Forgiveness, Part 1
Katherine Tate
Morgan leaned on the MagPro and glanced nervously around the sleeping camp. He hated doing the midnight guard duty. He wasn't suited for it; he found it boring and not just a little scary sometimes. He made an effort to keep from flashing his light around too much. The last time he'd been on this watch he'd received a lot of complaints that the light was disturbing people's sleep. He just didn't like not knowing what was out in the shadows.
Twice now tonight he'd seen a Grendler on the outskirts of the campsite. The presence of Baines' perimeter sensor beams seemed to be deterring the Grendler from approaching very close; however, Morgan knew that the sensors often didn't work worth a damn, and he suspected it wouldn't be long before the Grendler realized that as well.
The fire was dying and Morgan shivered with cold as an icy breeze swirled around him. Then it was very quiet. He decided to walk around a bit. Maybe the activity would scare the Grendler away. Maybe it would warm him up. Maybe it would help pass the time until Alonzo relieved him.
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True lay awake staring at the roof of their room in the darkness. Every once in awhile she could see Morgan's light flicker around the camp. Whenever it hit the dome's roof True saw different shadows flow across the walls. It was a little windy too, which only added to the eeriness of the night.
When the wind died it was so quiet she could hear Morgan shuffling around the perimeter of the campsite. As he shuffled down to the far end the silence was overtaken by her Dad's breathing. True looked over at the dark shadow of Dad; he was lying on his side, facing her. It was good to see him sleeping so soundly; he hadn't been able to do that recently. The rhythm of his sleep nearly rocked her to sleep as well. But despite being tired, True didn't want to fall asleep just yet.
In an effort to keep herself awake she tried to focus. How many tent pegs per tent? She didn't need to count them; after putting the stupid thing up and down every day she figured she knew every inch of it pretty well. OK, how many crates fit into the back of the TransRover? That was too easy as well. How 'bout the number of bolts on the Rail's solar panel? True's eyes narrowed as she pictured it in her mind. Pretty soon her eyes were closed altogether.
Suddenly they snapped open again. She sat up. This was no way to stay awake. She stood up, listening cautiously to Dad. She crept quietly out of their room. The last thing True wanted was to have to explain to Dad why she was walking around in the middle of the night. Once outside the dome she looked for Morgan's light. It was courtesy to let the night guard know if you were wandering around. But True couldn't see Morgan; and besides, she didn't really want to explain anything to him either.
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Morgan had actually ducked into his room for a moment. But Bess was sound asleep, oblivious to his anxiety. He decided he couldn't really wake her for no concrete reason and so he returned to his perimeter walk. He was sure the Grendler was still on the outside, waiting. At least he'd only seen one of them and not a whole horde. That was a blessing.
Oh God! There it was again! Morgan powered up the weapon he'd been dragging along. The sound of the MagPro caused the Grendler to turn and lope into darkness at a speed that seemed uncharacteristic of its bulky body. Morgan's light flickered into the trees, trying to catch the direction of the intruder. But the lumalight was not powerful enough to follow the Grendler very far.
Keeping his weapon primed, Morgan continued his walk. He noticed his hands were shaking a little and he tried to calm himself. It was just a Grendler after all, and he was the one with the weapon. It was the Grendler who should be afraid, not Morgan.
Morgan heard footsteps ahead of him in the trees. Without even thinking he brought the weapon up and fired.
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Fortunately, True could see Morgan more clearly than he could see her. She only had enough time to realize that he was raising the weapon before she threw herself down to the forest floor and covered her head with her hands.
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When the shots rang out in the still night Devon and Danziger both awoke immediately. Each in respective rooms their eyes flew open. Devon sat up quickly thinking '*Oh God, someone's firing*.' Seeing Uly rubbing his eyes sleepily, she grabbed her jacket and ran outside.
Danziger was on his feet instantly, thinking '*What now*?' His mind did a mental check of all who were dear to him and at once found his daughter missing. Without bothering with his jacket he ran outside.
Others were gathering around Morgan, who stood attack-ready with his weapon, gulping in air like he might hyperventilate.
"What were you shooting at?" Devon asked him urgently.
"TRUE!" bellowed Danziger, looking quickly around, not seeing her amongst the others in the crowd. "TRUE!!!"
"Over here." came the muffled sound of True's voice from the direction Morgan was pointing the MagPro. Danziger leapt into the trees. Alonzo came forward and slowly took the weapon out of Morgan's shaking hands. He powered it down.
Devon grabbed hold of his lumalight, which was throwing light wildly around thanks to Morgan's nervous grip. She held it firmly on Danziger's back. True was lying on her front.
"Oh no." she whispered. Julia swiftly followed Danziger.
"True," John was saying. "Are you OK, baby? Did he hit you?" He turned her over gently. Then Julia was right there, her expert hands searching for any injury. They found none.
Danziger held True tightly to him as the full impact of what Morgan could have done hit him. Then, relinquishing True to Julia for the moment, he stood and turned back towards the assembled group who were frozen in shock.
"HAVE YOU *COMPLETELY* LOST YOUR MIND?!!" he roared. "ARE YOU INSANE?!!"
In no time at all he closed the gap between them. Before anyone could react Danziger pulled back and planted his fist into Morgan's face with a force of violence seemingly uncharacteristic of the mechanic. Morgan fell backwards on one hand; his other one clutching his nose which was now bleeding heavily.
"Danziger!" Bess cried, appalled at the sight of blood all over her husband's face. She rushed to his aid. John moved in as though to hit Morgan again but now everyone was able to shake off the shock enough to move. Alonzo grabbed Danziger's arms and Devon stepped in between her mechanic and her bureaucrat.
"Take it easy, John." she said. She doubted he heard her; his focus was still on Morgan, his eyes hard, his hands clenched tightly into fists. Bess wrapped a protective arm around Morgan's neck. "John, look at me, John. Look at me." Devon held her hand up in front of his face to draw his attention off of Morgan. His head finally turned towards her, but as she looked into his eyes she didn't see the Danziger she had come to know. She had never seen him so angry, so afraid.
"Oh God, Oh God," Morgan was saying, still holding his nose, "Is she alright? I didn't hit her, did I? Oh please, tell me I didn't hit her!"
"For once your incredibly bad shot was a blessing." Alonzo told him.
"What the HELL were you doing?" blasted Danziger, shaking Alonzo's grip off his arms. Devon remained firmly planted between him and Morgan. Even so, he managed to get one step closer. Morgan scrambled backwards, still on his back. "You could have KILLED her, Morgan, you know that?
"Dad! Wait!" True had pulled away from Julia's examination and now appeared at Devon's side. She put her arms around her Dad's waist. "Don't hurt him. It was my fault; it was my fault." Danziger's fists relaxed and he stroked her head. Devon marvelled at his hands, violent weapons one moment and gentle caressers the next.
John took a deep breath; he was sure that his heart was pounding loud enough for the whole group to hear. True was still murmuring words to calm him but Devon had stepped away, assured that he would not attack Morgan again.
Julia had followed True and was now looking at Morgan's nose. Morgan couldn't tear his eyes away from Danziger's. This was worse than taking the escape pod. This was a thousand times worse. He'd nearly killed the mechanic's daughter. Oh boy, was he in trouble now.
"You stay away from me and stay away from True." John spoke slowly, in a voice that almost masked his rage.
Danziger bent slowly and picked True up into his arms. Without another word, but fully aware of all the eyes watching him, he took her back to the dome. Devon hesitated, wanting to follow him but also realizing that he needed some space. Instead, she turned her attention on Morgan.
"Since I take it you weren't trying to murder John's daughter, what were you firing at?" she asked him.
Morgan was sitting up now, his head tilted back in an effort to stop the flow of blood from his nose.
"A Grendler. I saw a Grendler. It was walking around on the outside of the perimeter sensors."
"Who's on guard duty now?" Devon asked.
Alonzo stepped forward, the MagPro slung across his back.
"That would be me." he said, wearily.
"Do a tour of the perimeter. If you see any Grendlers, get someone to stay up with you. Morgan," Devon squatted down beside him, "go to bed."
"I didn't mean to hurt anybody." Morgan told her, grabbing her arm as she tried to stand up again. "I just wanted to scare it away."
Devon's eyes flicked over to Danziger's path as she patted Morgan's hand.
"I know, I know. Don't worry. Everyone will be a lot calmer in the morning."
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Danziger sat on his cot with True in his arms. His mind was a whirl of thoughts that seemed to fly about randomly. There were memories of True as a very small child, mixed with their crash on the planet, mixed with Elle, mixed with the very recent clear and painful image of himself with a weapon.
"Daddy?" True asked. "Are you OK?"
"Sure." he whispered, "Go to sleep, sweetie, everything's gonna be fine."
She held onto him tightly and he leaned back as though he were going to sleep as well. But sleep was over for Danziger this night; his eyes remained open.
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In the morning the group gathered for their meal in a subdued silence. Danziger looked as though he hadn't slept at all and True was hovering near him protectively. An outsider might have thought that it had been John, and not True, who had nearly come to harm. The Martins were conspicuously absent.
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Bess was trying to coax Morgan to come to breakfast. He claimed he wasn't hungry.
"Morgan," she tugged lightly on his arm encouragingly, "you don't have anything to be afraid of. John isn't going to hit you again. He just did it because he was afraid. I bet he's just waiting for you to show up so he can apologize."
"Yeah, right." Morgan was not having any of it. He wanted to stay as far away from the mechanic as possible. And if that meant foregoing meals, well, so be it.
"You can't stay in here forever." Bess told him. When he didn't respond she didn't press any further. Bess went to breakfast alone.
She didn't eat right away; however, she sought out Danziger immediately.
"John."
Danziger looked up at Bess impassively. He didn't speak.
"Morgan is afraid of you." Bess spoke softly, not wanting the entire group to be witness to their conversation.
"Good." Danziger said shortly.
"He wouldn't come out because he thinks you're going to kill him or something."
Danziger looked at Bess for a moment. He genuinely liked Bess and had no quarrel with her. But right now his anger at Morgan still burned very hot.
"I just might." With that he stood abruptly and left the dome.
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Uly and Alonzo were foraging for food in the wooded area behind the camp. Julia had sent Alonzo out in search of any kind of plant life that might even remotely be edible. Uly had tagged along because it was obvious that there would be no lessons this afternoon. Yale was preoccupied with Mom; True was preoccupied with Mr. Danziger. With the main people of Uly's life occupied, he needed to be with someone else.
Alonzo was just as happy to have Uly's company as it was looking to be an unfruitful search. He was digging up around anything that was showing life, removing ice and snow, to examine it as potential food. He was even looking for fungus around the base of trees. Uly was chattering away. That kid sure has one heck of an imagination, Alonzo was thinking when Uly went silent.
Pausing in his digging, Alonzo swung around to make sure the eight-year-old was still behind him. Uly was standing near a fallen tree, watching it very carefully, almost as though it was speaking to him. It was very quiet.
"Hey, Uly? Everything alright?" Alonzo asked, walking over to the boy.
"Try over here." Uly said. "I think there's something under here."
Alonzo knelt down by the dead tree and began to scrape away the snow with his gloved hands. There were no visible signs of any vegetation so Alonzo wondered why Uly had been so taken with this particular spot.
"I don't know, pal, this isn't looking promising."
Just as he said that Alonzo's glove came into contact with something that caught his eye. It was a rock, but unlike anything he'd ever seen. It was flat, almost perfectly circular and very smooth. It was uniformly black. He held it up to examine it and was startled to find that it sparkled with reflected light. Alonzo whistled softly.
"Would you look at that?" he marvelled. He handed it to Uly and pawed at the ground until he found another and another and another.
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Julia looked up quickly as Alonzo and Uly burst into the dome. They were so excited she was sure they'd found something. Well, that was a relief. Any additional food source they could find was one less worry as far as Julia was concerned.
"What is it?" she asked.
Alonzo grinned.
"You're not gonna believe this!" he grinned. Julia grinned back. This must be big.
He pulled his hands out of his pockets and dumped a handful of rocks onto the table. Julia was stunned. She had not expected this. She picked up one of the rocks and looked at it carefully.
"Alonzo, I hate to burst your bubble, but I don't think we can eat these." she joked, trying to mask her disappointment.
"Of course we can't eat them." Alonzo was oblivious to her point. "But aren't they the most amazing things you've ever seen?! They're all identical. Look! They're all round. And feel how smooth they are! They're beautiful!"
"What's going on?" asked Devon, entering the dome. Uly tugged on her arm. "Alonzo? Uly said you guys found something . . . " She broke off when she caught sight of the rocks piled on the table. She looked at Julia. They shared a silent moment of disappointment between them.
End part 1
Story Notes:
I must sincerely and *very* appreciatively thank Vicki Firth for her input and suggestions. Any errors or inconsistencies are entirely my own! Please enjoy; send any comments to Pat_Tate@mindlink.bc.ca Kath