Author's Responses at the end:

Chapter Ten: The Lauterbur

"Welcome aboard the USS Lauterbur. I am Captain Alyssa Ogawa."

Deanna smiled brilliantly as she stepped down the ramp. "Why, yes you are," she said with a laugh.

"Deanna!" Alyssa said. "I was hoping you would come up. How are you?"

"Busy," Deanna said. She introduced the captain to everyone, though of course Alyssa knew Admiral Bashir as he was her ultimate commanding officer.

"We have the scanner ready," Ogawa said as she led them through the halls of the starship. She immediately fell into the role of a captain proud of her ship. To the civilians, she said, "The USS Lauterbur is an Olympic-class hospital ship with the most advanced medical facilities in the galaxy—better even than that of Starfleet Command."

"Why is that?" Susan Chamberlain asked.

"A good question," Ogawa said. "The truth is that there is greater need for mobile facilities on the edge of Federation space. More importantly, this is a side of the Federation we want our potential allies to see. The Lauterbur isn't just a hospital ship. We are ambassadors."

"Well said," Bashir said with an appreciative nod.

"I had good teachers," Ogawa agreed. "And here we are."

The deep-tissue resonance scanner was comprised of a comfortable looking cot in the middle of a white-walled room. From the domed ceiling of the room hung a large inverted mushroom with a red light at the center of the inverted dome.

Diana giggled. As if sensing her thoughts, Katherine, Susan and Mary started giggling too. Bill turned red and struggled not to.

"Is there something wrong?" Captain Ogawa said. She couldn't help the defensive tone. These children were laughing at her ship.

"The scanner's extra power conversion coils give it a rather phallic appearance," Naomi managed to say with an almost straight face.

Ogawa blinked and looked at the scanner, then back at the girls.

"This isn't my fault this time," Bill said.

Diana burst out laughing. "Will you be gentle with me?" she asked the captain.

Whatever control the girls had ceased right there. Bill almost spat he laughed so hard, and the others were almost on the floor. "One moment they're on the verge of tears, now their laughing like children," Carey Boxing noted in confusion.

"We're happy," Naomi explained. Her cheeks were flushed with humor. "Being together makes us happy."

"Well, who wants to go first?" Bashir asked.

"It should be me," Bill said, suddenly serious.

"I agree," Deanna said. Ogawa nodded to one of her technicians who led Bill into the room. The others gathered around the observation window as Bill lay down.

"Bill," Captain Ogawa said, "you can breathe regularly. You can even move if you need too. This will only take a minute."

"Be gentle, it's my first time," Bill called back.

Diana clung to the laughing Susan, laughing so hard herself she could barely breathe.

"I'm never going to be able to get that image out of my mind now," Ogawa said with a shake of her head. "All right, Lieutenant, let's begin the scan."

There was nothing visible, of course. Just a faint hum. But the moment it began all laughter ended. The silence was almost eerie, sufficient enough for Ogawa to look back and see five very serious young women.

"It hurts," Diana whispered. "It's hurting him."

"Nonsense," Ogawa said. She turned to the scanner. The lieutenant said, "Actually, ma'am, his brainwave activity does indicate he is experiencing pain."

Out in the room Bill sat stiffly. He was shaking visibly to everyone there and his teeth were gritted. As the scan worked its way up his body his trembling got worse. In the observation room, Diana sniffed. "Please stop it," she whispered. "It's hurting him!"

"It really is," Naomi said. "He's in pain."

In the room, they could hear a low moan of agony, but still Bill didn't move. Finally the scan concluded. Bill sat up and almost fell off the table, gasping in pain. Before anyone could say or do anything, all five women were in the room with him.

"Captain," Bashir said, "continue normal health sign scans, please. Put the cortical scans on display."

"Yes, Admiral," Ogawa said.

"What are we looking at?" Peter Chamberlain asked.

"Bill's mind," Bashir said. "And…there, do you see it?"

"The pain receptors have…it's like they've healed him," Ogawa said.

They all looked out where Bill was kneeling on the floor with five hands on his back, and five beautiful young women kneeling around him in concern. Finally, he stood up, flushed, and walked with them back to the observation room.

"You're not doing that to anyone else without something for the pain," he said. "It felt like you were stabbing me with a million foot-long needles."

"I'll go second," Naomi said. "We can use me as a control subject for the pain."

Bill looked at Ogawa. "Can I be in the room with her?"

"Well, I suppose so. It won't affect the imager at all."

"What do you want to do?" Naomi said.

"I want to hold your hand," he said.

Ogawa gave Naomi a hypo of general analgesic and she and Bill walked out into the room. She climbed onto the low cot and he knelt by her side. "Don't hold me at first," Naomi said. "I need to feel it for myself."

He nodded but otherwise stayed where he was.

The scan started, and immediately Naomi stiffened. "Wow!" she said, breathing hard and fast. "This really hurts!"

"Naomi," Deanna said from the control room. "You understand you shouldn't feel a thing?"

"Shouldn't maybe, but I am," Naomi barked back. "Oh God, this hurts!" The words turned into a cry of agony. "Bill!"

He took her hand, and immediately she settled back down.

"Naomi, what's happening?" Deanna asked.

"Bill's taking the pain away," Naomi sighed. "That warmth I told you about when we touch—it's healing me. There's still pain, but it's bearable now. Just please, Bill, don't let go."

"I'd die first," he vowed with the typical drama of a teenager.

After her scan, Susan as the next oldest volunteered. As she climbed on, she said, "I don't need to feel any pain for myself, so please don't let go."

"I won't," Bill promised. He held her hand with both of his as the scan progressed. She sat up afterward with a grimace. "Still wasn't fun. I can't imagine what that would have been like without you."

Katherine came next, then Mary. Diana was the final one. She approached the table timidly. Bill took her hand and guided her the last steps. "Will you kiss me when we're done?" she asked.

In the observation room, Mrs. Boxing stiffened.

"If that's what you need," Bill told her. "I would do anything for any of you."

"That's what I'll need," she said. "I really don't like pain."

The scan started. Diana stiffened and mewed a bit. "Bill, it still hurts," she said.

He closed his eyes, and they could almost see a shimmer around their combined hands. In the observation room, the scanner actually blinked as the power dimmed for a split second. Finally, though, they were able to finish the scans.

When it was over, Diana gasped. Bill leaned over and kissed her.

What happened next shocked everyone. The scanner sparked overhead. The lights dimmed to emergency levels, and Mary, Katherine, Susan and even Naomi moaned a little as if in pain.

The moment their lips parted, the lights came back on. Diana was staring back up at Bill with an expression of wonder and adoration. "I love you," she said aloud. "Please don't ever leave me."

Carey Boxing was weeping while Father Mendoza patted her back.

Bill smiled down at her, caressed her cheek, and said, "I won't. Not while I breathe. I love you, too."

Diana actually cried as she sat up and leaned into him. He stood enough to lift her, then sat back down on the cot with her on his lap. His green eyes seemed oddly brilliant, as if backlit, as he looked through the observation window. "I won't let them take you away," he said again. "Not any of you."

* * *

"Beverly!" Deanna said. "Thank you so much for coming!"

"How could I resist an invitation from my dearest friend?" Beverly said. She held Deanna out at arm's length. "You look fabulous. Will must be taking good care of you."

"He is," Deanna said. "And I see the vineyard has been good for you. I've never seen you looking so tan."

Beverly Picard gave a disarming smile. "I'd say I'm doing all right for an old lady. So, where is Julian? I haven't seen him since I promoted him."

Julian Bashir stepped out of the kitchenette of the conference room and walked directly to Beverly. "Tea. Darjeeling, not that horrid stuff Jean-Luc makes you drink. How a Frenchman could like Earl Gray tea and Shakespeare I'll never know."

Beverly laughed and put an arm around the CMO's shoulders. "It's good to see you again, Julian. Who else will be joining us today?"

"This is Dr. St'alar," Deanna said. "I believe you've met."

"In fact I joined Starfleet Medical while Dr. Picard was Chief Medical Officer," St'alar said. "It is agreeable to see you again, Doctor."

"Thank you, St'alar, it is good to see you as well. And is Janeway's protégé here as well?"

Bashir and Deanna shared a look. "She's actually a subject of our study, Beverly. But she will be here. If nothing else, she adds a unique insight to the situation."

The door of the conference room slid open and Naomi walked. Her eyes widened immediately. "Doctor Crusher! Er, I mean, Picard! I didn't know you were coming!"

The young psychiatrist gave the older doctor a brief hug. She leaned back and smiled up. "I'm afraid I'm in a bit of trouble."

"Oh, and why's that?"

The two sounded like a granddaughter and grandmother. Age wise, they could have been, and Deanna knew that Beverly helped Admiral Janeway's young foster daughter a great deal during her Medical Academy days.

"I think I fell in love with a patient," she said.

"It sometimes happens; it's how we deal with it that matters."

"I think he may have shifted my DNA, given me a paracortex and caused my menstrual cycle to shift," Naomi added.

Beverly blinked, and then looked to Deanna.

"That's why we wanted you in as a consultant," Deanna said. "I know you only do occasional consulting now, but during your tenure as a starship CMO and then the Starfleet Chief Medical Officer, you've gathered a significant amount of experience. And frankly we're baffled."

They settled down, darkened the room and started pulling up the results from the deep-rez scan. Beverly immediately leaned forward. "This first one is your initial subject? Hogs?"

"Yes."

Beverly slipped on a pair of reading glasses, an anachronism she had adopted after living with her husband for the past few years on the Picard estate. She accessed the scan through the interface on the conference table top and zoomed in to his intestine. "That's interesting. No appendix."

"The vasculature and muscle walls of the cecum would indicate he never had one," St'alar noted.

"I see," Beverly said.

"Look at the coccyx," Bashir suggested.

Beverly did so, and stared. "All Terran mammals have tail bones."

"He does, but they are miniscule," St'alar said. She pointed to tiny, vestigial bones.

"He also has no third molars," Bashir said. "The teeth are in outstanding shape, with almost no wear at all. This is consistent with our initial findings. It appears that he has only existed in his current body for about six weeks."

"Zoom in on his eyes," St'alar said.

"They are beautiful," Naomi breathed.

"Yes they are," Beverly noted. "What…" She zoomed in again. "Is he missing the plica semlunaris?"

Bashir nodded. "Although humans do not have a nictitating membrane such as Vulcans, we do have a vestigial remnant. All of us, except for Bill and his friends."

Continuing with the review of the scan, Beverly arrived at Bill's brain.

The three medical professionals stared for a very long time before Beverly said, "I do believe that is the largest paracortex I have seen in a humanoid lifeform."

"So you agree it is a paracortex?" Bashir said.

"It has to be. Its morphology is too similar to the paracortices of Vulcans and Betazoids, and it is right where you would expect it in the limbic system. In fact, I would think I was looking at the brain of a very powerful Betazoid if not for the very human body. No, correct that. That almost looks like the paracortex of one of Janeway's Ocampa."

Beverly leaned back. "At first glance, I would guess that this Bill Hogs is the product of an artificially gestated genetic engineering experiment. I'm sure you've heard of Darwin Station? Some of their more advanced subjects had minds similar to this. Not to this extent, mind you, but there are definite similarities."

"This next scan is mine, Doctor," Naomi said.

The new scan appeared. "Remind me, sweetheart," Beverly said, looking at Naomi over the rim of her glasses, "when they were helping your parents conceive they drew primarily on your mother for your physical genetics, right?"

"That's right."

Beverly nodded and then started looking at the scan. She then turned and looked back at Naomi. "May I?"

Naomi nodded and Beverly removed her glasses and leaned over, looking into Naomi's eye. "I'll be damned," she whispered. "Did you know about your appendix?"

"The Doctor assumed the absence was due to my mixed heritage."

"Actually, that's a reasonable assumption," Beverly said. "You're not a rated psionic, are you?"

"Low level empathy only. Until I met Bill."

"And now?"

"I can feel when walks into a room," Naomi breathed. "I have a compass in my body and Bill is my north. I almost always know where he is. These scans hurt, Beverly. I know they weren't supposed to, but they hurt. He held my hand and immediately dulled the pain. I'm beginning to think the EM field we're all generating was affected by the resonance pulses."

Beverly put her glasses back on and went through the rest of the scans, finding the same on each. "This is too bizarre. And none of these supposed symptoms appeared before they met this boy?"

"That's correct," Beverly said. She pulled up a video and Beverly watched as Katherine experienced her first nightmare while under observation. When it was over, the elder doctor was visible shaken. "God. And that's happened to you?"

"Yes," Naomi said. "I only remember it being a bad nightmare. But…" She looked down as if gathering herself. "I know that if I stay with Bill, I won't have the dream."

"How do you know?"

"I can't tell you. It's like a gut instinct, only an instinct that is absolutely certain."

"And by stay with him you mean…?"

Naomi looked around the table and sank in on herself. "Training or not, this is really embarrassing."

"We're trying to help," Beverly said.

Naomi looked across the table at St'alar. "I think it's almost like your Pon'farr. Ever since he kissed Diana on the Lauterbur I have this almost irresistible compulsion to kiss him. To… "

"You wish to have relations with him?" St'alar asked with a raised brow.

"I want to shag him half-way to October," Naomi admitted. "And not just me. I checked and last night Diana Boxing cried herself to sleep by her mother's side because Medical wouldn't let her sleep with Bill. Her poor mother is a devout Catholic and is beside herself. The other girls are just as affected."

"All five of you?" Beverly said. "Doesn't that make you the least bit jealous?"

"That's just it," Naomi said. "There is no jealously. When he kissed Diana, I didn't want to be Diana, I wanted to be with Diana kissing him too. When we hugged together on the shuttle, it honestly felt like we were part of a single family. I've never felt like I belonged anywhere more than like I belonged with them. I don't even know these girls and yet I honestly think I love them all."

"Perhaps is some type of telepathic suggestion on the part of the boy?" St'alar said.

"That is possible," Beverly said. "We've seen it before. Deanna, you've had it happen to you before."

"That's true."

"What's truly frustrating is that we know absolutely nothing about the young man," Bashir said.

"We know that he liked to eat and drink food from the twentieth century," Naomi pointed out. "We know he remembers living in a town that was destroyed during World War Three. We know that he is good reader and writer, albeit in pre-Standard, and is proficient in a very complex form of mathematics, but knows very little about the natural sciences and recent history. He lived with an abusive aunt and uncle, and had a cousin.

"I know that when I am with him, I feel safe. Even if he is manipulating me, doctors, I'm not sure I would object. In my twenty years, I have never been as happy as I am when I am with him."

sp

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Author's Responses:

Chapter nine had a great turn out for reviews. So without any further ado, I would like to thank the following people for their reviews and comments:

Sharnorasian Empire; cruailsama; Sayle; Obsidius; Wonderbee31; menright6; prudiisten; GinaStar; gaul1; Sir Trib The Bold; dragonlord; Vyrexuviel; hemotem; dajohu; AISCHILOS; kb0; impatientuser; CatWriter; starboy454; impgonnadie; Midoriryu; Bobboky; Pointer3109; SomeGuyFawkes; Gogolu; JEKrug01; Crys; Roosterman71; GryffindorDragon; Debbster21; MrMr; immortal7; arturus; Isis the Sphinx; TardisIsTheOnlyWayToTravel; Manus Dei; FF-loverHP1; Tilius and prometheus-1984.

I really appreciate all the reviews and comments. Thank you so much!

Now, for everyone's least favorite part:

Questions and Answers

Q: Naomi was born in th Delta quadrant, not the Gamma.

A: Thanks to all those who caught this. I have corrected it.

Q: I do hope that Harry gets his memory back at some point, otherwise it's just going to be Harry in name...

A: Harry regains his memory in Chapter 15.

Q: From what you posted so far its seems to be heading full steam down the tracks to another sex/orgy crack fic.

A: There is, as far as I can remember, only one real sex scene in this fic, and it is not an orgy. That's not what this fic is about. Sorry to disappoint, but that's why all the warnings that it's a different type of story.

Q: I mean merely at the mention of Merlin, the others should have slowly an idea who he is or what time-line he comes

A: I think that would be a huge, almost incomprehensible leap in logic for Federation personnel to assume from Harry's use of the name Merlin as an expletive that he is the last member of a vanished group of magical people no one ever heard of. You know he is, and I know he is, but without more information there is no way they could know it. And keep in mind that Starfleet always pursues scientific answers. Magic would be the last possible answer after all other answers were exhausted, and even then they would only phrase it in technical terms.

Q: Overall all, I like what you did here with 1 exception, and that with Commander Dunningham...

A: There is a reason why Dunningham is not on active duty at the moment. She is a veteran of the Founders War and suffered both physical and mental wounds before Katherine's birth. The psychological trauma has been resurfacing on and off through her career as PTS, leading to her being placed on extended leave at this time. This is not an excuse for her, it is simply the reason. That said, I like some things to be left out. A story doesn't necessary have to explain the motivations of every character. Sometimes it's fun just to have a person be nasty because that's how they are.

Q: Why is Harry acting like a spoiled, 13 year-old girl?

A: He's not. He's acting like a confused 17 year old boy.

Q: Still not completely clear why girl number five was pulled into it.

A: This is answered as a part of the plot. Don't want to give too much away.

Q: But I honestly find myself confusing the girls a bit. I keep trying to tie them to their ancient counterpart, and not getting it. Part of me wishes that they didn't have different names.

A: Please don't try. These are five original characters with their own personalities and histories. These are not the original wives.

I know the answers don't always clear things up, but I try to make a point of answering those I can. I hope everyone continues to read and enjoy.