Fleet Scout Ch. 02 - Fleet Insurgent

Viracocha's hatch was open, and the ship's lights were on. Leah could hear Henry trying to get Viracocha to open her diagnostics as she protested. A minute later, Marie emerged, carrying Lily, who was wide awake and looking around.

"Everything okay?" Leah asked.

"You're awake too? How is Atalanta?"

Leah shook her head. "I feel awful, but I just yanked her coupler."

Marie nodded, handing Lily to Leah before going back inside. There was another loud protest from Viracocha that ended mid-sentence. The couple emerged a few seconds later and Lily hooted, waving her arms. Henry made a squeaky noise back at the child, making her laugh as she held out her arms for him. Marie went over to Bunjil and there were some indistinct but surprised exclamations as she climbed inside.

"Addie too?" he asked quietly, taking the baby.

"Yeah, she woke me up acting like an angsty teenager."

"Same thing as Vira. I know they had their own private relationships with other synths, but I've never heard of them actually arguing."

"It's affecting all three of them," Marie said, returning from Bunjil. "And now they've all had their control couplings removed. And we were just trying to get the baby down so we could have some alone time when this nonsense started."

"You goofballs, why didn't you say something? Give me that girl back," Leah said.

"Are you sure?" Henry asked, already handing Lily over.

"Yeah we're sure, right Lily? We're gonna have a girl's night!" Leah said, smiling at the baby, who laughed and bounced in Leah's arms.

Marie smiled at the two of them before kissing Leah's cheek. "Thank you," she murmured and followed Henry who lifted her up to Viracocha's deck. They disappeared, giggling.

"I think you might be cramping their style, girl."

Lily replied with a long string of gibberish, hands gesticulating.

"I absolutely agree."

Inside, Leah laid Lily on the bunk, after making her a nest of blankets and pillows. After a few minutes of "Where did Lily go?", the baby started yawning and soon she'd fallen asleep.

"Sheesh, guys. That wasn't that hard," Leah murmured. She laid down next the bundle of blankets and closed her eyes, but the new anxiety of Addie's strange behavior had settled into an acidic knot in the pit of her stomach. After a few minutes, Leah sighed and opened her tablet to an e-reader. Maybe some Calvin and Hobbes would help.

The next morning, after dealing with a gag-inducing diaper and subsequent shower, Leah concentrated on coming down the two-meter ladder one-handed, her other arm wrapped around Lily, who clung to her neck making worried noises.

"See? That wasn't so bad," Leah said to the infant. "Do you want to wander around or annoy Uncle Henry?"

Lily bounced in her arms and laughed when Leah said Henry's name. Grinning at the baby, Leah went over to Viracocha. The planetside doors, heavy curtains of plastic canvas that fit over the hatch, were still closed. From inside, Leah heard a long moan.

"Oops, sounds like those rascally French are still at it. Let's go see what else is going on."

Lily didn't seem to mind the change in plans, laughing and chuckling as Leah pointed at different things and told her the names.

"Leah Jones!" someone hissed from above them.

She looked up to see Lakshmi halfway up one of their smaller errsha trees. The Anek had flattened herself against the trunk and was staring down at her.

"Hi, Lakshmi," Leah called. "What's wrong?"

"What is that you are carrying?"

Leah almost laughed at the panic in her voice. "It's a baby, a human infant. Come and say hello."

Lakshmi descended slowly first and Leah noticed that Wisdom was watching with two of smaller Anek, staying high in another tree. When Lakshmi stepped to the ground, her head bobbed back and forth as she examined Lily.

"You can interact with your young," Lakshmi breathed. "Yuri Bogdanov's gift did not mention this."

"It will harm a newborn if they we do not interact with them soon after they are born. Say hello to Lily. You can't be near your babies?"

"If we are too close to our newborns, their development is affected," Lakshmi said. "We are very different in this way. I can come closer?"

Leah turned the baby so that Lily was facing Laksmi. She hooted and babbled happily, waving her tiny fists. There was a scent of Anek surprise and the baby sneezed, startling herself for a moment. Then she happily babbled something and laughed again.

"I think she'd like to say hello. Would you like to hold her?"

"You are certain this will not harm her?"

"If you scared her, she wouldn't be shy about telling me. Actually, she seems pretty happy to see you."

Leah carefully handed Lily to Lakshmi's human sized arms. Even without an emotional link, the Anek's wonder was all but palpable as she held the infant carefully, head bobbing as she examined her from all sides.

When Henry and Marie came out of their shuttle, they saw Wisdom and two smaller Anek huddled around Leah, Lakshmi, and Lily. The young Anek chattered excitedly, their voices just above the upper limit of human hearing.

"Is this your offspring?" Wisdom asked Leah quietly, almost whispering as she stared at the child cradled carefully in Lakshmi's catcher's-mitt-sized forward hands.

"No, she's not mine. Both of her parents were killed when the ship crashed. Somehow, Finn heard her crying and saved her from the wreckage."

The trio of Anek children stayed near the adults, but their heads bobbed around, reminiscent of a balloon being pulled around by a string, as they took in all the visitors. There was more ultrasonic chatter between and Wisdom answered, causing more sudden odors of surprise. A moment later they were racing each other to one of the trees.

"They have grown beyond eloi, but they are not fully anek yet," Wisdom said. "This is the earliest we can interact with our offspring. They are not fully...I do not have the proper words. They have started to emerge as males and females, soon they will begin to hear the voices of our memory. Some will find the meetings of their new sisters, others will seek out gatherings of males."

"So, there aren't males here?"

Wisdom laughed. "They feel trapped anywhere but under the sky. Females prefer knowing there will be a dry place and the company of the Meeting at the end of the day. I was amazed to learn that Human females and males can do the same things."

"Early on, our brains were really the only advantage we had over the tougher and larger animals," Leah said.

"Yes, I have read of this," Wisdom said. "It is an interesting theory, but I cannot imagine being Human, never being able to hear the voices of my ancestors. I suppose you cannot imagine the life of an eloi, or the Becoming. This fascinates me, our lives are so very different, and yet we share many similarities."

"How does it work with the male Anek?" Leah asked, then hoped she wasn't stomping around on Anek taboos.

"They are similar but as adults, they are slightly smaller than we are. The hoom created us differently, though we each benefit the other. The female anek tend toward more physical work, while males are involved with manipulating the energies of errsha and hoom. There are relationships between males and females of course, Lakshmi, and the other runners often work with male anek, they could explain more."

"Leah, this child-thing is now producing awful smells," Lakshmi interrupted.

"Yep, they do that a lot," Leah said, taking the baby back. "Oof, Lily, what smells so bad? Oh no! You're not Lily, you're that little stink-pot!"

Lily laughed as though this was the funniest thing she'd ever heard as Leah took her off for a fresh diaper.

(It is odd that Leah Jones speaks nonsense to the infant) Lakshmi said. (She does not seem to answer intelligibly)

(Remember the isolation their minds endure. Perhaps this is the Human concept of 'teaching')

Thanks for reading! I'll see you much sooner than last time.