SImp

The past year had been 'interesting' indeed. 'Somehow' the girls were getting pregnant, which was causing excitement to ripple through the ranks. Not naming names but one girl, our first, let's call her 'Paula,' was ready to pop any day now. She represented every girl on the team. So we all wanted to get our trip out of the way as fast as possible.

The morning zoo was typical; breakfast, getting little Lance and Jane off to school, coordinating the day's activities with the team, and hugs and kisses. Paula said she was off to go have a morning coffee with our friendly neighbor Whitney—except, as she was forgoing caffeine for the baby, she would be drinking a hot chocolate, but the idea was the same.

I waffled around the house doing nothing much of anything but worried that something was wrong and was considering delaying our trip until after Paula had her baby. The more I thought about why we were taking this trip and how we would get back home, the more I felt the risk was worth it.

The real thing that we needed to get back home was massive power. Bit's solid components were full of miniature energy cells. These cells ran on what was called cold fusion when the effect was first discovered back in 1927. The generating membrane for these cells was built almost atom by atom out of nickel and some rare earth elements using a type of 3D printer. The system was driven by nano pumps using microelectromechanical systems of Silicon film that only took micro-amps to produce mili-amps of cooling and pressure. The pumps pressurized the atmosphere around the cell forcing the gasses against a metallic filter that only allowed hydrogen to pass through to the generating membrane. Extremely high-frequency fields pushed the hydrogen deep into the nickel lattice where the fusion reaction occurred. Excess electrons were stripped off from the far side. The exhaust gases cooled the chips. The voltages generated were in the one-volt range, and currents were in the mili-amps. But to drive computer chips this power level was massive. The generating cells were integrated with each processor/memory chip. Basically, a continuous power generation device that controlled itself and provided massively-parallel computing power and memory storage. The excess energy allowed Bit to do the magic that his fields produce.

To get the speeds we needed for adequate time-dilation to occur, and to support the massive fields that we would need to create the ship, we needed the enormous power that hot fusion generated. To get the greater than room temperature superconductors which produced dense enough magnetic fields to build the 'small' tokamak bottles required to get more energy out than it took to create it. We needed special materials not readily created or found on earth but which were plentiful in high gravity planets like Jupiter.

Our ultimate plan required that we arrive at that moon where I was held prisoner before that self destruct timer expired. To do this, we needed to leave earth within a pretty narrow time-frame in the early twenty-first century. We had some leeway by adjusting our speeds but not much. Thus the reason we were willing to leave our team without Bit's protection for a week or so.

Anyway getting back to the cliffhanger I left you with. The instant that Ashley contacted Bit we aborted our mission.

As our sonic boom rolled over the city, Serina and I were inside Whitney's home. I scooped up 'Paula' tenderly, carefully, but rapidly. Whitney was still trying to do what she needed to, but 'Paula' needed Bit's facilities now. Serina scooped up the protesting Whitney, not willing to take time to convince her that this was best, and Ashley opened doors. Outside Bit hovered in full flying saucer configuration and almost before Whitney could blink we had everyone inside Bit. Bit had configured the medical units as we descended. Bit bounced so fast that the few neighbors who had peeked out at the sonic boom were left to wonder what they had seen. We had herded a small piece of space debris down in front of us and controlled it's crash into a nearby park to excuse the sonic boom. It's impact left a small crater that was sure to direct attention away from any flying saucer stores.

Bit supported 'Paula's' life while acting as an artificial uterine wall. This allowed Whitney to get our newest little boy into the world. Bit was coaching her in how to use his devices. Delivering the baby was simple, and he was soon resting against "Paula's' chest.

Bit and Whitney had been speaking in a language that sounded like a human language but was probably some alien tongue. The result of which was Whitney using the control gloves to control the fields that did the actual work. Fields helped create the illusion that it was her hands that reached past not through 'Paula's' skin and pull her uterine walls back together. In the process distributing nanobots from her 'fingertips' that then mended the tissue at a cellular level.

Why Bit was doing all this I had no idea, so I asked, [Umm, Bit what are you doing?]

[Why teaching your new chief medical officer. Isn't that why you brought her on-board?]

[!!!!], was my response.

Whitney turned with a look of pure amazement in her eyes. "On my, Oh my, Oh my, what I just did! ... Is this real? … Where am I? … Who are you really?" The questions stumbled over her lips as they piled up faster than she could utter them.

Ashley did not help much as she started laughing so hard that she slid down the hull and ended up in a puddle of laughter on the deck. Even 'Paula' was laughing gently while adoring her baby. Serina had the more direct approach with a regalness befitting her title as an imperial princess, she took Whitney's hands in hers and said, "Whitney, you are safe," as she dove to the heart of the matter. Still holding Whitney's hands, Serina said, "Come with me you have to see this."

We ended up in the cockpit of Bit, Serina in the pilot's seat, while Whitney slipped into the copilot's spot as if all the bones in her body had turned to liquid. Outside the earth was a blue-green shining jewel. From behind and between the seats I leaned over and said, "Yes, it is real. Isn't it beautiful?" Then both Serina and I shut up and let the view talk for itself.

"OK, the blood on my floor was certainly real enough. I've hugged both of you before, so yes you are solid and real, but what is this ship and where do you come from? Are you even human? No, forget that, that baby came the way that babies have always arrived. So scratch the alien question."

I said, let me introduce you, "Whitney this is Bit, Bit, this is Whitney, our neighbor." Bit's voice came through the console speaker, "It is nice to meet you, Doctor Nilsson, I have enjoyed working with you." Whitney's eyes opened wide. As I said, "Bit is both the name of our ship and the name of the artificial person who controls it."

I said, "Bit, let's head home. I think we need to take Whitney downstairs and let her meet the whole team, and tell her the whole story."

Bit replied, "Yes, Sir. Descending now." And the view on the screen tilted as we headed back to the ground. Whitney's eyes opened even wider and her hands gripping the seat turned white.