Ascension Discovery

by Amy Proebstel

  “If you want, I can give you an exam to see if I can get a better idea of the timing.”

  “May I think about it a little longer?”

  “No problem; you’ve got six mesans to think about it!” she laughed at her own joke.

  “Well, I guess this would explain a lot about why I kept throwing up every day. I thought it was many things, but pregnancy never even entered my mind. Wow! A baby!” Amanda shook her head in complete disbelief and wonder. It has to be Neal’s baby if I’m three months along, she thought to herself, When did we have sex? How much else am I not remembering?

  Stronger than ever, Amanda felt the need to find Neal and get back home. There was no way she would be giving birth to her baby in Tuala. She had six months to get to Earth, with or without Neal, she finally determined.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “LET’S TAKE OUR tea and drink it in the living room,” Alena suggested when she saw Amanda had finished eating. “Besides,” she added, “the chairs are more comfortable in there.”

  Amanda smiled and stood up. Awkwardly she started to gather up her dish and glass when Alena reached over and took the bowl from her grasp.

  “I’ll get it,” she said as she deposited it into the sink with a flourish. She walked back over to the table and picked up her glass and led the way from the room. Once in the living room, she gestured for Amanda to take her leisure at any of the seating areas in the room. “Sit anywhere you like,” she said as she chose her own chair. “Much better,” she said as she sat down with a sigh.

  Amanda smiled at her and looked around the room. All of the chairs looked comfortable so she selected the one directly across from Alena so they could more easily converse. Without realizing it, she had placed her hand on her belly after she sat. She smiled when she looked down, but did not remove her hand. A daughter! she thought again in wonder.

  “I could hardly believe it when Bryon told me you had been bitten by a beetlesnatch!” Alena said with a shocked expression. “It was lucky he’d taken my medicine kit with him; otherwise, you might have lost your hand to its saliva before he got you to the healer.”

  “Are you serious? I could’ve lost my whole hand?” Amanda was shaken at her close call.

  Alena nodded gravely over the rim of her glass as she drank. She was assessing Amanda’s reactions and comparing them to Bryon’s comments about Amanda being ‘different.’ He had refused to answer Alena’s questions about what he meant; he had only said ‘you’ll see.’ Alena was starting to understand. Amanda was an interesting subject to be sure. Alena was going to enjoy getting to know her.

  “Wow, I’m going to have to thank Bryon again for taking such good care of me.” She shook her head thinking about what a close call she had had with the beetlesnatch.

  She was disgusted with the fact she had missed out on experiencing her first telepod ride and said, “I just can’t believe I don’t remember anything about being brought here. The medicine the old woman gave me must have been pretty strong.” Her thoughts then returned to her pregnancy, and she became fearful. “Could the medicine have harmed my baby?”

  “Luck was on your side again,” Alena replied with confidence, “She gave you the same medicine we’d normally give a woman who’s in difficult labor and would need to be asleep for us to take the baby swiftly.”

  Relief washed through Amanda as she gently rubbed her stomach. “Thank goodness!” she sighed. I’ll take better care of myself for you, honey, she spoke silently to her baby. Not knowing what else to do, she had another sip of her iced tea.

  “So you said you’ve been having bouts of nausea?”

  “Yes, for almost two mesans now,” she replied, pleased because she had easily remembered to use the Tualan term for months.

  “Have you noticed anything else out of the ordinary, any bleeding or spotting?”

  Amanda thought about it and said, “I’ve just been very tired. Exhausted, really. I just thought it was because I was recovering from my head injury.”

  “What head injury?” Alena asked with concern evident in her expression.

  “The first I remember was waking up on Petre MacVeen’s water craft with him telling me I had fallen and hit my head. He had wrapped it with a cloth, but it was really bloody and hurt like crazy for at least a week.”

  “Would you mind if I looked at it?” Alena asked with great interest as she stood up and moved over next to Amanda.

  “No, feel free,” Amanda replied as lifted her hand to the back of her head. “It was right here,” she indicated as she turned her head and touched the welted scar with her index finger.

  Alena’s fingers were cool and gentle as she parted Amanda’s hair and she prodded the edges of the roughly healed wound. “Do you get headaches or shooting pains anywhere?”

  “Yes, both.”

  “You had said ‘the first I remember,’ did you lose your memory?” she asked as she continued to probe the scar.

  “Yes.”

  “Did your memory come back?”

  “Well, I thought it had until you told me about the pregnancy.”

  Looking relieved, Alena asked, “This injury could explain why you don’t remember when you conceived your baby. I wish I could’ve taken care of this wound when it first happened. How long did it take to get your memory back?”

  She thought back to the timeline notes she had made for Barla and Captain Ahn and said, “I think it was about a week; maybe a little less.”

  “Did it come back all at once or in stages?”

  “It came back slowly through my dreams.”

  Alena raised her eyebrows and nodded with interest to encourage her to keep talking.

  “Petre kept giving me foxl broth with some sleeping drought in it. Each time I drank it I had dreams about my past. When I was awake, Petre told me my name was Jesisca, and I was his wife. At first, I believed him because I couldn’t remember anything about myself. I never told him when I got my memory back.” Amanda kept her head turned away as she spoke.

  “You did the right thing, Amanda. Petre MacVeen’s a dangerous man. How long do you think you were with him?” Alena asked as she started to suspect about Amanda’s pregnancy.

  “Right at two mesans,” she replied. Knowing where Alena’s questions were leading she asked, “How do you know Petre?”

  “There are very few people in the shipping business who don’t know Petre,” she replied easily. “He’s a known liar and a cheat who regularly ships illegal items.”

  “Do you think the drug Petre gave me might have hurt my baby?”

  “It’s hard to say without knowing what drug it was,” she mused. “Did it have any smell or taste?”

  “I don’t think so, he put it in the foxl broth.”

  Alena thought about the various drugs available which did not have a smell or taste. There were only a couple of possibilities. “How much broth did you have to drink before you felt the effects of the drug?”

  “I just had a couple of swallows before I felt light-headed. By the end of the small cup, I couldn’t even remember setting the cup down.”

  “Really,” she replied with surprise. “If it worked really fast, there’s only one possibility: epeny. Did you ever hear him say the word?”

  “No, sorry.”

  “It’s okay,” she reassured her, “epeny’s a powerful sedative. I personally wouldn’t recommend it to a pregnant woman, but since you didn’t become addicted to it, I’d say he didn’t give you a dosage which would be detrimental to a young fetus.”

  “I could’ve become addicted to it?”

  “Yes, but you didn’t,” she reassured. “If it were the drug Petre gave you then you were fortunate because it also has an anti-inflammatory property to it as well.”

  “I guess there’s one good thing about it,” Amanda mused. “I sure hope my baby’s going to be okay.”

  “Well, if it’s any consolation, when your baby spoke to me, she sounded very healthy and coherent.” Alena put her hand
on Amanda’s shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.

  “Really?” Amanda asked in amazement. “I wish I could hear her, too.” She sighed and thought about the little life which was growing inside her. “Thank you for reassuring me. I do feel a lot better about it knowing you think she sounds healthy.”

  “So what happened with Petre? You said he told you that you were his wife; it sounds as though he meant to keep you around.”

  “I thought the same thing, and it scared me,” Amanda shuddered at the memory of being alone with Petre in the small cabin of his boat.

  “So he never knew you got any of your memory back?”

  “Not that I know of. I never spoke of it. I feel bad about the epeny though. I figured out the correlation between the drug and the dreams. I kept asking for it so I could remember faster,” Amanda confessed as she wrung her hands together.

  “Don’t worry about it, Amanda. She sounds fine, and you have probably gotten most of your memory back. Think positively okay? You’ve been through enough. It’s time you started relaxing.” She gave her a gentle nudge and then changed the subject, “So how did you get away from Petre? Bryon didn’t know.” Alena stood up and went to sit in her own chair again.

  Amanda smiled at the memory, looked back at Alena with a sly expression, and said, “I tricked him into drinking the drugged foxl broth.”

  Alena burst out laughing. “Oh, how perfect! It served him right. Then what happened?”

  Amanda laughed, too, and realized it felt good to smile again as she continued, “Well, he fell asleep almost immediately, and his head hit the table. I jumped overboard just as a shipping vessel was passing by and they picked me up and brought me to Captain Ahn. I’m sure Bryon told you about me working for the Captain these past two weeks, getting his paperwork ready for the quarterly audit. And that’s the whole story.”

  Alena nodded affirmation and commented, “Well it’s definitely the short version. Hopefully, you’ll feel comfortable enough to share with me your daily experiences with Petre. I’m sure it was never boring with everything I’ve ever heard about him.”

  Amanda nodded and said, “I’d love to tell you about my time with him. There were some pretty funny moments.”

  Just then there was a commotion at the front door; it burst open, and three little children came barreling into the living room, throwing themselves all over Alena. “Momma!” They each cried as they hugged her legs and fought for space on her lap.

  Amanda sat back to keep from getting kicked by the rambunctious children. They had not even appeared to have noticed her in their excitement to see their mother. Suddenly there was silence as three faces stared over to where Amanda sat quietly looking back at them.

  “Who’s she, Momma,” the oldest boy asked with his precious little face turned up to look at his mother’s face. “Is she a patient of yours?”

  “As a matter of fact, she was my patient this morning. But she’s not like other patients. She’s going to be staying here at our house in the guest room down the hall from your bedroom.”

  “Why, Momma?” Justan asked seriously. “Is she family?”

  Alena looked pleadingly over at Amanda who nodded hastily, then turned back to her son and replied, “Yes, she’s family.”

  “How long’s she staying?”

  “We’re not sure, Justan. It might only be for a few weeks, but it may also be a couple of mesans. She’s working on a project, and we don’t know how long it might take.”

  “What kind of project? Can we help?” he asked, excited for a new adventure.

  “Sorry, honey, this is something just for the adults, kind of like my work,” she replied gently not wanting to discourage his helpfulness.

  Even though Alena spoke kindly to her son Amanda could see his spirits diminish with his exclusion from the activity. Amanda thought fast, “If there’s anything where you can help me out, I’ll let you know, okay?”

  A smile lit up Justan’s face as he nodded enthusiastically. “Really? You’re not just saying it?”

  “As long as your mother says it’s okay I’ll ask for your help whenever I can include you, all right?” Amanda said with a grin on her face for his enthusiasm.

  Justan immediately turned to face his mother, “Momma, you think I can help, don’t you? You think I’m big enough and smart enough, right?”

  Alena stroked his unruly dark curls and said gently, “You’re my brilliant little boy. When the time comes for you to help, we’ll all do it together, okay?”

  “Okay,” he smiled brightly at his mother and then at Amanda. “What’s your name?”

  “You can call me Aunt Amanda,” she replied hastily. “And you must be Justan.”

  He nodded solemnly.

  Alena put her hand on the little girl’s head who sat on one of her knees and said, “This is Andera, our first-daughter, and this little scamp,” she moved her hand to rescue the other little boy from slipping off of her other knee without breaking her stream of conversation, “is our youngest son, Kyelon. And I think it’s time you three washed up for dinner, you smell like you rolled in the flowerbeds. Off you go now, be sure to clean under your fingernails,” she cried after them as they raced out of the living room.

  She turned to Amanda and sighed, “Are you up for this?”

  “Sure, bring it on,” Amanda laughed. “I bet they keep you busy.”

  “That’s an understatement!” Alena replied with a grin. “I guess I better get dinner started. Do you want to keep me company?”

  “Sure, I can help if you want,” she offered as they both stood up and started heading toward the kitchen.

  “Not tonight,” she replied offhandedly, “you can watch and get the layout of the kitchen. I’m sure there’ll be plenty of time for you to practice with these three ravenous children.”

  Amanda sat back down at the little table and took mental notes of where Alena got different containers. It was then she realized she was going to have some difficulty passing herself off as a Tualan; Alena did not have to physically get the ingredients out of the cupboard because she thought them out.

  At first, Amanda thought she had missed seeing her get an item, but then, upon closer inspection, the ingredients would just appear in the dish without Alena having to physically get them. Once she thought about it some more, Petre had prepared food in the same way in the cabin of the water craft. Back then Amanda had thought she had imagined it because of the head injury. Now she knew it was a special talent of the Tualans.

  Thoughts raced through Amanda’s mind. How am I going to pretend to get ingredients out? Maybe, she thought to herself, not all Tualans do it. Captain Ahn and Barla didn’t do it. Or do they not do it because Barla can’t, like me? Maybe I can say my head injury makes it too painful to practice the talent. It’ll have to work.

  With that line of thinking decided she was able to concentrate once again on Alena’s preparations for dinner. In total, it only took about ten minutes for dinner to be ready and set on the dining room table. It was a simple dinner of seasoned foxl steaks and fried krumpli with a fresh mixed green salad. It all looked and smelled wonderful, and Amanda realized how hungry she really was.

  “Since dinner’s ready, Bryon should be walking through the door,” Alena announced as she turned toward the front entrance.

  As if on cue, Bryon came home from work and smiled at the two women greeting him. “It looks like my timing is as impeccable as ever,” he said as he strode over to hug and kiss his wife.

  He turned to Amanda and noted her wrapped wrist, “And how are you feeling? You look much better than you did when I left you this morning.”

  “Alena has done wonders for me,” Amanda replied with a grin on her face. She lifted her wrist and wiggled her fingers. “It’s all back to normal, the bandages are just a precaution according to the doctor!”

  Bryon looked over at Alena and raised his eyebrows significantly and received the same expression mirrored back from her. “How wonderful, Amanda
. I’ll go get washed up for dinner, and you can tell me all about your day.”

  “There’s our cue, Amanda. Let’s use the kitchen sink to wash up ourselves,” Alena said as she turned back toward the kitchen.

  “How did Bryon know dinner was ready?”

  “I have no idea,” she replied, “but he does it every day. Sometimes I serve dinner a little early or a little late, but it doesn’t make any difference, he’s always walking in as I set it on the table. It’s almost as if he has a food service alarm built into his brain.” She laughed at the thought as she finished washing. She moved to the side with the dish towel in her hands to make room for Amanda to use the sink.

  “Come on, kids, dinner’s on the table and Papa’s home,” Alena yelled over her shoulder to round up the kids.

  Amanda could hear the kids giggling and chattering as they ran into the dining room and sat at their seats around the table. She smiled at the cheerful noise they made. Alena led her back to the dining room, and they paused in the doorway. Amanda wondered where she would sit when little Justan spoke.

  “Can Aunt Amanda sit next to me?” He pumped his legs in excitement causing his body to bob up and down on the chair.

  Alena looked at Amanda to judge whether or not to allow it; Amanda shrugged indifference. “It’s very polite of you to offer, Justan. I’ll get another chair for Amanda, and I’ll put it on your left.”

  Dinner was delicious but uneventful. The children spoke about their adventures over at the next-door neighbor’s house. They had made a play telepod in the backyard, and the neighbor’s kittilee had played a game of hide-and-seek with them.

  After everyone had finished and the dishes were clean and put away, they all retired into the living room. The children brought out their favorite books for their parents to read to them. Apparently, this was an evening ritual for everyone knew what to expect and where to sit.

  Amanda selected a chair off to the side to be able to observe without being in the way. Full and satisfied, she curled up in the overstuffed chair and felt her eyes become heavy with fatigue. By the time the kids were tucked in, Amanda announced, “I can’t believe how tired I am. If you don’t mind, I think I’ll retire for the night as well.”