I hustle out of the tracer, sliding across the copilot's seat without thinking that all I had to do was open the other door.

When I get to where Eve stands, the video screen in the center of the drone lights up a solid blue. The line isn't wavy, but it's there. He must be charging, which reminds me of something. "Do you remember that time before the flood came when a hurricane hit Florida and we lost power in our house?"

"We were on the outskirts of the storm and got mostly rain and high winds." Her voice rises with the recollection. "Strong enough to knock down the power lines."

With my gaze cast down on the drone, I sigh. "What I recall was sitting in our car listening to the wind howl while we charged our cell phones. That was before you got pregnant the first time." My eyes burn at the memory. When I glance at Eve, I can't help but feel a dryness in the back of my throat that makes me want to swallow the anxiety raging within me. "I remember you snuggling up next to me, laying your head on my shoulder."

She stares back at me with soft eyes and parted lips. "I remember it too—"

"I'm thrilled both of you survived the vile wolf." Jinx's wavy blue lines dance across his video screen.

"You're alive," I say. "And back to your old self."

"I see you're still at the location of the first habitat. It took you a month to get the tracer started?"

"I hid the battery from Noah," Eve says.

Jinx's wavy line straightens, like he's processing the human behavior of deception and having difficulty computing it. "Well, I'm glad you rectified the situation."

"We've made a lot of progress lately," I say.

Eve suppresses a chuckle, which ends with a sly grin lighting upon her cheeks.

To avoid reading anything in to her response, I turn to Jinx. "I thought while your battery charged, I'd take the tracer out on a test run. See if I can get the hang of flying this thing. Eve, is that okay with you?"

"By all means." She opens her palm and moves away from the craft. "Just be careful."

My gaze flits to hers.

"If you die, it could be detrimental to humanity."

"Uh-huh."

"Just don't die."

"I'll do everything I can to avoid it." Gnawing on my bottom lip, I turn to Jinx and ask if he's ready, and he confirms he is.

He explains he can't fly the tracer himself because Abraham hadn't given him authorization, but he can coach me. I start to suggest he ask for permission, but I figure I need to learn, anyway, especially if something happens to our drone friend in the future. This time, I open the pilot's door and climb inside. Through speakers in the dash, Jinx provides instructions. There's a joystick that controls directional movement and a T-handle lever that pivots the turbines from horizontal to vertical for hovering, which means it takes off like a helicopter.

A foot pedal controls thrust output, like an accelerator in a car.

I start off slow because I don't want to crash. The last thing I want to do is kill myself, stranding Eve here alone without me or Jinx. She would have to raise our child without me.

That gets me to thinking. "Jinx?"

"Yes?"

The tracer hovers ten feet off the ground. I think I'm trying to distract myself by asking this question.

"Can you test a blood sample from Eve?" I say.

"I can. What for?"

"To see if she's pregnant." I bump the joystick forward while adjusting the turbines to a position between vertical and horizontal, angled backward as I press the floor pedal.

The tracer responds.

The craft shoots forward. To my right, Eve flinches, and so do I... until I gain control and allow the tracer to spit and sputter at a moderate speed, passing over the canyon floor like a hang glider with a lot of power.

While I'm working out how to fly this thing, Jinx monologues in response to my question. I haven't even been listening to him.

"So, can you tell me if she's pregnant?" I ask.

"That will be no problem," he says. "It is my responsibility to ensure the continued viability of humanity."

I nudge the joystick and give the tracer a boost, zooming over the outcroppings of the canyon walls. After a few minutes, I get the hang of keeping the machine in the air. It's relatively easy to fly in open spaces. There's some coordination involved between moving the joystick, keeping the thrust handle on the correct plane, and the foot accelerator from increasing speed beyond controllable limits. But overall, I'm flying this thing, and I'm not crashing.

Then I think about landing it as I sweep back around and approach the habitat where Eve waits for me to return.

"Jinx, how do I put this thing down?"

"Could you be more precise?"

"How do I land the tracer without dying?"

"Easy," Jinx says. "Dial back on the speed as you switch the thrusters back to vertical."

"That's all there is to it?"

"To assist, when you decrease speed below fifty miles an hour, you can choose to have the autopilot put her down. On the dash screen, choose Autopilot, and then choose Land. It's that simple. Keeps inexperienced pilots from crashing and burning. So they can get their wings under them."

I locate the selections on the main screen and do as instructed, and before I know it, the tracer craft lands under decreasing thrust on its own. It sets down with a slight jolt, and then I power down the engine.

"If you're wondering," Jinx says, "the designers foresaw the possibility that people without flight experience might need to fly these crafts in certain situations. So they made them as user friendly as possible."

"That's good to know." I climb down to meet Eve.

"You did it," she says. "You had a little difficulty at first, but it didn't take you long to get the hang of it."

"It was easy, believe it or not."

An arm extends from the center of the drone, like an applicator wand with a tiny indention at the end. "I can sample Eve's blood to verify her pregnancy. Would you like to proceed now?"

Eve cuts her eyes to me. "I see you two have been talking."

I shrug. "Under normal circumstances, we'd have a doctor do it."

"Our circumstances are definitely not normal." With a sigh, Eve places her forefinger on the end of Jinx's extension. "Ouch." She jerks her hand back and puts the end of her finger to her lips. "I should have expected that."

The metal arm disappears inside the body of the drone.

Jinx's screen flashes a wavy line. "You are five weeks pregnant. At eleven weeks, I can tell you the gender, and other specific details, if you wish."

"Thanks, Jinx," I say. "We'll make that decision when the time comes." I glimpse Eve glaring at me. "Together. We'll make that decision together."

That seems to satisfy her.

With a sudden decisiveness, I draw close to Eve. I reach for her with a smile spreading across my face. "We're going to have a baby. I'm going to be a father. You're going to be a mother."

Eve looks back at me with a sober, even somber, expression. Finally, she nods in agreement. "And we're about to risk everything when we return to our habitat. Have you told Jinx what we're going to do?"

"Not yet, but now is as good a time as any to fill him in on the plan."