Unexpectedly, his viewscreen began to brighten, gradually clearing up as Commander back at base worked his magic. Slowly, Hunter made out the form of his wife as she reclined in the birthing tub. Devorah Perlakian was in the tub with her, sitting between Star’s spread legs. Both of them were shoulder-deep in the warm, swirling waters.
He stared at his wife’s face. At the paleness, the pinched expression. She was in pain, and it reflected in her deep violet eyes. Her long, thick, black hair was pinned on top of her head, and she rested her neck on the small pillowed rim of the tub.
Morning Fire stood outside the tub, near StarLight. Had he been there, it was where he would have been, supporting his wife. Hunter watched as the petite woman dabbed Star’s forehead and cheeks with a towel.
From his angle, he had a good view of the top of the tub. Bubbles bounced across the top of Star’s breasts, hiding them and the drama going on underwater. Doctor Perlakian, on the other hand, was still in her medical jumpsuit, which now clung wetly to her.
Star suddenly clenched her teeth, and her face contorted with agony. Her fingers gripped the sides of the tub so hard, Hunter wondered if she would leave impressions.
“Come on, Star. You’re doing good. It won’t be long now,” the doctor soothingly remarked.
“Oh, gods, I never thought it would hurt like this!” Star cast a scathing glance at the monitor hanging from the ceiling. “All I can see is your helmet.”
“The trawler has no life support,” he explained. “This communication is jury rigged. I can’t promise it’ll hold.”
“I wish you were here!” Her surly mood had vanished, leaving her weak with longing. Hunter automatically tried to reach out to her, when he realized he was the only person seeing this miracle occur. Unfortunately, the same didn’t go for his speaker. Although no one else could hear what was coming from Guardian Command, they could definitely hear his replies.
He swallowed noisily. Should he try to keep face with Sender and the crew? Or dismiss them and concentrate solely on the woman he loved more than life itself, and their child they had prayed would survive?
It was a decision made without reservation.
“Doctor Perlakian, how far along is she?”
“Her water broke approximately…” The physician glanced at a timepiece off-camera. “Two hours ago. She went into labor less than a quarter hour later. At this precise moment she’s fully dilated, and her pains are coming less than two minutes apart. Breathe, Star. Keep the oxygen flowing to the baby.”
Hunter felt his nose tickle. He was on the verge of shedding tears, and there wasn’t any damn way he could wipe his face or nose. Sniffing, he pressed a hand to his throat, feeling the HeartCrystal where it lay in the hollow of his throat, and pleaded with the stone.
Emma, please send her my love.
A tiny chirped response echoed in his head. Hunter watched the screen as he mentally ticked off the seconds in the back of his mind.
Star cried out again, this time arching her back. It was then Hunter noticed she wasn’t so much clutching the rim of the tub as she was gripping it because her wrists were restrained in wide, flesh-colored cuffs.
“Come on, Terrin. Push. Push. I can feel the baby’s head. Time to push, Terrin!” the doctor urged.
Star gritted her teeth, her eyes focusing on Hunter’s image on the small monitor. She grunted, panting for air between efforts. Her hands released the tub rim and balled into fists.
“Push, Terrin! We have shoulders!”
Fire knelt by the tub and took one of Star’s hands in hers. Hunter watched as the woman placed a kiss on his wife’s temple, and a surge of jealousy streaked through him. The emotion was as unexpected as it was strange. Jealousy had never been part of his makeup. Yet, at this beautiful moment, if he could, he would have risked anything to be with Star.
The physician suddenly shifted, and she gave a little cry of joy. Raising her arms, she lifted the newborn infant from the waters and into the air. The umbilical cord stretched from the baby, down under the water’s surface.
“Congratulations, Udo, Terrin! You have a daughter! Fire, bring me a towel. Quickly!”
Morning Fire got to her feet and hurried off-screen to fetch the towel. Hunter kept his eyes on the tiny child now shivering in Perlakian’s hands. Deftly, the physician flipped the baby onto its stomach on the towel, and briskly began rubbing its back with the material. A thin wail drifted through the connection.
“Oh, come on, little one! You can do better than that!” Perlakian gently admonished.
In the next instant, a more lusty yell filled the room, and Hunter saw Star weakly grin. Fire released the straps holding Star’s wrists, and his wife reached up to take the baby, which she brought back into the tub. Letting the warm waters surround the infant as she placed the newborn on her chest, under her chin.
Hunter saw Star’s reaction the same moment a light twinkled at her throat. Star touched the crystal with her fingertips, and the look she cast up at the monitor was filled with love.
“Emma, tell your father we have been blessed.”
“Do you have a name yet for the child?” Perlakian inquired.
“Callaura,” Hunter answered in unison with Star.
A series of four musical notes sounded. Surprised, Hunter realized the HeartCrystal had chirped simultaneously at his throat and at his wife’s. The four notes came again, and this time he could almost swear he heard the word Call-lee-lah-rah.
No, Emma. Callaura. Not Callielaura.
But the crystal remained insistent, chirping the short motif a third time. Hunter smiled to himself.
He leaned back in his seat. He was exhausted, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the mother and child lightly dozing in the birthing tub.
Hunter frowned. Why was the water taking on a reddish tinge? In fact, the color appeared to be getting stronger. Redder. Darker. It took him another moment before the truth slammed into him. Rising to his feet, he leaned over the comm board and yelled, “Doctor Perlakian! There’s blood in the water! Look at the blood in the water! She’s bleeding out! Star’s bleeding out!”
Chapter Six
Miracle
“Doctor Perlakian!”
“Shhh! Calm down, Hunter.” The physician gave him a warm smile. She rose from the tub as she wiped herself down with the towel she’d used to clean Callaura. She was too damn calm about the situation, and Hunter protested.
“Don’t you see the blood?”
“It’s the afterbirth, Hunter. Star’s fine. Tired, but fine. Fire, is the bed ready?”
“Udo.”
Star’s weary voice diverted his attention. His eyes locked onto the mother and child still in the tub. This time he could see the water level slowly lowering.
“Star, I’m sorry I couldn’t be there.”
“It’s all right, my love,” she sleepily told him. Hunter watched as she nuzzled the infant sleeping on her chest. “Look, Udo. She has your hair.”
She did. A mat of short brown curls. Unfortunately, the baby’s face was turned away from him, depriving him of his first glimpse. Regardless, the warmth of love swelled inside him as he watched the tiny rise and fall of the miniature back. The incredibly tiny hand moved slightly where it rested on Star’s breast. Their daughter.
My daughter.
I’m a father.
It was difficult to grasp this truth at the moment. The full impact had yet to hit him. Life would no longer be the same as it had been. First, he’d had to adjust to sharing his heart with Star. Now, together, they would share their combined love with the child they’d created. He could feel his mouth spreading into a wide smile.
“Terrin.”
“She needs to rest,” Devorah whispered. “It’s time to close the connection, Hunter.”
“How long will they need to stay in the clinic?”
The physician and Morning Fire lifted Star from the tub. Fire took the baby while Perlakian helped the exhausted mother onto the stasis
bed. Once a blanket was placed over Star, the doctor gathered the newborn into her arms to transfer the infant to the incubator she’d had Commander build.
“Unless there are complications, they’ll be released tomorrow, but I don’t foresee any problems,” the doctor replied. Having made sure the baby was tucked in, she looked up at the monitor. “Before I send Star and the baby home, I’ll need to run a series of tests on Callaura.”
“What kind of tests?”
“The usual. I promise they’re non-evasive. A basic map of her DNA, among other things. Don’t worry, Hunter. We’re fine here. It was a nice, uncomplicated birth, for which I’m grateful.” Perlakian gave a breathy laugh.
“Something funny?”
“Well, considering how most of the time nothing about the Guardians is ever uncomplicated and normal.”
Hunter chuckled. “I get the picture.”
Nodding, the doctor resumed her usual stern self. “You’re the one who has to be careful. Make sure you don’t take another detour through a wormhole on your way home.” She added a wink to her remark, then reached for something off-camera.
The monitor went dark.
He sat back, feeling drained. Bowing his head, Hunter tried to calm himself. Think about the mission. Concentrate on completing the mission. Stay safe, take precautions, and I’ll soon be able to hold my daughter in my arms.
A hand pressed down on his shoulder. Glancing up, he saw Sender’s hopeful smile. “Well?” the young woman asked.
“It’s a girl. We named her Callaura.”
“Congratulations!” Wooly exclaimed. “Uhh, if you don’t mind giving me back my seat, I’ll resume keeping an eye on that storm. But first…” Reaching over, he jerked the connector from Hunter’s helmet.
After taking another moment to collect himself, Hunter released the chair. For the first time in his life, he wished he hadn’t taken the mission. He wished he’d requested permission to be replaced. He wanted to be with Star and the baby. But how was he to know Star would give birth during his absence? The irony was too funny. We might as well resign ourselves to the fact that our lives will never be ordinary, he admitted to himself. Best to do the job he’d dedicated his life to do, and then he could enjoy the reward of going home.
He turned to Wooly. “Let me know when you see it start to lessen. I need a window of less than five hundred urgs before I can return us to our ship. At least sixty seconds’ worth, if you can manage it.”
The little man nodded in reply, a look of determination evident on his face.
Sender was near the doorway, waiting for him. Giving her a little wave of his hand, Hunter said, “Let’s get back to the survivors. I want to be ready the instant Wooly tells us we have a window.” He paused slightly, then added. “I need to get home to see my family.”
*
The little incubator floated an arm’s length from her bed. Star gazed at the tiny life sleeping within the warm confines of the transparent container.
Except for her hair, she looks like me, she noted silently. Wonder what color her eyes are.
“You should be sleeping,” a voice whispered behind her.
“I will. I just want to…” She yawned. Devorah finished her thought for her.
“You want the last thing you see before you drift off is to be the sight of your daughter.”
A smile lifted the corners of her lips. “I’m still in wonder at her. She’s our miracle, Dev. She’s something I never believed would happen, especially after we lost Emma.”
The crystal in her throat vibrated slightly at the mention of her name. She and Hunter had come to terms with the fact that the first child she’d carried and lost in the Ombitra attack had somehow, miraculously, been reincarnated into the HeartCrystal. A crystal that was forever adhered to their bodies and connected to them in ways they couldn’t explain. Star kissed the tip of a forefinger, then pressed it to the stone.
“Well, enjoy this moment while you can, Terrin.”
The hint of amusement in the physician’s voice made Star turn her head to look at her. “Oh?”
“You and Hunter are no longer a couple. You’re a family. No more abandoning Command for indiscreet meetings between the sheets. No more impromptu secret rendezvous to make love. What? Did you think the rest of us didn’t know what was going on whenever the two of you disappeared into thin air, only to be gone for a good ten minutes before returning all out of breath and flushed?”
Star felt her cheeks warming. The doctor waved it off with a light laugh.
“We didn’t know we were that obvious,” Star murmured.
“We all just took it in stride. After all, you were the only married Guardians in the group.” The emphasis was obvious.
Star smiled. “By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask, if you don’t mind. Why didn’t you and Commander take a longer honeymoon than three days? Heaven knows you’d earned it after…their disappearance.”
Perlakian had the grace to blush. “We wanted to, but so much was going on. We knew our services were needed back here at Command.”
“That’s a crap statement and you know it,” Star half-teased. “Speaking of, what about that time the other day when we needed Commander on deck to look over a relay switching problem and he was nowhere to be found? I’d be willing to bet there was a little extracurricular activity going on behind the clinic.” This time she got to see the doctor’s eyes sparkle as the woman tried to smother a smile. “Uh-huh. And you have the nerve to get after me and Udo.”
Clearing her throat, Devorah did her best to resume her professional persona. “Well, if we’re finished with this little talk, it’s my medical recommendation that you get some rest. As soon as I run a few tests on Callaura tomorrow morning, I’ll be releasing you two.”
She started to walk away when Star grabbed her arm, forcing the woman to glance back.
“Dev, you know you’ve become invaluable to us, don’t you? For all you’ve done, for all you do, I want to thank you.”
Perlakian’s face softened. “You’re welcome, but I haven’t done anything more than what a good doctor would do.”
“There you go, talking crap nonsense again. You saved my dignity at the hospital when those other doctors were trying to degrade me in front of others. You risked your professional status because you stood up for what you felt was the right thing to do. What’s more, you’ve given us all here a sense of relief.”
“Relief? How?”
“In the past, we’ve always had to go off-site for any sort of medical attention that couldn’t be handled by the emergency techs. It wasn’t just uncomfortable to be away from the safety and protection of our fellow Guardians. It was nerve-wracking. You being here with us, as one of us, has been a blessing. I hope you know that.”
Perlakian nodded and sniffed. This time tears sparkled in her eyes. Patting Star’s hand, she pulled it from her sleeve and placed it on the bed.
“I haven’t said as much to the rest of you, but I’ve admitted to Paol how being a part of Guardian Command has saved my life, mentally and physically. So the miracle extends both ways, Terrin. We need each other, and together we’ve become stronger and more resilient because of our working partnership.”
“And friendship,” Star added.
“Yeah. And our friendships.” The woman nodded, and a tear coursed down one cheek. “Rest now. You’ll want to be strong enough tomorrow to be able to take care of your new daughter while we wait for Hunter and the others to return.”
Nodding, Star rolled onto her side, facing the incubator. She was asleep before the doctor left the clinic.
Chapter Seven
Requests
A hand shook his shoulder. Hunter was instantly awake. He glanced up to see the crewman named Golgrith standing over him.
“Wooly says to tell you there’s a break coming,” the man told him.
Getting quickly to his feet, Hunter paused for a moment as a stab of pain shot through him. Admit it, Udo. You’re getting
to the point where sleeping sitting up is no longer an option.
He hurried into the makeshift comm room where Wooly sat hunched over the board. It was obvious the man had been manning the console this whole time. Signs of extreme weariness were etched in every line of the little man’s face and body.
“I’m here,” Hunter announced.
Wooly jerked slightly. “Oh. Good. Listen. There’s a break coming in…” He checked his readouts. “Seventy-two seconds. Urgs will drop below four hundred, but for only thirty-eight seconds.” He looked at Hunter. “Can you use it?”
“I’ll take it. Contact Transport Three and let Challenger know I’m on my way. Give me a five second countdown.” Quickly, Hunter strode back into the cabin where the others were already rousing. “Toreedus! Everyone, listen carefully.” Striding over to where the critically injured man lay comatose, he gathered the crew member in his arms. Holding the man tightly against his chest, he took his place inside the small circle he’d drawn on the floor earlier and faced the others.
“There will be slight arch going up to the ship. Once I exit the storm, it’ll take me a moment to locate the ship, so don’t be rattled if you feel like you’re zooming off into nowhere when Sender sends you after me. Sender, it’s your game.”
Wooly’s voice broke into their helmets. “Clearing is approaching in five…four…three…two…one. Open!”
Throwing his shield around himself and the unconscious man, Hunter burst through the ship and out into the atmosphereless void of the moon’s surface. He hurried into the storm, aware of the itchy sensation crawling under his skin as the ion storm buffeted his protective sphere.
Once clear, he spotted Three on the horizon, moving quickly toward him. He was within the ship a heartbeat later.
Inside, he handed the injured crewman to Challenger. “Put him on a stretcher in the galley. Then stay away from this spot. Sender will be transporting the rest of the lot aboard.” Challenger nodded and carried the man to the rear of the ship.
Hunter moved away from where he’d appeared and took off his helmet. Knowing how Sender worked, there wouldn’t be enough time to shuck his suit, even if he wanted to.
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