sid4

Standing on the sidewalk outside the small bank in the Glen, Frank Parker slid on his sunglasses. He'd just finished setting up accounts with the money Ben Wade had given him and the next item on his agenda was finding a place to stay. Seeing a newspaper box in front of the bank, he bought a copy of the Glen Times and settled down on a bench to check out the classified ads.

Sid parked his classic Bentley and stepped out onto the sidewalk by the bank, straightening the lapels of his newest Armani suitcoat. Usually he paid no attention to the lesser beings cluttering the small town, but something about the man with the newspaper caught his eye and he stopped, staring at him. After a moment, he used the side of his hand and pushed the paper all the way down, cocking his head.

Frank Parker smiled up at him with his wide white smile, eyes unreadable behind the dark glasses he wore. "Hello, Sidney. I'd heard you were here in the Glen. You sure it's wise for a man like you to be calling so much attention to himself?" The word "man" was emphasized, as though Parker considered Sid anything but, and he indicated the Bentley and the Armani suit. "You already stick out like a sore thumb."

"Parker." The name hung there in the air between them, practically dripping with their mutual memories. A slow smile spread across Sid's handsome face, a smile with more menace than pleasantry behind it. His keen mind was processing all the possible future scenarios of having this particular person here in the Glen. As he thought, his eyes continued to harden, a thing he made no effort to hide from the seated man. "Good to see you, Parker," he purred, cocking his head now to the other side as though studying a wasp on one's window screen before taking off one's shoe to squash it.

"Glad to know you feel that way, Sid." Frank's smile grew wider, despite the hardness in the other man's eyes. "As I recall, you didn't think it was so good to see me last time we met. But, then, of course-" Frank casually folded his paper and tucked it under one arm before glancing up at Sid again, his mirrored glasses catching the morning sun. "-I had you at a little bit of a disadvantage, didn't I?"

Sid's tongue came out, licking slowly across his lower lip. His fingers actually itched with the desire to close around the man's throat, flatten his windpipe. "If that's how you choose to remember it," he replied.

"Oh, if I had a choice, I'd rather not remember it at all," Parker told him, still smiling, but his voice had hardened to match Sid's eyes. "But that's just not the kind of thing a man can forget. A real man, that is. Got business at the bank, do you?" he asked. "Gettin' yourself a car loan maybe?" He looked pointedly past Sid toward the Bentley parked at the curb.

Sid's head turned, his eyes following Parker's gaze. "I've done all right for myself. More than can be said for you. You here to apply for a job sweeping the bank?" Deliberately he ignored Parker's question. "Be a step up for you, you get something like that."

"Oh, you're right there, Sid. It would be a step up. But then, anything would be a step up from chasing down vermin like you." Parker's smile had never faded and now, he slowly and deliberately removed his sunglasses to show that there was not a trace of a smile in his eyes. And as for how you've done-" Parker stepped up face to face with Sid and looked him right in the eye. "It's not HOW you've done, but how you've done it that interests me." He cocked his head to one side, deliberately imitating the nanotech. "I'd be willin' to bet you've done it without any of the good people in this little 'burg knowin' anythin' about you."

Using the tip of his forefinger, Sid pressed it into Parker's chest, his great strength causing the man to have to take a step backwards. "What I have or have not done is of no concern to you. I've made my money through wise business practices and there's no paper trail for you to sweep up with your little broom. So stay out of my face if you don't plan on being roo chow."

Parker chuckled mirthlessly. "Roo chow. That's good, Sid. I see you've picked up some Australian lingo."

This time Parker pressed his forefinger into Sid's chest and, although he couldn't make Sid step back, his intention was perfectly clear. To show Sid that Parker wasn't going to back down either. "I'm not interested in how you've made your money, Sid. I'm not a cop any more. I'm just warning you to stay out of MY business here in the Glen."

Removing his finger from Sid's chest, Parker brushed imaginary lint off the lapel of the Armani suit. " 'Cause, you see, not bein' a cop any more means there are no rules I have to stick to. And you want to remember that I'm the one man in the world knows how to take you down, 'cause I've done it before."

Sid narrowed his eyes to a mere slit. "I'm not really into little fried slices of potato, but then you know that."

"Oh, yeah. I know a lot about you, Sid." Parker slid his sunglasses back onto his dark, handsome face. "Question is, how much do you want the good folks here in this little town to know? 'Cause there's plenty I can tell 'em, if I decide I want to talk."

Parker took out the keys to his own car and jingled them in his hand for a moment. "Includin' that new wife of yours. She know she's married to somethin' that's not human?"

Sid put his hand on the door handle of the bank and without looking at Parker, began to open it, saying just as he passed through the doorframe, "Talking, Parker, is hazardous to the health." He let the door close behind him.

Parker's smile never faded as he headed for his car. Working security for Ben Wade, and now running into Sid 6.7 again. The Glen was going to be a much more interesting place than he'd thought a town this size could ever be.

He stood nervously a moment beside his rental car, feeling terribly far from home. This was his first time to leave his home state of Maine for a place so distant, and now he wondered if he might regret the sudden impulse that had led him to the literal far side of the world. His mind tracked back to that surprise encounter he'd had recently. The woman was from South Carolina and she was sitting atop the crest of Cadillac Mountain, looking out at the many small, green islands that dotted the silver harbor far below.

It had been his habit for some years to climb up there himself, often with a book of poetry in his hand, perhaps a notebook in which to scribble down impressions that came to him as he meditated on the beauty about him. It was she who had told him, though he never learned just quite how she knew, that his half-brother, Sidney Harbor, had gone to live in a small village called The Glen just inland from Coffs Harbor, New South Wales.

He'd seen Sid only once as he'd breezed through Portland on some business he had. They'd only exchanged a few words in the lobby as Sid was in a hurry and didn't like lingering in such a backwater state. The last he'd heard, Sid was in LA, where his primary residence was, though it was rumored he had homes scattered all around the world, many in unique places.

Bar Harbor had never really wanted to go to LA despite his yearning to know his half-brother better. The city was just too huge, too active for him. He was used to the coast of Maine, knew its rocky coastline well, its forested hills. He'd been part of the environmental conservation movements in the area, attending meetings, donating funds, helping raise more funds, even going out himself and replanting trees and gathering garbage from along the roadsides. It would be hard to leave even for a while. He'd had to find trustworthy substitutes for himself for the Saturday mornings when he read to the children at the orphanage, for the evening he spent at the old folks' home playing games with the residents, singing to them. He was also the choir director at church. He'd needed to get a replacement for that, too, as well as check in with the volunteer fire station to see if they could manage without him. He'd had to finish repainting poor Mrs. Olworth's picket fence. He'd promised and a promise was something that must always be kept no matter what. There was also the matter of the new shelving he was helping install in the library and the replanting of the small park due to that truck which had lost its brakes and plowed through, destroying the flower beds. If only he'd been able to leap onto the side of the truck sooner and grab the steering wheel before it had jumped the curb. At least when he'd done it, it had been in time, praise the Lord, to keep it from killing sweet old Mr. Ackerman, dozing in the sunshine on a park bench. Mr. Ackerman, awakened so suddenly by the truck veering past his bench as Bar had pulled the wheel desperately to the left, had gone into cardiac arrest, but Bar had leapt from the cab of the truck and performed CPR in time, then carried Ackerman in his arms the whole way to the hospital, singing to him gently.

Bar was also the mayor of the seacoast town named after his great, great grandfather, Bar Harbor the first. As town historian, he hoped to be able to finish that long article he was writing by taking his computer with him. He had the handle of his computer case in his hand now, as he stood beside his car. The Glen. Everything was so new, so very different. Already he missed Maine. He had no idea how long he'd be away. The town's children always counted on him to play Santa Claus for them and, then too, he didn't really want to miss his annual trek up into the top of Canada to help prevent the slaughter of baby white harp seals. The dancing class he taught Tuesday and Thursday nights had been easy to find a replacement for, but it was the crippled children he took on picnics on Sunday afternoons that would miss him the most. His project of transferring books into braille for the blind he'd simply had to put on hold for the time being. He regretted that.

He stood there, looking at the dome-like home some kind soul named Miss Peeg in the town had directed him to. Sid. His brother was an unknown quantity. He wondered just how alike they were, how many interests they shared. Perhaps while he was here, he might be able to assist Sid in some of his benevolent community endeavors. Already he'd seen a huge billboard proclaiming Sid's candidacy for mayor. That was a good sign (though, truly, he was not fond of billboards himself for they tended to hide the beauty of the nature behind them) for it meant that his brother was civic-minded and responsible. He was sure they'd get along and hoped Sid wouldn't mind that he'd not let anyone know he was coming.

Taking a few steps forward, he approached the door, murmured a soft prayer under his breath and rang the doorbell, smiling when he noted the chimes played Beethoven's Fifth.

Bar straightened his tie while he waited for the door to be answered. It was taking a long time. Perhaps his brother wasn't at home this afternoon? He was being thoughtless, wasn't he, arriving unannounced? Maybe it would be best if he went back into town and called Sid? Maybe he...?

The door opened with a slight whoosh of sound, melting into the curved wall somehow, someway. Sid stood just inside, buttoning his cuff, looking entirely put out. He'd been interrupted in activities with his wife and was not happy about it.

"Who....?" he began, his voice heavy with irritation. Then he saw the man standing there. "You?"

"Hello, Sid." Bar extended his right hand, which Sid did not take. "I...I hope it's all right that...that...I've come by, Brother."

Sid's upper lip curled slightly. "Portland. You were in Portland, Maine?" He knew he was right. He was simply never wrong.

Bar smiled. "Yes, that's correct. I'm so pleased you remember!"

"Who...are...you?" One of Sid's eyebrows cocked sharply.

"Bar, Sid. I'm your younger brother, Bar."

"Bar? What kind of name is Bar?"

"The town, Sid. Surely you know the town? It's the hometown of all the Harbors."

"I'm from LA."

"Oh, well, I know that, Sid, but I meant the town our ancestors are from."

"I have no ancestors."

Bar looked confused. "But, Sid, you're my half brother. Half of all my ancestors are yours."

Sid narrowed his eyes. "Look, mister. I admit I saw you once a long time ago in some hamlet far, far away, but I have no brothers, halves, wholes, thirds, none. I'm unique. An," he grinned to himself, "only child."

"Just look at me, Sid. Look at me."

Sid leaned against the doorjamb, staring at the man. "You do look similar. I give you that. What sort of hoax is this, anyway?"

Bar licked his lower lip. He hadn't expected this. Perhaps because Sid had not been raised in a loving family, perhaps that was why he was alienated from things of a familial nature? "It's no hoax, Brother. We have the same father."

Sid knew he'd had a creator, not a father. "My father is dead."

"You know, then? I wasn't sure if you would, Sid. Dad died last year, drowned off the coast during a hurricane when he was trying to rescue that crew from a lobster boat." He blinked back a tear. "They built a memorial to him, right in the town square, statue and all. You'd be proud, Sid."

Sid straightened. "Look, mister, this has gone far enough. That wasn't my father. You are not my brother." He began to turn away from the door.

"Sid!" Bar called out. "It was in his will, Sid, that I find you someday, tell you how sorry he was things didn't work out so he could raise you. Please, Sid, please. Just give me a chance to speak with you. That's all I want. I've come a long way, a terribly long way, to do that." He locked his earnest seagreen eyes on Sid's. "Please?"

"This is utter nonsense!" Sid snapped. "I have no family. Never have. It's not...possible."

"There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy," Bar murmured under his breath.

"Here!" Sid said, suddenly reaching into his pocket, and in one motion so fast and smooth it was hard for the eye to follow, had opened a small pocketknife and made a cut along the side of Bar's wrist.

"Ahh!" Bar exclaimed. "What...?"

"Let me see." Bar had clamped his right hand over his left wrist. "I said let me SEE!"

Slowly, almost embarrassed, Bar let his right hand drop. A tiny flow of bluish-red blood dripped from his wrist. Sid's eyes widened.

"It's...it's kind of hard to...explain," Bar mumbled. "I have this odd blood type, Q positive. There's never been a match for it." He looked to the side. "Dad said it was because of some chemical accident he'd had when he was a young man, affected his blood, made it bluish. Said he'd unfortunately passed it on to me, only mine was redder because of Mom."

Sid was looking at him as though he had two heads. How had this happened, Bar wondered, that his odd blood type had come up so soon, so immediately after meeting his brother? "I...I guess," he sighed heavily, "you think that's too strange, huh?"

"Your last name, you say it's Harbor, Harbor and not a number?"

"A number? Oh, you mean ten! My whole first name is Barten. All the Bar Harbors have always been named Barten, but simply called Bar." He looked at Sid. "Is that what you mean?"

"Am I older than you?" Sid asked.

"Didn't the folks who adopted you in LA tell you that? Oh, Sid, I'm so sorry. Did you not know you were adopted?"

Sid smiled oddly. "I never had that mentioned to me, no."

"Dad was in California about three years before I was born. Evidently you're the result of his time in LA. When I was born, he told my Mom about it, how he'd had another son but had never seen him."

"And what did your mother think of that?"

"Mom? Oh, she was a wonderful woman, Sid. You'd have loved her. Everybody did. She mostly just worried about you, hoped you were ok. She never had any idea how to go about finding you, though. Dad was always a bit vague on who your mother was."

"She sounds like someone who took in stray puppies." He knew the type, cloyingly sweet.

"How did you know!" Bar was truly amazed. "She ran the local humane society." He smiled in fond memory of his beautiful mother. "The meals-on-wheels program, too. She was a marvel."

"She's dead?"

"Yes." Bar's chin trembled a little. "Caught dengue fever from a trip she took out to an Indian reservation four years ago."

"So now you're an...orphan? Like me?"

"You're all I have left of family, Sid, all in the world."

"You have no other brothers, no sisters?"

"None. It seems to be some quirk of fate that each generation of Harbors produces only a single son and no daughters. Our generation was the exception, Sid. Somehow Dad made two sons."

"Did he, indeed?"

Bar stretched his arms wide, managing a hopeful smile. "Here I am, Sid. Living proof that our Dad made two of us."

"Why would he do that, Bar?"

"I'm not sure, Brother. He said something to me once about something having gone... wrong...in LA. I never knew just what he meant. I always just thought that because he didn't get to raise you, he was granted the grace to have another son he could keep."

"And your childhood, Bar? You had a happy childhood, did you?"

Bar looked embarrassed again. "I don't know."

"How can you not know? Either it was happy or it was not."

"I...I had an accident about ten years ago. Dad said I fell off the town's water tank trying to get Hannity, the local drunk, from killing himself. Said I fell about 40 feet and landed on my head. When I finally woke up, I'd lost all memory of everything that happened before that moment. So you see...."

"I see you don't know if you had a childhood or not." Sid was looking more and more interested in the man.

"Had a childhood? Of course I had a childhood. I just don't remember it, that's all."

"But what you're saying, Bar, is that you have no memory of not being a fully grown man. Is that right?"

Bar nodded. "I don't see that that matters, though."

"Oh, it just may matter a great deal," Sid smiled. "A great, great deal." He ran his eyes completely over Bar, making a decision. "Won't you come in...Brother?"

Bar stepped inside Sid's house, his head turning as he looked around. It wasn't exactly his personal taste in decor, his tending more toward natural woods and soft plaids, but it certainly was impressive...and immaculate. He'd been known to have a dust bunny or two under his couch. "It's splendid, Brother," he said, "quite splendid."

"It is, isn't it," Sid smiled. "Did it all myself."

"You must like glass," Bar commented, noting how many things were made from it.

"You don't know about...glass?"

"What do you mean? What's there to know about glass?"

"I...."

Just then Kate began to descend the blue, spiral staircase and Bar's eyes went to her. Sid held his hand out, taking Kate's as she neared the bottom. "My wife," he said proudly. "The most beautiful woman in the Glen."

Bar smiled. The woman was, indeed, beautiful.

"Darling," Sid continued, "I'd like you to meet my brother, my half-brother, from Maine."

"You're... brother? I thought you said you were an only child, Sid?" Kate asked, her mouth open at the sight of Bar standing there next to Sid.

"Well, I was, um, given up for, um, adoption at birth." Sid made a rather sorrowful face. "A thing I never speak of. My father evidently went back to his home state and, um, had a second son. I've only seen him once before, briefly, and didn't really know who he was." He looked at Bar with an odd smile. "Not until just now, in fact."

"Bar Harbor," Bar said, stepping forward, a genuine smile on his handsome face. "A sister-in-law! I'm so pleased! I didn't know."

Kate smiled back at him, "So very nice to meet you, Bar," she said, looking him up and down. "Wow, forgive me for staring, but I just can't get over the obvious resemblance between the two of you. You sure you're only half-brothers, then?"

"Different Mums," Bar explained. "Guess Dad's genetics were stronger."

"Yes, I guess they were," Sid added. "Anyway, Bar, this is my lovely wife, Katherine. She's being fruitful right now and multiplying and replenishing the earth."

"Ah, wonderful!" Bar said, pleased that Sid was able to quote scripture. "And I must say being with child suits you, Katherine. You positively glow."

"Thank-you, Bar, what a nice thing to say," Kate blushed, "I must admit, though, I rather feel as big as a house with the way my belly is expanding." She gave it a little pat, rather self conscious by the expression on Sid's face as she did so.

"Ah, no, Katherine! It's a beautiful kind of expansion, the best there is. You've got new life in there, growing life, and there's nothing better than that. The size is just a reflection of that, of the great mystery of what a woman can do. You should be proud of it. It's a grand thing. I've always wished I might have children some day. Just haven't been lucky enough to find the right woman like Sid here has." He moved his eyes from Kate to his brother. "You are a lucky man, Sid, truly blessed."

Sid was still looking at the curve of his wife's belly, finding it entirely loathsome. "What? Oh, yes, I'm terribly lucky."

"What a lovely thought, Bar," Kate beamed at him. "I'll try to keep that in mind each time I go in for a weigh-in at the doc's." She wrapped an arm around Sid's, pulling him close, "I think I'm the lucky one, though, having Sid scoop me up as a wife. With genes like yours I'm certain you'll find yourself a nice woman to settle down with, Bar. Which reminds me, how long will you be staying with us?"

Bar looked appraisingly at Sid. "I, um, well, I'm not sure."

Sid was looking just as appraisingly back at Bar. There was much he needed to discover about this...this...whatever he was. "Why, Bar! You've come so far...and just to find...me. You simply must stay a while. Where ARE you staying, by the way?"

"No where, not yet. I flew into Brisbane, rented a car, and came straight here."

"You've not been to the Glen yet then?" Sid asked.

"Only drove through, asked how to find your house."

"Well, there's nothing in that village that's good enough for a, um, brother of mine to stay at. Do say you'll honor me with your presence right here in my humble abode...for the time being."

"You're sure? I wouldn't want to impose. I could always...."

"Nonsense! I want you here under my own roof." He could keep a much better eye on him that way, could do little experiments to find out what made him tick. Bar obviously believed his mother was entirely human. Sid needed to discover more about that, much more. Of course, Bar believed his 'father' was human, too. Had the same man created both of them? If so, why? What did this person think had gone wrong in LA? That would mean him, that it was considered something was wrong with him, which was simply ridiculous. Whatever it was, that person had gone across the country and then made a second nanotech. How nanotech WAS Bar? And with whom had he been programmed? And... why?

"Oh, Sid! I couldn't ask for a better brother, really I couldn't!! Your welcome is even better than I'd dared hope. And you, Katherine, is it all right with you? I couldn't possibly stay if you...."

"Certainly it's all right with Katherine," Sid interrupted. "Why wouldn't it be? And I have a private room you can use here on the first level just beyond my music room. Katherine and I have our suite upstairs. This way you'll have your privacy." He also had the room completely wired and could watch and hear any and everything Bar might do. There was the little matter that he'd never mentioned this room to Katherine and so she had no idea it even existed.

When Kate heard this her eyebrows went up and she looked suspiciously at Sid. She cleared her throat, making a mental note to ask her husband about it later, then smiled at Bar, "I'm sure you'll be very comfortable here, Bar. Which reminds me, is there anything special you'll be requiring... food-wise, while you're staying here? Sid doesn't... umm...eat much, actually, so if there's anything you might require special please let me know and I'll be happy to pick it up for you at the market."

"Why, thank you, Katherine. How kind of you. Being a native of Maine, I'm quite partial to blueberries and lobster, but since I'm in Australia now, I'd like to try whatever they have here. Do you suppose I might find some vegemite? I've always wanted to try that. But don't worry. I can eat anything, anything at all. I'm not terribly particular. Except for beets. I don't like beets."

"Of course, anything you like, Bar," Kate smiled brightly, "It will actually be nice having someone to eat with. Not that Sid isn't great company during meals," she added quickly,
smiling at Sid, "but it sometimes can be... um... awkward, being the only one... um... eating."

"I'm sorry to hear of your digestive problems, Sid," Bar said, real concern on his face. At least his brother did look fit and healthy anyway, which was a relief.

"I'm used to it. Doesn't bother me. I imagine you'd like to get settled in...brother. Let's get your bags and I'll show you to your room."

Sid helped Bar carry in his suitcases, then led the way through the living room, down a hallway to a room with comfortable furniture and a magnificent array of surround sound equipment. He pressed a flat white button on the white wall, and a panel slid aside, revealing yet another room. It had no windows but there was a large, comfortable-looking bed with lavender bedding, a desk, two purple chairs, a dresser. Sid opened a door, indicating a closet, then another. "You'll have your own bath."

"Um, nice," Bar said, rather appalled at the colors and the lack of windows. He wasn't at all sure how comfortable he'd be here, but he didn't want to offend his brother and would just have to make the best of it. "Thank you so much for your hospitality," he added, trying to cover his discomfit.

"Nothing's too good for a brother of mine," Sid replied. "We'll just leave you now, let you get settled." With that, he whisked himself and Katherine through the panel, which slid shut behind them.

Bar walked to the panel. It was so smoothly done that he couldn't discern the edges of it, couldn't tell where it opened. He also couldn't seem to find the white button that would control it from the inside. "Sid!" he called, but his voice simply bounced back from the sound-proofed walls. Suddenly all he wanted to do was stand on some rocky crag with the wind in his hair and watch the waves crashing. He felt closed-in and hollered as loudly as possible, "SID!!"

"Come, darling," Sid smiled to his wife. "Let's go back upstairs. I wasn't nearly finished when my brother arrived."

Sid watched Bar through a small two-way mirror. His so-called half brother seemed rather upset at finding himself with no egress from the room Sid had led him to. Sid smiled. He couldn't have this...this...whateverhewas...out and about in the Glen without first knowing as much as he could about how he...worked. What he knew so far was that this person was not entirely nanotech, not like he himself was. Somehow he'd been diluted, his blood tainted with red, human blood. He needed to find out just to what degree Bar's systems were involved in that. Why had he been made? There was no need for him? Sid was perfect, was enough. Yet it seemed that his creator had somehow gone across the country and made himself a second model, blending it with human material. Bar would, therefore, have weaknesses he himself did not. And what sort of programming had gone into the making of his brain?

He watched Bar explore the room in futile attempts to discover a way out. Hmmm? It was obvious he could not simply ask Bar to open up and let Sid explore his innards. Therefore Sid must begin by trying something that would have no effect on himself, but would quite possibly render Bar more...co-operative.

This room, never seen by anyone else, was actually Sid's special laboratory. He'd disguised it as a guest room on the unlikely chance Katherine might someday stumble upon it. She hadn't, of course. Access to it was too cleverly concealed. Katherine was even now upstairs soaking in a perfumed bubble bath. He'd asked her to take her time, a long, long time, as he wished her body soft and fragrant for his use after while. She was most cooperative when it came to long bubble baths. The woman liked to please him, especially now that she was expanding like an over-stuffed buffalo.

Humming to himself, he pressed a button and a control panel opened. "Let's see? Ah, yes, perhaps this?" He flipped a lever and the 'guest room' was instantly flooded with an invisible, odorless gas. If Bar were sufficiently human, well....

Bar, opening a drawer, jerked to an abrupt stop, his entire body stiffening. Within two seconds his eyes had rolled up into his head and he folded into an untidy heap on the floor.

Sid smiled again. "That human, are you?" he purred. "Such a bad Daddy you had to make you so...vulnerable."

He pressed another button and the two-way mirror became a work of modern art on this side. Another, and the door to the room slid open, then shut behind him, locking. Crossing the room, he poked Bar with the tip of a shoe. Ah, good. Complete and utter insensibility. Lifting him easily, he lay Bar on a long table that appeared through the floor as the bed disappeared. Sid had little control buttons hidden all through the place, some that required only a movement of his foot.

First he took several large samples of Bar's blood then attached quite a number of wires and electrodes here and there about the supine form, especially on his cranium. Bar was like nothing he'd ever seen before, and he both knew himself well and the normal, inferior completely human form. Bar was both...and yet neither. What could possibly have been the reason for creating this...this... He frowned. And Bar didn't even know what he was. He thought he was a man. But he was a half breed.

His brain was grey matter fused with sublimely small circuitry, his body flesh...partly, bone...partly. He must have been incubated as well as created. Did he actually have a mother? Had their maker discovered how to implant this...thing...into a female womb? When he'd downloaded all the information he could acquire into his computers, Sid rolled Bar over, his fingertips exploring through the thick hair on the back of his head. Ah, yes, he did have a panel there. Sid opened it, fiddled with a bit of circuitry, not exactly sure what the results would be, but something had to be done to provide a bit of...explanation.

Lifting Bar again, he restored the lab to its guest room appearance, then carried him out the front door. Plopping Bar into the passenger's seat, he drove just a little around a wooded curve, lay Bar face down and artfully sprawled on some deep grass, then with one hand flipped the rental car upside down near by, making sure the driver's door was open. "Seat belts, my dear half-brother. Did no one ever teach you about seat belts?"

Then he walked back to his house, going upstairs to tell his wife that Bar had decided to go for a little drive to explore the Glen. She should be sufficiently soft and fragrant that he might actually be able to ignore the heap her middle was becoming.

Ahnna and Alistair were driving back from Coffs where he'd had a doctor's check-up. His dizziness had left but he still got ferocious headaches from time to time. The doctor, after a thorough examination, reaffirmed that in his opinion, those would fade within the month.

"I really hope," Ahnna was saying as their car came around a wooded curve. Her sentence was cut short, however, by the sight of an overturned car lying just off the road. She sucked in a sharp breath. It was way too similar to what had happened that awful night when Joimus' station wagon had rolled over and over in the rain-soaked field. "Oh...no!" she breathed as Alistair pulled his car over to the side.

As he opened his door, he tensed and paused for a moment, holding onto the partially-rolled down window. A deep ache was quickly spreading across the back of his head.

Ahnna came around the car, touching his arm. "Darling?" she said worriedly.

"Just the usual," he smiled. "I'll be fine. Come, let's see if anybody's hurt."

He took her hand and together they approached the car. Neither of them had ever seen this particular vehicle before and as small as the Glen was, everybody was fairly well aware of what its residents drove. Going to the other side of the car, they found the driver's door wide open and a man lying nearby, face down in the tall grass. Ahnna gasped again and Alistair asked her to wait by the man's car while he knelt beside him. There were no visible injuries and the car itself was hardly damaged, just upside down. It didn't appear that it had impacted anything. Puzzled, Alistair's brow creased and he lay a hand on the man's shoulder. "Can you hear me?" he asked gently.

The man moaned and tried to push himself up with one arm, failed, and Alistair helped him turn over onto his back.

"Sid?" Ahnna said, shocked.

Alistair studied the man's face. "Could be," he said, "but I'm not entirely sure."

Bar's eyes fluttered open and he found himself looking up into a kindly face bending low over him. The last he remembered his half-brother had been leading him to a guest room. He heard Ahnna say 'Sid', though, and opened his mouth. "Sid," he repeated.

"See, he's saying he is Sid," Ahnna stated. She'd barely had any contact with the man, but knew she'd recognize him.

"N...no," Bar stammered. "Not Sid."

"You are not Sidney Harbor?" Alistair asked.

"Br...brother," Bar gasped, finding it tremendously hard to think.

"I somehow didn't think Sid had any relatives, other than his wife," Ahnna said.

"Half...half-br-brother." Bar closed his eyes, feeling utterly confused. "Where...where... what?"

"Your car flipped over," Alistair supplied. "Were you on your way to Sid's house?"

"On way?" Hadn't he already arrived? "I...I...was...there." He paused, resting a palm over his eyes. "I think."

"Are you injured?" Alistair continued. "Ahnna, call for the ambulance."

"No...wait," Bar said. "I...I don't feel...hurt. Wait."

"Can you sit up?" Alistair tried to help him.

Bar managed a seated position in the grass, feeling entirely disoriented. "I...I...was inside. Inside Sid's. Where...where is this?"

"You're fairly close to that," Alistair explained. "What caused your car to turn over?"

"My car?" Bar looked to his side, appalled at the sight of his rental car. "What happened to my car?"

"I was hoping you could tell us, Mister...Mister?"

"Harbor, Bar Harbor."

"Like the coastal town in Maine?"

"Yes," Bar nodded. "That's where I've come from."

"You came to visit Sid then? Does he know you're here?"

Bar nodded again. "I...I was in his house. Met Katherine. Yes, I was in his house. I know I was."

"Did you leave to go somewhere else?"

"No...I...." Bar pressed both hands roughly to his face. "I don't remember! I don't...."

"Did you hit your head?" Alistair knew all too well how disorienting that was.

"I...no...I don't...doesn't hurt...no...I don't think so." It wasn't that his head hurt as though from an injury. It just didn't feel...right. It felt, what was the word, scrambled. Yes, that was it. The inside of his head felt scrambled.

"We could drive you to Sid's," Alistair offered. "That is if you'd prefer to go there than have us call for medical assistance."

"I...I don't need that. No, I don't think I need that. I just...yes...would you take me there? I don't...yes...please?"

Sliding an arm under Bar's, Alistair helped him to his feet. Bar stared at him a while then blinked several times. "You...you're...?"

"Oh, forgive me! I'm Alistair Harris, Reverend Alistair Harris, and this is my wife, Ahnna."

"You...you live here...in the Glen?"

"Yes, we do, Mr. Harbor, just down the road a bit."

"Bar, please. Just Bar."

Alistair smiled despite the pain in the back of his head. "Here, let me help you to our car. I'm sure Sid must be worried about where you are."

"Yes," Bar agreed, "he probably is. I...I...I'm not sure how long I've been gone." Or where he might have been going. Or why.

Bar leaned his head back in the rear seat of Alistair's car, not really seeing the trees passing by outside his window. His rental car? How had it gotten turned over like that? At least he hadn't been hurt. His head felt so strange, though. He must have given it some sort of hard bump to make him feel like he was.

"Th...thank you for your kindness," he said to Alistair as the reverend pulled up close to Sid's.

Alistair got out, opening the rear door for Bar, offering him a hand to steady him. "You're sure you don't need a doctor, Bar?"

"I...I don't think so. Perhaps just a little rest." And some answers, he thought.

Holding Bar's elbow still, Alistair rang the doorbell. Beethoven? He'd never heard a doorbell quite like it.

Sid opened the door. Ah, the reverend. He'd wondered which of the Glennites would find Bar. Instantly his face became a mask of concern. "Bar! What happened? You look quite pale, brother."

"He was in an accident, Sid," Alistair explained. "Ahnna and I found his car overturned just around the bend. He says he's not hurt, but he was thrown completely out and may possibly have hit his head."

"Here, let me," Sid said, taking Bar's arm and leading him gently to the large white couch in the living room.

Seated, Bar looked up at Sid. "I left? Can you...I mean...why...I, um, don't remember leaving."

"I was taking you to your room, Bar, when you suddenly announced you wanted to see the neighborhood in case, well, in case you might want to move here. I was, frankly, quite taken by surprise as the suddenness of your decision."

"I...I said that?"

"You did, indeed, brother. Do you not remember? You said you were so thrilled to find family that the thought of going back to Maine was, um, unappealing to you."

"But Maine has always been...has always...." He stared at Sid. "But you ARE my brother." He couldn't explain just why, but for some reason he wanted to stay in Australia. Everything he had left behind in Bar Harbor seemed far away, unimportant compared to being with his kin.

Sid smiled to himself. His manipulations inside Bar's head were working. He had him now in the palm of his hand. "Yes," he nodded in agreement, "and I can't begin to tell you how important it is to me that we're together."

"I...I don't want to leave you, Sid."

"I don't want you to leave, brother." Sid looked sad at even the thought of it.

Alistair and Ahnna were both watching this interchange. Neither of them had thought Sid capable of such feelings, not from what they'd heard about him. "It is nice for family to be together," Alistair said quietly.

"I've lost my entire family," Ahnna added. "Do appreciate each other while you have one another." She had been surprisingly moved by Sid's fondness for his sibling.

"Thank you, my dear," Sid said, looking at Ahnna. "Your words are wise." He squeezed Bar's shoulder slightly. "Are they not, brother?" he asked Bar.

"I...I don't know how I could ever entertain the idea of leaving here now that I've found you," Bar said emotionally, tears sparking in his green eyes.

"You have made me truly happy, brother," Sid smiled, brushing at his own eyes as if there were tears there.

"Is Kate here?" Ahnna asked.

"She is, indeed," Sid replied, "but she is expecting our little one, as you know, and an afternoon of, um, strenuous activity has left her quite fatigued. She's resting upstairs, but I shall gladly tell her of your inquiry when she wakes."

Ahnna stared at him some more. Why, he was quite pleasant, actually, and with excellent manners. She was about to say more when she heard Alistair, standing beside her, let out a tired sigh. Turning, she looked at his profile. Yes, he needed to get home and rest himself. "Well," she continued, taking his hand, "we were just on our way home from the doctor's in Coffs and it's been a long day. We'll be going now if you're sure Bar's all right."

"I'm fine," Bar smiled, something in his head having greatly settled now that he knew what course he needed to follow. "My brother will take good care of me." He looked fondly up at his older brother.

"I shall, indeed," Sid affirmed. "Very good care."

Bar turned his gaze back to the Harrises. "Thank you again for all you've done for me, for bringing me back where I belong."

"Well," Alistair said, "if you are going to be a new resident here, let me welcome you. I hope we'll see you around, possibly for dinner soon."

"I'm sure I'll be running into you," Bar smiled. "If the rest of the residents here are as nice as you two, I can tell I shall be most content."

"Allow me to add my thanks to my brother's," Sid said, walking the couple to the door. "He couldn't have been found by nicer people."

The door closed behind them and Alistair looked at Ahnna. "Well, that was different," he commented.

"Maybe I'll talk with Joimus about this," Ahnna said. "It might be interesting to see what she thinks."

Inside, Sid leaned his back against the closed door, looking intently across the room at Bar. He did want him to stay. He wanted to find out more about his operating systems and how and with whom he'd been programmed. Now that Katherine was plumping out, he needed a new toy to distract his mind.

He'd just taken a step across the room when his wife appeared on the stairs again.

“Brothers, Wives and Wriggly Things”

by Jo and Stacey

After Kate's bath, Sid had come back upstairs and they'd spent the afternoon making love again. She was completely exhausted and decided to take a nap.

Sid had disappeared downstairs – most likely out taking one of his walks or spending time with his new-found half-brother, Bar. Her nap, however, was far from restful, as she tossed and turned and was plagued by the usual unnerving dreams she’d been having lately. The most disturbing of them, of course, was the one where she woke up with a pouch on her belly – much like a mother roo has – and her baby kept peeking it’s little head out. All the while, she would frantically try to push him back in, telling him it was too early for him to come out, that he’d have to wait a few more months to be born. To make matters worse, when the stubborn infant finally did get its head all the way out, Kate was horrified to see it had little sideburns and had a ciggie dangling from its little cupids-bow mouth. She screamed and sat right up in bed, looking all around for Sid and thanking God he couldn’t see into her dreams.

She slipped on her clothes and headed downstairs, where she heard voices coming from the front room. When she reached the bottom she found Sid standing there, talking with Bar. She was still feeling quite disoriented and upset from both the dream and from her chat with Liana the day before, but she managed to put a smile on her face so not to let on to Bar that anything was wrong.

“Sorry to interrupt... oh hi there, Bar, I do hope you have been enjoying your stay here," Kate smiled at him, then turned to her husband, "Sid? Could I have a word with you when you get a moment?” she asked.

"Certainly, darling," Sid replied. "Just let me get Bar settled. He had a bit of an accident."

"Oh no!" Kate gasped. "An accident? What happened?"

"I...I seem to have gone for a drive and I...I...."

"His car flipped over. Alistair found him, brought him home. He's all right, though, aren't you, Bar? In fact, he's even decided to stay in the Glen. Isn't that wonderful?"

Kate smiled brightly, "Oh Bar, you're really going to stay? How wonderful!" she exclaimed, then added, "Oh, but you're sure you're okay from your accident?"

"I just...I don't seem to...I can't...."

"I think he bumped his head. He doesn't even remember leaving the house." He led bar to the 'guest room' again. "Now, here's where we were going in the first place. Mi casa, su casa."

"Oh, I can't...I couldn't...."

"Of course you can. You're not heavy. You're my brother." Sid grinned.

"I...I do think I'd like to rest a while." Bar eyed the bed. "If you don't mind?"

"Mind? Why should I mind, bro? You've just been in a car accident. Rest sounds like a good idea. I'll check in on you later. You take all the time you need."

He returned to the living room where Katherine was waiting for him. "You look somewhat disturbed, darling. Is anything the
matter?"

Kate frowned a bit, "Nightmares again, but that's not what I wanted to talk to you about," she told him, hoping he wouldn't question her about her dream, "It's...um... it's something Liana told me, it's been bothering me ever since she was over here yesterday."

"Wade's woman? I thought she wanted to be your friend, go shopping with you, that sort of thing. What has she said that's upset you, Katherine?" He frowned. Damn woman was as bad as her husband.

"She was my friend, but I don't think she is anymore," Kate nearly sobbed, "not after the awful things she was saying about you. She told me that her husband had forbid her from hanging out with me because you made some statement in the Tattler about him being a criminal! Can you believe that?"

"Got to him, did it?" he smiled.

Kate looked at him, barely able to contain her shock at what he'd just admitted, "So... it's...true? You, um, you said those things about him in the paper? Sid, why would you say something like that about him?"

"Alex asked me," he shrugged, picking a microscopic piece of lint off Katherine's shoulder. "Since I'm running for mayor, I thought it was my duty to our community to comment. Right to know and all that."

"Alex Ross asked you to comment on Ben Wade being a... criminal?" Kate asked him, her eyebrows raised. "Sid, you do realize this has come between me and Liana; we can't be friends now because of what you said about her husband. I... I don't know what to say," she began to cry. "She was my only friend... only female friend I have, and now she hates me."

"You might try Ahnna. She was with the reverend when they brought Bar home. Asked about you most kindly. And her husband is definitely not of a criminal bent of mind, not like ol' Benjamin Wade is." He lifted a teardrop off her cheek, looking at it in a beam of light through the windows. Tears, such fascinating things. He didn't have tear ducts. Nanotechs had no reason to cry anyway.

"Umm... Ahnna? Yeah, okay, she seems quite...sweet," Kate replied, "But Sid, that doesn't make up for the fact that Liana now hates me because of what you said in the paper. Do you know for a fact that he's a criminal? Liana says otherwise and she said he's never done or said anything bad about you. I'm just so... confused and quite frankly, saddened by the whole thing."

"You wish to know? I'd hoped to spare you. Yes, the man is a known criminal back in the States. Been to prison twice. I have the records. He's little more than a common thief, Katherine, and he sits on his high horse preaching to his wife about who's good enough to associate with her."

"Really?" Kate replied, surprised, "I always thought I was a good judge of character, but he sure had me fooled. Wow! He has nerve telling Liana that we aren't good enough for her. I won't let it bother me anymore then, especially since she spoke so ill about you. For that matter, the whole town seems to have something against you, for what reason I just don't know other than it must be Colin spreading lies." She sighed, then suddenly jumped, clutching her stomach, "Oh! Oh... Sid! I think the baby just... just... kicked! Here... feel." She took his hand, placed it on her stomach.

He had never felt the movement of still-interior human spawn and when the vibrations of it went through his palm, he leaned back, looking at his hand, somewhat astounded. "It's...alive."

Kate giggled, "Of course it's alive, Sid, it's our baby," she told him, placing her hand on top of his as the baby kicked again. "Isn't it amazing? He must have been upset because I was. Oh dear, I'll have to try and keep calmer from now on." She smiled, "I can't wait to finally get to see him - or her - when I go in for the sonogram next week. You will go with me, won't you?"

He could see inside her now with the technology he had in his 'guest room', but, of course, that wasn't currently an option. "I shall certainly go with you," he nodded, quite struck by the thought of viewing the wriggling thing inside his wife. Perhaps her reproductive activities might amuse him, have some redeeming value after all. He did require a great deal of amusement. Now he had Bar AND the little wriggler. If only the whole process didn't have to involve such a gross distortion of Katherine's torso.

"Brilliant!" Kate exclaimed, "Oh Sid, we're going to be...parents! I can hardly believe it!" She wiped away the last of her tears, forgetting all about why she'd been crying in the first place. "Our life will never be the same, and now we have your brother here to share our joy with, too."

Sid looked in the direction Bar's room lay. Yes, indeed, he had Bar here now. And he intended to keep him. Well, as long as he was entertained by keeping him. He reached out, laying his palm on Katherine's belly again. Colin had caused this. That, too, would be amusing. His chess board was getting populated by all its little pieces. Colin, Katherine, the wriggly thing...Liana and Weed...and Bar. He smiled, content, waiting for the wriggler to do its thing.

“Chip Off the ‘Ol Computer”

by Jo and Stacey

Kate showered and dressed and headed downstairs to find Sid. Apparently, he’d gotten up early because when she woke up he was no where to be found. Today was a special day for them – the day Kate had her sonogram and found out what sex their baby was. She could hardly contain her excitement as she walked through the house, calling out to her husband.

“Sid? Sid!” she looked all through the downstairs, unable to locate him, then found herself standing in front of the door to Bar’s room. She was just about to knock when the door suddenly opened. “Oh, Sid, you frightened me,” she told him, trying to catch her breath.

Sid closed the door quickly behind himself, a quick smile appearing on his face that completely hid what he might be thinking. "Sorry, darling," he purred, taking her arm gently and leading her into the living room where he sat beside her on the long, white couch. "You were looking for me?"

She looked at him suspiciously, then a smiled spread across her face, "Um... yes, I was. My doctor appointment is an hour, we need to be leaving if we're to get there in time." She looked over his shoulder at the door to Bar's room, "Is...is everything okay with Bar? Is he feeling any better?" She hadn't seen him since his accident a week earlier and was quite worried about his well-being.

"Oh, Bar? He's been getting a lot of, um, headaches since his car flipped. He told me he just wants to rest a lot, you know, take naps, watch TV, listen to the stereo in his room. He seems to be rather a quiet sort anyway. Don't worry about him. I'm sure he'll be out and about before you know it." His smile broadened. "Now what's this you've got on your mind? Something up?"

Kate's brow furrowed, "You...you don't remember? Today is the day of my sonogram. You said you'd go with me. We're going to find out what sex the baby is." She was a bit disappointed Sid hadn't remembered. She herself hadn't been able to sleep all week because of her excitement.

"Oh...that! Yes, yes, I remember that. I've just had a lot of, um, other things on my mind yet...since Bar came. But, of course, Katherine, I definitely have planned all along to go with you for that. What, um, time did you say it was?"

"It's in an hour," Kate replied, still a bit disappointed, "We should be leaving now. The clinic is in Coffs, you know. I don't want to be late or they will make me reschedule."

"You don't think I might drive too slowly, do you?" he grinned. "Which car would you like to take?"

Kate thought for a moment, "A roomy one," she sighed, patting her protruding belly.

"Ah, yes," he said, his lids lowering to half mast. "We wouldn't want to dent the dashboard of the Aston Martin, now would we?"

Kate managed a giggle, though she was feeling quite uncomfortable with her ever-expanding mid-section. "Oh Sid," she sighed, taking him by the arm, "perhaps the black Mercedes is a good choice then?" She gave Bar's door one last glance, and called out, "We'll be back later, Bar! Call if you need anything, dear," and lead Sid down towards the garage so they could be on their way.

It was a half hour drive, but Sid had them there in 18 minutes 34.5 seconds flat. "I think we're on time," he said, keeping his face bland, as he turned to look at his wife.

Kate managed a smile for him, though she was still feeling a bit queasy from the drive. "I...um... thank-you, Sid," was all she managed to say, then fumbled with the door handle and wobbled out of the car. Her heart was racing as they approached the clinic door; her thoughts a mixture of worry, fear and excitement. As they reached the door, she stopped, turned to Sid, "Sid, there's something I've been meaning to ask you," she started, a bit nervously, "your family... they don't...um... have any history of birth-defects or anything else I should be concerned about for our baby, do they?" She knew about his allergies to food, and only hoped that would be the least of her worries.

"My family? Why, um, no. Everyone in my family has been, er, born in absolute perfect condition." Actually, he'd always thought he was the only one, which was why the surprise of Bar had his need to examine things in high gear. "And don't worry that my food allergy could be passed on. Bar eats just fine, you know. My, er, doctor said it was unique to me and definitely not inheritable."

Kate smiled, relaxing a bit. "That's a relief," she told him, "I'm sorry, I had to ask. Until I actually see for myself that our baby is fine - has all his - or her - fingers and toes and such...," and doesn't look like Colin! she thought to herself, "...well, it will just be a big relief is all." . She wrapped an arm around Sid's waist, led him through the clinic door and into the office waiting room, where she checked in at the front desk.

The office was filled with other expectant women, all in various stages of pregnancy. Kate led Sid over to an unoccupied love-seat, where they sat to wait for the nurse to call her into the exam room.

Sid had never before been in an office full of such rounded-bellied women. He was horrified at the sheer numbers of terribly misshapen females. One of them in particular looked like she was ready to explode. He turned his gaze back to Katherine. She wasn't so bad, not yet, but would she get like...like...THAT? He closed his eyes tightly, trying to block out the horror of the women around him.

Kate was still nervous about seeing her baby for the first time. Though she had no doubt any baby taking after her husband would be anything less than perfect, there was always the chance still that Colin was the father and who knew what kind of genes he had! After a few moments, a nurse came to the door and called her name, startling her from her thoughts. She looked up at Sid, noticed his eyes were closed tight, and frowned, "Sid," she whispered, "Are you... alright? It's time. They've just called my name."

"What?" he said, his eyes snapping open. "Time? Time for what?"

Kate stood up, extending her hand to him, "Time to go back to the exam room, of course," she told him. "That's where they do the sonogram. Are you sure you're okay?" Perhaps he was as nervous about this as she was, Kate thought to herself, smiling slightly at the thought.

"Oh, good!" He truly wanted to get out of this room with all the elephantine bellies. He took her hand gratefully. "Which way?" he asked, his voice eager.

"This way, through the door," Kate told him, motioning towards where the nurse was standing holding the door open for them. She led Sid through the door and down a long hallway to an open exam room, where Kate was instructed to get undressed and put on a hospital gown, then wait for the doctor.

Kate did as she was instructed, trying to ignore the look on Sid's face as she took off her clothes and slipped on the gown. She knew that look, knew what Sid had in mind. As she sat on the exam table, waiting for the doctor to enter, she whispered to Sid, "Later, darling. Not here."

"I can probably get us home faster than I got us here," he said hopefully. He knew he'd need something like that, like being with her in bed after this gruesome experience of maternal monstrosity exposure. He went to stand close beside her, running his fingers down the curve of her back, which, thank goodness, was exactly the same as it had always been. Most of her was. That was good.

A wave of goose-bumps went up Kate's spine at Sid's touch. She let out a little gasp then quickly gathered herself and cleared her throat as the doctor knocked on the door. "Come in," Kate told him, pulling the back of her gown closed.

"Good morning, Mrs. Harbor, Mr. Harbor," Dr. Larkin greeted them, as she entered the room and set about getting her equipment ready for the sonogram. "Kate, if you will just lie back on the table here we can get you ready to have a look at your baby."

Kate smiled, looked up at Sid - who was busily staring at the computer monitor next to her - then did as she was told. Dr. Larkin then put a sheet over Kate's lower-region and lifted up the edge of her gown exposing her bulging belly.

"This will be a bit cold," she told Kate, smiling, as she put a sticky gel substance on Kate's belly and placed a long transducer wand on her and began gliding it around until an image appeared on the monitor.

"Is...is that it?" Kate asked, squinting at the tiny wiggling image on the screen.

"That's your baby," Dr. Larkin smiled at her, moving the wand around to get a better view to show them. "Appears to be right on schedule, and no abnormalities. Would you care to know the sex?"

"Yes, yes I would," Kate replied, excitedly. She reached out and grabbed Sid's hand, holding it close.

"Congratulations... appears to be a little boy," Dr. Larkin told them, grinning.

Sid had been staring with great intensity at the computer screen ever since the first blurry image had appeared. When the image took form, all still in grays and charcoal, it was immediately clear to him what was what. He hadn't lived inside a computer so long himself without coming to understand in the deepest way possible all the images it could produce. When Dr. Larkin said it was a boy, Sid reached out and placed his palm over the wriggling form.

"He...he's IN the computer?" he asked, his mind suddenly caught up in the fact of the image being inside the monitor. At that thought, something deep inside him surged down his arm to his palm and he wanted more than anything to get the little being out of the monitor. His face was full of emotion, an odd expression playing over his features.

"No, darling," Kate giggled, "he's IN me. Feel him," she took his hand again and placed it on her belly. The image on the monitor moved again, as did her belly.

"This is just a picture of what your son produced from sound waves bouncing off your wife's organs and interior body parts," the doctor explained.

"Oh, yes, of course," Sid muttered, but still his eyes remained on the monitor and he felt a connection with the life-form there and was utterly, utterly surprised by it. That the being moved under his hand didn't take away from the sight of him inside the monitor. His upper teeth clamped down on his lower lip and he stared and stared.

Dr. Larkin pushed a button and printed out a picture of the baby for them to take home, as well as made a digital video of the baby, which she copied onto a DVD for them. Afterwards, she excused herself from the room so Kate could get dressed.

Kate handed the picture and DVD to Sid and quickly pulled her clothes on. "He has your nose, I think," she sighed, looking at the little picture in Sid's hand. "It's all so real now, you know? He's a real little person, with 10 fingers and toes and a heartbeat."

"My nose?" Sid examined the black and white picture. There was a definite profile of the baby, who was lying on his back. He touched his own nose. The child did have a very babyish version of it. But, then, Colin's nose was shaped quite like his, too, a fact which he found disgusting, not leastwise added to by the fact there was more often than not a smear of black grease on it somewhere.

He looked from the picture to Katherine's belly. It was easier for him to think of the baby in the monitor than inside her. In trying to come to terms with that, he found himself gradually superimposing a computer over his wife's form. This whole thing was getting much more complicated than he'd ever thought.

Kate could tell that something was troubling Sid, but she couldn't figure out what it could be. Perhaps it was just nerves about being a dad soon? she thought to herself.

Once they were back in their car and heading for home, she decided to bring up another subject, "Perhaps we should pick out a name for the baby now, don't you think, Sid? I was...um... thinking - if it's alright with you, of course - about naming him after his father..." She bit her bottom lip, waiting for the reaction.

"Sidney, Junior?" Now that WAS a new concept! And wouldn't Colin just flip over that! It would be like putting his brand on the little black and white wiggly thing. He smiled as he drove, thinking about it. "I like it, Katherine. What would we call him for short, though? SJ? "

Kate smiled, "We could do that, yes," she told him, pleased that he liked the idea. "Sidney Harbor, Jr... SJ....," she sighed, patting her stomach. "He'll be the envy of all the other kids... and their parents."

"He will, won't he?" Sid began to think of all the things he could buy for the kid as he grew, of what a snappy dresser he'd be compared to the slobs around him. "And education," he said aloud. "He's got to have the best education."

"Oh, but of course," Kate agreed, "I hear it all starts as early as preschool, even. We should most likely get him on the waiting list for that as soon as he's born, even, as I've heard there's a rather long wait."

She looked up adoringly at her husband, "You are pleased about being a father, aren't you, Sid?" It was more of a statement than a question. Up until now, she wasn't sure what Sid was thinking about her being pregnant. He'd never seemed to take much of an interest until now. Now it was real, now that they'd actually seen the baby.

"He's mine," he said firmly, his eyes glued on the road. "And he'll always be mine." He glanced briefly at her. "Always." The little thing had been in the computer, just like he had been. He knew the reality, but somehow that had got fixed in his mind and he suddenly found himself feeling very protective of it and knew there was nothing he wouldn't do...absolutely nothing...to keep Colin's clutches off him.

“The Attack” – Part 1

by Jo and Stacey

Kate smiled as she sat on the grass and watched the little yellow and white tabby kitten bat at the annoying fly that had been buzzing around its fuzzy head. Now that the days were warmer she’d been spending a lot more time outdoors while Sid busied himself with his brother. She was nearing seven months into her pregnancy now and finding it increasingly difficult to find the energy to keep up with everyday activities, including those her husband enjoyed in bedroom with her.

Though she’d promised Sid she wouldn’t wander too far away from the house, she did like to take a walk to the edge of the property where a line of trees separated their property from that of their closest neighbors. Today, as the weather was so nice, she’d decided to pack a little picnic lunch with her and found a nice clearing to spread a blanket out on while she ate.

She took in a deep breath, letting the warm air fill her lungs and slowly let it out. The kitten, which she’d been secretly feeding for the past week since it first showed up outside her home, had now given up its pursuit of the fly and was now turning its attention towards attacking Kate’s sandal. She giggled as she picked it up and gave it a little cuddle.

“What to name you,” Kate mused, as she studied her little furry friend. The kitten let out a meow then began to softly purr as Kate stroked its back. “Percy, perhaps?” she asked it, cocking an eyebrow, then frowned. “No, perhaps not. I suppose I should know if you are a boy or a girl kitty before choosing a name then. How about just Kitty?” The kitten purred louder and Kate giggled. “Okay, Kitty it is then.”

Kate looked at the sky, noticing the sun was getting lower on the horizon. “Guess we’d better pack up and call it a day, Kitty, before my husband sends out a search party for me. C’mon, little one, time to get a move on then.”

She picked up the kitten in her hands and pushed herself awkwardly up onto her feet and sighed. Yet another thing that was becoming increasingly hard for her to do with her belly now so big and bulging – getting to her feet. As she bent down to pick up her blanket and belongings, the kitten’s fur immediately stood up on end and it began hissing wildly.

“What’s the matter, little one?” Kate asked, holding the kitten up to eye-level. Just then it let out a louder hiss and began snarling and struggling to get out of her hands, then clamped its sharp little teeth down into the flesh of her hands, causing her to scream out in both surprise and pain. She dropped the kitten and it immediately too off running and climbed high into the nearest tree.

Clutching her bleeding and throbbing hand, Kate followed after the kitten. “Kitty! Kitty!” she yelled after it, worried it might get itself stuck up there so high. That’s when she heard it – a low growl coming from just behind her. She turned quickly, horrified by the wild dog that she saw standing ten feet in front of her.

“Nice...dog,” she told it, as she slowly backed away. “Stay back, nice dog, good dog.”

The bite on Kate’s hand was quite deep and blood was dripping down onto the front of her sundress. The dog growled louder, smelling both Kate’s blood and her fear. She let out a gasp and decided she’d take her chances and run for it. The dog was right on her, snarling and snapping at her ankles as she ran as quickly as she could manage towards the other side of the woods. She let out a blood-curling scream, tears streaming down her horror-stricken face, as the dog knocked her to the ground and pounced on her back.

Maximus and Cort had been riding fence, chatting amiably as they rode, enjoying the pleasant day.

"You hear that?" Cort said, stiffening in his saddle. "Sounds like...."

But Maximus had already spurred Legion and was galloping into the woods. Gods, he thought, that was a woman's scream. Could Joimus be in the woods? All too clearly the memory of her trapped on the bank in the flood came, filling his mind, and he spurred still harder. He came into the small clearing just as the animal, dog, wolf, he couldn't tell, knocked the woman down. He reined sharply, his rifle instantly in his hands, and the beast crumpled, its body lying across the prostrate
woman's back.

Cort was there now, too, and both men pounded across the ground, dropping to their knees. Maximus pulled the animal away, then pushed it off to the side to make room for himself beside the woman. Cort was touching her cheek and looked up. "It's Katherine Harbor," he said. "Sid's wife."

Kate let out a moan, her eyelids managing to flutter open briefly. Her vision was blurry but she could barely make out the outline of a man kneeling beside her. "Sid...," she said, weakly, trying to sit up. Pain shot through her bruised and bloodied body and she collapsed into unconsciousness.

Gently, they turned her over. "She is with child," Maximus said gravely."

"No way to get an ambulance down here," Cort observed. "We'll have to get her at least part way ourselves."

Maximus mounted Legion and as carefully as possible, Cort handed Katherine up into his arms. Maximus cast a frowning look back at the dead animal. "It will have to be checked for rabies. Pray for the sake of this lady and her child that not be the case."

More slowly this time, the two riders made their way through the woods, across a wide pasture and up to the Meridius' home. Cort helped him again with Katherine, opened the gate, and Maximus carried her into his house where Joimus was just finishing sending off an e-mail back to the States.

"What...?" she gasped as she turned, seeing her husband with an unconscious woman in his arms.

"Katherine Harbor," he said. "She was attacked in the woods by a large dog." He shifted her slightly in his arms. "I killed it."

"Oh, my goodness!" Joimus cried, rising quickly. "Here, lay her on the couch. Have you called Sid?"

"Not yet." He jerked his head briefly toward the end table where his cell phone lay.

"Ok, I will. You get her settled." She picked up the land line, frowned, not knowing Sid's number as she'd never called the man, never intended to call him. Punching in the numbers for information, she got his number, sighed, and entered them into her phone.

"Sid?" she said, when he answered.

"Who is this?"

"It's me, Sid. Joimus Meridius?"

"Pardon me while I go look out a window and see if hell has frozen over."

"There may be a few flying pigs, Sid, but this is serious. I need to tell...."

"What can the likes of you possibly need to tell me?"

"Your wife, Sid, she's here." She turned to look toward where Cort was gently wiping Katherine's face while Maximus was cleaning the wound on her hand.

"Katherine! Why would she be at your house?" His voice level was steadily rising.

"She's hurt, Sid, and she's...."

"If Maximus has harmed a hair on her head I'll....!"

"You've got it all wrong, Sid...as usual. She was evidently by herself in the woods at the edge of our property and a large dog attacked her."

"Dog?" He found himself at a strange loss for words. "Dog?" he repeated.

"Yes, and you'd better hope it wasn't rabid. If Maximus and Cort hadn't gotten to her when they did, it would have killed her."

"She's...she's...?"

"She's lying on our couch. She passed out. But Maximus shot the dog."

"Maximus...?" The phone was silent a moment. "I'll be right over!"

With another sigh, Joimus hung up the phone. "He's on his way." Her eyes locked on her husband's and she shook her head mutely.

Maximus pressed his lips together and continued working on Katherine's hand.

It seemed like mere seconds before a great roar was heard outside. Joimus rolled her eyes. "I hope he didn't take out the garden gate."

Without knocking, Sid burst through the front door demanding, "Where is she? Where's my wife?"

Maximus stepped back as Sid dashed up beside the couch, dropping to one knee, his hands moving over Katherine's face. "Katherine?" he murmured over and over. "Katherine, open your eyes. I'm here."

Kate had the vague awareness of people surrounding her but their voices sounded garbled and so far away that she was unable to make out who they all were. She heard her name whispered in her ear, felt the familiar touch. Sid. He had come. He was there with her now. Still lost in a fog, she tried desperately to reach him, to open her eyes and call out to him, but the fog was too heavy and she only managed to let a slight whisper of his name, "Sid."

Sid looked truly stricken. "Oh, Katherine! Please be all right." His eyes moved then down her form to her rounded middle. SJ. His hand followed his eyes and he cupped it over her. He was unsure of himself and it confounded him entirely. He'd never cared before...ever...if something else lived or died.

Maximus and Joimus exchanged looks again. Sid was acting practically like a human being. He really seemed to care about his wife and the child she carried. Maximus licked his lips, cleared his throat, and replied. "I am sure she will be fine. She...." But Sid didn't seem to hear him.

Joimus almost touched Sid's arm, but pulled her hand back. "She should probably be checked by a doctor, Sid."

"The dog was on her back," Cort offered. "Clawed her shoulders some. Don't know if it bit her there or not. There's blood...."

Sid was running the backs of his fingers back and forth across her cheek, noticing the tracks her tears had made there. Something was terribly wrong about all this. Nothing should happen to Katherine, not to his wife. He lived above this sort of thing. He was the one who created circumstance, manipulated events, managed details to his liking. This was not to his liking, not at all. And how had the damn General got himself involved in it? He didn't want the General part of anything to do with Katherine or SJ. He needed to think...to plan, but some of his gears seemed not to be meshing quite properly. "Katherine," he said again, her name being all that seemed to want to form on his lips. "Katherine."

Kate fought through the thick fog holding her mind captive with all her might until finally she was able to open her eyes slightly, focusing in on the man holding her close. Sid. She cleared her throat, her voice hoarse from screaming when the beast of a dog had attacked. "You found me," she told him, her voice barely audible. "I knew you'd save me." She smiled, and tried to lift her head, but pain shot through her neck and shoulders and she cried out and lay back on the couch.

"I'll always save you," Sid murmured, completely ignoring the fact he hadn't even been there in the woods.

"Would you like me to call the local medics?" Maximus said rather stiffly.

"No!" Sid snapped. "I'll take care of my wife myself." He began to slide his arms under her, which made her moan aloud. "Shhh," he whispered. "I've got you. I'm taking you in to Coffs."

"But...," Joimus protested.

Sid turned, narrowing his eyes at her. "Your opinion is not required." He stood, Katherine in his arms, and walked toward the door, which he'd left open. In fact, the engine of his Bugatti was still running.

“The Attack” – Part 2

by Jo and Stacey

Kate let out a yelp as Sid slid her into his Bugatti and closed the door. Her hand had swollen twice its size and was still bleeding from where the kitten had bitten her. It throbbed terribly, as did her head and her back. She clutched her belly, praying her baby was still safe. She hadn't felt him move in some time, but that could just be because he was sleeping, at least, that's what she hoped. She'd heard Sid mention he was taking her to Coffs. The hospital? she wondered. She closed her eyes, floating in and out of consciousness during the long drive to Coffs, which Sid made in record time, even for him.

"Well, that was strange," Joimus commented, watching the dust from Sid's rapid leaving still settle on her roses.

"That was Sid," Maximus half-snorted.

"Um," Cort said hesitantly, "you know this guy from before?"

"We do," Joimus sighed, "but wish we didn't."

Cort was curious and wanted to ask more, but the look on Maximus' face deterred him. "I'll go get the dog. Take him to the vet's to check him out for rabies."

"Thank you," was all Maximus said, his eyes still on the front window.

When he'd gone, Joimus came up behind Maximus, sliding her arms around his waist. "You did a good thing," she murmured, pressing her face into his broad back.

"Mmphm," he muttered.

"I wonder where such an animal came from. I haven't heard of a killer dog in this area."

"I am glad the thing is dead," Maximus said, turning in her arms. "It was on our property and might have come up near the house."

"I love you." Now she buried her face in his chest.

"I know," he smiled, kissing the top of her head.

Sid drove like a maniac, his eyes going every few seconds to Katherine's face. She had her eyes closed and he was afraid the dog might have injured her more than anyone knew. "Katherine, you be strong," he urged. "You hear your Sid? I want you to be strong." Damn, he needed her to be strong. He didn't like needing anybody else to be anything, but he needed that from her right now. She was merely human and, therefore, delicate and frail, not like he himself was. Once again he wondered how they even managed to survive at all. And then there was SJ. He would be completely human, too. There was something wrong about that. Perhaps there was something he could do to alter that.

"We're here," he announced, getting out and going around to her side of the car, reaching in to gather her up.

"Wh..where? Where are we, Sid?" Kate asked, feeling herself being lifted then carried swiftly into a building of some sort. The pain in her back and hand was nearly unbearable and she cried out again as she was jarred around in Sid's arms.

"Who's the best here?" Sid called loudly as he walked across the tiled floor of the ER entrance.

"What's wrong with her?" A male nurse asked.

"She was attacked by a mad dog...and she's pregnant."

"Get her on that gurney!" an older man with waving silver hair snapped.

"Who are you?" Sid glared at the man.

"I'm the best there is...so get her on that gurney."

Sid lay Katherine down and was forced to move away by the doctor and two nurses. He didn't like that. There was a lot today he didn't like.

"How far along?" the doctor asked.

"Seven months," Sid supplied. "Do you think...?"

"Give me a few minutes, sir, and I'll let you know what I think."

"Are you the husband?" a nurse asked.

"I am not 'the' husband. I am HER husband!" Sid huffed.

Katherine moaned and Sid blasted, "She's in pain, dammit! Give her something."

Kate felt herself being laid down on a bed of some sort. She heard Sid's voice, the anger and panic in it, and began to shake. "Sid?" she called out, her voice weak. "Sid, what's happening? Where am I?" There were people all around her, their hands poking and prodding at her and she tried to struggle free. She heard a female voice tell her to lay still, then felt the sharp prick of a needle in her arm. She opened her eyes trying to see what was going on around her but gave up and closed them tightly again as the bright hospital lights blurred her vision.

Kate felt herself become calmer and soon after the pain in her hand and back lessened. She felt as though she were drifting off to sleep again and tried her best to fight it, but the urge was too great and finally she succumbed to it.

Sid's eyes widened as he observed Katherine's head loll to the side. "She didn't die?" he gasped.

"She's merely asleep," the nurse replied. "The medicine will help with her tension so maybe she won't go into labor."

"Maybe?" Sid roared. "What do you mean MAYBE?!?"

"Now, now, Mr., um, Mr.....?"

"Harbor. Sidney Harbor."

At that every nearby eye, including the doctor's, turned on him with a 'you've got to be kidding' look. When no one responded in what Sid considered to be an appropriate amount of time, he repeated, "What do you mean?"

"Mr, um, Harbor," the doctor said, "would you happen to know if your wife has an obstetrician and, if so, what his name might be?"

"Of course she has an obstetrician! Dr. Larkin, that's her name. Dr. Larkin."

"Ah, good doctor," the male doctor, whose name tag read Douglas McDuff, nodded. "Nurse, contact Dr. Larkin and advise her of what we've got here."

"What you've got here is my WIFE!" Sid spluttered.

Dr. McDuff ignored that. "You say she was attacked by a wild dog? Do you know if it was rabid?"

"How in hell would I....?" Sid stopped. Damn, that had to be found out, didn't it. "Just a moment." He walked away, calling the Meridius house.

"Well," he said without preamble, "was it rabid?"

"Hello to you, too, Sidney," Joimus replied smoothly. "We don't know yet. Cort went to get the body and take it to the vet for testing.
Where are you and how is Katherine?"

"ER, Coffs. Let me know as soon as you find out." He hung up without another word.

Dr. Larkin was just leaving her office when she received the call from one of the attending nurses at the hospital about Kate's condition. Within minutes she was in the ER and checking in on Kate. They still didn't know whether or not the wild dog that had attacked her had been carrying the rabies virus or not, and it could be another hour or two before they had that information.

Once she was satisfied that Kate and her unborn child were both in stable condition, she decided she better address any concerns Mr. Harbor was having. The attending physician had informed her that he'd been most worried about his wife. She found him pacing back and fourth in the hallway of the ER.

"Mr. Harbor?" she said, as she approached him. "Hi, I'm Dr. Larkin, we met before at your wife's last office visit." She extended her hand for him to shake.

"Keep them alive," he said. "Keep them both alive." He said it, though, with the most intense look possible in his eyes. He hadn't taken her hand.

There was something in his eyes that suddenly sent a chill through Dr. Larkin and she dropped her hand and took a step back from the man standing in front of her. She cleared her throat and quickly recovered herself, assuming the man was just showing his love and concern for his wife and unborn child.

"Mr. Harbor," Dr. Larkin said, still trying to regain her composure, " I assure you, Kate and your child are in good hands here and we are doing everything in our power to assure both will pull through just fine. In fact, I've just examine her myself and she and the baby are both in stable condition. She suffered some scratches and bruising on her back which the attending physician cleaned and bandaged, as well as a rather deep bite on her hand from what we can tell was a smaller feline. I was told the dog that had attacked her was killed and is now being tested for rabies, but what about the feline? Is it a pet of yours? If so, has it been vaccinated?"

"Feline? You mean my wife was attacked by two animals? I know of no cat. We have no pets."

"Perhaps it was a stray? From the condition of the bite it would appear to be quite fresh and most likely occurred at the same time or shortly before the attack. Either way, the animal should be located and confined as a precaution. In the meantime, I've ordered a room for your wife to be moved to. As soon as she's been settled you may go in and see her."

The Glen...ha! Sid thought. Murders, kidnappings, shootings, floods, fires. And now his wife had been attacked in the space of a few short minutes by not less than TWO wild animals. Well, she wouldn't be going out alone like that, not any more. Not her nor his little boy either. But what about the feline? It needed to be found, too, evidently. How many cats lived in or around the Glen? Could he get rid of them all?

“The Attack” – Part 3

by Jo and Stacey

Kate was running as fast as she could, SJ clutched tightly to her chest. The dog was getting closer, its razor-sharp teeth snapping fiercely all around her. Frantically, she headed through the woods, managing to keep one step ahead of the dog. Up ahead, she could hear Sid's voice calling her, beckoning her to come back to him. "Where are you?" she cried, holding her baby closer, his cries now mingled with her own. "Oh Sid, I can't see you!"

Finally the fog all around her began to lessen and she could make out a small house up ahead. She ran faster, the dog still biting at her ankle, its hot breath breathing down the back of them. If she could just reach the house, she'd be safe! She and her baby would both be safe! The faster she ran the farther it seemed to get, however, as did the sound of her husband's voice. The dog was nearly upon her. It was a losing battle she feared. Suddenly, the door to the house swung open and two long arms reached out and pulled her and SJ to safety. The baby was still crying and she held him out in front of her, cuddling him.

"It's alright, my little one, shhh... there now, we're safe now," she cooed, trying to comfort him. But when she pulled back the blanket, her baby had transformed into the dog - its teeth bared at her as it let out a low growl. Kate screamed and dropped it to the floor. Then, suddenly, she opened her eyes and the room all disappeared in front of her, and she saw the face of her husband standing worriedly beside her, calling her name.

"SJ," she said weakly, her hand moving down to rest on her belly. Her baby was still inside her, alive and well. "Wh...where am I? What happened to the dog?" she asked Sid.

"Katherine, Katherine," he soothed. "You're fine. You're both fine. We're here in the hospital in Coffs. It's all right now. You're safe now. SJ is
safe now." He was speaking almost as much to himself as to her, he found.

Kate looked around, the hospital, she was in the hospital and Sid was there. "Oh Sid, I was so scared," she told him, her voice still weak, "How did you manage to get me away from that dog?"

"You don't remember?" He was quite pleased about that, but knew he shouldn't push it too far. "There were a couple of men, um, hunters
probably as they had rifles. One of them killed the dog."

Sid's cell phone rang and he stepped out in the hall. "Yes?"

"It's me, Sid. I have the results from the vet."

"And they are?"

"Rabies."

"He is sure?"

"Completely. Cort waited and got the results in person. There's no doubt, so let Katherine's doctors know as soon as you can."

"I don't need you to tell me what I should do."

"Right," she said and hung up.

Sid saw Katherine's doctor just down the hall and walked quickly in his direction. "The dog was confirmed rabid."

"Sorry to hear that, but it's good we know. I'll arrange for the injections to begin right away."

"Is it safe? Her being pregnant and all. Will they harm her or the baby?"

"It will be safe, Mr. Harbor. I would not order them otherwise, I assure you."

Sid went back to Katherine's room and took her hand. "Darling, you've got to be brave like I know you can be, all right?"

Kate furrowed her brow, "Sid, what's going on? I thought you said the baby and I are going to be fine." She'd never seen him this worried before. In fact, she couldn't think of a time she'd ever seen her husband worry about anything.

"You are going to be fine, darling, both you and SJ. The...," he looked up for a moment at the light over her bed, "the dog, though, it was rabid.
We just got the test results and the doctor has ordered shots for you."

"Rabid? Oh no!" she exclaimed. "Oh, but what about Kitty? Did you find him? The dog had him treed, he was so frightened. I was trying to get him down when...when the dog...," she closed her eyes, trying to mentally block out the image of that frightful creature that had tried to kill her.

"A kitten? Is that the other animal? The doctor said you had wounds from two animals. Could it be rabid, too? Well, I guess that doesn't matter
as the shots will take care of it one way or the other."

"Rabies shots... I've heard they are just awful," Kate said, recalling what she'd read about having to get a series of painful shots in the abdomen. "When can I go home? I don't like hospitals. I want to be home in my own bed... with you." Her back was starting to hurt again, as was the bite on her hand.

Sid had heard that, too, about rabies shots, though it wasn't, of course, anything he himself would ever have to deal with. Recently he'd even seen some movie about the CIA in which the agent on the ground in Jordan got bitten in the legs by rabid dogs and he had to have a series of shots in his abdomen. One of the guys in the film, not the bitten one, had looked vaguely familiar to him, but he couldn't remember the actor's name. Anyway, Katherine was pregnant. Surely they wouldn't give her shots in her stomach? "I don't like hospitals, either, darling, but you and SJ do
need to be taken care of. This is serious."

Kate reached out and took his hand, "I know, I guess I'm just scared is all. You'll stay with me, won't you? I mean, they'll let you stay the night, you think?"

"I'll make sure they do even if I have to buy the damned hospital."

Just then, the door to her room swung open and a nurse came bustling in. "Here we go, Mrs. Harbour," she told Kate as she pulled out a needle, "I've got the injection ready to go. Just need to for you to lie still for a moment."

"It won't hurt my baby, will it?" Kate asked, worriedly. She didn't like needles and the thought of it getting injected in her stomach - near her unborn child - well, that was downright horrifying to her.

The nurse smiled at her, patted her hand, "No, luv, it won't even feel a thing, though you might feel a bit sore in your arm afterwards."

"My arm? Not...not my stomach then?"

"Oh heavens, no!" the nurse replied, cleaning the area on Kate's arm where she would be giving the injection. "Your arm will suffice. Now hold still. This might prick a bit."

Kate held Sid's hand tightly, closed her eyes, as the needle was injected into her.

"There we go, all done. You'll need a series of five more of these. We'll get a schedule for you set up."

"That's it?" Sid asked. "When can she go home?"

"Most likely tomorrow," the nurse answered, "Because of the nature of her injuries and the fact that she's pregnant, her doctor thinks it best to keep her at least over night for observation." She turned to Kate, "If there's anything more I can do for you, just call. I'll be back in a while to check on how you're doing."

"Thank-you," Kate told her, then the nurse smiled and left the room. "You will stay with me, then? Overnight?" she asked Sid.

"I'm not leaving my family," he said, bending to kiss her forehead. "Not ever." And his family wasn't leaving him, either, no matter what had to happen to Colin.

“A Most Unwelcome Visitor”

by Jo and Stacey

Colin's nerves were a wound tightly in the pit of his stomach. How could Sid have let anything so terrible happen to Kate while she was pregnant with HIS child? If anything happened to her or the baby Colin would never forgive that bastard. He held his breath, his jaw and his fists clenched tightly as the elevator doors swooshed open and he quickly made his way down the brightly-lit hallway to Kate's room.

The door was closed, but a light was on inside, voices coming from within. Colin hesitated a moment, swallowed hard, then slowly swung the door open and peered inside the room.

Sid was bending over the bed, the backs of his fingers on her cheek. He looked up when the door opened, expecting one of the nurses or the doctor. Colin! "What do you want?" His voice was sharp, deliberately rude.

Colin took a step inside the room, his fists instinctively clenched when he saw Sid sitting there. "Checking to make sure you haven't allowed anything to happen to my kid," he snapped back, then realized what he'd said. He shifted on his feet, his eyes darting over to Kate, who seemed to be sleeping.

Sid rubbed the palms of his hands together, slowly, somehow very menacingly. "This is not your child."

"Yeah?" Colin snorted, "Well, do the math, Sid. Kate may claim otherwise, but that is definitely my child she's carrying and once it's born I plan to prove it." He looked at Kate again, a concerned look on his face, "you just better be damned sure you take care of my child until he's born."

Sid stood, a completely deadly expression on his face. "I do not intend to continue this pointless conversation with you. I shall say this to you now, but this is the only time I will say it. Katherine was in my bed, mine, the night our son was conceived. Run around, little man, try to prove what you will, but this is my son and will always be my son. Now get the fuck out of my wife's room before I twist your disgusting head off your disgusting neck." Then he smiled.

Colin narrowed his eyes, glaring angrily at Sid. He opened his mouth to say something, but was cut short when Kate suddenly woke up.

"Sid?" she said, softly, "Wh...where did you go?" She opened her eyes wider, saw Colin standing at the foot of her bed. "Why are you here? Sid? Why is Colin here?" she asked, looking from one man to the other. She could feel the tension in the air, knew this must not be a friendly visit.

"I...I heard you'd been attacked by a wild dog, wanted to make sure you...and the baby... were alright," Colin replied, ignoring Sid's last warning to him.

"She's fine. Not that it's any of your business. You can leave now."

Kate frowned. She knew what Colin was thinking, knew he more than suspected the baby was his. Had Colin said anything to Sid about his suspicions? She bit her lip, trying to detect any indication of what might have transpired between the two men while she was sleeping. Clearly she'd interrupted something. Her heart began to race, worried about what Colin might try and do once the baby was born. She reached out and grabbed her husband's hand, "Sid is right, I'm fine. You should leave. You don't belong here... I don't want you in my life anymore." She felt a sudden, sharp pain in her stomach and back and squeezed Sid's hand harder.

"Kate, wait...," Colin began, but stopped when Kate began to clutch her stomach and cry out in pain.

Sid pressed Katherine's buzzer then whirled on Colin. "NOW look what you've done! Get the hell out of my wife's room!"

Colin's eyes got wide, worried that he'd caused Kate into early labor. "I'm... sorry... I...um... Kate, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you... I was just...worried," he stammered, nervously, then turned to Sid, "I'm leaving... you just...just don't let anything happen to...her or the baby."

Kate screamed out in pain again, "Sid! It's too early... it's much too early," she cried, holding her stomach.

Colin paused a moment, then quickly turned on his heel and headed out of the room, nearly colliding with a nurse who was on her way in to check on Kate.

"Mrs. Harbor, what's going on in here?" The middle-aged, plump nurse bustled in, immediately checking Kate's readings on several machines.

"She's going into labor!" Sid said, his voice loud, urgent.

"Not on my watch!" the nurse said and called for the doctor, who hurried in and injected something into Kate's IV that in a few minutes calmed her contractions.

"She's going to be all right?" Sid asked. "Her and the baby both?"

"She is, yes," the doctor nodded. "Did something just stress your wife recently?"

Sid looked toward the door. Damn Colin to hell. "Yes, she had a most unwelcome visitor who upset her terribly."

"Well, I'll see to it that a 'no visitors' sign is posted on her door. No one but you, of course."

"Good." Sid was still glowering at the door. So Colin intended to make trouble about the baby, did he? Well, he had ways of dealing with that. He hadn't been sure he'd need to but it was obvious to him now that it was necessary.

“DNA 101”

by Jo and Stacey

Kate was unusually quiet as Sid drove her home from the hospital. Her frightening ordeal with the wild dog still plagued her nightmares, but not as much as the untimely visit from Colin which had caused her to go into early labor. Her stomach knotted up just thinking about it, about what his visiting her was truly all about. She knew he still thought the baby was his, knew he must have only been worried for her because of it. Deep down inside, Kate knew there was still a good chance he could possibly be the father, but she'd never, ever voice that thought. She looked down at her bulging stomach, placed a hand on where the baby's little foot was protruding out to one side, and smiled. This had to be Sid's child, it just had to be!

Suddenly she became aware that their car had stopped moving and she looked up. "Home," she sighed, as her husband got out of the car and walked around to the passenger's side to help her out.

"Yes," Sid said, "where you belong. With me." Taking her arm he walked with her inside, getting her settled on the white couch. "I'll get you some tea," he offered and, not waiting for her answer, went into the kitchen and on beyond to the viewport into Bar's room. Good, he was there. Quickly he made the tea, gathered up some crackers and cheese on a little tray and took that out to Katherine. "I want you to stay here and rest yourself, my dear. You've had a hard couple of days." He pushed a big, padded ottoman up, lifted her feet, slipped off her shoes, and settled the legs on it comfortably, even plumping a pillow for her back.

Kate went along with Sid's orders, allowing him to pamper her as usual. "Thanks, I am rather exhausted still," she told him as she watched him fluffing her pillow.

She smiled, thinking how very lucky she was to have such a wonderful husband dote on her as he did. Colin would never have treated her with such care, she mused, taking a sip of her tea. She set the cup down and closed her eyes, suddenly becoming quite sleepy. "You'll stay with me while I rest for a bit?" she asked, trying to stifle a yawn.

"Of course, darling," he said pleasantly, settling near her. As she closed her eyes he began to think intensely. Colin wanted a blood test, did he? And they'd do it at the hospital with the umbilical cord so whatever he must do, he must do...now. This was different from anything he'd ever done with a human before and he had to be careful so as not to damage either mother or child. Now was when good ol' Bar would earn his keep.

Quietly he got up and went back to the viewport, pressing buttons that sent the invisible gas flooding into Bar's room. In a matter of seconds Bar had collapsed in a neat heap. How vulnerable his level of humanness made him. But how useful. Sid opened the door, went in and pressed more hidden controls, bringing up the large, central exam table. He placed Bar on it then went back to the living room, leaving the door to his lab open.

Katherine wasn't quite asleep yet, but almost. Coming up behind the couch he studied the side of her neck then placed two fingers on it and pressed. Instantly she slumped to the side and he scooped her up, carrying her to the lab, placing her alongside Bar. Pushing more buttons, he smiled as Bar's dresser disappeared into the floor, replaced by a complicated table filled with equipment. More buttons, and more items were replaced. Lifting Katherine's blouse, he pulled down her stretchy-topped slacks, exposing her belly. The next thing he did was take a sonogram to determine the exact position SJ was in. He was head down, beginning to drop, and would obviously be born within the next day or so. If it hadn't been for the timely rabid dog sending Katherine to the hospital, he might not have realized just how determined Colin was with this stupid paternity thing of his. How very convenient there had been a rabid dog when he needed one.

He'd done enough tests on Bar to know that their creator had used the same DNA structure for both of them, only Bar had human elements added, human elements that would not match Colin's. Sid himself would not need to be tested. All that needed to be proven was that SJ was not Colin's child. Then, of course, it would obviously be...his.

Working quickly, he set up a complicated system whereby Bar's blood circulated through SJ's umbilical cord. He had no idea just what effect this might have on the child, but Colin was a threat that must be handled. If anything happened to SJ, the blame would lie at Colin's door because of his insistence on testing. Sid, of course, was faultless.

The process of the interchange took some while during which Katherine stirred, so he pressed her neck again, this time a bit longer. The gas would keep Bar out for hours. He pulled a tall stool up, watching the flow through the tubes. He'd arranged a filter so most of Bar's blue would not come through and what there was would be, hopefully, small enough that it might escape the notice of the medical folk. He quite liked the idea of SJ having some blue in his veins, though. Katherine's mounded belly was fascinating. The new interflow was making SJ quite active and Katherine's body would rise up here and there as the baby moved, sticking out its arms and legs. It was like some cosmic dance and he found it most entertaining.

Three hours later it was done and Sid unhooked the tubes. Patting Katherine's belly, he pulled her slacks up, her top down, then carried her back to the couch, arranging her much as she'd been before. She was completely limp, though, and kept sliding to one side, her head flopping over, so he stuffed pillows around her. Going back to his lab, he changed it back into the guest room, put Bar in the bed, left the door ajar, went back to the living room and put on Wagner. Smiling, he leaned back, listening to the soar of the music.

“Baby Time”

by Jo and Stacey

Kate had been home from the hospital not 24 hours when she began having the labor pains again. Sid had insisted she get plenty of rest when they'd arrived home, but she'd felt so good when she woke from her nap that she'd taken the opportunity to sit out on the deck and watch the stars. She wasn't sure where Sid was. He'd excused himself a while earlier when she woke from her nap. She thought most likely he was keeping his brother, Bar, company for a while.

Kate bit her lip, wondering if perhaps it was just false labor. She'd read that it was especially typical in first pregnancies and hoped perhaps this was the case with her. It was still several weeks or so before her due date and she worried about delivering too soon. When the pains began to increase, panic set in and she realized she'd better get downstairs to find Sid right away. She was halfway to the staircase when the next contraction hit, causing her to cry out and double over in pain.

Sid was coming out of his study when he heard her cry and looked up. Katherine was starting to fall and he moved faster than he would have had she been able to care about what was going on around her. He was simply there beside her in a split second, lifting her in his arms and carrying her down to the couch.

"SJ?" he asked, settling her, brushing long strands of hair back off her face. "Is he all right? What's happening?"

"Sid!" Kate breathed out as another contraction began to hit, "It's time...oh! Oh!" She suddenly felt wet all down her legs as her water suddenly broke. "Do...something! This is all your fault!"

His upholstery! She was soiling his upholstery. He was totally distracted by the sight for a moment. "What? What did you say?"

"Ohhhh!" Kate cried out again, clutching onto Sid's arm for support, "I'm...in...labor... do... something... now... hospital... now!"

"Labor? You...you're...SJ is coming?" He jumped up. "Wait right there! Don't go any where! I'll get the car!" He disappeared and almost in the blink of an eye roared up close to the front door in one of his larger vehicles. Dashing inside, he scooped her up again, depositing her in the back seat where she could lie down. He slammed the door, jumped in the driver's seat and zoomed off towards Coffs.

Though the drive to Coffs took only a short while with the speed Sid was driving, for Kate it seemed as though it was an eternity. With each new contraction that came she felt as though her insides were being ripped apart. She cried out, holding her stomach and praying that her baby wouldn't be born in the back of Sid's car on the side of the road somewhere. She was scared, too, that something was wrong with the baby. He was coming too soon, too quickly. This being her first she'd thought that the labor would take much longer. It had only been mere minutes since she'd felt the first contraction and now she already felt the need to start pushing.

"Sid!" Kate cried out, "Drive... faster! I... will... not... give... birth... in... this... car! Do you hear me?! Owww!!! Owww!!"

Sid drove faster. He practically flew down the road, passing other cars, even roadtrains as though they were so much flotsam in his way. Laying down rubber, he whipped the car around up to the emergency entrance and not waiting for a gurney, gathered Katherine up and sprinted through the doors, shouting, "My wife's having a baby! Do something!"

The attending nurse recognized the couple from when Kate had been in there earlier that week. She rolled a wheelchair up to them, smiling. "I'm sure she still has plenty of time, Mr. Harbour. Here, just set your wife down in this chair and we'll get her into a room."

About that time, Kate screamed out in pain again, "Doctor! Please, get... the... doctor... now!"

The nurse, realizing Kate must be much further along in her labor than first thought, called an attendant over with a gurney and had Sid lay Kate down on it, then rushed her into one of the labor and delivery rooms.

Sid hesitated. Did he want to be with her? Delivering a baby, from what he'd heard, was...messy. Still, this was SJ, HIS SJ. He grabbed a passing nurse. "Get me in there. What do I do to get in there with my wife?"

The nurse led him to a room where he could wash up and get in a cap and gown. Sid was past caring, for the most part anyway, that the gown looked like something a medieval squire would turn his nose up at. Just as he was coming through the door into the delivery room, he heard the doctor tell Katherine to give one last push. "Wait!" he called out. "I need to see!"

"Sid!" Kate cried out, extending her hand for him to grab hold of.

Sid grabbed Katherine's hand. "He's coming? Is he coming? Is he here?"

"Come on now, Mrs. Harbour, you can do it, one last push!” the doctor said again, "He's nearly out now."

Kate squeezed Sid's hand as tightly as she could and began to push with all her might until finally she heard the unmistakable sound of a baby crying.

"Congratulations," the doctor exclaimed, "it's a boy!"

"SJ." It was Sid, saying the name with a sigh of happiness. Then the doctor lay the baby on Katherine's stomach and offered Sid the implement to cut the cord. Sid looked at the cord, smiled with satisfaction, then cut through it. "Mine," he said. "My son. Mine."

“The Results”

by Jo and Stacey

Sid could see Colin pacing back and forth down the hallway. He smiled and went in to see his wife. The results of the paternity testing on SJ were about to be revealed. He sat calmly in the chair beside Katherine's bed, lifted her hand and began stroking her fingers with a fingertip, his head tilted, a satisfied look on his handsome face.

Kate's brow was furrowed as she sat quietly biting her lip. The test just had to prove that Sid was the father...it just HAD to! The math was all a bit fuzzy but she had to believe that things would turn out in her favor. She let out a little sigh to herself and managed a smile as Sid entered the room and sat down beside her, his fingertip cool on the back of her hand as he lovingly stroked it.

"Any news yet?" she asked, worriedly.

"Any moment now," he said, "and then, at last, we'll be rid of that annoying garage-keeper for good." He closed his eyes a moment. "Then we can take our SJ home where he belongs. With me...and you, of course."

Kate managed another smile for him. She, too, closed her eyes a moment, her heart pounding as she nervously decided on whether she should actually tell her husband exactly what she'd been thinking.

Finally, she opened her mouth, unable to keep quiet any longer, "Sid... what...um... what if...," she paused, took a deep breath, "I mean, you know Colin and I were...um...together...what if the test shows...?"

"Not to fear," he said, his smile widening, "I am the father of the child. The test results will prove such to be the case... without doubt. Don't you worry your pretty head about it for a minute longer. Everything is fine. I promise."

The door opened and the doctor appeared, file in hand, closely followed by Colin.

"Ah, Doctor! Do come in. We are most eager to hear what you have to say, are we not?" He smiled past the doctor toward Colin, a little glitter in his eye.

Colin glared at Sid. It took all the strength he had to keep from telling the slimy bastard off. He held his head high and his shoulders back as he waited to hear the results he knew in his heart would prove once and for all that he was the true father of Kate's baby. After all, it didn't take a rocket scientist to be able to figure out the math.

He stood with his arms crossed in front of him, glaring smugly over towards Sid, his eyes locked on him, as they listened to what the doctor had to say.

"Mr. Harbour, Mrs. Harbour... I have the results of the DNA test," she paused, cleared her throat, and opened the file in her hands. Turning to Colin and Sid, Dr. Larkin said, "Perhaps you both should have a seat."

"I'd rather stand," Colin said, not taking his eyes off Sid's.

"Good idea. You can get the hell away from my baby faster that way." Sid smiled as he said it.

Kate held her breath as she squeezed Sid's hand and awaited the outcome. She couldn't bear to even look at Colin.

Dr. Larkin looked back down to her file, "The results show conclusively that Mr. Harbour IS the father." She turned to Colin, whose face had turned white as he stood with a shocked expression.

"Oh thank God!" Kate exclaimed, letting out the breath she'd been holding in. She smiled up at Sid, both surprised and relieved at the outcome.

"No, no, no, no," Colin was saying, "This can't be right!" He turned to Kate, "Kate, you know this can't be right... the math, it just doesn't add up..."

"I'm sorry, Mr. O'Brien," Dr. Larkin told him, concern in her voice, "the test is quite accurate."

"One doubts greasemonkeys are all that good at math anyway," Sid commented. "Thank you, Dr. Larkin, for taking your valuable time to come speak with us. Now that that's done, you may go back to your wrenches and lugnuts and leave me and my family alone." He glared at Colin, trying to conceal his pleasure at the man's confusion.

Colin looked from Sid to Kate, his face a mixture of anger, hurt and confusion. He opened his mouth to say something to Kate, then stopped himself.

Kate couldn't bear to look at him, knowing how hurt he must be. Never the less, she herself was pleased at the outcome of the tests. Sid was her husband and she loved him dearly and it was natural that he should be the father of her child - not Colin.

"Colin... please, just... just go," Kate told him, as he stood staring at her. "Please, for once, don't make a scene... not today, not here."

Colin stared at her a moment more then glanced over to Sid - his eyes locked on the man's once more. He hated the man, hated that he took his girlfriend and his child from him. At that moment he wanted nothing more than to rip that smug grin from Sid's face, but instead he just gritted his teeth and quickly left the room.

"Now," Sid said, standing up, bending over the bed and giving Katherine a long, lingering kiss, "now we can go."