CHAPTER 22

The clinic where Hoshi was being treated on Estab was a brilliant contrast to the last few days. Bright and cheery, sunlight streaming in through the windows, courteous personnel -- in Malcolm's perception, it was a microcosm of what the entire planet was like, and it served to emphasize that Hoshi had picked a wonderful place for their home.

If they were still going to be able to have one, he thought dejectedly.

As the Morning Star had approached the planet, Malcolm tore himself away from Hoshi's side long enough to contact the Rawala clinic director, Petrania. The Estabi's relief that Hoshi had been found was quickly overshadowed by horror at what had happened to her.

Malcolm main reason for contacting Petrania was to find out the name of Hoshi's doctor, but the clinic director took matters into her own hands. In no uncertain terms, Petrania told him to take good care of Hoshi until they arrived; she would arrange for Hoshi's care on Estab in the meantime.

Not more than two minutes after the Morning Star achieved orbit around Estab, Malcolm, with Hoshi in his arms, beamed directly into the clinic specializing in obstetrics. Taking Hoshi's pregnancy into account, Petrania had said this clinic was the best place for Hoshi to be treated.

Malcolm was greeted by a small army of medical personnel who gently took Hoshi from him, then politely but firmly ushered him to a waiting area. One doctor followed him to the waiting area to question him about what had happened to Hoshi.

"Did she eat while on Lanari?" the doctor asked.

"She did, but not much, I think," Malcolm replied, trying to recall what Hoshi had talked about while they were in the cave. "She did say she threw up once, but she thought it was from whatever substance they used to knock her out."

The doctor made some notations on a padd. "I was told she was kidnapped," he said.

"Yes, abducted from her hotel room."

"So there was that added stress as well."

"That's not the half of it," Malcolm stated grimly. "She escaped, running through the jungle during a storm."

As the doctor made more notations, Malcolm added, "She was attacked by some kind of snake-like creature which tried to drag her off, but I don't think it bit her."

"It was large?"

Malcolm nodded. "Huge."

"That explains the bruising on one of her legs," the doctor said. "It's consistent with being squeezed by something."

"And there's something else," Malcolm said, causing the doctor to look at him in mild disbelief. Malcolm knew the feeling -- it was almost unbelievable what Hoshi had been through in such a short time.

"She was thrown into a river and swallowed a large amount of water," he said. "But she threw that up almost as soon as we got her out. Ever since she passed out after that, we haven't been able to wake her."

The doctor raised one of his eyebrows as he made even more notes. When he finished, he looked at Malcolm. "It's incredible that she survived all that," he said.

Malcolm nodded, too distraught by the recitation of events to say anything more.

The doctor was watching him closely. "It is your child she is carrying?" the Estabi asked.

Once again Malcolm nodded, and the doctor reached over and clasped his shoulder.

"We will do our best to make sure that she -- and the baby -- pull through," the doctor told him. "After all she has done for the Estabi people, it is the very least we can do."

With a final squeeze to Malcolm's shoulder, the doctor turned to go back to where Hoshi was being treated. As the door swung open, Malcolm caught a glimpse of medical personnel working over Hoshi's unmoving body. Then the door closed and his view was cut off.

He paced a few times across the waiting area, which was unoccupied but for himself. He glanced at the comfortable-looking chairs but, despite his tiredness, he was too keyed up to sit down and be still. Instead, he walked over to the windows and looked out at the landscape but didn't really see it. He leaned his head against the pane and closed his eyes.

He was still standing by the window some time later when a medical staff member came through another door.

"Sir?" she said to get his attention as she took a few steps toward him.

He hoped she had news about Hoshi. His gaze flicked over to the door to Hoshi's room as he wondered why she hadn't come through that way.

"There are some people here to see you," she said.

He looked past her as the door through which she had entered opened again, and Trip and Kleth walked into the waiting area. The makeshift splint on Trip's arm had been replaced by a lightweight cast, and he had a small bandage over the cut on his forehead.

The medical staffer quietly slipped away as Malcolm's two friends gathered around him.

"Malcolm!" Trip said. "How's Hoshi?"

"They're still working on her," he replied.

"She is strong, Ma'Com," Kleth said. "If anyone could survive what happened, she can."

Trip crossed to one of the chairs and sat down with a heavy sigh. Malcolm realized guiltily that he hadn't once thought about his friend's injury since beaming down. After clasping Kleth's forearm, he went and sat by Trip.

"How are you doing?" he asked the engineer, whose features were lined with fatigue.

"OK," Trip said with a weary smile. "They reset my arm. It's nothing serious. Gave me some painkillers, too, so I'm really not feelin' it too much."

"What about the fever?" Malcolm asked, remembering how quickly Trip had recovered.

"Funny thing, that. The doctor wasn't really sure what caused it. Thought maybe I was having a reaction to something in the stream water that got into this," he said, pointing to where the cut on his head was covered by the bandage. "The doc said my immune system apparently fought off whatever it was, if that's what it was. ... Did that make any sense?"

The door to the emergency room suddenly opened and the same doctor who had talked to Malcolm earlier came out. Malcolm rose to meet him as he crossed the room.

"How's Hoshi?" he asked.

"The same," the doctor said, "but we have found the cause of her condition."

Malcolm looked at him hopefully.

"Whatever the drug was that was introduced into her system when she was knocked out is causing it," the doctor said. "We are not familiar with the compound, and are in the process of contacting medical authorities on Lanari for information about it."

At the physician's frustrated expression, Malcolm's hope dimmed, and the man's next words weren't encouraging. "They aren't being very cooperative."

"Can you do anything for her?"

"We are trying. Our lab is running an analysis of the drug. That should give us some information shortly. But I don't know if we will be able to counteract it. Right now all we are doing is giving her palliatives to ease the symptoms, and even that is limited to ones which won't harm the fetus."

Malcolm swallowed. "What exactly is Hoshi's condition?"

The doctor hesitated before answering. "The drug is affecting her immune system. A healthy human probably wouldn't have been affected by it. But in her case, pregnant and in a weakened state, the drug has made her immune system react to the fetus as foreign matter. It's trying to make her body reject the fetus."

Stunned silence followed this announcement.

"What about Hoshi?" Malcolm finally managed to ask. "Will she...?"

"I don't know," the doctor said, not unkindly. "She has a better chance than the fetus, but that's all it is -- a chance."

Malcolm turned away from the doctor as he tried to comprehend what he had just heard. He felt numb, and wondered if he was going into shock.

As if from a distance he heard the doctor say, "There's nothing you can do here, Captain Reed. Please, go home. Get some rest. We will contact you if there is any change."

Malcolm was aware of Kleth moving closer to him and Trip getting up to come stand by his side. Trip gently took his arm in his good hand to lead him out of the waiting area.

"Come on," he said. "Let's get you home."

Home. It was the last place he wanted to be without Hoshi. But the doctor was right -- there was nothing he could do here.

He let his friends guide him down the hall to a transporter pad, another innovation Hoshi had insisted upon for her clinics. But when the beam engaged and took them away, his thoughts remained with the woman lying in the emergency room.

Malcolm staggered under the weight of overwhelming weariness as he stepped into the cottage. Only Kleth's strong hand on his arm kept him from falling.

"Go. Rest," Kleth had ordered him, giving him a gentle push in the direction the bedroom.

When Malcolm started to protest, Trip cut him off. "We'll stay here. If there's any news about Hoshi, we'll let ya know right away. I promise."

Malcolm still couldn't be persuaded to lie down until Kleth advanced on him, saying, "You will do her no good making yourself sick, little warrior. You must gather your strength for any challenges in the coming days."

Malcolm shook his head in defeat. Kleth the philosopher strikes again, he thought with the faintest glimmer of amusment. "Aye, Captain," he murmured.

He entered the bedroom and shut the door behind him. He stood for a moment, wondering if he should take off his clothes. Then he decided it wasn't worth the effort, and stumbled over to the bed. He fell on it and was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

Kleth waited outside the door until he was sure Malcolm had fallen asleep before returning to sit at the table where Trip was already seated.

"We can take turns sleepin'," the engineer said with a wistful look at the couch. "If ya don't mind, I'd like to sleep first. The painkillers are makin' me groggy."

Kleth rumbled his acceptance of this plan. "I will be awake in case there are any developments. And there is a matter to which I must attend."

Trip raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"

"You heard the doctor at the clinic. The medical authorities on Lanari are not being cooperative," Kleth said. At Trip's nod, he continued, "I will try to contact P'kora. Perhaps he can do something to expedite that situation."

Trip nodded more vigorously. "Good idea. Ah only wish there was somethin' more we could be doin' for both Hoshi and Malcolm," he said, his accent more pronounced by his bone-deep tiredness. "Ah'll just park myself right over there on the couch."

Kleth waited until Trip had settled himself on the couch and shut his eyes before reaching for his communicator. Contacting the Morning Star, he had a brief discussion with Orwell, and was pleased when the man agreed to contact P'kora.

Shutting the communicator, Kleth mused that Ma'Com had found a good first officer. Not as good as himself when he had been second-in-command under Hoshi's captaincy, of course, he thought without any false pride, but more than adequate. Orwell was another one whom Ma'Com could trust to guard his back. The man hadn't been rattled in the slightest by his presence on the bridge during the return trip to Estab, and had made it clear by his manner that he was in charge, not Kleth.

Kleth made his way to the kitchen, where he checked under a counter for the blood wine Hoshi kept for his visits. He found the flagon and, unstoppering it, was assaulted by its distinctive aroma. He poured a large mug and downed it in a series of long swallows. He wiped the back of his hand across his mouth in satisfaction, poured some more wine into the mug, and returned to the table.

He knew it could be a long wait, but there was nothing he could do at the moment. Now that the immediate crisis was past, he let his thoughts turn to Slanea. She had performed admirably in engineering, coaxing the Morning Star's engine to more than its maximum output with no damage to the systems. She was talented, that was certain.

Perhaps when everything was resolved, he could steal her away from Ma'Com and make her the chief engineer aboard the Falcon. His ship was still short-handed and he had need of a good engineer. It would be easier for Ma'Com to find a replacement for her than it would be for Kleth to find an engineer to his liking, at least in this sector of space.

Besides, he wanted to see the look on Ma'Com's face when he informed him that Slanea was transferring. It's not like Ma'Com would be losing her, he thought with a sly smile. She would just be on a different ship in their partnership.

Taking another sip of the wine, Kleth turned his mind to how he could convince Slanea to agree to his proposal.

One day passed into another, and another, and there was no change in Hoshi's condition. Malcolm became more despondent with each passing hour.

Adding to his depression, Orwell had informed him that he had reached P'kora at home, but only after being told by the Lanari authorities that he was no longer on the police force. P'kora's participation in Hoshi's rescue had resulted in the loss of his job. Not only would he not be able to help find information about the substance affecting Hoshi, but now Malcolm felt in part responsible for P'kora's situation as well.

Trip and Slanea continued to tinker with the Morning Star's engine as well as tweak subsystems throughout the ship. Malcolm knew it was make-do work, that they were passing the time as they waited for some instructions from him, but his focus was entirely on Hoshi and he left them to their own devices.

Kleth stayed with him even though he could have returned to the Falcon. Malcolm was certain his Klingon friend should have been traveling his trade route, delivering cargo somewhere, but Kleth didn't bring it up and Malcolm didn't ask. He was too grateful for the companion who remained steadfastly with him, not speaking often but offering unspoken support with his presence.

In addition to his quiet companionship, Kleth also served as a buffer between Malcolm and outside concerns. Not that Kleth had to do much, Malcolm reflected dully one time after seeing a med staffer enter the waiting area and then scurry away without talking to the imposing Klingon. The only people Kleth allowed to approach Malcolm were those connected with Hoshi's care, and Trip, who beamed down for an hour or so each evening.

Malcolm's world narrowed to two vistas. During his waking hours, he was at Hoshi's bedside or in the clinic waiting area. Late in the evening, he'd force himself to go home to the cottage, eat a few bites of something, and fall into bed. He'd snatch a few hours restless sleep, acutely aware of the empty space in the bed next to him, and be up before dawn, dressed and ready to go back to the clinic before Kleth awoke on the couch.

One time when Malcolm had to leave Hoshi's room to get out of the way of the technicians running yet more tests, he found himself sitting in the waiting area, the ever-present Kleth seated stoicly next to him.

"How much longer can this go on?" Malcolm murmured as he ran a hand over his face. "Something's got to change soon, doesn't it?"

Kleth grunted. "As long as she is alive, there is hope," he said. "Is that not a human saying?"

Malcolm gave him a small smile. "Close enough."

They lapsed into silence. Malcolm could hear the faint sounds of the monitoring equipment coming from Hoshi's room as the medical personnel went about their duties. Despite Kleth's words of encouragement, he could feel his hope slipping away. But he refused to think further than the present, afraid he would see a future without Hoshi.

A year ago, if someone had told him he would meet a woman he'd want to spend the rest of his life with, he would have said they were crazy. He didn't have a good track record with long-term relationships, and he'd had no reason to believe that would ever change.

He had been satisfied doing his work with Starfleet, first as a security officer and then as an investigator. It wasn't a career that was conducive to any kind of personal relationships, but that hadn't bothered him. He hadn't felt a need for other people in his life.

Until he met Hoshi. He'd fallen head over heels in love with her, something he believed he was incapable of. Her unique situation had prevented her from returning to Earth, and after some soul-searching, he'd quit Starfleet to be with her.

He hadn't regretted it once.

Now he was in a shipping partnership with a Klingon renegade. It still amused him that he was in business with someone who had been on the opposite side of one of his investigations when they'd met. Having come to know Kleth, he was glad to be able to call him his friend.

And then there was this whole fatherhood thing. It was a different type of agony, sitting here, waiting to find out if his child was going to live. He hadn't known it was possible to care so much about someone who hadn't been born yet.

It was in this state of mixed awe and despair that Malcolm heard the door to the waiting area being pushed open. He looked up to see Trip and Slanea, both slightly out of breath as if they had been hurrying.

"You're a little early today," Malcolm noted. "Run out of things to do on the Morning Star?"

Trip had a peculiar look on his face. "No. They called me to come down here. Didn't you know?"

"Know what?"

"That fever I had," Trip said. "I got over it so quickly, they think maybe I developed some kind of antibodies that got rid of it."

Malcolm still didn't understand, and he stared at Trip, waiting for the man to go on.

"They didn't tell ya?" the engineer asked at the blank look on Malcolm's face. "They think maybe that if I have antibodies from whatever happened to me on Lanari, they can use them to help Hoshi."

The door to Hoshi's room opened and the lead doctor for Hoshi's care came out.

"Doctor," Malcolm said, "can you explain what's going on to me?"

"As soon as I have the blood work started on Mr. Tucker, I will be more than happy to tell you, Captain Reed," the doctor answered. "It will take a few moments. Please, wait here."

Malcolm had waited several days already, and his patience was nearly at an end. Now he was being asked to wait again. But this time, he had a tiny flicker of hope to hold onto.