"Hello, Susan," he said. "I'm sorry, but I don't have time to talk right now. Please excuse me."

"Arkady, please wait!" Susan Hightower rushed toward him, grabbing his arm. "Ever since the Polar Star, I've been longing to see you again. What we had together was so special, and now that I've finally found you again, I never want to let you go!"

"I'm married now, Susan." Arkady's voice was soft. "I'm really sorry."

"Married?" Susan was crestfallen. "To whom?"

"Irina Asinova. I met her in 1983 and helped her defect. At that time, I thought I'd never see her again, but we were reunited in Germany in 1991, and we married shortly afterwards."

"Married. I don't believe it." She began to cry softly.

"I'm sorry, Susan. Now if you'll please excuse me - " He began to move away, but she called after him.

"Wait!"

He looked back at her.

"Do you love her?" she asked.

"Very much so. We're expecting our first child in a few months." He hurried away so he wouldn't have to see her grief-stricken face. His shoulders sagged with depression for the rest of that day, and when he returned home that evening, he embraced and kissed Irina even more tenderly than usual.

She laughed. "What's the occasion?"

"Do I have to have a special occasion to hug and kiss my wife?"

"Of course not." She frowned. "But there's something different about today. I can tell something happened."

Arkady heaved a heavy sigh and went to sit on the sofa. "When I was working aboard the Polar Star, I had a very brief affair with an American woman named Susan Hightower. When the Americans disembarked, I thought I'd never see her again. She came up to me in the street today and said she wanted to resume the affair. I told her I was married and my wife was expecting a baby."

Irina looked as if he'd slapped her across the face. "You told me there were no other women after you left me in New York."

"There weren't any, Irina! What I had with Susan was just sex, nothing more, and I was only with her once."

"But you still slept with her." Irina stalked into the bedroom, slamming the door shut behind her. Arkady heard her locking it.

As she went about the rest of her day, Susan couldn't stop wondering what Irina Asinova looked like, who she was. She must be really beautiful to have captured Arkady's heart. Undoubtedly intelligent and articulate as well, Susan concluded bitterly.

Several weeks later, she was on Broadway when she saw an advertisement for a new play. She stopped to look at the poster and had to gasp when she saw the name 'Irina Asinova' under the credits. Noting the time of the play's opening night, she returned home. When the play started, she was in the audience, waiting for Irina to be introduced, and when she was, Susan saw that her pregnancy bump was already showing, albeit ever so slightly.

Susan's head was so full of all the things she wanted to ask and tell Irina that she was hardly able to follow the play at all. When it ended, she waited until the rest of the audience had left, then went backstage in search of the other woman. She finally saw her emerging from the dressing room and called to her. Irina turned her pale blue eyes toward the American woman.

"You're married to Arkady Renko, aren't you?" asked Susan.

"Was," Irina corrected her. "I can't live with a man who lied to me!"

"Lied to you?"

"He told me he hadn't had any other women after he left me in New York, and now all of a sudden I find out he had a steamy affair aboard the Polar Star!" Her eyes narrowed. "How do you know Arkady?"

"He was once a very dear friend of mine," Susan lied. "I've been trying to find someone who could put me back in touch with him."

"Don't waste your time." Irina turned her back on Susan. "He's not worth it."

"Your suspicions are correct," Beverly told Deanna as she moved the tricorder over her slightly swollen belly. "You're about four weeks pregnant, and what's more - " Beverly sucked in a deep breath. "I've never seen anything like this before!"

"What is it?" Alarmed, Deanna sat up, and Will laid a calming hand on her arm.

Beverly didn't say anything for a long moment, then spoke at last. "I counted eleven embryos inside your uterus - undecaplets!"