Chapter 9
Wheeler had thought he breathed his last when he heard a mighty crash coming from above; then with only ten seconds left on the bomb's display, Captain Planet swooped
Down, "Come on, Wheeler, let's blow," the super hero shouted as he snatched the still tied captive up into the air and to safety just as the hut exploded in a massive fireball. The thunderous blast scorched several of the surrounding trees and caused an earth shattering noise, disturbing many creatures for miles around.
The stress of the whole ordeal combined with the flight and the pressure the ropes were putting on his belly caused Wheeler's stomach to lurch and roll terribly. "Oh, crap . . . here we go again," he moaned as he took in several deep breaths and mentally commanded his belly to calm down.
"Are you OK, Wheeler?" the superhero asked with a hint of concern in his voice. "
I don't feel so good, Cap," the redhead whispered, desperately trying not to get sick.
Captain planet soon landed next to the other Planeteers, who had returned to the geo-cruiser out of harms way, and were freeing the birds they had managed to carry away from the explosion while Cap had gone to rescue the firey father-to-be. Unhappily, Mame and Stalker had gotten away before the authorities were able to come and arrest them. The azure skinned superhero gingerly set Wheeler down and quickly willed his right index finger to turn to a small flame. He then touched the spark to the knots in Wheeler's ropes and burned through them, freeing the unwilling captive, who stumbled to his feet and nearly fell to the ground. Kwame immediately stepped forward and grabbed Wheeler in a last minute catch, then carefully supported the young man until he regained his feet.
"What's going on, planeteers," Cap wanted to know, concern crossing his gentle face.
"Gaia would never send any of you out on a mission if you're sick."
"It's a long story, Cap," Wheeler said, rubbing his stomach as the superhero looked expectantly at the others for an explanation.
"It all started a couple of months ago," Linka began as she ran her fingers through her ponytail. "Dr. Blight kidnapped Wheeler from his hotel room after that conference we attended at the college in St. Petersburg. We set out to rescue him and found that Blight had him tied to a table with duck tape…"
"You mean duct tape," Wheeler whispered his correction then shut his eyes and sat down, his stomach lurching uncomfortably.
"Anyway," Linka continued, "We could not think of any way to free him with all the eco-villains right there in the room with him." She stuttered recalling the memory of that awful night.
"Then she injected this goober junk into my stomach and, from what the others told me, turned me loose a few minutes after that," Wheeler picked up the story where the blonde had left off. "I can't remember much of what happened after the shot; it was all a blur. I guess we went back to the hotel . . . I dunno . . . I was kinda out of it."
"Soon afterwards, Wheeler started suffering from fatigue and throwing up all the time," Kwame began, "and he needed the bathroom more and more often. The doctor at the clinic found nothing obviously wrong with him, and our own later tests could not pinpoint a cause for the illness." The African gestured trying to find the words to explain the next part.
"But when Dr. Derek invited us to see her latest experiment, Wheeler threw up again," Gi continued. "She wanted to know what the matter was, so she ran some tests and got a second opinion from another doctor." The Asian stopped, not wanting to say the next part.
On the ground, Wheeler leaned back against Kwame's legs, his brain and stomach swimming. He felt like he was floating somewhere, and he groaned loudly.
"And what were the results?" Cap said in a low and calm voice, dreading the news that Wheeler just might be terminally ill.
"The second doctor's tests confirmed what Dr. Derek had suspected . . . Wheeler tested positive . . . for pregnancy," Ma-Ti finished the explanation with a shrug of the shoulders and a slight shake of the head.
Cap looked incredulously in Wheeler's direction and then drew in a sigh. Stepping over to the redhead, he pulled the youth back to his feet and wrapped an arm around his shoulders.
"So how are you holding up, Wheeler?" he asked, kindly as he stared into the fire Planeteer's sapphire eyes and smiled tenderly.
"Better than I was that first night after I found out," Wheeler simply replied, swallowing a couple of times as the nausea finally started to subside again.
"Are you gonna keep it?" was all Cap could think to say.
"You know I don't believe in abortion . . . it's murder; and I can't give it up for adoption, or Blight might come and take the munchkin herself. If this kid's gonna turn out all right, I'm gonna have to be the one to raise it," Wheeler stated his promise to his unborn child and rubbed his tummy.
"Well, I guess this will make me a grandpa!" Cap, who saw the Planeteers as his sons and daughters, laughed before pulling Wheeler into a full hug and slapping his back in a congratulatory gesture.
"Thanks, Cap," Wheeler managed a weak smile as the superhero broke away and soared into the sky.
"Take care, Planeteers," he called, "and remember . . . the power is yours!" with that he disappeared, and the five colored beams returned to their owners.
Gi glanced at Wheeler. "You've been through a lot, Wheeler, maybe you should sit down for a bit," she said as she offered her hand to the still wobbly young man and led him inside the geo-cruiser with the others following quietly.
Sitting down on the comfortable seats, Wheeler tried to concentrate on taking some deep breaths while Ma-Ti brought him a glass of cool water.
"Here you go, Wheeler," the Kyapo smiled, putting the cup into the oldest Planeteer's hand.
"Thanks, Ma-Ti," the red head whispered back, taking a grateful sip of the cooling liquid.
He remembered that the books he had been reading all recommended drinking water to relieve morning sickness. They were right, as he slowly finished the beverage, he could feel his stomach settle back down and the dizzy spell subside. Leaning back, he closed his eyes for a few minutes. "Oooohhhhhhhhhhhh," he whispered, "I feel like one of James Bond's martinis."
The witty comment caused the young Indian to laugh loudly; and he quickly explained the joke as the other planeteers looked at him quizzically, having apparently missed the point.
"James Bond always asks for a martini which is shaken and not stirred. I think Wheeler is still feeling a little shaken up after that near death experience." the Kyapo explained continuing to giggle as Linka moved to sit beside her pregnant companion, gently stroking his shoulder and whispering a few words of comfort in his ear.
Suddenly, Kwame sat up, remembering his conclusion from his earlier musings while he was in the green house.
"I think I figured out why Dr. Blight made Wheeler pregnant," he announced as the others looked up; even Wheeler made an attempt to concentrate for this statement.
"Really . . . why?" Linka asked, her full attention trained on the Earth Planeteer.
"It came to me this morning when I remembered what Ma-Ti had said about the eco-villains being a bit quiet. They are all working together. By making Wheeler pregnant, they are guaranteeing that he will eventually need time off at some point because he will be too big and awkward to go on eco-missions. This means that we would lose the power of fire and would not be able to call captain planet anymore," he carefully explained his theory leaning forward and making eye contact with the other four.
"Bozhe Moy! I had not thought what would happen once Wheeler's pregnancy starts getting more advanced," the Russian gasped and gripped the young mans hand.
"I still don't understand though . . . yes that's the reason but why Wheeler? Why not Ma-Ti when he went to get the ice? Why not me or Linka?" Gi stated quietly running a hand through her hair.
"I do not know, my friends," Kwame sighed quietly, the reason for choosing Wheeler seemed like an impossible question.
While they had been discussing the theory Ma-Ti was leaning over Linka's seat and absently looking at her laptop computer screen.
"I have got it!" he cried, making the others jump in their seats.
"Got what?" Wheeler asked irritably, feeling rough was beginning to trigger his mood swings, and he was in no mood for Ma-Ti's detective role-play.
"The reason why Dr. Blight kidnapped you and chose you for the pregnancy formula," the Kyapo grinned at his friend, having missed the earlier edge to his voice.
"Oh?" the red head mumbled, rubbing his temples in an effort to fight a stress related headache.
"You need male DNA to fertilize an egg, and she already had some of yours from last year when she captured you and took samples," he started the account, hoping his friend would pick up on it.
"That's right, and to stop the rejection process one of the DNA samples would have to be the host!" Wheeler also sat up catching on to the Indians drift and finishing the explanation.
"How did you figure it out?" Kwame asked with a bemused expression on his face.
"Linka's screen saver . . . the frogs hopping across the display reminded me that when we went to investigate the disappearance of frogs and their habitats, Wheeler said Blight took skin and hair samples from him. I realized she had taken his DNA so if you assume she kept some and used it to fertilize the egg only Blight or Wheeler would be able to carry the child to term. Anyone else's body would reject it," he grinned around feeling pleased with himself for having come up with such a brilliant conclusion.
"Well done, Ma-Ti," Linka commented smiling at the ingenious bit of detective work her young friend had shown.
"Yes, good job, Ma-Ti. Well we know how, when and why but it still doesn't change the fact that Wheeler is going to have a baby," Gi finished, sighing and looking over at the redhead.
"Let's get outta here," he smiled back before he carefully pulled the seatbelt on as the Asian girl lifted off and set a course back to Hope Island.
"You had better sit down and rest, Yankee," Linka advised as they entered the common room an hour later.
"Ok," he nodded quietly, trudging over to the sofa and settling back against some pillows. He felt too rough to enter into an argument with Linka; anyway she was just looking out for him.
"I think we should start dinner," Gi looked at her watch then glanced at the Russian, who was supposed to be helping her.
"Da" the blonde replied glancing once more briefly in the redheads direction and then crossing to the kitchen.
"What'll it be guys?" Gi smiled at Kwame and Ma-Ti, wondering what she could cook for the evening meal.
"Why not prepare one of Wheeler's favorites; it might make him feel better," Kwame suggested as he gestured thoughtfully in the pregnant Planeteer's direction.
"That's a really good idea, Kwame. Let's see . . . I know I'll make tuna steaks with a bit of salad. He loves that kind of thing," she set about preparing the dish and smiling silently to herself.
Sitting quietly on the sofa Wheeler allowed himself to slip down amongst the cushions and shut his eyes, glad that the day was drawing to a close. A little later he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"Here you go," Gi smiled holding a plate out for her pyro-pal as he pulled himself into a sitting position. "Its herb encrusted tuna steaks with salad," the Asian announced making it sound like a restaurant dish.
"Thanks," the redhead replied, looking uncertain how to bring up something that suddenly popped into his mind. "Awww man. I'm sorry Gi, I can't eat it," the American pushed the plate away and tried to offer an apologetic smile, hating the look of hurt that was now on his friends face.
"How come? I always thought you liked my cooking," the Thai girl mumbled, feeling a little bothered that Wheeler didn't appreciate the effort she had gone to.
"I love your cooking Gi, its just the tuna part" the American stuttered quietly, for he felt really bad about upsetting the young water Planeteer after she had obviously gone to some trouble to make him dinner.
"I don't understand," Gi said as she shook her head, a confused expression running across her face.
"I can't eat tuna. Pollution in the seas means that it might contain high levels of mercury. I'm real sorry, Gi, I hate upsetting you; and normally I'd be asking for seconds on this dish . . . but I have to be more careful now that I have the munchkin to look out for," the redhead whispered trying to explain the problem and carefully patting his stomach before turning his head in shame, almost afraid to look at the Asian woman's gentle features.
"That's ok, Wheeler," Gi answered, forcing him to make eye contact with her by giving him a gentle nudge, "I should have checked with you first. Do you want me to make you something else that won't endanger the baby?" She smiled kindly at him and showed him that she wasn't hurt after all. It wasn't Wheeler's fault he couldn't eat her cooking; at least he was thinking about the baby's health.
"Nah, its ok. I'll get myself something in a minute," he returned the smile, pleased that she did not seem too upset by his refusal.
Gi carefully stood back up from her crouched position and returned the plate to the counter before joining the others at the table and beginning her own meal.
"How come Wheeler is not eating?" Ma-Ti asked as Gi sat down, glancing momentarily at the American.
"Yes, I thought pregnancy was supposed to increase your appetite," Kwame added, trying not to giggle. The thought of Wheeler having an even bigger appetite than usual seemed impossible.
"He can't eat it; tuna tends to accumulate toxic mercury that could harm the baby, so he said he doesn't want to risk it. He said he'll get himself something in a little bit. He insisted that he didn't want me to put myself out making him something different." Gi smiled continuing to eat thoughtfully.
"That is annoying. He normally loves your fish dishes, Gi," Linka countered quietly, eating her own meal.
"I know, but I guess as least it means he's taking care of the baby properly," Gi replied as the others nodded and finished their meal in relative silence.
After a few more moments of lying quietly on the sofa, Wheeler decided he had better get something to eat, not that he was exactly hungry; but if he were to attempt to sleep on an empty stomach, he would clearly regret it. He pulled himself upright again and gingerly stood up - he had realized, just last week, that standing up quickly was not a good idea. A couple of times he did get up hastily, and that had left him feeling dizzy and lightheaded for a good 10 minutes. This was obviously just another adaptation he would have to make. Wondering what he could stomach at the moment, he quietly wandered to the kitchen and prepared something that was simple and light. Settling at his place at the table just as the others finished eating.
"Is that all you are having, Wheeler?" Linka eyed the two pieces of cheese on toast and the light salad that now filled his plate.
"Yeah, its nutritionally balanced, carbohydrate, fat, vitamins and minerals, vegetables..." he pointed the different elements with a cheeky expression before taking up his knife and fork. "Anyway I'm not feeling very hungry, think my parasympathetic system is still trying to correct itself," he smiled showing off his advancing medical knowledge.
"Your what?" Ma-Ti asked, looking at his friend as if he was talking another language.
"Parasympathetic system, it controls secondary bodily functions like digestion when you get scared it acts to turn off all systems that are not required for the fight or flight response. When the scare is over it starts turning things back on. In fact this system is what causes you to be sick or fill your underwear when you're afraid," He smiled. It felt good to know something the others didn't.
"That is interesting," Kwame mused as he rested his chin in his hand.
"So you're not actually ill while you're scared, it's afterwards?" Gi guessed with a curious look in her eyes.
"Uh-huh…" Wheeler mumbled, having just taken a bite of toast and salad.
"Wow, so is yours even more messed up because of the baby?" Linka asked.
"Possibly, the fight or flight response also triggers the release of cortisol or stress hormone, which provides extra energy to the muscles and prepares you to escape but cortisol can also distress the baby and in extreme cases trigger a miscarriage which is why I'm gonna take it easy for a while," he took another bite. "Anyone care for a game of monopoly after I've finished? And get the dishes washed that is," he added, glancing at the chore rota by his side.
"Yeah ok, sounds like fun. Do you want me to wash up for you? You should probably stay off your feet if you're feeling rough," Gi pointed out, smiling at her companion.
"Much as I hate doing the dishes, I think I'm ok. Anyways, there's not that much to do." he returned the smile, "Anyone else playing?" He looked around as the others nodded and agreed that it sounded like fun.
Quickly finishing the last bite of his meal, Wheeler pushed his chair back and stood, gathering the plates into one stack in an effort to make it easier to carry through.
"Who's drying?" he inquired.
"I am, my friend," Kwame replied, also rising to his feet. "Would you like me to take those?" he held his hands out for the plates.
"Uh…" Wheeler started to pick the plates up, feeling his stomach muscles tense slightly. "Ouch! Yeah, ok," He passed the plates over and rubbed his belly.
"Maybe you should get checked out, Wheeler, you've had a couple of ouches recently, and it cannot be a good sign," Linka looked at him with a concerned expression.
"I think its ok; my body is just letting me know I have to be more careful that's all, that twinge I had just then was probably from earlier anyway." He reassured her, gathering the cups together and following the African into the kitchen.
While the two boys washed the dinner plates and cups, Ma-Ti retrieved the profiteering property board game and the girls arranged the furniture into a circle so that they could all reach around the board. They then began counting out the paper money according to instructions.
"No cheating, you two!" Wheeler called out over the water he was using to flood the left-hand sink with rinse water. He happened to notice the pair of females hurriedly sifting through the fake funds.
"As if we would!" Linka shouted back with a look of mock indignation on her face.
Having finished the washing and tidying Wheeler and Kwame wandered over and settled down for a nice quiet game. Monopoly was always a laugh because of the joke insults that passed between the five youths, especially Wheeler and Linka who continually accused each other of cheating.
"I'm not cheating, Linka, it's a strategic move," Wheeler laughed out loud as the blonde accused him of deliberately buying all the squares she was landing on. "Yes! Box cars!" He exclaimed as he advanced his token to the square marked FREE PARKING and happily collected the pile of money that sat in the center. His extra roll of the dice then landed him on his own railroad.
"You do not believe in strategy," she argued, playfully throwing a gummy sweet at him.
"How am I supposed to know what squares your gonna land on anyway - unless your accusing me of rigging the dice," he returned, popping the sweet into his mouth.
"Well I do seem to be getting a lot of 1's," Linka rolled the dice, getting another low score and landing on one of Wheeler's more expensive properties. "Chyort Voz'mi! Not again!" she commented handing over the combined rent for landing on Board Walk with a hotel on it. "Now I will have to mortgage my property just to pay you off..." She flipped over her most expensive property cards and returned a couple of houses to the box before slapping the rest of her rent into the palm of the Brooklynite's hand.
"You two are so funny!" Ma-Ti giggled from his position next to the redhead.
"Yes, it's always fun playing this game with you two. There's never a dull moment," Gi added rolling a 5 and making her way to the water works then sulkily handing the black planeteer his rent.
The planeteers were having so much fun with their game and playful insults that they didn't notice the time was quite late.
"Ha, I win!" Wheeler exclaimed finally bankrupting Linka by foreclosing on her last property and crossing the finish line.
"Da, well done, Yankee!" the blonde exclaimed, yawning, as she watched her friend sort out his colorful play money. When she glanced at her watch, she nearly did a double take. "Bozhe Moy. It is midnight, we have been playing for 4 hours," she looked incredulously at the display on the tiny clock face.
"In that case, I think we should go to bed," Kwame motioned, helping Wheeler pack the game away.
"Definitely, I'm gonna crash any second!" the redhead yawned as he rose to his feet and carried the game back to its place on one of the shelves along the far wall. "Well, g'night," he muttered, waving as all 5 headed for their rooms.
"Night, Wheeler," Linka and Gi called in unison, making each other giggle.
The next morning when Wheeler awoke his clock showed the time to be 10am, so, yawning, he grabbed his dressing gown and wandered to the common hut.
"Morning," Linka smiled brightly as she looked up from her work.
"Morning, guess I overslept again," the redhead mumbled as he stifled another yawn.
"Well we decided to let you staying in bed a little longer, after yesterday we thought you deserved a chance to sleep in," she beamed as he retrieved some orange juice and sat down opposite her.
"Thanks," he grinned, taking a long drink "What you working on?" he nodded towards the piles of papers surrounding the Russian.
"Just going through some of the environmental laws, they just updated a couple of the acts so I thought I should read the changes but it keeps linking me to other stuff hence…" she indicated the mountain of paper work. Wheeler nodded, finishing his juice and sitting for a few minutes and trying to decide on breakfast.
"Where are the others?" he enquired as Linka looked back up at him.
"Outside, are you going to eat something?" she asked knowing Wheeler's tendency to skip breakfast when he overslept.
"Yeah, just trying to work out what . . . cereal I think," he replied getting up and heading to the kitchen.
After breakfast Wheeler quickly washed up his cereal bowl and looked outside, the sun was shining and there was a pleasant breeze sweeping through cooling the temperature just enough, he looked over at Linka again, slumped over the table trying to digest the latest government revisions to environmental law.
"Come on ruski-tootski," he commented returning to her side and gently grasping her hand, "It's a beautiful day, you shouldn't be stuck inside reading about environmental laws," he tugged her arm and offered her a beguiling smile.
The Russian looked up and sighed, "You are right Yankee" she replied allowing him to pull her to a standing position and pushing her feet into a pair of flip-flops, "So what are you up to today?" she asked as she gripped his hand and followed him outside.
"As little as possible," he smiled back, heading slowly for the beach.
"You are still feeling bad from yesterday?" the blonde worriedly retorted.
"No, I didn't sleep very well last night . . . just thought I'd stretch out on one of the sun beds and read for a little bit," he held up the book he was carrying as the wind planeteer nodded her response.
Arriving on the beach a couple of minutes later Wheeler carefully sat down on one of the sun lounger's and leaned back, allowing the sun to warm his bare legs and watching the sea lapping lazily at the shore line while Linka settled on the other seat and watched the seagulls soaring gracefully overhead a quiet smile curling her lips as she spotted their friends in the water nearby. She waved happily as Gi swam back in shore and jogged over.
"Hi" the Asian girl beamed, coming to a stop and settling on the sand between her friends.
"Hey, Gi," Wheeler greeted, sitting up a bit and placing his arm behind his head for support.
"Sleep well?" the young woman asked looking at the pyro planeteer.
"Not really, gonna have a nice lazy day I guess," the American retorted, stretching backwards and closing his eyes.
"So Wheeler convinced you to come outside then, Linka?" Gi turned her attention to the Russian, who simply smiled back.
"Da, he did not give me much choice" she murmured with a half smile as Kwame and Ma-Ti also jogged over and settled beneath the stripped sunshades, eager to check that Wheeler was ok and to relax in the quiet paradise that was Hope Island.
As predicted the rest of the day was sunny and warm and all five planeteers relaxed, enjoying each other's company and the free time afforded by their latest victory, if they were right about the villains working together at the moment then they could expect a short vacation while the eco-baddies regrouped and waited for their next opportunity.
Mame Slaughter arrived at the entrance to Blights secret lab following the impressive summons she had received only an hour ago, she knew exactly what this was about, her little bomb incident involving the pregnant planeteer.
"Well you decided to show up then," the scientist beamed, stepping away from her desk and removing her white coat to reveal her more normal pink jumpsuit.
"Well how could I refuse such an invitation," Mame answered, keeping her voice even despite the anger that gnawed within her stomach; she had missed a prize hunt for this!
"Do you remember what I said about not blowing the pyro-planet-brat up? Because I hear you nearly succeeded yesterday, and it has taken me all night to make sure my little experiment is still viable! If it wasn't for Captain Stupid, your head would have been rolling by now." the blonde strode forward facing her female compadre and clenching her fists menacingly. "I said anyone that ruins my experiment can be given the drug and go through it for me instead." she kept her voice quiet, making certain to maintain a threatening tone.
"Is that supposed to scare me, Blight?" Mame asked, feigning shock. "What difference does it make, pregnancy or death, we still get rid of the fiery freak. I would have thought death was the better option," she smiled evenly, feeling a surge of adrenaline through her veins.
"You don't think it would be more fun to see Pyroboy lumbering about, heavily pregnant and suffering from all the symptoms and pain? The other eco-geeks would be so worried about him that they can't concentrate on their 'eco-emergencies' as they call them. They will fail in these missions, and the planet will be ours!" the scientist roared, feeling her temper rising, her ploy to disarm the poacher wasn't working as she had hoped. If this had been greedily or plunder she would have them shivering like Jell-O by now, but Slaughter stood her ground and didn't respond to threat tactics.
"If the pregnant pipsqueak dies the problem will be permanent and the others will not be able to concentrate because of overwhelming grief. Gaia may even have to find a new team, and that should buy us some time to pollute the earth." Mame stated the solution to the Planeteer problem as she saw it, all the while; wondering why no-one had ever considered it before.
"That is not the way, suffering is better than death, and if you try to ruin my experiment again you will be the next guinea pig." Blight threw in her wild card. The full threat was known now; but, to her surprise, Mame smiled; then she started to laugh before setting her face back to an angry glimmer.
"I've been pregnant twice before; what difference is another child going to make?" the poacher snarled, how dare this barren scientist threaten her like this!
"Sweetie, with another child on the way you won't be able to poach. By the time the brat is born, the laws will be so tight you'll be stuck!" Barbara Blight smiled maliciously at the thought of a poacher who can't poach.
"Really . . . I poached all the way through pregnancy . . . even put off labor when Stalker was born so I could bag me a bull elephant. Anyway, there will always be a loophole for poachers so don't you be so sure about me loosing my business, you should be more worried about your business. People are starting to protest against your kind of science. How long do you really think you can last?" All of a sudden the scientist looked scared, she knew how true this statement was but Mame wasn't finished. "Your little threats may work on those pathetic, pig faced, money grabbing goons you choose to hang around with but not me. If that pregnant planet brat gets in my way again boom! experiment over" with a final glare the evil hunter turned and stormed out of the building deliberately slamming the door behind her and grinning to herself, "Blight may think she is the queen of mean but she is no match for me!" She thought ramming the land rover into first gear and zooming away.
In her lab Blight stood stunned and quietly fuming, no one had ever talked to her like that
"Oh dear, doctor, it seems your little threat didn't work on Mame Slaughter," her evil computer blipped in to view with a sadistic smile curling his pixilated lips.
"Can it, Mal, unless you want a microchip enema!" the scientist snapped before storming over to her desk. "Well, missy, if the idea of pregnancy doesn't scare you, I'll simply cook up something that will. MY EXPERIMENT WILL NOT FAIL!" she shouted then cackled loudly as the first streak of lightning hit nearby throwing the lab into darkness and highlighting the evil glint in the doctors eye!
