1
It was strange to think that a human who spent most of her life in crumbling ruins on Earth would feel more at home in space. After leaving the ruins of theEvandra,and the fucked-up planet that served as its resting place, far behind them, Terri no longer saw the little ship as a prison. No, now she was an active member of the ship’s two-man crew. Veral had taught her how to work many of the systems, and she participated in salvage assignments as well.
She knew that he still filtered out what he considered to be more hazardous assignments—no going to the firepits of Delthon Minor to locate a vein of delthon ore used in the construction of many high-class starships, for instance—but that didn’t hurt her feelings any. Terri considered it a process of baby steps. At least he trusted her to leave the ship.
As gratifying as it was, she understood that some of that newfound confidence was due to the extra protection that the gymotakin symbiont provided. She personally appreciated the hell out of it, so as far as she was concerned, it made sense that Veral felt more comfortable with her out and about in the dangerous universe. The bio-tech was a nasty bit of machinery, after all. Yet she also knew, by his own admission, that he had since come to see just how capable she was.
Not that it stymied his overprotective nature, but his demonstration of trust had gone a long way in making a true home for the two of them on the ship they had renamedThe Wanderer. Even Veral had agreed it was a good choice, since they spent considerable time wandering and taking on odd jobs. There had only been one dark spot in the recent months, one that she was now staring directly in the face as she lay in the medbay bed, trying to control her racing pulse. Her mate hovered over her at her side as he supervised the bed’s scanner running over her.
Something was wrong.
Although Veral wasn’t the most expressive male, he had a particularly pensive look on his face, dark mandibles clicking softly as he read her scans on the datapad in his hand. Shit. That just confirmed what she already knew… Her pregnancy was advancing abnormally fast.
Even with her human genetics taken into account, all of her scans until that point had indicated she would have a gestation period close to that of an average Argurma female, meaning she shouldn’t have started to show for another year and a half. With a three-year gestation, Argurma offspring didn’t begin to grow rapidly until the last four months of gestation.
She could tell just from looking at herself that something was wrong. Seemingly overnight, her belly had visibly grown. It currently resembled a melon, a year and a half before schedule. She bit her lip as she looked down at her exposed belly, the soft tunic pulled up over it.
Everything was okay. It had to be. But she couldn’t help but feel a niggle of worry as she watched her mate.
At first, Veral hadn’t been too concerned, assuming that they just needed to make adjustments for human physiological differences. He patiently applied cooling cream over the tight, itchy skin of her growing abdomen daily without comment. Now, however, the dark coils of his vibrissae rustled around his dark gray face with sharp rattling sounds that alarmed her as she slipped out of the medbed and joined him where he stood a short distance away.
Absently, she scratched lightly at the bio-tech symbiont imbedded in her forearm as she watched him.
“How bad is it?” she asked cautiously.
One brilliant cybernetic blue eye turned toward her. He took a deep breath and the thin, tentacle-like vibrissae settled once more around his muscular shoulders. With one finger, he projected a hologram from the surface of the datapad. A tiny smile tugged at the corner of Terri’s mouth as she looked at the compact fetus curled up on itself. A little leg kicked, sending a burst of bubbles through her abdomen.
Resting a hand over her belly, she grinned at the tickling sensation and her mate’s expression softened, his lips ticking up at the corners. It was fleeting, but sent warmth through her at their shared moment before his expression once again turned solemn as he returned his attention to the hologram.
“The fetus is growing at a rapid rate. At its current growth, I calculate gestation to be concluded within one hundred and fifty standard rotations. Roughly four lunars,” he clarified with a disconcerted click of his mandibles. “Everything else is normal for an Argurma fetus, but the speed is alarming, possibly due to interference from the gymotakin symbiont.”
His brows drew lower as he enlarged the projection and worked at taking measurements, turning the hologram to make notes at various displayed angles.
“I was not prepared to return to Argurumal so soon, but we may have no choice now. I was prepared to deliver our offspring here in the medbay, but with the interference of the symbiont and the growth surge, it would be prudent to have access to a skilled Argurma medic who is more intimately familiar with our species’ physiology,” he muttered.
At her distressed look, he vibrated his mandibles in a reassuring purr. “Do not be concerned, anastha. The scans are showing that our offspring is healthy and otherwise developing normally. We are merely taking necessary precautions. They would have a better way of calculating the offspring’s development and whether or not the symbiont will be an issue during or after birth, or how it might be affecting our offspring’s development in ways this scanner’s limited capabilities cannot detect. It is still too much of an unknown factor, and we appear to be running out of time.”
“Considering that they wanted to experiment on me, I’m not sure how thrilled I am over this idea,” she returned. “Can’t we just go to a nearby space station and have a medic take a look?”
He shook his head. The shorter lengths, that were slowly regrowing from the damage sustained months ago from their tangle with pirates, whipped expressively with the movement.
“I have no intention of making our presence widely known,” he stated flatly. “The Argurma are the only species who utilize cybernetic bio-tech. Although the symbiont is far superior and unlike anything we have designed, an Argurma doctor would be able to analyze the nanos that you acquired from our mating and any changes that may be occurring due to the symbiont. There is also the matter that it would draw too much attention to us. There is too much risk of information about our offspring getting to the council. The wisest course would be to attend a medic on Argurumal who would be both knowledgeable and trust-worthy.”
“Okay,” Terri muttered doubtfully. “I’m assuming you know a place where we can lie low?”
He clicked his mandibles in agreement. “I do. My family line has holdings at a far outpost. It will keep our location known only to a trusted few. The medic that serves my line and those of my mother’s house will be discreet out of loyalty alone.”
“And you can trust them?”
His brow quirked slightly in the smallest gesture of surprise. “Of course. Medics are solely loyal to their maternal line. The medic who serves my mother’s line was her cousin. The recordkeepers who come when they receive alert of a birth are another matter,” he growled. “By that time, we will be far from Argurumal.”
Terri swallowed back a lump of fear as he continued to take measurements and make notes on the datapad. He was right. There was probably nothing to worry about. Other than growing quickly, their baby was healthy, and he was certain that they would be someplace safe while they got assistance. If he was confident about it, then she should be too.
Pushing back her worry, she used the opportunity to get a closer look at her baby. Her heart melted at her first real look at her baby. Vibrissae curled against its neck, its tiny features perfect. To her surprise, although the fetus was dominantly Argurma, she could see a little of herself in the shape of its smooth brow, nose, and delicately curved lips. The tiny buds of its mandibles were only just visible at its jaw.
At her side, Veral grunted. From the corner of her eye, she watched as he tapped a few character keys at the bottom of the screen and stilled.
“What is it?” Terri asked as she turned to face him, her heart jumping anxiously. “Is there something wrong?”