Only in their dreams by Carrie Reed

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Only In Their Dreams, Part 2
By Carrie Reed

The crew awoke early and gathered to hear the news of Julia's findings. "I have some good news and some bad news. First the good news, I know what's wrong with Devon." A sense of relief flooded over the entire group. "But before I tell you what's wrong," she continued, "I need to tell you the bad news. I don't know if I can reverse the effects." The relief that just a moment ago filled the camp, was now a distant memory. The reality that Devon might not ever live to see another sunrise finally took its hold on the group.

To Danziger, the words hit like a lead weight. When Elle had the accident, and was put on life support, he was crushed. He had loved her more than he ever thought possible. On that day he swore to himself that he would never love another person that much again, except True. And he hadn't, until now. He finally realized how much Devon had come to mean to him. He had resisted and resisted and pushed and pushed, trying desperately not to let himself care about her, but it hadn't worked. He had fallen in love with Devon Adair. But now it was too late. "If she were to die without knowing how I really felt about her..." The thought was too painful to keep. He refused to think about that. If Julia could find out what was wrong with Devon in the first place, certainly she could find a cure for it.

"You say you don't know if you can reverse the effects," Danziger finally said, "But do you know for sure that you can't?"

"That's where I need your help. Let me tell you what's happened, and then maybe you can help me think of possible solutions. On this planet it seems, nothing is impossible, and it just might be that the person least trained in medicine may be the one to think up some crazy scheme to fix it." There was still a little hope in her voice, and the crew knew that they couldn't give up.

"First of all, unlike the rest of us, Devon doesn't have a chip. I can't believe I hadn't noticed that before, but the thought never really occurred to me. She got sick at the same time as the rest of us, and she had nearly the same symptoms, that I just assumed it was the same problem."

"Alright, so if she doesn't have a chip, why did she get sick like the rest of us?" Baines asked. "Why would her symptoms be so close to ours if it wasn't the same thing?"

"Well, actually it was the beginning of system failure, like ours, but I should have noticed that she had different symptoms, too. The Council had been working on this as a form of control. When Devon got her vaccines, instead of getting injected with a chip as well, like the rest of us, she got injected with a combination of chemicals that the Council had been experimenting with. It was designed to alter her genetic make-up."

"So what you're saying," Alonzo noted, "is that Devon's a chromo-tilt?"

"Well, yes. So were Elizabeth and Bennett. When Elizabeth and Bennett were exiled to this planet, the Council was already working on this experiment. The Council injected them and some of their biologists as test subjects. At that time, it was a little too strong, and had some adverse side effects that the Council didn't like, but the general idea was working. They worked out the bugs in time for this mission. They wanted to make sure that Eden Project would be loyal, so that the Council could gain control of the planet. As leader of the project, and theoretically having the one having the most influence, they injected Devon about a year ago, by our time, 23 years on station time. At first Devon was very agreeable with the Council. They hadn't noticed any side effects, and decided it was safe.

"But even as leader of the project, when the colony ship arrived, Devon wouldn't have as much influence. To secure the planet, the Council put into effect plans to also inject a little more than half of the prominent men and women that would come over on the ship a year later, to secure a majority vote in the Council's favor."

"But hang on a minute," Danziger interrupted, "Devon hasn't been loyal to the Council. If anything, she's been the least receptive to the Council."

"I know." replied Julia, "You didn't let me finish. When experimenting with the human psyche, the one variable that can't be controlled is human emotion. As a mother, Devon's bond with Uly is stronger and runs deeper than any ties that could have been made genetically by the Council. Prior to the launch, Devon had overheard a conversation the Council was having about their true motivation behind the Eden Project and she became enraged. They finally realized that when faced with choosing between the Council's well-being and her son's, she would choose her son. But it was too late, it was only a month before our launch date, and at least half of the other subjects had already been injected, most of them in the same position as Devon--parents of syndrome children. Now that the Council knew that there was no guarantee of loyalty, if it got out that the body's functions had been altered without the subject's permission, it could weigh heavily on the Council. They could be discredited, or even overthrown. So, if you're in the Council's position, the best way to avoid being found out is...."

"To destroy the evidence." Morgan finished "Wentworth," Danziger said with perfect understanding. "Exactly," Julia continued. "The Council decided to play along with Devon and let her leave on this mission, fully intending the ship never to arrive on the planet. They found out which crew members were on the mission and when an opportunity presented itself--Wentworth's surgery--they implanted a chip in order to sabotage the mission. If the ship 'malfunctioned' that far into the journey, it would be too late for the colony ship to turn around. With no one at New Pacifica ahead of time, when the colonists arrived, they wouldn't be able to survive."

"You mean the Council would be willing to kill hundreds of people just to cover their tracks?" Bess was horrified at the thought.

"They sure would." Julia replied, "They don't want the planet so they can save Syndrome children. They want the planet for the chance to colonize it, to boost their egos, 'The Mighty Council, Savior of Humanity'. But you have to understand, most of the Council's been brainwashed, also. They no longer think as individuals, but only of what would be best for the council."

"Alright, that all makes sense, but you still haven't told us what's killing Devon, I'm still confused." Alonzo puzzled.

"It's side effects from the change, right?" Cameron asked. "Sort-of, yes." Julia said, "But not what you would expect. To understand, I'll have to tell you how it works. When the chemicals are injected into the body, they are drawn to the brain. The brain then sends out messages that cause the cells in her body to mutate when they reproduce. The nuclei of the new cells are directly linked to the body's central nervous system through the part of the brain that controls dreaming. As you know, dreams are created by the random firing of synapses in the brain when the subject is asleep. But now, instead of random firing, the synapses fire in a set order, sending subliminal messages to the body when the subject enters REM sleep.

"The Council developed this technique without knowledge of the planet. They based their studies on Earth, so no side effects would be present if Devon were on Earth or still on the Stations. But in the time we've spent here, we've learned more about how the planet works. Since we discovered Morganite, we know about the planet's complex central nervous system. It controls all life on the planet. When we got here, the impulses going through Devon's nervous system came in conflict with the planet's system. It's like when you put magnets together with the same poles facing each other. Like Elizabeth said, the planet was rejecting her."

"Why?" Magus asked, "Because it couldn't control her nervous system?" "That's exactly why." Julia responded, glad to see that everyone was understanding. "It couldn't control her nervous system, so it attempted to shut it down. Devon's condition is fairly permanent unless I can find some way to change the chemical balance in her brain, to reverse the process that the council put into effect. But I just don't have the right equipment, or the right chemicals. Even if I did, I'm not sure of the side effects."

"Somehow you must be able to find chemicals here on the planet, that would help her adapt to this environment," Yale added hopefully.

"Yeah," Walman added, "and as to the side effects, I don't see things getting much worse than they already are. Like Morgan said, if we hadn't found the sleep chambers, she'd be dead and buried by now."

"Alright," Julia conceded, "Let's say we do find chemicals that will work. It would take time for her body to adapt to the genetic changes. Time that she doesn't have."

"Isn't there a more immediate way?" Danziger asked desperately. "Hang on." Baines spoke now, "Remember the message Bennett and Elizabeth left? 'Only in their dreams' it said. I know this sounds stupid, but if you injected it while Devon was dreaming--"

"Medically speaking, I think you're on to something," Julia said with renewed emotion. "If we were able to inject the chemicals while the synapses were being fired, we may be able to stop the impulses being sent." All of a sudden Julia's face fell.

"What is it, Julia, what's wrong?" Alonzo asked, concerned. "Even if that were to work, taking into account the system failure she's already incurred, she may not have the energy left to make it to REM sleep."

"What about the diggers?" Danziger asked, "They healed Uly, couldn't they heal her?"

At the mention of the terrains, Alonzo perked up. "The dream plane! If we could get the terrians to bring Devon to the dream plane, it would take no time at all--"

Before Alonzo could even finish his thought, Uly had stood up and started trilling. That sound, from this little boy, made the hair on Danziger's neck stand on end. But nevertheless, almost immediately, two terrians shot up from the ground. For a number of minutes the crew watched in silence as Uly conversed with the Terrians.

"They said they'll help," Uly finally said. "OK," Julia said, "So we get Devon to REM, then what? We still don't have the chemicals. I don't even know where to start looking." With that, Uly started trilling again.

"They want you to come with us," Uly spoke directly to Julia. "Come where?" Julia inquired. One of the terrians started trilling, somewhat violently. It scared Julia.

"They say no questions. Just come with us." Uly spoke again. Julia nodded, and a terrian grabbed her arm. A moment later, the terrians, with Julia and Uly, disappeared into the earth.

The next thing Julia realized, she was in a circular cave. The walls glowed bright orange with Morganite, brighter than she had ever seen it. Even with the eerie orange glow, Julia couldn't help thinking it had a certain beauty about it. The warm glow made her feel somewhat detached. For a moment, she couldn't remember why she was here. Then she saw Uly, and at once remembered. "Why am I here?" she asked, "And where exactly *is* here?" Uly was busy "talking" to the terrians.

"This is the center of their underground system, the heart of their planet," Uly said, but oddly, it didn't sound like Uly, the voice sounded much older.

"Must be the echo," Julia thought, but it unnerved her just the same. Uly continued, "The energy is stronger here, more concentrated than anywhere else on the planet. You will find that the floor here is lined with dirt so rich in the minerals that the planet needs to survive. They have said you may use what you need to make a vaccine for Devon--"

Why was he calling his own mother Devon? The thought unnerved Julia even more. She didn't like this place, but she needed the minerals.

"You may also take what you need to make vaccines for the colonists that will arrive soon. Take no more than you need, or you will lose the power to heal..."

What did that mean, 'the power to heal'? Julia wasn't about to ask, though.

"Take what you need, but you must under no circumstances tell others where you got it. You must never tell of this place to another human." Uly continued

"But--" Julia began.
"Never." There was a sternness in Uly's voice that she had never heard before, there was a distance in his eyes. It was Uly talking, but somehow, it wasn't. Julia decided not to ask anymore questions.

"Just get what you need and get out of here," she thought. She searched through her pockets and found a small pouch. She opened the pouch and began filling it with the dirt. The dirt was warm on her hands. Just touching it made her fingers tingle. It was an odd feeling, but she liked it. As soon as the pouch was full, Julia stood up. Suddenly, the world around her went dark....

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