• I sat in the gun range, polishing guns and thinking of what Dr. Alana had blurted. I had been the child my dad talked about? Impossible, the only link he had was a weak one and my mom had a speed link, also weak. I couldn’t get a Phy-link from out of nowhere. It was impossible. I needed answers, and the only way I could get them was from my parents themselves, but they were still on my station.
    I sighed, polishing until the gun had given me a dark reflection. In my station days I was the queen of the range, no one could beat me, not even my father. I could shoot forward, backward, upside down, on my head, doing a back flip, with my eyes closed; you name it. But I had one major passion; building guns. It would always calm my nerves before a test or something. One of my favorite guns I built had to be my Turbo Blaster series. Well, they did have their faults.
    Number one was like a regular plasma gun; light, well structured, and easily hidden. The only bad part was that after three shots it exploded. Number two was also good, but top heavy. It shot well, but when left in a hot room exploded. Number three was the one I thought was going to make me famous. Well, it did, but only after it exploded killing thirty virtual hamsters and literally scraping a hov-car. After that I was banned from being in the range.
    I held up my fourth blaster attempt. It was well structured and light, well balanced and easily hidden. I smiled, flipping it around quickly. It aimed right.
    “Alright,” I looked around. No one was in the range with me. I smiled wider, stepping up to a line and aiming for a target. “I bet this thing isn’t going to give hard kick,” I whispered, pulling the trigger.
    I was stunned by the sudden force that hit and threw me ten feet back into the wall. My ears rang loudly and my body ached like I had just been mauled by a bear. My head spun; another point toward the concussions. As I looked around, I noticed the target was completely gone. I gave a muted yip of happiness. Then I noted that the room had turned red and there was a loud buzzing along side of the ringing in my ear. I gave that an ‘Oh no.’
    The doors flew open and about a dozen people flooded in, some in uniforms, the rest in regular clothes. Rig, Narrow and Thorwn were among them.
    ‘Great,’ I thought, rolling my eyes and sitting up painfully, ‘just what I need; a scolding from three people who don’t know how to have fun.’
    "What the hell was that?" Rig asked loudly.
    "I call it my Turbo Blaster 3000," I whispered with a smile. "It's one of the most powerful plasma guns created. I made it out of spare parts I found."
    "That thing made a big bang," Thorwn said lowly, holding out a hand to help me up. I didn't want it; I wasn't that pregnant.
    "Where were you standing before you set it off?" Narrow asked.
    That's one of the questions I knew would come up. I wasn't going to answer that right away. It was stupid.
    "Why do you wanna know that?" I snapped. "Just because it made a loud noise doesn't mean I was thrown because of it! I'm as fine as any of you guys; just check."
    "Answer the question," Narrow sighed.
    "Ten feet," I sighed, pointing to the spot I was standing at. "Give or take a few inches."
    One of the guards walked over and took the gun. He examined it. "It looks like it would work," he whispered.
    "You think just because I'm a pregnant girl I can't make guns that are able to be operated by some dumb a** like yourself?" I growled loudly. I couldn't take it, things were terrible to me. I just needed a moment. I needed some kind of stress reliever. I needed-
    I screamed; couldn't be helped. It was one of the only ways I knew to relieve stress without hurting someone. Any other way and we would have been rushing someone to the doctors.
    "Calm down," Rig barked.
    "You calm down," I shouted. "You know; just because you three are captains of this poor excuse for a ship doesn't mean you have any rights to tell anyone what to do! I'm sick and tired of having to see thirty freakin doctors ever day! It makes no sense! My sister doesn't have to see a doctor everyday!" I gritted my teeth. "This is pointless!"
    "Alright," Thorwn said slowly.
    "I'm not done!" I screamed. "If there's one thing I really don't like it's someone interrupting someone else when they're talking!"
    I shook my head quickly. My mood changed like a bolt of lightning and I suddenly started crying.
    "Oh, God why?" I sobbed. "I'm so sorry; I should have checked with someone before trying it! I'm so stupid! I could have hurt the baby!"
    For a second I actually thought about the small thing. Barely bigger than my hand, my heart was beating for it; my lungs were breathing for it, and my body being its shelter. I couldn't believe I was that reckless over a gun.
    But my mind snapped back to Boomer and his sick experiment. I didn't want to be the vessel for such a trial.
    My tears flowed like water. The staff that had been there exited slowly. Narrow placed his medical bag on the floor and walked over to me, holding his hands out.
    I gave him a quick frown before I knew what he was holding; a large panda bear with two ribbons, one blue and one pink. The blue said boy while the pink read girl. The bear had soft fur that was matted down smooth.
    I took a second to examine it, and then snatched it like a kid in a candy store.
    "Thanks," I whispered.
    "It makes noises," He said, crouching before me. "Like what a baby would hear when it's in the womb. From what I've heard, it calms them down pretty quickly.
    'Then what does that make me,' my thoughts hissed, giving him an angered look. 'You give me a toy for a newborn and expect me to calm down? I'm pregnant. It doesn't go that way.' I squeezed the toy until I heard a click from within its chest.
    The sound was relaxing. The gentle drum of an almost muted heartbeat sent calming pulses through my mind. Before long, I found myself thinking about kinder times at The Station. Narrow was a complete blur after a few seconds and I fought the urge to fall asleep. But sleep was a kind mother, engulfing me in her waiting arms.

    I awoke in my room, surrounded by cushions and the bear in my tight grip. The room was bathed in a blue light expelled by a lamp that projected shapes and pictures on the wall. Accompanying the light show was the ever-changing sound of the carousel that played songs. After I had met the doctors they threw me a small baby shower that I reluctantly accepted. I got new clothes, new bed sheets, and the baby got new everything. I lay on the bed, just looking up and wondering what time it was.
    “It is three in the morning, Ms. Jones,” the room said quickly. I jumped, scared. I forgot about the talk with Dr. Alana. My link allowed me to talk to anyone without actually saying words. That meant I could talk to peoples minds, anything that was an animals, and some computers. I calmed down quickly. If there was one think I knew, it was that I wanted to go back to sleep. The bear would have helped, but I had a strange gut feeling. It wasn't morning sickness; it wasn't a stomach virus; and there was no way the baby could kick at one month.
    A jolting pain suddenly pulsed through my body. I doubled over, rendering a weak cry. But the pain vanished quickly and was replaced with a bubbly feeling. It was strange for a moment and then it made me laugh.
    After a minute, the feeling left, leaving behind a small throbbing pain in the pit of my stomach. I stood up slowly, but the pulsing pain went to my legs. I screamed, falling to the floor. But, this time, there was no bubbly feeling afterwards.
    I pulled my legs from under me, the pain sudden and sharp. I couldn't take it. It pulsed like blood, making my heart beat quicken until I thought it was going to burst.
    I looked up toward the ceiling. The intercom in it was activated by voice commands. All I had to do was call for someone...
    "Narrow!" I shouted.
    A soft ping filled my ears. "Who's calling?" he asked. By the sound of his voice and how he slurred his words, I could tell he had been asleep.
    "I-" I started, but the pain exploded. I opened my mouth and screamed again, throwing my head from side to side. "Please," I cried. "Help me!"
    I could hear him shuffling. He was moving faster than I expected. There was no time to dilly-dally, thought. I gripped my stomach as the pain pulsed again. It had somewhat decreased to a dull throb but it was still intense to a point.
    “Discovery,” He said loudly. “I’ll be right there, just hold on!”
    There was another ping and the intercom was shut off. I sat there for a moment, feeling the throb go through my body until I really just wanted to end it. It was worse within seconds of my thought. I doubled over, screaming until I thought my lungs were going to explode. A sudden memory flooded my mind.
    Boomer stood over me, waving the shot gun in my face. He was smiling. Butch gave the sudden outburst that made him angry. He growled, glaring at him
    ‘What happened to the first fifty five?’ I thought. ‘What made you come to me?’ I hated him down to the every last atom. It was his fault I was in this condition, his fault I probably couldn't go back home for the rest of I life!
    I rolled over, groaning. There was no limit to the pain. Narrow entered the room minutes later. He looked spent. In his hand was his small medical bag. He flicked on the lights and stared down at me. For the first time, I actually noticed I was sweating though the room was a temperature that made Narrow shiver.
    I gave a grateful sigh as he and the other doctors flooded into my room. They spoke, but my mind was elsewhere, floating around in a world where only thoughts were. Half of them were freaking out; the others were sad and distant.
    "What's up, Panda," I asked, rolling my eyes around the group of doctors. It was terrible to be delusional and yet, you are wide awake. I kept fighting the urge to do things but ended up sending my body into a fit of nervous twitches and myself into a laughing frenzy.
    "Discovery," Narrow whispered. "I need you to calm down." He wiped my head again. "Do you hear me? We can't work with you twitching like this."
    I laughed and shook my head. "What's the magic word?"
    "Please," Narrow hissed.
    I tried my hardest to stay still as hands and cold tools groped my every curve, but the delusions made me bubbly. At one point, the doctors had all but made up their mind to use a rectal thermometer. That's when I got real still.
    After a moment or so, I felt three pairs of hands pick me up, passing me around until I found the bed. Narrow dismissed the rest of the doctors to bed but decided to stay by my side. I was confused by his sudden decision, but relieved to know that if I felt the pain again he would be close.
    He patted my head with a wide smile over his face. I don't know why he smiled like that. For a moment I swore I was going to puke, but the pain had long gone.
    'What's wrong with me, then?' I considered every sickness I had been in contact with in the hospitals. None of them matched the bubbly feeling and the only thing that matched the pain was the Viral Flu. I already knew I didn't have that. So the question remained floating in my mind when I finally fell asleep in Narrows lap.