<USS Avalon> "Nine Gods, Nine Angels" (Skyler, Moreya, the Tibon Children) 2011:09:06
- From: Jamie Lawson <ayeshalan@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: avalon@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 6 Sep 2011 21:00:13 -0700
Nine Gods, Nine Angels
Skyler, Moreya, the Tibon Children
2011:09:06
Moreya was a spectator at some kind of sporting event, in an upper row of
seats. Just beneath her, people were packed into a standing room area.
More and more people pressed in, not realizing the ones ahead of them had
long since run out of room. The crush was building, the people panicking,
opening their mouths to scream but with no air left in their lungs to scream
with. Several reached up toward her -- she grabbed at them, desperately
trying to pull them to safety. As she was losing her grip, sliding toward
the crush--
--the soft chiming of the computer awakened her.
Nine Gods, she thought, what was that all about? She sat up and swung her
feet around, setting them on the floor. Her bedroom was quiet, and the
space beyond was quiet too. She looked at the computer’s chronometer
display and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. An hour and a half
before the Avalon reached the Andromeda station. The away teams would be
meeting at the same time. She needed to get ready as soon as possible.
She stood up, feeling through herself. Seven hours of sleep had relieved
her headache, and left her feeling still tired, but at least capable of
coping with whatever the away mission might bring. She should see to
Skyler, and the children.
Still in her long, kimono-like sleeping robe, she headed into the main room,
where Skyler was waiting for her. “Well, hello sleepyhead. How are you
feeling?”
“Better,” Moreya admitted. “Thank you for looking after the children while
I was sleeping. I definitely needed the rest.”
“Yes you did,” Skyler said, going to the replicator and retrieving a cup of
tea for her friend. “About the children …”
Moreya’s inhalation of the sweet steam from the tea was interrupted. “What
about them?” she asked, suddenly feeling a pang of worry. “Are they all
right?”
“Oh yes, they’re all fine. It’s just that there are three more of them now.
Those gadgets they brought with them and stuck to like glue? Those were
gestation units. So there are three more children now. I looked all of
them over, they’re perfectly healthy, full term babies. The others say
they’ll take care of the new arrivals. It’s like they’re used to it, like
they’ve all done it before. So I let them be.”
Skyler kissed Moreya gently on the forehead. “I hate to but I have to go
get ready for the away mission. I’ll see you in the transporter room in one
hour, fifteen minutes. Okay?”
“Very well, dear one,” Moreya said, and watched her friend leave the room.
The Tibon were huddled together in a corner, nervously awaiting Moreya's
entrance. They'd heard her awaken, and knew her friend had told her of the
new-birthed before leaving, and were reasonably certain that would not be
the news she would hope for just now.
When the door opened at last, she entered appearing only slightly more
refreshed, and also somewhat shocked.
"They're HERE!" Sariah exclaimed excitedly, running to Moreya's side.
Moreya smiled widely. "Wonderful!" she said. "Show me!" She turned and
smiled at the others, hoping to dispel their fears. A birth was a birth,
and in her people's culture, a thing to be celebrated no matter the
circumstance.
Sariah laughed, dragging Moreya by the hand toward the others. Niq, Giani
and Luca each held an infant. Tiata, however, seemed offput by the tiny
swaddled creatures in her brothers' arms.
"They're so small..." Sariah sighed.
"They won't stay that way for long," Moreya said, looking from one infant
face to another.
They were fair of skin, all three, with dark curls and long fingers.
The ones in Niq and Giani's hands slept, soft smiles upon their lips. The
third, cradled near Luca's chest, though, was wide awake, pale crystal blue
eyes staring out at the world with an almost unnatural intelligence.
Those eyes turned to watch Moreya as she approached.
"Well, well, well," Moreya said softly, meeting those eyes. "The blessings
of the Nine Gods be on you, little one," she said. "Upon you all." She
looked to Sariah and Niq. "Do they have names yet?"
"Gabriel, Raphael, and Evangeline." Tiata answered, gesturing to each in
turn. Raphael, the bright eyed infant who watched her now, smiled. "We took
them from the mythology of one of their parent donors."
Luca nodded, "S'Lena always took the name from the mythology of the dominant
apparent donor parent."
"Lovely names," Moreya said. "Which does bring me to the next question I
had. What do you know of their parents?"
"They were the first viable sets created from blends of the second
cryotank," Giani answered.
"Doctor Correlli was most excited to experiment with the material from the
second tank. Her attempted blends with the material from the first tank
yielded only one viable set, and those were lost to her control when the
carrier donor returned to her homeworld," Tiata added.
Moreya rubbed her chin, trying to puzzle this out. "The second cryotank
that came aboard the Avalon?"
"Those were the only two with full hosts." Tiata replied as if that should
have been obvious. "The rest were all race specific genetic samplings."
Well, that explains the looks, Moreya thought. Beyond that, we'll just have
to wait and see.
"See what?" Dra'El asked, his brow furrowed.
It isn't polite to eavesdrop, Niq reminded Dra'El gently.
"Sorry," Dra'el replied, reaching toward the wakeful Gabriel and grinning
when tiny fingers wrapped around his own.
"It's all right," Moreya said. "It takes practice. We will have to see
what happens as these young angels grow up."
"You knew the myths!" Sariah cried out merrily. "I knew you would." Turning
to Tiata, she announced, "She is the smartestest."
"She is...reasonably intelligent," Tiata conceded, her voice completely
level, though her eyes held a hint of mischief .
Moreya couldn't help but smile, though it faded a bit as she said, "If I
could have anything I chose, I would stay here with all of you right now.
But I can't. The Avalon has arrived at a space station that's in some kind
of trouble, and I have to help find out what's wrong. I hate to leave you
all alone with the work of caring for newborns."
They are our responsibility, Niq answered as if that should have been clear.
We do not ask that another tend to them for us. After a moment, he looked
at her, his brow furrowing in concern. You will return safely, won't you?
"I'll do my best," Moreya said. "And when I do, we'll see about things like
school, and getting you some help. Even the best of guardians deserve a
rest from their labor now and then."
"Labor?" Dra'El shook his head. "No, they were in the portable units. We
didn't have labor."
The elders looked at one another and laughed, Giani reaching forward and
ruffling Dra'El's hair affectionately.
Moreya grinned. "There is labor, and then there is labor," she said to
Dra'El. "Your brothers will explain it to you. But for now —" she went
down on one knee and opened her arms to them all. "For now, a brief
farewell."
Sariah flung herself into Moreya's arms, almost pleading, "Come back
safe...please please come back safe..."
"I will," she said softly. "I will, even if all the Nine Gods bar the way."
--
The nightmare continues! http://www.afterhell.com
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