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The Delivery

Still half asleep, Kathryn Janeway walked from her bedroom into her living quarters. She went over to the replicator and gave the usual early morning command. "Coffee, black." The coffee materialized and Kathryn picked it up. She took a long sip, savoring the taste. She saw something unfamiliar in the corner of her eye and turned to look. What she saw made her drop her coffee. There was a baby lying on the couch, newborn and naked. Kathryn looked away, rubbed her eyes, and then looked again. The baby was still there.

Slowly, Kathryn approached the couch. She saw that the child was asleep and closer inspection told her that the baby was a girl, a human girl. She was perfectly clean and appeared perfectly formed and healthy. Kathryn knelt on the floor and gazed at the child, still not quite believing her eyes, until her reason started to engage. Babies just didn't appear out of thin air. Someone, somehow, must have crept into her quarters in the middle of the night and left the baby for her to find. Kathryn racked her brains to think who it could be. The baby appeared fully human, so both parents had to be human. There were not that many human women on board the ship, and none of them had appeared to be pregnant. But then, hiding a pregnancy was sometimes possible. Kathryn got up and went over to the replicator.

"Baby blanket".

"Specify a color."

"White," Kathryn replied. "A white baby blanket."

A white baby blanket materialized and Kathryn picked it up. She went back to the baby and carefully wrapped her in the blanket. First stop was sickbay. With DNA testing, the Doctor would soon be able to say who the parents were. The baby appeared fine, but Kathryn was very worried about the mother.

"I have examined all human women aboard this ship in the last month, Captain," the Doctor said as he extracted a DNA sample from the baby, now lying on a biobed. "Not one of them was pregnant."

"Then the mother, whoever she is, must have manipulated your program in someway so that you would not recall, or diagnose, that she was pregnant." Kathryn paused. "I'm most concerned about her. I wish she had come to me. I could have helped her. She shouldn't have gone through this alone, certainly not the birth. She was putting both her life and the baby's in danger."

The Doctor began to analyze the results of the DNA test. "I don't understand," he said quietly.
Kathryn stepped closer. "What is it?"

"The DNA ... According to the DNA, the child's parents are..."

"Are who?"

"You and Commander Chakotay."

Kathryn's face paled. "Don't be ridiculous."

"Take a look for yourself."

Kathryn looked at the monitor, analyzed the results. The Doctor was right. The child did appear to be her biological child, and the father appeared to be Chakotay. "Your equipment must be malfunctioning. I certainly haven't spent the last nine months pregnant. Do another test."

"Yes, Captain."

The Doctor did another test. The result was the same. "Without a doubt, Captain, this baby is biologically yours."

Kathryn's fear and frustration made her angry now. "How, Doctor? How can the child be mine!"

He looked up at her, about to speak, when the sick bay doors opened.

A young ensign came in, a baby in her arms.

Kathryn and the Doctor glanced at each other and then back at the ensign.

"I found this baby boy," the girl said meekly. "He was on the couch in my quarters when I got up this morning. I wrapped him in a blanket and brought him straight here."

The Doctor took the child and lay him on a biobed. He extracted the DNA and analyzed the results as quickly as he could.

"The same," he replied.

Kathryn took a frustrated breath. "You don't mean to tell me this baby is mine too?"

"No," the Doctor said, walking over to her and the Ensign. "This child is biologically yours, Ensign Kara Lewis."

The young girl's eyes widened in astonishment. "But that's impossible." She turned to the Captain. "Believe me, Captain."

Kathryn put her arm around the girl's shoulder. "I believe you, Kara. I found a baby too, a little girl. The DNA suggests she's mine, but it's impossible."

The Doctor rubbed his holographic chin. "There is perhaps an explanation."

"Well, I'm waiting for it," Kathryn replied.

"It's possible that sometime over the last few months members of this crew were captured by aliens and subjected to biometric examination. Either our memories of the events were erased or they took crew members while they were sleeping. They may have took samples from your bodies, experimented with them, and these babies are the result. Not knowing what to do with the babies, they returned them to our ship and their biological mothers."

Kathryn wiped her brow. "Possible, but highly unlikely, Doctor. Why would the child be mine and Chakotay's? Why not mine and Tuvok's or Harry Kim's?"

"I don't know, Captain."

"And who is supposed to be the father of Kara's baby?"

"Her husband, Morris."

"Well," Kara smiled. "That's a relief anyway."

Kathryn had to smile at that. But then was serious again. "Say for the moment you are right, that some samples, DNA, whatever, were taken from our bodies to produce these babies, there could be any number of babies on board." She paused. "Computer, how many babies are there on board?"

"Clarify question. Provide age range."

"Babies between zero and three months."

"There are three on board."

Kathryn took a breath. Three, that wasn't so bad. "Where are these babies?"

"Two are in sickbay, the third is in holodeck two."

"Is there anyone in holodeck two besides the baby?"

"Negative."

Kathryn hit her commbadge. "Janeway to transporter room. Beam the baby in holodeck two to sickbay immediately. Janeway out."

Better to be brief and avoid awkward questions.

Seconds later, the baby materialized on the floor. It was another boy. He was naked and crying his little heart out. Kara picked him up while Kathryn searched for a blanket.

"Poor little thing," Kara said. "He must have been afraid all alone."

Kathryn put down the blanket on a biobed and Kara lay the baby on it. He was clenching and unclenching his fists and still screaming. He had distinctive ridges on his forehead, an immediate sign that he was not fully human. The Doctor quickly extracted some DNA and then Kara wrapped the child in the blanket and cradled him. The crying stopped.

"Who are the parents this time?"

The Doctor looked at the Captain. "Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres."

Chakotay looked at the baby girl sleeping on the bio bed that Kathryn and the Doctor had just told him appeared to be biologically his. He had laughed at first, thinking it was a joke, but stopped laughing when he saw that everyone else was serious. "I suppose I can see a resemblance," he smiled, "she has her mother's nose."

Kathryn turned away from him. This was no time for wit. B'Elanna approached her, carrying the baby she had just been told was hers. "What are we going to do about this, Captain?"

"Try and get to the bottom of it, B'Elanna. I'm not convinced we were wisked away by aliens in the middle of the night. There has to be another explanation."

"But while you're figuring it out, what are we to do with these babies?"

"We'll keep them in sickbay behind a forcefield. We don't know what they really are or where they've come from. They could be a wolf in sheep's clothing."

"We can't keep the babies behind forcefields forever, Captain," the Doctor said, standing before the Captain's desk in her ready room. "They are human beings, not holograms, they need human interaction."

"They are not human, Doctor. They are alien."

"Not biologically, Captain. Biologically that baby girl in sickbay is your daughter!"

"She is not my daughter. She is an alien posing as my daughter. If we let those babies out of the forcefield, we put this entire crew in danger. For all we know, it could be species 8472 again."

"No, Captain. These babies are human. If you will only listen to my theory on how they were conceived..."

Kathryn slammed her PADD down on the desk. "Alright, Doctor, I'm listening."

"My calculations put the moment of conception at 21:04 hours, exactly the moment that we encountered that light phenomenon that penetrated the ship. I have spoken to both Lieutenant Torres and Ensign Lewis and both say they were in physical contact with their husbands when the light passed through the ship and were on the exact same spot where the baby was subsequently found. Ensign Lewis and her husband were relaxing on their couch and Tom and B'Elanna were on the holodeck. Somehow the light created a new life of the two physically connected bodies, possibly by fusing DNA."

Kathryn stood up. "Chakotay and I were on the couch," she whispered. "We were analyzing some logs, sitting close. All of a sudden there was turbulence and Chakotay put his arm around me to protect me."

"Physically connecting your two bodies. Were you still in that position when the light penetrated the ship?"

"Yes."

"Then I believe we have our explanation, Captain."

Chakotay was already in sickbay when Kathryn arrived. He was sitting on one of the biobeds cradling the baby. He looked up at Kathryn and smiled when he saw her standing in the doorway. Kathryn slowly walked over to him.

"Has the Doctor told you his thoery?"

Chakotay nodded.

"Do you believe it?"

"It's the only one that makes sense."

Kathryn gazed at the baby. Her eyes were closed, but her mouth moved, and her tiny hand was clasping Chakotay's little finger.

"Have B'Elanna and Tom, Kara and her husband been told?"

"Yes."

"How did they take it?"

"Well. They've accepted the babies as theirs and will raise them."

Kathryn touched the baby'scheek. It was soft, warm. "What are we going to do, Chakotay? How can we raise a child and command this ship?"

"It won't be easy, but we can do it."

"But I have so many obligations. How can I be all that she needs?"

"Children adapt. All she needs is love and security. You'll be a great mother. Queen Victoria governed a country and was mother to nine children. I'm sure Kathryn Janeway can manage one starship and one child."

Kathryn had to smile at that. "When you put it that way."

"What we're going to have to decide is how we're going to raise her. Are we going to raise her as a couple or as individual parents."

Kathryn buried her head in her hands. "I don't know, Chakotay."

"It would make sense to raise her together."

Kathryn looked up at him. "But do you love me, Chakotay? I couldn't... I would have to have someone who loves me. Otherwise it wouldn't be fair on either of us and certainly not on the child."

Chakotay put the baby back in the cot and then took Kathryn's hands in his. "Of course I love you, Kathryn. I've always loved you. I thought you knew that."

Kathryn gazed into his eyes, tears in her own, and nodded. "And sometimes that knowledge has frightened me."

Chakotay touched her face. "There's nothing to be afraid of, Kathryn. If you can love me only half as much as I love you, then we'll be alright."

Kathryn held his hand against her cheek. "No half measures, Chakotay. Let it be measure for measure."

The sound of the baby crying broke their gaze. They turned to the cot and Chakotay picked the baby up.

She stopped crying.

"You know," he said, "we're going to have to decide on a name for her."

Kathryn touched the baby's forehead. "Shannon," she said. "We could call her Shannon. I always wanted to name a little girl after my ancestor."

Chakotay smiled. "Then Shannon it is."

Kathryn held out her arms. "Let me hold her."

Chakotay passed her the baby and Kathryn drew her close.

"Time for a family portrait."

Kathryn and Chakotay turned at the sound of the Doctor's voice. He was standing behind them, his camera in hand.

Kathryn smiled. "Just one, Doctor. You know I hate having my photo taken."

Chakotay slipped his arm round Kathryn and the Doctor took their photo.

The End