expect in one's lifetime. And more than that, there are sequences from several different feline species here," Ming said, suddenly concerned. He reached for her hand, and held it--not out of desire but out of concern for what he had to say next. "Karissa, all of the signs are pointing to advanced genetic experimentation. You've been engineered. I don't know why or quite yet how, but that's the only possible explanation."
Her breaths suddenly came short and fast. What he was telling her made sense, which was why she was reacting so strongly. But if he were right, it meant that she was a lie. She wasn't real. She was nothing but some lab experiment that had been given life. She had no mother that had brought her into the world or real father . . . She had nothing and no one . . . Not even a species to call her own . . . She was a genetic freak. She was nothing more than a lab rat . . . or a lab cat, she thought . . . "No . . . " she cried. "This can't be happening. I can't be . . . be just . . . just a some lab experiment . . ." She knew if she couldn't slow her breathing down, she was going to hyperventilate, but she couldn't control it. The wave of nausea hit again with ferousity. This time, she needed the beaker as she retched into it. Her tanned skin turned even more pale than it had been earlier and tears trickled down her cheeks in a steady stream. She was almost on the verge of hysterics.
"Karissa," Ming said, "you're very special to me and to a lot of others--the Captain, Will, Ciara, just about everyone else here. Don't *ever* say that you're only just an experiment. You're Karissa Bentara, a Starfleet ship's counselor, and more than that, you're the mother of my child and one of my best friends. And even if you started out as just an experiment, you've made yourself so much more than anything whoever planned this ever dreamt of, or could dream of." Inwardly, Ming was seething--*who would do something so barbaric???? If I ever find out who did this he'll wish he'd never been born!* Genetic engineering at this level offended both his professional sensitivities as a scientist and his moral sensitivities as a man.
But that wasn't at issue at the moment. What was at issue was his friend, who needed him and all the support he could muster badly!
His words still couldn't reach that place in her that would make her accept them. It was all too new . . . too much too quick, she thought . . . And her babies . . . they shared her fate . . . They were genetic mutations . . . She left out a sob. "Oh god . . . my babies . . . They'll have to live with this too . . ." she cried. Suddenly, fear went into her eyes as she let out moan of sudden pain. She moaned again as her hand flew to her lower abdomen. "Something's wrong!" she said. Her dark eyes clouded with fear, pain and uncertainty. She could feel warmth coming from her and falling in the seat. As she looked down, she some blood. "Help me . . . help my babies!" she cried, before her world turned dark.
Ming got up from beside Karissa and grabbed his tricorder. "My God!!! One of the babies is in trouble!" He tapped his combadge. "Wang to Medical--we have an emergency in the science lab!"
Ciara answered. [What's wrong, Ming?]
"I've got a woman here about to lose a baby! Get down here quick!"
[I'm on my way now!!!]
Moments later, Ciara Tierro materialized with a medkit in hand. She scanned Karissa with a much more powerful medical tricorder. "One of the babies is aborting; the placental wall is tearing. I'm going to have to get her to sickbay! Ciara to sickbay--emergency transport!" With that, both she and Karissa vanished. Ming ran out of the lab to sickbay.
Ming arrived just as Ciara was stabilizing
Karissa. "She's going to be fine; I've administered cordrazine and stopped
the contractions. I was able to save the other two babies. It's a good thing
you called me when you did or she would have lost all of them," Ciara said.
Right now she was all physician; the fact that her friend was pregnant--and
had just lost a baby--would be dealt with later.
Ming was relieved, at first. "Oh, thank God!" he exclaimed, looking
down at Karissa, who was resting although not entirely comfortably. "What
about the other baby?"
"Unfortunately it was too late for the third baby. The tearing was too fast and too severe; even if she'd been right here in sickbay we may not have stopped it in time," Ciara replied. "It's a good thing you called when you did, though--this could have killed her!"
Ming was very quiet. "Is everything okay, Ming? You probably saved her life!!! That was quick thinking on your part!" Ciara said.
"The baby she lost..." Ming said, holding back tears. "The baby she lost...was mine..."
All the strain of the past few weeks had caught up to Ming. The incident in the holodeck, the subsequent revelations, and now this...Ming broke down in uncontrollable tears.
All Ciara could do was put an arm
around him and let him get it out of his system.