Sitting on Baby

Her name is Anna.

At least that's what Cody calls her. She's a beautiful little child. A regular little blond cherub. Alert and active and amazingly well behaved for a baby. And, for the time being, my responsibility. Whether I'm a good mother, or ever will be a good mother, when someone asks me to take care of a child for them, I take the responsibility very seriously.

I'll admit, the timing was somewhat inconvenient. But, fortunately, it was after I'd returned from reconnoitering the derelict. The ship was a Joon Li-Kwan light cruiser as originally identified. One of the later models, before the class was retired in favor of a large Destroyer class to fill the same role.

According to the Cruiser's transponder, she was the IAV Reinhold MacDonald. I'd expected it to be one of the "known lost" ships that Fleet kept on the books rather than a ship that was, at last report, conducting routine patrol operations in the inner reaches of the Kalidaza system. She was out of her patrol sector out as far as we are, but she was at least in orbit around the right star.

But where was her crew?

Wave Equation's sensor array is a good deal more sophisticated than the one on the drone and being up close and personal, I could do a good deal more. But nothing. I couldn't see any reason for the ship to be abandoned as it was and I wasn't going to breach on my own. With suits and support, our salvage team could easily get aboard and possibly even bring everything back on-line.

Recovering the ship intact would be a serious coup for our folks. The recovery fees we could get from Alliance Fleet Command would be a godsend to the whole colony. Even if we only executed a legal salvage on the foodstuffs and non-military equipment aboard, we'd come out ahead.

It was something I'd have to arrange for later though. And not much later, since it was doubtful Tag would be able to hold the recovery team off for long. I'd have to get someone I trusted in charge of the field operation. General, maybe. Or even Cody. Get Sabrina aboard to try and bring the drives back on-line and they'd be set. Shouldn't even need me for it. Which, considering the timing, was good.

Taking care of Anna was going to be a priority. At least for a while. Genni Foxtrot would help, as would her husband. Would take a lot of pressure off me and Sabrina, neither of whom know a lot about taking care of a kid. Sure, I knew the technical aspects of how diapers worked and how to warm a bottle of milk. But that wasn't really being a mother.

Wasn't ready to be a mother. Not a real one. Not even briefly. But then, who is the first time?