While she lay dying by Paula Sanders

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While She Lay Dying (4/6)
by Paula Sanders
copyright 1995

Bathed in white light, Devon's eyes searched. She knew this place. It was the dreamscape Sheppard had used to visit her on the stations. The Terrians were giving her this one chance to say goodbye to her friends and she had to use it well. *But, how?* she wondered. She had never been in control of the dreamscape before. She was weak and afraid she would not be able to control it.

*Uly.* She had to go to him first, before she lost her hold on the dream plane. As her thoughts summoned him, her son was standing before her.

"Mom?" he said, shocked.
"Uly," she said, smiling. "I'm still alive. I love you, sweetheart."

"I love you, Mom. Please come back," he pleaded. She could feel his pain with her whole being. He looked so helpless and terrified.

"What's wrong with you, Mom?" he asked. Devon found that she did not know how to tell him. This planet had made him well and accepted him into it. It was a part of him. How could she tell him it was killing his mother?

"I don't know," she answered. Sometimes a simple lie was easier than the truth. "I can't stay here long. I just wanted to see you." She could feeling herself slipping and tensed, attempting to hang on.

"Uly, I need you to listen to me, okay." "Okay," he said, she smiled.
"Good. The Terrians let me come see you. I wanted to see how you were doing," she said.

"I'm fine. Mr. Danziger and Yale are taking good care of me," he told her. "But I wish you were here."

"Me too, sweetheart," she admitted. "Uly, I have to go. Just remember that I love you. Take care of yourself and Yale for me. And tell Yale I love him and I'm sorry." Uly was fading before her eyes.

"Mom, don't give up. You'll get better soon. I promise," he called, as he faded away and then was gone.

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Julia slept, Alonzo curved against her back. He had not had to use a sedaderm, in the end exhaustion won out. Once he had curled up with her on the bed, she had fallen into the blackness of sleep. She welcomed it as a respite from her heartache and feelings of helplessness. She was startled to find herself surrounded by stark white light, the voice of Devon Adair in her head.

"Julia, I haven't got much time. I just wanted to tell you thank you, for everything you did for Uly, for everything you did for all of us." Julia could see the faint, ghostly image of Devon, before her.

"But, I couldn't save you, Devon," Julia said. "I could beat a plague, a cyborg killing machine, the Council, and the cold, but I couldn't save one woman."

"Julia, you did everything you could." "No, I didn't, Devon and I can't." "Elizabeth was right about this planet," Devon said. "The planet rejected them," Julia confirmed. "That was what killed them."

"Like a human body would reject a virus." "Right," Julia said, miserably. There were thousands of people on the colony ship, not to mention millions of people back on the stations, counting on making this planet their new home.

"Julia, I don't want you to worry about me. I did what I set out to do. Uly is healed. That was all I ever wanted. You have to warn the colony ship." The words trailed off as blackness closed in on Julia.

"No, wait," Julia screamed, to no avail.

Alonzo woke to something nagging at his senses. As he woke he became aware of Julia trembling against him. He heard her quiet, stifled sobs and gently shook her shoulder.

"Julia," he said. "What's wrong?"
She did not answer, but turned and pressed her forehead to his chest, crying, clinging to him. He held her and tried to quiet her, as she slipped back into the oblivion of sleep.

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John Danziger tossed fitfully in his sleep, causing True to seek the other cot. Something was wrong. This dream was not right. Everywhere he looked was glaring white light.

"John." He heard Devon Adair's voice in his head. "John. Please answer me."

"No, this isn't right," he barked. "You're in a cryosleep tube. I don't want you in my dreams."

"John, shut up and listen. I haven't got much time." "Devon, god Devon. Where are you?" he asked, his eyes searching.

"I'm right here." She appeared by his side, at his shoulder, a faint reflection of herself. "I want to thank you."

"For what?" he asked.
"For everything. You did so much for me. I don't know what I would have done without you." Her voice filled his soul.

"You would have found some other poor, unsuspecting dunce to push around," he told her, protecting that place deep inside himself he was afraid for her to reach.

"John," she chided. "I just wanted to let you know how much you mean to me. Take care of Uly." Devon paused, and John panicked, thinking maybe she was gone, but she materialized in front of him. She smiled, sweetly and said, "Tell True I wish I could have seen her grow into the exceptional woman I know she'll become." He could only see her faintly but she was so beautiful, he wanted to touch her, but she remained just out of his reach.

"Devon," he began, but stopped, uncertain. "What, John?" she prompted.
"You are an incredible woman." She was quickly fading away. "I love you," he said, on impulse.

"I love you, John." drifted back to him. "Devon, don't go," he called after her.

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Soon after sleep reclaimed Alonzo Solace, he found himself captured by the dream plane. He often hated nights like this because he always woke up feeling like hell. Colors and images rushed around him. He saw Devon resting in a Terrain bed, reminiscent of the cryotube. Slowly, it forced her out and she fell. He lunged forward trying to catch her but she fell too fast. She rolled over and he bent down to help her. She was cold as ice and her skin was the bluish-gray color of death. Not a breath stirred in her.

Terrians swam up from the earth, circling around him, he heard their voices ringing in his ears. Alonzo hugged Devon's body to him, protectively. He could feel the anger and hatred coming from the Terrians, directed at the woman. Their speech was low and guttural.

"What are you doing to her? Why do you do this to her?" he asked them.

They simply showed him. Alonzo found himself in a corridor. He was surrounded by metal and there were cryosleep bunks on all the walls, filled with people. It was a ship. He could not say why, but it made him feel sick. The air was stale and he felt claustrophobic. He wanted out. Forcefully, he calmed himself. Hearing noises in the distance, like people talking, mumbling, he followed the sounds. He rounded a corner, and was halted by the sight of a large group of children, primitively dressed. They trilled at him and a few surrounded him like the Terrians had.

Alonzo was suddenly ripped away and planted in the middle of a different scene. Trees reached for the brilliant sun, the air smelled sweet, and the cool grass was a soft cushion underneath his back. He smiled and gazed up at the clear blue sky. He became aware of a rumbling somewhere in the distance and jumped to his feet; searching for the source of the noise. A black cloud rolled in from the North. It blackened everything in its path, killing everything.

Devon Adair coalesced in the middle of it all; dressed in the clothes she had worn when they had taken off from the stations.

Alonzo understood.

With a jolt, Alonzo woke. His heart was pounding and he fought to slow it. Julia hovered over him.

"Alonzo are you all right?" she asked. "It's the Terrians. I know what they want." He shot out of bed and scrambled out of the tent before Julia could even process what he had said.

End of part 4

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