Ancient Birthright (42 page)

Over the following five days, they watched the clutch closely. Renna was becoming optimistic. All four eggs were fertile and maturing.

Chapter-52

Washington DC: Transjump plus 7 years, 131 days:

“Operator, how can I help you, Mr. President?”

“Connect me with the NORAD Duty Officer.”

“NORAD, Major Anders, Mr. President.”

“Major, what’s the status of the alien object?”

“The object is still on course for Earth and decelerating at the same rate, sir.”

“When is it due to arrive?”

“Current estimate at this rate of deceleration is just over four months from now, sir.”

“Thank you, Major.” The phone slid quietly back in the cradle as the President contemplated what if anything he could do.

He reached out and picked up the Hotline phone that connected him directly to the Russian President.

“Mr. President?”

“Dmitri, it’s good to hear your voice. How is your family?”

“Cut the bullshit, Mr. President. You don’t pick up the Hotline to talk about family, though, with the investigation I hear is being conducted by your FBI, I think your family might soon be a topic of discussion all over the world. I hear the total of mischarged funds in now up to twenty-three million and still climbing.”

“Completely unfounded rumors I assure you, Dmitri. I called to discuss a mutual problem that we might be able to help each other to solve.”

“What problem would that be, Mr. President?”

“Why the problem of how to stop the approaching alien spaceship, Dmitri. I know you launched the
Nauka 7
mission to try to destroy the approaching ship and failed.”

“I believe you have been misinformed, Mr. President. We launched
Nauka 7
for scientific research, to test new technologies.”

“Then why was it carrying a nuclear weapon?”

“What’s this about a nuclear weapon?
NAUKA 7
had a nuclear power source aboard as permitted by international convention. A power source that was damaged when your GPS spy satellite ran into our craft.”

“You should consider writing a book, Dmitri. You are so good at coming up with fictional plots.”

“Again I ask you, Mr. President, why have you called me?”

“I would like to propose a joint space mission. I propose we join forces to launch a piece of technology the U.S. has developed and mount it on the International Space Station.”

“Be a little more specific, Mr. President, what technology are you talking about?”

“I believe, with the approach of the alien spacecraft, we need to start thinking about a planetary defense system. I think our airborne laser system is exactly what we need to protect the planet, and the ISS is the perfect platform to use to mount the system.”

“You know as well as I that international treaties prohibit weapons in orbit. Besides the ISS is an international endeavor that involves a multitude of countries, not just the U.S. and Russia. Even with my permission, this would not happen. Russia will not permit the United States to launch weapons platforms into Earth orbit. If you do, we will do our best to remove them. The alien craft is reported to be on a peaceful trading mission and is not a threat. Unless your overt attempt to destroy the alien ship with your ill-conceived modified ICBMs has turned them into Earth’s enemies.”

The President knew this conversation was being recorded, but steeled himself to continue.

“Dmitri, the arrival of that ship could destabilize the entire economy of Earth. They could have a ship full of diamonds or platinum that would flood the world markets and cause total chaos and the collapse of national economies founded on the rarity of those commodities.”

“The answer is ‘NO’, Mr. President. Russia will not be pulled into your political games and will reject any attempt to bypass the international treaties on space. Good day, Mr. President, and tell the First Lady that we have some beautiful Russian diamonds and other gems that she might want to fly over and look at for her next shopping spree.”

The sound of the line disconnecting issued from the handset.
Damn, I thought I’d have more leverage knowing about the nuke on NAUKA 7.

Chapter-53

Universe Explorer
: Transjump plus 7 years, 157 days:

Saigg and Renna’s cabin was filled to capacity for the hatching. The nesting screen now leaned against the wall next to the nesting corner and extra chairs and a couch populated the main cabin to accommodate the additional guests. Renna was curled around the four eggs watching intently as they bumped and moved from the gyrations of the babies inside. All four had been fertile. If the young had developed without deformity, Marra’s test treatment to cure the infertility problem would have its first positive result.

Marra had administered small doses of human mother’s milk to a single test subject from each species on the
Universe Explorer
. Renna was one of the test subjects. Another set had been given vitamin tablets from the
Endeavour’s
supplies.

Saigg, Renna, Beldon and Cindy had conferred with Marra and the others on the infertility research team, and had agreed that the food dispensers shortcomings in providing all of the vitamins found in Cindy’s milk might have caused the fertility problem. The major missing component was vitamin D with a few other vitamins represented in quantities lower than those required by humans.

The study subjects who’d gotten the milk had all had near normal fertility results while those who had gotten the vitamin supplements had shown little or no improvement.

Beldon leaned closer to watch the eggs as one of the larger ones began developing long score marks on the inside. The marks were visible from the difference in color and the slightly raised ridge projecting above the shells surface. He watched Reedn, who was acting as cinematographer with the digital video camera from the
Endeavour
.

Reedn lay on his stomach close to the nest and trained the camera on the eggs waiting to record the hatching for one of the video programs they would send to Earth later. Dantee and Tuuan sat on the other side of the nest and provided commentary from their point of view.

“It looks like the second from the left will be the first to hatch,” Beldon said.

Beldon grabbed Cindy’s hand and squeezed. “This is so exciting. Can you imagine four new babies all at once?”

Cindy shuddered. “No. One at a time is just fine with me.”

Beldon watched as a tiny foot poked through the leathery shell and waved in the air. The tear in the shell elongated, and soon a shoulder and head followed. The newly hatched male luzzon lay panting next to his shell as his body recovered from the extended exertion of hatching. Thirty minutes later, the smallest egg was open and another male lay gaining strength.

Where the first to hatch had rusty-brown hair, this young luzzon had hair just a shade lighter than Dantee’s dark violet. The first hatched was already up and getting his first meal from Renna. The last two eggs hatched almost simultaneously. Again, the emerging young were males. Four males in one clutch, though, not significantly implausible, was a large enough statistical aberration that Beldon noticed Marra making quick, jerky notes on her report pad.

“From your actions, I take it that having four males hatch in a single clutch doesn’t happen very often?” Beldon asked Marra.

“No. Not often. In fact, I’ve never heard of it happening since I became a doctor thirty-one years ago. With luzzons, the split is always two males and a female or two females and a male in the normal three egg clutch. Four eggs in a luzzon clutch is out of the normal to begin with, but to have all the eggs turn out to be male, especially after the first clutch was a normal mix, leads me to believe we need to look closely at the infertility treatment. I need to check the others given this treatment and find out the gender mix of the hatched young.”

“I can see where having all males hatch could be a bigger problems than a small clutch with a normal mix,” Beldon said.

“Why would that be a problem?” Cindy asked. “I’d think that having four more luzzons hatch if your population is declining would be a good thing.”

“Not if males are the only gender that hatches. If all you get is males, the species reaches extinction even faster since there are no females to lay eggs for the next generation,” Beldon explained.

“Beldon is right, Cindy. I need to make sure the cure is not making things worse,” Marra told her.

Beldon returned his attention to the hatchlings and noted that Renna was now covered in little luzzon’s all vying for their first meal. The first hatched finally relinquished his position on Renna and turned his attention to the world around him. Dantee and Tuuan got his attention and enticed him to the nesting screen. A game of hide-and-seek soon followed. Beldon could see Reedn was torn between wanting to join in the fun and his responsibility as designated camera operator.

“Reedn, can I take a turn at being cameraman?” Beldon asked.

Reedn’s eyes widened, and his face split in a grin as he handed over the camera and rushed to join in the fun at the nesting screen.

Beldon moved to frame Renna and the three hatchlings in the viewfinder while including the other children scrambling over the nesting screen in the background. He panned the camera, capturing the humans and luzzons intermingled on the chairs and couches, all talking excitedly about the successful hatching of the clutch.

The conversation turned to names for the new members of the Garuu family as Beldon zoomed in for close-ups of Renna feeding the smallest hatchling. Beldon would catalog this video and save it for transmission to Earth once communications with a television network were established. Several hundred hours of video of life on the
UE
were already available, just waiting for editing and blending.

“I like the name Faalan for this little pit-seed,” Renna told Saigg as she stroked the smallest hatchling, “and maybe Jacce and Garrett for the last two to hatch,” Renna said.

“I think Kennan has a good sound to it for the first to hatch,” Saigg said.

Chapter-54

Universe Explorer
: Transjump plus 7 years, 205 days:

“Command Prime Garuu, we receiving intermittent signals from the Earth’s orbiting Internet Service Provider satellites. The signals are not currently strong enough to establish a reliable connection,” reported the soul at the communications station.

“Relay that message to crewmembers Beldon Dumas and Saigg Garuu, and then ask them to join me in the bridge meeting room.”

“Yes, sir.”

A few minutes later, “You wanted to see us, sir?” Saigg asked as he and Beldon entered the bridge meeting room and took seats at the oval table that was large enough to seat twelve.

“I did. I think we’re close enough to launch the mission to check out the facilities on the Moon. If you can establish stable communications using the equipment from the
Endeavour
and the power systems of the research facility, you should attempt to contact the souls on Earth who could help us with producing the video programs as soon as possible. Beldon, please try to communicate with your family and get the latest information on how our arrival is being perceived in your country,” Command Prime Garuu said.

The door opened, and a crewmember poked his head in, “Excuse me, sir. You asked to be notified when the PTO’s were checked out and stocked. We are ready to launch whenever the crews and their equipment have been loaded.”

“Thank you, crewman,” responded Command Prime Garuu.

“I know this is going to be a cramped trip, fortunately it will only take a couple of weeks to reach the moon since you can decelerate more quickly than the
Universe Explorer
. When you get there, your first priority after contacting Earth will be to search for any aluminum supplies and transport them back to the
Universe Explorer
. Once the
UE
goes into a stable synchronous orbit of the Moon, we will not have enough fuel to shift to a low Earth orbit without an additional source of aluminum. This expedition is time-critical, so you will need to proceed as quickly as possible,” Command Prime said.

“We have completed crew selection and can be ready to launch in two days,” Saigg told Command Prime.

“Have you made a decision on whether Dantee and her merry band of schemers will be going?” asked Command Prime Garuu.

Saigg pushed out of his chair and paced the room as he answered.

“I’ve had a long talk with all the available pilots and their instructors, and it turns out Dantee was right. She and Tuuan are far above the rest of the trained pilots in their abilities to make low gravity landings, and Reedn isn’t far behind them. The pilots are going to be Dantee and Reedn on one ship, Tuuan and Davvie on the other. We’ve grown and modified a load-pod. It now has two air lock mating rings and an external airlock installed on it as well as several hard-point attaching pins. We will launch the first PTO with the load-pod attached to its air lock and pins. The second PTO will lock into the other mating ring after launch. The load-pod will almost double the living space we have available in the PTOs since we can put most of the equipment in the pod. In addition, we will be able to use it as a base of operations in case the Moon facility is unusable.