And then there were five For Amethyst Part 15 Two months later, on the morning of June 13, 2254, David witnessed more than the miracle of birth. He stood there in surgical scrubs as an alien child was pulled from its artificial womb, and worried that he was wrong to put stock in such a tiny creature. Then the child belted out a wail worthy of a human infant three times its size. David chuckled. Perhaps he was being hasty. "Mason, you deserve the honor of naming him." The scientist looked so excited, he was practically glowing. "In honor of the amount of trouble he gave us, I'm leaning toward Keyop, as in we finally found the key operators necessary to pull him through." That was an odd name. However, they already had a "Princess," so David supposed the precedent was already set. "Want to introduce him to the kids?" asked one of the nurses. "Not quite yet." David shook his head. He didn't want to have to explain it to them if the child died. "Let's make sure he's going to be all right, and that he survives implantation. Then they can meet him." Murmurs of assent meant that he didn't have to worry about anyone sneaking the kids down. Hours later, with the child weighed, measured, fed, tested, and swaddled up snug and warm, David retreated to his office. Now there were five. Mark had thrown himself whole-heartedly into his physical therapy and training, to the surprise of no one. As bereft as David still felt, he couldn't deny that Mark looked consistently happy, something David hadn't seen since Jason's implantation. More interesting was the way that the others seemed to naturally look to him for leadership. That aspect bore watching. Now that David's life wasn't divided, he hoped that he might be able to spend more time with the children. He knew Mark best, and Jason pretty well, but he'd spent barely any time with Princess and Tiny. As their superior, he needed to understand how they all ticked, their strengths and weaknesses, and how to best motivate them. But as reserved and removed he'd have to be, now, he also wanted that personal connection he was rapidly losing with Mark. These five children would never know what it was like to grow up in a "real" family. With Isabelle as their surrogate mother, he had hopes that they'd be well grounded and feel loved. And with him as their only real option for a surrogate father, well, if he could avoid doing any more damage he'd be content. One day, one or all of them might have to die so that the Federation and its billions of citizens could live. Either he'd be labeled a hero for creating this shining defense force, or he'd be labeled a monster for indoctrinating children -- including his own foster son -- into lethally efficient killing machines. At that very moment, watching the newborn infant sleep on the security feeds, David's hoped it would be the former. Just as he hoped that one day, he'd forge Mark into a leader who would make his mother proud. THE END