A Moment of Concern

Month 17 Day 21

10:48 Hours

Drake MacGregor

Drake closed his medical scanner, which hadn't revealed anything about the redhead was amiss. “I don’t find anything wrong,” he stated quietly to the young woman who sat in a chair in front of the captain’s desk. “You say you got dizzy. What were you doing?”

“Talking to the captain,” Mac answered, and her face flushed a bit. “If this is a normal part of being pregnant, then I’m sorry to have caused such commotion.”

“It can be a normal occurrence during pregnancy,” he told her. “But I’m glad to check you out whenever it happens, just to be sure.”

The door to the hall opened and Smitty hurried in. “Captain! Colleen! What happened? All I was told was that they sent for MacGregor and I should get here right away!”

The redhead turned a delicate pink. “MacG just gave me a clean bill of health, Smit.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Drake told her drily. “I’d still like some information on what you were doing just before you got dizzy.”

“I told you, I was talking to the captain.”

“We were talking,” Jane agreed. “I gave her a piece of news that got her excited, and she stood up quickly, talked eagerly, then suddenly stopped and turned absolutely white, looked ready to faint. I wonder if she got over-excited for her condition.”

Smitty squatted down to look beneath Mac’s chair, took one of her hands in his as he did so. “She got up quickly, did you say?”

“Yes,” Jane confirmed.

“Well, she’s got Gaelund gravity on her chair, so as she rose, she would have gone from Gaelund gravity to Earth gravity in short order. Would that have any bearing on it?”

“That definitely could have started the process, yes,” Drake stated. “And excitement could have complicated her reaction. Mac, you need to be a little more careful about going from one gravity level to another. I wouldn’t want you to fall because you lost your balance.”

“Is there some reason why it's necessary for her to install Gaelund gravity under every chair she sits in?” the captain asked.

“That's what I understand,” Smitty answered before Drake could. “She’s got to build up the strength in her internal muscles before the baby comes. She works out in Gaelund gravity, sleeps in Gaelund gravity, and now she sits in Gaelund gravity. We’ve been trying to work on gravity units to attach to her boots so that she can walk and stand in Gaelund gravity, but that hasn't been going so well.”

“What do you mean?” Jane asked. "What's the problem?"

Mac sighed, sat up straighter and answered. “If we put a small unit on each boot, I feel myself moving from Gaelund to Earth gravity every time I take a step. And if we enlarge the dimensions of the units’ area of effect, I move from Gaelund to higher-than-Gaelund gravity every time I take a step. Either way, it’s very disorientating.”

"That's not the effect I was hoping for," Drake stated. And I don't think either one is going to do her any good.

"I would find that terribly disorientating," Jane agreed. "Perhaps it would be better to reassign her to quarters where you could install Gaelund gravity in the whole thing."

Mac sighed. "There would still be all the time I'm not in my quarters. On duty or with my friends."

"So you've already considered that," Jane stated. "Of course you have."

“What was the news that got her so excited?” Smitty asked, his forehead wrinkled.

“Hold that thought a moment,” Jane told him, and moved to the door to the bridge. “Lt Bugalu, would you step in my office for a moment?” She moved back to her desk and waited for the helmsman to join them. He gave a quick glance around the office that was the only indication he was surprised by the occupants, and then stood slightly behind MacDowell. “Alright, now that you all are here. I pulled some strings at headquarters, with good results. All 3 of you have been approved to marry Lt MacDowell. Without her having to leave the Fleet. Obviously, you can’t all marry her, but I stand ready to perform the ceremony, once she decides who she wants. Now, Dr MacGregor, since she nearly fainted when I told her that news, what are your instructions for her at this time?”

Looking as surprised as the other men, Drake quickly pulled his thoughts together. “I’d like for her to go to her quarters and lay down for an hour,” he answered. “Then, so long as she feels okay, she can return to her usual schedule. If she doesn’t feel okay, I want her to summon me again.”

“Good. That should allow her to have lunch with Mr Smythe, or whoever. Whoever she picks, they have things to discuss, and time to do it is limited. How does that sound to you, Lt MacDowell?”

“I don’t feel like I need to lay down for an hour, but I will follow the doctor’s suggestion. And I appreciate having lunch with Smit. We do need to talk.”

“I’ll walk you back to your quarters on my way to engineering,” Smitty volunteered, and took hold of her arm to help her stand up. Bugalu bent over to grab the gravity unit and handed it to her as she turned toward the door.

After the couple left, Jane turned to face the remaining 2 men. “She seems to have made her choice.”

“Probably,” Drake agreed. "It may depend now on the possibility of finding a place that needs a pair of engineers, but can wait a year for the 2nd one.”

“And how does that make you 2 feel?”

“Whatever makes her happy,” Bugalu stated at once.

“And you, Duck?” The captain asked.

“Oh, I agree with Bugalu,” he said. “But if they can’t find appropriate positions, then maybe physician and engineer positions will be easier to find.”

“Well, yeah, with that caveat,” Bugalu added. "Helmsman and engineer."

The captain didn’t frown, but Drake had the feeling she wasn’t exactly happy with their answers. “Very well. We’ll see how things play out from here. Dismissed.”