It was half past three in the morning and Danziger was just plain exhausted after completing the graveyard shift of sentry duty for the fourth day in a row. Inwardly grateful that his daughter was a sound sleeper, he noisily kicked off his hiking boots, removed his jacket and all but collapsed onto his bedroll.

He clamped his eyes shut as hard as he possibly could, trying his best to briefly block out the world around him, along with his deepest fears of an unknown future on a planet where hardship and danger seemed to lurk around every corner.

He should have known better.


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Devon was sound asleep, enjoying one of her favorite dreams in which all of her aspirations for the future colony of New Pacifica had, not only come to fruition, but had surpassed well beyond her expectations.

As such, she was not at all prepared to be abruptly torn from these tranquil images of hope and happiness and then so roughly deposited back into the reality of her current situation. As it turned out, she was being forced awake by none other than Uly, who had yanked away her blankets and was physically shaking her by the shoulders as hard as his young age would allow.

"Get up, Mom!" he whispered frantically, using both of his small hands to grab Devon by the upper arm in order to pull her upright in her cot. "We need to go."

The room was still dark and Devon was having trouble gaining her bearings. She glanced at her chronometer and wondered what reason her son could possibly have for being up and about at that time of the morning.

"Wh- What's happened?" she muttered in confusion, wiping the sleep from her eyes as she involuntarily tossed her legs over the side of her bed and shoved her feet into her nearby boots.

"We have to run as fast as we can to the cave!" Uly exclaimed with wide, horrified eyes that shocked Devon fully awake and chilled her to the core.

Seeing her son's panicked state, Devon tried to be a calming influence. "I don't understand, Honey. What cave? What's going on?" she asked, attempting to gently brush back the curls from his face. To her great surprise, Uly was in no mood for her maternal instincts and roughly shrugged her hand away and took a step back.

"There's no time to explain," he proclaimed before pleading, "Please, Mom, we have to leave right now!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth when the tent flap was pulled back to reveal an equally distressed Alonzo. "You two ready?"

"We're coming," Uly answered without missing a beat as he yanked on Devon's sleeve.

Now recognizing that something was very wrong, Devon allowed herself to practically be led from the tent by her son. As they crossed over the threshold, for the first time, her ears picked up the commotion of footsteps as well as the sound of overlapping whispers from the other crew members as they hurried by. Every light within the camp had been extinguished and the landscape was bathed in darkness. Not too far away from her vantage point was Zero who seemed to be frozen in place.

Devon squinted in the blackness and her eyes centered on just outside of the Martin tent where Bess had apparently snatched away her husband's gearset and had unceremoniously tossed it back into their quarters. Morgan was not exactly taking this loss in stride and seemed to be insistent on retrieving the beloved equipment. It wasn't until Danziger marched up to the couple, with True cradled in his arms, and said something to Morgan well out of Devon's earshot that caused the bureaucrat to finally acquiesce. As the Martins turned to join the others, John motioned for Bess to wait and they spoke a bit more. He then deposited his still asleep daughter into the Earth-res' awaiting arms before taking his leave and making a beeline in Devon and Uly's direction.

As Danziger approached, it became obvious to him based upon Devon's disoriented expression that she was still in the dark, both literally and figuratively, and had yet to be filled in on what was going on.

Hoping to converse with Devon alone, he briefly turned his attention toward the younger Adair. "Uly, I need you to go help Denner carry the blankets," he instructed. John then paused and shook his head, evidently changing his mind. "Better yet, I think that Cameron could really use some help bagging up the food."

The little boy could only stand there, the fright that he was experiencing blatantly obvious on his face. John let out a deep exhalation and his expression softened. He knelt down on one knee and placed his hand on the child's shoulder.

He leaned in and gave Uly a small, confident smile. "Don't worry, Sport. It's all gonna be okay," he promised, his tone subdued, almost fatherly in nature.

"Now, go on," John added, gently shoving him in the opposite direction.

Hearing Danziger's assurance seemed to make all the difference in the world to Uly and he immediately set off in the direction of the supply tent, finally leaving Devon alone with John. The mechanic's smile quickly disintegrated as he lumbered back to the standing position. He knew that there was no time to waste or to mince words.

"Somehow Eve or Reilly or whatever the hell that thing is callin' itself now, got ahold of one of the ZEDs," he divulged. "From what we can tell, he's less than ten clicks away and heading straight for us. And he's been instructed to kill every member of Eden Advance except for Uly."

Devon's jaw dropped wide open and it took several moments for her to finally regain the ability to speak again. "Why?" she asked. "Why murder everyone, but my son?"

John relayed in a painfully blunt fashion, "'Cause he doesn't want any of us gettin' in the way of his main objective." He swallowed hard and continued, "He's planning to remove your kid's pineal gland and record the results for Eve."

Devon's face turned a ghostly white and Danziger almost lurched forward to grab her for fear that she might faint. When he was certain that she would remain steady on her feet, he proceeded, "We can talk more about this later, but right now we need to move our asses. There's a cave about a half a kilometer from here where we can hide out for a while until we figure out what the hell to do."

Devon's head was swimming. "The ZED. The cave," she muttered, her brow knitted in deep concentration as she tried to make sense of it all. "How do you know about all of this?"

"The Terrians," he answered matter-of-factly and without elaboration.

His eyes quickly left hers and Devon could only blink at him in shock. Danziger could feel her stare upon him as he turned his attention away from her and, instead, concentrated on addressing the rest of the frightened crew members who had begun to fan around the two leaders.

He kept his voice low, but his tone and demeanor were authoritative and direct. "Alright, everyone. We're taking only essential supplies. Leave all of your stuff behind except for a change of clothes. And make sure to bring your jacket 'cause it'll probably be a bit colder where we're going. Remember that this thing can sense electronics of any kind, so the vehicles and Zero stay here. Gearsets, jumpers, lumalights, even the diaglove, all stay here. Bring the mag-pros, but keep 'em powered down."

John pivoted toward Yale. "You'll need to turn off all of the cybernetic attachments on that arm of yours," he informed him.

"Understood," the tutor acknowledged, wasting no time and punching in a complex sequence of numbers to shut down his arm's basic functions.

Walman handed John a pistol which he immediately checked to ensure that it was fully loaded before holstering it to his hip.

"Alonzo and Uly know the way, so they'll take the lead. I'll bring up the rear," Danziger continued. "We walk in single file. No stopping and absolutely no talking. We don't know where this ZED is, but most of 'em have sound and heat source tracking capabilities of at least a kilometer radius. When we reach the mouth of the cave, we'll stop for further instructions. Okay?"

The group nodded their affirmation and then briefly dispersed in order for them to retrieve the necessary articles of clothes from their quarters. Once that task had been completed, they regathered in the center of camp and lined up behind Alonzo as instructed. After all were present and accounted for, as silently and as stealthily as possible, the crew made their way into the thick, untamed woods.

Just before they entered the forest, John went to Bess, thanking her as she transferred True back into his arms. He draped his slumbering daughter against his chest, and he felt her chin nestle snugly against his neck, obviously recognizing that she'd been passed back to him.

"What's goin' on, Daddy?" she asked sleepily, not bothering to lift her head. "How come we're moving?"

Danziger paused and considered his options. To him, it was a ridiculous idea to rouse True awake just so she could have the wits scared out of her and then be forced to endure a half kilometer hike through strange surroundings. Postponing the hard truth seemed like the natural solution.

She could sense him smile as he whispered into her ear, "We're just goin' for a little walk, that's all, Angel. You go back to sleep and I'll tell you all about it in the morning."

"Mmm-kay," she mumbled. Any worries that Danziger had about her not being satisfied by his answer were allayed by her almost immediate snores.

He turned to give the camp once last long look before being swallowed up by the shadows of the dense forest.


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It sliced a careful, but clean path through the heavy brush. The occasional noise created by dried twigs snapping beneath its feet and by the displacement of low hanging branches as it passed, seamlessly faded into the background of the constant rustle of a gentle, summer breeze. Traveling in darkness was not an obstacle, for its human eyes had long ago been optically enhanced courtesy of the Station's top military scientists and provided it perfect vision, no matter what conditions it might encounter.

Before that very day, it had been forty-two months since the ZED's last satellite communication with its commanding officer, Reilly. But this was not altogether unexpected as it had been instructed to anticipate prolonged periods of radio silence. Therefore, it had diligently continued to perform its duty of searching out, interrogating, and then eliminating penal colonists who inhabited the planet. However, twenty-nine months had passed since its last Prisoner Information Extraction and the soldier's programming was beginning to question whether the mission might have been completed due to the lack of interaction with Station Brass as well as with Hostiles.

To that end, the ZED had sought out and skillfully climbed the largest rock formation that could be found in the general region. No sooner had it reached the peak when its sensors picked up a pair of faint signals, both originating far away. One was a general heat signal which emanated from the ground below, and was located several kilometers to the West. The other was a radio signal which came from above. Quickly deducing which was the more important of the two, it honed in on the source of the satellite transmission and reinitiated contact. It wasn't long before the cyborg's internal database had successfully downloaded the first changes in Ops-procedure since the inception of its original mission on G889 almost a decade before.

Once the transfer of data was complete, the ZED made its way toward the edge of the rock and was prepared to descend the steep incline, when its path was suddenly blocked by a Terrian sprouting from the earth just a few feet from its position. The creature angled its head sideways and began a series of angry trills.

"Do not approach me, Terrian," the soldier commanded, never veering its apathetic gaze as its hand unhooked the holster of the sidearm strapped to its upper leg.

As the ZED raised its weapon and fired, a surge in its cerebral circuitry reminded it of a long since forgotten human emotion: Pleasure.

It felt good to hunt again.


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Although their eyes had eventually adjusted to the darkness, Alonzo and Uly were eternally grateful that the Terrians had provided them with vivid details regarding the position of the cave because, once it was located, it was abundantly clear that they would never have been able to find it on their own. The entrance resembled a Grendler warren much more than a cavern. At first glance, it appeared to be nothing but a hole situated in the middle of a cluster of rocks, almost completely shrouded by overgrown shrubbery. But looks were deceiving. After helping one another make the relatively short four foot drop into the large mouth of the cave, it was apparent that this was a place unlike any that they had seen before. The ceilings were almost twelve feet in height and in front of them were over a dozen passageways, which in turn, led to several dozen more passageways, which in turn, led to even more. It was a labyrinth of tunnels going in every which direction, some quickly turning into dead ends and others stretching onward for miles and miles. Some overlapping and others completely independent unto themselves.

Once the entire group had arrived, Danziger took charge again. "Okay, folks, we're in the home stretch," he announced, still keeping his voice low. "I want you all to follow 'Lonz. Stay close together 'cause it's gonna get kinda dark and confusing in there for a while. You might wanna hold hands or grab on to the jacket of the person in front of you so you don't get separated. Once we get there, we'll rest for a while."

"We can't stay in this cave forever," Morgan piped up from the back of the group, his tone an even mixture of fear and sarcasm.

"Obviously," the mechanic responded. "But at least here we can formulate a plan. We're not sitting ducks out in the open waiting to be picked off one by one."

"You're right," Morgan muttered under his breath. "We'll all probably be stuck in a room with only one exit, and the ZED'll be able to kill us all at once."

"Morgan," Bess hissed, gesturing to a wide-eyed Uly. "Stop scaring the children."

"And the adults," Magus added, looking equally frazzled.

Danziger roughly raked his fingers through his hair. "Let's just take this one step at a time, Martin," he expressed through gritted teeth, trying to keep his patience in check.

John took a calming breath, understanding that there were matters of much greater importance to attend to than dealing with another one of Morgan's typical panic attacks. Instead, he turned his attention to the bureaucrat's wife.

"Bess, would you mind takin' her the rest of the way?" Danziger asked, motioning to True who had remained sound asleep against him for the entire trip. He carefully peeled the girl away from him and she let out a light whimper as she was delivered back into Bess' supportive arms.

He leaned in to plant a delicate kiss on top of his daughter's head, telling the Earth-res, "Take good care of her for me."

"I promise," she pledged as True resettled against her. She began to gently stroke the child's hair with her free hand, coaxing her back into a deep slumber.

Understanding that there was little time to waste, Alonzo headed straight to the third tunnel from the right. Once there, he extended his hand outward toward Julia.

"Shall we, Querida?" he suggested with a twinkle in his eye, trying to put a lighthearted spin on their dire situation.

Julia followed his lead, joining him at the entrance to the corridor and accepting his invitation. "We shall," she nodded, trying not to show her apprehension at the narrowness of the passageway.

Once the couple had grabbed hands, the others dutifully lined up behind them and followed suit. Again arranged in a single file, the Edenites, slowly but surely, began to enter the shaft for the final leg of that evening's journey. When True disappeared into the cavern and John was satisfied that she was out of immediate danger, he broke away from the others who were waiting for their turn at the corridor's threshold and, instead, returned to the main entrance of the cave itself.

Devon immediately noticed Danziger's absence and followed him the short distance back to the cavern's mouth. John had already unholstered his pistol and was busy intently surveying the landscape surrounding their partially underground hideout.

My God, Devon inwardly chastised, the man can't even follow his OWN orders.

"What on Earth are you doing, Danziger?" Devon asked, and John had no trouble hearing her irritation despite the hushed tone.

He was too focused to veer his train of vision from the task at hand. "Gotta make sure that we weren't followed," he relayed, matching her annoyance. "Get going before you get left behind."

As if on cue, Uly appeared out of the darkness. "Come on, Mom," he beckoned. "It's almost our turn."

Devon seemed to ignore both of their advice and took the remaining steps so that she was standing directly next to John.

Now her voice and expression displayed only concern. "But how will you find us?"

There was a pregnant pause. "I know where you'll be," he said evenly, still not averting his gaze.

Devon was unconvinced by his response and remained rooted in place. "But how-"

John had had more than enough and could no longer keep his simmering emotions from erupting to the surface. He spun toward her, his face flushed in exasperation. "Devon, for Christ's sake, go with your son! I'll be there soon," he demanded in a voice so loud and agitated that it could just barely be classified as a whisper.

He lurched forward to further invade her personal space until they were almost nose to nose. "Move!" he commanded.

Under normal conditions, Devon would have been infuriated at Danziger for addressing her in such a harsh, bullying fashion. However, she was keenly aware that what they were currently experiencing were far from normal circumstances. Instead, she was terrified. She wasn't afraid of Danziger, of course. She'd gotten to know him well enough over the past months to understand that, when it came down to it, the man was mostly bark and very little bite. But as they'd become closer friends, she'd also learned to read him a bit better. And as she now looked into his eyes to view the true emotions beneath the anger that he was exhibiting, she was terrified. Terrified that once she'd entered that passageway, she might never see him again. And very few things frightened Devon more than that.

"Fine. Just... hurry up," she told him as she backed away and took Uly's hand.

The two exchanged one more long look before Danziger broke eye contact and returned to his former placement, staring out into the black night. Devon waited another moment or two before reluctantly entering the tunnel. As upset and conflicted as she was about leaving him, she knew that Danziger was right about one thing. Her place was with her son.

At times, a few of the more claustrophobic members of Eden Advance thanked their lucky stars for the pitch blackness of the tunnel, sparing them from the paralyzing sight of just how narrow the passageway truly was. Although the cave floor was smooth and free from rocks and other debris, it was clear that, in addition to veering either left or right to switch corridors several times, they were walking on a steady decline which caused a bit of trouble when it came to maintaining their footing. And although no one voiced it aloud, many inwardly pondered exactly how deep beneath the planet's surface they would actually end up.

At last, the group breathed a sigh of relief when they literally saw the light at the end of the tunnel and their pathway opened to a vast cavern. Although it was still rather dimly lit by human standards, there were generous amounts of sunstones embedded into the walls and ceiling to provide warmth and more than enough light to see clearly throughout the enclosure. A large cluster of those same glowing rocks were located in the center of the room as if they had been strategically placed there as a substitution for a campfire. Many realized that this new hiding place was apparently the Terrian's deliberate attempt at providing them with a safe house and were grateful for the creatures' efforts. It was amazing how far the two species had come in their dealings with one another over the past months.

"We'll be safe tonight," Alonzo decreed, "so let's get some sleep and we'll figure out what to do in the morning."

The majority of the crew was too physically and emotionally fatigued to question his reasoning and they immediately splintered into smaller groups, each choosing a small parcel of the floor to claim as their own and collapsing in exhaustion. Only Devon endeavored to obtain a more detailed explanation from Alonzo. She waited until Uly was finally coaxed into as peaceful a slumber as possible under the circumstances before quietly slipping across the room to a darkened corner where Alonzo and Julia had situated themselves.

The leader immediately noticed how uncomfortable Alonzo appeared upon her arrival. As she seated herself at the edge of the blanket that Julia had stretched outward, the physician rose to her feet, politely leaving to perform a cursory medical check on the other crew members and, more importantly, to give the two some much-needed privacy.

Once they were alone, Devon began, "First off, I can't tell you how much I appreciate all that you've done for us tonight. Danziger told me about the ZED and his intentions." Her heartfelt tone switched to a more serious one. "But I'm still missing a lot of information and I need to know what's going on." Her eyes drifted toward the cavern's opening, instinctively looking for the mechanic. "How did this happen?"

Alonzo tried to stick to the basics, hoping that this would placate her enough not to push for too many details, although deep down he knew that it was a lesson in futility. "Somehow, the Terrians intercepted Eve's orders to a nearby ZED and they knew that he was on his way to us," he replied. "They don't want to see Uly harmed anymore than we do, so they warned us and helped us to escape."

She considered his explanation to be less than informative. "When you say 'us,' who do you mean?" Devon probed with a furrowed brow, keeping her voice hushed so as not to disturb the others nearby.

"Me and Uly," he revealed with definite apprehension in his voice, "and Danziger."

Devon's head shot back. "Why Danziger?" she asked incredulously.

The pilot averted his eyes and several seconds passed before he muttered, "You'd have to ask him."

"I'm asking you," she pressed, her composure starting to slip. This was making absolutely no sense at all. And why was Alonzo being so evasive?

Solace sighed heavily. "Look, the Terrians didn't bring us to the Dreamplane or anything," he said, struggling to find the right words to accurately describe the experience. "It was more like they sent out a general distress signal. Basically, they speed-dialed everyone in Eden Advance who they'd contacted before and filled them in on what was going on."

"If that's the case, then why wasn't I included in the loop?" Devon asked, confused and a little hurt that she was left out of such an important transmission.

"Because in your dealings with the Terrians, you were always the one who initiated contact, not the other way around. That's the reason why they didn't call Julia, either," he answered plainly, already preparing himself for the next obvious question from Devon.

And she didn't disappoint him. "I don't understand," she expressed, shaking her head in disbelief. "The Terrians have never communicated directly with Danziger. He's never even been on the Dreamplane." When Alonzo didn't immediately answer her, her eyes widened in surprise. "Has he?"

The pilot undoubtedly started to reconsider what trouble he might be in for from Danziger if he revealed certain details of his private life that he wasn't ready to make public. "I'm not really comfortable talking to you about this. You should speak to John," he tried to insist.

Solace had sort of half-expected her to attempt to push him into providing her with a full explanation. Certainly the Devon of old would have employed every boardroom technique that she knew of to force him to spill his guts and give her the information that she'd wanted. However, he'd momentarily forgotten that Devon Adair, the CEO of Adair Industries, the golden child of the most prominent and powerful First Family on The Stations and one of the richest people in the world, wasn't the woman currently sitting in front of him. In fact, that person seemed to no longer exist. Instead, he was speaking with the Devon Adair of G889, the parent of a healthy son and, not just the leader of Eden Advance, but one of the contributing crew and someone who'd practically become a member of his own extended family.

"Please, Alonzo," she appealed. "I understand that you're trying to be a friend to John by not betraying his trust. But he's my friend, too, and I'm worried." She arched forward, allowing the pilot to more easily see the unsettled expression on her face, revealing how much she truly did care. "Whatever he's trying to hide, there's too much at stake to keep it buried any longer. Whatever it is, good or bad, I promise that I won't be angry or judgmental. I just want to know the truth. All of it."

Alonzo bit down on his lower lip in uncertainty. As much as he wanted to respect Danziger's privacy, he had to admit that he was tired of keeping his secrets, especially the ones that involved him. He grudgingly rationalized that it would be in everyone's best interest to break John's confidence. However, he decided to compromise by only disclosing John's unique circumstances to Devon while the rest of the camp, with the exception of Julia who had been privy to the information firsthand because John had approached them together, would remain blissfully unaware. As far as Solace was concerned, it was about time that Devon was informed of the lengths that Danziger had gone to in order to keep those around him safe. She deserved to know the whole story.

"He's probably gonna skin me alive for this," Alonzo muttered under his breath. He let out another long sigh before prefacing, "I only found out about this recently, around the time that the Terrians healed you." He glanced around furtively to ensure that they were out of earshot of the other colonists as well as to be certain that Danziger hadn't shown up yet.

"Devon, I wasn't the Terrian's first choice," he revealed. "They initially picked John as the person they wanted to dream to."

Devon could only stand there with her mouth agape as he recounted, "They approached him before we crashed here, while we were all still in cold sleep on the Roanoke. I can remember him still half-asleep in the cockpit, complaining that he'd had some sort of weird dream, but he never mentioned any details and I certainly didn't think anything of it at the time."

Solace shook his head. "I don't know exactly what happened there on the Dreamplane, but it must have been pretty frightening for him and, whether he knew it or not, he rejected the Terrian's offer." He exhaled deeply. "After the Terrians took Uly, one of the reasons why John volunteered to rescue him was because he thought that he could try to communicate with them and persuade them to let Uly go. And for what it's worth, I think the Terrians DID remember him and that's probably why he was led to Uly so quickly."

Devon was gobsmacked and it took a while before she could formulate a question. "Why didn't he ever say something?" she was finally able to ask.

"I'm not sure," he offered. "I ended up becoming the Terrian's go-to guy, so maybe he didn't think that it mattered in the long run. He was probably relieved as hell when they started dreamin' to me, instead. Even now, it's pretty clear that John still has trouble trusting them. Maybe there was some fear involved, too. Or maybe he felt like it wasn't any of our business." He added with a shrug, "That's just his way, I guess."

He hesitated for a moment, in obvious contemplation. "I'm going to tell you something that I really have no right to. But I think it's important that you know, just the same. God knows, you'll never hear about it from Danziger," he said, his voice a bit hesitant. "He's had one more Dreamplane experience that I know of."

He leaned in closer, his pretty-boy features all but eclipsed by his solemn expression. "When you got sick, we didn't know what to do. John took it pretty hard. Harder than any of us knew. About a week after we put you in coldsleep, he pulled me aside and asked for my help. Apparently, he'd been trying to bust his way back onto the Dreamplane so he could talk to the Terrians, but it wasn't working. So I agreed to take him there."

Devon was riveted as he continued, "At that point, we didn't know why you were sick. One of the theories batted around was that, somehow Eden Advance had screwed up and we'd pissed off the Terrians so much that they'd done that to you as some sort of punishment or that they'd demanded a sacrifice to right some supposed wrong. I watched as John offered them his own life in exchange for sparing yours," he revealed, nodding his head, clearly still deeply affected by what he'd witnessed months before.

"The Terrians explained to him that they had nothing to do with your sickness and, even if they did, it doesn't work that way," he went on to inform her. "Danziger pleaded with them to heal you, but they refused. Terrians look at humans as they do themselves: a collective in which no single person holds any more importance than the other. Until then, the only one who they seemed to see as an individual was Uly. So John tried to get them to understand; to look at you the same way that they look at Uly."

Alonzo's tone became more emotional. "He begged them to help you. The only other time I've seen him like that was back at the winter camp when he thought that Grendler was going to kill True as retribution for him killing its mate. I mean, the look in John's eyes as he tried to make them understand how important you were. He sounded so desperate and distraught and..."

His voice trailed off, realizing that he was giving too much away. He regained a better grasp on his composure. "Anyway, eventually, it worked. Danziger was the key. He was finally able to convince the Terrians that it was in Uly's best interest to help you. That in order for him to be an effective bridge between the Terrians and humanity, he needed the love and guidance that only you, his mother, could give him."

The pilot's voice and expression reflected his sincerity as he brought the point home. "He's the biggest reason that you're standing here right now."

Devon remained in stunned silence for several seconds, so mesmerized by Alonzo's words that she didn't notice the tears welling up in her eyes until they started to trickle down her cheek. She'd never known any of this. In fact, she'd never even considered the possibility that Danziger or anyone else besides the Terrians had had anything to do with her miraculous recovery. All she had ever been told about those frightening eight days in which she had been lost to them was that she had been felled by a mysterious, noncontagious illness. And that after Julia's capable hands and vast medical knowledge were still not enough to enable her to locate the origins of Devon's ailment or an appropriate cure, the Terrians had stepped in and had agreed to restore her back to her prior health.

Until that moment, Devon had always assumed, and no one had ever countered her interpretation, that this had been a generous offer initiated by the Terrians themselves, after they had become aware of her plight. She'd considered this to be a major step forward in the bonding of the two species. And while she would always remain eternally grateful to the Terrians for their assistance and she would acknowledge that she was alive as a direct result of their involvement, this new insight certainly put a different spin on the situation. As a matter of fact, it put a different spin on several situations, most notably of which was her growing friendship with John Danziger.

She attempted to clear her throat as she swept away several streams of tears with her fingertips. "Thank you," she whispered, her voice still sounding choked up.

The sly smile that Alonzo often wore began to peek its way out from the corners of his mouth. "You can thank me by not ratting me out to Danziger."

Both broke into a light chuckle and Devon matched his slight grin. After silently nodding her agreement, she reached outward and took Alonzo by the wrist, giving him a gentle squeeze before rising to her feet and taking her leave.

She noticed that her knees shook a bit as she made her way back to her own bedroll next to a still fitfully sleeping Uly. As quietly as possible, she slipped under the blanket and closed her eyes. Yet because her mind was consumed by the evening's events as well as her newly gained knowledge, a tranquil sleep eluded her. She had much to think about.


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Despite the lack of sleep, Danziger stayed as sharp as a tack as he panned the surrounding trees for any sounds of movement or the slightest glint among the shadows. He wasn't sure how fast the ZED would catch up to them and the Terrians had never elaborated on whether he was traveling by foot or by a vehicle of some kind. They had only warned them that a ZED attack wasn't a question of 'if,' it was a question of 'when.' Hell, Danziger reflected, the Diggers probably knew 'when,' too, but that knowledge was either lost in translation or the creatures simply didn't think that it was important enough to warrant conveying. Typical, he snorted to himself.

His left hand involuntary brushed across his stomach as he recalled his last encounter with one of The Council's SuperSoldiers. That one run-in had been more than enough to last a lifetime and he'd been very fortunate not to have been eviscerated. He thought about the chance that his friends had taken in order to rescue him. As much as he appreciated their efforts, he had to admit that it was very poor judgment on their parts to risk their lives by staying and performing surgery to remove the ticking time-bomb which had burrowed a trail from his thigh all the way up into his abdomen. If they'd failed and the bullet had indeed exploded, Eden Advance would have lost their leader, their only doctor and the person who dreamed to the Terrians. And all to save his sorry ass. Stupid, really, he concluded, shaking his head.

Danziger squinted his eyes, increasing his concentration as the moonlight disappeared behind a group of slow-moving clouds, casting the landscape into almost complete blackness. This made it all the more shocking when, without a warning of any kind, a staff-wielding Terrian shot up from the ground directly next to him. John barely managed a yelp as he stumbled backward two steps, almost tripping over his own legs and tumbling to the ground. Out of pure instinct, he briefly pointed the pistol toward the creature, but quickly lowered his hand back to his side once he realized that he was in no immediate danger, except for possibly suffering a coronary as a direct result of the being's startling entrance.

As he stabilized his footing and his heart rate, Danziger observed the lone Terrian as it took its place exactly where John had stood vigil only moments before. The creature slowly bowed his head and staff, releasing a small trill before pivoting his body to face outward from the cave, essentially communicating that it would take over as guard and that it would be okay for the mechanic to vacate his post. At least, that's what John hoped that it was telling him.

"Thanks," John murmured, grateful but feeling a bit ridiculous for speaking English to a being that can't possibly understand him. He hoped that the Terrian could at least comprehend his appreciation by his overall tone.

Danziger wasted no time and entered the third cavern from the right, swiftly venturing through the dark, cramped corridor. He tried not to focus on the knowledge that he was able to switch tunnels with ease and without the slightest hesitation; that he did, in fact, somehow know the exact course to take which would allow him to rejoin the other members of Eden Project.

This had happened to him once before, during their third day planetside, when he had gone to retrieve Uly after the Terrians had abducted him. It had been baffling for him to somehow suddenly possess the ability to effortlessly navigate the honeycomb of underground passageways that he'd never seen or visited before. So surreal was the experience that, at one point, he swore that he could even hear Devon's pleading voice echoing off of the cave walls. He chalked that up to his fatigued mind playing tricks on him or perhaps it might have been related to an unchecked bump on the head that he'd sustained during the initial crash onto G889. Eventually a Terrian had appeared on a steep incline, alerting him to the presence of Uly's pale, but now completely healthy, body. John had carried the child securely in his arms as he maneuvered his way through several more tunnels until he'd finally reached the exit.

During their subsequent travels across the planet, a few times, Danziger had considered trying it again, testing himself to see if he still had that same inner compass in other caverns or if that had been a one time occurrence never to be repeated, but ultimately he decided against it. To him, some paths were best left unexplored.

John was shaken back to the present when his gaze caught a faint glow at the end of the shaft that he was currently in, letting him know that his journey was finally nearing an end, at least for the night. It grew brighter as he closed in and he realized that he already had an exact picture in his mind of what the chamber would look like, including the cluster of sunstones in the center of the cave floor.

Because most of the Edenites were already fast asleep, very few noticed Danziger's arrival. As quietly as possible, he made his way over to the nearest corner where Bess and Morgan had chosen to set up their temporary campsite. Morgan and True were out like lights, but Bess had remained awake, keeping her promise to watch over his little girl until his safe return.

"Let her stay," she whispered, after they'd exchanged a welcoming nod. "She's comfortable."

John sighed. "Yeah, okay. Thanks," he said, barely resisting the urge to touch the top of True's head, fearful that he might disturb her slumber by doing so.

Bess briefly reached around to her side and produced an extra rolled-up blanket, correctly assuming that Danziger had been too busy organizing their escape to bring one. "Get some sleep," she advised.

He took the bedroll from her hands. "Yeah, you, too," he relayed in a grateful tone, appreciative of the thoughtful gesture.

Danziger only took a half a dozen steps back toward the opening of the cave before plopping down his bedroll and spreading the material out over the smooth rock floor. This way he could remain near True, yet still have an unobstructed view of the cavern's entrance, should there be any trouble.

He removed his jacket and carefully folded it into the shape of a rectangle to use as a makeshift pillow. Before laying down, he decided to give the room one more quick overlook to ensure that everyone was accounted for.

His scan abruptly halted when his eyes fell upon Devon who was stretched out across her blanket, but was wide awake and staring intently at him with large eyes. Her emotions were written all over her face and she was clearly contemplating whether or not to get up in order to speak with him.

Oh, great, Alonzo spilled the beans, Danziger groused to himself. The mechanic made it loud and clear that he was not in a talking mood by immediately breaking eye contact with Devon and turning away from her to face the cave's threshold. If I get through this in one piece, I'm gonna kill Solace with my bare hands, he inwardly declared.

Knowing Devon as he did, John's entire body went rigid as he braced himself for what would undoubtedly be her impending arrival. It was only after several minutes had passed that it became apparent that perhaps he didn't know Devon as well as he'd thought because she had remained where she was, and had respected his choice to be alone. Somehow this only served to unnerve Danziger more.

He clamped his eyes shut, but much like Devon, his mind continued to work in overdrive and refused to permit his body the rest that it so desperately needed. As such, he was able to get very little sleep.


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Locating the remnants of Eden Project's abandoned campsite took very little effort on the part of the ZED. It emotionlessly wandered between the lightly fluttering canvas of the abandoned tents, easily kicking aside a thirty pound barrel in its way as if it was constructed of paper mache. There was no need to rush as the soldier had easily located the group's route of escape mere seconds after its arrival. In fact, as far as the ZED was concerned, with all of the overlapping footprints and the path of disturbed plantlife, the Edenites might as well have drawn large arrows into the dirt to lead it right to their location.

The cyborg followed the instructions which it had received from the Council transmission and went to work disabling all three of the vehicles. It decided not to render them completely useless, of course, in case it later decided to add one or more of them to the arsenal of equipment gathered from its previous Kills. Besides, it wasn't as if there would be anyone from Eden Advance left to use them.

After the task was completed, the ZED specifically sought out the quarters of Julia Heller, which it had been informed was the crew's physician. It entered the tent and methodically began to scan and inventory the medical supplies available for its use, once the Human-Terrian Hybrid was retrieved. The soldier then removed a large, square tray from a nearby table and began to collect various sized scalpels and cutting tools which would be best suited to dissect the child. It next located a hypogun and several injections of a general anesthetic in order to numb the subject into submission. Once acquired, the ZED didn't deem it necessary to continue the search for a full sedative which would render unconsciousness. As long as the anesthetic kept the Hybrid from struggling and possibly prolonging the procedure, it made no difference to the ZED if the child was awake and fully aware of what was taking place before his eventual death.

Out of nowhere, a sudden, muffled tapping sound originating from the opposite side of the room caused the soldier to perform an abrupt about-face.

"Show yourself!" it demanded, drawing its weapon as it slowly, yet fearlessly advanced toward the source of the noise.

The tapping not only quickened, but grew louder as the ZED approached a small work station which was loosely draped with a dark colored tarp. It yanked away the fabric to expose a collection of about two dozen specimens, each individually housed in clear, mason jars. The cyborg reholstered its gun as it zeroed in on one particular container in the second row, labeled 'Terrian Bones,' correctly identifying it as the offending item.

It carefully lifted the still-tapping jar in order to scan its contents more closely. However, as it reached chest level, the bones were forcefully propelled against the edge of the container closest to the ZED. At the same time, the necklace which the soldier had constructed from the corpse of the Terrian it had murdered earlier in the day, lifted upward and attached itself to the outside of the jar with a clank, as if magnetized. The tapping stopped.

After ensuring that the incident had been recorded in its database, the ZED broke the seal between the two sets of bones. As the skeleton necklace fell harmlessly back to its original position around its neck, the cyborg let go of the jar and it shattered into multiple pieces as it struck the hard dirt floor. The ZED then impassively ground the broken glass as well as the Terrian bones into dust beneath the weight of its boots as it performed a final survey of the medical quarters, taking special note of the makeshift operating table located in a nearby corner of the enclosure.

Yes, these conditions are more than acceptable, the soldier concluded.

Although her chronometer alerted her that it was just before eight thirty in the morning, Devon's mind had trouble accepting it as fact, due to the cave's lack of natural light and warmth courtesy of the sun's rays. To her, it almost felt as though she'd been transported back to The Stations, again, and her unhappiness at the thought shocked her a bit. Until that very moment, she hadn't realized how much she now all but despised her prior Station life where the only thing more artificial than the landscapes were the people who came with them. Back there, Devon may have had all of the money in the world, but she'd never felt rich until she'd come to G889. And, even though her new life on this planet was often filled with uncertainty and danger, it was also where her son could run and play like a normal, healthy child. It was also the place where her true friends and family were. And, despite her current precarious situation, she knew that she wouldn't trade it for the world.

She rotated her head to view Danziger, Alonzo, Julia and Yale awake and clustered around the faux campfire. Even in the faint light, she could see that John, in particular, looked exhausted, although she was fairly certain that she didn't appear much better.

She sat up straight and pulled down on the fabric of her shirt to soften the severity of the wrinkles. After running her fingers through her hair in a half-hearted attempt to comb it, she climbed to her feet and made her way over to the small group, seating herself between Yale and Alonzo, and directly across from Danziger.

"Mornin'," the mechanic nodded before averting his eyes to give Solace a brief, but sharp glare. It was very fortunate for the pilot that there were more important things to discuss at the moment.

"We were just about to come get you," Julia said, handing Devon her portion of that morning's breakfast, a bar of Spirolina and a half filled canteen of water.

John leaned forward, his voice low in order to keep from awakening the rest of the crew. "As I was sayin', there's no way in hell we can outrun a ZED. And, by now, he's probably already found our campsite and dismantled the vehicles. We're living on borrowed time here."

"Is there any way that the Terrians could be of some assistance?" Yale inquired. "Surely, they are worried about Uly's safety, too."

Alonzo shook his head and shrugged. "They can't help us much more than they already have."

"But why not?" Devon questioned. "It can't be because they lack the aggression. We saw what they did to Gaal."

"Because, like Gaal, apparently the ZED is wearing Terrian bones," Solace answered simply. "The Terrians can feed us information, but when it comes to getting rid of him, I'm afraid that we're on our own."

Danziger exhaled sharply. "Look, we can't risk tryin' to take him down like we did the last one. I figure he's gonna find the cave eventually, so I say let's draw him into it, but on our own terms," he proclaimed, his challenging tone practically daring the others to contradict him. "The first thing we need to do is force him away from the rest of the group."

"You don't have to worry about him finding this chamber," Alonzo interjected. "All of these sunstones should skew his readings enough that he won't have a clue that we're here."

Danziger shook his head emphatically. "Well, I'm not takin' any chances. I want that thing as far away from you guys as possible," he expressed. "So, what I'm gonna do is trick him into a dead end and then cause a cave-in."

Devon's head cocked backward in surprise. "How are you going to do that?" she asked, also noting with great discomfort that John had switched the pronoun 'we' into an 'I.'

His serious expression and words only served to increase her worry. "You leave that to me," he said, meeting her eyes.

Devon was about to barrage him with questions when John's attention became distracted by movement beyond her right shoulder where the Martins were situated. Obviously not wishing to discuss his plans any further and realizing that True was now awake, John lumbered to his feet and made his way over to his daughter. Devon pivoted her head to silently watch as Danziger bent down on one knee just in time for True to spring into his awaiting arms.

He had much to tell her.


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Less than an hour later, the entire camp was awake and most were huddled around the Morganite campfire, choking down their allotted Spirolina bar and learning what little there was to know about the efforts to rid themselves of the ZED. Danziger had already pulled aside Baines and Walman as soon as they awoke in order to relay a slightly more detailed description of his intentions. He figured that he owed them that much, particularly since its success involved their direct participation.

John remained off to the side, busily loading the charges into the mag-pro grenade launcher, and refamiliarizing himself with the mechanisms of the seldom used piece of equipment. He heard Devon's hesitant approach, but didn't bother looking up. He wasn't exactly in the mood for a gabfest, especially if she was going to grill him about his past adventures on the Dreamscape or about his current plan to destroy the ZED.

"Can I talk to you a second?" she asked.

He continued what he was doing and, because he was eyeing the ground, he noticed that Devon's feet were shuffling back and forth a bit. "Shoot," he answered in a disinterested tone, as if she was bothering him. Which she sort of was.

"I just wanted to-" She stopped and the rest of the sentence evaporated into the air, leaving the thought incomplete. After another long pause, she decided to take a different approach. "Please be careful, all right? Don't do anything foolish."

John let out an unamused snort. 'Don't do anything foolish?' Only Devon would take the time to seek him out with the sole purpose of telling him not to behave like an idiot, he inwardly scoffed. As if he'd needed such a ridiculous reminder.

"Anything else?" he grumbled, and Devon was surprised to detect more than a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Didn't he understand that she was worried about him?

When she didn't immediately answer him, for the first time, John glanced up to view Devon's face and it was only then that he realized that he may have misread her intentions. Although he was unable to decipher her exact feelings at that moment, it was obvious by her expression that she was upset.

"I'm... afraid, John," she finally revealed with heartwrenching emotion.

John was taken completely aback, and he found Devon's words and faltering voice to be extremely unsettling. After all, this was the woman who was, often much to his aggravation, the pillar of optimism, no matter how bleak the situation. Seeing her in such distress, the mechanic quickly concluded that this new outlook didn't suit her at all.

He delicately set the large weapon on the ground next to him and stood back up to his full height. His entire face softened as he closed his eyes briefly and let out a slow, steady breath. "Devon, I want you to listen to me," he told her in a low, earnest voice. "I promise you that nothin' is gonna happen to Uly. I'm not gonna let anything happen to either of you."

Although Devon trusted John implicitly and she was greatly comforted by his declaration that he would protect Uly, there was a part of her that wanted to shout from the highest mountaintop that her fears were not only reserved for the welfare of her son, but for the very real possibility that something terrible would befall John and she would lose him forever. Yet another part of her, one that dealt with a very different kind of fear, kept her from voicing those concerns aloud. As such, she could only remain silent, her fright clearly evident in her eyes.

When Devon didn't answer him or seem swayed by his words, Danziger stepped forward and soothingly placed his hands on her shoulders. "This is all gonna be over soon and we'll be back on the road to New Pacifica in no time." He gave both shoulders a gentle squeeze and leaned forward. "Okay?"

Devon remained stationary, awestruck not just by his normal towering strength of conviction, but at how John's entire demeanor openly conveyed his compassionate nature which was usually kept carefully hidden. Devon inwardly reflected that this was how he generally conducted himself with True. There was no doubt in her mind that she liked seeing this side of John Danziger very much indeed and wished that he'd allow his kinder, softer side to surface more often during their interactions with one another.

"Okay," Devon nodded.

John noticed that she opened her mouth to perhaps say something else, but no sound came out, and he figured that she either had second thoughts about what she was going to tell him, or it must have not have been that important.

"Hey, Danziger, you ready to go?" Walman called out to him from the cavern's threshold.

John removed his hands from Devon's shoulders and his arms dropped back to his sides, and Devon immediately felt colder due to the loss of physical contact.

"Yeah, be right there," he answered as he quickly shoved two extra grenade charges into his right front pocket and then poked his head and arm through the large leather strap of the grenade launcher, carefully sliding the weapon around until it was settled against his back.

By the time John had reached Baines and Walman, both of whom were wielding Mag-pros of their own, most of the other Edenites has joined them at the chamber's entrance.

True stepped forward to say goodbye, but he didn't bend down to embrace her because he didn't want to risk her reaching around and accidentally activating the grenade launcher. Instead, he remained standing and pulled her into a hug.

"You mind Bess, okay, Sport?" he instructed as she tightly wrapped her arms around his waist. He leaned over and whispered close to her ear. "And don't pick on Uly too much. He's had a rough night."

Danziger felt True's entire body slump. "Yes, sir," she sighed, clearly disappointed. Since there was no VR to play, picking on Uly had seemed to be the next natural choice.

He gave her one last squeeze and kissed the top of her head before releasing his hold. "Love ya'."

"Love you, too," True said, moving back to stand next to Bess.

Danziger turned to speak to Devon, although he wasn't exactly sure what he was going to say, but was a bit surprised to discover that she had remained fixed in place across the room. The two locked gazes, exchanging an indescribable look for several seconds before John finally gave her a confident nod and turned away. She watched as Danziger glanced once more at True before disappearing into the tunnel with Baines and Walman close on his heels.


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The trio walked in silence, all lost in their own thoughts, as Danziger deftly navigated them from tunnel to tunnel. John, in particular, had a growing sense of dread with every step that he took. He'd had a sinking feeling in the pit of stomach ever since the Terrians had first warned them about the ZED. He unfortunately knew firsthand that ZEDs were virtually unstoppable machines which killed with impunity, always from the largest and strongest to the smallest and weakest of any group they'd encountered. This pretty much confirmed to Danziger that things were not going to turn out well where he was concerned. He figured that he'd used up all of his luck during Eden Advance's first ZED attack and it would be unrealistic to expect fortune to smile upon him a second time.

After about twenty minutes of continuous movement, the walls of the shaft in which they were traveling suddenly receded, opening up to a medium sized chamber. Much like Eden Advance's safehouse, to Danziger and the others, the room also felt as though it had been custom-made by the Terrians, this time specifically to facilitate a ZED showdown. Unlike the blackness of the tunnels, there were over a dozen small, but strategically placed sunstones embedded in the walls to light the enclosure. There was also another entrance on the opposite side, presumably the corridor from which the ZED would enter along with three deep cuts into the rock for Danziger, Baines and Walman to hide behind and use as cover. They also appreciated that these hiding places were close enough to their exit to enable them to escape unharmed after they caused the cave-in.

John wasted no time, walking to the center of the chamber and pulling something from the left pocket of his blue Ops jacket that, until then, no one knew that he'd brought with him: his gearset. He went to work, punching several buttons on the side keypad, and the threesome simultaneously let out a small shudder as the apparatus lit up and emitted a few small beeps, alerting them that it was activated and transmitting a signal. There was no going back now.

As the mechanic set the equipment on the ground and backed away, he heard a very nervous Baines ask, "So what do we do now?"

John tugged on the strap of his powered down grenade launcher, carefully pulling it over his shoulder and allowing it to fall securely into his hands.

"We wait," he answered evenly, taking his place in the shadows along the cave wall and vanishing from view.


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It would be like shooting fish in a barrel.

As gratified as the ZED was to finally regain contact with the Satellite Brass and receive new orders, some assignments such as this were almost an insult to a proud warrior such as itself. To perform its required duties, it appeared that there would be little ammunition expelled, none of them worm bullets. There would be no use of its always expertly executed interrogation skills. Even the hunting knowledge required to locate Eden Advance was so rudimentary in nature that a mere human could likely have performed the task with only slightly less thorough results. It was barely worth the effort.

The soldier was, however, looking forward to the practical application of the medical files which it had recently downloaded that specifically related to the Hybrid child, particularly those dealing with vivisection. And, most importantly, this was a golden opportunity to exterminate over a dozen people in a very short time span. This was the endeavor from which it would gain the greatest satisfaction.

The ZED had also been provided with all valuable intel collected from a spy who had been planted within the ranks of Eden Project, but who had evidently later turned her back on her sworn duties to the Council. However, before committing this treasonous act, the undercover agent had informed Reilly that, anyone acquiring Terrian bones would be impervious to Terrian attack or retribution of any kind. This indeed seemed to be the case. However, as the ZED arrived at the threshold of the cave where the members of Eden Advance had obviously taken refuge, it was surprised to discover that there was an additional benefit to wearing Terrian bones; one which it had not been made aware of by its Council superiors. Something that could provide crucial information.

Instead of wasting bullets and immediately dispatching the Terrian who had been standing guard, the cyborg had decided to employ a more hands-on approach. But when the ZED grabbed the creature with the intention of ripping it into two pieces at the torso, both were suddenly hurled into an alternate reality; an even larger cavern with two additional Terrians just beyond arm's reach. There was a few seconds of disorientation as a series of antagonistic trills began to loudly echo throughout the ZED's skull. Correctly surmising that it had been transported to the Dreamplane, the cyborg reclaimed its bearings and immediately sought to, hopefully, use the experience to its advantage by testing a theory it had hypothesized after observing the two sets of bones interact with one another back in the Med-tent earlier. The soldier successfully tuned out the Terrians' screams and telepathically ordered them to reveal the location of the Terrian-Human Hybrid.

Its demand was met with abrupt silence and the creatures were obviously conflicted as to how to respond. The ZED tightened its grip on the living Terrian, while its other hand took hold of the bone necklace in order to strengthen the conduit before wordlessly repeating the command. Though it was glaringly apparent that the beings were not happy to do so, after another pause and a succession of now-saddened trills, the ZED's databanks were suddenly filled with detailed schematics of the tunnels as well as a crystal clear picture as to where its bounty was hidden.

Once the transmission was complete, the cyborg briefly let go of the Terrian, breaking the connection and returning their collective consciousness to the physical realm. It quickly regained its hold, but only long enough to ruthlessly tear the creature's head from its body, before dropping the carcass to the ground in a motionless heap.

As the ZED casually stepped over the Terrian's corpse and made its way toward the third tunnel from the right, it dutifully recorded its new findings.

It was certain that its Council superiors would be extremely pleased.


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Time can often be an unrelenting foe, especially when those trapped within its grasp are already suffering from the emotional turmoil of, not just what they'd already survived, but of what might become of them. As the clock ticked uncomfortably onward, to Danziger, Baines and Walman, every minute felt more like an hour. The seemingly interminable wait for the ZED's impending arrival was a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they were grateful for each additional second of stillness because it was extra time in which they would not have to confront an unstoppable warrior and mostly likely meet a violent end. But conversely, the agonizing slowness of time provided them ample opportunity to envision the variety of methods, all of them grisly, which the ZED might choose to employ in order to slaughter them. A part of them all, especially Danziger, just wanted it over with, no matter what the outcome might be.

As the trio continued to wait, their eyes and ears began to play cruel tricks on them. They began to occasionally view shifts in the shadows that weren't there. Even a minor deviation of their footing or the slightest rustling of their clothes was more than enough to give them all a frightful pause.

Finally, after there was no activity for almost two full hours, Walman decided that enough was enough. "Do you think that there's some sort of interference blocking the signal?" he asked, breaking the deafening silence. His left leg had fallen asleep more than forty-five minutes before and he began to lightly pound on it with his fist and shake it back and forth until the circulation returned.

There was a brief delay before Danziger stepped into the faint glow of a nearby sunstone. "I don't know," he said, shaking his head. "But something's not right."

No sooner had the words left his mouth when there was a thunderous explosion of rock and debris as a Terrian blasted through the far wall and into the center of the enclosure. If the three men hadn't been holding mag-pros, their hands would have instinctively gone to their chests in a feeble attempt to keep their hearts from bursting out of their skin.

"Jesus Christ," Baines blurted out, panting furiously. "We need to put a bell on these guys so we know they're coming."

The Terrian either didn't notice or chose to ignore the trio's shocked faces and desperate quest for a full breath and a steady heart-rate. Instead, it turned to face Danziger and started to loudly trill at him. It was clear that the creature was in quite an emotional state and, to the small group, it almost sounded as if it was frightened or in some sort of distress.

John raked his free hand through his hair in exasperation. "I don't understand," he exclaimed, his eyes still darting back and forth from the opposite corridor in case the ZED picked that moment to arrive. "What are you tryin' to tell me?" he asked, mentally kicking himself for not thinking ahead and bringing Alonzo, in case something like this popped up.

The Terrian took a step toward him and began another succession of wails and Danziger was completely at a loss. It was Walman who finally suggested, "Call me crazy, but I think that he wants you to dream with him." There was plenty of uncertainly in his voice as he added, "Can you even do that, man?"

John still hadn't fully recovered from the Terrian's grand entrance and this new turn of events was doing little to calm him. "Hell, if I know," he exclaimed, more than a little irritated. The creature's answer to Walman's question was apparently to yell at Danziger some more.

Understanding that time was of the essence and feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders, John clamped his eyes shut and took several slow, deep breaths. "Okay, okay," he whispered, psyching himself into a mindset in which he might be able to accomplish the task.

After clearing as much clutter from his brain as he possibly could, Danziger did his best to picture the Terrian directly in front of him and attempted to call out to him in his mind. He was surprised and slightly horrified that it took almost no time at all before he felt his reality vanish around him and he was propelled onto the Dreamscape. He looked around and was further shocked to see that he and the Terrian were now standing in the Dreamplane version of the main entrance to the large cavern. With another pained trill, the creature backed away to reveal the remains of the ZED's latest victim. As John bent down on one knee over the broken body of the Terrian who had been kind enough to relieve him of his sentry duties the night before, he was filled with rage and sorrow at the brutality of the senseless murder as well as with a deep feeling of sympathy for the rest of the tribe's loss. But as the gravity of what had transpired hit Danziger like a sledgehammer, those emotions were quickly eclipsed by something far greater. Fear.

He shook his head ferociously, forcing himself off of the alternate plane and back into his physical existence.

"Shit!" he shouted, immediately swooping into soldier-mode and furiously punching in buttons to powerup his mag-pro.

"What's wrong?" Walman questioned, understandably worried.

John knew that he couldn't waste precious seconds to bring them up to speed. Without another word, he raced into the nearest corridor and was immediately consumed by the blackness.

"Danziger, wait!" Walman and Baines simultaneously called out after him.

When their response was the quickly fading sounds of John's footsteps and then complete silence, the two crewman turned to face one another as their own reality hit them head-on. Without Danziger there to guide them, the pair didn't have the slightest inkling about how to find the other members of Eden Advance or their way out of the cave.

"What in the hell are we supposed to do now?!?" Baines asked with wide eyes.

They both ever so slowly turned toward the Terrian who cocked its head to the side in curiosity.


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"I spy, with my little eye, something... blue," Bess announced to True and Uly who she'd gathered around the Morganite campfire. Throughout the rest of the morning and into the afternoon, she'd been trying to do whatever she could to distract the two children from their current circumstances. She was pleased to be at least partially successful, as Uly actively searched the room looking for items that fit the description.

"Is it a jacket?" Uly asked, eyeing a nearby Denner who was wearing her standard Ops uniform.

"Nope," Bess said with a kind smile. "But, like a jacket, it could be used to keep you warm."

The Earth-res fully understood that she was basically revealing the identity of the item by divulging such a large clue. However, she was dealing with kids, after all, and didn't want to make it too difficult for them to figure out.

She leaned in and lightly tapped True on the shoulder. "How about you, True. What do you think it is?" she asked sweetly.

"It's a blanket," True said in a matter-of-fact tone, barely interested. Throughout the entire game, her eyes had remained focused on the chamber's entrance, her mind obviously on her father.

"Good job," Bess praised. "Now, it's your turn to pick something."

Thoroughly irritated that Bess and Uly weren't getting the hint that she wanted to be left alone with her thoughts, True let out the same beleaguered sigh that her father had practically invented and patented as his own.

"Fine," she scoffed. In an annoyed, singsong voice, she declared, "I spy, with my little eye, some--"

Suddenly, True's mouth dropped open and her eyes went as wide as dinner plates. Her terrified stare was still locked on the cave's threshold as she instinctively crab-crawled backward toward the nearest corner of the room. The little girl finally was able to locate her breath and emit a high-pitched, blood-curtling scream which all but shook the walls and garnered the attention of the other members of Eden Advance.

The ZED had found them.

Danziger didn't dwell on the fact that he was literally sprinting through pitch black passageways and switching tunnels without the slightest reservation. At the moment, his mind was consumed with getting back to his friends and family before the ZED could hurt them. Failure was not an option and he was more than ready to engage in the fight of his life.

As he closed in on the light at the end of the corridor, John could already hear several of the Edenite's petrified screams echoing throughout the chamber, including his daughter's. He somehow found the inner strength not to barrel full speed into the room and forfeit the element of surprise and quite possibly meet a quick death, depending upon the ZED's positioning. Instead, the mechanic lined his body along the cave wall and inched forward, careful to remain hidden in the shadows as he peeked around the corner to survey the frightening scene playing out.

The ZED was currently standing only a few feet away, facing the opposite direction and it appeared to John that it had only just arrived. A brief sense of relief washed through him as he looked beyond the warrior to confirm that no one had been injured or killed. The majority of Eden Advance had huddled together along the wall or in the corners of the enclosure. Bess was tightly hugging a very scared True and Morgan had taken it upon himself to shield the pair from possible harm using his own body.

The ZED's concentration was clearly centered near the sunstone campfire where Uly stood. Much like Morgan had done, Devon had placed herself directly in front of her son to safeguard him from the ZED as best as she could. As an added mode of protection, both mother and child had been encircled by six very unhappy Terrians.

"You will step aside," the soldier commanded without a hint of emotion.

The ZED's unusual voice drew Danziger's attention and, for the first time, he studied its physical characteristics, at least what he could see of them from his vantage point. This cyborg, although still quite imposing, was a smaller build than the one he'd encountered before. Its head-to-toe, charcoal colored body armor was much thicker and the weaponry appeared to be more state of the art, as if this was a newer prototype. Coarse, almond hair was cropped short and slicked back away from its face. And there was one more glaring difference from the first ZED.

It was a woman.

Danziger continued to watch and learn while Devon held her ground. "I will never give you my son!" she spat, clutching Uly even closer to her. "Never!"

"Then you will die," the soldier calmly informed her. It didn't feel the need to elaborate that it planned on killing all of them very soon anyway.

As the ZED raised its weapon, the Terrians' trills escalated into angry screeches.

"Your threats mean nothing because I wear the bones of your brethren," it said, completely unaffected. "You will surrender the Hybrid willingly or I will take him by force."

"You don't need to do this," Alonzo called out from his place along the wall. "You have no idea who you work for! Your boss isn't even human! It's nothing but a soulless computer!" He halted, realizing that he was basically talking to the very same thing.

"Who or what issues my orders has no bearing on my mission," the ZED responded impassively. "I will finish my task."

"Not if I have anything to say about it, you won't," came a deep, resolute voice from behind them.

Everyone, including the Terrians, turned their attention to John as he stepped into the room.

Although Danziger's grenade launcher was pointed toward the ground as he entered, the ZED's gun was aimed directly at Danziger.

"Advance and be killed," it stated, mildly annoyed by the latest intrusion. Clearly this group of humans didn't know what they were up against. Fools.

The mechanic ignored the warning and, instead, diverted his focus toward the other members of Eden Advance.

"I want you all to listen to me, all right?" he yelled. "When I say so, I want you to run!"

His eyes briefly met Solace's. "Alonzo, lead them out as fast as you can."

As glad as Devon was to see him, she was equally perplexed by his instructions. "What are you doing, Danziger?" she asked in a strained, apprehensive tone.

Great, even now, the woman has to argue with me, Danziger inwardly scoffed. As if I don't have enough problems already.

"Just do as I say, Adair!" he snapped, breathing hard. "And don't stop until you're out of the cave, do ya' hear me?"

Devon was struck dumb by his words, as well as by the almost crazed look in his eyes. It was obvious that whatever he was planning to do would be drastic and was very likely something she'd normally object to. However, she also couldn't ignore that, at the moment, their options were in short supply and John was in the best position to help them escape. Plus, though she may not always approve of his methods, there were no doubts in her mind that, no matter what the circumstance, Danziger always had their best interests at heart and she trusted him completely.

A small, trembling voice echoed out of the semidarkness. "Daddy?"

John let out a deep exhalation and pivoted toward True. "It's gonna be okay, Baby," he reassured her in a tone that was firm, yet gentle at the same time. "You go with Bess when I tell you to."

Danziger glanced at the Earth-res who silently nodded to convey that she would continue to keep her promise to protect his little girl and usher her to safety.

Meanwhile, the ZED watched those around it, bored by what it considered to be a pointless display of human emotions. But there was a part of its programming that was almost amused by Danziger's tenacity. Almost.

"You must be aware that any attempt to overtake me will only end your life sooner," the warrior felt the need to remind him.

The mechanic didn't hesitate in his reply. "Yeah, I know it does," he concurred, his jaw locked firmly in place and his voice eerily calm. "But it also raises the odds for everyone else. And you fail your mission."

The enormity of what was about to take place clicked into the heads of every member of Eden Advance at the same instant, yet none of them had time to react as John dropped his weapon and charged forward, rushing the cyborg and ramming into it with the full force of his weight.

"RUN!" Danziger hollered to the others as he shoved the ZED's gun skyward and it fired into the ceiling, sending a storm of rock and dust raining downward, barely missing the pair.

With an animal-like grunt, John continued to push with all of his might, shoving the ZED backward and trying to keep it from regaining its bearings. Devon and Uly were directly in their path and Devon grabbed her son and dove out of the way barely in time. The surrounding Terrians simply parted as Danziger and the ZED staggered past them. The creatures then turned toward one another and briefly conferred, their trills considerably more serene in tone than just moments before. After deciding that the threat to Uly had seemingly passed, they disappeared back into the ground in unison.

Despite John's brazen attitude, the ZED was caught off-guard and had never really considered that he would actually attempt to follow through on his intentions. As such, it continued to desperately remain upright as it continued its trek backward. Shots were fired wildly into the air with every few unstable steps, the result of which was an avalanche of debris falling from all corners of the room. It wasn't too long before the entire chamber began to quake.

As their skin and throats became caked with dust, the rest of the Edenites scrambled toward the exit. Alonzo was the first into the tunnel with Bess and a now screaming True close behind. Morgan and others promptly followed and when Julia made it to the threshold, Devon handed Uly to her and literally pushed them into the shaft before her son could offer any words of protest. The leader wasn't planning on going anywhere. At least, not yet.

Through the quickly waning visibility, she could barely keep the mechanic within her sight. Although Devon had no plan of action in mind, she tried to make her way back across the room toward Danziger, but was forced to stop at about the halfway point because of almost continuously falling debris. Devon's eyes caught sight of John's discarded grenade launcher on the ground nearby and she briefly considered picking it up and aiming it at the ZED before concluding that it wouldn't do any good. Even if she was lucky enough to get a clean shot, the ZED's armor could easily withstand a grenade blast and she'd probably only end up killing Danziger. And that was a chance which she was simply not willing to take.

Meanwhile, John kept moving, ignoring that the room was beginning to collapse in on itself, and he increased his speed as they approached the far cave wall. He slammed the ZED against the rock as hard as he possibly could, causing yet another discharge of its gun into the ceiling almost directly above them. Both were pelted with large chunks of debris as John pinned the warrior to the wall and began to punch the living daylights out of it with such intensity that he barely noticed the shattering of the bones in his right hand.

Unfortunately, the mechanic's efforts had only a minimal effect on the ZED and, once it had reclaimed its equilibrium, it casually cast its weapon off to the side and grabbed John squarely by the throat.

John was immediately struggling for breath and he felt his feet leave the ground as the soldier lifted him high into the air. It then rotated and roughly smacked the back of Danziger's skull against the rock facing.

As John experienced dizziness from the lack of oxygen along with the wet sensation of blood flowing from the newly created gash in his head, he was keenly aware that there was very little time before the ZED would crush his windpipe. Even as his skin began to turn a grayish shade of blue, his hands continued to flail in front of him.

The fact that Danziger was still trying to fight back only served to increase the ire of the ZED, who'd had more than enough of this human's ridiculous delusions of grandeur.

"I warned you that fighting me would only hasten your death," the cyborg seethed, tightening its grip on John's throat. It lowered its arm and angled forward until the two were almost nose to nose. "Did you really think that one man and a few falling rocks would be able to stop me?"

The ZED's close proximity allowed Danziger the opportunity to finally make his move. "No," he gasped, what little voice he had left practically drowned out by the booming sound of the earth caving in around them. His eyes never left the ZED's as his left hand briefly went to his side. "But this will."

Marshaling all of his energies and with lightning speed, Danziger pulled out the pistol which he'd hidden in his waistband. He reached around until it was pointed at the ZED's single weak spot, the epidermis located at the tip of its spine, and fired a single round.

The result was instant and John thought that he could almost see a hint of the human that the ZED once was as its eyes registered a look of shock at what he'd done. Then, without a further response or fanfare of any kind, the ZED exhaled a final breath and loosened its grip on Danziger's throat as both slowly slumped to the ground.

Danziger was also surprised. Forgetting that the cyborg's shell was impenetrable, at the angle at which he'd fired and because of the short distance between them, he'd expected the bullet to go straight through the ZED and explode into his own face. He wondered how long that bullet must have bounced around in its skull until it at last settled in a mess of wiring or perhaps in the remnants of leftover human soft tissue.

As John tried without success to push the warrior off of him, he noticed that, in addition to the burnt wires jutting out of the hole at the back of its neck, there was a steady stream of blood pouring out, further evidence of the ZED's prior incarnation. In a way, Danziger felt sorry for the cyborg. After all, much like Yale had been, ZED units were nothing more than those deemed criminals by the government who had been unwittingly transformed into Council controlled killing machines. It was unfortunate that, because of the ZED's programming, Danziger had no choice but to kill it. However, he found a bit of comfort in the hope that whatever small human part that was left of the ZED would finally be at peace. And as Danziger's eyes drew to a close, he knew that he would be at peace very soon as well.

However, just as he began to surrender to the bliss of unconsciousness, a frantic voice returned him to his senses.

"Danziger! Answer me, dammit!"

The mechanic could not believe his ears. "Devon, what the hell are you still doing here? I told you to run!" he screamed, gripped with fear at the possibility that perhaps she, too, was trapped in the cavern and would meet an identical fate. And what if she wasn't the only one? Oh, God, what if everyone didn't get out in time?

At this point, John was slumped against the wall, weighed down by the ZED which was partially draped over his lower torso and legs as well as by plenty of rubble which was getting thicker and heavier by the second. Unable to move, he squinted through the dust and dirt kicked up by the tumbling rocks and could barely make out a single silhouette about twenty feet away from him.

"I'm not leaving here without you," came Devon's unflinching reply, still trying in vain to close the distance between them.

Jesus shanking Christ, John reflected, the woman will never ever listen.

Thankfully for them both, Yale, the final person in line with the exception of Devon, had also stayed behind and was waiting at the exit. It pained the tutor to acknowledge that, although Danziger was only about forty feet away, it might as well have been forty miles and there simply wasn't enough time or manpower to reach the mechanic and free him. However, there was someone who could still be saved.

"Devon, we cannot stay here any longer!" he called out to his former charge.

Finally, the voice of reason. "Yale, get her outta here!" Danziger implored, unsuccessfully trying to disengage himself from the crushing mass of debris, if for no other reason than to go over there and knock some sense into Devon.

As soon as the words left his mouth, there was another major shift in what little was left of the cavern, this one causing the most sizable tremors to date. Cracks crept across the floor and an avalanche of rock began to tumble from above and all sides.

Fully understanding that it was now or never, Yale rushed back into the room and scooped up Devon, who had lost her balance and plummeted to the ground.

"No! Wait!" Devon cried, wildly writhing and kicking as Yale dragged her backward toward the passageway. "Let me go!"

As Devon was pulled into the corridor against her will, Danziger breathed a sigh of relief. At that moment, despite his world literally collapsing around him, the mechanic felt nothing but contentment. He'd accomplished what he'd set out to do and the cost of his life was more than worth it, especially when compared to the price of knowing that the ZED was no longer a threat and that True, Devon, Uly and the other members of Eden Advance were safe. In a strange way, Danziger felt like the luckiest man on the face of G889.

His thoughts were filled with visions of True and the confident, optimistic woman that she would likely become under Devon's loving tutelage. He barely reacted when the roof above him caved in.

Devon was still only a few feet inside the tunnel and had continued to fight tooth and nail as she tried to break free from Yale and return to the cavern. As such, she was still close enough to witness firsthand when the room itself was completely destroyed and she watched, mortified, as Danziger was entombed under a massive pile of rock.

"John!" she shrieked, so swept up in her emotions that she ignored the dangers and the futility of the situation as she desperately struggled to get back to him. Yale tightened his cybernetic grip on her forearm and proceeded to yank her deeper into the tunnel and out of harm's way. Despite nearly choking from thick dust, Devon continued to scream the mechanic's name well after the faint glow lighting the chamber had been extinguished.

The only positive result of Devon's trauma was that her anguished cries pierced the blackness and reverberated throughout the cavern, eventually being heard by several members of Eden Advance. Once the rest of the group had reinitiated contact, they were able to orally direct Yale and a now silent Devon back to them. Afterward, Alonzo continued to weave them in a caterpillar-like fashion through the various passageways until they eventually spilled out into the safety of the main entrance to the cave itself.

To their surprise, Walman and Baines were waiting for them, their mag-pros and clothes saturated with dirt, wearing a look that could best be described as shell-shocked. And they weren't the only ones.

Most of the crew stood there in stunned silence, coughing up dust while fighting back tears as they tried to wrap their brains around the idea that John had willingly sacrificed himself in order to ensure their survival. Tears welled in Bess' eyes as she gently rocked True who was whimpering almost incoherently against her shoulder. Morgan attentively wrapped his arms around them both and gently kissed the top of Bess' head. Yale turned to comfort Devon in her time of loss, but as he attempted to place his arm around her, she shrugged him off and took two steps backward. The leader then cleared her throat, defiantly straightened her chin and marched to the center of the room.

It was time to take charge, again.

"Who is the fastest runner here?" she asked in a no-nonsense fashion

It was an unusual question that seemed to come out of nowhere. Several moments passed and many odd looks were exchanged before Mazatl finally stepped forward, raising his hand about chest high. "I guess that would be me," he stated, a bit uncomfortably, unsure of Devon's motivations. Plus, he didn't like to brag.

Devon was direct and her voice sounded increasingly urgent with each syllable. "Go ahead of the group, find Julia's diaglove and her medical bag and get back here as fast as you possibly can," she instructed. "Bring a gearset, too."

Mazatl was still processing her request and didn't immediately move, prompting Devon to impatiently blurt out, "Go now!"

The entire group jumped at the loud outburst, and without another word, Mazatl sprung into action, easily scaling the four foot incline out of the cave. Although he was temporarily blinded by the afternoon sun, the crewman sprinted full-blast into the forest to retrieve the designated items.

Devon then spun around to address the remaining Edenites. "Alonzo and Julia will stay here with me," she told them in a slightly calmer, but still anxious tone. "The rest of you need to go back to camp and stay there. Get something to eat. Get some rest. If the ZED did anything to the vehicles, fix them the best that you can. We'll be in touch with you soon."

Curious looks passed between the crew as they nodded their acceptance. Uly strode over and grabbed his mother's hand. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he knew that something bad must have happened to Mr. Danziger. And if there was any way to help him, he wanted to be a part of it.

"Can I stay, too?" the child asked.

Devon crouched down and absently fussed at his hair, brushing out some of the dust and grit with her fingertips. "No, Honey, I want you to go with Yale," she said before leaning in and relaying in a hushed voice, "And I think that True could really use your company right now, too."

Devon glanced up at Yale, but couldn't bear to bring her eyes to view John's daughter. Instead, she gave Uly a quick peck on the cheek and rose to her feet. "I love you and I'll be there as fast as I can," she assured him.

"You can't make me leave," True piped up, her fiercely independent tone eerily reminiscent of her father's. "And I'm not going anywhere without my Dad."

Bess loosened her grip and arched backward in order to address True eye to eye. "No, Sweetie, it's best if we go," she expressed in a sympathetic voice. "If anyone can reach your father, it's Devon, Alonzo and Julia. You have to trust them."

After a few moments of contemplation, True turned her head back toward Devon. Just as the elder Danziger's emotions often did, True's pain and fear manifested itself as anger. "If he doesn't come back, I'll never forgive you," she warned through gritted teeth. "Do you hear me? Never."

Devon looked beyond True's hostile voice and downturned mouth to see the abject terror reflected in her large brown eyes, and it burned a permanent etch into her very soul. Fully realizing that there was nothing that could be said, even if she had been able to formulate the words, Devon responded with a determined nod.

"All right, everyone, let's get moving!" Yale proclaimed, taking the initiative and directing the majority of Eden Advance over to the exit. Although he hated leaving Devon behind and was more than a bit unsure of her plans, he knew that whatever they might be, she was never one to give up on anything until every avenue had been exhausted. And it was obvious to everyone that she wasn't ready to give up on John Danziger.

The group began to help one another up the sharp slope and out of the cave, shading their eyes from the brightness and removing their jackets due to the rise in temperature before beginning their half kilometer journey back to their campsite. Devon, Alonzo and Julia remained in place near the center of the enclosure. Though it had felt like a much longer length of time, it had been just over ten minutes since the cave-in and Devon realized there were no seconds to spare.

She rotated to Alonzo. "I want to talk to the Terrians," she demanded. "Either take me to the Dreamplane or bring them here."

Alonzo blinked several times. He was so rattled by what had become of Danziger that it was going to be difficult for HIM to reach the Dreamscape. He couldn't imagine that Devon would be able to clear and then focus her mind enough to allow her access to the alternate plane. Judging by her overall demeanor, it was fairly obvious that she was barely holding it together as it was. That left only one alternative.

"I'll call them," he relayed, immediately closing his eyes and doing his best to steady his breathing.

Devon took this short, but much needed time to calm her emotions as well as to call upon her many years of leadership experience as she organized her thoughts. It wasn't long before the pilot had established contact and two of the beings sprouted from the ground directly in front of them. Before Alonzo could say anything, Devon stepped forward, taking control.

"We need your help. We have a crewmember trapped inside," she said in a straightforward manner, motioning behind them toward the corridor's entrance.

When neither Terrian displayed even the smallest reaction to her declaration, she continued, "He's still alive and we need you to bring him out for us."

Alonzo and Julia glanced at one another in uncertainty. Although they hadn't witnessed the latter part of the cave-in firsthand, they'd understood that the entire structure had been destroyed. The assertion that John had somehow managed to survive his ordeal was a supremely optimistic viewpoint, to say the least. And because Devon had yet to share the details of her own account, Alonzo or Julia didn't even know if Danziger had already met a quicker end at the hands of the ZED before the dust had finally settled.

Meanwhile, Devon tried to remain professional and was all-business in her approach to dealing with the Terrians. It was almost as if she was running a board meeting and she was in the midst of addressing the planet's largest and most valuable shareholders.

"This man is very important to us," she explained. "He's the person who keeps the vehicles and the equipment in working order. More than anyone else, he makes sure that we have food in our stomachs and clothes on our backs. He's the biggest reason that we've made it this far and his presence is crucial to the success of our mission to colonize this planet."

The creatures were unmoved, literally and figuratively by her words. Devon could feel her fear and desperation starting to creep towards the surface and she swallowed hard in an attempt to keep those feelings at bay. But time was running out and she was at a complete loss as to what to say or do. How could she make the Terrians understand how important John is?

"He is our protector," she exclaimed, her voice and body language conveying an increasing sense of urgency. "He has continually risked his life for us and especially for Uly. He's also risked his life for you. He helped to save a tribe of Terrians from Gaal. And by killing the ZED, he has saved countless human and Terrian lives. John Danziger is, by far,--"

Devon's rising emotions coupled with the mention of Danziger's name forced her to pause. She made a feeble effort to compose herself, briefly looking downward and taking a shaky breath before starting the sentence again. "John Danziger is, by far, the bravest man that I have ever met."

Devon began to feel the sting of tears as her mind was flooded with images of the countless courageous and selfless acts that John had performed on her behalf and on the behalf of the other members of Eden Advance since their crashlanding so many months before. Her thoughts centered on Alonzo's revelation of the lengths that John had gone to in order to liberate her from her frozen tomb after she'd fallen ill. Devon then recalled the method that Danziger had employed which finally swayed the Terrians to agree to heal her. And this only served to upset her more.

"Uly, he-" she began, starting to choke up, "- he considers John to be like a father to him. And John IS a father to him, the closest that Uly has ever known. The loss that Uly would feel... that we would feel... it can't be measured or put into words."

After another shaky breath, Devon furthered, "And John also has a little girl of his own. You may have met her already. Her name is True. She's eleven years old, has big beautiful eyes, she loves to go exploring and doesn't hesitate to question authority. In her own way, she is... she's the spitting image of her daddy." Her voice cracked as her emotions swelled. "John is True's entire world and she needs the guidance and unconditional love that only he can give her."

One of the Terrians responded with a slight trill. Devon had no idea what the creature said, but judging by its tone and subsequent lack of motion, she knew that no real progress had been made.

No longer able to hold back, the tears began to flow freely down her cheeks. "I'm only asking you to retrieve him and bring him back to us," she implored, her tone rising in pitch with each syllable. "If it takes making you another promise, I'll do it. If you want to take my life in exchange for his, I'll do that, too. I'll do anything that you ask. Just please don't leave him there to die alone! Help him!"

She was openly weeping now, and becoming more distraught by the moment. "We cannot lose John. I... I can't lose him."

Devon took two quick paces forward and took one of the Terrians by the hand, much to the surprise of everyone in the room, including the Terrian. She was so upset that she could barely speak, and her words came out as more of a whimper. "I am begging you... please... please help him," she sobbed, her grief, along with several other emotions, an open book for all to read. "Please don't let him die. I couldn't bear it."

Devon's grasp remained firmly around the Terrian's hand as her head swung backward to the couple behind her. "Alonzo, do something! Make them understand. Make them see what John means to us!"

Alonzo stared at her in stunned shock throughout the entire exchange. It also didn't escape his notice that he'd been a party to something very similar to Devon's display once before. However, that time it had been Danziger who had appealed to the Terrians for their aid in rescuing Devon, instead of the other way around. And it was just as gut-wrenching. The pilot sincerely hoped that the Terrians could somehow be persuaded to save a member of Eden Advance a second time. And he wished to God that he had the slightest clue as to what to say.

He stepped forward and gave it his best shot. "Your help would mean a great deal to us and we'd consider this an act of friendship; a further bonding of our two species and proof that we can work together toward the same common goal. And in the future, should you ever need assistance, you can always come to us and we will do everything within our power to help you. Because that's what friends do for one another."

The combination of the two pleas seemed to finally have an effect on the creatures. The Terrian slowly placed his other hand over his and Devon's joined ones and lowered its head slightly to speak directly to her. After letting out several gentle trills, he gingerly pried their hands apart. The other Terrian wasn't quite as pleasant and shouted a few trills in Alonzo's direction which sounded almost scolding in nature. Then, both beings disappeared into the ground, causing Devon to stumble backward.

"What happened? What did they say?" the leader asked, worried and befuddled, and still barely able to catch a full breath.

For the first time that day, Alonzo felt like smiling. "They're going to bring Danziger out for us." The pilot purposely chose not to give Devon the exact translation of the Terrian's words to her which were 'We will find and deliver your mate.'

Alonzo added, "They also told us not to make this a habit."

She exhaled so quickly that it came out as a snort. "We won't. I promise," Devon sputtered out, acknowledging, but barely paying attention to the latter part of the Terrians' message. She was consumed with relief that John would rejoin them soon. And she knew in her heart of hearts that he was still alive. He just had to be.

She shut her eyes, inwardly offering a prayer of thanks before crossing her arms tightly across her stomach, squeezing hard as if she was fighting the urge to become physically ill. Julia, who had remained silent up until that point, placed a comforting hand on the leader's shoulder from behind.

"Devon, it's going to be okay," she said, doing her best to mask her doubt. In the doctor's mind, it would be a miracle if Danziger was found alive. She hoped that the Terrians were in a healing mood today, especially since her medical equipment had yet to arrive.

Devon turned to Julia. "I know it will," she nodded, bound and determined to keep the faith. "I'm just so... so..." Devon paused as her self-imposed barriers began to break free again and she looked as though her legs were about to collapse from beneath. Julia pulled her into a supportive hug as Devon's sobs burst forth. The leader's continued distraught cries and shuddering breaths as she clung to Julia like a lifeline were more than enough to bring tears to her own eyes. And to add to her sadness was Julia's understanding that the pain which Devon and the others were currently feeling over John's almost incomprehensible loss was unlikely to go away anytime soon.

A low rumbling emanating from below their feet alerted the trio that the Terrians were returning. The two creatures sprung upward from the floor, and in between them was a battered, motionless John Danziger. The Terrians held the mechanic by the upper arms and he was covered from head to toe in dirt which made his entire body ashen in color. His head was hunched forward with crimson streaked curls completely obscuring his face which, along with his tattered clothing and his obviously broken legs dangling lifelessly beneath him, made him resemble a badly weathered scarecrow.

But Devon barely took note of Danziger's severely impaired state. She was too overcome with joy at seeing him in the flesh again.

"John," the leader whispered, a wave of relief washing through her entire body. "Thank you. Thank you," she repeated several times to the Terrians as they relinquished their precious cargo to Julia and Alonzo.

The beings didn't feel the need to stick around any longer and promptly vanished back into the ground while the remaining Edenites centered their efforts on carefully stretching Danziger's body out across the cool stone floor. Devon lovingly cradled the back of John's head, but her happiness quickly transformed into alarm as she pulled her hands away only to find them both stained with his blood.

"Julia!" she gasped, holding her open palms out in front of her and staring at them in shock.

The doctor was unable to answer her frightened cry because she already had her own hands full. She pushed beyond her amazement that Danziger had somehow managed to possess a weak pulse as she furiously checked him over to determine the depths of his injuries. A cursory glance produced the knowledge that, although there were several broken bones including both legs, at least four ribs, one of his arms and a hand, thankfully, none of them appeared to be compound fractures. There were also several deep lacerations, some of which would need stitching, along with dozens of ever-darkening bruises, including one particularly menacing-looking contusion which blackened almost the entire expanse of his throat. But all of that was irrelevant because, at the moment, there was a much more pressing matter to deal with.

"Oh, God, he's in respiratory arrest," Julia proclaimed.

Alonzo looked up, confused. "Huh?"

"His heart is beating, but he's not breathing," she answered before further clarifying much too bluntly for Devon's taste, "It could be due to a number of things: There could be excessive blood loss or there might be large amounts of dirt or gravel blocking his windpipe. He could have suffocated from the lack of air in the chamber after the collapse. Or his vital organs may have been crushed beyond repair." Although she didn't voice it aloud, Julia guessed that the source of Danziger's distress was most likely option four and that he would succumb to his injuries in a matter of minutes, if not seconds.

"So, what do we do?" the pilot queried, his dark eyes brimming with concern for his friend.

Julia shook her head. "I- I honestly don't know," she exclaimed, her voice and expression reflecting her feeling of powerlessness. "I need my equipment here in order to help him. And there's no time to get him back to camp." Where in the hell is Mazatl, she added in her mind.

Devon's gaze remained riveted to John's emotionless face as Julia delivered her sober assessment of his plight, obviously deep in thought.

"He needs oxygen?" she asked, reaching out and delicately wiping away a streak of smeared blood from the mechanic's already bruised brow.

"Yes," Julia nodded, her own eyes beginning to tear up, again. "He's going to die without it."

Upon hearing those words, Devon immediately sprang into action, angling forward and prying John's mouth open with her fingers to ensure that his airway was clear. She then pinched his nostrils closed using her thumb and index finger and inhaled a full breath before covering Danziger's mouth with her own and blowing a large burst of air into his lungs.

Julia and Alonzo's heads shot back in surprise. "What are you doing?" the physician questioned.

Devon leaned in and forcefully exhaled another breath into Danziger's mouth. "I'm trying to get him breathing on his own, again," she relayed matter-of-factly. "If nothing else, I can breathe for him until Mazatl gets back with the medical supplies."

The pair exchanged a look of astonishment as Devon pushed another rush of oxygen into Danziger's lungs, and they watched as his chest rose and then gradually fell as soon as the seal was broken. They searched his face and body, looking for any signs that her efforts were having a positive effect, but he remained as still as a statue.

"Come on, Danziger," Devon rasped, already experiencing a physical drain due to the exertion on her own lungs, "Breathe for me. Please."

She blew another breath into his body. "I'm not giving up on you. Do you hear me?" she pledged to his unconscious form. "Not now. Not ever."

Over the next several minutes, Devon continued to supply John with the oxygen that he needed to remain alive, all the while alternating between gentle encouragement, direct orders and even the occasional threat imploring him to start breathing again and that dying was not an option. Julia also monitored him at regular intervals to confirm that his pulse remained faint, but steady.

At long last, Devon and the others received the answer that they'd been hoping for. Devon had just removed her mouth from Danziger's for what had felt like the thousandth time when his entire body began to quake and he erupted into a violent coughing fit.

Julia was so elated that she could barely speak. "Turn him on his side," she instructed, to which Devon and Alonzo immediately complied.

Alonzo rolled John sideways and took a firm hold of his shoulder and arm while Devon drew the mechanic's hair back from his face and patted him lightly on his back as he began to expel several mouthfuls of dirt that he had no doubt swallowed during his ordeal. Danziger then took in and exhaled his first unassisted breath which came out as more of a wheeze. To Devon, it was one of the most beautiful sounds she'd ever heard.

After the spell had subsided, the two eased him back to his original position. "That's it, John, keep breathing. Now I want you to wake up, okay? Open your eyes," Devon urged, her voice only slightly commanding in tone.

Thankfully for all parties involved, for one of the few times in his life, John decided to listen to authority and his lids ever-so-slowly raised to reveal a brilliant, though slightly unfocused, shade of blue. It took him a couple of moments to overcome his confusion enough to realize where he was and how he'd gotten there.

He swallowed and let out another cough, obviously struggling to find his voice. "Did I miss anything important?" he croaked out, somehow managing the hint of a smirk.

Julia shook her head, pleased to see him alive, but almost annoyed by his nonchalant attitude. "Not much, John," she said dryly. "You've broken several bones and probably suffered a pretty serious concussion."

"Not to mention killing off a few million brain cells," Alonzo deadpanned.

The mechanic seemed disinterested in his own prognosis, instead asking, "Did True and the others get out in time?"

"Yes, Danziger, everyone made it. They're already on their way back to camp," Julia replied, leaning forward and placing a hand on his chest to confirm his ever-strengthening heartbeat. "But you're still not out of the woods yet, so try not to move too much, all right?"

Danziger responded with a small nod, and his expression and demeanor were relaxed as his eyes traveled upward to the cavern's jagged ceiling. Despite his continuing weakness, the mechanic was surprised at how easily he was able to cope with his currently raging headache and the ebbing pain which coursed through just about every part of his body. He surmised that perhaps it was easy to set aside his discomfort because he was just so damn grateful to be feeling anything at all.

He ignored the throbbing in his head as he pivoted toward Devon, immediately noticing that she looked physically and emotionally exhausted. Moreover, her eyes were red and slightly swollen, giving off the distinct impression that she had been crying, although Danziger couldn't discount the possibility that she'd simply gotten some dust in them.

"Adair," he beckoned in a gravelly tone.

She leaned in and almost took hold of his hand, but stopped herself when she realized that it was badly fractured. "Yes, Danziger?" she said with a gentleness in her tone that caused John's still-returning breath to become a bit more shallow.

"I told ya' that everything was gonna be fine," he expressed, his voice barely above a whisper.

Devon broke into a smile that was brilliant enough to light the entire room, if not the entire continent. "And you were right," she agreed. "Now get some rest, okay?"

The mechanic wanted to remain awake and continue the conversation, but he had no energy left to fight his fatigue. "You're the boss," he mumbled, his eyes falling shut.

All three Edenites sat around John, completely transfixed as he slipped into a deep sleep. After a few moments of doing nothing but watch him breathe, Alonzo blurted out, "I still can't believe it. The man has more lives than a cat."

John's amazing track record of cheating Death wasn't the only thing on Julia's mind. It was Devon's behavior over the past hours, including her impassioned outburst pleading for Danziger's life, that had been nothing short of a revelation to Julia. With the exception of her interactions with her son, through most eyes, the leader usually came across as standoffish in nature. The physician knew from her own childhood experience that this could almost certainly be attributed to Devon's strict upbringing and the demands which had been placed upon her from a very early age.

But seeing Devon before her now, the heartfelt devotion in her face as she sat at John's side, barely resisting the urge to dote on him for fear of disturbing his slumber or causing him additional distress, Devon had never appeared so accessible, so human, before. And just as Alonzo had played a significant role in the many changes in her own outlook on life, Julia was certain beyond a doubt that the majority of Devon's own emotional progression could be attributed to John's weighty influence.

And there was something else about Devon's recent actions that had greatly surprised Julia. She turned toward the leader wearing a wrinkled brow. "Where on earth did you learn how to respirate?"

Although Devon's gaze didn't veer from Danziger, her skin suddenly took on a flushed tone and many seconds passed before she gave them a reply.

"John taught me," she said, evenly.

Julia and Alonzo's curiosities were suddenly piqued, especially when taking into consideration Devon's obvious awkwardness regarding the subject.

The pilot glanced at Danziger to ensure that he was indeed unconscious before inquiring, "So he gave you, uh, lessons?" He tried not to make the word 'lessons' sound like something overtly sexual, and was only partially successful.

Another few moments passed and Devon's body language gradually became more rigid. She attempted to sound casual, but her voice ended up coming out louder and more artificial than she'd intended as she explained, "Yes, I'd remembered how he'd tried to revive Morgan after he'd been stung by True's Koba, and I thought that it would be helpful to learn. So a few weeks ago, I asked him to show me." She felt compelled to add, "And, as a matter of fact, he was a very good instructor."

"I'll bet," Solace muttered under his breath.

A sudden thumping sound along with a cloud of rising dust behind the small group alerted them that an exhausted and sweat-saturated Mazatl had finally arrived. Fully understanding that Danziger's life could very well be in his hands, the Edenite had raced the entire way to and then back from camp, barely slowing down when he reached the cave's entrance and literally throwing himself into the cavern. He purposely landed squarely on his back in order to protect Julia's medical bag and diaglove which he cradled within his arms. Ignoring the scrapes and bruises he'd received from his tumble, he jumped to his feet and hurried the final few yards to his fellow crewmembers. He skidded to a stop, freezing in place as they parted to reveal a living, breathing John Danziger.

Mazatl did a triple take and his jaw dropped open. Although he'd given his all in order to help, there was a large part of him that had never truly believed that any of his efforts were really necessary in the first place. Rescuing Danziger had seemed to be a lost cause and it was too much for him to hope that he'd ever be fortunate enough to see friend alive again. Yet there he was.

"I don't shankin' believe it!" he exclaimed, flabbergasted. "Is he-"

"Yep, he's pretty banged up, but it looks like he's gonna be okay," Alonzo declared, finishing Mazatl's thought for him. "Right, Doc?"

Since Mazatl remained in a state of shock and made no attempt to move, Julia took it upon herself to relieve him of her diaglove.

She hastily donned the apparatus and scanned John's vital signs, confirming that her original diagnosis had been almost spot on, although she mentally noted that he had broken five ribs, instead of four, and had also fractured his right wrist.

"It would appear so," she answered, opening her med-bag and retrieving her hypogun. "I need to get Danziger stabilized before we try to move him," she added, slipping a capsule into the device and administering a pain block into the sleeping mechanic's neck. "Can you contact basecamp and ask them to bring us the stretcher?"

"The rest of 'em are right behind me," Mazatl informed them, wiping the perspiration from his brow with the equally wet fabric of his shirt. "Walman, Baines, Morgan, hell everybody but Bess and the kids. We weren't sure what you'd need, so everyone grabbed a piece of medical equipment, as much as they could carry, and they're all on their way back here. I'm almost positive that someone had the stretcher with them."

The crewman pulled a gearset from his front pocket. "If you'd like, I can give 'em a call to make sure," he offered.

Devon, in particular, was overwhelmed at the entire crew's kind gesture, especially when there had been no way for them to know that Danziger had indeed survived. "I don't think that will be necessary," she replied. "If it didn't come on this trip, we can always send someone back for it."

The leader climbed to her feet, forcing herself to momentarily leave John with the promise that she would return very soon. She closed the short distance to where Mazatl stood.

"Could I borrow your gear for a moment?" she asked

Although the cave was dimly lit, Mazatl could see the depth of emotion in Devon's eyes as she turned back to gaze at Danziger. Her voice choked up a bit as she spoke.

"I want to let True know that her father will be home very soon."

What a difference a day can make.

It was hard to believe that just slightly less than twenty-four hours had gone by since Eden Advance had abandoned their camp for their Terrian safe house. So much had happened. So much knowledge gained, both about themselves and about one another.

Although Julia had greatly appreciated the crew's efforts to lug the majority of the Med Quarter's contents to the cavern, luckily for her and for John, most of the equipment wasn't needed. However, she was eternally grateful to have had enough of her supplies there to set up a triage for Danziger and to run the necessary tests to confirm that the mechanic's oxygen deprivation had apparently been brief enough that he didn't appear to suffer from any permanent neurological damage. After cleaning and lightly wrapping his still open wounds, Julia decided to transport her patient back to the Med Tent to continue with his needed medical treatment. Not only was it a more sterile environment with better lighting, she knew that John would feel much more at home regaining consciousness back at camp laying in a comfortable cot, dressed in fresh clothing, and surrounded by his friends and family.

The doctor had spent several hours dutifully attending to Danziger's many injuries which sometimes required Baines' assistance. She had stitched up a half a dozen gashes, including the deep cut on the back of his skull. It had been necessary to shear a small portion of hair surrounding the injury in order to address the wound. However, John had more than enough overlapping curls to cover the temporary bald spot, as well as the permanent scar which would no doubt be left in its wake.

Over the past months, Julia had diligently worked to develop a much-needed bone healer vaccine for the members of Eden Advance, even going so far as to modify and improve upon the formula so that the treatment took effect almost instantaneously after being injected. However, because supplies and storage space were limited, she had chosen not to keep too much of the vaccine in reserve, in case those same ingredients might need to be combined to produce a different remedy at a later date. As such, the physician did not possess enough of the treatment to attend to all of Danziger's fractures at once. Instead, the decision was made to concentrate on healing the mechanic's ribs, right hand and right wrist while both broken legs would be addressed later the following day, once Julia had been given the opportunity to create another batch of the vaccine. The upside of this was that Danziger had to adhere to Julia's orders of bedrest, having no choice but to remain in his cot until the final injection could be administered.

John's forced rest period had been beneficial in several ways and was particularly important in Julia's eyes because, simply put, he needed to be watched. Although she had optimistically proclaimed that the mechanic would ultimately be fine, there was still an unspoken, lingering concern over the possibility that he could suffer the prolonged effects of a concussion. Once Danziger had regained consciousness, True, Devon and the others were placed in charge of testing his alertness as well as to check for any long term memory loss. They were also told to immediately report back to Julia if Danziger exhibited a substantial increase in irritability. However, given the mechanic's usual prickly demeanor, the crew quickly realized that there was really no way to tell the difference, so they threw up their hands in surrender and concentrated instead on the former directive to test John's overall awareness of his surroundings.

This consisted of asking him over and over again basic questions ranging from his name and birthdate, his daughter's name and birthdate, and even to elaborate on things such as performing general repairs to the Transrover. Every once in a while, Alonzo would also throw in an inquiry about how to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, eliciting a snicker from the rest of the updated group, causing Devon's cheeks to turn crimson, and generating the first genuine confusion from John.

Even after the bone healer had taken effect and his more serious lacerations were sewn to a close, Danziger still looked like a mess. Both legs remained fractured and blankets had been tightly gathered and placed around and in between the two limbs, keeping them stationery to prevent further damage. Bandages as well as bags of synth-ice were strategically applied to the most affected areas of his body and his badly bruised throat had been thoroughly packed in the latter material.

Although Danziger was putting on a relatively brave front, it was obvious to those around him that he was in a great deal of pain due to his lingering injuries. His appetite had waned and the act of swallowing food in itself was a difficult venture. Still, the mechanic insisted that he was in good enough condition to entertain visitors and had Julia stack several pillows behind him in order to prop him up approximately forty-five degrees so that he was in a partially seated position instead of flat on his back. To him, spending quality time with True was the best medicine on the planet.

The sun had long ago set and, despite Danziger's exhaustion, he was having trouble falling asleep due to his continuing discomfort. Therefore, Julia made the executive decision to clear the room of guests and then administer a large dose of painblock into his system in order for him to get the rest that he desperately needed. The tactic worked like a charm and only minutes later, John was out like a light.

It had been a difficult task to pry True and John away from one another, but the younger Danziger had grudgingly agreed to follow Julia's orders and spend the remainder of the night sleeping in Devon's tent. In fact, Devon had insisted on taking charge of the little girl, making sure that she had eaten a full meal and helping to move her belongings into the Adair quarters until John was well enough to retake over his parental duties. And it was only after confirming that True and Uly were sound asleep that Devon redressed and slipped out of the tent and quietly made her way back to John's side as she'd promised herself that she would.

She entered the room and was extra careful not to rustle the tarp, so as not to call attention to herself either from Danziger or from Magus who was on sentry duty and stationed just yards away. The enclosure was dark, save for the dim glow cast by two lumacones, each set at the head and the foot of John's cot. She could hear his raspy snores as she neared his bed and wondered if his almost pained breaths were part of his normal sleep pattern or were the direct result of the trauma inflicted on his throat. Her eyes never left Danziger's sleeping form as she carefully seated herself on the mattress directly next to him, instead of choosing to sit on one of several nearby overturned crates that were currently doubling as makeshift chairs. Devon continued to watch John sleep for a few moments, looking at him maybe not with new eyes, but perhaps with eyes that had grown wiser because of time and experience.

Devon then did something that she would never dream of doing under normal circumstances. Fully realizing that she couldn't have stopped herself even if she'd had second thoughts, she reached out and gingerly smoothed back the dirty blond curls from Danziger's forehead to enable her to see his face. She then began to gently stroke his hair, weaving her fingertips in between the thick strands and ever so lightly grazing his sensitive skin.

Not much time passed before the snoring ceased and Danziger gradually started to stir awake. Devon's hand fell back to her side, causing an avalanche of the mechanic's previously subdued curls to tumble downward and recover his bruised brow.

"Hello, John," Devon whispered as he slowly opened his eyes.

"Devon," he muttered back, appearing a bit puzzled. For some reason, he'd just experienced the strangest sensation. It had almost felt as if someone had been running their fingers through his hair. But when he'd opened his eyes, it was Devon sitting with him, so he quickly rationalized that he must have been dreaming. Though he did find it rather odd that the woman was seated so close to him. Not that he minded.

John's voice had been considerably weakened due to his ordeal and his words lacked the punch which they normally held. "What are ya' doin' here?" he mumbled.

"I wanted to check on you one more time before I went to bed," she told him. She wore a kind expression, but even in his drug-addled condition, Danziger could tell that she seemed to be a bit nervous.

"Are you in any pain?" she asked.

He thought about it a moment. Although parts of his skin felt pulled tight, most likely due to the sutures, he had to admit that he felt pretty darn good. Beyond a slight tingling, he couldn't sense his legs at all and there was an overall numbness coursing through his body that simulated warmth, despite the fact that a good portion of him was covered in synth-ice.

"Nah, I'm fine. Can't feel a thing. Just groggy," he slurred in a hoarse voice. "This medicine's got me feelin' kinda strange. You know, out-of-it."

Devon leaned in close to John, her face hovering just inches from his. "That's sort of what I was counting on," she whispered just before planting a delicate kiss on his lips.

It was brief and feather light in nature, and her senses savored every aspect of it. But as wonderful as kissing him felt, Devon was immediately concerned when Danziger barely returned the gesture. She supposed that his lack of response could be due to his overall surprise or perhaps because his reaction time was delayed due to his highly drugged state. But she also couldn't help but consider that John's lack of response to her advances was simply because they were unwanted. And that worried her greatly.

She began to retreat backward in order to view his expression and gauge whether or not she needed to quickly implement some sort of damage control plan. But to Devon's infinite delight, as she eased her head back, Danziger's newly-healed, but slightly unsteady, hand caught her at the nape of her neck and drew her back to him to continue the embrace, this time more forcefully, evaporating her worries as well as most of her inhibitions.

John pulled her as close to him as his injuries would allow as their kisses deepened with each dizzying second. But as much as Devon may have wanted their embrace to last forever, she knew that it couldn't. It was paramount that she kept in mind that Danziger's condition provided her with a unique opportunity which would doubtfully be repeated anytime soon. As such, that night's visit came with a very important objective. One that she was determined to see through, no matter what the outcome might be.

She pulled away just enough to break their kiss, her mouth still lingering dangerously close to his. "I love you, John," she revealed in a breathless gasp.

Devon did her best to steady her composure and calm her racing heart. As good as it felt to finally say those words to Danziger aloud, the most important part of their information exchange was yet to come.

The leader arched her head back to enable her to look John directly in the eye as she posed the question that had all but dominated her innermost thoughts for the past several months.

"And you're in love with me, too," she ventured, her voice shaky, yet purposeful. "Aren't you?"

Danziger didn't move a muscle and his glazed eyes stared at her both in shock and confusion for several moments, and it wasn't too long before Devon fell back into damage-control mode. But just as the phrase 'plausible deniability' started to dance a repetitive jig in her head, John gave her the answer that she'd waited far too long to hear.

"Yeah," he confessed, mildly shrugging his shoulders and suddenly averting his eyes downward, as if he was almost embarrassed by the admission. One side of his mouth curled upward to form a lopsided, goofy grin which Devon found to be both infectious and completely disarming.

She let out a small laugh. "I'm very glad to hear it," she expressed, her own smile beaming brightly. "That's going to make things much easier for us down the road."

She reached up to gingerly caress John's discolored jawline, compelling his sheepish gaze to return to hers. "This sort of thing isn't easy for either of us," she acknowledged. "We're both stubborn as mules, but that's only part of the problem. Maybe we're just too concentrated on raising our kids or maybe we're too focused on completing the mission... or on staying alive, for that matter."

A sarcastic snort rumbled from Danziger. "Or maybe we're just two very screwed up people," he interjected, somehow managing to sound blunt and endearing at the same time.

Devon joined in with her own light chuckles. "That could have something to do with it, too," she nodded, amazed that Danziger could so easily obtain such a deeply buried admission that she was less than perfect out of her. There was also a sense of relief that John seemed to be able to see right through the unbending strength and stability which she proudly wore as a protective shield against those who would dare to question her resolve. It was clear to Devon that Danziger understood the woman who she really was, and better yet, he truly accepted her, flaws and all.

After the laughter subsided, Devon let out a deep exhalation, before continuing, "I know that I'm in love with you, John, but I also know that I'm not ready to tell you this for real yet. Obviously, you aren't ready either and, believe me, I understand completely. Maybe what we're doing, or NOT doing, is the best way for us to handle how we feel about one another, at least for a while. It might take us two days or two months, or even longer. In fact, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if we make it to New Pacifica before one of us finally gets up the nerve to tell the other the truth."

She leaned in close to him and lowered her voice, as if she was about to say something risque. "Or maybe one night in the not-so-distant future, the two moons will be perfectly aligned in the sky, and we'll look at each other in just the right way and, before you know it, we'll be ripping each other's clothes off."

A flirtatious, loopy smile extended across Danziger's face as his hand went to her shoulder. "How 'bout now?" he suggested, clumsily pushing at the fabric of her shirt.

"Nope, not yet," Devon declared, grinning in spite of herself as she took the offending hand into her own, delicately lacing her fingers in between his. "You've got two broken legs and you're covered from head to toe with cuts and bruises. You're not exactly in mint condition right now."

The mechanic rolled his eyes, inadvertently causing his head to drunkenly flop to one side before he quickly rebounded. "You gotta point," he grudgingly acquiesced, his words becoming increasing slurred.

Never one to accept 'no' for an answer, especially when that 'no' came from Devon Adair, Danziger decided to concentrate all of his efforts on his free hand as it slyly made its way back to Devon's shirt, this time where the material met the waistband of her pants.

"But it still might be worth a try," he said with a mischievous twinkle in his unfocused eyes as he untucked the fabric and slipped his hand around her waist.

The touch of his hand against her soft skin sent both of their senses reeling. Devon didn't offer any resistance as Danziger's fingers dug into the small of her back and eased her to him and they rejoined in an impassioned embrace. There were several frenzied moments filled with roaming hands and devouring mouths before Devon was able to regain enough control of her faculties to put a halt to their activities before there was no turning back.

It took most of her emotional strength, not to mention a good amount of her physical strength, to pry herself from Danziger's powerful grasp. "No, John, this isn't the right time for us," she insisted.

As she straightened back up to the sitting position, she mentally chided herself for briefly attempting to work out the mechanics in her mind of how to successfully make love to a man who was heavily drugged and sported multiple lower limb fractures.

"Besides," she added, still searching for a full breath, "if anything happened between us tonight, you'd be too medicated to remember it. And you don't want to forget something that important, do you?"

"Uh-huh, I wanna remember," came the garbled reply.

"And it will be memorable. That, I can promise you," she pledged as she repositioned some of the synth-ice around John's throat which had become dislodged during their fervored exchange. He didn't hinder Devon's doting efforts, and watched in silent appreciation as she delicately rearranged the previously cast-aside blankets in order to make him as comfortable as possible under the circumstances.

Once the task had been completed and met with both of their satisfactions, Devon furthered, "I can also promise you that I'm going to do whatever it takes to keep you from returning to the Stations."

She cupped the side of Danziger's face, and lovingly traced the line of his stubbled cheekbone with her thumb. "I honestly don't know what I'd do if you left. You and True have become a part of my family and I can no longer imagine my life without you in it," she whispered with such warmth and sincerity that it caused John's heart skip a beat.

Her words hung in the air for several seconds and it slowly became apparent that Danziger wasn't going to answer her, prompting a new wave of concern from Devon. Although she now had John's affirmation that he cared for her, there were many other factors to consider, and his admission didn't necessarily translate to him living the rest of his days on G889.

"This is where you belong, John. I want you to stay here and make a life with us," she added, attempting to encourage him to respond or at least react in some way to her proclamation.

Danziger's continued silent treatment along with his undecipherable expression propelled Devon's anxiety into overdrive.

"Are you okay with that?" she asked with more than a hint of hesitation in her voice.

Several more uncomfortable seconds elapsed before, finally, the lopsided grin returned. "Yeah," John mumbled. "That's what I want, too."

Devon was overcome with emotion and was barely able to fight the urge to break into elated laughter and tears as well as to scream for joy. Her mission for that evening had been accomplished. And not a moment too soon, because it was obvious that John was beginning to drift back into unconsciousness

"I'm so happy to know that we're on the same page," she said warmly, her voice still trembling, though it was no longer due to frazzled nerves.

Danziger's eyes had already receded into two slits of blue under heavily weighted lids as he let out a weak chortle. "'Bout damn time we agree on somethin'," he slurred. "Probably won't happen again."

"Probably not," she concurred, wearing a loving smile. The reluctance to leave him was clearly evident in her mannerisms as she began to climb to her feet. "You need to rest, so I'm going to go."

John's hand found her wrist and gave it as much of a squeeze as he could muster. "Devon?" he whispered as his grasp slipped and his arm fell back to his side.

"Yes?"

"I wanna remember this," he murmured so quietly that Devon could barely understand him.

"But you won't," Devon informed him as she leaned in to brush her lips across his one last time. "Sweet dreams, John."

As she pulled away and stood to her full height, a symphony of guttural snores emanated from the deepest regions of Danziger's chest, signaling that he was fast asleep. Devon remained there in the darkness for several moments, greedily studying John's face and noting the surprisingly peaceful expression under his bruised and battered skin. This time, she was able to resist the urge to touch him, despite her sadness knowing that she would unlikely be able to conduct herself so intimately with him anytime in the near future. But she took great solace in the fact that she at last had confirmation that Danziger was not planning to abandon her for the Stations at the first available opportunity. She also knew the truth about the depth of John's affection for her and it had felt so very good to finally voice her own love for him.

On many levels, John's accomplishments were almost inconceivable to Devon. In just a few month's time, this man had somehow managed to demolish the walls that had taken the leader nearly a lifetime to build. Danziger had become her most trusted friend, her unyielding ally and had proven himself to be her equal in every way possible. Moreover, he had continually risked his life for her. And now she no longer had any reservations about risking her heart for him.

One day very soon, perhaps after their lives had somewhat settled down, they would finally overcome their lingering personal issues and openly express and act upon their feelings without hesitation. They would embark on the more intimate relationship with one another that they both secretly desired and would join their two families as one.

She could barely wait for that day to come. Now, in the meantime, if she could just keep John from doing something stupid and getting himself killed.

THE END