I need to see how my crew is doing. How they feel about going on yet another adventure so soon after landing on Risda III. Normally I'd assume they were up for the thrill of it—they usually are—but there are new factors at play. We've never had human females on the ship before, and they're very aware of how happy I am with Ruth. Now there is Kazex's burgeoning relationship with Ruthie, Dopekh and Salvotor, and I've heard some of the crew were flirting with women in Port.
It has occurred to me that the crew might not want what I want. Why chase down slavers across the galaxy when you can chase skirts right here? So I press a kiss to Ruth's shoulder, detangle myself from the bed, and take a quick shower. I dress in a basic uniform and head to the bridge.
All is quiet as I stroll through the halls of my ship. I hear voices and turn toward the maintenance room. The early morning music that Zaemen likes is playing over the comm, and when I peer around a corner, I see Erzah doing maintenance on one of the control panels, a wrench in his hand. Ruthie is at his side, watching as he demonstrates. I remember what Kazex had said about her wanting to learn how to hold her own with the crew, and I'm glad she's taken the initiative. My Ruth wanted to learn comms, so it's good that they both take on new, separate tasks. The more redundancies the ship has, the better, as far as I'm concerned.
I don't interrupt the lesson and continue on. Sakkar and Jerzec are squabbling good-naturedly over breakfast in the mess hall, the scent of strong night tea in the air. When I get to the bridge, I see Dopekh and Aithar sitting at the comms station. I nod at them as I walk inside and take my seat at the captain's chair, gazing at the nav charts that Jerzec sent me late last night. He's mapped three separate routes and two alternates, along with tallying the fuel costs of each.
"What do you think?" I hear Aithar murmur to Dopekh. "Too much?"
"Hmm." Dopekh's voice carries a little, and though I try not to pay attention, I can't help but notice. "Maybe take out the part about the piercings. Just tell her that you'd make her feel good—"
I clear my throat, looking over at them.
Both a'ani turn toward me. "Is there something you need, my lord?" Aithar asks politely.
"What are you two writing?"
Aithar grins. "Dopekh is helping me compose a note to Amber. She's my friend-girl, as the humans say."
"Girlfriend," Dopekh corrects quietly.
Kef me, if he's asking Dopekh for advice, it's going to be an absolute mess. "What kind of note?"
"I am enticing her to remember me until we get back," Aithar says. "So I am listing all of my positive attributes in the hopes that it will keep her as mine for at least the next year." He sighs, glancing back at his panel. "I don't know if it'll work, but at least I want her to know I'm interested if I can't get back quickly."
"The next year?" I ask, startled. Are they really thinking that far ahead? "Do you truly think this will take that long?"
Aithar shrugs. Dopekh does, too. "If we have no answers after a year, I figured the Eye— sorry, the Gaze—would be returning to Risda at that point anyhow."
Now I'm even more confused. "Why is that? Does something happen after a year?"
Dopekh looks as confused as I feel. "Your child, sir?"
"Isn't due for another three years," I point out.
The two a'ani exchange a look. "Did Lady Ruth not tell you that humans gestate far quicker than mesakkah?"
My mouth goes dry. Visions of a baby arriving next week terrify me. Kef, I'm not ready yet. I need at least a year. Maybe two. Where would we put it? What do we dress it in? Why is Ruth not showing yet? "How soon?"
"Ruthie said around nine months for humans, so somewhere between that and a mesakkah's gestation?" Dopekh offers helpfully.
Oh, thank kef. Nine months is almost a year. Surely I can pull myself together in a year. I immediately feel better about things, and then pause.
They've been talking to Ruthie about my wife's pregnancy? I consider this for a moment, and realize it makes sense. Ruth's pregnancy is going to affect everyone on board the Eye—kef, the Gaze. I have to think of her as the Gaze now, so I don't trip up. The moment Ruth's pregnancy starts to show, though, there's an added element of danger. If anyone sees her, they'll know she's leverage. She'll also lose a lot of her ability to move about the ship as the baby grows heavy inside her, and the mental image of Ruth, rounded with our child, fills me with both panic and joy.