13 Degrees of Separation by Chris Hechtl

chief of ship's security said,
kneeling next to them. “One boy, one girl,” she said, looking over her
shoulder. Both were filthy, heads down, covered in rags. They held hands
however.
    “Age?” the Captain asked, trying hard not to sigh.
    “Eight?” Emily said, frowning.
    “We're twelve,” the girl said softly.”
    “Twelve?” Emily asked in disbelief, appalled. The kids were
barely a meter tall and were incredibly thin despite the drooping rags. Rage
filled her, rage that anyone would allow that to happen.
    “Incan if I'm right about the phenotype,” the doctor said.
She frowned and then knelt. “They won't get much bigger without a proper diet.
They won't get much older either,” she said to the Captain. She turned to the
kids. “Hi. I'm a doctor. Can you two tell me if you are in any pain?”
    “Just hungry,” the girl whispered. Her stomach growled.
    “Do you have parents?”
    “No. They died.”
    “And what? You've been living on the streets?” the Captain
asked. Both nodded. “Do you want to go to space?”
    “Please we're hungry. We'll do whatever you want,” the girl
said.
    “Local authorities?” the Captain asked in concern. The kids
cowered, suddenly terrified.
    “A pair of waifs usually fear people in authority Captain.
They may have been chased off or mistreated,” the doctor said, looking over her
shoulder to the Captain. “If they're telling the truth I'm willing to take them
on.”
    “Adopt them? Don't you have enough trouble?” Emily asked.
    “Well, I suppose you can help,” the doctor said, smiling at
Emily.
    The XO snorted then her eyes widened when she saw the
challenge in the doctor's smile. “Wait, you were serious?” she demanded.
    The Captain chuckled, making her look back over her
shoulder to her. “She's right. You want them, then they're equally your
responsibility. But I think this time we'll check with the local authorities
just in case.”
    “Great,” Emily said, rolling her eyes. Her grandmother
handed each child a piece of candy she kept in her pocket. The kids unwrapped
each and devoured them. The Captain chuckled. “Already spoiling their appetite
eh gram?” She demanded.
    “Just doing what comes naturally to a grandmother,” the
Captain cackled, moving off. “I suggest food and a bath. Not necessarily in
that order,” she said. “And they are NOT coming up on my shuttle until
they get the latter,” she said firmly.
    <===^===>
    Mindy's mother Clarissa, chief of medicine on the ship
impregnated Jennie while in transit to Halced 6. It would be three months
there, hopefully she would be over any morning sickness when she entered the
second trimester. That was if the procedure took, it was their first on the
ship.
    Shandra was there for the implantation. “This means you're
stuck on the ship until you pop,” Shandra teased. “No going out EVA or playing
around with anything radioactive while my bun is in your oven lady,” she said,
patting Jennie's tummy. Jennie made a face and stuck her tongue out at her
partner. “I'll have me some of that,” Shandra said, leaning over to French kiss
her partner.
    “Mom, are you sure this is going to work?” Mindy asked,
looking at Jennie.
    “The synthetic biology papers all say so. It's just a
matter of fusing one X gene from each parent and then inserting them into the
nucleus of an embryo. We've done that silly, it's already subdividing,” she
said, holding up the syringe with the embryo floating within.
    “Wow!” Mindy said, eyes wide. “So, you really are an Oma,”
she said, looking at Shandra.
    “Not yet but I'm looking forward to being one,” Shandra
said with a smile. She kept her eyes on her partner as the doctor finished the
procedure. Shandra stroked Jennie's face, eyes locked together.
    “Ahem, it's done,” Clarissa said. “So you can get your legs
out of the stirrups and go back to duty or whatever,” she said, waving her free
hand as she checked over the notes on a