"I'm going to have a litter."
Arrow looked at her for a moment. "Pardon me, ma'am?"
Amelia gulped. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. "I'm pregnant. I'm going to have a litter."
"Amelia…I'm sorry. If…if you don't mind me asking, with who?"
"Dr. Doppler. Two months ago, I invited him into my quarters. I was in heat, we drank an entire bottle of red wine, and then we slept together. And now I'm going to have his litter."
"So you are planning on carrying them to term?"
"Of course. I'm not going to kill myself trying to terminate them. And besides, Doppler would never let me. He's trying to convince me to keep them."
"Are you not going to?"
"Arrow, with all due respect, you know me. We went to Academy together. I could never stay in one place then, and I surely cannot do that now. Just being cooped in that cabin for one day I nearly lost my sanity. Imagine me doing that nonstop!"
"With all respect, Amelia, there are worse people to be in this situation with. Perhaps there was a reason that you invited the Doctor instead of another crew member."
"Oh my good lord, not you too! That is exactly the same line that he uses. 'Everything happens for a reason, Amelia, perhaps this did too.' Honestly, it makes me gag. This was an accident, no more, no less. He's just being so thick! I don't understand this attachment he has with them, these lumps of cells that have just begun to look like something that could someday be alive."
"Amelia, in all blunt honesty, I don't understand the lack of attachment you have for them."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, for starters, I don't think any healthy mother would ever refer to her developing children as 'lumps of cells.'"
"Arrow…"
"And it doesn't sound like the two of you have spoken to each other openly about your options. It sounds like you made a decision, told him your decision, and refuse to accept or even discuss any other option."
"Arrow, don't be absurd. Of course I've thought about the other options."
"But have you and Doppler discussed them? Do you know how he feels?"
"No. But I know he wants to keep them. It's all he talks about. Indirectly, of course, I think he's afraid that I'm going to throw him overboard."
Arrow exhaled deeply. "You need to talk to him."
"Arrow!"
"Amelia, please, listen to me. You need to talk to him. The two of you need to reach a decision together. If you don't, the consequences could be devastating."
Amelia looked out into the Etherium.
"At least do it for me."
She sighed. "Fine. I will speak with him tomorrow."
"Thank you."
"But, until then, not a word to him or the crew."
Arrow tipped his hat. "Of course, Captain." He went down to his quarters.
Amelia watched him go, then did something she had never done before.
She touched her stomach, the barrier between the developing fetuses and the outside world.