“Congratulations, Commander,” the medic said as she transferred the little one into his arms. “It’s a wolf.”
Father and daughter stared at each other with the same vacant mystification. The little Kelvessa’s curiosity was insatiable, reflected in vast eyes that peered out in wonder beneath an unruly shock of hair. She stared up at Velmeran with special interest, as if she sensed a closer tie with him. She reached up and took hold of his nose with a hand too small to fit around it and made an inquisitive chirping sound. Velmeran smiled.
“What a wonderful, wonderful thing this is,” he said softly. “What an incredibly delightful young lady she is. Of all the wonders I have seen, this is surely the greatest.”
“Privately, I have to admit that I could not be more pleased,” Consherra said, moving close beside him to brush the hair out of the little one’s eyes. “And nothing makes me happier than to see how happy you are.”
“I cannot get over how fully developed she is,” Lenna commented, stepping up for a closer look.
“A matter of necessity,” Dyenlerra explained. “Our young have to be born hardy enough to endure the demands of life on a warship. She will be walking in a few hours, and speaking simple words by the end of the week. She will be starting to school in three months.”
“Our babies must sleep their first few months, but she doesn’t look sleepy.”
“Sleepy?” the medic asked in astonishment. “Kelvessan do not sleep.”
“Then pity the poor mothers!” Lenna declared. “Does she have a name?”
Velmeran looked at Consherra, who smiled gently. “I have not given the subject any thought, to tell the truth. So I thought that I might leave that to you. If you wish. I thought that you might want to name her after your mother.”
Velmeran shook his head slowly. “It would not be fair to expect her to relive a memory, especially a memory that is not her own. But I would like it very much if Venn Keflyn would lend her name to the cause.”
“My name?” Keflyn asked, momentarily astonished. “I would be honored, to say the least. But how would that come out in the way you often adapt our names to feminine use. Keflenna?”
“No, just Keflyn,” he said. “That is a purely human conceit that we acquired long ago, this idea that males and females cannot have the same names. If that is all right with you.”
“I like it very much,” Consherra agreed eagerly.
“Then Keflyn it is,” Velmeran proclaimed as he passed the tiny Kelvessa into Venn Keflyn’s hands. Then he placed his arms around Consherra’s shoulders as he led her off into a quiet corner of the room, leaving the others to admire the Methryn’s newest crewmember. Unnoticed for the moment, Tregloran and Lenna slipped their arms around each other comfortably.
“Do you still feel quite so lonely?” Consherra asked.
“No, not hardly,” he assured her. “It never occurred to me that I could mean so much to so many people, or that so many people could mean so much to me. But the most important thing that I have found is that I could never be alone as long as I have just you with me. Your love is exceeded only by your patience.”
Consherra smiled and settled comfortably into his arms. “Is that what you like about me, that I am the only one with the patience for you?”
“I love you for just being you. Patience is just one of your many virtues, and the one that you should be most grateful for. Why in the name of sanity did you ever decide to love me?”
“It was decided for me, so I have never given it much thought,” she replied. “True love, with no reasons or excuses. How could I not love you? Still, if it is all the same to you, I would rather not go through this more often than once every fifty years.”
They wrapped their arms tightly around each other and kissed warmly and gently, without a thought for the tight knot of visitors gathered around the tiny object of interest.
“Eee-yow!”
They glanced up in surprise at that unexpected howl of pain. Little Keflyn, now in Lenna’s firm but astonished care, had wrapped a small hand around Venn Keflyn’s finger and was unknowingly applying bone-crushing pressure.
“Get her off, please!” the Aldessa pleaded to the astonished onlookers. “Do not hurt her, and for pity’s sake do not hurt me! Just do something to loosen that killer grip. Varth, val trenon de altrys caldayson!”
“Half a moment,” Dyenlerra promised, and gently pried her loose. Everyone was surprised by the sight of a newborn Kelvessa bringing an Aldessa — and a Venn warrior — quite literally to her knees. The only thing stronger, it seemed, was an adult Kelvessa. Lenna, looking a bit dazed, eagerly transferred the bundle of joy and brute strength into Baressa’s waiting arms.
“Talk about a bouncing baby!” Commander Laroose remarked.
“It might be wise for the non-Kelvessan to restrict themselves to looking until she learns to control her strength,” Valthyrra said. She had entered unnoticed during the excitement and now brought her probe forward to face Laroose. “I would have been here sooner, but the station is on full alert and the system fleet has been mobilized. You promised when you ordered these things that you would discover the cause and report back.”
“Oh, my word!” Laroose exclaimed. “When Velmeran turned and ran yelling who-knows-what, I just assumed that he had some premonition of immediate danger. Where can I find a com to Station Control?”
“On that desk,” Valthyrra said, indicating with her camera pod the desk beside the outer door.
Trying his best not to look contrite under the stares of the others, Laroose walked over to the desk and sat down, studying the com unit for a moment before pressing a button. “Station Control? Commander Laroose here.”
“Yes, Commander,” the eager reply came. “What is wrong?”
“Wrong? Nothing is wrong!” he declared. “Issue this report. Commander Velmeran and First Mate Consherra, the Methryn’s helm, now have a young daughter by the name of Keflyn.”
“Glad to hear it, but why did that require the mobilization of the system fleet?”
“Why, to celebrate!”
Taking advantage of his mistake, Laroose ordered the fleet to pass in honor formation, firing their cannons in salute while packs of fighters executed fantastic maneuvers. Then the station, clearly visible in the night sky of the world below, flashed its bright exterior lights for a full rotation of the planet so that the entire population of Alkayja could observe the spectacle. If Velmeran and Consherra considered that a little much for such a common occurrence, they soon learned that it was indeed a cause for celebration as thousands gathered outside the Methryn’s refitting bay and millions more throughout the Republic sent messages of congratulations and various small gifts during the next week. All in praise of the smallest Starwolf in the fleet.
Velmeran paused at the entrance of the bridge. In spite of the fact that his office and cabin were immediately behind the bridge, he had honored Consherra’s and Valthyrra’s entreaties to stay away until the repairs were complete. Now he returned for the first time since he had spoken with Valthyrra there after his return from the Challenger. At first glance he could tell no difference, except that everything looked shiny new for the first time in nearly a century. A second glance merely confirmed the first.
“Well, what do you think?” Valthyrra asked anxiously, hovering at the limit of her boom.