Dear Doctor Zimmerman...

by jamelia

When Dr. Denara Pel entered the Pel Reproductive Research Laboratory on New Earth, she was happy to see the face of one of her favorite people waiting for her. Dr. Mark Zimmerman might be a hologram, but he was definitely one of Denara's favorite people. Since Voyager II arrived yesterday and would remain in orbit over New Earth for a couple of days, she had hoped he would be available to visit with her today. His cheery "Good Morning, Denara. How are you doing today?" was just what she needed to hear this morning. He held out his hands to her in welcome (even though it was her lab, not his Sickbay, she thought with a smile), but she happily accepted his peck on her cheek and answered in kind.

"Oh, I'm fine, Schmullis. A little tired of beating my head against the wall with our 'Problem,' but other than that, I'm doing well. It's so good to see you this morning. Did you get any mail from the Alpha Quadrant? The transmission was due to arrive last night. Did it?"

"I certainly did. My sister Hayley sent me a letter, as did her 'significant other' Mr. Barclay, without whom, I might add, we would not be receiving our letters at all."

Denara Pel smiled. She did so enjoy her Schmullis' enthusiasms. He had told her about Lieutenant Barclay's contribution to the original Voyager's return home several times, but it was really quite amazing that they were able to receive regular correspondence from over 70,000 light years away. Without Mr. Barclay's somewhat eccentric but undeniably creative thinking, she doubted she would be speaking with Dr. Zimmerman today.

"That's wonderful. Anything else?"

"My father Lewis sent me a note. One of his typically curmudgeonly missives, but it was good to hear from him."

"Dr. Mark Lewis Zimmerman! That's not a very nice thing to say about your very own . . . father. Or creator. I'm not really sure what to call him."

"Father will do, Denara. I did receive a letter from my publisher. He notified me of my most recent royalty deposit. I tidy little sum, I'm happy to say."

"Schmullis . . . "

Doctor Mark chuckled. "And yes, I also received a reply to our request from Icheb Paris about our little 'Problem.'"

"Has he had any insights?" she asked eagerly.

"Nothing specific in regards to a treatment, but he did pose a question that we will need to answer. It might have a bearing on our 'problem.'"

"Show me the letter!"

"Denara, why don't we wait until the rest of your team is here so we can brainstorm with them? I'd really like to share my letter from Hayley with you first."

Denara sighed impatiently. They'd waited two months for Icheb's response already, since he hadn't sent anything to them in the last data stream. It did make sense to wait for the whole team's presence to hear what he had to say, though.

"You're right, Schmullis. We should wait for the team. So, what did Hayley have to say?"

Dr. Zimmerman grinned at Denara and held up his PADD with a flourish. Clearing his throat as if preparing to deliver an operatic rendition rather than simply reading a letter, he recited,

Dear Mark,

It was so good to get your last transmission. It seems like you're having many interesting adventures out there in the Delta Quadrant, with all of the new people you have been meeting out there. Have you had any more opportunities to act in the capacity of the "Emergency Command Hologram"? Has Captain Janeway asked you to fill in for her on any other missions? Lewis said you should feature that incident in one of your holoprograms. He likes to sniff at your literary "pretensions," as he calls them, but he's really proud of your achievements.

I recently had an adventure of my own. Guess what! I visited Bajor and Deep Space Nine with Reg a while ago. And I didn't have to be downloaded into Enterprise's holodeck and then be transferred into Vic's holosuite to do it. I traveled all the way there and back with Reg in his quarters! We even went sightseeing on Bajor!

You know that Reg and Commander Carey have been working on the portable holoemitter for me whenever they get a chance. They advise me it will be a very long time before they'll be able to come up with a cute little badge like yours. Actually, I'd prefer something a little closer to a jewelry piece anyway, but who knows when they'd be able to come up with something like that? They're having a lot of trouble getting anything really small that works well.

They made a prototype transmitter for me that looks a bit like a backpack. When I go out of a holoemitter-equipped room, I have to wear it on my back. The smaller model is the size of a tricorder, but it's got some problems yet (like, my feet disappear when I walk, and sometimes I get all "shimmery" when the power fluctuates). The backpack one is powerful enough for me to go dancing, or to a play, or even for a hike on a planet. It was wonderful to really spend time with Reg, you know? Like non-photonic boyfriends and girlfriends do? I had a ball the entire trip.

I spent a little time with Dr. Crusher in her Sickbay on the way there. She's a very nice person. When she saw my backpack, she asked Reg why, if it's a holoemitter, he couldn't make it look like something other than what a hiker would wear on a trail - unless I was actually hiking or sightseeing when I was wearing it, of course. She suggested a few "stylish" modifications. So, when I strolled into Vic's from the Promenade, my pack was disguised as a flowing forest green satin cape with hood. I felt very dressed up, and Vic was very complimentary. I think Reg even got a little jealous!

I had such a good time on that trip. Your emitter is a marvelous piece of engineering, but if I can get off Jupiter Station every now and then, I don't care if mine is a little clunkier, as long as it's MY clunky portable holoemitter! I love it.

I've heard from your publisher. He said he was going to send you your latest royalty figures; you should be very pleased at your earnings this quarter. Your programs are very popular.

Well, I've just about run out of things to say. When I'm not traveling (it sounds so good to be able to say that) I've been helping out Lewis in the lab. You should have seen the place when I got back from my trip. What a mess! It took me a week to clean it up, and I don't think I've found everything yet. Oh, well. I'll know what's missing when he starts going crazy looking for something. Wish me luck finding it!

Hope all continues to go well. Please send me a reply in the next data stream, even if you only have time for a short message.

Oh, that reminds me. Leonard said to say "hi." Reg said to say "hi" to you, too.

Your loving sister Hayley

"How sweet. It sounds like she had a wonderful time on her trip."

Mark sniffed, and Denara suddenly had a hunch she knew what Dr. Lewis Zimmerman must look like when he did that. "Sharing quarters with Mr. Barclay. I think I'm going to have to talk to him about that. He shouldn't put her in a compromising position!"

Denara forbore from making any comments about holograms and compromising positions. What did she really know about it? Fortunately, right at that moment, the doors to the lab opened. The rest of the research team had finally arrived to begin the work day, greeting Dr. Pel and Dr. Zimmerman cheerfully. The team consisted of Syrilla and Fendon Mund, who once worked with the renowned Dr. Dorstov Reyn. They were thrilled to be working with Dr. Pel now. Denara's associate from her clinic on Vidiia, Dr. Krazel Lem, came in right behind them, with his fiancée Malini Reyn on his arm.

Denara really enjoyed the family feeling in her lab, which was completely appropriate, given their mission: to find treatments to alleviate the most severe side effect of the Antiphagia vaccine. Fully half of adult Vidiians had been made sterile when they were cured of the Phage. Why half of the adults could reproduce while the rest could not was an extremely vexing problem.

"Dr. Zimmerman was just about to share Cadet Paris' response to us from the Alpha Quadrant."

"Well, I'm not going to read everything to you," Dr. Zimmerman cautioned them. "Much of what he has to say is contained in the attachment, which is an extremely detailed analysis of the data you sent him. I'm sure you'll all find his detailed notes much more valuable if you study them on your own. However, I will share his letter to me, since it serves as a valuable summary of what he noticed in the data."

He cleared his holographic throat again before beginning to read. Denara decided it must be another of those theatrical affectations he enjoyed assuming.

Dear Dr. Zimmerman,

I hope all is going well for you in the Delta Quadrant. I have been very busy with my classes, but I have kept up with my genetics research, particularly as it applies to the problem you and Dr. Pel sent to me concerning the sterility issues secondary to the Antiphagia vaccine. I have some ideas about causes and possible treatments. I've attached a ninety-three page report of my findings to this letter, with details about my findings.

To summarize here, however, I could not find anything in the formula based upon Klingon and human DNA that would conflict with Vidiian genetics. I don't understand how the actual formula would account for the reproductive problems of so many Vidiians. Of course, if I had actual samples instead of only computer simulations and the records you could send me via the data stream, I might find something I missed. Still, it seems that Dr. Reyn accounted for all the factors that I could identify in the Vidiian genome which would conflict with the Antiphagia.

However, I did notice that in the simulated samples, there were some interpolated genetic materials that clearly were not Vidiian in origin. I had some problems accounting for the genetic contamination at first, but then I remembered something you told me. You said many Vidiians received organ transplants from alien species to treat their Phage symptoms. I decided that extra genetic material must be from those transplants, and maybe, sometimes, from any medications used to prevent rejection of the transplanted organs.

I found it very interesting that in the samples you indicated were from individuals who were not made sterile by the Antiphagia, I was able to identify the alien race that contributed the genetic contamination fairly easily, from records on file that you and Voyager's crew obtained during your travels through that sector of the Delta Quadrant. I wasn't able to do that very well with the samples you said were from people who were sterile. There were so many different bits of alien DNA, I had trouble identifying which was which.

Is it possible that multiple transplants received from different alien species might contribute to the side effect? It almost looks like the Antiphagia, when confronted by some of these alien DNA strands, had a tendency to cause unanticipated cellular growth. It might have helped the person temporarily during the healing process, but it also looks a little like what I have seen in historical records about some forms of cancer. Have any empirical research studies been done to evaluate how many transplants, on average, the Vidiians who have reproductive problems have undergone, when compared to those who are able to reproduce? I don't have enough data to be able to help you answer that question. However, I will be happy to evaluate any information of this nature that you can send me in the future.

Please keep me posted. Most of my studies at the Academy have nothing to do with my interest in biomedical research. Working on this problem for you has been very rewarding. It kept my mind off of some problems I've been having of a romantic nature.

I miss all my friends from Voyager, especially my brother Tom, my sister-in-law B'Elanna, and my niece Miral. Do you get to see them often? Say hello to them for me the next time you see them.

If I can be of any further help to you, or if you do not understand something in my attached notes, please contact me.

Your friend,

Cadet Icheb Paris

"Denara? Do you know of any such studies?"

"No. Fendon? Syrilla? Krazel? Malini? Has it ever come up?"

No one could recall any such studies. Denara shook her head in amazement. Why hadn't she ever considered this before? Surely someone must have looked into this! But, maybe not. No one ever wanted to think about organ transplants. Look at how upset she had been when she listened to Captain Jixtan's recitation of his own imprisonment, and what he had seen in one of Mupano Industries' mining camps/organ processing centers.

"You know, Denara, I never thought about it before now, but I did notice that the longer one of our patients had been diagnosed as having the Phage before receiving the Antiphagia treatment, the more likely that person was made sterile after receiving the vaccine," Dr. Lem remarked. "The ones that could reproduce were often younger. I attributed it to the fact that younger people were not so weakened from fighting the disease for a long time. But Icheb's suggestion makes sense. Maybe it wasn't simply the length of time a person had the Phage that was significant. People who were treated with the Antiphagia before they had needed many surgical interventions with alien tissues to prolong their lives were likely to be younger, or they hadn't had the Phage for very long."

"I've never heard about the kind of study Icheb mentions in his letter, but the government's Department of Medical Records and Research must have relevant data," Denara said firmly. "I know they collected all sorts of information about which organs were affected by the Phage. I would think the medical records would also indicate when transplants were given."

"Wouldn't it be amazing if someone who lived so far away thought of this, when it's escaped all of us? Now that I think of it, it's actually rather obvious that a treatment that is primarily genetic in nature could have interactions with foreign DNA," Syrilla Mund commented.

"If it turns out to be true, it means that my father's formula wasn't really the problem, then?" Malini took hold of her fiancé's hand.

"Yes. If he'd had more of a chance to study it according to his methods, I'm sure he would have noticed what was happening. He was very careful, especially with oral medications, which is what he was working on. This side effect wouldn't have been significant with a skin cream, which Syrilla and I both used when she was pregnant with our younger daughter. Syrilla didn't have any trouble with her pregnancy with Sarya. It was treatment with the shot that caused problems. And we don't even know if a shot was the best way to administer the medication. It obviously wasn't tested much at all before it was given to everyone." Fendon Mund shook his head. Syrilla patted him by the hand to calm him down. He did carry on so, every time he thought of those days.

"I'll contact the President," Denara said. "We'll see what we can find out from available records. We can also contact some of the clinics on Vidiia, and maybe interview the people who have immigrated here about their surgical and treatment histories and current reproductive status, to see if we can find a connection."

"Well, Denara, I see you're going to be busy. I guess you won't be able to go to Ambassador Thev's soirée this evening," Mark said morosely.

Denara looked at Mark. So that's why he was here so early this morning! "Oh, Schmullis, I forgot all about that dinner! I'm sure I can still make it. Will you be there?"

"If someone invites me, I believe I can receive permission to come along." Mark preened as he spoke. Denara laughed. He could be so funny when he was angling for something. All he'd really had to do was ask her! She would be delighted to have his company. Talking about medical research with him was far more rewarding than her diplomatic duties. She hoped she would be free of her ambassadorial duties very soon.

"Well, then, Dr. Zimmerman, will you please ask Captain Janeway to give you permission to escort me to the diplomatic dinner this evening? I believe President Dop is expected. We may be able to speak to him in person about this matter."

"I thought you'd never ask," he replied smugly.

Everyone laughed at that. "Well then, everyone, let's look at the other piece of information in Icheb's letter, about how some of what he saw looked like cancer. That was a disease in which cell growth suddenly accelerated due to genetic changes, wasn't it, Schmullis?"

"You are absolutely correct. The growth of tumors frequently interfered with the systems of the body and spread rapidly in some forms, often causing the death of the individual, if left untreated for too long. The reproductive system was not spared its depredations."

"We have seen blockages in some people that have prevented conception, haven't we, Denara?" said Krazel.

"Yes. One of the treatments Dr. Ibraham mentioned was in-vitro fertilization combined with surgical delivery of the baby, as long as the womb was not too damaged by the Phage or the side effect. This suggests it could be a viable treatment. Microsurgery to remove scar tissue might be helpful for many, too."

"And it might mean that our people might not need treatments in future generations, after the Phage becomes a memory, as we hope it will be?" Malini asked hopefully.

Denara gazed sadly at the young woman, Dr. Reyn's daughter. Malini was only ten when she had lost her mother to the Phage; she was barely seventeen when her father was murdered. Malini had had transplants, Denara knew, but she didn't know how many, or if only one race provided the organs. She hoped that was the case. She wanted Malini and her own protégé Dr. Krazel Lem to have a happy family life together. According to the Munds, who worked with Malini's father, that was what Dr. Dorstov Reyn had wanted for everyone. It was why he had worked so many long hours, searching for a cure. It would be wonderful if now, with the help of the research here in their lab, Malini's father's wish would come true for his daughter. With brilliant minds like that of Icheb Paris working on the problem, Denara hoped that future would finally become a reality.

"Yes, it might mean that," Denara finally said. "We just have to make sure those future generations get born first!"

Denara had never been much for touching people. Her history as a Phage victim who others didn't want to touch probably had a lot to do with that. But today, she was very happy to have her whole team, along with her Schmullis, gather round in a massive "group hug." It was the perfect day to start a new tradition in her lab.