Charlie found hirself resting quietly thinking back to Christmas. It had certainly been an adventuresome one with Janice and Snowflake going into labor and then Midnight, Sally, hirself, and Talia. In a way it was the end a long and trying period. Charlie had revealed in hir own pregnancy and in Sally's, but much of hir joy at feeling hir womb swell, there was also the great worry over Janice and Snowflake. Charlie didn't like that hir soughter rushed things, not in the least, but Janice had at least taken responsibility for hir mistakes and probably would be a great mother when shi was old enough to be a mother full time. And Janice had appeared to have learned from hir mistake.
"Dad..." came Janice's voice from the doorway.
Charlie looked up to see Janice there, holding Pinkie Christmas (who they probably end up calling Christmas to differentiate hir from hir Auncle).
"Come in, Janice, I'm more then welcome to having a little company," Charlie gave a smile.
Janice slowly came in and lay beside hir father and watched as Charlie set Zachius down in a specialized bassinet alongside hir three sithers. Janice then felt Charlie wrap an arm around hir shoulders and pull hir toward Charlie.
"I'm proud of you, Janice," Charlie told hir, "I remain firm that you shouldn't have been having sex at your age... but you've at least been honest with us and you've been very responsible and caring... exactly as your mother and I want you to be."
"Thanks, dad," Janice said weakly.
"Just wait until your eighteen before you decide to pull anything like this again," Charlie urged, "not only is it a rule your father an I have, but it is the law that all are expected to follow."
"I will, daddy," Janice answered and snuggled hir head against Charlie's shoulder, and felt Charlie purr in response.
Charlie continued the snuggling and thought over the events that had gone on over the past eight months. Some were events that happened with hir and some were told to hir...
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
As the clean-up with the labs continued in Cuba, Anubis ultimately paid a visit to one of the Egyptian warships that had come to participate in the US lead blockade. Some of it was for a very good reason, the ships captain was the brother of hir first wife.
"Hello, sir," the captain commented with a smile.
"Abdul... you know my term ended years ago," Anubis answered, "I'm just Anubis, now."
"After the old god of death?" Abdul asked.
"He was a Jackal, was he not, according to the old mythology?" Anubis questioned, "and besides... it is a new start and a reminder of why I had to take the new start."
Abdul sighed. He had been at sea in joint maneuvers with the Israeli Navy as part of the changing political atmosphere in the Middle East that had seem to come about as a result of the Cairo outbreak, when his sister was eaten by a crocodile. He missed hir, too, and knew that it had hit Anubis far harder than it had him him.
"Surely shi is with God now," Abdul commented.
"Yes," Anubis answered, "I'm sure shi is... and is proud of both of us."
Abdul nodded, "will you be coming back to Egypt anytime soon?"
"Maybe as a visit," Anubis answered, "but my home is in Janace now with family and a new love..."
"A new love?!" Abdul answered.
"A Hybrikat, ironically the woman who the town had been named for," Anubis answered, "In many ways shi is like Akilah... beautiful, intelligent, caring, kind, dignified."
"And would my sister approve of hir?" Abdul questioned.
"If shi were alive? I'd assume they would be friends, yes," Anubis answered, "and I doubt shi'd want me to mourn for the rest of my life..."
"No," Abdul commented after a moment, "No, my sister wouldn't want that." He then rubbed his graying hair and commented, "Give me a call when you marry this new love. I'll bring an imam to see that the wedding is appropriate."
"The imam may have to accept some compromises, as Janace is Christian and so is most of Janace's population," Anubis commented.
"Ah... but what really differs Islam and Christianity but a few key details," Abdul commented, "I've thought that even before you became President. We all worship the same God, just in different ways."
Anubis nodded.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The cleanup took time, but once things were collected and the need for the Kats to be there, they would make their way back to Janace. Nemo found a lot of it to be interesting, but was also curious about Talia's idea to return into space.
"We'd come to be teachers," Talia answered, "but by now... humanity has learned from us and has advanced...and thanks to the outbreaks our population has rapidly grown."
"The Retrovirus Vaccine may lead to the Kat population declining rapidly," Torrent commented from where shi was seated, "as many didn't ask to become Kats... and Maurice said that nearly everyone in Fee City asked for it."
Talia nodded, "Even still... humanity on its own is beginning to reach a point where they'll need to start colonizing planets beyond Earth. We'd only add to the issue if we remain. It may not be this year or even ten years from now... but we need to be prepared for that eventuality."
"We'll need to reassemble the whole ship if we are to leave Earth," Nemo commented, "both for the sense of living quarters and for being able to travel across the great distance of interstellar space. You've said that the humans have begun to explore space... but their engines aren't powerful enough and their scientists haven't figured out how to attain faster then light speeds."
"They aren't too far away from it, and they do wish to help provided we share the technology designs with them," Talia told hir, "Even without us... they'll could probably have their first version ready in the next fifty years or so... relatively quick in comparison to our life spans."
Nemo nodded, "and who is it that you said we're to be working with?"
"Primarily an American agency known as NASA, though their agent in charge is Casey Cain, shi's a Rattlekat and will probably go with us when we go," Talia said slowly, as the plane then lurched as it came in for a landing, "though we'll let Torrent and Aqua get you settled into their home before we get any further in that regard."
Nemo nodded.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
It took a day or two to get things organized, and Nemo actually found hirself a little jealous of Aqua, as the other Dolphkat seemed to be much more well endowed than Nemo was, and while Torrent was a clear fan of Nemo, it was also clear that Aqua was the only one that Torrent loved, and it was during that meeting that Nemo learned that Torrent was pregnant. They did look good together and Nemo was happy for them. Eventually, shi made hir way to the UN offices building in Janace, which had served as the coordinating offices for dealing with the outbreaks. Now, it would appear that it would be where they would discussing things related to sharing technology and a new ship. Shi found the Rattlekat with a Foxkat and talking with several human scientist/engineer types that had a largely blue pin with the white letters "NASA" on them. These must have been the engineers.
"Ah... thisssssssssssssss musssssssssssssst be the the one who wassssssssssssss the captain of the Ark," Casey spoke with a smile, "Captain Nemo, thesssssssssssssssse are the engineersssssssssssssss that will be helping usssssssssssssssssss."
Nemo ultimately shook hands with all of them and with Casey and Ryles as well.
"I've been told you also want us to share our technology with you," Nemo said to one of the NASA engineers.
"Yes," one NASA engineer answered with a name tag that read: Wallace. "It would allow us to explore and would allow you to talk with us once you get to where you ultimately decide to go..."
"Not to mention letting families travel back and forth and visit each other," Ryles added.
Nemo nodded to that. "I'm afraid we cannot do much until we gather all the parts of the Ark. I was the captain of the ship and I can give you some ideas on how it functioned and how the engines worked... but we can't test anything until we've gathered up all the parts."
"Of course," Wallace answered, "We've gotten some calls about bits and pieces arriving in LA at their harbor... We have managed to talk with the harbor masters about getting an area set aside for it until it can be disassembled and brought here for the real work..."
"Disassemble?" Nemo asked.
"The circular main portion of your ship isn't an effective design," another NASA scientist, whose name tag red Williams, commented, "at least not for means of exploration. From what Casey has told us from what the Kats have already formed that it's means actually tapping into Earth's own geothermal energy as a fuel source while moving is interesting way of moving... it's "submerged" section is like an inverted pyramid... the only way your ship would work is as some sort of escape ship and can only land in water. Not all planets are going to have as much water as earth, and even if they do... there is also no guarantee that the seas will be deep enough to allow it to land."
Nemo did consider that. Shi had been the only adult on the Ark and knew that it had been built as a sort of escape ship. It wasn't originally intended as an exploration craft.
"There's also the fact that much of it seems to rely on magnetism in order to hold it together," a third NASA engineer commented, "From what the reports from the military, it would appear that he magnets are more than strong enough to keep the ship pressurized in space..."
"It'll face some disruption when encountering a planet with a likely Iron core and thus its own magnetic field," Nemo finished, "I did notice that when we landed. Once our systems corrected for it, we were fine, but the collision with Earth's magnetic field sent it crashing."
"That's were wielding and rivets work better," Wallace nodded and then turned to a briefcase that Nemo couldn't see. Shi heard papers rustling and then watched as Wallace brought it about what looked like a schematic, though a rather rough one. "And we actually drew this up as some base ideas for an improved shuttle..."
Nemo looked at it. The design was essentially a large triangle with a circular pod at the front apex, which Nemo assumed would be the ship's bridge. It sat on what looked like large retractable skis and had what were marked as engine vents along both its underside and the rear of the vessel.
"This would allow you to land on the ground rather than in water, and we do have some tech that might even allow you to develop a planet or a moon that is lacking many of these things... though..." Wallace said slowly.
"Colonizing a moon, like your moon can wait until we have close by resources to bring to it," Nemo nodded, "I must say your idea is interesting. Different from how the Ark was built but when I was given command, I was told it was an escape ship. It was not really intended to survive the landing on Earth... though once in space you'll need a strong power source... how is your planet's knowledge on fusion power progressing?"
"Fusion as in nuclear fusion?" Williams asked.
"Yes," Nemo nodded, "Nuclear fission would work too, but a Fusion engine would be quicker and would last longer."
"Controlled fisssssssssssssssssssssion we can do easssssssssssssssssssssily," Casey answered, "fusssssssssssssssssssssssion, however, remainssssssssssssss only a theoretical option."
"We'll need to bring your nuclear scientists on board with this as well then," Nemo commented, "Once we have found all the parts of the Ark."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The searching for the rest of the Ark soon found itself on the back burner as the end of the threat of war and the end of the outbreaks continued, along with with the beginning of the school year and the continuing development of the pregnancies of the Kats living in Janace. Jack and Caitlyn ultimately did get a place of their own to stay, ultimately the one originally being built for Elise, and the pregnant Kats began to sell up as their young grew within them. Much of this had their own problems as Charlie, Sally, Midnight, and Talia were at least two months further along than Janice and Snowflake, yet they didn't give birth until after Janice and Snowflake did, and they came to term. This raised some concerns and about a week before Christmas, Charlie, Sally, Midnight, and Talia sat together in the clinic waiting for Mina to come back with some test results. Janice, Snowflake, and Pinkie were also present.
The pregnant Kats all sat closely together, as pregnant Kats tended to do, to feel the other's womb through their own womb. Even Janice and Snowflake did this as they enjoyed the feeling of their wombs at full size and at near full size. And while shi wasn't pregnant, Pinkie even found hirself curious and wanting to feel the infant that would be hir niphew with hir hands. Janice, personally feeling like shi was the size of a house loved having both hir mate and hir sister's attention. Though, at the moment, shi was a bit more concerned for hir parents and elder adoptive sither and hir mate. Kat pregnancies were usually the same length as human pregnancies... nine months. The only times when that had differed was when the animal used to create the Kat was not a mammal. Casey when shi laid the eggs that Ryles sired within hir did so after a three month gestation period, though it took another six months for hir eggs to hatch, which technically equaled the nine month pregnancy that mammalian Kats had. Gloria and Sammy laid their eggs after a three month pregnancy and their eggs didn't hatch until six years later. Brent, while shi was a Scorpkat gave birth after a very short gestation period, around two months... but that was due to the structural allowances for hir exoskeleton. And in each of these cases the gestation period was shortened. No Kat had had a pregnancy longer than nine months.
"Will they be okay?" Janice asked to hir parents.
Sally looked down to hir own womb, which, swollen with triplets was absolutely huge and felt shi only just fit through doorways. Charlie, Midnight, and Talia looked very big and round too with regard to their wombs, and it looked as though Midnight might be having twins, and Maurice was also sporting a noticeable baby bulge, though none of them compared that well against Sally's triplets. Charlie and Talia were only having a single baby, Midnight might be having twins, but no one knew for sure, other than Janace's hearing. And Maurice was only six months along with hir second pregnancy. Sally reached down and rubbed hir womb and gave a contented sigh when shi felt Charlie's soughter push against hir through Charlie's womb and created a response as at least one of the three infants in hir own womb pushed back against Charlie's womb. Their children were still alive, but for some reason, hir body simply hadn't given birth to them yet.
"They feel healthy," Sally commented.
"We just wish to see why we haven't gone into labor," Charlie added, "Nothing to worry about."
At that point the door opened to reveal Mina as shi came in holding a clipboard.
"And there isn't nothing to be seriously worried about," Mina spoke, "strangely."
"Strangely?" Midnight asked, nervously.
"Well... our tests on you four picked up a previously unknown hormone in a Kat," Mina began, "And it's one that is actually slowing the development of your children... thus delaying when your children are ready to be born."
Eyes turned to Talia, but shi looked just as surprised as they did.
"I was a child when I came to Earth and the only Kat I associated with the most was Aliat after arriving on Earth," Talia answered.
"Well the closest thing to this is a delayed system of implantation of a fertilized egg in some animals, like Bears, but that is more of a natural reproductive hormone which based on the blood samples I took... is not the case in this situation," Mina answered, "In fact, the hormone seems to behave in a way more in common with hormones released in the brain... related to various endorphins produced by the pituitary gland."
"This is an endorphin?" Sally asked.
"That would be my best guess... though it's effect goes in reverse... while endorphins commonly help us power through pain or feel more energized... these are slowing the development of your children," Mina answered, "I've also found that that it's also working with specific hormones that some studies I read about in Med School that would give some indication of stress and nervousness. My best guess is that you're worried about Janice and Snowflake and their health and to such a level that you've begun releasing this hormone, and given how much and how long you've worried about your younger family members that would be something that was triggered over time. It isn't a sudden stress that would potentially affect your pregnancies negatively. It's lengthened your pregnancies in this case... but in the course of this, I've never seen anything that would indicate that your children are not healthy..."
"So what would stop this hormone?" Sally asked.
"Probably when Janice and Snowflake have their children and you're mentally sure that they'll be fine," Mina managed, "but I'll need to run some more tests..."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
And Mina did run tests. The hormone was new and they did have control over it, and in the end, their pregnancies lasted until Janice and Snowflake gave birth/had their c-section. And the children were all healthy. Pinkie Christmas was smaller than hir Auncles and hir cousins, likely a result of the fact that Janice was so young and so small in comparison to the adults in the Wise family, but shi was healthy. And loving hir soughter, Charlie held Janice to hir and smiled down at both Pinkie Christmas, Charles III, Penelope, Bethany, Zachius Wise.
"I'm proud of you for how responsible you've been with all this," Charlie said again, "I wish you'd been smarter... but you did "man up" when the chips were down..."
"Yeah... but Midnight and Talia will be raising hir," Janice said in reference to Pinkie Christmas.
"Yes, but you'll still see hir, and in the end that'll give you and Snowflake the time to grow up and be happy," Charlie said, "If you're grandma is right, you'll have more than a thousand years to be an adult. Enjoy your time as a kid... a teenage while it lasts... and who knows... in five years after you and Snowflake turn eighteen you could get custody back... shoot by then we could all be on another planet and we'll all be in one ginormous house together..."
"And we'll all be a family?"
"We'll be a family wherever we are," Charlie smiled and purred again, letting hir soughter know that while hir parents may have been angry with the timing of what shi had done, hir parents still loved hir very much.