Lost Era 06_ Catalyst of Sorrows - Margaret Wander Bonanno [86]
He took a breath before he trusted himself to speak. “Yes, Doctor? What is it?”
“We’ve had a breakthrough with the Tenjin carcinoform.”
“Selar’s on the planet, but you can relay the data directly to her computer,” Sisko suggested.
“I’ll do that anyway, but right now I wanted to share that with somebody in person.”
Behind her, Sisko could see the lab at Starfleet Medical, and members of her staff working round the clock on the R-fever that had been rushed to them from Starbase 23, as well as the Tenjin virus.
“It must be awfully late where you are,” he said.
“It is. That’s why I didn’t want to disturb the Admiral.”
“So you want to share it with me? I’m listening.”
“Before you signed on for this mission, I did a little dog-and-pony show for the admiral, McCoy, and Selar. Mostly for the admiral’s benefit, to help her understand what we were dealing with. Just at random, I compared our neoform to human HIV. I don’t know if you’ve heard of it; it’s an artifact from the twenty-first century-“
“I’ve heard of it,” Sisko said. “Are you telling me that’s what this thing is like?”
“At the time I did the presentation, it was just a lucky guess. But putting together the pieces your team has been gathering, it turned out to be an accurate guess. This germ doesn’t kill by itself; it does what HIV used to do and turns the body’s own defenses against it. That’s why it shows up as a killer flu on some worlds, as a cancer on others.”
Sisko thought about that for a moment. “I have a feeling that’s not good news.”
Crusher sighed. “No, it isn’t, not in terms of isolating and/or treating this thing, not yet. But I just wanted you to know that what Albatross is doing out there is important.”
Sisko didn’t say anything to that.
“Want to talk about it?” Crusher asked against his silence.
“Talk about what?”
“Feeling outnumbered? Only round-ear on the mission and all that?”
How long had she been watching him? he wondered. How much of his muttering had she overheard?
“You know I am,” he said, wondering if she was reading his vital signs from there and registering his stress levels as well. “And I don’t appreciate Tuvok’s second-guessing me about beaming down to Quirinus. I might have reached the same decision he did, if he hadn’t overridden me. Maybe he doesn’t think I’m experienced enough to make command decisions…” Sisko stopped and thought about that. “And, dammit, he’s probably right. But I should have been allowed to arrive at that on my own. It seems to me Vulcans can’t resist telling us mere humans what’s best for us. I pride myself on being able to get along with anyone, but-“
“- but you’ve been bent out of shape since you were drafted for this mission, and Tuvok’s second-guessing you only makes things more difficult.”
“Is that an official prognosis, Doctor? Or are you just minding my business?”
“Neither. Just a prelude to asking you to put on your best face for a moment. There’s someone here who wants to talk to you. Admiral Uhura arranged it especially. It’s a little earlier on Okinawa, so it’s only a little past his bedtime…”
“Daddy?”
“Jake?” Sisko couldn’t believe his eyes. His son was standing there in his pajamas rubbing one eye, a favorite stuffed “critter” so raggedy Sisko couldn’t remember what it had once been trailing behind him. He found himself kneeling on the deck to be at eye level, wishing more than anything that he could put his arms around the boy. But while the holos were good, they weren’t that good.
Yet, Sisko thought. Someday, maybe. But for now…
“Jake-O? Son, how are you? How you feeling, little man?”
“Daaad-!” The kid managed to stretch the single syllable out to at least four. “I’m not little! I’m almost five and a half.”
“So you are. My mistake. It’s just you’re growing up so fast. What’s going on? How’s kindergarten? How’s Momma? Did Grandpa Joe call you since I’ve been gone?”
Shut up! he told himself. Let the boy speak. What’s the matter with you? Jake was rubbing both eyes now.
“Sleepy!” he announced. “Goin’ back to bed. Momma’s