"Everything is different here. Nothing quite happens the way you'd expect... The gains we make are fragile. There are times the dark secrets of this planet pale compared to what we carry within us." Morgan Martin- Better Living Through Morganite, Part II
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There was no sound that Devon Adair enjoyed more than the laughter of happy, healthy children. Especially when one of those children was her son.
Uly and True's raucous outbursts, which sometimes came out as giddy shrieks of delight, had stirred the leader from her deep concentration as she'd plotted the next day's travel route from her spot under the canopy-style navigation tent about twenty-five yards away. Devon couldn't help but smile from ear to ear at the pair's antics as they ran full speed up a set of crates which had been carefully arranged into a makeshift staircase and then gleefully hurled themselves off the edge and into a mammoth pile of autumn leaves. She watched as this process was repeated over and over again, with neither child's enthusiasm or energy level diminishing in the least from one leap to the next.
A mild breeze fluttered the tent canvas and caused a new batch of multicolored foliage to rain down upon the entire camp from the surrounding trees. The slight chill also prompted Devon to seriously consider interrupting her son's play in order to insist that he find and then put on his jacket. However, he seemed to be having such an enjoyable time that she ultimately decided against it. Surprisingly, it never occurred to her to put a stop to Uly's slightly daredevilish activity for fear of his getting hurt. This general relaxing of Devon's overprotective nature was just one of the many ways that she had changed since her arrival on G889.
That day's journey had been shorter than usual. After traveling just over fourteen clicks, Eden Advance had come upon a lush forest with tall grass, towering trees, and complete with several examples of edible vegetation. After briefly conferring with Danziger, Devon had called a halt for the day and the ragtag team of Eden Advance had immediately begun their daily routine of setting up camp for the night. Once completed, there was still more than enough time and sunlight left for the colonists to perform other activities such as to forage for food, to inspect and repair the vehicles, to replenish their supply of firewood, and to search and retrieve unfamiliar plant and soil samples to add to Julia's ever-growing collection. But best of all, this extra time allowed True and Uly to spend a few precious hours just being children.
Devon's eyes slowly panned the mostly vacant campsite until settling on the Transrover just beyond where True and Uly were playing. There had never been any doubt in her mind that Danziger would choose to remain in camp in order to spend the rest of the day and probably a good portion of the night tinkering with the vehicles. After finally spotting a glimpse of the mechanic's lower legs on the opposite side of the 'Rover, Devon vacated her position and stealthily made her way around the edge of their temporary settlement until she came upon John from behind.
She was somewhat taken aback when she noticed that, for one of the few times in recent memory, Danziger wasn't nose-deep in work, although judging by the plethora of tools fanned around him on the ground, it was clear that he had been until very recently. Currently, he was on his feet and facing the other direction, his right shoulder leaned against the front tire, intently watching True and Uly at play. With her curiosity considerably piqued, Devon circled around the neighboring Dunerail in order to get a better perspective of the mechanic's visage. Once achieved, she paused and then ended up observing him for much longer than she had ever anticipated.
Because he had no idea that he was under surveillance, Danziger's expression was completely open for the world to see. A mixture of love, pride and amusement occupied his face as he viewed True and Uly as they relentlessly and triumphantly launched themselves into the pile of leaves. He shook his head and let out a quiet chuckle when the two temporarily suspended the activity in order to remove bits of dried foliage that had become hopelessly entangled in their hair, but had quickly given up after making little to no headway at all.
Devon continued to regard him in fascination. There was a gentleness in John's eyes and smile that was rarely seen by her, or anyone else for that matter. Of course, True and Uly were always the exception to this rule, and Danziger never ever held back on his affection for either of them.
As strange and confusing as it felt, more and more often, Devon had been experiencing something akin to jealously when it came to the children's relationship with John. She wished that he would allow her the same courtesy as he did to True and Uly; to see the man who he truly was, instead of the hardened facade that he usually projected. Not that she or anyone else was fooled in the least. Everyone who got to know John Danziger fully understood that he was a good man. He just had trouble showing it sometimes.
After starting to feel guilty for studying Danziger like a lab rat, and more importantly, after beginning to worry that he would turn and catch her staring at him red-handed, Devon decided to close the distance between them. Danziger obviously noticed her approach out of the corner of his eye and his entire demeanor changed, although not nearly as much as it could have.
His eyes remained fixated on the children as Devon eased her way up to him. "That's your doing, I assume?" she asked, motioning to the stacked crates and the mountain of leaves.
Danziger's body stiffened as if he was readying himself for a dressing down. "Thought they might like it," he said evenly. "Seemed like a good way for 'em to blow off some steam."
"I think it's a wonderful idea," she expressed in an appreciative tone before adding with a slight smile, "plus, it should be pretty easy to get them both to bed tonight."
"That's for damn sure," Danziger smirked, noticeably relaxing his shoulders now that he recognized that she wasn't there to pick a fight with him; at least, about their kids.
He rotated to make eye contact with Devon, but she had turned her full concentration back toward the children who continued to play with reckless abandon, completely oblivious that they were the focus of so much attention.
"They really seem to be having fun," Devon said over the sound of their rambunctious laughter. There was a pause lasting several seconds and a wistful, almost sad quality overtook her face and voice as she relayed, "I think that I'm going to miss perfect moments like this when Uly gets older."
Simultaneously, the pair gave a silent prayer of thanks, grateful that Uly was healed and would have the opportunity to get older at all.
Danziger let out a deep exhalation. "You'll still have the memories, Devon," he replied in a soft tone. "Plus, you've got years and years of other perfect moments still ahead of you, along with a whole bunch of new memories to add to the ones that you already have." He shrugged and repositioned his footing slightly. "It won't be so bad."
Devon nodded in agreement, his words instantly making her feel better. She also decided that she rather liked it when Danziger was in an introspective mood. It definitely put her at ease. So much so, that she felt comfortable enough to confess, "You know, there are times that I wonder about what it would be like to have more children." She turned toward him and added, "I'm sure that you feel the same way sometimes when you look at True."
John's eyes briefly widened before he veered his gaze sharply until it finally settled on a nondescript cluster of trees. "I don't really think about it," he said in a distant tone, as if his mind was suddenly millions of miles away.
"I don't believe you," Devon scoffed somewhat jovially, having no idea that she'd possibly overstepped her bounds. "There's no way that you can honestly tell me that you've never given any thought to having another child." Her coy grin returned. "Come on, John. You've never considered maybe someday giving True a little brother or sister to boss around?"
Any and all warmth that Danziger had exuded prior to Devon's suggestion had gone ice cold. "No," he said flatly, his face darkening with each passing second. "Never."
Devon began to sense that something was wrong, but had no idea what it could be. Certainly, the last thing that she'd wanted at the moment was to engage in yet another argument with Danziger. It never failed to amaze her how the man could turn on a dime.
She tried her best to come across as cordial as possible. "That really surprises me, John," she offered in her most nonthreatening manner, attempting to steer the discussion back in a positive direction. "You love being a Dad. And you're certainly too good of a father--"
"This conversation is over," Danziger snapped, cutting her off midstream.
Devon could only gape at him in shock as he turned and stomped away. She considered calling out to him, but thought better of it as he disappeared into the privacy of his tent just a few dozen yards away, roughly yanking the canvas flap closed behind him to ensure his privacy.
Still thoroughly confused, she stared at the yellowed, worn fabric of the Danziger tent for several moments before slowly turning back to face the children, though her thoughts continued to remain squarely on the mechanic. They'd been having such a pleasant discussion only seconds before. What had happened? What could she possibly have said or done to illicit such a sudden and hostile reaction? For heaven's sake, she had been right in the middle of telling Danziger what a wonderful parent he was. Didn't he realize that she was trying to pay him a great compliment; probably one of the highest praises that she could bestow on anyone? She shook her head in bewilderment, wondering if she would ever truly figure him out.
Another gust of wind blew through camp, though this one felt much stronger to Devon than the last. She gave her surroundings a second look and noticed that the sunlight was beginning to wane. She rubbed at her forearms, suddenly feeling colder than she had been just a few minutes before.
She stepped away from the Transrover and out into the open.
"Uly," she called out, alerting both children to her presence. "You need to put on your jacket."
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Over the next hour or so, as the rest of Eden Advance gradually spilled back into camp from their various ventures, John had remained holed up in his quarters. He was also conspicuously absent when the crew gathered for dinner and the loud clanging of tools originating from the opposite side of their campsite alerted them that Danziger had, instead, returned to the Transrover to complete whatever repairs he'd deemed necessary. Coupled with Devon's irritated, if not slightly guilty, expression as she ate her supper in solitude off to the side, it wasn't too difficult for the others to put two and two together and surmise that Devon and Danziger had locked horns yet again.
The mechanic's racket was still going strong throughout the evening campfire, raising several eyebrows and eliciting a few remarks from the group. True had spoken to her father twice; once much earlier in the evening after she'd returned to their tent to clean up for dinner, and then later at the Transrover when she'd presented him with his allotted portion of their meal. The little girl's brief, but all-knowing glare at Devon spoke volumes before she less truthfully relayed to the crew that, for reasons unclear to her, her father wasn't in the mood to socialize and wished to be left alone for a while.
The crew agreed to these conditions without a second thought. Over the past months, most of them had learned the hard way that, when Danziger wanted privacy, you either gave it to him or suffered the consequences which usually entailed either being angrily barraged by a succession of four-letter words or the assignment of additional chores to keep you busy enough that you were out of his hair. Or both.
It was just as the evening gathering was drawing to a close when Danziger finally made an appearance. His sudden emergence from the flickering shadows along with his low bellow as he'd called out to his daughter, startled the colonists enough that many visibly jumped in their seats or emitted a gasp. The air remained thick with tension as the stone-faced mechanic carefully avoided all eye contact except for True's while he proclaimed that she was long overdue for bed.
Devon's unusual reaction to Danziger's arrival only caused additional uneasiness for the other members of the group. The leader had spent most of the night almost completely lost in her own thoughts as she'd stared at the ever dwindling flames of the campfire, barely listening to or participating in the conversations going on around her. But now, her posturing had gone ramrod straight and her sights were fully trained on John as if she was trying to dissect his expression or to perhaps wordlessly command him to look in her direction. Danziger seemed to be unaffected by Devon's behavior and ignored her entirely as he placed his arm around True and silently ushered her away. After making sure that his daughter was settled comfortably in their quarters, the crew watched as John then returned to the sanctuary of the vehicles.
As soon as Danziger had vanished into the surrounding darkness, all eyes turned toward Devon as she abruptly sprung to her feet, her intense gaze still focused on the spot where Danziger had stood only moments before. More tension ensued and many had expected her to tear off after the mechanic in order to continue whatever verbal scuffle they'd obviously engaged in earlier in the day. Therefore, many were surprised when she, instead, expressed rather uncomfortably to her fellow group members that she was up to her ears in unfinished work and then politely asked Yale to take over the responsibility of seeing Uly to bed. Without waiting for the tutor's reply, she then excused herself and hastily made her way back toward the navigation tent, also disappearing from view.
Many moments of awkward silence continued, along with an onslaught of inquisitive, wide-eyed glances exchanged between the crew. It was one thing to watch Devon and John griping at one another. But it was quite another to observe the pair avoid interaction and not communicate at all. In its own twisted way, that seemed to make the situation almost more volatile.
Yale could easily ascertain that the Edenites were about to burst at the seams over what they'd just witnessed, but were dutifully holding back their comments out of deference to Uly. Therefore, the cyborg wasted no time in complying with Devon's wishes by taking his leave and escorting the child back to the Adair quarters and out of the group's earshot as quickly as possible.
At almost the very moment that the crew was assured that the campfire and the surrounding areas were free from all members of the Adair and Danziger clan, Magus blurted out, "I wonder what happened."
"Who knows?" Walman shrugged, briefly pausing to take a generous swig of his psuedo-coffee. "It's always somethin' with those two."
Bess made one more cursory check to ensure that the two leaders were out of earshot before adding her own two credits. "But not so much lately. They've been getting along much better," she relayed. "I mean, sure, they snip at each other plenty. But nothing like this."
Mazatl shook his head. "Christ, we were gone from camp less than two hours," he exclaimed. "Plus, none of us were that far away. You'd think that, at the very least, we would've heard 'em yelling."
"Something really bad must've gone down," Alonzo declared, leaning forward and keeping his voice low, just in case.
"You know, Devon was obviously upset, but she didn't look all that angry to me," Denner suggested with a furrowed brow.
Bess pictured the leader in her mind and unknowingly parroted the Ops-woman's expression. "You're right. In fact, she looked sort of embarrassed," she ventured. "Or confused."
"Wasn't too hard to read Danziger. That man is seriously pissed off," Baines snorted before feeling the need to add, "Way more than usual."
Cameron lumbered to his feet and dumped the remainder of the contents of his mug into the fire, causing it to emit a hiss and a fleeting swell of smoke. "Well, whatever they're fighting about, I'm sure they'll get over it eventually," he remarked with a mild eye-roll. "They always do."
Denner let out a small chuckle. "Yeah, it'll all be forgotten about by the next argument."
"Which'll probably take place sometime tomorrow morning," Walman snickered.
There was a chorus of light, though still slightly nervous, laughter as they collectively joined Cameron in the standing position; that is, with the exception of Mazatl who remained perched on his crate, making himself more comfortable as he readied himself for his scheduled sentry duty.
As the rest said their good-byes before splintering off into smaller groups and ambling back to their respective quarters for the night, Alonzo squinted in the direction of the Transrover where a sole, haphazardly placed lumacone bore just enough of a glow to enable him to make out the silhouette of Danziger, deep in concentration as he continued to take out his frustrations on the undercarriage of the vehicle.
Alonzo lovingly placed his arm around Julia as they silently traveled the final few feet to their tent. The pair glanced once more at the Transrover and then back to the opposite side of camp where the navigation tent stood.
"Do you think they're going to be okay?" Julia asked with an equal dose of worry and hesitation. Until that moment, she'd been careful to remain outside of the various speculation. In fact, she had no desire whatsoever to engage in anything that could be construed as idle gossip because she unfortunately knew firsthand what it was like to be on the receiving end of such talk. It had occurred twice in her life and she still felt the sting; once with Alonzo and then years before when she'd been singled out as the favored protege of Dr. Vasquez. The recent case with Alonzo had been innocent in nature and Julia now understood that there was never any malice intended regarding the crew's whispers about her growing relationship with the sleep-jumping pilot. However, the earlier episode with Dr. Vasquez had been a painful, ugly experience that had ended up isolating her from her fellow colleagues and had even threatened to severely damage her burgeoning career. The emotional scars which Julia harbored from those vengeful attacks on her character were a lingering reminder for her to exercise restraint when it came to voicing her opinions on similar matters.
Alonzo noted the physician's obvious concern for the welfare of their two friends and he leaned in to gently kiss her lips, remaining there just long enough to dissolve the worry lines on her face. "I'm sure they're gonna be fine, Querida," he assured her as they parted.
The two exchanged a loving smile as Alonzo raised the tent flap and allowed Julia first entry. As he crossed the threshold behind her, he turned back toward the Transrover.
"Curiouser and curiouser," the pilot muttered under his breath, shaking his head as he disappeared behind the lowering canvas.
Story Notes:
Disclaimer: I have several ill-tempered, soulless lawyers in my family. Good luck, Amblin and Universal. Heck, I might even testify on your behalf.
Author's notes: A huge thanks to FCBKate for her continued help and encouragement.
Timeline: About five months after the events of All About Eve, just as autumn begins. Devon has been healed and Eden Advance is back on their way to New Pacifica.
Author's notes: A huge thanks to FCBKate for her continued help and encouragement.
Timeline: About five months after the events of All About Eve, just as autumn begins. Devon has been healed and Eden Advance is back on their way to New Pacifica.