Chapter 16

Xi Pegasi
Survey Team 1.2
September 1, 2057

“Roger?” Yamina sounded worried, and Roger plucked his PDA from his vest pocket.

“What is it, honey?”

“I’m feeling sick this morning. If I don’t feel better when the helicopter arrives, I may go back with them.”

“I’ll miss you.”

“Flatterer.”

Roger chucked. “I will. But, since you’re leaving, I want to hike to the next survey site from here. It’ll only take a couple of days, and I have plenty of supplies.”

“Be careful, Roger. Seriously. You shouldn’t go by yourself.”

“I’ll be fine, Yamina. I will see you soon. I love you.”

“And I love you, Roger.”

Roger picked his way along the steep slope. It was late afternoon sun and he was ready to call it a day. Besides his camping gear and weapon, he carried sampling tools and a growing collection of items to examine later. He planned to work his way southeast around the southern face of the dormant volcano that dominated the island.

Frequent rainstorms pelted the island, and the resultant runoff formed streams that raced down the steep, narrow ridges that lay at the foot of the mountain. Roger was working his way up one ridge and planned to follow the next valley to the ocean. There, he would follow the coast eastward to the next site.

A thin layer of dirt covered the volcanic rock, and Roger stepped around areas of dense vegetation as he climbed the hillside. Topping the ridge, he paused and checked his PDA map, verifying his position. Satisfied, he dropped the PDA into his vest pocket and started down the slope.

He was two thirds of the way down when the ground shifted under his feet. Dense ground cover had concealed a bed of loose rock, and Roger yelped as both feet slid from under him. He crashed to the ground and rolled down the steep slope. His helmet connected solidly with a tree, stunning him and spinning him around. A shoulder dug in, and he rolled down the slope, finally coming to rest in the thick undergrowth at the bottom of the valley.

Roger lay still, waiting for his head to clear enough for him to sit up. His shoulder hurt, and he carefully eased himself into a seated position. His head spun, and he closed his eyes until the symptom eased. After a moment, he felt better and reached for his PDA to report in. It was gone.

Xi Pegasi Aboard the Wells September 2, 2057

Lenna looked up from her work as her comm’s priority tone sounded. “Lenna.”

“I think you’d better hear this,” Shanna said without preamble. “Go ahead, Survey One.”

“Yamina Evans reported she was ill this morning, and we picked her up by helicopter and returned her to base camp. Just as a precaution, we ran a blood scan. Here are the results.”

Lenna checked the information with a mental frown. She’d left specific instructions not to be disturbed unless it was important, and the survey team’s paramedics were more than adequate...” She jerked upright in her seat as her eyes locked onto a section of the report. “She’s pregnant? Are you certain?”

“Positive. We have called for transport for her.”

“And her husband, I trust?”

“I’m afraid we have a problem there. Roger decided to continue on alone, and now we can’t contact him. We are searching for him, but no luck so far.”

Lenna sighed. “As much as I hate to state the obvious, we must find Roger and test him. Immediately. In the meantime, let Yamina stay at the camp. I will bring a team there to investigate.”

“Of course. You are welcome to use what we have, but it isn’t much. You may wish to bring your own accommodations.”

“Thank you. I will do that. I should be there tomorrow.” Lenna closed the circuit and sat back, wrestling with her emotions. Tears came to her eyes as the relief flooded through her. A pregnancy, she thought. She’d gone over the evidence, and the damage was frightening. None of the men she’d seen tested were fertile. The suspect foodstuffs had been quarantined, and a careful analysis of the remaining supplies had turned up nothing.

Lenna keyed her comm. “Geri, can you meet me in Lab Two, now?”

Geri appeared in thirty seconds. “Yes?”

“I just found out there is a pregnant woman on the planet. It’s Yamina Evans.” She grinned at Geri’s openmouthed stare. “Honest.”

“That’s ... how?”

“I’m going to find that out for myself. You get to mind the store while I go brush popping. I’ll drag Faith Ozawa along, plus some equipment and a place to stay.”

“How about Roger?”

“That’s a little ... complicated. He’s disappeared.”

Xi Pegasi 1500 km SE of Colony Three September 3, 2057

Faith leaned back in her seat and groaned as the transport shuddered to a stop. “Next time you ask me to go with you, Lenna, I will shoot myself. Or maybe you, and then myself.”

Lenna unbelted and stood up. “I’ll help you. If we’d started off here, there’d be no such things as in-flight meals. The damn turbulence is awful.”

The flight to the survey site had taken the better part of seventeen hours. The survey team had lain off relatively smooth airfields, but they still jarred the transport to its keel every time they landed or took off. The flight was even harder on the passengers. Unlike Earth, the flight conditions were rarely smooth. Thunderstorms and rain showers rose in their path with distressing regularity, forcing the exhausted flight crew to pick their way through them.

Lenna smiled at the crew chief and stepped down from the aircraft. Four members of the survey team were on hand to greet her; the rest were searching for Roger Evans, or tending to Yamina Evans, his wife of barely three months. His pregnant wife, she corrected.

The delegation trooped along the path from the landing area and arrived at the survey site’s camp. Three prefabricated buildings made up the core of the site; a lab, a support building with a medical clinic and a workshop, and a small mess hall. A dozen smaller buildings surrounded the core area, housing the team members themselves and some support equipment.

The physicians were ushered into the medical clinic. Yamina sat on one of the two gurneys in the tiny examination area, and she looked up from her PDA as they entered. “Doctor MacGregor,” her eyes widened and she smiled widely as she saw Lenna.

“Hello, Yamina. How are you feeling?” Lenna pulled up a chair and sat beside her bed.

“I’d be better if I could stay in my own quarters, or better, help look for Roger.” She shook her head. “This is ridiculous, if you’ll pardon my saying so.”

“I’d agree with you, normally. Given the fact that you are the first, and only pregnant woman on the planet makes my precautions sensible, don’t you think?”

Yamina nodded reluctantly. “I suppose that I have to go back with you?”

“No.” Lenna leaned back in her chair. “I came prepared to stay here. I don’t want to risk stressing you more than I can help, and taking you on the flight I just had wouldn’t be the best way to accomplish that goal. Further, I need to test your husband. The fact that he was able to impregnate you,” she looked closely at Yamina, “and it was him, correct?”

Yamina’s answering flush was visible even through her dusky complexion, and Lenna smiled tightly. “The fact that Roger is fertile is as important as your pregnancy itself. I understand that everything is being done that can be done to find him.”

“Thank you,” Yamina replied simply.

“Okay.” Lenna rose and looked to Faith. “I think we should run a complete workup to ensure that Yamina’s pregnancy is proceeding as scheduled. Then, we start investigating exactly how she was able to conceive when no one else can.”

Xi Pegasi Survey Team 1.2 September 4, 2057

Roger sat down heavily and leaned against a tree trunk. His headache was back, and he’d used the last of the painkillers the night before. He took out his canteen and drank deeply, emptying it yet again. At least there was no shortage of water here, wherever here was. It was hard to remember now. He had been working, and he still had his tools. He’d fallen, and his head still hurt. He’d lost - something, and he’d spent the night in a small cave.