Ancient Birthright (41 page)

“I had other things to do.”

“Dantee...what other things?”

“I was just in the flight simulator learning some stuff.”

“Spill it kid, before I toss you out an airlock from frustration.”

“Okay, I was practicing PTO low gravity planet landings.”

Saigg stopped. “Why?”

“I figure if I’m the best-trained pilot for low gravity landings, I might get to pilot the ship that goes to check out the Moon installation.”

“What if we have another job for you kids to do?”

“Like what?”

“We’re going to need you to make some videos so the children on Earth can see you and learn about how we live and what we are trying to accomplish with the
Universe Explorer
.”

“We can do that, and one of the videos should be about the installation on the Moon. That means all three of us will need to go along and explore it with you. I’ll bet the kids on Earth would really like to see that.”

“We’ll talk about it later. Here’s Becca and Striker’s cabin,” Saigg said with a smile at his daughter’s manipulations.

They walked in and joined the same group that had been at Soleene’s birth. The only additions were Jamz and Caraa Garuu. People cycled in and out of the bedroom where Becca was in labor. All the visitors helped keep Becca distracted between contractions. Striker sat at the head of the bed and held Becca so she could use him for back support.

Marra and Nadya were acting as midwives for this birth. Nadya had observed Soleene’s birth, but this would be the first time she actually assisted.

“Everything looks fine, Becca. You’re fully dilated so things should move pretty quickly now.”

With a grunt, Becca leaned forward and groaned as the next contraction hit. When it was over, she flopped back against Striker, red-faced and sweating. Dantee pushed through the tangle of legs to get a better view of the proceedings. Reedn and Tuuan had opened one of the built-in storage cabinet doors and sprawled on the exposed shelves for a view over the shoulders of the milling adults. Dantee pushed back through the forest of adult legs and climbed to the empty shelf above Tuuan.

Three hours later, the contractions came one on top of the next. Becca panted heavily from the pain. At the height of each spasm, she let out a groan building to a scream.

When the screams started, the room had cleared of most well-wishers, but the three perched on the storage shelves stuck it out and called encouragement to Becca. They were some of the first to see the baby boy slip into the world and take his first breath.

Saigg and Renna moved back out of the way and stood next to the open cabinet where the kids were stacked.

Marra efficiently clamped and tied the umbilical cord before cutting it. Striker climbed off the bed and knelt on the floor next to Becca.

Nadya cleaned, measured, and weighed the baby before laying her in Becca’s arms. The new parents examined their son in wide-eyed amazement, astounded at the perfection of such a small person. The hours of pain and exertion were already fading from Becca’s face. Her fatigue was still evident in the slight tremor of her hands and the dark circles beneath her eyes.

“What are you going to name the newest member of our crew?” Command Prime Garuu asked.

Striker looked at Becca and received her nod, “We’re going to call him, John Jamz Striker. We wanted to remember the sacrifice of Major Rishly, and we feel what better way than to name our son after two outstanding ship’s captains.”

Saigg watched Caraa squeeze her mate’s hand.

“Thank you for the honor. I will strive to live up to it,” Command Prime Garuu said in a voice that cracked with emotion while his coloration eddied through a variety of colors.

Marra finished cleaning up and wrapped the placenta and fetal membrane before handing it to Nadya. “I think mother and child could use a few hours of rest. Why don’t we leave them alone for a while?”

Saigg turned and plucked the three youngsters from the shelves and closed the cabinet door. “Come on guys, let’s let Becca get some sleep. We’ll come back later and meet John.”

He heard Renna tell Becca, “I don’t know how you humans do it. Laying eggs is so much easier.”

They walked into the now almost empty main room. Jamz and Caraa were still there waiting for them.

Renna said, “Clutching may take longer, but I am never going to complain about laying eggs again. I’ve never seen a soul go through so much agony for so long and still be sane. Cindy told me that once the baby was born, she didn’t even remember the pain of labor. I hope it’s the same with Becca.” Renna seemed agitated to Saigg, almost hesitant or slow in her movements.

Then it hit him full force and his dorsal spines snapped open. Renna was giving off mating pheromones that almost dropped him to his knees.

“Come on kids. Let’s visit Baany and his flock. I think Mom and Dad want to have a private talk for a few hours,” Caraa said.

Command Prime Garuu turned to his son. “What do you… Ah...yes I think I’d like to talk to Baany, too, and see when he thinks they will be ready to head down to Earth.”

As they walked out the door, Saigg heard Dantee ask Caraa, “Can we help with the nesting screen this time.” Nothing got past his daughter.

Saigg took Renna’s hand and quickened his steps toward their cabin.

Chapter-50

Washington DC: Transjump plus 7 years, 75 days:

The President shoved aside the binder holding his correspondence and dropped his head into his hands. He massaged his temples trying to relieve the nagging headache that had bothered him for months. He leaned back in his custom fitted desk chair and tried to relax. His hands shook until he clasped them together to mask the tremors.

A few more months like the last and I won’t need to worry about the elections. Why can’t I make this whole situation go away? That Goddamn French reporter at the press conference this morning had me tap dancing and twisting in six different directions at once. I have the American media trained and drooling for every tidbit I toss to them, but the foreign reporters are a whole other can-of-worms. The brown stuff is going to hit the fan anytime now if I don’t get a handle on this alien ship situation and bury the Dumas debacle.

A light tap on the office door preceded its opening. “Mr. President, your next appointment is here.”

The chairman of the party’s national committee walked briskly through the door and up to the desk, right hand out. “Good to see you again Mr. President.” a quick firm handshake. “I’d like to discuss this request you sent us to come up with a new candidate for Vice President. The committee is confused and feels it will cause a lot of trouble in the coming election. To change our ticket after the national convention and only months before the election would be political suicide. I don’t think the voters would understand or approve of you selecting a new running mate at this late date. After all, the elections are only months away. Your popularity ratings are already taking a beating because of the continued high unemployment and your insistence in pushing through the government worker entitlement package without an identified taxing source has Congress turning in circles.”

“Bob, don’t worry so much about the funding source for the entitlements. Hell, we can always print more money and sell a few more bonds to China and Japan. The important thing is to keep the government workers happy and on the job. If they’re content with their salary and benefits package, then everyone in the country is better off because our government continues to run smoothly.”

“Mr. President, the feedback I’m getting is that you’ve pushed this too far. A lot of print media is beginning to compare what’s happening in the U.S. to what happened to Argentina in the 1900’s. Socialist programs just don’t work, and the parallels are too close to ignore. The American voters won’t stand for the tax increases that will be necessary to fund these programs.”

“Bob, I think you are giving the people too much credit. As long as their kids can get the latest video game and buy the current fashions, they will sit back in front of their large screen TV’s and plan how they are going to use the latest credit card they got in the mail to maintain the lifestyle they have. Face it, Bob, the average American is no more interested in slowing down their spending than the government is. As long as we, as a party, keep them happy then they’ll put us back in office for another four years. If a few do object, we’ll just tell them it was all caused by my predecessor and we are just dealing with the aftermath. The tax increases are going to be masked as fees and duties, or we’ll call them special school funding not increased taxes. That’s worked for cities for years.”

“I still don’t see how that will work. If people don’t have jobs, how can they pay taxes, any taxes, increased, or not?”

“Let me and my financial advisors worry about where the money’s coming from. This is the most prosperous nation on the planet. No one’s going to say ‘no’ if we ask to borrow a few dollars. I’ve already freed up billions by canceling NASA’s future projects and the space program. I know I can get another thirty billion from the military budget. Those idiots need to take care of their equipment. You know what they reported last month. They reported the loss of over fifteen-hundred vehicles due to enemy fire. Fifteen-hundred! If they can’t do better than that, they will just have to do without. I give them one little mission to do, and they can’t even do that properly.”

“What mission was that?”

“You know the ICBM intercept… Never mind I was just rambling.”

“Well, Mr. President, I can see I’m not making my point, so I’ll take my leave. I just wanted to stop by in person to let you know that the party is not going to change the ticket at this late date. The Vice President will remain on the ballot as we agreed during the national convention.”

“Thanks for stopping by, Bob. You have a good day.”

The office door closed quietly but firmly in the wake of the national party chairman’s exit.

That was close, too damn close. I have to watch what I tell people, or I’m going to cut my own throat.

Chapter-51

Universe Explorer
: Transjump plus 7 years, 84 days:

Renna leaned back on the couch and watched the production taking place across the cabin. This was the largest group she’d ever seen trying to weave a nest screen. There were so many souls, with immediate family and human friends, the job was taking four times longer than it should have.

Saigg directed the construction, but most people just ignored him and merrily continued doing what they wanted.

“Hey guys, I don’t want to rush you or anything, but if you don’t have that screen done in the next hour, you’re going to have one very nasty luzzon trying to rip your heads off,” Renna told them.

“Does it feel like it’s starting dear?” Marra asked Renna.

“I feel like my nerves are tingling, and the room colors and smells are definitely getting brighter.”

“Does anything feel any different this time compared to last? Have you noticed any difference after taking the small doses of human mother’s milk for the last three weeks?” Marra asked.

Before Renna could answer Saigg announced. “Finished, if you want to move to the nest we can mount the screen in place.”

Renna slid off the couch and held her distended egg pouch as she staggered to the nest. Saigg and Beldon shifted the screen into position to separate her from the rest of the group.

“That was cutting it close. I could feel the hormones flooding my system and couldn’t do anything to delay it. And to answer your questions mom, I don’t have any definite indications I can point to that anything is different this time. It’s just that everything seems to be happening more quickly and with more intensity, but that might just be me not remembering things correctly,” Renna said.

The humans had never seen the clutching process, so Renna had Saigg mount a vidcam in the weave of the screen during construction.

“The first egg is moving I can feel it progressing down the egg canal,” Renna told them.

She whispered a groaning sigh as the egg left her body. “The first ones out and it looks normal. I can feel the second one moving into position over the canal. Is the vidcam working?”

“It’s working great,” Saigg said. “You know, none of the male luzzons in the room have ever seen this process either. It’s not just the humans who are fascinated.”

“Can you tell how many eggs there are?” Dantee called to Renna.

“Not until the last one is ready to pass, Dantee. Though your egg was so small it surprised me. I thought I had finished at three. Number two is out, it looks normal.” Renna gave a running commentary for her mother’s benefit. There was a two-hour delay as Renna’s body worked to reposition the third egg so it could enter the canal. “Number three is moving.” One last moan escaped Renna’s throat as the final eggs pushed out.

“You aren’t going to believe this, but I just passed two eggs at once. One is small like Dantee’s was, and the other normal sized,” Renna told them as she pushed the eggs together and curled her body around them.

“Is that the last of them?” Saigg asked.

“Unless there is another small one I can’t feel, I think I’m finished. I could use something to drink and eat, Saigg.”