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<\/p>\n Might there not be a charity in sin —Shakespeare, Measure for Measure<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bones looked like it was causing him physical pain to speak.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve just been taking a look at something.\u00a0 I lifted the Magna\u2019s DNA off the glass.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t give me a complete profile, but I can make a rough comparison of relative acidity levels.\u00a0 I wouldn\u2019t exactly call it a break, but\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n He looked up from his screen.\u00a0 \u201cClearly Ardrossians are basically humanoid, but like Vulcans, there are physiological and biochemical variations.\u00a0 In this case, I believe Ardrossian females likely have a different ph<\/i> balance, compared to human females in general.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDammit, Bones, I\u2019m not a doctor,\u201d snapped Jim. \u201cGet to the point.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe point is entirely medical, Jim.\u00a0 Just listen, would you?\u00a0 Like we\u2019ve already explained, Spock and I believe the Magna allowed for the theoretical possibility of a cure in the sense that the mass could be transferred through, well, through the usual means.\u00a0 The man would be cured, but the outcome would still be fatal for the woman, assuming the mass activates within her.\u201d<\/p>\n Bones\u2019 voice took on the tone of a high school biology teacher, businesslike but delicate.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s basic reproductive biology, Mother Nature\u2019s own protective plan.\u00a0 The natural state of the vagina \u2013 in human females at least –\u00a0 is<\/span><\/i> highly acidic. Designed to minimize the risk of infection from foreign bodies.\u00a0 Reproduction relies on the sperm being able to move through the vagina into the more hospitable environment of the cervix in short order, getting beyond that acidity before it can kill the sperm cells.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHighly acidic.\u00a0 Frankly, Bones, that doesn\u2019t sound very\u2026 inviting.\u201d\u00a0 Jim flashed a grim, tight smile, unable to resist the quip, even now.<\/p>\n Bones glanced at Jim the way that biology teacher would stare down the class clown during a touchy sex-ed lecture.\u00a0 \u201cHere\u2019s the thing,\u201d he sternly went on with his explanation,\u00a0 \u201cBased on what I can extrapolate from my sample, the chemistry of Ardrossian women is closer to alkaline than acidic.\u00a0 The bio-mass was bound to have been designed with that in mind.\u201d<\/p>\n Jim, disregarding Bones\u2019 stern look, interrupted.\u00a0 \u201cBut you\u2019re saying that\u2026acidic is\u2026better, in this situation?\u201d<\/p>\n Bones nodded.\u00a0 \u201cFor Ardrossian women, not only would it be culturally repugnant\u2026 it would definitely be fatal for them, too, given that they could do nothing to fight off the invader. But\u2026 a more highly acidic environment might \u2013 might<\/i> – be enough to\u2026neutralize the mass itself, basically destroying it with the natural female defense system \u2013 the human female, that is.\u00a0 Assuming that all this could happen before the thing triggers, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n He paused, letting this all sink in.\u00a0 Then went on with a heavy sigh.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, here\u2019s the rest of it, and Hani, only you can decide whether it\u2019s the good or bad news.\u00a0 You see, Jim, Hani, thanks to the barbarism of the late 20th<\/sup> century, no longer has a cervix, thus insuring that any foreign body basically has nowhere to go, and so must remain exposed to the acidic environment, upping the odds of being killed off.\u00a0 Even more, since we\u2019ve not yet gotten to a fully equipped Star Base to do a systemic detox, she\u2019s still carrying around a pretty strong mix of environmental pollutants in her body.\u00a0 That essentially amplifies the effect.\u201d<\/p>\n Bones turned directly to me now, his blue eyes pleading for forgiveness.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m sorry, Hani, but there\u2019s every indication that your own toxicity is uniquely capable of neutralizing this invader.\u00a0 In fact, well, if I had to come up with the optimal chance of a cure, given our current resources, I couldn\u2019t have invented anything more biologically perfect than\u2026 you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Another heavy silence descended.\u00a0 There wasn\u2019t really anything to be said, no decision to be made except my own.<\/p>\n \u201cHani, you don\u2019t have to do this,\u201d Bones said thickly, as if in apology for providing the very information that argued in favor of the proposition.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd if I don\u2019t?\u201d\u00a0 I challenged him.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we can find a way to break through the communications shield, we could get you back to the ship,\u201d Jim answered that question.<\/p>\n \u201cWhich at the moment, you can\u2019t,\u201d I pointed out.\u00a0 \u201cSo you\u2019re saying you can\u2019t return to the ship, and risk infecting everyone else when this thing kicks in, and the only other alternative is that you all\u2026die\u2026 and I can\u2026 what?\u00a0 Throw myself on the Magna\u2019s mercy?\u00a0 Do you really think I\u2019d do that?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t ask you to do\u2026 what you\u2019re suggesting, Hani, not risk your life, in such an\u2026intimate way, not on the basis of some theory.\u201d Jim spoke up, so certain.<\/p>\n \u201cYou didn\u2019t ask,\u201d I said.\u00a0 \u201cI offered.\u00a0 I offered even without this\u2026 new possibility.\u201d\u00a0 I stood facing Jim.\u00a0 It was his command, his call.\u00a0 And yet, in the end, it wasn\u2019t his decision at all, and he knew it.\u00a0\u00a0 They all knew it.<\/p>\n I turned to look at the others.\u00a0 \u201cBones, Spock, tell me.\u00a0 This is the best possibility you have, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 I\u2019m your best option?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt appears so,\u201d Spock said simply.\u00a0 Bones just looked pained, as if carrying on his shoulders alone the failure to otherwise resolve this medical challenge.<\/p>\n \u201cThen there\u2019s nothing else to decide, is there?\u201d I said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n And that\u2019s when I felt the sea-change come on me, a wave of such profound appreciation, affection, love for all of them, a sudden awareness in the deepest parts of me.\u00a0 Like a bodily, feminine wisdom, like I simply knew what I was capable of.\u00a0 I thought of what Bones had just said, that my presence, my very bodily self, was perfect in this time and place.<\/p>\n I had something unique to offer.<\/p>\n In the face of Death, I held the potential to give life.\u00a0 What could possibly be more important?\u00a0 I felt a wave of dizziness, some flood of awareness, as if the separate rivers of my body and my soul were converging, surging together, wild with force and promise, the waters of giving and receiving indistinguishable inside me.<\/p>\n I knew; standing there, then, I knew.\u00a0 This was the moment I was born for.<\/p>\n I was always going to have ended up here.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n < previous\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 next ><\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" < previous\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 next > Might there not be a charity in sin To save this brother’s life? (2.4.64) —Shakespeare, Measure for Measure Bones looked like it was causing him physical pain to speak.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve just … Continue reading ![\"300px-The_Earth_seen_from_Apollo_17\"](\"https:\/\/hanilives.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/300px-The_Earth_seen_from_Apollo_17-150x150.jpg\")
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\nTo save this brother’s life? (2.4.64)<\/i><\/p>\n