Hatchery

A month had passed since Dustin, Rye and Emely had gotten their news. In that time and despite Dustin’s best efforts, Rye had maintained the frenetic pace of her work in ensuring Sola was fully functional once more. Although the bulk of the work had been conducted before the Rabyth had joined Defia in taking downtime in the baths, there still remained a lot of minor work to be done involving checking the less important systems were back to full capacity. Things like the grav-sleds that they’d purged the Fractals from still needed to be checked and rechecked before they could be used, and on a ship the size of Sola even with Rye’s team helping her it all still took time.

That time was not spent idly by the others however; as soon as the chief engineer cleared the engines, shields and primary weapons for use once more Dustin had ordered them back into the weave. While the bunny girl worked, they travelled to the various worlds occupied by friends of the Olanse for proper first-contact negotiations. It was a task that kept both him and Emely busy for the entire month, although the progression of the Feliax woman’s pregnancy was such that she had needed to start doing more and more of her communications work in the ready room or otherwise away from the bridge in order to remain comfortable.

At last, though, they were through the bulk of it - only one species remained to contact formally, a collective made up of a number of smaller canid lifeforms that had emerged on different continents of their homeworld as a rare example of parallel evolution reaching weave capability. The Arof were already used to working with others due to the nature of their development, which meant that they were more than open to discussions with the humans. Unfortunately, they were also exceptionally mercantile; Dustin knew that what was awaiting him at the end of their current weave jump was going to involve far more haggling than he was entirely comfortable with - but that was one of the downsides of being the Ambassador.

In the meantime, he was busily enjoying being a father. With little to do during the long flight, he sat gently reading picture-books to his three children - who were, to be fair, probably far too young to understand a word he was saying, or even the concept of books. Duv’an and C’harl’ette at least were content to lie there gurgling as young babies do while their father spoke to them; William meanwhile was another matter. The instant the book appeared, he seemed to take it as a personal insult that he was not the one holding it, and would wriggle violently until either Dustin or Meli sat him on their lap - at which point Dustin was convinced the infant was sulking, no matter how much Bleu told him that was impossible for a child at that age.

“Duv’an always seems to settle better when you read compared to when I do it.” Meli’s voice was soft as Dustin finished the latest book, a simple set of pictures showing the worlds of the star systems that both he and his wife had been born in. Holding the book in one hand and a rather determined William in the other, Dustin smiled over at her.

“He might be calmer,” Dustin commented, glancing down at the dozing infant in his wife’s arms and the cherub-like form of his daughter in the cot next to them, “but his brother only ever seems to get more fidgety. You don’t ever seem to have that issue.”

Meli giggled, her ears flickering in amusement as she stood, settling Duv’an down in his own crib before moving and lifting William out of Dustin’s lap. “You say that because you’re only around for me reading when Trea’k is also here. Your daughter seems to think any attempts I make to read to the three of them without her mother being present are some kind of grand insult against her entire lineage and starts grumbling almost instantly.”

William’s wriggling settled into a tired shuffle and then a contented doze against his mother’s chest. Settling their son down, Meli took Dustin’s hand as they watched over the three tiny forms. “We’ve started telling them about their new sister, Husband,” Meli said suddenly, the Velca leaning in to rest her head on his shoulder. “And that they’ll be getting another sibling soon after that. I doubt they’ll remember or even care, they’re so young, but it makes Trea’k and I worry less about the older ones bullying their younger siblings when they’re older, so we do it anyway.”

Dustin wrapped an arm around her. “They’ll do it regardless I fear. Picking fights and rivalries with your siblings is a very, very human thing to do - and they’re all mine after all, so they’re all half-human. Although, the mention of Trea’k does remind me - have you two decided who’s coming to the negotiations with me when we arrive? Emely said that the Arof respect couples with offspring more, so it’s either one of the two of you, Emely or Rye I need to bring - and I’m not taking Emely or Rye down to an unknown world right now.”

The Velca in his arms sighed and shook her head slightly, the motion rubbing against his shoulder in a comforting manner. “Sorry, husband. We’ve been so busy - Trea’k’s been dealing with everyone who needed counselling after the Fractal attack, and I’ve spent my time working with the science team to try and take some of the load of checking everything off of Rye and her staff. And even then, that’s only been with what free time we can both spare from looking after our babies.”

As she spoke, the door gently slid open and the Vex’ess in question entered. Pausing briefly to smile down at her daughter, Trea’k turned to the others. “Dustin, my mate - might I have a moment of your time? My eggs are due to hatch shortly, before we leave the weave. And while you may not be their father, as they are to be aides to our daughter I would wish for your presence at the hatching.”

Dustin nodded. “Of course,” he answered, then leaned down to kiss Meli’s upturned face. “We’ll finish this discussion another time. You get some rest while the babies are asleep, love.”

Meli shook her head and smiled up at him. “No, husband. I don’t mean no to the rest, I definitely need that,” she murmured, adding the clarification after seeing his face and partially unzipping her uniform for comfort as she moved towards one of the beds that she and Trea’k had occupied shortly after the babies were born. “I will take a short nap before they inevitably want feeding again… I meant no, we don’t need to return to this discussion. If Trea’k’s other infants are due to arrive shortly, she should spend time with them.”

Glancing in the direction of the Envoy, Meli’s ears briefly twitched into annoyance. “Do not say you don’t need to do so because of how your species functions, my love. I’ve spoken with Yril’k and the others often enough of late to know you’re not planning to raise those offspring in a traditional Vex’ess manner. Stay here, look after your newly hatched and our babies, and I’ll ensure Dustin’s mission is a success.”

Trea’k paused, her mouth half-open in the denial that Meli had so succinctly disarmed, then shook her head. “Very well, Meli. I will act as you suggest and watch our offspring while you and my mate conclude business with the canids.” Then, turning to Dustin the insect woman smiled. “If you’ll follow me, my mate? The hatching nears.”

The hatchery room was different to what Dustin had expected. He’d assumed it would be either a room like the nursery or else would be just a plain metal chamber filled with shelves for the eggs Trea’k had laid. Instead, when the door slid open he found himself stepping into what looked almost like a natural cave. Earth lined the floor, and while there were metal shelves lined with eggs, they were embedded in what looked like rock. The air was dry, a hint of dust from their footfalls against the dirt of the floor scenting the air, and he paused at the entrance for a moment to take it all in.

Trea’k moved head of him, her feet making barely a sound as she moved along the lines of eggs, one hand gently running over the surface of each before she nodded to herself. “An hour. Maybe less. Will you help me move them, my mate? They have reached the final stage, and need to be moved from the shelves to the hatching pit over there.” With one hand, she gestured in the direction of a crater in the floor, the rough walls clearly lined with her silk.

Dustin found himself barely breathing as he lifted first one, then another egg from it’s shelf. He’d thought them glued to the metal by their flattened bases - but apparently, once they reached near hatching that base naturally degraded to allow transport. Trea’k directed him as she too moved the soon-to-hatch Vex’ess into positions already prepared in the crater, until at last the two stood back and let themselves breathe normally once more.

“How long?” Dustin asked, wiping the sweat from his forehead - not from the exertion, the eggs weren’t that heavy, but from the stress of carrying something so fragile and precious. Before Trea’k could answer however, from the far side of the crater a sound carried through the still of the room that caused them both to turn. The distinct crack of an egg breaking from the inside.