by Mark Wandrey
“Holy shit,” Aaron gasped. “The fucking stars exploded?”
“Correct.”
“Were there beings living on the planets in those solar systems?” Minu asked.
“No, all the bases and depots were located in remote uninhabitable star systems. The potential consequences are obvious.”
“I understand,” Minu said.
“Then explain it to me.” Aaron looked from his daughter to his wife, worried and confused.
“The computer on the firebase where we got this ship mentioned it could only activate one ship because power was critical. This explains that. It was risking destroying the sun and, of course, the entire firebase.”
“Correct,” Lilith agreed. “That firebase, as well as all the remaining intact installations, are near unstable stars. Drawing enough power from those taps to activate the available ships could well result in destroying every remaining ship.”
* * *
“We need to bring Pip into this,” Aaron said. His thoughts perfectly echoed Minu’s. For the last few minutes they’d discussed what these developments meant, first to their species, then more specifically to the Chosen. Minu had yet to voice her concern about what Jacob might do with a small fleet of the powerful Kaatan warships. She didn’t want to think about it.
“I agree,” she said with a nod and turned to Lilith. “Please bring Pip up to date and patch him in.”
“Okay,” she said and closed her eyes for a second. Less than a minute later a new screen appeared that showed his face. Like the rest, he was excited and concerned.
“This is amazing,” he said, his eyes somewhat out of focus as his computer-enhanced brain chewed through the data Lilith had sent to him. “The computer interconnectivity alone answers a lot of questions I’ve had for years.”
“I’m sure it does,” Minu broke in, “but what I wanted to consult with you on was the issue of The People’s remaining ships.”
Pip shook his head slightly and looked at her through the display, then nodded. “Yes, I see. This is a difficult situation.” He thought for a moment then shrugged. “We can’t tell Jacob about them.”
Minu silently let out her breath. “That is exactly what I thought.”
Aaron nodded vigorously. “He’d want to make a play for them, regardless of the implications.”
Again, Minu was thankful for her husband and her friend. She hadn’t looked forward to sharing her thoughts and feelings about Jacob, including her suspicion that he might be more than a little unstable.
“Why don’t we go get them ourselves?” Pip suggested, a gleam in his eyes.
“No,” Minu said flatly.
“Why not?”
“I will not be responsible for destroying a star just so we can put some pretty toys in our pockets.”
“The stars may well be destroyed with or without our taking the ships,” Pip reminded her.
“Perhaps. Perhaps not. Maybe not for a hundred thousand years. Either way, keeping them from Jacob to take them ourselves is hypocritical.”
“There are additional concerns with taking the ships,” Lilith interjected. “Without the ability to upload Combat Intelligences and provide biological operators, we would be unable to control the ships. I may well come across a place in the network where Combat Intelligence programs are written or stored, as well as data on how to produce a biological operator, but until then we would be in the same situation with those ships as you were when I was awoken.”
“We managed,” Pip complained.
Lilith turned her withering glare on him, and Pip was forced to look away. “You nearly destroyed the ship trying to get from one area of the galaxy to the other. Properly manned and armed, the Kaatan is the most deadly warship ever deployed. Without those components, it is an expensive shuttle.”
Pip shrugged, and Minu decided to step back in. “For now, we do nothing. Pip, after you are finished investigating the practicality of harnessing the power on Remus, I want you back here on the Kaatan with Lilith, exploring this network. See if you can make more sense out of it. Maybe the two of you can make some headway.” She looked at Pip. “I’m not ruling out going for the ships at some point, just not now. It’s too soon to go rushing off on an ill-conceived mission that might cause any amount of problems, the least of which are pissed off snakes and a schism in the Chosen. For now, we bide our time.”
* * *
Pip signed off after a few more minutes of conversation. They had not decided when to bring Jacob and the Chosen Council in on the existence of the Remus base. They’d also briefly talked about the possibility of using the installation to realign Bellatrix’s orbit around its star. The continued expansion of the star was threatening the planet’s biosphere. Realigning Bellatrix’s orbit was, after all, the purpose of the installation.
But could they do it themselves? The ancient scientists that had run the device were many thousands of generations dead. Minu had seen examples of how Concordian technology could continue functioning almost forever. But was it possible that a machine that moved entire planets still worked a million years after its last use? Pip seemed convinced. She wasn’t so sure.
The most important business completed, she started to leave when Aaron stopped her. She looked at him curiously when he gently placed a hand on her stomach and looked over his shoulder at Lilith who was intently flashing through a few dozen screens of data. “Oh, right,” Minu said, embarrassed that she’d forgotten. “Lilith?”
“Yes, Mother?”
“There is something your father and I need to tell you.” Lilith turned her head to look at them. Aaron’s hand still rested on Minu’s stomach. Lilith cocked her head, some part of her mind understanding. “You are going to be a sister.”
Lilith looked at Minu for almost a solid minute, then at Aaron and back to Minu. Surprise registered on her face.
“How did this happen?” Aaron choked back a laugh, and Lilith’s expression darkened.
Minu said quickly, “Lilith, I know you understand basic biology.”
“Of course, I understand. You and father have had sex and conceived another child.”
Minu couldn’t tell, was the girl blushing? Was she starting to think about such things? A sexually-active Lilith could greatly complicate things. “But I thought you decided not to have more children.”
“We decided when we returned that, at the time, we would not have more children.”
“Now, we have changed our minds,” Aaron finished. “Lilith, this is a natural decision we’ve made. Minu and I are not as young as we once were.”
“How is that material to the case?”
“We wanted to have another child while we were young,” Minu explained.
“Oh, I see.” They both watched her closely. Lilith looked between them, then at her numerous flashing displays. She shook her head and licked her lips. Minu was completely unprepared for the girl’s emotional reaction. “How will this affect me?”
“It won’t affect you at all,” Minu replied, instantly, with complete conviction.
“My understanding from your literature is that a new child often causes strife with the first born.”
“Is that what you’re worried about?” Aaron asked incredulously.
“What kind of literature are you talking about?”
Lilith looked at Minu and gestured with her head. An image of As Remus Turns, a sleazy television show aimed at adolescent teenagers, appeared on a display screen.
“Oh, Lilith, that stuff is crap.” Minu wanted to laugh but controlled herself. Over the next few minutes she explained how executives market the shows to young girls to make them feel better about their lives by showing horrible situations and giving them fodder to gossip about with other teenage girls. Lilith took it better than she expected.
“I am foolish,” she said and looked away.
“How were you to know?”
“I am sorry, Mother.” Minu thought she was shaking, and when the young girl turned around, t
ears were building in her eyes. Without gravity, they would not fall down her cheeks. “I did not mean to be a selfish teenager!” She sobbed and looked confused. “I can’t help myself!”
“Oh, sweetheart!” Minu pushed off from Aaron and hugged her daughter. Minu had never seen the girl cry. Lilith accepted the embrace, uncertainly at first, then she gradually returned it. A second later, Aaron was there too, and the small family held each other, floating in a spaceship thousands of kilometers above their planet.
“We love you, Lilith,” Aaron said.
“The baby won’t change that,” Minu agreed.
Lilith wiped the tears away with the sleeve of her jumpsuit, sniffing and shaking her head, still confused by her own emotions. “Why do I feel like this?”
“Because you are human.” She looked at her mother who smiled, feeling like a true parent for the first time.
“I guess you are right,” she said and looked even sadder.
“It ain’t that bad!” Aaron complained, then Lilith gave him a little smile, and he realized she was kidding. Tears turned to laughter, creating another family moment.
Lilith looked at Minu’s still-flat stomach, then up at her face with the wonder of a child. “May I touch you?”
“Of course, you can!”
Lilith gently placed a hand on her mother’s stomach. She knew it would be impossible to feel anything. According to the database, the fetus would be almost invisible to the naked eye for weeks to come. Still, she had the sensation that she could feel her soon-to-be sibling there, nestled protectively inside her mother. Minu smiled and nodded, putting her own hand protectively over her daughter’s. “I’ve learned a couple of things from the dramas,” Lilith explained. “Can I call you ‘Mom?’”
“Oh, my sweet dear,” Minu cried, her eyes glistening.
“What did I say wrong?” Lilith asked Aaron.
“Nothing,” he said, his eyes shining. “Do I get to be ‘Dad’ instead of ‘Father?’”
“That would be fine.”
They spent several hours talking about family things. Now that she felt better about her place in that group, Lilith had a hundred questions about the coming event. Could she download Minu’s spreadsheet of the fetus development plan and eventual birth timetable? Minu gently explained to her that the process wasn’t quite that...controlled. Lilith offered to help her organize the operation. Minu gave up and agreed. “Is it a boy or girl?”
“We don’t know,” Minu told her.
“Why not? The Medical Intelligence can—”
“We don’t want to know,” Aaron said, holding up a hand to preclude a crystalline robot suddenly showing up with a syringe.
“That doesn’t seem logical,” she complained. “Why do you not wish to know?”
Minu smiled and shook her head. “I guess because it doesn’t matter to us. We didn’t know anything about you. Maybe it’s a tradition?”
“A two-child tradition?” Minu and Aaron shrugged in perfect unison. “Very well. I will be surprised, just as you. But it seems a terrible waste of energy not to solve an easily-solved mystery.” Aaron and Minu chuckled and hugged, while Lilith scrunched up her brows and tried to understand.
One last thing to talk about, Minu thought. “Lilith, I understand Jacob asked you to go on a scout mission for him.”
“That is correct, Mom.” She obviously worked to say ‘Mom’ instead of ‘Mother,’ but Minu liked the way it sounded. It made her think that someday soon, she would be ‘Momma.’
“Can I ask why you refused?”
“The world he wanted me to scout is on the Interdiction list in my database.”
“I didn’t know there was such a list.”
“I was not fully aware of it until I accessed the requested world. The list was overlaid below the navigational data, invisible until the world was accessed.”
Levels upon levels, Minu thought. “Is there any indication why it is interdicted?”
“The list is military in nature. The suggestion is that it is an enemy stronghold, capital, or heavily defended military installation. I admit I am curious, but as a lone ship, it is not tactically wise to risk going against the interdiction list.”
“We have no way of knowing whether the list is prescient to current situations,” Aaron pointed out.
“Correct,” Minu agreed, “but I understand her concern and respect it.” Lilith smiled at her, and Minu reached out to stroke her hair. Lilith looked a little surprised, then grabbed her hand and pressed it against her cheek in a touching expression. Minu decided she liked this new side of her daughter. “I told the jerk I’d ask.”
“Jacob tried to get you to change my mind?” Minu nodded, then shrugged. “He is a most odorous character.”
“Oh, you have no idea,” Aaron grumbled.
“What world are we talking about?” Minu asked. Lilith closed her eyes for a second, and a large holographic display of the galaxy appeared. The heavily-populated sector of space where most Concordia planets rested zoomed down to show a few hundred star systems. She added labels for several worlds Minu recognized.
“Akala territory,” she noted. “Or near it, at least.”
“That species is not in The People’s database, but I am aware of them through the Chosen records. The world, as you define it, is a junkpile, but it is a factory world in my records.”
Minu took out her tablet and accessed the Chosen records. The world was designated Planet K. It wasn’t anything special, just a junkpile of limited utility, of no interest to the Tog or humanity. It appeared to have changed hands a dozen times in as many years. The Akala were always in the mix, but they weren’t good at fighting for themselves. Minu knew they’d tried to hire the Rangers on several occasions. Luckily, Jacob knew the risks of getting into a contract with the little hedgehogs. The Rasa had had more than a few run-ins with them during their heyday.
“I’ll try to explain the situation to Jacob,” she told Lilith. “With any luck, he’s just trying to avoid working for the Akala. This information might be what he needs.”
A short time later, Minu and Aaron left. Lilith watched their Phoenix gently back out of the landing bay and push off toward the planet, before a section of her brain she was only dimly aware of easily compensated for the gravitic nudge of the comparatively tiny shuttle.
She smiled as the craft began its descent. “I’m going to be a sister,” she said, trying out the words. “I wonder what that will be like?” It would be so much easier to understand if she knew whether the child was going to be male or female. The thought of not knowing caused some excitement. Maybe that was why her parents had decided not to find out the sex. Were they purposely adding excitement to the birthing process?
The Phoenix dipped into the atmosphere as Lilith thought about how things were going to change.
* * * * *
Chapter 9
March 21st, 534 AE
War College, University of Plateau, Tranquility, Bellatrix
Minu returned to work, and life returned to normal. Mostly. She handled her duties at the War College, lectured, reviewed her professors’ assignments, and helped Aaron with Groves Industries. But behind the daily grind was the quiet excitement each night as she got home and checked the little robot inside her to verify progress. It dutifully monitored her hormone and blood chemistry, telling her all the complicated numbers were well within the normal range for an early human pregnancy.
Pip moved aboard the Kaatan full time, adopting one of the zero gravity labs as his home away from home. From there, he performed his various Chosen duties and worked on the projects Minu assigned. Lilith called Minu with daily updates. At first, Minu insisted daily updates were not necessary.
Then she realized her daughter was really calling to find out about the baby. She was completely fascinated with the idea and wanted to know every detail, even though there was nothing to report. Two weeks later she completely surprised Minu. “Mom, I would like to be there when you give birth.�
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“What!” Minu choked on the sandwich she was eating, causing Ariana to look in from the adjoining office in concern. She took a sip of water and cleared her throat, gesturing that she was okay.
“I wish to observe my sibling’s birth.”
Minu shook her head. The request was so matter-of-fact, as if Lilith were asking for pickles with her lunch. “How did you come to that decision? You know it will be here, in the University Medical Center.”
“I understand that you wish to have the child down there, despite the increased level of care the ship’s medical center provides.”
Minu made a face. It might be better medical care, but she had a less than happy history of trusting her reproductive process to the gentle mercies of the Medical Intelligence on the Kaatan.
“I have decided this new addition to our...family is important to me. I want to be there from the beginning. Please, may I attend?”
“Lilith, I’d be honored for you to be there when your brother or sister is born!”
Two weeks later, the medical robot dutifully informed her it was time to consult a physician about her developing baby, so Minu made an appointment.
“Good afternoon, Chosen,” Dr. Robinson said as he entered the examination room. He’d aged a bit since they’d first met almost seven years earlier. He’d taken care of her when her old birth-control implant, the one placed without her knowledge, had failed unexpectedly and almost killed her. He was a few years older than Minu and filled out his medical jumpsuit perfectly.
When she’d met him then, she hadn’t been with Aaron yet, and she remembered thinking how cute he was. His good looks hadn’t changed, but her marital status had. He carried a standard tablet computer and was busily updating notes on it from a previous appointment. After a moment, he accessed Minu’s file then looked at her.
“You aren’t due for a physical for six months. Are you okay?”