Aetherbound - E.K. Johnston Page 0,40

I’m glad you’re here now.”

His vehemence was almost intimidating, but the fact that it was on her behalf made her comfortable. She asked the question that had been poking at her since Fisher told her his name.

“Dr. Morunt, I apologize if this is too personal, but do you have a sister?” she asked.

Dr. Morunt froze in the middle of putting away his stethoscope. His eyes grew sad and he had a faraway look on his face.

“I did,” he said. “She’s been gone a long time.”

Pendt never pressed for information, and she didn’t press now. It was clearly a painful subject, and she was holding enough painful secrets of her own to empathize completely.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “Thank you so much for this examination. It has set me at ease.”

“That’s my job,” Morunt said. “Next time bring the boys in with you. I haven’t seen them in forever and they’re going to need to know what’s happening almost as much as you do.”

“I will,” Pendt promised. She slid off the table, the paper gown she’d worn during the visit rustling around her. Not being naked made a big difference when it came to medical exams.

Morunt nodded and left so that she could dress.

* * *

• • •

“There’s one more thing I want to ask Dr. Morunt to do,” Pendt said as they tucked into dinner that evening. Fisher maintained that nachos were a snack, not a meal, but Ned argued that anything could be a meal if you were determined about it. Pendt was inclined to agree with him: Somehow, melted cheese was even better. “If it doesn’t work, it’s easy enough to reverse, and it won’t hurt either me or the foetus.”

“What is it?” Ned asked.

“The Dr. Morunt on the Harland did the procedure on my mother, before I was born,” Pendt said. “Sometimes Lodia would be implanted with two fertilized eggs, but only gestate one of them at a time.”

“What happens to the other one?” Fisher asked.

“In the case of my brothers Willam and Antarren, it didn’t work at all, and they were born as twins,” Pendt said. “But Tyro and I were born a year and a half apart. I’m fine, so I know it works.”

“But you’re not carrying twins,” Ned pointed out.

“No,” Pendt said. “What I’d like to ask is that Dr. Morunt put the embryo I am carrying into stasis. That way, the chromosome will be present, I can still find out if the station will respond to me, and I won’t have to . . .”

She trailed off, but Ned was already nodding emphatically.

“I didn’t know that was possible, but if you can get it to work, I think it’s a great idea,” Ned said. “I know this isn’t something you were worried about in terms of my involvement, but the idea of being a father scares the crap out of me and being an absent one is even worse.”

“Your parents sound kind of awesome,” Pendt said. “I think it makes sense that you’d be nervous about being a parent with that act to follow. All I have to do to surpass my mother is have a kid that calls me ‘mother’ instead of ‘sir.’”

“What happens if you can’t operate the station?” Fisher asked.

“Then I’ll have Dr. Morunt reverse the stasis,” Pendt said. “Once he walks me through it, I should be able to do it myself, actually. I only need his help because I want to be sure everything is as safe as possible for everyone who needs this foetus to be viable.”

“I wonder if your mother had been a gene-mage, if she’d have been able to stop the twins from being born together,” Ned mused. “Obviously, I am pro-twin, but I can understand how it might be a drain on resources on a spaceship.”

“Everything is a drain on resources on a ship,” Pendt said. “I’ll make an appointment with Morunt for as soon as he’s available.”

* * *

• • •

Dr. Morunt was not entirely pleased with the idea but was mollified somewhat by Pendt’s assurance that she had been fine as the “held-over” embryo. Pendt didn’t ask any personal questions, but she had a feeling that the idea that his sister had helped her mother might have made him feel better about the procedure too. Or, at least it might if they were going to talk about it. Which they were not. Once they worked out the logistics, it took only a few moments.

Dr. Morunt placed his hands on Pendt’s stomach, and Pendt