And then there were five For Amethyst Part 14 CHAPTER EIGHT It took David another five months to find the next child. By then, the joint project had produced its most viable alien baby yet. Whether the infant would survive to be "born" from his artificial womb remained to be seen, along with whether the alien child would make it to adulthood. Still, he dared to have hope, and now he had another boy on his way for final evaluation. A pair of xenomarine biologists had been investigating strange events on Aquatica. Just after transmitting images to Intergalactic Security that clearly showed a structure with the stylized red head that served as the Spectran royal symbol, they vanished, their bodies found days later trapped in a reef. Somehow, before David saw their six-year-old son's initial test results, he knew that Randal "Tiny" Harper would be joining the others. Despite the boy's chunky build, he didn't disappoint, sailing through every test. Then when David brought Tiny to meet the others, they took one look at the bereft child and swept him into an understanding group hug. Even Mark reacted better to the newcomer than he had with Princess. In this case, David was pretty sure that gender wasn't the issue. Randal wore his pain clearly on his face, while Princess came from a tough world that had taught her to hide hers. Plus, Randal was being moved directly into the team's living area so Mark wouldn't have to share his room. "So now we have three," David muttered, reading the latest updates on their incubating alien. "If you're the fourth, then we just need one more." Which made keeping Mark out of the program both easier, and harder. # David watched the day's training footage, marvelling at the speeds and strength they were achieving. Having three children in the project made a world of difference. It allowed the staff and trainers to build them into a team, though with explicit allowances for the fact that two more members would be introduced. And what a team. Randal -- who refused to go by his old name, and now only answered to Tiny -- had taken to implantation as well as the others. The boy still retained his husky build four months after implantation, but at nearly seven he was already a powerhouse, beating Jason in areas where raw strength was a firm advantage. Yet Tiny's placid demeanor kept him from taking the bait when Jason tried to rile them. Even better, when the staff tested every aspect of him to determine his specialties, his hand twitch reflexes and spatial coordination had them perfecting a flight simulator for their prototype ship. Their sad, shy boy now walked around with a light in his eyes, the words "Space Academy" coming out about every three sentences. Princess, now nearly six, was blazingly fast. Faster than Jason, in fact, which David had noted with amusement had Jason rather annoyed. Their trainers already predicted that one day, she'd move with almost unparalleled grace, and would have no problem holding her own against male opponents thanks to the steel core beneath her pink-clad exterior. Of the three, she was also the smartest. Not that David would call any of them dumb, or even average, but Princess had a talent for machinery that reached past Jason's obsession with cars. Her delicate touch and keen sense of smell were also proving an asset in other areas, such as chemistry. The day the staff told her that they eventually planned to move her on to explosives, she flashed a huge grin that warned David that they'd better monitor her access to them carefully. They couldn't afford to lose Jason. At seven-and-a-half, his speed, strength, and intensity were sorely needed among his two laid-back teammates. Unfortunately, his impulsive tendencies hadn't settled. More than once they got him into situations the others wouldn't dream of attempting. The trainers continued to struggle in teaching him the line between a healthy and courageous sense of adventure, and throwing himself off a cliff with no parachute, glider, or even a glance below to see if there was water. His stubbornness was also developing into a bit of a temper, one that the other two didn't know how to handle. The staff constantly warned David that the team lacked balance. They needed at least one more strong personality to offset Jason's. Someone with a calm inner strength who could reign him in when needed, but not so full of themselves that they couldn't listen to his suggestions. David found the training footage hard to watch without a certain amount of awe. The higher they set the cerebonics, the harder the children worked, and all of them now moved with the grace of athletic adults instead of the slight awkwardness of children. Almost exactly a year after the first implantation, this was now the only way to analyze the children's fighting, gymnastics, and other physical pursuits. Without slow-motion replay from high-speed cameras, the human eye just couldn't track them. When he was done, he glanced at the schedule, and saw that the gym was all Mark's. He found himself drawn to the observation window, wanting to see how the boy was progressing. To his surprise, Mark was doing all of the same exercises that the others did. The equipment was just reset to human capabilities. Their trainers constantly reported that Mark demanded a level of perfection that they didn't require. Watching the session, David could see it plainly. Mark would attack the same move again and again, repeating it until his performance was flawless. The boy had stopped directly asking to join, but David hadn't missed the repeated signals that Mark still wanted to, and that he wasn't giving up. He was nearly eight. Puberty wasn't that far off. If David pushed the decision until then, it would be made for him, and they'd lose what everyone else considered the perfect addition to the project. David sighed, feeling sick. Time was running out. The Federation's Security Board was nearly in a panic. Rumor had it that he was close to being overridden, that they'd force him to implant the boy who was practically his son. He couldn't let that happen. The weight of inevitability bowed his shoulders as he turned to head to his office, knowing what he needed to do. He just hoped he had the strength to do it. # David stared at the boy sitting before him, wondering which of them was more nervous. "Mark, there's something I need to talk to you about." "What is it?" Mark fidgeted. "Did I do something wrong?" Why did Mark always worry that he did something wrong? Jason, on the other hand, could look David boldly in the eye, daring him to figure out which of a dozen things the staff claimed on a weekly basis were entirely Jason's fault. "No." David offered a genuine smile. "You've done nothing wrong." Mark relaxed slightly, though he continued to fidget. Hoping the direct approach was the best way to go, David launched right into it. "Do you understand why your mother didn't want you in the project?" The boy's shoulders slumped. "She wanted me to be ... normal." He didn't sound particularly excited about the prospect. David watched him, hating the way the light had just died in Mark's eyes. "Today I want to talk to you about what you want." That got him a confused blink. "What I want?" "Yes. You." David paused to let that sink in, then continued. "Mark do you understand what's going to happen if you're admitted to the project?" Mark shrugged but he'd stopped fidgeting. "There's a long operation. Then there's recovery, physical therapy, and a lot of training and tests. One day we'll fight the Spectrans and keep them from taking over the Earth." Nodding, David added, "And the Federation. You also wouldn't live with me anymore. You'd move in with the other children. You'd be one of the team, and I'd have to treat you as such, so I don't show favoritism." The boy bit his lip and stared at the floor. "But I wouldn't have to stay behind. I could help keep them safe. And ..." When Mark hesitated, David made himself remain silent. Finally, the boy continued, saying, "And I wouldn't be alone anymore." Tears formed in Mark's eyes. David wondered guiltily if he'd isolated Mark too much. Isabelle now spent her time split between the project kids and Mark, and David himself was so buried in work that he'd yet again considered installing a cot in his office. While Mark spent a lot of time with tutors and coaches, so he wasn't truly alone, it was a far cry from the days where he and Jason trained together. "So have you changed your mind? Do you still want to be on the team?" Mark didn't hesitate. He sat straight and tall, or as tall as a nearly eight-year-old could. "I want to be on the team. I can do this, Sir." "It was never a question of whether you were capable, Mark," said David, finding himself a bit disappointed. Somehow he'd let Paulson and the Security Board maneuver him into this corner. With the brilliance of hindsight, he could see how each nudge he'd failed to fight had created a world where Mark felt alone and left out, where Mark himself would demand to join the project despite his mother's wishes. Worse, he'd created a world where Mark would obviously rather be on the team, than to continue to live as his "son." Yet again, Madeline was failed by someone focusing so much on duty, that he forgot about everything else. David forced himself to offer at least a small smile, despite the tightness in his chest. "Let's both think on it. I don't want to rush things." "Okay." Mark stood, watching him with an unsure furrow to his brows. "Was that it?" David nodded. "That was it." "I'm not gonna change my mind." Mark turned and left. The problem was, that's what David was afraid of. # One month later, David still found himself stalling. Mark was now officially eight. With every day that he delayed the decision, David found M