Ryan was in his quarters packing as he thought of Karissa. This was just what
the both of them needed. Time away together . . . undisturbed . . . No worries
. . . But then he realized, there was something that worried him. Was it safe
to take her? he wondered.
Swiftly, he stopped what he was doing and taped his commbadge. "Captain
Evans to Lt. Tierro."
[Tierro, here, Captain,] her voice replied.
"Doctor, I'm planning on taking Karissa off the ship for a day or so . . . I was curious if you thought there might be a problem with that," he explained.
For a moment, she was silent. [Well, I can't say I am thrilled with the idea,] she admitted, [But then again, Karissa and the surviving babies appear very healthy and . . . well, getting away for a few days might do her some real good . . .]
"I was hoping you would agree," he said.
[I'll tell you what, you'll have a medical tricorder, but I will make sure that you have come medications with you, in case anything should happen . . . I'm sure nothing will, but its better to be prepared just in case,] she said.
"I agree," Ryan replied.
[All right then, Captain, I'll get that ready for you right now.]
As their conversation ended, Ryan quickly finished packing and was preparing to leave his quarters.
[Captain Evans, report to my office immediately!]
"Oh, great, just what I needed," Ryan said as he was prepping the Captain's yacht for his and Karissa's excursion. He tapped his combadge. "On my way, Admiral," he said.
He entered Admiral Pike's office with both curiosity and trepidation.
"Sit down, Captain," Pike said,setting down a PADD with the Ronin's operational data on it--including scheduled launches of small craft. "I understand that you're going to be taking the yacht for a shakedown," he said. "Your destination looks rather appealing."
"Yes, sir."
"Who's going with you on this excursion? The yacht is designed to be crewed by at least two."
*I might as well say it,* Ryan said. "Lieutenant Commander Bentara is coming with me, sir."
"Are you sure that's wise?" the admiral asked.
"She's been cleared by Medical for the trip, and I thought it would do her some good."
"You're forgetting something in the midst of all this."
"Sir?"
"I understand that Lieutenant Wang is in a bad way; he's apparently lost a child. I didn't know he was expecting with anyone so soon after coming on board," Pike said, tersely. "Are you aware of this?"
"Yes, sir, but--"
"But nothing, Captain! I assigned Wang to this vessel because he's one of the most promising science officers in the Fleet. In just a few weeks he's already done more than your previous Chief Science Officer did during his entire tour, and he acquitted himself rather well during the boarding of the duplicate Ronin," Pike interrupted. "And in the time he's been here I've seen this man become an emotional basket case! I don't know what happened to cause this, but I do have an inkling or two.
"Whatever happened to him, happened since he came on board--he left the Von Braun with a clean record and generally well-liked, if a little socially awkward. A member of your senior staff is now seriously emotionally incapacitated, Captain Evans, and you will deal with it before you go on your little pleasure cruise. The officers of this vessel may have failed this man with their adolescent antics, but I will assure you, sir, that Starfleet will not fail him! Do I make myself clear, or does this need to be an official order?"
"Yes, sir. In light of recent developments I think it might be a good idea to see if I can't have a talk with Mr. Wang."
"Very good. As a starship captain you have a responsibility to your *entire* crew. They have to come first--don't ever forget that."
"Yes, sir," Ryan said, a bit shaken.
"And Captain?"
"Yes?" Ryan asked, wondering what would come next.
"Once you're done, enjoy your trip!" Pike smiled.
On the way to Wang's quarters, Ryan
was at once concerned and rankled. Concerned that Ming was apparently a lot
worse off than he'd anticipated; rankled that Pike had seen fit to interfere
with his plans. *He does have a point, though,* Ryan thought. *I should have
been paying much more attention to this.*
He'd been avoiding the inevitable for weeks now; between his own newfound love
for Karissa and an inward dread of having to face the other participants in
the activities of that night. And, quite frankly, his own loss of words. *How
do you deal with a situation like this?*
Outside Ming's quarters he saw three junior officers, apparently friends Ming had made in the time he'd been aboard. He recognized Varn, the Lurian Engineering officer, Yellowhorse from Security, and another Engineering officer, Ensign Delveccio. Immediately they snapped to attention.
"At ease, gentlemen. I assume we're here for the same purpose?"
Yellowhorse nodded. "We've been worried sick about him! He won't respond to any calls, and won't even let us in! Even a Security override can't open the door!"
"Well, Lieutenant, I've got a little more authority than Security. Let's see what we can do," Ryan said. "Computer--open the door to Lieutenant Wang's quarters under my authority as Captain."
The door opened. Inside it was dark. Ming sat crouched in a corner of the room, staring into space. *This doesn't look good! My God, what's happened here?*
"You men, you might want to let us alone for a while," Ryan said. "Just for a few minutes. I think he's going to need you more than you realize."
Varn, Yellowhorse, and Delveccio left. Ryan and Ming were alone.
*Here goes nothing,* Ryan thought. "Ming--can we talk for a moment?" he asked, crouching down to eye level with the science officer.
Ming nodded silently.
"What happened? You can talk to me--I'm not the Captain right now. I'm just Ryan Evans."
Ming raised his tear-streaked face. "She lost the baby...my baby..."
"I know. It's going to be okay. You said something about her DNA being engineered, right?" Ming nodded.
"You know probably better than I do how iffy these things are. It's fortunate that any of the babies survived at all! Don't blame yourself."
"She...she rejected me," Ming stammered out. "Me and my child."
*So that's what this is about!* "Ming, she rejected no one," Ryan said, placing a hand on Ming's shoulder. "Let me ask you this: had that night in the holodeck never happened, would you have pursued Karissa?"
"I wouldn't have even thought of it--she's my superior officer," Ming said, starting to come to his senses. "I would have found her attractive, but I wouldn't have even presumed to pursue her."
"What happened there was a mistake that's had a lot of consequences for everyone involved. I think right now Karissa probably regrets everything that's happened. And I do too. I've seen people destroyed by such irresponsibility. My fiancé left me because I was irresponsible with my commanding officer once," Ryan said. That got Ming's attention. *Why am I telling him this? Perhaps that's why this happened--that I might warn others.*
"All I'm telling you is not to let this destroy your life! You're a very promising young officer and there are great things in store for you. Don't let one night's stupidity indict you for the rest of your days, Ming. There are a *lot* of other women out there, and you've got other friends as well. Three of them have been trying to get hold of you today. Don't shut them out! The best thing for you to do is to get out there and *live!* Tell the monkey on your back that his lies and manipulations are meaningless!
"I know you're upset about the baby, too. All I can say is that I'm sorry, and you have my deepest condolences on your loss," Ryan said, suddenly going quiet. "I do want to thank you for your quick actions. You saved Karissa, and in the loss of your child you may well have saved mine. I--we won't forget that, ever." As soon as he'd finished Ryan discovered that he'd just referred to himself and Karissa as 'we' for the first time.
"That is very kind of you, sir," Ming said. Ryan could tell that maybe things were starting to break through with him finally.
"There is one favor I'd like to ask of you," Ryan said. "I have some suspicion that some unofficial experimentation is going on in the Science lab. I would like all unofficial experiments to stop--that much is an order. I am, however, charging you with studying Karissa's situation in more detail. Find out whatever you need to know in order to help her and to bring whoever did this ungodly experiment to justice. The man who experimented on my lover is the same man who killed your child. We've both got a stake in this. Any resources or personnel you need from other departments, you've only to ask." In effect, Ryan had just given Ming official sanction to pursue what was hitherto unauthorized.
"You can be sure of that, sir. I will make it a top-priority assignment," Ming said, back to himself again now that he had a lever upon which his rational mind could grasp. "Most of what I need I have available in my department. However, I would like a competent medical officer to help me with these experiments. My knowledge of genetics and biochemistry only goes so far. Having a medical doctor to work on this would expedite matters."
"I'll detail Lt. Tierro to your department, effective immediately," Ryan said with a wink.
"Thank you, sir. How did you know I was going to ask for her?"
"Captains have ways of finding things out--as you'll learn someday! If you need anything from me--on *anything*--don't hesitate to ask," Ryan said. "I need to go now, but you'll be all right. Go to your friends. Now is not the time to be alone!"
"You're right, sir," Ming said. "I should not have isolated myself. Cutting myself off from existence is no solution. Lord Buddha preached the attainment of nothingness as true enlightenment, but I'm sure he did not mean it to happen all at once!" For the first time since the miscarriage Ming was smiling.
"Now you've got the idea! Get out there and take on the universe! That's an order, mister!" Ryan said as he helped Ming up.
Ming checked with Security and found
out that Cody Yellowhorse was in the mess hall. Where Cody was, the others were
likely to be also--when sober the Security man was among the most affable and
sociable of people. Only when he was drunk did he become obnoxious.
Sure enough, there Cody was, with Varn and another officer, an ensign from Engineering
whom he'd never met. Cody saw him and smiled.
"Hey, welcome back to the world of the living, Ming!" he said.
"We've been worried about you," Varn added.
"Everything's going to be fine, now," Ming said. "I think it's all over with."
"Just in case it isn't, though, there's someone we'd like you to meet," Cody said. "Remember the poker game the other night? This is Bob Delveccio. He was supposed to be there but he couldn't make it. Had a prior engagement. He's a good guy to talk to ."
Ming looked at Delveccio. He was very old for an ensign--around forty--and didn't exactly look like a mustang officer.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Wang," Delveccio said with a very strong Italian accent. "Mr. Yellowhorse wasn't entirely precise when he introduced you. I'm Father Roberto Delveccio, S.J." He extended his hand, which Ming accepted.
"'Father?' I don't understand."
"Father Delveccio entered Starfleet Academy right out of seminary--it's a long story. Apparently he did pretty well in both places, too. He's the only officer in Starfleet who's also a Catholic priest! One of these days he's going to make admiral, or Pope. Or maybe both!" Yellowhorse explained, grinning.
"You exaggerate both my prosepcts and my ability, my friend," Delveccio replied.
"I appreciate the offer--is it Father or Ensign?" Ming asked.
"It depends upon what I'm doing. On duty, I'm Ensign Delveccio. When I'm handling my priestly duties I'm Father Delveccio. But 'Bob' will do just nicely mot of the time. I take on no airs," he answered.
"Ah! I appreciate what you're trying to do, but--begging your pardon--I'm not Catholic!"
"Neither am I, but he does make good sense when you talk to him," Varn answered. "Sometimes you just need to talk to someone who isn't going to make an official record," the Lurian said with a slow nod that passed for a sly wink among his people.
"I'll keep that in mind," Ming said. *Maybe there's something to that.* "So, what's going on tonight?"
"We thought we might try a game from my world tonight," Varn said. "It's a lot like acting--you take on the role of another person and take part in an extended storyline."
"If you're not up to it, we understand," Cody added.
"That sounds interesting," Ming said. "Same time and place as before?"
Cody nodded. "And if you see Ciara, let her know she's welcome, too!" he said, grinning.
"It took you long enough!"
Karissa said, smiling as Ryan entered the Captain's yacht. He wasn't anticipating
her getting there ahead of him.
"I just had to pick up some extra supplies before we left. And attend to
some unfinished business. Everything should be okay now," Ryan said.
Karissa picked up on his thoughts,
and sensed that perhaps everything *would* be okay after all...