Dreams of a Lost Tribe by Vicky Seleya

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Dreams of a Lost Tribe (Part 5)
by Seleya889

While waiting for Julia, Alonzo watched Danziger continue to grumpily attempt repair on the gear with tired amusement. He smiled openly as the pretty doctor trotted into the med-tent, her damp hair slicked back. "Hey, Doc." he said brightly.

"Hey, yourself." Julia slipped her dia-glove on and scanned him without breaking stride. "How do you feel?"

"Dizzy. Sore. Tired. But OK, I guess." "Well, your scans are very encouraging. I'll give you some painkillers to help for now, but rest is more what you need at this point. As far as I can tell, everything else should clear up in time. You have to promise me to take it easy and follow my instructions." she directed him firmly as she administered the medication.

"Of course, don't I always?" he asked innocently, with a twinkle in his eye.

"Do you want dates and times or will a simple 'no' suffice?" she asked lightly.

"Boy, Danziger was right about you..." Alonzo commented as his eyes slowly drifted shut.

Julia looked over the now sleeping pilot to the mechanic who busied himself with his work. "What was that supposed to mean?" she asked Danziger with amusement.

"He was probably just raving or something. I have no idea what he was talking about." Danziger replied, quickly changing the subject, "How was your swim?"

Julia regarded Danziger for a moment critically. The mechanic squirmed under the doctor's scrutiny. He relaxed as she suddenly smiled at him.

"My swim was fine, thank you. I guess I needed it more than I realized. We'll have to try to get Alonzo down there before we leave. It should do him some good. By the way, True finally told us where she learned to swim..."

"Oh?" Danziger asked noncommittally. "Devon said she'll never look at drinking water the same way again." the doctor revealed.

Danziger chuckled. "Well, in the Quadrant you learn to improvise. It helps to have friends at the purification plant." The mechanic shrugged. "I'll have to talk to True about giving all our trade secrets away." he added with a grin.

"Thanks for watching him, John. I appreciate it. I'll stay now if you'd like to go."

"No problem, Julia. He seems much better. What do you think?" Danziger asked.

"The readings are improving almost hourly. It's really pretty amazing. Of course, with the seizures abated and the fever gone, not to mention that we now have an endless supply of water for the time being, he should be improving. His rate of recovery is more than I would have expected, however. We'll just have to wait and see. He must be kept quiet and allowed to rest. The pain-blocks I'm giving him are quite mild. Between not knowing what caused his illness and needing him to take it easy, I don't mind his feeling some discomfort."

True raced into the tent, rivulets of water running down her shirt from her wet hair. "He's awake?" she asked breathlessly.

"No, True. He just fell asleep again, but he's much better." Julia explained.

"Can I sit here with you?" the young girl asked hopefully. "Of course." Julia asserted. "You've been a real help, True. I think you'll make a good doctor some day."

True glowed with the praise, her father reflecting her emotion. "I'm very proud of you, True-Girl." he agreed proudly. He gathered his tools and the gear, kissed his daughter on the top of the head and left the tent.

Julia and True spent the rest of the afternoon monitoring Alonzo. He awoke several times, each for longer periods of time. By evening, Julia allowed him out of bed briefly, testing what little balance he had.

As with every night, the campfire drew the people of Eden Advance to it as the night sky darkened. For the first night since his visit with the Terrians, Alonzo shakily joined the group, sitting on the ground leaning against a log with Julia. He sat, quietly contemplating the fire, as Julia and several of the others watched. With his presence, the conversation remained somewhat subdued. Bess passed out cups of coffee. Alonzo smiled and nodded as he accepted his, then returned to his reverie.

"This place is really nice." Morgan was saying. "Not like that plateau. That place makes the desert we went through look inviting."

"It used to be so beautiful..." Morgan looked over to the pilot who continued to gaze into the fire. One glance around the campfire confirmed that Alonzo was the one who had spoken.

"How do you know that?" Julia asked. "The Terrians showed me." he responded. "It was so beautiful. Trees and flowers and animals... Like paradise."

"What happened there?" Devon prodded. Alonzo lifted his calm eyes from the fire to face Devon, considering her question. "We happened. Humans. Before, the Terrians said we had made our mark on the planet already. The plateau is where the mark is most severe. The Council made sure of that."

At the mention of the Council, everyone started talking at once. Alonzo's eyes never wavered from Devon's face.

"Alonzo, I don't want to pressure you but, if you're ready, maybe you should tell us what happened when you were with the Terrians."

Alonzo studied Devon's face as the conversation around them died. He looked back into the fire, collecting his thoughts. Julia's hand slid into his as she sidled closer to him.

"The plateau was an incredible place. The Terrians shared it with all sorts of creatures. Creatures you couldn't imagine. And the plants, there were trees and grasses and flowers." Alonzo smiled at the memories. "Then the penal colonists came." he continued with a grimace. "They killed the animals, they killed each other and they killed the Terrians. At first, the Terrians tried to dream with them, but the colonist's collars interfered with their dreams. The few who got their collars off were insane and the Terrians were frightened by them. Then the Terrians tried to scare them away, but the collars kept the criminals on the plateau. There were only a few penal colonists left when the Z.E.D. came. It was as discerning as the penal colonists it hunted." He looked back into the fire and sighed, "It killed six Terrians with its worm bullets. I'd never seen anything like it..."

Julia leaned close to Alonzo and asked, "Your nightmares, was that what they were trying to show you?"

"When we came into their territory, yes, they tried to tell me what had happened here. They also wanted to know about us. If we could be trusted. What we were like, and how we were different from the humans they had encountered before. They wanted to know about human feelings and how we cope with those feelings. They wanted to see into my past. How I coped with all the difficult events in my life."

Julia nodded thoughtfully. "The night after you left us, Uly had a dream about your first cold sleep."

"I know. The Terrians were having trouble with their control of the dream plane. He was only there a short while before we realized it and I sent him to sleep. That's why I had to go with them. My mind could not comprehend what was happening and the Terrians could not help from a distance."

"Where is the Z.E.D. now?" Danziger asked worriedly, absently rubbing his abdomen.

"The Terrians tried to kill it with their lightning sticks but couldn't. Finally, they pulled him deep into the ground and left him there." Alonzo sat, quietly contemplating the memories the Terrians had shared with him.

Julia gently turned his head to face hers. When their eyes met, she said, "That's not all, is it? Drawing the Z.E.D. into the ground would not have changed the plateau, certainly not to that degree. Something else happened. You mentioned the Council. Did they destroy the life on the plateau?" She watched the range of emotions flicker in his eyes, pain, fear, anger and loss in rapid succession.

He carefully shifted his body to face her, taking her other hand in his. "No." he whispered, "That's not all. Do you remember when you told me about Reilly? What he said about controlling the Terrians?"

Julia concentrated on Alonzo's eyes as she recited, "He said that they had to find a way to control the Terrians because, when they remove them, the planet starts to die... Here? The plateau is where they discovered that?"

Alonzo nodded gravely. He spoke quietly and only to her. The others leaned forward or crept closer to hear, careful to not disturb the couple. Julia smiled her encouragement to Alonzo who continued.

"Shortly after the Z.E.D. was gone, the Council sent two shuttles to the plateau. It was winter so it was no problem for them to round up most of the tribe while they slept. When the first shuttle reached its mothership in orbit, they experimented on the Terrians. Horrible, barbaric experiments."

Julia felt a shudder course through Alonzo's body as he continued his narrative, "They tortured them while they dreamed and, as each Terrian died, the plateau died, too. The Terrians who were left behind saw everything on the dream plane and so did the Terrians on the second shuttle. They tried to escape, to reach the crew with their dreams and make them return them to the earth. The crew must have panicked because, all of a sudden, the cargo bay doors opened and the Terrians were thrown into space." he paused, obviously overcome by the vivid memories.

"Alonzo, you don't have to do this." Julia gently asserted. The pilot shook his head. "I really do. The Terrians want you to know what happened to the earth." Alonzo sighed sadly and drew himself up. Placing his hands on Julia's shoulders and meeting her gaze with his, he continued. "The crew did not try to retrieve them."

Shocked realization struck the doctor. As he observed the emotion in Julia's eyes, Alonzo nodded acknowledgment.

Morgan's voice suddenly broke the silence. "Do you two mind filling the rest of us in on what makes this so horrible? Regardless of what I think of them, I don't like seeing a bunch of Terrians spaced anymore than anybody else here. It's not like they suffered as much as their buddies on the mothership, at least."

"Morgan!" Julia yelled irritably. She composed herself and explained, "As we all know, the Terrians are not biologically similar to us. The scans I have been able to perform on them have been inconclusive at best. They have defied classification. What I have been able to determine is that they absorb most of their nutrients through osmosis, their bodies react to stresses very differently than ours and their oxygen requirements are much less demanding than our own."

"What are you trying to tell us?" Bess asked. Danziger interjected, "What I think they're trying to say is that the Terrians didn't die when they were pulled into space, am I right?"

Alonzo nodded. "They lived for quite a while..." He paused shuddering,"Until they hit the atmosphere."

"They burned when they hit. You can't tell me they could survive that." Danziger observed grimly.

Concernedly watching Alonzo, Julia shook her head, "No, they could not withstand that stress. Alonzo, they showed you this?"

He bleakly nodded again.
"Well, that explains a lot. No wonder the Terrians didn't want us there." Walman commented.

"But it doesn't explain what happened to Alonzo." Morgan pointed out.

"Alonzo, are the dreams what made you sick?" Devon asked. Alonzo shook his head. "No, they do not affect me that way." "Well, then what did the Terrians do to you?" Morgan asked insistently.

Alonzo closed his eyes and sighed. As he opened them to look at Julia, he said wearily, "I'm really tired."

Julia scanned him thoroughly as she asked, "Do you want to go to bed?"

"Yeah."
She reviewed the read-outs and closely scrutinized her patient. "Why didn't you tell me before? Your levels are all off. Are you dizzy? How is your head?"

Alonzo merely shrugged and shakily attempted to rise on his own. The doctor glanced over to Danziger who leapt up and gave the pilot a boost. He and Julia helped Alonzo to the med-tent and bed. Once Alonzo was in bed, Julia sent Danziger away. She busied herself settling Alonzo for the night. He accepted her ministrations good-naturedly.

"Comfortable?"
"Uh-huh." His eyes tracked her as she rounded the cot to retrieve one of her scanners.

"How's your head?"
"Better now that I'm lying down." "Still dizzy?"
"Yeah, a little... Doc?"
Julia adjusted one of her monitors. "Yes, Alonzo?" she replied, preoccupied with her work.

"You think I could talk to 'Julia' for a little while?" She looked sharply at her patient. Sighing, she put her scanner down and walked over to the cot. Alonzo looked pointedly at her dia-glove.

"OK, I'll take it off. The chromosomes stay." He smiled tiredly as he watched her remove the dia-glove from her arm and place it on a nearby crate. "I like the chromosomes."

Smiling fondly at him, Julia knelt next to the cot facing Alonzo. She absently caressed his chest as he watched her affectionately. "Well, Fly-boy, what do you want to talk about?" Julia asked tenderly.

"Us?" he suggested as he traced her jawbone with a finger. Julia smiled warmly and shook her head in exasperation. "You need your rest. I'll sit here until you fall asleep, OK?"

Alonzo closed his eyes contentedly. "Mm-hunh." Julia watched as he relaxed, his chest slowly rising and falling. She leaned forward slightly to stroke his hair back and lightly rested her hand on his forehead.

"You're cheating." he mumbled.
"You are supposed to be asleep." she replied sternly. "Doctor's orders?"
"Yes, and Julia's too."
He opened an eye to regard her fondly. "I'm sorry I put you through so much back there."

"Alonzo, it wasn't your fault. Don't blame yourself. Besides, it's over. I'm just glad you're doing so well now."

He opened both eyes and rolled to face her, taking her hands in his. Somberly he asserted, "No. You don't understand. It was kinda my idea." he admitted sheepishly.

Julia stared at Alonzo in astonishment. "Alonzo, what are you saying? I don't understand."

He brushed her stray bangs back as he sorted his thoughts. Earnestly, he continued his tale. "I don't have to tell you the dreams the Terrians shared with me were pretty intense."

Julia nodded carefully.

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