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"Nice catch, Khala," Campbell said as they left and she stepped into the turbolift.

"I don't know about you, but I'm getting tired of blushing," said Harry.

"Me too!" said Khala heartily.

"We all did this to Tom and B'Elanna when they started seeing each other," said Kim. "I guess it's our turn now." Her fingers were so warm, where they entwined with his own.

"Ah, the two young lovebirds, awaiting permission to build a nest," said the Doctor, smiling with superior benevolence at them as they entered sickbay.

"Okay, okay," said Harry, lifting his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Don't I get a break for following procedure?"

"No," said the Doctor cheerily, picking up his medical tricorder. "We'll start with Khala, since I have all the medical information I need on Mr. Kim."

Obediently Khala lay on the diagnostic bed. Two metal halves of a semicircle emerged and closed over her torso. Kim leaned over and planted a kiss on her forehead.

"Enough nookie, Mr. Kim. With luck you'll have ample opportunity to get to know Khala better later, in private," the Doctor chided. Then, abruptly, he said,

"You realize that I can already tell you that you will not be able to have children."

"What?" said Kim.

The Doctor's dark eyes flickered briefly from his tricorder to Harry, then back again. "I would have thought that had already occurred to you. Khala's DNA sequence is the direct opposite of yours. They are completely incompatible."

"Oh," said Khala.

"Is that a problem?" asked the Doctor. "It's better to discover now if it is." He stepped toward his office, to download the information and cross-reference it, or whatever it was he did.

"Is it a problem, love?" asked Harry gently.

"Family has always been important to me," said Khala. "My parents and my brother-we've always been very close." She laughed, a little bitterly. "I won't miss Alilann society one bit, but I'll miss them. What about you?'

Harry was silent. He was an only child, but he recalled hordes of cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents around him at all major functions in his life. "I never really gave it much thought," he said. "Though I guess family's pretty important to me too."

"There are other ways of having children than conceiving them," said Khala. "If that's what we want. The Alilann are always eager to adopt the Culilann children they Recover. There are always homes for them, and they are as loved as if they were their parents' natural children."

"Couples have faced not being able to conceive before," said Kim, making his decision. "If it's acceptable to you, I say let's cross that bridge when we come to it."

"It sounds wonderful to me," said Khala.

"Then that's settled," Kim stated.

"I'm afraid not." The Doctor had emerged from his office, and Kim's heart felt like a rock in his chest at the expression on his face. "It's much more complex than that. I'm afraid I have some very, very bad news."

CHAPTER 9

JEKRI DREW BREATH TO SCREAM, TO GIVE VOICE TO HER horror and despair, but Verrak was swifter and stronger. He quickly covered her mouth with his hand and wrestled her to the floor. His lips moved to her ear.

"For love of your freedom, do not scream! I am here to help you!"

She didn't believe him. Why not scream? They were going to send her back, back to that areinnye-hole, and leave her to die. She felt something press against her arm and heard a hiss; then her body, against the raging will of her mind, went limp. Even her eyelids closed.

"We have to work quickly." Jekri recognized the voice of the female doctor who had conducted such barbarous, painful tests on her.

Who had implanted the energy cell into her wrist.

"The infection looks bad." Verrak. His voice sounded full of concern. What was going on here? Jekri heard more movements, felt herself being lifted and placed on a table of some kind. More hypos were injected into her body. She felt a warmth all along her left