NaNo 2007: Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Single Motherhood

When Aeryn had had the medtech to take the fetus out of stasis while John had gone to buy food and various other items they needed, she hadn't even imagined that before a day had passed John would disappear through a wormhole, especially not one on the ship. It's been three years since wormholes were even a remote possibility, three years since the Ancient Einstein removed even the subconscious knowledge of them from John's mind and everybody stopped chasing them.

When she was pregnant with D'argo John had been there, and she hadn't had another child to look after, but this time John isn't here. Nobody's here but her and Pilot and D'argo, and because Pilot can't move from his Den she's the only one who can chase after D'argo. It could have been worse, of course, if it hadn't been a geometric pregnancy or if Pilot wasn't able to keep an eye on him with the DRDs and keep in contact through the comm. badges, but it's bad enough. They're all still feeling John's loss, and Aeryn's work is doubled with his absence.

It had always been the plan to stay in orbit around the commerce planet until it was time for her to give birth; they didn't have Chiana with them this time to turn it if it's facing the wrong way like D'argo had been at first. Now it's nearly a necessity, because although she could probably give birth without assistance if she really had to, she'd really prefer not to. Fortunately they haven't been wanted by anybody since the Treaty was signed three years ago. If this had happened while people- Peacekeepers, Scarrans, bounty hunters- were still chasing after them they might have had to run at any moment. Aeryn's glad they (John will be back eventually) don't have to raise their children in that kind of a life, although the life they lead still isn't as safe as it might be if they were some other people, if they settled down on some planet somewhere. Their names still carry some weight, even if the bounties on their heads have been cancelled. There are still people who hold grudges against them for one reason or another, and although they would be welcomed on any planet in the Hynerian Empire it just wouldn't suit them. Moya is home, where they met and fell in love and had adventures, and if Aeryn decides it's too difficult to raise their children on her and goes to live on Hyneria John won't know where to find them when he returns.

Over the past few years they've done a lot of what John calls "childproofing" of Moya. She'd never realized how dangerous the ship could be until they had a hyperactive toddler getting into everything. They had to block off all of the vents too small for adults to go through, because once D'argo goes into one nobody can get him out, and only the DRDs can follow. For a child without the best balance and a tendency to get a bit too close to the edge, Pilot's Den is even more dangerous than it is to most people. Still, it seems like every day D'argo finds something else that needs to be childproofed through trial and error and constant exploration of Moya. He's already learned how to escape from the impromptu "corral" John had created from scraps they found on Moya, and at least for now his toys (also mostly made by them from things they found on Moya) hold less interest to him than running around Moya.

His only playmates besides his parents have been the DRDs, and Aeryn and John had worried about that, but given their luck with passengers they weren't about to let any of them near their son. Lately D'argo has seemingly made friends with 1812, so it's often easy to find them without asking Pilot by following the sounds of that song John taught 1812. It was bad enough when it was just John telling it to make music, but three year olds have an even greater willingness to hear the same thing over and over and over, even when everybody else in the vicinity has a headache from hearing it so often. Or maybe it isn't because D'argo is three. Maybe it's because he's John's son, and takes after his father.

Aeryn doesn't think D'argo really understands that John is gone. They're orbiting a planet, and usually when they're near a planet one of them will go down to the planet for a day or so to pick up supplies while the other one stays with D'argo. So D'argo might think John's on the planet. He saw John disappear, but he doesn't have the strongest grasp on logic yet. The universe is still magic to him. But if Aeryn abandons him too, when she goes down to the planet to give birth in a medical facility, he'll know that something is wrong. There's always one of them on Moya with him, without exception; Moya contains too many dangers for him without supervision, and he needs someone to be with him in a way that Pilot can't be.

There really isn't a choice about it; she can't leave D'argo here unattended. But she wishes she didn't have to take him with her, not to this planet; it's pretty strongly anti-Peacekeeper, and most of the residents don't know that not every Sebacean is a Peacekeeper. She was treated fairly badly on the planet, but she's used to it. Peacekeepers are far from universally loved, especially in the uncharted territories, and their reputation spills over onto every Sebacean…or Human who looks Sebacean, as in John's case. But D'argo has never been exposed to such enmity in his short life. She wishes he never had to be, but there's no choice, and there are enough Sebacean haters that he's going to encounter it sooner or later if he ever leaves Moya even temporarily.

She packs them both overnight bags and flies them down to the planet in a transport pod.