Leon was worried. It was the middle of the day and he had been working on cataloging the inventory of one of the many storage rooms situated on the last ring of the UNSS Lief Erikson, and he had not yet received an update call from any of the crew. Now that wasn’t in itself unusual. There were many things to do aboard the large ship and many simply got too caught up in what they were working on to contact him directly. But he would be lying to himself if he didn’t admit that he found the silence a bit disturbing, especially after some of the things he had seen on their long mission so far.
He shuddered a little, memories of things he never would have imagined before leaving Earth coming unbidden to his mind as if the thoughts themselves had memories of their own.
Leon shifted his weary stance and then looked down at the dataslate in his hand once more. It was well past the time where he would normally have taken a break to go and take some leisure time, maybe do some powerlifts in the exercise room. But today he just wasn't feeling it. He leaned back and stretched, his vertebrae crackling slightly as he let out an explosive sigh.
All in all, he was still feeling the strain of command a little too heavily. He had only opted to take a bit of a step back from direct management most recently. The crew were smart of course, the smartest that Earth could send in fact. They could well and truly govern themselves with or without his own intervention. But he had Joice as well now, so even then he wasn't alone in his penultimate duties. He only had to let go of his controlling habits and take a step back to let her act more autonomously.
Leon let his arms swing by his sides as he looked around the stacked cargo room. The walls and ceiling pressed close, far closer than they would have on any deep water ship back in his old navy days back when he was a member of the UN’s peacekeeping forces. The Leif Erikson’s supply ring was the same size externally as the other habitat rings, but with the lower level of radiation and thermal protection it was actually the most spacious ring of the whole ship in terms of sheer volume of internal space.
He snorted to himself at that, remembering what it had been like to serve back in the UN corps.
‘Peacekeepers.’ He retorted angrily in his mind. He felt his right arm clench involuntarily as he thought about his service in the navy. He had suffered and been the cause for much suffering back then. And for what? The Earth had been just as much of a mess after he got out as it had been when he had first joined.
He froze mid thought, his body breaking out in a slight sweat as his mind screamed to him that something was wrong. Had he just seen something move, a shadow slinking in the corner of his eye where no shadow could be?
Leon crept around another crate, his breathing low and shallow as his heart beat increased. He knew he was acting paranoid, but who could blame him? After the things he had seen and experienced. He heard a slight scuffing noise and sprang around the box, hands raised and ready for anything.
He stood to his feet and almost lost his balance as Aden let out a horse yell of alarm.
As the man stumbled back Leon regained his footing and clutched his chest, taking deep breaths to calm his rapidly beating heart.
“What are you trying to pull?” Aden demanded after another moment, the man’s tone changing from anger to mild annoyance as he continued speaking. “I was looking for you, not a jumpscare.”
Leon ducked his head in apology as he gestured to the surroundings. “I can't exactly see the door when it opens, I heard a noise and..” he trailed off, realising how paranoid he was sounding. Aden seemed to think so too as he shook his head. “I mean, I guess it sounds bad when I put it that way. It’s not like there is anything on the ship to be afraid of.”
Aden nodded but seemed unconvinced. “Yeah, sure. Anyways, it isn’t important. I was coming over to tell you the results of the genetic testing on the ice world samples from the last stop, if you were still interested.”
This made him perk up. The results had been largely inconclusive as of yet, the strange genome of the alien creature and the semi-plants they had encountered in that horrid underground space had resisted attempts to categorise them.
Instead of dwelling on the issues, he simply waved a hand. The one without the dataslate. “Well, out with it. What did you and Joice discover?”
Aden smiled and then tapped at his chest before removing a small dataslate like his own from it. “Here, look at this. We have been using Henry to make a more accurate digital model, but it is incredible.”
Leon stepped to the man’s side and looked at the screen. It was covered in data and spinning images that seemed to convey an entire library's worth of information all at once. For all the learning he had done over the course of the mission, Leon was still not a scientist and so he waved a hand for Aden to elaborate.
The man did so with aplomb, his smile widening as he pointed to various parts of the readout and shuffled through different pages. “Well, here you can see the base elemental constant is the same, though in slightly different variable quantities. They seem to be oxygen respirating carbon-based life same as we are, though that is where the similarities end.” He swiped to another page. “Here we discovered that they don't use the same proteins as those rock mussels or whatever Chris was calling them now. They don't in fact even use the same amino acids that we do. Well, they use a few that are similar in chemical composition at least.” He trailed off, seemingly thinking to himself.
Leon took a step around the nearby crate and tried to listen with half an ear as he went on with his counts, it wasn’t like he really understood the details of it all anyways. “Oh, yea? And what is the significance of that I wonder.” He wasn’t really as invested as he was making himself out to be, but he didn’t want to burst the man’s bubble. Especially not when Aden seemed so excited about the whole ordeal.
Aden shook his head, medium length hair flying about wildly as he tapped at the datapad again. “No, that’s just it. They seem to be similar in their most basic form, even seeming to use four base pairs in their helical XNA. But the differences are so extreme as to make the possibility of a direct relation impossible. So I had a theory..” He cut off suddenly and jerked, his eyes flicking to another part of the room and locking on to something behind Leon.
Leon frowned as the man’s mouth clamped shut. “What. What is it, the theory? Aden? What’s wrong?” He glanced around the room, trying to see what had spooked the other man.
As Leon verbally prodded the man he saw Aden hunch suddenly and stick the back of his hand in his mouth. He seemed to bite down on his own knuckle before grunting in pain, a small trickle of blood leaking down his chin. Leon took a step towards the man and was pulled down while Aden shushed him loudly.
Leon quieted, that old prickle of unease starting to rise again in his mind. Aden seemed pale, his normally caramel skin a slightly lighter shade as the blood drained from his face in apparent fear.
He shook the man, “Aden, Aden!” He hissed.
Aden looked at him, his pupils dilating as the man focused on his face. “Leon? Did you see it?”
At this point Leon was over the man’s games and gave him another shake. “See what?! Out with it, why are you acting crazy all of the sudden.” As soon as he asked it he wished he could take it back as the man responded.
“Crazy? The shadow.. I swear to you Leon, I saw the shadow again.” He groaned, “Oh god, please don’t let it be happening again..”
Leon froze, his heart dropping straight through his guts and to the floor as the shock of the man’s comment caused him to think back on the shadow he had seen earlier too. “I saw something before you came in.. I think. Where was it?”
Aden pointed towards the crate Leon had been counting just minutes ago. “I saw it move over there.” He squeaked slightly as he sucked in a tense and shaky breath, wiping the small line of blood from his chin as he did so.
Leon really didn't want to go and look, and yet he knew that he had to. If not to prove something to Aden than to prove that he wasn’t afraid of shadows himself. He stood and then gave Aden a reassuring smile before stepping slowly towards where the other man had gestured.
“Wait!” Aden hissed, his arm outstretched towards him as the man seemed to hesitate. The man bouncing on the balls of his feet in consternation. Finally, Aden came to an internal decision and crept up after him. “There is no way I'm letting you go alone.”
Leon gave him another smile, this one more genuine as he clapped a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Thanks, Aden. That means a lot to me.” And then he continued his slow march.
He didn't know what he was expecting, but it was his experience that shadows didn't just move on their own without good reason. He glanced down at himself as he moved, the room was all that dark. The overhead lights were on their low power setting and so the room was filled with deep shadows in between the dimly shining LEDs. Once more he noticed that the shadows seemed to stick to his exposed skin like honey, the effect was so subtle as to be unnoticeable.
But he noticed it, and it made him shiver.
It had started after he had been exposed to that strange sick star, the radiation that had flooded his system had changed him. He knew it deep in his own heart and mind. Maybe that was a bad thing, maybe it was good. All Leon knew was that the light did not seem to interact with him in the way that physics said it should. He couldn't explain the how or why of it, but he hated the dark now. He was tempted to throw the lights to max power using his CAMs device. But another part of him seemed to shudder at the thought of that too, as if too much light would expose something he was afraid to see as well.
He almost stopped and gripped his head. There was simply too much going on all at once for him to effectively concentrate on any one thing with all his might. So he shifted and then turned to Aden.
Gripping the man’s forearm he spoke in a low yet measured tone, “I don't have a good feeling about this. What if we just pretend we didn't see anything. It has worked for me so far.”
Aden’s eyes widened ever so slightly as his mouth fell open. His brow scrunched and his face took on an angry posture as he shook his head quickly. “No. No, not at all. I can't believe you are still running from your problems, Leon. You act tough but I see through the facade. You are scared, just as scared as I was before I had a complete mental breakdown. I respect you enough to tell you that. If you keep ignoring these things then they will only continue to get worse.”
Aden paused and then looked around the dimly lit storage room again. “Now, I saw definitely something. You are welcome to accompany me to see what it was, but I don’t want you to be the devil's whisper in my ear. Either you are with me or you can stay cowering right here. Make your decision, are you just going to sit there or are you going to man up and be as tough as you like to act?”
Leon was torn by the man’s stinging words. On one hand it was not the same, but neither was Aden completely out of line. He didn't want to let the man down. But he was indeed afraid, afraid for what they might find. For what it said about his own self doubts, for the visions of anarchy and death that had haunted him since they left the cradle of humanity’s birth. The thought that something had hitched a ride with them from Earth, something ancient and full of anger.
‘I can't live my life in fear.’ He heard his own voice echo in his mind. There was another sound as he said it, a low thrumm. A buzzing gurgle that came from somewhere else and made his eyes twitch. He shook his head.
Aden seemed to take that as his answer as the man nodded. “I thought so. So, did you still want to take the lead?”
Leon took a breath and then nodded to Aden. If he was going to be the leader then he would lead from the front as was only proper. Leon stood and stepped around the corner of the boxes, his hands slightly up as if he could defend himself from a nightmare made manifest.
But there was nothing. No shadowy creatures jumped at him, no burning eyes assailed him, there was nothing but the stark plainness of the storage room. The neat rows of packaged boxes and crates looking wholly unassuming in the dimly flickering lights.
Aden stepped around the corner next, the man just as tense looking as Leon himself felt. And he too was stumped by the emptiness of the room.
He turned to Leon, “But.. I thought for sure I saw..” He trailed off again. Leon just shrugged.
Gesturing towards the passageway, Leon nodded in satisfaction. “Nothing there. I thought I saw something too, but maybe we are both just tired?” He voiced it as a question, not sure enough in his own sanity to proscribe the cure to their seeming condition.
Aden scoffed and stood. “You know damn well that isn't the reason. No, there is something on this cursed ship. A demon, or.. or something like it.” The man muttered something under his breath in another tongue, a curse or a prayer perhaps.
Now it was Leon’s turn to scoff. There was no demon on the ship, in fact, he was about to say so when movement caught his eye beyond the other man’s shoulder. Again, a shadow moved on its own in the dimness outside the light. A wispy form seemingly composed of tendrils of darkness seemed to pull itself over and through a stack of crates in the corner of the room.
Leon stood stock still in both surprise and terror as a single molten orange eye seemed to regard him for the briefest moments, and then it was gone. It seemed to disappear into the bulkhead as if the wall was no less a barrier for it than a towel would be to the sea.
Aden seemed to react to his pale features as he too turned to face the apparition, but it was gone.
“What is it? What did you see?!” Aden asked, shaking his shoulder violently as Leon continued to stare mutely, his mouth working silently as he tried to find words to describe what he had clearly seen but could not believe.
Aden cleared his throat, the sound seeming to knock Leon out of the stupor he had been lost in. Leon shook his head as he uttered, “I saw nothing but the remnants of a nightmare. Nothing real..”
Again, Aden seemed deeply unsatisfied and punched a nearby crate in frustration. “No! Not a vision. There is something here, and I am going to prove it!”
Leon stirred slightly as the other man spoke into his CAMs device. “Henry, were you monitoring this storage room?”
It took a moment for the ship’s computer to respond. When it did, it did so in that same pleasant and slightly flat tone that they were used to hearing from the ship’s central computer. “Yes. Storage and all other sections of the UNSS Leif Erikson are monitored at all times of the day and night.”
Aden slapped his hand on the crate next to them labeled ‘potting supplies’ and pointed to the corner. “Henry, pull up the most recent footage from this room. Prioritise on that far corner.”
Leon huffed. “It isn't going to work.” He muttered under his breath. He didn't know that for certain, but all of his gut instincts were telling him that was the case. And indeed Aden groaned in disgust as the clip played over the tiny embedded screen of his wrist worn device.
Leon saw himself in the room alone and watched as Aden walked up to him, startling him. He had been crouched down and jumped up as the other man reached him. But he saw nothing else. Not a sign that anything out of the ordinary had occurred. Aden shook his head before the pair of them stopped and peered closer.
“Wait, go back a few seconds.” Leon prompted Aden who complied instantly.
Yes. There was something on the screen, a distortion in the picture that should not have been there. The light bending inwards like a picture with a hole poked through it, or as light might be bent around a large gravitational field. The distortion looked nothing like the thing from his recurring nightmares, but it was all at once more real. Tangible and thus so much more terrible to contemplate. The distortion followed a path along the edge of the room until it seemed to touch the corner wall, and vanish as if it had never been.
Leon stood slowly to his feet as Aden swore under his breath in lightly accented Hindi. “Well, that proves it. That wasn’t a trick of the light Leon.”
Leon had to nod in agreement, the stone that settled to the pit of his middle feeling like a physical blow as he looked back to that same corner. He gave Aden a glance and then asked, “Henry? Are you detecting anything out of the ordinary on the storage ring? Anything at all?
The ship’s powerful computer responded immediately. “Yes, there are at least seventy new micrometeoroid impacts along the face of the ring, none of them penetrating the outer ablative hull though. There have also been a few radiation spikes in the storage room you are in as well as a series of electrical faults along the connecting..” He cut the computer off.
“Wait wait wait… did you say radiation spikes? In this room?” The computer made an affirmative noise. He looked at Aden. “That could be the connection, Aden.”
Aden shook his head. Not seeing the same connection it seemed.
“I don’t see the point of looking for radiation..”
Leon pulled the man towards the wall, the caramel skinned man resisting slightly as he pulled him closer to where the shadow thing had vanished. “Look, the camera’s didn't see anything, and we both know that this thing seems to absorb light. It could be why the camera’s never saw it before. It could be a partially psychic manifestation in our heads. Think about it, we are potentially dealing with an unknown alien organism that nobody has ever seen before here.”
He wanted to speak more, but his communicator beeped at him insistently and he sighed heavily. Aden seemed to skirt a little further away from the corner, almost as if he were afraid to be so near to it. Leon took the hint and motioned towards the exit to the room.
“We will talk about this more later..” He answered the call as they moved to leave the room. “Yes, this is Leon, what is happening?”
He had neglected to check the ID of the caller and thus was mildly surprised when a slightly panicked Taylor spoke up quickly. What the man said caused his eyes to widen, Aden looking over and then at him with a look of both surprise and a little worry.
Taylor spoke, his tone belying the underlying unease he seemed to be experiencing. “Leon! Terry has just gone into labor, Dr. Kimathi and Oliver are with her now. I am on my way to the infirmary now. I wanted to tell you a minute ago, but it is too hard to talk while climbing down the spokes.”
Leon smiled a little, his own surprise masking the mental discomfort he had been experiencing ever since entering the storage room. “That is great news, Aden is with me. We will be there right away.” He glanced at the other man who nodded succinctly before the both of them took off for one of the nearest ladder spokes.
Aden grunted at him as they rushed down the curving hall of the storage ring, “Don’t think I will so easily let this go, Leon.” Leon just snorted in response. He would have sooner bet on the lottery than betting against the New Indian man dropping a lead on anything even mildly scientific in nature.
Moving from one of the Lief Erikson’s huge rotating habitat rings to any of the others was always a bit of a chore. Even now over five years into the mission he still had that same minor sense of unease when looking up that forty meter ladder shaft. Sure the down force of the rotating rings lessened as they got further towards the core until they were free-floating in microgravity, but that was a hard concept for the small part of his lizard brain that still reared itself in the back of his waking mind.
Aden and Leon reached the bottom of the second ring, the smaller man moved to leave but then stopped as Leon stayed put.
He spoke, quickly but without alarm. “What is it?”
Leon waved a hand as he pressed a few keys on his CAMs device. “Go on ahead, I’m just going to let Natalia know what is going on. She and Myung will probably want to be here for Terry.” Aden gave him a nod and the slightest grin before he rushed off in the direction of the ship’s medical wing. It was an exciting moment, one thing after another as it so often seemed to be on the Leif Erikson.
Leon took a breath and then activated the call. The line buzzed, once, twice. Leon was about to hang up and try Myung’s communicator when the link clicked and a tired female voice spoke over the communications channel.
“Mm, yes? Who is it?” The voice said tiredly. Leon blinked, that wasn’t Natalia. It sounded like Joice.
He cleared his throat and asked, “Joice? What are you doing with Nat’s CAMs?”
He heard a slight commotion through the link followed by muffled voices and then Natalia answered. “Oh, hello Leon! Joice and I are working on one of the raised planters and I had my upper half wedged between two crates. She answered for me is all, so.. what’s up?” She spoke cheerfully, he could see her in his mind's eye. Her bright smiling features, so happy to hear from him.
He told her quickly what Taylor had told him and she was silent for a minute. She dusted her hands off with a series of claps that made the camera feed swing wildly around the room and then seemed to speak to Joice, her voice once more muffled. “Ok, I think we are about done here anyways. We are on our way.”
Leon nodded to himself, “Oh, if you could grab Myung too? And send a message to Sabine as well. I think she was helping Chris on one of the mineral extractors.”
An event of this magnitude was something to gather the entire crew for. The ship would be alright without them for a few hours, he didn’t want to ask anyone of the crew to miss Terry and Taylor’s biggest day.
He smiled as he cut the link and started off towards the medical wing. It was only now just settling in, the fact that their crew of thirteen was about to become fourteen. How incredible it was to think about, they were hundreds of light years from Earth, thousands even, and yet life continued on without consideration of their own goals. Terry and Taylor were two separate souls, their love linking them first in spirit, and then body as they had created life in the midst of the endless dead void of interstellar space.
He reached the medical suite and slowed as he heard many assembled voices ahead of him. Turning the corner he stopped in the doorway, in front of him was a smattering of people. Aden and Terry were there of course, as were Chad and Samuel. None of the women seemed present, besides Taylor herself and Dr. Kimathi he presumed. He heard a noise and saw a nearby door open, someone inside speaking loudly as Oliver stepped out wearing scrubs and gloves. A small fidgeting bulge under his scrubs showing where Max was coiled around his neck like a living necktie.
He pulled his mask down as he saw him and smiled. “Oh, good.. you are here. Leon, Terry is in active labor. It may yet be several hours till she is ready, but Blessing thinks that everything is progressing normally despite everything.” The man paused and then took off one of the gloves and reached under his scrubs, “Here, I need you to watch Max for me while we work. Blessing doesn't want her in the room right now, and I am inclined to agree with her as the process could stress Max out and I don’t want to imagine what could happen.”
A small chuffing noise could be heard from the bulge that seemed to encircle the man’s shoulders before he pulled a long and almost snake-like creature from under the green garment with some difficulty.
It was Max. The clingy serpentine alien had been originally picked up on one of their first terrestrial excursions. She had bitten the man and as a result, Leon had been forced to abduct her so they could synthesise an anti-venom to save him. As it turned out, the small blue-green creature was actually quite intelligent and once she realised she wasn’t actually in any danger seemed to have calmed right down. In fact, she had formed a strong emotional bond with Oliver that saw the two of them rarely apart, like a loyal dog with their owner. Leon had always been a little mistrustful of the alien serpent, but as he had gotten to interact with Max more and more he had realised that they were not in fact the voracious killer he had originally suspected them to be. Far from it in fact.
Leon gave a little smile as he was offered the sleepy little reptilian. Her eyes locked to his and he could once more see the intelligence behind them. She wasn't on par with a human intelligence as far as they could tell, but there was much more going on in her little head than a mere animal may have exhibited in a similar situation.
Max gave a little chirp and yawned wide, her eyes seeming to roam around her immediate surroundings. Their irises contracted as she seemed to immediately take new interest in Leon. As Oliver held out the offering, Leon reached out slowly and was unsurprised when she launched herself towards him. She coiled around his arm as she sought to find the comfort of his shoulders, the flipper-like appendages that lined her sides gripping his overalls like blunt fingers as she settled around his neck in a loose coil with a small chirp and another wide yawn that showed off her long venom injecting fangs.
Leon just shrugged slightly as Max settled down with her diamond-shaped head rusting in the crook of his neck. He wasn't experienced in the medical field and so he moved to take a seat on a nearby examination table as Oliver moved to speak more quietly with Taylor. The young man nodded vigorously at some unheard comment from the big Australian.
Time ticked by and the others arrived. Sabine, Chris and Chad arrived as a group followed shortly by Myung, Joice and Natalia. He stood as Natalia entered the room, she noticed him and moved immediately towards him with the grace of a panther.
He reached for her and they embraced quickly. “Good to see you Nat.” He told her simply, he felt Max stir as they hugged.
She nodded into his chest and then pushed away. “How are things?” She smiled as Max gave her a little chirp and she scratched the creature’s little triangular head. “Oh, hi there Maxy.”
He knew what she meant with the question, he spoke as she continued to spoil the small serpent with attention. “Oliver and Blessing are with her. Taylor is stressed, but who wouldn't be? Terry seems to be handling labor well enough or we would likely have heard something by now, I don't think there will be any complications. Despite the fact we are so far from home.” He added the last bit more quietly, but she heard him anyway.
He grunted as she took a break from pampering Max and prodded him in the side. “Of course everything is going to be alright. Terry is strong, one of the strongest women I have ever met in fact. She will be fine, no way anything goes wro..” She cut herself off as she said it, as if she were afraid that speaking of it might call it into existence.
Leon had his reservations. ‘Plan for the worst, but hope for the best.’ He always told himself. But as far as things were moving along, he had to agree with Natalia. Max settled back down as Natalia and he sat close together, the smaller woman leaning into his side as they waited. One hand holding his and the other idly stoking the glossy scales on Max’s back.
After a while the entire crew of the ship had gathered in the small antechamber to the medical room where Terry was. Leon and Natalia were sitting to the side and watching as the others talked and questioned each other and Taylor. The man wrung his hands as he stood outside, Terry had requested he wait outside until she was in active labor. Leon could understand why as the young man was terribly stressed and would do nothing other than add additional strain to her already stressful enough ordeal.
He leaned over to Natalia and motioned towards Taylor, “I hope he stops worrying so much. As you and everyone else have told him, it’s going to be fine.” He felt Max stir slightly at his movement and then settle back into her nap.
Natalia nodded her head, dark hair bobbing as she did so. “Yes. But he is young, and this is probably the most stressful moment of his life so far. Think of the stakes. Not only is his wife in minor peril, so too is his as yet unborn child’s. A little girl from what Terry has told me. So he is waiting to hear that his very first child is safe and secure..” She paused in speaking as the door to the hospital room opened. “..as are the rest of us.”
The sound of someone speaking loudly filtered through the otherwise sound dampening portal and Oliver pointed at Taylor. “Taylor, in here. Quickly.”
Leon watched as the man instantly rushed across the room but was stopped by Oliver with a firm hand on his chest before handing Taylor a set of gloves and a mask which he hastily pulled on. The two then walked inside the room and as the door closed it cut off the majority of noise once more. The group grew quiet, Leon himself not wanting to speak and break the seemingly uneasy silence that had filled the space where once lively conversation had bloomed.
The whole group remained that way for a full minute before Chris spoke up, “Yeah, I remember my cousin’s first kid. Man, he was a wreck for the first couple of months. Though I don’t think I had ever seen him happier to tell you the truth.”
Samuel seemed to gain a modicum of interest. “Oh? Why is this the first we have heard of him?”
Chris leaned back into the wall and frowned. “Because he’s dead. Him and his wife and young son.” The room fell silent again. Leon shook his head in mild disbelief. What an absolutely morbid situation to suddenly cast on them at a time when they were all so anxious already.
Samuel seemed taken aback and simultaneously mortified by the blunt comment. He stuttered slightly, “I-I.. damn, I didn’t mean to bring back painful memories, Chris.”
The old geologist simply nodded his head. “I know that Samuel. It was a long time ago though. Decades and decades it seems like.” He stopped, the older man’s eyes misting with semi-forgotten tears as he seemed to relive some distant memory.
Leon felt the urge to speak, but before he was able the door to the medical suite burst open and Taylor stepped out. “She’s here!” He didn’t need to explain, everyone knew what he meant as soon as he said it.
The entire room stood as one and began to move towards the door before Oliver stepped up behind the excited younger man. He held up his arms, “Whoa, calm down. A few at a time, they are both exhausted. Blessing doesn't want her experiencing any more stress than she has to.” He paused. “Okay, two at a time then.” There was a collective chuckle as he and Taylor filed back in followed by Myung and Joice. The two women talking excitedly as the door swung shut behind them.
Leon was about to comment on it when he once more was forced to grunt as Natalia poked him in the liver again. “You know.. I wouldn't mind…”
He shook his head slightly as she trailed off, the implication clear in the coy look she shot him. They had discussed a family on more than one occasion, and now that he and she were officially married it was ever more apparent that they needed to make a decision.
“Out of the question, the burden of one newborn will already tax the mission enough.” She frowned but didn’t retort. Unusual for her to allow him his side without so much as a single counter argument. He leaned down close to her ear as the door to the medical room opened and Oliver beckoned for them to approach, “Well, Taylor’s daughter will need somebody to grow up with I suppose..” Causing Natalia to shoot him another, more appraising look.
He stood, not giving the conniving fox of a woman any time to formulate a response as he walked toward the open door. She had to rush to catch up with him as he reached Oliver who handed him a mask to wear.
“For the baby.” Was all he said, Leon nodded. It was especially important to not expose newborns to harmful pathogens. Even the relatively clean environment of the ship was a hotbed for all manner of colds, influenza and more to breed and grow. Humanity was at once host and symbiote with innumerable smaller bioforms.
He glanced down towards his chest at the small but energetic little alien still comfortably coiled around his upper shoulders and mouthed silently to Oliver, ‘What about Max?’ The other man shook his head with a slight smile.
‘She is fine for a moment.’ He seemed to say silently back. Leon just nodded, no sense in getting into an argument with the man, he must have been very tired too.
Leon stepped through the open doorway and Natalia followed a half-pace behind. Inside the room it was quiet, Taylor sat on the bed next to Terry, the young woman looking both exhausted and joyful in equal measure. A sort of unseen glow surrounded her, as if her joy were so bright that it radiated from her like beams of light, felt more than seen. Dr. Kimathi stood by her other side holding what looked to be a datapad and turned to glance at them as they entered into the room.
She waved at them, “Quietly, she is resting.”
Natalia immediately rushed to the other woman and began to speak quietly but excitedly to her while Leon slowly sidled up to Taylor and clapped the man on the shoulder, causing him to turn to look at him. His face was alight with the same joy that was evident on Terry’s face and he smiled widely as he spoke in hushed tones.
“She is beautiful, they both are.”
Leon gave the man’s shoulder a squeeze and shifted slightly to stand by his side. “Yes. Yes they are. What did you decide?”
The man glanced at him, “Decide?”
Leon nodded towards the small bundle in Terry’s arms that she was busy showing to Natalia. He could just see the bright red top of the newborn’s head peeking from the top of the sterile cloth. Small fussing sounds accompanied by the occasional small cry could be heard, tired but healthy. He clarified, “Her name. What did you two decide?”
Taylor smiled and looked back towards the two. Dr. Kimathi was speaking to them, it looked like she was explaining some medical data and while he watched Taylor answered. “We named her Celeste. Seemed fitting, seeing as she was born amongst the stars. She is our star child.”
Leon felt a small pang as a tear threatened to fall from his eye, he sniffed heavily and wiped at his face. “That’s a beautiful name Taylor. Little Celeste. The first star of all mankind.” He felt Max stir as he spoke and he placed a hand on her lithe body to keep her calm. The small alien making a contented chirp at the contact before settling back into her nap.
Natalia moved to stand at the foot of the bed and he joined her a moment later. Putting a hand around her waist, she leaned into him. Her head turned to look up at him and she let out a little sigh, “This is the point, Leon. Do you feel it? That pulsing in your middle, that urge to partake in life itself?”
He smiled slightly. “Maybe. I had forgotten what it was like to feel alive. Until I met you, you showed me that I wasn’t dead yet despite my own misgivings. And for that you will forever have all my love.”
She pulled his head down and placed a quick kiss on his chin, making him chuckle. Dr. Kimathi gave them a disapproving look but Terry giggled tiredly. She spoke, her voice a little horse but full of emotion and strength. “I am glad to see that you two are getting along better. What do you think of Celeste?” She asked the question hopefully, as if there was the tiniest chance they would tell her something negative.
Leon answered her with a smile and most sincerely. “She is the most beautiful thing I have seen on this journey. Truly a wonder to surpass those we have cataloged in so much detail.”
Terry giggled again and Natalia jabbed him in the ribs playfully, this time he didn't respond as she had hit his artificial side so the motion was deadened. Taylor asked, “Surely you can’t mean that?”
Leon shook his head and gestured to Oliver. “I do, and more. Remember, I’m not a scientist. No great thinker or intellectual. I was always meant to be a military presence on this ship, a glorified babysitter as the top brass back on Earth might have seen it. So I am serious when I tell you that there are many things about this trip I do not understand..” He trailed off as he said it, the memory of the dark thing he and Aden had seen earlier that morning coming to mind.
Natalia seemed to notice his pause as she nudged him, a little concern on her features. He shook his head to clear it from the dark thoughts. “What I mean to say is that this is something I can understand. New life, the very purpose of life itself. To explore.. to grow.” He gave Natalia another nudge as he said it. Dr. Kimathi looked up as he spoke, his words swaying her as he saw the smile in her eyes despite the mask she wore.
“I think this..” He gestured at Terry and the newborn infant she was holding, “..is the most important thing that has happened on this ship since we left Earth all those years ago.”
He felt Natalia hug him tight as he said it, he was only a little surprised that he had meant it with every fibre of his being.