Childbirth On a Barren Planet

Emotionless, the doctor applied tools. The foetus extracted, they wheeled her away. Although she could not move, and could not relieve herself, they did not check upon her until the next day. The Aerobus arrived to take her to the nursery planet, where she would tend her offspring; The matriarch checking daily, weekly, to see that she did so. She did not rest. She could not heal. But there was no help for her, fertility was more valuable every day; and she had resigned her rights when she had chosen to join the gene pool. Better than a row of test tubes, were these living, breathing incubators. Once a gift to all humanity - part of a lost cultural phenomenon called ‘the family’; Reproduction was now a rarity. Originally published as "Childbirth on a Civilised Planet" Clarke, R. (Ed) The Mentor 85, January 1995, fanzine published by Ron Clarke, Sydney, Australia, [Archival copy available online at http://efanzines.com/Mentor/TM85COMP.pdf].