14: 8 Weeks Gestation

By eight weeks gestation a Malyon woman's pregnancy would have begun to show. Though experiencing extreme fatigue, Eve's pregnancy isn't displaying itself outwardly yet. She manages to get extra rest by leaning against Evan and letting the squine's rhythm as it lopes along lull her to sleep. Evan has to have the squine stop and kneel several times a day so Eve may hop off to relieve herself. The scrapes and bruises are mostly gone. And even though the fracture in Eve's humerus isn't completely healed, Evan stops insisting she wear the sling. It has healed sufficiently for the sling to come off but he would have preferred she wear it until it's completely healed. But Eve was starting to feel very limited by the sling, and is relieved not to wear it.

It's after midday, and it's the 2nd day of the beginning of their fourth week. Evan brings the squine to a stop and orders it down.

"Eve," he says softly into her ear. She opens her eyes and smiles at him. "Come," he says dismounting and holding out a hand for her to take.

"A waterfall," Eve's eyes widen, "Evan, that's a long way down. It just drops straight down."

"But look how beautiful, our spot is down there with a good view of the waterfall," pointing at a spot with a black sand bank.

"It's hot here," says Eve undoing a few of the wood buttons on her shirt.

Evan nods, "[Where we have come from it is usually 15 C at its coldest and 21 C at its warmest, temperate. Right here it is 28 C]," putting away his scanner.

"We should let the animals drink now," Eve looking to the left and right of the cliff the river runs over, "And make sure we have enough water to last a while. We're going to have to find a way down. There's something there," pointing to the right.

Evan looks in the direction Eve's pointing and can see the sun reflecting off something in the distance.

By the time they arrive to the reflected sunlight, it's fairly late in the day. It will be getting dark soon, and they're both feeling somber. There's a graveyard off to their right. Eve shrinks back into Evan as he brings the squine to a stop.

"After that thing attacked us, I thought it was why my father never wanted me to travel in this direction," Eve to Evan, "But maybe this is why."

"His ship," Evan questioning, "You've never seen it before today?"

Eve slowly shakes her head no. Her eyes shift from the once space faring exploration vessel to the graveyard then back again. But they have found their way down. From where they are, on the right of the vessel, the wall of the precipice was collapsed by the impact of the vessel crashing into it, creating a downgrade.

"You've seen your parents' ship?"

"Yes," he nods, "and there's a burial place like this. My father said they lost almost 30% of the crew. About how many were lost from your father's ship?"

"Nearly half, my father, he buried his best friend, the best friend's wife and their two children."

"There were children on board," Evan's surprised.

"My father said there was a total of six children on board. Only one survived. Mr. Chan lost his only child, a son. He's buried here. There was even a couple that was expecting, like us."

"Why would anyone take their offspring to battle with them?"

"Evan, this a science vessel, exploration class. Not a battle ship. Its defensive capabilities were very limited."

Evan bows his head with guilt for his people's actions. His parents' vessel attacked this one believing it was a war vessel in disguise.

"[These are things of the past]," Eve has sensed Evan's guilt. "[They occurred before we were born. There is no need for us to ponder this.]"

As intended, this makes Evan feel better. He gives Eve an affectionate squeeze and rubs his face lovingly into her neck. She reaches back and scratches behind his ear then turn her head up and back for a deep kiss.

"[Well, let us be on our way down]," Evan smiling guilt free, "[to our future.]"

Evan nudges the squine with his toes and they set off down the gradient. They glance back at the graveyard before it disappears out of sight.

"[A great many of the solar panels are intact]," Eve notes, "[May be power to some basic systems.]"

When they reach the bottom, they come around the back end of the ship sticking out of the cliff. Eve never realized the enormity of such a vessel. Her father said this was a small craft. The shuttlecraft that serves as the core of her parents' dwelling can't be one-tenth this size. The shuttlecraft is about the size of a single wide mobile home. All four of the shuttles made it from the ship and most of the life pods, which are about the size of extra-large tents, plus the ambulance shuttle, about the size of a small double-wide mobile home. They are all part of Eve's village. The ambulance is the medical center and the shuttles and life pods are each part of a different dwelling. The solar panels harness the sun, providing light in the darkness and keeping computers along with most basic functions on line. She doubts they could fly far even if it's still possible for them to get off the ground.

"There's a shuttle bay door," Eve points it out to Evan. It's on the underside of the ship, as they pass around the other side of the ship, heading back towards the river.

Evan feels Eve's strong curiosity, "[What are you thinking?]"

"[Wondering if there is anything inside we could use.]"

They find a place to set up camp for the night not far from the river. Tomorrow they plan to start scouting the area for a good place to set up a dwelling together. They'll also catalog the unfamiliar plants and animals in this area. Eve and Evan both love discovering and studying new things. So there will be plenty for them to do.

It only takes them a couple of days to find a suitable clearing to set up housekeeping. The trees around the clearing are very tall and provide enough coverage for good protection from the rain, unless extremely heavy. Enough coverage the clearing can't be seen from the cliff, possibly not even from directly above yet plenty of sunlight makes it through. Eve has discovered the lichen that grows on the trunks of the Twisted Trunk Trees can be used as soap. It pulls off easily, is soft and pliable and readily compresses into bars. Evan has determined the sap from these same trees can be used as shampoo. They set Eve's tent up, because it's quite large, between two trees on the edge of the clearing. After Evan digs a shallow fire pit, together they clear away the unwanted rocks and sticks from the clearing, stowing them in two piles behind the tent for possible later use. Now they discuss what kind of structure they should build for themselves, what they have to work with etc.