"I don’t know," Jewel answered. "I’ve never done this before."
"Then why…"
"You don’t want to die, and neither do I," Jewel said with no emotion. "This is the only way."
"Me to become pregnant is the only way for us to survive?"
"Yes," Jewel said, and then she began to explain.
"Fifteen years ago, the planet Jupiter was shaken up by a man He’s nameless. One day, he decided to walk out on the planet. After all he had done-"
"What did he do?" Davenport asked, now interested.
"He tried to take over Io and Europa," Jewel said. "He killed the king and took the planet for his own. After he left we didn’t know what to do. That’s when we decided to leave."
"What about this baby thing?" Davenport asked.
"That’s Capricorn’s doing."
"Who’s Capricorn?"
"Koby’s father. The king. Well he was the king before he was killed in the war."
"Oh, how awful."
"Yeah. That’s why Koby took over, and why she enforces the baby law so much- it was her father’s law."
"Oh, how awful," Davenport repeated, taking it all in. "But can’t you do anything about it?"
"Nope," Jewel said. "I’m just related to the princess. I’m not- I don’t have any say on what goes."
Davenport sighed.
"Well, let’s just get this over with," Jewel said, holding up a very long needle.
Davenport turned green from the sight of the needle. To her honor, she didn’t faint.
"Close your eyes," Jewel said. "Take a deep breath."
Davenport did so.
Davenport didn’t see the needle go into her, but she did feel it. She screamed in pain.
"No, shh," Jewel said, pulling the needle out. "Please don’t scream. Think of happy thoughts."
Davenport cried. She kept her eyes closed.
"Think of happy thoughts. Think of happy thoughts."
When Davenport opened her eyes, she noticed she wasn’t the only one crying. A tear slipped down Jewel’s cheek.
"I’m sorry you had to go through that," Jewel said. "I went through that twice before; I know how it feels."
"You- you did?" Davenport asked, wiping a tear from her eye. "When?"
"Just a couple years ago the first time," Jewel said.
"Did you have a baby?"
"Yeah, the first time."
"So you have a child?"
Jewel nodded. "Yeah, I have a daughter."
"What’s her name?"
Jewel laughed. "No name, silly. That shot must be getting to you. A Jovian girl doesn’t have a name until she’s two."
Davenport nodded. "What about the second time?"
"Six months ago," Jewel said.
"And you’re pregnant?" Davenport asked. "You look pretty good."
"Well, thanks," Jewel said,"but it didn’t work."
"You went through that shot and it didn’t work?" Davenport asked, clutching her stomach in pain.
Jewel handed Davenport some kind of pill and a glass of water.
"What’s this pill?" Davenport asked, surprised.
"Something that’ll kill the pain. Don’t worry- its all-natural. It won’t hurt you."
Reluctantly, Davenport took the pill and drank the water. Immediately, the pain started to fade away.
"Can I go back to the ship now?" Davenport asked.
"Yes," she said,"but be careful. And don’t do anything that’ll hurt you or the baby, ok? You’re going to be sore tomorrow. Be careful."
Davenport nodded. She got up, very carefully.
Jewel watched as she left.
When Davenport got back to the Christa, Goddard sent her to the bunkroom. Rosie took her and made sure she was in bed. When she came back, Goddard tried to tell them what was going on.
"She’s pregnant?"
"What do you mean, she’ll die if she doesn’t have a baby?"
"She’s not even married!"
Everyone turned and looked at Suzee.
"Just a comment," she said.
"You know what? It’s really too late to save her," Goddard told his crew.
