Stardrifter: Code Black

I'm reading the Stardrifter series by David Collins-Rivera, and reviewing each book as I finish it. The short story Code Black is a prequel to everything, and I do mean everything.

This review contains spoilers. It's a short story, so by discussing it at all there are contextual spoilers. Don't read on if you haven't read this story yet and want to experience it fresh.

The story of Code Black is literally about childbirth. That's not my favourite subject in the world, but I recognize that it's pretty important in the grand scheme of things. This particular birth happens on the CIC of a space station or ship in trouble.

The story opens during emergency evacuation of a space station or ship or something. Everyone's being shuttled away to safety. But amid all of that, a pregnant woman is pushing her way back toward CIC.

When she arrives, it's clear that she's a crewmember, and she's got vital information to relay. But everything's in chaos. Everyone's repsonding to an incoming threat, so much so that they don't even notice when the woman is bowled over by the sudden delivery of her child. There's somebody there who luckily manages to assist in some small measure, and he asks the woman what the child's name will be. It appears she hadn't given that much thought yet, and as she cradles the child in her arms, she listens to the crew around her frantically calling out "ejection on que" over and over as they manage the resources they have in the battle.

Ejection. On. Que.

Evacuation means evacuation

The story's really short and there's not much to it aside from A Thing That Happened This One Time. I'm fine with those kinds of stories, and I'm happy to take the bait and discuss it.

First of all, evacuation means evacuation, so I feel like Ejoq's mother (presumably this is the story of Ejoq being born) is out of line here. I'd probably feel differently, were it demonstrated that she had brought indispensable information to the CIC, but I didn't get that that's what she'd done. The way I read it, she ultimately was just in the way. She'd probably been told to evacuate for her own safety, but instead she defied orders and ended up giving birth in the middle of an emergency situation. Not good for the bridge crew, not good for her, not good for her baby.

I don't think this is by any means an accident. I think author David Collins-Rivera is telling us something about Ejoq with this seemingly tangential story. We've learned a few important things:

1. Ejoq's mother hadn't been doting on possible names during her pregnancy. This could be a cultural thing. We don't know how people in the future deal with naming babies, so maybe in the Stardrifter universe it's common to grant a baby a name only after "meeting" the baby for the first time (insofar as a mother hasn't already "met" a baby she's carrying). But lacking information to the contrary, I'm assuming it would be common for parents to consider names before birth, and she hasn't done that.
2. Ejoq's mother is stubborn. Now we know where he gets it.
3. Ejoq's mother is an expert at her profession. She knows her stuff, and she knows it so well that she caught an error without even being on the bridge. Again, now we know where he gets it.

I love how much information David fits into even a short inconsequential story. This story probably isn't a must-read entry in the Stardrifter series, but obviously it's got more data than you might at first realise. It's a good read, it provides some insight into the world, and into the main character of the series.