Another contraction came. David could recognize them now by the look of concentration Tess got on her face, a kind of dropping away from everyone and everything else. It faded.
Tess lay her face on Cara's hand. Her own hands gripped tight onto Cara's fingers. "I trust you, Cara," she said in a whisper.
"Oh, my little girl," murmured Cara. A single tear slid down her cheek. "Why are you so damned stubborn?"
Tess did not reply.
Voices outside. A moment later, thrusting the flap aside, Charles strode in.
"Have you washed?" Cara demanded.
He halted, turned, and went back out.
"Did Ilya come with him?" Tess asked in a small voice-The flap stirred again, and Maggie pushed through. She raised her hands up. "Sealed and approved. What can I do, Cara?"
"Sit here with Tess while I go argue with Charles." Cara bent and kissed Tess again, and eased her hands away. "David, come with me."
"What are you going to argue about?" Tess asked, managing a tenuous smile.
"The Soerensen family stubbornness. I don't want him to do anything rash."
"Oh, gods, Cara. Don't let him intervene now."
"We'll do what we have to, Tess. Don't argue with me. David?"
In the outer chamber, Charles had thrown off his quilted coat and stood leaning over the table, keying in to a slate laid out on the flat surface.
"What are you doing?" asked Cara.
"Calling in a shuttle."
"Charles!"
He looked up at them, and David saw how drawn, how tense, his expression was. "This is Tess, Cara."
"This planet is interdicted, Charles. Do you intend to call a shuttle down in the middle of camp?"
"If I have to."
"Against Tess's express wishes?"
"If I judge that she's incompetent to decide, yes."
"Charles!" exclaimed David.
"I meant at this moment, under these conditions, dammit. Don't argue with me." He continued keying in.
"All right," said Cara. "Let's compromise. Call one in but keep it circling at a high enough altitude that it won't be spotted, unless they think it's some kind of a bird. There's no guarantee you can even get it here before she delivers in any case. She's already over halfway to full dilation."
"There's still the baby to consider. Surely this early it'll need special care that you can't provide. Most of your provisions were made for Tess's care, not for this premature a child."
"The point is moot, Charles." Her voice cracked.
He straightened. "What do you mean?" His eyes narrowed.
Even this far from the siege, David could smell smoke on the air, the perfume of distant burning, a hint of dust tickling his nose. He sneezed.
Impatiently, Cara wiped another tear from her cheek. When she spoke, she spoke in a whisper. "No heartbeat. She went into labor because the fetus died."
David felt sick with anger and shock. His throat tensed, choked, and he couldn't swallow.
"Sometime in the last twenty-four hours," Cara went on, her voice still soft, slipping into a cool, clinical mode although a third tear, and a fourth, trailed down her face. "There's preliminary evidence that the placenta ripped away from the uterine lining, but I don't know yet. Charles."
He sat down. He said-nothing.
"Is Bakhtiian here?"
Still he said nothing. He covered his face with his hands and rested there, not moving.
David felt impelled to do something, anything. He walked to the entrance and peeked outside. Aleksi attended the great pots of water warming over two fires. He glanced back, saw David, and lifted a hand in acknowledgment. Already a crowd of children had gathered, and beyond them, a line of guards ringed the camp, Anatoly Sakhalin's jahar, guarding Bakhtiian's wife. A woman broke through the line and jogged toward them. David let the curtain fall and turned back. "Incoming," he said. "It's Sonia. I know she's going to want to see Tess."
"Here, Charles," said Cara briskly. "Go in and pull the curtains over the countertop, and disguise the table. Let me see. David, what can I do with her? I need to start an IV, so I'll need some excuse to get Sonia outside after she's seen Tess."
Charles lowered his hands. "Does Tess know? About the baby?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because she's got enough ahead of her as it is. I didn't think-"
"I'll tell her." He rose.
"Charles! You will not!"
He was angry now. "She has a right to know now. Or do you think it's better for her to go through it and then find out? That we make that decision for her?"
Cara rounded on him. "Why, Charles, this is new. That's your usual mode of operation, isn't it? Hoard all the vital information to yourself. Make the decisions for others."
"You're very protective and self-righteous all of a sudden."
"I'll thank you," said David curtly, "not to argue. Don't be stupid. Now, what do we do about Sonia? Where is Bakhtiian?"
Charles moved abruptly. He crossed the chamber and embraced Cara, and they stood together for a long moment, silent.
"I'm sorry," murmured Cara.
He just shook his head. David thought his heart would break, to see their sorrow. Then Charles kissed her and they separated. Charles sighed, crossed back to the table, and slid the slate into its slot underneath the wood grain surface. "Bakhtiian has to stay with the army until nightfall. Listen. Give me a few moments alone with Tess. Then send Sonia in to me, and I'll let her talk to her. I'll find some way that the two of us, Sonia and I, can go outside. There's no point in me attending Tess, Cara. I can't contribute anything except grief and anxiety and that won't do you any good."
Cara nodded. Charles went inside, and a moment later
Maggie emerged from the inner chamber. The bells tinkled on the entrance flap, and Sonia swept in.
"I beg your pardon," she said to Cara, "for charging in. But less-" She was pale, her lips set with worry.
From the inner chamber, they heard Tess start to cry, soft, despairing sobs. Sonia went white. "Go on," said Cara gently. Sonia rushed in.
David and Maggie and Cara looked at each other. Tess sobbed. Sonia spoke soothing words to her, and once Charles spoke, softly.
"Well," said Cara suddenly. "We've work to do. Maggie, I'm going to need Jo. There's one thing I have to do, and it's going to take all of our skill to pull it off." "What do you mean?" Maggie asked. "You'll switch with Jo at the surgery," Cara continued, so preoccupied now that David wondered if she'd even heard Maggie's question. "You know the routine in the surgery well enough. If you can't stomach it, then-well, Sibirin can order things perfectly well."
"I can handle it," said Maggie. She looked at David, asking a question with her eyes, but he could only stare back. He had no answer either, for anything. He heaved his shoulders in a sigh and drew a hand back over his hair. His fingers tangled in his name braids, and as they smacked together and stilled, he mouthed a prayer. "I'll go, then," said Maggie, and she left. "What about me?" David asked quietly. "We build what we can out of tragedy," said Cara in a soft voice. "I can't let this opportunity go by."
"What opportunity? Cara, you sound like you're trying to talk yourself into something."
Charles pushed the curtain aside and poked his head through. "Cara, are you coming back? The contractions are picking up. Sonia and are I going out to get some things for the baby." Behind him, David saw Sonia bend down and kiss Tess, and embrace her, holding her. Then she straightened and came over to Charles.
"Yes, we'll need one of our stoves, and a cradle, and a scarf and blankets to wrap it in. If it can live at all, if it's as early as it seems, then we'll need to keep it warm.