Chapter Ten: Guinea Pig

Bashir ran the two compounds through simulation after simulation, beginning at last to have some understanding of why the compound had had the effect that it did. Only when he was as nearly positive as he could be that the second compound was indeed an antidote to the first did he approach George Ladan, who was now nearly ready to be released from the infirmary.

"Ladan, I think I maybe have an antidote for the insect's venom; would you be open to being a test subject?"

"Sure, I guess," he agreed without either enthusiasm or a noticeable lack of it. "I mean, I didn't exactly join Starfleet to live a danger-free life, I did I?"

Bashir flashed him a grin. "No, I suppose not — not that I think there's all that much danger involved; I've studied the antidote pretty thoroughly. But the only way to know for sure how it will affect an actual person is to try it, and I need a consenting adult as my 'guinea pig.'" He was fairly certain Keiko would have given her consent to be the test, if only to have a cure available on the chance that Molly were to be bitten, but he knew O'Brien wouldn't be at all happy at the prospect. George Ladan had the advantage of having no family on the station, and the added bonus that he wasn't a civilian.

"Well, I'm game."

Bashir nodded. "Good; thank you." He took out a hypospray. "I'm going to be monitoring you pretty closely after I inject this, but I want you to let me know immediately if you feel anything at all unusual."

"Got it. What is it, may I ask?"

Bashir grinned ruefully. "I was hoping you wouldn't…" He explained again about the two compounds, and how one seemed to cancel out the effects of the other.

"So the second compound neutralizes the first one…what would it do on its own?"

"Nothing pleasant," Bashir admitted. "But I'm not telling you specifics; if you do start showing symptoms I want to be fairly certain they're real and not psychosomatic."

"Fair enough," Ladan agreed. "Though I admit I'm curious…"

"I'd be happy to satisfy your curiosity after we're sure none of it is going to be an issue — which I don't think it will anyway, since I'll only be injecting the same miniscule amount as you received of the other compound — enough to counteract its effects without causing any of its own."

Ladan sighed. "Well, go ahead, then; we'll never know until we try."

oOo

Nearly an hour after injecting Ladan, Bashir received notice on his combadge of another meeting of the senior staff. He glanced once more at Ladan's monitors before exiting his office, satisfied at least that none of the more worrisome effects had shown up.

"How do you feel?" he asked, stopping beside the biobed to check on him one more time before leaving.

Ladan looked up from the datapadd he was reading. "Impatient to be out of here."

Bashir chuckled. "Tomorrow, if nothing new crops up and you wake on your own in the morning," he promised. "No new symptoms, then?"

"Just a little itchy where you injected me."

"Let's see. Mm, it does look a little irritated; have you been scratching this?"

"Yeah, a little."

"Well, I'll put on an antihistamine cream and cover it so you can't scratch anymore. I have to go up to Ops for a bit, but the nurse is here if you need anything."

"I'll be fine."

Bashir paused to leave some instructions with the nurse before hurrying up to Ops. "Sorry for the delay; I had to check on my patient before I could leave."

"That's all right," Sisko assured him. "Any news yet?"

"Not really; a minor skin irritation is the only adverse effect so far, but we won't know if it actually worked until he's been asleep. But you didn't call me up here to ask, that, surely?"

"Only partly. Dax?"

"I've managed to create an insecticide that's safe for most of the species currently on the station," Dax explained.

"Most?" Bashir asked, zeroing in on the operative word.

"One species would experience mild discomfort from the levels we'd have to use — slight difficulty breathing, nausea. Nothing life-threatening, and we can give them gas masks beforehand to prevent even that."

Sisko nodded. "Good. What about alerting the rest of the station? If it's a new compound you can't be positive it won't affect any other species, so they should know to seek medical attention if they're affected."

"I wouldn't," Bashir said wryly. "You'll only flood the infirmary with people imagining symptoms. Anyone it might happen to affect can contact me without being warned beforehand, the same as if they get ill for normal reasons. My only concern would be causing some sort of panic if it has an odor."

"It does," Dax admitted. "How about we announce what we're doing, but stress its safety?"

Sisko nodded slowly. "That seems reasonable. Doctor?"

"Yes," Bashir agreed. "But I do need some more specimens before you start fumigating; I haven't been successful synthesizing the compound I need as an antidote, and I need enough to treat my current patients and any others who may happen to be bitten before the insects are completely eradicated."

Sisko nodded. "I'll see to it that they're delivered to you at the infirmary."

"Thanks. I'd like about two dozen of the large ones, just to be safe."

"Just don't let them get loose, whatever you do," Dax warned grimly.

Bashir put on an expression of mock hurt. "Don't you trust me?"

Dax smiled briefly. "Of course I do."

"Would you be able to send the analysis of the insecticide's chemical composition to the infirmary computer?" Bashir requested. "If there are unexpected reactions, I want to be able to get a jump on creating an antidote."

Dax nodded. "Consider it done."

oOo

Dr Bashir drummed his fingers impatiently on the edge of the biobed, wishing he had thought to ask Ladan if he was normally an early riser. Surely shaking his shoulder wouldn't affect the results of the experiment…

But before he could put the idea into practice, the man stirred slightly, then opened his eyes. "Doctor…?"

Bashir grinned at him. "Good morning."

His thoughts still fuzzy with sleep, it took Ladan a few seconds to remember the events of the day before. "Did…you have to wake me?"

"Not this time; it looks like the antidote was effective! How are you feeling?"

"Normal, I think," Ladan told him.

"Good," Bashir replied, running his tricorder over the man's head and glancing at the results. "I have to go wake my other two patients, and then I want to do another brain scan to make sure there weren't any unanticipated side effects. I'll be back in a few minutes, so call the nurse if you need anything before then."

"Will do," Ladan agreed.

oOo

"All the tests I ran on Ladan came back normal," Bashir told Sisko. "I think that means it's safe to assume there's no side effects."

Sisko scowled. "There could still be something with a delayed reaction."

Bashir shrugged. "Possible, but extremely unlikely. If I inject Jake now, I can keep monitoring him as long as you want me to."

Sisko drew a deep breath and sighed. "All right. Go ahead; just keep him in the infirmary again for tonight…just in case."

Bashir nodded. "Whatever you want," he agreed.

oOo

"So…I'm really going to wake on my own tomorrow?" Jake questioned as Dr Bashir stopped by to see him one last time that evening.

Dr Bashir grinned. "That's the idea. So sleep tight…and don't let the bed bugs bite."

THE END

A/N: I realize portions of this chapter aren't exactly my best writing. I actually had to write a lot of it while I was editing, because when I got to this part of the story, for some reason I went blank as to how to word it, and had to just jot down the gist of what I wanted to happen. I never did really think of a good way to word a lot of it, so I just had to go with this, and hopefully at some point in the future I'll get it cleaned up a little!

Next week I have a one-shot set in my alternate history, about seven years post-show. Barbie

I proofread all my stories at least once before posting, but if you see any mistakes I might have missed, please let me know!

Please note that I have only minimal internet access, and may not have time to respond to all reviews/messages. (But they are much appreciated, even if you're reading this story long after I originally post it!) If you have questions regarding my Deep Space Nine alternate history, check my profile first to see if they're answered there. Thanks for your understanding! Barbie