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Chapter Five

There were rows and rows. Giant glass containers, all filled with...Babies.

Different species, all labeled--Vulcan, Suliban, Vissian, Risan. A collection of baby fetuses that went on and on, filling up most of the room.

One glass container, it's reddish color, caught her attention and she walked closer to it. The label read: "Hades."

She crinkled her nose. Hades? It was the same word she'd encountered on the bridge when translating the alien language.

Voices echoed in her head.

"Captain! The attacking ship is hailing us."

"Put them through, Hoshi!

"This is Captain Archer of the U.S.S. Enterprise. Why are--"

The sound of a blast brought her back to reality and she stumbled back, grabbing hold of a metal table, causing it to tip over with a loud clatter.

Hoshi picked up the fallen incision instruments, but held on to one of the small knives.

She decided to make a closer inspection of the glass container and to her amazement the label changed. The word she now read: "Human."

It hit her when she peered at the fetus, its round eyes seemingly watching her, as if pleading with her. A picture perfection of a watery grave.

A baby girl...my baby girl.

A sickened feeling passed through her. Hearing a footstep, she turned around and saw Doctor Phlox with his arm raised. Before he could hit her, she kicked him between the legs. He gasped and sank to his knees, clutching his groin.

"Bastard!" she screamed, and lunged for him.

She grabbed him by the head and, using the knife still in her hand, sliced his throat and watched as he fell to the ground.

Hoshi backed away and dropped her weapon, the clatter of the metal loud and clear.

What have I done?

Turning to leave, she came face to face with the shocked expression of a man, not much taller than herself, with dark hair and blue eyes. Without another word, she pushed her way past him and ran out of sickbay.

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Things weren't making sense and as she walked hurriedly through the corridors, she started to feel horrified by what she'd done.

She needed a place to think, somewhere that offered her solitude. But as she roamed the ship, the place she was searching for was nowhere to be found.

Something was wrong, no, everything was wrong.

Questions and mixed emotions ran through her mind.

But one thing was certain.

She knew they would be looking for her and she would be waiting.

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A/N: The place Hoshi was supposedly looking for is the special place in merlin's sister's fic, "The Birthday Present", which can be found in the Linguistics Database (www.lingdata.net).

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