“Yes, Tdti Netta,” Juna said with a smile. She dug into her soup with sudden enthusiasm. She was still scared and uncertain about her future, but at least she wasn’t alone.
It took nearly a week to find Bruce, and then two more days to get him out of the backwater jail he was imprisoned in. Juna was settling into bed when the comm chimed. “Juna, it’s for you,” her father called from the foot of the stairs. “I think it’s Bruce. I’ll transfer it upstairs to your comm.”
Juna padded to the door, pulling on a robe as she went. “Thanks Isi,” she called down. “I’ll get it.”
She switched on the comm. Bruce’s face appeared. He looked rumpled and peevish.
“Hello, Bruce,” she said.
“Have you got any idea how bad a time I’ve been having?”
“I’m sorry, Bruce.”
“That’s easy for you to say, isn’t it? You didn’t have to spend a week in a stinking Mauritanian jail.”
“Bruce, we got you out as quickly as we could,” Juna told him.
“I wouldn’t have had to go through all this if it hadn’t been for you. First I was stuck on that damned ship— Now this.”
Juna took a deep breath and pushed away her pain and anger at Bruce’s sudden, surprising hostility.
“It was an accident, Bruce. The Tendu undid my contraception without my knowledge. They had no idea what they were doing, and I didn’t know I could get pregnant.” She considered pointing out that she would never have gotten pregnant if he had gotten his shot too, but that would only make matters worse.
“And now you want me to give up part of my child-rights so that you can have the baby.”
“Bruce— ” Juna began. “I don’t want to take your child-rights away. I’m not out to get you. I think you should get a good night’s sleep, and think things over tomorrow morning. I’d like you to come up here, meet my family, and talk the situation over. It’s your child too, Bruce, and I want what’s best for all of us. You, me, and our daughter.”
“A daughter?” Bruce said. “You mean— It’s a girl?” His angry expression was replaced by sudden amazement.
“So the Tendu tell me.”
“A girl,” he said and shook his head. “A girl,” he repeated somewhat more quietly. “I’ll be damned.”
He was pleased. Juna felt her own fear and anger vanish. Perhaps now he would be willing to talk.
“When do you want me to come up?” he asked.
“As soon as it’s convenient.”
“I’ll see what I can do, and then call you. What’s the time difference?” he asked.
“We’re plus 3 GMT,” she told him.
“Oh jeez. I woke you up,” Bruce said, looking embarrassed.
“Not quite,” she said. “It’s all right. Let me know when you’re coming up.” She felt herself relax with relief at his sudden shift in mood. Maybe she could work things out with him after all.
“Okay,” he said. “I’ll see you as soon as I can.” He shook his head again. “A girl. 1*11 be damned,” he muttered as he reached for the disconnect button.
Juna and Counselor Gheisar picked Bruce up at the shuttle station.
“Well,” he said tightly after Juna had introduced him to her lawyer. “I guess you’ve got me surrounded.”
Juna winced inwardly. She wished Analin was here. She would have found some clever way to defuse the tension, but Analin had gone back to Earth, where she could work more directly with the major news organizations.
“Bruce, it’s not like that,” Juna protested. “Sohelia wants to find out what the Pop Con people have said and done, so that we can build the best case to keep our child.”
“I see. Perhaps I should have brought my lawyer as well.”
“If you’d like,” Sohelia broke in, “you can ask him to come up or have him present by comm link during our discussions. I’ll need to speak with him, anyway.”
“That would be good,” Bruce said.
“Your lawyer is Bernard Frishberg, I believe? I’ve worked with him before. He’s good.”
“Thanks,” Bruce replied. “He should be. He costs the Earth.”
“With a little luck, the Survey will wind up paying your legal fees. After all it was their negligence that caused this pregnancy.”
“So Bernie says.” Bruce sounded dubious.
“Moki is looking forward to seeing you, Bruce,” Juna interjected, to change the subject. “He’s busy helping my nephew repair the grape crusher. Moki’s still crazy about machines,” she added, smiling fondly. “He misses you.”
“It’ll be good to see him again. How’s Ukatonen?” Bruce asked, clearly relieved at the change of subject.
“Much better. They both perked up as soon as they got here. They’ve been a big help around the farm, and with the new vineyards we’ve put in we need all the help we can get. Ukatonen’s developed a real liking for the farm horses. My father’s asked him to help train a pair of colts to harness.” According to her father, Ukatonen had a gift for working with horses.
“You seem happy to be home,” Bruce noted. He sounded a bit wistful.
“I am,” Juna agreed. “I think living with the Tendu made me appreciate my family more.”
“I guess after four years of living in a tree with aliens, it would be nice to be home.”
“No,” Juna said. “That’s not what I meant.” She paused, trying to find the words that would bridge the gap of understanding that lay between them. “The Tendu were together so much. No one was ever alone. It was hard at first, living in everyone’s pocket, but gradually I became part of the community, even though I was an alien and a stranger. I felt more alone on the ship coming back than I did living among the Tendu. They made me realize how much strength I could draw from being a part of a community.”
Bruce looked uncomfortable. “I think you’ve been spending too much time with the aliens and not enough time with your own people,” he told her. “You need to remember that you’re home now, Juna, among human beings.”
His words saddened Juna. She realized that she was seeing an aspect of his personality that she had refused to acknowledge on board ship. If only she could make him understand how much her time with the Tendu meant to her, how deeply it had changed her.
“Bruce, I wouldn’t change what happened to me on Tiangi. The Tendu taught me so much. I can’t imagine my life without the Tendu in it.”
“Juna, I— ” Bruce began, “You shouldn’t— Dammit Juna, I don’t want my daughter raised by aliens!”
She placed one hand protectively on her stomach, and took a deep breath, pushing away her fear that he would take the baby away.
“Bruce,” she said gently, “I’ll be her mother, not Uka-tonen, not Moki. I want to marry into a family that will love her as much as I will. Ukatonen and Moki will be part of her life, but she’ll also be surrounded by humans.”
“Then marry me, Juna. We can make it work— you’ll see.”
She felt a wave of sadness wash over her. She couldn’t marry Bruce, not after what he had said about the Tendu.
“I’m honored that you would ask me, Bruce. It’s very kind of you to offer, but we’re too different. It wouldn’t work.”
She hoped that she had turned him down gently enough. If he got angry at her, he might make things even more difficult.
“But, Juna, the child needs a father!” he exclaimed.
“Bruce, the child needs a family, a happy one, not two people married to each other out of obligation.”
“And what about me, what about my rights?” he demanded.
“That’s one of the reasons you’re here, to help settle the custody issues,” Sohelia pointed out. “I don’t expect any final agreement to come out of this, but perhaps we can find out what each of you wants, and start to outline some kind of settlement. However, you two may be arguing over something that will never happen. Pop Con could force Juna to end the pregnancy. I’m going to do everything in my power to prevent that,” the lawyer continued, “but until the hearing, custody is a moot point. If you want this child to live, you must work together to make that happen.”