The Line of the Sol Empress

Chapter 12.1

One way or another, we all seek our own place in the universe.

     - Writings of the Sol Empress, Words of Faith

[Moon]

Moon cradled a baby in one arm, her head supported by the crook of his elbow. Faith was the first of the siblings to waken, letting out a tiny whimper before deciding to gaze at her surroundings. Collecting her from the crib, he changed her diaper, then took her to the garden, hoping that this would give Celeste some more sleep time, at least until the others woke.

"Which one do you think?" Moon lifted the baby girl to survey a raised bed with several flowering plants. She squirmed, kicking her legs out as they passed a small flowering shrub. "Yeah, the salvia. Good choice." He plucked a small stalk containing six deep purple blossoms. A savory earthy scent wafted to his nose.

It still bothered him that the Corsair had found Mihra's ship so quickly, despite the course adjustments to avoid that. Either they got lucky, or more likely, the Commonwealth Frigate had tipped someone off and they waited for her to return home. A scan of Mihra's ship had found no homing transmitters. Out of caution, Moon altered his ship's course and increased speed.

Losing Mihra devastated Celeste, leaving her in deep mourning for the last eight days. He did his best to comfort her, but it seemed inadequate. Even the babies acted subdued, as if they understood on some level. From the stories Celeste told, Moon realized Mihra was more than just a mentor to her, but like a caring mother, someone who pulled Celeste up from a pit of despair and gave her purpose.

He tickled the little girl he held, making her wiggle. "It was your loss too, little one. Mihra would have made a fun grandmother."

Moon shook his head in thought. Celeste still blamed herself, despite his arguments to the contrary. But the heart was not always swayed by reason, and it did not so easily accept loss. He understood that. When a teenager, he lost his parents, but not in the same way. They simply disappeared on a deep space scientific survey mission, never seen again. For so long Moon blamed himself, if he had not been such a troublesome child they might not have gone away, or so he told himself. A slight consolation for Celeste, Mihra's loss might be easier to take. There was a knowing he lacked, no false hope to prolong the pain.

The little girl gazed up at his face with the purest of innocent eyes. He whispered to her, "Now, I have my new Faith."

Moon wandered to the bridge and sat down in the captain's chair, propping Faith up in his lap. He touched the transparent display panel before him, bringing it to life. The little girl stared at it, mesmerized by the numbers and colorful displays.

"Let's see how the ship is doing, little one." He pointed at the panel. "The environmental systems are up there, the fusion reactor there in the middle, and the quantum drive on this side. You might notice that there are no red colors. That is a good thing. And the green number up at the top, that's our space relative speed, sixty-two C."

Moon leaned his head down, capturing Faith's attention. "You're probably wondering how we can go sixty-two times the speed of light. In classical physics, that's supposed to be impossible, right? Well, little one, we are actually not moving at all in the classical sense. The quantum drive shifts us forward in space a tiny bit, really tiny, like less that the diameter of an electron. But it does it many times a second, a huge number of times. That's why we call it relative velocity. We move relative to the space around the quantum bubble without really moving."

Faith kept her gaze on her father's face. He continued, "And you'll be happy to hear that I know my way around a quantum drive, and we have the fastest hauler in this part of the galaxy. The bad guys won't be able to catch us!"

Moon picked up the flower stalk from the floor and rubbed it across Faith's palm. By reflex, the baby girl grasped it and waved it about. "Give this to your mom to help her feel better. And while you are at it, would you put in a good word for me? You know she kissed me a while back. It was really good."

The memory warmed his heart. Better than good. But do we have a chance together?

Moon turned back to the display panel, waving his hand across it to scroll through various monitoring windows. Faith shifted her eyes back to the moving colors. He said, "Looks like everything is a-okay, little girl."

A voice from behind made him flinch, also causing Faith to throw her arms out, whacking Moon's face with the flower she still held. "This is adorable!"

Moon's heart quickened as he swiveled around in the chair. "Hi, Celeste. We were just checking out the systems." He grinned as he held up the little girl in his lap, who squirmed at the sight and sound of her mother. "You know, it's not just me, Faith is really adorable too."

Celeste, holding two wide-eyed babies in her arms, clamped her eyes shut and groaned at the joke.

Moon said, "How long were you all standing there?"

"Long enough." She lifted the babies cradled in her arms. "Want to trade? It's Faith's turn to nurse."

Moon nodded, holding up a baby girl. "Oh, Faith picked out a flower for you."

As they completed the baby exchange. Faith fidgeted, waving the stalk about. Celeste smiled and took the purple flowers from a tiny hand. "Is this for me, my Faith? That was very thoughtful of you." Celeste kissed the baby girl, then raised her eyes to Moon. "Very thoughtful, indeed."

"How are you feeling?"

Celeste lifted her shirt. Faith rooted and took a nipple, her mind focused on only one thing.

Celeste responded. "Better now. Thanks for being patient with me. I've been an emotional wreck for over a week now."

"Yeah. I understand that. I was about to have Sai load her therapy sub-routine for you."

Celeste grinned. "Too late. She already did. You have an intuitive AI, but the therapy application was cringe worthy." Her grin faded. "I know you do understand, Moon. Sai told me about your parents. I'm sorry."

"Sai never could keep a secret." Moon shook his head. For all her capabilities, the ship AI was like a child, an innocent of sorts. Confidentiality and emotional boundaries were difficult concepts for Sai.

Celeste's expression became serious. "Moon, what about us? With all that is happening, do we really have a chance?"

"I was wondering the same thing." It seemed like he could peer into her heart through her cinnamon eyes. She was as much or more vulnerable than he was. "I'm not very good with this emotional relationship stuff, but I think we are very much worth a try. And I want to be a father to these three." He caressed the babies in his lap. Gabriel let out a yawn, completely uninterested in the discussions. Moon tilted his head and grinned. "Sooo... Do you want to be my girlfriend?"

Celeste smiled. "Okay. We wouldn't want to disappoint Sai."

"No, we wouldn't."

Moon rose from his chair, cradling Hope and Gabriel in his arms. Hope jerked at the motion, but then settled down into the start of a nap. Celeste leaned her head back to accept the kiss he offered. His lips brushed gently against hers and lingered there, portraying not passion or lust, but caring. The same affection flowed back through him like a warm breeze.

As he pulled away, she said, "I could get used to that."

"I hope so. You know it could get kinda awkward on this ship if we didn't work it out."

"Then let's make it work."

Moon half-grinned as he glanced at the three babies. "So what do you all think? Are you three good with this?"

Celeste answered for them. "I think so. They have only known us together."

"So where to now?" Moon asked.

"I gave Sai the coordinates for Sanctuary. In a few months, we will all be safe."