NIGHT DWELLER, Part 1
by Becky S.


"Danziger, slow down! You might step on something!" Devon called. She was trying hurriedly to catch up to the mechanic who was crashing his way through the forest.

Danziger finally slowed and turned to face her, "*Step* on something??" he repeated incredulously. "Sure, it's called the ground..." he looked as if he were about to add something, but decided to hold his tongue for once. Instead, he stomped away and made a point of speeding up. Devon was in one of her "let's be careful and help all creatures" moods and she was getting on his nerves.

Devon sighed, "You know what I meant... Could you *please* be a little more careful?"

"Whatever you say..." he muttered. He started to walk deeper into the woods, stepping more lightly, but kept the same fast pace.

Devon clenched her fists in frustration, held her tongue, and followed behind him. If it weren't for the fact that, besides Zero, Danziger could carry more than anyone else, and the canteens *did* get heavy, she would have gladly taken this trip by herself. Sometimes she felt as if John Danziger made a special effort to be testy around her.

The winter supply of water they had collected had finally run out, and she and John had trooped out to a nearby lake - lakes were in abundance thanks to the thaw of winter - to replenish the group's supply.

Suddenly, Danziger froze, "Hey, Devon, hold up." Devon stopped obediently, looking around to see if she could spot what was bothering John. "Did you hear that?" he asked.

"John, there are a lot of sounds on this planet... and we've learned to ignore most of them," she replied.

Cautiously, Danziger resumed his trek. "I know, but it just sounded a little too close for my liking," he explained.

That's when Devon heard the sound as well. But it was too late. A small, seemingly furry creature jumped out of tree, and landed on John's shoulder. It shreeched excitedly, then disappeared as quickly as it had come.

"What was that?" Devon marvelled.
Danziger's voice sounded distant, he words seemed almost slurred. "I don know," he replied groggily, "But I think it bit me." With those words, he clutched his arm, then sank to his knees. He grimaced in pain.

"John? John? Oh, God..." Devon immediately flipped her gear into place. "Julia? How fast can you get out here... ?"



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Voice of True
I wasn't there when all of the action started, so I couldn't do anything to help. I was scared when Julia got that call from Devon and there was nothing I could do . . . especially because I over-heard Julia's side of the conversation and I know that Dad is involved. Everyone's hurrying around and I saw Julia and Alonzo and Bess all talking to Devon - I think - on gear. When they were done, Bess took me for a walk and explained to me that Dad was sick but that Julia was going to help him right away. She said that, after he got back, that it would be best if I left him alone to recover a bit or something like that. That's okay with me, for now. Bess and I found some pretty cool rocks, and excitement around here usually doesn't last long so I'm not *really* worried. I hope that Dad gets back soon. Uly didn't want to walk with us and I'm getting bored out here . . .



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"John, I need you to tell me exactly what happened," Julia pressed as she ran her diaglove over the confused mechanic.

"He doesn't know," Devon interrupted, "neither of us know. It was too small, it just came out of no where." Devon's voice was shaky. She tried to calm herself down. They had had many problems in the past, and she had managed to keep her cool, but the fact that they knew absolutely nothing about what was wrong with Danziger...

"How are you feeling, John? Are you in pain?" Julia's professional manner kept her perfectly calm.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Danziger insisted. He tried to get up but Walman had a firm grip on his shoulder and Alonzo was at his knee. He stopped struggling and relaxed on the ground. "I'm just tired..." he mumbled and closed his eyes.

"No! Don't sleep!" Julia exclaimed, then calmed and said, "Whatever you do, Danziger, don't go to sleep."

"Why not?" Devon demanded.
The doctor explained, "Whatever it was that bit him has saliva with a potent toxin that is putting pressure on his brain. If he were to sleep now he could go comatose."

Danziger groaned, "I'm fine!" he insisted. "Just let me get some rest." He tried to roll over on to his side but Walman and Alonzo stopped him.

"How long will he be like this?" Devon asked. "I don't know..." Julia mumbled. "How long ago did you say that this happened?"

Devon consulted her watch, "About ten minutes. We were filling up our canteens when this creature came out of nowhere."

"Could you describe it for me?"
Morgan Martin intervened, "Wait a minute, so you're saying that there are little demons running around this planet that can poison our *minds*?"

Julia sighed, "I'm saying that Danziger has been infected by a toxin that contains dangerous amounts of octadecenoamide."

"Octa what?" Baines inquired, perplexed. "It's suspected to be one of the chemicals in our brains that induces the natural pattern of sleep. It's one of the ingredients found in the cryosleep solution. The difference between it and the old-fashioned sedatives is that it allows the patient to dream. That way, the pilot won't be driven mad after spending years in a dreamless sleep," Julia paused to look over at Alonzo. "However, it can cause a permanent imbalance in the brain's chemical compostition if the patient were to fall asleep under the influence of such a large amount."

"So he has to stay awake the rest awake the rest of his life," Morgan concluded with a tone that suggested sarcasm.

"Not for the rest of his life. It's like with any other toxin, it will wear off as long as... Danziger, open your eyes!"

"I'm awake, I'm awake," Danziger muttered. He tore himself away from Walman's grasp and groggily sat up. He stood and faced the group of five to show them that he was all right. "You can stop worrying, okay? Just tell me how long this is gonna last."

Wordlessly, Julia brought her diaglove to Danziger's arm and took a sample of his blood. She motioned for them to leave, "Come on, lets get back to camp. It may take a while to figure out exactly what is going on... and it would help if you could tell me exactly what happened on the way," she added, addressing Devon. Their leader nodded and the small group piled into the vehicles, with Danziger almost tripping three times, and left for camp.

NIGHT DWELLER, Part 2
by Becky S.


Julia examined her diaglove and the sample of blood that she had taken from him. "It will most likely last from about four to five days," she finally concluded.

"Four to five *days*?" Morgan squeeked. He didn't like the prospect of hanging around a large man of six foot three who wouldn't be getting enough sleep... and would probably be in a particularly bad mood.

"Can he even survive that long without sleep?" Alonzo, the resident professional sleeper, inquired.

"The majority of humans can survive from two weeks to five days without sleep," Yale supplied.

"And what happens after that?" Baines asked. "After that, you don't have much of a choice. You'll halucinate, you won't be able to function properly, and eventually, you *will* fall asleep." Then the doctor addressed the mechanic, "How do you feel? Nothing unusual besides being drowsy? Do you feel confused or disoriented?"

"Nah," he replied, "should I?"
Julia smiled, "I would hope not. I just want to make sure that there aren't any other side affects." Danziger nodded and leaned all of his weight against against the side of the crate behind him. He couldn't help yawning. "Don't worry," Julia assured him, "I can give you stimulants for the first two days to help you stay awake, but after that it would probably be too dangerous to your health."

"Why is that?" Danziger asked absently, trying to stifle another yawn. "I don't want to alter your system any more than I have to," the doctor explained. "Too much of *any* substance can be damaging." Morgan rolled his eyes and thought, *who didn't know THAT all ready?*

"Dad! Dad! Guess what!" True exclaimed, running up to her father and jumping into his lap.

A breathless Bess ran up from behind her, "True! True! I told you to wait for me, True!" she cried.

"Dad! Bess and I were getting fire wood on our walk and... What's wrong?" she asked, suddenly noticing the solemn faces on the other adults.

Danziger's reply started with a question, "You know how Devon and I went to get water from that lake that's a about a five minute walk that way?" He indicated the direction to his right by waving his hand. True nodded. "Well, there was this little critter there who apparently didn't want us hanging around, so he nipped me."

"Why?" True asked, "What kind of critter was it?" "We don't know, True," Devon told her, "It was too small and too fast. It wasn't exactly a 'critter' though. The majority of 'critters' I've seen aren't furry," Devon gave Danziger a scolding glance before continuing.

Julia picked up where Devon had left off, "When it bit your father, he got infected with its saliva, and know he has to stay awake for a few days."

"Why is everyone so upset? Why would the animal bite Dad? What's going *on*??" True demanded, close to histeria.

Bess apologized to Devon under her breath, "I'm sorry. I tried to keep her away from camp, but she found this rock that she wanted to show her dad and..."

"I know, Bess, it's all right," Devon assured her, "True would have to find out sooner or later, right?"

Danziger laughed, "Calm down, True-girl, it's nothing serious. Your dad's just gonna be grumpy for a few days."

Julia sighed in relief when True accepted this brief explanation. Rememebering her discovery, True began to give her tired father an excited recount of her busy day.



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"Danziger?" Devon called, addressing the pair of legs sticking out from behind the Transrover.

BAM! "Ow!" Danziger complained. "Geez, Adair, don't startle people like that!" Danziger crawled out from his comfortable position, rubbing his forehead, to give his boss a withering look. Devon didn't respond. He noted with some disgust that she looked as if she were trying to keep from laughing. "Can I help you, Adair? Or do you just enjoy making a fool outta me?" he grumbled.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, "I was just thinking..." Danziger forced himself not to make any snarky comments, "...should you be working on the vehicles? You've been infected by a wild animal; I hardly see how your mind can stay completely focused on your work."

*Yeah, but somehow you don't have any porblems staying focused on...* *Shut up!* Danziger snarled at the voice from the back of his mind. John's eyes widened a bit, *Geez, maybe this serum is getting to me more than I thought.*

"Danziger?" Devon repeated when he didn't answer her. He snapped to attention. "Adair, I can put this thing together with my eyes closed," he said.

Devon gingerly placed her hand on the sore area of Danziger's head. "Looks to me like your eyes probably *were* closed," she tilted her head expectantly.

Danziger pulled away from her hand and mumbled, "I was just taking a break..."

Now Devon seemed truly concerned, "*John*" she warned, "Coma-tose, do you know what that means?"

" 'Course I know what it means," he replied, almost indignantly. "Do you want to *be* comatose, John?" He gave an exasperated sigh. "We can't take those kinds of risks here! We don't have the medical equipment..."

"We can't take risks!?" he exclaimed in disbelief. "You drag your son 22 light years across the galaxy and dump us on this planet filled with all these weirdos, and you don't call that *risky*???" He knew that he wasn't being fair, that there was no way that Devon could have known about the natives or penal colonists or Council plans... but he was angry, and he was tired.

"John, there *are* risks on this trip. *You knew that* when you signed up! We don't need people endangering themselves further... *especially* not our only mechanic." *Especially not John...* she thought, briefly. Devon ignored those thoughts comepletely, as she always had... except with Uly's father and with Sheppard, and where had that gotten her? She continued, "We don't have the medical equipment here necessary to care for someone who's coma-tose... not for an undetermined period of time. We don't have the equipment we had on the Stations."

"Back on the Stations, I didn't have the money to *pay* for the use of the equipment we had..." Devon felt a glimmer of sympathy for the Ops Chief. The sympathy immediately faded, however, when he growled and added, "...and I got by, didn't I?"

"All right, John, if that's what you want... I'm sure that True will enjoy having a brain-dead parent," she replied cooly and stormed away.

The painful memory of Elle jolted through his mind, "Make that *two* brain-dead parents, Adair..." he mumbled to her receding back. Reluctantly, he put his equipment away and wandered away from the 'Rover. He had a long night ahead of him; he needed to find something to do.



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"Dad?" True asked gingerly, not wanting to disturb her father. "Mmmm?" he mumbled, not moving from his position or looking up. "Are you all right?" she inquired, concern apparant in her voice. "I'm fine, True. You get to bed now, it's late," he said sleepily. His voice was muffled by his sleeve, which was where he was resting his head.

True couldn't help smiling, "Dad, it's morning," she told him. "Huh? What?" he asked groggily. He finally raised his head from the crook of his arm in order to look around.

True gave him a suspicious glare, "Dad, you weren't trying to sleep, were you?"

He mumbled a reply, "No, True-girl, I was just resting... sorry, but I got a little confused.. being up all night..."

"Danziger, how are you feeling?" Devon asked, interrupting him. "Uuhhh..." Danziger started, still trying to orient himself. "I'm okay. For the first night, it wasn't so bad . . . I don't think I would have made it if you hadn't assigned alternating baby-sitters for me, though," he muttered sarcastically. Devon had put one extra person on guard for every shift that night, to keep an eye on him.

"Yes, well, I'm on duty tonight," she said, pretending not to notice his tone.

"*Anyway*, what can I do for you, True-girl?" he asked his daughter, who had been waiting for the chance to finish talking.

"Nothing, I just wanted to see if you were okay," she said, turning to leave. Danziger smiled after her. *I'm so lucky to have a kid like her* he thought.

"You survived without the stimulants?" Devon asked critically. "Yeah. I told you, I'm fine," he insisted. "All right," she sighed and walked off. Danziger slowly pulled himself to his feet. He was so tired! It was going to be slow going for him today. He had insisted to Devon that they keep moving, at least for the first day. John hated slowing people down and he hated being looked after... most of the time, anyways. He found himself following Devon with his eyes, before he caught himself and looked away.



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Danziger gazed up at the stars. It was a beautiful night. The sedative part of the toxin had finally worn off, and he now found it easier to stay awake. Well, as easy as a person would normally find it to stay awake after they hadn't had any sleep for almost two days. His mind drifted back to his life on the stations, to True, to their arrival on this planet. Soon, he wasn't really thinking, just caught in a reverie, staring up at the sky. When the image of Devon pushed its way into his thoughts, he quickly shoved it aside and looked over at his current "baby-sitter."

Morgan Martin fiddled with the controls of the magpro nervously. He jumped when he accidentally activated it, and quickly powered it down. He felt his face grow hot under John's scolding glare. He cursed that animal and this planet for robbing him of his much needed sleep. *He* wasn't the one with the toxin in his brain, why did *he* have to stay up? He just wanted to back to his tent with Bess. He kept glancing towards the other tents, when was the next person going to come and relieve his shift?

John saw how uncomfortable Morgan was, but couldn't bring himself to apologize. He checked his watch, the next "baby-sitter" was late. John couldn't wait until someone came to replace Morgan... he'd settle for *anyone*... well, that is, anyone but...

"Sorry I'm late, I had to be quiet to keep from waking Uly." John just barely stopped himself from groaning when the farmiliar female voice called out from behind him. Devon Adair appeared before them, accepting the magpro that Morgan had eagerly given up, and asssuming his position on the crate.

"It's gonna be a long night," John thought as he turned away from the light of the fire. He pulled a piece of machinery out of his pocket and pretended to fiddle with it.

"So, how are you holding up? Did you take a stimulant?" she asked. She shifted her position and fixed up the fire with a stick.

Danziger shook his head, "I'm doing fine," he assured her. He gave her a grim smile, " 'Sides, what do I need a drug for when I have all of you wonderful baby-sitters to look after me?" Devon looked at him but didn't reply. "Thanks," he added as sincerly as he could. "I feel like dead wood here taking up everybody's time like this," he admitted.

Devon finally gave him a sympathetic smile. "That's all right, John. We all have to look after everyone here."

Danziger noted with some disgust that she was giving him her, "Let's all stick together," speech. "Is there a hidden message there, Adair?" he asked in an accusing tone.

Devon tried her best to keep her temper, "No, Danziger, I was trying to be sincere. Why can't you just accept that? I'm not a monster, John."

Danz almost snickered when an image of Devon as the Wicked Witch of the West flashed through his mind. But he shook it off. He *was* being unfair to her, he realised. He mumbled an apology, which she accepted. He stared into space, and realised that, for some reason unknown to him, he felt angry. He was angry at Devon, or maybe at himself. Maybe this was one of those "side effects" that Julia was worried about. Should he tell her in the morning? He looked up at Devon again, and couldn't help noticing how the fire reflected off her face. Then he looked away again, frustrated with himself. He hadn't been any sleep, he told himself, so he couldn't possibly be thinking straight. He needed to get out there to collect his thoughts. "Adair, I think I need to take a walk," he told her. He immediately understood her reluctance to let him leave, and assured her that he wouldn't fall asleep.

"All right, just, be careful," she repeated the phrase that she often said when granting him "permission" to do something.

"Don't worry, I will," he said, quickly rising to his feet. He immediately staggered and he felt the world around him spin. In panic, he grabbed onto the edge of the the crate nearest to him.

Devon sprang to her feet, "Are you all right? What's wrong?" She rushed over to him, and helped steady him by grabbing his arm. He was still too dizzy to take a step, and stood, waiting for the spinning to stop. When the feeling didn't go away, he sat back down and closed his eyes. "Are you all right?" Devon repeated when he opened them again.

"Yeah, but I don't think I'll be walking very far tonight," he said. His rested his head against the side of crate behind him. For a few minutes they simply sat in silence.

"So, what do you usually do all night?" Devon asked, glancing over at Baines, who was on guard duty that night.

"Anything to keep busy," he replied. He showed her the piece of machinery, "I build stuff and then take it apart again." Devon stared at the object, she obviously expected him to continue. "Whenever 'Lonz, Magus, or Walman's out here we..." a fiendish grin spread across his face, "Hey, Adair, have you ever played poker?" he asked.

NIGHT DWELLER, Part 3
by Becky S.




"What's that you're working on?" Alonzo asked, plunking himself into the chair beside Julia.

"It's the solution from that creature that I extracted from Danziger's blood," she explained.

"There's nothing wrong, is there?" his voice was filled with concern. "No," she assured him. "I just want to learn more about what we're dealing with, here. It seems strange to me that, if we assume that this planet *is* one giant living organism, why only one species would be capable of entering it's metaphysical plane. Learning what kind of defense systems the life forms here have could help answer a lot of questions."

"Is that why you suggested to Devon that we stay here for a while?" he inquired.

"Partially because there appear to be many different species here, yes. Also because water and plant-life is in abundance, and we need to learn what plants are edible. Besides, do *you* want to have Danziger as a backseat driver?" she remarked.

"Good point," he agreed, grinning. He sat and watched for a few more minutes, then got bored and decided to wait for her to come to bed on her own.

Julia put down her equipment, and stared at the side of the tent in thought. She tapped her nails against the table impatiently. The more she thought about it, the more the dream plane issue began to bother her. If the planet is just one giant "mother" to all of its inhabitants, then why could only the Terrians enter the dreamplane? Surely there must be at least *one* other species with the same privileges...



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From it's perch in a nearby tree, the small creature sat and observed the quiet camp. It's beady eyes feel on the large man that still bore it's markings. He still hadn't fallen alseep, and the creature feared that these new intruders were somehow immune to its defences. If this were true, then the creature would perhaps have to do something more drastic to protect its home and family. It was quite upset about the fact that the colonists hadn't even moved from their camp in the past two days. It wondered about just how long they were planning on staying there...



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Devon looked up from her coffee mug at the younger woman who sat across from her. Her gaze strolled its way across the group, then fell back on Julia. "Do you think that finding a 'cure' is a possibilty?" Devon inquired.

"I doubt it," the young doctor replied. "Not yet, anyway. I don't think that a cure is necessary, it should wear off in three days. What I'm interested in is the creature's intent. Is this its primary defence system? Why would it feel so threatened by your precense? *Did* it feel threatened, or was it actually hunting you?"

"*Hunting* him??" Baines repeated in astonishment. He glanced almost longingly at the transrover, but Magus caught him and he looked away in embarassment.

"That's crazy," Walman retorted, "I thought that this thing was suposed to be tiny."

"Ever heard of a scorpion?" Bess asked. Morgan gave his wife a confused glance. He made a mental note to dig up his old Earth nature VR programs.

"If it was hunting me, then why did it take off so fast?" Danziger's words had been slightly slurred ever since the stimulant that Devon had insisted he take had worn off.

Julia shrugged, "Who knows? Who knows anything about the lifeforms on this planet other than the terrians, grendlers, kobas and fruit? What we do 'know' about them is mostly speculation. I'm not suggesting that it was hunting you, I'm simply labelling that as a possibilty."

The mechanic blinked and shook his head to clear it. It was hard for him to stay focused on the conversation. Danziger's head was throbbing, his vision was fuzzy, and his joints ached. Of course, he blamed it all on the stimulant, because that way he could also blame it on Devon. He tuned out of the conversation and directed his vision towards the forest surrounding them. His eyes followed along the row of crates, across the tents, until he thought he saw something moving in his peripheral vision. He was filled with a sinking feeling when something in the back of his mind told that the creature was near, back in camp, hunting him. He quickly turned to that direction, but didn't see a thing. The world seemed to fade even further away as he lazily looked away. Then he felt something on his left shoulder, on the same place that he had been bitten. He looked absently at his shoulder, and came face to face with a distorted, frightening version of the creature. Pure terror streaked through him. "Auuuuugh!!!!!!" he cried.



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"Calm down, John, calm down," Devon ordered as Julia ran the diaglove over him. Devon had never seen John in such a state; his eyes were wild, he was shaking and mumbling excitedly. "It's back!" were the only words she managed to understand.

"It was never here," Julia announced with a sigh. "Welcome to the wonderful world of sleep deprivation, John," she smiled wrily, "you were halucinating."

"That's impossible... it was here! It... it..." Then he had the foresight to examine his left shoulder; the fresh wounds that he had imagined were gone. "That's impossible," he said breathlessly. As if overcome by a sudden fatigue, he sank down to rest on and against a pair of crates. He looked at the dizzying activity around him, and closed his eyes to block it from view.

To double check, Julia ran her diaglove over him again. "There's no evidence of a creature being here, you don't have the wounds you described - only the old ones - and your cerebral activity indicates that you were hallucinating. Frankly, I'm not suprised. You've been awake for almost three whole days, and you spent one of those days walking along with us. I don't know what I can do to prevent this from happening again in the future... in any other situation, I would have told you to get some sleep."



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The frightened creature ducked behind one of the crates. This was the closest it had ever gotten to the colonists' camp, and after the large creature whom it had attacked's sudden and inexplicable outburst, it wasn't planning on staying around. It scurried away unseen and scampered up its tree. It knew that he shouldn't have gone so close to these aliens; they had only been less than fifty feet away from its hiding place behind the crate. The creature decided that it needed to learn more about these aliens before it approached them again. It needed to know for certain if they were going to be a threat to its un-born young...

NIGHT DWELLER, Part 4
by Becky S.


*You're in love with her.* The faint voice of the Elder seemed to call to him from the distance.

"What? What was that? Who's there?" John demanded. "No one, pal, I think you're imagining things again," Alonzo gave him a sympathetic smile. "What did you hear?" he inquired. He couldn't help but wonder what it was like, to be deprived of sleep for the third night in a row.

"Nothing, I was just remembering something," the mechanic replied. *In love?! Who am I in love with?* his own voice repeated in his mind. He was certain that the Elder had been referring to Devon, but how much credibilty could he place on some semi-stranger? He thought back to the thrill he got every time he had thought of Elle when she was alive. For two seconds, he considered seriously the possibilty of having fallen in love with someone else. He felt a strange disappointment when he quickly concluded that, after what happened to Elle . . . the Elder had suspected something, but he had been wrong. He must be wrong.



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The creature watched the wounded alien's reaction when the slim, dark-haired one appeared and the other one left. His breathing seemed to quicken, his eyes widened, and he almost seemed startled by something. Was the wounded being afraid of the dark-haired one? Or, was it something else? It knew little to nothing about the emotions felt by the humans that the grendlers seemed to share. The creature felt a sick feeling in the pit of its stomach when it realised that these beings were becoming more and more difficult to understand. He had "spoken" with the terrians, and they had assured him that the "humans" meant no harm, and that they would soon be on their way. So why weren't they moving? The creature was a nervous and jittery one, and was wary of the terrians with their powerful lightnening staffs. It felt a great dislike towards these aliens; they had a greater realitionship with the guardians of the planet than the creature. The terrians didn't like the creature's species either. The terrians felt that the creatures were too aggressive. When the first humans had tried removing the terrians from the planet, some of G889's species had to make some drastic adaptations in order to survive. The creature had adapted, and it recognised those aliens that had camped in its home. It remembered the damamge to the planet caused by these aliens. Its eyes narrowed at the sight of the little ones running out to the older ones. It backed away in suprise when the little ones seemed to try to strangle their parents. It became even more perplexed when the parents didn't appear to be angered. These humans made no sense! Why couldn't it find their weaknesses? Its frustrated screech reverberated through the night.



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"What was that?" True asked, involuntarily shaking in fear at the sound. "I don't know, True," Devon replied absently. She stood and examined the woods from where the sound had come. She accepted the jumpers that Danz handed her, but they were useless in the dark.

"It's just an animal," Uly replied indifferently.



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The creature watched as the dair-haired one reassured the little one and sent them both away. The wounded male had immediately froze when he had heard the creature's cry. Now his eyes were fixed on the creatures tree. His cold stare was so focused that the creature wondered if it had been spotted.



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Devon watched with growing alarm as Danziger stared fiercly, unmoving, into one of the trees in the distance. "John?" she ventured.

He blinked a few times, as if he were trying to focus. He ignored her and resumed his glare. Devon followed his gaze to the tree and tried to see whatever it was that he saw. He finally turned his attention to her. "Sorry, Adair, what were you sayin'?" he asked.

She glanced back at the bush. She still coudn't find what had him so intrigued, or frightened, maybe. But his expression showed her that he was no longer interested in the tree. "Nothing," she replied dismissively.

He shrugged and slowly stretched out on his back. Every muscle and joint in his body ached. His gaze fell on the spidery, elm-like tree. Had he really seen the creature? He didn't want to ask Adair if she'd seen anything, or she'd think that he was going crazy, again. All of his doubts faded when he caught a glimpse of a pair of beady eyes staring out of the darkness to him.



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Julia sighed and peaked out the tent flap at the shadowy figure slinking through the camp. Suddenly, he stumbled and fell to his knees. A second silhouette, which tunred out to be Magus, rushed to him with her light, illuminating the area around them. The expression on the man's face was as if he had just been awoken from a dream. Magus helped him orient himself, and pulled him to his feet.

The med-tent was too far away for the doctor to hear the words exchanged by the "baby-sitter" and the mechanic, so she closed up the tent.

"He's getting worse?" Alonzo's voice startled her. She turned around and almost bumped into him. She hadn't realised that he'd been standing right behind her.

"Yes," she replied briefly. Swiftly brushing past him, she strode over to her kit and rumaged inside. The pilot could tell that she wasn't really looking for anything; she was trying to avoid opening up to him, a habit he was trying to get her to shake.

"What's wrong?" he asked lightly, walking over to her. Julia studied his expression for a few moments. "Nothing is wrong. I just wish that there were some other way... Going without sleep for so long is a sure way to drive yourself mad," she stated, trying to sound indifferent.

"But Danziger is going to be okay," he reminded her. "I know. I just wish that there were some other way..." She glanced over at her equipment, "It would be nice to have more information about this creature of ours."

"We'll be fine," he grinned. He made his way over to her and pulled her wrist out of her kit. "I don't think he hurt himself," the pilot told her.

"I just want to check," she replied briefly. She pulled out her dia-glove but Alonzo stopped her before she could leave.

"I think your shift as doctor ended at midnight," his tone was mock- scolding.

"And who relieves me at midnight?" she raised an eyebrow at him doubtfully. The pilot sighed. Secure in the knowledge that she wouldn't be gone long, he reluctantly waved her out of the tent.



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At night, John would wander around aimlessly. He needed to keep moving to stop himself from falling asleep. His mind was foggy, as if he were dreaming. In the day, at least there were people moving around and chores to keep him occupied, even if the things he was allowed to do were limited due to his condition. At night, his guardian would just sit and watch him pace. Morgan would grumble, Bess would fuss over him, Magus was extremely protective of him, and Walman and Baines would speak up every now and then. Cameron was silent but always looked pleasant, and Alonzo would just stare off into space. Devon would make a few obligatory comments now and then, usually warning him not to do this or that.

"Hey, Danziger, are you lost?" Walman called good-naturedly. John shook his head, "Naw, just tired." He pulled a crate up to the fire and took a seat across from Walman.

"You've become a real night dweller," he observed. "Yeah, against my will," the mechanic grinned. "Well, you've just another day or two to go," Walman added. Danziger nodded, stood, and resumed his wandering. He heard a far-off, bird-like call in the distance, more specifically, from the general direction of a certain spidery, elm-like tree. "Sounds like I'm not the only 'night dweller' around here," he mused.

NIGHT DWELLER, Part 5
by Becky S.


Here's installment number five.... I take back my previous guess, it'll probably only have seven installments, not eight. %-)

This installment revolves around Devon and Danziger... and should help give ya an idea of how strongly all of this is taking it's toll on poor Danz...

NIGHT DWELLER, Part 6
by Becky S.


"He's right in here. Morgan's with him," Devon rushed as she opened the tent flap. The doctor followed her inside. The colour immediately drained from Devon's face when she saw the still figure of the unconscious man laying on the floor of the tent.



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Julia came up behind her. She wordlessly picked up the seda-derm lying at the man's feet. "Well, I see Morgan. Where's John?" she asked.

Devon's mouth gaped before she shook herself back to the present. It took her a few minutes to piece together what had happened. "I... I.... He was just here. We have to find him!" she cried, her voice raising excitedly.

Devon bounded out of the tent while Julia administered a stimulant to the sleeping man. The bureaucrat groaned. Julia quickly ran her diagnostic glove over him. Satisfied that he was waking and wasn't about to go coma-tose the way John would have, the doctor jumped to her feet and followed her leader. She almost ran into Bess after she taken a few steps out of the tent. "Bess, Morgan's in that tent. Find out what happened," she explained briefly and chased after Devon.

"JOHN!!!!!! JOHN! DANZIGER!" Devon cried, racing into the heart of the camp. "Where's Danziger?" she addressed the group, "has anybody seen Danziger?"

True scurried up behind Devon. "What's going on?" she asked nervously. Devon took True by the shoulders, "True, have you seen your father today?"

True nodded, "This morning," she explained. Devon's excitement was scaring the heck out of the little girl and True's eyes were wide with fear.

"Have you seen him in the past ten minutes?" True kept shaking her head at the woman. "Has anyone seen him?" her gaze quickly travelled over the group surrounding her.

"What's going on?" Alonzo demanded, brows furrowed. "John? Danziger!" the doctor called as she searched around the camp. Devon turned back to True, "Do you have *any* idea where he might be?" True's response was cut short by a farmiliar screech in the distance. The piercing sound echoed around the hushed colonists. "Oh no," Devon whispered.



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"John!" Devon cried, running full speed in the general direction of the bush where they'd first encountered the creature. Julia crashed through the bush behind her. Alonzo had begun to follow but didn't know what he was looking for anyway so he had head back.

The two women heard a rustling in the bush ahead of them. They burst into a clearing, then stopped short.

John Danziger lay, unconscious, under the tree that he had stared at so intently the night that Devon had been on watch. Julia's eyes darted up the tree. There was a nest of sorts situated at the top. This was the creature's home. "Julia," Devon said, leading the doctor by the arm to where the still man lay. The young doctor knelt beside Danziger and placed the dia-glove (which had never taken off during the search) upon his chest.

Devon settled down on the ground uncomfortably. "It's been five days... is he in a....?" Devon lowered her eyes to the ground.

Julia pulled out another stimulant and injected it into his arm. "We'll know soon enough," she replied doubtfully.

Devon looked up at the nest. She didn't see any sign of movement from the creature. *It must be nocturnal. It can only harm us at night. We'll be fine as long as we don't leave camp to get water in the evening like that anymore* she thought, relief flooding through her.

That's when Danziger let out a low moan. Devon's attention snapped toward him. "The serum has warn off," the doctor announced.

Devon sighed in relief. The mechanic wearily attempted to lift his head, but failed from lack of strength and went back to sleep. Their leader brought her hand up to her mouth to hide a smile when Julia's laughter caught her attention. Devon watched as the young doctor looked the bulky man over from head to toe. "How on earth are we going to carry him back?" she mused.



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Danziger blinked a few times before fully opening his eyes. He slowly lifted his head to gaze grogily aroung the tent. He sat up, and reality finally fled back to him in one confusing rush.

Groaning at the mild pain that tugged at the back of his head, he managed to pull himself out of bed. He carefully tested his shaky balance, then he head outside.

Julia rushed over to him and declared that the serum had worn off completely, and that he was pretty much whole and healthy. As he sat on a log where he could watch all of the activity in camp, everyone wandered over, one by one, to see how he was doing. For once, he didn't mind the attention.

Devon was the only one who didn't greet him. Her absence was quite conspicous, at least to John. It was fine with him. In his mind, he kicked himself for grabbing her like that. He'd been wondering whether it had actually happened or whether it had been another hallucination... it would be pretty akward for him to apologize for something that never happened. Devon's abesence, however, had him convinced that it *hadn't* simply been another image from his sleep-deprived mind. He would have to apologize. She would understand. He *had* been out of his mind... hadn't he? Maybe the action hadn't been as much as the result of the serum as he thought... Danziger immediately shook the doubt from his mind. He thought, *Come on, I was convinced that I was the sheik of Nabu, of course I was crazy.*



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"What's up?" Alonzo's voice startled her out of her reverie. Julia turned to him.

"Danziger," she replied briefly. "I thought you said he was better," Alonzo's brow furrowed in confusion. He stepped up beside her and loosely placed his arms around her.

The doctor allowed herself a few moments to rest against him before de-tangling herself from his grasp and replying. "He is... physically. But it's strange that he's seems to have recovered so fast mentally. You'd think that six days of insanity would take a greater toll.... Maybe's he covering it... maybe he just has powerful mental stabilty.... maybe that alien serum has something to do with it... I'd still like to know more about that creature." Julia sighed and leaned back against the pilot. "I guess I'll just have to keep an eye on him for a few days."



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Devon had returned to camp. Danziger took a few moments to collect himself, then forced himself to confront her, then and there. He rose from his seat and made his way over to her. They were at the edge of camp so fortunately no one else was within earshot. He made sure that she saw him coming. She held his gaze until he reached her. He noticed that she looked a little spooked, but she didn't run away... that was a good sign. He stalled, not wanting to get to the point. "I figured we'd be moving out tomorrow so I checked the vehicles. I'm gonna need about a half-hour to work on the Rover in the morning," he told her.

Devon's reply was made in a shaky voice, "All right, just as long as it doesn't hold us up too long. I want to get Uly as far away from this creature as possible. There's no knowing how far their territory extends, but we do know that this particalar being doesn't want us around here." She remained silent for a few minutes, then continued, "You should be more careful, True was awfully worried about you."

Danziger noticed that she was speaking more to the ground than to him. It was probably one of the first times he'd ever seen her nervous, and he tried to hide a grin. Instead, he nodded his agreement, "Yeah, I'll slow down in the future." Devon nodded and they stood in akward silence.

The more Devon thought about it, the more she began to think of this whole affair as being his fault. "If you'd listened to me back in the forest, none of this may have happened," she couldn't help saying. Danziger glared at the Adair version of an "I told you so." Devon's eyes flickered with anger, "You didn't see the creature in our camp, did you? It probably wouldn't have bitten you in the first place if you hadn't gone barging into its forest."

Danziger came close to rolling his eyes. "Yeah, and if we'd tip-toed our way in, asked it nicely, it would have handed the land right over to us, right, Adair?" he challenged. Devon, of course, had no reply to this, so she clenched her fists and stalked away. Danziger grinned and subconsciously counted a battle won.

Danziger made his way back to his tent at a leisurely pace. He shook his head as he sorted through the past days' events. He realised that he never had actually gotten around to apologizing. "How could I find time with all of her yellin'?" he thought bitterly. He scoffed at the Elder's month-old words to him: you're in love with her. "In love!" Danziger laughed. John Danziger.... Him!! Of all people! The Elder must have been out of his mind! John watched form the distance as Devon quickly covered her frustration with a smile when Uly approached her. "Where would the Elder get a stupid idea like that?" he wondered aloud. *Where indeed?* a voice answered.

-The End-