Kylen
entered the barracks quietly. She was
expecting to find a room full of Marines, so she was surprised to find a
solitary woman sitting on one of the bunks, reading quietly. She approached her, and cautiously spoke,
"Hello? I'm looking for the 58th squadron. Is this their barracks?"
"Yes,
can I help you?"
"You
probably can. I am looking for the
58th, could you tell me where they are?"
"58th's
out on fly-by. Won't be in for
another," she glanced at the chrono next to her bunk, "2 hours, and
45 minutes. I can give you any
unclassified information you need. I'm
the squad leader, Lt. Colonel Shane Vansen.
I've been ordered to stay in by my C/O, due to unexplainable
nausea. I'm supposed to see the medics
later, but I'm stuck in for the next few days.
And I don't have a clue why!!"
Then her face softened.
"I'm sorry, you didn't need to hear that. I'm just grouchy. Haven't
been sleeping well. What do you
want?"
"Umm,
some information about a Lt. Colonel in your squad. First, could you describe your symptoms? I'm a doctor, and I may be able to identify
their cause. I'll trade you for the
information, fair?" She figured
that it would be a good trade off. This
woman obviously wanted to figure out her problem, and Kylen needed the information. Shane nodded.
"All
right. The nausea and vomiting started
about four weeks ago. Scared my second
bad at first, but lately it's been easing off." She smiled in memory of those first few nights. Nathan had been up with her every night,
regardless of the lack of sleep. When
it got really bad, he was always there.
"He still stays up with me when it gets really bad. I fainted once, and I've been really tired
lately. There is one other odd
thing. I haven't even told my second,
and that says a lot. My breasts are
sore. I can't figure it out. I don't know what's wrong with me."
Kylen
looked at her for a minute, then noticed the scar on her left arm. "When did that happen?" she
pointed to it.
"Oh,
about three, four months ago. It wasn't
that bad so I never went to Med bay.
Why?"
"Because
I think I may have figured out what your problem is... You had a standard issue contraceptive
implant, right" Shane nodded,
unsure where this was going. "I
need a piece of personal information.
Have you slept with anyone in the past three months?"
"Yeah,
I spent one liberty with my second. The
rest of the squad has decided to label us 'together', even though we haven't
done anything to indicate such. That
was about eight weeks ago. Why are you
asking this?"
"Because
I think I have the answer to your mysterious illness. I think..." she dropped off as Shane's faced suddenly
blanched and she ran for the bathroom.
Kylen followed, and a few moments later the two were again sitting in
the main room.
"You
were saying? You thought you might know
what my problem was?"
"Yes. I think that you may be pregnant." Kylen spoke confidently. She was fairly sure this was the 'problem.' Shane's face paled to china white. "Are you serious? You can't be. I have an implant!!"
"Which
you lost when you received that wound." She pointed to the scar. "From what you've described, it sounds
like classic morning sickness.
Probability says you're pregnant."
"Oh
my god... This can't be real. Oh my...
What will he say? How will he
take it? Oh my God." she was
muttering in shock. Finally she pulled
herself together. "Listen, promise
me you won't tell my squad, ok? Promise
you won't tell Nathan. I need time to
think." Kylen nearly choked,
*Don't tell Nathan?*
"Nathan??"
"Yeah,
my second... Promise me you won't tell
him. He never meant for me to get
pregnant... I don't know how he feels
about it... It was never something we
discussed. This goes no farther than
this room" Shane was still in
shock over Kylen's diagnosis, and didn't notice the woman's face when it
blanched.
"Nathan...
As in the Nathan West... Former
colonist?"
"Yeah,
he was in the Tellus group about 5, 6 years ago. Why?"
"My
name is Kylen... Does that ring any
bells?"
