Chapter Ten
"So what have you discovered?" Jean Luc asked once Beverly entered his ready room.
"Trill's have neuron receptacles called isoboramine; hers had dropped to 70%, which usually doesn't occur unless there's some kind of tissue damage to the symbiont." Beverly answered as she paced.
"And there isn't any?"
"The scan's I can do indicate the symbiont is fine. I've put Tenaya on a regiment of Benzocy her levels are starting to increase when I believe they are stable enough I'm going to attempt an internal scan of the symbiont."
"Have you been able to contact her physician on Trill?" Growing more concern Jean Luc rose from his chair and guided Beverly to the couch.
"No, I've been in contact with the Symbiosis Commission but they keep giving me the run around, at one point they even claimed she hadn't been joined, and they've never heard of the anti-rejection medication that was prescribed to her." Beverly took a worried breath. "Jean Luc if there is something wrong with the symbiont and I have to remove it Tenaya will die."
"I'll have the helm lay in a course for Trill immediately and see if I can cut through some bureaucratic red tape."
Beverly squeezed Jean Luc's hand, "Thank you."
"She's a most impressive young woman." Jean Luc stated as they stood.
"Yes she is." Beverly replied then feeling herself on the verge of tears she thank him once more and headed to sickbay.
Once there she was relieved to find Tenaya setting up. It took every ounce of reserve on Beverly's part not to embrace her, instead she checked her isoboramine levels and found they were nearly normal she then asked, "How are feeling?"
"Fuzzy." Tenaya replied.
"How so?" Beverly asked taking her hand and trying to convince herself that she would do the same with any other patient.
"I keep getting images of things I never did, places I've never been."
"Perhaps those are Darién memories."
"No, they can't be." Tenaya replied struggling against the image of walking along the beach with a very young Deanna, this was replaced, by the image of Beverly, younger than when they had met, Beverly was in her arms, but they weren't her arms.
Beverly glanced at the monitor and noted Tenaya's increased pulse rate. "Tenaya, what do you see? Why can't they be his memories?"
"Because you're in them, your uniform is different, Trio's in them I think she's on Betazed." Tenaya blushed. "And then I'm in a shuttle with Riker, I've never been near a shuttle with Riker, I think the shuttles attacked I remember searing pain."
Beverly was stunned, her mind raced for an explanation, while she forced the most obvious one away from her conscious, because that one couldn't be true, how could Tenaya's symbiont have memories of Deanna on Betazed, unless they were the ones Riker had passed on after Odan had been injured in the shuttle accident, an accident Riker had been present for. "Tenaya focus my voice and don't think about that." Beverly gently stoked the side spots along Tenaya's check. "I'm going to make an incision so I can scan your symbiont. I'm going to put you under to do so."
Tenaya nodded in agreement, "I trust you Beverly."
"I know you do." Beverly replied then ordered a sedative.
The scan on the symbiont revealed indications of organ failures, if that was all Beverly felt certain she could save them both, but there was also evidence of cellar decay that she new she couldn't undo.
Anxiously Beverly stared at the computer waiting for the results of the test she hadn't mentioned to Tenaya, the DNA test she had run. After all if she had been given an Ugaun symbiont Odan or someone else it could explain what was happening. Finally the computer finished its analysis, Beverly looked at the results with disbelief the DNA strand she had taken from Tenaya and the one she had on file for Odan were not a complete match, but close enough to be related. She was about to request a subspace channel, when she received a page from Jean Luc.
"Beverly, I've gotten some information from Trill."
"What have found out."
"I had a hard time getting answers so I contacted Ambassador Odan, I have her on subspace." Jean Luc said in very gentle voice.
"I take it on my viewer, and thank you Jean Luc." Beverly replied grateful the captain had thought to contact the ambassador.
Even though she new it was impossible a part of Beverly still expected to see the Odan she new and loved appear on her screen, instead she saw Kareel Odan the woman who had become his new host, the woman she had rejected.
"Hello Dr. Beverly." Kareel said once she was sure Beverly had recognized her.
Bevery did like her using that term, a fact that further fueled her fustration, "Odan, what the hell is going on?"
"I take it you've done a DNA scan on your patient's symbiont."
"It's carrying part of your DNA, why is that?"
"In simplest term genetic splicing, a cloned Ugaun and Non-Ugaun symbiont."
"Why would the symbiont commission do such a thing."
"They didn't Dr. Palaus was conducting the experiments on his own to increase the number of symbionts available to everyone."
"So she's not the only one with this hybrid."
"No, he's been doing for three years. He got a hold of my DNA after I returned from the Enterprise, used it to clone several symbionts, and then created the hybrids. The first were discovered last year both the host and the symbiont died. As did Dr. Palaus, trying to evade capture.
"What should I do?"
"I have Dr. Renhol monitoring this transmission; she'll be able to tell you more. I'm so sorry this has happened. I'll switch you over to her. It was good to see you again, and good luck."
"Thank you."
Once the woman had exchanged quick pleasantries Dr. Renhol asked, "Has the cellar decay started?"
"Yes." Beverly replied her voice full of angst.
"It will continue at an accelerated rate."
"How long?"
"7 to 10 hours."
"Should I remove it from Tenaya?"
"Not as long as the symbiont is alive."
"We're still days from Trill will I be able to put her in stasis."
"Usually the host isn't stable enough; her body is biologically dependant on the symbiont."
"I know." Beverly replied tensely.
The doctor gave her an understanding look. "You can probably keep her body alive through artificial means, her heart, lungs and kidneys all vital organs will respond, except the brain."
Beverly thanked the doctor, and was about to sign off, when a thought occurred to her. "If I can keep her alive, would she be able to receive a new symbiont."
"Normally, a host doesn't want a new symbiont."
"But these circumstances aren't normal." Beverly reminded her.
The doctor nodded her head in agreement. "Is she conscious?"
"In and out."
"Make sure this is what she wants and if you can get her here I'll make sure she's joined."
Beverly signed off and paged Data to sickbay.