Second Chances (84 page)

“He get you?” Sandra called, sounding mischievous.

“Almost,” he answered back as he continued to work.

“Darn.”

“Veeery funny,” he drawled, wiping his son again, then putting a fresh diaper on him. He picked him up and carried him through the suite to his little kitchenette. He pulled a bottle from the small fridge and then repositioned his son so he could get it. “He's getting heavy,” he murmured.

“All the newborns are. They are developing at an accelerated rate. Twice normal at least,” Sandra said, climbing off the bed to come over to him. He turned to see her put a robe on then come over toG wrap her arms around his waist. “It's something I wanted you to bring up in the conferences. Or let me do it,” she said.

Mitch felt a bit of concern. He wasn't sure what to do about it other than to ask. “Is it a problem?” he asked, voice dropping a bit as he gently rocked his son.

“I don't know. We need more information,” she said, voice softening as she squeezed him.

“Yeah.” He looked down at his son. “Well, even if growing up too soon, he's still a lot of fun. I'm sorry I can't be with you and him more,” he murmured.

“There will be time for that,” Sandra murmured back, rubbing his back as she pressed herself against him.

“Yeah well, I'm missing out on a lot. And like you said, he's growing like a weed,” he murmured. “Did he start walking yet?” he asked over his shoulder.

“Ester said any day now.”

“He's only what, three months old??!” Mitch said in disbelief.

“Not quite honey, four months,” Sandra corrected him. “The motor control is there though. Cassie started pulling herself up when she was five and a half months. He's a bit ahead of the curve there I admit but...”

“I want to see it. If I'm not around I don't care, page me. Or damn it, record it,” he growled.

“We'll watch it together,” she murmured, hugging him again. “I'll probably miss it too,” she sighed.

“You can take some time off, be with him more,” he murmured, twisting to look at her. The bottle was a small one; the little twerp killed it pretty quick then snuggled down. Mitch wisely put him on his shoulder for a burping session.

“No,” Sandra said after a moment of thoughtful silence, taking their son and doing the honors. “Don't you dare barf you little imp...” she warned as the baby burped.

“Do it, do it!” His father stage whispered until his wife glowered at him to shut him up.

Tucker was a good boy, however; he mumbled something then wiggled down to get more comfortable. She smiled fondly as she carried him in a slow walk around the room. “I can't,” she finally said, directing her attention to her mate once more. “I've got too much on my plate with the infirmary, teaching, plus the radio calls,” she said.

“That bad?” he asked. She nodded as she caught his eye then looked away.

“Cassie and Dora are good, but they are kids. Neither have the training I've got. I'm not sure either of them will go much further in the medical field, I think Dora is burning out with the workload. She's fourteen!” She shook her head in regret. She was concerned about the psychological trauma of dealing with so many people injured and maimed by the shark hounds. It had all come back when poor Gina had lost her hand. Dora's eyes were increasingly haunted when she saw the prosthetic limbs. Sandra was concerned the kid would bite her lip right through if she kept the guilty feelings going.

“Talk about growing up fast,” Mitch murmured, rubbing her shoulders gently.

“Don't get me wrong; she's a trooper. So is Cassie. It was easier when Tina was here,” she sighed.

“Now I'm regretting letting them go,” Mitch said with a frown.

Sandra looked at him and then shook her head. “Don't,” she said softly. “Don't. Don't ever do that. It's not right to force them to stay, you and I both know it. We'll work it out,” she said as she gently laid her son in her crib. “One day at a time,” she murmured as she turned him on his side and then pulled the thin blanket up over him. She felt her husband's arm go around her and then touch her shoulder as she stroked their son's cheek. Tucker sighed softly, burbling a bit making her smile down at him.

Mitch thought about it and then decided to see if he could get Doctor Mallard or one of the other medically trained people to assist a bit more. Even just covering a half shift once in a while would give the staff some much needed downtime. Speaking of downtime, he thought, glancing at the clock. “Come on love, you need your rest,” Mitch murmured, guiding her back to bed.

------*------

Colonel Dunn was not happy about how things were going. He had tried to make some inroads, but found he'd only made connections with some of the more conservative members of the conference. Chief Roberts was distant to him as was Gunny Usher. He'd expected automatic loyalty given he was an officer and their shared military history, but he hadn't quite been able to undercut the loyalty Roberts felt to Chambers. He needed another way to cut the apron strings.

Chamber's policy was getting undermined though, and that was good in some ways, but he had found he'd needed to temper that knee jerk reaction to cut the man off at every opportunity. Some of what he said and did made sense, and some of it would benefit Dunn's own people. He had to remind himself not to cut his own throat to spite his face as the saying went.

He felt the divided loyalties with the residents of the base, especially those who had stayed and were from the military camp. The Korean kid Akira seemed to miss Chief Roberts, but he didn't want to leave the aircraft. He overheard them joking about getting a helicopter for the Mountain Village while he was outside getting some fresh night air.

“Think you could fly it?” Chief Roberts said.

“I'm not sure,” Akira admitted. “I can fly a drone sure, as long as my feet are on the ground. Getting up in one is very different,” he said shaking his head.

“Is that what is holding you here, Akira?” Roberts asked. “I can ask Mitch to make a drone if you are homesick kid.”

“No,” Akira said, shrugging. “Some of our people are here too.” He frowned thoughtfully. “Our people, their people. We're all the same in the end.”

“In a way,” Roberts mused. “You could play wandering plane mechanic. Or any vehicle mechanic if being here bugs you,” he said.

“It's...I don't like not going on the offensive. We've got the gear, we should be out there hunting the beasts down and making this world safe,” Akira growled. “I can't believe Mitch is such an ass about that,” he said.

“Like it or not he's the boss,” Roberts said. “He's right to be cautious; if we lose an asset we're screwed. I agree though, we should reduce the population,” he said.

“Yeah,” Akira said.

“Definitely,” Colonel Dunn said, wandering over to them. He gave each a curt nod. “Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear. I've been after Chambers to do that very thing. We're doing it where I'm at,” he said.

“I see,” Roberts said. He frowned thoughtfully. “I am too. I don't buy that stuff Mitch said about killing the predators throws the whole food chain out of whack,” he said.

“Neither do I. Especially since we're hunting the other animals too,” the colonel said. “And if the herds get bigger, so what? That just means more of the animals we want to eat around!” he said, throwing his hands apart.

Akira looked at him and then nodded slowly. He glanced at Roberts, but Roberts had a deadpan face. “How are you hunting them...,sir?” he asked cautiously.

“Anyway we can,” Dunn replied, smiling like a tiger. “We use rifles if we can, crossbows, bows, or traps. We're getting good at driving them. Get someone behind them and drive them into a pit trap lined with sharpened stakes. Give them a piece of their own medicine,” he said.

“I'd like to take a chopper up and just hose the bastards down with a chain gun,” Akira growled, indicating the Skycrane. “But this thing's a work horse, not a Blackhawk.”

“Too true,” Chief Roberts said. “It'd be fun to mow a raptor flock down though,” he said.

“Death from above!” Akira said, fists clenching. “But I'd start with the shark hounds. Use some night vision goggles and just chew them into fish burger,” he growled.

“Shark fin soup,” Dunn said, nodding. “We've had a few problems with them too.”

“Oh?” Akira turned to him.

“They were hitting the herds,” Dunn explained. He shrugged. “They were coming up the river so we worked on the defenses during the day and then sniped them at night. The survivors got the message and moved on to other places,” he said.

“Wish you'd killed them all,” Akira growled.

“Me too. But I can't bitch when they back down. I wish I could net them all, but I'll take what I can get,” Dunn said. “Want to get a beer and shoot the shit?” he asked, trying to not sound too hopeful.

“I'm on duty,” Akira said. “Night shift and security,” he sighed. “So I'll pass.”

“I'll have a beer,” Chief Roberts said, nodding thoughtfully. “Catch you later, Akira?”

The Korean nodded. “You know where I'll be,” he said, indicating the hangar. The SEAL nodded. He waved to Dunn. “I know where Janet keeps a couple beers stashed in the fridge,” Chief Roberts said. “If that doesn't pan out, we'll raid Mitch's fridge,” he said as they walked out with a wave.

------*------

Mitch backed off leaving them rudderless for a day. Evan suggested they pool information on what they had learned about the planet.

Each representative was bored, but Jack nodded. “Anything to figure out how to survive better here. And we if can figure out how to get those Leviathans or raptors, all the better,” he said. That got a few interested looks.

“Besides, I don't know about you folks, but I'm in no tearing hurry to get out of the AC and back home right now,” he said with a half-smile. That got a few chuckles and nods.

They exchanged information about the alien plants and animals; what they had found was edible and also usable. Mitch called Maggie in when they started pulling out the pamphlets her department had made up, then pulled in Hejira for her botanical expertise. A list of what to avoid was very popular, only second to the list of things to look out for to exploit. The lady's lists went on to cover materials to gather, survival tips. What interested a few was the list of things base coveted, and their priority.

It amused Evan when he saw each of the experts taking notes when the representatives had their own experiences to contribute. “We're always interested in learning here, in finding out a better way to do something and to pass it on. The more we know and pass on, the better everyone's chances of survival,” Maggie said. Evan nodded. That generated a few thoughtful looks from Kirafiki but a contemptuous look from Adam.

------*------

Gunny Usher took his turn and reported pterosaurs of all different styles in their area along the coast, plus Microraptors and other animals on the coast fishing. “They have some impressive rookeries. We saw the four- and six-winged ones near us. We only found the pterosaurs last year. Skipper found them.”

“Skipper?”

“Captain Grumby. A former fishing captain. He's in charge of the fisherman. They run the solar salt production, rove the beach for stuff, bring back sand, and do the fishing.”

“I see,” Mitch said, making a note in the personnel database. He was gratified to find an entry for the Captain already there. He marked it as still alive and entered the information in a quick flash of his fingers.

While doing that he missed the beginning of the colonel's speech. He looked up when he was finished and frowned as he picked up the thread. What he heard made him uncomfortable.

Dunn proposed they reduce the population of pest species to manageable levels or exterminate them totally. Mitch understood that on some levels, the raptors for one and the scorpions for another. But man had done that on Earth with several species. Some animals like the bison and wolf had been nearly exterminated.

“There is a reason for all the animals here. All were here to give them a second chance. We may not understand what role they play in the food chain, but we can't go through and pick what we like and don't like. Chopping chunks out of the food chain is asking for trouble,” Mitch said firmly.

He looked around the room. “Think about it folks. If you kill off the predators, the herds and pests they hunt and keep in check go out of control. When they overbreed the weak and sick aren't culled, and they also overeat, tearing up the landscape. You want a herd of hungry sauropods stomping through your farm?”

That generated a few thoughtful grunts. After a long moment of silence, Dunn snorted. “Let them come. It'll just mean dino steaks,” he said, shooting a look at Gunny Usher and Chief Roberts. “Barbeque anyone?”

“I'll bring the beer. If you can kill one of those things,” the chief said.

“Or one of the others like those hammerheads,” Gunny Usher said.

Dunn and Chief Roberts led a discussion on the war on predators for population control versus a fear response. Mitch and Evan brought up Earth history, pointing out the war on the wolf and other animals. “Look, like it or not, we're here now. These animals are too. And they were here
first
. The system has been set up through adaptation and evolution, whatever, and it’s worked so far. Not without problems, and yes I bet each time a new group was dumped things changed. But hey, we're the adults here, let's not go around killing everything we see.”