Chapter 24

They both rushed to meet him. Muriel demanded, "Well?"

"It was as I feared. Spontaneous abortion; happens in about 15 per cent of all teenagers, often for no apparent reason, but usually because of a genetic abnormality. I am assuming no history of drugs, smoking and drinking of alcohol."

"Nothing like that, Doctor", said Gloria, "And she eats well - we make sure of that - so not a nutritional problem."

"In that case, just a non-viable foetus. There should not a be any problem with a future pregnancy, but she should be checked frequently for the first trimester of pregnancy. You ladies will see to that, I presume? Penny says she is to marry John; is that right?"

"It is, Hasan. Pregnant or not, we will go ahead with it shortly." Muriel had a thought. "Oh, is she liable to need help to get over losing the foetus?"

"Temporarily, yes, but it was quite early, so there should be no medical question, merely sadness at her loss. The bleeding will stop in a day or two. Give her plenty of cuddles, is my prescription."

"Thanks, Hasan. You are a true friend."

He smiled, and said, "Friend, nothing: I'll send my bill to John, for sheer devilment! Bet he pays it, too!" He laughed, and went off home to his family.

Muriel went upstairs to Penny's bedroom, and knocked softly on the door.

"Penny? How are you, dear? Can I come in?"

"Sniff ... Yes."

Muriel entered. Penny was sitting on her bed, tears running down her cheeks. She burst out, "Oh, Muriel, I have lost my baby!"

Muriel did as any mother would, and gathered Penny into her arms, giving her a comforting hug. "I know, dear. Hasan told me. There was no real reason for it. It just happened, and it should not prevent you having a future pregnancy, Penny my love."

"But I LOST my baby, Muriel!"

"Don't think of it that way, Penny. It was just a tiny foetus, with the POTENTIAL to become a baby. It hadn't started to become a real baby at this stage. You should also remember that the reason why your body rejected it, was probably that it was genetically incapable of surviving. A small percentage of foetuses are like that; incapable of survival. Your body recognised that, and got rid of it before it could become a danger to you. Your body is sometimes cleverer than you are, Penny. It knows what is good for you and what is bad for you, and this foetus wasn't EVER going to survive, so it has been got rid of at the early stage. This was for your body's own good. It was the best possible solution, and you didn't have to make the decision, did you? You just have to live with the facts. Can you do that, Penny? You are a clever girl: you can see that, can't you?"

She sniffed again, through he tears, and looked up at Muriel.

"You really think so, Muriel? Truly?"

"Truly, Penny. I promise you. You should not allow this event to prevent you becoming a Mum when you are ready. And remember: this will not stop you marrying us. We shall have the wedding fairly soon; but you have to be fit and well to take part in the wedding. We can't have you moping around, feeling sorry for yourself. That would not do at all, would it?"

"No, Muriel. I see what you mean, but can you still hold me for a while? It was a bit of a shock for me. I never expected this to happen."

"That's fine, Penny. A little grief for the child that was not to be, is quite normal. You can cry all you want for a little while, then we will go downstairs. I will tell the others what has happened; we will all be sad for you, but grateful that it happened without causing your body any real harm. Cuddle in to me, Penny. Let your sorrow come out."

When John got home a little later, Gloria met him and explained what had occurred. He wanted to go up to Penny at once, but she held him back.

"Muriel is with her, darling. Whatever else she is, Muriel is a great Mum, and that is what she is being for Penny just now. Let her do her thing, John. It will be worth it. Mum had to live with a lot of problems in her life, until you came along and entered our lives. She has the experience to be a mother figure for Penny."

John saw the sense of this, and waited until the pair came downstairs, hand in hand. Muriel saw John waiting. She stopped at gestured Penny forward.

"Penny has something to tell you, John. Listen to her carefully, dear."

Penny came up to John and whispered, "I lost the baby, John."

He opened his arms. "Penny, my love, I am very sorry to hear that. Come to my arms, dear girl."

She gladly allowed his arms to envelop her in his comforting presence.

He whispered in her ear, "I think the wedding goes ahead. You deserve that, my love."

"Your love? You truly love me, John?"

"I do, Penny. Your trouble made me realise that fact. I do love you, Penny."

The first train set off from New Eden to pass through the tunnel with a load of rail workers and their tools and equipment. Hubert Swanson begged a lift, to make his transit to the research station swifter. It would make it much faster getting to the other side of the mountain, where his long walk to the research station started.

He was still unsure of getting back to the train in the late afternoon for his return trip. He asked the driver when it would leave. The reply was not encouraging.

"Sorry, sir, but I don't know yet. The rail track workmen have been told to be at the terminus for 5 o'clock, so all I know is it will be that time or later; how much later is unclear. The bosses are taking note of the transit time in each direction before deciding on a schedule. They expect to find variable times of transit, depending on how fast we drivers try to take the trains until we get to know the track better; and then they will either average it out, or take the longest transit time, and use that for the scheduling. You know how it is with train schedules, sir. You can have a train running a little late, and that is acceptable, but running early means people miss their train, and that is real trouble!

So, as today is the first day, we can't promise anything other than vague timings. Sorry about that."

Hubert assured him there was no need to be sorry: it was just a time of learning for the extended train network. He noted the expected departure time, hoping that he could manage to be there before it left. If he missed it, he would have to walk to the cable car terminal for the slower journey at high level. At least he could catch a cable car, for they left at frequent intervals as long as the route was operational.

Every day that he arrived at the research station, there was a new creature ready to be delivered to him. It was as if the Personalia had the creature tagged, ready to be caught, anaesthetised and transported as soon as Hubert arrived. The background data and images appeared in his phone at the same time. He was grateful for all that preparation.

He got a phone message one day, from the chairman of the Action Committee. "Mr. Swanson, a scientist has been appointed, to work at the research station with you. His name is Tomas Schafernacker. He was appointed last month, but had to resign from his previous post before he could start. Another gentleman, a botanist named Neal Ferguson, will start in a couple of days. We have instructed them to meet you at the research station. They have been given a map and instructions to find their way there. This is to allow them to familiarise themselves with the problems of getting there!

You are recognised as our local expert on the native fauna, and these gentlemen have been so informed. Please treat them as colleagues in this venture. You each have your own areas of expertise, and we expect you to work closely together."

At the Colony offices, Peter Parker approached the Governor.

"Sir, we have prepared the draft version of the annual statistical report on the Colony, for internal use and distribution to reliable friends on Rehome.

I would ask you to peruse it, as before, and give me your comments and any advice on how we heve presented the data."

John accepted the report and promised to give it immediate attention. He postponed as much of his regular work, to allow him to concentrate on this important report.

The first part related to the expansion of the local population over the past year. The colony had now several thousand inhabitants, predominantly farming families, but he noted the increasing numbers of retailers and other commercial enterprises, to counteract the continual rise in civil officials to oversee the workings of the colony.

The rail system showed an expected rise in personnel, as the building of the network continued apace, and the construction of engines and wagons for running on the new rails. The majority of wagons were for freight loads, particularly timber and rail construction materials, but passenger carriages were being constructed in anticipation of a regular passenger service to and from the new enclave beyond the mountain range that delineated the crater the colony was based in. The length of available line had taken a jump since last year, but the new tunnel would boost that considerably in the coming year, with all the new lines to be built beyond the mountains.