The Amelioration Expedition
Chapter 14
On the fifth day, something happened to give Marlin hope. She was leaning on a rock near the fire, watching Donte search for fish when he suddenly stiffened and looked up at the fissure. He left the water and moved back to the fire, putting a finger to his lips to silence Marlin. He kicked sand over the fire and drew her into the shadows.
After a few minutes, a ladder that looked like it was made of vines was lowered into the hole. Marlin started to stand, thinking they were finally being rescued, but Donte gripped her arm and pulled her back against the wall into the shadows.
A hairy figure climbed over the edge, descending the ladder. It wasn't a human, but it didn't look exactly like an ape either. Whatever it was, it was naked. As it reached the bottom of the ladder, it leaped to the ground. Another vine was lowered, carrying some kind of pot in a basket. For a moment the creature looked around the cavern. It probably smelled the smoke. Finally, it took the pot from the basket and filled it with water. The basket was pulled up and replaced with another one to fill. This happened several times before the creature climbed back up the ladder. The ladder was lifted and apparently the creatures left.
Donte stood and walked to the edge of the water. Marlin followed him and they both stared at the opening.
"I think I could make a basket like that," Marlin said.
Donte glanced down at her; his eyes full of humor. He chuckled. "You amaze me."
Warmth flooded Marlin's face. Of all the stupid things to say after what they had witnessed, how to make a basket had to top the list. She had been thinking about the baby and where they would put it. The basket gave her an idea. That was all. She shouldn't have said it out loud.
She sighed. "Do you think we could make a rope out of the vines that are entangled in that mess of driftwood?"
He sobered. "Maybe, if we soaked them in water so they could be woven without breaking them. I don't know if they would be strong enough to hold us. Those people were a lot smaller than us."
She frowned up at him. "They weren't people."
He lifted his brows. "What do you think they were?"
She shrugged. "Apes…kind of."
"I wonder what they think we are."
"I don't think they saw us."
"They were the life forms I was sensing – the ones I couldn't identify. Now we know." He grimaced. "If we could only tell someone."
That evening as they sat beside the fire, the baby was visibly moving inside Marlin. Donte's gaze rested on her stomach.
"Have you decided on a name for it?"
She shifted uncomfortably. "I try not to think about it at all."
His gaze lifted to hers. "Why?"
"I'm not going to keep it. I'm not ready for a baby. I have a lot of things I want to accomplish and the responsibility of a child would create problems. I wanted to have the pregnancy terminated, but Dr. Oriana refused to do it."
Donte frowned. "Terminated? Why? It didn't do anything wrong. It had no more choice in this than you did."
She frowned. "Of course it didn't do anything wrong." She stopped, remembering that on Purlieu, the term terminated was used when someone was executed for a crime. "It wasn't even a baby when I started on this mission."
Donte looked confused. "It had a heartbeat, two eyes, a nose, arms and legs…exactly when did you think it became a baby?"
"When we started on this trip, it was nothing more than a cluster of cells. Anyway, it isn't considered a person until it takes its first breath. Until then it's just a fetus."
Donte's expression was impossible to read. He placed a hand on her stomach. "If you don't want this baby, I do."
She stared at him. "What would you do with it?"
"For starters, I would love it."
She shoved his hand away from her stomach. "Are you implying that I don't love it? There is more to loving a baby than giving birth to it, feeding and clothing it you know. Sometimes you have to love it enough to give it up."
He nodded. "I know that. I wasn't implying anything. You asked what I would do with it."
"I meant how would you raise it? A baby deserves more than being dragged after a parent all the time; growing up knowing it is stopping you from being the person you want to be."
For a moment he studied her face. "I have raised four children. You don't have to explain parental love and obligation to me."
Warmth shot up her neck and exploded on her cheeks. "I wasn't…I only meant that…"
"I know," he interrupted. "But I think you're confusing the responsibility of caring for a child with the desire to have one. There is no reason why I couldn't take the baby anywhere I go."
She leaned toward him and glared. "No, what you would do is find a woman to take care of it. They all follow after you anyway."
He met her gaze. "That was neither nice nor accurate. Why do you think I'm incapable of taking care of a baby…because I'm a man?"
"You're not a man." She snarled. "You're a male. To be a man you would have to be human. You're an animal."
She wasn't sure why it angered her that he wanted the baby, but that didn't stop her tirade. "Males are capable of taking care of babies; but they don't. It's too much work so they shove the responsibility off on a woman – and then chastise her for not wanting the responsibility."
Donte studied her face for a moment. When he spoke, his voice was calm and gentle. "I'm not chastising you, Marlin. I'm telling you that if you don't want this baby, or the responsibility, I do." He paused, and when she didn't respond, he shrugged. "Maybe male animals are more willing to do that kind of thing than human males."
His tone was soft and gentle, but he stood abruptly, as if he was angry. She could hardly blame him. She had insulted him in many ways. He towered over her, looking down at her. His eyes didn't express anger and she didn't feel intimidated by him. Why? Was it the effect of his pheromones? The truth was; she felt attracted to him…more so than she had to any other man besides Reyse. Yes, he was a man, but a human? She wasn't so sure about that - and he shouldn't consider that thought an insult. She was beginning to think Fontalo was right about increasing the number of mascots. If all of them were like Donte, it certainly would be an improvement in the human species.
She sighed and leaned back against the rock. "If you want it, you can have it. You'd make a better mother than I would."
"You'd make a good mother, Marlin."
She snorted. "What makes you think that?"
"You don't want a baby because you think it will limit you. You understand the responsibility. I think you're wrong about the responsibility being a negative factor in your life, but I respect you for making the happiness of the baby a consideration."
She leaned her head back and looked up at his face. Maybe he understood more about her decision than she had given him credit for.
Donte leaned against the rock and looked up at the fissure. The presence of the…whatever they are…is going to alter the colonization process."
She looked at him. "Why do you think the plan has to be altered?"
He looked down at her. "Because the planet is already inhabited. It's their planet."
She rolled her eyes. "When Purlieu was colonized there were animals on it, but you didn't think it was their planet."
"But not by humans."
"These aren't humans, Donte. They're apes, nothing more."
He sighed. "You don't consider the people on this planet to be human and the baby in your stomach isn't a baby until it breathes air. I'm lost as to how you determine what is human. Do you have to look a certain way?"
"I didn't say the baby wasn't a human. I said it wasn't a person."
"All right, so how do you define a person?"
She thought about that for a minute. Obviously, there was a difference between a person and an animal – or a fetus, for that matter. She shrugged. "A person can think and plan for the future."
"These creatures were planning for the future. They made ladders to get to the water and pots to carry the water in."
"They were thinking only about now – getting water to drink. It isn't as though they could plan a city or build a space ship."
He frowned. "So in order to be a person, they have to think like you?"
She didn't answer him – partly because she didn't know what to say – but mostly because she didn't want to argue with him. It didn't matter who wanted the baby. None of them were going to get out of there alive anyway.
***
Reyse had missed Marlin for a long time and the news of the accident on Opus had been devastating, so he wasn't surprised when Marlin came to him in a dream. It wasn't the Marlin he had always known, though. It was the Marlin he had wished she would become. She was telling him she was sorry they had quarreled and wished she could see him again. She was frightened, and that part bothered him more than anything else.
It wasn't until the next morning when Arlo told him that Donte had been contacting Rianne that he began to wonder if it was a dream or if Marlin was actually trying to contact him. Rianne had said they were trapped in an underground cavern. He had always known that Marlin was a psychic, even though she had tried to keep it quiet. Apparently Donte had some similar abilities, but was it possible to reach across space?
Purlieu was sending a spaceship to Opus. Three weeks was a long time, but if a person had water, they might survive. Reyse had hiked and camped enough with Marlin to know that she had the survival skills required for an extended period of time. Fontalo had created the Mascots specifically for what Donte was doing when the accident happened – guiding and protecting the colonists. While Marlin wasn't technically a colonist, she certainly fit the role. Fontalo had created a human that was superior in intelligence, strength, endurance and integrity. If everything he had heard was accurate, Donte excelled at all. Donte's skills increased the odds that Marlin would survive.
The GEF cargo ship, Dorado, had received the final word to depart from Oriel with colonists, farm implements and livestock after the base on Opus had been completed. Whether or not they found Donte and Marlin, they were proceeding with the colonization of Opus. Reyse wasn't going to accept Marlin's death without the retrieval of a body. He was still having dreams about her and he was beginning to be convinced of two things. The first was that Marlin was alive and trying to contact him. The second was that she still loved him. He loved her more now than ever.
Reyse had always wanted to be involved with the colonization of a planet. He had been rejected for the expedition, but when he approached Arlo about going as a colonist, he was surprised when Arlo consented. He said they needed a representative for Fontalo there on Opus.
The cargo ship could move faster than other ships in the vacuum of space. It had more power, but less maneuverability because of its size. It was loaded and ready to depart when Arlo told them to wait for the airship carrying Reyse. It didn't take Reyse long to get his things together and get to the airfield. Within a couple of hours, he was on the Dorado, speeding toward Opus. ETA was five months and three days.
Soft Science Fiction
