Chapter Five: Truth Told
There was a choked gurgle over by the door. Without a pause, they rolled off the opposite sides of the bed, hitting the floor at the same time. In perfect sync, they picked up their guns from the respective locations and whipped them around to point at the source of the sound.
It was Rafe.
"Dammit, Rafe, don't sneak up on us like that. We could have shot you," Beka complained, turning to put her gun back in her belt, lying by the bed. He didn't say a word. She turned back, noting with mild amusement that Tyr still held his gun- lowered, but by his side.
Rafe was staring at her. His eyes fell to her waistline and raised back to her face, flicked a glance over to Tyr, then back to her stomach.
Oh, no. Too late she realized what fascinated him. She moved toward him and opened her mouth to start explaining, but he turned and sprinted back the way he had come, down the corridor. She and Tyr glanced at each other, she sighed, and they took off down the corridor after her brother. They caught up right as he dodged into his cabin, the door closing and the lock clicking on.
"Rafe, let me in. Maru, deactivate door lock!" She slammed her fist against the door, remembering with the rush of pain exactly what the little junkheap was made of.
"Authorization code, open the damned door!"
"Authorization code not accepted."
"Secondary code, Valentine 202."
"Secondary authorization not accepted."
She kicked the door and got a sore toe. Tyr reached past her and tapped at the keypad beside the door. No luck. Finally, she sighed again. "This is no use. He changed the codes and I can't get in. Let's just go to bed. We can catch him in the morning."
*****
But they couldn't find Rafe- he was up and gone before they were. To judge from their luck, he wasn't even on the Andromeda. After going through one or two of the AI's security codes, Beka managed to isolate him that night as being in the Officer's Mess.
He looked up from his meal as they walked in. Tyr stayed by the door, blocking it. The few crew in the room eyed him warily, but relaxed when they realized he wasn't there for one of their number. Instead, they transferred their attention to Beka; aware that some sort of showdown was about to take place, the room grew amazingly quiet.
Beka circled the table, slowing as she reached Rafe. "So, long time, no see, huh?" she asked, staring down at him. She had left the vest behind in the cabin this morning, since her brother had found out and everyone else on the crew knew.
"Hi, Rocket." He gulped. "Sorry I missed breakfast, I had some stuff I had to do."
Amazing. He stares down thugs and security daily, but he's scared of his own sister. "We need to talk," she said, pinching his ear painfully and pulling him up and out of the room. He followed along unwillingly. Beka would have sworn that the rest of the dinner crowd was beginning to smirk, and even Tyr had a smug smile on his face as he stepped aside to let them pass.
Once they were outside, she pressed him back against the wall. "How much did you hear?"
Tyr had followed them out. Now he came up behind her. She could feel his hands on her shoulders as he whispered, "Beka, don't scare him. This is supposed to be good news, remember?"
She looked back at him and smiled sweetly. "I'm allowed to be intimidating once in a while, you know."
"Don't. It doesn't work as well on you. Now you might want to talk to him before he runs." He kissed her forehead.
"I hate it when you patronize me." She turned back to Rafe. "How much did you hear?"
He was cornered, but retained his usual cockiness. "Well, I'm not going to make any real overt guesses here, but I'm thinking that I'm going to be an uncle real soon."
"In five months," Tyr put in.
Rafe stayed mute, looked between them for a second, a grin stretching across his face. "I give up."
Beka was confused. "What do you mean, you give up?"
"I give up," he repeated. "I concede the point. My sister, Rebecca Valentine, Booster Rocket, Valentine Smart, is now wife to a Nietzschean, mother extraordinaire, barefoot and pregnant, and will never again go clubbing, hit bars, or join in on a killer deal, let alone run around the galaxy for a cargo job."
"I'm not barefoot. I may not run around in a cargo job, but I will do the occasional jaunt. I will go clubbing, hit bars, and join in on deals." Beka leaned back against Tyr, and he began to rub his hands over her shoulders, almost absentmindedly. "I'll just take my strong husband with incredible hands along. And you can baby-sit." She started to laugh, as did Tyr, at the statement on Rafe's face.
*****
Tyr was lying on the bed, flexi in hand, when Beka came in that night. She sat down on the bed as he asked, "What took you so long?"
She reached over and swatted him in the arm. "For your information, I was putting the Maru to bed. A couple of the valves are worn out, and I had to jury-rig something. I'll get replacement valves in the morning."
"Don't bother. I'll get them. You have the early shift." Tyr pulled her over next to him, still not putting down the flexi. "How's your brother handling the news?"
"At the moment, he's locked in his cabin, and I heard him ranting through the door. Something about having half-Nietzschean nephews?" Beka allowed herself to be pulled, curling into his side and his arm around her shoulders.
He rubbed her upper arm. "I thought you wanted a girl?"
"Either'll do, really, but a girl would be nice. I think he'd prefer a boy, and I know you do." She read a line off the flexi. "`Both sides of the child's heritage must be nurtured if its self-confidence is ever to develop-' What is this? Child psychology?"
Tyr shrugged, looking positively sheepish.
"No way, Anasazi." She plucked the flexi from his fingers, shut it off, and pitched it in the general direction of the floor. "You are not psychoanalyzing the baby."
"That is not psychoanalysis. I was reading background information for raising a child. You do, after all."
"Not psychiatric guides." She leaned her head on his chest and closed her eyes. "Come on, Tyr. Sleep now. Argue later."
"Tired?"
"Very."
He combed his fingers through her short hair. "I liked it long."
"You didn't have to take care of it."
"It suited you."
"It's been gone for ages. Get over it."
"All right." He waited a minute, then asked, "So how's our baby?"
"It's fine. I have a check-up in a week; we'll see then."
"Mm."
Tyr kept his arm around her and reached over with the other, resting his hand lightly over her stomach. Beka put her hand over his, let out the slightest of sighs. She was warm, and comfortable, and all her family was right nearby, for the moment.
****On to part 6.
****