"A Matter of Trust" or "Growing Up" (Part 1)
by Joan Powers
(voice of Alonzo)
We had managed to survive most of the winter without any major incidents... hmm... well, let's just say we were still all together and that's what counted. Many of us had built new bonds of friendship and a select few even found love. Of course, being in close quarters had also created sources of irritation between some crew members, but overall the Eden Advance party was faring well. Many of us experienced a sense of pride that we had made it this far, that we had survived the brutal cold and hardship of the winter and that spring was on its way. Most were anxious to continue our journey to New Pacifica, so eager that this time of waiting began to grate on some people's nerves. Yet, little did we know that this intermediate period would soon be over. A time of testing was approaching, a time which would probe those fragile bonds of friendship that were so newly forged. They would be stretched and yanked tight until some almost threatened to burst. We would discover what we really believed in.
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The Dome, near the end of Winter
10 pm
It was evening and Alonzo was on guard duty, with a Mag-Pro slung on his shoulder, patrolling the area. While some signs of spring were visible in the surrounding countryside, it was still a cold night. As Alonzo flipped up the collar of his leather flight jacket, Danziger passed by, "Hey buddy, what's going on?" "Not much, it's a quite night" Alonzo responded. Feeling bored and a bit reckless, he decided to stir up a little trouble and asked, "What are you and Devon fighting about now?" referring to an incident which had occurred earlier that day. Danziger shot him an annoyed glance, decided not to rise to the bait and merely replied, "Adair always has to have things done her way." Alonzo chuckled. How long would it take those two to lower their barriers? They were both so much alike, so stubborn. "Don't even think about it, 'Lonz," Danziger warned, anticipating his next comment. Alonzo tried to look appropriately ashamed of himself, but fell short in his efforts and burst out laughing instead. Unable to remain angry with the pilot, Danziger joined in. Bess broke in on their laughter calling, "Hey guys, I think I saw something at the edge of camp. Could you come check it out?"
Immediately, the two men regained their composure and followed Bess to investigate. As they approached the northern end of the campsite, they could see a shadowy figure in the distance. When they drew closer to it, Danziger came to a halt and lay a hand on Bess's shoulder to pull her back. He motioned to Alonzo to investigate. Alonzo cautiously moved forward. He called back, "It's a Terrian." "Great" Danziger muttered, "What does he want?" Bess edged her way forward, "He's just standing there." With some alarm, Alonzo noticed, "He has a spear with him... but he doesn't appear to be preparing to use it soon." It was anchored in a pile of snow beside him. Other Eden colonists had joined them, curious about what was happening. "What do you think it wants?" Bess asked Alonzo. "I have no idea" he replied. "I don't like this," Danziger grumbled, "This can't be anything good, we better get out more guns and post a double guard." He motioned to Baines who left to retrieve an additional weapon. Devon, having just arrived on the scene, inquired "What's going on?" She glanced at the Terrian who was only about a hundred feet away from where they stood. "We're not sure, this Terrian seems to be just standing here watching us," Alonzo explained. "It's almost like he's waiting for something," Bess voiced, though the others did not chose to explore her suggestion. "Well, I think we better keep everyone within the perimeter of the camp and post double guards until we get some more information about what's going on," Devon stated, "Walman..." "Already done" Danziger interrupted, with a satisfied grin. "Oh...Alonzo, can you contact the Terrians tonight in the Dreamplain and see if they can give you any information about what this one may want with us." "Sure, my shift will be over soon" he responded. "Okay, I suggest anyone who is not on guard duty get some sleep and we can deal with this in the morning," Devon concluded and turned around to head back to the Dome. Armed with a Mag-Pro, Baines returned. "Why don't you keep a close eye on our friend here, while Alonzo patrols about the camp" Danziger advised. The men agreed.
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12:05 am
Alonzo entered Julia's tent, where she lay asleep on her cot. She turned over, yawned and asked, "What's going on? I heard a lot of commotion earlier, but I was too tired to put on my boots and come investigate." Alonzo explained the situation to her. "Any ideas?" she asked. "Why does everyone keep asking me that" he replied with some frustration. Pointing out the obvious, she countered, "Because you're one of the only humans who can understand the Terrians." "Sometimes I wish they'd talk more to Uly" he muttered. He wasn't sure why, but he had a bad feeling about this situation and he wasn't particularly excited to learn more of the details. Maybe he was being paranoid. He removed his leather jacket and boots, then joined Julia underneath the blankets. "Sweet dreams" he whispered in her ear as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him. Julia had already fallen back asleep.
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3 am
Alonzo woke from his dream with the Terrians. Three o'clock, nowhere near dawn yet, he noticed with disappointment. He sat up, trying not to disturb Julia in the process. He knew he wasn't going to be able to get back to sleep. He wasn't sure what to do. Over the Dreamplain, the Terrians had relayed several items of information whose content was decidedly disturbing. He hoped the Eden Advance crew wouldn't be rash and take out their anger on the bearer of bad news. He rose and walked into the Main Dome, deciding to sit and wait until morning to discuss the Terrian's plans with the rest of the Eden Crew. In the meantime he could try to think of some viable options to deal with this situation.
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3:20 am
Julia rolled over in her bed and woke, noticing that Alonzo was no longer with her. She was concerned, so she got up to search for him. She discovered him sitting at the table in the Main Dome, with a pensive expression on his face. "Alonzo" she asked "What is it?" "It's bad, Julia. I don't want to talk about it just now. We have to wait until everyone is present. There's nothing we can do right now. Let's just wait until morning, okay?" he explained. He seemed lucid, Dr. Heller assessed, "And what about you? Are you just going to sit here the rest of the night?" He didn't answer. She could tell he was disturbed, so she pulled up a chair and sat next to him. "Want some company?" she offered. "Okay, but I don't want to talk." They sat in silence, waiting for morning to come.
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4:04 am
Just finishing their shift at guard duty, Danziger and Walman entered the Main Dome with the intention of warming up with some hot coffee. They were startled by the presence of Julia and Alonzo, but quickly recovered. Danziger told them, "It's getting worse. Now there are nine or ten Terrians surrounding the camp. They haven't moved in closer yet, but I'm getting worried. I think we better get everybody up and come up with a plan." "That won't be necessary, John" Alonzo explained, "We can't do anything right now." "What are you talking about?" Danziger replied with a look of confusion, "At least we should get Adair up and let her know what's going on." "No, don't bother her. She needs her sleep. The Terrians will wait until morning and will not bother us in the meantime," Alonzo pronounced with certainty. Julia, Danziger and Walman exchanged worried glances. Had the Terrians come for Uly? Danziger attempted to press him for more information, but Alonzo had finished talking. Julia explained to the men that he wanted to wait until morning when everyone was present. Deciding that Alonzo was generally a sensible guy, Danziger reluctantly chose to respect his judgment. "Okay, we wait 'til morning" he conceded. He remarked to Walman, "Better go tell Cameron and Gomez the latest news." Walman agreed and headed out, while Danziger departed to check on True. Both men returned shortly to join Dr. Heller and Alonzo in their vigil. Who could sleep, surrounded by Terrians? It felt like an ambush.
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5 am
Julia's nerves were strained, so she stood up to stretch and walk about the Main Dome. She decided to stroll over to Devon's room to see if she was awake. Devon was a fairly light sleeper and if she were already awake perhaps they could put an end to this nerve-racking tension and deal with the situation at hand. She peered into her room - and didn't see her. Julia rushed into the Main Dome shouting, "Alonzo, Danziger -- Devon's gone!" Danziger slammed his fist on the table and complained, "Damn, she's probably gone to talk to the Terrians herself. Of all the stupid things to do, God only knows what trouble she's going to get into." He zipped up his coat and rose with the intention of going to look for her. He wanted to shake her for acting like an such idiot, but he also had to admit that he was very concerned about her safety. As he began to back away from the table, the outside door to the Main Dome opened and Devon walked in with Uly. One glance at Devon confirmed their worst fears. She looked awful, her face was tear-stained and her eyes were red and swollen. She was shivering - she wasn't even wearing a coat. Danziger swiftly removed his own coat and placed it about her shoulders. Her hair was disheveled, yet she didn't seem to notice. She had Uly in a vice grip and was practically dragging him into the room. Uly had his walking stick in one hand and was wearing a small back pack. Devon looked squarely at Alonzo and stated as if challenging him, "They're not taking my son."
Uly approached Alonzo, "Mr. Solace, can you reason with my Mom? I can't make her understand that I have to go." Uly continued speaking as though he were the adult and his mother were the child, "The Terrians came to me in my dream. They told me I needed to come with them." "Why?" Julia interceded. "They called it 'growing time', a kind of training period for me - they want to teach me more about my Terrian abilities and they said they needed my help as well. They're going to show me some really neat stuff, but I'm not supposed to share it with anyone." The boy smiled slightly as he spoke about this secret. He continued to explain that the Terrians had told him what to wear and pack, then had instructed him to go to the northern end of the camp where they would met him and escort him to their caverns. Earlier that evening, Devon had opened her eyes to see Uly secretively packing his bag and preparing to leave. Before she could detain him, he had dashed out of the room, so she chased after him and eventually pinned him down outside. They had been in a thicket of trees, obscured from view of the camp, discussing the matter for several hours. Devon was dead set against Uly leaving and she was heartbroken that her son would even consider it. Uly desperately didn't want to leave his Mom yet he didn't want to disappoint the Terrians either. He owed his life to them. He wasn't sure why, but he knew it was of vital importance to the camp and to the Terrians that he go with them. It was part of growing up and acquiring new responsibilities, like his Mom had told him on the day after his birthday. He had seen his mother and other adults make sacrifices for him. Now it was his turn.
Alonzo confirmed the boy's story. He went on to explain to the colonists that the Terrians had encountered a crisis which they felt could only be resolved with Uly's assistance. Alonzo suspected it had to do with the relationships between the various Terrian tribes, but they were not receptive to his probing of this issue. They revealed that this period in Uly's growth would be optimum for his 'development of his Terrian attributes'. But there was more. Alonzo prompted Uly, "What else did they tell you?" Uly answered, "You know.." his countenance altered, "that my visit was going to be for a long period of time and that the Eden project should continue their journey to New Pacifica without me." One crew member let out a startled gasp. "The Terrians said they will be able to locate you when they are ready to return me." Uly was frightened, but he believed them.
As Uly had been telling his story, other members of the Eden crew, woken by the sound of voices, had straggled into the Main Dome. True clung to her Dad, wrapping her arms around his waist. Morgan and Bess huddled against a corner of the room where others congregated, while Baines and Walman stood alongside Danziger. "What are we going to do?" Magnus asked. Devon had been arguing so long with Uly that she was almost hoarse. Yet she responded with determination, "I have not given up this much to lose everything, I will not let them just take my son for some undetermined period of time." Although she appeared to be exhausted, she was managing to maintain her composure before the group - so far. She had faced the impossible before, it was no stranger to Devon Adair. This entire trip was accomplishing the impossible. People on the stations had laughed at her. Surely if she could arrange to travel 22 light years away from human civilization to save the life of her son, she could handle this, she told herself. Yale, close by her side, was unable to offer her any advice.
"Can't we reason with them?" Julia suggested, "Let Uly help them solve their problem, then allow them to perform their 'training' during the day and return him to us at night?" Alonzo shook his head, "They won't budge on their terms. The word 'negotiate' is not part of their vocabulary. Since they have group consciousness, they lack those skills." He looked to Uly to gain confirmation. "Besides, we've already tried." And Mary was no longer present to serve as a mediator as she did during their last crisis.
Danziger said emphatically, "We can't let them take him." He would never give up True if some crazy alien came for her. They'd have to kill him first. "It's not right for them to take him away" he continued. Baines joined in, "And if we give them Uly now, what's to say that they don't start taking more supplies or people away from us - where do you draw the line?" "That's completely irrelevant, Baines. They need Uly because he is the link between our species and they are in trouble" Julia argued, "They came to us for help." "Regardless of that, we need to establish boundaries with these creatures," Walman countered "We are now setting the guidelines for what we consider to be acceptable behavior - and this isn't. Do we want to set a precedent for them pushing us around?" Magnus interceded, "The Terrians healed Uly, he might not be alive today if they hadn't intervened. Isn't that an obligation of sorts?" "No" Devon snapped back at her, "We already paid them back for that. We helped the Terrians out with Gaal and allowed Uly to participate at Moon Cross. We should be even." Alonzo countered with, "But what is a life worth?" Devon refused to respond. "Devon, what exactly did we promise that night in the Dreamplain? The night Uly was healed?" Alonzo asked. "I'm not sure" she responded with dejection.
"Since the Terrians were here long before us, don't they have the right to dictate policy?" Bess asked "In a sense, it is their planet." Morgan glared at his wife. Some in the room agreed with her. Julia concurred as well, "She's right. We're the invaders here. We don't have the same rights that we had on the Stations. This is not our planet. Since the Terrians have made Uly the link between our species and the Council wants Uly so badly, this leads me to believe that this relationship is crucial for the survival of all of us on planet G889. Not giving them Uly could destroy this very important relationship and harm us all in the long run...Besides, they promised they'd bring him back." "How do we know we can trust the Terrians to follow through on their promises?" Morgan commented. "The Terrians are honorable creatures" Alonzo stated. Danziger met his gaze and demanded, "Where's your proof?" Alonzo looked away. There was a brief moment of uncomfortable silence. Bess asked "Exactly how long is a 'long' period of time to the Terrians?" No one replied. With a start, Alonzo remembered that Terrians had quite a different perspective on time than human beings, though he wasn't about to share that with Devon Adair or anyone else for that matter. For all he knew Uly could be returned at the ripe age of 50 and the Terrians would consider that soon from their point of view.
Morgan asked, "Alonzo, what will the Terrians do if we refuse to give the boy up?" Alonzo took a breath, this was the moment he had been dreading. "This is a test, but not just for Uly, for us too. It is a test of our trust and commitment to living in harmony on this planet. And to determine if we will carry through on our promises" He looked to Devon. "The Terrians were disappointed with us after we almost killed one of them by freezing the land with the Geo-Lock. The act of entrusting Uly to their care and the actual rituals he will participate in are of vital importance to the Terrians. They need him to help them resolve a crisis which they themselves cannot. If we don't heed the Terrian's wishes, that will indicate failure on our part, an unwillingness to work things out in the future, and the Terrians will not be interested in pursuing further relationships with us." "Big deal" Baines retorted. "No loss" Danziger added. Alonzo reacted with surprise and replied softly, "They will destroy us all if we don't give up the boy today."
(Continued in Part 2)
Story Notes:
This story would take place at the Dome shortly after "Survival of the Fittest". It speculates about the relationships between the Terrians, Uly, and the Colonists. Let me know that this gets through!!