The Balance of Life
Part One - Discovery
Chapter 4 - Part 20--- NewHome
"How's my patient doing this morning?" Max asked Jake as he and Susan entered the prep room.
"I feel I hell of lot better that I did yesterday, when I arrived."
"Hard to feel much worse, and still be here today."
"Did you manage to get any sleep?" Max asked Neytiri as he removed the dressing over Jake's wound so he could get a good look at it.
"More than I thought I would," she answered as she shifted to get a better look at the rapidly healing hole in Jake's chest.
"The synthetic regenerative tissue seems to be working very well," Max said as he looked closely at the wound using his penlight. "You will have a scar, but it should fade over time until it's barely noticeable."
"I already have several of those. One more isn't going to be any big deal."
"Where is Ralu?" Max asked after he finished inspecting the wound and directed Susan to apply a fresh dressing.
"She and Norm are outside in the training area. She was starting to climb the walls, so we sent them out. They're supposed to be gathering food for breakfast."
"You two should go outside as well. The air and light exercise will do you both good. Just don't get too active. The external sutures are self-dissolving. They will fall out on their own in a few days. So don't worry about them when they do."
"What are the chances of returning to the Well of Souls today? I can take it easy there just as easily as I can here."
"I would like to keep you for one more day just to be sure, but I understand your need to get back. The sooner the Omatikaya see you up and about the better. This is a very difficult time for them. Not having the both of you with them only makes it more so."
"Is that a yes?" Jake asked looking directly at Max.
"It is on the condition that you take care of yourself. No more stepping in front of arrows. Neytiri, I'm counting on you to make sure he doesn't over exert himself."
"I will see to it that he gets the rest he needs. For the next few days while the water is being emptied from the Well of Souls there will not be much to do. There are more than enough hunters to gather food, see to the gathering of firewood. It will be a good time to talk among ourselves about the trees that we visited just before the storm."
"In that case Jake, I'm releasing you into the care of your mate. Besides, it will give me a good excuse to get out of this place for a while. I will come and see you in a couple of days. If the wound starts seeping blood or appears to be infected, call me at once."
"I will do that."
"While I have you both here I would like to talk to you about having children of your own. I know this is something that has come up. Neytiri, Gary filled me in on the conversation you had with him yesterday. He tried to give you the facts as best he knew them. If you have other questions or concerns I would be happy to answer them."
"I think I understood most of what he was telling me, or at least the bad things that could happen." Neytiri was grateful that she had already told Jake about her talk with Gary. She had seen the surprise on his face when she told him about it. But his surprise quickly passed and they had talked about all their options late into the night once Ralu had fallen asleep.
"Neytiri and I discussed what Gary told her," Jake began. "There is a lot to consider, a lot that could go wrong. Or maybe nothing will. According to what Gary said, we don't even know if it will be possible for Neytiri to get pregnant. Avatars and Na'vi could be incompatible."
"Yes, that is true. We have no historical data to go by. You two would be the first to attempt to conceive a child."
"Life is a gamble," Jake began. "The fact that I'm here, still alive, is living proof of that. I could just as easily be dead—or not wounded at all. We would like to try to have a child. Ralu's vision played into our decision as we both have faith in such things. She had that vision for a reason. We like to think that she had it to help us make the decision that we made, to take the chance of having a child of our own."
"You are both mature enough to understand the risks. As the RDA's rules no longer apply here, I don't have an issue with shutting off your sterility device. Before I do that I would like to do an ultrasound on Neytiri, if both of you agree. It's just a precaution."
"What is it you wish to do?" Neytiri asked hesitantly.
"An ultrasound is a way of seeing inside your body. There isn't any pain. No scars or anything like that. I want to check your ovaries and uterus just to make sure everything is normal. It will only take a couple of minutes."
"How will checking inside me help us have a child?"
"It won't help you conceive. What it will tell us is that you might have a difficult time conceiving or carrying the baby to full term. It is just a precaution. The choice is completely up to you."
"This you may do," Neytiri answered after looking at Jake for his confirmation.
"Just lie on your back," Max ordered after Susan had wheeled the ultrasound equipment between the two gurneys.
"She is going to spread a special gel on your stomach that will make the ultrasound images clearer. It will feel cool on your skin. If you turn your head towards the monitor I will describe the images you will see."
"I'll warm the gel in my hands before I spread it over your belly," Susan said as she stood next to Neytiri's gurney, while max stood between Jake and Neytiri.
"It feels a bit weird," Susan added when Neytiri's breath caught as she started to apply the gel.
As Susan slowly moved the sensor back and forth over Neytiri's belly the image of her internal organs began to form. The highly sophisticated image processor generated a three dimensional model that made it easy to see each of the organs individually or in relation to each other. Max could rotate the view to any angle and zoom in to see the tiniest detail.
"The data from your scan is being combined with the data we have stored on Na'vi anatomy," Max began. "This is your uterus, your womb. It is where the baby will grow until it is time to be born."
When Max glanced at Neytiri to see if she understood what he was telling her, he wasn't surprised to see that her eyes were a little larger than normal. They were intently focused on the image being displayed on the screen, a look of wonder on her face.
"It looks completely normal. Your ovaries, here and here, look normal as well. I will study the recorded images in more detail later, but I don't see anything that would make it difficult for you to conceive."
"That is good," Neytiri answered, a little disturbed by the images, but deeply fascinated by them at the same time.
"Yes it is. Jake, lie back and I will deactivate the sterility device. I can stop it from injecting the inhibitor into you blood stream without removing it by subjecting it to a focused magnetic field that will seal the injection port. It will only take a few seconds."
In less than a minute Jake was sitting up on the side of the gurney after Max had deactivated the device. When his eyes met Neytiri's he didn't know if there was any appropriate thing to say at a time like this. When his stomach growled loudly, the moment passed.
"Sounds like you could use some food," Max commented.
"Feels like I could too. Ready?" he asked Neytiri after Susan finished wiping the gel off of Neytiri's abdomen.
"Yes. It will be good to get outside."
"I'll let you know when Rocky will be ready to head out," Max said as Jake and Neytiri prepared to leave the room.
"Thanks again for everything, that includes the use of the pump," Jake replied.
"Don't mention it, and don't stop any more arrows either."
"Top of my list of things to avoid," Jake added just before he followed Neytiri into the airlock.
"Max, is there something you didn't tell them?" Susan asked after Jake and Neytiri left the airlock.
"No, well nothing specific."
"It's just that you are frowning, which means something is on your mind."
"The frown is from worry. I'm almost hopping that she won't be able to conceive. If she does and the fetus is defective it could kill her, or she could miscarry, or possibly the child would be stillborn. The possibilities of serious birth defects also factor in. I wish I had better data on Na'vi births. About the only fact that we know is that Na'vi females ovulate about four times a year for a span of ten years. It's one of the factors that helps with population control. I speculate that ovulation doesn't begin again for a much longer time after birth compared to human females. A census of family demographics would be quite helpful."
"If we can earn the Na'vi's trust perhaps that is something they would share with us."
"Perhaps." Max responded absently as he was already thinking about how to process Neytiri's ultrasound data.
"I saw Gary and Zoe in the observation window," Susan began. "I'll let them know that Jake will be heading back today."
"Thanks, Susan."
Susan found Gary at the master console in the bio lab. Zoe was busy helping Abby out of her pod.
"Max has cleared Jake to return to his people today. Would you let Rocky know so he can pick them up?"
"I thought he might. Norm made arrangements with Mo'at to have Karen buried near Grace. Rocky is seeing to her body. I'll let him know that he will have four passengers."
"Thanks Gary. I see Abby and Buck have returned."
"Yes, Kyle and Judy relieved them about half an hour ago."
"Anything I can do?" Susan asked.
"Give Buck and Abby a quick checkup. It looks like all the drivers are going to be spending more time than usual linked up. I don't want their human bodies getting run down."
"On it. I'll let you know the results as soon as I'm finished."
"I know it's silly to feel different, but I do," Jake told Neytiri as soon as they stepped outside.
"I'm excited, and I'm scared. I have felt so many things in my heart since Gary told me about what could happen, or not happen if we try to have a child."
"It's a bit overwhelming. All we can do now is wait and see."
"We must do a little more than that," Neytiri replied, a wicked little grin crossing her face.
"Well of course, that goes without saying," Jake answered, a matching grin on his face. "How long would you be pregnant if me can make a baby?"
"For almost a full year."
"Damn, that's a long time."
"It will go by quickly enough. For several days before the baby is born it is difficult for a woman to move about. Bonding with banshees and direhorses is usually avoided after her belly gets to a certain size."
"I have a lot of questions, but they are going to have to wait," Jake told her as Ralu raced up to them and wrapped an arm around each of their waists.
"Come, we have picked plenty of food. Norm is waiting for us on the steps to the hut."
"Feeling better now that you are outside?" Neytiri asked as she smiled down at her new daughter.
"Yes, much better. I hope we can sleep out here in the hut tonight."
"Actually we will be sleeping with our people tonight. Max said that Jake has healed enough for us to leave."
"Really?" The grin that crossed Ralu's face was just what Jake needed.
"Really, really, really," he replied as he stooped down to give her a firm hug.
"Is Norm coming with us?" Ralu asked after Jake released her.
"Yes, I assume he is."
"I will go and see." Ralu raced off with Jake and Neytiri wanking at a leisurely pace behind her.
Norm was standing at the bottom of the steps when Jake and Neytiri arrived. He had been watching them walk towards him for a couple of minutes. Jake's movements were a little stiff, but he didn't seem to be in any real pain.
"Good to see you up and about," Norm said when they reached him.
"It's good to be alive, that much I can tell you." Jake added giving Norm's shoulder a firm squeeze.
"Ralu tells me that Max said you can return to the Well of Souls today."
"As long as he doesn't try to do too much," Neytiri added. "We are all going to keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't."
"I'm starting to feel henpecked already."
"What does that mean?" Ralu asked.
"It means he feels that too many people are going to be telling him what he can and can't do," Norm interjected before Jake could answer.
"But it will be for his own good," Ralu added, looking slightly confused.
"That's what they always say," Jake quipped.
"You need to eat something. Rocky should be here in about fifteen minutes."
"Let's see what you've got," Jake said to Ralu, pointing to the basket sitting on the steps.
"Thanks for helping me," Rocky told Gary when they finished loading Karen's body into the cargo hold of the Samson. "I was going to ask Buck, but he looked pretty tuckered out after that last link. Can't blame him, it's been one hell of a twenty four hours."
"Not a problem. This will be hard on all of us. I hope Norm will get some measure of comfort from having her body buried next to Grace, and Jake's human body."
"I think he will. Of all the avatar drivers, Norm is the closest to the Na'vi. This will mean a lot to him."
"Since you are going to have to make several more daily runs to refuel the pump I think it would be best if two avatars flew with you on each trip. If something takes an interest in the Samson they might be able to scare it off with the door guns."
"I was thinking about that myself," Rocky added, as he rubbed his chin.
"Norm and Jake can pitch hit today," Gary began. "I'll have Kyle and Judy ride back with you. After that we'll work out a schedule. I don't think it's smart for you to fly alone."
"Be a relief to me."
"Call me when you have Jake and the others onboard and are ready to takeoff."
"Roger that. Thanks again."
Gary waited until the Samson's rotors were spinning before he headed to the Ops Center. It was easier to see what was going on from there than it was from the bio lab.
"Looks like our ride's here," Jake said as the Samson arrowed in for a landing.
Once the wash from the rotors eased off, Jake and Norm led Neytiri and Ralu to the Samson. As Jake neared the pilot side door, Rocky opened it and motioned Jake to come closer.
"Appreciate it if you and Norm would be ready to use the door guns if necessary," Rocky began. "Karen's body is stored in the cargo hold. Gary and I placed her in a body bag thinking that might make it easier for Norm."
"We'll keep a lookout for anything that looks like it wants to take a bite out of us," Jake answered. "Just as soon as were strapped in I'll let you know."
When Jake turned his attention back to Neytiri he found her strapping herself into the harness on the forward bulkhead. Ralu was strapped in next to her on the opposite side of the Samson. Norm was buckling in at the door gun station. Giving a quick glance around Jake climbed in and buckled up. Signaling Rocky that they were ready he leaned back and locked eyes with Neytiri.
Author's Note:
I am getting close to the end of Book 1. The next post should be the last for the first book. At that point I plan to re-read and correct errors. Plus, I want to create a synopsis of events and characters to have for moving into Book 2. I am planning to more heavily involve the human characters in the next book. For the Omatikaya it will be about building a new home. For the humans it will be about what they are going to do with the rest of their lives and what will happen when the next ship from Earth arrives. I have toyed with idea of splitting the story into two parallel timelines. One from the Na'vi viewpoint and one from the humans. Any opinions would be welcome.
For those of you who have reviewed, Thanks. As always I enjoy hearing from you, so please review when you can.
Enjoy.