He was Almost Absorbed by the System

Chapter Eighty Four - Ties of Twins

After the miscarriage, the taunts became worse and more frequent, especially as Aldon was away from home after joining a charity convoy to aid those suffering planetary disasters for his governing campaign.  Finally, after one passing night with her husband, she had conceived once more and carried the foetus to three months successfully, before seeking medical confirmation.  What she was told, began to break her.

"They share a sac," the doctor had informed her.  "I am sorry, there is nothing I can do." 

Twins.  Identical twins.  It was very rare and very unfortunate.  Multiple pregnancies usually lead to abortions, just as with foetuses showing signs of disabilities that would hinder a normal life.  Generally, women could abort extra foetuses, leaving their bodies to carry just one child. It was the norm.  However, in the case of identical twins or even triplets, the babies shared a placenta and occasionally even the same waters, so they could only be aborted as one. 

And then there was the other issue with identical children.  Just as they shared a close bond physically, they shared a closer bond mentally.  Whether they were talented psychically or not, they would be able to communicate with their twin as if they were.  They also shared the same feelings, emotions, pain and pleasure.  Even their lifespans would be the same.

"They cannot even be separated for long periods of time," Doc told Sly as they placed the babies into a makeshift cot.  It was actually the draw of a filing cabinet, but they had nothing else on hand.  "I'm not sure what this woman was thinking when she decided to carry the boys to term and of course now we will never know."

The woman's body had been treated fairly, especially considering she was a stranger to them.  However, her warning had come at an opportune moment, saving countless Pirates from being blown out of the sky or imprisoned.  They placed it in a preserving casket and jettisoned it into space, so she could sleep amongst the stars.  To a pirate, this was a form of honour.

"I still don't get it," the First Mate admitted.  He hadn't been born in the Empire and he had met a few twins in Alliance space across the border where he was raised.  None of them were identical, admittedly.

"In the Empire," The Doc explained, "extraneous embryos are aborted for the sake of the mother.  In the case of identical foetuses, they aborted for the sake of the children.  These two boys can never be apart from the other.  If one falls, the other will feel it.  If one has relations, the other will know and experience it as well.  Can you even imagine the lack of privacy or how a woman would feel knowing her body is pleasuring two men?  She would also always be secondary to his brother.  And when one dies, so will the other.  Both will always have to be wary of hurting themselves as they will hurt the other.  It's a very complicated situation for them, a hurdle that they now must endure."

Looking at the two, adorable sleeping boys, Sly decided that he still couldn't get it.  Still, he'd never been a smart one, he was probably only First Mate as Swab didn't want the extra responsibility of the job.  He was glad, though, when the Captain decided that they would keep the boys, Hall had even revealed that he had a small stash of formula in stock, preparing for the day Song dropped one, apparently.

"Did the Captain decide what to name them?" Doc asked.  He was the man in charge of the ship, so officially the Guardian of the two boys as well, whether he wanted to be or not.

"Law and Luck," Sly shrugged.  They were more nick than name, but no one questioned the Captain. 

"Law and Luck," The Doc repeated with a soft whisper, stroking the older then younger boy upon the cheek in turn. 

"Er...?  Can you tell them apart?" Sly asked.

"A little," Doc admitted.  "But only as Luck is a crybaby.  Look, his little nose is still red.  Give them a few years and I doubt anyone on board will be able to."

Sly nodded, sagely.

*****

Elsewhere, an angry woman was storming about the war room in a rage.  All of those Pirates had slipped through their grasp and there was not a single dust trail of any of them.  She had prepared months in advance for this operation and all for nothing!  It did not look good on her squeaky clean records and her superiors were very unhappy with her.  All she could fathom was that there was a mole amongst them, someone who had leaked out the details, let the Pirates know that they were coming for them.  But for the life of her, they could not find hide nor hair of the culprit and were left standing in front of a wall as far as the investigation was concerned.

She flopped about in one of the chairs and began to wonder how her sister was doing.  It had been a couple of weeks since she last spoke to her, but she had been busy with the operation and had cut their conversation short.  Her sister was due to give birth to her first child soon, but did not look as excited she thought she would.  The woman wondered if that bitch of a sister-in-law had anything to do with it.  With a sigh, she decided she would visit her sister, offer her support.  There was little more she could do here.  Until they got word of another Pirate hotspot, they would have to rock back on their heels or just do some old fashioned hunting; scour the skies until they lucked out!

"Captain!" One of her subordinates dared to snap her out of her daze.

Jezmi Welhaven let loose a grunt of dissatisfaction and went back to work.

Author's note; This arc has a mix of science and science fiction as fact, plus certain things like choice abortions are the view of the characters/galaxy, not the view of the author. If there are those that find this topic upsetting, I apologise in advance, but it was deemed necessary for this arc.