Chapter 4

She had no idea how long she had been sleeping. It seemed that as soon as she would begin to regain her senses, she was asleep again. The door opened and a soldier approached with a tray of food. He laid it in front of her and commanded, "Eat."

She was ravenous, but wouldn't give the man the satisfaction of seeing her eat. "No. It's probably full of drugs to knock me out."

"Not anymore. We'll be landing soon. You'll need your strength."

She stared at him. "Landing? Where?"

"Marvenius, where else?"

The meeting with Gannon had gone well, and he was asked to return in the evening so that he could meet with Marcus. That afternoon, John and Don were awaiting the landing of the Jupiter. John's erect stalwart stance belied the conflicting feelings he felt, joy at seeing his wife again and despair that his daughter was not with her. Don, head bowed in his hand, rubbed his temples in an attempt to lessen the physical and emotional pain that wracked his body. When the hatch opened, Maureen rushed out into John's arms, and he kissed her tenderly. He greeted his children, who were followed by Dr. Smith and Marcus.

Maureen kneeled down in front of Don, concerned at his angry, desolate demeanor. "Don, I'm sure he hasn't hurt her."

He tried his best to maintain his control. "How can you know that Maureen?"

"Because he wants her to be in perfect health."

"But you don't know what he might have done to her on the trip." He closed his eyes and whispered, "He might have…" He couldn't bring himself to say the word aloud for fear that it might be true.

Marcus bent down to reassure him. "No, Don. He wouldn't attempt anything until she was examined by a doctor. I'm sure of that."

"Where would he take her?"

"To his own private physician. I believe his family used a healer by the name of Phiscus. His office was not far from my own."

Ronon approached the group and, after greeting them, invited them into the Marvenius Miracle to debrief and plan their next move. "Gannon has arrived and is anxious to speak with you, Marcus. Also, Scotter has returned with more information from Tion that might be helpful."

As the family entered the Marvenius Miracle, Don remained outside the Jupiter. "Coming, Don?" John asked.

"I'll be there in a minute. I just want to go in and take a look at Judy's journal."

John crossed his arms and stared at him. He hoped that his son-in-law wasn't making plans on his own.

"Seriously, John, I'm okay. I just need to… to feel like I'm near her."

John nodded. "Alright, but if you don't join us in 20 minutes, we're coming out to get you."

At that moment, Appolus forced Judy through the door of his healer's medical office. Phiscus, the physician, was waiting for them. He was a serious, silver-haired man who greeted Appolus coldly. Although he had known Appolus and his family for years, he had never cared for the arrogant, self-absorbed young man. It was his duty as the family's healer, however, to examine the young 'vessel' that Appolus had brought to his office. Much to Judy's embarrassment, Appolus never left the examination room. Phiscus' motions were gentle, yet thorough. He tried to shield Judy from Appolus' reactions with little success.

"Well," Appolus demanded, "is she ovulating?"

"No," Phiscus replied. He helped Judy up from the examination table. "She will not ovulate again for some time."

Don entered the Jupiter and found Judy's journal on the galley table where Maureen had left it. He held it in his hands and perused the pages, marveling at the number of entries she had made in the last year and a half. He looked at the last few pages.

August 9, 2000

I'm late! Yes, I'm late. Well, only a day late, and it could be due to stress, but I'm ready for that pregnancy test. I'll get it to Marcus in the morning. If I am, I wonder if it will be a boy or a girl. I could just see Don running around with his son, teaching him football, baseball, basketball. I'm sure wrestling will be on the list, as well as U2 and Springsteen, but not Madonna, I'm sure. If it's a girl, he better let me teach her about Madonna. What would he be like with a girl? Protective, gentle, the adoring father and she'll have him wrapped around her little finger. Would he be running her around on the football and baseball field? Probably.

I love you, Don. I wish you could be here with me right now. This is a time when we should be together. How did I ever let you talk me into staying here while you went back to Marvenius? I would have been safe there because I would have been with you. At least I know that I would have felt safer than I feel when I'm alone in our bed. I miss you.

He read her last partial entry of August 10th and had a distinct feeling of déjà vu. After closing the book, he placed it on the table and wiped his eyes. Looking around the ship, he knew that he had to do something, anything right now. He grabbed one of the laser weapons and raced out of the Jupiter on the hover bike. He knew where she would be, and he was going to get her back.