The Shape of Things to Come (Hypernaturals 15)

Where Babies Come From

"Another lottery winner?" Jessica asked as we drove away.

Morgan had a fresh idea. "Perhaps the solution should be tailored to the person. Pris is a very outgoing, go-getter type. She is not a stay-at-home mother."

"Works two jobs. Seemed to want Leon there to help with the kid, not the job. Well, that and more sex. What are you thinking?" Denise concurred.

"Pris said her gym has onsite daycare. I think perhaps that Crew should buy the gym she works for. Promote her to its manager or head of personal training or the like. Give her a bonus. Stock options in the private company. Free daycare as an employee. Health benefits that include well-baby care. Given her life choices after Leon, free birth control. I am not speaking ill of her choices. I am the last person on Earth who could say anything about them. Nor am I implying that she is careless, except under the influence of Vampire males. Who among us is not. Make the gym a place Pris never wants to leave, and that she feels ownership of. Make it so Pris does not need a second job to support herself and her daughter. Also, by owning the gym a member of Crew can work there and monitor mother and daughter. Crew is always looking for a legitimate face to the human world, and Helen for ways to diversify Vampire investments, so this would serve triple duty."

"I like it. Super good idea." Denise said. She pulled out her phone and went to work by calling Luciana back at Crew HQ.

"You all seem to have found the real deal." Luciana commented after Denise told her all the details about Pris and Morgan's idea. Luciana got on the computer and kicked off a series of orders to get the ball rolling on buying the gym. We could hear the keyboard in the background as she talked to us. "A real, honest to god third Catalyst. The Vamps in the AsiaPac Geo are going to shit bricks over this one."

"Good. I hope the bricks have sharp edges. Damn Elders. Damn Kyung-sook and her plots within plots." Denise wished fervently.

"Kyung-sook is off the scene. Deep in the country. Pulled all the way back to her castle compound thing to have her kid. Not a player anymore." Luciana said.

"Not before she made sure the rest of the samples are spread so thin we'll never get them back." Denise complained.

"I know. Look at the bright side: once they are out of blood and pheromones, the sperm samples will do them no good." Luciana pointed out. "They will still need access to a Catalyst unless they solve the biochemistry of Vampire fertility, and Jessica and Sally have not gotten that unwound yet. It's going to be a long while before there is a baby boom over there." Luciana seemed to be trying to assuage Denise's concerns.

Denise's concerns are because they have sperm samples from me, and she is loyal as hell. I do not want my children wandering around the planet, so she does not.

"It gets better. We think Leon is a relative of Jessica's." Denise told her co-Lead.

Luciana chewed on that for a few moments. "Is there any relationship with Alexander at all? Between Jessica and Alexander T Fucker, I mean? I am not saying she fucked her brother or anything but... Are you all saying you think the Catalyst capability runs down males of her line?"

"Oh, thanks, Luciana. As if fucking that guy wasn't bad enough? I needed that mental image?" Jessica spat.

"Sorry. It's a valid question though." Luciana told her.

"There is no way to know from family histories." Morgan replied. "Alexander's father was the Ninovan Catalyst before him and was actively fathering children in what became Ninovan for centuries. All the way back to the first people in NorthAm, give or take. Predates any recorded or anthropologically know history. Not every single child he sired going back at least 10,000 years stayed in Ninovan, any more than they do today. People flowed in and out of the hidden community. In the same way that Sandy has Siren genetics, Jessica could be related to Alexander as far back as 8000 BCE and the goddess only knows how many generations that might be. Ninovan generations have lengthened over time and the lifespans increased, but lifespan is not related to the fertility window of women in Ninovan. 10,000 years is 500 human generations. It is more than likely not that many generations in Ninovan terms, but it is still substantial. Centuries ago, a vampire and human combination child was born. Likely a female and before the inbreeding in the Ninovan community led to Astrals. A woman with Vampire Catalyst genetics that left Ninovan. From what we know of Jessica's parents and their geological separation at birth, it seems unlikely it would be a recent relative. The Ninovan expatriate would require time to travel well away to either the south of current-day Mexico or even farther: To Ireland. To reach Ireland would require that movement to be since trans-Atlantic travel was possible. It is highly unlikely such an ancestor would travel north to Alaska, then west to Siberia, and on across that continent to reach Ireland. That does not really matter as the issue is genetics. My theorized ancestor could be 400 generations back, but if that is true, that means the Catalyst properties are dominant and also somehow tied to the Y chromosome, not the X."