Go Faster

Posted on Sun Jul 16, 2017 @ 9:01pm by Ensign Jonathan Baker & Ashley Baker

Mission: Shore Leave
Location: Runabout Mesopotamia
Timeline: MD 16 || 1400 Hours

The Danube class runabout Mesopotamia cruised towards Risa at a leisurely warp three and a soft selection of relaxing music was playing. Jon Baker looked at his wife and her swollen belly and smiled.

"I bet you're going to love getting the famous Risian massage when we get there," he said as he settled down next to her.

"You have no idea," Ashley said with a hand resting on her belly. She felt like she was going to explode at any given moment, and there was a lot of pressure in her already aching back. Despite all her discomfort, it would all be worth it when their little girl was born. "Never in a million years did I think I'd be overdue, but she seems to be a bit stubborn. I'm on her schedule." She winced when the baby moved and took a deep breath. "I knew I should have stuck to my guns to be induced weeks ago."

"I thought you were going to go into labor when the ship went crazy," he said. "Do you want something to drink or snack on? The pilot said we're a few hours out yet."

"Water, please," she answered, offering him a smile.

Jon got up to get her a glass of chilled ice water from the replicator and a cup of coffee for himself. It seemed that he had been drinking cup after cup of the stuff throughout their two day voyage and he had been getting very little sleep. He handed the glass to her before he sat back down. "It's a shame that we don't have that one doctor with us anymore."

"Thanks, honey," she said with a smile as she accepted the glass. Almost as soon as she gripped the cold beverage, her smile was replaced with a frown and her brows furrowed, then she gasped. The glass in her hand slipped from her hold and fell, shattering glass on the floor on the runabout. "Jon... honey... my water just broke."

He blinked when she dropped the glass and bent to pick of the pieces. "It's okay, honey," he said. "Just let me clean up this mess and I'll get you another glass of water."

Ashley shook her head and leaned back. Now she knew what the pressure in her back was from. The young woman was officially in labor... inside a runabout... on her way to a planet where there were doctors. This was her luck. "No, Jon... not that water. My water broke!" Getting excited wasn't going to make this situation any better, and the young woman was trying hard to keep her cool, but her present situation called for panic.

"You just said....wait..." He looked up at her. "Your water just broke?!"

"Yes," she said on the verge of tears. The last thing she wanted was to have her baby in a runabout. "Jon... I can't have our little girl in here!"

"Hold on, babe!" Jon ran up to the pilot compartment and grabbed the pilot by the shoulder. "How fast can this thing go?" he demanded.

The pilot jumped when he had been grabbed and jerked himself free. "Warp five, why?"

"Get the stops out!" Jon yelled. "My wife's water just broke. We need to get to Risa now!

The pilot made a few adjustments and the runabout increased to warp five before he looked at the new estimates. "Sir, we're still a few hours away even at warp five. I suggest putting down at Rigel V. It's closer by two hours."

"Do it!" Jon said before he headed back to Ashley.

"We're heading for Rigel V," he said. "The pilot said it's two hours closer and warp five is as fast as this thing goes. Can you hang on?"

"I... I think so," she answered as huge tears rolled down her cheeks. Ashley's stomach was so large, she couldn't even cross her legs in hopes of holding the baby in. Not that that would even work. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "We should be okay. My contractions aren't coming steadily. The last one was before we left."

"Come on," Jon said. "Let's get you cleaned up and in something comfortable so you can lay down. It won't be Risa, but Rigel V has some damned good doctors."

Ashley pushed herself to her feet and frowned when she saw herself. "Oh! It's warm!" she cried, trying to keep her legs from touching. This was going to be amusing to watch. A duck waddle meets penguin waddle. Even she found the humor in that.

He fought and succeeded in holding his laughter in at her walk and moved to follow her. "We'll get you clean and comfortable in just a few minutes," he said as he went to get some clean clothes for her.

"I could really use a shower right now," Ashley said, trying not to be overly grossed out by what was going on.

"I'm afraid all we have in here is a small sonic shower," Jon said as he handed her the clean clothes. "When we get to Rigel V, they'll probably have better facilities."

"Whatever makes me feel a little less gross," the young woman said, taking her clothes from him and moving into the bathroom, which was no bigger than a small closet. She'd make this work, even if only half of her could be inside the shower at a time. "Don't go too far, and leave the door open." She reached into the shower to start it, then began to get undressed.

"I'm not going anywhere," he told her as he stood in front of the bathroom door to block the view.

Ashley stepped into the sonic shower and allowed the sonic waves to knock all the grime away from her. It definitely made her feel a bit better, but now that she was having a contraction, better was short lived. She braced her hand against the shower wall and lowered her chin to her chest with her eyes closed as pain tore through her abdomen. In her mind, she repeated how worth it this would all be once their baby girl was in their arms.

"Are you going to be okay until we get to Rigel V?" Jon asked her. "I can see if the pilot can get any more speed from this thing."

"I'm going to try to be," she answered with a frown once her contraction subsided to the point she could talk again. This whole experience was very new and extremely frightening for her. "I've never had a baby before, and considering I'm about four days past my due date, I'd say our baby girl is the one running this show. She's the one who will decide if we make it to Rigel V or not."

He thought for a minute, then looked at her as a half formed thought came to mind. "You know that I'm a transporter chief, Ash. What if we got you set up and I beamed our daughter out of you?"

Ashley blinked. "How? She doesn't have a combadge on her for the transporter beam to lock onto her," she said, trying to wrap her mind around that suggestion. "Not only that, but it would take away from the experience for both of us. Yes, it's going to hurt, and yes, you'll worry, but I want to experience it all."

"All I've to do is isolate her life reading and beam her out," Jon said. "It's been done before." Although it was a trained doctor who did it he mentally added. "Are you sure, though?"

"I'm sure. It all seems too risky to me, and I'm not looking to put her little life in danger before she's even taken her first breath," the young woman replied. "We're going to do this the way women have been doing it since the creation of human beings."

He leaned out of the bedroom door and shouted towards the cockpit. "Get this thing moving faster!" he called.

In the cockpit, the pilot sighed and shook his head. The guy he was transporting obviously knew nothing about runabouts or he'd know that warp five was their top speed. "I'm taking every shortcut I can, Sir," he called back patiently.

Jon turned back to Ashley. "That doesn't mean you should have to do it the old fashioned way," he said. "That's why we have the technology we do today so people don't have to do things like that anymore."

Ashley finished up in the shower and stepped out, grabbing the flowing maxi dress her husband had chosen for her to wear. This would definitely help on the comfort scale. She dressed quickly and ran her fingers through her hair to make it look a little more presentable. "Maybe not, but this is my first child, and I want to experience it all. I do appreciate you wanting to make this as easy on me as possible, but I hope you can appreciate my want in all of this."

"I do, but I'm also worried that you might have our little girl in this grubby runabout and not have anything for the pain," he said softly as he moved to take her in his arms.

"If I do, then we'll just have to make the best of it," she said softly, slipping her arms around him. "Women have given birth in worse conditions."

Jon leaned down and give her a kiss. "That they have," he agreed. "And probably will continue to do so. Let's get you settled down so you can rest until the next contraction."

Ashley returned the kiss. "I don't know how comfortable I'll be while I'm in labor."

"Want me to look in the medkit?" he asked her. "There should be a mild sedative in there or something that could help."

"Maybe that's not such a bad idea. I can sleep for a little while before the real fireworks start," she answered as she settled down. "I just don't want to sleep through the whole thing."

"You won't," Jon said as he went to ask the pilot where the medkit was and the estimated time to Rigel.

"About five minutes sooner than the last time you ask," the pilot responded, now annoyed. "Medkit is in the second locker in the back."

He came back and got the medkit, then opened it. He removed a hypospray and began to look through the ampules of medicine before he selected a Ambizine and loaded it up. He adjusted the dosage to light and looked at her. "This won't put you to sleep, but it will relax you," he said as he moved to sit down beside of her.

"We'll see if it really relaxes me when the contractions get closer together," she said, tilting her head to the side to expose her neck to him. "Are you excited?"

Jon pressed it to her neck and a gentle hiss was heard before he set it down again. "I am," he said. "And nervous."

"I'm terrified," Ashley said softly, waiting to feel the effects of the medication. It wouldn't be long now. "There are a million things going through my head right now. What if something goes wrong? Where are we going to put her? What will we dress her in? Everything is on the ship. We're not prepared for this."

"We'll be on Rigel V before then," he said. "We can get everything we need there, just like we planned on getting on Risa. It'll be okay, Ash. We'll get there in time."

"At least one of us is optimistic," she said softly.

"You're talking to a career enlisted officer who became an Ensign," Jon pointed out. "So I know anything is possible. We can also replicate some things that we'll likely need."

Ashley could feel the effects of the medicine begin to take its hold on her and she smiled, turning into an agreeable woman. "You're right. Everything will be fine, but you're having the next one," she said with a giggle. "Like a seahorse."

He laughed. "Honey, you're a seahorse if you think that's even possible, and the medication is the reason why you think that."

Ashley giggled again. "I do feel a little more relaxed. Maybe we will make it to Rigel V before the baby makes her debut."

"We will," Jon said as she giggled. "And when we do, we'll get everything we need and then continue to Risa."

"Time is about an hour away," the pilot called. "I've managed to shave some time off of the trip."

"Thank you, time shaver," Ashley said with a laugh.

"You're welcome," the pilot responded with a laugh. "There's towels and some other things in the first locker if you need anything." Please don't have the baby here on the runabout. Please?

Jon gave her a kiss and headed to the locker to pull the supplies out before he went back to her. "I don't know the first thing about delivering a baby, so I'm going to read up from the computer," he said. "You just relax."

"I'm going to do my best to hold her in," she said right before another contraction started. Ashley groaned and doubled over. As relaxed as she was, pain still hurt. Maybe it would have been better had her husband knocked her out. But, then, she'd be trapped in the abyss with her pain and no way to get through it. At least now, she could groan, rock and do anything else she thought might work.

He took one of her hands in his. "Squeeze, Ash," he said softly. "I wish I could give you something for it, but I'm not a doctor and don't want to hurt our little girl."

Ashley slipped her hand into his, but she didn't squeeze. "Can you rub my lower back?" she asked breathlessly.

Jon used his other hand to help her up a bit and began to slowly rub her lower back in small circles. "Just tell me when you feel another one coming on," he said.

"As soon as this one leaves," she said through gritted teeth.

"They're back to back now?" He asked, more than a little alarmed.

"No. My last one never stopped," she answered as it finally began to ebb. Ashley took a deep breath and leaned back, bringing a hand to rest on her stomach. "I'd say they're still about fifteen minutes apart, and first babies almost always take forever to arrive. Or... so I read."

"Let's hope she's textbook in that case," Jon said as he continued to rub her back.

"I suppose we'll know soon enough," Ashley said as she rose to her feet to wrap her arms around his waist. "We've got a hell of a pilot working with us."

"A shame our pilot's a guy," he joked as he helped her up. "We could name her after her. The runabout is called Mesopotamia, but that would be a funny name."

Ashley looked toward the pilot. "What's your name?"

"Paul Ortega," the pilot said as he looked back at them. "And we have forty minutes to go."

"Thank you, Paul. I'm trying really hard to hold her in for all our sakes," she said, swaying back and forth a bit as she held her husband.

"I'm doing what I can," Paul said with a smile. "Is this your first?"

Jon looked at her. "How does Paula sound for a name?"

"Yes, it's our first," Ashley replied, still swaying a bit in an effort to ease some of the pressure she felt. Little did she know, the pressure she was feeling would lead up to big thing in the very near future. "I'm a nervous wreck, too. This is scary." She looked to her husband and shook her head. "I prefer Paulette. Andi Paulette Baker."

"I like the sound of that," he said as he continued to support her and rub her back.

The young woman opened her mouth to say something, but a groan came out in its place. She was having another contraction, and her last one hadn't even ended four minutes ago. Pain gripped her lower abdomen and back, leaving her unable to talk, but she was gripping her husband's shoulders as if her life depended on it.

Go faster! Jon urged the pilot mentally when she gripped his shoulders. "Come on, babe," he said. "Let's get you comfortable as you can."

"No... I can't sit," she said as tears began to well up in her eyes, but she did everything she could not to shed them. "I need to walk."

"Then walk with me," he said softly as he started towards the cabin. With a runabout being larger than a shuttle, there still wasn't much room to move around, but enough for ten to fifteen steps in each direction.

Ashley slowly made her way to one side of the runabout, then turned to make her way in the other direction. "There's so much pressure..."

"Breathe, Ash, breathe," Jon said as he let her lean on him as much as she needed. "We'll be there before you know it."

"I am breathing," she huffed, trying not to be annoyed, but with the pain she felt and the pressure building, it was becoming hard for her to hold it together.

"Sorry, love," he said as he continued to walk with her. "We're almost there." He wanted to shout at the pilot, but knew Ortega was doing the best he could with the runabout. "Did you know that Mesopotamia on Earth was once called the cradle of civilization?"

"I might have learned the in school, but it's really hard to remember a lot right now," the young woman answered. "What's your name again?"

He laughed. "It's Jon, babe. Your husband, remember?"

"I know. I was just mess..." She was quickly cut off by another contraction ransacking her body. Ashley staggered away from her husband, breathing through the pain as she settled down. With huge tears finally rolling down her cheeks, she pressed her hand against her swollen belly. "I-I have to push. Now!" It was too unbearable now. The pressure was building to a point where she just couldn't stand it anymore.

"Strap in, folks!" Paul called from the front of the runabout. "We're in orbit above Rigel V and cleared for a hot landing!"

Jon moved over and made sure she was secured before he sat down just as the runabout pitched downwards as it headed into the atmosphere. "Just a few more minutes," he said.

The pilot brought the Mesopotamia down as if it were part of his own body, cutting across the currents smoothly as the control towers on the planet gave him directions. He chattered back with them, stating it was a medical emergency and requested a doctor for a delivery.

Ashley tried her hardest to hang on for the last few minutes, but she just couldn't. Their daughter was coming, and she was coming now. The young woman raised the skirt of the dress she was wearing and tried to resist pushing, but it was impossible. Little Andi was already starting to crown. "Can't. Wait," she said, trying to remember her breathing. It took every single ounce of willpower she had not to push, and the inhuman sounds that were coming from her proved it.

The pain was unlike anything she'd ever felt before. It felt like hot lava was invading a part of her body she never wanted it to. Oh, what she wouldn't give for medication right now, but it was far too late for that. Her only choice was to endure the pain and hope she wouldn't be ripped in half.

Jon tried not to panic and took her hand in his. "Hang on just another minute, baby!" He pleaded with her.

Ten seconds later, the runabout touched down and the door opened quickly. The pilot was shouting something to someone and a Rigellian female with a medical kit came aboard with another Rigellian woman behind her.

They approached Jon and Ashley and the one with the medical kit set it aside when she saw how close the human was to giving birth. She looked up at Ashley. "This is going to be painful since you are clearly on no type of medication if your face is to be judged, but the cost of life is the pain of birth. Push, child."

The other Rigellian opened the medkit and began taking various items out of it while speaking to Jon about supplies.

Jon got the towels and things he had gotten earlier to hand to the woman as well as he could with one hand. "Is our baby going to be okay?" he asked.

The older Rigellian helping Ashley didn't look up. "This is natural and women have been doing it for a very long time. Do not worry."

Oh, sweet baby Vulcan! Salvation. Without pain meds, but then she hadn't expected to be delivering her daughter in a runabout either. Taking a deep breath, Ashley held it and pushed as instructed. If she was lucky, and so far she hadn't been, the baby would be delivered fast.

Ashley held on for a ten count, then settled back once again to finally breath. She felt hot, and the pain was unlike anything she'd ever felt in her life, but this was definitely for a good cause. Now all she had to do was wait for further instruction from her savior.

The Rigellian doctor checked again and reached for a device that looked like a tricorder from her assistant and checked it. "Everything is progressing smoothly," she said as she set it down and moved back between Ashley's legs. "You'll be having another contraction soon and when you do, I want you to push hard."

Meanwhile the assistant had Jon busy putting together a nest of sorts and using the replicator for more things. "Are you okay, Ash?" he asked over the assistant's shoulder before he was directed back to he was doing.

"I'm being ripped in half, but I'm feeling great," she answered sarcastically. When she felt her contraction start, she took a deep breath and leaned forward, pushing again with everything she had in her.

Dumb question Jon thought to himself, seeing now why the assistant was keeping him busy.

"Dumb question," the assistant Rigellian said to him quietly.

Meanwhile, the Doctor was busy helping Ashley and smiled encouragingly at her. "You're doing just fine," she said. "One more push should do it."

Ashley took another breath and gave the last push everything she had. Whoever said childbirth was a wonderful experience lied. Maybe it would be if she had the medications that made things easier, but that wasn't in her cards. No... instead... she was going the natural route without anything. Hell, even the sedative wore off, but it would all be over soon, and the thought of finally having her daughter in her arms was the most perfect reward for every second of pain she had to endure.

The sound of a very healthy set of lungs filled the cabin with a wail that echoed in the small space of the runabout and Jon tore away from the assistant to look before the Rigellian handed him some soft towels and a bowl of water. "Give these to the Doctor," she said and he complied.

"You have a girl child," the Rigellian doctor said as she held the baby girl up for Ashley to see before she began to clean her with the bowl and towels that Jon provided.

The baby was perfect. Ten little fingers... ten little toes... a head full of hair, but she wouldn't be able to tell the actual color until it was dry. Hearing her daughter cry for the first time brought tears to her eyes, and she couldn't wait to have that little girl in her arms. "She's perfect," she said with a sniffle as she settled back against the floor once again. Ashley was tired, but she was fighting against it with all she had.

Jon went over by Ashley's side and gazed in wonder at their daughter. "She's...she's....our little girl," he managed.

"Would you like a mild stimulant or something for the pain?" The Rigellian doctor asked as she had her assistant take care of a few things while she collected the afterbirth in a biological waste container.

"Maybe something for pain that won't hurt her when I nurse her," Ashley answered, trying to it up a bit. "But, what I really want is to hold our little girl."

The Rigellian handed her the little girl after she was cleaned up, then prepared a hypospray. "This won't hurt you or her at all," she said with a gentle smile. "Any euphoria you feel will be entirely yours." She pressed the hypospray to Ashley's neck and released the pain reliever, then stepped back with the assistant. "Do you have a name for her so that we may enter them in our records?"

"Andi Paulette Baker," the new mother answered with tears rolling down her cheeks as she accepted her new daughter. Now that she had little Andi up close, she could tell her hair was blonde, and already had the prettiest blue eyes Ashley had ever seen. Of course all babies had blue eyes, but her daughter's were by far the most gorgeous. She looked toward her husband and smiled. "We're officially parents to a perfect little girl."

Jon wanted to laugh, shout and cry at the same time as he looked at their daughter. "She's beautiful," he managed.

"Welcome, Rawei, blessed of Rigel," the Doctor said before she looked at Ashley. "It is a name of honor even if you do not apply it to her. It was my honor to attend to you and her this day. Do you have any more need?"

"Thank you for getting here so quickly. This could have gone very differently had you and your assistant not been waiting for us," Ashley stated, still in total awe of their new daughter. "Are we going to be transported to a hospital for observation? You know... just to make sure we're both okay."

The Rigellian doctor ran a scan of Ashley. "You and the baby appear to be perfectly fine, but we can take you if you wish," she said.

"It would give us a chance to get some clothes and things for Andi and prepare for the rest of our trip."

"I would appreciate it greatly. Or if you could direct us to a hotel closest to a hospital, that would work, too," she said. It was clear she was a bit nervous.

The doctor smiled. "Then come with us and we'll get you all taken care of and set up," she said.

Jon grabbed their luggage and looked at Ashley. "We should just vacation here before we head back."

"I wouldn't mind that. We can bond with Andi without interruption," Ashley said as she carefully got to her feet with the help of her husband. She was going to enjoy this time with her new family. This impromptu trip was so much better than Risa could ever hope to be.

"Come on, love," he said with a smile. "We have a new world and life to explore."