Reborn

by Orrin Jason Bradford

  That should be close enough, Aeo thought as the container teetered on the brink of falling over before it finally righted itself. Having already selected the healthiest pupa, Aeo now checked to be sure it had not been damaged by the impact of the bear. The pupal stage was when FreeForm was the most vulnerable. Once it was inside the surrogate, it would be much better protected as it slowly adapted itself to conditions of this planet.

  All that was left was to awaken the pupa so it could travel from the container into the bear. FreeForm pupae crawled notoriously slow, which was why Aeo had wanted the bear as close to the container as possible. Aeo opened the domed lid of the container, counted around to the fourth compartment, and flipped its lid. As it did so, it heard the slight "wheeze" sound as a tiny cloud of smoke escaped. Aeo waited for the pupa to awaken. Finally, the short wormlike pupa crawled out of its compartment and headed towards the bear. It would take most of the day for it to make its way from the container, onto the bear's furry body and eventually into its vulva; a journey that was instinctual and without the need of the AI's interference. Its job at this point was to keep the pupa and its surrogate safe, so Aeo redirected most of its energy away from the miracle of life happening nearby and to the outer perimeter of the cave. That's when it picked up the distant womp-womp sound of the helicopter for the first time.

  Diagnosis

  1

  After the bartender returned with his drink, James spun his chair around and watched a couple of young ladies playing a game of darts. Funny, he didn’t remember there being a dartboard before, but then again a lot could change in four years—a whole lot. Take his life for instance.

  Four years ago, he'd discovered the Suds and Duds, and considered it a safe haven to get away from his regular life. A week after finding it, his wife, Jenny, came home from a routine pregnancy exam with a worried look on her face.

  “When I told the P.A. I felt much more tired this time around, she suggested running a few blood tests. I know money is tight right now, but I thought…”

  “No, of course, it's okay," James interrupted, taking her hand and guiding her to the living room. "You let me worry about the money. Your job is to take good care of yourself and the baby."

  Jenny's worried look relaxed a bit. "I was hoping you'd say that. You know I have my egg money we can use if need be." Jenny had her own little business keeping a couple dozen laying hens, which provided her with a bit of mad money that she seldom used except for emergencies.

  “We’ll deal with that later,” James replied, sitting down beside her on the worn out couch they’d inherited from Jenny’s parents. “What did the tests show?”

  “They had to send the blood out for some of the tests, but they were able to run a few in-house. The P.A. says I'm anemic, more than to be expected just from the pregnancy."

  “You have looked a little pale lately,” James added. “That would also explain the tiredness. Did she say what the cause of the anemia was?”

  Jenny shook her head. “No, but she’s hoping the other blood tests will.” She leaned back on the couch and pulled James towards her so she could put her head on his shoulder. “It was foolish for me to want a second child. I should have listened to you when you told me that we already had a perfect little girl.”

  “Hush that kind of talking," James replied as he gently stroked her auburn hair. "No point in second-guessing the decision. If we created one perfect child, we can create a second one just as easily."

  But what if there was something wrong with this baby? He'd heard horror stories from some of his friends about babies born with Down's Syndrome and other malformations that had led to thousands of dollars of medical expenses. Thousands of dollars they didn't have. We’ll cross that bridge if we come to it, James reminded himself. Besides, anemic pregnant ladies weren’t all that uncommon. It would probably end up being nothing at all. They could probably handle the anemia with some vitamins, or iron, or something.

  But it hadn't been nothing, nor was it something that could be handled with a few vitamins. The blood tests came back a few days later, which prompted Jenny's doctor to ask for a few more tests, then an x-ray and later an MRI. By the time it was all over, the medical bills were in the thousands of dollars, and that was just the beginning of the nightmare. The diagnosis was confirmed. Pregnant Jenny had cervical cancer.

  2

  Kendra wondered why it always seemed to take twice as long to put Christmas decorations away as it did to put them up in the first place. She stuffed the garland into the plastic storage container and popped the top on it. Here it was mid-January already, and she was just now getting around to undecorating Dr. Pritchard's home. Fortunately, he had been good about not nagging her. In fact, Kendra wondered if he had even noticed the decorations. He seemed to have so much on his mind lately since Pat left.

  The one thing that he had done to be commended for was to help Kendra prepare for TJ's homeschooling by upgrading the internet connection to broadband. Kendra didn't exactly understand what that meant except that now when TJ and she went on to the internet, it was much faster and no longer required dialing up to service. The improvement had been one of the reasons she decided to break one of Allan's cardinal rules by inviting Mimi to drop by for a visit. She just had to show off the new internet service. Besides, she knew she could trust her best friend to keep her secret about TJ. Hadn't they shared everything over the years? It had felt wrong to keep TJ from Mimi, and it felt very freeing when she finally included her. Now it was time for the two of them to meet.

  She had been hinting to Allan that she could use someone to assist her with TJ's education as a way of preparing him for Mimi, but the timing hadn’t been right yet to break the news to him. She had finished stacking the boxes of Christmas decorations next to the door when she heard a light tapping. She peeked through the window next to the door and saw Mimi waiting on the porch. She opened the door and welcomed her friend inside.

  “So this is where you spend all your time these days," Mimi said as she took off her coat and scarf and gazed around at the warm, rustic setting of the log home."Not bad, not bad at all."

  “Here, let me take those," Kendra said as she took Mimi's coat and scarf and hung them up next to her own by the door. "Come on in. I have someone I want you to meet.”

  As the two girls strolled into the great room, Mimi continued to gaze around at her surroundings. She whistled softly. “I may have to reconsider my career as a journalist and become a veterinarian instead. They seem to do pretty well."

  "Sure, if you don't mind seven or eight years of college," Kendra replied.

  “Nix on that,” Mimi said.

  "TJ, would you come in here, please? I have someone I want you to meet!" Kendra called out. She continued to show Mimi around by taking her into the kitchen and pointing out where the bedrooms were before returning to the great room, but there was still no sign of TJ.

  "That little rascal,” Kendra said. “He gets on the computer and forgets the rest of the world exists. Let's go into the study. I want to show you the nifty computer system Dr. Pritchard has that TJ and I get to use."

  As they walked into Allan's office, they saw TJ sitting on a booster seat. Allan had bought it for him over Christmas to make it easier for him to reach the computer.

  "Didn't you hear me calling you?" Kendra asked, but there was no irritation in her voice. After all, how could you get angry at a little boy who had such passion for learning?

  "I'm sorry," TJ replied, finally looking up from the computer screen. "I was reading about birds and how they came from dinosaurs."

  “Reading?" Mimi asked. “How old is he?"

  “He doesn't mean he's actually reading," Kendra replied, sidestepping Mimi's question. “He means he's been looking at the pictures of birds and dinosaurs." Although she couldn't figure out how TJ could've come to that conclusion just from a few pictures.

  “No," TJ corrected her. “I don't understand all the words yet, but enough to understand wh
at they mean."

  “Really?" the two girls said at the same time with matching looks of astonishment.

  “Sorry. I forget my manners," Kendra said. "TJ, I'd like you to meet my best friend, Mimi Rawlins. Mimi, this is TJ; the smartest little boy in the whole wide world."

  Schooling

  TJ climbed down from the booster seat and walked over to Mimi. Holding out his hand as he had been taught, he said, “It is good to meet you, Mimi.” He hoped the irritation he felt for having to leave his research wasn’t conveyed in the tone of his voice. Besides, if Mimi was a friend of Kendra, then perhaps she would become one of his friends as well.

  After a moment of hesitation, Mimi bent down and shook TJ’s hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you as well. I’ve heard many good things about you from Kendra.”

  “In that case, I'm sure it was all true," TJ replied.

  Kendra and Mimi both laughed at the comment even though TJ had not intended it to be funny; he was merely trying to convey how much he trusted Kendra to tell the truth.

  Still chuckling, Mimi turned to Kendra. “You didn’t tell me that TJ was modest as well.”

  “That's just one of the special qualities you'll learn about my little man if you hang around enough, which I hope you will," Kendra replied. "You see, Dr. Pritchard has decided it would be best for TJ to be homeschooled, and he has asked me to help. I'm excited about doing so, but I also have to be sure my own grades don't slip. I thought together, we could do a much better job. As you can see, TJ is very smart and learns quickly. What do you say?"

  “That sounds like it would be a lot of fun. I would not only be helping TJ but also helping my best friend. Would it be okay if I use the computer sometimes for my own research? It could sure help out with some of the writing assignments in my journalism class."

  “Sure,” Kendra replied.

  “I have one question though,” Mimi said. “Why did Dr. Pritchard decide to homeschool TJ?”

  TJ watched Kendra as she took a deep breath and slowly let it out before she answered her friend.

  “What I’m about to tell you has got to remain a secret between you and me. You have to promise on a stack of Bibles that under no circumstances will you tell anyone, and that includes not putting it in the school newspaper. Do you promise?”

  “Sure, I guess,” Mimi replied with a puzzled look on her face.

  “No guessing. I need a sure, no kidding, promise to never tell anyone or write about what I’m about to tell you.”

  “Okay, okay! I promise on a stack of Bibles that reaches up to the ceiling that I will not tell anyone what you are about to tell me nor will I write about it.”

  What in the world is Kendra about to tell her, TJ wondered? It sounded like it had something to do with him, but he couldn’t think what it could be that would be that big of a secret.

  “I don’t know exactly what is going on with TJ either,” Kendra started. “I do know TJ is growing at an incredible rate. I’ve done some research on the internet, and found a few rare conditions that can cause rapid growth in children, but not nearly to the degree which it is occurring in TJ.”

  “Really?" Mimi said in an astonished voice. Suddenly she was staring at him like he was some rare bug, and he didn't like it at all. TJ took a step back and glanced at Kendra for help, but evidently, Kendra had not noticed the change in her friend.

  “So, how fast are you growing? How old are you really? What does it feel like to be growing so fast? Does that mean you're always hungry? Do you have any idea…"

  Mimi started shooting questions at TJ rapid fire, causing him to take a step back and then a second one, finally holding up one hand.

  “Down, girl, down," Kendra said as she stepped between Mimi and TJ, her hackles suddenly raised like a mother bear. "I need you to take off your journalism hat and just be my friend. Can you do that?"

  “Sure, I guess,” Mimi replied. “It’s just that I’m so fascinated by what you just told me. Are you sure I can’t write about it if I left both of your names out of it?”

  “Definitely not!” Kendra shouted. “I’m beginning to regret telling you TJ’s secret. In fact, I’m beginning to regret inviting you over here at all.”

  That’s telling her, TJ thought, but then noticed the hurt look on Mimi’s face. Suddenly, he felt sorry for her, despite how she had just acted. “It’s okay, Kendra. I’m sure she didn’t mean anything by it.”

  “He's right," Mimi said. "I'm sorry, really I am. You know how excited I get when I hear about the strange or unusual. The weirder, the better, that's my motto."

  Strange? Unusual? Weird? Is she talking about me, TJ wondered? Suddenly he didn’t feel sorry for her after all.

  “There you go again,” Kendra said. “There’s nothing strange, unusual, or weird about TJ. Okay, maybe a little unusual. I prefer to think that he has unique qualities that make him who he is.”

  Mimi stared first at her friend, then at TJ, and back to Kendra again. “Okay,” she said slowly. “I really do want to help the two of you, and I appreciate you sharing this secret with me. I want you to know you can trust me with it.” She turned back to TJ.

  “I apologize if what I said hurt you in any way. It was certainly not my intention. People in these parts have considered me strange, unusual, and weird most of my life. I think I’ve actually grown to enjoy it. After all, being normal can be awfully boring.”

  “Well, normal and boring are two things we don't have to worry about around here," Kendra said with a laugh. "There is very little that is normal, and it's never boring."

  “Sounds like the perfect place to me.” Mimi laughed as well. “Maybe we should start over.” She turned and held out her hand to TJ. “Hi, my name is Mimi Rawlins. It’s my pleasure to be your new assistant homeschool teacher, and I hope your new and trusted friend as well.”

  TJ hesitated for a moment and then held out his hand to shake hers. There was something about the conversation that still troubled him. Was it okay to be strange, unusual, or even weird? He had to admit the idea of being normal felt appealing to him. As long as he could remember, he had always felt out of place and like he didn’t belong. Even here at home, there were times he felt different from everyone else. That was particularly true whenever Pat was around, and especially when he heard Pat and his dad arguing. He’d have to give this some more thought. Maybe he could find some answers on the internet.

  High Alert

  1

  The womp-womp sound of the human’s aircraft slowly faded away, but Aeo stayed on high alert. That had been the third time in less than a week it had detected a helicopter flying over the area. While a second smaller snowstorm had delayed a full out search, it was now time to relocate before one of the human aircrafts landed and complicated matters considerably.

  The growth of the FreeForm pupa had progressed well in the past few weeks, and the surrogate bear was beginning to show signs of its growth, both from its extended abdomen, as well as the thinning of its body as the larval form fed off it. The bear had not been well nourished when it found its way to the cave. And there was still the possible complication of it dying from malnutrition before the larva would be ready to be delivered, so relocating to a new and safer place would also be a good time to allow the bear to hunt for food. Aeo searched the consciousness of the bear for a new location and discovered a second cave not too far away.

  Aeo decided to wait until night to make a move. It had been monitoring the phases of the planet's satellite body and knew it would provide sufficient light for the bear while still reducing the chances of it being discovered. Not that a bear walking around at night by itself was likely to draw much attention, but two essential objects would need to be moved as well. Aeo had already calculated that it could manage to carry the all-important cocoon on its back, but it would need the bear to carry the container housing the remaining FreeForm pupae in its mouth.

  After the near accident of the bear almost knocking over the FreeForm pupae container,
Aeo decided it needed to have better control. Once the pupae were safely inside the bear, it had practiced manipulating the bear, and control had improved considerably. Now it was time to move the operation to a new location away from the prying eyes of humans.

  Aeo sprouted six crab-like legs and two arms from its body, picked up the cocoon, balanced it on top of its body, and started making its way to the mouth of the cave. As it did so, it directed the bear to pick up the pupae container and follow behind him.

  Although they had a dangerous journey ahead of them, once it was completed, all that would remain would be to finish growing the larva into a human, implant the fragmented consciousness of Homlin, instill the Primary Directive, and send it on its way; all without being discovered. I can do this, Aeo thought as it stepped into the night.

  2

  Finally, after a crazy couple of weeks, a slow afternoon in the clinic, Allan thought as he glanced at the appointment book, although he wasn't sure whether his receptionist, Donna, had not at least partially fabricated the break. She had been known to do that in the past whenever she detected that her boss was about to collapse. He thought about asking her about the lack of afternoon appointments but then decided against it. Whether Donna had manipulated the schedule or if it had just been a happy accident didn't really matter. The truth was he really did need a break, and so when Donna returned from lunch and made the suggestion that perhaps he would like to slip out early from the clinic, he graciously accepted the invitation.

  Wouldn't Kendra be surprised to see him coming home before 6 o'clock, Allan wondered as he drove down the dirt road leading to his home. Maybe he would pass along the good fortune and let her go home early as well, though he would still pay her for hours. She had become such a blessing in his life. He didn't know how he would have gone about raising TJ without her help. For sure, there would have been no way he could have had TJ homeschooled, and as she had pointed out, sending TJ to regular school was really not an option either.