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Ellen’s tail flicks from side to side as she considers it. She looks up at her mother, Nala, who merely rolls her eyes. “I guess it’s possible,” Nala eventually agrees, smiling down at Ellen, beforeturning to face me. “Russia is the land of endless possibilities, isn’t it?”
“Absolutely! Just like the U.S. is the land of the free,” I tease her back, pleased to see she’s a little more relaxed. She only joined the Supernova crew a few days ago and it wasn’t exactly under the best of circumstances. After years of being exploited, she’s heavily distrustful of strangers. It’s a good thing that she has Faelin to slowly chip through the walls she’s built around herself.
Faelin grins widely at all of us, always in a good mood. “Your planet sounds interesting! It’s too bad that we can’t go for a visit.”
I shudder, my fists clenching at my sides. I wouldn’t go back to Earth even if someone held me at gunpoint. Nala seems to share the same sentiment. I break the uncomfortable silence by changing the topic. “Let’s get on with the procedure so you can get back to playing, Ellen. Agreed?”
Ellen’s teeth are biting at her top lip, her tail wrapping around her body in what must be a protective manner. Nala sits down beside Ellen to comfort her. “It’s alright, sweetheart. It won’t hurt a bit. Right, Nikolai?”
“Absolutely not. You won’t feel a thing, I promise.” I grab a handheld scanner and approach Ellen, hating how she cowers back into her mother’s chest. The girl has been through some terrible trauma in the past few days and I hate adding to her discomfort but the tracker she’s wearing has to come out. “Ellen?” I ask, pretending to look under the bed. “Where’s Fluffy today?” We’re all getting used to seeing the little alien pet that follows her everywhere. It’s rare to see them apart.
Her expression brightens a little. “He’s sleeping. He ate sooo many seka rolls and his tummy is huge!”
“Hmm, really?” I hum, gesturing at Nala and Faelin to continue the conversation to keep Ellen occupied. As theyrecount a story of Fluffy finding his way to the kitchen, I run the scanner over Ellen’s shoulder to confirm the tracker placement. It’s still in the same spot. A tiny capsule broadcasting her position to anyone with the right receiver.
D’Aakh assured us that it’s just a short-range transmitter, incapable of broadcasting a signal strong enough to reach outside of the ship, let alone between solar systems, but he still recommended removing it. Nala immediately agreed, wanting to erase any trace of their previous owner from both of their lives.
Ellen is so consumed by the story she doesn’t even notice me administering local anesthetic. I’ve triple checked that the substance is safe for her. Sure, the label claimed the anesthetic is safe for pretty much every species in the entire galaxy, but I’ll be damned if I’m giving something I haven’t personally verified to a patient, let alone a child.
I nod at Faelin and he gently places his large hands on Ellen’s tiny shoulders, holding her in place. She grins up at him. “Wasn’t it funny how Fluffy rolled off the chair? He always runs and jumps and today, he couldn’t move!”
“It sure was,” Faelin replies, his tireless adoration for the girl shining brightly in his eyes. He only met Nala and Ellen a few days ago, yet they already act like a family.
He slightly tightens his grip on Ellen’s shoulders, and I’m quick to bring the scalpel to her skin before she notices anything. The extraction device is semi-automatic. I hold it to the incision and guide it to retrieve the tiny capsule before sealing the small cut with an alien version of tissue superglue. The entire procedure doesn’t last longer than three seconds. I promptly wipe away the few drops of blood from Ellen’s skin and set the tools aside.
Faelin smiles at me gratefully, easing his hold on the girl. Nala looks relieved more than anything. Ellen hasn’t noticed a thing.And me? I’m elated. My first successful procedure as a doctor on a spaceship! Call me Leonard fucking McCoy!
Sure, my elation will only last until I remember everything I haven’t learned yet and that someone could end up dying on this very examination table with their insides torn apart by a laser shot. Still, I try to ignore the foreboding and enjoy this good feeling while it lasts, no matter how short the moment is.
Ellen is surprised when we tell her the procedure is done already but she’s excited she gets to go play. “Just take it easy on the shoulder,” I say, the warning aimed more at her parents than at her. I can’t imagine a four-year-old remembering such a thing. Not for long, anyway.
“Yes, yes,” she replies, impatiently. “Will you play with me, Faelin?”
“Uncle Omni will play with you for a bit, chipmunk,” Nala tells her. “Faelin and I need to…talk.”
Ellen pouts. “You talk all of the time!”
“Yes, they do,” I agree, chuckling as Nala pierces me with her deadly glare. “And they’re very loud talkers!” I add, practically laughing at them both.
“Alright, that’s enough,” Nala says, herding both Ellen and Faelin out of the infirmary. “Thanks,” she mutters, leaving before I can say anything else.
I clean the tools I’d used and put them away, determined to return to storage room 18-C as soon as possible. My mind is reeling as I try to figure out what I’m going to tell the mysterious female if and when she shows up again. What could I possibly say to get her to trust me?
Glancing over at the door has me sighing. It looks like I won’t be leaving just yet.
“You’ve been avoiding me for long enough,” Astra says, glaring. The women on this ship are mean. “Tell me what’s wrong with me! You don’t get to just scan someone, frown, andsay ‘oh’ without explaining what’s happening! I’m sure that’s fucking illegal or something.” She marches over and grabs the lapels of my coat. “Tell. Me. Am I sick? Am I dying?!”
She’s right, I should have handled this better. At the time, I had other problems on my hands and didn’t want to discuss a potential pregnancy in front of a curious four-year-old. I’m not having the birds and bees talk with Ellen, thank you very much. “You’re not sick and you aren’t dying,” I assure Astra, pointing at one of the machines. “Why don’t you lie down over here and I’ll do a proper scan this time?”
“If I’m not sick, then why do I need a scan?” she questions as she begrudgingly obeys.
The machine hums for a few seconds before displaying the results. I love this machine. It’s like a CT scanner on steroids, without any of the drawbacks. It takes all kinds of scans and even compares the results to templates for any given race it has in the database. That way, it can point out irregularities like foreign bodies or internal growths that aren’t supposed to be there. Right now, it’s pointing at one particular growth in Astra’s abdomen.
The initial scan was right. She’s pregnant.
How am I supposed to tell her? I never took the “Clinical Communication Skills” class!O, bozhe!(Oh, god!) What if it’s not good news for her? She’s only been with Tareq for how long, three weeks? I doubt they’ve talked about starting a family yet.
I draw in a deep breath, doing my best to look calm and composed. I doubt doctor McCoy had to deal with announcing to ladies that they’re pregnant. Although, with Captain Kirk around, he probably did.
