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Jonathan Archer didn't sleep well that night. He got up early to let Windy out and was delighted by the puppy but nowhere near as delighted by the press, some of whom were still hanging around. He glared at them and went back indoors with the dog.
He realized – there was someone he could speak with about dealing with the press, assuming the fellow wasn't too busy. It was not that Jonathan had never dealt with reporters before. But, until that day, it had never been on such a personal level.
=/\=
Malcolm was still in his quarters and had just finished shaving when there was a communications chime. "I've got Jonathan Archer," Hoshi said.
"Really? Put him through, thank you." Captain Reed straightened up and adjusted his collar and then smiled to himself. Always trying to impress the old boss, he mused.
"How are you, Malcolm?"
"Fine, sir."
"Malcolm, c'mon, the need to call me sir stopped, I dunno, at least a good six years ago or so," Jonathan said. "How are Lili and Declan?"
"Wonderful as always. But I imagine you weren't calling me about them."
"No," Jonathan said, "I know you're orbiting around Daranaea – the Federation Council keeps me informed of that. And I remembered this morning, that you've had to deal with a less than pleasant press sometimes."
"I don't understand si – er, Jonathan."
"I have visitors in town. Remember Seppa?"
"Certainly. Little white-furred girl, with brownish tips on her ears. Declan played with her and her sisters, Minna and Inta, when they were very small. Declan told me he could not decide which of them to marry and so Lili and I made a big show of deciding and I think we ended up telling him that Seppa would be his wife on Tuesdays and Minna would take Wednesdays or some such. He's quite a bit older now – I imagine she is, too."
"She's nineteen," Jonathan said, "and she is married and pregnant with her first child."
"And?"
"And we were out to lunch yesterday and I touched her hand because she was a little upset. It was about Inta, actually – she's afraid that Inta will never marry."
"I'm still not following you, sorry."
"Malcolm, there was a paparazzi there, and he got a lot of really good, clear shots of me holding her hand. And now it's a news story in the gossip sections of the press."
"Ah. And now it is revealed." Malcolm touched the cuff a bit as he remembered. "You recall, of course, when the Cochrane was launched."
"I do."
"Declan was, let's see, he was just about two years old. And we were the subject of news stories, of course. It was you and I in particular, as Captain and First Officer, respectively. The press was extremely interested in the fact that Declan's mother and I have never wed and, in fact, that Lili Beckett is married to someone else." He looked a little away; it was still a bit of a sticking point for him to be the other man in her open marriage, despite her assurances over the years. He wanted to be married to her and wholly above board – the arrangement still felt, at times, odd. And this was one of those times.
"I recall it was pretty painful for you," Jonathan said understandingly. "I didn't realize just how bad it was until now. And it's not so much for me, as it is for Seppa. And Brantus too – he's her husband. How did you combat it? How did you handle it?"
"It was Lili's idea, actually," Malcolm said, "and perhaps you would do well to speak with her about it. But she suggested we confront it directly."
"Confront it directly?"
There was a communications chime on the Bluebird. "Jonathan, I must take this," Malcolm said, "I'm sorry to cut things short. But talk to Lili. She can tell you better anyway. She should be at home today."
"Okay. And I'll tell her you miss her." Jonathan said, seeing Malcolm looking a little distant and tapping the cuff a little.
"She knows. But I thank you anyway. It doesn't mean she doesn't like hearing that. Reed out."
=/\=
"We have a communication from the surface," Hoshi said, "it's from a Doctor Trinning. Do you know him?"
"That's a familiar name," Malcolm said, "check – he might be related to the people we met at second contact, or perhaps even as far back as when the Columbia made the first contact. What does he want?"
"He says he's working on a cure for a major disease of theirs. He said he'd like to speak with – and maybe work with – our doctor."
"What does Blair say?"
"I haven't contacted her yet," Hoshi said, "I wanted to speak with you first."
"I am mindful of our ever-evolving protocols when it comes to planetary development. Huh. Please get Blair on the line."
"A moment."
Blair was up but in the middle of applying makeup. "Captain!" she called out. "I'm a little in the middle of things. I hope this isn't an emergency."
"Not at all. Blair, what do you think of going to the surface? There's a doctor –what did you say his name is?"
"Trinning," Hoshi replied.
"He reports he's close to a major breakthrough for curing a disease of theirs. And he asked if he could speak with you. But maybe it would be better for you to actually go down there and meet with him directly."
"I've read about them," Blair said, "According to Doctor Phlox, there's a disease, um, lemme see," she clicked around on her PADD, "there it is. It's called Thylacine Paramyxovirus. It's not dangerous to humans, but it kills Daranaeans by the score."
"I recall once," Malcolm said, "on the NX-01 – you might also remember this, Hoshi. There was a species called the Valachians. And they were dying out. It's not so much that Phlox refused to treat them. It's more that he felt they were being evolutionarily replaced."
"He also felt uncomfortable, if I'm remembering it right," Hoshi interjected, "he felt odd because they seemed to be asking him to do their work for them. They just seemed to expect him to be some sort of a miracle worker."
"And now we've got some new protocols," Malcolm said, "they're still being hashed out by the Federation Council. But my understanding is that the less interference with normal planetary development, the better."
"But there are exceptions for allies with Warp Drive," Hoshi pointed out. "So the Daranaeans do fall under that, don't they?"
"They're not Federation members," Malcolm stated, "although that is something that they are probably going to have their next Alpha decide upon."
"Let's do this," said Blair, "I can go there, and with scanners and other measuring instruments only. No drugs, no hypos, nothing like that. I can answer questions, and I won't lie. But if this Doctor Trinning, is it?"
"Yes," Hoshi confirmed.
"If he wants me to just give him the answers, I won't do it, and I'll find some pretext for leaving. But if he asks me if they're on the right track, I can confirm or deny that, yes?"
"That seems all right," Malcolm said. "We'll beam you down after breakfast."
=/\=
"What brings this call?" asked Lili Beckett as she peered at Jonathan.
"I hope all's good with you and your family."
"Definitely," she said, "Doug's off doing, um, I think his unit is training on Lafa IX today. Joss is enjoying Veterinary School. And Marie Patrice is finishing up design school. Declan is still at Oxford for now. Um, you're not calling about my husband and children, are ya?"
"Not really," he said, "although it is good to hear about them. What I really want to know, Lili, is how did you and Malcolm deal with the nosy press?" He explained the situation to her.
"Oh, that poor thing! I remember her as a little girl of course. Declan thought she was wonderful – he thought they all were."
"Malcolm said he was marrying all of them," Jonathan joked.
"I think he wanted to kind of follow what Doug and I do. I don't imagine he quite understood it then. Hmm, I recall I decided to get us some press of our own when the Cochrane was launched."
"Oh?"
"Yes. When most of the mainstream press was being ugly to us, I found a way to contact the Queen of Gossip. You know, the Dish with the Dish."
"Who is that? I don't follow gossip," said Jonathan.
"Rona Moran! Sheesh, doesn't everybody know who she is?"
"When the entertainment and gossip segments come on, I always turn off the news."
"Jonathan, you should watch her. Gotta hear about who's out on the town with whom, yanno."
"See, that's the whole point," he said, "people know and they're twisting it all out of proportion."
"I know," Lili said, becoming serious again. "And I won't deny that listening to her – you might feel she's a bit silly and superficial. But she has a good heart. A lot of them don't, but she's not like that. She truly believes in love and family. Contact her and explain the situation. Have her meet Seppa. That's what we did – the three of us actually met with Rona. And she realized that it wasn't a sordid affair and that Doug was okay with it. We give to her charities every year because of that."
"I'll think about it. Thanks. Oh, and Malcolm – he misses you terribly."
She touched a key charm on its chain around her neck, a gift from Malcolm. "I miss him, too."
=/\=
On Daranaea, Blair beamed down to Trinning's lab. Doctor Varelle was with him. "A female doctor; you humans, your ways are not like ours. But I want you to understand," he said, "I do not question your competency, although a lot of my colleagues would."
"I see," said Blair. "Let's go look at the patients."
Trava came out and gave them all protective gear, but didn't take any for herself. "Don't you need to wear a mask and gown and all that?" asked Blair, who then turned to Trinning and Varelle. "Don't tell me I'm taking her mask. I won't work with you if you let this woman die just to work with me."
"That is not it at all," Trava said, "I have had the disease, and I am now immune."
"Really?" asked Blair.
"Yes, she is," said Trinning, "her antibodies are strong. Please feel free if you wish to check."
Blair ran the scanner over Trava. "Well, I'll be damned," said the human, "I apologize for jumping to that conclusion."
"It is, I am certain, an easy mistake to make," said Varelle.
They donned protective gear and entered quarantine. Darri was sitting up and eating a little meat off the bone. Fyra was having some soup but also coughing a little. Cama was shivering and rocking, which was interrupted by sneezing fits. They all looked up a little when Trava told Blair their names.
"What stages are they at?" asked Blair.
"They were all deliberately infected on the twenty-fourth," Trinning replied. "Darri was given the cure on the twenty-fifth. Fyra here was given the cure this morning."
"And Cama?" asked Blair.
"We were going to wait until tomorrow," replied Doctor Varelle. "We need to determine whether the cure can work in a very advanced case."
Blair took out her scanner again and began checking all three women.
"I want you to know, Doctor Claymore," Varelle said to her, "We are not looking for you to simply give us the answers to our problems. Rather, what we really just wish to know is, are our treatments correct?"
"I understand," Blair said, "and I wouldn't be able to give you more than that anyway. We're tightening up our rules for worlds that aren't members of the Federation. I can observe and I can answer questions, but I can't offer information."
"What can you tell us?" Trinning asked anxiously.
"I believe Darri here is nearly free of the virus," Blair said, "It might be another few days, but she's close to being completely cured, so far as I can tell."
Cama looked up and, although it was a supreme effort of will, she smiled and spoke, her voice croaking and raspy, "That is all I want."
"And Fyra?" asked Varelle.
"A bit behind but she is also on her way to being cured. It may take longer, though. I can't say whether it will work for Cama as there's nothing to scan for yet."
"Very well," Trinning said, "Thank you, Doctor Claymore. You have given us hope where we did not have it before."
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