Diversifying

By Donna and Abby

Dr. Jack Stewart had just finished his rounds.  He was going to go home for the day, if no one had anything for him to do (and he knew exactly who he needed to avoid if he wanted to get out of there in one piece!).  But as he walked out of the modern hospital, into the parking lot, he did not see modern cars parked there!  Instead, he was looking at a beautiful field, corralled off from the surrounding countryside and filled with horses!

"Whoa," he gasped, standing there in stunned amazement. What had happened to the hospital? Where was he? Suddenly the sound of hoof beats made him turn, and his eyes widened as he saw a group of young horses galloping full tilt towards him!

But of course the animals came only up to the fence, where they stopped so abruptly the young doctor jumped and uttered another small curse.  He was a city boy and not used to animals like this! The horses seemed to be laughing at him, and he turned to look down the dirt road.  "Right," he said, "I guess I'm walkin'."

He hadn't gone very far before he spotted a huge English style manor house, with a nearby barn. A muffled curse came from inside the barn, followed by some laughter.

"Stop laughing and help me up, Sam," said a deep, English-accented voice.  He sounded only slightly annoyed, and when the other occupant of the barn - another Englishman from the sound of iit - said something Jack could not understand, the first man scolded him with amusement in his tone.  Curious, Jack went to the barn door and peeped in.

What he saw was one man, a blond, holding a rather large mare, and the other one with his arm up inside of her. "It's a normal presentation, Sam," the one said. "She is just taking her own sweet time about having this foal."

"Otherwise she's healthy?" asked Sam Grey.  "She's one of my best lasses, Tom.  Wouldn' want her tae take poorly.  Besides, Charity would have my vitals in a sling!"

 "She is fine. Not unusual for mares to go even a month over their due dates," he said as he turned to wash his arm in a bucket of soapy water. "Oh, hello!" he called out, seeing the stranger looking at them.

"'Lo," said Jack, unsure what was going on.  "There wouldn't be a hospital around here somewhere. . . hidin' behind that nice big house, maybe?"

Sam Grey laughed. "No tha’ I ken of," he said with a grin as he slipped the halter off the mare. "Sam Grey's the name. This here is the vet, Tom Kirby."

"Nice to meet you," said Tom offering his hand.  Jack looked from it to the soap he'd used, reminding them all where that hand had just been.  But he took it anyway and they shook.  "Just arrived in Edan?"

"Jack.  Jack Stewart.  Doctor."  He shook his head.  "And yes, I guess I did just arrive.  Where the hell is Edan?"

Tom shrugged. "Edan is where we are. In short, you aren't on Earth anymore."

Jack's face turned white. "Yah look like ye can use a drink," Sam said. "Come on inside. The girls will want tah meet yah, anyways."

Jack nodded, still stunned, and went with them to the house.  On the way, Tom and Grey explained what had happened to them all.  "I assume you are a medical doctor?" asked Tom.  "We can use any kind of doctor, human or animal."

Jack nodded, his spirits lifting somewhat as they walked into the house where two beautiful, dark haired young women were chasing toddlers around. 

"Well," said the young medic, "the scenery is sure nice here."

"Aye," Sam chuckled. "It is. The one chasing the twins is me woman, Charity. Michaela and Samantha are our bairns."

"And that lovely lady is Wyoming," said Tom.  "She's my partner in everything, work and home.  The little guy trying to crawl away is my son, Noah.  Named after my father."

Sam ducked down to catch a speeding little girl. They had just recently started walking, and a short time later, they learned to run! "Thanks, Sam!" Charity said, the other squealing little girl held in a football hold on one side as she smiled at Jack. "Hi! You must be new! Did you just get here?"

"Just this minute.  I can tell you've been here a little longer.  How old are they? Just about a year?"

"Almost, they will be next month!" Charity said. When Tom mentioned that their visitor was a medical doctor, she looked at him quizzically. "You wouldn't by any chance be a pediatrician or an OB/Gyn, would you?"

"That's not my specialty, but I can do it if there's a need," said Jack.

"Our doctors are spread thin," Tom explained as Sam served them both a drink. "We do have a skilled midwife, but with all the babies coming, plus her being pregnant again herself, a new doctor will come in very handy!"

"Well, I'm always ready to help.  But you said there wasn't any hospital.  Where would I work?  Throw out a shingle?"

"We have a clinic in town," Wyoming explained. "If Tom is done, we can take you in to meet the others there if you like."

"Yes, ma'am," said Jack, "I would like that a lot."

Tom scooped up his son and gave him a hug before handing him to his mother. "Wy, Sam and I can run him in. You can stay here and continue with your visit with Charity. You girls don't get to see each other too much anymore!"

That seemed a good suggestion, especially since having men around limited the conversation on certain subjects.  Like men!  So the women agreed, and the men went outside to choose mounts.  Jack was not too sure about riding into town, but he had to get used to it now!

He didn't want to admit he had never been on a horse before, but it soon became very obvious. Sam held the horse while Tom managed to get the newcomer on top. It was a good thing they didn't have far to go!

And they went slowly.  The horse itself was very well bred, and all he had to do was stay on it!  That was hard enough!

He couldn't believe they didn't have cars in this place! In fact, the town itself looked like it had come straight out one of those old Western movies!

"Well, this is cool," he said as he looked around. But then he stopped. "Wait.  Does this mean the medicine is from the 19th century?"

"Yes and no," Tom answered as they dismounted in front of the clinic. "You will see."

Inside, Ancelin was changing Nightingale, while Shepherd puttered around the lab area of the clinic.  There were no patients, so both Helm and Alex Taylor had gone home for lunch.

He heard the bell that was attached to the front door, and stuck his head out of the lab to see who it was. To his surprise, it was the two of the men that he had been really wanting to see!

"Gentlemen!" said Shepherd.  "I was wondering how to approach you, and here you are, coming to me.  May we have a word or two?"  He had not noticed the stranger yet.

"Sure," Tom said. "But we brought you someone that we thought you should meet!"

That was when Shepherd noticed the new doctor.  And he was so obviously a physician because he was wearing a lab coat! 

"Welcome," said Shepherd.  "We can use you here.  You wouldn't know much about genetics, would you?"  As he said this, he looked at Grey and Kirby meaningfully.

"Some," Jack said. "But mostly I do General Practice. I was about to leave Community General and open my own clinic in Colorado. Always did want to learn to ski!"

"Well you might visit Camelot," said Shepherd, "but we need you here so don't go moving up there!  They have two of our best already."  They too shook hands.  As Shepherd offered the men seats at a large table, which was used when all the staff dined together or had consults, Ancelin came in to see the newcomer.  Jack was again impressed with the women in his new home!  Ancelin looked away quickly, almost shyly, which seemed to mean she had found him attractive, as well. Shepherd saw the look and became quiet and thoughtful for a moment, until Tom Kirby called him back to reality.

"You said you wanted to speak with us?" Tom asked. He had a feeling what it was about, but he wanted Shepherd to explain it.

"Yes, I . . . I was wondering when you thought your women would be ready to have more children, and if soon, have they given any idea to fathers?"

Tom exchanged looks with Sam, who looked a little unhappy. "We have had a lot of new people come. Is it still necessary?" the Vet asked.

"Have they come with children?" Shepherd asked.  "All modesty aside, Tom, but our kind seem to be more  . . . lucky than others.  I've been keeping count and unless we mix things up a little, we're going to be in big trouble in a few generations.  Our DNA will be everywhere!  Our kids have to have someone to marry, Tom!"

"Wy and I have talked about it," Tom admitted. "Since she has Native blood, she thinks she should have a child by one of the men at the camp. Might not be a bad idea for Charity either!"

"It might not, at that," agreed Shepherd.  "They would be inclined to interbreed if let alone; I'll have to keep on top of things there.  We can't just leave it to the first of our children to diversify!  It will take several years of having children to assure a wide enough gene pool!"

"This is our third year here," Ancelin pointed out.  "We're really doing quite well."

"Chari' be takin' some tea tah keep her from gettin' a bun in the oven right now," Sam said. "But I dinna wa' her to go and live with some other bloke. She and the bairns belong with me!"

"I am not talking wife swapping here, Sam.  A controlled event . . . I could even artificially inseminate, though the risks are high."

"Why high?" asked Jack, who was trying not to be alarmed at the conversation.  "The primitive conditions?"

"No," Shepherd shook his head.  "There are other controls here, besides herbal tea.  People get pregnant, or do *not*, depending on a master plan we cannot hope to understand!  Ancelin says her father does not want too much... tampering... with the natural order of things, and he might just prevent AI's from taking."

Tom frowned for a moment. "I wonder if that will apply to the livestock too," he mumbled, then turned his attention back to the subject at hand. "Anyway, what we need is some way to tell if a woman is fertile. That way she could control who the father is."

"I can tell ovulation," Shepherd said.  "Always could.  Of course, with fae, they regulate it themselves, or He does.  When Ancy wants her next one, she'll just have to sleep with the man once."

"Will I ha' tah stop bein' with me woman till she takes then?" Sam asked.

"I'll do my best to pinpoint her cycle, Sam.  That's the best I can do.  Of course, you can refuse to participate."

Sam shrugged. "Charity explained it to me. It wa' be like havin' all the horses sired by only one of two stallions. Has tah be done!"

"For the benefit of the population," Kirby agreed.  “Unfortunately, we have to think of ourselves as breeding stock.  At least until we are established.  It would not be so bad, if we did not look alike. Or so many of us do!"  He turned to Jack.  "I must say that makes you very welcome here!"

The new doctor seemed a little confused about why there was so much concern about having different *types* of fathers, until Alex Taylor and Robert Helm came back into the clinic!

It was bad enough that Shepherd and Kirby looked like identical twins, but four of them?

Jack stared for a minute. "Just how many of you are there?" he asked.

"Plenty.  And a few that look like Sam, here.  And we all share the exact same DNA.  It's like my child, and his," Shepherd pointed to Kirby, "are sister and brother."

"That's not good," Jack said, shaking his head. "Are there any that look like me?"

"Nope!" grinned Kirby.  "Which is why you are quite welcome here!"

"Well, we better get back to Sam's farm," Tom said, rising to his feet. "I'm sure you will take good care of our new friend here." But before anything else could be said, the bell of the front door rang again, and in walked another man wearing a lab coat. Only this one was holding the hand of a young boy!

"Excuse me," he said, "did you see a hospital around anywhere?" 

Jack couldn't help but laugh. "I lost one too! My name is Jack Stewart."

"Neal Kassell.  And this," the new man said, introducing the bald-headed boy, "is Craig Shergold.  I had just finished having one last look at him prior to him going home after his successful cancer surgery and was taking him to see his parents and we ended up here!"