Day 23 - 1000 Word Challenge

Aren't you getting tired of reading snippets?

(Day 23 - 1085 Words)

Shae was visiting Maricia and her baby, Gwenlynn, as she had been every day since the fight. She didn’t have anywhere else to go since she was suspended pending investigation and the diner was shut down until repairs could be made.

Thom was still on the picket lines until the union strike was finished. They had talked a lot about what they would do when the rent came due next month. They had gone through all their savings, and with Shae out of work for now, things were getting dicey. Thom had assured her that the Reps had been making headway with the Station Council and that it shouldn’t be too much longer now.

Shae had started watching the job boards to see if she could get some temporary work, but nothing she was qualified for had come up yet. But visiting with Maricia and the baby always lifted her spirits some.

“Hi, Maricia! How’s the little sweet bun-bun?”

Maricia looked up from the tablet she was reading at her friend.

“Hi, Shae! She is sleeping right now, but will likely wake up for some feeding soon. She always seems to know when you are going to show up and stores up some energy!” Maricia slid the dial that lightened the polarization on the artificial womb, so that Shae could see within.

It was such a miracle that little Gwen could finish growing completely in the AW, instead of being in some sort of horrid contraption like in the old days. They had gone to a medical museum presentation in secondary school and seen some of the devices that people, and especially premature babies were subjected to. It was amazing that anyone survived.

Shae peered into the oblong AW and could see Gwen in the bioplas bubble that surround her and fed her food and oxygen through the umbilical cord, just like normal. Gwen had her little thumb stuck in her mouth and kicked a few times in protest of the extra light, turning herself away from it. Both the young women laughed and Maricia darkened the AW.

“So, any news?” Maricia patted the couch beside her.

“No. They keep saying any day now, but each day Thom comes home and it’s still ‘hand on just a few more days and they’ll give in’. But, maybe they are just waiting to get some new people to come in. How do we hold on with no money coming in? Everything could be ripped out from under us at any time.”

Maricia reached out and took Shae’s hand in hers and patted it with the other. They sat in silence for a few moments.

“You and Thom with make it. If not here on the station, then someplace else that’s better. I’m still praying for you both.” Maricia smiled softly at Shae. Shae knew that Maricia was very religious and really believed in the power of prayer. Shae wasn’t so sure, but she loved her friend, and so appreciated her caring.

“Well, any news on when you will get to go home?” Shae changed the subject. Maricia perked up and grinned bigger.

“Yes! On the weekend! We could have gone home tomorrow, but I wanted to wait until KenRen could be home. His boss is going to give him a week off to help me settle in with the baby. He worked on the baby’s room last weekend, but it’s not all done. He suggested I go down and stay with my mother on the planet until things are finished. But, we have each other, and with a week of him being home I’m sure we can get a lot of it done. Besides if I was with my mother, he wouldn’t get any time for baby cuddling! Which frankly, may be what he is aiming for!”

Both of them laughed out loud at that. KenRen could be a little standoffish with babies and children, even though he claimed he wanted them. Mostly, he was just afraid that he might drop or break them, which was crazy considering how dexterous he was as was needed for pilot reflexes.

“Have you heard anything about Mike? How he’s doing?” Maricia asked somberly.

“Actually, yes. We went to see him last evening, and Kamiah was there catching him up on everything going on down at the patrol.”

“Oh! And?”

“Mike will get released tonight actually, Thom and I are going to pick him up and take him to dinner for real food before he goes back to his barracks. He is eager to get back out there and find the Lekthish that shot him. Kamiah had reported that they had found the white-haired one, and he had died from the shot that night. But, still no sign of the black-haired one. Their ship is impounded, as the dark-haired one was apparently the captain. But, even though they’ve been watching the ship, the scumraker hasn’t tried to board again.”

“Shae! Your language!” Maricia blushed a little.

“Oh, poo, that’s not even hardly a bad word. Besides, he deserves to be called much worse, for what he did to Mike and what they were doing to you.”

“You are so fierce, Shae. I couldn’t believe you attacked the one with your water pitcher.”

“Well, you don’t let your friends down if you can help it, Mar. I just did what came natural.”

“Oh, I saw this in the adverts today, Shae. Maybe you all could think about it. They are looking for colonists and they want young couples who don’t have any children yet. And they are needing all kinds of different jobs filled. I know you have always dreamed of running off to a new world. This could be your chance.”

Shae was shocked at the thought. Leave the station and her friends behind? Sure, she had thought about it when she was younger, but it wasn’t something that she had thought about for a long time.

“I’ll think about it, Mar. Right now, though, we don’t have the money to pay next month’s rent, much less pay for colony ship passage. Maybe you can pray for that, too.”

“I will!”

Shae decided to change the subject again, and asked Maricia to show her the items she had picked out today for the baby’s room. Maricia was more than happy to do so, and they spent a few hours comparison shopping before Shae needed to go home to meet Thom to go over to the other hospital and pick up Mike.

***