Dr. Ian Brunner, sworn in, sat in the witness box. Evelyn marveled at the way he had changed. He was still a tall man, with long-fingered, strong hands. The rebel in him, though, was gone. With a receding line of dark brown hair and glasses through which cool eyes gazed, he seemed every bit the im-age of the dedicated man of science. He wore a somber grey suit with a small gold lapel pin in the shape of a caduceus. When he spoke, his voice filled the courtroom with a Los An-geles-softened version of crisp New England diction. An af-fectation, she realized, that he must have cultivated over the years. He gazed at her without emotion. It was another man who sat in the witness stand. Not the Ian she had hurt with her choice so many years ago. Had she done this to him? His face revealed nothing. Has he waited this long for his revenge?
Ron Czernek stepped forward, flashing a feral grin at Johnson. Just try badgering this one, he thought. 'Please state your name.'
'Ian Wilson Brunner, the Third.' His hands, fingers inter-twined, rested comfortably in front of him. Terry stood to say, 'The defense stipulates that Dr. Brunner is qualified as an expert in medical ethics.'
Czernek smiled, then asked Dr. Brunner, 'Are you familiar with the work of Ms. Evelyn Fletcher, formerly a doctor at Bayside University Medical Center?'
'I am familiar with Dr. Fletcher's work through what I have read in the newspapers, from speaking to colleagues, and from reviewing her proposals as an outside consultant, yes.'
'Are you sure you should call her `doctor?''
'Objection!' Johnson said loudly. 'Permission to approach the bench.' Judge Lyang motioned him forward. Czernek followed.
'I move for a mistrial,' Johnson whispered. 'Informing the jury that BMQA pulled her credentials is incredibly prejudi-'
'I said no such thing,' Czernek countered swiftly.
'You were lucky,' Lyang said softly to Czernek, 'that he cut you off when he did, or I would have had grounds to declare a mistrial. Keep calling her `doctor.' They've suspended her privi-leges, they can't revoke her degree.'
Czernek nodded silently, turning back to the witness stand. Johnson smiled at Fletcher as he sat between her and Karen.
'Strike the last question from the record,' Lyang said. 'And proceed.'
'Speaking as an expert in medical ethics,' Czernek resumed, 'do you think Doctor Fletcher behaved ethically in transfer-ring a fetus from the uterus of Valerie Dalton to the uterus of Karen Chandler?'
'I would have to say no.'
Evelyn gazed at him with barely veiled misery. His words were those of an objective expert, but she knew that after so many years he still had not forgiven her.
'Why is that?' Czernek asked.
'What Dr. Fletcher has done is to move into a new medical realm that is so controversial, so loaded with emotion on both sides of the issue, that anyone working legitimately in the field-people with reputations to protect-would never risk their professional lives in something so dangerous not only to the fetus but to both women as well.'
'Both women?' Czernek said, turning toward the jury. 'The defense has maintained that Valerie Dalton received an ordi-nary abortion and suffered no additional risk.'
'Well...' Dr. Brunner unclasped his hands and began using them for emphasis. He spoke at a slow, professorial pace. 'As I understand her technique, the suction device she used had been modified to remove the fetus intact, chorionic membrane and all. To do that without damaging the tissues would require a tube nearly an inch and a half in diameter.' He looked at the female jurors. 'Imagine inserting that past the cervix and you can see the added opportunity for trauma the proce-dure entails. To me, that qualifies as battery.'
The doctor shook his head. 'And the risk to Karen Chandler is unconscionable. She may have volunteered, even pleaded for such an operation to get pregnant, but she had no idea that a transoption had never been performed before, that there was no basis in animal research, no peer review, no approval by any committee of ethics. Nothing. Just one doctor saying, `What the hell, let's give it a try.'' Karen watched the jury during Dr. Brunner's interrogation. They all listened with rapt attention, many taking notes. They would give his testimony great weight. She glanced over at Terry, who took notes at a furious pace, his head hunched over the yellow pad. Dr. Fletcher seemed calm, almost detached. Her part, Karen thought, is over. But we still have to fight for Renata. She clasped David's hand tightly and gazed up at Dr. Brunner.
Czernek stroked at his beard. 'Dr. Brunner, your work in non-surgical ovum transfer has given you a great deal of in-sight into alternative forms of pregnancy. Can you tell the court what ethical or medical value transoption has?'
'It has very little, I'm afraid. As a novelty, it has some value regarding microsurgical technique, but that is no
