“Even better!” Stella’s smile widened. “She should be more like you then.”
A beat of silence followed. Anna ducked her head.
Atlas quickly said, “This baby is her own person.”
“Yeah.” Anna forced a smile. “Atlas is right.”
“Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful.” Stella turned to the monitor where the report was being transmitted. “I see this is already sending! The researchers asked for a few more blood draws as well.”
“More blood?” Anna’s voice squeaked out. “Didn’t you get enough already?”
Atlas felt a tightening around his eyes. Stella really didn’t know when to quit. “Sterling already indicated we have everything needed.”
“Yes, but. . .” Stella turned back to the monitor. “There’s more than him looking. You’ll help, right Anna?”
“. . . Of course.”
Quickly, Atlas lifted the wand, gently tugging it out of Tilly’s hands. The monitor in the room went blank. “Good job. Let’s give Anna and the baby a rest.”
“But most important, is she healthy?” Stella asked.
Atlas didn’t look at her, instead giving Anna a towel to wipe the gel on her stomach. “Very.”
The gel came off easily. Anna hurriedly pulled her shirt back down.
“And guess what?” Tilly jumped over to Stella, too close. “I’ll get to be the sister!”
"Oh." Stella took a step back and patted Tilly on the shoulder. “I’m not sure that’s how genetics work . . .”
“Sister in spirit she means.” Nora pulled Tilly back to the chairs. “Don’t crowd, Tilly.”
Anna’s voice wavered. “Stella? Did you have many babies born on Mars?”
“We did.” Heels clicked as Stella edged closer to Atlas. “When we brought our first humans to Mars, the ones that deserved to come, many became pregnant and had children. That’s how we still have some there now. But it’s been quite some time.” Then, with a head tilt, she added, “But this is different. See, back thenwe selected all the traits from genetic matches. It’s going to be a very big deal to have a new baby around that hasn’t been through that testing and selection process. Everything will be a surprise.”
Atlas glanced over to Anna. A surprise. Her baby was the first unplanned pregnancy on Mars.
Stella edged toward Atlas even further. “Isn’t that right, Atlas?”
“Yes, it is,” he answered softly. Then, under the guise of readjusting his plants, he stepped away. Stella was too close and too overbearing. Already he was on edge, remembering Zero’s mentions of their plans earlier. And now Stella was here, almost leering over Anna.
Back on Earth, before they left, Stella had been the one to welcome them on board. She’d even helped with the arrangements for Nora and the others. Now she made small talk, with a fake, practiced smile on her lips. A viper.
He pulled his eyes back to Anna, lingering on the hope on her face. Sweet and kind. Utterly defenseless. So afraid it made something in him ache.
What had changed? Why was Stella now not trusting them at all? Was her friendliness from before all faked?
The plants he moved earlier were pulled back into place, his hands fussing over the light placements above them.I’ll fix it later.He then unplugged the ultrasound monitor and rewound the cord.
Nora shifted on her seat to prop up her injured leg. “Atlas? Thank you. You’ve been so helpful. Not just with this, but fixing Tilly’s limp, and my leg.”
Atlas started to pull the ultrasound machine back against the wall. “I’m happy to help. To be honest, it feels nice to use my medical knowledge again.”
“Thank you for fixing that machine.” Anna smiled up at him. “It means a lot to me.”
Her smile tugged at him. “It’s no problem. Congratulations, Anna.”
The group of them stood up to exit. He held out his hand to help Anna down.
