Ancient Birthright (38 page)

Caraa looked at Command Prime and at his nod, she and Marra followed them.

Cindy turned her distended body into Beldon’s arms and sobbed while Striker, Becca and the three Russian girls huddled in a group hug.

Saigg and Renna moved to Cindy’s side and Renna squeezed Cindy’s shoulder trying to comfort her.

Saigg looked into Beldon’s eyes and opened his mouth to say how badly he felt, but Beldon’s small negative shake of his head stopped him.

“Let’s go to our cabin. Cindy needs to get some rest, and this stress can’t be good for the baby. Cindy was complaining before that her ankles were beginning to swell and she’s getting a backache.”

Cindy’s pregnant waddle necessitated a slow walk to the Dumas cabin. The baby had dropped and was playing hell with her bladder as well as her center of gravity.

“How will Soleene’s family cope with her loss?” Beldon asked Saigg.

“Our society is very low key about personal grief when compared to what I know of yours. We do not have the strong passions written about in the fiction books you transmitted to us. Most of the species on the
Universe Explorer
mate for life, and the connection is locked hormonally. There is a chance that Soleene’s mate will find another to accept him, but it is unlikely. Others of their species will step in to help raise the girls and give them the lessons their mother would have provided.

“I sometimes think it is our lack of passionate responses that makes your literature so novel and addictive to those who have learned to read it. The absence of the overwhelming mental and social drives displayed by your species is what has kept us from ever developing fictional writings of our own. Without the buildup of tension through fighting, courtship, or social problems, a pretend story created by one of us would read like a scientific report,” Saigg explained.

“I think Soleene’s story and what has happened to her and what will happen with her family dealing with her loss could be a very interesting novel. Granted it would not be fiction but the story would be full of compassion and sorrow,” Cindy said as she stopped, grabbed her bulging stomach and groaned.

“What’s wrong? Is it the baby?” Beldon asked as he helped support her.

“I...think so. I have been having twinges in my back for hours. I think all the standing and walking has gotten things started,” Cindy said as the pain eased off. “I can walk again. Let’s get to our cabin.”

Beldon kept his arm around Cindy’s waist and her right hand clasped in his left as he helped her the final few feet to their cabin.

“Do we need to leave her alone? Will she try to attack us if we are in the same room while she gives birth?” Saigg asked Beldon with a wide-eyed look.

“No we don’t need to leave her. If she attacks anyone, it will be me and only with words. Our species does not have the nest-protection response of yours. Renna, would you please call your mother and Becca, and ask them to come to the cabin?” Beldon asked in a shaky voice as he led Cindy into their bedroom. “Tell them that Cindy has gone into labor.”

“What can I do?” Saigg asked.

“Go to the kitchen and boil some water,” Cindy called from the bedroom.

Saigg took several steps toward the eating area before realizing there was nothing in the alcove to use to bring water to a boil.
Boil water? Why do I need to boil water?
Saigg looked at Renna who seemed to be trying to keep from exploding with laughter.

“Cindy told us that the historical method a human female used to get the males out of the way during labor is to send them to boil water,” Renna told Saigg, as her laughter broke loose.

“What’s labor?”

“Human young develop within the female’s body. When the baby is ready to come out the female has to expel the fetus with her abdominal muscles. Cindy says it’s hard work and can take hours. That’s why they call it labor,” Renna explained.

A groan came from the bedroom followed by several minutes of slow deep breathing sounds.

Marra and Becca rushed into the cabin together and went directly to the bedroom. A minute later Striker and the three Russian girls came in and joined Saigg and Renna. Each of the girls had one of the young luzzons by the hand. The luzzon children were almost two and a half years old. Reedn and Tuuan were twenty-nine and twenty-seven inches tall respectively, while Dantee topped out at seventeen inches. Striker went to use the refresh unit while Saigg retrieved a variety of refreshments from the food dispenser. The Russians led the three youngsters to the couch. As soon as they released the kids, the three little ones headed for the bedroom to see what was happening.

Cindy and Beldon had agreed that their child’s birth could be attended by any of their new extended family that wanted to see it, so no one tried to keep the three youngsters from the bedroom.

Ninety minutes later Reedn came running out of the bedroom and announced, “The dam broke, run for your lives.”

Saigg looked at Renna for a translation. “The baby is floating in a pool of amniotic fluid to protect it during development. During the birthing process the fluid is expelled before the baby is pushed out.”

“So it will be born soon now?”

“There are too many variables to really be able to estimate. Cindy told me that it can take from minutes to days.” They settled in for a long wait with occasional visits to the bedroom to see how things were progressing.

A few hours later Becca came out and told the assembled group that there was a problem. The baby is turned wrong and was coming feet first. Between contractions, they were trying to turn it so it would be delivered headfirst. Delivering the baby in its current position could cause severe damage to it. Becca returned to the bedroom and promised to let them know if they could do anything to help.

An hour later Dantee came out and joined Saigg. She climbed into his lap and looked at him with a serious stare. “I’m glad I’m luzzon. I wouldn’t want to have to go through all that work for just one baby.”

The contraction groans coming from the bedroom transitioned into screams as they heard Becca say, “Push. Push as hard as you can.”

Dantee jumped down and returned to watch the birthing process. Everyone else in the outer room crowded the bedroom doorway to watch.

“Here comes the head,” Marra said as she positioned herself to catch the baby when it was delivered.

Becca was pressing on the top of the baby bulge during the contraction to assist in the delivery as she coached Cindy. “The head’s out, that’s the hardest part. A few more good pushes and you can hold your baby in your arms.

Marra cleared mucus and blood from the baby’s mouth and nostrils as she waited for the next contraction. During the next contraction, she rotated the shoulders and worked them through the opening then almost lost her grip on the baby as it squirted out the rest of the way. She then lowered the head and raised the feet to make sure the airway was clear. The baby turned bright red and began quivering as she took her first breath and wailed.

“Hold the baby steady for a second while I clamp and cut the umbilical cord,” Becca said. “All finished. We need to clean her up before she meets her parents.”

Beldon kissed Cindy. “We have a little girl. What are we going to name her?”

“I know we haven’t discussed it, but I’d like to name her Soleene. If there’s a chance that reincarnation is real, I’d like to think that Soleene’s soul continues with our daughter,” Cindy told Beldon.

“I think that’s a great name. What about Johanna as a middle name? It means Gift from God. Miss Soleene Johanna Dumas, welcome to the family,” Beldon said as Marra placed his daughter in her mother’s arms.

Saigg watched from just inside the bedroom door as mother and father greeted their child for the first time. He turned to find tears in the eyes of the four humans beside him. His eyes even felt a little moist. He found it surprising how two completely different species could show strong emotions in very similar ways.

The three luzzon children pressed in close to the new baby in wide eyed wonder. They had only known adult humans and had not realized how small and helpless a newborn would be.

Soleene began nuzzling her mother and making sucking sounds as she search for a nipple. Cindy repositioned her and presented her with the prize of her quest.

“Can she have soft cakes and sweet drink in a few months?” Tuuan asked.

“No, human babies only drink their mother’s milk or a substitute for the first six months or so. They don’t develop as quickly as little luzzons,” Cindy told them. “The milk provides the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals she needs as well as some protection from infection and diseases.”

Saigg pressed his Itsme button to the comm unit, “Command Prime, it’s Saigg, I wanted to tell you that we have a new passenger aboard the
Universe Explorer
. Miss Soleene Johanna Dumas was born a few minutes ago and is strong and healthy. Her mother and father are also doing fine. If you could pass the word, Sir, I know a few others will want to know the first human child has been born on the
Universe Explorer
.” A few minutes later a ship wide announcement essentially repeated Saigg’s message.

“Why don’t we all clear out for a while and let mother and daughter get some rest. That was a long hard labor, and Cindy needs to relax and get acquainted with her baby,” Becca told the group crowding the room.

Saigg stood by the door as the bedroom emptied except for Beldon, Cindy, and the baby.

He watched Beldon bend over and kiss Cindy then Soleene before he dimmed the lights and waved Saigg out of the room ahead of him.

Saigg turned to Beldon, “I want to talk to you about what we can expect when we arrive in orbit around Earth. Once you and Cindy have settled in with the baby, come and talk with me. We need to figure out a strategy for the
Universe Explorer
’s arrival in orbit and how we’ll tell the people of Earth.”

“I agree. We need a plan. Something that will ease the fears of Earth’s population and stop any more attempts to destroy this craft. Give me a day or two to find out how Soleene is going to affect our lives, and then we can have a brainstorming session.”

“I’m not sure how having a weather disturbance in the brain will help us, but I’m willing to try it.”

Chapter-46

The President sat in his crisis center deep under the White House as he listened to the commands relayed from NORAD. To his right, at the large circular table, was Senator Breathsword, and to his left was his Chief-of-Staff, Todd Mandly.

The radio call from Major Rishly had just faded to static when the President jumped to his feet and pounded his fist on the table. “God dammit, I’ll have Hooker’s head mounted on the flag pole in front of the Capital building. He told me he’d destroyed
Endeavour
and all the people on it months ago. Now this radio call is proof he didn’t get the job done. Is everyone working for me totally incompetent?”

He stomped around the conference table, punching each padded chair as he passed. “Not only did the missiles fail to stop the alien ship, we now have to worry if other nations heard that message from Rishly and know we tried to destroy it.”

Todd said, “I’m afraid the opposition party will get a transcript of that radio call and use it as leverage to open an investigation into all of our activities. We know that Russia, China, Great Britain, France and Japan have received copies of the articles on the astronomy magazine sites. We’ve eliminated the servers where they originated, but it was after the fact. If the lid comes off this, Sir, it won’t take them long to start talking about impeachment and possibly treason or domestic terrorism.”

“Maybe we should cut our losses and get out of the country while we can,” Breathsword said as he wiped the sweat streaming down his face. Large wet patches were beginning to appear under the armpits of his suit jacket.

The President screamed, “You listen to me you spineless excuse for a snake. You and that moron son of yours started this whole mess when you went after the Dumas family and pulled DHS down to your level. If Congress comes after me, you can be damn sure I’m not going down alone. I know you’ve made millions bleeding the taxpayers and hiding it in offshore accounts just like your brother. You try to leave the country and records of all your underhanded dealings and bribes will be released to the news media.”

The Secret Service guards outside the closed glass doors shifted, looked at each other and fingered the compact submachine guns hanging at their sides. They were trained to ignore anything said by the president or his friends while in a meeting, but the solid glass doors did little to attenuate the voices from inside the room.

“Just try it and my signed and notarized statement of how you...
you,
Mr. President, ordered Hooker to plant those explosives on the shuttle orbiter
Endeavour
and how
you
ordered DHS to eliminate American citizens so they wouldn’t interfere with your reelection plans. So I think
you
better pull your fangs back and think long and hard about exposing the Breathsword name to scandal.”

“Get the hell out of here before I have the Secret Service shoot you. You, too, Todd. Just get out and leave me alone.” The President flopped down in his chair. He stared at the blank flat screen display in front of him. His only movement was a tick of one eyebrow.