thought about having a baby. Will I be a good mother? This is a good time to find out. I'm thirty-two and the old biological clock is ticking away.
But how did it happen? The pill had always worked before. Fortunato's powers, she realized, are based on his potent sexuality. Perhaps they somehow circumvented the contraceptives. Fortunato ... and josh! How would he react to the news? What would he think?
Tachyon's voice broke into her reverie. "Have you heard a word I've said?" he demanded.
Peregrine blushed. "I'm sorry. I was thinking about being a mother."
He groaned. "Peri, it's not that simple," he said gently. "Why not?"
"Both you and that man have the wild card. Therefore the child will have a ninety percent chance of dying before or at birth. A nine percent chance of being a joker, and one percent, one percent," he emphasized, "of being an ace." He drank more brandy. "The odds are terrible, terrible. The child has no chance. None at all."
Peregrine began pacing back and forth. "Is there something you can do, some sort of test, that can tell if the baby is all right now?"
"Well, yes, I can do an ultrasound: It's abysmally primitive, but it'll tell if the child is developing normally or not. If the baby is not, I suggest-no, I urge you, very strongly, to have an abortion. There are already enough jokers in this world," he said bitterly.
"And if the baby is normal?"
Tachyon -sighed. "The virus often doesn't express itself until birth. If the child survives the birth trauma without the virus manifesting, then you wait. Wait and wonder what will happen, and when it will happen. Peregrine, if you allow the child to be born, you will spend your whole life in agony, worrying and trying to protect it from everything. Consider the stresses of childhood and adolescence, any one of which might trigger the virus. Is that fair to you? To your child? To the man waiting for you downstairs? Providing," Tachyon added coldly, "he still wants to be a part of your life when he learns of this."
"I'll have to take my chances with josh," she said swiftly, coming again to the thought that dominated her mind. "Can you do the ultrasound soon?"
"I'll see if I can make arrangements at the hospital. If we can't do it in Luxor, then you'll have to wait until we get back to Cairo. If the child is abnormal, you must consider an abortion. Actually you should have an abortion, regardless." She stared at him. "Destroy what may be a healthy human being? It might be like me," she argued. "Or Fortunato."
"Peri, you don't know how good the virus was to you. You've parlayed your wings into fame and financial success. You are one of the fortunate few."
"Of course I am. I mean, I'm pretty, but nothing special. Pretty girls are a dime a dozen. Actually I have you to thank for my success."
"This is the first time anyone has thanked me for helping to destroy the lives of millions of people," Tachyon said grimly.
"You tried to stop it," she said reassuringly. "It's not your fault Jetboy screwed up."
"Peri, Tachyon said grimly, changing the subject as if the failures of the past were too painful to dwell upon, "if you don't terminate the pregnancy, you'll be showing very shortly.
"You'd better start thinking about what you're going to tell people."
"Why, the truth of course. That I'm going to have a baby."
"What if they ask about the father?"
"That's nobody's business but mine!"
"And, I would submit," Tachyon said, "McCoy's."
"I guess you're right. But the world doesn't have to know about Fortunato. Please don't tell anyone. I'd hate for him to read it in the papers. I'd rather tell him myself." If I ever see him again, she added silently. "Please?"
"It is not my place to inform him," Tachyon said coldly. "But he must be told. It is his right." He frowned. " I don't know what you saw in that man. If it had been me, this would have never happened."
"You've said that before," Peregrine said, annoyance showing on her face. "But it's a little too late for might-havebeens. Eventually everything will be fine."
"Everything is not going to be fine," said Tachyon firmly. "The odds are the child will die or be a joker, and I don t think that you're strong enough to deal with either of those possibilities."
"I'll have to wait and see," Peregrine said pragmatically. She turned to leave. "I guess I'd better