| Probe has had to use a lot of persuasion to get the incubators.
They are too "high tech" for it to be possible to produce them on Terra,
even with Alliance assistance. And for a Crystallic to have been able to
produce something so alien from its own viewpoint, it would have had to
be given such precise instructions that in practice it would probably have
been impossible. (Just telling it: "Produce seven incubators" would probably
have produced the equivalent of a shrug of incomprehension.)
The incubators therefore would have to be manufactured on one of the Alliance ships and then sent down to the surface in a shuttlecraft. The fleet is beginning to run short of shuttles, since the Phage has meant that nothing that lands on Terra can return. And the craft are quite expensive items, too. Probe points out that once they are one hundred per cent sure that their neutralisation of the Phage has been successful, the craft can return to the fleet. He also points out very forcefully that, should Astra 5's pregnancy progress too far without any intervention, there would be a real risk of her dying in childbirth. If the Alliance could have helped her, but didn't, that would do its relations with Terra no good at all. As well as the incubators, an ultrasound scanner and other relevant equipment is sent. All of this is powered by batteries which can be connected to solar cells for recharging. Probe, assisted by Inquirer, will perform the surgery. Black Astra's initial qualms are overcome by Astras 2 and 3, who say that she can have every confidence in the two AIs, especially in comparison with Terran doctors, who lose half their patients when attempting Caesarians. (Doctor Vincent's doctorate is not in medicine.) Whilst Probe and Inquirer have had some basic medical training in case they ever needed to help a human colleague in an emergency, neither has any specialist knowledge of gynaecology. That is speedily remedied, though, by downloading to them the contents of the relevant textbooks. These are nowadays stored in electronic form, of course, which is just as well, for old-fashioned books would have been too heavy and bulky to justify carrying any about gynaecology with a fleet that was very unlikely ever to need them. If any of the doctors with the fleet have misgivings about the ethics of technically unqualified personnel acting as doctors, since none of them is willing to risk going down to the surface they do not push the point. The downloading of this information is almost instantaneous, but the construction and testing of the incubators takes a couple of days. Thus by the time that Probe and Inquirer are ready to operate, Astra 5 is visibly larger for, even without any further acceleration as a Crystallic side effect, she is growing at several times the normal rate for an expectant mother. She has been spending much of her time eating, for she is after all eating for eight. She has been getting increasingly impatient at the delay, and also frustrated that even something like tying up her bootlaces now requires her to sit down. So she is relieved when Probe tells her that finally all is ready. Had it been a normal birth, Fred 5 would have wanted to be present. As it will be a Caesarian, he, Astra 5 and Probe all agree that it is better that he should not be. The operation goes smoothly, and soon the seven infants, weighing between one pound four ounces and one pound eight ounces, are safely in the incubators. Technology has moved on since the twentieth century, and these incubators mimic the womb far better than those of our own day. Thus the babies' chance of survival is excellent. Fortunately Astra has had a chance to "bond" with her babies in a very unusual manner before their birth [4288], so her inability to hug or feed them until they are removed from the incubator some weeks hence will not be a problem. Soon Fred is able to see his wife and babies. The combination of the Alliance's advanced technology, coupled with a bit of magic from Inquirer, will guarantee Astra's rapid healing. She shouldn't even be left with a scar. However, to her evident frustration, she will have to stay in bed for a day or two. The incubators are just across the room, so that she can see her babies at all times. Fred walks across and looks at them. His view is slightly obscured by the artificial amniotic fluid. He can see that the babies are tiny, red and wrinkled, though, and that they have artificial placentas plugged into their navels. Astra reassures him that, though tiny, they are all normal.
Once Probe and Inquirer have finished their medical duties, and ensured that Astra 5 will be properly looked after (the nurse being given strict instructions to make sure that her charge, headstrong like all the Astras, remains in bed for the time being), they join a council of war that is being held elsewhere in the palace. This has been called by Malachi Droconis. She knows that whilst the two ghosts should not prove a real threat, at least not away from their own homes, Zerm is a different matter. It may be necessary to take action against him whilst they still have the advantage given them by operational Crystallics, remembering that once the slipgate system is closed down that advantage may cease.
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