Chapter 14: Oh Sh1t son!
"What happened, soldier?"
"Not sure, sir. One moment she was fine. Then she checked her omni-tool. When I looked again, she had fainted and fell down the stairs."
Admiral Shepard had a few bumps and bruises, but would be fine. The sheer excitement that overcame her when she received word of Jack and Tali's plan had gone straight to her head.
When she came to, she was in a hospital with an IV in her arm and a big bandage on her head. She looked up to see her baby boy and his other half staring down at her.
"We came as soon as we got word. You had me worried for a while there Mom." Jackson knew she was a tough old bird, but nonetheless was still there to dote over his mother. "I take it that all happened when you got our message, no?
Hannah tried to sit up, but the throbbing in her head kept her from getting vertical. "Well, its not every day you get information about an impending groundbreaking project that could not only stretch the bounds of biology, but also grant a mother's wish." Tali and Jack both smiled at her for that. "Dammit, girl! Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"Sorry Hannah. You've seen how quickly my mind tends to come up with these things. The concept was kind of spur of the moment, but after actually talking it over, we both realized that each of us were very much down for the idea from the start."
Hannah thought back to when she had shown Tali her sister's grave and how she had come up with the cloning idea that fast. What Tali just said made sense, so she forgave her. Besides, she was so enamored with the idea of a grandchild. Plus, it did her untold amounts of good to see that Tali and Jack were so in love.
"Soon as I get out of this damn bed, I'll do everything I can to get Dr Speedy Gonzales back in the lab. If he can make this thing work, I can pass on happy."
"Thanks Mom. You don't know how much that means to me," Jack said, sincerity showing through in his voice.
Hannah lifted her head and smiled. "Trust me, boy. I most certainly do. You making me a grandmother is something I've wanted since you were old enough to know what girls were."
After another day of observation, Admiral Shepard was released from the hospital. She immediately began to make calls and pull strings. Once she got the lab reserved, she had Tali pass the word to Maelon and he made it to Earth within a few days.
Maelon, ever the excitable Salarian, was beyond happy. "Commander. Admirals. It is such an honor to again be taking part in such a huge scientific endeavor." Immediately upon his arrival, he slipped into "Hamster on coffee" mode and began making preparations.
His first order of business was to take tissue cultures and egg and sperm samples. He got them from Tali and Jack without hesitation. He then turned to Hannah. "Admiral Shepard, if I may, I'd like to get a culture from you as well. It would be greatly useful for a live bilateral comparison for a study of Quarian female biological make up versus Human female. With it, I can…"
"Oh just shut up and make the damn cut!" Hannah let out in frustration while pulling up her sleeve.
Maelon was incredibly efficient at his work. He was set up for study of everything within minutes. He then proceeded to kick them all out of the lab. "I'll call you when I find something." None of them had any real objection to that. They all figured a mad scientist worked better alone, and given the experimental nature of this project, they all wanted him in top form.
Not even a day later, Maelon had contacted Hannah. "Admiral Shepard! I have excellent news. It seems that with the fundamental changes caused by the Synthesis Wave, which I by the way, still do not yet have a grasp on, I can indeed create a hybrid from the samples taken of Commander Shepard and Admiral Zorah."
"Doc, you just made an old lady's day." A joyful tear ran down Hannah's cheek. "I'll pass the word along to Tali and Jack."
"Yes, please. And at their earliest convenience, could you have them come up to the lab? I would like to discuss some details with them."
"Right away, professor." She got on the line with Tali to pass on Maelon's message. They promptly set out for the lab.
"Ah, Commander. As you know, I have discovered that I can indeed come through with your request. However, I wanted to discuss a few things with the both of you," said Maelon.
"You didn't run into any issues did you?" Tali asked with concern.
Maelon put down his data pad and sat to respond. "Not at all. However, given that this is the first time this has ever been done, I wanted to remove any possible risk. Therefore, I wanted to request that you allow me to grow the hybrid child here rather than have you carry to term. That way, if any complications should arise, your well being would not be put in jeopardy."
The part of her mind that was being governed by her biological clock wanted to scream and drop Maelon out of a speeding shuttle over a cliff. The logical part of her, which thankfully for all parties involved, was the dominant aspect in control of her personality at this point, understood fully where he was coming from. "As much as it pains me to say it, I think you're right. What else was it you wanted to tell us?"
"Yes. I also wanted to tell that normally, I could control general aspects of a child's genetic makeup through gene manipulation, however given our situation, I want to avoid that particular approach."
"Flying blind, huh? There are worse things you could have told us." Jackson added.
A smile crept onto his face and Maelon continued. "The last thing I wanted to add was that in order to get as much information out of this process as I can the first time around, I would like grow both a male and female hybrid."
Tali and Jack looked at each with uncertainty and said in unison, "Twins?" There was a long silence. They each stared into each other's eyes and seemingly held an entire conversation in facial expressions. After a few minutes of this they both nodded.
Jackson then turned to Maelon. "Do it!"
With infinite joy, Maelon responded, "Most excellent! Now just so you know, while it only took a week to grow you to your age, I want to prolong their growth a bit longer to extrapolate as much data as I can. Keep in mind, this new procedure could very well be a huge boon for rest of the galaxy, and I want to make sure we get it right and to record as much information as possible."
Jackson raised an eye brow, not sure of whether or not Tali would kick him in the junk for his next question. "Well, since you are going to be growing them here, can we just skip a little past the whining, crying, and diapers?" He braced himself for the inevitable slap in the back of the head. He internally breathed a sigh of relief when it didn't come.
"Hmm… You know, that might not be a bad idea. As much as I want to embrace motherhood, I was never very sure how my patience would hold up for that stage of a child's life." Jack was so relieved to hear her say that.
"All right. Get to it, professor. I'm going to take off and contact my mother."
"Right away, commander."
Author's Note: (Added in after posting) I'm not entirely sure what in the world happened with Ch 13. I uploaded to the site days ago, but it only just now got into the system. Got the email saying it was uploaded at the same time I got it for this chapter.