Interlude 7
Time: CY 10089 AD March 5166Location: the Hephaistos system
On board the spacecraft something awoke. For the first time in over 300 years there was movement aboard her. The craft began to move away from the black hole. Mechanisms were energized and a rip in the very fabric of space was created. The ship accelerated into the rip and vanished, seeking a place of safety where she could heal her wounds.
| Chapter 7 | Chapter 9 |
Alternity - Chapter 8
Beka
Time: CY 10089 AD March5166Location: in orbit over the planet Kingfisher
"Kingfisher
Mercy to Eureka Maru, data upload completed. "
The Eureka Maru was in geosynchronous orbit about the planet Kingfisher, receiving last minute messages to be carried to other planets. Beka was on the command deck sitting in the pilot's chair, doing the final preflight checks and having a last minute discussion with Rev via the ship-to-planet communicator before she left orbit.
"Eureka Maru to Kingfisher Mercy. Roger, upload received. See you in one month, and Rev, thanks again."
"It was my pleasure Beka. Go with the Divine."
"You too Rev."
Thanks for the charity she meant. The contract the Eureka Maru had ferrying medical supplies to Rev Bem's hospital on Kingfisher was just that, charity, but the Maru and her crew were in no position to turn down charity.
"Pilot to environmental systems. Trance, you ready for slipstream?" There was no answer.
"Pilot to engineering. Harper, what's with Trance?"
"She's in the head getting sick again, Boss."
Poor Trance, thought Beka; she wasn't handling her pregnancy very well. She didn't just have morning sickness; she was nauseous all the time.
Beka had been furious when Trance had announced that she was pregnant. She and Harper were hardly more than children themselves. It hadn't been that many months ago that the three of them had celebrated Harper's 22nd birthday, and as for Trance, she had never told Beka how old she was, but Beka doubted that the girl had left her teen years behind her.
She had known that Trance and Harper had been having sex of course, the Maru was too small for any secrets, but she had expected the two of them to use a little common sense about it. Trance had rather shamefacedly admitted that she hadn't thought precautions necessary because she hadn't believed that her species was interfertile with humans. Now all too soon the Maru would have a new crew member and she would have another mouth to feed.
She decided her last thought wasn't fair; she wanted the baby too. Thanks to the bullet from the gauss gun of a would be hijacker she would never be able to have a child. To be honest she had never really wanted children but somehow Trance had become almost like her daughter; so her child would in a way be her grandchild. But she was frightened for the mother and her unborn baby. None of them had any idea what would be normal for this pregnancy, or what to do if things went wrong, assuming that they would even recognize a problem with the pregnancy. Trance insisted that everything was going well, but there was a nervousness to her voice that told Beka that it wasn't just her friend and husband she was trying to convince. Not for the first time Beka wished that Trance and Harper had taken Rev up on his offer to work at Kingfisher Mercy.
Shortly after the crew's encounter with Marentez and his men, Rev had offered both Trance and Harper jobs at the hospital, Trance as a medic and Harper maintaining the hospital's computer and medical equipment. Beka had almost died when he made the offer. It was a good one. He was offering them something she would never be able to offer - security, and she had expected them to jump at it. Instead they had declined, telling Rev that the Maru was their home now and they weren't leaving. When she heard that she had gone into her quarters, closed the privacy curtain, and had broken down and cried. Now she was wondering if they had made the right choice. At least Trance and the baby would get better medical care than she was getting now.
She heard footsteps coming towards the command deck as Harper's voice came over the intraship communicator "Ok Boss, she's out of the head. She'll be on station in a minute."
Trance and Harper were married now. Beka had insisted on it once she had learned of the pregnancy. Any child born on the Maru was going to have a name. It hadn't been much of a ceremony, just the three of them in the cargo hold. The bride wore a dress loaned to her by Beka for the occasion while Harper wore one of Bobby's old suits. The ring Harper gave Trance was gold, however; gold scavenged from broken electrical parts. As captain of the Eureka Maru Beka had had the honor of performing the ceremony.
The intraship communication system crackled to life once again. "Beka, this is Trance, environmental is manned. Harper, did you remember to take your medicine?"
"Not to worry my purple princess. Of course I did."
"If she hadn't reminded you I would have, Harper."
"Yes Mother, I took my medicine," the sarcasm in Harper's voice was evident.
"Harper, you know how important it is to take it regularly," there was concern in Trance's voice.
"Yes, honey. I do know." The flippant tone in Harper's voice was gone.
Harper was dying. The virus in his body was adapting to the medicine that kept it in check. At present all that was required was to increase the dosage of the medicines, but that was only a temporary solution. It was unlikely that he would live to see his child's sixth birthday. Beka would have sold the Maru in a heartbeat if it would have raised the cash to obtain the treatment that would have cured Harper's disease, but it would have been a futile gesture.. Her creditors would have had first rights to the proceeds of the sale, and when they were through she wouldn't have had enough money to buy her engineer a Sparky Cola let alone treatment for MVLS. Still, Harper remained his cheerful self. She wasn't sure if it was denial, natural optimism or simply the effect of being near Trance.
Beka turned her attention back to the controls "Pilot to crew. Prepare to leave orbit on my mark. Three. Two. One. Mark."
Thirty six hours and a slipstream transit later, Broughton spaceport traffic control had assumed control of the Maru, and they were being guided into their assigned berth. Beka sat back in the pilot's chair to catch her breath. The final approach had been a lot bumpier than usual.
"Pilot to engineering. Harper, I want you to check the attitude thrusters. That ride was rougher than it should have been."
"Right, Boss."
"Trance, you have dinner duty tonight; peanut butter and jelly sandwiches do not, repeat, do not count as dinner."
"Ok," came the cheerful response. "Tofu loaf it is. If I add some oatmeal I should be able to stretch it out enough to feed all of us."
Beka could hear Harper making gagging noises over the intraship communication system, and a brief smile flicked across her face as she imagined the look on Trance's face as she heard her husband's opinion of dinner.
"All right kids, enough. I need to check in with the port master, and see what I can to about getting us a cargo. Playtime is after you get your work done."
She left the ship and headed to the port master's office. She needed to leave before her crew saw just how tired she was. She had to be strong, not just for herself, but also for them. Later, when the kids were busy exploring the spaceport ,she could allow herself the luxury of tears of fatigue, but at the moment she needed to find a cargo. She had a family to look after and Beka Valentine took care of her own.
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