The Five Unnecessaries

Chapter 20- Part 1

"Did I ever tell you this is the best part of my job?" Sam's voice rang through the MCU the next day. "I'm the first one who gets to stop holding my breath! I'm a little shocked that you're calling in so early."

"The feeling is mutual. Your shock is kind of insulting."

"No, not like that. Remember, I was betting on you, 27. But you had signaled to say you found someone, then never checked in at the R-station. You made amazing time. There's a shuttle in your area, so it should just be an hour or two. Go three miles north and stay there. Since you didn't message in, we don't know who you have. Vessel? Unnecessary? Boy? Girl? Details are nice, Aislyn."

I paused. I would have shared this in my first report to him, but I had missed my window because of the incident with Tessa's Vessel.

"I have two Unnecessaries: eight-year-old girl and an infant boy. Tessa's with me. Newborn girl. Vessel died in the journey."

There was silence.

Yeah, this is going to go over well, I thought.

"Aislyn, can you repeat that?" he asked, a little louder.

"I have two Unnecessaries, Sam." I meant for it to sound more confident, but it didn't.

"Aislyn, hang on... just wait a minute. Patterson heard you that time. I flagged him already. He looks a little irritated, by the way... Oh, sorry, sir. Okay, I need to confirm first, we have the 2nd and the 27th, passengers are one child—female, eight years—and two infants." Sam must have been talking to the shuttle driver because his voice seemed further away. "Yes, that's correct. No. It's not your job to ask why, Michael, it's not even my job! Just pick them up, darn it!"

I almost laughed at Sam as he gave orders but was too afraid to move. Within seconds, there was a squeak from my earpiece and my MCU changed modes. A label on the screen read "Locked call; secure private line. Patterson."

"Why do you have two Unnecessaries? Short version. Go."

Patterson sounded as angry as I was expecting. I choked up.

His tone changed. "Aislyn, I report to the Council in ten minutes. I need a reason why you did this that's better than their rules. You have one minute left on this line. Talk."

His urgency calmed me. He wasn't angry. He wanted to help.

"Katerina's father abandoned her a few years ago. Emotional attachment. She found the abandoned newborn. She's been taking care of him. She asked me to take the baby instead of her. But I couldn't leave her. I couldn't, sir."

There was a sigh on the other end, feeling the weight of the bureaucracy that would bury him in paperwork.

"I'm sorry, Patterson," I added.

"No, Aislyn. You're not sorry. And neither am I. Good job. Tell Tessa she did a good job too. Matheson will have your back. Leave the rest of the Council to me. I know what you want. I'll try to get them placed together. Keep your head up, feet moving."

"Copy." I detached the comm wire from the ground wire and then from the MCU, trying to ignore his comment about Tessa. It had almost made me gag.

I turned around and gave everyone the timetable and sat down. Tessa was holding Rachel, the baby named for the mother who had died to give her life. She still needed the portable incubator blanket. The oxygen filter was low on battery, but would last the three hours we had left.

I sat next to Tessa, who hadn't spoken in a few hours, and looked up at the sky. She was looking at Katerina, who was running around the small meadow next to the station.