[USS Juno] DNA Encounters

Posted on Fri Aug 3rd, 2018 @ 1:37am by Captain Harrold Anderson

1,462 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: [USS Shanghai] S1E2: Encounter in the Abyss
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: MD+3, 1630 Hours

Harry was very quiet, he walked at a brisk pace, leading his alleged daughter through the decks of the Juno. Getting a few stares from the crew, and the occasional, 'good evening captain' comments, which he blew off. He was on a mission. He wanted T'San to verify the dna of Aanyo Kerka to Harry Anderson. He had a hard accepting the issue, she looked so much like her mother. She had eyes similar to his own. Harry walked into sickbay, like a man on a mission. "DOCTOR.......DOCTOR" yelled out Harry. Were was she wondered Harry.

T'San heard the captain screaming and she came out of the office. "What is the medical emergency?" She saw the captain with a young girl behind him. She rushed to her. "Hello I am T'San, where are you injured?" She grabbed a medical tricorder from a nearby trey. She started scanning.

"No." Kerja said, eyeing her warily but she didn't move away from the scans. "We want a DNA test done. This . . . man thinks he's my father. I want proof." She stood with her hands slightly on her hips.

T'San looked cold at the captain. "So all that tantrum for a dna test." She looked at the tricorder. "One thing is for sure, she is half human and half bajoran." She closed the tricorder and turned back to the girl. "I will need some blood samples from the both of you." She took out two small extractors and took blood from both of them. "This will only take a few minutes." She added them to the computer and the computer. "So, what if the test is positive? Can I congratulate you then?"

Harry glared at T'San. He thought to himself, that she was enjoying this moment, a little to much. He took off his jacket and rolled up his undershirt. "Let's get this over, Doctor, I hate to have Dan upset at me." He suggested, realizing that she was almost off duty for the day. He hoped this was a mistake, she was obnoxious but in a cute young teenage way, that would drive Harry insane. If he had a kid, he would have preferred them to be more like vulcan, quiet, out of the way, and keeping their distance and their emotions in check.

T'San just ignored his glare and just turned to the computer and watch the results come in.

Kerja reminded him so much of his own youth, despite the fact she was born into a Bajoran culture, that must have pissed Tera off, he grinned a little thinking of that. But then he realized, he now had to deal with her, assuming she was his daughter. He looked to T'San with a disappointing expression, he wanted to say, hurry up. But he knew, she was enjoying this and taking her time on purpose. She would say she is just getting ready.

Kerja found a stool and sat down, not looking at the stranger before her. It didn't matter if he really was her father, he'd never been in her life. All her mother had ever told her about the man who got her pregnant was that he was a Starfleet officer. She'd never told Kerja if he knew of her existence and despite her many questions her mother had refused to talk about the subject further.

Harry felt a little guilty for his awkward behavior towards Kerja. He looked at her, and wondered if she was his daughter, how in the hell, was he going to raise a teenager. Where do you start? It was not her fault, she was a victim of the new bajor attack and her mother was captured, and now her biological father was acting like an ass. He felt such guilt for adding stress to her load. "Hey kid, .... look, ..... I'm sorry." Was he could think to say to her.

"For what?" Kerja asked, resisting the urge to roll her eyes "And I told you I'm not a kid."

"For everything, just sorry." He said, not sure how to respond. Why couldn't she just smile and say thanks, like most people would in her situation. He looked around and noticed T'San was still running the test.

"It should not take the doctor long to get the results." He suggested, not really sure what to say to her, he did not want to add to her stress. "If you do not want to be called kid, what should I call you?" He asked? He was debating on calling her Miss Aanyo. But that seemed strange to call a child by their last name.

"You could use my name, it's Kerja . . . you already knew that."

"Doctor, perfect time, please tell me you have the results." He asked? He had a feeling, the results would reflect what he already suspected. She was his kid. He wanted this, but not like this. He wanted to be a father from day 1, not 14 years down the road.

During the conversation she had run the test a couple of times more, as she knew the captain would request that to be certain. "I have run the test several times. There is no doubt, the girl is your daughter, captain."

Harry hopped up on the bed, he was feeling a little light headed. He took in a couple of deep breathes. He looked up at T'San, with a desperation plea in his eyes. "The kid's mine?" He asked, still in shock.

"Yes,"said T'San, "Congratulation, Captain, it's a girl." She didn't move her face as she said that. She looked at the captain and saw he wasn't in the mood for sarcasm. "Ok, captain, I know this wasn't how parenting was going to be, but if you need any help in that area, my door is always open, so you can talk to Dan. I think he has a lot of experience in that department. As a father I mean."

Kerja bit her lip a little bit. The words brought all kinds of feelings up from the depths. Where he'd been all her life, why her mother hadn't told him. She wondered if he would have stayed had he known. Obviously an ambitious man would he have wanted to continue his career instead of raising a daughter?

Harry was glad he was sitting down. He looked over at Kerja and with a nervous smile, then ran to the bathroom and threw up, he gave a few hurls. Get it together, thought Harry as he leaned over the toliet and prepared to pick himself back up.

T'San remained quiet and just looked at Kerja for a moment.

"Well that went well." Kerja said, looking back at the doctor.

Harry walked back into the sickbay and said with a cracked voice, "either of you hungry?" Asked Harry, feeling a little a better, and hungry all of a sudden. He was not sure he was ready for this, and the mess hall was not to inconvenient for T'San. Her husband would be there.

Kerja wasn't sure he should be eating so soon after such an obviously upsetting bout of news. She shook her head, her stomach doing some flips as well.

T'San looked from Kerja to the captain. "Captain, don't you have something to say to your daughter?"

Harry had no idea what to say to her, he stood there for a moment with a blank stare on his face. "I guess your gonna live with me Dar ja." He said, not sure, what T'San wanted him to say. At the moment he was hungry.

"It's Kerja, with a K. And I'm not living with you, I just met you. I'm old enough to be on my own, been doing just fine the past few days."

"Not according to the law, and we have no vacancies for 14 year old girls to get their own room. Most of my enlisted live in bunk beds, I suppose I can place you in all girls quad, if you really want me too?" He suggested, thinking where is he going to put her, in his quarters. He had a two bedrooms, one was his bed, the other was his personal office. So much for the personal office, he thought.

Kerja frowned at this. She just wanted her own space. She was in unfamiliar territory with someone she didn't know who apparently really was her father unless this doctor, whom she also didn't know, was lying to her. So much had happened in the past few days Kerja hadn't really had time to process anything. "I'm not hungry," she said, but got up to follow him anyway.

"All right, let's go to the mess hall, we will talk about your living commendations." Harry suggested. The three of them walked out of sickbay.

 

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